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: Saturday, March 18, 2023
Chapters: DEUTERONOMY 21-23
Study: From A Creation To A Child
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
I had a rough end to this week and ended up going home from work early yesterday because I felt like I got hit by a truck. I came home took a nap, got into God’s Word, then ate a good meal and ended it with a heart touching conversation with my beloved. My heart hurts for him because his family is not the best at being a family, he was basically told most of his life that he was worthless and that can take a toll on anyone’s faith. I am amazed at his faith and faithfulness to God. It is fitting that this verse, [Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.] popped up this morning, which led me to this passage.
[Galatians 3:22-26 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.]
How amazing is it that we can go from being a mere creation of God to a child simply by our faith and trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross? It is incredible actually! Being a child of God solely upon the mercies and grace of God, while it really is not required to live through the Law, it should be something that we respect. Our salvation through Christ does not change how God feels about sin, it will always be something He despises. 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 cities of refuge, today, we learn of the atonement for someone who was found dead and it was not known why or who brought on the shed of innocent blood.
[Deuteronomy 21:3-5,7-8 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: 5 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: 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.]
[Our hands have not shed this blood,] It does not matter who is responsible, there is a price to pay for innocent blood. When I read this I thought about the millions of babies that die in the hands of these doctors who think that they are God and can take an innocent life before it has even had a chance to be born, and the women who go through with it as well. It is one thing to lose a baby while it is in the womb, God had a reason for that and it is innocent. It is another thing to murder a child, and those who know this had all better seek redemption fast for the innocent blood that has been shed, or we as a nation will be held responsible,
[Psalms 106:37-41,44-45 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, 38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. 39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. 40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. 41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them. 44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: 45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.]
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. 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. Since fornication was a sin, if a man was sexually attracted to a woman, then he wanted to marry her right away and it did not matter if she were an Israelite or not. If any of the men were attracted to a woman that was not and Israelite, then she had to be converted first.
[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.]
[And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her,] As I read this I think about what Jesus said in regards to why Moses had come up with divorce, [Matthew 19:4–6,8-9 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.]
Do you see that? The hardness of the heart, that is the number one cause of divorce. I was talking with my beloved as we both have had failed relationships and wondered why they failed. I have drawn the conclusion that they failed for two reasons, one; they were never meant to be in the first place, and two; even though we may have loved them, it was not the agape kind of love that we have right now. In the short amount of time that I have known my beloved he has done more for me than all of the men I have had a relationship with combined, which was three by the way. God, takes marriage very seriously, it is almost as serious as our relationship with Him. Now, while God has never condone a man having more than one wife, since they were set on doing that Moses, addresses a man who had two wives.
[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, it could have been as in the situation with Leah, while I do not believe that Jacob hated her, he was deceived by her when she was given to him for a wife over Rachel first. 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 child conceived into this world for a reason, some may not make it to live in this world, some may only live a short time in this world, and some may go on to live long lives here, but each and every person created has God’s hand on it and a purpose, even if they never receive Him as their God.
[Romans 9:22-26 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: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.]
Again, God, never allowed men to be married to more than one woman at the same time, but since they were going to do what they wanted to do, He dealt with it the best He knew how. Sometimes the only way He could get through to people was putting the fear of death upon them and unfortunately they tried Him and failed on many occasions. Moses, goes on to address children who are rebellious.
[Deuteronomy 21:18-23 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: 19 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; 20 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. 21 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. 22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.]
[(for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)] This reminds me of when Jesus was hanging on the cross, His own Father could not look at Him because every sin of every soul from the beginning of creation until the last one to be born here on earth was cast on Him. I do not care who you are or what you believe, Jesus, died for every soul, that does not mean that every soul gets saved because He will only save those who come to Him by faith, [Matthew 27:45-46,50-53 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.]
Wow! I could only imagine what it would have looked like to see loved ones that passed away walking the streets for as long as Jesus was there after His resurrection. That veil was the wall that kept man from God, but it was torn from the top down that day, and the reason being is because God Himself removed that wall. Now, all we need to do to speak to God directly is trust Christ as our Saviour. We need to understand that the laws given were necessary for their time, we can still apply a lot of them to what we do today. Now, God seemed to have a few strange laws for them, things that we may not understand with our technology today. As Moses continues he goes on to mention these rather strange laws.
[Deuteronomy 22:1,3,5,8,11-12 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. 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. 5 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. 8 When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence. 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.]
[neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment:] Why was this so important? It brought less confusion. God, is not the author of confusion! We as saved born again Christians, have a new set of garments upon us the second we ask Jesus to save us. Jesus, actually had something to say about garments, [Mark 2:21-22 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. 22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.]
[Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture,] The fringes or tassels sown at the bottom of their garments were to be worn by them until the Messiah would come, they were attached to distinguish them from the rest of the world. Jesus, actually has something to say about those who appear as though they are saved.
[Matthew 23:3-5,13-14 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.]
I have said it before and I will say it again, 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 our flesh. And this is why He always focuses so much on adultery and idolatry for that matter. Remember what we read about a man who decided that he no longer wanted to be married to the woman he had been with? Well, Moses goes on to address this.
[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 22:23-26,28-29 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: 26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: 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.]
[and the man force her, and lie with her:] This had me in tears this morning as I now see why God was so merciful to me some years ago. 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. God, protects His children, especially when they get caught up in situations that are not ideal, He will also use those situations to grow and strengthen our walk with Him, [1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.]
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 they were not to accept the Ammonites or Moabites for a long time.
[Deuteronomy 23:1-4,7-8 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: 4 Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. 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.]
[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 23:10-11,14,21-23 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. 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. 21 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. 22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. 23 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.]
[for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee;] You see, the life we live, it is more than about us, we set the example for generations to follow. Naturally, if we are setting the example of Christ, while we will suffer from time to time, we are leading the way for the next generation to follow Christ. Suffering is not something that we enjoy, and does not always come from sin, in fact, the majority of God’s children will suffer because we belong to Him, but the rewards are impeccable.
[John 15:16-20 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
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. Suffering is often Your mechanism as a means to not only prove our faith, but to keep it, fearing You only. Lord, lead me and guide me, search my heart to see if there is anything defiling it, remove it and purify it so that I can set the right example in living my life through You. Since You help me through my suffering, let me be of help to those who are suffering and prepare me for any suffering that is to come. Give me your mercy and grace, put Your hedge of protection around me to shield me from anything that will defile me. I ask these things in Your Name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/ready-to-follow-jesus/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/welcome/
Read Today’s Bible Reading: http://kingjamesbible.imfollowingjesus.com/
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/readytofollowJesus/
Copyright © 2023 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.