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.

BROKEN BARRIERS

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.

“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 our 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 the “third generation of children” born to the Edomites and Egyptians were allowed to enter the assembly.

These guidelines would remain in play until the time of Isaiah where we see a change occur. Look at what the Lord says in the first seven verses of chapter 56:

“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 here where eunuchs and foreigners were now invited into the “assembly of the Lord” as long as they kept the Lord’s Sabbaths, held fast to His covenant, and chose to do what pleases Him (which included binding themselves to Him, loving His name, and worshipping Him). In other words, as long as they did what was expected of any Israelite. This more inclusive attitude was a pre-cursor for what was about to come in Jesus, the One who was coming to save ALL sinners. Whether Jew or Gentile, by paying the price for their sin and purchasing their pardon so to provide them eternal life if they simply would believe in Him (John 3:16).

In sum, the ultimate good news is that in Christ Jesus anyone can be saved. There is no discrimination in regard to who can come into the Kingdom of God if they confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead for if they genuinely feel this, they will be saved (Romans 10:8).

Friends, is this not reason to smile and give thanks today?

For there is a living Savior named Jesus who has broken down any exclusionary barriers to the “assembly of the Lord”. All people can gain access to God the Father through Christ the Son, a Son He willingly gave up so to save sinners like them, something He did out of a love that we’ll never be able to fully grasp and understand (John 3:16).

Through obedience to the Great Commission, this is the Gospel message that Jesus called us to share, a Gospel message all believers are expected to dedicate their lives to tell, a Gospel message that brings eternal life to anyone and everyone who will receive it and accept it, now and forevermore.

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 DEFACING AND DEBASING OF SEXUAL SANCTITY

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

As we look at the closing verses of Deuteronomy, chapter 22, we find the Word of God dealing with proper relationships for the Israelite people, before and after marriage with a special focus on sexual relations. Within this passage, we find four specific matters being covered:

1. Virginity.

If you didn’t know before this reading this passage, you definitely know afterwards 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, period, and breaking this requirement led would result in fatal consequences for the offender (stoning). In regard to whether or not virginity had been lost, we see where proof was required in order to counter anyone who might bring it into question.

Sadly, people in today’s culture would scoff at all this because we’re nowhere near this high standard of sexual purity. Not even close and frankly that saddening because while God did design us to enjoy sexual relations between a man and woman, it was to be preserved and reserved for marriage. He commanded and still expects sex to be treated with a level of sanctity and dignity, the ultimate consummation of a love shared by a husband and wife after they became one flesh.

Indeed, virginity has largely became an afterthought today, if thought of at all, because we have taken something God intended to be unique and distinguished and degraded it. It has been cheapened it to the point where it has little to no value anymore.

Today, people “hook up”, have sex, and go their separate ways and in doing this, sex becomes devalued along with the relationships involved. Think about it. How many couples nowadays marry with an assurance that their spouse has not had prior sexual relations. The percentages have to be astronomically low.

Unfortunately, when people do opt to preserve their virginity, they are mocked and treated as if they abnormal by a sin-filled world that soundly rejects any godly obedience. The polar opposite stands in a God-filled world for those who remain steadfast in their faithfulness to the Lord and His Word are righteous through their sacrificial submission to God’s will for their life, willing to set their own desires aside so to fulfill His.

Friends, 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

While issuing His famous Ten Commandments, God made it very clear that no one was to commit adultery, especially in regard to sleeping with the spouse of another. We see the penalties were harsh during Old Testament times in our scripture passage for today:

“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 outside of marriage and we need to note here that a pledge to marry (think formal engagement) 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. A well known example of this in the Bible is found in the aftermath of Mary’s divine conception and how her ensuing pregnancy sent cultural ripples through Nazareth as she was pledged to be married to Joseph and had not had sexual relations with him. Thankfully, God dispatched the angel Gabriel to help Joseph process what to do in the matter (Matthew 1:18-24).

In regard to marriages today, infidelity is one of the most damaging acts that can happen as it is a blatant violation of trust, honor, and commitment. I know because I went through it.

Like sex overall today, cheating on a spouse has been allowed to be way too typical. In fact, a day doesn’t go by where we don’t hear about someone who has committed adultery, often putting an end to the marriage that God intended to last until the death of one mate or the other. I can’t help but think that the Lord angrily seethes over the way we have sinfully destroyed the holy foundations of marriage through our inability to remain faithful.

Perhaps He should ask us all, “What part of ‘You shall not commit adultery’ do you not understand?”

3. Rape.

Here’s what we find God saying in regard to the most horrific, damaging, and denigrating sexual offense that exists, an offense that carried appropriate serious consequences for offenders:

“…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.”

Here we have two passages with two different scenarios, each centered on the matter of Israelite virgin women who either pledged or not pledged to be married to a man.

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 unfortunately the damage would have been done to her already. No one could remove the fact that she was no longer a virgin and no man would want to marry her, leading to a life that would be filled with hardship. The seriousness of this outcome for the woman was why the death penalty was warranted for the rapist.

If the virgin was not pledged to be married, than the man who raped her was required to pay fifty shekels to the woman’s father and then marry her, never permitted to divorce her for as long as he or she lives. And while this seems to be disadvantageous for the victim, it actually was favorable in those times culturally because the offended woman wouldn’t be left alone to fend for herself in a society who looked down on a woman who was not a virgin. The best could be made of what was a bad situation.

4. Incest.

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

We should note that this wasn’t only adulterous sexual behavior but incestual as well. Ultimately and obviously, neither was acceptable to God.

And yet, we find an example of this in the first book of the Old Testament (Genesis) when Abraham’s nephew Lot ended up having sex with his two daughters (chapter 19), an incestuous sin that led to the future Moabite and Ammonite nations, nations that would later become fierce enemies of the nation of Israel.

In today’s passage, we saw where acts of sexual sin were alive and well within the ancient Israelite culture and in present times, approximately 3,400 years, things haven’t gotten better. In fact, we’ve far worse in most instances and it’s time to change course before things get any worse, remembering how God sent destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah over the pervasive sexual transgressions in both cities (Genesis 19) and He can easily do this again today.

The time to return to God’s standards for sexual relations is now before it’s too late.

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.

AN EVER PRESENT HELP

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 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 our 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 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.”

In biblical times as well as times thereafter, a hanging was one of the most humiliating forms of death because it amounted to public execution. We read in this portion of our passage that a person “guilty of a capital offense” fell under God’s judgment or under His “curse”.

After death had occurred, we see where the requirement was clear. The body of the deceased wasn’t to remain there but was 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.

Of interest, this same law part of the Law was applied when Jesus was crucified alongside the two criminals at Calvary. Once death happened, the bodies were to be removed from the crosses and we know that Jesus’ body was removed by Joseph and Nicodemus before being prepared and placed in the tomb (John 19:38-42).

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, and He expected His people 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 and wear the clothing appropriate for their gender.

Agriculturally, plants were to be sowed and harvested separate from one another.

Animals were not to be mixed on the plow and if you think about it, an ox and donkey aren’t exactly a good match anyways because of the difference in their pulling power.

Finally, different types of thread were not to be woven together in a garment. This would prevent the structural integrity of the garment from being compromised.

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.”

God wanted the Israelites to respect and preserve creation’s ability to reproduce. If the mother was taken, no other young would be able to be produced and so she was to be left alone. Note that this command had an added warning for one was to comply with it “so that it may go well with (them) you and (they) 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.”

In an earlier passage from this book, we already have seen God’s word address the shedding of innocent blood. Accidental death was to be avoided as much as possible and safety measures were to be taken such as making ‘a parapet (railing) around (the) roof” so to catch someone who might fall, therefore avoiding the “guilt of bloodshed on (their) house”.

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

Here we’re reminded that the tassels on the cloak served 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”. We should further note that this was to be passed onto future generations and indeed although we still see tassels on clothing today, they have largely lost the intended meaning we see in these verses.

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 here that He wants His people to get involved, assisting someone who may be at risk.

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. Rather, 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. Of interest, we see that the same applied to anything else that was lost. Items of value that belonged to someone else were to be looked after by the finder.

We then see a second example given regarding a fallen animal. Often times, these animals were heavy and too much for one person to lift so if a person saw someone trying to get their animal on its feet again, they were to help them. Not just treat it as if it wasn’t their problem.

I think this section of the scriptures makes clear that people were to care and look after one another, including their items of value.

Given this, we should be asking ourselves some self-reflective questions:

As a society, how well do we look after one another today?

How well do we see our responsibility to protect another’s valuables, especially when they lose something?

If we see something that someone has lost, do we just go on about our business as if it’s not our problem? Or if the item is something of value, do we hold it to see if we can get it to the rightful owner or do we adopt the worldly “finders/keepers” approach?

Finally, if we see another person in need of assistance, do we stop to help them or just carry on uninterrupted in what we were doing?

Maybe if we’re honest in answering these questions, we can see that we have a serious issue in our world today, the world that God created and watches over. That issue is a pervasive inclination to be self-centered with everyone just interested in their own needs and wants without lending time to assist someone in need.

My friends, this certainly isn’t what God expects from us and it surely wasn’t the way that Jesus lived. Our Lord expects us to help others because He is always helping us or in other words, we only know how to help others because we were first helped by our Heavenly Father, the Father who “is our refuge and strength” and “ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

Today, my hope is that we will recommit ourselves to help others like God helps us so that we too may be an ever present help for others in their times of trouble. I think you would agree that our world would be a better place if we do.

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.