Deuteronomy 7:17-26 Bible Study | Episode 872

 February 11, 2025

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

Deuteronomy 7:17-26  Bible Study | Episode #872

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 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. We are in Deuteronomy, chapter 7 and the end of the chapter 17 through 26. It is a, it is a encouraging passage.

It's a passage about God telling the Israelites to go and take the promised land. And he gives them some interesting instructions, but he also, he also gives some encouraging instructions, especially when you sit and just ponder and think about what God's doing in this passage and what he's saying to his people.

And he is dealing with the subject matter of fear, really. His, his. This part of his soliloquy, Moses explaining God's plan for the children of Israel entering into the promised land, relating to them the heart of God.

What God has to say about it is. Well, it's just a straightforward recitation, recitation of, of God's heart about fear. It says, if you say in your heart, these nations are greater than I, how can I dispossess them?

And what God is saying is if, if you're having these feelings of there's no way we can take this promised land because the nations before us are great and they're, they're numerous and they're powerful and they're giants.

And, and, and they are, they were all those things. They were powerful nations. They were giants. They were, they were living in their own cities and villages. They weren't going to be attacking them necessarily in, in pitch battles, in, in fields and, and as armies do.

They would be attacking fortified cities. Especially the first city they go to go to attack is Jericho, one of, if not the oldest city in the world at that time.

A city that was down in a valley and had high walls and they didn't have siege equipment. And they weren't really all that much into, you know, fighting, if you want to know the truth.

And so there, there were legitimate questions about how God was going to do this. I mean, real questions, real, Real reasons to be upset, real reasons to. To. To not be.

Not be as hopeful as one would expect. Those were all real things. And God is saying here, look, if you feel this way, let me tell you why you shouldn't feel this way.

And so God's leading them through a process of thinking about it because remember, they're the children of the children of Israel that were brought out of Egypt. Remember their parents were the ones who saw all the great things in Egypt.

And so even though they have all the stories and they've known all the things and it's obvious that everything that happened in Egypt happened to them, they. They. They don't question that.

They. They not didn't necessarily see it. They didn't necessarily remember it. Even if they did see it, even if they were little babes or teenagers, they don't remember it as well.

It's been 40 years. And so there's. There's a lot of questioning. And, and that questioning is legitimate and God is legitimately dealing with it. He says, if you feel this way, you shall not be afraid of them.

Now God's saying you do not be afraid of them. And by the way, that's not something that is unusual for God. That's not something unusual for him to say. It is found throughout Scripture.

Throughout scripture, God is always saying, do not be afraid.

And, and is it easy not to be afraid?

No.

We deal with children all the time that are afraid. And you're trying to teach them how not to be afra. Afraid of certain things.

But there are natural fears to things that God has made a part of who we are in. In the sense of that. That that fear is. Is. Is a part of a recognition of danger.

Okay? And the people that they're going to be being. Deal with. Deal dealing with are a danger to them. They're a danger to them. Not in that they're going to kill them and keep them from possessing the land.

But they are a danger to them because. Because of their ways and who they are, they could easily lead them astray. And so there is a. There's an element of an innate fear of the situation that would make them.

That. That would not be unjustifiable, but also they need to understand. And that's what Moses is telling them. That's what God is telling them. That even though you have that fear, you need to look toward not the fear, but you need to look toward the one who is leading you through the situation.

And that's God. He said he said, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt. And what he's saying is, I've already done this to a powerful nation.

Not only a powerful nation, a far more powerful nation than the nations you're going to go and deal with here. A nation that is. Is older, a nation that is far more economically developed, a nation that has greater resources and a greater army than the armies that you're going to face.

I'm going to. I've already brought you out from them. So God's already done big things for you. And by the way, in your own walk in life, when you're going to take your promised land.

And by the way, that's what we're supposed to be doing. We're supposed to be taking the things that God has his plan for us. We're supposed to be going and doing and becoming the things that God has set before us.

We're supposed to take hold of the promises of God. As we're doing that, as we're taking hold of the promises of God, you're going to be a little fearful. You're going to be doing things that are not normal, not natural, not the things that you've been and doing in your life before.

You're going to be doing supernatural things. You're going to be. You're going to be changing the world you live in. You're going to be changing your family. You're going to be changing your places of work.

You're going to be changing the people around you. The life that you live is not going to be the same as it was before. There is some trepidation with that.

But remember that God already led you out of Egypt. God already delivered you from that. He says, the great trials which you saw, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out.

So you sh. So shall the Lord your God do to all these people of whom you are afraid. What he's saying is, I've already done it for you. I've already delivered you, have already brought you out of Egypt.

I've already delivered you into. Into. Into my promises. I've already done all that. And he says, and I'm going to do it again. I'm going to do it again.

I'm. I'm. I've already promised you. These are promises for me. And then he says something that is really, really kind of different. In fact, he uses a phraseology that he uses three times in Scripture.

And every time it has to do with this. It's found in Exodus, found it here. It's going to be found in Joshua also.

He says, moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left who hide themselves from you are destroyed.

That's interesting. What God's saying is I'm going to do a supernatural work that you really can't see. I'm going to be doing something that you don't, you don't really have any control over.

I mean, they don't have control over the hornet. Now when they go into the promised land, God says, march around Jericho one time for six days and then seven time on the.

Seven times on the seventh day. Sure, they have control of whether or not they actually do the marching, right? But they don't have control over the hornet. I mean, who controls the hornet?

Nobody controls hornet. If you ever seen a hornets nest, it's, it's really neat. They are neat and they are built quickly and they are, they, you know, they're fearful because if you deal with some hornets, hornets will.

Well, when they attack, they're, they're painful. It's almost as if when they sting you that they've hit you. It's almost like they beat you. In fact, the word here does mean to strike rather than to sting it.

It has more of a condition of a strike. And a hornets, a hornet's bite or, or sting is, is a strike. It feels like you've been hit and, and beaten out.

And so when the hornets attack, they are beating you away from them. And, and the word here, God says, I'm going to send the hornet until those who are left who hide themselves from you are destroyed.

What he's saying is I'm going to beat them out of, out of the promised land. I'm going to drive them out of there. Now notice he didn't say you are, he said I am.

I'm gonna send the hornet. Remember God's doing this work, this work that he's trying to do in your life. And you're going, what are you talking about? Well, I don't know what I'm talking about because I don't know what work he's trying to do in your life.

But whatever work he's trying to do in your life, he's doing it. He's doing it in supernatural ways. He's doing it. He's doing in your natural life of clear visible, you'll be able to clearly visible see that he's actively involved in your life.

You'll be It'll be a palpable, understandable, noticeable change in the way your life is going. You're going to see that, okay? You're going to see that a real change, real life change take place, okay?

But, but it's not all going to be you. And it's going to be obvious that it's not all you, okay? It's going to be, it's, it's going to be things that, that are beyond you, which are the supernatural.

It's not going to be all natural world things. It's going to be God stuff. It's going to be supernatural stuff. And when God does that God stuff, which he does all the time for his children because that's a part of his promises, when he does that God stuff, you're going to, you're going to recognize it, you're going to see it, and you need to understand.

The reason you don't have to be afraid is, is that you are a part of a plan that is beyond you. And it's not about you. It's about glorifying God.

And you are glorifying God with your life because you're trusting him, allowing him to do these things. And that's a God thing. And when God does God stuff, when he sends the hornet in ahead of you and drives the people out, you're going to know it's God.

You're going to know it's God. And they're going to see that immediately. When Jericho happens, because he's going to knock down the walls, it's going to be obvious that God's going before them.

And remember, God does that kind of stuff even, even for, for believers right when they get started. You know, there's a, there's a deliverance, there's a, there's a bringing us, bringing them out.

There's a life change that takes place. All these things takes place, all these life changes, all these, all these differences that God makes in our lives are big at the start oftentimes.

And, and, and, and they have to be, because that allows us to begin to have a little bit of a glimpse into God. And God is, He is beyond the natural world.

He is the author or maker of the natural world. And so he is supernatural. He is beyond it. And so he says, you shall be terrified of them. You shall not be terrified of them.

For the Lord, your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.

I mean, that's what he's saying. I'm sending the hornet. They're going to drive them out. You shouldn't be terrified. I'm with you.

The great and awesome God is with you. Okay? I am with you. And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you notice. Little by little, you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beast of the field become too numerous for you.

What he's saying is I'm not going to fix everything immediately because all that'll happen is, is you'll have another problem, you'll have another issue develop that you can't handle. I'll draw.

If I drove them all out immediately, then the, the villages and the towns and the cities and the fields that have been made for you have been set up for you so that you can just move right on in.

They'll get overrun by the beast of the fields and the, and the, in the weeds and the thickets and the briars will grow up. I'm not going to drive them out all at once.

I'm going to drive them out little by little. And you know, that really is true how that, that is exactly how the Christian life is. It's just a little by little progress.

As we go through life, we grow and grow and grow and grow and grow and we learn and we become and, and we are better and more and greater than we were a month ago, a year ago, 10 years ago, a lifetime ago, which was when we first knew Him.

It's really how it works. God, little by little, drives them out so that we can control that, so that we can have authority over the things that he drives out.

The things he fixes. He drives them out little by little, slowly, surely, steadily, he drives them out.

And then we know, we know, we know it's God and we know how to control how to, how to, how to walk in that. That he's done.

And it's powerful. It's life changing.

He says he will and he will deliver their kings into your hand and he will destroy their name from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

You shall burn their carved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it.

For it is, it is an abomination to the Lord your God. Meaning don't take their stuff, don't take on who they are, that you're the, you're more powerful than them.

Don't become like them. Don't. Don't take the grave damages. Don't take their gods, don't take their Their silver and gold, that that is formed into those gods. Don't do that, he says.

You shall. Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.

What he's saying is, don't go back. Don't. Don't go back to being like the world. And that's what he'd say to us today. He would say, don't go back to being like the world.

He would say, be in. In the world, but not of the world. He, he would say to us. He'd say to us, trust me and, and, and. And don't trust the things of your past, the things that you used to do, the way that you used to do things.

Don't. Don't do that. He'd say. He'd say that, that.

That the love of the world is. Is. Is hatred toward him.

Do not love the world or anything of the.

That's the process. The process is a realization that God's doing it. The process is realization that he wants to do big things in your life. The realization is, is that he's going to go before you.

He's going to. He's going to. He's going to do it supernaturally in your life. You've got to trust him. You got to walk through it. You got to be changed by it.

And as he does it, he does it inch by inch, slowly, surely, steadily. And then ultimately your change. You're a different person than you were weeks ago and months ago and years ago.

And then all of a sudden you realize, you know, God's done some big stuff in my life. And you look back and you remember the big things that God has done.

And really that's a great thing to do this time of year anyways to remember all the big things that God has done in your life over the last year and the great things he's seen even in some of the worst situations.

Uh, we've had several people pass away this year that were really, really important people. But, but really when you look back on it, uh, they should have. Some, some. Some of them should have passed away a long, long time ago.

And uh, yet God has done big things in their life and big things for us through their lives. And, and uh, we. Sure, there have been some very difficult challenges and different difficult struggles that we've gone through over the last year as, as a church, but as, as people.

And I can't. They're too numerous to count to, to, to, to too many difficult things to even imagine. And they're going to be difficult things ahead. But the hornets already out there driving them out and, and the realization that we are far greater and, and better and more than we were before.

And all that has to do with not the natural things, but it has to do with the supernatural things. The supernatural work of God which He is at all the time.

He's always at work all the time. He doesn't sleep or slumber. He does big stuff for us each and every day that you don't ever really even see and you may not even recognize if your eyes are not open to the things that are of the.

Of God as you walk through this life in this world. And so I just say to you, think about those things now. Encourage yourself with them because you're encouraging yourself literally with the work in the hand of God 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.