Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Deuteronomy 18:1) "The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have
no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the
LORD made by fire, and His inheritance."
Moses continues reviewing the Law. He now spoke of the priests and all the tribe of Levi; they were to have no portion of land in Canaan as their inheritance as all the other tribes had. The Levites' inheritance was to eat of the offerings that were the Lord's inheritance, that part that was the Lord's portion or inheritance, which God had reserved to Himself, as tithes and first fruits, and other offerings made by fire. The Levites, as priests and ministers and servants of God, were given His inheritance.
(2) “Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the LORD is their inheritance, as He has said to them."
The Levites were to have no inheritance among the other tribes because the Lord was their inheritance; they had no other needs other than Him. Working in the service of God, they would have a special nearness and communion with Him, but God also provided for their physical needs by giving His portion of the inheritance to them. The Lord had told Aaron the Levites would have no part in the inheritance among their brethren in Numbers 18:20.
(3) “And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw."
Moses went on to describe what would be the priests' portion required from the people who gave sacrifices of their cattle or sheep. We were already told in Leviticus 7:32-34 that the priests were to be given the shoulder and the breast. Here their portion seems to be increased to include the cheeks and the maw. This led some commentators to think the breast was meant by maw here, but the original word translated as "maw" was "qebah" meaning "paunch or cavity", from the word "qabab" which means "to scoop out"; it does seem that the stomach was meant. Additionally, there is the addition of the cheeks. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, noted that as a slain animal might be thought to consist of three main parts, the head, the legs, and the trunk of the body, a portion of each was to be given to the priests, representing the consecration of the whole. He added that some ancient commentators thought it represented the dedication of words (cheeks), acts (shoulder or legs), and appetites (stomach) of the worshiper to God.
(4) “The firstfruits of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him."
Additionally, all the people's firsts of their grains, wine, oil, first fleece, and firstlings, too, were all the Lord's, and He gave His portion to the priests.
(5) “For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons forever."
By law, these were to be given to the priests because God had chosen Levi from among the tribes to minister in His name, Levi and his posterity, forever, at least until Jesus Christ came and was the perfect priest (Hebrews 7:11).
(6) "And if a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he dwells, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the LORD shall choose, (7) Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the LORD."
If one of the Levites who were dispersed all over the country, instructing and teaching the people, came to the place of God's temple that He would choose, with all his heart and soul and eager desire to serve the Lord, then he was permitted to minister at the temple where his Levite brethren ministered.
(8) “They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his patrimony."
Although the Levites had no portion of the land divided to them, it does seem by this and suggested by other verses involving Levites (1 Kings 2:26 and Jeremiah 32:7-8), that they were allowed to buy property that might be left to their children (patrimony). Even though the Levites that came from where they dwelt outside the temple to minister within the temple might have had property, they were still to receive their equal portions as priests ministering in the temple.
(9) “When you come into the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations."
When the Israelites came into their promised land of Canaan, they were not to follow the traditions of the nations that dwelt before them, practices that were abominations to the Lord.
(10) “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or who uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, (11) Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer."
The people were forbidden to practice the consecrating of their children to the sun god by the passing between two fires. They were forbidden to use divination, or be an observer of times, astrology. They were forbidden to be witches, wizards, or mediums who communicated with spirits. They were forbidden to perform enchantments, spells, or curses; they were to have no part in the dark spirit world, but were to follow only their Lord God and His light.
(12) “For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you."
All who practiced the things above were abominations to the Lord, and it was because of those pagan practices that the Lord was driving out those people from the land that He was then giving the children of Israel.
(13) "You shall be perfect with the Lord your God."
As discussed before, no person is perfect, except Jesus Christ, but God's people were to strive for perfection by adhering to all His laws, sincerely serving and worshiping Him, and walking uprightly before Him to the best of their abilities.
(14) “For these nations which you shall possess hearkened to observers of times, and to diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so."
The people of the nations the children of Israel were dispossessing had listened to fortune-tellers and soothsayers, but the Lord had forbidden His people to do likewise.
(15) “The LORD your God will raise up to you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, like me; to Him you shall listen."
Here Moses makes a prophetic statement about the coming Messiah. He told the people that God would raise up a Prophet from the midst of their tribes, a Prophet like him, and to this Prophet they were to listen. God indeed raised up Jesus from birth from the tribe of Judah, and of course, He was raised up in resurrection. This Prophet would be like Moses; actually Moses was the antitype or symbol of the coming Jesus Christ. Moses was a prophet, a teacher, law-giver, and deliverer from bondage in Egypt, certainly symbolic of the coming Messiah. All the Bible translations seem to suggest that "like me" was meant to be spoken by Moses, as "me" was lower-case and not an upper-case M. My first thought was that the prophetic words were being spoken as directly from God, and "Me" referred to God. If that were true, certainly no other prophet would be as like the Lord as would Jesus. This prophecy was quoted by Peter in Acts 3:22 and by Stephen in Acts 7:37. In Matthew 17:5 and Luke 9:35, God spoke from a cloud declaring Jesus to be His son and said to "Hear Him."
(16) "According to all that you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.'"
According to what the people desired of their Lord that day at Mount Sinai when the Lord had spoken directly to them in fire and thunder, the Lord would send them. They no longer wanted to hear the direct voice of the Lord in terrible fire and thunder and lightning, fearing they might die in the presence of it, but desired that Moses talk with God and then tell them what God had said (Deuteronomy 5:24-27).
(17) “And the LORD said to me, 'They have well spoken what they have spoken.'"
The Lord had said at the time the people told Moses their desire, that what they suggested was good (Deuteronomy 5:28).
(18) "'I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like to you, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him.'"
Although it was not stated at the time, it appears from this verse that after the Lord had said the people had well spoken, He told Moses He would raise up a Prophet from among their tribes, someone like him (Moses); it does appear from this verse that one like Moses was intended in verse 15, not one like God. God would put His words in this Prophet's mouth, and He would speak all that God commanded Him. Indeed, Jesus said that He didn't speak of Himself, but what God had commanded He speak, that He spoke (John 12:49).
(19) "'And it shall come to pass, that whoever will not hearken to My words, which He shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.'"
Continuing the prophecy that the Lord had given Moses at the time and what he now relayed to the people, he told them that it would be that whoever would not listen to the words of this Prophet that He would speak in God's name, God would "require it of him". Most of the commentaries I study wrote this just meant they would be punished. Indeed, we are told in the New Testament that those who believe and accept the Lord Jesus will have everlasting life, but those who don't will have death, even the wrath of God (John 3:36). Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, took it a step further, suggesting the Word itself would require it of the person who would not listen to God's word. In John 1:1-2, we were told that Jesus Christ was the Word of God, with Him from the beginning. Mr. Henry pointed out that in John 12:48 Jesus said that whoever rejected Him and did not accept His words, had one that judged him, "...the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." The Word would judge him; Jesus Christ, the Word, would judge him in the end. I, myself, couldn't help but think of the scripture that said every knee would bow to the Lord and every tongue would confess to Him (Romans 14:11). In the end, it would be required of everyone to profess that Jesus Christ was Lord (Philippians 2:11).
(20) "‘But the prophet who shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'"
However, a prophet who presumed to speak a word in the Lord's name, which the Lord had not told him to speak, or one who spoke in the name of false gods, that was a false prophet who was to die.
(21) “And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ (22) When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him."
Moses added that if the people wondered how they would know if a prophet spoke the word of the Lord or not, he told them simply to observe whether or not what the prophet spoke came to be or not. Obviously, if the thing did not come to pass, then the word had not come from the Lord, and the prophet had spoken of himself presumptuously, and was not to be feared. In the New Testament, John wrote not to believe every spirit because there were many false prophets in the world. He said to test the spirits to see if they were of God. When Paul and Silas preached to the Bereans, the Bereans were said to be noble because not only did they listen to them, but they searched the scriptures to see if what they preached was so. The people in the New Testament times had more knowledge and more resources to test a prophet, but the children of Israel could watch the fruits of a prophet to see if what he said came true, and also they could compare it to what they knew of the law. God would not contradict His law, so any prophet who suggested the people do what was completely contrary to what God had told them to do, would obviously be a false prophet.
The most significant part of this chapter and post is the prophecy of Jesus Christ. Once again I am in awe of how often Jesus is found in the Old Testament! Think of God's love and mercy for His people. He had chosen Israel to be His own people, but when His own people failed miserably to keep His commandments, and even said they didn't want to hear from Him directly for fear they would die from the awesome terror of it, God agreed to send a prophet to speak for Him. This wasn't any prophet; it was the Lord Himself! The people were terrified by the awesome God of the universe, so He came to earth in the flesh, completely man with all the earthly temptations of man, but perfect as God, to be the perfect sacrifice for us sinners. Where John 1:1 told us that the Word was with God and the Word was God, John 1:2-3 went on to say that the Word was there from the beginning and all things were made by Him. Then in John 1:14, we are told, "...the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." The Word WAS God and the Word was made flesh! God Himself came to save the world! That fleshly man would be the Prophet who would speak God's words because He was God's Word! He was called His only begotten son as that was the way He was brought into the world, as a son born to an earthly mother, but there is no doubt He was God Himself! It's a hard concept for our feeble minds to grasp, but then we are not capable of totally comprehending God. If we were capable, then we would have a pretty small god. Jesus prayed to God in heaven; did He pray to Himself? God in the flesh prayed to God in heaven; He was after all bound in the flesh with all the earthly feelings and temptations. A hard concept, perhaps, but what a beautiful one! God so loved us that He came down to suffer on this earth to save us! No greater love than this! He suffered terrible pain and laid down His fleshly life for us.
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