Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Deuteronomy 13:1) “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, (2) And the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you,
saying, ‘Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, ‘and let
us serve them,’ (3) You shall not hearken to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God proves you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul."
In the last chapter and post, Moses told the people that there would come a time in their new land in Canaan when they would worship and serve their Lord in a place of His choosing, and they would bring offerings there in a prescribed manner. He warned them against idolatry and against practicing any customs that the pagans they were dispossessing used in the service of their false gods. They were to destroy every sign and symbol of the false gods.
In this chapter Moses began by telling the people that even if a self-proclaimed prophet among them or dreamer of visions foretold some strange or wonderful sign that came to pass in order to confirm that they should pursue other gods and serve them, they were not to listen to that false prophet. He was obviously a false prophet because he spoke contrary to God's word. This reminds me of the Bereans in Acts 17:11. When Paul and Silas preached to them, they examined the scriptures to confirm if what they were telling them was true, or contrary to the scriptures. That's how to tell truth from a lie; that's why it's necessary to know the word of God so we won't be fooled. God always gives us a choice between life or death, blessing or cursing, His ways or the ways of the world. He doesn't force us to accept Him, but situations such as the one described in these verses would test the individual to know whether he truly loved the Lord with all his heart and soul, or if he could be easily persuaded to choose to dabble in idolatry.
(4) “You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; and you shall serve Him and cleave to Him."
Moses again exhorts the people to walk in the ways of their Lord, have a reverential fear of Him as the very giver of life and almighty God of the universe, keep and obey His commandments, and serve and hold fast to only Him.
(5) "And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to thrust you out of the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put the evil away from the midst of you."
That false prophet was to be put to death, not because he dreamed such a dream, but because he told the people about it in order to turn them away from their Lord God who had brought them out of Egypt from that land of bondage. They had to put that evil away from them by putting him to death so that he not be allowed to further tempt the children of Israel away from their God.
(6) “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, (7) Of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, (8) You shall not consent to him or hearken to him, neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare him or conceal him."
Even if someone very close to a person, his own brother, wife, child, or a friend as close and dear to him as himself, tried to secretly talk him into serving other gods of the people around them or in other parts of the earth, that person was forbidden to listen or consent to it. Additionally, he was not to have pity on that idolater, though he be very close to him; his life was not to be spared and he could not conceal him, which would make him complicit in the evil.
(9) "But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people."
This does not mean the person was to murder another by his own authority because of what that other person had told him in secret, but the fact that all the people were involved, proves there was a public hearing. This was not taken lightly. According to Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, this was difficult to judge because the affair had taken place in secret, with no other witnesses. Therefore, "either the enticer must be brought to a confession of his guilt, or the testimony of the enticed alone must be taken. The Jewish doctors say that they laid in wait for the enticer, which they never did for any other person, and the method they took was this; the enticed brought two persons, and put them behind a hedge, so that they might see the enticer, and hear his words, and he not see them; and he said to the enticer, say what thou hast said to me privately; which said, the enticed answered to him, how shall we leave our God which is in heaven, and go and serve wood and stone? if he returned (from his evil) hereby, or was silent, he was free; but if he said unto him, so we are obliged, and thus it is comely for us; they that stood afar off, behind the hedge (or in a dark room), brought him to the sanhedrim, and stoned him, that is, after examination, trial, judgment, and condemnation." The person who had been originally enticed would be the one to cast the first stone, followed by the casting of stones by the rest of the people.
(10) “And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he has sought to thrust you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."
If found guilty, the enticer was to be stoned to death, because he sought to drive the people away from their Lord God, the one true God who had done so much for them with signs and wonders and the deliverance from bondage in Egypt. Even though he may have only whispered the rebellion to one person, if allowed to go unchecked it would have destroyed the whole group of people. If this punishment sounds harsh, we should always remember that to steer a person away from God is to murder his soul.
(11) "And all Israel shall hear and fear, and shall do no more such wickedness as this is among you."
All of Israel would have heard what happened to that enticer, and would fear to act as he had and be cautious against being drawn into sin by someone like him. Once again, this was done to prevent such wickedness from spreading.
(12) "If you shall hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God has given you to dwell there, saying, (13) 'Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods," which you have not known, (14) Then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently, and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you, (15) You shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the
sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its cattle, with
the edge of the sword."
So egregious was the sin of enticing people into idolatry and away from their Lord God, that even if they heard rumors that in one of their cities certain men of Satan were drawing people away from their Lord suggesting they dabble in idolatry, then they were to diligently search out if the rumor was true. So serious was such an abomination, they must investigate the matter, and if found to be true, they were to destroy that city and all that was in it. Undoubtedly, if there were righteous men in that city, they would come out of it, but the city and all within it was to be completely destroyed, so that such wickedness would not spread to other cities.
(16) “And you shall gather all its spoil into the middle of the street, and
completely burn with fire the city and all its spoil, for the LORD your God; and it shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again."
Once the people and livestock of such an evil city were destroyed, all the goods of that city were to be piled into the midst of it and burned; the spoil and the entire city were to be burned for their Lord God, by His commandment and to rid from their midst and His such an abomination, as a sort of offering to Him. That city was never to be rebuilt.
(17) "And there shall remain none of the cursed things in your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, and have compassion on you and multiply you, as He has sworn to your fathers, (18) When you shall hearken to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God."
The people were to completely rid their land of any of the accursed things belonging to the idolaters, including the whole city itself, that the Lord's anger might be assuaged, and that He have mercy and compassion on them and multiply their numbers as He had sworn to their forefathers. The people might think that destroying an entire city and killing their brethren was in conflict with increasing their numbers, but Moses told them that if they followed their Lord God, kept His commandments, and did what was right in His sight, and rid themselves of corruption, He would bless and increase them all the more. Jesus taught something to this effect in the New Testament. He said that whoever saved his own life would lose it, and whoever gave his life for the Lord's sake would find life; and whoever gained the whole world but lost his soul in the process profited nothing (Matthew 16:25-26). Giving up a city for the Lord's sake would mean blessings and life more abundant than anything they could have gained by holding onto worldly goods.
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Sunday, June 14, 2020
How God's Service Was to Be Kept in Canaan
Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Deuteronomy 12:1) “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of your fathers gives you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth."
Up to this point Moses had been exhorting the children of Israel to obey the commandments of the Lord. Now he began a review of all the statutes and judgments of the Lord that they were to obey in their promised land all the days of their lives.
(2) “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall possess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree."
The very first thing the Israelites were to do when they went into their promised land was to destroy all the places where the nations before them had worshiped their false gods. The pagans most often erected their pillars and statues on high places, and worshiped there, being nearer to the heavens; and many consecrated various trees to their pagan gods and worshiped under them.
(3) “And you shall overthrow their altars, break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and you shall cut down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place."
They were to destroy their altars, break their pillars and statues, burn their groves of trees that had been planted for worship, and cut down any carved or engraved images of their gods, completely destroying all memorials of the idols, which probably included changing the names of places, as well. Matthew Henry wrote something I found very interesting, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "Here is no mention of idol-temples, which countenances the opinion some have, that the tabernacle Moses reared in the wilderness was the first habitation that ever was made for religious uses, and that from it temples took their rise." My limited research was not able to prove or disprove that fact, but evidently, there were scholars who believed that during Henry's lifetime (1662-1714).
(4) "You shall not do so to the LORD your God."
By that, Moses meant they were not to use any of those vulgar objects in their worship of their Lord. He was not to be worshiped with superstitions on every hill and under every tree as every other false god, but He Himself would design a sanctuary and the ritual of His own service. Their Lord was above all gods, as is stated many times in scripture.
(5) “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His habitation; and there you shall come."
The Lord Himself would choose the place for his tabernacle where His presence would be among their tribes, and that is where the people would come to worship Him and seek Him by prayer and inquire of Him.
(6) "And there you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks."
That place the Lord would choose and designate was where the people would bring all their offerings and sacrifices and tithes. There, in God's tabernacle, not on any hill or under any tree, signifying that their offerings and sacrifices were not accepted for their own worth, but by God's gracious appointment in His house.
(7) “And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you."
There in the place that would be designated by the Lord would the people eat their part of the offerings as instructed by Him, and there they would rejoice in all the labors of their hands that brought in the offerings of all of which the Lord had blessed them. They and their households would cheerfully and thankfully partake of the offerings.
(8) "You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes."
Moses told the people that the time would come when they did not do the things they did there in the wilderness, where they were constantly moving from place to place, and the people brought offerings sometimes when and where they pleased. John Wesley pointed out, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, that there wasn't a "universal liberty" given to the people to do as they pleased, but their migratory life and unsettled conditions often gave them opportunity to do so. Moses said that would change.
(9) "For you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God gives you."
The people were allowed to do those things irregularly because they had not yet come to their promised land the Lord was giving them, their rest and their inheritance. It is interesting to note the word "rest" here. Their promised land of Canaan was symbolic of the eternal rest that is assured for the people of God in heaven, and of Christ in whom we have spiritual rest.
(10) “But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God gives you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, (11) Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there; there you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD."
However, Moses continued, when the children of Israel had crossed over the Jordan River, dwelt in their promised land, and they had subdued their enemies all around and dwelt in safety, then there would be a fixed place which the Lord would choose for His name to dwell there. To that place they would bring all their tithes, offerings, and sacrifices, to the Lord, as Moses would instruct them.
(12) “And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your menservants, your maidservants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no part nor inheritance with you."
In the fixed temple that would be built at that time they would rejoice before the Lord, eating with joy and thanksgiving their part of the offerings, they and their entire households, as well as the Levites who were ministers dispersed among them, for they had no inheritance in the promised land. The people were to include the Levites in their feasts.
(13) “Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; (14) But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you."
Moses cautioned the people to be mindful and not offer their offerings in any place that might please them, but only in the place that the Lord Himself would choose among their tribes, would they offer their burnt offerings and do all that Moses would instruct them to do.
(15) "Nevertheless, you may kill and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the roebuck and the hart."
Strict commandments would be given by Moses (from God) as to how and what they would offer and sacrifice, but within their own gates and households, they were allowed to eat whatever their hearts desired of that with which the Lord had blessed them. When Moses referred to the unclean, he was referring to ceremonial uncleanness, like the touching of a dead body or issues of bleeding, etc., that would cause the people to be unclean. They were not allowed to eat unclean animals that were forbidden, but could eat the flesh of animals considered clean, as with deer and gazelles or antelope. Most commentators, as well as Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, said gazelles and deer were meant, while Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote that Dr. Shaw, I believe Rev. Barnabas Shaw, the missionary, thought it was the antelope. Brown-Driver-Briggs's Hebrew Definitions suggested it might even be an extinct animal that was meant. Whatever animal was meant, it was certainly one of the clean animals permitted by God to eat.
(16) “Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water."
Although they could eat whatever clean meats they desired in their homes, the people were still forbidden to eat the blood of any beast or fowl. All manner of blood was forbidden whether slain for sacrifice or for common food. The blood was to be poured out on the ground.
(17) “You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your corn or your new wine or your oil, or the firstlings of herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand."
Although they were allowed to kill and eat any clean animal they desired, the people were forbidden to eat within their gates and homes anything that had been offered to the Lord, except what and when was allowed by the Lord's law. Even if allowed to be eaten, there were certain procedures in presenting it to the Lord first. After all, all was the Lord's and they gave their offerings to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving or for atonement, but in most cases they were allowed to enjoy the feasts, but only after ceremony and as instructed by the Lord's law.
(18) “But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands."
Finishing the thought started in verse 17, Moses told the people they could not eat of the offerings of the Lord in their houses, but in the place where the Lord told them they could in His law. There they would cheerfully make and keep feasts in the manner commanded, rejoicing with family and friends, and with the Levites, expressing thankfulness to God for His blessing on the labor of their hands.
(19) “Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live on the earth."
The people were commanded to be careful not to ever forget the Levites as long as they lived. The Levites had no inheritance in their promised land and only lived on the tithes appointed for their maintenance, and by their inclusion at the feasts described above. The Levites' lives were dedicated to the service of God and to the ministering to the souls of men, and they were to be furnished at the very least the necessities of life by those souls for whom they ministered for their salvation.
(20) “When the LORD your God shall enlarge your border as He has promised you, and you say, 'I will eat meat,' because your soul longs to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires."
Moses told the people that when the Lord had increased their land by bringing them into the land of Canaan as He had promised, and they craved meat that had been in short supply in the wilderness, they would be allowed to eat as much meat as their hearts desired.
(21) “If the place where the LORD your God has chosen to put His name is too far from you, then you may kill of your herd and of your flock which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and you shall eat in your gates whatever your heart desires."
As the people were obliged to carry their sacrifices to the place of worship where the Lord had chosen to put His name, they might think they had to carry to there all their animals they desired to be slaughtered for meat. However, Moses was telling them they were under no obligation to do that, and were free to kill them at their homes and eat as much as they desired within their gates in the manner the Lord had commanded (v. 15-17 above).
(22) "Even as the roebuck and the hart are eaten, so you shall eat them, the unclean and the clean alike shall eat of them."
Just as Moses had instructed in verse 15 regarding the animals allowed by law to be eaten as food, as with deer and antelope or gazelles, both those people ceremonially clean and those considered unclean could eat of the animals they killed at their homes.
(23) “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the flesh."
Once again the people were commanded not to eat the blood of any animal, specifically because the blood was the life and they were forbidden to eat the life with the flesh. In Leviticus 17:11 they were told more precisely that the blood was given by the Lord to make atonement for their souls; therefore they were forbidden to eat of it.
(24) “You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water."
Once again the commandment was repeated (v. 16) that they must not eat of the blood, even of common flesh not used as sacrifice, but pour it on the ground. When they could not bring the blood to the altar, to pour it out before the Lord, as belonging to Him, they were still to pour it out on the ground, as not belonging to them, because it was the life and only belonged to the author of life, and was to be used for atonement.
(25) “You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you shall do what is right in the sight of the LORD."
The children of Israel were not to eat of any blood that it might go well for them and their children, as they had been told in Leviticus 7:27 that any person who ate of blood of any animal was to be cut off from his people. However, when the people did right in the sight of the Lord in this and all other commands, it would go well for them and their children.
(26) “Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses."
As they were warned in verse 17 above, the holy things like their tithes, their firstborn offerings, their freewill offerings, their heave offerings, or any vowed offerings, were to be taken to the place that the Lord would later choose to put His name.
(27) “And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat."
Those offerings to God were to be presented on the altar of the Lord, and the blood of those sacrifices was to be poured out on the altar, and then the meat only was allowed to be eaten.
(28) “Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God."
Moses exhorted the people to really hear and observe all those things he had commanded them from the Lord, as in destroying all symbols of false idols, bringing all holy things to the place the Lord would designate for Him to dwell, the eating of common flesh in their homes, and the prohibition against eating blood, it would go well for them and their children, when they did what was good and right in the sight of their Lord.
(29) “When the LORD your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go to possess them, and you succeed them and dwell in their land, (30) Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared by following them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’"
When their Lord destroyed the nations from before His people and they succeeded them and then dwelt in their lands, the people were warned against being ensnared by following the customs of those people they had dispossessed. They were warned against even inquiring about those customs, lest they be tempted to do the same.
(31) “You shall not do so to the LORD your God, for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods."
The people were forbidden to perform any of the rites of the nations before them for their Lord, because everything those nations had done for their gods, He hated. Those nations had even sacrificed and burned their own children to their gods.
(32) “Whatever I command you, observe to do it; you shall not add to it nor diminish from it."
Moses gave the people one last warning from their Lord that whatever He commanded, precisely that they were to do, neither adding to nor subtracting from what He had told them to do. This was the same caution Moses had given the people regarding the word of God in Deuteronomy 4:2, "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." This is also confirmed in Revelation 22:18-19, "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." God is serious about us accepting His word as given. The Almighty perfect God of the universe doesn't need us mere sinful mortals to improve upon His word, nor decide that parts of it are okay to ignore. It is perfect as the perfect God gave it. I've heard the argument that God may be perfect, but imperfect people wrote the Bible. Is the perfect omniscient God not capable of making sure His word was given to us as it should be? I have learned something in my study of the Bible. A precept of God will always be repeated. As the Bible states in many places, a thing will be established by the word of two or three witnesses. So it is with what God wants us to know; it will be repeated elsewhere in scripture. If there is some obscure scripture that seems to tell us something new, you can bet our interpretation is wrong. People are always looking for new revelations in the word of God, and that is fine, but if you find something new and different, make sure it is repeated elsewhere. Otherwise, your interpretation is wrong and you are falling into that old trap of Satan, that "you shall be as God" (Genesis 3:5) because you have learned His secret.
(Deuteronomy 12:1) “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of your fathers gives you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth."
Up to this point Moses had been exhorting the children of Israel to obey the commandments of the Lord. Now he began a review of all the statutes and judgments of the Lord that they were to obey in their promised land all the days of their lives.
(2) “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall possess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree."
The very first thing the Israelites were to do when they went into their promised land was to destroy all the places where the nations before them had worshiped their false gods. The pagans most often erected their pillars and statues on high places, and worshiped there, being nearer to the heavens; and many consecrated various trees to their pagan gods and worshiped under them.
(3) “And you shall overthrow their altars, break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and you shall cut down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place."
They were to destroy their altars, break their pillars and statues, burn their groves of trees that had been planted for worship, and cut down any carved or engraved images of their gods, completely destroying all memorials of the idols, which probably included changing the names of places, as well. Matthew Henry wrote something I found very interesting, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "Here is no mention of idol-temples, which countenances the opinion some have, that the tabernacle Moses reared in the wilderness was the first habitation that ever was made for religious uses, and that from it temples took their rise." My limited research was not able to prove or disprove that fact, but evidently, there were scholars who believed that during Henry's lifetime (1662-1714).
(4) "You shall not do so to the LORD your God."
By that, Moses meant they were not to use any of those vulgar objects in their worship of their Lord. He was not to be worshiped with superstitions on every hill and under every tree as every other false god, but He Himself would design a sanctuary and the ritual of His own service. Their Lord was above all gods, as is stated many times in scripture.
(5) “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His habitation; and there you shall come."
The Lord Himself would choose the place for his tabernacle where His presence would be among their tribes, and that is where the people would come to worship Him and seek Him by prayer and inquire of Him.
(6) "And there you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks."
That place the Lord would choose and designate was where the people would bring all their offerings and sacrifices and tithes. There, in God's tabernacle, not on any hill or under any tree, signifying that their offerings and sacrifices were not accepted for their own worth, but by God's gracious appointment in His house.
(7) “And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you."
There in the place that would be designated by the Lord would the people eat their part of the offerings as instructed by Him, and there they would rejoice in all the labors of their hands that brought in the offerings of all of which the Lord had blessed them. They and their households would cheerfully and thankfully partake of the offerings.
(8) "You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes."
Moses told the people that the time would come when they did not do the things they did there in the wilderness, where they were constantly moving from place to place, and the people brought offerings sometimes when and where they pleased. John Wesley pointed out, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, that there wasn't a "universal liberty" given to the people to do as they pleased, but their migratory life and unsettled conditions often gave them opportunity to do so. Moses said that would change.
(9) "For you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God gives you."
The people were allowed to do those things irregularly because they had not yet come to their promised land the Lord was giving them, their rest and their inheritance. It is interesting to note the word "rest" here. Their promised land of Canaan was symbolic of the eternal rest that is assured for the people of God in heaven, and of Christ in whom we have spiritual rest.
(10) “But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God gives you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, (11) Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there; there you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD."
However, Moses continued, when the children of Israel had crossed over the Jordan River, dwelt in their promised land, and they had subdued their enemies all around and dwelt in safety, then there would be a fixed place which the Lord would choose for His name to dwell there. To that place they would bring all their tithes, offerings, and sacrifices, to the Lord, as Moses would instruct them.
(12) “And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your menservants, your maidservants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no part nor inheritance with you."
In the fixed temple that would be built at that time they would rejoice before the Lord, eating with joy and thanksgiving their part of the offerings, they and their entire households, as well as the Levites who were ministers dispersed among them, for they had no inheritance in the promised land. The people were to include the Levites in their feasts.
(13) “Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; (14) But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you."
Moses cautioned the people to be mindful and not offer their offerings in any place that might please them, but only in the place that the Lord Himself would choose among their tribes, would they offer their burnt offerings and do all that Moses would instruct them to do.
(15) "Nevertheless, you may kill and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the roebuck and the hart."
Strict commandments would be given by Moses (from God) as to how and what they would offer and sacrifice, but within their own gates and households, they were allowed to eat whatever their hearts desired of that with which the Lord had blessed them. When Moses referred to the unclean, he was referring to ceremonial uncleanness, like the touching of a dead body or issues of bleeding, etc., that would cause the people to be unclean. They were not allowed to eat unclean animals that were forbidden, but could eat the flesh of animals considered clean, as with deer and gazelles or antelope. Most commentators, as well as Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, said gazelles and deer were meant, while Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote that Dr. Shaw, I believe Rev. Barnabas Shaw, the missionary, thought it was the antelope. Brown-Driver-Briggs's Hebrew Definitions suggested it might even be an extinct animal that was meant. Whatever animal was meant, it was certainly one of the clean animals permitted by God to eat.
(16) “Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water."
Although they could eat whatever clean meats they desired in their homes, the people were still forbidden to eat the blood of any beast or fowl. All manner of blood was forbidden whether slain for sacrifice or for common food. The blood was to be poured out on the ground.
(17) “You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your corn or your new wine or your oil, or the firstlings of herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand."
Although they were allowed to kill and eat any clean animal they desired, the people were forbidden to eat within their gates and homes anything that had been offered to the Lord, except what and when was allowed by the Lord's law. Even if allowed to be eaten, there were certain procedures in presenting it to the Lord first. After all, all was the Lord's and they gave their offerings to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving or for atonement, but in most cases they were allowed to enjoy the feasts, but only after ceremony and as instructed by the Lord's law.
(18) “But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands."
Finishing the thought started in verse 17, Moses told the people they could not eat of the offerings of the Lord in their houses, but in the place where the Lord told them they could in His law. There they would cheerfully make and keep feasts in the manner commanded, rejoicing with family and friends, and with the Levites, expressing thankfulness to God for His blessing on the labor of their hands.
(19) “Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live on the earth."
The people were commanded to be careful not to ever forget the Levites as long as they lived. The Levites had no inheritance in their promised land and only lived on the tithes appointed for their maintenance, and by their inclusion at the feasts described above. The Levites' lives were dedicated to the service of God and to the ministering to the souls of men, and they were to be furnished at the very least the necessities of life by those souls for whom they ministered for their salvation.
(20) “When the LORD your God shall enlarge your border as He has promised you, and you say, 'I will eat meat,' because your soul longs to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires."
Moses told the people that when the Lord had increased their land by bringing them into the land of Canaan as He had promised, and they craved meat that had been in short supply in the wilderness, they would be allowed to eat as much meat as their hearts desired.
(21) “If the place where the LORD your God has chosen to put His name is too far from you, then you may kill of your herd and of your flock which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and you shall eat in your gates whatever your heart desires."
As the people were obliged to carry their sacrifices to the place of worship where the Lord had chosen to put His name, they might think they had to carry to there all their animals they desired to be slaughtered for meat. However, Moses was telling them they were under no obligation to do that, and were free to kill them at their homes and eat as much as they desired within their gates in the manner the Lord had commanded (v. 15-17 above).
(22) "Even as the roebuck and the hart are eaten, so you shall eat them, the unclean and the clean alike shall eat of them."
Just as Moses had instructed in verse 15 regarding the animals allowed by law to be eaten as food, as with deer and antelope or gazelles, both those people ceremonially clean and those considered unclean could eat of the animals they killed at their homes.
(23) “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the flesh."
Once again the people were commanded not to eat the blood of any animal, specifically because the blood was the life and they were forbidden to eat the life with the flesh. In Leviticus 17:11 they were told more precisely that the blood was given by the Lord to make atonement for their souls; therefore they were forbidden to eat of it.
(24) “You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water."
Once again the commandment was repeated (v. 16) that they must not eat of the blood, even of common flesh not used as sacrifice, but pour it on the ground. When they could not bring the blood to the altar, to pour it out before the Lord, as belonging to Him, they were still to pour it out on the ground, as not belonging to them, because it was the life and only belonged to the author of life, and was to be used for atonement.
(25) “You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you shall do what is right in the sight of the LORD."
The children of Israel were not to eat of any blood that it might go well for them and their children, as they had been told in Leviticus 7:27 that any person who ate of blood of any animal was to be cut off from his people. However, when the people did right in the sight of the Lord in this and all other commands, it would go well for them and their children.
(26) “Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses."
As they were warned in verse 17 above, the holy things like their tithes, their firstborn offerings, their freewill offerings, their heave offerings, or any vowed offerings, were to be taken to the place that the Lord would later choose to put His name.
(27) “And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat."
Those offerings to God were to be presented on the altar of the Lord, and the blood of those sacrifices was to be poured out on the altar, and then the meat only was allowed to be eaten.
(28) “Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God."
Moses exhorted the people to really hear and observe all those things he had commanded them from the Lord, as in destroying all symbols of false idols, bringing all holy things to the place the Lord would designate for Him to dwell, the eating of common flesh in their homes, and the prohibition against eating blood, it would go well for them and their children, when they did what was good and right in the sight of their Lord.
(29) “When the LORD your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go to possess them, and you succeed them and dwell in their land, (30) Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared by following them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’"
When their Lord destroyed the nations from before His people and they succeeded them and then dwelt in their lands, the people were warned against being ensnared by following the customs of those people they had dispossessed. They were warned against even inquiring about those customs, lest they be tempted to do the same.
(31) “You shall not do so to the LORD your God, for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods."
The people were forbidden to perform any of the rites of the nations before them for their Lord, because everything those nations had done for their gods, He hated. Those nations had even sacrificed and burned their own children to their gods.
(32) “Whatever I command you, observe to do it; you shall not add to it nor diminish from it."
Moses gave the people one last warning from their Lord that whatever He commanded, precisely that they were to do, neither adding to nor subtracting from what He had told them to do. This was the same caution Moses had given the people regarding the word of God in Deuteronomy 4:2, "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." This is also confirmed in Revelation 22:18-19, "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." God is serious about us accepting His word as given. The Almighty perfect God of the universe doesn't need us mere sinful mortals to improve upon His word, nor decide that parts of it are okay to ignore. It is perfect as the perfect God gave it. I've heard the argument that God may be perfect, but imperfect people wrote the Bible. Is the perfect omniscient God not capable of making sure His word was given to us as it should be? I have learned something in my study of the Bible. A precept of God will always be repeated. As the Bible states in many places, a thing will be established by the word of two or three witnesses. So it is with what God wants us to know; it will be repeated elsewhere in scripture. If there is some obscure scripture that seems to tell us something new, you can bet our interpretation is wrong. People are always looking for new revelations in the word of God, and that is fine, but if you find something new and different, make sure it is repeated elsewhere. Otherwise, your interpretation is wrong and you are falling into that old trap of Satan, that "you shall be as God" (Genesis 3:5) because you have learned His secret.
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