King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 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.]
Date: Friday, March 17, 2023
Chapters: DEUTERONOMY 17-20
Study: The Nation Whose God is LORD
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
Believe it or not, our Government and Judicial system here in America was designed and founded on the Word of God. The reason why it became as powerful as Israel back in their day in such a short amount of time is that God’s hand and Law was in it. Now, that we have wicked leadership corrupting our nations we are dealing with every wicked thing you can imagine from same sex marriage to devil worship. The way things are going we are headed in the same direction as Israel when they got invaded because God could not stand to look at them any longer and sent them away to Babylon for seventy years. It is a reminder that when God leads a nation it is a blessed nation, [Psalms 33:11-14,18 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;]
The people whom God has chosen for His inheritance surely is, as God put it, a peculiar people, we are by far perfect, in fact, we are down right sinful and try Him more times than we care to admit. Do you know who God has chosen and why? God, has chosen those whom have put their faith and trust solely upon Him. And those who do, have accepted His Son, the Lord, Jesus Christ, as their Saviour to prove that. As for the why, well, that is based on the promise that He made to give all who receive His Son eternal life, regardless of how good or bad they are. Let me tell you, Jesus, was here well before God’s Law came from Moses, they just did not know Him by name yet, only the LORD, but before He came here in the flesh they followed what we know as the Law of Moses. As we continue in the reading of Deuteronomy, we have been talking about sacrifices, Moses, goes on to warn the Israelites of those who offer sacrifices that are blemished or anything evil attached to it.
[Deuteronomy 17:1-2,4-6 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God. 2 If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, 4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: 5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. 6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.]
[for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.] Why was offering up blemished animals such an abomination to God? It is Cain all over again. Their offering was not sincere or from the heart, [Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.]
[At the mouth of two witnesses,] Unlike society today, God, believes that all are innocent until proven guilty, but He also takes it a step further. Before we accuse anyone, we must do our research and we must have a witness or two to back up the accusation. In fact, even if they were guilty if they had no witness they were considered innocent. We as sinners are guilty of sin, which is punishable by death and hell, and yet, we who believe in Christ has a witness within ourselves that we are pardoned and that is the Holy Spirit, [1 John 5:9-11 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.]
God, is our Judge and He decides what is right or wrong, regardless of whether or not we agree with Him. Every law made by man ought to line up with God’s Word, and at one point the American Constitution was written with it to some extent, and so were the laws. Although the Constitution does still stand, over the years mans laws do not, and because of that conflicts arise. Let me tell you, God’s Law, will always trump mans, that does not mean that man does not try to overthrow God. Nevertheless, this why God instituted the courts, the judge shall decide the matter, but watch who is there with him.
[Deuteronomy 17:8-11 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; 9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: 10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: 11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.]
[thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee,] Did you notice that in order to prove someone innocent or guilty, not only was there a judge to hear the matter, a priest (man of God) was there also? This is why here in America there is often clergy in the jails, prisons, and courts, it is also why witnesses would place their hands on a Bible before giving their testimony back in the day in court. God, is no respecter of persons, there is One Law, which is His Law, and the is only One Lawgiver, and that is God, regardless of our status in society, [Romans 2:9-12 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God. 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;]
You know, we are appointed two things in life, the day we are born in the flesh and the day we die in the flesh. We have no idea when our last day will be, therefore, everything we do in between determines where we will spend eternity. What I mean by that is our faith, of course, we cannot earn eternal life, that is a gift given to us through our faith in Christ. However, our faith determines how successful we are in this life as we deal with the challenges that test our faith. God, may appoint earthly rulers in order to keep things in order, but He is our ultimate authority, if these rulers go against God, then they will be held responsible for oppressing His people. God, already anticipated them wanting earthly kings and leaders, and therefore, gives commands for them.
[Deuteronomy 17:16-20 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.]
[Neither shall he multiply wives to himself,] Boy, Israel’s kings sure broke a lot of these commands like you would not believe, even David had several wives. And even though they did not turn his heart away from God, his several wives did cause problems as his children were not all godly. We must understand that God never condoned men having several wives, it was always one man and one woman from the beginning, He just used their situations to His advantage, [1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.]
[That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren,] Kings, Queens, Presidents, Governor’s, while we are to respect them, they are not to be placed on some pedestal and worshiped. They are no different that the layman and are subject to the same Law that us common folk are subject to, [Romans 10:12-13 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.]
The people that worshiped God before Christ came to earth were not oblivious to the fact that He existed, they knew He was coming, they just did not know when. And while God dealt with their sin a little differently back then, the same rules applied, blood was still required for redemption and atonement. God, knew that they would need a guide, which is why they had Moses and Joshua would soon take charge. It is very important that we have godly men to help guide God’s people to the Law, but we must never neglect them either. Since God did not give the Levites a special portion of land, He instructs the rest of the tribes to provide for them.
[Deuteronomy 18:1-4,7 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance. 2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them. 3 And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. 4 The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. 7 Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the LORD.]
[And this shall be the priest’s due from the people,] This is why we give tithes and offerings to our church, it is not for the pastors to get rich off of, it is for them to be provided for as this is often their only job. They sacrifice their entire lives for their church, and not just on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s, but twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The least we can do is take care of them, and not just financially, but with all their needs and families needs as well, [Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.]
Do you know why a group of Christians decided to leave Britain in the first place to find America? They wanted to be free to worship God under His authority, not mans. This is why God gave the Israelites the land He gave them, it was a place for His believers to go where they were free to worship Him. We are not to be like the heathens who follow every god there is. We are not to be like the immoral who follow every lust of their flesh. We are to be like Christ. And if you think that the people who were here did not know that Christ was coming, think again, they were well aware of Him. In fact, Moses tells tells the Israelites that He is coming.
[Deuteronomy 18:9-10,12-13,15,19-20 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. 15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.]
[The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee,] This is of course, referring to Jesus. If there is one thing that God despises as much as corrupting His name is those who speak falsely about His Son. God, sent none other than Himself, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who speaks nothing, but His Word, to lead us to the truth. To those who do not hearken to it, that is the price that they have to pay, [Hebrews 4:1-2 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.]
While we are all guilty of telling some little white lies, there are some people who lie about everything, including their faith. God, warns Israel about false prophets and witnesses, to only follow the Prophet He sends, and how they could tell if it were a true prophet, [Deuteronomy 19:16-19 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; 17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; 18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; 19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.]
[Then both the men, between whom the controversy is,] True believers may differ in certain things, but the doctrine of Christ is all the same. We do not need to be afraid of them because the Holy Spirit will tell us how to answer them. We are in a battle here, and it is Christ who not only leads us, but carries us through. Moses goes on to tell the Israelites that they will have to battle their enemies, but not to fear them.
[Deuteronomy 20:1-4 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, 3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; 4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.]
[let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble,] It is Jesus who comes to us with the pep talk that we need that enables us to fight the battles we face and win. And it is the suffering through these battles that Christ brings consolation to us and then we in turn to those who will be suffering what we did in the future, [2 Corinthians 1:6-7 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.]
We must understand that sin is the cause of all the destruction of the world, if we as a Christian nation allow the world to take over and practice their evil works in the church it too will become corrupt. This is why God keeps us separated from them, we are not to bring the world into the church we are to bring the church into the world and let it be known that they need Jesus. He is with us and will help us fight these battles, and actually win, but we only lose when we do not fight. This is the message that Moses gives to the Israelites as they are going to have to remove the wicked and corrupt people from the promised land.
[Deuteronomy 20:10-14 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. 12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: 14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.]
[which the LORD thy God hath given thee.] God’s servants are worthy of their hire, He will provide for them one way or another, [Luke 10:2-7 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. 3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. 5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. 6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. 7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Prophet to guide and show us Your ways so that we not only live a life in Your Kingdom, but here as well that is pleasing to You. Lord, as the days approach to the return of Your Son it is going to get harder to tell the truth from the lies, but it is apparent that the truth be told as we know it from Your Word. Lead us and guide us, fill us with wisdom, knowledge, discernment, and Your power to get through this battle. You are our strength, You are our victory in this wicked world, and as long as we stick close to You we will win. I pray this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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