Thanksgiving Deut. 26

 

Deuteronomy 26 - Thanksgiving

 

As the Israelite presented his offering of first fruits to the Lord, he was to review God’s gracious dealings with his people in delivering them from oppression in Egypt and in bringing them to the bountiful land He had promised them.

Thanksgiving for us is a day when we bring a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God, and that’s good. Most of us, eat a big turkey dinner. If we go back and check the Pilgrims and the Puritans, we will find that they, out of their meager resources, made an offering to God on that day. Wonderful as it is to make an offering of thanksgiving and praise with our lips, we ought to back it up with our means.

The people were to give their first fruits to God to acknowledge Him as the Redeemer of the nation. God still wants us to put Him first and give Him glory for the blessing He freely bestows on us Prov. 3:5-10.

They were also to present the “third-year tithe” to help support the Levites and the poor in the land. As with the ceremony of first fruits, the people were to confess the Lord’s goodness in blessing the land and giving the harvest.

These two events remind us of the two great commandments, to Love God first and then to love our neighbor.  Grateful obedience is a hallmark of God’s special people.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

 

 

Punishment of the Guilty Deut. 25

 

Deuteronomy 25-Punishment of the Guilty

 

There were certain crimes that arose through difficulties between individuals. Their punishment was a limit of forty stripes. Apparently, God thought that was the way it was to be handled. The answer as to whether it was effective is found in the fact that Israel had a very low crime rate.

 Do Not Muzzle the Ox

 God told the Israelites not to do that because the ox was working for them, he is treading out their corn so let the ox eat. Paul uses this verse in his letter to the Corinthian Christians. I Cor. 9:14. He is saying that the man who is ministering to you in spiritual things is feeding you spiritual food. You, in turn, are to feed him with material things. 

 Protecting Widows

 When a man died, he would leave a farm with all his wheat and corn and his livestock of sheep and oxen. The widow was left to care for all of this. Then she was to go and claim one of her husband's brothers, a cousin or a nearest relative of his and ask him to marry her. If the brother or relative doesn’t want to marry her, she can take him to court. If he still refuses to marry her, he is disgraced for not taking care of her according to the law. Getting married was a family affair. This was God’s way of drawing families very close together, of protecting the widows, and also of protecting the land. This was the way the land would stay in the same family. It was a very good law for them.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

 

Divorce Deut.24

 

Deuteronomy 24   Divorce

 

Let me start this lesson out by saying God does not agree with wife swapping. If a second husband divorces a wife, she cannot go back to her first husband, because she has been defiled. In effect, that is wife swapping and God does not approve. Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? Because of the hardness of the hearts suffered them to put away their wives, but from the beginning God said there should be one man for one woman. Unfaithfulness to the marriage vow was the only grounds for divorce. There are a great many things which God permits in His permissive will. He permits it because of the hardness of our hearts. This is true in the personal lives of many individuals. God is merciful and gracious to us and permits things in our lives that are not in His direct will. God regards the sacredness of the marriage vow.

God wants happiness and holiness in our homes. We will enjoy those blessings if we obey Him and love one another.

 

Helping Others

 

When others have needs, don’t close our eyes (Prov. 28:27), your ears (Prov. 21:13), your hand, or your heart (Deut. 15:7; I john 3:17). Good words are not a substitute for good works (James 2:14-17; I John3:18). When we share with the poor, we give to the Lord, and He sees to it that there are dividends for them and for us (Prov. 19:17).

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Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

 

 

The Flesh and The Devil Deut. 23

 

Deuteronomy 23 The Flesh and The Devil

 

The world, the flesh and the devil are the three enemies a Christian contends with daily, even hourly, moment by moment.

You must be born again to be a child of God. One can be religious and not be born again. Such a one is not a child of God. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a very religious man, a spiritual ruler of the people, a man who wore his emblems. Yet that man was illegitimate, and our Lord said to him that he must be born again. God doesn’t have illegitimate children. His children have all been born again. “But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13.

 

False Religions

 

False religion is satanic in origin. We are to beware of false religions. It has no place in the congregation of the Lord.

For the believer, Esau (Edom) represents our old nature, the flesh. We can hate the flesh, try to step on it, try to punish it, or mutilate it but none of it will do any good. The flesh is in rebellion against God, but it is a part of us, and hating it will not get us anywhere. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” I John 2:15.

Just as the children of Israel were never called upon to plant flowers in the wilderness, neither are we called upon to join movements to try to straighten out the world. We are to give out the Word of God-that is our business. We are pilgrims and strangers here, just passing through.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

 

Relationships and Rules Deut. 22

 

Deuteronomy 22- Relationships and Rules

 

Brother Relationships

God had a good neighbor policy for His people in the day of the Israelites. They were not to assume a nonchalant attitude toward the neighbor, nor were they to pass by as if the neighbor’s problem was none of their business. They were to extend their help to the neighbor.

Dress Code:

God created us male and female, God is saying here that a man ought to look like a man, and a woman ought to look like a woman.

Protection For Birds:

If the Father is concerned about a sparrow, He is also concerned and knows all about us.

Building Code:

The roof of the Israelites house served as the front porch, patio, deck, etc. God says that the area is to be protected. There was to be a railing around it so little children would not fall off and so that people would not step off the roof in the darkness. God wants our home to be dedicated to Him, and He wants that home to be a safe place.

Mixtures:

God says the Israelites should not plow their field with a ox and an ass yoked together. The reason was because they don’t walk together- their gait is different, and they do not pull together. The same thing is true in marriage. God does not want a mixture of the saved and the unsaved. The child of God cannot mix with the world.

Marriage:

Adultery in Israel was to be punished by stoning. God honors marriage and God honors sexual purity. God’s Love for His people are expressed in His Law. This law regarding the protection of the sanctity of marriage is a fine example of His love and concern for the human family.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

 

 

The Laws of Murder Deut. 21

 

Deuteronomy 21 The Laws of Murder

 

If a man has obviously been murdered and his body is found, the officials of the city are to measure to find the closest city. Then that city is held responsible for the murder. It may not be that he was slain in the city, but the city is still held responsible. God holds a community responsible. The elders of that city were to come and ask forgiveness for the city, and forgiveness would have been granted them. When we come to God, and we confess our sins, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9. Instead of judgment, there is mercy for us.

A criminal who was executed by hanging was not to remain on the tree all night. This was because everyone who hangs on a tree is accursed. A person who was put to death by stoning was then hung on a tree. This applied to a criminal of the worst type, to let it be seen that he died for his terrible crime. It would be a warning to others. The body was to be taken down from the tree by nightfall and buried. The reason was that the criminal was accursed of God.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.” Galatians 3:13. He became a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of the Law. He redeemed us from the penalty of sin, and He has brought us pardon.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.

Warfare Deut. 20

 

Deuteronomy 20 Warfare

 

The question any nation should consider – and certainly a so-called civilized and Christian nation – is whether this is a war that God is in. If He isn’t in it, then we shouldn’t be in it either. We need to make sure that we are on God’s side.

God puts down four conditions which would keep a man from going to battle. 1. If a man has built a new home and has not had the opportunity to live in it. this is because his heart would be in the new home. 2. He had just planted a vineyard; Because he hasn’t had the opportunity to eat a grape off it yet. 3. He is engaged to a girl, and he gets drafted. He is in love with that girl; he wants to marry her. That is where his heart is, and he is not to go to war. 4. If a man was afraid, faint-hearted, fearful, he was not to go.

This law was applied to Gideon’s army. He started out with 32,000 men who rallied to him to free their nation from the oppression of the Midianites who impoverished them. Whoever was fearful and afraid could go home! 22,000 men picked up their gear and went home. Those who lapped like a dog and were all set to go wanted to free and save their nation. So, they were the ones who went to war, and the others went home.

Two things God wants us to know before we go: 1. We must be on His side. We must be fighting for what is right and know that God is with them. 2. We must be enthusiastic about it. If we fight a war, we are to fight to win- that is the purpose of it. And that is exactly what God says, we have no business to fight a war unless we are fighting to win it.

 

Please read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.

If you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.

J. Vernon McGee Commentary and Nelson’s Quick Reference Commentary.