Continuing the Journey Part 1
OK, so the next 12 chapters of Deuteronomy contain 29 specific reminders of God’s rules and regulations. For the next 3 days, I will take 10 a day, and give you the title of each section, a brief summary and my favourite verse in the section.
Let’s see how that works for a change.
1. Clean and Unclean Food
Because you are God’s people, do not eat any detestable thing – and God has a very clear view on exactly what that is!
Quirky verse: Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. Deuteronomy 14:21
2. Tithes
Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that you produce to eat in the presence of God – and don’t ever forget about those in need amongst you.
Cool verse: Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. Deuteronomy 14:26
3. The Year for Cancelling Debts
Every seven years, all debts are to be cancelled and whoever owes you money will not have to pay it back.
Thought-provoking verses: If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Deuteronomy 15:7-8
4. Freeing Servants
Every seven years, you are to allow your Hebrew servants to walk free – and not empty handed.
Gross verses: But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Deuteronomy 15:16-17
5. The Firstborn Animals
Be sure to set aside the firstborn male of all your flocks and herds to eat in the presence of the Lord – and each one has to be completely without blemish.
‘Bad news for rare steak lovers’ verse: But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. Deuteronomy 15:23
6. The Passover
The Passover is to be celebrated with unleavened bread every year in God’s designated place to so that you never ever forget.
Significant verse: Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. Deuteronomy 16:3
7. The Festival of Weeks
Seven weeks after the start of the harvest, celebrate this festival to give thanks to God.
Party verse: And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you. Deuteronomy 16:11
8. The Festival of Tabernacles
Another festival to celebrate all that the Lord has given you.
Encouraging verse: For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. Deuteronomy 16:15
9. Judges
Judges are to be appointed in every town to judge the people fairly.
Challenging verse: Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 16:20
10. Worshipping Other Gods
No way can anyone ever get away with being allowed to worship any god other than the one true God.
Uncomfortable verse: You must purge the evil from among you. Deuteronomy 17:7
So there’s the first ten. The passage that stood out to me among those ten was……3. The Year for Cancelling Debts
Deuteronomy 15:1-11 is well worth a read. This is the passage that that famous saying ‘the poor will always be among you’ comes from – the verse that mean individuals use to justify not giving to the poor and how fighting poverty is pointless. This passage contains great words like hard-hearted, tight-fisted, open-handed……it encourages to lend freely and give generously without a grudging heart. Yes, there will always be poor people so THEREFORE be open-handed. The opportunity to be generous is around us all of the time.
