Deuteronomy 27:2-8 Speak Plainly

 2And on the day you cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster. 3Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. 4And when you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to coat them with plaster.

5Moreover, you are to build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You must not use any iron tool on them. 6You shall build the altar of the LORD your God with uncut stones and offer upon it burnt offerings to the LORD your God. 7There you are to sacrifice your peace offerings, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the LORD your God. 8And you shall write distinctly upon these stones all the words of this law.”

I thought, why no iron tool?

“This was commanded because God did not want the glory of the stone carver to be the center of attention at His altar. God, at His altar, will share glory with no man - the beauty and attractiveness would be found only in the provision of God, not in any fleshly display.” (Guzik)

Why whitewash the plaster?

“So, the words could be easily seen, they were to whitewash them with lime. Anything we can do to make God’s word more accessible to others is a good thing, as long as the integrity of God’s word is preserved.” (Guzik)

Did you get that? So no man could get the glory and the words can be easily and plainly seen. These same principles apply to Christian’s. Speak plainly using Biblical verses, principles and give HIM all the glory! 

Whatever you do don’t use difficult words that common people don’t understand! 

The Lord uses the foolish things to confound the wise, so why would anyone intentionally try to be wise to confound the simple? 🤔

1 Corinthians 1:27 AMP But God has selected [for His purpose] the foolish things of the world to shame the wise [revealing their ignorance], and God has selected [for His purpose] the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong [revealing their frailty].

Have you ever spoke and looked like an ass? I’m guilty!

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 27:1 Doers of the Word

 1Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all the commandments I am giving you today.

“Moses finished his preaching to the people of Israel, so there was nothing more to say, other than the simple encouragement to do what God commanded. It isn’t enough for Israel to be hearers of the word; they must also be doers of the word.” (Guzik)

Doers of the Word

Mark 16: 15And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

After you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, what have you done about it?

Are you doers of the Word?

Blessings 

UNLUCKY

My sin sickens me, so much so I have to remind myself I am a new person in Christ.

I study the Bible daily to help guide me to sin less and because I’m not sinless I rely on Jesus to continually keep me clean.

UNLUCKY 

The other night I watched a movie called “Lucky” a spiritual journey of a 90-year-old atheist with Harry Dean Stanton.

I almost turned it off but I wanted to see Tom Skerritt in his cameo and see if Lucky found Christ. He didn’t and he claimed when you die you go nowhere, a big black nothing. The actor appeared like death warmed over (not makeup). I searched his name and he died the same year the movie was released in 2017.

So sad to never find Jesus in his lifetime of 91 years! 

Many of the movie story lines were actually part of his real life journey.

When he was drafted into the US Navy in WW2 he was assigned as a cook on a LST which is how he got his nickname, Lucky.

I believe it’s possible that his “spiritual wisdom” hardened his heart ♥️.

HIs legacy: he’ll be forever known as an atheist because of his 2017 movie “Lucky”.

Unfortunately I believe he was unlucky not to find Jesus or to be sickened by his sin.

Then the verses of the rich man and Lazarus came to mind. 

I wonder if he’s asking now if he can have a do over?

Luke 16: 19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. 20And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores 21and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried. 23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

24So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’…… 31Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ” 

Or by Jesus Christ Himself who rose from the dead!

If you reject Jesus the Son of God to take away your sins, you too will be just like Lucky and become unlucky.

Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 26:16-18 You Are HIS People

 16The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these statutes and ordinances. You must be careful to follow them with all your heart and with all your soul.

17Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice.

18And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments, 19that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.

“Sometimes we need to be instructed regarding the law of God; sometimes we need to be remindedregarding the law of God. But most often, we need to be exhorted regarding the law of God. We know what to do, but we need to be encouraged to actually do it.” (Guzik)

You are His people!

John 10: 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.

Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior and proclaimed that Jesus is your Lord?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 26:13-15 The Right Kind of Heart ❤️

 13Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD your God, “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments. 14I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything You commanded me. 15Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You swore to our fathers—a land flowing with milk and honey.”

“The prayer described here shows that the giving was done with the right kind of heart. God not only wants us to give, but to give with the right heart.” (Guzik)

Genesis 4: 3So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, 4while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock.

And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.

Why did the Lord have no regard for Cain and his offering? 

He didn’t have the right kind of heart 💜!

Do you give with the right kind of heart? I freely admit struggle in this area.

Dear Lord, help me and those reading this to freely give to whom You desire with the right kind of heart ❤️. Guide us to be more like Able and look upon on us with favor.

In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 26:10b-12 You Shall Rejoice!

 Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before Him. 11So you shall rejoice—you, the Levite, and the foreigner dwelling among you—in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.

12When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates.

You Shall Rejoice 

Rejoice for all the good things the Lord has given you.

We have a tendency in our human condition to look at our neighbors and say, why can’t I have that? But we need to nip that sin in the bud!

Look at yourself and rejoice in all good things the Lord had given you!

Do you have a roof over your head? Food on your table? Clothes on your back? Rejoice!

I remember a camping trip our family went on and my father stopped at a house because he was selling crawlers for fishing. It had a dirt floor! So anytime I get down because someone else has this or that I remind myself of that house with a dirt floor.

And what about the fatherless, the widow, the poor and the needy? The Lord reminds us many times throughout scripture that they are dear to His heart ❤️.

Let’s not be like Sodom!

Ezekiel 16:49 Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.

Are you bearing fruit? If not, be careful as the woodsman is out with His axe!

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 26:5-10 Our Own Time

 5and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous. 6But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor. 7So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression. 8Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, signs, and wonders. 9And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.”

Our Own Time

“Israel spent some 400 years in Egypt. Yet in the course of God’s eternal plan, it was nothing more than a sojourn. We can often focus so much on our own time of trial or misery that we think that it defines our whole life; God saw Israel’s experience in Egypt as a sojourn.” (Guzik)

I believe the lesson we need to learn from these verses and commentary is this, no matter what we are going through if we focus on our own time of trial or misery we think it defines our whole life. 

But if we focus on the Lord Jesus first and foremost our hearts will slowly change from misery to love ❤️. Then Jesus defines our life as one of His children working for the kingdom of heaven.

Apostle Paul is a great example of this lesson. I pray we can all be like Paul and follow his example.

Can you be like the apostle Paul?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 26:1-4 Everything good comes from God

 1When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and settle in it, 2you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name, 3to the priest who is serving at that time, and say to him, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.”

4Then the priest shall take the basket from your hands and place it before the altar of the LORD your God,

Reminder: Everything good comes from God

“Numbers 18:12 speaks of the firstfruits that must be regularly brought to the priests, but the firstfruits described here in Deuteronomy 26 seem to be a special offering of firstfruits, from the first of the harvest they gain in the Promised Land.” (Guzik)

Do you thank the LORD for everything HE gives you?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 25:17-19 Amalekites and our flesh!

 17Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt, 18how they met you on your journey when you were tired and weary, and they attacked all your stragglers; they had no fear of God.

19When the LORD your God gives you rest from the enemies around you in the land that He is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you are to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

Saul disobeys the Lord

1 Samuel 15: 7Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.

1 Samuel 28: 17He has done exactly what He spoke through me: The LORD has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David. 18Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out His burning anger against Amalek, the LORD has done this to you today. 19Moreover, the LORD will deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And the LORD will deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”

“many see the , as a picture of our flesh “ (Guzik)

Galatians 5: 17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.

Lord, help us not to give into our flesh and disobey the Spirit! In Jesus name I pray.

Blessings

Deuteronomy 25:13-16 One Heavy and One Light

 13You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. 14You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small.

15You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 16For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God.

Recently my spouse went shopping at GFS for boneless pork butt on sale for $1.69 per pound and the sale price was marked on the cooler. The label on the pork butt stated 8.8 pounds @ $1.89 per pound but when the clerk rang it up, the register displayed 9.8 lbs @ $1.69 per pound. She said that’s not right and asked for the manager. She asked him to weigh it and the label was correct @ 8.8 pounds and received it at the sale price of $1.69 per pound. 

Was this intentional? The Lord only knows but the label, bar code and register were differing weights, one heavy and one light.

Are your scales honest?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 25:11-12 Cut off her hand

 11If two men are fighting, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals, 

This is a difficult passage but we must remember it is God breathed. 

Thompson and Poole give us some insight into understanding them.

“Possibly it was representative of similar offences and provided a standard for judgment in all such cases. Perhaps also, the law arose from the desire to protect the reproductive organs and thus obviate anything that might prevent a man leaving descendants.” (Thompson)

12you are to cut off her hand. You must show her no pity.

“Partly because of the great mischief she did to him, both to his person and posterity, and partly to deter all women from immodest and impudent carriages, and to secure that modesty which is indeed the guardian of all the virtues, as immodesty is an inlet to all vices, as the sad experience of this degenerate age shows; and therefore it is not strange that it is so severely restrained and punished.” (Matthew Poole, 1683)

Would the world be a better place today if ALL PUNISHMENTS for crimes and offenses were executed as prescribed in the book of Deuteronomy?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 25:7-10 The House of the Unsandaled

 7But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.”

8Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, “I do not want to marry her,” 9his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother’s line.” 10And his family name in Israel will be called “The House of the Unsandaled.”

“If the brothers of the deceased man refused to take this responsibility, they were to be called to open shame by the widow. The shame was compounded as they would remove his sandal and the widow would spit in his face.” (Guzik)

Family heritage, customs and society was much different back then. Generations of families often resided on the same property.

Matthew 22: 24-30 The Sadducees tried to test Jesus with this law in Deuteronomy and failed miserably because they didn’t know the scriptures or the heart ❤️ of the Lord!

But can anyone trick God?

If you were put in that position, would you marry your sister in law or become The House of the Unsandaled? 

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 25:5-6 BASIC INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE LEAVING EARTH

 5When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.b 6The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

“The practice of levirate marriage... was not peculiar to Israel, for it was practiced among the Hittites and Assyrians as well as in countries such as India, Africa and South America.” (Thompson)

I’m a technical guy because that’s the way the Lord made me and that’s how I tend to look at the Bible. The Old Testament is chock full of lessons, Christophanies, (appearances of Jesus) men and women (sinners) used greatly by the Lord, sinful men and women that met destruction by the Lord and much more. I tend to study the Bible from cover to cover, book by book instead of jumping around but do so when referencing scriptures. If you think the OT is boring and not worth your time, your missing the bigger picture because the Lord wants you to study and understand the whole Bible. 

The BIBLE: BASIC INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE LEAVING EARTH.

Blessings 

https://youtu.be/iMuLyJ5ocQM

Deuteronomy 25:1-3 Corporal Punishment

 1If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.

2If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants. 3He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.

“Apparently, God considers that some criminals are wicked and deserve to be beaten. We seem to have a justice system today that considers itself more compassionate and kind than God Himself, yet we can’t say that we live in a more just or safe society.” (Guzik)

“Among the Mohammedans there are very few law-suits, and the reason is given... because they that sue others without just cause are to be whipped publicly.” (Trapp)

Paul’s account of lashes.

2 Corinthians 11: 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 

Wikipedia: A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or paddling. When it is inflicted on adults, it may be inflicted on prisoners and slaves .

“Corporal punishment is a violation of children's rights to respect for physical integrity and human dignity, health, development, education and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” (World Health Organization)

Proverbs 13:24 Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them. NLT

Wait until your father gets home was a common occurrence in our household and his belt was used as a correction tool to get us back on a corrective course. 

Is there a correlation between banning corporal punishment and a reduction in a safe and just society?

Blessings

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 Generous Heart ❤️

 19If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

20When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

21When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not go over the vines again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

This was God’s welfare program for the poor. The farmers were not to completely harvest their fields so the poor could be fed with dignity by working and harvesting their own food. 

“This was a wonderful way of helping the poor. It commanded farmers to have a generous heart, and it made the poor to be active and work for their food. It made a way for them to provide for their own needs with dignity.” (Guzik)

Do you have a generous heart ❤️?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 24:17-18 Compassionate and Fair!

 17Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security. 18Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

“If Israel kept remembering how much God had done for them, it would make them more compassionate and fair in dealing with others. We must always deal with others remembering how much God has blessed and forgiven us.” (Guzik)

How much has God done for you?

Can you count the ways? Marriage? Children? Dwelling? Provisions? More?……..

Do you realize everything comes from God?

1 Corinthians 11: 12For just as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.

And if God has blessed and forgiven you, how are you dealing with others?

Shouldn’t you be compassionate and fair?

Blessings