Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, Deut. 8:1-10. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- There are people who have moved into Lyons over the past few years who will not be coming back after the flood. They passed through Lyons during a vacation and thought of it as a beautiful, quiet, and lovely place to build a life. So they moved to Lyons. However, they never envisioned that a canyon is susceptible to flooding, devastating flooding, and that their lives, possessions, and dreams were at risk. The horrible flood of 2013 changed their thinking.
- I suppose that the same is true for people living in the Philippines, and for people living throughout the Midwest. We don’t think of typhoons, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, drought, and volcanoes when we decide where to live. Fact is, most of the time, most places in the world are wonderful places to live – although every geographic area has its own unique challenges.
- It is the same with Palestine. The children of Israel originally ended up in Egypt as a result of drought and famine in Palestine at the time of Jacob and Joseph. We can read the history of Israel after the Exodus and learn of other droughts, famines, and disasters that befell that geographic area – often as the direct result of evil and unfaithfulness on the part of the children of Israel.
- So we wonder – is there any “safe” place to live on this earth, and how can we be sure that we will not get caught up in some horrible natural disaster?
- There are promises in our text, directly from God Himself, given some 3,400 years ago, specifically to the children of Israel, but to all people who are willing to have God as their God, to live in repentance and faith, and to receive His guidance to lives of decency and love.
- This is not to say to that there are not unique occasions when God’s people must suffer along with the unbelieving – you remember that Lot also lost all of his possessions when God visited fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And the prophets suffered along with the people of Israel when they rejected God’s Word and chose to rebel in unbelief and sin. However, generally speaking, there is blessing promised to those who respect God – and God is faithful to His Word.
- First of all we must remember that:
I. Everything That We Have Comes From God
A. The Land That We Possess
Text: “that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess THE LAND THAT THE LORD SWORE TO GIVE TO YOUR FATHERS.”
B. Our Freedoms Also Come From God
It was God Who delivered the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt and led them into the “Promised Land.” The teachings of Scripture in regard to freedom form the foundation of our own freedoms in America.
C. Food And Clothing Comes From God
Text: “Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.”
D. Prosperity Comes From God
Text: “the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full.”
Statement: No one can give thanks to God, no one can give deference to God, no one can live humbly in faith and trust in God, who does not understand that “every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights.” [James 1:17]
Application: What was true for the children of Israel is also true for us – that all of the blessings of the land in which we live, which for the most part is full of blessedness and goodness, all comes from God. The work we are able to do, the education that we have, the prosperity of our work, the health of our economy, our freedoms as Americans – all of these good and perfect gifts come “down from above, from the Father of lights.” But if we are unaware of this, if we deny this, then we cannot and we will not give deference to God, give thanks to God, or live humbly in faith and trust in God.
Sadly, this is precisely the circumstance that afflicts so many people today in our country and in our neighborhoods. And so it is that many have drifted into the great evils of unbelief, impenitence, wickedness, sloth, indifference, selfishness, greed, arrogance, and ingratitude to God. Human beings in this condition are dangerous – to others and to themselves. And so God gives us “wake up” calls, often through nature, to remind us where our bread is buttered, and from Whom our blessings come. For our own good we need to keep all of this in mind, that all good things come from God!
Transition: In order that we gain this wisdom, and keep these things in mind, God has given us His Word – as He did to the children of Israel, so also to people living in the world to this very day. And we must remember that:
II. Everything Good Comes To Us By God’s Word, By His Command
A. All Spiritual Blessings Comes To Us Through God’s Word
1. Repentance, through His Law
Rom. 3:20 “through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
2. Also, knowledge of God’s mercy and grace, and so faith in Jesus, comes to us through God’s Word
Rom. 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”
Rom. 10:17 “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
B. So For All Things, All The Blessings We Have And Enjoy, We Owe God Our Thanks And Praise – And The Best Way To Thank Him Is To Keep His Word, Truly Fearing And Reverencing Him
1. With true faith in Him
Text: “And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
2. And living a life of decency and love, in accord with His Word
Text: “the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”
Statement: It is no different today – for every human being. Yes, God tests us, and He has tested us recently with flooding, and with all of the political and social and economic woes that afflict our nation. More may be coming. But all of this is to humble us, to test us, and to bring us back to God and His Word – that we might live humble lives of repentance and faith, trusting God for all good things, and not in ourselves.
Application: Hopefully, we respond to God’s Word with humility and reverence, so that we continue to repent of our sins and to put our faith and trust in His gracious mercy and love. Then we will give Him our thanks and praise. Hopefully we will recognize how all blessings come to us through His Word, and we will cling to His Word, and we will “keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in His ways and by fearing Him.” Then we will also continue receiving His rich blessings – and we will surely reverence and respect Him, giving Him our thanks and praise!
Conclusion: As for our fellow citizens, we pray the same blessings for them – for their own good, and also so that we not have to suffer collateral damage as God humbles and disciplines unbelievers. We have lived in a good land, and we have been blessed by God. May we also “bless the Lord our God for the good land which He has given us.”
May His grace continue upon us that we enjoy good life in this world, until He takes us to perfect glory in the life to come! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.