Day 55: Deuteronomy 13-15

(The previous post covered Moses' retelling of the events that led to them getting the Ten Commandments. Also, Moses gave Israel more instructions for how they ought to conduct themselves once they possessed the Promised Land.)

Deuteronomy 13
¹ If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder,
² and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
³ thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams: for Jehovah your God proveth you, to know whether ye love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
⁴ Ye shall walk after Jehovah your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
⁵ And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he hath spoken rebellion against Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, to draw thee aside out of the way which Jehovah thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.

(They were told how to deal with false prophets. Regardless of how convincing a prophet was, if their prophecy contradicted the Word of God they proved themselves false. False prophets were put to death because they spoke against God.)

⁶ If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, that is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
⁷ of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
⁸ thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
⁹ but thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
¹⁰ And thou shalt stone him to death with stones, because he hath sought to draw thee away from Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
¹¹ And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do not more any such wickedness as this is in the midst of thee.

(They were told how to deal with a brother, half-brother, son, daughter, wife, or friend that led a believer to serving other gods. They were stoned to death. This issue was principally the same issue as with a false prophet: someone contradicting the Word of God and attempting to take other people out of God's Will.)

¹² If thou shalt hear tell concerning one of thy cities, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to dwell there, saying,
¹³ Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of thee, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
¹⁴ then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst of thee,
¹⁵ thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
¹⁶ And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, unto Jehovah thy God: and it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be built again.
¹⁷ And there shall cleave nought of the devoted thing to thy hand; that Jehovah may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;
¹⁸ when thou shalt hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.

(Moses explained how to deal with idolatrous cities. The idolatrous cities were destroyed, including the cattle and all the spoil. These cities were not to be built again. Again, this was the same issue as above. God did not want people being seduced into serving other gods.)




Deuteronomy 14
¹ Ye are the children of Jehovah your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
² For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, and Jehovah hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

(It was a common practice for idolaters to cut themselves ceremoniously and at funerals as well as shaving a large bald spot between their eyebrows in honor of the dead. These instructions forbade that practice.)

(Verses 3-21: the command to separate themselves regarding which foods to eat.)

³ Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

(This began a list of things they could or could not eat based off of cleanness. God was Holy, He was clean. Israel's following of the Law in this matter was a reminder to them that God was Holy.)

⁴ These are the beasts which ye may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
⁵ the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the antelope, and the chamois.
⁶ And every beast that parteth the hoof, and hath the hoof cloven in two, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat.
⁷ Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the coney; because they chew the cud but part not the hoof, they are unclean unto you.
⁸ And the swine, because he parteth the hoof but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you: of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch.

(The first part of this list covered the "beasts" or mammals they could or could not eat.)

⁹ These ye may eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales may ye eat;
¹⁰ and whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat; it is unclean unto you.

(The fish they could or could not eat.)

¹¹ Of all clean birds ye may eat.
¹² But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the gier-eagle, and the ospray,
¹³ and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind,
¹⁴ and every raven after its kind,
¹⁵ and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kind,
¹⁶ the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl,
¹⁷ and the pelican, and the vulture, and the cormorant,
¹⁸ and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
¹⁹ And all winged creeping things are unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten.
²⁰ Of all clean birds ye may eat.

(The birds they could or could not eat.)

²¹ Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself: thou mayest give it unto the sojourner that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner: for thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

(If anything died of itself it was considered unclean regardless of where it was on this list. However, it could be given or sold to people outside of Israel. An animal that died of itself had not been properly "bled" and therefore considered unclean. It was important that the animals were "bled" before eating them.)

("Not boil[ing] a kid in its mother's milk" was forbidden because this was a common pagan fertility ritual that God wanted the Israelites to be separated from.)

(Verses 22-29: tithes.)

²² Thou shalt surely tithe all the increase of thy seed, that which cometh forth from the field year by year.
²³ And thou shalt eat before Jehovah thy God, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of thy grain, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock; that thou mayest learn to fear Jehovah thy God always.
²⁴ And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to set his name there, when Jehovah thy God shall bless thee;
²⁵ then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thy hand, and shalt go unto the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose:
²⁶ and thou shalt bestow the money for whatsoever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household.
²⁷ And the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee.

(Tithes and "long-distance" tithes were explained.)

²⁸ At the end of every three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase in the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
²⁹ and the Levite, because he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.

(Tithes of the third year.)




Deuteronomy 15

(This chapter covered laws regarding the poor.)

(Verses 1-6: release of debts every seventh year.)

¹ At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
² And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother; because Jehovah's release hath been proclaimed.

(Commonly referred to as The Lord's release.)

³ Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it: but whatsoever of thine is with thy brother thy hand shall release.
⁴ Howbeit there shall be no poor with thee; (for Jehovah will surely bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it;)
⁵ if only thou diligently hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command thee this day.
⁶ For Jehovah thy God will bless thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee.

(Giving to other nations and not borrowing from them would result in reward.)

(Verses 7-11: being generous to the poor.)

⁷ If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brethren, within any of thy gates in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother;
⁸ but thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth.
⁹ Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
¹⁰ Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto.
¹¹ For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt surely open thy hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land.

(If they followed these instructions regarding giving to the poor, God would bless them in all their work: reward. Notice, it was stated in the Old Testament that the poor would never cease out of the land. According to Mark 14:7, Jesus stated we would always have the poor among us.)

(Verses 12-15: releasing slaves/servants.)

¹² If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
¹³ And when thou lettest him go free from thee, thou shalt not let him go empty:
¹⁴ thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy winepress; as Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.
¹⁵ And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to-day.

(Verses 16-18: the law of the bond-servant.)

¹⁶ And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go out from thee; because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee;
¹⁷ then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise.
¹⁸ It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou lettest him go free from thee; for to the double of the hire of a hireling hath he served thee six years: and Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all that thou doest.

(Verses 19-23: the law of the firstborn/firstling.)

¹⁹ All the firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto Jehovah thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy herd, nor shear the firstling of thy flock.
²⁰ Thou shalt eat it before Jehovah thy God year by year in the place which Jehovah shall choose, thou and thy household.
²¹ And if it have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any ill blemish whatsoever, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto Jehovah thy God.
²² Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart.
²³ Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it out upon the ground as water.

(The firstling males of cattle were sanctified to the Lord. Again, the blood was forbidden to eat but was poured on the ground.)

(This post covered instructions to the people concerning false prophets, idolatrous cities, the cleanness of food, and borrowing/lending money.)

Day 56