REJOICE IN ALL THE GOOD GOD HAS DONE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 26:1-11

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

As we approach the end of Book of Deuteronomy, we find the Israelites on the brink of crossing the Jordan River into the land God had promised them, the land that was “flowing with milk and honey”, the land which would provide an abundance in blessings to His people. In regard to their part, all they had to do was remain obedient to God’s commands and expectations, keeping their trust firmly in Him and Him alone.

Now, we have read in other Old Testament passages prior to this one how God expected the Israelites to bring Him their firstfruits. The main point has consistently been that He (God) always provides His best to His people and so they should give their finest back to Him in return.

In today’s passage from Deuteronomy, chapter 26, we not only read where the Lord demands that the Israelites 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. Note that they were to place the firstfruits in a basket and “go to the place the Lord would choose “as a dwelling for his Name”. Once there, they were to say this to the priest:

“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 would then take the basket and “set it down in front of the altar of the Lord”. The person presenting the offering was then to recite the following:

“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.’”

In sum, the person presenting the offering was to attest to how the Israelites had been in a place of need during their oppressive enslavement in Egypt before being rescued by God who delivered them from bondage and out of love, gave them promise and hope for their future as He made good on His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Of course, this promise was that he would make Israel a great nation and so He did (and still does).

With all this, the offering of the firstfruits was a representation of God’s goodness unto them, a portion of the firstfruits of the harvest that He had blessed them with. These offerings of thanksgiving allowed each donor the chance to rejoice in all the good things the Lord had given to them and their household.

This leads to a question for all Christ followers and God-believers today.

For how often do we dedicate a portion of our firstfruits before the Lord, giving thanks and rejoicing for how He has delivered and blessed each?

Friends, one of our most important spiritual disciplines should be to just pause at the start of each day and turn our eyes toward the Lord with thanks. For He allowed us to wake up this morning and we’re breathing in and out with a heart that’s beating. Both need to happen just so our lives can be sustained.

Too often, we take these things for granted, failing to acknowledge and honor God for giving us these things. For not only does he give us lungs that breathe the oxygen He creates and hearts that beat to pump blood through our bodies, He gives us every bare essential we need in order to serve Him ad carry out His purposes.

The bottom line is that we have a real tendency to not celebrate the basic essentials the Lord provides and while we may exist in different cultures and socioeconomic statuses, we all get the gift of time from God, each receiving twenty-four hours a day. If you want to break that down a little further, He gives every person 1,440 minutes which further translates to a whopping 86,400 seconds. Indeed, every second of every minute is a blessing in its own right.

There’s an older contemporary Christian song that was written and performed by Chris Rice. It carries the following title, “Life Means So Much”, and in the second stanza of the song, we find these words, followed by the chorus:

Every day is a bank account

And time is our currency

So no one’s rich, nobody’s poor

We get twenty-four hours each

So how are you gonna spend?

Will you invest or squander?

Try to get ahead

Or help someone who’s under

Teach us to count the days

Teach us to make the days count

Lead us in better ways

Somehow our souls forgot

Life means so much

Life means so much

Life means so much

The Lord speaks to us all through this song and asks us to answer some probing questions:

What do we do with the time the Lord blesses us with each day?

Do we give Him our firstfruits? (and this means not giving Him our time leftovers but rather prime time)

How do we use the time He gives? Do we honor Him with it, investing our time in the work He purposes us to carry out every day? Or do we engage in consistent time wasting?

Do we only look out for ourselves, squandering our time to get ahead or do we use it to selflessly invest in others in need?

I pray we’ll all be honest with ourselves in fielding these questions and even if we’re not, we need to remember that the Lord sees everything we do. Nothing is hidden from His sight and He’s fully aware in regard to whether you give Him your best daily or not.

My hope is that this scripture passage and the message associated with it will cause us all to pause and see how well we are using what God has given for His glory while having a constant appreciation for all He provides, no matter how small it might be. Like the Israelites of old, let us rejoice in all the things God has done, is doing, and is yet to do in our lives.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ARE YOU IN THE BOOK?

an I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Like chapters 23 and 24 of the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 25 is a collection of various laws and commands that the Israelites were to follow as they entered Canaan. As we read these laws, it’s important to remember that they were being given to an entirely new generation. Their ancestors had been given most of these instructions before but you’ll remember that God ensured they all would die in the wilderness after sinfully showing no faith in Him when attempting to enter the Promised Land the first time. Now, Moses was educating their children before they would cross the Jordan under the leadership of Joshua.

As we have in the last two messages, let’s look at each of these commands:

1. “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.”

In Old Testament times, disputes weren’t to be handled between individuals but in the courts where judges were appointed to hear cases and render the appropriate verdicts, always ensuring that justice was served. We need to note that when the penalty of lashing was imposed, there was a limit. No one was to receive more than forty lashes and anything beyond that would be considered inhumane in God’s sight.

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

Here, we see that human beings weren’t the only ones allotted humane treatment.

Oxen were used to tread on stalks of grain thrown on the threshing floor. As they walked on the stalks, the grain kernels would be separated for collection. If the ox was muzzled, then it would be unable to eat some of the grain when hungry and this would be cruel, depriving them of their need for food. This is the reason for this command from God.

3. “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.”

As we have seen prior in the Old Testament, it was very important for a son to be born into any family. This is because society was very patriarchal and so any son would be able to carry on the family name, inheriting any position their father might hold.

But what if a man dies before he has a chance to have a son?

In those cases, the brother of the deceased was to marry the widowed sister-in-law so she could bear a son who would “carry on the name of the dead brother” so that “his name (would) not be blotted out from Israel”.

Now, this was what God commanded but there was no guarantee that the dead man’s brother would agree to marry the widow. If this happened, we read where the refusal would be met with great scorn and disapproval. For in this scenario, 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.”

In response to this, the elders would “summon (the brother) and talk to him. If he persisted in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” then he faced the following consequences:

“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 that liberation would come through a ceremony of shame, a ceremony that would tarnish his reputation that point on in the community where it would be well known how he intentionally disrespected his dead brother and widowed sister-in-law.

Of special interest here is the matter of being unsandaled. Remember that Jesus, providing instructions on how they were to go out and evangelize, said that if a town refused to receive them and the Gospel message they shared, then they were to leave the town and shake the dust from their sandals (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.

4. “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.”

We have seen other places in the scriptures that speak about decency in dealing with sexual situations as well as parts of the body used for sex and reproduction. Here, we find the Law is given so to serve 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.

How serious was the offense?

So much so that the woman’s hand was to be cut off.We shouldn’t read this as being that a woman was prevented to come to the aid of her husband. Rather, it placed a limit as to how she acted if she did.

5. “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!”

You’ll recall that when God delivered His people from their captivity in Egypt, they embarked on an exodus across the Sinai Peninsula toward Mount Sinai where the Lord would give Moses instruction to pass onto the Israelites. This included what we know as the Ten Commandments.

Well, the journey to Mount Sinai was far from easy and the people of God found themselves “weary and worn out”. In this state of lowered readiness, we saw where the Amalekites, the descendants of Esau, attacked Israel. In that battle, God delivered the Israelites into victory, something He didn’t want them to forget because He definitely hadn’t.

For as we see in this command, God ordered the Israelites to “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven”. In other words, God was going to hand Amelek over to Israel for utter annihilation.

6. “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.”

In biblical times, 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.

Unfortunately, like today, people figured out how to do unscrupulous, sinful things in order to profit financially. In the context of this command, differing weights and measures were often used to dishonestly weigh and measure items in the broker’s favor. Completely lacking in integrity, it was a common practice that ripped off a lot of people.

Then, as it is now, God expects people to conduct their business matters honestly and above board.

Okay, that covers the commands in Deuteronomy 25 and for the purpose of this message, I would like to focus on an aspect of the sixth and final one. For as we deal with others on a day-by-day basis, isn’t integrity one of the most important things we covet from those serving us? I think I can say with absolute certainty that no one likes to be deceived, especially when that deceit comes from someone you are placing your trust in.

Well, it doesn’t take too much time reading around the Bible to know that God hates dishonesty. And just as we have seen harsh penalties for other sins in today’s passage, none of them are as severe as what we find in the Book of Revelation in regard to those who swindle or mislead others. Look at these verses from the 21st chapter:

“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

Note here how deceitfulness 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 this includes those whose “names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life”.

Now, I don’t know about you but I want my name to be found in Jesus’ book and this comes by believing and accepting Jesus as Savior. For it’s only in and through Him, committing ourselves to live as He lived, that we can ensure that we will live a life free from shameful, deceitful behavior. Doing so will earn us a place with Him for all eternity and save us from the alternative, the everlasting suffering and torment of Hell.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

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

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we turn to the 24th chapter of Deuteronomy, we find a continuation of various rules that began in chapter 23. Let’s take a look at them now:

1. “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.”

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!).

2. “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.”

The next rule shows 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”. This allowed a solid marital foundation to be laid before the newlyweds would have to face any separation.

3. “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.”

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

4. “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.”

We have already seen where God expected the Israelites to treat their own with respect and honor. You’ll recall in chapter 23 that no interest was to be charged to an Israelite. Here in chapter 24, the subject was the kidnapping of a brother Israelite and taking away their freedom by exchanging them through 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.

5. “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.”

Up to this point, God had given His people lots of direction regarding clean and unclean matters. The Israelites had been given specific guidance to leave these determinations up 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.

With this, we need to keep in mind that there were minimal medical facilities or treatment methodologies back in Old Testament times and so there was deep concern over any potential breakout of a disease that could potentially disable or wipe out an entire nation if not kept in check. This is why God established rules for the Israelites to follow.

6. “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.”

Here we find God making it clear that fathers were not to die for the actions of their children. Conversely, children were not to die for the actions of their fathers. The bottom line was that if a father or child dies, it wouldn’t be due to the sin of the other. Interestingly enough this command, like many others, would change completely when Jesus came because although He was sinless, He bore the weight of mankind’s sins and died so to give them the opportunity to  be saved.

In addition to these laws, we find four specific commands in chapter 24 that involve caring for the underprivileged:

1. “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.”

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 a security and for the poor, sometimes they could only give what they had, which could literally be the cloak off their back.

This was a real loss because on cold evenings, that cloak would double as a blanket that would keep the poor person warm. With this, the person who received the cloak as security was required by the Lord to return it to the poor person at sunset, an act that would be “regarded as…righteous…in the sight of the Lord”.

2. “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.”

Aliens, those who didn’t have bloodlines to the Israelites, were often slighted and marginalized along with the fatherless and the widows. In regard to the aliens, we see where the Lord was concerned that they would be taken advantage and this could happen by depriving them justice or taking something of value (a cloak in the passage) from a poor person as a pledge.

As we have seen in other instances in the Old Testament, God reminded the Israelites that they were once “slaves in Egypt” before they were redeemed. Because of this, the Lord didn’t want His people oppressing others as they had been oppressed and therefore issued His command.

3. “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.”

Today, there are many people who live paycheck to paycheck. Given this, they rely on their wages being provided to them on time so they can pay their bills and put food on the table. The poorer a person is, the more critical it is that they get paid.

This is why God ordered the people of Israel to “pay him (the poor person) his wages each day before sunset, because he (was) poor and (was) counting on it”. Not doing this might lead to the poor person crying out “to the Lord against: the employer making him “guilty of sin”.

4. “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.” 

This final command deals with the matter of gleaning which essentially meant that after a harvest, anything remaining (i.e. sheaves, olives or grapes) was to be left behind for the “alien, the fatherless, and the widow”. This would ensure that everyone would be able to partake from the bounty of God’s creation and the blessing of the harvest.

Through these last four laws, we see clearly how God had a heart for those who were disadvantaged. He expected His people to make sure they were cared for then and He expects us to do the same in present times. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that we have become too much of a self-centered society. Too often, people are more focused on themselves and their wants with no real concern for the needs of others.

This selfish attitude is completely counter to how God expects us to behave as Christians and it certainly wasn’t how Jesus lived. His life was defined by self sacrifice, no more evident than at the cross where He laid down His life so to save anyone who would simply believe in His name. These words from Him found in Matthew, chapter 25 underscore His life attitude and how He expects His followers to follow His example:

“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.’” Vv. 35-40

Friends, Jesus leaves no grey area here. For when we help those who are considered the “least” in society, it’s as if we are doing it for Him. And after He did so much for us, the least we can do is follow His command to help others, adopting His selfless attitude in the way we live our own lives. When we do this, I believe we will discover that the true joy and happiness in life comes not from 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 aligned with our Savior Jesus. May He forever receive all our honor, glory, thanks, and praise.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU’LL DO

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we move on in our study of the Book of Deuteronomy to the remaining verses in chapter 23 and in the next three messages from chapters 24 and 25, we will be looking at an assortment of additional laws that God gave the Israelites to adhere to. Today, we’ll look at the group of laws at the end of Chapter 23.

First, there was the matter of runaway slaves and while this subject if highly offensive today (and rightfully so), back in biblical times, slavery was very prevalent in their culture and this is why we find the scriptures addressing it.

In order to understand the direction God is providing here, we need to know that a slave would be taking a huge risk by fleeing from their master because if they were caught, the penalty was often death. This is why we see the Lord putting in a requirement for asylum to be granted in these instances for anyone who would provide the runaway slave refuge. They weren’t to hand the slave “over to (their) master” nor “oppress him”. In support of this calling, God called on the people of Israel to remember that their ancestors had been enslaved and oppressed in Egypt before so He didn’t want His people to subjugate and mistreat slaves as they once had been treated.

Of interest here, you should check out Paul’s letter to Philemon in the New Testament. It is very short and addresses the matter of Onesimus, a slave that had fled Philemon, his master. While with Paul, Onesimus gave his life to Christ and this provides the backdrop for what Paul writes with the hope of facilitating a safe return and changed relationship between the two men.

Moving to the next law, we need to remember that pagan Baal worship was popular in Canaan, the land the Israelites were going to inhabit, and prostitution within the shrines was an element of the religious system. Regarding this, the words of the Lord were clear:

“No Israelite man or woman” was to “become a shrine prostitute”. Further, any man or woman who violated that order, earning money from their sinful actions, was forbidden from bringing that money to the Lord as an offering. God had (and still had) no tolerance for sin and any byproduct of it.

Next, we find God discussing the subject of lending practices which interestingly enough included the charging of interest. It’s amazing how this practice has endured more than 3,400 years through so many civilizations.

Many of the loans back in the days of the Israelites were given to people who found great difficulty supporting themselves and therefore any additional money heaped onto what was already owed would end up being a further financial burden. This is why we find the Lord placing an emphasis on the matter of interest. We see in the scriptures where the Israelites were commanded to “not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest” because that “brother” was a fellow person of God. Note that this exemption didn’t extend to foreigners who might come to Israel and seek to gain a loan. In those instances, the Israelites were authorized to “charge (the) foreigner interest”.

Moving on, we come to some further guidance regarding the harvest. In this case, the Lord covers the scenario where someone might eat from a neighbor’s vineyard or grainfield. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, we find God allowing the act of gleaning, where the poor were able to benefit from the harvests as much as the rich, coming behind the harvesters to gather the food that was left behind. You’ll remember this was central in the story of Ruth and how she came to meet and then marry Boaz, her kinsman redeemer.

The law here in Deuteronomy 23 seems to be issued with the same spirit in mind for it was permissible for a person to eat grapes and pick grain kernels as long as the privilege wasn’t abused. In the end translation, God never wanted His people to go hungry, especially since everything available to eat first belonged to Him, the Creator of all things.

The final law I want to cover deals with vows. We read this from the Lord on the matter:

“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 for failing to do this would make one “guilty of sin”. To prevent violating this requirement, a person needed to carefully think about making a vow in the first place if there was any possibility that they could fulfill the vow they made and certainly it was better to not even start doing this if you had no intent on making good on your word from the very beginning (i.e. lying about doing something you knew you wouldn’t do).

In sum, it would be in one’s best interest to not make a vow at all unless they were sure they could see it through. This is affirmed in our scripture passage as we read this assurance from God:

“…if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty”.

In the end translation, one was to do “whatever (one’s) lips utter” when a vow was made before the Lord.

As I worked through this matter of making promises that you intend on keeping, especially in regard to the Lord, I couldn’t help but think how we so often violate them today. For ask yourself how many times you may have vowed to do something in the clear presence of God and then failed to do what you said you would do? I don’t know about you but I am totally sure that I wouldn’t want to see my life’s scoresheet regarding 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 promise of 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 promise to do something for somebody, then make sure you carry it out just as you said you would.

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.

At their core, spoken vows are to be words of integrity and our Lord expects us to be trustworthy and true to the core. So if you talk the talk, then walk the walk associated with the talk. Do what you say you will do, showing that you’re a person that God and others can count on. For when it comes right down to it, we’re to strive to be like our Creator, who knit us together in our mother’s womb in His own image. That image always shows us that He perfectly fulfills every vow Her makes and in turn, He expects us to do likewise.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE STRENGTH WE NEED

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Book of Deuteronomy has been building toward a climax where the Israelites were going to cross over the Jordan River into Canaan, the land God had promised to give them, and there, they would face resistance and conflict. The Lord made them well aware of this in advance but He also let them know they would never be fighting alone as He would be with them every step of the way. 

This gives us the background information needed to support today’s passage from our continued study of Deuteronomy, chapter 23. For we read where the people of 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). During this time, the scriptures tell us that the Israelites were to “keep away from everything impure”, ensuring they remained physically and spiritually clean. 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)”.

This was an important warning because it would be bad if the Lord turned away from His people Israel. It was certain that they would not and could not find victory without Him.

So what this have to do with us today?

I think there are parallels for sure that we need to consider for like Israel, we are encamped every day of our lives against an enemy, Satan, who wishes for one thing and one thing only…to destroy us and there’s no way we can have a chance if we try to fend for ourselves. Consider these verses from the sixth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

“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

Here’s we find directions on how to spiritually defend ourselves with a supernatural armor. Here’s what we gain from the components from God Himself:

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, we get everything we need to stay clean and pure, to be holy and upright before the Lord, ensuring that He stays with us and helps us defeat the devil and his schemes as we stay “strong in (Him) and in His mighty power”.

Friends, God expected Israel to stay holy, clean, and righteous before Him and He expects the same from us today. After all, He did command us to do this in the scriptures:

“Be holy because I am holy”. 1 Peter 1:15-16

If you think you can achieve this on your own, think again, because you can’t do it on your own. You’re no match for Satan so never underestimate his power.

The good news is that we, like Paul, have a Lord who has already defeated our enemy and through Him we too become victorious. This Lord is named Jesus and we can do all things through Him and the strength we find in Him (Philippians 4:13).

Let us give thanks for this and share it with others every day so they too can be armed and protected as they step onto life’s battlefield each and every day.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.