Social Stand

Deuteronomy 15

Have you ever owed your friend money? Maybe you borrowed something for some time and forgot to give it back. I know I have loaned some friends money before and I don’t expect it back. I also borrowed some before and I hope they don’t expect it back. I don’t write down how much I gave them and I don’t accrue interest from them. More than anything I forget about me giving them money. Most of the time it is only a few dollars for food or something, never really any large sums. It is nice when your friend says, “Don’t worry about paying me back” and “You can just keep it.” That means that they are giving you the money and hopefully with no strings attached. In this chapter we see a social care for the people of Israel. It is for those who are in need and poor. The areas Israel needs to care are for those who have been given a loan and those who have sold themselves into slavery. 

Got Debt?

If an Israelite was poor or needed something he acquired a loan for himself. He, of course needed to work or pay off his loan. God commanded Israel to be compassionate to one another. He told them that they can work on their loan for 6 years but in the 7 year they were allowed to be set free. The Hebrews use a word that is in English is called”remission.” This means that they literally dropped or let the loan fall. They did not get a year off of paying the loan; the loan was dropped, it was forgotten. I wish our modern lenders were like this! This was a way God wanted Israel to be looking out for one another. There were going to be those that have more than others but ideally they need to be taking care of those who are less fortunate. In verse 11 God says, “There will never cease to be poor.” There will be people who are poor but then God continues by saying, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your land.” The goal that God had was that everyone would be taking care of one another. 

A Slave for them 

One of the other ways a poor Israelite would try to pay off debt would be to sell himself into slavery. This was a term based form of slavery. The Lord commanded them to serve 6 years and be released from slavery the 7th year. Not only were they to be released but the owner was to give them provisions and not hold anything back. They were told to load up the slave with provisions, to give an immense amount of goods. The slave had a choice to either leave and be free or voluntarily give himself to be a life long slave to the family because the slave loved the family. If they wanted to stay with the family then there was a ceremony that took place and the slave was considered part of the family. 

The Goal

In these two social issues dealing with poverty we see God wants his people to care for each other. That is what a family should do and what a community is all about. As I was reading this and thinking how nice it would be for those companies that I owe money to would drop the debt on the 7th year, but I know that will never happen. I also thought about those who might be in need at the church. I know that they are not coming to me and asking me for money or to be a slave for me but I know there are some that are hurting. Jesus even said in Matthew 26:6–13 as the women poured the expensive perfume on him that we will always have the poor. We can easily sit back and say, “Well if we are always going to have the poor, what’s the point of helping?” The attitude we need to have is that we as Christians need to be able to meet the needs of people. That is physically and spiritually. They go hand in hand. Christ always helped in the physical healing as well as a spiritual one. There are people in our church community that are in need. I challenge you to be aware of those people and just like God commanded Israel to have their hand wide open to help, may our hands be ever so open willing to help those that need help. I pray that it does not stop there but yet there are those that are poor spiritually. May we point them to the treasure that we have in Jesus Christ by us opening our wallets.  

Set-apart

Deuteronomy 14

We have seen throughout this book that Israel was called to be different from the surrounding nations. They were to be an example to these nations. They were to show them the true God.  When you look at all these laws and explanations of the laws, it was not just for the people of Israel but for them to show the surrounding nations who God is by his people. The way the people were to be different was not just in the way they worshiped but also how they mourned for those who have died, what and how they eat their food, and also how they give.

The passage starts with “You are the sons of the Lord.” This was their placement with God. They were not just his people but it was this family. God wanted them to know that this was a family unit and they all needed to be on the same page. “You shall not,” is next and the not is one strongest forms of no in Hebrew. God was saying DON’T DO THIS!!!  

Mourning over lost ones 

Israel was commanded by God to not cut themselves or shave between their eyes or the middle of their foreheads. This was a common practice of the Canaanites when they would mourn over a lost one. They would do this to please the false gods and also to please the dead person (See 1st Kings 18:28 for an example of how they cut themselves in worship). They believed that the shadow of a dead person would be watching and needed to be pleased in order for them to part.  God wanted the people to worship him and not follow how another culture worshiped their god over dead people. The focus is on God and not on each other.

Clean and Unclean Animals

This section of chapter 14 may seem familiar. It is true we did read something like it in Leviticus 11. The reason why this is mentioned again was for them to know that the surrounding nations looked at animals different. They were not just animals but they worshiped them. For example the Canaanites looked at the pig as one of their gods. They would boil a baby goat in its mothers milk to do witchcraft. God wanted them to be different even with their food and how they prepare the food. It was not to be a downer and controlling but so Israel could be an example to the nations and show them who God is.

Tithe

This last bit of information for the chapter was dealing with tithing. A tithe is a portion of your property, income, belonging that you give to the Lord. Israel was commanded to give a tenth of their stuff (crops, firstborn of the flock, etc) to God as an offering. If they could not make the journey to the tabernacle to give it to God then they need to exchange it for some kind of money where they could buy it when they come to the place where the tabernacle will be. With the food and the stuff they were allowed to eat it and drink in a chance to rejoice in what God has done for them. Either if they gave it to God as an offering or in rejoicing of what they had, it was a form of worship. Now the surrounding nations may have had to give something to their gods and they also may have not. The reason for this tithe was not out of obligation but out of joy in how God has provided for them. It serves as a sign in how God has taken care of his children and he will continue to provide.

Today 

God calls us his children too because when know his son, Jesus Christ. He also calls us to be set apart from this world in how we live. Paul addressed his letters to the churches by calling them saints or those set apart from this world. We need to know that we too need to serve as an example to this world. We need to not look at it as if we are giving up something and missing out in all the fun but that we are being different to show them Christ. We mourn and have a funeral so people can see Christ in that setting. We may have different views about food but the point is that we have food because God takes care of his children (Matthew 6:33). We tithe to the church because it is God’s money that he has given us and we are basically giving a portion back. The other side to tithing is so we can invest into the kingdom of God. How are you in these areas? When it comes to funerals to make sure and put the attention on a loving and redeeming Savior? When it comes to food, to you praise the Lord for his provision, even if it is something that you like? Do you tithe regularly? Just because you may not have a job with a steady income does not disqualify you to give to the Lord. In Mark 12, a widow gave all she had which as pennies and she did it knowing that it was to glorify God. May we desire to glorify God in all that we do! 

God Tests Us

Deuteronomy 13

Have you ever had a pop-quiz? I hated those in school. It always seemed to be when I did not read the assignment but when I did read, there was never any pop-quizzes. I hated those days because I knew that I would not do that well. 

In this chapter of Deuteronomy God gives Israel a heads up that there will be some pop-quizzes. I guess it would not be a pop quiz since they know it will happen. There will be a couple different areas in life where they will be tested. The first one will be with false prophets, the next will be family members and lastly there will be people within the city that cause you to stumble.

False Prophets

God warns Israel that there will be false prophets that will lead them astray. They will predict things and they will come true but then they will tell Israel to worship these false gods. If they love the Lord with all their heart and soul then they will be able to pass the test. God tells Israel that they will be a test for them and they need to test the false prophets. They are commanded to put the prophets to death because of them leading God’s chosen people away in spiritual death.

The Family

Family members are hard sometimes to please and sometimes they can be manipulative. God warns Israel that even some of their family members will try to lead them astray. They will want them to worship these other false gods. They were commanded to stone the family members to death who was trying to stumble them. God tells them to not pity them or yield to their requests because they are family. He is their father who loves them and his ways are best. As this may sound harsh to have to put to death your family member, they were doing greater harm by stumbling them into a spiritual death.

Members of society

When you get a bunch of people together in a movement others can join in because of it either being popular or because it is a phase. God warns them that their will be groups in the cities in which they live in that will try to stumble them. We see that today in our history even with the many different groups that people join and follow. They will try to lead a Christian astray. God tells Israel that those who lead them astray need to be put to death by the sword and all their belongings need to piled up and burned. Let that serve as a reminder to everyone to not cause someone to stumble.

God Tests Us

In 1st John 4:1 we see that there will still be false prophets in this world. Today there are many out there that seem to be spreading “good things” but they contradict everything that God’s word says. In 1st Thessalonians 5:21 we are commanded to test everything and in James 1:12 we will be tested ourselves. It is not bad that we will be tested in our Christian walk. This is good because than we can know that we are learning and growing in our walk. Just like teachers give tests to see how a student is doing in their education; God wants to see how we are doing in our spiritual growth. We will be tested by false prophets who will lead us into something that does not point to Jesus being the author and finisher of our faith.

We also will be tempted by our family. There will be members in it that will frown upon you for being a Christian. There will be ones that will tempt you to do things that make you leave the Lord or turn away. There will also always be the temptation of society. They will say certain things are ok when the Bible talks bad about it not being ok. Society can be very powerful when it comes to making a movement seem popular. 2nd Timothy 3:1-7 talks about how the world will be. They can make you seem like you are evil for not conforming to their ways. If I can leave you with this- 1st Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” STAND FIRM!

Tear it Down

Deuteronomy 12

Have you ever been reminded of an embarrassing thing you did when you were younger? Maybe your mom decided to bust out the photo album and show some pictures that you would not want anyone to see. You just feel like crawling in a little cave and never wanting to come out because of how embarrassed you are. I hate those moments but I have learned to poke fun at myself when I am in those situations because that is the only thing that I can do. 

In this chapter of Deuteronomy the conversation continues with God with the instructions for Israel before they enter into the Promise Land.

Tear it Down 

With some of the instructions for Israel was to be obedient to God. One of the ways Israel can be obedient to God is by tearing down all the different altars of the people whose land they are going to be living in. The nations that are in the Promise Land served false gods or idols. They would build altars wherever they wanted and they would serve as a stumbling block for Israel. The gods or idols these people served where the Baals, Asherah’s, and El’s. These are gods which will come back and be a stumbling block to Israel in the pre David days and post Solomon days.

We need to look at this and remind ourselves to tear down anything that would make us stumble. Maybe there are visual things that can trip us up, then get that stuff away. Maybe it is some kind of gossip, tear down the opportunities to not sin in that area. These idols served as a distraction with the people to get closer to God and today there are many things that can serve as a distraction which may not be a wooden idol but it could be an activity, a television, a computer, a friend, a boy, a girl, something. We need to tear down these altars of distraction so we can run free this race that God has for us. One of the closing warnings for Israel in this chapter was for them to not fall into idolatry but to follow what God has commanded. They were to not take away from it or add it to it. We need to follow not man but God and His word. When we add to it we can start to become legalistic and when we take away from it, we deny the infallibility of Scripture. Take hold of what you have right now, the wonderful Bible, God’s words to you. May we see how important they are for our soul and our life.

Blessing and a Curse

Deuteronomy 11

It is tough when you dig a whole so big that you can not get out of. Now I know most of us have not literally done that because we probably would not be reading this right now, but the saying means that we get into so much trouble that we can not get out of it. Chapter 11 continues from chapter 10 with the flowing of the heart.

 Love God not obligation

 God tells Israel to love God. The reason to love God is because of who he is. He tells them to look at the different attributes such as his discipline, his greatness, his mighty hand, and outstretched arm. He tells Israel to look at this and remember these things. When one stops looking at God and his greatness then one starts to look at himself in greatness. Look at Satan and how he fell in Isaiah 14. He looked at himself in how he could be great. We can start looking at our accomplishment and then we start forsaking God. This was the warning to Israel to not lose focus on God. We need to focus on God but it needs to be out of love for him and not obligation. Obligation leads to feeling trapped and there is no freedom. Love is freedom and with freedom comes enjoyment. God wants us to enjoy our relationship with him.

Blessing and a Curse

God states to Israel that there is a blessing and a curse. The blessing is, if Israel obeys God and the commands then he will bless them as a people and also bless the land. The curse is if they do not obey God then they miss the blessing and instead there will be problems within the land and with each other and they other surrounding nations will be a thorn to them.

Today there is a blessing and a curse but it is not quite like what Israel is facing in this chapter. Our blessing is what Jesus did on the cross for us. Ephesians 2:5 tells us that we are saved by grace and it is not based by our obedience or work because Christ was the one that was obedient until death on the cross. I am so glad that God does not base our salvation by our doings because if so, then we would already be cursed from the beginning and then we would just be digging a hole that we could never get out of. The blessing we have is looking unto Jesus because Jesus became sin for us (2nd Corinthians 5:21). The curse is for those that reject Christ. We see that those who do not call on the name of the Lord will not be saved. The curse they have is eternal judgment in hell, the place of gnashing of teeth. As I write this, I am so thankful that I am saved based on what Christ did and not me. I would be so far in the hole and the mighty thing is that God is the one that has reached down and grabbed me out of my deep hole and has cleaned me up for a great relationship with him. 

Cut it Out

Deuteronomy 10

 I had this old t-shirt that I really liked a lot. I would wear it almost everyday and it looked like it too. It was falling apart. My wife hated that shirt because it was so dingy and old. She would be embarrassed every time I would wear it in public. It had some holes in the shirt and at one of the Jr. High Retreats someone decided to rip the hole and make my shirt into two. I was devastated because I had to throw it away. Have you ever been told by your parents that you had to throw something out that you did not want to? When you are clingy to something for so long but yet it is not good for you it is hard to throw it away.

In this chapter Moses is reflecting about the time he had to go up on Mt. Horeb and get the 10 commandments again from God. Remember he came down with the first set but he saw the people and how they were acting and threw them on the ground and they broke. He is getting the second set and is up there for 40 days and nights. He is talking to the 2nd generation and as he is reflecting about the past he uses that as a teaching opportunity. 

 It is all about your Heart

 He told them that they needed to circumcise their hearts. It was all about their hearts with God. He tells this, this is what God requires of you. 1) You fear God (Proverbs 1:7). 2) You walk in his ways (Psalm 1). 3) You serve him with all your heart and soul. 4) You keep his commandments. 5) Know that God chose you, Israel. These are some application points that Moses is going over with Israel, so they can be spiritually ready for the Promise Land. He talks about how they need to cut the bad stuff or the unclean stuff from their hearts and the same can be said about us.

We can do the actions, like Israel who did sacrifice after sacrifice. We can be good by however you define good but truly it does not matter. God looks at the heart. We too need to cut off the bad stuff from our heart. Colossians 3:5 tells us to put to death what is earthly. We need to cut off the stuff that is not of God. Just like Moses told Israel to cut it off and asked, “How much longer will they be stubborn with their old ways.” We need to cut it off and not be stubborn with our old ways of sin. May we desire to cut off the stuff that clouds our hearts and minds and focus on the redeeming love of Jesus Christ our savior. He died for us so we can live. Our hearts have been washed clean. Just like my t-shirt that I loved needed to be thrown away because it was disgusting. It was hard and I did not do it until it was ripped. Sin is ripped from you because of Christ. Throw it away and run the race without looking back (Hebrews 12:1-2).