Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 18-20.

Moses warned the Israelites against imitating the “detestable ways” of the people already living there.  To make sure we would know what he meant describes those “detestable ways”.  First, he calls sacrificing their children detestable.  Then he lists a bunch of methods for either determining or controlling the future: divination, sorcery, interpreting omens, witchcraft, casting spells, consulting the dead.  We have long considered sacrificing children to be something horrific (although I would argue that many today no longer do so as long as the sacrifice takes place before birth), but dismissed the others as relatively minor misdeeds by the uneducated.  However, this is not the only place in the Bible where we are told such acts are serious sins, comparable to sacrificing a child.  We must place our faith in God.  When He desires for us to know more about the future than what He has revealed in the Bible He will raise up a prophet to give us His message.  We will know that such prophets are from God because the message they give us will be consistent with what He has already revealed and the predictions which they make will come to pass.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 14-17.

Moses laid out God’s rules for canceling debts every seven years.  First, he specifies that all debts should be canceled in the seventh year.  Then he talks about being openhanded and generous towards the poor.  Jesus was referring to this passage when He said that we would always have the poor among us, but this passage also tells us to act so as to aid the poor.  Throughout this passage we are told to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves.  Earlier the passage speaks about taking a tenth of our harvest and consuming it as a celebration before God, but a third of that tithe should be given to those who do not have sufficient to feast themselves.   It speaks of freeing those who sold themselves into servanthood because they could not care for themselves.  However, it is not enough that they be freed, those who own them are instructed to send them away with the supplies which they need to make a new start for themselves.

Moses also lays down instructions for judges and rulers.  He instructed judges to judge fairly and to not pervert justice.  The passage describes two ways in which justice might be perverted: showing partiality and accepting bribes.  But the passage makes clear that any other perversion of justice should be avoided as well.  The passage goes on to lay out rules for kings, but I think these rules provide good guidelines for anyone in authority.  In particular, the passage instructs kings to make their own copy of the Book of the Law by copying an existing copy with their own hand.  Then, once they have written out their own copy, they  were to keep that copy with them and read from it regularly.  From this study, the king, or any other ruler, should strive to follow God’s commands and not consider himself better than others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 11-13.

This passage starts the hits coming by telling us that those of us who have experienced God’s power first hand have an obligation to communicate that to the next generation, to teach the next generation to love and obey God.  If we take those experiences to heart and obey God’s commands, the land God has given us will provide for our needs.  I love the way in which Moses sums up God’s commands here–love and serve God with all of our heart and with all of our soul.  Another important point which I see referred to from time to time is that obeying God means that we do not destroy the environment around us.  However, what I have never seen anyone comment on is that those who disobey God will destroy the environment around them.  What makes this promise especially interesting is that few of the Laws laid down by Moses directly address our interaction with the environment around us.  I like the remedy which Moses offers to avoid being enticed to worship other gods, and therefore destroy our environment.  He tells us to fix the words of God’s Law in our hearts and minds by tying symbols on our hands and binding them to our foreheads if necessary.  We should talk about God’s commands when we sit at home and when we travel. when we lie down and when we get up.  Basically, we should be talking about God’s commands all of the time, no matter where we are or what we are doing.  A little later while discussing his instructions to worship in a central location, Moses says something which I believe goes along with what I have written above and will help us to talk about God’s commands, and to keep them.  Moses told the Israelites that they should rejoice before the Lord in everything to which they put their hand.  So, let us rejoice before the Lord in everything we do.  Doing so will help us keep and talk about His will for us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 8-10.

Moses tells the Israelites several things in this passage which we would do well to keep in mind ourselves. I want to start my blog today from something he says towards the end of today’s passage: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”  God asks these things of us for our own good.  God’s commands are not arbitrary.  He lays down a set of rules for us to follow that are for our own good. If we follow God’s commands we will be healthier and happier than if we do not.  This was truly brought home to me when I observed two different fathers raise their children.  One of them enforced the rules when it was convenient for himself, or when the behavior bothered him.  The other enforced the rules all of the time.  The children of the first man quickly learned that their father’s rules served their father’s interests and only served the interest of his children as a happy accident.  The children of the second man learned that their father’s rules were those he believed were in their best interests, and that when they thought his rules were not in their interests, they were usually wrong.  Well, I have learned that God has laid down His rules for me because they serve my best interests, and when I think I know a better way, I am always wrong.

Earlier in the passage Moses told the Israelites that God did not give the land of Canaan to them because of their righteousness.  Rather He gave them that land because those living there were so wicked.  The lesson here being that if we allow ourselves to become as wicked as those God displaced to make room for the Israelites, He will do the same thing to us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.