Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mechanicsburg, PA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Joshua 4:1-24. The account of Israel’s crossing the Jordan continues to reveal more details. The LORD commands Joshua to take twelve stones from the Jordan River bed in order to build a memorial monument so that their children can be taught what the LORD had done. Joshua carries out the LORD’s instructions faithfully and also builds a monument within the river itself. T...
Oct 13, 2022•55 min
Rev. Clint Poppe, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Joshua 3:1-17. The moment has finally come for Israel to enter the Promised Land. As Moses had once led the people through the Red Sea on dry ground, so now Joshua will lead the people through the Jordan River. The LORD provides for the ark of the covenant to lead the way so that people will recognize that God Himself goes before them. He is the living God who will drive out the pagan...
Oct 12, 2022•55 min
Rev. Timothy Sandeno, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Gorham, ME, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Joshua 2:1-24. Joshua had previously been among twelve spies sent into the Promised Land by Moses, but the ten unfaithful spies led the people into ruin. Forty years later, Joshua sends only two spies to Jericho to view the land. They find refuge in the house of Rahab, a prostitute who has been brought to faith in the true God. She intercedes on behalf of her family and seeks refuge for...
Oct 11, 2022•55 min
Rev. Adolph Harstad, Professor of Exegetical Theology at Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary in Mankato, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Joshua 1:1-18. The book of Joshua picks up right where the book of Deuteronomy ended. Moses has died. That means that it is time for Israel to enter the Promised Land. As Joshua assumes leadership of Israel for that very task, the LORD reassures Joshua with His promise to go before His servant. This promise gives Joshua courage and strength for the...
Oct 10, 2022•55 min
“The Promised Land Delivered” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Joshua. After the death of Moses, the LORD remains with His people to bring them into the Promised Land under Joshua. Throughout the book, the LORD proves that not one of His Word falls unfulfilled. Today, the Church has the same confidence that all of God’s promises find their “Yes” in Christ. Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its na...
Oct 10, 2022•2 min
Rev. Peter Ill, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 34:1-12. What Moses has known would happen finally comes. The LORD sends Moses up Mount Nebo where He shows His faithful prophet the entirety of the Promised Land. The LORD reminds Moses that he will not enter the land due to his unfaithfulness, yet the LORD reminds Moses that He is keeping the promise He made to Abraham. This comforts Moses to know that the LORD will keep His p...
Oct 07, 2022•55 min
Rev. Matt Wietfeldt, Vice President of Admission and director of the Christ Academy program at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 33:18-29. Moses concludes his blessing of the tribes of Israel one at a time, each revealing something about the particular tribe and the way that God shows His love to all of Israel. The conclusion of Moses’ blessing reminds Israel that only the LORD is God; He is their eternal dwelling place. They are ...
Oct 06, 2022•56 min
Rev. Bernie Schey, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Old Dime Box, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 33:1-17. As Jacob had blessed his twelve sons before he died, now Moses blesses the twelve tribes of Israel before he dies. In his blessing, Moses shows his fatherly care for the nation that he has led for forty years. The blessing begins with a reminder of the LORD’s love for Israel shown from Sinai onward. As Moses begins to work his way from one tribe to the next, he bl...
Oct 05, 2022•55 min
Rev. Ned Moerbe, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blackwell, OK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 32:39-52. Moses finishes the song given by the LORD with a grand climax. The LORD alone is God with all authority either to kill or to make alive; He intends that His alien work leads to His proper work. All that He does brings great joy to His people. After Moses finishes the song, he commends it into the hearts of the people, for it is God’s Word that gives life. The LORD the...
Oct 04, 2022•56 min
Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 32:19-38. Moses continues to give the song commanded by the LORD to the people of Israel. The idols they worship are not actually gods at all; when the LORD provokes His people and makes them jealous, He does so in order to call them back to Himself. The wrath and judgment that He pours out upon His people is intended to show His people that their false gods can do nothing to save; only...
Oct 03, 2022•55 min
Rev. Philip Hoppe, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Colby, KS, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 31:30-32:18. Moses begins to give Israel the song that the LORD commanded in the previous chapter. He calls upon the heavens and the earth to listen as witnesses and prays that his teaching of God’s Word will bring growth as he proclaims the name of the LORD. Moses calls the LORD “the Rock,” for He is upright, just, and faithful. Though Israel should have been like Him, they have...
Sep 30, 2022•56 min
Rev. Dustin Beck, pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 31:14-29. Moses and Joshua present themselves before the LORD, who appears in the tent in the pillar of cloud. Moses is about to die, but he will go to be with his fathers in the faith. The LORD foretells that the people of Israel will only grow worse and forsake Him; therefore, He gives Moses a song that will serve as a witness against them during their times of unfaithfulness...
Sep 29, 2022•55 min
Rev. Richard Mittwede, pastor at University Lutheran Church in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 31:1-13. Even as his death draws closer, Moses continues to speak to Israel. Although Moses will not go across the Jordan into the Promised Land, the LORD will go over with them, and He will win the victory for them there, as He has already begun. Joshua will be the human leader of Israel after Moses; the LORD will be with Joshua to give him strength and courage for the t...
Sep 28, 2022•55 min
Rev. Tim Koch, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Linn, KS, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 30:1-20. The LORD knows that His people will break His covenant and be scattered throughout the nations. He comforts them in the face of that reality ahead of time, for He will call them to return to Him and bring them back to Himself. Both for them and their offspring, the LORD will circumcise their hearts by faith so that they will love Him. As Moses brings his third sermon in Deuteron...
Sep 27, 2022•56 min
Rev. Lucas Witt, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Baltimore, MD, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 29:1-29. As his death draws nearer, Moses summons all Israel to continue to urge them to faithfulness. He reminds them of all that the LORD has done for them up to their day. The LORD has done this for all of them: men and women, young and old, sojourner and native. The LORD’s Word is for them, but it is not only for them; it is also for the generations to come. Moses warns th...
Sep 26, 2022•55 min
Rev. Stephen Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vinton, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 28:45-68. Moses continues to speak of the curses that the LORD will bring upon Israel if they break the covenant. This will not happen by historical coincidence; the LORD will cause His people to serve their enemies because they did not serve Him. The LORD will make use a foreign nation to send His people into exile, which happens especially with Assyria and Babylon. The descri...
Sep 23, 2022•54 min
Rev. David Appold, pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Paducah, KY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 28:15-44. Moses turns from the blessings for keeping the covenant to the curses for breaking the covenant. The curses are noticeably longer; God takes sin absolutely seriously, and He will punish it. As the blessings touched every aspect of life, so the curses touch every aspect of life. To live under God’s curse is to receive a living death. All hope and promise is taken aw...
Sep 22, 2022•55 min
Rev. Jeffrey Ries, pastor at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tacoma, WA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Moses begins to lay out the blessings that Israel will experience if they keep the LORD’s commandments. The LORD’s blessing will touch absolutely every aspect of Israel’s life in the Promised Land. No matter where they are or what they are doing, Israel will receive the LORD’s blessing if they keep His Word. The history of Israel shows the ways that the LORD bl...
Sep 21, 2022•56 min
Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz, associate pastor and headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Brenham, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 27:9-26. The Levitical priests join Moses to tell the people of Israel to be quiet and listen to the LORD’s Word. When the people go over the Jordan into the Promised Land, six tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim for blessing and six tribes will stand on Mount Ebal for curses. The curses that the Levites will declare all connect to the Decalo...
Sep 20, 2022•55 min
Rev. Dr. Jeff Dukeman, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Gulfport, MS, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 27:1-8. Moses begins his third sermon in the book of Deuteronomy. As Moses’ earthly life draws to a close and the people will be under new leadership, the elders join Moses in instructing the people. The emphasis on keeping the LORD’s Word continues. When the people enter into the Promised Land, they are to have a physical reminder of the importance of God’s Word by co...
Sep 19, 2022•55 min
Rev. Kyle Mietzner, chaplain in the United States Army training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 26:1-19. The LORD will bring His people into the Promised Land, in fulfillment of His promise. Their offerings of firstfruits and tithes there will remind them that all they have is a gift from the LORD. Their giving will be a joyful act of worship as they recall how the LORD had taken them from nothing to make them into His holy people. By giving th...
Sep 16, 2022•56 min
Rev. James Yonkers, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Danville, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 25:1-19. God’s Law consistently calls for true justice, in which crimes are punished appropriately while upholding the humanity of both the criminal and the judge. Those who labor should receive their wages from their work. Instructions surrounding levirate marriage come from a concern for preserving a family line, as does a law for punishment for a woman who inappropriately...
Sep 15, 2022•56 min
Rev. Greg Truwe, pastor at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cole Camp, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 24:1-22. Moses continues to speak God’s Word to a wide variety of situations Israel will face in the Promised Land. He does not command divorce, but provides an allowance for a very specific situation due to the hardness of the human heart. The positive command concerning a man staying at home with his wife for a year after marriage instead of serving in the army re...
Sep 14, 2022•56 min
Rev. David Vandercook, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in North Little Rock, AR and Shepherd of Peace Lutheran Church in Maumelle, AR, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 23:1-25. As Moses speaks about who shall not enter the assembly of the LORD, the matter of true or false religion is the key. Purposeful mutilation of the body is a rejection of God’s promise of the Seed in Genesis 3. The LORD desires that all people would come to true faith in Him, but those who hold onto thei...
Sep 13, 2022•56 min
Rev. Doug Griebenaw, mission advocate for KFUO Radio in St. Louis, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 22:13-30. God gave the 6th Commandment in order to protect His gift of marriage. When people live in concert with this commandment, not only do husbands and wives benefit, but all of society is built up. The variety of laws that God gives through Moses uphold the holy gift of marriage, warning against sins of adultery, rape, incest, and sexual immorality. The LORD spells out ...
Sep 12, 2022•57 min
Rev. Dr. Christian Preus, pastor at Mount Hope Lutheran Church and School in Casper, WY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 21:18-22:12. Moses continues to provide a variety of instructions for Israel’s life in the Promised Land. The matter of parental authority in the 4th Commandment is God’s good gift, to be despised neither by the parents nor the children. The capital punishment prescribed for children who are stubbornly disobedient to their parents’ attempts to raise them in ...
Sep 09, 2022•56 min
Rev. Garen Pay, pastor at Hope Lutheran Church in Idaho Falls, ID, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 21:1-17. Moses’ instruction for Israel continues into the case of an unsolved murder. Though no one in the nearest town committed the crime, still unrighteousness has been brought upon the land. The LORD provides for a particular sacrifice to atone for the unrighteousness, pointing to the blood of Christ that purifies both the unrighteousness we commit and the unrighteousness com...
Sep 08, 2022•56 min
Rev. Brian Flamme, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell, NM, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 20:1-20. The LORD prepares His people for their upcoming military conquests of the Promised Land. Israel need not be afraid of larger or more technologically advanced armies, for the LORD is with them. The priest speaks to the army first, reminding them of the LORD’s promise. The officers next allow certain soldiers to leave, lest they fail to enjoy God’s good gifts in the Pro...
Sep 07, 2022•55 min
Rev. Sean Kilgo, pastor at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Lawrence, KS, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 19:1-21. Moses teaches the people concerning the cities of refuge they will establish once they enter the Promised Land. Three such cities have already been established on the east side of the Jordan; three more will need to be established in the Promised Land so no one will have trouble fleeing to them in the case of manslaughter. Through the cities of refuge, the LORD places ...
Sep 06, 2022•54 min
Rev. Nate Hill, pastor at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Deuteronomy 18:15-22. The LORD promises His people that He will provide for them a prophet like Moses. The people must listen to this prophet, for this prophet will speak the LORD’s Word faithfully. False prophets will come, but the LORD teaches His people how to identify them. Those who do not speak in the name of the LORD are false prophets, as are those whose word does not come to...
Sep 05, 2022•54 min
