Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 19

Helpful thoughts:

• Moses again gives instruction for the cities of refuge.  Cities where those who committed manslaughter (Accidental death) could flee for safety and await a proper trial.
  • There were six cities of refuge in total.  Moses only speaks of the three because there had been three cities set up east of the Jordan in the land already possessed.  Israel then had three more cities to set up west of the Jordan.
• The inheritance of land was to be a permanent agreement among the tribes and families of Israel.  Even if land changed hands over the years, the Jubilee year would return it to the original inheritors (Leviticus 25:8-34).  Therefore, the boundary markers were never to be moved.
• When people were accused of breaking the law, there was a requirement for more than one witness.
  • If someone lied in order to see another person suffer unjust consequences, those consequences would be rendered to the false witness!  Imagine falsely accusing someone of a capital offense!  This would certainly give people reason to pause before taking someone to the judges.
• “Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” is an idiom which represents this principle, “the punishment should fit the crime.”

Questions to consider:

1. How would these commands have encouraged justice in Israel?  How must a God who is just want His people to live?
2. What was God preventing by giving the command, “Your eye shall not pity?”  What happens when a government does not enforce the laws it writes?  How can this be applied in the workplace, home, schools, etc.?  Why is justice a good thing in society?
3. Why are we able to freed from the punishment of our sin, and yet God remain just?  Did God pity our sin or was in judged?  How did God accomplish this? – Isaiah 53:5, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24

Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 18

Helpful thoughts:

• The Levites did not share in the land inheritance of Israel.  The Lord was their inheritance.
  • The Levites were to live off of the Lord’s work and the sale of their own possessions.
    • “The sale of his patrimony” refers to possession inherited from one’s father.  The Levites were not to inherit land, but this did not prevent them from owning other possessions.
• The people groups Israel was about to drive out of the Promised Land were being judged by God for their sin.  It would have been (and was) foolish for Israel to assimilate their sinful practices into their own culture and life!
• Laws and a promise are given concerning prophets.
  • False prophets (once their prophecies proved false) were to be executed.
  • It is possible to be right about a “prophecy” and yet not have been sent by the Lord (verse 20).
  • The promise of a prophet, like Moses, who would come in the future was believed to be referring to a final prophet.  The Apostles declared this prophet was Jesus (John 1:19-23, Acts 3:22-24, 7:37).
• The pagan nations would often use child sacrifice as a way to seek help and answers/revelation from their false gods.  This is why, immediately after forbidding such practices, the Lord promises Israel there will be those (and the One) who would come and tell them what God wanted to reveal.  God is saying they must not sacrifice their children, and they shouldn’t ever feel like they need to, because He will send them prophets.

Questions to consider:

1. How are these laws for the Levites very practical in nature?  How was God going to care of those who were called to serve Him and the nation in these ways? How would the faithfulness of the nation be necessary to provide for the Levites?  How would the failure of the people to worship provide temptation for the Levites to seek their provision in other things than the Lord?
2. What kinds of things might we be tempted to do when we want to know what is happening (or what will happen) in our lives?  To whom or what do we turn?  How has God revealed to us everything we need (2 Peter 1:3-4, 2 Timothy 3:16-17)?
3. How is Jesus the ultimate prophet?  What (and how) did He perfectly reveal God to His people?

Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 17

Helpful thoughts:

• The final two verses from chapter 16 are included in the link due to the continuity of information leading into chapter 17.
• Those who were guilty of idolatry (worship of false gods) were to be executed.  The laws God gave concerning idolatry in this passage prevented temptations on either side of the legal process.
  • Not wanting to upset relationships or the apparent peacefulness of a community, the Lord required that people inquire diligently if they hear of idolatry.  They were not to overlook it or try to ignore it.
  • If some (On the other end of the spectrum) were quick to point the finger and even eager to get someone in trouble, it would be their task to cast the first stone in the execution.  The weightiness of that responsibility would cause someone to think first before they accuse.
    • No one was to be executed without at least two witnesses giving testimony (a trial).
• If anyone felt there was an injustice that needed to be appealed to the courts (priests or judges), they could make an official appeal. But, they had to abide by the decision of the authority.  To refuse to abide by the ruling was punishable by death.
  • This punishment seems severe from our cultural perspective, but it certainly would have been effective in preventing people from trying to use the courts to twist justice in their own favor repeatedly.
• God wrote laws concerning kings over Israel, knowing what they would do in the future (1 Samuel 8:4-9)!
  • Every king over Israel was to write his own copy of the Law under the supervision of the Levitical priests.  They were to have and to know and to follow the law.
  • The kings were not to have multiple wives or multitudes of wealth, as kings often did.

Questions to consider:

1. Why were these laws necessary?  What would following them accomplish for Israel?  What would violating them accomplish in Israel?  How does God’s knowledge Israel would not keep His laws remind us of His eternal plan for the cross of Christ?
2. How can you see the wisdom of God in the laws?  How can you see His pursuit of the joy, life and health of the people?  How can you see Him protecting them from darkness and death?
3. How did Israel’s kings do at keeping these laws?  How did that continue to impact the nation?

Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 16

Helpful thoughts:

• In today’s passage, Moses recounts the three major feasts for Israel.
  • Passover (The Feast of Unleavened Bread – vs. 16)
    • The month of Abib coincides with March/April.
    • Christ would later be crucified at Passover.
  • The Feast of Weeks (The Feast of Harvest – Exodus 23:16)
    • This feast later was called in the Greek, “Pentecost” (Acts 2)
  • The Feast of Booths (or, The Feast of Tabernacles)
    • This feast would occur in September/October.
• The people were commanded to appoint judges who would judge justly.
  • Justice was not to be perverted, it was not to be partial, and it was never to be tainted through purchase.

Questions to consider:

1. How did God later use these feasts in the death of Christ and the birth of the Church?  How did the gathering of all Israel for these feasts promote what God was doing in the time of Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and the beginning of the Church?
2. What promise did the command to appoint judges in each town confirm?  What will be filling all of these towns across Israel that would require so many judges?  What was going to happen for the people of Israel?
3. Why did/does God demand justice?  What brings about injustice?  How can Christians pursue justice in ways that glorify God and love our neighbor as ourselves?

Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 15

Helpful thoughts:

• In today’s passage, Moses gives the details of sabbatical year (Every seven years) laws.
• There seems to be a contradiction between verse 4 (“But there will be no poor among you”) and verse 11 (“For there will never cease to be poor in the land.”)
  • There are two options to explain this apparent contradiction:
    • (1) If Israel had obeyed God’s prescribed economic policies/laws, there would have been no poor people in the land.  But God knew there would be failure to do so, which would produce poverty for some.
    • (2) Verse 11 contained the reality of what was expected (There would always be the poor), but the command was for the heart of every Israelite to be striving to lift people out of poverty.
• The slavery described in this passage is much different than the chattel slavery that existed in American history.  The slaves described in Deuteronomy 15 were also Israelites who had been impoverished were given a place to work and provide a roof over their heads and food to eat.
  • Those who became slaves were lifted out of worse conditions.
  • Those who became slaves could not remain slaves longer than six years without their own approval (Verses 16-17).
  • When they were released from their service they were sent away with what they needed to make a fresh start.

Questions to consider:

1. In what ways do we see God commanding Israel to treat these “slaves” as human beings, as their equals?  What modern day practice seems closer to what is being described in this chapter?
2. What principles do you see in this passage that would have been a blessing to Israel if they had faithfully kept them?  What would have been the fear of loaning money out in the sixth year?   What would have been the benefit of generosity and even this form of “slavery” for the poor in that day and age?
3. What did sacrificing the first-born animal communicate concerning the trust of the people for God’s provision?  How is this similar to the idea of tithing from the “first fruits?”  How did the sacrifice itself provide for their need?

Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 14

Helpful thoughts:

• The people of Israel were God’s distinct, set apart, chosen people.  They were to live in a unique way from the rest of the world.
  • This affected the way they were to grieve and mourn their lost loved ones (verse 1)
  • This affected the things they were and were not to ear (verses 3-21).
  • This affected the way Israelites were to view possessions and stewardship of what God had entrusted to them (verses 22-29).

Questions to consider:

1. When God united believing Gentiles and Jews under the New Covenant, what happened to these dietary laws (Acts 10:9-16, 1 Timothy 4:3-5)?
2. What foods/meats are you surprised to see were considered clean or unclean?
3. What practices are you surprised to see concerning tithing in Old Covenant Israel?  What would the benefits have been of tithing?  How would giving the first 10% display faith in God more than simply giving out of what is left over at the end of the year?

Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 13

Helpful thoughts:

• Moses gives Israel instructions concerning people who would lead Israel to worship false gods.
  • False prophets would test Israel.  They were to be punished by death.
  • Close family and friends would be so difficult to turn down.  And they would be so emotionally difficult to convict and punish.  They were to be punished by death.
  • An entire city/village who followed the teaching of false prophets or the encouragement of “worthless fellows” would be strategically difficult to convict and punish.  They were to be punished to death (Not just the people, but the entire infrastructure of the city).
• The Lord, He is God (1 Kings 18:38-40).  We are to have no other Gods (Deuteronomy 5:7).
• Remember, we do not live in Old Testament Israel and Deuteronomy 13 is not the law of our land.  It was the law for Israel under the Old Covenant.

Questions to consider:

1. How is the balance of the providence of God and the responsibility of man displayed in verse 3?  Even though God allowed Israel to be tested, what was still true of the false prophets’ desires and actions?
2. How difficult would it have been to report, convict and execute in all the ways prescribed in this chapter (Even your wife, children, best friend, etc.)?  How significant then must this command be?  How destructive must idolatry be for a loving God to command such weighty measures to preserve the purity of His people under the Old Covenant?
3. Who are the gods of the culture you live in?  In what ways do the culture and modern day “false prophets” and “worthless fellows” entice us to follow those false gods?  How can we keep our eyes turned to Jesus and worship Him alone?

Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 12

Helpful thoughts:

• There is only one God who deserves our worship.
• The only way to worship Him is the way He prescribes.
  • The phrase at the end of verse 8 will come up again in the history of Israel (Judges 17:6).
  • What God says, “You shall not add to it or take from it.” (Verse 32)
• Israel’s God was about to give them repeated victory over other nations (and the false gods those nations trusted in for their protection).  It would seem logical not to think those losing gods deserved worship over the true God who gave you victory, but God knew to warn Israel not to pick up and worship those gods.
  • Israel picked up and worshiped those gods (Judges 2:11-13).

Questions to consider:

1. What does it mean for everyone to do that which is right in their own eyes?  What use are commands, laws, or the idea of mutual submission in a community if everyone just does whatever makes sense to them in the moment?
2. If I think I know what I need to do at all times, what motivation will I have to read the Word of God or pay attention to any rules which have been laid out for the good of the community?  How is this prideful?
3. Why is God alone worthy of worship and worthy to tell us how to worship?  How does a right view of God produce humility and genuine unity in the body?

Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 11

Helpful thoughts:

• The heart of the encouragement and command in verses 18-20 is to have the Word of God in front of you often in order to impress it into your hearts and minds, that it would continually shape your thinking, desires and actions for good.
• In a time and culture when nations often worshiped and pleaded with false gods to provide rain and harvests, God reminded Israel who their true provider was (and always will be).
• Moses did not minimize the importance of knowing and following the Word of God.
  • To pursue knowledge and obedience to the Word was to choose blessing.
  • To neglect pursuing knowledge and obedience to the Word was to choose cursing.
    • There is no middle ground mentioned.  Passivity, busyness, distraction, or lack of interest would not result in neutrality.  The options given were blessing or curse.

Questions to consider:

1. Be encouraged by the command to Israel in verse 2 to take some time and consider what the Lord has done.  Who is He?  How has His power been displayed?  Who is it that we worship and serve?  Why is He worthy of our love and affections?
2. What are the ways (besides this devotional) that you put the Word of God before your eyes?  Where can you see it? Hear it? Speak it?  What are some creative ways to continue feeding on the Bible routinely?
3. Who would Israel be tempted to worship to get the rain and harvests they wanted if they turned away from pursuing the Lord (Verse 16)?  In our culture, to what/whom are we prone to turn for our needs and wants?  Who does our society think is responsible for our provision (Who gets praised or blamed when things go well or poorly)?  Who are the “gods” of our culture?  Why should we remain faithful, turning to the Lord?