Deut 5:9+10, 'You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 
    	In this morning’s reading we have the detailed delineation of the 10 Commandments and the history of the covenant given by God to the Nation of Israel. This chapter could take a lifetime to examine all by itself with all the nuances and provisions and details of getting right to the heart of the relationship that God was directly setting up with His Chosen nation. 
One thing that is vital to realize is that these commandments were given directly by God to His people. They were written on the tablets by His own finger. This was not a matter of someone making interpretations or assumptions about what might or might not be permissible in society for the welfare of the majority of the people. These were very specific and detailed instructions as to what should and should not be done by the people in their interaction with God and with each other. 
There is no gray area. There is no aspect of flexible, psychological, or pyschosocietal elucidation of what could be permitted or might not be allowable. The Lord God Almighty, Creator of all life and all of creation gave comprehensive and thorough commandments in the manner that His people were to behave and to interrelate as a witness of His truth. It was also a most gracious protection from all the disease and sickness and depravity of this age. 
As well, the Lord made known the nature and the character and the essence of His Being to the whole nation of Israel. It was just as He had shown to Moses, in Ex 34:6+7, on the mountain when He first gave the 10 Commandments to Moses. 
Ex 34:6+7, Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." 
	Moses did not hesitate to give voice to this truth of God before the whole assembly in order for them to know and to understand the great difference in God’s dealings with those who love Him and those who hate Him. This is something that we often tend to overlook or forget or try to ignore in terms of our feeble and most limited human understanding of God. We want Him to be something that He is not and try to force Him into the minute framework of our understanding.
Rather, we need to seek for Him to expand our understanding to see the merest glimpse of Who He is. He is so beyond mankind’s ability to fully comprehend His super abounding truth and majesty holiness and justice and supremacy as the Lord God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. 
	So often, we get caught up in our inflamed sense of blaming all our issues on God. We complain that He is unfair and unjust. We portray Him as a vengeful and wrathful God throughout the Old Testament, never really seeing His mercy and His grace and His lovingkindness so plainly portrayed in His every Word. 
Notice that the judgment and the wrath of God are declared to the 3rd and fourth generation of those who hate Him. In that, however, we fail to recognize that this is upon those who have no use for Him and utterly refuse to honor Him as Lord and God. These are those nations and peoples outside the covenant, who choose to go their own way. They delude themselves with the lies of their vile and defiled imaginations. They protest futility that there is no God Who watches over the dealings of humanity and Who rules and overrules in full accordance with His plan and His purpose from before the eternal ages were ever created.
	Moses knew that there were even those enemies of God within the ranks of the nation of Israel. That is one of the reasons that he stressed over and over again that the people needed to love the Lord God with all their hearts and all their minds and all their beings. Moses emphasized the knowledge that those who hated God would suffer the consequences to the 3rd and 4th generations. However, those who loved the Lord would know His lovingkindness to the thousandth of generation. This is the great declaration of just how merciful and loving and gracious and forgiving and longsuffering is Our God, Jehovah, Yahweh!
	That is the reason that it is vital to follow the commands of the Lord in order to show Him that we do love Him and count on Him and trust Him and honor Him above all else. This is encapsulated for us, by Moses, in Deut 6:5-7. 
Deut 6:5-7, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 
     	The nation needed a constant reminder of just how loving and merciful God is to those who love Him. His love abounds to those whom He has redeemed unto Himself for a living relationship of trust and honor and reverent obedience with the lavished showering of His blessing. 
It also highlights just how foolhardy and blind are those who refuse to allow Him into their hearts and minds. These are those who completely set aside their conscious understanding of the spiritual need for Him. They try to fill this need with the most horrendous and defamed and deformed gods of their own making, thus thrusting away trampling under foot the free gift of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. 
	Please turn to Deut 7:9-14 so we can read one of the tremendous passages of encouragement to so love the Lord. It is filled with God’s gracious mercy and blessing upon those who do seek Him with all their heart and being. 
Deut 7:9-14, Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them. "Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. 
	The Psalmist, in Ps 103:6-18, picks up the responsibility to put before the people the truth of the everlasting lovingkindness and mercy of the Lord God Almighty. This is lavished upon those who do choose to honor and love and reverence and obey Him. Please turn to it. 
Ps 103, verses 6-18. The Lord performs righteous deeds, And judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us; Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more; And its place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children, To those who keep His covenant, And who remember His precepts to do them. 
	Next listen to the Prophet Isaiah, in Isa 1:16-20, as he encouraged the nation of Israel with the expressed Voice of God. They needed to turn from all the idolatry and sin that they were committing and seek the Lord once again.
Isa 1:16-20, "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. "If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; "But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword." Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 
	He reminds them that though they had grievously sinned and turned away from the commandments and the precepts of the Lord, it was not too late. They could still repent and know the forgiveness of God and the blessing of God, if they would but choose to obey and love the Lord God Almighty. They needed to turn from their wicked ways which showed their distain and hatred of God.
	Once again the people were reminded of Who God is in all His grace and His mercy and His justice and His holiness as reiterated by the Prophet Jeremiah. We can read this in Jeremiah 32:17-20. 
Jer 32:17-20, 'Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for Thee, who showest lovingkindness to thousands, but repayest the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The Lord of hosts is His name; great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;  who hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and Thou hast made a name for Thyself, as at this day. 
	This was the continued declaration that God was worthy to be loved and obeyed by those whom He had delivered from the slavery of this age. As much as the people were sinning against God, He still bore with them and sent His Word to them to turn from their evil ways and their wicked adultery and idolatry and seek Him with all their hearts and minds and beings. He is a mercy and just God Who will forgive the sin of those who will but seek Him and desire to know Him in the fullness of His glory.
	The Prophet Ezekiel, in Ezek 18:19-32, put before the nation and before us, the manner in which we, as sinful humans, tend to pervert the Word of God. We try to twist it to fit our own interpretation and desires. Even those who were supposedly the priests and spiritual leaders of the nation had mangled the given testimony of God into that which they could try to use to bring others low. This was in order to elevate themselves as more spiritually-minded and holier-than-thou, which has ever been a corruption of the Word which declares the majesty and the forbearance and the mercy and the forgiveness of God. Please turn to Ezek 18:19-32 so we can read it together. 
Ezek 18:19-32, "Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity?' When the son has practiced justice and righteousness, and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. "But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. "All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. "Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord God, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? "But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? "When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. "Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. "Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. "But the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right? "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct," declares the Lord God. "Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. "Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord God. "Therefore, repent and live." 
    	Make careful note how the Lord, through Ezekiel gives complete expression to His heart that none would be lost. This is the same God of the Old Testament that we know in the New Testament. He does not take any delight in the death of any man. He would that all mankind would turn from his sin and his hatred of The Lord God Almighty in His Divine Essence and seek The Lord with all his heart and live. 
The fact is that there will be those who will never turn to the Lord for life. They will always think they know better and are as gods unto themselves. They will act in that arrogant behavior which futilely declares that there is no God to judge the deeds of men, whether they be good or bad. These are the ones who will suffer the judgment to the third and fourth generations, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament as they teach their sons and their daughters the same blatant disregard and hatred for God. However, if the children do turn and seek the Lord, they will receive forgiveness and life everlasting.
	Our final prophetic word of this morning is that of Daniel, in Dan 9:4-10. In this passage we have the heart of Daniel as he prayed for God’s Chosen nation as it had been unfaithful to the Lord and sinned grievously against Him. Daniel was not blaming the Lord. He was confessing that God had been righteous and just in all His dealings with this people who had turned away from Him. Yet, Daniel also knew the truth of God’s forgiveness and kindness and faithfulness to His Essence of Mercy and Compassion upon those who turned away from their sins and sought The Lord with all their hearts.
	Dan 9:4-10, And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, "Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances. "Moreover, we have not listened to Thy servants the prophets, who spoke in Thy name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land. "Righteousness belongs to Thee, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day — to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which Thou hast driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against Thee. "Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee. "To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. 
      	When next we are together in this 5th chapter of Deuteronomy, we will consider how the New Testament correlates with the full magnitude of God’s grace and mercy and longsuffering upon those who seek Him with all their hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, has much to tell us about the reality that we are to love the Lord God with all our hearts and minds and beings. So be it.
'You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Jer 32:26+27. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"  Amen.