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: Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Chapters: Deuteronomy Chapters 24-26
Message: A Royal People
Hello My Friend,
Yesterday, I spent two hours trying to get the right template for the website I am making for promoting personal chef services. I got frustrated because things were not going as I liked and gave up thinking that maybe I was wrong about going back into business as a personal chef. Then as I was putting together yet another resume I found within my mountain of resumes from years past my menu list from when I was a personal chef and successful at it. It is a reminder of just how fast we tend to question our choices when things do not go exactly our way. Thankfully, we have a merciful and forgiving God who may allow us to take some detours along the way, but gets us right back where we need to be, [1 John 2:1-3 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.]
Do we not know God if we are saved, born again Christians who do not keep His commands? Well, there is only one command possible that will even get to the Father and that is that we accept Christ as our Saviour. We talked about this yesterday, God’s commands are not grievous, and even though the Law written to the Israelites does not apply to us, we do ourselves a disservice not to study it. Why? Paul, words it this way, [Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.]
To some extent, even though we are not under the Law, we still follow it in regards to the basic commands since God sees all sin the same way still today. In fact, Jesus, often quoted Scripture from the Old Testament, and therefore we maintain that if Jesus said it and did it, than we need to do it also. Our salvation through Christ is often like a marriage between a husband and wife, it cannot be severed, unless through the hardness of ones heart, they turn from their faith in Christ, [Matthew 13:20-21 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.]
Yesterday we read about marriage, today, it is about divorce. Divorce, is a controversial subject within the Church itself, one church will forbid divorce of any kind, no matter how brutal the situation. One church will allow divorce, but they are not to marry anyone else until the spouse dies. One church will actually allow multiple marriages in order to keep from divorcing. Yes, these are all still practices in churches today. Well, as always, there is mans law and then there is the Bible, which is the truth of the matter. As we continue in the reading of Deuteronomy, we learn of the bill of divorcement, if the husband decided that he was not pleased with his wife any longer, he could divorce her.
[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. 2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3 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; 4 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.]
[Her former husband…may not take her again…after that she is defiled;] Why would it be an abomination to God for a man who divorced his wife to remarry her if the new husband died? It all has to do with why he divorced her. If it were a legitimate reason why he divorced her that uncleanness would have been adultery to begin with therefore she would be defiled and the divorce would have been valid. However, if it were any other reason, the divorce was not valid because he did it out of the hardness of his heart. In that case, God, considered it to be an abomination if he decided that he wanted her back. Jesus, said it this way, [Matthew 5:31-32 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.]
When we get in God’s Word, He reminds us of things we ought to or not to be doing, things we have forgotten, things we have never known, and even things that make absolutely no sense to us. Moses, reminds the Israelites that since they knew personally what it was like to be a slave in Egypt that it was important that they take care of those who are poor or need a helping hand. And if they were going to loan them something they needed to be considerate about it and not oppress them if they took longer to pay it back.
[Deuteronomy 24:6-7,10-14 No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man’s life to pledge. 7 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. 10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. 11 Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee. 12 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: 13 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. 14 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:]
[No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge:] [Pledge; Something put in pawn; that which is deposited with another as security for the repayment of money borrowed, or for the performance of some agreement or obligation; Collateral]
Millstones, were grinders for grain that enabled them to make flour and sell it for their livelihood. In other words, the lender was to never accept for collateral anything that would keep the person from being able to earn the money to pay them back and have their collateral taken from them. Today, these are the bill collectors who will call you day and night, take away everything you own, and even garnish your wages the second you get any kind of money. It is a reminder of why it is best that we own no one anything.
[Romans 13:8-10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.]
[Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy,] How many times have you lent someone money or even something you own only to never see it again? I have several times. There have also been times when I could not pay back money that was lent to me. According to God, if a debt cannot be paid back due to some financial hardship, then to just let it go. I understand that lenders need to be paid back, but perhaps we need to have the mind of Christ on this, [Luke 6:34-35 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.]
Now, some of the laws of God make absolutely no sense and seem kind of harsh, but I always say, we must look at the whole message, and not just one verse. Many times they were given to keep the people in fear as to keep them from committing sin, others were given in regards to respecting one another. Moses, goes on to give some random commands.
[Deuteronomy 24:16-19 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. 17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge: 18 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. 19 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.]
[every man shall be put to death for his own sin.] It does not matter if it was deliberate, we were enticed, misled, or simply ignorant to sin, the price for sin is death. Thankfully, we have Jesus who paid that debt for us. Through His sinless death, burial, and resurrection, all who come to Him escape death to their souls that is, [Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.]
Even though God chose the Jews to be the people the rest of the world would recognize as His people, He did not stop anyone from coming to Him. God, gave a specific law concerning the marriage of the heir of the family. The inheritance of the father would be passed down to their first son, since he was the heir, he would be the one to pass the inheritance to his sin. However, if the heir died before he had a son with his wife, the wife would have to marry to the next son in line, and their first born son would be the heir of the one who died.
[Deuteronomy 25:5-7,9 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. 6 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. 7 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. 9 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.]
[My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name] I will be the first to tell you that I do not understand every reason behind these commands, but I will also say this, every law had a purpose. Why was it necessary that the first child be reared up as the brother’s who died? This was designed for two reasons, the first one being that the eldest would have his part in the inheritance that would have been passed down from his father had he lived. The second and the most important reason was that it kept families distinct in their lineage and inheritances until the Messiah came so that it might be known from what family He would come from. We will understand this more when we read the Book of Ruth, her story shows us the necessity of it,
[Ruth 4:8-10 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe. 9 And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, of the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.]
God’s choice in His people had nothing to do with them being better, more spiritual, or more righteous than any other nation, it had to do with the covenant or promise that He made with Abraham. God promised Abraham that his seed or heritage would be like counting the sand in the sea, or stars in the sky, and that he would be the father of many nations. As Moses wraps up his long speech, he reminds them of that promise.
[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. 17 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: 18 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; 19 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.]
[And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made,] We belong to God when Christ is in us. That means He will do everything He has promised, He will never leave nor forsake us, and no one will ever be able to pluck us from the hand of Jesus. This is not the time to live in a panic, it is not the time to be a hermit, it is not the time to go crazy either and defy every law there is. This is the time to show Christ through this darkness, [1 Peter 2:9-10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Deuteronomy 26:18-19 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; 19 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.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for vouching for me when I chose You as my Saviour. I do not have to earn my way into Your family, I am graphed in as joint heirs with You through my faith alone. It is truly amazing that no matter what I do, You never leave nor forsake me, and that You avouch for me before our Father. Thank You for making it simple, and for the liberties we receive having entered in a marriage with You. LORD, Open the hearts of the ignorant and lost, show them the truth, help them see that they have nothing to fear by trusting You. Lead us and guide us, let Your Light shine through us and never lose one opportunity to show You through love, compassion, and the preaching of the Gospel. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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