Aduit Search The Scripture Lesson: SPECIAL CELEBRATION SUNDAY SERVICE ON 13TH AUGUST 2023
Calvary greetings in the precious name of our coming King.
August is a unique Month of the year. It is particularly unique to The
Deeper
Christian Life Ministry, because the Ministry was born in August in 1973.
To mark the occasion, there will be 50th Anniversary Celebration Sunday
Worship Service at 7:45am on 13th August 2023 at Gbagada Headquarters
Church Lagos. This will be transmitted to all our churches worldwide.
There will be a Special Search the Scripture lesson for the day titled:
“Milestones and Memorials for Future Generations”. The Search the
Scripture outline is attached.
MILESTONES AND
MEMORIALS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
Text: Deuteronomy 4:1-40
Memory verse:
Only take heed to thyself, and
keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have
seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach
them thy sons, and thy sons' sons. (Deuteronomy 4:9)
Forty years had
passed since Moses led the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt.
Generations of them had known nothing but suffering, pain and afflictions
inflicted on them by cruel slavemasters. The oppression was hard and long,
until God sent them a deliverer in Moses. In our passage, Israel stands at the
threshold of Canaan after a forty-year long circuitous journey through the
wilderness. Moses, for his part, had borne the brunt of their imperfections. He
was denied entry into the promised land because, when provoked by Israel’s
immaturity, he smote the rock contrary to the divine instruction to merely
speak to the rock. At this point, Moses
and Israel stood at what was, effectively, the junction of the old and new generations
at the threshold of the Promised Land. It was a fitting moment to remind the
people of the memorials that had been set up in their chequered history. This
was the reason for the writing of the entire book of Deuteronomy - to reiterate
all the laws, commandments, statutes, and warnings earlier given by God at
various points along Israel’s pilgrimage. The name derives from the Septuagint,
the Greek edition of the Bible and it means “second law” or, more properly,
“repeated law”.
At God’s command,
Moses had set memorials for Israel at various points along the Egypt-Canaan
pilgrimage. As he approaches his twilight years, Moses calls Israel to
remembrance of the commands of the Lord, points the new generation to the
milestones of the past and gives counsels on the secret of continued favour in
the present as well as warnings concerning the dangers of a mismanaged
relationship with God in the future.
MAJESTIC MILESTONES RECALLED TO WISEN
UP THE NEW
GENERATION (Deuteronomy 4:1-14; Exodus 12:42;
19:9-20; Hebrews 12:1821; 1 Corinthians 10:1-12)
Deuteronomy
chapter four opens with a call to attention, “Now therefore hearken, O, Israel” because it is the real beginning
of the “repeated law”. The word “hearken” is charged with profound meaning; it
represents the act of acute, profound, fervent attention. He who “hearkens” is
in an attitude of eager assimilation. Whereas the first three chapters of
Deuteronomy were dedicated to chronicling Israel’s forty-year wilderness
wanderings, this chapter signifies the beginning of the most important matter
at hand. God would spell out again, in terms clear as crystal, the conditions
they were to fulfil if their relationship with Him and the accruing benefits
would continue. Instructive and noteworthy is the fact that although the divine
message passed through a human vessel, Moses, there was neither a muddling up
of the message nor any equivocation in its delivery. The twin virtues
consistently exhibited by Moses, namely, faithfulness to the truth and clarity
in its presentation are worthy of emulation by every gospel minister especially
in these last days. Preachers in the Bible Church must labour to be clean,
clear, and consecrated channels through whom the holy oracles can pass to the
church and the world unimpeded and uncorrupted.
“Ye shall not add unto the word
which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep
the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (Exodus 12:42) Healthy church
denominations owe their strength and purity to the faithful word flowing from
the heavenly Father through faithful earthly founders and disseminated
throughout the church family by scrupulously faithful followers. This legacy
which it has pleased the Lord to bestow upon us must be preserved by successive
generations of the church at every cost.
Moses, a
strategic and successful leader, employed frequent reminders of God’s past
dealings with Israel to great effect. Those majestic milestones kept a people
prone to going astray anchored down in obedience and righteousness. The Almighty
God Himself was Moses’ partner in the grand design. The first milestone was the
Passover night. “This is that night of
the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.”
(Exodus 12:42). The second milestone, the giving of the Pentateuch and the
awe-inspiring spectacle that heralded it. “And
ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire
unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the
LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the
words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you
his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he
wrote them upon two tables of stone.” (Deuteronomy 4:11-13). These were
major milestone events upon which if generations of Israel had continued to
hang their faith and loyalty to God, forty years or four hundred would have
made no dent on their convictions and distinctiveness. But they failed.
The third significant
milestone was the tragedy of Baal-peor when Israel was snared in abominable
idolatry and fleshly lusts through Balaam’s counsel. The undiluted wrath of God
and the stern judgement that followed the sin would serve Israel as a memorial
to the danger of compromise with the world and the consequences of corruption
of God’s holy covenant by His people. “For all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath
destroyed them from among you.” (Deuteronomy 4:3) It is a testament against the purveyors of
the erroneous doctrine of unconditional eternal security. By the same token,
however, this milestone is a heart-warming reminder of God’s preservation of
the few righteous people even if they live in a perverse, imperiled world. “But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God
are alive every one of you this day.”
(Deuteronomy 4:4)
Without doubt, one of the most solemn memorials of all is Moses’
lamentation of his preclusion from the Promised Land. Even more sobering still
is the cause of that painful denial. In Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 21, Moses
reminded Israel, “the Lord was angry
with me for your sakes”. Israel had provoked their leader to
the point of costly exasperation; he smote the rock contrary to divine
instruction. Moses’ goal in this reminder was not to reproach them but to offer
a pointer to the high standards God holds His servants to. Members
of the Church owe it to themselves to keep praying that they would not be the
stumbling-blocks to trip their spiritual leaders into sinning against God.
Israel recorded these seismic milestones within a space of forty years, but
they are “written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.” We
must be guided by the truth that fifty years may seem long, but it is quite a
short span of time in the life of a church that hopes to continue harvesting
souls to heaven until Christ comes.
MEMORABLE MESSAGES REPEATED TO WARN
WANDERERS AFTER
NONEXISTENT GODS (Deuteronomy 4:7-9,15-28; Psalm
78:9-66; Judges 8:22-27; Daniel 5:1-6,17-30; Luke 12:14-21)
In the true
spirit of Deuteronomy, practically every line in this section of the chapter is
a repetition of earlier warnings given by God. Why was this necessary? Israel
was already smelling the air of the promised land; their goal was in sight,
well within their grasp. They would soon possess their much longed-for
possession. They were flushed with success and giddy with excitement. It was a
most auspicious time for their insightful leader, Moses, to bring them important
messages of warning from God. The messages were at once pointed, pungent and,
prophetic. The joy of success and good fortune may become an intoxicant that
causes otherwise focused believers to forget their vows and perform mindless
acts. “The
desire accomplished is sweet to the soul” (Proverbs 13:19) but
that sweetness must be enjoyed mindfully. If caution is thrown to the winds,
success time could become sinning time, backslapping could soon lead to
backsliding. That was the error of
Gideon, Belshazzar, and the rich fool. It
is for the same reason that thoughtful observers have declared that managing
success is much more perilous than managing failure. “Rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11) is the admonition of
scripture.
Moses’
thrice repetitions of the solemn warning, “Take
heed unto yourselves” (Deuteronomy 4:9,15,23), is to the present generation
of Christians, as it was to that generation of Israel, a three-point alarm to
watchfulness. First, watchfulness against progressive but imperceptible degeneration
of the pure faith. “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest
thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from
thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons'
sons”. When
truth begins to slip away from the heart of God’s people, the calamity, though
of epic proportions, is not immediately discernible. When sound doctrine loses
its grip upon our hearts, then do we shirk the responsibility of teaching it to
our children and they, empty of saving, sanctifying truth, have nothing to pass
on to their own children. It is our wisdom if we do not permit the
deterioration to begin in the first place.
Secondly, Moses’ words called Israel to watchfulness against
brazen-faced idolatry. “Take ye therefore good heed unto
yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake
unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and
make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or
female” (Deuteronomy
4:15-16). How could a people that had witnessed the manifestation of God’s
mighty miracles and power later descend into such egregious idolatry? For four
hundred years, Israel had observed how the Egyptians worshipped and served
their many gods; bowing down to objects of wood, stone, gold, and silver was
ingrained in their memory. So, sad as Moses’ warning seemed, it was not
misplaced. For good measure, it quickly progressed from a mere warning to a
fearful prophecy: “When thou shalt beget
children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land,
and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any
thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy
God, to provoke him to anger: I call
heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly
perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall
not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the LORD
shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among
the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods,
the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat,
nor smell.” (Deuteronomy
4:25-28) Fools despise the word of prophecy, but wise people take heed to
aligning their lives properly in relation to it. For example, Simon Peter
should have been on guard against the temptation to deny his Master rather than
carelessly dismiss Christ’s forewarning of the act. We must pray earnestly,
repent, and return to God where necessary and, remain watchful under such
circumstances. Israel did not, they fell into grievous idolatry.
The third
occurrence of the words, “Take heed” is a call to careful preservation of our
status as a covenant people. The believer’s relationship with God is exclusive,
it does not admit of an intruder. “For
the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” God will not
share your love and loyalty, or your affection and attention with other lords.
Moreover, besides the general revelations of scripture to everyone, the
dealings of God with individuals, families or church denominations differ from
one to another. No room exists therefore for petty jealousies or carnal
comparisons. As a Church, we should run in our own lane and thus win our own
prize with God.
MIGHTY MIRACLES RECOUNTED TO WOO AND
WIN THE NEXT
GENERATIONS – Deuteronomy 4:29-40; Psalm 78:1-8;
105:1-2,5-15,37-45; Acts 3:19; Galatians 3:13-14
In
a masterful manner, Moses’ stern warnings soon dissolve into tender words of
promise and affection clearly designed to assure future generations of Israel
of God’s special love and care. First, he outlined God’s past mighty miraculous
acts in their favour: one, an uncommon
revelation of Himself to Israel (Deuteronomy 4:32-33). Two, an uncommon leader in Moses; three, an unprecedented redemption from
prolonged bondage (Deuteronomy 4:34). Four, a
distinct separation as a peculiar people (Deuteronomy 4:34); five, unusual spiritual experiences
(Deuteronomy 4:35-36); six, unashamed
love from God (Deuteronomy 4:37); seven,
unexpected victories over stronger and mightier nations (Deuteronomy 4:38)
and eight, an unparalleled inheritance, that
is, the Promised Land. The sure
testimony is that the Lord has favoured us with all these. We have an uncommon
book – The Holy Bible, a fearless leader, and other faithful ministers to teach
it. We have the Lord, His love, promises of victory and dominion, and His
unfailing presence. Above all, we have a mansion waiting in heaven.
Secondly,
Moses encouraged the future generations of erring Israel with promises of God’s
mercy, forgiveness, restoration, and deliverance from cruel enemies. Their
restoration was guaranteed but not automatic. As always, God’s “times of
refreshing” only follow genuine repentance (Deuteronomy 4:27-29); that is the
unchanging order.
Questions for review:
1.
Mention
the lessons all servants of God can learn from Moses’ example as God’s
spokesman.
2.
What
significant events served as major milestones on Israel’s journey from Egypt to
the Promised Land?
3.
Explain
the danger inherent in success management. How does that matter to the Church,
and to the individual believer today?
4.
In
what ways are believers called upon to be watchful?
5.
Enumerate
the failures of Israel and how that could serve as warning to successive
generations of Christians in the Bible Church.
6.
Outline
the proofs of divine favour enjoyed by a faithful Church.
7.
How
can we preserve the spiritual legacies handed down to us?
