Deuteronomy 22-25 Practical Purity, Love, and Parenting

Deuteronomy 22-25 Practical Purity, Love, and Parenting

Psalm 30:7-12 Dust Doesn't Praise God

Ps 30:7 (4 Sing praise to Yahweh, you saints of his. Give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.)

7 You, Yahweh, when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was troubled. 8 I cried to you, Yahweh. To Yahweh I made supplication: 9 "What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth/faithfulness? 10 Hear, Yahweh, and have mercy on me. Yahweh, be my helper." 11 You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness, 12 To the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent. Yahweh my God, I will give thanks to you forever!"

Observations: 30:1-7 See post on Leviticus 8 for observations on 30:1-7, the difference between praise (which focuses on the character of God) and thanksgiving (focus on His acts).

30:7-12 David is experiencing the consequences of his sin, as God, who formerly helped him, now hides his face from him. David calls out to God, asking what profit or benefit is there to him being destroyed. He notes that the dust/dead don't praise, but that he will joyfully declare God's faithfulness (better translation of “truth”). God answers our prayers so our praise might reveal Him to others.

Application: God answers our calls for help so we may praise Him; so make sure you do.

Prayer: God, I praise You for being faithful to all Your revealed promises; may I be faithful to thank you for Your help, and praise You, so others can be drawn to You. Amen.

Proverbs 8:14-16 Wisdom for Leaders

Pr 8:14 “(12 I, wisdom, dwell with prudence...13 The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.) 14 Counsel and sound knowledge are mine. I have understanding and power. 15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. 16 By me princes rule; nobles, and all the righteous rulers of the earth.“

Observations: 8:14-16 Wisdom, which begins with the fear of the Lord (Pr 1:4; 9:10), is necessary for good leadership. The first rule of leadership should be: the leader/boss/authority is accountable to God. That perspective opens the door to four things necessary to reign and rule righteously (and thus receive God's blessing):

• counsel,
• “sound knowledge”
• understanding/discernment,
• and power/strength.

“Sound knowledge/insight” usually rendered “sound wisdom“ (as if there's unsound wisdom), is a special word for wisdom, used just three other times in Proverbs. If you have it, you can plan and take a smart and safe course of action (Pr 3:21-22). It is only given to the righteous (Pr 2:7), hence the need for fear of the Lord.

Application: Fearing God opens the toolbox of good leadership.

Prayer: God, You are the source of all wisdom and justice, and the provider of all that's needed for righteous rulership; may I discharge all my duties knowing I'll have to give an account to You. Amen.

Deuteronomy 22-25 These chapters elaborate aspects of the final four commandments: sexual purity, theft, lying, and coveting. For the most part they can be summed up in “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Deuteronomy 22 Practical Purity

22:1 You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother. 2 If your brother isn’t near to you, or if you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him.

5 A woman shall not wear men’s clothing, neither shall a man put on women’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God. 9 You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole fruit be forfeited 10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You shall not wear a mixed cloth, wool and linen together. 12 You shall make yourselves fringes on the four borders of your cloak, with which you cover yourself.

13 If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and hates her, 14 and accuses her of shameful things, and brings up an evil name on her, and says, "I took this woman, and when I came near to her, I didn’t find in her the tokens of virginity"; 15 then shall the father of the young lady, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the young lady’s virginity to the elders of the city in the gate; 16 and the young lady’s father shall tell the elders, "I gave my daughter to this man to wife, and he hates her; 17 and behold, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, ‘I didn’t find in your daughter the tokens of virginity’; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity." They shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18 The elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him; 19 and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has brought up an evil name on a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. 20 But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady; 21 then they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father’s house: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die...23 If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 25 But if the man find the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only who lay with her shall die: 26 but to the lady you shall do nothing; there is in the lady no sin worthy of death: for as when a man rises against his neighbor, and kills him, even so is this matter; 27 for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried out, and there was none to save her. 28 If a man find a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her; he may not put her away all his days. 30 A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.

Observations: 22:5 Cross-dressing and “mixed” farming appear to go against the original creation.
22:12 Fringes - Numbers 15:38 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes in the borders of their garments 39 that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute; 40 that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

22:13-30 Sexual purity requires abstinence or monogamy, distinctly different from many pagan neighbors. False accusations were discouraged by fining the husband double the usual bride price (v29). The regulations protect the innocent from law of the jungle, where might makes right. Deviations from the norms were punishable by death. Mesopotamian legal codes (ie Hammurabi 129) specified binding the adulterous couple together and drowning them.

Application: Seeking security, significance, or pleasure apart from one's relationship with God is ultimately fatal.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Who knows what's best, I acknowledge that all Your commands are for my benefit. Help me live according to Your wisdom. Amen.

Deuteronomy 23 Religious Purity and Freeloading

23:1 He who is wounded in the stones, or has his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh. 2 No one born of an illegitimate marriage shall enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of Yahweh. 3 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation 4 because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired Balaam to curse you. 5 Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam; but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you. 6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. 7 You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother: you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. 8 The children of the third generation who are born to them shall enter into the assembly of Yahweh.

9 When you go forth in camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing. 14 for Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you.

15 You shall not deliver to his master a servant who is escaped from his master to you: 16 he shall dwell with you, in the midst of you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best: you shall not oppress him. 17 There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a dog/male prostitute, into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination to Yahweh your God. 19 You shall not lend on interest to your brother; interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest: 20 to a foreigner you may lend on interest; but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it. 21 When you shall vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it: for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. 22 But if you shall forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in you. 23 That which is gone out of your lips you shall observe and do; according as you have vowed to Yahweh your God, a freewill offering, which you have promised with your mouth. 24 When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat of grapes your fill at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your vessel. 25 When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not move a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.

Observations: 23:1-3 The religious assembly or convocation in which people offered themselves to God, required ritual purity, just like the sacrifices offered to God. This did not prevent the "blemished" from believing in God and experiencing His blessings, but did serve as a reminder of the holiness God required. Pagans were often castrated as a sign of devotion to their gods. Illegitimate marriage probably refers to incestuous or pagan intermarriage. Moab and Ammon descended from Lot's incestuous relationship with his daughters. In the Messiah, these prohibitions are lifted (Isaiah 56).

23:14 God sees everything.

23:15-16 refers to foreign slaves who were often enslaved unjustly and were not considered the just property of the master (cx 22:1-5). Providing safe harbor went against the usual treaties of the day.

23:24-25 Generosity and sharing were encouraged, but not freeloading nor stealing your neighbor’s labor.

Deuteronomy 24 Divorce and Social Responsibility

24:1 When a man takes a wife, and marries her, then it shall be, if she find no favor in his eyes, because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2 When she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3 If the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife; 4 her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before Yahweh: and you shall not cause the land to sin, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.

5 When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business: he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer/rejoice with his wife whom he has taken. 6 No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he takes a life in pledge. 7 If a man be found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deal with him as a slave, or sell him; then that thief shall die: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so you shall observe to do. 9 Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came forth out of Egypt.

10 When you do lend your neighbour any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you do lend shall bring forth the pledge outside to you. 12 If he be a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge; 13 you shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless you: and it shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God. 14 You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your foreigners who are in your land within your gates: 15 in his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it: lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you. 16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 17 You shall not deprive the foreigner, or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge; 18 but you shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you there: therefore I command you to do this thing. 19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgot a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 21 When you harvest your vineyard, you shall not glean it after yourselves: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 22 You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt: therefore I command you to do this thing.

Observations: 24:1-4 Jesus said that “Moses” permitted divorce because of the hardness of heart, and that it was not the ideal. See Resources under Digging Deeper. Most discussions of divorce fail to consider what constitutes marriage in God's sight (God joining two people together; see Ezra 10).

Mt 19:3 Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?" 4 He answered, "Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’ 6 So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart." 7 They asked him, "Why then did Moses command us to give her a bill of divorce, and divorce her?" 8 He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. 9 I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery." 10 His disciples said to him, "If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry."

24:10-22 These stipulations guard against the deadly sin of greed (unrestrained “capitalism”) by placing other-centeredness above material accumulation. God gives so we can be generous, not gluttons.

Deuteronomy 25 Just Dealings

25:1 If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked; 2 and it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. 3 Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed...4 You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.

5 If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her to him as wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 It shall be, that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel. 7 If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife...

11 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts forth her hand, and takes him by the secrets; 12 then you shall cut off her hand, your eye shall have no pity.

15 You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 16 For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God. 17 Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; 18 how he met you by the way, and struck the hindmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky; you shall not forget.

Observations: 25:2 Corporal punishment was preferred over imprisonment. Biblical chastisement is preferable to “time-out” (cf. Pr 23:13-14).

25:5-10 Levirate marriage mandated, and public shaming was the consequence for failure to obey.

25:15-16 A just weight was using the same one for buying and selling. On a balance scale, using a heavier weight when buying and a lighter weight when paying or selling was unjust. Unrighteous business dealings are an abomination, just as is temple prostitution and idol worship.

Application: Since God's blessing is better than the best of our efforts, it makes sense to direct our efforts to being blameless in His sight, especially dealing justly with others.

Prayer: Omniscient and Omnipotent God, search my life and show me where I am not pleasing in Your sight, and guide me on to the path of blessing, for which I'll praise You. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

God in a nutshell: Since God designed the world and us, He has a pretty good idea of how we should live in it. He gives us both principles and specifics of how to obey. Failure to follow His instructions results in both short-term and long-term unpleasant discipline. He blesses abundantly so we can share His blessings with others, and keeps us from setting our hearts on accumulation of things that don't last.

Us in a nutshell: Loving/treating others as we would want them to treat us is a great guide to keep us from social and societal injustice. We must embrace God's prohibitions as ultimately for our benefit. When we can only see the short-term deprivation of our desires, we need to learn to look for the greater wisdom that leads to God's greater enduring blessing. Otherwise we'll opt for the short-cut to sorrow.

Where to Go for More
Truthbase.net

Marriage Divorce and Remarriage

Deuteronomy complete text

Deuteronomy 22

22:1 You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother. 2 If your brother isn’t near to you, or if you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him. 3 So you shall do with his donkey; and so you shall do with his garment; and so you shall do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost, and you have found: you may not hide yourself. 4 You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely help him to lift them up again.

5 A woman shall not wear men’s clothing, neither shall a man put on women’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God. 6 If a bird’s nest chance to be before you in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the hen sitting on the young, or on the eggs, you shall not take the hen with the young: 7 you shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take to yourself; that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days. 8 When you build a new house, then you shall make a battlement for your roof, that you don’t bring blood on your house, if any man fall from there. 9 You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole fruit be forfeited, the seed which you have sown, and the increase of the vineyard. 10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You shall not wear a mixed stuff, wool and linen together. 12 You shall make yourselves fringes on the four borders of your cloak, with which you cover yourself.

3 If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and hates her, 14 and accuses her of shameful things, and brings up an evil name on her, and says, "I took this woman, and when I came near to her, I didn’t find in her the tokens of virginity"; 15 then shall the father of the young lady, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the young lady’s virginity to the elders of the city in the gate; 16 and the young lady’s father shall tell the elders, "I gave my daughter to this man to wife, and he hates her; 17 and behold, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, ‘I didn’t find in your daughter the tokens of virginity’; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity." They shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18 The elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him; 19 and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has brought up an evil name on a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. 20 But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady; 21 then they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father’s house: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman: so you shall put away the evil from Israel. 23 If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbour’s wife: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 25 But if the man find the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only who lay with her shall die: 26 but to the lady you shall do nothing; there is in the lady no sin worthy of death: for as when a man rises against his neighbour, and kills him, even so is this matter; 27 for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was none to save her. 28 If a man find a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her; he may not put her away all his days. 30 A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.

Deuteronomy 23

23:1 He who is wounded in the stones, or has his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh. 2 A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of Yahweh. 3 An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of Yahweh forever: 4 because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam; but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you. 6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. 7 You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother: you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. 8 The children of the third generation who are born to them shall enter into the assembly of Yahweh.

9 When you go forth in camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing. 10 If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens him by night, then shall he go outside of the camp. He shall not come within the camp: 11 but it shall be, when evening comes on, he shall bathe himself in water; and when the sun is down, he shall come within the camp. 12 You shall have a place also outside of the camp, where you shall go forth abroad: 13 and you shall have a paddle among your weapons; and it shall be, when you sit down abroad, you shall dig therewith, and shall turn back and cover that which comes from you: 14 for Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you.

15 You shall not deliver to his master a servant who is escaped from his master to you: 16 he shall dwell with you, in the midst of you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best: you shall not oppress him. 17 There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a dog, into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination to Yahweh your God. 19 You shall not lend on interest to your brother; interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest: 20 to a foreigner you may lend on interest; but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it. 21 When you shall vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it: for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you. 22 But if you shall forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in you. 23 That which is gone out of your lips you shall observe and do; according as you have vowed to Yahweh your God, a freewill offering, which you have promised with your mouth. 24 When you come into your neighbour’s vineyard, then you may eat of grapes your fill at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your vessel. 25 When you come into your neighbour’s standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not move a sickle to your neighbour’s standing grain.

Deuteronomy 24

24:1 When a man takes a wife, and marries her, then it shall be, if she find no favour in his eyes, because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2 When she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3 If the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife; 4 her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before Yahweh: and you shall not cause the land to sin, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.

5 When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business: he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken. 6 No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he takes a life in pledge. 7 If a man be found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deal with him as a slave, or sell him; then that thief shall die: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so you shall observe to do. 9 Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came forth out of Egypt. 10 When you do lend your neighbour any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you do lend shall bring forth the pledge outside to you. 12 If he be a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge; 13 you shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless you: and it shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God.

14 You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your foreigners who are in your land within your gates: 15 in his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it: lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you. 16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 17 You shall not deprive the foreigner, or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge; 18 but you shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you there: therefore I command you to do this thing. 19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgot a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 21 When you harvest your vineyard, you shall not glean it after yourselves: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 22 You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt: therefore I command you to do this thing.

Deuteronomy 25

25:1 If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked; 2 and it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. 3 Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then your brother should seem vile to you. 4 You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.

5 If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her to him as wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 It shall be, that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel. 7 If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, "My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me." 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him: and if he stand, and say, "I don’t want to take her"; 9 then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, "So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house." 10 His name shall be called in Israel, The house of him who has his shoe untied. 11 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts forth her hand, and takes him by the secrets; 12 then you shall cut off her hand, your eye shall have no pity.

13 You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, a great and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house diverse measures, a great and a small. 15 You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 16 For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God. 17 Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; 18 how he met you by the way, and struck the hindmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky; you shall not forget.

Deuteronomy 16-18 Why the World's Wisest Man Washed Out

Deuteronomy 16-18 Why the World's Wisest Man Washed Out

Psalm 29:3-11 Tapping into Thunderous Power

Psalm 29:3 (1 "Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of the mighty, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to His name. Worship Yahweh in the beauty of holiness.")

3 Yahweh’s voice is on the waters. The God of glory thunders, even Yahweh on many waters. 4 Yahweh’s voice is powerful. Yahweh’s voice is full of majesty. 5 The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars. Yes, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young, wild ox. 7 Yahweh’s voice strikes with flashes of lightning. 8 Yahweh’s voice shakes the wilderness. Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 Yahweh’s voice makes the deer calve, and strips the forests bare. In His temple everything says, "Glory!" 10 Yahweh sat enthroned at the Flood. Yes, Yahweh sits as King forever. 11 Yahweh will give strength to His people. Yahweh will bless His people with peace."

Observations: 29:1-2 See Leviticus 1 for vv 1-2, in which glory and strength are ascribed/given to God from holy worshipers, responding to the revelation of God's power in a thunderstorm (worship = response to revelation).

29:3-11 David chiastically (glory, strength, strength, glory) continues his poetic (note the parallelism and repetition) praise of God's powerful voice/strength in nature. Then in verse 11 David shifts from general revelation in nature to specific revelation in God's dealings with His people. The temple, where people praise God for answered prayer, resounds with holy worshipers responding with their voices, giving/ascribing glory to the God of power. Verse 10 uses “sit” first in the perfect tense indicating God's past power over the earth with the Flood (this is the only usage of this word, outside of Genesis, always referring to the flood of Noah's day); then David uses “sit” in the imperfect (ongoing, future) tense to describe God's ongoing sovereignty over the earth. The coda (strength-glory) relates both the strength and glory of God to His people: He will continue to strengthen His people, and bless them with peace (a covenantal bestowal of His glory).

Application: Ask God to display His power and glory in your life, in meeting your needs, so you can praise Him.

Prayer: God, thanks that You offer to use the majestic power I see in nature to help and bless me; please strengthen me to do all that is pleasing in Your sight. Amen.

Proverbs 8:8-11 What Do You Desire Above All?

Proverbs 8:8 “All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. 9 They are all plain to him who understands, right to those who find knowledge. 10 Receive my instruction rather than silver; knowledge rather than choice gold. 11 For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can't be compared to it.

Observations: 8:10 If you had a choice between getting better grades or making more money at the expense of time gaining God's wisdom, which would you choose? What have you been choosing? (Ouch!)

Application: If we treasure God's wisdom, we will spend the best of our efforts getting it. Why not write out Proverbs 8:11 in your favorite version, on a post-it, and keep it in front of you until you have it memorized?

Prayer: God, You offer me the treasure of Your wisdom; don't let me be a fool and seek perishable things like grades, promotions, silver or gold at the expense of ignoring what You've said. Amen.

Deuteronomy 16-18 If you can only read one chapter today, focus on the last half of Chapter 17. These chapters flow out of the third and fourth commandments, relating to the Sabbath and authority.

Deuteronomy 16 Reminders and Justice

16 1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night. 2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there. 3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat unleavened bread...that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you; 6 but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause His name to dwell...9 Seven weeks shall you number from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain 10 You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill-offering of your hand, which you shall give, according as Yahweh your God blesses you: 11 and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and...the Levite who is within your gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in the midst of you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. 12 You shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt: and you shall observe and do these statutes. 13 You shall keep the feast of tents...because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. 

16 Three times in a year shall all your males appear before Yahweh your God in the place which He shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents; and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty: 17 every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which He has given you. 18 Judges and officers you shall make in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You shall not pervert justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. 20 That which is altogether just shall you follow, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 

21 You shall not plant an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Yahweh your God, which you shall make you. 22 Neither shall you set up a pillar; which Yahweh your God hates.

Observations: 16:3,12 God wants His people to remember what He's done for them so they don't live independently of Him.

16:17 God blesses us, so we can bless others and Him.

16:18-20 Note how right in the middle of major religious requirements is the mandate for social justice (which is not equality, but equal treatment under the law).

Application: Giving, sharing with others and justice are as much requirements for God's blessing as are religious observance and abhorrence of idolatry.

Prayer: Gracious God, keep me mindful of Your blessings and the requirements for continued enjoyment of them. Thanks. Amen.

Deuteronomy 17 Cars, Cuties, and Cash

17:1 You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a blemish, [or] anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God. 2 If there be found within any of your gates, man or woman, who does that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, in transgressing His covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods...4 and you have heard of it, then shall you inquire diligently; and, if it be true, and certain 5 then...you shall stone them to death with stones. 6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he who is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 8 If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment...9 you shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days: and you shall inquire; and they shall show you the sentence of judgment. 11 you shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12 The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and you shall put away the evil from Israel. 13 All the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

14 When you are come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; 15 you shall surely set him king over you, whom Yahweh your God shall choose: one from among your brothers shall you set king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, You shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18 It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book...19 and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; 20 that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Observations: 17:1-7 Both personal and corporate holiness are required for blessing.

17:8-13 Failure to hear and obey authorities who accurately reveal God's will was a capital offense.

17:16-20 The king was to make his own copy of the law and read it every day, (just like DailyTruthbase), so he would fear God and prosper. Three specific prohibitions: no multiplying cars (horses, especially imported ones), cuties, and cash (Power, Pleasure, Possessions). Solomon was the world's wisest man, because of the wisdom God gave him. Do you think he had a daily quiet time? He did it all, had it all, and knew it all (see Ecclesiastes) yet he ceased fearing God, and lost it all.

1 Kings 10:23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 24 All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 They brought every man his tribute...26 Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities 27 The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones 28 The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; and the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. 29 A chariot came up out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty

11:1 Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; 2 of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, "You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon joined to these in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it happened, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and didn't go fully after Yahweh, as did David his father. 7 Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8 So did he for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods. 9 Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he didn't keep that which Yahweh commanded. 11 Therefore Yahweh said to Solomon, "Because this is done by you, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant." 14 Yahweh raised up an adversary to Solomon...

Application: If the world's wisest man blew it because he didn't fear God and invest daily time in His word, what hope is there for mere mortals like us, if we don't?

Prayer: God of Truth, keep me mindful of the reality that I do not live by bread alone, but by every word that has proceeded from Your mouth; may I value Your word more than food. Amen.

Deuteronomy 18 Perfection, Priests and Prophets

18:1 The priests and Levites, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, and His inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers: Yahweh is their inheritance, as He has spoken to them. 3 This shall be the priests` due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. 4 The first-fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give Him. 5 For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh, him and his sons for ever.

9 When you are come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or engages in witchcraft (NIV), 11 or casts spells, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or consults the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh: and because of these abominations Yahweh your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless/perfect with Yahweh your God. 15 Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to Him you shall listen; 16 according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die. 18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him. 19 It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to My words which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet, who shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. 21 If you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken? 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing doesn`t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken: the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.

Observations: 18:5 God chose the Levites for their privileged position of blessing, after they chose to be loyal to Him at the Golden Calf (Exodus 32:26).

18:9-12 Seeking supernatural revelation from other than God would incur His wrath, because things that are supernatural and not from God are from Satan.

18:13-19 God requires blamelessness of His people, and not only expected them to obey, but disciplined them if they didn't obey.

18:20 People who claim to be prophets and don't know the Word of God, should note this verse.

Application: People who don't have a blameless relationship with God will seek alternatives. Don't go there.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for being accessible, and speaking to Your people. May I be quick to hear only Your voice, and swift in obeying it. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

God in a nutshell: God not only cares for His people, and gives them ways to keep on the path to blessings, but warns them of things which will cause their heart to stray from Him. When we are loyal to Him, He blesses; when disloyal, He curses. He will discipline even His most prized servants if they stray. No one is exempt from total allegiance to Him.

Us in a nutshell: We not only have the requirement of personal holiness, but corporate as well. If we occupy ourselves with gaining and sharing God's blessings, we'll have little time for getting into trouble. If we stop listening to truth, we will believe lies, do abominably, and suffer the consequences of our sin. People who are wiser than Solomon might be able to risk not investing daily time in God's word. Everyone else would be wise to saturate themselves with Truth every day.

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

How to Have a Daily Quiet Time in Sidebar.

Deuteronomy complete text

Chapter 16

16 1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night. 2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. 3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4 There shall be no yeast seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. 5 You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you; 6 but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt. 7 You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: and you shall turn in the morning, and go to your tents. 8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God; you shall do no work [therein]. 9 Seven weeks shall you number to you: from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain shall you begin to number seven weeks. 10 You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill-offering of your hand, which you shall give, according as Yahweh your God blesses you: 11 and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your man-servant, and your maid-servant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in the midst of you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. 12 You shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt: and you shall observe and do these statutes. 13 You shall keep the feast of tents seven days, after that you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your winepress: 14 and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your man-servant, and your maid-servant, and the Levite, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates. 15 Seven days shall you keep a feast to Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh shall choose; because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. 16 Three times in a year shall all your males appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents; and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty: 17 every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you. 18 Judges and officers shall you make you in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You shall not wrest justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. 20 That which is altogether just shall you follow, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 21 You shall not plant you an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Yahweh your God, which you shall make you. 22 Neither shall you set you up a pillar; which Yahweh your God hates.

Chapter 17

17:1 You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a blemish, [or] anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God. 2 If there be found in the midst of you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your God gives you, man or woman, who does that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of the sky, which I have not commanded; 4 and it be told you, and you have heard of it, then shall you inquire diligently; and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Israel, 5 then shall you bring forth that man or that woman, who has done this evil thing, to your gates, even the man or the woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones. 6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he who is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 8 If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates; then shall you arise, and get up to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose; 9 and you shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days: and you shall inquire; and they shall show you the sentence of judgment. 10 You shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show you from that place which Yahweh shall choose; and you shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you: 11 according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12 The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and you shall put away the evil from Israel. 13 All the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously. 14 When you are come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; 15 you shall surely set him king over you, whom Yahweh your God shall choose: one from among your brothers shall you set king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, You shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18 It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of [that which is] before the priests the Levites: 19 and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; 20 that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Chapter 18

18:1 The priests the Levites, [even] all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, and his inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers: Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them. 3 This shall be the priests` due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. 4 The first-fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him. 5 For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh, him and his sons for ever. 6 If a Levite come from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he sojourns, and come with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose; 7 then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh. 8 They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which comes of the sale of his patrimony. 9 When you are come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, 11 or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh: and because of these abominations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you. 13 You shall be perfect with Yahweh your God. 14 For these nations, that you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice sorcery, and to diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you so to do. 15 Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to him you shall listen; 16 according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die. 17 Yahweh said to me, They have well said that which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. 19 It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet, who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. 21 If you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken? 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing doesn`t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken: the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.

Leviticus 16-17 Day of Atonement and the Goat God

Psalm 18:1-27 Why Should God Save You?

18:1 “I will love You, O Yahweh, my strength. 2 The Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I will call upon the Yahweh, Who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved/delivered from my enemies. 4 The pangs of death surrounded me...6 In my distress I called upon the Yahweh...He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled...16 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Yahweh was my support. 19 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me BECAUSE He delighted in me. 20 The Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Yahweh, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. 24 Therefore Yahweh has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight. 25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; 26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. 27 For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.

Observation: We can only scratch the surface of this Psalm, magnificent in its imagery and message. In overwhelming trouble, David calls, God delivers, from the hand of Saul and enemies more mighty than he. The basis of David's appeal is his righteousness. There are over a dozen aspects of it in Psalm 18:20-27. Can you find them?

Application: Does God delight in you? Why or why not? What can you do about it?

Prayer: O Yahweh, You are my trustworthy, Strength, Rock, Fortress, Shield, Stronghold, Savior, Deliverer, Support, and fire breathing, earth shaking Rescuer and Recompenser. I'd be crazy not to trust you. Amen.

Proverbs 5:15-17 Refreshing Water

5:15 “Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. 16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? 17 Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.“

Observations: 5:15-17 One of the purposes of Proverbs is to give wisdom that protects the reader from the things that lead to death rather than the abundant life. Here the author advocates fidelity and enjoyment with one's spouse, rather than infidelity with strangers.

Proverbs 2:12 “To deliver you from the way of evil...16 To deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words...18 For her house leads down to death...19 None who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life.”

Application: A mutually satisfying marriage bed safeguards the marriage from temptation and destruction.

Prayer: Lord thanks that You are concerned about my desires; You not only created them, but also the wise way to satisfy them. Amen.

Leviticus 16-17 Day of Atonement and the Goat God

Leviticus 16 Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement

16:1 "Yahweh spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before Yahweh, and died; 2 and Yahweh said to Moses, Speak to Aaron your brother, that he doesn`t come at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; that he not die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat. 3 Herewith shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat...6 Aaron shall present the bull of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the tent of meeting. 8 Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats; one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for Azazel (Go Goat). 9 Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin-offering. 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel/Scapegoat, shall be set alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel/Scapegoat into the wilderness. 11...shall kill the bull of the sin-offering which is for himself: 12 and he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: 13 and he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, that he not die: 14 and he shall take of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16 and he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins: and so shall he do for the tent of meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness.

20 When he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat: 21 and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a man who is in readiness into the wilderness: 22 and the goat shall bear on him all their iniquities to a solitary land: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness....24 and he shall bathe his flesh in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.

27 The bull of the sin-offering, and the goat of the sin-offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be carried forth outside of the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.

29 It shall be a statute forever to you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict/humbe your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger who sojourns among you: 30 for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall you be clean before Yahweh. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict/humble your souls; it is a statute forever. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute to you, to make atonement for the children of Israel because of all their sins once in the year. He did as Yahweh commanded Moses."

Observations: This is the annual Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), six months after the Passover, when sins and transgressions (omission and commission) not covered by the sacrifices in Leviticus 1-7 (ie, willful and/or unknown sins) were atoned for.

16:6 Aaron first presented the bull for his own sins, before sacrificing it in 16:11. Only then he was able to do the priestly work for the people.

16:8 The totally unique feature of this sacrifice was the selection of one goat for sacrifice to Yahweh, and the other for being a scapegoat (“azazel” = literally “goat” and “go away/remove”). In Jewish apocryphal literature Azazel was a chief demon, but the goat is not sacrificed to a devil, for that would be an abomination. Sins would be confessed over the head of the scapegoat, who would carry the nation's sins into the wilderness. Although not specified in the Scriptures, they tied a white ribbon on Yahweh's goat, and a red ribbon on the scapegoat. According to the Talmud (rabbinical interpretation), when the scapegoat was pushed over a cliff (an extra-Biblical innovation to prevent it from wandering back into camp) the ribbon changed color from red to white. This signified the acceptance of the sacrifice and indicated that Yahweh had forgiven their sins. Astonishingly, the Talmud records that forty years (a generation's span) before the AD 70 destruction of the temple (AD 30, the year of Christ's crucifixion) the ribbon no longer changed color! See Digging Deeper for more.

16:14 This is the only day of the year anyone was allowed into the Holy of Holies.

16:22 It's significant that the scapegoat was not sacrificed. Hebrews 10:4 tells us “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” The sacrifices merely covered over the offenses. Since a human sinned, a human has to die. The fact that goat was not killed showed that sin hadn't been dealt the death blow, but needed to be removed from the presence of God in the midst of His people.

16:24 After presenting the sin-offering (and a quick bath and clothes change) whole burnt-offerings (symbol of complete dedication) were offered for the priest and then the people. It doesn't stop at forgiveness, God wants complete dedication.

16:29 “Afflict/humble” is the intensive intentional form of the verb that means “to be occupied or busy with.” Reflection on one's sins and shortcomings is a good idea, so we can identify problems and implement solutions. To wallow in the same mud year after year is to waste one's life.

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them. 26 For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 who doesn't need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself.

Application: We can only approach God on His terms, as He has specified, especially in the service of others. It doesn't stop at forgiveness, God wants complete dedication (16:24).

Prayer: Holy God, I praise You for being a merciful and just God, who provides His people with means of forgiveness and cleansing so we can have a wholly dedicated relationship with You. Amen.

Leviticus 17 Goat Worship and Blood

17:1 "Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and tell them: This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, saying, 3 Whatever man there be of the house of Israel, who kills an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it outside of the camp, 4 and hasn`t brought it to the door of the tent of meeting, to offer it as an offering to Yahweh before the tent of Yahweh: blood shall be imputed to that man; he has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: 5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, even that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace-offerings to Yahweh. 6 The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the door of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet savor to Yahweh. 7 They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons (NASB), after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations. 8 You shall tell them, Whatever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and doesn`t bring it to the door of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it to Yahweh; that man shall be cut off from his people. 10 Whatever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who eats any manner of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life. 12 Therefore I said to the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. 13 Whatever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten; he shall pour out the blood of it, and cover it with dust. 14 For as to the life of all flesh, the blood of it is [all one] with the life of it: therefore I said to the children of Israel, You shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh; for the life of all flesh is the blood of it: whoever eats it shall be cut off..."

Observations: 17:4 It looks like any sacrificable animal had to have its blood and fat presented to Yahweh. Present doesn't necessarily mean sacrifice (16:6). Some commentators view this as a prohibition against eating meat apart for sacrifices (they did have manna) until they reached the promised land, where the prohibition was lifted (Dt 12:20). In any event the instruction seems to be designed to prevent defiling idol worship (17:7).

17:7 From the Go Goat to the worship of Goats? The deity of the city of Mendez in Northern Egypt, near where the pre-Exodus Israelites resided, was the Ram God, whose name was “Ba of the Lord of Djedet.” Ba was the enduring essence or soul in Egyptian thought, represented by a ram. Djedet was the pillar or backbone or other such part of Osiris. He was responsible for fertility. The KJV translates saiyr as “goat or kid” 52 times and as “devil or satyr” twice each.

17:11 This verse explains the essence of the sacrificial system. Disobedience and rebellion were punishable by death. Presenting the blood, in which was the life, demonstrated the worshiper was offering a life to cover or atone for his sin.

1 John 2:2 And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Application: Whether eating blood or offering sacrifices improperly or being cozy with demons, a redeemed person forfeits fellowship and blessing by disobedience.

Prayer: Gracious God, thank You for accepting the blood of another as the substitute for my sin, so I could be forgiven and rightly related to You. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

The Mystery of the Red Ribbon and the Black Rock

The rabbinical commentaries in the Talmud would not want to present the Day of Atonement as ineffective, for doing so would undermine the Scriptures. Nor would they want to lend any credence to the efficacy of Christ's death. But from both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud we have the quotes below. Check out the elaboration in the link above, and additional background in the Jewish Encyclopedia below.

We read in the Jerusalem Talmud (Rabbinical Commentary):

"Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open" (Jacob Neusner, The Yerushalmi, p.156-157). [The Temple was destroyed in 70 CE]

A similar passage in the Babylonian Talmud states:

"Our rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot ['For the Lord'] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored strap become white; nor did the western most light shine; and the doors of the Hekel [Temple] would open by themselves" (Soncino version, Yoma 39b).

http://www.3dbibleproject.com/en/temple/details/evidence.htm

Yoma, a treatise in the Mishnah, in the Tosefta, and in both Talmudim, treating of the divine service on the Day of Atonement:
Ch. vi.: regarding the ten stations in the journey from Jerusalem to the mountain-top from which the animal was thrown down; how it was thrown; how color-signals were used to make it known in Jerusalem and in the Temple that Azazel's goat had reached the wilderness; how to the door of the Hekal was tied a red ribbon, which turned white when the goat had arrived in the wilderness (§§ 4-8).
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=77&letter=Y#ixzz1aTysDBUp

God in a nutshell: God graciously offers sinners (those who live independently of Him) a means to get back in His good graces, but only on His terms. He is concerned with more than our forgiveness, but with our blessing, which requires purity, hence the whole burnt-offering (complete dedication) is required.

Us in a nutshell: Failure to follow God's revelation get us in trouble in the first place, so God offers a corrective, requiring explicit and specific obedience. When we submit our will to His, we get forgiven. But it doesn't end there (sin-offering); we need to totally dedicate ourselves to purity and separation from defilement (whole burnt-offering) or we will be separated or cut off from blessing.

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

Leviticus 16-17 (complete text)

Leviticus 16

16:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before Yahweh, and died; 2 and Yahweh said to Moses, Speak to Aaron your brother, that he doesn`t come at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; that he not die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat. 3 Herewith shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches on his flesh, and shall be girded with the linen sash, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: they are the holy garments; and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and put them on. 5 He shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two male goats for a sin-offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aaron shall present the bull of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the tent of meeting. 8 Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats; one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for Azazel. 9 Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin-offering. 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness. 11 Aaron shall present the bull of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bull of the sin-offering which is for himself: 12 and he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before Yahweh, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: 13 and he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, that he not die: 14 and he shall take of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16 and he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins: and so shall he do for the tent of meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 There shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 He shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh, and make atonement for it, and shall take of the blood of the bull, and of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar round about. 19 He shall sprinkle of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. 20 When he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat: 21 and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a man who is in readiness into the wilderness: 22 and the goat shall bear on him all their iniquities to a solitary land: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. 23 Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: 24 and he shall bathe his flesh in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 The fat of the sin-offering shall he burn on the altar. 26 He who lets go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 The bull of the sin-offering, and the goat of the sin-offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be carried forth outside of the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. 28 He who burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. 29 It shall be a statute forever to you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger who sojourns among you: 30 for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall you be clean before Yahweh. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls; it is a statute forever. 32 The priest, who shall be anointed and who shall be consecrated to be priest in his father`s place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments: 33 and he shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute to you, to make atonement for the children of Israel because of all their sins once in the year. He did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Leviticus 17

17:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and tell them: This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, saying, 3 Whatever man there be of the house of Israel, who kills an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it outside of the camp, 4 and hasn`t brought it to the door of the tent of meeting, to offer it as an offering to Yahweh before the tent of Yahweh: blood shall be imputed to that man; he has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: 5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, even that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace-offerings to Yahweh. 6 The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the door of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet savor to Yahweh. 7 They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the male goats, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations. 8 You shall tell them, Whatever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and doesn`t bring it to the door of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it to Yahweh; that man shall be cut off from his people. 10 Whatever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who eats any manner of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life. 12 Therefore I said to the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. 13 Whatever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten; he shall pour out the blood of it, and cover it with dust. 14 For as to the life of all flesh, the blood of it is [all one] with the life of it: therefore I said to the children of Israel, You shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh; for the life of all flesh is the blood of it: whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 Every soul who eats that which dies of itself, or that which is torn of animals, whether he be home-born or a sojourner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. 16 But if he doesn`t wash them, nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.