Law – Deuteronomy 13-15
We know that it was in Deuteronomy that the laws of God were once again declared to the Israelites before they were about to enter the land of Canaan after all those years of wandering in the wilderness. God’s laws and covenant were repeated again in the hope that the people will remember them and pass it on to the future generations.
Today’s passage carries with it some reminders for our lives today as well…
Bible Passage: Deuteronomy 13-15
God Is Testing You…
“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.“
Deut 13:1-3
None of us like being tested. But God routinely tests people and here was one such incident.
But why does God want to test us? Well it was not so that He will learn what we will actually do because God knows all things (1 John 3:20).
Although we find it difficult to accept when we are in the midst of being tested, we know that being tested by God is for the strengthening and purification of our faith. It is God’s desire to see us learn and grow through these test.
Some people do think that since God knows all things, why should He test us to see if we love the Lord our God with all our heart. After all, He surely knows if we love Him or not.
But God tests us so that we will know what is in our hearts.
Being tested if not for God but for ourselves. Do you know what is in your heart today?
Remember That You Were…
Another phrase that struck me in Deuteronomy is found in Deut 15:15
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today.
Deut 15:15
In fact, this phrase, “you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt” was repeated several times in Deuteronomy (Deut 5:15; 16:12; 24:18,22).
With success always comes the danger of forgetting what was left behind.
This was a very real danger that the Israelites faced – especially with Egypt now a distant memory and the land of flowing with milk and honey awaiting them.
I am a 3rd generation believer. Some of you are even 5th generation believers!
Some of you are the first in your family to come and believe in the Lord. And for some of you, you still vividly remember what was life like without Jesus in your life.
But for those of us who were born in Church, sometimes we tend to take matters of our faith for granted.
We did not suffer through the bad times when we were not a child of God. We were not persecuted for wanting to come to church. We did not have to search through many religions and churches before finding the truth here.
Quite a number of the Israelites hearing these words were like us – 2nd or 3rd generation of Israelites after Exodus. But given the history their history and how they have been encouraged to always pass on stories of their faith to the next generation, the memory of life in Egypt was still very clear.
I believe it should be the same for us today. We may not have been a convert, but the memory of a life without God should also be grave reminders for us, just as it is for those who came from non-believing families.
In today’s passage, these reminders extended to before what was life like before the Salvation of the Lord.
There are reminders for us not to associate ourselves with the world and follow their idolatorous practices (Deut 13).
There are reminders for us to be clean – pure and holy (Deu 14:1-21).
There are reminders for us to give tithes to the Lord for His blessings (Deut 14:22-26).
There are reminders for us to show compassion to others by releasing our debtors from their debts, treating the poor kindly and slaves well (Deut 15:1-18).
There are reminders for us to dedicate the firstborn to the Lord, i.e. give our best.
We must always be conscious of God’s salvation grace for us and take the time to remember and repay His abundant love to us.
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InHisTime
Today’s bible reading is ‘simple’ in the sense that it is straightforward.
What does the Lord require of us?
Simply to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him (Deut 13:4-5)
These commandments seem simple but yes, hard to keep at times.
Do we remember all the blessings that God lavished on us, His grace and mercy for our trangressions, His compassion for our weaknesses, His great love that is beyond our comprehension?
Yet all that He expects of us today is to obey his commandments and love Him with all our soul and heart.
I did some translations for Isaiah last night and this verse left a deep impression on me:
From Isaiah 5:4,
What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
We can see God’s sadness and disappointment in the first part of this verse.
Let us pray and resolve to obey God, be pleasing in His eyes and submit fully to the Holy Spirit.
PS
Deut 15:3-4 is clearer in NKJ than the chinese bible:
“Of a foreigner you may require of it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother except when there may be no poor among you; for the LORD will greatly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance”
i use to think that all debts are released at the end of every seven year. However NKJ states that “you shall give up your claim…except when there is no poor among you.” Therefore only the debts of the poor are released at the end of every seven year bec they had no means to repay them.
The debts of the rich, who has the ability to repay, is still valid and repayable. This is the righteousness of God.
Deut 14:22 “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.”
Deut 14:23 “And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.”
How does tithing help us to learn to fear God always?
For an employee, isn’t tithing a matter to be remembered on payday only? For most of us, yes and usually at the end of the month or on Holy Communion.
But for the israelites of old, it was not so. Tithing was to be remembered daily. Why? May be bec the firstborns of the herds and flocks were not all born at end of the month. They were born as and when they were due. Thus to truly tithe, the Israelites had to be watchful and mindful always.
May be this was how tithing helped the Israelites to learn to fear the LORD their God always.
For who makes you differ from another? And what you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1Cor 4:7)
May Lord Jesus help us to be mindful of Him daily too.