The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1959-07-04


JULY 5, 1859
BY Rev. George A. Harper
81 Avenue G.,
Greenwood, Miss.
A NATION UNDER GOD
DEUTERONOMY.
Deuteronomy Alp. Print -
Deuteronomy 7:6-11; 8:17-19;
Ill.
MEMORY SELECTION -
Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God, and keep his charge, and
his statutes, and his judg-
ments, and his commandments,
always. - deuteronomy lid.
There were many reasons why
Israel should love the Lord her
God and observe His COM
mandments. The therefore"
of this text must be consider
ed in the light of the context.
In the previous chapter God
recounted many blessings
which He had given to Israel
and multiplied her into a great
nation. The charges, statutes,
judgments and command
ments that God gave to Is
rael were to be kept. To
keep" meant to observe, OBJ
ey, believe and guard with
jealous care. This would bring
glory to God and blessings to
Israel. Nothing is lost by OBJ
eying Gods commandments.
When his commandments are
kept, then His promises will
be inherited. All that God re-
quired of Israel was for her
physical, temporal, spiritual
and eternal good.
ISRAEL'S CHOSEN POSI-
TION:
For thou art an holy people
unto the Lord thy God: the
Lord thy God hath chosen thee
to be special people unto
himself, above all people that
are upon the face of the EARTH
The term holy is used here
in the sense of being chosen
Or set apart in a divine capa-
city. God was to reveal his
laws unto Israel first and that
nation in return was to pass on
TO other nations the divine
knowledge and inspiration
which it had experienced. ''The
Lord did not set his love upon
you, nor chosen you, because
We were more in number than
any people; for We were the
fewest of all people, 1t
is true also that Israel was
not chosen because of national
strength or wealth for at the
time of its emancipation from
Egypt Israel was poor nation.
AS for national strength, it
was centuries before Israel
built up enough of that to be
recognized among the nations
as a strong country. "But be-
cause the Lord loved you, and
because he would KEEP the oath
which he had sworn unto your
fathers, hath the Lord brought
you out with a mighty hand,
and redeemed you out of the
house of bondmen, from the
hand of Pharaoh king of
Egypt" The children of
Israel did not receive the love
of God because they were so
righteous or otherwise deserv-
ing, but for reasons best known
to God himself. One of those
reasons was Gods love for the
patriarchs, the forefathers of
the children of Israel. These
men, Abraham, Isaac, and ia
cob, had walked before the
Lord to the best of their
knowledge and had gained ia
vor with the Lord in that he
promised to preserve their
posterity and give them an in
heritance in the land wherein
their forefathers and been So
journers.
GODS EXACTING DE-
MANDS:
"Know therefore that the
Lord thy God, he is God, the
faithful God, which keepeth
covenant and mercy with them
that love him and keep his
commandments to a thousand
generations" - Moses COM
manded his people to remem-
Der that they were obligated
to acknowledge God as their
Lord and as one who is for
ever faithful in keeping his
promises and his covenants
which he makes with men.
"And repayeth them that hate