For Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s Explore the Bible lesson. Includes a sample introduction to the lesson, text outline and overview, illustrations you can use, discussion questions for your group, and spiritual life applications. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRODUCTION:

???DISCUSSION QUESTION???

“Can you share a time when you gave some ‘final instructions’ to your kids/others — maybe before they went off to school for the first time, or started a new job, got married, etc? What did you tell them?”

(For example, one year Cheryl wanted us to have a “big talk” with our four kids before they went off to start a new school year. I gave each of them some specific instructions for their situation: 

— I told our oldest: Paul, you are starting college; don’t get distracted; you’ve to keep your grades up to keep your scholarship.

— David, you’re a junior now; you’ll start applying for colleges soon, so every grade in every class will count.

— Libby, you’re starting 9th grade. Now, every class you take will go on your transcript, so you need to take each one seriously.

— Michael, our baby, who was about to start Kindergarten, was next. But as soon as I turned my face towards him and said “Michael …” he jumped up, started crying, and ran down the hallway! We all laugh about that; couldn’t take the pressure I guess! But those were my final instructions to our kids that year. You can share that if you’d like — but you and your group may have other stories you can share about last words/final instructions. 

AND/OR:

You might use some variation of the Lifeway suggested opening:
“Share a favorite family memory that’s always told and will get passed down to the next generation.” 

Then transition to the lesson, and say that today we are shifting our study in the Old Testament to the Book of Deuteronomy, where we find Moses’ final instructions/things He wanted the people of Israel to remember and pass along, before they cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. 

CONTEXT:

Last week was our final lesson for this quarter in the Book of Numbers, and today we move to the Book of Deuteronomy.

The physical context is the same: Israel is still on the Plains of Moab, across the Jordan River from Jericho, and poised to enter the Promised Land. (You might use the same MAP that you used last time, so your class can picture just where they were.) As we know, God said He would NOT allow Moses to lead the people in, because he disrespected the Lord in the matter of the water and the rock.  So across the Jordan, ready to enter the Promised Land, Moses shares a series of messages with the people. Those messages are the content of the Book of Deuteronomy. 

“Deuteronomy” literally means “second law” (“Deutero” = “second”  “Nomos” = “law.”) or a re-telling, a recapitulation or exposition of the Law that God had Moses gave Israel at Sinai. 

At the end of the Book, Moses will go up to Mt. Pisgah to look at the Promised Land, and then die. So Deuteronomy consists of the last messages that God gave Moses to share with Israel. (Most commentators/Bible students divide them up into 3 final messages. We’ll look at part of the first message today.) 

Deuteronomy 1 opens by saying that these are the words which Moses spoke to Israel across the Jordan from the Promised Land. (I always think it is so ironic that :2 tells us that it is 11 days’ journey from Horeb (or Sinai) to Kadesh-Barnea, where they should have entered the Promised Land. But now, :3 says, “in the 40th year …”. In other words, it took Israel 40 years to take an 11-day trip — and of course the ironic thing is that the interminable delay was entirely due to Israel’s sin! 

Verse 5 then says that Moses “began to expound this Law” to them. So he begins his first message in Chapters 1-3 by recounting the history of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, and how they came to be where they were now, ready to enter the Promised Land. 

Beginning in Chapter 4, our focus passage for today, Moses continues his first sermon, and shares some things he does not want them to forget as they enter the Promised Land.

OUTLINE:

I. The Word to Obey (:1-2)

II. The Example to Avoid (:3-4)

III. The Privilege to Appreciate (:5-8)

IV. The Charge to Remember (:9, :15-20)

TEXT: Deuteronomy 4:1-9, 15-20

I. The Word to Obey (:1-2)

:1 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” 

So the first instruction Moses gives the people before they enter the Promised Land is that they need to pay attention to God’s word:

— In :1 he says “listen to the statutes and the judgments …”

— In :2 he says, “You shall not add to the word … nor take away from it”

— At the end of :2 he adds: “that you may KEEP the commandments of the LORD your God …”

So in summary, he says, LISTEN to it; don’t CHANGE it; but KEEP it! “KEEP” the key word here! It’s the common Hebrew word “shamar,” which means “observe, look closely to, keep.” 

God doesn’t give us His word for entertainment, but so that we will OBEY it! This Hebrew word is similar to our word “observe.” But it doesn’t just mean “look at” — it means OBEY!

ILLUSTRATION 

An illustration you can use here, would be to post/print out a sign like this: “Observe speed limit.” (Or just refer to a time when you’ve seen a sign like that; we all have.) And ask: “What does this mean?”
(It means OBEY! The word “observe” literally means to “look at,” but that is not what it means. It means to OBEY it. KEEP that speed limit.

Then make the point: this is almost exactly the meaning of the Hebrew word “shamar” here. It literally means “observe,” or “keep” — but like that traffic sign, it means OBEY!  God is telling us to KEEP, to OBEY the word that He has given us.

???DISCUSSION/APPLICATION QUESTION???

(This is similar to a discussion question we had last time, but with a different slant. OR you may just point out these different ways:)

“What are some ways we can seem to respond to God’s word, but not really ‘keep’ it?”

(Answers can include:

— READ it but not do it. A lot of people read God’s word, and feel good about that. Reading His word is great — we NEED to read His word, every day — but if all you do is read it, you have not done what God has intended. He wants you to “KEEP” it! DO what you find there!

— STUDY it but not do it. We can take it a step further, and study God’s word. Again, studying is fantastic — but if we just study it and don’t DO what it says, we have fallen short. There are many liberal professors in colleges all over the world who have “studied” the Bible, but they don’t really believe it, or seek to apply it to their lives. Studying it is commendable, but it is not enough.

— MEMORIZE it! Surely memorizing the Bible is a crowning achievement — and listen, memorizing scripture is one of the most powerful tools we have as God’s children. But think about it: the DEVIL memorized God’s word, and quoted it back to Jesus in the Temptation in Matthew 4! 

— TEACH it! Many believe they are great Christians because they teach the Bible. And teaching the Bible is a blessed and needed ministry — but teaching God’s word must never be a substitute for DOING it ourselves! (Sunday School teacher, that is a special temptation you & I must avoid!)

God doesn’t want us to just read it, study it, memorize it, and teach it — but KEEP it! DO IT!

Another ILLUSTRATION you could use here would be something like this (and you can tailor this example a bit):

Suppose you left your child a note, that when they got home from school, you wanted them to load the dishwasher. Then you get home from work an hour or so after school, and you walk in and ask your child: “Did you see my note?” 

What if they said: 

— “Oh yeah Dad, I saw it. And I really read it! I read it all!”

— Or: “Yes Mom, I read that, and I really thought about what that meant. I think I have the meaning entirely!”

— Or: “Oh yes, I sure did read it! And I went and told all my friends about it! They all know that you told me to load the dishwasher!”

— Or: “I DID — and not only did I read it, I actually MEMORIZED it! Do you want to hear me quote it back to you?!”

What would your answer be? You know what it would be, right?

You didn’t want them to just “read” it, or “study” it, or “memorize” it, or even “teach it to others.” You just wanted them to DO IT — LOAD THE DISHWASHER!

And of course that’s the application here for us as Christians, isn’t it? God doesn’t want us to just read, study, memorize, teach His word — though all these things are GOOD, they are very good! — but they do not fulfill our responsibility towards His word. God wants us to “KEEP” His word; to DO IT!

— don’t just read that you should forgive your enemy, FORGIVE them! Do it!

— don’t just study about tithing; TITHE!

— don’t just memorize verses about witnessing; share Christ!

— don’t just teach others to be holy; YOU BE HOLY!

So again, challenge your group: read your Bibles every day this week — but challenge them not to “just” read it; but to read it and then seek to DO what God shows them. And if you already know something God wants you to do, that you are not doing, ask Him to help you “keep” it, DO IT this week! 

II. The Example to Avoid  (:3-4)

:3 “Your eyes have seen what the LORD has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you. 4 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.”

We talked about what happened at Baal-Peor a couple of weeks ago: God would not let Balaam curse Israel for Balak the Moabite, so Balaam came up with an alternate plan: he advised Balak to lure the Israelites to worship other gods, through immoral relationships with Moabite women. The Bible says that many of the Israelites fell for this trap, and 24,000 of them died as a result. 

So God says here, LEARN THE LESSON! Avoid the example of those who have disobeyed God, and who suffered for it. 

ILLUSTRATION:
Otto Von Bismark, a leader in Germany through most of the 1800s, wrote:

“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.”

You could POST that quote and discuss it, and make the point that this is what GOD is saying here: learn from the mistakes of others. Avoid the examples you’ve seen of those who have turned from God’s path, and who have suffered for it.

??? DISCUSSION/APPLICATION QUESTION???
“Can anyone share an example you saw, of someone who suffered for their sin, in a way that has kept you from falling into that same sin?”

(— For example, I know a family whose father is now dead, but when he was alive he had so many debts: credit cards maxed out, bill collectors, and so on. So several of his kids today don’t want credit cards, are very good with their money — because they saw what happened to their dad. They wanted to avoid his example.

— I’ve personally seen the destruction that pornography has wreaked upon some men and their families, and it has made me not even want to take the first “click” on one of those sites.

— Many do this with their parents drinking, or immorality, and other issues. They see the price they paid, and they learn that they do NOT want to follow that example. There are many instances you/your group can share. 

III. The Privilege to Appreciate (:5-8)

5 “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. 6 So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? 8 Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”

???DISCUSSION/APPLICATION QUESTION???

“Can you share a time when you traveled somewhere and realized how much you take for granted?”

(I’ve seen this numerous times: for example, I was on a mission trip in India, and one of the men was so excited that I gave him a very small amount of money to buy some cardboard that he could use to improve the tent he was using in the slum he lived in. I’ve been with a youth group in Mexico, and seen how the kids were astonished at how little the people there had; dirt floors and so on. We take so much for granted!)

But what we need to realize is that this is even more true SPIRITUALLY. Many of us have grown up in the church, with Bibles in our homes, and Christian parents. (One of my very first memories is of my mother reading me a Bible story.) 

We need to be thankful for the privileges God has given us spiritually. As Moses says here:

— (:7) What great nation is there that has a god so near to it as YHWH our God whenever we call on Him?

— (:8) “Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”

In other words, what nation has a God like ours, so close to us?

What nation has a WORD like the Word He has given us? 

There is no God like our God! There is no other word like this one! We need to realize the treasure we have; the privileges God has given us! 

ILLUSTRATION:

If you have the capability to do it, you might do a YouTube search for “Chinese Christians receive their first Bibles” and share the brief, one-minute video. It is so touching, as these Christians rush to get their own Bible, then weep, and kiss it, once they receive it. It reminds you of how blessed we are, and how much we take for granted. 

???APPLICATION???

“What are some ways we might show that we are taking God/His word for granted?”

(— not reading His word. Not memorizing it, using it. Not sharing it with others. Not going to church regularly to hear it preached and taught.  We take God for granted by not thanking Him for all He has done for us; by not worshiping Him and praying to Him daily; by not tithing what He has given us — and on and on. 

The point is, yes, Israel was greatly privileged — but God has blessed us as Christians today even more greatly, and given us tremendous privileges that people from all other times, and all over the world today, only WISH they had! Let’s make sure we don’t take these things for granted, but show that we appreciate who God is, and all He has done for us — especially spiritually in Christ, and especially in the gift of His word.  

IV. The Charge to Remember (:9, 15-20)

9 “Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.

:15 “So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 so that you do not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth. 19 And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.”

Moses admonition here in :9 reminds me of I Timothy 4:16 when Paul told Timothy: “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching.” “Pay close attention to yourself.” “Give heed to yourself,” Moses says here. The word “give heed” here is actually the same root, “shamar,” “keep” — but it is a passive/reflexive tense, which means “keep YOURSELF”! Don’t just keep God’s word, keep yourself! And how do you do that?

— He says “Do not forget the things which your eyes have seen.” 

— And not only that, he says: don’t let your CHILDREN/GRANDCHILDREN forget them either! “Make them known to your sons and your grandsons.” 

Again in the last section, :15+, Moses reminds them “watch yourselves carefully” — so again this idea of “guarding/keeping yourself” — and he specifically warns them against idolatry:

Verse 16 “do not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves …” and he lists all kinds of things: people, animals, and kind of creature, suns and planets, etc. 

He says in :19, do not be drawn away to worship and serve these. God gave them that warning for a reason: the whole time Israel would be in the Promised Land, until they were expelled in the Babylonian Captivity, they would fall prey to idols. And idolatry is absolutely forbidden, repeatedly by the Lord. It always leads us away from Him. 

But this isn’t just history:

???DISCUSSION/APPLICATION???

“What are some ways that we can violate God’s command against idolatry today?”

(— we can literally worship idols, as many in our world do. These are even becoming more common in the U.S.A. today, in Hindu temples, etc.)

— we can attempt to worship the one true God through idols. When Israel worshiped the Golden Calf, that wasn’t a foreign god; In Exodus 32:4 Aaron said “This is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” But it corrupted them.  You can’t worship even the true God through an image. This might apply to crucifixes, or even pictures of Jesus that we might gaze into. We need to beware even of of worshiping the true God, through the medium of images.

— I think we need to be careful even with the mini “Jesus figures” that many of us have seen. I know that no one would say that they “worship” these. But it treads really close to God’s command to avoid religious images. In fact, I think you could argue it steps all over it! 

There was a reason that God didn’t show Israel any “form” on Mt. Sinai. He is the invisible God. “God is spirit” as Jesus said in Matthew 4:24. 

ILLUSTRATION:

John Calvin has some very powerful things to say about this, in his “Institutes,” in a chapter devoted to “Impiety of Attributing a Visible Form to God.” In it he shares his famous quote: “the human heart is a perpetual factory of idols.” 

Other quotes from that chapter that you may want to use:

— “as often as any form is assigned to God, his glory is corrupted by an impious lie.”

— “when we teach that all human attempts to give a visible shape to God are vanity and lies, we do nothing more than state verbatim what the prophets taught.”

— “Not contented with spiritual understanding, they thought that images would give them a surer and nearer impression.”

(“Extra Credit”: if you want to read Calvin’s whole chapter on Idolatry, Chapter 17 of his Institutes, it is online at ccel.org )

A ???DISCUSSION QUESTION??? you might employ here:
“Why do you think Jesus didn’t leave behind any images of Himself?” — portraits or carvings or paintings of any kind?”

(Answers could include that He knows that we are prone to idolatry: John Calvin’s “the human heart is an idol factory.” We’re always looking to make idols out of things. He didn’t want us making idols out of pictures/images of Jesus. He wants us to worship Him by FAITH. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him,” Hebrews 11:6 says. God doesn’t want us to attempt to worship Him with images, but by faith in our heart. It’s always faith, not sight. You may be able to think of some more applications of it; there are many. 

So this whole last section (:15-20) is a reminder to avoid idolatry. But then at the end of it, God says a very poignant thing through Moses: “But YHWH has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.” All the other nations are worshiping idols, but God brought Israel “out of the iron furnace” to be His own special people. “The iron furnace” was a pretty good description of how they must have felt in Egypt, right — oppressed and afflicted, the Egyptians making them slaves, killing their children, and so on. But God brought them “OUT of the iron furnace,” to be His people. 

If you have time at the end you might use this:

??? DISCUSSION/APPLICATION QUESTION???

“Can you share a time when you felt like you were “in the iron furnace,” and God brought you out — like He did Israel here?

(Also can you share a primary lesson that you learned from that time “in the fire”?)

(Israel was “in the iron furnace” in Egypt, but God brought them out, and showed them that He was their Redeemer, their Savior. Many of us can share of times when we were “in the fire,” but God brought us out, and taught us different lessons, of how He is our Savior, Provider, Healer, and so on. Some of our group members may be “in the iron furnace” right now! Encourage them that God will bring them out too — and perhaps you can close with a time of prayer for members present or even those absent today because they are “in the iron furnace.” Let’s remember to pray for them too!)

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— These weekly lessons are based on content from Explore the Bible Adult Resources. The presentation is my own and has not been reviewed by Lifeway.

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