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Deuteronomy Chapter 8 "Command to Remember, for Preservation (motives)."
This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Deuteronomy 8:1 "All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers." "That ye may live" is in reference to eternal life. Remember that in this second address of Moses to the people, the message was to be passed on to future generations to a thousand generation, right into the eternity. God promised the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that promise was coming to pass as the Israelites were preparing to go over Jordan and take the land. They went in and took the land, and in time the children of Israel turned their backs to God and God scattered them. The ten tribes known as the "house of Israel" were overthrown and removed, and scattered from the land between 745 and 722 B.C.. They were taken to a place in northern Iraq, just north of lake Van. Shortly after their removal, they migrated through the Caucasus mountain and then spread out to many locations throughout Western Europe, and the Americas, while the ones known as the Sakka [son's of Isaac] under their new identity, and other groups of the house of Israel went to the east. It is from their travels through the Caucasus mountains that the "house of Israel" became know as the "Caucasians", in which that name has stuck with them to this day. The "house of Judah" comprising the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, along with a small fragment of the Levi tribe, and a great mixing of Kenites continued as a nation for a little over a hundred years after Israel's scattering. Then because of their great sins, God allowed the Babylonians to take them captive and hold them for seventy years. Where ever those people of the house of Israel went in their migrations, you will see the blessings of God. God gave a promise to father Abraham, and that promise was eternal, no matter where the people that hold that promise are located. We know that these people are now the Jews that are located today in Jerusalem, for their numbers are well know and their people, their land and blessings are very limited. However, Hosea 1:10 tells us how to identify the "house of Israel" in our day. For Hosea is prophecy directed to the house of Israel in that final days of this earth age. not the Jews of the house of Judah. Hosea 1:10 "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, `Ye are not My People,' there it shall be said unto them, `Ye are the sons of the living God." We are in the final generation, and in the place where it is said of our people that, "we are Gentiles". The people of the United States, England and all the other Christian nations today are called "Gentiles" by the Christian people today. However, these people spoken of in the book of Hosea that are the true house of Israel can be identified because their name gives them their true identity. The "living God" is our Jesus Christ, the Savior that died on the cross and on the third day rose from the dead. The "sons of the living God", call themselves "Christ's men" which is to say "Christians". It is these Christian nations that the rest of the world comes to for hand outs and protection, because God has blessed them and made them fruitful. Our nation and the other Christian nations have blessings to give because God has blessed us. This is a fact in our time. Deuteronomy 8:2 "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or no." Moses is telling us exactly why God tests us. The Lord led you these forty years in the wilderness, "to humble thee, and to prove the, to know what was in thine heart". God wanted to see how these people think, what is in their mind, and whether or not they would listen and try to keep His commandments, or reject Him. Remember that "forty" is the number representing "probation" in biblical numerics. God put them on probation to see whether they were committed in their mind to Him, or whether they were just playing around. This is what we are to teach your children. Teach them to try to do their best, set in their mind to accomplish the best that they can do, and it should not be a disgrace in failing to achieve their goals, but they should try. When you come short of meeting God's mark of perfection, that is the time to repent in Jesus name, and He will revitalize you and bring you back in good standing before Him. This should be the main point in Christianity when it is taught correctly. Teach your children what God will do for them. God will prove you and test you under pressure, so don't tempt God when He puts a little pressure on you to see what you are made of. He wants to see if your faith can be found worthy, or if you will falter in times of trouble. Deuteronomy 8:3 "And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." God humbled our forefathers in the heat of the wilderness, and he allow them to be tested with hunger, until He gave the manna from heaven, and quail. God allowed them to get real hungry before He fed them. When there was no food in the wilderness, God provided them with angel's food. God knew where the manna came from and that it was good for them, even though the children of Israel did not know. All they had to do was go out in the morning and pick it up off the ground for that day, and they came to expect it of God. God provided what was necessary for one day, for that day, and they had to rely of God for provision one day at a time. Bread will not give you eternal life, but the "Word of God" will give you eternal life. This is what Moses taught. This is the first verse that Jesus taught in His ministry, and He used it directly against Satan in Matthew 4:4. Matthew 4:1 "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." Matthew 4:2 "And when He was fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred." Matthew 4:3 "And when the tempter [Satan] came to Him, he said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Matthew 4:4 "But He answered and said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' " " If God has promised you that He will feed you, then wait on God's time for your feeding. However, this is not the verse that authorizes you to become a bum, to sit around and do nothing. It is directed to letting God lead you through His Word. God speaks to you, but today there are many people that follow their dreams that are not of God. They don't know whether God is leading them, or if the dreams they are following are sour pickle dreams. When God speaks to you, what He says will come to pass. You can count on it, for it will also align with the Word of God. Be patient and teach your children that true life comes from the Word of God. The events of this day are coming to pass exactly as they were written in His Word. God is in complete control, and He will take care of those things that you simply cannot do by yourself, in your own strength. He knows your needs even when you do not. When you do things God's way, He will bless you, just as He will bless our nation. How do we know this? Because it is written in His Word. Moses has been addressing this final generation all through This book, for these words are to be passed on for a thousand generation. Even to the land that God will send them to that is flowing with milk and honey, and much prosperity. Do you think that God is forgetful, or would it be more likely of our inability to understand God's Word and the prophecies that are given in the Word. Deuteronomy 8:4 "Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee neither did thy foot swell, these forty years." We know that during this forty year period, these men that stood before Moses grew from a child to adulthood, but their clothes and shoes did not expand and grow with them. However, during that period God provided them with protection and wealth from Egypt. They left Egypt with the provision that was necessary for their needs for the entire forty year period. Their clothing and shoes were given to them by God, for He gave them the sheep and the cattle back in Egypt to make their own cloths. The children of Israel were a well dressed group of people. They were in the wilderness for forty years and they did not have a want for anything. Deuteronomy 8:5 "Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." Just as you discipline your own sons and daughters, the Lord God will discipline you also. God expects His children to be disciplined. This is the main problem within many churches today, for there is no discipline within their church houses. Their pastors baby them, sugar coat the Word, and treat their congregations as spoiled brats. They have lost sight that Christianity is not a religion, but a reality, and a way of life. We are living in a real world, with real problems, and God expects us to face those problems and to get the job done that He has given to us. God will discipline you in your own life, and about the time you lose sight of where your blessings come from, He will get your attention somehow. You need discipline not only with in your own life, but also within the church body. When it is necessary to scold a lazy Christian to get His attention, it has to be done. When false doctrine comes into your church and starts to mix with God's Word, than you face it and bring it to an end before it has a chance to become traditional thought. The true body of Christ disciplines its many membered body before they are allowed to get out of hand and the real trouble starts. Correction is given to strengthen your brethren and to make them strong in the Lord to where they can stand against Satan's attacks. People are looking for leaders with boldness that will make a stand for what is right according to God's Word. We are in a spiritual war, and it requires discipline within the ranks of our soldiers; to not only win the war, but to come out of it with our life. The spiritual battle has just started, but shortly, upon Satan's arrival in his role as the Antichrist [instead of Christ], there will be many that will fall to him. They will do this because they do not have the discipline of God's Word in their lives. God's love is shown through discipline, because we can take the hardship and build strength through those disciplined times. Deuteronomy 8:6 "Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear him." This is the reason that we keep the commandments of the Lord, so that we can learn to walk in the ways of the Lord and respect Him, to revere Him. When you are following those ways of God, and you step out of the path, God will discipline and correct you to get you back on the path. Deuteronomy 8:7 "For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;" This land is a land that has fresh water and streams running all through it. This is certainly not the desert, as those lands in the middle east are. Most of their water is salt water from the two seas, and it has to be treated to be usable. This is looking forward to the scattering of the tribes, and to the places beyond to were they settle. It is looking forward to the lush plains, and mountains where cool fresh water flows to water the entire land. It is looking forward to the settling of the British isles, of Western Europe, and to America, including Canada. Deuteronomy 8:8 "A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil, olive, and honey;" All of the vine trees are mentioned here, the "fig, the olive and the vine". These three trees in a symbolic sense are looking for a leader, someone to prune and take care of. There are many applications in the New Testament with these three symbols of the vine. We are in the end generation, and the promises of God to Abraham are fulfilled in America, England and the rest of the Christian nations. We have the millions of acres of waving wheat, barley and other grains. Our cities are well populated, and we have the many blessings that God promise that would come to the children of Abraham as their inheritance. Our land has been protected from the western shore to the eastern shore; from the northern regions to the our southern regions from our enemies. These are blessings from God, and they are not caused by accidents as the Kenites would have you believe. The "Israel" of the middle east definitely does not have this within her borders, for the streets are ransacked by terrorists, their fields are not sufficient to even feed themselves, besides the outside world. However, that tiny nation of Israel is also a promise that God gave to Abraham, for the Jews that intermixed with the Kenites have returned to their land in the middle east. Both the good figs of the house of Judah have returned right along with the bad figs, those Kenites of the house of Rachab, that intermixed with Judah back in Babylon while they were in captivity, and took over the duties of the scribes, and the priests. Our heavenly Father has kept His Word in every detail. Deuteronomy 8:9 "A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." You know that the Israelites were not miners, and the promised land that is laying just across the Jordan simply doesn't fit this description. There are no great mines of any kind, and the land of Israel of today lacks for most everything dug from the ground. That is why tiny Israel comes to America [big brother Manasseh], and to England [big brother Ephraim] with their begging bags, seeking for a handout from their big brothers. The needed provision is collected through taxes of it's wealth and given freely. The big brothers give them their protection and their provision and this is the way that God said it would be. That is why it is good, for God is keeping His promise. This is looking to the far distant future from Moses day, to the time when a great nation will have mountains of iron, and other minerals to virtually supply every form of need that mankind could have. Brass is an alloy, and comes from different elements, and each of those metals are well supplied in the lands of the Christian nations. Our trade is a binding force that binds the tribes [Christian nations that come from the house of Israel] together in our generation. Tiny Israel of the land of Palestine just won't fit Moses' description for the lands that God will place His tribes in in the latter days. Deuteronomy 8:10 "When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which He hath given thee." There is no reason for anyone to remain hungry in our nation, for there is food in abundance, and to those that are unable to earn it, there are other means available to obtain it. After you have eaten your dinner, and push your chair away from the table, think for a moment, have you taken the time to thank God for the food that you just ate? Even in your very best times you had better thank God for the blessings that He has given to you. When the good times roll that is the time to take time out to thank God. However, for many today that is the time that they forget God all together. Deuteronomy 8:11 "Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day:" Any time a nation and it's people forgets this command by Moses, then that nation and it's people will pay for their negligence to God laws, commandments and judgments. Today in the nineties in our nation, we have a leader that thinks nothing of God's morals and His judgments, and he thinks that he can flaunt his moral indecency in the face of God's people and get away with it. He tries to bring the filth of Sodomy into the military, when God's Word speaks against it. Many have said that he has a vendetta against the military, and what better way to bring scorn on the military than turning them into a bunch of Sodomites. Our nation can look forward to a strong disciplinary action by God if this is allow to go on unchecked, even to the tune of great losses on the battle field. We cannot allow anyone to take God's blessings away from our nation because of his wickedness, and indifference to God's laws, commandments, and judgments. Even though most of the rest of our nation follows after such filth, as Christians we are to stay disciplined to the commandments of God, and His Word. We are in the final generation, and God has alerted us as to what will happen as the one world system comes into complete control. This is why we are to stay focused on His Word and disciplined in our lives. This is the one generation that had better not play church, when the good times come, as they will, and peace and prosperity is everywhere, that is the time to remember the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:12 "Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;" Deuteronomy 8:13 "And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;" The good times are rolling, the stock market is up, the cattle in the fields are multiplying, the house is paid off or under low interest rates, and the wages are high, and you have everything that your heart desires and your mind can think of. Deuteronomy 8:14 "Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord they God, Which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;" When all this happens to you, "then your heart be lifted up", which means that pride will come into your mind. Deuteronomy 8:15 "Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and draught, where there was no water; Who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;" No matter who sits over our nation, the true commander and chief of our lives is Jesus Christ, and you had better never forget it, my friend. It is from God that the true blessings flow, and not from the government, or any man's action who claims to be in authority. God will bless you when you deserve the blessing. Deuteronomy 8:16 "Who fed thee through wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that He might humble thee, and that He might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;" Our heavenly Father fed them while they were in the wilderness, and here again we have the second witness of why discipline is necessary, It is necessary to humble you for the sake of proving your worth to Him. We are in "the latter end" here today, and God is humbling those that will be called out to do His Work. When God tests and proves you, will you be able to stand against Satan and his system in these latter days. Deuteronomy 8:17 "And thou say in thine heart, `My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.' " Watch as the different people and organizations step forward to take the credit for the power, the peace and prosperity that comes upon us. The pride will rise up in our land and around the world, from the United Nations and its agencies of power to your local government and the even in your church; to take the credit for what God as done for us. The people of this world, our nation, and of our communities are being tested at this time to see just how far they will go in accepting credit for all those things that rightfully belongs to God. God wants to see just how far you will go in your pride before you give Him the credit that He deserves. Remember that this is all part of the second message that Moses gave the children of Israel, to be passed on to their sons for a thousand generations. It was a warning to you and I living in this generation seeing the events taking place that are suppose to take place before Satan is presented in His role of the "instead of Christ", the Antichrist. It is time to wake up as to what is going on so we as followers of Christ do not get swept away by all these things. We are to recognize these things from what ever direction it might be coming. Deuteronomy 8:18 "But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers as it is this day." Don't ever forget that it is the Lord our God that gave us the power to obtain the wealth that we get. It is not your wealth, or the army of our nation that allows us to have our blessings, but the Lord our God. "His covenant" is "God's Word", and it is our Lord that allowed us to have our wealth for the sake of establishing His covenant around the world. With out the wealth of our nation, and the money available through God's blessings, the ease in which we spread the Word would not be there. God gives His gifts that they would be used in His service. Are you going to let individual people and their parties to interrupt God's power? When it is done there will be a price paid for such oversight of God's Word. We are living in a time that is the most exciting of times, since the beginning of time, for all Christians. The events of the prophecies of the prophets are coming to pass right before our eyes. Deuteronomy 8:19 "And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish." Our heavenly Father does not fool around with things that are serious with Him. There is a condition here that we had all better pay attention to. The word is "if". "If" you think that you can forget God and His holy Word, and His ways to chase after other gods, teachings and traditions that are not of His Word, you shall surely perish. If you think that you can serve those things and teachings and worship with those that pervert God's Word, God will turn you over to their ways and you will perish. If you are a Christian you had better wake up. We are at the end of our dispensation, and in the final generation, and it is later than you might think. Do you know that the word "resurrection" in the Greek, means to make a stand. It is # 386 in the Greek Dictionary; "Anastasis, an-as'-tas-is; from # 450, a standing up again, literally a resurrection from death, a recovery (of spiritual truth): raise to life again." Then in # 450, the prime we read: "anistemi, an-is'-tay-me; to stand up, literally or figatively, to make a stand, arise, lift up (again), rise up (again), to stand upright." If you partake in the resurrection, that time starts right here in the flesh when you make your stand for Jesus Christ. Discipline yourself in God's Word. You had better make a stand or the good times will perish if things continue as they presently are. Deuteronomy 8:20 "As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God." This is addressed to the children of Israel as a nation, or the nations that they will become, from Moses' day. Just as you witnessed the other nations perish from before you, so you will perish from before them if you are not obedient to the voice of the Lord our God. When God created or flesh bodies, He placed within each of us a natural instinct of telling right from wrong, good from bad, and His ways from the false religious ways. Using those natural instincts within our minds is what is called "common sense", and it is what guides us as to what we should do, or not do. Common sense directs you to protect yourself from danger and to preserve your life. If you know that AIDS comes from Sodomy and the Sodomites and the filth that they practice, then common sense in your own mind would tell you to stay away for those things that cause that killer disease. Yet as a nation, our leaders simply do not have the common sense to protect our own men and women in uniform, when they allow Sodomites to roam freely in the military unchecked. This lack of care goes right into the school house and the churches today. Our leaders act as if they could care less for our people when they defend Sodomites in the midst of our people, when the pass their laws to protect them. If there is no cure, then simple common sense should tell you that it is wrong and bad, and not to be fooled with. This same type of loose morals and uncontrolled passion is being allowed and taught as something of just another life style, and our students and young people are told to follow their own instincts. They are told that if it feels good it must be good. We are breeding a new society that is going against the morals, commandments, and laws of God, and God is not going to stand for it either individually or as a nation. This is where the stand must be taken, and your discipline in God's Word must be given. Even though others don't listen to you, you must still make the stand, and be the mouthpiece for God's Word. That is the way that God's Word is spread, but by the ones that claim the name of Christ and have chosen to walk after God's ways, and serve Him.
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