Deuteronomy 22:10 Unequally Yoked

 10Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.

Unequally Yoked

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? AMP

Nobody with common sense would plow a field with an ox and a donkey yoked together as they would pull unequally.

Likewise we are warned that spiritually we shouldn’t be unequally bound, believers to unbelievers. 

My wife was born again before I was and I had a drug problem! She dragged me kicking and screaming to an evangelistic church! She drug me all the way there! 

I was a good Catholic and a good ChrisEaster! I went every Christmas and Easter! No way would I go against my religion! But I wasn’t growing in my faith and needed more.

Six months later I became born again and Christ accepted me into His family!

Are you growing in your faith?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 22:9 Separation

9“You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or everything produced by the seed which you have sown and the yield of the vineyard will become defiled [and banned for use].

Separation 

This law “was meant to separate Israel from her pagan neighbors, who would commonly combine unlike things to achieve what was thought to be a “magical” combination.” (Guzik)

Similar to our laws for organic produce, the area has to be clean of genetic modified produce for a certain number of years before it can be declared organic.

In a spiritual sense the Lord wants us separated from the ungodly so we don’t become defiled with their behaviors and thinking.

2 Corinthians 6:17 “So COME OUT FROM AMONG UNBELIEVERS AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord, “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will graciously receive you and welcome you [with favor],

A lot of Christians try to have it both ways, church on Sunday and back in the world on Monday.

Are you one of those?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 22:8 Railing!

 8“When you build a new house, you shall make a railing (parapet) around your [flat] roof, so that you do not bring the guilt of [innocent] blood on your house if someone falls from it.

“In his sermon on Deuteronomy 22:8, titled “Battlements,” Charles Spurgeon shows how just as there was to be a railing for the protection of people on the roofs of Israel’s homes, there are also spiritual railings for our protection. Many people, in regard to sin, get too close to the edge and fall off. Then it’s too late! We need to have “railings” protecting us from the edge. Such railings will not only protect us, but others also.” (Guzik)

I can’t count how many times I’ve heard of someone falling into the Grand Canyon by getting too close to the edge. They ignored the railing and crawled under to get a closer look. Or they decided to take a selfie while daring themselves to get a closer photo, overlooking the edge. People have done stupid things and some commemorate the tragic events by awarding the event a Darwin Award. 

If you don’t accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior before you die you too will earn the Darwin Award! You know the Truth and ignored His knocking at your door!

Jesus or Darwin, your choice!

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 22:6-7 Bird’s Nest

 6“If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the road, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother [bird] is sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. 7You shall certainly let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.

Spring was in the air and I unwrapped burlap from an evergreen that marks the gravesite of our sons dog. It survived the winter and looked healthy. Within weeks I noticed one side was turning brown. Upon checking the health of the tree I found a birds nest with 5 small blue eggs. I left it alone but the next day I saw the nest on the ground and the eggs were gone. So I trimmed the tree.

Then while filling the woodshed a robin built a nest and I noticed she already started laying eggs. I had to wait weeks until the nestlings flew off, so I resumed filling the woodshed again. The robin returned and started building a nest again. I removed it and then she built a nest in a nearby tree.

These verses may seem to be a strange request from the Lord but we need to study them in context. Some birds were used by the poor for sacrifice and food.

I pray “that it may be well with you (me) and that you (I) may prolong your (my) days.”

What about you?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 22:5 Abomination

Warning this message may be tough for some to hear, but I will add sin is sin, we are all sinners and it’s all filthy to the Lord. Romans 3:10 AMP As it is written and forever remains written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS [none that meets God’s standard], NOT EVEN ONE.

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.

Can you say, transgender? Now we know what the Lord thinks about the subject!

“In Old Testament times, men and women wore clothing that was superficially similar - long robes and wrapping garments were common for both sexes. Yet, the specific types of garments and the way in which they were worn made a clear distinction between the sexes, and this command instructs God’s people to respect those distinctions.” (Guzik)

“The dramatic rise in cross-dressing, transvestitism, androgynous behavior, and “gender-bender” behavior in our culture is a shocking trampling of this command and will reap a bitter harvest in more perversion and more gender confusion in our culture.” (Guzik)

“Some have taken this command to be the “proof-text” against women wearing pants and some Christian groups command that women wear only dresses. Yet, this is not a command against women wearing a garment that in some ways might be common between men and women; it is a command against dressing in a manner which deliberately blurs the lines between the sexes.”

“This does not prohibit a man from wearing a kilt; yet it clearly prohibits a man dressing like a woman, as is all too common - and all too accepted - in our modern culture.” (Guzik)

“All who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God: This command to observe the distinction between the sexes is so important, those who fail to observe it are called an abomination to the LORD. This was not only because cross-dressing was a feature of pagan, idolatrous worship in the ancient world, but also because of the terrible cultural price that is paid when it is pretended that there is no difference between men and women.” (Guzik)

If your doing it, stop it! If you can’t curb your impulses seek help from a Christian counselor who believes the Bible is the word of the Lord. Seek His help with all your heart, confess your sin and He will forgive you.

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 22:1-4 Your duty to help!

 1“You shall not see your countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away or being stolen, and [a]ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly take them back to him. 2If your countryman is not nearby or you do not know him, you shall bring the animal to your house, and it shall stay with you until he searches for it; then you shall return it to him. 3You shall do this with his donkey or with his garment or with anything that your countryman has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to ignore [your duty to help] them. 4You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly help him lift it up.

Your duty to help!

“God here condemned the sin of doing nothing. To see your brother in need, and to do nothing, is to do evil. When one has the opportunity to do good, you must not hide yourself.” (Guzik)

Luke 10: 33But a Samaritan (foreigner), who was traveling, came upon him; and when he saw him, he was deeply moved with compassion [for him], 34and went to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them [to sooth and disinfect the injuries]; and he put him on his own pack-animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

Have you ever helped someone in need? What about a widow or orphan?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 Pass the smell test?

 22“And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death and [[c]afterward] you hang him on a tree [as a public example], 23his body shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall most certainly bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is cursed by God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

“Hang him on a tree does not have the idea of being executed by strangulation; but of having the corpse mounted on a tree or other prominent place, to expose the executed one to disgrace and the elements.” (Guzik)

Galatians 3: 13Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS [crucified] ON A TREE (cross)”-- 14in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might also come to the Gentiles, so that we would all receive [the realization of] the promise of the [Holy] Spirit through faith.

We don’t pass the smell test! Or as the King James would say, we stinkith! 

Romans 3:10 As it is written and forever remains written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS [none that meets God’s standard], NOT EVEN ONE.

So if the good Lord called on you today, how would you pass the smell test?

How would you reconcile your unrighteousness with God?

I was washed with the blood 🩸 of Jesus! 

Christ purchased my freedom and redeemed me from the curse! 

So I no longer stinkith!

What about you?

Blessings