Monday, October 10, 2022 Vespers - Sermon "Promise and Gift"

 2022-10-10 Monday of Third Week in Angels’ Tide 

Deuteronomy 9:1-22

Promise and Gift

In the name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

The First Lesson takes us into the midst of the second of three sermons by Moses that make up the bulk of the book of Deuteronomy.  They are written and spoken to Israel in 1406 BC. Israel will shortly cross the Jordan River and begin the process of taking possession of the Promised Land.   

Like any sermon worthy of our time, there is both Law and Gospel presented so that the listeners may be moved to repentance and faith.  Excitement is building amongst the people as it becomes clear that they will finally be allowed to emerge from the desert wanderings so that they can claim a land that will be theirs. 

The Promised Land has been in their thoughts since the beginning of their journey out of Egypt. Before the contest between the Lord God and the Pharoah’s hardness of heart began, God extended his promise of release and the Promised Land to Israel.  Exodus 6 says,

6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

The people did not believe then, but they certainly began to believe as God sent one ruinous event upon Egypt after another.  While Israelites were spared the grief, the Egyptians suffered physical ailments and pestilence.  They also lost drinkable water, crops, property, animals, and first-born sons. When the last and horrible plague came to an end, Pharaoh released Israel from their slavery. The Israelites believed God’s promise.  They were ready to go into the unknown. 

Because Israel consists of humans, and we sinful humans have the unique ability to twist things around, Israel went from going to the promised land to going to the land for which they are entitled. There even was this sentiment that the promised land was theirs because they deserve it.  The thinking continues down its crooked little path with thoughts like, “God saved us, therefore, we are righteous and deserve it.” 

They are wrong. Moses applies the law by telling them the truth.  They are not righteous by their own merit.  Not by any stretch of the imagination.  Nor do they deserve a thing.  

First, God takes the air out of their sails by telling them that they will soon possess the promised land, not because of their righteousness, but because God is punishing the occupants of the land for their wickedness.  There was plenty of wickedness too.  Idolatry, misuse of God’s name, dishonoring of parents, murder, theft, adultery, coveting. Some of the Canaanites were so skewed that they would even sacrifice their own children to appease the gods. 

Wicked indeed. God is punishing their wickedness with death and displacement. 

Second, God makes clear that Israel is no better than the Canaanites. In the power of the Holy Spirit, Moses says, 

7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8 Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.

If it were not for Moses’ intervention, Israel would be no more. 

Third, rebellion rose to such a level that as God is giving Moses the commandments and the additional 603 commands to live by, Israel has pressured Aaron to make an image of a calf out of gold and then to worship it. Then, they throw a big party around the calf.  

The ugly irony of it: As Israel is receiving the very instructions from God that will make them a distinctive and holy witness of the Lord God to the whole earth, Israel turns their back on the Lord who brought them out of Egypt.  Now there’s a fine example of how not to express gratitude.

But, wait! There is more. Israel did not learn it’s lesson and repent and then forever walk in perfect obedience to the Lord our God.  Moses reminds them, “At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath.”

So, no, Israel is not entitled.  They don’t deserve the gift of land they are about to take possession of. If they deserve anything, it’s to be handed back over to Egypt for another 400 years of slavery. 

The Scriptures attest to the glorious truth that the Lord God is not only just and righteous, but that He is merciful and kind too. The good news is that even though they do not deserve it, God is going to give Israel the Promised Land. The Lord will be with them every step of the way.  Their victories will be miraculous. And, in fact, they are miraculous, because God is making the victories happen. God holds forth on his promises.  Moses explains, 

 3 Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

The Promised Land, the Land of milk and honey, will be theirs, despite their sin.  The land is a gift. As is their very lives. As is their children. As is all the produce and livestock that they will receive and produce.  

As Christians, we see the Law accusing the sinner so that the sinner may repent. God wants repentant sinners to inhabit the Promised Land. The hope is that they will be particularly receptive to the embodiment of the Good News when the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, comes into their midst.  Israel is meant to be a light unto the nations.  They will bear that light in Jesus, born of Mary, yet Son of God, a beloved Son of David. 

Israel will learn, along with the rest of the world, that God intends for both Gentile and Jew to receive God’s forgiveness through the final and horrible sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  He dies for the sins of the world.  He dies so that we may have life.  He rises from the dead so that we know that sin, death, and the devil are finally defeated.  Through Jesus Christ, all people who confess his name as savior and Lord, will enjoy forgiveness now and eternal peace in the life to come. 

Israel did not earn the Promised Land. It is a promise and a gift. We do not earn our forgiveness and the Promise of eternal life. That too is a promise and a gift. 

In the name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.