WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.800 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:38.859 Praise be to you, O Lord. Teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees. I will not neglect your word. 00:00:38.859 --> 00:00:44.240 Thanks, Kirsty. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:59.280 So if you want to turn back there to page 204, we're going to be looking at chapters 27 and 28 with the help of Paul MacFarlane. Thanks, Paul. 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:06.579 Hi, everybody, and thanks for having me again. 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:13.859 Well, Kate and myself just finished reading Deuteronomy a couple of weeks ago in our daily reading plan. 00:01:14.659 --> 00:01:22.039 And as you know yourselves, as you've been going through, it's maybe not the first book that you'd point somebody to if you wanted them to find out about the Bible. 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:24.280 Certainly if you wanted them to know Jesus. 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:27.120 But since as Hebrews 1 verse 1 says, 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:32.600 In the past, God spoke to your ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:44.100 Then the law, which Kirsty was just reading and was referring to, given by God through the prophet Moses, as one of the chief ways in which God spoke, is definitely worth looking at. 00:01:44.099 --> 00:01:48.359 So just thought I'd say that in case there are some visitors and there are some visitors. 00:01:48.659 --> 00:01:51.140 So today we're looking at Deuteronomy 27 and 28. 00:01:51.559 --> 00:01:55.739 Now, if you haven't heard before, Deuteronomy, slightly different from the other books in the Pentateuch. 00:01:55.899 --> 00:02:02.299 The first five books, the law, although there's a degree of overlap with the summarizing and the repetition. 00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:06.280 Deuteronomy is framed a little bit like a legal contract. 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:15.500 It's the covenant agreement between God, Yahweh, Jehovah, however you choose to pronounce it, the one true and living God and his people. 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:27.419 Now, the book of Deuteronomy might be classified in the same ancient literary genre as other ancient contracts or treaties between rulers and their peoples. 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:34.979 Like the Hammurabi Code or their Syrian treaties, you've maybe seen the Hammurabi Stihl in some museums. 00:02:35.099 --> 00:02:36.219 I think it's in Louvre at the minute. 00:02:37.079 --> 00:02:38.359 But anyway, that's no concern. 00:02:39.239 --> 00:02:42.879 You can't get away with saying all poetry is the same. 00:02:43.379 --> 00:02:46.279 One person wrote one poem and the rest just copied them. 00:02:46.379 --> 00:02:47.759 Think the original was Seamus Heaney. 00:02:48.359 --> 00:02:51.659 Or all biographies are the same, they're just copies of David Beckham. 00:02:51.939 --> 00:02:57.179 And you can't get away with saying that every ancient Near East treaty is the same either. 00:02:58.339 --> 00:03:04.479 Now, the section blessings and curses comes just before the end of the contract when witnesses are called. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:06.599 And that comes at the end of chapter 30. 00:03:07.019 --> 00:03:14.859 And what we have here in these two chapters is basically the warning section in the rental agreement for God's land. 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:23.699 Now, in my rental agreement with our house, we also have a similar section on blessings and curses just before you have the signatures at the end. 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:26.099 And if you don't keep them, you're going to get chucked out. 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:29.259 You're going to be exiled from your property or from the landlord's property. 00:03:29.859 --> 00:03:35.060 And if you're renting, I recommend that you have a look at your terms and agreements as well, because you never know what you might be faced with. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:37.579 Well, anyway, obviously it's not the same. 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:38.459 It's not quite the same. 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:41.879 But we are here at the end of a contract. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:49.640 And after the terms of proper behaviour on God's land, God warns what will happen if they do otherwise. 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:55.040 Now, before we read some of it, just also to say that here we have the contract blueprint. 00:03:55.879 --> 00:03:57.540 As you know, they're not actually there yet. 00:03:58.120 --> 00:03:59.659 They're just outside the promised land. 00:03:59.659 --> 00:04:07.020 And so at this point, before they get the keys handed over, so to speak, they're presented with a contract which they will sign upon entering. 00:04:07.979 --> 00:04:13.759 And that takes place in Joshua chapter 8 and again in Joshua 24 when the covenant is renewed. 00:04:14.579 --> 00:04:15.639 And you can read about that later. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:19.800 That's where it's all what we read about here is all actually acted out or done. 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:24.060 Now, chapters 27 and 28, as Alex was saying, is quite long. 00:04:24.620 --> 00:04:26.699 It might take about 15 minutes to read it all. 00:04:26.699 --> 00:04:29.620 Otherwise, it would be good to read through and it's good to do long readings. 00:04:30.599 --> 00:04:40.159 But we're going to read through some sections of chapter 28 and summarize the rest and the best and the worst bits before hopefully coming to look at the point of it all. 00:04:40.539 --> 00:04:43.659 So have chapter 7 open in front of you, or chapter 27, sorry. 00:04:44.500 --> 00:04:47.039 Now, I'll just summarize the first few verses. 00:04:47.180 --> 00:04:51.180 The section begins with Moses and the elders commanding the people. 00:04:51.180 --> 00:04:56.659 They're saying, when you cross over the Jordan, when you come to enter the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey, 00:04:57.259 --> 00:04:59.699 keep all the commands that you've been given. 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:05.800 And then Moses says, when you pass over, they're to set up these great stones, these great monuments, 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:09.120 cover them with plaster and write the law on them. 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:13.159 Then there's also separately, it might not be apparent the first time you read it, 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:19.580 but there's also separate to that, there's the building of an altar using stones from the field, 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:26.080 just as Abraham would have done almost half a millennium ago, in the very same position, 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:30.960 in the very same location, where God first promised him the land for his descendants. 00:05:31.960 --> 00:05:34.500 So we'll read from verse 9 to verse 12, first of all. 00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:38.199 Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:40.939 Be silent, Israel, and listen. 00:05:41.740 --> 00:05:44.120 You have now become the people of the Lord your God. 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:49.259 Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today. 00:05:49.259 --> 00:05:52.360 On the same day, Moses commanded the people, 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:57.879 When you've crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, 00:05:58.620 --> 00:06:01.459 Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 00:06:02.099 --> 00:06:05.139 And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses, 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:08.480 Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:13.200 And then so in Joshua, we read of these two groups of tribes, 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:17.180 Divided at the feet of the two mountains, to the north and to the south, 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:23.000 And then next, what we have is a list of twelve curses for specific evils, 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:28.420 To which the people, all twelve tribes, respond by shouting, Amen. 00:06:29.580 --> 00:06:34.840 And now these twelve curses really are separate from the groupings of blessings and curses 00:06:34.840 --> 00:06:38.080 that we see in the next chapter, that come in chapter 28. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:43.780 So here we have curses for idolatry, dishonoring parents, envy or stealing, 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:48.259 Malicious deceit and withholding justice, sexual immorality, and murder. 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:51.560 Now, in first reading, they might seem fairly random, 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:57.840 but if you look closely, they're all interestingly within the context of secrecy, aren't they? 00:06:58.200 --> 00:07:00.840 Setting up an idol in secret, doing certain things in secret, 00:07:00.840 --> 00:07:05.840 or secret sins, or something that you might seem to otherwise get away with. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:10.419 It's the kind of thing that perhaps would be very hard to make a case for in court. 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:13.079 Like, it's kind of hard for a blind man to say, 00:07:13.159 --> 00:07:16.599 That's the man that led me off the road, because obviously he can't see him. 00:07:16.799 --> 00:07:21.060 Or the setting up an idol in secret the night before, somebody hasn't seen him. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:23.539 So these are in the context of secrecy. 00:07:23.540 --> 00:07:28.620 So basically, for the sneaky brute who likes to find a way around all the system 00:07:28.620 --> 00:07:31.319 and all the laws that have been given in the previous chapters, 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:35.920 if the law from the previous chapters doesn't find you out, 00:07:36.400 --> 00:07:37.840 then you'll be cursed instead. 00:07:39.260 --> 00:07:41.500 Twelve curses for the twelve tribes. 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:45.120 The complete and perfect judgment of the law. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.660 Then finally in verse 26, 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:52.160 Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out. 00:07:52.780 --> 00:07:55.959 So the intention here with these curses is that nothing is left out. 00:07:56.699 --> 00:07:57.740 The law is completed. 00:07:58.340 --> 00:07:59.100 That's the intention. 00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:02.079 So then we'll move on and look a bit more at chapter 8. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:08.079 In chapter 28, we have the blessings and the curses proper for the agreement. 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:10.699 Now rather than to supplement the law, 00:08:11.259 --> 00:08:13.819 as the previous twelve curses did in chapter 27, 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:16.659 then chapters 28, Curses and Blessings, 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:22.659 refer to the whole covenant relationship between Yahweh and his people in the land. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.120 Now we'll read the first 19 verses of chapter 28, 00:08:26.540 --> 00:08:28.740 and then I'll summarize the following few paragraphs 00:08:28.740 --> 00:08:31.060 and read the couple of final verses. 00:08:31.379 --> 00:08:32.860 So 20 of verse 1, let's read it. 00:08:34.299 --> 00:08:36.220 If you obey fully the Lord your God 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:39.580 and carefully follow all his commands that I give you today, 00:08:40.379 --> 00:08:43.319 the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth, 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:47.660 all the blessings will come in you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God. 00:08:48.260 --> 00:08:50.980 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 00:08:51.660 --> 00:08:55.100 The fruit of your womb will be blessed and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock, 00:08:55.780 --> 00:08:58.100 the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:00.920 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 00:09:01.660 --> 00:09:04.180 You will be blessed when you come in and when you go out. 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:08.620 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:12.019 They will come at you in one direction and flee from you in seven. 00:09:12.979 --> 00:09:16.579 The Lord will send a blessing in your barns and in everything you put your hand to. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.879 The Lord your God will bless you in the land he has given you. 00:09:20.539 --> 00:09:23.659 The Lord will establish you as his holy people as he promised you an oath. 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:27.319 If you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him, 00:09:28.160 --> 00:09:33.000 then also the peoples of earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord and they will fear you. 00:09:33.680 --> 00:09:36.480 The Lord will grant your abundant prosperity and the fruit of your womb, 00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:38.500 the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground, 00:09:38.920 --> 00:09:41.280 in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. 00:09:42.060 --> 00:09:43.180 The Lord will open the heavens, 00:09:43.760 --> 00:09:48.060 the storehouse of his bounty to send rain on your land and season and to bless all the work of your hands. 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:51.520 You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:54.400 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:59.259 If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, 00:09:59.659 --> 00:10:02.019 you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:06.819 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today to the right or to the left, 00:10:07.419 --> 00:10:08.919 following other gods and serving them. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.740 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:17.659 and decrees that I am giving you today, 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:20.319 all these curses will come on you and overtake you. 00:10:21.199 --> 00:10:23.319 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:25.900 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:30.220 The fruit of your womb will be cursed and the crops of your land and the calves of your herds 00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:31.800 and the lambs of your flocks. 00:10:32.460 --> 00:10:35.160 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. 00:10:35.920 --> 00:10:37.300 Verses 20 to 24, 00:10:37.680 --> 00:10:41.379 basically you'll be cursed with confusion and rebuke and everything you put your hand to. 00:10:41.920 --> 00:10:43.540 The Lord will plague you with diseases, 00:10:43.800 --> 00:10:44.600 wasting disease, 00:10:44.920 --> 00:10:45.960 with fever and inflammation, 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:46.900 with scorching heat, 00:10:47.280 --> 00:10:47.700 with drought, 00:10:47.860 --> 00:10:48.760 with blight and mildew, 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:50.760 which he will plague you until you perish. 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:52.379 25 and 26. 00:10:52.659 --> 00:10:54.220 You will be defeated by your enemies, 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:56.819 fleeing from them in seven directions, 00:10:56.819 --> 00:11:00.319 and you will become a thing of terror to all the kingdoms on earth. 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:03.399 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, 00:11:03.860 --> 00:11:05.519 and there will be no one to frighten them away. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.100 27 to 29. 00:11:07.740 --> 00:11:08.700 The plagues of Egypt, 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:09.379 tumors, 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:10.679 festering sores, 00:11:10.860 --> 00:11:12.080 incurable skin diseases, 00:11:12.299 --> 00:11:12.639 madness, 00:11:13.419 --> 00:11:14.139 mental terror. 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:16.679 You will be unsuccessful in everything you do. 00:11:16.779 --> 00:11:17.439 Day after day, 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:20.299 you will be oppressed and robbed with no one to rescue you. 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:21.860 30 to 34. 00:11:22.059 --> 00:11:23.139 You will lose your crops, 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:24.240 the wine, 00:11:24.439 --> 00:11:24.960 your olives, 00:11:25.199 --> 00:11:26.699 to locusts and worms and diseases, 00:11:26.819 --> 00:11:27.740 your animals slaughtered, 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:28.519 your donkey stolen, 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:29.939 sheep given to your enemies, 00:11:30.059 --> 00:11:33.019 your own home that you build will be stolen before you get to live in it. 00:11:33.319 --> 00:11:35.539 Your wife will be taken away before your wedding day. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:37.939 Your children will go into captivity, 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:39.799 and you will wear out your eyes, 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:41.840 watching for them day after day, 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:43.379 powerless to lift a hand. 00:11:43.379 --> 00:11:46.179 Nothing but cruel oppression all your days. 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:48.679 The sights that you will see will drive you mad. 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:53.240 You will go into exile to worship other gods of wood and stone, 00:11:53.620 --> 00:11:56.120 to a nation far away from the ends of the earth, 00:11:56.460 --> 00:11:57.539 which will have no pity. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.259 They will besiege all the cities and the land that the Lord has given you. 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:03.100 53 to 58. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:05.939 The siege will be so terrible and so awful, 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:10.679 that even the most gentle will be selfish and unsharing in the cannibalism of the dead. 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:13.399 You will become a thing of terror, 00:12:14.099 --> 00:12:14.719 a byword, 00:12:15.139 --> 00:12:18.159 and an object of ridicule among the peoples where the Lord will drive you. 00:12:18.579 --> 00:12:20.179 And these curses will come on you, 00:12:20.739 --> 00:12:22.659 because you did not obey the Lord your God, 00:12:22.719 --> 00:12:24.899 and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 00:12:25.659 --> 00:12:26.879 The curses will be a sign, 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:28.199 and a wonder to you, 00:12:28.539 --> 00:12:29.659 and your descendants forever. 00:12:29.659 --> 00:12:31.740 Let's read the last two verses. 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:36.459 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky 00:12:36.459 --> 00:12:38.639 will be left but few in number, 00:12:38.939 --> 00:12:41.199 because you did not obey the Lord your God. 00:12:42.100 --> 00:12:45.259 Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, 00:12:45.659 --> 00:12:47.759 so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.980 You will be uprooted for the land you are anything to possess. 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:54.879 Well, let's just pray a little bit about it before we think about these verses. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:57.740 Father, we thank you for your word. 00:12:58.500 --> 00:12:59.720 We thank you that it is truth. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.779 And we thank you that, as we heard earlier, 00:13:01.940 --> 00:13:03.680 that, Lord, how we see you, 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:04.720 how we keep our way pure, 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:06.759 how we know about you is through your word itself. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:08.740 And this indeed is your truth, 00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:10.279 even though it was written so many years ago. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:11.840 And, Father, we pray that as we look at it, 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:13.100 try to understand it, 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:16.460 and understand it in the context that you will teach us what you would have us to know. 00:13:16.460 --> 00:13:23.220 And, Father, if there's any thoughts in us that would be just in rebellion 00:13:23.220 --> 00:13:25.960 to kind of hearing what you would have to say, 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:29.259 or, Father, if we find it difficult to accept, 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.379 we pray that you would teach what your word says. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:33.700 Also, if there's things I'm saying that's not true, 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:34.900 that you would take those away as well. 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:37.680 And, Father, that you would just have us learn what you'd want us to know. 00:13:37.820 --> 00:13:39.660 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:13:39.659 --> 00:13:46.939 Well, in thinking about these verses, the blessings and curses here, 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:51.740 it might be good to look at it under three headings of things that we see about God. 00:13:52.839 --> 00:13:56.500 But first of all, just to mention that since, as I was praying about the context, 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:02.000 since this is a contract of blessings and curses for Israel, 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:05.360 it doesn't directly apply to us. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:10.440 That means that, it doesn't mean that we have been cursed by God if we are suffering. 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:16.220 All suffering, I suppose, of course, comes from the original and the general curse 00:14:16.220 --> 00:14:19.039 that the whole creation falls under because of sin. 00:14:19.860 --> 00:14:26.120 But we, as Christians, need to be very careful about declaring that some suffering in our lives 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:32.720 or in someone else's life comes as a direct judgment and a direct curse from God because of sin. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:37.420 So, anyway, the first point is that God is sovereign. 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:42.300 Now, that means, in opening, I suppose, that God is not a dictator. 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:48.680 We tend to think of a dictator as someone who just makes rules or makes laws and enforces them. 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:50.480 Now, that's really just authority. 00:14:51.060 --> 00:14:52.259 There's nothing wrong with that. 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:54.240 If you don't like that, then you've got an authority problem. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:15:04.120 But a dictator, by enforcing the law, tries to remove the option or the opportunity or the freedom to break the law. 00:15:05.379 --> 00:15:09.560 He's into pre-crime prevention, absolute control. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:12.460 Now, God, on the other hand, is the king. 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:15.440 He is the sovereign who operates like a loving father. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:20.399 He allows the opportunity to sin by not removing the freedom. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:26.159 But, in the end, all sin and rebellion will be punished because he is sovereign. 00:15:27.379 --> 00:15:31.860 Now, when we look at the curses, we see that God declares himself not only as the owner of the land, 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:38.340 but he declares himself as the sovereign king of the land and the sovereign king over all nature, over the whole creation. 00:15:38.939 --> 00:15:40.039 So, let's look at the verses here. 00:15:41.220 --> 00:15:43.939 He has power over the harvest, verse 11 and 12. 00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:47.220 He has authority over the crops, the rain, verse 24. 00:15:47.560 --> 00:15:51.100 The growth of the olives and the grapes, 39 and 40. 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:56.580 He has authority over the insects, like the locusts, 38 and 42. 00:15:57.140 --> 00:16:02.940 He has control over our health and even our mental well-being, verses 28 and 34. 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:07.400 He has control over fertility and childbirth, verse 4 and verse 18. 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:14.019 Now, also as a sovereign king, he has authority over all mankind and all the nations of the earth. 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:19.899 Israel could go from being a people who had been rescued by God, 00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:24.600 and there's a number of verses here that refer to being rescued from Egypt. 00:16:24.959 --> 00:16:30.639 It could go from a people who had been rescued by God to a people being hunted by God, by other nations. 00:16:31.019 --> 00:16:31.819 Verse 39. 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:37.379 The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swapping down, 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:40.200 a nation whose language you do not understand. 00:16:41.300 --> 00:16:43.860 Now, I remember watching an episode of Human Planet. 00:16:44.780 --> 00:16:49.700 It's a bit more, it's a bit better than Planet Earth, because at least it has people in it, and people aren't all evil. 00:16:50.100 --> 00:16:53.540 But I remember watching an episode of Human Planet, and it's about Mongolia, 00:16:54.140 --> 00:16:57.380 and the hunters, they each would have an eagle. 00:16:57.379 --> 00:17:02.139 And the plan was that they would keep it for a year and train it to hunt foxes. 00:17:02.939 --> 00:17:05.119 And anyway, they would have the eagle perched in their wrist, 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:09.160 and they would ride up to a vantage point on one of the mountains. 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:10.900 They'd spy out the fox. 00:17:11.380 --> 00:17:14.339 Presumably the fox might see them too, but because they were so far away, 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:16.339 the fox probably wouldn't be too concerned. 00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:20.640 But they would spy out the fox, and then they would lift the face mask off the eagle, 00:17:21.059 --> 00:17:24.920 loose its feet, and let it fly and swoop down and attack the prey. 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:28.180 Now, the eagle's doing the attacking, but it's the hunter that sent it. 00:17:28.740 --> 00:17:32.019 And in a similar way, God says that he has control over the nations, 00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:35.539 just like maybe the hunter might send the eagle to swoop down and a prey. 00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:39.539 And the foreign language means that basically this eagle that's coming 00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:43.100 isn't going to pay any attention to your bargaining or your cries for mercy. 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:47.300 So Lord is sovereign over all the affairs of this world, 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.320 over our health, over the harvest, over our produce, over the nations. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:57.839 He's sovereign throughout creation in every aspect of our lives. 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:02.000 Now, that doesn't mean, of course, as I was saying in terms of the dictator, 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.899 that everything that happens is fatalistically planned 00:18:04.899 --> 00:18:06.700 and couldn't have happened any other way, 00:18:07.439 --> 00:18:11.299 but that in the end, everything will be brought under the rule 00:18:11.299 --> 00:18:15.839 of his judgment and justice as his law is brought to all. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:21.339 Now, the curses here function as a rather severe warning 00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:28.240 of what it would be like to break faith with this covenant God 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:29.959 who is faithful to them. 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:31.939 God is long-suffering. 00:18:32.679 --> 00:18:34.639 He's forgiving and gracious. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:40.640 And so even when it comes to the time when Israel is going to be exiled because of sin, 00:18:41.020 --> 00:18:42.580 God puts it off because of his mercy. 00:18:43.300 --> 00:18:46.780 But the sad reality is that we know from history 00:18:46.780 --> 00:18:49.860 that this is actually what happened to Israel in the end. 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:52.960 What was in the beginning a warning 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:55.400 comes to be actual history, 00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:58.200 the events that are played out in the course of history. 00:18:58.200 --> 00:18:59.940 The unfruitfulness, 00:19:00.779 --> 00:19:01.340 the famine, 00:19:02.220 --> 00:19:02.779 the sieges, 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:04.120 the destruction, 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:05.480 the exile, 00:19:06.140 --> 00:19:07.279 they all come to pass 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:09.340 because God is sovereign. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:12.440 So we learn that God is sovereign. 00:19:13.100 --> 00:19:16.340 The second thing we want to think about is that actually God is a God of love. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.240 Now, a simple cut and paste and a word count on the computer, 00:19:20.420 --> 00:19:21.299 which isn't very difficult, 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.240 will show you that there are almost five times as much material 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:28.339 given to the curses than there are to the blessings. 00:19:28.940 --> 00:19:30.220 And so the knee-jerk reaction, 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:31.299 the instinctive reaction, 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.779 is to say and to wonder. 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:36.960 Now, if God on one hand is holding out the promised land and all the blessings, 00:19:37.579 --> 00:19:39.640 then why is there the need, on the other hand, 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:40.980 for so many nasty curses? 00:19:41.859 --> 00:19:44.160 Is this just fear-mongering and manipulation? 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:47.500 How can we say that God is love? 00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:51.039 Now, well, I made a joke at the start about the rental agreement, 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.519 but thinking again of the illustration of a rental agreement, 00:19:54.099 --> 00:19:55.160 you have a wealthy landowner, 00:19:55.819 --> 00:19:56.720 goes into the slum. 00:19:57.700 --> 00:19:59.480 That's not how I got my rental agreement. 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:01.440 But the wealthy landowner goes into the slum, 00:20:02.059 --> 00:20:05.039 finds someone who is enslaved and in all sorts of trouble, 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:06.779 takes pity on them, 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:08.720 buys them out of their debt, 00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:10.220 deals with their problems. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.039 After a while, it comes to the point that the wealthy landowner 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:14.839 secures a house for them to live in. 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:19.420 The previous tenant was due to be evicted for all sorts of illegal activity. 00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:22.160 And so he's going to be evicted. 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:24.620 And the landowner comes to the tenant, this new friend, 00:20:24.619 --> 00:20:25.139 and he says, 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:28.159 you can live here free of charge. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.259 I'll give everything you need. 00:20:30.320 --> 00:20:31.180 I'll provide for you. 00:20:31.580 --> 00:20:33.340 And you can stay here for as long as you want. 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:38.160 I just need you to sign a contract before I hand over the keys. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:41.860 Because I can't have you doing all sorts of illegal stuff and all the rest, 00:20:42.580 --> 00:20:44.200 just like the previous guy did. 00:20:44.320 --> 00:20:47.320 And I'd have to evict you and I'd have to press charges if that kind of thing happened. 00:20:48.360 --> 00:20:52.500 Now would you say that the man in the story was loving because of all that he had done? 00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:56.740 Or was he cruel because of the conditions that he imposes? 00:20:57.460 --> 00:20:58.319 What do you think? 00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:00.380 Surely we'd say that he was loving. 00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:04.240 How much more can we say this for God? 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.500 God offers the people of Israel, 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:09.539 the people he had brought out of Ur through Abraham, 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:11.220 rescued out of Egypt, 00:21:11.819 --> 00:21:12.700 led through the wilderness. 00:21:13.380 --> 00:21:16.720 He offers them a promised land flowing with milk and honey, 00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:19.160 a land of prosperity and freedom. 00:21:20.120 --> 00:21:21.740 He says elsewhere in Exodus 19, 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:42.319 Now is that not an act of love? 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:45.319 Well maybe we can accept this as love, 00:21:45.420 --> 00:21:47.240 but that might bring us on to a similar question then. 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:48.640 Is love conditional? 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:54.180 Well we could say that an act of love in isolation might be unconditional, 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:56.259 but to have a loving relationship, 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:57.560 surely it has to be conditional. 00:21:58.320 --> 00:22:00.820 It sounds nice to say that God's love is unconditional, 00:22:01.280 --> 00:22:04.100 but the biblical reality is that when we explore it more, 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:04.880 that it's not really. 00:22:05.800 --> 00:22:06.940 God's love is impartial, 00:22:07.580 --> 00:22:08.800 he doesn't show favouritism, 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:10.480 but it's not unconditional. 00:22:11.520 --> 00:22:13.360 When we think of unconditional love, 00:22:13.940 --> 00:22:14.940 what we think of, 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:15.740 or what we might mean, 00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:17.720 is that God's love for us doesn't depend 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:19.720 on something we have done previously. 00:22:20.339 --> 00:22:21.880 We can't ever get to the point 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:23.180 where we can earn it, 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:26.079 either before or after we have experienced it. 00:22:26.860 --> 00:22:30.500 But the idea that somehow God will continue to love us 00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:31.519 in a relationship, 00:22:32.299 --> 00:22:33.579 no matter what we will do, 00:22:33.779 --> 00:22:35.759 or no matter what we can do, 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:37.880 isn't actually all biblical. 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:40.600 Now can you imagine a child, 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:42.019 we'll say a teenager, 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:43.400 because they're easier targets, 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:44.940 asking the parent, 00:22:45.560 --> 00:22:46.200 do you love me? 00:22:46.940 --> 00:22:48.660 Will you always love me? 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:51.040 Will we always have a loving relationship? 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:53.060 And the parent says, yes. 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:54.720 And the teenager says, 00:22:54.780 --> 00:22:56.360 well, would you still love me, 00:22:56.420 --> 00:22:58.340 or would we still have a loving relationship, 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:01.820 if I despised you and everything that you'd done for me? 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:03.980 If I turned my back on you, 00:23:04.060 --> 00:23:05.960 and spat on the ground every time your name was mentioned? 00:23:06.740 --> 00:23:09.740 If I rid every reminder of you from my life, 00:23:09.819 --> 00:23:11.319 and hoped every day that you would die? 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:15.180 If I took great pleasure in breaking your heart? 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:18.539 Do you think then that we still have a loving relationship? 00:23:19.059 --> 00:23:19.640 What do you think? 00:23:20.940 --> 00:23:23.259 Well, then you don't really love me, do you? 00:23:24.059 --> 00:23:25.100 Because if you loved me, 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:26.480 you'd love me no matter what we do, 00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:28.600 and our relationship would always be the same. 00:23:29.900 --> 00:23:31.400 What God is saying to the Israelites, 00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:33.319 is that a matter of fact, 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:35.480 because I have loved you so much, 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:36.899 provided for you, 00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:38.439 cared for your needs, 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:40.679 and that I hold in my hand before you 00:23:40.679 --> 00:23:42.000 the very end of your salvation, 00:23:42.419 --> 00:23:44.599 and entry into the promised land full of blessing, 00:23:45.939 --> 00:23:47.339 because I have loved you so much, 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:50.639 I only expect that you be faithful, 00:23:51.059 --> 00:23:52.299 and love me for it. 00:23:53.439 --> 00:23:55.439 And if you turn your back and curse me, 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:56.639 in disobedience, 00:23:57.159 --> 00:23:58.179 then I will curse you, 00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:00.179 and utterly destroy you. 00:24:00.180 --> 00:24:04.940 Now we're not talking here about perfect keeping of the law. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:07.279 The whole sacrificial system, 00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:08.320 and the legal system, 00:24:08.660 --> 00:24:12.019 was put in place to deal with pretty much nearly every variation of sin. 00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:15.320 What we're talking about here is covenant unfaithfulness, 00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:17.880 complete disdain, 00:24:18.620 --> 00:24:20.779 and hatred for the very relationship, 00:24:21.580 --> 00:24:23.120 like cursing a friend on the face, 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:24.779 burning a contract, 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:27.860 burning the contract in front of the generous landlord. 00:24:27.859 --> 00:24:30.019 And in Jeremiah's day, 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:31.439 that's exactly what happened actually. 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:32.919 Jeremiah 36, 00:24:33.619 --> 00:24:35.859 right before the exile, 00:24:36.659 --> 00:24:38.439 Jeremiah writes out the words of the Lord, 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:39.679 and sends them to Jehoiakim, 00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:40.319 the king of Judah. 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:42.919 And as each paragraph is read, 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:44.039 he snips off a little bit, 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:45.059 and he throws it in the fire. 00:24:46.099 --> 00:24:47.779 God says in Jeremiah 36, 00:24:48.379 --> 00:24:49.359 I will bring in them, 00:24:49.939 --> 00:24:51.219 and in those living in Jerusalem, 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:52.079 and the people of Judah, 00:24:52.179 --> 00:24:54.439 every disaster I pronounced against them, 00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:56.259 because they have not listened. 00:24:56.259 --> 00:24:59.339 See, without conditional love, 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:01.379 you can't have a relationship. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:04.799 You can have acts of unconditional love, 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:06.359 but without conditions, 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:08.079 you can't have a mutual relationship. 00:25:09.379 --> 00:25:10.000 God is sovereign. 00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:11.660 God is love. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:13.140 Finally, 00:25:13.700 --> 00:25:14.500 he is our God. 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:16.900 Now it might seem kind of funny, 00:25:17.059 --> 00:25:18.579 but the question is, 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:18.960 I suppose, 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:20.819 how do you go from a God who makes a covenant, 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:22.400 with an ancient people, 00:25:22.700 --> 00:25:23.460 to be their God, 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:24.259 their provider, 00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:25.519 their protector, 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:27.299 the one who sustains them, 00:25:27.339 --> 00:25:27.940 and keeps them, 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:29.140 to us today? 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:30.480 Now, 00:25:30.539 --> 00:25:30.619 well, 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:31.500 the old covenant, 00:25:32.099 --> 00:25:32.900 it failed, 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:36.000 because the relationship was between God, 00:25:36.220 --> 00:25:37.279 and the people of Israel. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:38.960 Jerusalem, 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:41.059 if you think of Matthew chapter 5, 00:25:41.140 --> 00:25:42.500 Jerusalem was the city and the hill, 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:44.059 the light to the world, 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:45.440 which apparently could not be hidden. 00:25:46.140 --> 00:25:47.279 But the light of God, 00:25:47.339 --> 00:25:48.460 was hidden under a bowl, 00:25:48.900 --> 00:25:50.200 because of Jerusalem's sin, 00:25:50.779 --> 00:25:52.400 because of Israel's unfaithfulness. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:54.120 Israel, 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:56.280 as a nation of human beings, 00:25:56.780 --> 00:25:57.880 just like we would be, 00:25:58.540 --> 00:25:59.500 were prone to wander, 00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:00.140 and feel, 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:01.000 and fall. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:03.380 It wasn't their fate, 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:04.980 as if they had no choice. 00:26:05.460 --> 00:26:06.420 Many of the individuals, 00:26:06.540 --> 00:26:07.340 throughout the history, 00:26:07.660 --> 00:26:08.120 of Israel, 00:26:08.259 --> 00:26:09.380 followed and honoured God. 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:11.180 But as a nation of Israel, 00:26:11.300 --> 00:26:12.180 it turned its back, 00:26:12.300 --> 00:26:12.920 on its God, 00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:13.880 and its very provider, 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:14.820 and protector, 00:26:15.320 --> 00:26:16.240 and the one who saved them, 00:26:16.280 --> 00:26:16.740 out of Egypt. 00:26:16.740 --> 00:26:18.500 As such, 00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:19.819 Israel, 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:21.640 also represents, 00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:23.019 humankind as a whole. 00:26:24.059 --> 00:26:24.960 The awful curses, 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:26.980 the sad history which followed, 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:28.700 they're not written, 00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:30.680 so that we can pass judgment, 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.200 and pass judgment, 00:26:32.620 --> 00:26:33.099 on Israel. 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:35.279 It's the same choice, 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:35.859 for all mankind. 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:38.059 Granted the highest, 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:39.180 possible privilege, 00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:40.960 an intimate relationship, 00:26:41.120 --> 00:26:41.519 with God, 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:42.500 provision, 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:43.720 protection, 00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:45.000 salvation. 00:26:46.120 --> 00:26:47.019 As human beings, 00:26:47.120 --> 00:26:48.059 we naturally choose, 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:48.759 to take advantage, 00:26:48.860 --> 00:26:49.900 of the freedom given to us, 00:26:50.299 --> 00:26:50.759 to sin. 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:52.700 To disobey. 00:26:53.500 --> 00:26:54.440 To turn our back, 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:54.839 on God. 00:26:55.220 --> 00:26:56.120 The very one, 00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:57.059 who gave us life, 00:26:57.440 --> 00:26:57.799 itself. 00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:00.620 Then our own reaction, 00:27:01.059 --> 00:27:01.900 is to blame God, 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:02.539 for not, 00:27:02.900 --> 00:27:03.600 being a dictator. 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:05.660 As if it was his fault, 00:27:05.740 --> 00:27:06.640 for actually allowing us, 00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:07.640 to mess up our whole lives, 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:08.259 to begin with. 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:10.259 See love, 00:27:10.860 --> 00:27:11.640 has conditions, 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:12.620 and freedom. 00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:14.839 But we can't keep them. 00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:16.400 And that's why, 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.660 they get the famous expression, 00:27:17.779 --> 00:27:18.620 we always hurt the ones, 00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:19.000 we love. 00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:20.779 But thankfully, 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:23.000 all our relationships, 00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:24.819 don't have to end there, 00:27:24.819 --> 00:27:26.339 with a series of disappointments, 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:27.519 collected hurts, 00:27:28.140 --> 00:27:28.779 broken hearts, 00:27:29.360 --> 00:27:29.940 and grudges. 00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:31.839 That brings us back, 00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:32.640 to Hebrews 1. 00:27:33.700 --> 00:27:34.460 In the past, 00:27:35.079 --> 00:27:36.279 God spoke to our ancestors, 00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:37.180 through the prophets, 00:27:37.299 --> 00:27:38.079 at many times, 00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:39.420 and in various ways. 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:40.640 But in these last days, 00:27:41.120 --> 00:27:42.160 he has spoken to us, 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:43.039 through his son. 00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:45.720 Because of grace, 00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:48.680 which all comes through the cross, 00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:50.319 from the beginning of creation, 00:27:50.620 --> 00:27:51.819 right up until the very end. 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:53.539 Because of grace, 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:55.039 the relationship, 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:56.259 between us and God, 00:27:56.740 --> 00:27:58.339 doesn't depend on our human efforts. 00:27:59.180 --> 00:28:01.039 It doesn't depend on our ability, 00:28:01.259 --> 00:28:02.759 to keep the covenant conditions, 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:03.420 ourself. 00:28:04.539 --> 00:28:06.200 But it hinges on the conditions, 00:28:06.839 --> 00:28:07.460 that Christ, 00:28:07.600 --> 00:28:08.680 has perfectly fulfilled. 00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:11.060 so that when we fail, 00:28:11.840 --> 00:28:12.600 and when we fall, 00:28:13.500 --> 00:28:14.779 and when we sin against God, 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:15.880 and hurt each other, 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:17.160 in our relationships, 00:28:17.380 --> 00:28:18.140 and the communities, 00:28:18.140 --> 00:28:19.420 that we find ourselves in, 00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:20.940 we can have forgiveness, 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:22.240 and hope, 00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:24.440 and freedom, 00:28:24.660 --> 00:28:25.360 from all the curses, 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:26.560 and all the punishment, 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:27.140 that we deserve. 00:28:27.140 --> 00:28:29.140 And we can look forward, 00:28:29.280 --> 00:28:30.140 to the promised land, 00:28:31.100 --> 00:28:31.640 that nothing, 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:32.740 or that, 00:28:33.340 --> 00:28:33.680 you know, 00:28:34.360 --> 00:28:35.120 the promised land, 00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:36.220 which nothing can be taken, 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:37.460 can take away from us. 00:28:37.800 --> 00:28:38.940 Because what Christ, 00:28:39.360 --> 00:28:40.320 has done for us, 00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:41.060 on the cross. 00:28:41.059 --> 00:28:43.720 Paul, 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:46.119 after quoting from, 00:28:46.220 --> 00:28:47.559 Deuteronomy 27, 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:48.500 verse 26, 00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:48.899 he quotes, 00:28:49.379 --> 00:28:50.220 Cursed is anyone, 00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:51.259 who does not uphold, 00:28:51.619 --> 00:28:52.579 the words of the law, 00:28:53.099 --> 00:28:54.099 in Galatians 3.10. 00:28:54.679 --> 00:28:55.839 He goes on to say, 00:28:56.980 --> 00:28:58.000 that through Christ, 00:28:58.759 --> 00:28:59.619 we have redemption, 00:28:59.859 --> 00:29:00.519 from the curse, 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:02.240 of the law, 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:03.240 because he became, 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:04.740 the curse for us. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:06.700 He experienced, 00:29:06.700 --> 00:29:07.480 all the horrors, 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:09.579 all the awful feelings, 00:29:10.099 --> 00:29:10.839 that we would expect, 00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:11.480 to experience, 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:12.480 from these curses, 00:29:12.879 --> 00:29:13.980 in Deuteronomy 28, 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:16.159 Christ the sovereign king, 00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:17.559 took them, 00:29:18.439 --> 00:29:19.319 and he wore them, 00:29:19.500 --> 00:29:20.019 on his head, 00:29:20.639 --> 00:29:21.720 like a crown of thorns, 00:29:22.539 --> 00:29:23.859 king of a cursed creation, 00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:25.779 king of a cursed world, 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:27.919 so that we, 00:29:28.819 --> 00:29:29.500 could enter into, 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:30.220 this covenant, 00:29:30.859 --> 00:29:32.019 relationship with God. 00:29:33.339 --> 00:29:34.779 An everlasting relationship, 00:29:35.539 --> 00:29:36.939 secured by the Holy Spirit, 00:29:37.419 --> 00:29:38.199 who lives in us. 00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:40.840 And that's how we go from, 00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:42.819 this ancient treaty, 00:29:43.259 --> 00:29:44.440 with these people of Israel, 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:45.759 to us today. 00:29:47.019 --> 00:29:48.440 It's not dependent on us, 00:29:49.120 --> 00:29:50.440 it's dependent on Christ though. 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:52.460 God is sovereign. 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:54.200 God is love. 00:29:55.180 --> 00:29:55.940 He is our God. 00:29:56.740 --> 00:29:57.799 And we can know him, 00:29:58.140 --> 00:29:59.980 and have a relationship with him, 00:30:00.580 --> 00:30:01.160 through Jesus. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:02.440 Amen. 00:30:02.840 --> 00:30:04.880 Do you have a, 00:30:05.080 --> 00:30:05.620 closing hand, 00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:05.920 Alex? 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:06.519 Yeah. 00:30:09.040 --> 00:30:09.480 Mm. 00:30:11.540 --> 00:30:11.620 Mm. 00:30:11.840 --> 00:30:12.200 Yes. 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:12.580 Yes. 00:30:12.580 --> 00:30:13.960 Mark for a dozen times, 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:16.800 and Tom embracing, 00:30:16.860 --> 00:30:19.160 Alexander with all the righteous smashed, 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:19.680 and the risks, 00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:21.160 and the safely wounds his father, 00:30:21.380 --> 00:30:21.800 the Lord, 00:30:21.800 --> 00:30:24.660 and the GE is perfect.