Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Not hidden from thee


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 30:11–14, “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.”
While there are many people who try to blame the Lord God for sin, evil and all the other bad things in the world, the truth is that the Lord only does good. (compare Deut 8:16, “Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;”) The Lord didn’t make things hard for Israel when He gave them good things. The commandment, which the Moses referred to in this section was given at the beginning of this section (Deut 28:1, “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:”) They were to commit themselves to keeping the Law of the Lord that was given to them at Horeb. This was a simple commandment. The Lord didn’t give the commandment in some kind of code, or in a foreign language (compare Deut 28:49, “The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;”) They didn’t have to special training to understand what the Lord was telling them, all they had to do was learn to read their own language. The didn’t use some kind of “angelic” or “heavenly” language so that they would have to use some people with special heavenly or angelic knowledge. Everything was given to them is simple Hebrew so that they would not have trouble knowing what they agreed to when the made their contract with the Lord. After all, the Lord cared for the widow and the orphan (Ex 22:22, “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.”) If He cared for those people, He would also, by extension, care for the simple people in the nation. This means that any person who could speak Hebrew, the  ancient Israeli language, could understand the Law. They could either ask someone else to read it to them or they could read it for themselves. When the Lord finished creating the heavens and the earth God looked at His creation and saw that everything was very good (Gen 1:31, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”) God saw His entire creation and it was completely distinct from Himself. The Lord God didn’t leave any part of Himself in His creation. He wasn’t diminished by the process of creation. There is no way that any person, who is part of the Lord’s creation, can evolve into a higher form of person. If everyone is creation is equal, then everyone is Israel is also equal so no one would need to evolve into a higher kind of person to understand the Law; it was simple and understandable by all.
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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Lord thy God will return thy captivity


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 30:1–10, “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”
This section finally ties all the blessings and the curses together so that we can understand the Lord’s plan. If Israel disobeyed and refused to repent the Lord would send them to other lands where the spoke strange languages. However, the Lord was only doing this to bring them to their knees in submission, confessing their sins. As soon as there would be national repentance and submission the Lord would immediately bring them back to the Promised Land so that they could enjoy the benefits of obedience again. Even if they were scattered all over the world, even to the most remote part of the earth, the Lord would bring them back. They would enjoy the prosperity of the Land and be great among the nations as well. At the same time as blessing Israel the Lord would visit the curses on all the nations who had persecuted them during the time of their exile. All the chapters leading up to this chapter are to give context for the fact that the Lord wants to bring His people to their knees and then He will restore the blessings. Once they are restored and blessed then the other nations will see and understand that the Lord is good and then all the families of the earth would be blessed. Everything depends on Israel’s willingness to obey the Lord. This promise has never been rescinded. The only reason Israel is still at war with other nations is that they still haven’t completely submitted to the Lord rather than their own traditions.
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Monday, July 29, 2013

You stand this day before the Lord


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 29:10–29, “Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water: That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day: That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day: (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:) Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it; And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day. The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Moses was vary close to the end of his life, in his last forty years he dedicated himself to bringing Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. The Lord told him that h would not be able to enter the Promised Land so he did everything he could to ensure Israel prospered in their own Land. The Lord called him to the this mission and gave him wisdom and instructions during this period of his life. He reminded Israel that the stood in the Lord’s presence with all their leaders and families. The Lord planned that Israel would make sure they didn’t forsake the Law and bring the penalty clauses on themselves. If they chose to follow other gods then the Lord promised them that He would certainly punish them. They told to keep a permanent reminder of the relationship they had with the Lord as a memorial to the privileges and responsibilities of the contract that they had made. Moses also reminded them of some other nations who had rejected the Lord and suffered severe penalties.
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Friday, July 26, 2013

Keep the words


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 29:1–9, “These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God. And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them: And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh. Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.”
The Lord made a contract with Israel to make sure that they would be worthy of the great Land that He had given them. The previous generation had made a contract with the Lord at Horeb but the broke it soon after when they refused to take possession of the Promised Land because they were afraid of giants. {Both Horeb and Sinai are associated with the Lord giving the Law to Moses, it is most likely that both are names for the same place, probably in different languages. When Moses was in Midian, keeping his father in law’s sheep he met the Lord in Horeb and the Lord told him that he would serve the Lord in that mountain (Ex 3:1, 11, 12, “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb...And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.”) However, later, when Moses was with Israel, the Lord met him in Mount Sinai (Ex 19:20, “And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.”) In the first context Moses was living with the Midianites but in the second context Moses was living with the released Israeli slaves.} Moses reminded Israel of everything that the Lord had done for them since they left Egypt so that they would have confidence in the fact that the Lord was only interested in doing good things for them. He also reminded them of the fact that the Lord had made them prosper while they lived in the desert, wandering from place to place. They also were able to defeat any enemies along the way and now, the Lord wanted them to keep trusting Him, exclusively so that they would continue to enjoy all the good things that He had in store for them.
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Thursday, July 25, 2013

A nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 28:45–68, “Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.”
At first the curses all related to Israel when they lived in the Promised Land. However, if they refuses to hear the Lord’s warnings and refuse to obey His commandments while they were in the Promised Land then the next step involved people coming from other lands who spoke in languages that they did not understand. The first time we hear about tongues or languages in after the Tower of Babel. In that case different tongues and the ability to understand different people was a sign of the Lord’s judgment. The Lord divided the nations by language so that they wouldn’t join together again and seek to become greater than the Lord Himself. In this passage different tongues is a sign of judgment as well. As long as Israel obeyed the Lord’s commandments they would remain in the Land but if they refused to obey, even after many warnings, then the Lord would judge them with people whose tongue they didn’t understand. These people would come and take the fruit of the their Land and take them away to strange places. The Lord gave Israel the Promised Land because of the iniquity of the Amorites so the Lord would also let other people take Israel out of the Land because of their sin. They would be forced to wander and have no home of their own. However, the Lord had a higher purpose in causing this to happen and that purpose is described later. It is interesting today that some people believe that speaking in languages of tongues that cannot be understood is a sign of the Lord’s presence rather than His judgment.

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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The curses


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 28:15–44, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.  Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand. The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.”
This section moves from the provisions of the contract to the penalty clauses of the contract. However it also demonstrates a very important characteristic belonging to the Lord that is best described in Psalm 103: 8, 9, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.” Even though the Lord gives us what we choose, He takes His time when we choose to ignore His love. Slowly, step by step, he gives us the fruit of our choice. At each stage He allows us to experience a small amount of the choice that we have made to reject His love. It is as though He is saying, “This is what will happen if you choose to ignore the benefits of my goodness, are you sure you like it”? If we continue to reject His love He will give us more of the consequences that we have chosen. Eventually we will reach the stage where we have had enough chances and we can’t escape from the pathway that we have chosen. This is also why the blessings section is much shorter than the curses section.
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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The blessings


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 28:1–14, “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.  The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.”
The list of the blessing that Israel were to experience if they remained true to their contract and kept faith with the Law of the Lord explain the Lord’s true purpose in choosing Israel and giving them the Promised Land. The first consequence of their integrity with the contract would be that the Lord would bless them and make them fruitful so that they would prosper in the world. The second consequence was that the rest of the world would see what was happening and they would understand that the Lord is righteous and good. They would know that the Lord loves His people and they would be drawn to the Lord because He is good. This would satisfy the Lord’s ultimate plan in choosing Abraham and his descendants and setting them apart. The Lord’s plan is to bless all the families on the earth (Gen 12:1–3, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” When all the nation of the earth saw Israel’s prosperity they would be drawn to the Lord and submit to Him so that they could enjoy His blessings as well.
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Moses charged the people


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 27:11–25, “And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin: And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.  Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.  Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.”
When Israel entered into the Promised Land and began to take possession of the Land, they were commanded to go to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal and recite the blessings and the curses. This was so that each adult would knowingly and deliberately accept the full contract they were making with the Lord. No individual in Israel could ever say that they didn’t understand the contract or made it unwillingly. In making the contract each person also committed themselves to telling their children about the contract and making sure that they understood it as well. (See, for example, Josh 4:6–7, “That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.”) That was another reason why the commandments were to be written on stones that were visible for all to see. Every person was allocated their own share of the Land and no one was allowed to move the landmarks because they would be robbing their neighbour and, hence, the Lord Who actually owned the whole of the Land. There were other curses crucial to the compassion and purity of the nation that were recited. They had to make sure that they didn’t revert to the ways of the Amorites who lost the Land because they debased the Land with their sin.
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Friday, July 19, 2013

Keep all the commandments


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 27:1–10, “And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee.  Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister. And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God: And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly. And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.”
This section actually begins the process of making the contract. Before this Moses had been telling Israel their obligations under the contract but now they are reminded that they must keep the commandments to fulfil their own obligations under the contract. The Lord was far more powerful than Israel and He had already delivered them from slavery in Egypt so He was in the position to define the covenant. After all, without the Lord Israel would be nothing but slaves and have nothing at all. If Israel wanted to maintain this relationship that they Lord had chosen to give them they had to accept His conditions. The first thing that the Lord required was that they establish stone monuments and cover the monuments so that they would be easily read and maintained. The commandments, that the Lord expected Israel to keep, were to be written in plain view so that they people could see them regularly and remember them. They were also to build an altar to the Lord according to the conditions set out by the Lord, that is the stones were not to be cut to shape. They were to offer and burnt offering. Every time an offering was made Israel was reminded that blood had been shed to save them from slavery. There were various offerings to be offered to solemnise the contract. By doing these things, Israel was signifying that they understood the terms of the contract and that they were willing to abide by those terms.

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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Hath commanded thee


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 26:16–19, “This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.”
This section brings Moses’ restatement of the Law to an end. After this there are some significant contextual passage that give us an insight into the rest of the Old Testament and a proper understanding of all the Lord’s dealings with Israel throughout the rest of their history. Moses reminded Israel, again, that the Lord their God commanded all these things. They understood that the Lord had done it out of the abundance of His own goodness. They had also just been reminded that their ancestor was a wandering Syrian, who went down to Egypt and the brought them out of Egypt as a great and wealthy nation. The Lord chose someone that wasn’t the most powerful person in the world but He chose a nomad to become a great nation. If Israel remembered the Lord and all His goodness their daily lives would be governed by gratitude, which would lead to obedience and a solemn regard to the Lord’s commandments.

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The stranger and the fatherless


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 26:12–15, “When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.”
Every third year the Israelis were to spend their tithes at home. In the other two years they were required to take those tithes and spend them at feasts. This was done in front of their neighbours, families and friends and it would be very hard to hide part of their prosperity and give less than was required by the Law. This was also done to remind people that their obedience should always begin at home. It is very easy for a person to seem to be generous and religious in public but it is much harder for a person to be consistent in their relationship with God at home, in private. The individual was also required to make a solemn vow before the Lord and confirm the fact that they had done everything correctly. This oath referred back to Deut 13: 6-11 (“If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which 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; Namely, of the gods of the people which 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; 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: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.”), where every Israeli was reminded that they were all responsible for the holiness each other as well ass themselves. This was given to remind them to seek out any sin in their own community and deal with it. The firsts step in dealing with in my own community is dealing with my own sin. The oath they took involved each individual being forced into self examination before the Lord God.
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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A Syrian ready to perish


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 26:1–11, “And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there. And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.”
Slaves don’t own anything, in fact, they don’t even own themselves. The Lord God performed a miracle and they owned a rich and prosperous Land where they could grow crops, build houses and enjoy all the benefits of freedom. The Lord didn’t expect them to pay Him for everything that He had done for them. After all, He owned everything in Creation already. How could, say, a poor person impress the richest man in the world if he gave that man the results of picking his teeth? Israel couldn’t give the Lord God anything that would impress Him, they couldn’t even give Him anything that He didn’t already own. However, the Lord asked Israel to be grateful. In order to show how grateful they were, the Lord asked them to take the first of their crops and give it back to the priests, who were acting as God’s agents in Israel. This was to be done in faith, the Lord asked them to give off the top rather than off the bottom. When they gave the first of their crops the Lord would give them more of the benefits of His abundance. When they gave the Lord God the first of their crops they were asked to remember that their ancestors were wandering strangers in the Promised Land but God was good. If God was good and God doesn’t change then God would be good every day. If they forgot that God was good they chose to reject God’s goodness but that would be a different story.
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Monday, July 15, 2013

Diverse weights


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 25:13–19, “Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God. Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.”
There is a proverb that illustrates this passage, “It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.” (Prov 20:14) So often a buyer tries to cheat the seller then he goes and boasts about it to his friends.  This section tells sellers that they are not to have two kinds of weights for their scales. One for buying and one for selling. Meaning that they are not treating buyers and sellers the same way. The Lord promised Israel prosperity for obedience in the Land this meant that they wouldn’t have to cheat and lie to be prosperous, in fact, the opposite was true. The Amalekites were descendants of Esau and thus related to Israel (Gen 36:12, “And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau’s son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau’s wife.”) Even though the Amalekites were related to Israel and, hence, descendants of Abraham, The came and fought against Israel, unprovoked as the moved from Egypt to the Promised Land. They chose not to act in a brotherly way to Israel so Israel was told to pay them the consequences and treat them as though they were not fellow descendants of Abraham. The Lord promised Abraham’s descendants that they would be blessed but the Amalekites chose to curse Abraham’s primary descendant and called the Lord’s curse upon themselves.
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Loose his shoe


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 25:5–12, “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother. Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her; Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.”
Apart from the tribe of Levi, every Israeli had inheritance rights in the Promised Land. this was not because they were good or deserved it but because the Lord is both generous and gracious. When they took possession of the Land it was divided among the tribes and the families. A man who had reached the age to be married had also reached the age to take possession of the portion of the Land that the Lord had promised him. This also included the hereditary rights, given by the Lord, the that man’s family. If he was unable to produces a child to take over those rights before death then another member of the family was obliged to ensure that his brother’s inheritance was made secure. The brother was told to produce a child with his brother’s widow so that the succession of the Land could be guaranteed. If a man was unwilling to do his duty as a relative then that man was to be despised in his community. That man had preferred himself over his family duties (compare Ruth 4:6–7, “And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it. Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.”) This process was not about sex, it was giving the family a chance to ensure that their relative’s widow was cared for by the child that born after this process was complete.
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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Controversy


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 25:1–4, “If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.”
People can only see problems from their own point of view. When people have a different point of view it can become impossible for them to agree. In order to prevent a simple disagreement from escalating there were judges, at different levels with different responsibilities, who would look at the issue without any personal prejudice and decide what the outcome should be. Judges had to have integrity and not be persuaded by bribes or some other kind of inducement or the entire system would self destruct. After a judgment had been made, from time to time, a punishment needed to be administered to the person who was in the wrong. However, justice executed should not lead to degradation. No one, in a position of authority ,should be so filled with anger, bitterness of hatred that they want be see a person completely broken. For this reason, punishments were limited to a reasonable extent. A person who has been given a position of authority can, sometimes, become corrupted by the authority and even enjoy the process of punishing others. A person like that loses their respect for mankind and becomes like a beast. The fact that the instruction concerning muzzling an ox that is treading out the corn is repeated here shows us that a person who is put in a position of authority should be paid for their work and not expected to live in poverty.
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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The poor and the stranger


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 24:14–22, “Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge: But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.”
The Lord’s justice must always be seen in context and that context is found in Gen 18:19 (“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”) Justice is to keep the way of the Lord. Adam’s first task was to keep the garden (Gen 2:15 , “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”) While Adam’s task was to keep the garden, he listened to the lies that Satan manufactured for Eve and didn’t keep the garden. After that harmony and peace were replaced by conflict, toil and hardship. However, the Lord in His Law protected the weak and the poor, the widow, the stranger and the orphan. The background to this protection was found in the preamble to the Law. “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage”. (Ex 20:2) Any person who had come from that kind of background was bound, by the Lord God, to care for anyone who was less fortunate. A stranger was someone who had no inheritance rights in Israel, measured against this was the fact that Abraham was a stranger in the Promised Land. and his descendants were strangers in another Land. (Gen 23:3–4, “And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” and Gen 15:13, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;”) Treating strangers with compassion was not a matter of social justice but of gratitude for the fact the fact that they had been strangers and the Lord had delivered them. The Lord promised Israel that they would be prosperous if they obeyed the Law (Deut 15:6–7, “For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:”) If the Lord was generous then every person in Israel was to pass that generosity on, in gratitude, to someone who was less prosperous than they were. This was keeping the Law and not allowing sin to triumph so that they would lose their tenure of the Land. The fact that children were not held reponsible for their parents activity and parents were not held responsible for their children’s activity was based on the regulations discussed in Deut 21: 18-21, “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”)
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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Going to war


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 24:5–13, “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken. No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man’s life to pledge. If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you. Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do. Remember what the LORD thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt. When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee. And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.”
The most basic fact about war is that people get maimed and killed and, if I go, there is no guarantee that it won’t be me. The Lord made sure that a man who was married didn’t have to go to war for twelve months so that the couple could have time to develop their marriage and even try to have a child so that the family could continue. There were laws about one Israeli charging interest to another Israeli. However, from time to time a person might need to borrow money. In that case the lender would expect to take some kind of guarantee for the loan. However, what kind of guarantee could a person take from someone who was poor? One possibility was the poor man’s overcoat. The Lord made it quite clear that He cared for the poor and needy and would look after them (Ex 22:21–24, “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”) If someone took a poor man’s coat then what would the poor man do about keeping warm at night? That is why the lender had to give the coat back before sunset, even though the loan wasn’t repaid at that time. Another think that a person who has money to lend does is act like he owns the borrower but this was not acceptable. The borrower wasn’t allowed to come into the poor man’s house and see if there was anything he might like to take. Even though a man is poor, he is still a child of God and must be treated with the dignity that a child of God deserves. Kidnaping was a capital offence, especially if a man kidnapped someone for profit.
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Monday, July 8, 2013

No favour in his eyes


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 24:1–4, “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”
Over the years this section has been greatly debated by experts in the Law of the Lord. The definition of the words, “she find no favour in his eyes...” is open to many interpretations. Some scholars took it to mean something as trivial as a man could divorce his wife is he woke up in the morning and didn’t like her that day. The rest of the sentence , “because he hath found some uncleanness in her.” didn’t attract the same attention. The first time that we find the word “marry” in the Bible is in Gen 19: 14, where we find that Lot’s daughters were to be married but the concept of marriage is first discussed when the Lord gave Adam Eve to be his wife. (Gen 2:21–24, “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” In this case the man made a public declaration and, presumably, so did the woman. They belonged in the parents’ homes but they publicly declared (the marriage ceremony) that they would now form their own new home together. After that they would enjoy the privileges of marriage and be joined together. When we read about Adam earlier in that chapter (Gen 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”) Adam was different to all the other creatures because he had the breath of life and he was a living soul and Eve was exactly the same. When they were joined together their souls were joined. If a man or a woman sought to join with another person in that way they damaged their own souls, the part that was made in God’s own image. God’s intention was that they be joined together until they were separated. (Even though this took place before sin and death, God was not surprised by sin because He knew that both Adam and Eve had the ability to choose and that they would choose in the course of time.) When the Law was given, the social and cultural milieu was different and the society was strongly patriarchal. At that stage, a woman belonged to her husband or her father. If her husband put her out she would have no status in society and would be an outcast. Even though the couple were joined together in their souls the man could assert his superior status in that culture. The Lord established this regulation, as a last resort, to protect a helpless woman from literally becoming homeless and having no one to protect her. However, this protection was extended so that the man could not treat her with complete contempt and come back to her later. Leaving her in a position of complete emotional insecurity as he bullied her.
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Friday, July 5, 2013

Your brother Israeli


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 23:15–25, “Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it. When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth. When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel. When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour’s standing corn.”
The Israelis were slaves in Egypt and they lived in a society where there was slavery. The Law made special provisions for slaves to be set free rather than keeping them as slaves for life. There were no bankruptcy laws in those days and people who got into financial trouble could only solve the problem by selling themselves as slaves to pay the debt. In view of all these issues, Israelis were not to return slaves who came from other countries to find refuge. They were not to send the slaves back to their masters but offer them hospitality as strangers. In fertility cultures, prostitution was a legitimate part of worship. Orphans were sent to the temples to become prostitutes, both female and male. Worshippers would then visit temple prostitutes as part of their worship, hoping for better crops, etc. The Lord promised Israel that they would be prosperous if they obeyed Him, meaning that there was no need for prostitution. Thus the money earned by prostitutes was actually money given to a false god and an abomination to the Lord. The same reasoning was behind the issue of lending money for interest. The Lord promised to make the nation prosperous so they were obliged, in the Lord’s Name, to help their fellow Israelis. The person who helped his fellow Israeli was just acting as the Lord’s agent and giving the benefits from the Lord second hand. This also applied to crops and fruit; a hungry person could take fruit from a tree to eat. If that person took a bag to carry the fruit he became thief. The wonderful benefits of belonging to the Lord and enjoying the benefits of His lovingkindness were sufficient for every Israeli and were best enjoyed by sharing them with the brothers and sisters from Israel.
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Thursday, July 4, 2013

Unclean in the camp


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 23:9–14, “When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing. If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp: But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again. Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.”
When the Lord told Abraham about the fact that his descendants would be slaves in Egypt, the Lord told him that the sin of the Amorites was not yet full. (Gen 15:16, “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”) This means that, by the time Israel reached the borders of the Promised Land their iniquity had reached the stage where Divine Judgment was necessary. In fact, as long as Israel kept being the source of blessing to all the families of the earth by keeping the covenant of the Land they would always be in a position to defend the Lord’s good Name and act as His agents of judgment in the world. If this was so, then they would have to make sure that each person in their armies was ceremonially clean before he went into battle to act as the Lord’s agent. The Lord HImself moved among His armies when they went into battle and we know that the Lord cannot look on iniquity. (Habakkuk 1:13, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?”) The Lord would no longer move among His people if they were not ceremonially pure and they would lose the battle rather than win victory and let their enemies know that the Lord is the Lord (compare, for example, Ex 7:5, “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”) Any man in the army who was ceremonially unclean in any way was to leave the camp and not participate in the battle.
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