Finishing up our review of the chapters of Deuteronomy
In Deuteronomy 12, we see the command to utterly destroy the images of the pagans and to not use them in worshipping God. This would become a stumbling block to many kings who walked in the ways of God, but did not remove high places established for the worship of pagan gods. We see this happen also today, when “churches” will use some sort of worldly thing in their “worship” of God. How many times do we see these gatherings do a series entitled “At the Movies” or “The Gospel According to…” some secular book or musical group. They come out with some kind of worldly entertainment and attach God onto the end of it, and claim they are using it to glorify God. But here, God is saying “don’t do that”. The same is true with many Roman Catholic practices, which are simply pagan practices they have co-opted into their idea of worshipping God (making Mary the “Queen of Heaven”, for example). Then Moses goes onto to regulations about eating—where you are to eat, where you can eat, who can eat, etc. We won’t go over those here because they are rather specific, but will address them at their proper time.
In Deuteronomy 13 we see what to do with someone who claims they are a prophet—“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder…” (Deuteronomy 13:1). This person, who has not been called as a prophet by God is usually one who calls on a different god, one whom the people have not known, and their only goal is to drag people away from worshipping the one, true, living God and into the worship of a false deity. That person is to be stoned until dead, the city and all its inhabitants and even its livestock are to be destroyed and the city’s goods to be burned with fire. Unfortunately, we are not strong enough to do that today. We are told by the progressives not to judge the person and their intent, because, well, they are just trying to do good. We don’t really know their heart. And they are just sharing with us a word they got from God, and who are we to judge, anyway? Or some such gobbledygook. In other words, instead of marking those who claim to be a prophet and a dreamer of dreams and judging their words against the word of God and tossing them out on their keester, we give them a TV show and send them money (I’m talking to you, Benny Hinn and Paula White and Jesse Duplantis and Rodney Howard Browne et al.).
In Deuteronomy 14:1-21 we see another list of unclean animals the people were not to eat. These were likely animals that were being eaten by the pagans, and possibly even used in some of their pagan rituals. Many hypotheses have been given for this list by many different scholars, but the truth is we do not know why these animals were chosen as unclean. One thing we do know for sure is, God told the people to not eat them, thus they were prohibited by God from eating them. Then in the rest of the chapter we read about different tithes—how much they were to be, where they were to be given, to whom they were to be given, etc. One is even to be eaten by the tither! (Won’t hear about this one from the “beat the people over the head with Malachi” crowd). The “give 10% or you’re not saved” crowd doesn’t like to tell you about this one, for fear that you will actually do it and deteriorate their income. But in all actuality, the total of the yearly tithe was closer to 30% rather than 10%. And one tithe, you actually ate!
Deuteronomy 15 talks about the seventh-year release of slaves and debts which we discussed in Leviticus 25, so while we will discuss a bit of it I will point you to the proper site.
Deuteronomy 16 talks about the Passover and the three times in the year when the people of Israel are to appear before God.
Deuteronomy 17 talks about
(a) The sacrifice you bring to God must be without spot or blemish
(b) What to do when you find a person in your city who is transgressing the Covenant
(c) What kind of cases one is to bring to the Levites for them to judge, and
(d) Rules to be followed when (not ‘if’, as God knew their hearts) the people decided they want a king over them.
Of course, over time, the people got tired of having to be ruled by God (as we humans are like to do), and decided they wanted a king “like the other nations” (1st Samuel 8:6). And while they did indeed rejoice to have Saul, a man of Benjamin, of the family of Kish, to be their king, he and future kings did not subscribe to some of the regulations God laid out. Deuteronomy 17:16-20—16 “But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.' 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 18 Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.” David and Solomon multiplied wives (and they turned Solomon’s heart from God), Solomon multiplied gold and silver, and how many of them actually sat down with the Levites and wrote a copy of Deuteronomy (in fact, Jeroboam let any man from any tribe become a priest)?
Deuteronomy 18 is another warning against soothsayers and dreamers of dreams and what to do with them when they are found. And it is not pretty. They were not to be put on TV and sent millions of dollars for prophesying falsely. They were no better than the nations they were going in to dispossess, and God even said so. And in the middle of all this, God says something interesting. Deuteronomy 18:18—“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.” Understanding this verse helps us to understand some verses in the Gospels. There are some places in the Gospels where the people ask John the Baptist if he is “the prophet”. Mark 6:14-15—14 Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him." 15 Others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets." John 1:19-21—19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." 21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." Both of these passages talk about someone named “the Prophet”. And in both of these instances, “the Prophet” is the one spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:18—the promised “prophet like Moses”. A Prophet who will speak the truth and only the truth, a Prophet who is like the one the apostle speaks of in 2nd Peter 2:22 (echoing Isaiah 53:9)— "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth".
Deuteronomy 19 is a repeat of Numbers 35 in talking about the Cities of Refuge.
Deuteronomy 20 outlines some commands about the people going into battle. The priests were to lead the way, encouraging the people to remain steadfast, and that it was not the people who were doing the fighting, but it was God who would secure the victory. Then the officers were to ask if anyone was a newlywed or had just bought a house or who was faint-hearted, and they were to be sent home, that only experienced, valiant men were to go to battle who had no new responsibilities, lest they be divided in their heart about going in to battle. Then terms were laid out concerning whether or not the city wanted to surrender or not. If they wanted to surrender, then they would be under tribute to the people of Israel. If not, then they were to build siege mounds and encamp against it. And when it was time, they were to wipe out every man in the city. They were to leave none alive, and were to take every woman and child and livestock as plunder.
Deuteronomy 21:1-9 give the provisions for what the people were to do if they find a man slain in a field and no one saw who slayed him. They were to take a heifer, break its neck and wash their hands over it and declare themselves guilty of the bloodshed. Deuteronomy 21:10-14 cover what they were to do if they found a woman among the captives of battle and they wanted to take her for a wife (it was not as barbaric as the atheists make it sound). Deuteronomy 21:15-17 outline how a man was to treat the children of the women he was married to if he had two wives. Deuteronomy 21:18-21 command what the parents were to do if one of their children was a rebellious child. Deuteronomy 21:22-23 give the commands for what to do with the body of a man who was executed for a sin deserving of death.
Deuteronomy 22-26 give various regulations covering various issues and will be covered when we get there.
In Deuteronomy 27-30, Moses commands the people to divide the 12 tribes, with one group standing on Mount Gerizim to speak the blessings, and the other half to stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the cursings. These two mountains formed a sort of natural amphitheater, much like the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Six tribes—Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin—spoke the blessings and the other six—Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, Zebulun and Reuben—spoke the curses.
Deuteronomy 31-33 is the “Song of Moses”, which he spoke to the people as a farewell address in which He recounted the goodness of God in leading the people out of Egypt and in which he told the people that Joshua would be their leader in taking the land of Canaan that God had promised them.
In Deuteronomy 34 we see the death of Moses, and his burial. Did Moses write this chapter? Probably not, it was most likely added by Joshua. We will discuss this when we get there. And that will bring an end to our study of the Pentateuch, and will close the words written by Moses. I trust it will be an interesting end to our study of the Law of God.
