Continuing the Journey Part 2
So carrying on where we left off….
11. Law Courts
Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you feel out of your depth – go to the priests and the (main) judge who is in office at the time.
‘Respecting authority’ verse: Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Deuteronomy 17:11
12. The King
God knows that when the people settle, they are going to want a king, whether God thinks it’s a good idea or not. He is not to be like the other kings around them, but must remember and keep God’s commands.
Verse of warning: “You are not to go back that way again.” Deuteronomy 17:16
13. Offerings for Priests and Levites
You must never forget to provide for the priests and Levites for they have no land or inheritance of their own.
An ‘it’s all in the detail’ verse: This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head. Deuteronomy 18:3
14. Occult Practices
The temptation will be to become like the people around you and imitate their occult practices. Don’t.
A ‘peer pressure’ verse: When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Deuteronomy 18:9
15. The Prophet
Don’t listen to those who practise sorcery and divination. God will provide a prophet (like Moses) for you and you must listen to him.
A promise verse: I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. Deuteronomy 18:18
16. Cities of Refuge
Three cities of refuge are to be set a side so that anyone who kills someone unintentionally can flee there until judgement has been passed.
A graphic verse: For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. Deuteronomy 19:5
18: Witnesses
Anyone who gives a false witness is to be treated most severely.
A widely misunderstood verse: Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Deuteronomy 19:21
19. Going to War
Give the people in the cities you are taking over the chance to surrender before attacking them.
Encouraging verses: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” Deuteronomy 20:3-4
20. Atonement for an Unsolved Murder
Breaking the neck of an unworked heifer in an uncultivated valley with a flowing stream will make atonement for an unsolved murder.
Another graphic verse: If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was, 2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. Deuteronomy 21:1-2
That’s it. Not the most inspirational blog I’ve had the joy of writing (and you of reading), that’s for sure.
And my favourite verse that I have read today goes out to all of you who have mourned the loss of the beautiful established trees that have been cut down in the roadworks on the Team Valley roundabout and the sides of the A1 –
When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them? Deuteronomy 20:19
Leave the trees be. What harm have they ever done to you? In fact, quite the opposite – think of the good they are doing for you.
