The Story of God - City Alive Church

Deuteronomy is a crossroads, a moment of decision. Israel is offered a choice: life or death, victory or defeat, blessing or curse. And the same decision is before us today. Choose life!

Moses commands Israel to teach their kids and grandkids who God is and what he has done. The Faith has survived from Moses' day to ours because each generation of parents has owned the responsibility of discipling their children.

The book of Deuteronomy records Moses' final words to the Israelites at the border of the Promised Land.

There is one God: Yahweh.

All his commands are really one command: Love.

At the edge of the of the Promised Land, Israel is enticed into idol worship and sexual sin. When an Israelite man brings a Midianite woman into the camp, Phinehas kills them both and is approved by God. Stories like this teach us about our own battle with the enemy. Sin has to be put to death.

Across the Jordan River from Jericho, Israel is camped in the Plains of Moab. The King of Moab hires a prophet to curse them, but instead he blesses them four times. This story teaches us that nothing can curse what God has blessed.

Israel becomes impatient in the wilderness. They rebel. God's judgment comes. They ask for mercy. God forgives. This pattern repeats again and again throughout Israel's wilderness journey. And it reveals to us one of the core ideas of the Bible: God has provided a priest for sinners.

Moses sends spies into the land, who find that it's just as good as God said it was. But they also find giants. Ten of the spies want to turn back to Egypt, but two believe they should move ahead and conquer the land. Their choice is the same as ours: will we turn back in unbelief or will we boldly step into the promise of God?

After spending a year at Mount Sinai, Israel sets out for the Promised Land. They have a salvation in their past and a promise in their future, but in between they have a desert. The wilderness is the "in-between" place, full of trials and tests. How we handle the wilderness determines whether or not we make it into the Promised Land.

The Israelites depart from Mount Sinai with the newly constructed Tabernacle. The Cloud of God's personal presence is in their midst as they move through the wilderness. They move when and where the Cloud moves. And they camp around the Cloud when it stays still. They orient their entire culture around the presence of God.

Moses prays one of the greatest prayers in the Bible: "Lord, show me your glory!" And God answers. Yahweh appears before Moses on Sinai, declaring his own name and identity. When Moses comes down the mountain, his face is radiating with the glory of God.