Deuteronomy 2:1-6 Bible Study | Episode 839

December 26, 2024

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Deuteronomy 2:1-6  Bible Study | Episode #839

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to hope alive, applying God's word to your daily life. Hi, this is Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to you and allow you to see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today, in Jesus name. Well, good morning. Welcome to Lake Community Church's morning Bible study. I am in deuteronomy, chapter two. That's where we're at this morning. We are discussing Moses and his message to the children of Israel that are going to go into the promised land. And as we make this journey to the promised land, because that's what we're really doing in deuteronomy, we're moving our way to the promised land, preparing for Joshua to take over and Joshua to enter the promised land. And that is the book of Joshua. And so that's what deuteronomy is about. And so in real time, we get to kind of look and see some of the. And remember, the promised land is a picture of the spirit filled christian life. So there's aspects to this journey, especially this journey in deuteronomy. There's aspects to it that are very important when we think about how we. How we walk through the spirit filled christian life. It is, it is. It is giving us understandings, ideas, what it's really. It's really kind of like those YouTube videos or those Facebook videos that you watch where it gives you five lessons for life or six or seven ideas to make your life better. It's like that, except for it's from God and it's about what is real life, what is real joy and peace. It is the spirit filled christian life. And so when we're going on this journey, there's ideas here that are going to help us have it at its most, have it at its best, get the greatest treasure we can from the journey into the spirit field, christian life. And so, as we're kind of studying through this, I want you to remember that in your head now, I'll remind you as we're going through deuteronomy, to think of it that way. Chapter two says, then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me. And we skirted the mountain of Seirs for many days. The mount of Seir, or Mount Seir. And the Lord spoke to me, saying, you have skirted this mountain long enough. Turn northward and command the people, saying, you're about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau. Remember Jacob and Esau. You have Abraham. And he had a son, Isaac. And then he had a. Isaac had two sons, and those two sons were Jacob and Esau. They were twins. And Esau was the firstborn. And he was supposed to get the inheritance, and he sold his inheritance. He sold the blessing that he was supposed to get from God. He sold it for nothing. He treated it as if it was nothing. And that caused a feud between him and Jacob. Jacob, in many ways, stole his inheritance in the sense that he tricked him out of it. Esau was such that it wasn't hard to trick him out of it, but he did trick him out of his inheritance. And so with his mother's help. And in that process, Esau hated Jacob, and Jacob had to flee. And because Esau was a warrior type person and Jacob was nothing, and he had to flee. And he went through a whole process of his father in law giving him the wrong bride. And he worked for that bride for seven years. And then, anyway, he spent better part of two decades away. And then he came back, and God had softened Esau's heart and their relationship. Although it was not fixed, it was not. It was not strained to the point of death or the point of violence. And so even though Jacob stole Esau's inheritance, Esau still has an inheritance from God. Okay. He did not lose all of his inheritance. He just lost his firstborn inheritance. And you go, well, what is that? Well, if you've got the firstborn, gets a double portion. What does that mean? Well, if you got two children like Jacob and Esau, then there would be three portions, and Esau would got two, and Jacob would have gotten one. If you got ten sons, then there would have been eleven portions. The firstborn son would get two, and the rest of them would have. Would get one. If you've got twelve sons like Jacob had himself, then there would be 13 portions. Uh, the oldest would get two, and the, uh, neck, the other eleven would get one. In this. In this situation, it's a larger portion. It's a lot larger portion because it's two thirds. As to one third. Uh, there were only two sons, and he had an inheritance from God, that God gave him. Right. So that means that that's from God. Uh, it's. Remember, the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. So that means that this gift to Esau is not something that God's going to call back because we're, you know, 400, 500 years later. And. And Esau's family doesn't even really remember him other than his name. That. That's irrelevant. That doesn't matter. Excuse me. And so that being irrelevant, not mattering, the important part of that is, is that you need to see that God has given somebody else an inheritance. And what does he tell the children of Israel to do about that inheritance? Very important here he says, and command the people, saying, verse four, you are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, near the Mount Seir. And you will be afraid, and they will be afraid of you, meaning they will. They have, the children of Israel have the power to take and to plunder and to misuse the people of Esau. And the reason they have that, that power to do that is because, number one, they're numerous and many because they've been blessed by God. And number two, Esau's family is afraid of them. The situation has turned. Whereas Jacob was afraid that Esau was going to come and kill his family, and then he crossed over the river to place himself between Esau and his family. And that's the night where he wrestled with God, and he saw the stairway to heaven. And so if you remember that story, that's what it's about now. Jacob's family, who received the name Israel. After that, Jacob's family is the one. Israel's family is the one who. Who can destroy Esau's family. But what does God say about that? He says, verse five, do not meddle with them, for I will not give you of their land. I will not give you any of their land. What he's saying is, is they have an inheritance, too. And one of the aspects of the spirit filled christian life is a self realization that not only are you supposed to go and earn for yourselves by faith, the treasure of heaven, but you're supposed to understand and have a deep, abiding care for the treasure of others or for the inheritance of others or for the work of others. You're supposed to live by the law of the spirit or the law of love in the New Testament or the law that Jesus gave them. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love each other as I've loved you. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The whole purpose of that is a self awareness about others and about their needs and their issues. And what is God's blessing to them. And as you go through life walking by faith, you should always be cognizant of the faith and the walk of others. Encourage them in that, and not get in the way of them being faithful to God themselves, and not in any way take from them the ability to do that. That is a, that is a mature thing to do. It is a, it's a maturing process to realize that others have callings on their lives and that you have a responsibility not just to walk in your calling, but you have a responsibility to help others walk in their calling in any way you might. In any way you might. And therefore, you also build treasure for yourselves with them. But, but, but more importantly, you do. You don't mess with their calling and their walk. And I'll, I'll say this, that anybody who comes to our church who has, who is fairly mature believer, it is my effort to either inculcate them in the body, meaning help them become an active part of the body and use their gifts and their abilities as quick as possible. Now, remember, they can't use their gifts and abilities until they know the body. And so it is important. Oftentimes people want to come in and immediately work, but they got to learn the people. You gotta, you gotta learn and know the people, because really, it's about the people. It's not about your, your ministry. So that's the other thing. You gotta, you gotta think about other people's ministry and other people's service to goddess, and you got to give them leeway to do that. But you also got to understand that it's really about his kingdom, and his kingdom are his people. And so, so our job is, is to always, always develop relations with, with God's people. And so when, when you're, when you're entering the promised land, when you're taking the spirit filled christian life and you're, you're taking it and making it your life, making it a part of who you are when you're doing those things, when you're walking into those things, it is, uh, it is, it is of great importance. It is of great, great importance that, that you be focused on the people. And, and so, uh, or if somebody's in, in the church, because they, they're, they're mature believer and they're not supposed to be there in the sense of God's preparing them for something else. My job is to minister them and help them heal up and strengthen up, to go do the ministry God has for them. And those are two different things. And I always go into it not wanting to choose for them, but wanting to be a blessing to them in that situation. And that should be the case for you also. And so he says to them, don't meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not so much as one footstep. He's saying, I'm not giving you any of it because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. That's his, that's his family's. So, so don't act like it's yours. It's not yours. It's, it's theirs. And it's not anybody else's calling. It's their calling. And even if I pastor a person that my, my job is not to treat their calling as my calling. My, my job is to, is to treat their calling as theirs and help them walk in that calling. I cannot guide someone into that calling. They've got to walk in it. I can only encourage them and provide for them the spiritual gifts that I have to make them better at their calling. And that's true of everything. And that goes back to the teaching, the practice of the Nicolaitans. It's not my job to rule over the body. It's my job to shepherd the body. And how do I shepherd the body? Well, I give them every possibility to use their gifts to do the big things God has for them. And so that's what the call is all about. That's what God is actively doing. He's working those things out in the lives of believers. He says, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession, you shall buy food from them with money, meaning you're going to be a blessing from them because they're going to be able to sell their wares that you may eat and you shall buy water from them with money that you may drink. What he's saying is you can, you can interact with them, you can, you can be a source of income for them, you can be a, a source of relief for them, a source of strength for them, but you can't have what is theirs. And then that just go, that's just a common truth is take what God has given you to have and let those who God has given other things have what God has given them. And you say, well, pastor, this just seems real simple. Yeah, I know. And most of the, most of the important things that go on with the kingdom are, at their very core, really kind of simple. If they were really difficult to get, we would have mostly not ever get them. They're simple. They're simple spiritual truths. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love God with everything. Love other believers self sacrificially. Meaning help them do what they're supposed to do, even if it's not to your benefit at all. Not, not at all. You don't get anything out of it. They get everything. Do that. Do that kind of stuff. Those are really simple things. Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you. That's. That's, uh, love your neighbor as yourself. It's the golden rule. That's kind of. It's simple. But everybody knows it's very difficult in practice, isn't it? It is, uh. Hear God's word. Listen for God to speak to your heart. Trust him when he speaks to you, and then walk it out in your life. Make it a part of your life. Very simple rules. That's. That's really the walk of faith. How do I do it? Well, I hear God, I believe him, and I walk it out. That's not as easy as it sounds. No, it's not. Because sometimes I'm just so focused on the world, I don't hear God. And sometimes. Sometimes I'm so fearful and I'm so in my flesh and I'm so. I'm so unwilling to trust that I don't trust God. And then. And then it is difficult to walk out God because God's God, and it's hard to trust him and walk that out. These are simple principles, hard to deliver on. And when you're trying to really understand what it is to walk in the power of the spirit filled christian life, the walk to take the kingdom and to walk in it. When you're doing that, you've got to be cognizant of these things, because if you're not, you'll. You'll really not ever achieve the goal you've set. You'll mess with the. You'll mess with Esau's line and you'll. You'll mess up their land and leave it in a way that you shouldn't. And. And that will hinder you. That will hinder you on your path to God's best. So, as. As you're thinking about this, always be self aware. How does my actions affect others? Sadly, I've not always been self aware. Sadly, even as a 50 year old man, I'm not self aware all the time. Definitely not in my forties and my thirties. It was terrible. Twenties? I'm not even sure I knew what self awareness was. And teens, well, they're the teens. As you grow, you should learn to look around and say, how do my actions and how does my presence affect things? And if the effect is biblically based, then that's exactly where we ought to be. If my effect is not biblically based, if it's not following the simple principles of God's word, well, then I probably need to change how I'm acting. Kind of simple as you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you, and that he will give you hope and peace today. In Jesus name.