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Sermon Text: Deuteronomy 32:36-39
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Already it is clear: There will be trouble.
Moses is speaking to the Israelites one last time. They are about to enter the Promised Land, while it is time for him to climb Mount Nebo and die. These are his last words to the people that he has led as a called servant of the Lord. He preaches the Word of the Lord, sings his final song.
It has been a long haul, this journey. No sooner were the Israelites safe from Egypt than they built a golden calf and elected to call it their god. The Lord mercifully spared them that day, but other apostasy would follow. The disobedience of the people has made it a very long haul, for they were rewarded with forty extra years in the desert because of their doubt and obstinacy.
Now they are finally to enter, and Moses speaks one last time.
And in his final speech, he prophesies in part a terrible future. Eventually, the people of Israel will completely forsake the Lord and His Word. They will reject the Lord who has brought them out of Egypt, the God who promises a Savior. They will turn to idols instead.
Their identities may not be known to them yet, but they will become household names. There will be Baal, the Canaanite god of nature, a pillar of stone set in the tops of hills. There will be his consort, Ashteroth, the mother goddess of nature—a tall wooden pole planted into the ground. There will be Molech, that abominable metal sculpture whose worship involves human sacrifice of the firstborn into fire. There will be Dagon, golden calves and many, many more.
The people will be faithless, turning to idols of stone, wood, and metal, of death, doom, and destruction.
What will the Lord do? Moses declares: “For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. Then He will say: ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise and help you; let them be your protection.’”
If the people wish to call upon these other gods for their help and deliverance, the Lord will obligingly step aside. If they wish to offer their sacrifices to hunks of rock and curry the favor of chunks of wood, the Lord will allow them to go about their foolishness. If they declare that they want salvation from a lump of metal, the Lord will step aside and let them pursue salvation from that god. The Lord is a loving Father. He offers all of His benefits to His people, but He does not force His salvation upon them.
So the Lord will step aside—but not forever, for He is faithful. If the people trust in chiseled rocks for protection, they will be victimized when the rocks do not protect them. If they rely on carved wood for help, they will be made helpless. If they seek life and salvation from molded metal, it is only a matter of time until they are face-to-face with death and destruction. Rocks, wood, and metal can’t save—they have no life, and therefore cannot give life.
So God will step aside—but only until the people see how worthless their false gods are. And when they see that they—both gods and the people—are powerless, the Lord will be there.
When their power is gone, the Lord will declare: “See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand.”
When the people are finally convinced that their false gods are dead and helpless the Lord will be there. He will remind them that He is alive and powerful—that He is able to heal and give life. And He will declare that He is faithful. Although they have forsaken Him, He remains and promises salvation to all who repent and trust in Him.
Thus God declares, and the Word rings forth: “I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand.” This is God’s effective Word that carries across the centuries. There is an inescapable price to be paid for sin, and those wages are death. God utters the promise, and therefore the vindication will take place.
But whom will He wound and whom will He heal?
Whom will He kill so that His people might be alive?
At the start of Holy Week, the perfect Sacrifice rides into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He knows better than anyone the sins of the people and the deservedness of God’s judgment. He knows better than anyone the reality of God’s Word, the anger and grief of the Lord over sin. He knows because He has been there from the beginning to witness the sin and experience the grief. He knows because He is bearing the load of sin to the cross.
In truth, as the donkey plods forward, it is not just Israel in trouble. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. For all sinners, it is true. They are helpless in their sin. They are wholly weak. Their power is gone, and there is none remaining.
Therefore, Jesus arrives to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. He enters on the first day of Holy Week, to bear the burden of man’s iniquity, and to die with it on the cross.
He rides into Jerusalem, and He rides on in majesty.
And He rides on in lowly pomp to die.
You have heard this day of the Passion of our Lord. You have heard of the trials before Herod and Pilate, the conspiracy of the Pharisees and the shouts of the hateful crowd. You have heard of the crown of thorns jammed upon His head, the beatings by Herod’s soldiers, the scourging of Pilate’s. You have witnessed in words the staggering journey to Calvary as the cross is shouldered and borne.You have heard of the crucifixion and the ridicule by those who stand around.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Already it is clear: There will be trouble.
Moses is speaking to the Israelites one last time. They are about to enter the Promised Land, while it is time for him to climb Mount Nebo and die. These are his last words to the people that he has led as a called servant of the Lord. He preaches the Word of the Lord, sings his final song.
It has been a long haul, this journey. No sooner were the Israelites safe from Egypt than they built a golden calf and elected to call it their god. The Lord mercifully spared them that day, but other apostasy would follow. The disobedience of the people has made it a very long haul, for they were rewarded with forty extra years in the desert because of their doubt and obstinacy.
Now they are finally to enter, and Moses speaks one last time.
And in his final speech, he prophesies in part a terrible future. Eventually, the people of Israel will completely forsake the Lord and His Word. They will reject the Lord who has brought them out of Egypt, the God who promises a Savior. They will turn to idols instead.
Their identities may not be known to them yet, but they will become household names. There will be Baal, the Canaanite god of nature, a pillar of stone set in the tops of hills. There will be his consort, Ashteroth, the mother goddess of nature—a tall wooden pole planted into the ground. There will be Molech, that abominable metal sculpture whose worship involves human sacrifice of the firstborn into fire. There will be Dagon, golden calves and many, many more.
The people will be faithless, turning to idols of stone, wood, and metal, of death, doom, and destruction.
What will the Lord do? Moses declares: “For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. Then He will say: ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise and help you; let them be your protection.’”
If the people wish to call upon these other gods for their help and deliverance, the Lord will obligingly step aside. If they wish to offer their sacrifices to hunks of rock and curry the favor of chunks of wood, the Lord will allow them to go about their foolishness. If they declare that they want salvation from a lump of metal, the Lord will step aside and let them pursue salvation from that god. The Lord is a loving Father. He offers all of His benefits to His people, but He does not force His salvation upon them.
So the Lord will step aside—but not forever, for He is faithful. If the people trust in chiseled rocks for protection, they will be victimized when the rocks do not protect them. If they rely on carved wood for help, they will be made helpless. If they seek life and salvation from molded metal, it is only a matter of time until they are face-to-face with death and destruction. Rocks, wood, and metal can’t save—they have no life, and therefore cannot give life.
So God will step aside—but only until the people see how worthless their false gods are. And when they see that they—both gods and the people—are powerless, the Lord will be there.
When their power is gone, the Lord will declare: “See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand.”
When the people are finally convinced that their false gods are dead and helpless the Lord will be there. He will remind them that He is alive and powerful—that He is able to heal and give life. And He will declare that He is faithful. Although they have forsaken Him, He remains and promises salvation to all who repent and trust in Him.
Thus God declares, and the Word rings forth: “I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of My hand.” This is God’s effective Word that carries across the centuries. There is an inescapable price to be paid for sin, and those wages are death. God utters the promise, and therefore the vindication will take place.
But whom will He wound and whom will He heal?
Whom will He kill so that His people might be alive?
At the start of Holy Week, the perfect Sacrifice rides into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He knows better than anyone the sins of the people and the deservedness of God’s judgment. He knows better than anyone the reality of God’s Word, the anger and grief of the Lord over sin. He knows because He has been there from the beginning to witness the sin and experience the grief. He knows because He is bearing the load of sin to the cross.
In truth, as the donkey plods forward, it is not just Israel in trouble. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. For all sinners, it is true. They are helpless in their sin. They are wholly weak. Their power is gone, and there is none remaining.
Therefore, Jesus arrives to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. He enters on the first day of Holy Week, to bear the burden of man’s iniquity, and to die with it on the cross.
He rides into Jerusalem, and He rides on in majesty.
And He rides on in lowly pomp to die.
You have heard this day of the Passion of our Lord. You have heard of the trials before Herod and Pilate, the conspiracy of the Pharisees and the shouts of the hateful crowd. You have heard of the crown of thorns jammed upon His head, the beatings by Herod’s soldiers, the scourging of Pilate’s. You have witnessed in words the staggering journey to Calvary as the cross is shouldered and borne.You have heard of the crucifixion and the ridicule by those who stand around.
