LEARN TO FEAR THE LORD

Deuteronomy 31:1-29

Key Verses 31:12-13

Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

In today’s passage, Moses gives his final instructions to the Israelites before his death and before they entered the land God promised. His main message to them was: listen to God’s word and learn to fear the Lord. May God help us to hear his word today and learn to fear him and remain in him. 

First, Be strong and courageous! (1-8)

Look at verses 1-2. “Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ‘I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, “You shall not cross the Jordan.”’” Moses was now 120 years old and God had told him that it was time for him to die. He could not lead the Israelites into the land God promised them. And in this passage Moses gives his final message to his flock. 

Look at verses 3-6. “3 The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said. 4 And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. 5 The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Moses reminded them again of the victories that God won for the people. God defeated Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites. Moses had been mentioning the victories against Sihon and Og since chapters 1 and 2 of Deuteronomy. Almost throughout this entire book Moses kept reminding them of their victories against Sihon and Og. He was emphasizing this point to remind them of God’s awesome and mighty power and his faithfulness. They were going into the land God promised them, but it wasn’t going to be easy. God gave them a mission to totally wipe out the idolatrous nations living there. Many of these nations were strong with fortified cities and large armies. But Moses encouraged them to not be afraid of them because God would give them the victory just as he had done to Sihon and Og. Moses encouraged them, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  

To live as Christians is to be engaged in a spiritual battle because we are aiming to claim the kingdom of God, and it is easy to become discouraged and afraid of failure, especially when we see how weak we are and feel the pressures of our limitations (e.g., youthful passions, financial worries, complacency, laziness). But we can be strong and courageous and overcome fear when we remember that God is faithful and he has promised to never forsake us or leave us. 

Moses’ words today help us to see God's faithfulness and repent of our unbelief and many excuses. God does not just tell us what to do and then send us out to do it on our own. No, as long as we stay with God, he stays with us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Even though I am so unfaithful and have so many weaknesses which easily discourage me, God guarantees victory when I have faith in him because he is faithful. Even to prepare this message, gave me a stomach ache for three days, because this is a hard message, and I'm so insecure and didn't look to God who is faithful. I was easily discouraged. But I learned that when I believe God's faithfulness, I can be strong and courageous. I can have full confidence in God who does his work and will surely work among us who believe. God will surely raise disciples from our campuses and make us fruitful when we believe.

After encouraging the Israelites, Moses also encouraged Joshua, his successor. Let’s read verses 7 and 8:  “7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Joshua was going to lead all the Israelites into the promised land. This was a huge job. Joshua had so far served as Moses’ assistant, but it was really scary to think that now he would have to lead the people without Moses there to guide him. What was he going to do now that his shepherd Moses was leaving him? But Moses encouraged Joshua to not be afraid or discouraged, because God himself would be with him and God would never leave him. We can overcome all the wrong fears and become strong and courageous when we believe in God who is faithful. 

Second, Listen and learn to fear the Lord (9-13)

Entering the Promised Land was guaranteed when they had faith in God. The real battle and issue was how the people would maintain themselves in the land. After encouraging the Israelites not to be afraid of the nations they would face in the Promised Land, Moses then taught them whom they should fear. 

Let’s read verses 9-13. “9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: ‘At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.’” 

Moses commanded that every seven years the people were to gather together and listen to the word of God in the presence of God. A lot happens and changes in 7 years. 7 years ago our ministry was still in Long Beach in a small converted house, and many of our coworkers here today were not yet with us. I had just graduated high school and met Jesus personally for the first time. I had no facial hair and not white hairs on my head. Shepherd Jonathon had a full head of hair seven years ago. Things have changed. Today, I am married to a beautiful wife and have a beautiful baby daughter, Noah Grace. Yet, even though this world is constantly changing, one thing should not change: the fear of the Lord. Every seven years the people were to gather together and listen to all the words of God’s law so that they and their children would learn to fear the Lord. Notice that Moses uses the word “learn”. The fear of the Lord is not something we are born with; it is something that we must learn. We must hear the word of God.

What is the fear of the Lord? The passage shows us that the fear of the Lord comes through hearing the word of God. When we hear the word of God we can open our spiritual eyes to see his truly awesome greatness. The word of God teaches us that God created the heavens and the earth by the power of his word. The Bible also teaches us how God saved us out of life of slavery to sin and death and called us to live as his holy people. God himself is holy. He cannot ignore sin, and yet God is also merciful and gracious. He wants so much for us to choose life and he provided the way for us to have life through his Son Jesus Christ. When we study the Bible we realize how amazing God is and we naturally learn to fear him. However, what happens when we neglect the word of God? If the years go by and we only superficially come to the word of God, then we completely lose sight of who God is and we no longer fear the Lord. We easily compromise with sin. God knew that the Israelites would easily forget about him unless the word of God was deeply planted in their hearts. God wanted the Israelites to keep his word in their hearts and on their minds all the time. To teach them how important this is, he arranged a nation-wide Bible conference every seven years for all Israel. 

The word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). The word of God works in us and teaches us to fear God. We must understand that what God says is true. The apostle Paul learned to fear the Lord through listening to God’s word. He confessed in Romans 7:7: “Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’” As Apostle Paul read God’s law, he saw clearly his own sin and his need to turn to God who holds judgment and salvation. And so he came to rely on Jesus and was absolute not to compromise with any sin at all. In the same way, when we hold on to the word of God we can have the fear of the Lord and remain in him. 

We need to learn fear of the Lord to remain in him. Jesus said, “Remain in my and my words. I am the vine, you are the branches; if a man remains in me he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (cf. John 15:5-6). Through fear of the Lord, a man avoids evil (Provs. 16:6). It is only when we fear the Lord that we can avoid evil and remain in Jesus because we know that we need his salvation. In Deuteronomy, God laid out clear choices, “Choose life or death,” “blessings or curses.” Of course, the Israelites said, “We choose life,” and hopefully we do to, because that is the right choice. However, it does not end there. We need to remain in Jesus and keep that choice daily. The one who learns to fear the Lord will remain in Jesus and receive his salvation.

Third, They will forsake me and break my covenant (14-29)

After Moses delivered his final words to the people, he and Joshua presented themselves before God so that God could commission Joshua as the new leaders. Then the Lord appeared to them in a pillar of cloud and spoke to Moses. Look at verses 16-22. “16 And the LORD said to Moses: ‘You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, “Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?” 18 And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods. 19 Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. 20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.’ 22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.”

This passage is a wake-up call. At the very end of the book of Deuteronomy, right before the people were going to enter the land God promised them, and after 40 years of training them, God said to Moses that they would fail. This is shocking. This was a really depressing message for Moses right before he died. God was honest with Moses. God knew the people. He knew how corrupt they were and how easily their hearts would go astray. We may think that these things will not happen to us. But are we really different from the Israelites? No. They were human beings, and we are human beings. We are the same. Yet even though they experienced God’s salvation powerfully, and even though they were trained by God for forty years and had Joshua and Moses, still they turned away from the Lord. They forgot to fear the Lord. The fact is that all of us are predisposed to turn away from God. What hope then do we have to remain faithful to God? 

Look again at verse 21. "And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants." God gave these words with an eye to the future so that future generations would learn and take God's word to heart. We are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, so we need to take this message to heart and not follow in the ways of our forefathers, who did not learn to fear the Lord and who did not teach their children to fear the Lord. We can learn from the past and not make the same mistakes. Not only so, but the word of God itself brings healing to our sin-sick souls. Whenever we listen to the word of God, God’s Spirit starts working inside of us and although we are predisposed to fall away from God, the word of God strengthens us and enables us to fear God and to obey God. We don’t have hope in ourselves. But God has hope for us and he gave us his word so that we could come to him and have life. 

This struck me personally because I became a father last week, by God’s grace. I was actually very scared to have a child, because I was afraid that I would fail to raise my children in the fear of the Lord. I know how sinful I am and I couldn’t be confident that I could help my children to overcome their sinful nature and this sinful world. But through this passage I realized that the key to fearing the Lord and raising my children to fear the Lord is to teach them the word of God faithfully. 

In verse 23 God encourages Joshua: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.” Joshua could easily be fatalistic about the Israelites and think that they are hopeless. But God encouraged him to be strong and courageous because God would be with him and God would fulfill his good purpose through Joshua. Regardless of how people respond, Joshua needs to have faith in God and serve God courageously with all his heart. 

In verses 24-29, Moses gives his closing announcements to the people. What did Moses say to them? Did he say words of comfort to them? No. He confronted their sin problems of rebellion and stubbornness. He knew that if they had been rebellious while he was with them, they would surely be rebellious once he was gone. Look at verse 29: “For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD and provoke him to anger by what your hands have made." This sounds like a really discouraging message, but it was to help them know who they are. What are we to do when we realize how sinful and rebellious we are? This passage clearly shows us that we need salvation. Without God’s mercy we are lost. What hope do sinful people like us have? This passage points us to the only hope of salvation, Jesus Christ. God provided Jesus as the answer to the problem of sin. 

We learn today to study the Bible deeply, again and again, and put it into our hearts, to learn to fear the Lord and to teach our children. May God give his word and help us to fear him and remain in Jesus.  

One Word: listen to the word of God and learn to fear him

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