In The Name of Jesus

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King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]

Date: Monday, March 18, 2024
Chapters: Deuteronomy Chapters 21-23
Message: In The Name of Jesus

Hello My Friend,

Yesterday was a good church day with lots of things that I needed to hear, but oddly enough, last night the preacher talked about ways that we can work for ourselves to make money without investing any or little money of our own. Of course, he made sure to let us know that unless Christ is in the picture, none of it will work. As I was reading the chapters for today, I was reminded of this passage, [John 15:4-5  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.]

Now, as we continue in the reading of Deuteronomy, up until this point, Moses, has been encouraging the Israelites to go into the promised land, along with giving them some warnings of what is to come when they sin against God. Yesterday, we learned about the cities of refuge for someone who had accidentally killed someone to have a safe haven until their proven innocence. Today, we learn of the atonement made for the congregation for someone who was found dead and it was not known why or who brought the shed of innocent blood.

[Deuteronomy 21:1-4  If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:  2  Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:  3  And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;  4  And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley:]

[bring down the heifer unto a rough valley,] The spot of ground on which this sacrifice was made must be uncultivated, because it was considered to be a sacrifice to make atonement for the murder, and consequently would pollute the land. This is a grim reminder that those whom have not received Christ as their Saviour are dead souls, they might as well be like one who was found slain somewhere. We who are saved have the ability to show them how they can come alive through their faith in Christ, [1 Corinthians 15:21-22  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.]

If we are rejected we need to understand that they are not rejecting us, they are rejecting Jesus, all we can do is pray for them that they will see the light and come to Him while they still have their breath in them. However, we will not be held accountable for any shed blood so to speak of that soul. Moses, explains how the elders were to wash their hands over the heifer that had be sacrificed to make an atonement for the innocent blood.

[Deuteronomy 21:5-8  And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:  6  And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:  7  And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.  8  Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.]

[Levi shall come near…the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister…and to bless in the name of the LORD;] I find it interesting that this was written in the middle of all this. We who are saved and born again are God’s chosen ministers and we are to bless them in the name of Jesus, [1 Peter 3:15-16  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:  16  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.]

Remember, all of these things were done so that not only would the people fear God, but they would learn to respect one another as individuals. There is so much talk about equality and diversity that people have forgotten to respect one another, especially when it comes to personal relationships and marriage. God, takes marriage very seriously, it is almost as serious as our relationship with Him. First, He addresses an Israelite man who wanted to marry a woman who was not an Israelite and wanted her for his wife.

[Deuteronomy 21:10-14  When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,  11  And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;  12  Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;  13  And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.  14  And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.]

[thou shalt not make merchandise of her,] When you read about all the commands God gave Israel you have to wonder what God was thinking because some of them seemed like common sense, but then again, He has seen everything, and knows exactly what happens as a result. It always boggled my mind as to why men were respected no matter how many women they had, but the women were shunned. This is actually proof that God does have respect for women, in fact, He praises the virtuous woman, [Proverbs 31:30  Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.]

Some of the things that Moses spoke were not commands from God, but became part of the Law in order to keep the peace, and them from falling into sin, especially when it came to sexual relations. While God does stress the importance of marriage being between one man and one woman only, that was not happening. Watching how Abraham dealt with Sarah and Hagar, then Jacob with his two wives and concubines, He decided to make rules concerning marriage if a man wanted more than one wife.

[Deuteronomy 21:15-17  If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:  16  Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:  17  But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.]

[one beloved, and another hated,] Why would a man be married to a woman that he hated? Well, several factors would come into play. Arranged marriages, treaties, it could have been as in the situation with Leah, he was deceived by her and could not get passed that, yet she had more children with him than all the women because she was hated, [Genesis 29:31  And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.]

[by giving him a double portion of all that he hath:] Regardless of the circumstances, children should never be treated as though they do not belong as they had nothing to do with the situation. God, sees fit to bring every life conceived into the world for a reason, some only to make it known that a life was created. Some may not make it to live in this world, some may only live a short time, and some may go on to live long lives, but each and every person created has God’s hand on it and a purpose, even if He knows they will never accept Him, [Romans 9:21-22  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?  22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:]

God, always has a reason for His commands, and it usually has to do with the fact that He saw what it does to people or He is trying to keep them from unnecessary suffering. If you think that the crazy, idiotic, and immoral things that we see today are new, they are not, God, has seen them already. I always say that the difference between now and then is technology. However, most of them really do make sense. Moses, takes a break from the commands regarding their relationships to address some random incidents.

[Deuteronomy 22:1-3  Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.  2  And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.  3  In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.]

[and with all lost thing of thy brother’s,] Again, this all comes down to respecting one another and that includes the things that others have, especially if they have entrusted us with them. Let me tell you, there are many things that God finds extremely appalling that we ought not to be doing still today, but some of His commands do seem a little unorthodox. Such as these that we are reading here.

[Deuteronomy 22:5-7,11-12  The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.  6  If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:  7  But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.11  Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.  12  Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.]

[Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts,] I have had people tell me that they rejected God because of this very command. People who reject God over things that are really not that grievous do so because they have very little faith in Him to begin with. If they truly wanted God in their lives they would want to know why this was not permitted at the time. So, why were these things commanded? First of all, a woman dressed as a man brings confusion, which we all see why that is still an issue today. Second, the priests clothes were made of wool and linen so imagine that combination mixed together in a tent that had no windows. And as for the fringes, that was a public profession that they were God’s people. You see, God’s commands are not grievous at all, they are meant to give us the best life possible, [1 John 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.]

We ought to be extremely thankful that we are now under the Law of Grace because every one of us is guilty of committing at least one sin. However, the sins that God stresses more restraint upon are the ones committed with the flesh, and this is why He always focuses so much on adultery and idolatry. Now, returning back to the commands regarding their relationships, Moses addresses immorality.

[Deuteronomy 22:13-14,17-18,20-21  If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,  14  And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: 17  And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.  18  And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; 20  But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:  21  Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.]

[because she hath wrought folly in Israel,] Can you see why God was so harsh sometimes? It was not a matter of their committing the sin, it was their attitude, and if God had to He would make an example out of them. He was pretty merciful in regards to enforcing the Law, David, was guilty of not only committing adultery, but manslaughter as well. Do you think that the things that were an abomination to God back then do not apply to us today? Of course, they do. God never changes His stance on sin, David may not have died for his sin, but he did suffer greatly. God, was not done, not all sexual sins were given a death sentence, there were some circumstances that the woman, or man for that matter, would not be held under the Law of death.

[Deuteronomy 22:23-25,28-29  If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;  24  Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.  25  But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die: 28  If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;  29  Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.]

[because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.] It does not matter if the man was subtle in his forcing a woman or down right abusive, he still forced her and that was cause for death. However, if she were not betrothed and consented to him, then they would need to get married and stay married. I actually used this years ago as a reason why I was obligated to stay in a relationship that was subtly abusive. I thought that God was angry with me and that I was stuck in the relationship because of what I allowed. Thankfully, God, was merciful and released me from that bondage, and now I am with my beloved. Now, the chastening may be grievous for a time, but He will never forsake us, [Hebrews 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.]

Regardless of whether or not we are under grace now, sin is still sin, and God still sees it the same way. We may be justified for our sins when we accept Christ, but that does not stop Him from placing judgments when the sin does not stop. All over the world we are seeing God’s judgment, and it is upon His own people. Why? They assume their salvation gives them reason to continue to do what they do. Guess what? People need to know the truth, they need to be convicted in their conscious of their behavior. Now, Moses goes on to explain explain why some of the people were not to be accepted for ten generations.

[Deuteronomy 23:1-3,7-8  He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.  2  A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.  3  An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever: 7  Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.  8  The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.]

[shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.] We must be whole to be able to come to God, and the only way we can be whole is through Christ, if we are not, then God will not accept us. Do you know how long ten generations is? Well, a new generation is formed, depending on the age in which they have children, every fifteen to twenty years, so, that would be anywhere from eight hundred to a thousand years. This goes to show you that God, while He is merciful to the sinner who repents, sin does bring consequence to everyone around them, and for centuries. Ruth, was a Moabite, she was accepted by God, and came into the history of the Israelite about eight hundred years later, she was David’s grandmother, of whom Jesus would descend in the flesh, [Ruth 4:13,17  So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. 17  And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.]

[Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite;] Now, I recall God saying that He hated Esau, [Romans 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.] So why would He not hate his children? The answer is simple, the child is not responsible for the parents sin neither are the parents responsible for the child’s sin, [Deuteronomy 24:16  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.]

When we love God we understand that His commands are not grievous, and that He has a very good reason for not allowing us to have something. At that time there were six hundred and thirteen commandments, and God, was well aware that it was impossible for them to follow every command, which is why He was very merciful. Yes, He did use some people as examples if they got caught in their sin, but the ones who were repentant did not get punished to the fullest extent of the law. It does not matter if we are forgiven by God for our sin, the problem with sin is that it makes us dirty. In order to come clean we need to remove its filth from among us. Moses, stresses the importance of keeping their entire camp clean and why.

[Deuteronomy 23:10-14  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:  11  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.  12  Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:  13  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:  14  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 thou wilt ease thyself abroad,] You gotta laugh at some of these commands because they seem like God needed to spell everything out for them. Well, I suppose He does have to spell everything out for us because there are so people who are not very clean. Can you imagine someone walking into your home and the stench was so bad that they could not even step in the door? Now imagine if that person was Jesus? The truth is, unless we know Christ as our Saviour, we stink to God and cannot get near Him, but those who come to His Son to be cleansed will not only be clean they will smell clean, [2 Corinthians 2:15-17  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:  16  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?  17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.]

Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Deuteronomy 23:14  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.]

Today’s Prayer: God, It truly is amazing that once we accept Your Son as our Saviour that nothing separates us, but when we allow things in our lives that You do not approve of it is so easy to forget that You are with us. Lord, help me to truly make You Lord, search my heart, give me a pure heart, reveal to me every thing that You are not happy with and help me to remove these obstacles so I can truly enjoy Your presence and witness the amazing grace You have given me in every area of my life. I ask these things in Your Name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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