Sin (Dt 1), Leadership (Dt 1a), Faith (Dt 2-3), Obedience (Dt 4)

The tentative themes of each chapter of Deuteronomy (1-14).

1. Sin (Dt 1:1-46):
• What sin does - Destroys
• Why sin happens - Unbelief
• What the solution is - Remember God's grace/Believe God's promise
  
2. Leadership (Dt 1:9-18):
   
• The burden of leadership - Stress
• The solution of leadership - Delegation
• The practice of leadership - Justice
• The character of leadership - Humility (Dt 3:23-27).
• The success of leadership - Succession (Dt 3:21-22, 28-29).

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Leadership (Dt 1:9-18; 3:21-29)

Questions:

1. Do you agree that "you don't need a title to be a leader"? Why or why not?
2. How well do you deal with pressure and stress (Dt 1:12; Num 11:14; Ex 18:18)
3. What is your understanding of delegation (Dt 1:13-15)? From your leader (cf. Mt 20:25; Mk 10:42; Lk 22:25)? To your subordinates? Explain the difference between "gopher delegation" and "stewardship delegation."
4. Have you experienced justice from your leader(s) (Dt 1:16-17; 16:20; 32:4; Ps 9:8; Isa 42:1; Mt 12:18)? Reflect on this quote by Martin Luther King Jr: "It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people."
5. Reflect on Charles Spurgeon's quote regarding the best man ("leader") in the church: “Do not desire to be the principal man in the church. Be lowly. Be humble. The best man in the church is the one who is willing to be a doormat for all to wipe their boots on, the brother who does not mind what happens to him at all, so long as God is glorified.” How might this relate to Jesus as our Leader (Jn 13:14)?

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The Gospel in 1-2 Kings

God's faithfulness and man's unfaithfulness. 1-2 Kings belongs to a larger group of books in the OT, Joshua through Kings (the Former Prophets). Together, they record the faithfulness of God to keep all his covenant promises with regard to establishing his people in the promised land. There are two important texts that summarize this:

1. Josh 21:44-45: "The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the Lord's good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled."
2. 1 Ki 8:56: "Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses."

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The Daniel Plan

Rick Warren's new book, The Daniel Plan, encourages healthy living based on the following essentials (Tim Challies' review.):

1. Faith (Phil 4:13).
2. Food (1 Cor 10:31).
3. Fitness (1 Cor 6:19a, 20b).
4. Focus (Rom 12:2).
5. Friends (Eccl 4:9).

I. FAITH

1. God Wants Us to Chew On His Word (Josh 1:8).
2. For Good Health, Confess Your Sin (Ps 32:3-5).

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Faith (Deuteronomy 2 - 3); Theme of 14 chapters

Dt 2:1-329; Key Verse: Dt 2:7

"The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything."

Theme: Sin brings devastation (chap. 1), but faith expressed by obedience to God (chap. 2-3) brings blessing, success and victory.

The wages of sin. Chapter 1 recounts how sin caused the first generation of the people of God to be set back for 38 years until all of them died in the desert (Dt 2:14-15). Their sin was inexcusable, because they had personally experienced the power of God in delivering from slavery in Egypt (Dt 1:30-31).

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What Sin Does (Dt 1:19-46)

Few passages in Scripture provide a fully study of what sin does than Dt 1:19-46.

1. Blinds: Sin blinds people to God's gracious providences. Moses highlights frequently the motif of "seeing" (Dt 1:19, 22-23, 25, 28, 30, 31, 33). But sin or "faithless eyes" are selective in what they allow to register in their hearts and minds. They only saw the obstacles and difficulties. Because they were blind to the greater One among them (1 Jn 4:4), they could not and would not see the prize (Dt 1:35-36). They had no "theology of remembrance." They could not remember God's many interventions on their behalf (Dt 6:20-25; 26:5-11).

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Why Sin is Inexcusable (Dt 1:1-46)

Key Verses: Dt 1:8, 21, 30-31

"See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land..." "See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it..." "The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."

Deuteronomy 1 begins with a tragic negative story of failure by the people of God who were miraculously redeemed from slavery in Egypt. The recent sequence of events is as follows (See also An Overview of the Pentateuch):

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