handing over our hurts

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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handing over our hurts

Deuteronomy 19:4 “Here is the instruction concerning a case of someone who kills a person and flees there to stay alive, having killed his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him:
Deuteronomy 19:5 If, for example, he goes into the forest with his neighbor to fell timber, and his hand swings the ax to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, that person may run away to one of these cities and stay alive.
Deuteronomy 19:6 Or else, the avenger of blood in the heat of his anger might pursue the one who committed manslaughter, overtake him because the distance is great, and slit his throat. Yet he did not legally deserve to die, since he did not previously hate his neighbor.
Deuteronomy 19:7 This is why I am commanding you, and this is what I say: separate three cities for yourselves.

handing over our hurts

I mentioned yesterday that there was a social and psychological need for these cities of refuge. If someone killed another person — even if it were accidental — it meant that the community itself could no longer support and protect him. A life had been taken. An offense had occurred requiring retribution. But the retribution in the case cited above would actually be an escalation. The innocent accident would lead to someone being guilty of premeditated murder. So, part of the social reason for the cities of refuge was to prevent that. The family of the victim of manslaughter would know that the person who killed their kin is out of the way, and they would be free to go on with their lives and grieve normally, without becoming another domino in a long line of falling dominoes.

Christian, has someone done something wrong to you or someone you love? Don’t dwell on it. It is not healthy to let thoughts of bitterness and revenge eat away at your mind. Turn it over to God. Let him heal your hurt. If you keep opening the wound every day, it will never heal, and you will be stuck in a cycle of hurt and hate. Pray to God for the strength to go on with your life.

Lord, today we resolve to no longer live with the hurts and resentments of the past. We hand our hurts over to you.

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the price of refuge

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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the price of refuge

Deuteronomy 19:1-3

Deuteronomy 19:1 “When Yahveh your God eliminates the nations whose land he is giving you, so that you take possession from them and live in their cities and houses,
Deuteronomy 19:2 you are to separate three cities for yourselves within the land Yahveh your God is giving you to take possession of.
Deuteronomy 19:3 You are to determine the distances and divide the land Yahveh your God is granting you as an inheritance into three regions, so that anyone who commits manslaughter can flee to these cities.

the price of refuge

The cities of refuge were not easy places to live. One had to immediately separate himself from all that he had known before and escape to a self-imposed incarceration. It involved living a life totally sacrificed to all one’s previous ambitions and affections. It was stressful and difficult, but the alternative was to be hunted down and eliminated like the nations who had previously occupied those cities.

There was a social and psychological need for those cities of refuge. If someone killed another person — even if it were accidental — it meant that the community itself could no longer support and protect him. A life had been taken. An offense had occurred requiring retribution. He had to escape. The cities of refuge provided the needed ticket out. But the price of that ticket was self-denial to the point of death to self.

As such, the cities of refuge provide a picture of Christ and the deliverance he offers. Each of us has offended a sacred and omnipotent God, and we deserve death for all our offenses, even the ones we consider mistakes. Our righteous God is also a loving God and he has provided a way for us to escape the death penalty — but it comes at a price. We need to immediately deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow Christ. Repentance requires radical and immediate transformation.
Lord, thank you for providing an escape from the death penalty we all deserve. We ask for courage to respond to our plight with the necessary swift and immediate repentance.

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telling the difference

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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telling the difference

Deuteronomy 18:21 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message Yahveh has not spoken?’
Deuteronomy 18:22 When a prophet speaks in Yahveh’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message Yahveh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be intimidated by him.

telling the difference

I woke up early this morning, and did not have access to my computer, so instead of writing my devotions (which I usually do first thing) I decided to watch a sermon on my tablet. The sermon was from a preacher I had never listened to before, from a tradition I am not always comfortable with, so I didn’t know what to expect. But after a few minutes, I looked beyond all that and asked myself

“Is it biblical?” I would have to answer “Yes.”
“Is it relevant?” “Yes.”

I concluded that this preacher was speaking to me, and that God had orchestrated my life so that I could hear that message. I am so thankful for events like this, where God uses something out of my ordinary to encourage, strengthen and sometimes challenge me.

The Israelites would encounter true prophets, and false prophets. They would be able to tell the difference. So can we.

Thank you Lord, for the times when you speak to us, and we know it.

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the audience factor

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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the audience factor

Deuteronomy 18:19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.
Deuteronomy 18:20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a message in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods– that prophet must die.’

the audience factor

With great power comes great responsibility. The prophets who emerged in Israel were greatly respected and feared, because God said that he would hold his people accountable for listening and heeding their words. But prophets who dared to say things knowing that those messages did not come from Yahveh would also be held accountable for the rebellion. Such rebels warranted the death penalty. But even the death penalty to the false prophets could not undo the damage done in the hearts and lives of those who listened to them. Lies spread like an epidemic.

How careful are we today to make sure that what we say comes from the Lord? We are now living in an era of unimaginable distribution of information. Any one of us has the potential to communicate in a few seconds to an audience which would have taken a lifetime to cultivate. We should be all the more careful about the words we say and write. It is not only the enormous audience of today, but the staggering audience of the future who is potentially listening.

Lord, make us people who are meticulous to represent you with what we say and write.

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the alternative to Mount Doom

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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Mt. Doom, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Photo courtesy shadowofmordor wikia.

the alternative to Mount Doom

Deuteronomy 18:16 This is what you requested from Yahveh your God at Horeb on the day of the collected assembly and this is what you said: ‘Let us not hear the voice of Yahveh our God again or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die! ‘
Deuteronomy 18:17 Then Yahveh said to me, ‘They have spoken well.
Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

the alternative to Mount Doom

Notice that it was the Israelites themselves who pleaded for an alternate to Sinai’s revelation. They realized their own propensity to sin and fall short of the glory of God — a glory that had been manifested at Sinai. The voice they heard was to them a voice of condemnation. The fire and darkness could only be a precursor to Gehenna. They had to get away from that Mount Doom.

So, if the people would not come into his presence on the mountain, God would send his presence to them through a prophet. He intended to do that all along, but like so many other things, God waits for his people to ask before he gives them what they need.

Ultimately,the answer was — you guessed it — Jesus. He is the revelation of God to a sick, sinful, hurting, needy people. His words are his Father’s words, and they lead to life, not death — forgiveness, not condemnation.

Thank you Lord, for the Prophet who is your presence.

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completeness in Christ

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

 

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completeness in Christ

Deuteronomy 18:13-15 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 18:13 You must be complete1 before Yahveh your God.

Deuteronomy 18:14 Though these nations you are about to take possession from listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, Yahveh your God has not permitted you to do this.

Deuteronomy 18:15 “Yahveh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.

completeness in Christ

Moses had just condemned the animistic practices of the pagan nations surrounding Israel. Next, he tells the Israelites that God expects them to be complete before Yahveh, their God. Here Moses anticipates a rejoinder: “how can we be complete without the spiritual power that these animistic specialists can give?” The answer: “Yahveh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” Completion will come from the coming prophet.

Christian, are you tempted to look for other sources of spiritual power and wisdom, even though you have Jesus? Forsake those sources. God’s Son, whom he raised up from among our brothers – he is all we need. We need only listen to his words to get all the wisdom and power we need to be complete before God.

LORD, thank you for our completeness in Christ.

1תָּמִים Deut. 18:13; 32:4.

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selfish spiritism

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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selfish spiritism

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 18:9 “When you enter the land Yahveh your God is giving you, do not imitate the repulsive customs of those nations.
Deuteronomy 18:10 No one among you is to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery,
Deuteronomy 18:11 cast spells, consult a medium or a spiritist, or inquire of the dead.
Deuteronomy 18:12 Everyone who does these acts is repulsive to Yahveh, and Yahveh your God is taking possession from the nations before you because of these repulsive acts.

selfish spiritism

The acts defined as repulsive to God here are all practices associated with animism. Animism as a world-view is thought to be primitive — customs that the modern world has evolved away from. Nothing could be further from the truth. The root is animism is doing what works for me — regardless of how it hurts others.

I never read the Harry Potter series, but I suspect its author wanted people to imagine someone using spiritual power for good. Harry Potter is fiction. Such animists do not exist in real life. Instead, those who seek to harness the powers of the spirit world are all deeply selfish beings who want power over others to benefit themselves.

That is why Moses brands all such persons as repulsive to God. It was this sinful selfishness that doomed the nations to lose their territory and identity as a judgment from God. Moses assumed that some of the Israelites would be drawn toward the practices of animism, perhaps thinking that they could adapt the customs to their worship of Yahveh. Moses knew that such a thing never really happens.

Lord, give us the wisdom to stay away from all the things that repulse you.

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called to serve elsewhere

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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called to serve elsewhere

Deuteronomy 18:1-8 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 18:1 “The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat Yahveh’s fire offerings;1 that is their inheritance.

Deuteronomy 18:2 Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, Yahveh is his inheritance, as he promised him.

Deuteronomy 18:3 This is what the priests legally deserve from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach.

Deuteronomy 18:4 You are to give him the first of your grain, new wine, and fresh oil, and the first sheared wool of your flock.

Deuteronomy 18:5 You see, Yahveh your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes to stand and assist in his name from now on.

Deuteronomy 18:6 When a Levite leaves one of your towns in Israel where he was a guest2 and wants to go to the place Yahveh chooses,

Deuteronomy 18:7 he may assist in the name of Yahveh his God like all his fellow Levites who stand there in the presence of Yahveh.

Deuteronomy 18:8 They will eat equal portions besides what he has received from the sale of the family estate.

called to serve elsewhere

Whether the Levites stayed in the communities they were born into, or traveled to Jerusalem to serve there, these special citizens were set apart for serving the LORD. It was only right for this group who gave their lives for God to assist others in their worship should be provided for by the general population.

There are those in Christian communities who will also feel the call to serve elsewhere. Our support of these missionaries is an extension of our own call to serve God by discipling the nations. May we be as generous as we can toward them.

Lord, thank you for those who serve you among us, and for those called from among us to serve you elsewhere.

1אִשֶּׁה

2גּור

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instructions for a future king

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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instructions for a future king

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 17:18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
Deuteronomy 17:19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear Yahveh his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these prescriptions.
Deuteronomy 17:20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years in Israel.

instructions for a future king

I want you to notice something about what Moses is saying here. He is telling us something about the purpose for all of the books he wrote. The Torah was designed to instruct a future king on how to live in humble obedience to God and his will. The promise of the Torah is that the king who keeps a copy of this Torah and obeys it will have a long lasting dynasty in Israel. His scroll is to be maintained — and it is assumed explained — by the king’s own staff of Levitical priests.

This passage helps us understand the content of Moses’ books. They contain history, but they are intended to do more than teach history. Moses — who grew up in Pharaoh’s household — wanted his words to help future kings succeed where Pharaoh failed.

King Jesus succeeded where all the kings of Israel and Judah failed. He walked with God and obeyed the instruction of the Torah, and fulfilled its prophecies.

Thank you, Lord, for the king who stayed true to your instruction.

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focused to the finish

Posted on February 23, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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focused to the finish

Deuteronomy 17:16-17

Deuteronomy 17:16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, because Yahveh has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
Deuteronomy 17:17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.

focused to the finish

Having an Israelite king itself will be no guarantee of God’s favor. The king has to be devoted to God. He has to seek what God wants, and avoid using his power to boost his own importance. He needs to trust God instead of alliances with foreign powers. He needs to stay away from the numerous allegiances that having many wives would bring.

The Israelites needed a king with focus.

When Jesus came, he said “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work ” (John 4:34 NASB). He was focused to the finish.

Thank you, Jesus, for staying focused until all God wanted to do was finished.

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