DEUTERONOMY  Lesson 2

DISCUSSION CHPTS. 4-5, INTRO TO CHAPTS. 6-8

OPEN WITH PRAYER

OPENING: Tell us about your family

Pass out Prayer Request Cards.  Fill them out and pass them two to the left.

SUMMARY OF CHAPT. 4-5.  

Ch. 4 is a summary of the covenant.  It is also the admonition and prophecy of the result of turning away or forgetting God, who He is and what He has done.

Ch. 5, contains a retelling of God’s 10 commandments, the initial response of Israel and God’s response to Israel’s response.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1.  The people Moses is addressing were the children of those brought out of Egypt and given the Commandments.  Yet, Moses speaks as if they were there themselves.  What message is God conveying through this?  What does this mean for us?

2.  Thirteen times in Deuteronomy God says, “Hear O Israel” or “Listen” or “You must listen”. He is saying, “Pay attention!  Don’t let it go in one ear and out the other.”  What do you do in your study or prayer time to close out distractions?  What is the greatest obstacle to you really hearing or listing to the Word of God?

3.  Ch. 4, vs. 6-7 tells us that people will notice when we live by God’s rules.  Our faith should be open and obvious from the way we live.  Read Matthew 5:14-16.  What impact have these verses had on your life?

4.  God warns us over and over not to put anything before Him, to worship no god besides Him. What are some of the things we, today, let come between ourselves and God?

5.  The Ten Commandments are in Ch. 5, vs. 6-21.  Before He gives us any commandments, He reminds us Who He is and what He has done for us.  He brought us out of darkness, out of slavery, not just the Israelites, but us as well.  What is the effect of God getting us to remember before giving us the rules?

6.  First of all is our worship and reverence of God, including our not taking even His name lightly.  Verses 12-15 are about keeping the Sabbath.  Read Ex. 20:8-11 and Ex. 31: 12-17.  

a) Describe the differences between the three.  What does God add each time He tells us to observe the Sabbath.

b) We are under a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34).  What has God given us to do as a sign of the new covenant between us and Him? (Hint:  See John 31:34)

c) All of the commandments are for our own good (Deu. 10:12-13).  Not only are we no longer judged by whether or not we keep the Sabbath (Romans 14:5-8), Jesus told us that viewing the Sabbath as something to be kept legalistically is wrong.  Read Mark 2:23-27.  What is the principal Jesus is teaching us here?  

d) Since the Sabbath was made for man, do you accept His gift of a day off?  For those of you who set aside one day every week, what do you do on that day? What is the benefit to you?

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTERS 6-8

-Ch. 6: The chapter contains the Jewish confession of faith.  Verses 4-9 are to be recited twice a day. Within the chapter are again, reminders of God’s faithfulness and the Israelites’ repeated failures.  

-Ch. 7:  Here the Israelites are reminded of 1) God’s sovereignty in His choosing them 2) that, since God will fight for them, fear is an act of disobedience, a show of lack of faith, and 3) How they are to interact with those who worship other Gods.

-Ch. 8:  Another chapter of admonition to remember and to not forget the period from slavery until that moment.

CLOSE IN PRAYER

ASSIGNMENT FOR WEEK 4:  Read Chapters 6-8

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Read Ch. 6, vs. 4-9.  Jesus said vs. 5 is the most important commandment.

a.  These verses command them (and us?) to do 6 things.  List them here.

b.  What does it mean to you to “bind them on your hands and on your foreheads”?

c.  How would keeping these commandments be for our own good?

2.  What kind of blessings did God promise in Chapter 6 if they were obedient?

Read John 14:15-21.  What does Jesus say about obedience?  What blessings does He promise if we obey what He commands?  How does this relate to not being under law?

3.  Time and again God reminds them of their former slavery and how he redeemed them.  What should be the effect on us of remembering what Christ did for us?

4.  Why does God say to destroy the people in the lands Gods is giving them?  Read 2Cor. 6:14-18, 10:3-4and James 4:4-10.  What is God saying to us through Paul and James about us and the world that surrounds us?

5.  In Chapter 8, God again reminds the Israelites how He provided for them.  He supplied all of their needs.  How has God supplied your needs?

6.  What is the warning in Ch. 8, vs. 10-18?  Read Pr. 30:8-9.  Is this the same warning? What evidence do you have in our world that this warning is pertinent for us today too?