Day 55 – A Year in the Bible – Deuteronomy 13-15
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DEUTERONOMY 13 – DO NOT FOLLOW THOSE WHO SEEK TO LEAD YOU AWAY FROM THE LORD YOUR GOD
Do Not Follow The Prophet or Dreamer Who Speak to Turn You Away from the LORD Your God
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. – Deuteronomy 13:1-5
Do Not Follow Family that Would Entice You to Serve Other Gods
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: but thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you. – Deuteronomy 13:6-11
Rid Yourselves of People, Things, Places that have Withdrawn Inhabitants that They Would Serve Other Gods
If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again. And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; when thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God. – Deuteronomy 13:12-18
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DEUTERONOMY 14 – THE LORD HATH CHOSEN THEE
The LORD Hath Chosen Thee to Be a Peculiar People Unto Himself
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. – Deuteronomy 14:2
Don’t Cut Yourself or Cut Your Hair in Mourning for the Dead Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. – Deuteronomy 14:1
These were pagan practices: Cutting oneself in worship to a pagan god and cutting off parts of one’s hair as a sign of mourning for the dead.
Don’t Eat Unclean Things
Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. – Deuteronomy 14:3
Thirteen Commands–Dietary Laws
1. Do not eat any abominable thing (Deut. 14:3).
2. These ten animals you are permitted to eat (Deut. 14:4-5):
– Ox–the bull, cow, heifer, calf of the beef kind
– Sheep–the ram, wether, ewe, lamb
– Goat–the he-goat, she-goat, kid
– Hart–the buck, doe, fawn; also moose, elk, reindeer Roebuck,
or antelope and gazelle species, as the Hebrew suggests (Deut.
14:5; 12:15,22; 15:22; 1Ki. 4:23; cp. 2Sam. 2:18; 1Chr. 12:8;
Prov. 5:19; 6:5; Song 2:7-9,17; 3:5; 4:5; 7:3; 8:14; Isa. 13:14)
– Fallow deer–the large species of antelope found in the
mountains of Arabia and Syria (Deut. 14:5; 1Ki. 4:23)
– Wild goat, rock goat, or species of gazelle
– Pygarg–perhaps a species of large antelope or mountain goat
– Wild ox–buffalo species, wild bull
– Chamois–a species of goat, deer, or wild sheep with red hair
instead of wool
3. Every other kind of animal that parts the hoof, has two claws, and chews the cud, you may eat (Deut. 14:6; cp. Lev. 11). The ten animals above are not named in 11, perhaps because they would not be found so often in the wilderness travels, though they were abundant in the land which Israel was about to enter.
4. These four animals you may not eat, even though they chew the cud, or part the hoof (see Four Unclean Animals):
– Camel (Deut. 14:7; Lev. 11:4, note)
– Hare (Deut. 14:7; Lev. 11:4)
– Coney (Deut. 14:7; Lev. 11:5, note, Prov. 30:24)
– Swine (Deut. 14:8; Lev. 11:7)
5. Do not eat their flesh or touch their dead bodies (Deut. 14:8).
6. You may eat fish that have fins and scales (Deut. 14:9).
7. Do not eat fish that do not have fins and scales (Deut. 14:10).
8. You may eat all clean birds (Deut. 14:11).
9. These twenty-one birds you may not eat, for they are unclean to you:
– Eagle (Deut. 14:12; Lev. 11:13)
– Ossifrage (Deut. 14:12; Lev. 11:12)
– Ospray (Deut. 14:12; Lev. 11:13)
– Glede (Deut. 14:13; not in Lev. 11)
– Kite (Deut. 14:13; Lev. 11:14)
– Vulture (Deut. 14:13; Lev. 11:14)
– Raven (Deut. 14:14; Lev. 11:15)
– Owl (Deut. 14:15; Lev. 11:15)
– Night hawk (Deut. 14:15; Lev. 11:16)
– Cuckow (Deut. 14:15; Lev. 11:16)
– Hawk (Deut. 14:15; Lev. 11:16)
– Little owl (Deut. 14:16; Lev. 11:17)
– Great owl (Deut. 14:16; Lev. 11:17)
– Swan (Deut. 14:16; Lev. 11:18)
– Pelican (Deut. 14:17; Lev. 11:18; note, Ps. 102:6)
– Gier eagle (Deut. 14:17; Lev. 11:18)
– Cormorant (Deut. 14:17; Lev. 11:17)
– Stork (Deut. 14:18; Lev. 11:19)
– Heron (Deut. 14:18; Lev. 11:19)
– Lapwing (Deut. 14:18; Lev. 11:19)
– Bat (Deut. 14:18; Lev. 11:19)
(Except for the glede, all of these are listed in Twenty Unclean Fowls.)
10. Every creeping, flying thing shall be unclean to you; but all clean fowls you may eat (Deut. 14:19-20)
11. Do not eat anything that dies of itself (Deut. 14:21).
12. Give it to the stranger that is in your gates to eat; or you may sell it to an alien who is not consecrated to Me.
13. Do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk (Deut. 14:21; Ex. 23:19; 34:26).
Tithe and Special Blessings
At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. – Deuteronomy 14:28-29
At the end of every third year (or twice between sabbatical years) a third tithe was stored for four classes: Levites, Strangers, Fatherless or orphans, and Widows
Special Tithe – Special Blessings
Israel was promised special blessings from God on all crops and stock if they paid the three tithes, which were:
1. First tithe for Levites (Deut. 14:27; Lev. 27; Num. 18). This was a yearly tithe.
2. Second tithe for the individual and his household to cover expenses at the national feasts, so there would be no excuse for not going (Deut. 14:22-26; 12:11,21). This was also a yearly tithe, though not counted as giving to others.
3. Third tithe for the Levites, strangers, fatherless, and widows. It was a special tithe for the poor (Deut. 14:28-29). This was given only every third year, so it was not a burden. God more than made up for it by blessing their crops and stock. It was not taken to the place of worship, as the other two tithes, but distributed locally as needed throughout the three years it covered.
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DEUTERONOMY 15 – THE LORD’S RELEASE
Every Seven Years
At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’s release. – Deuteronomy 15:1-2
It was called “the Lord’s Release” because:
– The poor were relieved for a whole year (Deut. 15:1-4).
– Israel would learn mercy and have compassion on the poor (Deut. 15:7-11).
– Brotherly love among His people would be an example to the heathen (Deut. 15:7-15).
– God wanted a set time every seven years to release slaves (Deut. 15:12-18).
– God blessed men with abundant crops during the six years between sabbatical years, to relieve suffering during a year of rest (Deut. 15:4; Ex. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:2-4).
– The land rested a whole year (Ex. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:3-4).
– The poor had the crops that grew during the seventh year (Ex. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:5-7).
– Servants and livestock had a year of rest from hard labor (Ex. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:5-6).
(All lists are taken from the Dake Study Bible)
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