Tips for Teaching This Week’s Session of The Gospel Project for Adults

Listen to this week’s leader training podcast with Y Bonesteele, team leader for The Gospel Project for Adults, for a summary and guidance in leading your group.

This week’s additional resources for study and preparation:

• Article: “Life Hangs on the Word of God” by John Piper
• Article: “Slow Down! A Different Perspective on Christ in the Old Testament” by Matt Smethurst with Daniel Block
• Sermon: “Deuteronomy 32” by Albert Mohler
• Conference: “Teaching Old Testament Poetry to the Heart” by Kathleen Nielson

Transcript of Leader Training Podcast:

Hi, this is Y Bonesteele, team leader of The Gospel Project for Adults. Today we are in Unit 6, Session 4, Warning to the Descendants with the core passage of Deuteronomy 32:1-9 and 44-47, and with the key concept of: God’s people must never forget or ignore God’s words of life.

In Deuteronomy as a whole, we know it was Moses’ last words to the Israelites. Scan the QR code on p. 152 for a brief overview of the book. Chapter 32 then is called the Song of Moses, Moses last cry of worship. It’s not in your booklet in stanza form because of space, but we’ve learned about biblical poetry before. Let’s dive in.

Verses 1-4 here is grouped as an introduction, in technical terms, an exordium. The NIV Application Commentary describes it well stating verse 1 reveals the audience, verse 2—the means, verse 3—the goal, and verse 4—the subject, as an introduction.

In verse 1 then, he’s telling the audience to pay attention. Who’s the audience? Heaven and earth, a metaphor for everyone. It’s like he’s saying, Hey, everyone, listen up. Then in verse 2, the means: through his teaching. Hey everyone, listen to my teaching; let it penetrate into your mind body and soul like dew and rain. The metaphor and similes referring to rain, dew, gentle rain, and showers not only are about the slow penetration of water, but how it refreshes and renews.  Verse 3 reveals for what purpose or goal? To proclaim the Lord’s name, to declare His greatness! God gets glory when we proclaim His majesty, His glory, His worthiness. And verse 4, who’s the subject? The Rock, our faithful God. His work is perfect; His ways are just; He is without bias, righteous and true. So in 4 verses, Moses’ introduction is set.

In calling God the Rock, we are reminded of Jesus’s parable of building a house on a rock foundation. Luke 6:47-48 states, “47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built.” Also in 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul states of the Israelites that “they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ,” referring to events at Meribah. Jesus is also the chief cornerstone in Ephesians 2:20. We see the connection here then between God being a Rock and Jesus being our rock.  Jesus as God is our constant, a solid foundation that will not waver.

Back to the passage then, in contrast to this faithful, steadfast God, the Rock, verses 5 and 6 show how God’s people have been the opposite. They have “acted corruptly toward him;” “they are not his children but a devious and crooked generation;” they are foolish and senseless. We’ve seen this over and over in the last few lessons and beyond. God’s people have forgotten that He is their Father and Creator. God made them and sustained them. He has been compassionate over them and have been merciful, loving, and just. Over and over, He has sustained them.

So Moses calls the people to “remember”. In verse 7 he says, “Remember the days of old,” and if they don’t remember, they could ask their elders to teach them. But Moses wanted them to remember that God chose them, God pursued them. Out of nowhere, God chose Jacob. Verse 8 and 9 states, “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance and divided the human race, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the people of Israel. But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob, his own inheritance.” God’s love picked out a people for Himself, the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites. And knowing God as Rock, Father, and Creator, should have made them faithful to Him, but it didn’t.

We are reminded ourselves to “remember,” remember the days of old, whether stories from the Bible, or stories of our own lives. God has been faithful and present through the highs and lows. He has been a rock, a steady constant, which should bring comfort in this present age because life and our surroundings may bring anxiety and fear, but those emotions should subside when we remember there is nothing new under the sun. Crazy governments, unsteady economies, plagues and diseases, God has been faithful and constant through it all for His people and His character will never change. He is sovereign and good, holy and faithful, accomplishing His will to the very end.

The rest of the song, not written out in your resource, gives more specific evidence of how God had been faithful, but how the people had not. And God, being a just God, would bring judgment to the people and also to their enemies. You can look at Pack Item 13: Moses Song of Witness as a reference here on how the song is like a legal argument against God’s people to have a fully understanding of the complete song.

In the second passage set, then, Moses has ended his song and tells the people to “Take to heart all these words” in verse 46. His words are a “warning” so that they would carefully follow God’s law and in so doing, these words were “life,” so by them they would live long in the land. In one sense, his song is both a warning and a blessing that they might have a flourishing and full life, with meaning and purpose as they followed God faithfully.

God’s words still remain words of life for us today. The Bible is different from any other religious text because they are divinely inspired and tell a complete story of the gospel message that points to Jesus as our Savior and Lord, from Genesis to Revelation. And thus, it’s not a rule book, but a love story, that includes wisdom for life.

After this, God tells Moses to go up Mount Nebo and he is to die there. He gives a last blessing and hands the reigns over to Joshua, his right-hand man, who he had been mentoring and getting ready for leadership, and Deuteronomy ends.

A short reminder to us about the importance of training up the next generation of leaders as a sign of wisdom on our part in leading and ending well.

On to the Group Experience then, start with the icebreaker question, asking what parting words would you give to your family. This discussion transitions well to Moses’ last words. Transitioning through the Context and Recap section then, ask about your group’s thoughts on biblical poetry? Easier to read? Harder? Would any of your group choose a song as their parting words? Ask why Moses might end in a song? The answer would be that the Israelites would memorize it easier and sing it to remember his words. Continue to ask in the Recap section if there was anything that stood out in their weekly study of the passage. Pass out copies of Pack Item 13 to help unpack God’s case against His people through this song and to help your group have a complete grasp of the song and what it meant to do.

Looking at the Group Activity then, being that it is a song, we want to remember and to respond to God’s words here.

Looking at verses 3 and 4, then what are the words of wisdom to remember? In summary, proclaim the Lord’s name, His greatness, steadfastness, perfection, and justice, among many other characteristics. I don’t think it’s an accident that the first and probably most important thing is to proclaim and declare the greatness of God. To each other and to the world. Depending on where you are in your faith walk, some of us do this better than others. Some of us do this more often than others. But it’s clear throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament and the New, we are to declare the greatness of God. Encourage your group to think about how much or how little they declare the greatness of God and thus what their response would be, and have them write this on their chart.

Verses 7-9, the wisdom there is to remember the days of old, and if they don’t remember, to ask their elders. Remembering again means not only in Scripture but in your group’s own lives. Where has God been faithful? Where has God been present? Thus what response will your group give knowing remembering are words of wisdom to live by. Additionally, in verse 9, we remember that God chose us. God made us special. What is my response to that? Talk with Him more; draw to Him more; live more for Him.

Next is verse 46 and 47. Taking to heart God’s words is the wisdom there. How do I respond? Study His Word more; memorize Scripture more; appreciate the value of His Words more.

If you have additional time, you can look over the rest of the song and find other words of wisdom.

Ask the questions under Debrief to wrap up and summarize with the understanding that God’s words are life, sometimes as a warning and sometimes as an encouragement.

Continue through the Head, Hearts, Hands section, focusing on the Heart question: What will help you move from merely reading God’s Word to hiding it in your heart? Maybe turning Scripture into a song to remember it better. Maybe have it written on notecards throughout your house or as notes on your phone. Especially in today’s fast paced, sound bites world, it’s even more difficult to memorize Scripture as the Bible app makes it appear too easy to bring up a verse whenever needed, instead of putting in the work to memorize.

Going to Next Steps then, think about the first bullet point, choosing seven songs to focus on. I would suggest even more specifically to find songs that actually draw lyrics from Scripture and find out which chapter and verse so help remind you that it is God’s Word that is washing over you like rain.

Think about taking time to pray through the Scripture provided in Psalm 90:14-17. It says:

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love

so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us rejoice for as many days as you have humbled us,

for as many years as we have seen adversity.

16 Let your work be seen by your servants,

and your splendor by their children.

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;

establish for us the work of our hands —

establish the work of our hands! — Psalms 90:14-17 (CSB)

Hey, thanks again for joining me on another leader training podcast. Send comments and questions to [email protected] and have a great group time.