BLESSINGS OR CURSES?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

At the end of Deuteronomy, Chapter 27, we saw a list of curses that would come on anyone who decided to break the commands of God. As Chapter 28 opens, we now see a list of blessings to those who “fully obey the Lord…and carefully follow all His commands”. God would “set (Israel) high above all the nations on earth”, sending blessings to them and accompanying them at all times. And as we see, their blessings would be plentiful.

There would be blessings on them personally whether in city or country…whenever they came in and went out. There would be blessings on the fruit of their wombs…their land…their crops…their livestock and flocks. There would be blessings on their basket and kneading trough…their barns and everything they would put their hand to.

Indeed, God was ready to “establish (Israel) as His holy people”. He was fully prepared to “grant (them) abundant prosperity” so that “all the peoples on earth” would see that they were “called by the name of the Lord”. Yes, the Lord would “open the heavens, the storehouse of His bounty, to send rain on (Israel’s) land in season and to bless all the work of (their) hands”. All Israel had to do was “pay attention to the commands of the Lord” gave them and “carefully follow them”, walking in His ways. They weren’t to “turn aside from any of (His) commands” nor follow or serve other gods.

Now…all this sounds easy enough. And in a perfect world, all these blessings would have come to fruition and Israel truly would have been blessed high above all nations. But there was only one problem. Israel was made up of sinners. It wasn’t a perfect world and the Israelites were far from perfect people. Once in Canaan, they were going to fail and fall. Instead of a bounty of blessings, Israel would experience a mixture of curses and blessings…curses when they decided to be disobedient and blessings when they decided to follow God’s commands.

Today, we’re not too much different from the Israelites of old. We’re expected to follow God’s word and be obedient to it. If we do so, we can expect to reap the favor of God and be blessed in all things. However, if we decide to rebel against God and do whatever pleases us, satisfying our sinful nature and defying His perfect will for our lives, then we can expect His disfavor and a curse or two on us to teach us to be obedient to what God wants us to do. I don’t know about you but I like the blessings far more than the correction God brings. I’ll take blessings over curses any day. How about you?

In Christ,

Mark

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SAYING AMEN

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Moses and the priests, who are Levites, said to all Israel, "Be silent, O Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God. Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today."

On the same day Moses commanded the people:

When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.

The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:

"Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol—a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of the craftsman's hands—and sets it up in secret." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor's boundary stone." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who leads the blind astray on the road." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who sleeps with his father's wife, for he dishonors his father's bed." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who has sexual relations with any animal." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who sleeps with his mother-in-law." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who kills his neighbor secretly." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person." Then all the people shall say,
"Amen!"

"Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Deuteronomy 27:9-26

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Curse. A cause of great harm or misfortune. Evil or misfortune that comes as retribution.

Amen. Used to express solemn ratification (as of an expression of faith) or hearty approval (as of an assertion).

These two definitions frame this passage from Deuteronomy, Chapter 27.

We see that Moses tells the Israelites that they are to divide up into two groups with six tribes in each group after they “crossed the Jordan”. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin were to “stand on Mount Gerizim” while the tribes of “Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali” were to “stand on Mount Ebal”. Each group was given specific responsibilities as they stood on their respective mounts. The tribes on Mount Gerizim were told to “bless the people” while those on Mount Ebal were to “pronounce curses”. The verses in our passage (all dealing with curses) were to be delivered from Mount Ebal.

Note that these curses are delivered well after God gave Israel His commands…each asserting that disfavor or a curse from God would fall upon anyone who violated God’s expectations. It had been made clear that the people of Israel were not to worship idols or dishonor their parents or cheat others. They weren’t to allow injustice to the underprivileged or engage in sexual immorality or murder. No…they were to uphold the words of the law and do so obediently. To do otherwise would bring God’s curse on the offender and Israel should know all about what happens when God finds disfavor. All they had to do was recall Pharoah and the not one but ten curses that God sent on him and Egypt. It was crystal clear that things could get very ugly if God became upset.

So the first part of each of these verses deals with an act that would bring on God’s judgment if committed. It’s obvious that God expected His word to be followed.

Now note the words in the second half of each verse. As each curse was proclaimed, not just some of the people but ALL of the people were to say “Amen”. In other words, we understand and agree that this should happen. Through saying the word, “Amen”, God’s people acknowledged that they concurred with the idea that “great harm or misfortune” should fall on anyone who disobeys and breaks the pronounced commands. They agreed with God…as they should have.

So what do we gain from this scripture for today?

1. God expects our obedience. He demands that we be knowledgeable and mindful of His word.
2. God will bring judgment or curses on anyone who decides they want to blatantly disobey His commands. He expects us to honor Him by following His word.
3. God expects us to affirm His word and will and way for us. He wants us to not just say the word, “Amen”, but mean it when we say it.

So where do you fall on the obedience scale? If God were to measure you right now, how well would you fare? Would you qualify for a curse or a blessing?

These are all questions we should ask ourselves and take whatever corrective action is necessary to make changes away from sinfulness and toward holiness and righteousness…before God makes them for us. Can I get an “Amen” on that?

In Christ,

Mark

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THE FOUNDATION OF WORSHIP

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: "Keep all these commands that I give you today. When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you. And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool upon them. Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God. And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up."

Deuteronomy 27:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Up to now, we have seen Moses providing the instruction to Israel. As Deuteronomy, Chapter 27 opens, we see that Moses isn’t speaking alone. He is now joined by the “elders of Israel”. Together, they command Israel to “set up some large stones and coat them with plaster...(writing) on them all the words of this law”. They were to do this after they had “crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord” gave them…a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord…promised.”

The stones were then supposed to be “set up…on Mount Ebal”, used to “build…an altar to the Lord”. On the altar they were to “offer burnt offerings…to the Lord” and “sacrifice fellowship offerings…eating…and rejoicing”. In other words, the law-inscribed stones would form the foundation for Israel’s worship.

Through this short passage, we see how there was a premium placed on the word of God as a base for adoration and reverence toward Him. And proper offering would be given in acknowledgement and fulfillment of the commands he had given them…commands that He spoke expecting full obedience from His people.

Today, God’s expectation hasn’t changed any. He still expects us to use His word as a foundation for our worship but it goes even beyond that. He expects us to use His word as our foundation for all things in life…and He expects us to do so in obedience, adulation and admiration toward Him.

Let us never miss a chance to take God’s word, write it our hearts and then worship upon that solid foundation…a foundation that allows us to stand on solid spiritual ground, not sinking sand. And if you need some validation on this, remember these words from Jesus, our Savior…and Solid Rock:

“I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." Luke 6:47-49

Question: How firm is your foundation? Your answer will depend on how well you take God’s word and put it into practice. My prayer is that every home’s foundation will be dug deep and laid in the God…the Rock of Ages…now and forever. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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DECLARATION DAY

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised.

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Moses had passed many commands and expectations from God to the people of Israel. All that the Lord said through Moses was intended to prepare Israel to live as God expected as He gave them the land flowing with milk and honey…the land He promised…the blessed land that they would inhabit. This expectation was sealed as Moses told Israel, “The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Did you hear those words? Heart and soul. That means to follow His decrees and laws with every fiber of one’s being…to be guided and led fully by His principles and His alone.

To do this means one needs to commit and stay committed to the Lord. When one has surrendered heart and soul to the Lord, they have in turn surrendered their will for His. They have moved over and let God take the wheel, allowing Him to drive them where He wants them to be…to go where He wants them to go…and to do what he wants them to do.

As we see in our passage, Israel proclaims that they are ready to make this kind of sacrifice. For they have a declaration day…a day when they vowed “that the Lord (was their) God and that (they would) walk in his ways, that (they would) keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that (they would) obey him.” In other words, they vowed that their heart and soul would be grounded in the Lord.

Well, as we see, God also made it His declaration day…for He vowed that the people of Israel were “His people, His treasured possession”. He also promised that He would “set (Israel) in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations…and that (Israel would) be a people holy to the Lord your God.”

Yes…all seemed to be well as Israel was to enter Canaan…and it was. But don’t think it stayed that way. We will see it doesn’t. Why? Because Israel stopped following God with their heart and soul…they forgot all about their declaration day and subsequently lost the favor that God declared in turn.

So how about us?

Have we had our declaration day with the Lord? If so, how have we done in fulfilling our promises? Have we followed through with all our heart and soul? Or have we allowed Satan and sin to steal away what we vowed to give God?

Likewise, have we forgotten the promises God made? Have we lost sight of His word…His will…His way? Have we decided that the world’s offerings are far more important and enjoyable than the Lord’s?

Friends, if we have lost our bearing...if we have wandered off of the narrow path of righteousness that God has laid out for us…if we have forsaken His way for the ways of the world, then it’s time for us to get back on track. It’s time for us to recommit…to repent and seek to return to the ways of the Lord. It’s time for a new declaration day…a renewal of our commitment to Father, Son and Holy Spirit…not just with a part of us but with our heart and soul. Nothing short of that will do. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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YOUR SACRED PORTION

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. Then say to the Lord your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything you commanded me. Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."
Deuteronomy 26:12-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Sacred…dedicated or set apart for the service of a deity.

As Deuteronomy, Chapter 26 continues on the subject of firstfruits and tithing, we see where Israel was required to set aside “a tenth of all…produce in the third year”…a year known as “the year of the tithe”. This tenth was to be given to the “Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they (could) eat…and be satisfied. Remember that we have seen prior how God expected the underprivileged in society to be cared for. Note as well that in our passage there is a special name for the tenth of produce set aside. It was called the “sacred portion”.

Why was this portion called sacred? Consider the following:

1. It was sacred because it came first from God.

Israel’s God…our God…was the God of all creation. Everything that Israel had belonged to God because He made everything. And it was because of this that everything was divine in nature…or sacred. Israel was expected to provide a part of what God provided to the less fortunate…a sacred portion of His goodness and providence.

2. It was sacred because Israel set it apart for God’s service.

God commanded Israel to set aside a tenth of the produce for those in need but Israel still needed to make the choice to obey what God commanded. Their obedience toward fulfilling God’s expectations resulted in the portion given being sacred as it was provided in service to Him.

Question: What sacred portion do you set aside for those who are in need…the underprivileged that God expects us to care for? How well do you seek to use what God has blessed you with toward His service?

Whether it’s money, goods, talent or time, we only have because God gave. Where would we be without God giving each of us His sacred portion of what He created? Let us think about that as we consider how we might be able to give a portion back to God through loving and caring for others. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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REJOICE IN ALL THE GOOD THINGS GOD HAS DONE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land 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 and say to the priest in office at the time, "I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our forefathers to give us." The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O Lord, have given me." Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

Deuteronomy 25:1-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

God was set to finally usher Israel into the Promised Land, fulfilling His covenant with His people. This land as we have read before was to be a place like no other…”a land flowing with milk and honey” that would provide an abundance in blessings to Israel. All they had to do was remain obedient to God’s commands and expectations, keeping their trust firmly in Him and Him alone.

We have read in other passages how God expected Israel to bring before him their firstfruits and have related this to how God expects us to give Him our best, just as He gave us His in Christ Jesus.

Today’s passage from Deuteronomy, Chapter 26, not only commands that Israel bring “some of the firstfruits of all…produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you” but He tells them how He wants them to bring it. They were to place the firstfruits in a basket and “go to the place the Lord your God (chose) as a dwelling for his Name”. Once there, they were to “say to the priest in office at the time, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our forefathers to give us’”. The priest then took the basket and sat it down “in front of the altar of the Lord”. The person presenting the offering was then to recite the following:

"My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O Lord, have given me."

In sum, the person presenting the offering was to attest to how Israel was in a place of need in Egypt and was rescued by a merciful, loving, powerful Lord who delivered them from bondage and brought them to promise and hope. Their offering was a representation of God’s goodness unto them…a portion of the firstfruits of the harvest He blessed them with. And these acts of thanksgiving allowed each person who gave an offering the chance to rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God had given to them and their household.

Question: How often do we dedicate a portion of our firstfruits before the Lord, recognizing how He has delivered each of us and blessed us…and giving thanks and rejoicing for the blessings He has and continues to provide us?

Friends, we should always turn our eyes toward the Lord in thanks when He provides us anything to include each breath we take…breath that sustains our lives. Don’t we always just take for granted that air will always be there? We don’t realize that God created the air and the way our bodies breathe it in and live because of it. We have a tendency to not break our lives down to the bare essentials and rejoice in everything the Lord does to help us survive day-by-day. Indeed, every second of every minute is a blessing in its own right. We all may be in different places economically when we rate ourselves monetarily but when it comes to the currency of time, we all get the same amount…24 hours a day. As a Chris Rice song (Life Means So Much) asks, how are we going to spend that time? Will we invest or squander? Try to get ahead or help someone who’s under? Yes…the Lord even grants us time and we should use the best portion of it to give back to Him in service.

I pray that today’s scripture causes us all to step back and see how well we are appreciating how truly blessed we are, giving thanks and praising God for His goodness. My prayer is that we all, like Israel, will rejoice in all the good things the Lord has given us…now and forever. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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WILL YOU BE IN THE BOOK?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When men have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and have him flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime deserves, but he must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes.

Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.

If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. However, if a man does not want to marry his brother's wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me." Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, "I do not want to marry her," his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, "This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's family line." That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.

Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.

Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

Deuteronomy 25

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Like Chapters 23 and 24, Deuteronomy, Chapter 25 is a collection of various laws and commands Israel were to follow as they entered Canaan. And again, keep in mind that this was a new generation of Israelites. Their ancestors had been given most of these instructions before this. Moses was reviewing God’s expectations with Israel before he would die and they go onto the Promised Land. As we have in the last two devotionals, let’s look at each of these commands:

- Disputes were not to be handled between individuals but in the courts. Judges had been appointed to hear cases and render the appropriate findings, ensuring always that justice was served. Note that there was a limit to the amount of punishment a guilty person could be given. They were to get no more than 40 lashes. Anything beyond that was considered inhumane.

- Humans weren’t the only ones allotted humane treatment. Oxen would be used to tread on stalks of grain thrown on the threshing floor. As they walked on the stalks, the grain kernels were separated for collection. Muzzling the oxen would deprive them of their need for food and be cruel treatment. Thus the command to not muzzle an ox as it was treading out grain.

- Prior scripture has highlighted how important it was to have a son born in any family. This son would be able to carry on the family name and inherit from his father any high position the father might hold. But what if a man dies before he has a chance to have a son? His brother was to marry his widowed wife and ensure she bore a son who would “carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel”. But there was no guarantee that the dead man’s brother would agree to marry his widow. The scripture shows us that this decision would be met with great scorn and disapproval. The widow was to take the matter “to the elders at the town gate and say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.’ The elders would then “summon (the brother) and talk to him. If he persists in saying, ‘I do not want to marry her,’ he would face the following:

“His brother's widow (would) go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his
sandals, spit in his face and say, ‘This is what is done to the man who will not build up his
brother's family line.’ That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.”

In other words, the brother would be released from his duty to provide a son for his dead brother’s widow but he would be released through a ceremony of shame. His reputation would be tarnished from that point on as the community would know of his decision not to respect his dead brother and his wife.

Of special interest here is the matter of being unsandaled. Remember that Jesus, when instructing his disciples about what they were to do as He sent them out to evangelize said that they were to leave a town and shake the town'’ dust from their sandals if the people of that town refused to receive them and the gospel message they preached (Matthew 10:11-15). The unsandaling action in the New Testament was meant to heap shame on the rejecting town and its people. It was an extension of what we see here in Deuteronomy, Chapter 25.

- We have seen other places in scripture that speak about decency in dealing with sexual situations and sexual parts of the body. The law here is clearly used as a deterrent for anyone who might seek to severely injure a person (in this case a man) by grabbing him by his private parts. The penalty was harsh as the woman’s hand was to be cut off. We don’t get a sense that the woman is prevented by coming to the aid of her husband…just prevented in what she can’t do when she does.

- You’ll recall that when Israel escaped from Egypt, they began an exodus across the Sinai peninsula toward Mount Sinai where God would give Moses instruction to pass onto Israel through the Ten Commandments and other commands. On the way to Mount Sinai, while Israel was “weary and worn out”, the Amalekites…the decendants of Esau attacked Israel. God delivered Israel into victory from the Amalekites but didn’t want Israel to forget what they had done. He definitely hadn’t. God’s tasking for Israel in regard to Amelek was severe for Israel was to “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven”. In other words, God was going to hand Amelek over to Israel for victory.

- Commerce was often done by using weights and measures. One of the ways to determine the cost of a purchase was to weigh it against a known standard weight to determine the weight of what was being bought and subsequently the cost of that purchase. Differing weights and measures were often used to dishonestly weigh and measure items in the broker’s favor. It was a common practice and many people got ripped off. Seems that poor integrity in business was something that extended all the way back to the Old Testament days. It’s obvious that God expects everyone to conduct their business matters honestly and above board.

It’s this last command that I would like to focus in on. For as we deal with others day-by-day, isn’t integrity one of the most important traits we expect from those we deal with? No one likes to be deceived, especially when that deceit comes from some one you trust most.

It doesn’t take too much time reading around the scriptures to know that God hates deceitfulness. And just as we have seen harsh penalties for other matters in today’s passage, perhaps no penalty could be as severe as the one that would await those who deceive. Consider these words from The Book of Revelation:

“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.” Revelation 21:22-27

Deceit is a disqualifier because it makes a person impure and the scriptures clearly state that “nothing impure will enter” through the gates of the New Jerusalem. Only the “glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it”…and those whose “names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”. I don’t know about you but I want my name to be found in Jesus’ book. Scripture assures us we can remain there by refraining from shameful, deceitful behavior. In other words, we only need to do what we’re supposed to do…live as Jesus lived. Doing so will earn us a place with Him. Rejecting Him and modeling Satan will only earn us an eternal place in hell.

In Christ,

Mark

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GOD CARES FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED...AND SO SHOULD WE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.

Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a man's livelihood as security.

If a man is caught kidnapping one of his brother Israelites and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.

In cases of leprous diseases be very careful to do exactly as the priests, who are Levites, instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them. Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.

When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into his house to get what he is offering as a pledge. Stay outside and let the man to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. If the man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession. Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. Then he will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.

Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.

Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

Deuteronomy 24

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Chapter 24 of Deuteronomy is a continuation of various rules that began in Chapter 23. Let’s take a look at them:

- Interestingly enough, divorce existed even back in Old Testament days. And as the first law suggests, people could even experience multiple divorces in a lifetime. In these instances, a woman wasn’t permitted to marry her first husband if she ended up divorced twice in her life. (Of course, it doesn’t say that she couldn’t marry a third time!).

- The next rule shows that there was an emphasis placed on marital relationships in Israel, so much so that a man was not to be “sent to war or have any other duty laid on him” for one year after getting married. This was so the man could be “free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married”. A solid relationship foundation could be established before the newlyweds would have to face any separation.

- Millstones were critical to a family’s agricultural livelihood because they were used to ground up the grain. Given this, millstones were not to be used as security for a debt.

- We have already seen where God expected Israelites to treat their own with respect and honor. You’ll recall from Chapter 23 that no interest was to be charged to an Israelite. In Chapter 24, the matter regarded kidnapping a brother Israelite and taking away their freedom in exchange for slavery or sale. This was strictly prohibited and carried the death penalty because the life of the victim was being taken away through enslavement and oppression. Under the “eye-for-an-eye” laws of the day, the offender would pay with his own life.

- God had given lots of instruction regarding clean and unclean matters. The Israelites had been given specific guidance to leave determination of these matters to the priests, who were to evaluate whether a person was clean or unclean. Special attention was to be given to “cases of leprous diseases” and the Israelites were to “be very careful to do exactly as the priests” instructed. Although minimally contagious, leprosy was an ailment that could afflict others if not diagnosed, quarantined and monitored properly. Keep in mind that there were minimal medical facilities or treatment means back in the days of the Old Testament. And breakout of a disease could potentially disable or wipe out an entire nation if not kept in check thus the necessity for rules on it.

- Fathers were not to die for the actions of their children. Conversely, children were not to die for the actions of their fathers. No…if one was to die, it was to be for their own sin, not the sin of another. Interestingly enough, this command, like others, would change completely with Jesus who we knew died for the sins of all mankind, not his own because He was sin-free.

There are four specific commands in Chapter 24 that involve caring for the underprivileged:

1. When we get financing today, we are often required to leave a down payment or security deposit. Back in Israel, it was the same only other items could be given as security and for the poor, sometimes they could only give what they had…the cloak off their back. Well, on cold evenings, that cloak would be the only thing that would keep the poor person warm. So the person receiving the cloak was to return it to the poor person at sunset…and act that would be “regarded as…righteous…in the sight of the Lord”.

2. Others in society who were often slighted were the aliens (those not of Israel), the fatherless and the widows. The Lord was concerned that they would be taken advantage of whether it might be by being deprived justice or taking something of value (a cloak in the passage) from a poor person as a pledge. As we have seen in prior scriptures, the Lord reminds Israel that they were “were slaves in Egypt” where “the Lord…redeemed (them). He didn’t want to see Israel oppress others as they had been oppressed and this why He commanded them to do this.

3. Many people today live paycheck to paycheck. They rely on their wages being paid on time so they can pay their bills and put food on the table. The poorer a person is, the more critical getting paid is. Given this, Israel was to “pay him (the poor person) his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it”. Not doing this might lead to the poor person crying “to the Lord against (the employer)” making him “guilty of sin”.

4. The final command deals with the matter of gleaning. After harvesting, anything left (i.e. sheaves, olives or grapes) was to be left for the “alien, the fatherless and the widow”. Everyone was to be able to partake of the bounty of God’s creation and the blessing of the harvest.

We see through these last four commands that God clearly had a heart for those who are disadvantaged and He expected His people to ensure they were cared for. As I pondered this, I wondered how well we really do this today? How well do we take are of those who are less fortunate? Are we concerned about them or are we solely focused on ourselves?

My concern is that we have become too much of a self-centered society. Too often, it’s all about me and not all about us. This is completely counter to how God expects us to behave as Christians. For remember that Jesus…God’s only Son sent to live and die for us…lived a life that was all about self-sacrifice. He wasn’t about Himself…He was about doing whatever He could to teach, preach, heal, and love others. If we’re going to truly consider ourselves Christians, then we are to live likewise.

The final words on this today should come from Jesus Himself…lest you think I am solely writing on my own authority. For remember He told us that:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:35-40

Indeed…when we do for the least, it is as if we are doing it for Jesus Himself. He did so much for us. The least we can do is follow His command to help others…and adopt His attitude of self-sacrifice in our own lives. In the end, we will find that the true jot and happiness in life comes from not what we do for ourselves but what we do for others…especially the less fortunate. We find that joy because it is in those moments when we are most closely communing with our Savior, Christ Jesus. May He ever receive all our honor, glory, thanks and praise. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU WILL DO

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him.

No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute. You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord your God to pay any vow, because the Lord your God detests them both.

Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.

If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.

If you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.

Deuteronomy 23:15-25

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The remainder of Chapter 23 and Chapters 24 and 25 of Deuteronomy contain various laws Israel was to adhere to. I’ll take a look at these through the next three devotionals.

First, the group of laws at the end of Chapter 23.

A runaway slave is taking a large risk by fleeing. For if their masters catch them, the penalty was often death. So an Israelite was to provide asylum for any slave who took refuge with them. They were not to “hand him over to his master” nor “oppress him”. Israel was to remember that they were enslaved and oppressed in Egypt. God didn’t want them to do to others as the Egyptians had done to them.

Baal worship was popular in Canaan and prostitution in the shrines was a popular part of this. The words of the Lord are clear. “No Israelite man or woman (was) to become a shrine prostitute”. And any man or woman that participated in prostitution were not to bring any of those earnings as offerings to the Lord. Such earnings came from sinful actions and God had no tolerance for anything connected to sin, especially in His temple.

We read where lending practices were used even back in the days of the Old Testament to include the charging of interest. Many loans were provided to people who did not have the money to support themselves and thus any additional money added to what was owed would only further their financial burden. This is why there was emphasis placed on the matter of interest. Scripture commanded the Israelites to “not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest” with a brother being a fellow Israelite. This exemption did not extend to foreigners as foreign merchants would certainly try to come and obtain financing from Israel. Scripture authorized Israel to “charge a foreigner interest”.

Many places in the scriptures deal with how the people of Israel were to deal with the harvest. An additional law added in Chapter 23 addresses the matter of eating from a neighbor’s vineyard or grainfield. The matter of gleaning was already promulgated to ensure that the poor were able to benefit from the harvests as much as the rich. This law seems to be similar in nature, authorizing a person to eat grapes and pick grain kernels as long as the privilege wasn’t abused. God never wanted His people to go hungry, especially since everything available to eat belonged to Him…the Creator of all things…first.

The final law I want to cover deals with vows. The scripture advises that “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin”. In other words, if you pledge to do something before God, you had better carry it out. To not do so would make one “guilty of sin”. If you don’t intend on carrying out a vow or if you’re unsure whether you can fulfill the vow once made, it’s better to not make the vow at all. For once again, our scriptures say that “if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty”. In the end, one was to do “whatever (ones) lips utter” when a vow was made to the Lord.

As I read through this command, I couldn’t help but think how we so often violate it today. How many times do we vow to do something before the Lord and then fail to carry it through? I don’t know about you but I’m sure I don’t want to see the scoresheet for my life and how I have done in this area. How about you?

The bottom line is that we need to watch what we say before the Lord, especially when we are making a commitment. If you say you will pray for someone, do it. If you say you will make a change in your life to walk closer in the way the Lord expects, then do it. If you take a vow before the Lord to do something like marry someone, serve your country in the military and government or lead God’s people in church as a pastor, elder, trustee or deacon, then you had better remain true to your word and carry out your responsibilities.

Vows are to be words of integrity. God expects us to be trustworthy and true. So if you talk the talk, then walk the walk associated with the talk. Do what you say you will do…and do it because you are a person that not only God but others can count on. In the end, we are to strive to be like our Creator, who created us all in His own image. He does what He says he will do. He wants us to do likewise.

In Christ,

Mark

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THE STRENGTH WE NEED

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When you are encamped against your enemies, keep away from everything impure. If one of your men is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp and stay there. But as evening approaches he is to wash himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.
Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement. For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.
Deuteronomy 23:9-14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Israel was soon going to cross over the Jordan River into Canaan and enter into conflict. They knew this would come because the Lord told them. He also assured them that He would be with them.

Given all this, we have the background to support today’s passage from Deuteronomy, Chapter 23. Israel would be “encamped against (their) enemies” and the Lord would be moving “about in (their) camp to protect (them) and to deliver (their) enemies to (them). All through this, Israel was to “keep away from everything impure”. They were to ensure that they stayed clean, physically and spiritually. They were also required to keep their camp holy “so that (the Lord would) not see among (them) anything indecent and turn away from (them)”.

And the Lord turning away from Israel would be bad. Be assured that they would not find victory without Him.

So what in the world does this have to do with us? A lot.

For like Israel, we are encamped every day of life against an enemy, Satan, who wishes for one thing and one thing only…to destroy every child of God. We can’t fight him unarmed. Consider these verses:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Ephesians 6:10-18

So what do we gain from the full armor of God? From the belt…truth. From the breastplate…righteousness. From the feet…readiness from the gospel of peace. From the shield…faith. From the helmet…salvation. And from the sword of the Spirit…the Word of God.
In other words, everything we need to stay clean and pure…holy and upright. Everything we need to be to ensure God stays with us and helps us defeat the devil and his schemes as we stay “strong in the Lord and in His mighty power”.

Friends, God expected Israel to stay holy, clean and righteous before Him. And He expects the same from us. After all, He did say, “Be holy because I am holy”. (1 Peter 1:15-16) Think you can do it alone. Think again. You can’t because you are no match for Satan. The good news is that we, like Paul, have One who is more than strong enough. His name is Jesus. Keep in mind that the scriptures assure us that “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us”. (Philippians 4:13) Jesus already has had victory over Satan. Through Him and only through Him can we be victors as well. Is this not good news for us as we enter life’s battlefield every day? Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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BROKEN BARRIERS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.
No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation.
No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation. For they did not come to meet you with bread and water on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to pronounce a curse on you. However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live.
Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as an alien in his country. The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 23:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What would it be like today if the church…”the assembly of the Lord”…were exclusionary? What if we had to meet certain qualifiers to be a part of the Lord’s team? What if we had certain things about us that would disqualify us…like our ethnicity? Well…if the church today were like this, then it would have been much like the “assembly of the Lord” we read about in our passage today.

For as Deuteronomy, Chapter 23 opens, we see guidance given to Israel as to who was not permitted to “enter the assembly of the Lord”. Included were the eunuchs (castrated males), those born from “forbidden marriages” (their descendants were excluded as well), and any Ammonite, Moabite or their descendants. Conversely, we see where Edomites and Egyptians and the “third generation of children born to them” were allowed to enter the assembly.

These guidelines would remain in play until the time of Isaiah where we see a change. For the Lord states:

Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely exclude me from his people."
And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree." For this is what the Lord says:
"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant - to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant - these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." Isaiah 56:1-7
Note now where eunuchs and foreigners are invited into the “assembly of the Lord” as long as they keep the Lord’s Sabbaths, hold fast to His covenant and choose to do what pleases Him (to include binding themselves to Him, loving His name and worshipping Him). In other words, as long as they did what was expected of anyone else (i.e. the Israelites). This more inclusive attitude was a pre-cursor for what was about to come in Jesus…the One who came for ALL sinners to pay the price for them and offer everyone the possibility of eternal life.
For in Christ, we all receive good news…the gospel message…that whoever believes and trusts in Him as Savior…no matter who a person is or where they come from…that person will find their way to eternal life. (John 3:16) This assurance from God’s word comes with no special qualifiers. You either believe in Jesus or you don’t...and this includes living the life He commanded us to live…the life He lived Himself to show us what He expected. There’s no room for compromise. This is why Jesus would go on to say, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the gateway through which we all pass through to be with the Father…the One who went through first paved the way for us to follow.
Friends, is this not reason to smile and give thanks today? For we have a Savior who has broken down any exclusionary barriers to the “assembly of the Lord” in exchange for pure inclusion. All can now access the Father through His Son…the Son He willing gave as a living sacrifice for His children who He so dearly loved and still loves. This is the message that the Lord wants for us to spread…this is the message we should be dedicating our lives to tell. For this is the message that saves anyone and everyone who will receive it and accept it…both now and forever. Amen.
In Christ,

Mark

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DEFACING AND DEBASING THE SACREDNESS OF SEX

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity," then the girl's father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate. The girl's father will say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. Now he has slandered her and said, 'I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.' But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, and the elders shall take the man and punish him. They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the girl's father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you.

If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man's wife. You must purge the evil from among you.

But if out in the country a man happens to meet a girl pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. Do nothing to the girl; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders his neighbor, for the man found the girl out in the country, and though the betrothed girl screamed, there was no one to rescue her.

If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

A man is not to marry his father's wife; he must not dishonor his father's bed.

Deuteronomy 22:13-30

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The remainder of Deuteronomy, Chapter 23, deals with proper relationships before and after marriage with a special focus on sexual relations. There are three specific items covered:

1. Virginity.

If you didn’t know before this passage, you definitely know after reading it that maintaining virginity until marriage was a required standard in the Israelite culture. A woman’s first sexual relations were to be with her husband. Breaking this requirement led to fatal consequences for the offender (stoning) and proof was required in order to counter anyone who might question a woman’s virginity.

Today, people would most certainly ask, “So why was virginity such a big deal?” Because God intended sexual relations to be special. Sex was to be the ultimate consummation of a love between a man and a woman…something shared only between them and shared forever. Virginity is an afterthought today because we have taken something God intended to be special and cheapened it to the point where it has little value anymore. Today, people “hook up”, have sex and go their separate ways. Sex, in turn, is devalued and, in turn, so are relationships. You seldom find couples nowadays who marry with an assurance that their spouse has not had prior sexual relations. Virgins are mocked and treated as if they are abnormal. In a sin-filled world, I guess they are just that…abnormal. In a God-filled world, they are righteous and obedient. In my opinion, it’s time to get back to basics. I’m not saying we should start stoning virgins who can’t prove it, but we need to start placing a premium on restoring the sanctity of sex, bringing it back to the special, sacred status that God intended.

2. Infidelity.

"You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14

God made it very clear. One was not supposed to sleep with the spouse of another. Our scripture today spells out the penalty:

“If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die.”

“If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man's wife.”
In both these instances, sex was engaged in out of marriage. Note that a pledge to marry was as binding as marriage itself so a virgin who engaged in consensual (meaning of she did not scream) sex with a man other than the man she was pledged to would result in death to both.

Infidelity is one of the most damaging acts that can happen in any marital relationship…a blatant violation of trust and honor and commitment. I know because I went through it. Like sex today, it has also been allowed to be way too typical. We can’t go through any one day without hearing about someone who has cheated on their spouse, causing an end to their marriage. I can’t help but think that God seethes in the way we have destroyed the very holy foundations of marriage through our inability to remain faithful. What part of “You shall not commit adultery” are we not understanding?

3. Rape.

We read in our passage that rape carried penalties for the offender:

“…if out in the country a man happens to meet a girl pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. Do nothing to the girl; she has committed no sin deserving death.”

“If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.”

Two passages with two different scenarios…each centered on the matter of being pledged.
If a virgin who was pledged to marry another was raped, then the offender was to be killed. The virgin was to be spared but the damage was done to her already. She would end up facing a difficult life as a woman not yet married and no longer a virgin.

If the virgin was not pledged to be married, than the man who raped her was required to pay 50 shekels to the woman’s father and then marry her. We read where he would never be allowed to divorce her for as long as he lives. Killing the man would leave the offended woman left alone fending for herself in a society who looked down on a woman who was not a virgin. This rule assured she would be taken care of.

4. Incest.
“A man is not to marry his father's wife; he must not dishonor his father's bed.”

Not only was this adulterous but incestual as well. Obviously, neither was acceptable to God.
And yet, this happened (refer back to Genesis and Reuben’s tryst with Bilhah…Genesis 35:22, 49:3-4) and thus had to be addressed.

As we read all of these verses, we gain a little insight into the predicament Mary found herself in after she conceived by the Holy Ghost…and Jesus began to grow within her.

You’ll remember that Mary was pledged to marry Joseph…and, of course, she was a virgin. Well, we know that Mary became pregnant after Gabriel’s visit and this came as quite a surprise to Joseph and the community because (1) Joseph knew he hadn’t slept with Mary and (2) everyone knew that Joseph and Mary were not yet married. So one of two things must have happened in the minds of the people. Either Joseph and Mary couldn’t wait until their wedding night to have sexual relations or Mary had sexual relations with another man while she was pledged to Joseph.

All and all, we know that everything worked out the way God intended but it wasn’t without its tense moments which included Joseph pondering whether he should divorce Mary quietly vice expose her to public disgrace (Matthew 1:19). Just as with Mary, Gabriel came with reassurance that everything would be fine…all because what was happening was from the will of God. The Lord was the Lord of their relationship and their relations…Jesus was the fruit born.

So what do we make of these verse today? Do we not feel an obligation to scream out against a world that has lost its sexual way? The time is now before it gets any worse. In fact, it may already be too late. God help us.

In Christ,

Mark

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AN EVER PRESENT HELP

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

If you see your brother's ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to him. If the brother does not live near you or if you do not know who he is, take it home with you and keep it until he comes looking for it. Then give it back to him. Do the same if you find your brother's donkey or his cloak or anything he loses. Do not ignore it.

If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet.

A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.

If you come across a bird's nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.

Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled.

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

Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.

Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23, 22:1-12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

From the last two verses in Deuteronomy, Chapter 21, through the first twelve verses of Chapter 22, we read of a collection of other laws the Israelites were to follow. Although not grouped this way, they can be broken down into a few distinct categories:

1. Desecration.

“If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.”

Hanging was one of the most humiliating forms of death because it amounted to public execution. A person who “guilty of a capital offense” fell under God’s judgment or under “God’s curse”. The requirement was clear. Once the person was hung, they weren’t to remain there but were to be buried the same day. To allow the person to continue to hang would desecrate the land by allowing the memory of the crime the man committed to linger. Justice had been done and no lingering reminder was needed.

2. Distinction.

“A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.”

“Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled.”

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

“Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.”

God created everything to be unique and special in its own right. He expected Israel to respect this uniqueness. Thus, there was no need for a woman or man to wear the other’s clothing. God wanted them to be who he created them to be. Plants were to be planted and harvested separate from one another. Animals were not to be mixed on the plow…and additionally, an ox and donkey aren’t exactly a good match anyways because of the difference in pulling power. Finally, different types of thread were not to be woven together in a garment.

3. Preservation

“If you come across a bird's nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.”

Israel was to respect and preserve creation’s ability to reproduce. If the mother was taken, no other young would be produced. Note that this command was the only one that added “so that it may go well with you and you may have long life”.

4. Safety.

“When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.”

We have already seen God’s word as it applied to the shedding of innocent blood. Accidental death was to be avoided and safety measures were to be taken…like making a parapet (railing) around the roof to catch someone who might fall.

5. Remembrance.

“Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.”

We have seen prior guidance on this in the Book of Numbers:

“The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.' " Numbers 15:37-41

The tassels on the cloak were to remind the wearer that they were to “remember all the commands of the Lord” and “obey them” so not to “prostitute (themselves) by going after the lusts of (their) own hearts and eyes”. Note that this was to be passed onto the generations and indeed today we still see tassels on clothing but I’m afraid we have lost their intended meaning.

6. Helping others.

“If you see your brother's ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to him. If the brother does not live near you or if you do not know who he is, take it home with you and keep it until he comes looking for it. Then give it back to him. Do the same if you find your brother's donkey or his cloak or anything he loses. Do not ignore it.”

“If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet.”

God’s word makes it pretty clear that when we see someone in need, we should get involved and assist. If one saw their brother’s ox or sheep straying, they weren’t supposed to just ignore it and pretend that they didn’t see anything. No…they were required to take it back to its rightful owner. And if they didn’t know who that owner was, then they were supposed to take the animal into custody and keep it until the rightful owner came looking for it. Note that the same applied for anything that was lost. Items of value to someone else were to be looked after by the finder.

A second example is given regarding a fallen animal. Often times, these animals were heavy and too much for one person to lift. If a person saw someone trying to get their animal on its feet again, they were to help them…not just ignore the matter. Scripture makes it clear. People are to look after one another and their items of value.

Question: How well do we as a society look after one another today? How well do we look after each other’s things of value? If you see something lost, do you just go on about your business as if it’s not your problem? If you see another person in need of assistance, do you stop to help or just carry on with what you need to do?

I have a concern about our society…the society that God created and watches over. My concern is that we have become too self-centered. It seems more and more that everyone is just out for themselves and either too busy or too unwilling to assist someone in need.

This certainly isn’t what God expects from us. We see this from today’s scripture. No…God expects us to help others because He helps us. We only know how to help because we were first helped by the Father…a Father who “is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”. (Psalm 46:1)

Today, let us recommit ourselves to help others like God helps us. Let us be an ever present help in times of trouble. The world will be a better place if we do. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER...ALWAYS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. Deuteronomy 21:15-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today’s excerpt from Deuteronomy, Chapter 21, contains two distinct passages on how the Israelites were to deal with sons.

In the first passage, we see where the rights of the very firstborn son were upheld, even if the father engaged in polygamy. The scenario given involves “a man (who) has two wives and…loves one but not the other…both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love”. With these circumstances in place, there would be a danger that “when (the father) wills his property to his sons”, he might give “the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love”. This would be in direct violation of the Israeli customs regarding firstborn sons and be unjust. The actual firstborn son would be penalized just because his father loved his mother less than his other wife.

So clear direction was given to assure that the firstborn son was taken care of. The father was to “acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has”. For scripture affirms that the firstborn son was “the first sign of his father's strength”...the first product of his procreative power…and thus “the right of the firstborn belong(ed) to him”. And once again we see justice is a priority in God’s word.

Speaking of justice, we also see it evident in the second portion of our scripture. Only this time it isn’t so good for the son. Why? Because the son in this scenario is “stubborn and rebellious”…one “who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him”...a profligate (one who fully lacks moral restraint) and a drunkard”. This was in direct violation of God’s commandment to “"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)

We see where the consequences for an obstinate disobedient child were severe. When the parents had done all they could do to get the son under control, the next step was to take the son “to the elders at the gate of his town”. There, after the parents had told the elders about the son’s unwillingness to comply with their guidance and the moral expectations of society, “all the men of his town (would) stone (the stubborn son) to death”. The stubborn child would not get to live long in the land the lord gave Israel just as God’s commandment promised. That was the message sent to all children when any child who chose to violate that guidance was stoned.

Of course, this cultural norm would not work well today. But this doesn’t mean that God’s expectation that children honor their father and mother has changed any. No…it is just as valid and yet how often is it violated today? I would wager to say it is violated far more than it ever was during the days of early Israel…and that is truly sad. I often wonder how God feels about that. I can’t imagine he’s too pleased with us.

So why do so many children have such an issue with respecting their parents? Well, often it’s because parents mistreat them in some way and thus lose their respect. And yet, does God’s word give us an out clause when it comes to honoring our parents. Try to find one…it doesn’t exist. Why? Because we’re not to be the ones who judge whether our parents deserve honor or not. That’s God’s job. And trust me when I say He will hold parents accountable for any wrongs they commit against His children…because that’s who they are...His children entrusted to worldly parents for proper care. Worldly parents have an awesome responsibility and assume an equally awesome accountability. God will not accept failure in this area.

One final thought on honoring parents. We all have one Father when it comes down to it. We are His children and He expects us to honor Him always with everything we do. So how well do we do in this? Are we not disrespectful and dishonorable way too much of the time? If we lived in the days of Ancient Israel, how many of us should be dragged outside the gates of our towns and stoned for the way we have behaved before our Almighty Father? And yet, here we are. Not despised but loved…not condemned but forgiven. All because we have a Father who shows us grace and mercy despite our rebellious, sinful spirits. Could we not extend that same grace and mercy to our own parents…following God’s example? If we did, we would live in a better world today…a world where we leave the judging to God while we ever seek to honor Him by living as His Son, Jesus, lived. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

Deuteronomy 21:10-14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Israel entered Canaan and took possession of the land the Lord promised, other nations outside of Canaan would try and war against Israel to take their land away. We have read earlier that any attempt to attack Israel in Canaan, at least now, would be fruitless. The Lord had promised to deliver into Israel’s hand any enemy who tried to war with them and had ordered that nations within Canaan were to be laid to waste and destroyed. There were to be no remnants of the people who worshipped false gods and idols.

Today’s passage addresses conflicts with nations outside of Canaan, specifically dealing with the matter of any Israelite who might notice a “beautiful woman…and (find themselves) attracted to her”. In these circumstances, they were allowed to take her as their wife but under certain conditions. She was to “shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured”, all acts that we customary to any woman who was entering the Israelite way of life. These acts were symbolic to leaving their prior life behind and entering into the holy family of Israel.

The man was also supposed to wait to see if the relationship was going to work out. Leaving their families for a completely new lifestyle and people had to be extremely difficult. Not all women would be able to adjust and make the change. So scripture tells us that the man was not to marry the woman until “after she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month”. This would allow time to see if things were going to work or not. If not, note that there were protections built in for the woman. The man was not to abuse her or “sell her…as a slave”. Instead, he was to “let her go wherever she wishes”.

As I read through this passage, I had to read it under the cultural contexts of the day it was written. Today, we wouldn’t think about requiring a woman to shave her head, trim her nails or cast off her old clothes as she enters into any relationship, regardless of what she represented before. That would seem odd in our time…but it wasn’t in the times of early Old Testament Israel. That was the way their culture operated.

But we can’t lose sight of the symbolic nature of the head shaving, nail trimming, clothes abandoning rites of that day. For the matter of leaving one’s prior life behind for another is more than applicable in our time for as we enter into a personal relationship with Christ Jesus, we are to be changed and transformed…leaving the world’s ways behind and adopting His ways instead. We are to live no longer for ourselves or anything else except Him…sacrificing all we were just as he sacrificed all He was for us. Consider these verses:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

When one comes to Jesus, truly they are becoming a new creation, adopting His ways over all others. We throw away our deceitful ways for a new attitude. We ever seek to walk toward perfection in righteousness and holiness, never reaching it but ever striving to get as close as we can by getting as close as we can to the Author of perfect righteousness, Jesus Christ. And we do this until that day when He calls us to Him where we won’t have to communicate with Him through the Holy Spirit but we will see Him face to face. What an awesome day that will be! Until then, let us ever seek to be like Him in every respect and carry out His last guidance to us…to make disciples, baptize, and teach all He commanded. There’s much work to be done. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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WASHED BY INNOCENT BLOOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke and lead her down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer's neck. The priests, the sons of Levi, shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault. Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man." And the bloodshed will be atoned for. So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 21:1-9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Deuteronomy, Chapter 21 opens, we see where the subject is the shedding of innocent blood. Specifically, it uses the following scenario:

“If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,,,”

In this instance, there was a series of steps that involved the elders, judges, and priests carrying out certain functions…from measuring the distance from the discovered body to the neighboring towns to taking a heifer that had never been worked and or worn a yoke to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley, the heifer was to be slain and the elders from the town nearest the body (the reason why the earlier measurements happened) were to “wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley” and declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man." By doing this, Israel was to “purge from (themselves) the guilt of shedding innocent blood”.

Too bad that this would not be the case years later for Israel as a man who came as their Messiah was instead brutally crucified on a cross outside of Jerusalem on a hill called Golgotha (fittingly translated as the place of the skull). There were no measurements taken, no heifer selected and slain, no hands washed with the exception of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea…who examined Jesus and found Him not guilty of any crime, yet Israel still demanded Jesus crucified. Given this, scripture tells us that Pilate “took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd” saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood,...It is your responsibility!" The people of Israel present proclaimed, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!" And so it was…and remains today.

For we can’t wash our hands of Jesus anymore than the people of Israel. None of us are innocent because none of us are free from sin. And it was your sin and my sin and all sin of all mankind that were nailed into the innocent, unblemished, sacrificial Lamb of God. And as His blood streamed down the cross from His thorn-pierced head and nail pierced hands and feet, we were washed clean of the very sins that He died for. What a blessed washing this was…but at such a great cost.

Friends, as we live every second of every minute of every hour of every day, let us not forget the cross where the innocent Son of God was slain…not accidentally but intentionally…and He allowed His death to happen willingly so that we might be saved and cleansed from our sins. Truly, the words of one of my favorite hymns bears true:

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

In Christ,

Mark

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