DEUTERONOMY 26
It seems like we can't go very long in American culture without asking the social questions: How much should the government play a role in the day-to-day lives of American citizens? Should the government provide universal health care? Should the government take more money from the rich and give it to the poor? Should the Federal Reserve print more money to cover our expanding debt?
DEUTERONOMY 25
God is a master of relationships, and the first key to any relationship is honesty. When you think about it, the whole world — even the universe — is in the mess it’s in because one of God’s creatures decided to be dishonest instead of honest. Up in heaven, Lucifer began spreading lies about God, and when Adam and Eve bought into his lies in the Garden of Eden, our planet began to descend into chaos.
DEUTERONOMY 24
The first year David and I were married, he was not allowed to work whilst we waited for the government to issue him a work visa. (He immigrated from England.) Of course, this was a big financial strain on things. I was working a pretty good, flexible, full-time job, but David — being the hard-working man he is — was fit to be tied over his mandatory unemployment situation. I tried to remind him often that he would soon be working too much and wishing for his "pre-employment" days to come back!
Photo © Unsplash/Rod Long
Now Jacob undoubtedly was a wise guy
who'd certainly crafted a few clever crimes,
yet Laban still planned to leave him high and dry,
proceeding to alter his earnings ten times.
But there was a Witness who saw all these things,
and He had a masterful plan up his sleeve—
to stealthily, secretly pull a few strings
and give Jacob more wealth than he could believe.
Poor Laban was waging an ill-fated war:
Whatever he gained, Jacob always had more.
DEUTERONOMY 22
Since there are a lot of "miscellaneous" rules chronicled in this chapter, I’ve decided to focus on the very first one, outlaid in vs 1-4: "If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner. If they do not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until they come looking for it. Then give it back. Do the same if you find their donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it. If you see your fellow Israelite’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet."
DEUTERONOMY 21
At first blush, this may seem like a strange chapter on which to affix a title like God values human life. After all, it references things such as murder, stoning, hanging, and captivity. Yet, beneath the discussion — like a strong undercurrent — I see a God who is trying to instill in His people a fundamental respect for life. Let’s take a quick peek at each section:
DEUTERONOMY 20
At the outset of writing this blog, I must be honest and confess that I have no idea where it’s going. Perhaps we will end with more "questions" than "answers" today. And wouldn’t that be delightful! To me, the overriding theme of this chapter is the weird way God wages war. Let’s make a list of the oddities:
DEUTERONOMY 19
Blood feuds have been around for as long as there have been sinful human beings on this planet. According to the Wikipedia article on feuds, a blood feud is "a feud with a cycle of retaliatory violence, with the relatives of someone who has been killed or otherwise wronged or dishonored seeking vengeance by killing or otherwise physically punishing the culprits or their relatives."
DEUTERONOMY 18
In this chapter of Deuteronomy, there is once again a strong admonition against divination, sorcery, and witchcraft. In fact, God says that the heathen nations in Canaan would be thrust out of the land precisely because they practiced these sorts of detestable things: "The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so." (vs 14)
Photo © Unsplash/Will O
Jacob wanted Rachel to wed.
Laban gave him Leah instead—
Makings of a Gordian Knot.
Of the two, Leah's working womb
Had Rachel spending days in gloom,
Though she had the love Leah sought.
We don't esteem our position,
Chained, as we are, by ambition:
We always want what we ain't got.
*Nove Otto: A poem with nine lines, eight syllables per line, and a rhyming scheme of aacbbcddc.
DEUTERONOMY 16
I direct an adult volunteer church choir. Some have mused that this is akin to herding cats. An adult volunteer choir is a special sort of group. It is made up of people who love to sing but usually, at least subconsciously, believe they really can’t sing all that well. After all, they’re not "professionals." So they assume they could never achieve a "professional" sort of sound. Consequently, the majority of rehearsal time is spent in trying to persuade them to get themselves out of the way so their voices can do what they intuitively know how to do — sing properly.
DEUTERONOMY 15
"At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts." (vs 1) I have always been intrigued by the number seven and the way it is used in the Bible. I think it must be God’s favorite number. It seems to carry the idea of perfection, wholeness, completeness. There are lots of significant things that happened in the Bible regarding the number seven: Noah took seven of the clean animals into the ark, Jacob worked seven years each for Leah and Rachel, Egypt had seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, and Jesus cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene. Even the multiples of seven have some significance in the Bible. For instance, many great Bible men came from generations that were a multiple of seven: Enoch (7), Abraham (21), David (35), and Jesus (77). Wow, double seven!
DEUTERONOMY 14
I love jewelry. I like things that glitter and sparkle. I love to walk into a jewelry store and look at the beautiful diamonds and rubies and emeralds which have been so carefully placed in their gold settings. Lights in jewelry stores are positioned just right to make those precious stones sparkle and shine. Oh yes, I love jewelry.
The much-invisible and
quickly-forgotten
Lord of heaven and earth
is often like a Mama
Bear who
saw her cubs being
mistreated and went
to war. The fierceness
of the pain
that pierced God's heart
when he saw his
precious
Leah discarded, unwanted,
was surpassed only by
his resolve to
not let abandonment be
her habitat, to prove
that there was Someone
who
loved her more than life itself.
DEUTERONOMY 13
I found a mantra in this chapter of Deuteronomy: "If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, 'Let us follow other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and let us worship them,' you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer." (vs 1-3)
DEUTERONOMY 12
Emmanuel. God with us. This is the name of the God we know, love, and serve. A God who is not distant, far-off, aloof. A God who pursues us relentlessly — as Michael Card once put it, the Hound of Heaven. He doesn’t stop to test the temperature of the water before He jumps right in. He is a hands-on kinda guy.
DEUTERONOMY 11
What a great verse from today’s chapter: "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse — the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known." (vs 26-28)
DEUTERONOMY 10
As I read this chapter, I couldn’t help but think about God’s government versus man-made governments. Specifically, three things were mentioned that brought this comparison to mind: citizen burden, corruption and greed, and treatment of the weakest in society. First, citizen burden: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" (vs 12-13)
