OT: The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 19

Deuteronomy 19:1-21

19:1-3 Moses gives instructions for settling in the promised land. The children of Israel are to create three refuge cities. These refuge cities will serve as neutral territory available to each of the tribes. The neutral ground would serve as a place for people to dwell whose crimes could not be settled in their tribal territory. 

19:4-7 For example, a person who accidentally kills another would be welcomed to live in the neutral territory. Leaving the tribal area would help the grieving family and also protect the person from vengeance. 

19:8-10 If the children of Israel remain committed to their faith and do not have any premeditated murderers, God promises to increase their land.

19:11-13 The justice system they put into place must condemn and remove evil.

19:14 Each tribe and family's boundary is to be respected.

19:15 Three witnesses are required to testify against an accused person.

19:16-20 False witnesses are to be tried for the crime of dishonesty.

19:21 We do not live by the literal command eye for an eye. The children of Israel are expected to cultivate a justice system under which the crime matches the punishment (the worse the crime, the longer the detainment, etc).

OT: The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 18

Deuteronomy 18:1-22

18:1-2 The Levites are the priest tribe, one of the 12 tribes of Jacob. Each tribe received a land allotment from God except for the Levites. For God is their portion and remains God alone, throughout the Bible and beyond life on earth. The life of ministry is similar to the lives the apostles live in the New Testament: complete devotion to teach, spreading and absorbing the word and will of God. (The apostle Paul did not even marry! He lived an entirely selfless life, doing God's will only all his days in faith).

18:3-8 The other 11 tribes support the work of the Levites by giving them a portion of their provisions.

18:9-14 Another stern reminder from Moses: remain separate from the corrupt peoples around! Moses knows that the children of Israel (and even we) are led astray by keeping bad company. To remain pure in faith, the children of Israel are asked to only marry within the faith.

18:15-16 Even though Moses has prepared the children of Israel for his departure from earth, God promises to send another prophet. They simply are not ready to be turned loose. Their faith is still too brittle.

18:17-18 God promises to raise up another prophet and to continue to lead the children of Israel through that prophet. A person appointed, anointed, by God for a purpose never has to choose their words: He always fill them with the material they need to accomplish the task He has given, Mark 13:11.

18:19-20 The prophet may be changing, but God's word is not. Ever. Whoever opposes God will be shut down. God will not allow a corrupt prophet or leader of any kind to continue forever: they always meet their end and their actions.

18:21-22 Moses explains that the children of Israel will be able to discern a true prophet because a prophet from God always prophesies correctly. A prophet from God is humble, hardworking, and faithful first, always.

OT: The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 17

Deuteronomy 17:1-20

17:1 As God gives His best to us, we are meant to give our best to Him. For the children of Israel, that meant dedicating the best of their crop and livestock. For us, it means dedicating our best efforts in and of faith. God does not deal in a lackluster manner with us, rather He floods us with His living and healing water and with blessings abundant. In fair return, we should give Him our best effort to be empathetic, faithful children and students of Him.

In every aspect of our lives we have the opportunity to serve Him and thank Him. In our social and familial relationships, in our work ethic, in our intentions and motivations. We always have the opportunity to grow in His wisdom and produce increasingly good fruits.

There are two distinctive types of God's children and we all fall somewhere between or on the two. In Genesis 4 Cain and Abel represent these two types. Cain offers bad fruits, the fruits which come from toil and manipulation in the world. With his life, Cain dealt corruptly with others and always sought gain for himself. Yet Abel gave God the best of what he had cared for with his own hands. Abel had genuine gratitude and love for God, recognized that God loved and gave to Him abundantly, and returned that love.

17:2-7 John 8:7 explains that stoning is an unacceptable form of justice. Yet God does want us to be vigilant and diligent in acquiring facts rather than gossip. By remaining vigilant in our societies, we will know when injustice is occurring and will therefore be able to stamp it out.

17:8-13 If the children of Israel were unable to settle a matter in their justice system, they could bring the issue to the Levites (who lived and remained separate from daily life, and therefore unbiased). Once the matter was in the hands of the Levites, the people were supposed to follow their ruling over it.

17:14-15 Moses is reaching the culmination of his leadership and life on earth. Moses prophesies when he mentions that the children of Israel will request a man king to rule over them. As of now, their King is God and His system of justice is organized by the Levites (an oligarchy).

Although the children of Israel do not need a man king, they will request one. As humans are fallible, having a human king will bring some trouble for them. God wants the children of Israel to avoid some of that trouble by remembering to elect a king who is within and participating in the faith. We will see this come to pass in I Samuel.

17:16-17 Moses explains that their king should not be obsessed with his own wealth and prosperity. Their man king should remain, as they are, a servant of God. God should be their source. They should not travel into former lands (backtrack literally) in order to obtain old desires (backtrack spiritually).

17:18-19 The king must write down the law, the commandments, in order to profess that he has read and knows them. He must continually read it, for it will keep him honest and forward-righteously thinking.

17:20 It is important for us to continually read because not only do we constantly learn, we also go over elemental principles which keep us rooted in faith. For example, learning to be patient is not like learning the definition of the word patient. Patience takes effort and encouragement... we find that encouragement and the map and strength for that effort within these pages.

Every day spent away from God's word is a day we drift from it. Everyday within these pages is a day we grow deeper and stronger in it. Many days away cause us to change, regress. If the children of Israel, or we, wish to abound in happiness and prosperity, generosity and justice, we must constantly refer to the source of those things: God's word and will and love.

OT: The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 16

Deuteronomy 16:1-22

Here is the Calendar the Children of Israel follow: The Jewish Calendar 

Tishri | September - October | 30 days
Heshvan | October - November | 29-30 days
Chislev | November - December | 29-30 days
Tebeth | December - January | 29 days
Shebat | January - February | 30 days
Adar | February - March | 29-20 days
Nisan (Abib) | March - April | 30 days
Iyar | April - May | 29 days
Sivan | May - June | 30 days
Tammuz | June -July | 29 days
Ab | July - August | 30 days
Elul | August - September | 29 days 

16:1-8 The children of Israel were instructed by God, through Moses, on how to celebrate Passover. Yet our celebration of Passover is now different, as Jesus became our Passover, 1 Corinthians 5:7. We no longer participate in animal sacrifice, Isaiah 1:11, Hosea 6:6, Psalm 51:16. The children of Israel, however, celebrated Passover in the month of Abib. Each "type" of Passover is acknowledgment and celebration for our spiritual Father's love, compassion, generosity and creation. It is meant to be a time when we reflect on our faith and recommit to delving deeper in faith. We now celebrate Jesus' Resurrection as Passover.

16:9-12 These celebrations are meant to be frequent reminders of how God draws us out of literal and figurative slavery and blesses us with freedom and abundance.

16:13-17 The feast of Weeks is a celebrate we would benefit from establishing in our own lives of faith. By dedicating a day of the week to our God, to reflecting on His will and purpose for us, we will make strides. When we dedicate ourselves to God, He dedicates Himself to bettering us, increasing our material and our ability. Keeping close to God keeps us centered in our values and how to accomplish them.

16:18-22 The children of Israel, and we, are called by God to establish and participate in true justice system. They and we are meant to emulate God's brand of pure empathy and righteousness.

16:21 We are meant to remember our true God and to never worship an idol: money, fame, power, vanity... for those things lead us astray and never bring us joy or contentment. Those things cannot establish, strengthen and perfect us the way that our Father can.

OT: The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 15

Deuteronomy 15:1-23

15:1-2 Nearly all, if not all, societies have lenders and borrowers. Through Moses and with the children of Israel, God is establishing a family. A family rooted in Him. God's intention is to create a people who are not afraid to live generously. At the end of every seven year cycle, lenders were supposed to forgive their borrowers of their debts.

Perhaps this seems illogical or outrageous but a trusting child of God knows that generosity is always returned, if not by the borrower than by God, Luke 6:38. Moreover, God teaches and encourages humanity to be fair and hard-working whether lender or borrower. If a person is unable to settle their debt, ideally, it would not be through fault or lack of their own efforts. 

Can this be applied to our own generation? The children of Israel are a concentrated population of faith. The system is best balanced in a society committed to God... and we seem not to have exactly that. When dealing with a brother, of the faith, these principles remain firm. For God has the back of a Christian lender and Christian borrower... because such people are committed to Him and His principles: being fair, just, hardworking and generous.

15:3 God is always behind and around our generosity. Yet it is acknowledged here that a person outside of faith may not be as committed to honesty and repayment. Therefore, the children of Israel are not required to forgive the debts of foreigners.

15:4-6 God's promise is that the system He is putting in place will be and remain perfect, sustaining every member, if every member participates. Should the children of Israel remain committed to God, they will always have the means to lend. Should they remain committed to God, they will never have the need to become a borrower. Through their faith, they will always reign.

15:7-11 The children of Israel are expected to take care of the poor (and if they do so, there will be no poor). Our directive from God is to support one another as we would like to be supported. It is a fallible world but if every human lived as generously as this, there would not be a "poor" population anywhere on the globe.

We see how much disparity is in the world now because we live it. God predicted it; God saw the disparity which was to come because of greed and selfishness before it came. That is why God established this lifestyle, in effort to allow humanity to prevent such distress.

2 Corinthians 9:6-9

6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor;His righteousness endures forever.”

God encourages us to be cheerful givers. There will always be somebody who needs something we have: shelter, friendship, a shoulder to lean on, provisions for food... and to them, God says: open your hand wide. Willingly. Cheerfully.

Giving is like an old-fashioned clothesline. As we pin buckets to the line and send them out, we determine what will be returned to us. What are you pinning to the line? Your best and favorite outfits, or your worn and damaged shoes? As generously as we live is a generously as we receive.

God cautions the children of Israel from not lending to borrowers who seek to borrow near to the year of debt forgiveness. They either trust God to return their generosity to them or they do not. Yes, they must grow their faith and trust and understanding in Him in order to do such things - as humans, our hearts are not always quick and easy to live generously, selflessly.

15:12 Different culture, different time period. Indentured laborers were to be set free after seven years of work. God thus assures the eventual freedom of all members.

15:13-14 The laborer also must have been given freedom and provisions on which to live from and establish oneself in society.

15:15 Moses reminds the children of Israel that they too were once slaves and had been set free; it is their responsibility to perpetuate that freedom and generosity. At the heart of this is justice and empathy: God wants us to do the right thing because we feel it is right and just.

15:16-18 In goodwill, the children of Israel are taught, do all things. If a laborer wishes to remain, keep him and promise him/her work forever. If they wish to be free, separate amicably.

15:19-23 We no longer sacrifice, Isaiah 1:11 and Hosea 6:6. We demonstrate our love and gratitude for God through our lifestyles, through how we treat others, behave and think. Like the Israelites, we are meant to give him our best.

OT: The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 14

Deuteronomy 14:1-29

A New Culture 

"Israel was on the verge of a momentous occasion. Not only were they preparing to enter the Promised Land and conquer its inhabitants, they were also preparing to establish a brand new culture. The primary focus of this new culture would be on the living God. Every part of it would reflect His nature. 

God's commandments gave the Israelites a concrete expression of how God wanted the people to live in. In short, He wanted a people that love and worshiped Him alone. By keeping a number of purity laws, the Israelites were to demonstrate their commitment to Him by keeping ritually clean. Ideally, this outward purity would reflect inward purity. Since God was perfect, He wanted His people to resist the immoral practices of the neighboring nations. But He not only wanted them to resist evil, He also wanted them to reflect His loving and compassionate nature by helping strangers, widows, orphans, and the poor. By following God's extensive instructions, the Israelites could establish their society on the just laws of the living God. 

Many parts of the Israelites culture were distinctive in the ancient world - such as prohibitions against eating pork. These outward distinctive were a sign that Israelites were set apart to God's holy purposes. However, the most prominent distinctive was Israel's absolute allegiance to one God. Israel's entire society - its legal system, economic structure, family life and individual and communal ethics - reflected this allegiance. While the nations that surrounded Israel worshiped a variety of gods at numerous shrines located all over the landscape, the Israelites (ideally) worshiped one God in one place - the place He would choose. 

In the Promised Land, God planned to bless the Israelites abundantly. In turn, He expected the Israelisties to live responsibly, in a culture unlike any that had preceded it."

Thomas Nelson, New King James Version Study Bible (p. 297).

14:1 God, through Moses, is leading the children of Israel out of the corrupt and pagan traditions of the people around them. The Israelites (children of Israel) do not need to practice rituals of death for their (our) God is a God of life. For even though we are temporarily separated from our loved ones when they (or we) pass, we unite with them in Spirit. Moreover, many of the rituals were harmful or corrupt at worst and useless at best.

14:2-3 God has set the children of Israel aside for a purpose. The word holy in Hebrew means "to be distinct." Through this philosophy of life, God's intention is for there to be a clear and firm distinction between good and evil. Yes, to be a child of God is to inherit great responsibility -- we are meant to continually distinguish good and evil through our behavior. With that great responsibility comes the blessing of being treasured by God.

14:4-21 Moses gives the (food) health laws again, which we read about in Leviticus 11 and Exodus 23. Moses lists animals which are healthy and therefore acceptable to consume...and also the unhealthy and unacceptable. Humans have eaten meat for a long time, though the portion relative to fruits, vegetables and grains has increased exponentially. In the Book of Daniel 1:1-18, Daniel requests water and vegetables rather than the delicacies and wine of the king. Daniel is found to be much healthier than the others. It's important to remember that God sustains our health spiritually... and also physically because He leads us to the foods which work best for our bodies.

Literal or metaphor, in Spirit, the wolf lays with the lamb, Isaiah 11:6. This suggests that the predator-prey relationships will be a thing of the past, a thing of the world. We are allowed to eat meat but do so consciously and remember the importance of the vegetables and fruits God tailored to support your body (vitamins and minerals and more)! When we do eat meat, we should eat clean meat that works best for our bodies.

Moses says we should not eat: pig, camel, hare, badger. The reason is because these animals are scavengers, eating things which are not good for the human body.

Moses says we can eat (if we choose to live as omnivores): cattle, buffalo, sheep goat, deer, gazelle, antelope. And when consumed, we must do so as humanely as possible.

14:22 The practice of tithing is not only a great way to live generously but is also an opportunity to live humbly and gratefully. In creating a system of constant charity, God prods us all to live generously, humbly and gratefully.

14:23 We should keep God at the center of our tithing (and at the center of everything else). For He is our ultimate source. He has given us this planet, these bodies and minds. We cannot make matter, only God can create something from nothing. Therefore, whatever we have, we have received.

14:24-26 Our tithing is our celebration for what God has given. It is to rejoice from underneath His protective wing. If an Israelite was unable to make the journey to the established holy place, they were permitted to carry out this practice in another place... as long as they were present with God in that place.

14:27 Moses reminds the children of Israel to share with the Levites, who serve as the teachers of the faith. They do not receive a land inheritance because their home is God. Their work is the work of this philosophy, and the good fruits of faith sustain their lifestyle.

14:28-29 The stored tithes are meant to support the people (mothers and children, mainly) who were left as widows and orphans and need to be cared for by society. God passionately urges us to remember those who need assistance: In this particular time frame, widows and orphans had almost no chance in the patriarchal society, James 1:27. 

OT: The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 13

Deuteronomy 13:1-18

13:1-2 God understands people. He understands that we are easily manipulable. Moses uses this chapter to caution us from being drawn away from God by impressive people. On both large and small, individual and collective scales, leaders and ideas have been able to sweep us away.

The message here is that, no matter how miraculous a person or entity is, if that entity is preaching a different message from the one God has given, it is corrupt. As humans, we like shiny and beautiful. We like what looks and sounds good and we easily abandon our values to follow those things and people sometimes. Little by little our faith leaks out and we replace it with idol worship.

The children of Israel's journey happened long before our own but their journey mirrors ours. In the New Testament, we are repeatedly warned about false prophets. In fact, throughout the entire Bible God warns us of fake imitations of Him and Jesus, Matthew 24:24 specifically.

Matthew 24:24

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Moses writes "if" but we should prepare for "when" because we are forewarned of false prophets. Part of the benefit of knowing God's word is knowing when someone/thing twists it, even a little bit. When we notice the tiny tweaks, we recognize corruption right away. We must not forget that these corrupt "tweakers" have come and will come again, increasing in power and ability to captivate.

We have the tendency in modern cultures to depict monsters as ugly, bold and scary. The problem with that is the Bible tries to prepare us for a monster who comes as a beautiful, subtle, charismatic entity. God has strengthened His studious students against these false prophets but as we read above from Matthew, even they would be convinced by this entity.

13:3 To reemphasize the point: remember that our familiarity with the True God will always rescue us and keeps our mind, body, and spirit strong against deceivers and other enemies. God knows who you are, do you know who He is? An impostor pretending to be you would never fool Him because He knows you so intimately. He would notice if that impostor had a single hair less than or more than you do, Luke 12:7.

The question here is: would you notice if some impostor tried to impersonate your God?  What ever they were skilled? Supernatural? He has promised that a powerful entity will come and pretend to be Him... and impostor is coming, will you recognize that entity as a deceiver? If you become familiar with God you will.

13:4 The more we absorb the word and will of God the less chance we will be deceived. The more we allow ourselves to be absorbed by the word and will of God the less chance we will be deceived. Time, study, thought, prayer spent with God is tightening the knot that keeps us tethered to Him. Time away loosens our grip on Him and leaves us vulnerable to manipulation and deception.

13:5 The deceivers eventually, inevitably are exposed and extinguished by God. The false messiah is the only entity that has been declared sentenced to death by God: John 17:12. The son of perdition: Revelation 20:8, will deceive most of the world. For that, he is put in a pit, exposed, shown to the world and extinguished: Isaiah 14:3-21 and Revelation 9:2.

1 Corinthians 10 is enormously important: In it, we are told that the events of the Old Testament happened so that we would be prepared for "the end" the culmination of life on earth. These "past" events we are studying are prophesying our future.

In study, we are constantly referring to other verses in the Bible, from different chapters and testaments. The reason is because this word and will of God is all linked. The reason is because we are the posterity of the children of Israel and the gentiles, scattered and mixed up. We are part of the story as it continues throughout generations past, present and future. Everything, everyone is linked.

13:6-7 Moses cautions us against following the people we love because we trust them. Yet we learned in the New Testament that above everyone else, we should love and trust God. Matthew 10:37 can be a complicated verse to swallow. Yet what God is explaining to us is that we must love and trust Him above everyone else because only He can love and be trustworthy to the people we love they way that He can.

By loving God first and above everything/one else, we learn how to love others more deeply, selflessly and unconditionally. Of course God wants us to love our friends and family without bounds! We are told to love each other throughout the Bible, to give our lives for one another. Yet when it comes to trust and learning, He needs to be first. He is the purest, deepest, brightest love. Putting Him first will help us not to be vulnerable to the mistakes the fallible people we love sometimes make (like following false idols).

And the Bible prophesies that there will be a time in the world where families are split apart because some fall victim to the false prophets and messiah and others do not. One trusts in the True God and the other is wholly convinced by the false god, Mark 13:12, Luke 12:53, Matthew 10:21.

13:8-11 Moses implores us to shut it down. Shut deception down. One of the commandments is that we must not murder, preemptively plan or kill an innocent. Yet God has always understood that sometimes war is necessary (He Himself has sent prophets into war to save innocents). Moses wants us to go to war against evil and deception.

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It is dangers to give evil even an inch. Moses calls on us to destroy evil -- and sometimes that means using our voice. Sometimes that means using our hands, producing good fruit. Unfortunately, that sometimes means war. (We should not actually stone people: John 8:7.)

13:12-15 Moses wants us to be attuned to even a hint about evil and corruption. We are meant to diligently search and inquire (not mindlessly, hastily react) into such rumored threats. If they end up true, we are meant to shut it down. Pull it out by the roots.

13:16 We are meant to completely eliminate its place in our world, society, nation, state, region, community, neighborhood, home and individual mind. We are meant to figuratively burn it into nothing.

13:17 If we oppose evil, we are on God's (the winning) team. Whoever opposes evil receives His boundless, magnanimous mercy and love. God fiercely pursues and delivers our blessings as fiercely as He pursues and delivers evil to its grave. God has a lot of power, ability and energy... which end of it do you want to be on?

13:18 If you want to be on the end of fierce blessing, "...do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God."