Jesus’ prayer in John 17 begins with a focus on the glory of God. Jesus prays that His impending death will ultimately glorify the Father and that this would come about through the granting (gifting) of eternal life to His elect. What Jesus’ crucifixion puts on display is the glory of God’s grace in salvation.
Deuteronomy 27-34, Two Ways to Live
As Moses closes his final message to the children of Israel, he focuses on the consequences of obedience and disobedience. He does so by setting down before them two pathways: the pathway to life, good, and the blessing, and the other pathway to death, evil, and the curse. Along with these options for their future, he reveals to them their future in apostasy, judgment, and even a restoration afterwards. The Pentateuch closes with an allusion to the prophet like Moses to come, the Lord Jesus, who speaks from the LORD and all the people ought to hear. The call to choose life echoes throughout the ages, calling all to be reconciled and restored to God and to enter into His blessing through the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
Deuteronomy 12-26, The Place and The Prophet
In this final legal section of the Pentateuch, Moses touches on a wide range of laws. Among these, two stand out as the most prominent in the main message of Moses regarding the Messiah: the place of worship and the future prophet like Moses. These two ideas propel us to build up God’s church, hope in Christ’s return, and listen to Christ.
Deuteronomy 1-11, Remember and Obey
Moses speaks his final message to the children of Israel before heading up Mount Nebo and see the land of Canaan and die there. His aim is to expound the law but he is gripped by the urgency of the spiritual needs of his people and thus he earnestly exhorts them with a long introduction (nearly all of 11 chapters) to remember and obey. In this three part study of Deuteronomy, we examine the practical relevance of this exhortation and consider the ultimate Israelite who lived up to all that this exhortation required.
Numbers 22-24, The Messianic Prophecies of Balaam
The very perplexing figure of Balaam shows that God can use even a wicked pagan priest to speak forth His truth. Unbeknownst to this man, the LORD intended to use him to reinforce His immutable commitment to bless Israel and send the Messiah for our salvation. Balaam’s prophecies show that Jesus is the coming king who will reign supremely over all the nations, crushing all His enemies. They also show that Jesus is the promised seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, who grants the blessing of salvation to all the elect of God.
Hebrews 11:17-27, Examples of Faith
This sermon series covers the devotions and Sunday sermon at our annual family camping trip. The examples of faith we saw revolved around the God whom the men of faith believed: 1) Abraham believed in the power of God (Heb. 11:17-19), 2) Isaac and Jacob believed in the providence of God (Heb. 11:20-21), 3) Joseph believed in the promise of God (Heb. 11:22), and 4) Moses believed in the reward of God (Heb. 11:23-27).
Numbers 11-36, The Faithful Promises of God
The final section of Numbers weave together threads (topics) of army, land, and law. All of these point us to the faithfulness of God to preserve the people of Israel according to His promise. But that promise fits into the bigger promise of the Savior that goes back to Gen. 3:15 and Gen. 22:18. In the seed of the woman and the seed of Abraham, God will bless all the nations. Israel was a seed of Abraham, and out of Israel will come the one Israelite, the ultimate seed, who will save His people from their sins. This Savior’s mediatorial work is depicted in the man Moses. Moses was a self-sacrificing leader and shepherd for Israel, but he was not their Savior, for he himself was a rebel like them in need of the Savior. The true and ultimate mediator whose work Moses portrayed was the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who truly gave Himself up as a ransom for all who intercedes for His people is our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Numbers 11-25, Rebellion
After a period of arduous obedience, we see another side to the people of Israel. They were rebels at heart. Under the veneer of obedience lurked a wicked heart of rebellion. In this study, we consider the examples of rebellion and focus on one incident of rebellion and the unbelief that fueled that rebelliousness among this people. May we examine our own hearts that we not walk in the same example. May we seek Christ daily who is the perfect and sinless Savior who alone can save us from sin and hell.