2/5/2012
1. DISTINCTIVE WORSHIP (DEUTERONOMY 12:1—13:18)
CHAPTER 12:
In this chapter orders are given to destroy all altars, pillars, groves, and images, made for the worship of idols in the land of Canaan, Deu_12:1 and to bring all sacrifices and holy things unto the place which the Lord should choose for his habitation, John Gill’s Commentary on Chapter 12.
· Later in the history of Israel, God chose Jerusalem as the place where the temple was to be built. They were to go there to formally to worship God.
· This unified worship brought them closer together as a nation.
· They were one when they went up to Jerusalem for the feasts of worship.
· Today we do not need to meet in one place to worship God.
· The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman the reason this is true.
John 4:21-24
21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. 22 "You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
NASB
· Today, believers do not meet in one place to worship God; we meet around one person and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER 13:
· This is a very important chapter because it deals with false prophets and false gods.
· When we get to chapter 18 of Deuteronomy, we will find the test which would identify a false prophet.
· This chapter before us deals with the action that was to be taken against anyone who attempted to lead God's people away from Him by introducing false religions.
· In verse 3; God says that when a false prophet comes along and performs signs and wonders, we are not to believe him if he denies the great truths of the Christian faith.
CHAPTER 14:
· The diet which God gave to His people was more than just a religious ritual.
· There was actually a physical benefit from their observation of it.
· This has been tested down through the centuries.
· When the plague broke out in Europe years ago, the Jewish population was hardly troubled by the plague at all, while a large percentage of the Gentile population died.
· So the people began to blame the Jews for the plague.
· Of course, they had nothing to do with it, but their dietary habits and living habits had protected them from the plague.
2. DISTINCTIVE DIET (DEUTERONOMY 14:1-21)
2A. MAINTAIN A GODLY WORLDVIEW (DEUTERONOMY 14:1-2)
1 "You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2 For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
NASB
· Pagan Rites Forbidden
· These were heathen, pagan practices in that day.
· We are never to do anything like that.
2B. CHOOSE A CLEAN LIFESTYLE (DEUTERONOMY 14:9-11, 19-21)
9 "These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 "You may eat any clean bird.
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19 And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 You may eat any clean bird.
21 "You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
NASB
It is plain that the precepts concerning food belonged only to the Jews and were not moral or of perpetual use because of not universal obligation. What they might not eat themselves they might give to a stranger or a proselyte who had renounced idolatry or they might sell to an alien. It was evidently intended to keep them from mingling with and conforming themselves to idolatrous neighbors. From Summarized Bible
2C. EXHIBIT CONSISTENT STEWARDSHIP (DEUTERONOMY 14:22-23)
22 "You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 And you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first-born of your herd and your flock, in order that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
NASB
· God had promised to bless His people in a material way if they would serve Him.
· Out of that blessing, they were to tithe for the Lord from the produce of the land as well as from their flocks.
· This tithe was to be eaten before the Lord at the place of the sanctuary.
· This would be a special feasting before the Lord.
3. DISTINCTIVE GENEROSITY (DEUTERONOMY 14:22—15:18)
3A. KEEP A GENEROUS HEART (DEUTERONOMY 15:7-11)
7 "If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; 8 but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. 9 Beware, lest there is a base thought in your heart, saying, 'The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,' and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. 10 You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings
NASB
· God says that they shouldn't rationalize away their responsibility.
· They could say that since the seventh year the brother will be out of debt anyway, it will be unnecessary to help him for a year or two.
· God tells them to go in and help the poor brother right at that very moment.
· There will always be poverty because of the heart of man.
· Candidly, many are lazy; many people are shiftless and have no initiative.
· On the other hand, those who are able will not normally help the poor.
· It is not natural for man to do that. It is supernatural for a man to share what he has with the less fortunate.
4. DISTGINCTIVE CELEBRATIONS (DEUTERONOMY 15:19—16:17)
CHAPTER 15:
· This chapter contains God’s poverty program.
· Every seventh year is a sabbatical year.
· In that year a release was to be made.
· The Israelite could not take a mortgage that went beyond 7 years.
· There could be no foreclosure on a mortgage.
· When the 7th year came around, money that had been lent or mortgages that had been made were all to be canceled out.
· This rule held only for the Israelites.
· Every 7th year the debt of the poor would be canceled out and they would have an opportunity to start over again.
· Even if the 7th year was near one was still to be open handed and generous to lend what was needed and not to consider the time left before the year of release.
· This required a step of faith.
· God promised to bless the one who obeyed.
CHAPTER 16:
· Israel was given three feasts which all the males were required to attend: Passover, Pentecost (or Weeks), the Tabernacles.
· The Feast of Passover
o To get the background of the celebration of Passover, turn back to Exodus 12.
o God wanted His people to remember this tremendous deliverance and so instituted the yearly Feast of Passover.
· The Feast of Pentecost
o Notice that they were to number seven weeks after Passover, which would be 49; then the next day would be the Sabbath, the 50th day. Because the Greek word for "50" is Pentecost, this Feast of Weeks is known as "Pentecost."
o It is also called the Feast of Harvest or the Day of First Fruits.
o It celebrated the first or earliest fruits of the harvest.
· The Feast of Tabernacles
o This was another feast of rejoicing.
o It lasted 7 days and it, too, was to be kept in the place which the Lord should choose, which was in Jerusalem.
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