A Balanced Diet

Text:

Deuteronomy 32:9-15:

12   So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

13   He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

14   Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

15   But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

 

Theme:

A Balanced Diet

 

Introduction:

• The book of Deuteronomy, as the remainder of the Pentateuch, of which Deuteronomy is the 5^th book, is believed by contemporary scholars to have been a writing adopted by Moses, or, simply put, written by someone else other than Moses. However, there are many portions of information that leave the consensus to be that it was written by Moses.
  • The book of Deuteronomy consists chiefly of three discourses delivered to the people of Israel by Moses a short time before his death. They were spoken to all Israel in the plains of Moab, in the eleventh month of the last year of their wanderings.
  • These addresses to the people are followed by what may be called three appendices, namely

(1) a song which God had commanded Moses to write;

(2) the blessings he pronounced on the separate tribes; and

(3) the story of his death and burial, written by some other hand, probably that of Joshua.

• Our text is found within the first of the appendices, specifically the song that God had commanded Moses to write concerning His people.
  • 12 gives the theme of this song à It was ONLY God and none other who provided for the children of Israel
    • We have a similar song in “Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus”!!!!

 

Body:

• The next two verses of the text explain God’s consideration of the needs of His chosen people.
  • Uses food as the analogy or metaphor for God’s providing the needy elements to His children.
  • 13 begins by saying, “He made him ride on the high places of the earth”
    • God’s places His children where they need to be so that they might partake of His blessings
      • As Exodus 33:21 says, “And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:”
  • Then explains why when it says, “ that he might eat the increase of the fields”
    • As Isaiah 33:16 says, “He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.”
      • If you are “out of position/place”, you will miss your blessing.
    • Then the remainder of v.13 and the entirety of v.14 list the physical provisions (food) that God provided to His children after they were in the right position:
      • honey, oil, butter, milk, fat, meat, wheat, wine
      • A balanced diet
    • With God’s providing our needs it is true what it says in Matthew 6:31:

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”

• As Philippians 4:19 confirms, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
  • We don’t have to worry because God will fulfill our physical needs with a balanced diet
    • He won’t provide candy, chips, and soda because it would not build your life!
      • John 10:10 confirms, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
    • God’s provisioning is not only for physical needs but also for our spiritual needs.
      • As it says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”
        • Not only are we supposed to KNOW that God will supply our needs, but we are to also TRUST that He will. In doing so, we are to, therefore, place our spiritual needs as a higher priority that our physical needs.
          • As it says in Mark 8:34, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”
      • From our text we can Biblically understand the divine provisions from God through the physical provisions.
        • honey
          • The Word of God
          • Psalms 119:103 says, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
        • oil
          • The Spirit of God
          • 1Samuel 16:13 says, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.”
        • butter
          • The Blessings of God
          • Isaiah 7:15 says, “Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.”
        • milk
          • The Word of God (babes)
          • 1Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
        • fat
          • Plenty, abundance
          • Ezekiel 34:14 says, “I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.”
          • Also Paul explains in Philippians 4:12, “I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.”
        • meat
          • The Word of God (mature)
          • Hebrews 5:14 says, “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
        • wheat
          • The Gospel of Jesus Christ (The Lord’s Body)
          • Psalms 147:14, “He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.”
          • 1Corinthians 11:22-23, “took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.”
        • wine
          • The Covenant Relationship with God (The Blood of Jesus)
          • Jeremiah 25:15, “For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.”
          • 1Corinthians 11:25, “After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”
        • As with physical provisions the person must get A Balanced Diet. So also must the believer spiritually get a balanced diet or simply be “Balanced”.
          • Just as He asks for ALL of us in salvation, He promises and provides ALL OF HIM. This is why we need to be balanced in Jesus so that we can carry ourselves well for Him.

 

Conclusion:

However, verse 15 reveals,

“But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”

• Jeshurun – a poetical name for the people of Israel, used in token of affection, meaning, “the dear upright people”
• We as God’s children have gotten “itis” à We have taken advantage of God’s power, peace, provisioning, and protection and have gotten comfortable or FAT as the Bible says.
  • We eat because it is there
  • We eat because we fear there won’t be any more
  • We eat because we don’t want to do anything else
• This leads to our downfall
  • We “forsake God” who has provided for us
    • We trust what we have and not God to give us what we need.
    • We rest in our “fatness” and not in Him.
  • We “lightly esteem the ROCK of our salvation”
    • In famine we treat God as our Savior, but in plenty we treat God as “backup”
      • “Don’t call us, we will call you”

God is our Rock!

• The Rock gives us our BALANCE
  • As Job said in Job 31:6, “Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.”
• The Rock provided for Moses
  • Exodus 17:6 explains, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
• The Rock is the Balanced Diet that we are to partake of:
  • Psalms 34:8 explains, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
    • The Lord is Good!!!!

#159