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):

1. The people of God cried out to God in their misery of slavery (Ex 2:23).
2. God hears them, remembers his covenant and was concerned about them (Ex 2:24; 3:7, 9).
3. God calls and raises a mediator Moses to deliver them from Pharaoh (Ex 3:7-8, 10).
4. After ten plagues and the Passover, God saved them by enabling them to cross the Red Sea into freedom (Ex 14:21-22, 29-31; Heb 9:23; Ex 19:4; 20:2; Dt 5:6).
5. God gave them the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, also known as Horeb (Ex 20:3-17; Dt 5:7-21).
6. After 11 months, the Israelites set out for the promised land (Num 13:1-2ff; Dt 1:6-8, 19-25).
7. The people rebelled (Num 14:1-45; Dt 1:26-46).

In Dt 1:1-46, Moses begins his first of three addresses/speeches/sermons by sharing in detail about the failure of the people of God after they had experienced God's miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt and after meeting God and experiencing God's very presence at Horeb (Ex 20:18-21; Dt 5:22-29)--which is how Deuteronomy refers to Mount Sinai.

This sermon will address why the sin of the redeemed people of God is inexcusable in three parts:

1. What sin does
2. Why sin happens
3. How sin is solved