Deuteronomy 20 – I do not understand a God of destruction

Deuteronomy 20:10-16 “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. 11 “If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. 12 “However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 “When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. 14 “Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you. 15 “Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby. 16 “Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes.

I struggle with these passages. I struggle with a God who encourages and enables the massacre of cities. I struggle with a God who promotes and encourages war and destruction. I struggle with a God that is so dissimilar to the God I know and worship.

I understand the urge to say there must be two gods. I understand the desire to say that there was a vengeful God of the Old Testament and a loving God of the New Testament. I understand; but I think that’s wrong.

Somehow, the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are one, eternal, unchanging God. The same yesterday, today, and forever.

I do not understand it yet. Maybe I never will.

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Deuteronomy 18 – Presumptuous prophets

Deuteronomy 18:18-22 ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. 20 ‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 “You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ 22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

There are two warnings in this passage: a warning to those who do not listen to God’s prophets, and a warning to those who pretend to be God’s prophets.

It is a dangerous thing to ignore God, even when he speaks through other people. It is an even more dangerous thing to speak for God when God has not spoken to you.

How do we tell the difference between the two types of prophets; the true prophets of God and the presumptuous usurpers? We wait to see if what they say becomes true.

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Deuteronomy 17 – Give of your best

Deuteronomy 17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the LORD your God.”

Whatever you give to the Lord, make sure it is your best. Otherwise, it’s probably better just not to give.

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Deuteronomy 16 – Ideas about idols

Deuteronomy 16:21-22 “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 “You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the LORD your God hates.”

Asherah was a Semitic mother-godess, often worshiped as a fertility god. The image of Asherah was often carved into tress or poles.

This passage was written to Israel and was part of the law established for the Jewish people. With that said, does it speak to contemporary Christians? Should we have crosses or flagpoles where we worship? Or is that taking it to far?

I come from a religious tradition (Friends/Quakers) that historically rejected all adornments to its worship space. A meeting house was just that, a plain house in which to meet. There was no decoration, no adornment, no instrument, no cross, no flag; just benches. The goal was to keep focus on the leading of God, and not set up idols for worship.

Can a statue be an idol? Can a painting be an idol? Can a guitar be an idol? Can a flag be an idol? Can a cross be an idol?

If so, what should we do about it?

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Deuteronomy 15 – Care for those in need

Deuteronomy 15:9-11 “Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. 10 “You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. 11 “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

The poor are with us still, and it is still our responsibility to care and provide for those in need.

Our hearts should not be filled with thoughts such as: the government will care for them so I do not have to, or if they would just make an effort they would not be poor.

These base thoughts are counter to what God has called us to do. We are to care for those in need regardless of whether we feel they deserve it or not.

We need to give and not let your hearts be grieved in the giving because what we do we do for the Lord. God will bless our work. God will bless us. It is okay if people take advantage of us, because the one they are truly taking advantage of is God. Let God worry about it.

Put all of your energy into caring for others needs, whether they deserve it or not.

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Deuteronomy 14 – Tithing teaches us to “fear” the Lord

Deuteronomy 14:22-27 “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 “You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24 “If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26 “You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 “Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

I find it interesting that God begins by describing which animals are clean and which are unclean and then moves into a discussion of tithing.

Perhaps more interesting is the reason the Israelites are called to tithe: “so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.”

Fear of the Lord is not “being afraid” of the Lord. Rather, fear of the Lord is knowing your place in relationship to God and living properly with God in your life.

We tithe to show respect to God. We tithe to demonstrate that we are under God and we owe God.

A tithe may benefit the community, or the priests; but these are secondary. The primary purpose of a tithe is to work on the tither’s heart and soften it so it can be in right relationship with God.

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Deuteronomy 13 – Speaking on God’s behalf

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.

False prophets are not a new thing. One of the easiest paths to power is to claim supernatural knowledge from God. I think it is fair to be suspicious of anyone claiming to speak on God’s behalf (this would include pastors). Blind acceptance can and will lead to a horrible outcome.

God does not work in secret and God does not reveal his plan to only one person. If we can learn anything from the Bible it is that God reveals himself over and over again. If someone claims to be speaking a word from God, it is not wrong to wait for God to confirm that word. A degree of cynicism can be good.

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Deuteronomy 12 – Rejecting God

Deuteronomy 12:2-9 “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 “You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. 4 “You shall not act like this toward the LORD your God. 5 “But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. 6 “There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 “There also you and your households shall eat before the LORD your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you. 8 “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; 9 for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.

Idolatry is kind of a big deal for God. And this is probably one of the aspects of God which is easiest for us to understand. If you were the creator of the universe, and your creation decided to worship something else, how would you respond? If my kid’s started calling someone else “dad” there would quick and firm correction; same thing with God.

Honor god with all of your life, and give him the glory you owe as a part of God’s creation.

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Deuteronomy 11 – The relationship between faith and prosperity

Deuteronomy 11:13-21 “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. 15 “He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 “Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. 17 “Or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.

18 “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 19 “You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth.

What is the relationship between faithfulness and blessing? Is it the case that if we follow certain rules we will be blessed by God?

That certainly seems to be the case for Israel. Prosperity was directly linked to faithfulness. However, even for Israel this did not mean that there would not be difficulties. There were still battles to fight, and natural disasters to overcome. For Israel, faithfulness to God meant that they would be ultimately successful even in the face of trials.

Christians are not Israel. We do not receive the promises made to Israel. We are not under the covenant made between God and Israel.

God promises Christians that faithfulness will be rewarded with a fully restored relationship with God. We have the opportunity to receive grace (and a restored relationship with God) through our faith in Christ.

We are not promised prosperity and anyone who tells you otherwise is preaching a gospel other than Christ. We follow a savior who suffered through trials, who was tempted, who was persecuted, and who was killed. Why should we expect any different?

The good news is that we follow a savior who conquered death and is seated next to God. We can expect the same, if we have faith.

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Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Have a great weekend!

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Deuteronomy 10 – A great, might, awesome, and just God

Deuteronomy 10:17-22 the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. 18 “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. 19 “So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 20 “You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name. 21 “He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. 22 “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

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Deuteronomy 9 – A blessing is never deserved

Deuteronomy 9:4-6 “Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you. 5 “It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 “Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.

Do not think that we are any different. God does not bless us because we are righteous. God does not bless us because we are faithful. God does not bless us because we deserve it.

God blesses us because we have aligned ourselves with God and God is faithful to fulfill the promises he has made to those who have sought him out.

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Deuteronomy 8 – Disciplined toward our calling

Deuteronomy 8:2-7 “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. 4 “Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 “Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 “Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 “For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land

I believe that God has a Promised Land for each of us. God has a place (not necessarily physical) that we have been promised and to which we are being led. It is the place that fulfills your purpose in life; the place for which God made you.

But I know very few people who can enter their promised land without first going through a season (or many seasons) of discipline.

We are not disciplined because God hates us. We are not disciplined because we are evil. We are not disciplined because we are incompetent. We are disciplined to bring us to a point where we can bring out the best in our promised land.

It is a tough thing to admit that admit that you may not yet be ready for the thing God has called you to. But it is important to remember that the season of discipline your find yourself in, is part of the journey toward your promised land.

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Deuteronomy 7 – The faithfulness of God

Deuteronomy 7:6-10 “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.

This may be one of the most important ideas that a Christian can take away from the Old Testament; the idea that God is faithful.

If God is faithful then we can believe what is written in John 1:12 “But as many as received [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God.”

If God is faithful then we can believe Jesus in John 14:3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

If God is faithful then we can believe Mark 9:7 “Then a cloud formed, overshadowed [Jesus, Moses, and Elijah], and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!’”

If God is faithful then, if we have received Jesus, there is nothing that can keep us away from God.

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Weekly Meanderings

There are an abnormal number of Qs in this week’s list. Anyway, here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Have a great weekend!

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Deuteronomy 5 – The Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy 5:6-21 ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me. 8 ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9 ‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 11 ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 12 ‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 ‘You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day. 16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you. 17 ‘You shall not murder. 18 ‘You shall not commit adultery. 19 ‘You shall not steal. 20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

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Deuteronomy 4 – Don’t speak for God

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

I find it odd that there is such a clear command to not add to the laws of God, when that is exactly what happened for at least the next two thousand years, resulting in the Pharisees of Jesus day. I suppose they did not technically add to the law, but rather defined what God had really meant by “resting on the Sabbath” or “eating only clean animals”.

In general, whenever we try to restate “what God really meant”, odds are we’re going to get it wrong. Let God speak for God, and you can speak for yourself.

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Deuteronomy 3 – Taking responsibility

Deuteronomy 3:21-28 “I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; so the LORD shall do to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross. 22 ‘Do not fear them, for the LORD your God is the one fighting for you.’ 23 “I also pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? 25 ‘Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 “But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the LORD said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. 27 ‘Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. 28 ‘But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he will give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.’

Moses is in his last few days, but he is still being God’s servant to the nation of Israel. Meanwhile, God is working with Moses to raise up a leader for the next generation. (In our churches we should always be working toward raising up leaders for the next generation)

However, God told Moses that he would not be allowed to enter the Promise Land. The mercy God does grant Moses is the opportunity to look across the river into the Promised Land. There is some confusion in the Pentateuch whether it was the unfaithfulness of Moses or the unfaithfulness of the Israelites which kept Moses out. To what extent are we responsible for the unfaithfulness of the people we lead? I would guess, to a larger extent than we think.

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Deuteronomy 2 – God’s faithful plan

Deuteronomy 2:16-25 “So it came about when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, 17 that the LORD spoke to me, saying, 18 ‘Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab. 19 ‘When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not harass them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’…24 ‘Arise, set out, and pass through the valley of Arnon. Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession and contend with him in battle. 25 ‘This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens, who, when they hear the report of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

Two quick notes. First, God was faithful to follow through on his promise. God is always faithful, and works with us in spite of our disobedience.

Second, God had a plan for the descendants of Lot as well as the descendants of Abraham. God reserved the nation of Israel as the people through whom he would bring a savior into the world; but, I would argue that there has never been a person or a nation on this earth that God did not have a plan for.

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Deuteronomy 1 – Following God’s will

Deuteronomy 1:28-45 “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.”‘ 29 “Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 30 ‘The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes…32 “But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, 33 who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go. 34 “Then the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying, 35 ‘Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the LORD fully.’ 37 “The LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘Not even you shall enter there. 38 ‘Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it…42 “And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be defeated before your enemies.”‘ 43 “So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 “The Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. 45 “Then you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.

The childlike attitude of the Israelites amazes me. First, they say “no God, we don’t want to go.” Then, God tells them that they are being disobedient and will be punished. Then, they say “oh, our bad God, we didn’t really mean it, let’s go kick some Amorite butt.” God says, “no, you had your chance and blew it”; but they decide to go ahead and attack without God. Surprise, surprise, they are defeated. How many times can you be unfaithful to God at one sitting?

The Israelites may be acting like children, but that does not mean that we act much better. How often do we ignore God’s leading, or push God off until later, with the excuse “that would make me uncomfortable”, “I can’t go out of my way”, or “I don’t have enough time.”

Only recently have I become some what consistent on faithfully following through on God’s leading in my life. To obey God you have to do three things.

1) Be aware of God in everyday life. I have come to recognize the leading of God as the unexpected thoughts that entery my head such as “you should go talk to him”, “you should help her out”, “you should go ask this question”.

2) Take the time to do what God asks you to do. It’s easy to brush God off; God is not usually overly-persistent and seldom begs. It’s easy to ignore the situation, to drive on by, to pretend you did not see. It takes effort and time to actually do what God is asking of you.

3) See it through to the end. Don’t wuss out half way through. If your going to follow God down his rabbit trail, follow God all the way. Make sure you accomplished what God was calling you to do.

It takes time, effort, emotional will-power, and a willingness to put yourself into some uncomfortable positions. But when God calls you to do something, do it.

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