what God has to hate

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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what God has to hate

Deuteronomy 12:28-31 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 12:28 Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that you and your children after you may permanently prosper, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of Yahveh your God.
Deuteronomy 12:29 “When Yahveh your God eliminates the nations before you, which you are entering to take possession of, and you take possession from them and stay in their land,
Deuteronomy 12:30 be careful or else you will be ensnared by their ways after they have been exterminated before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I’ll also do the same.’
Deuteronomy 12:31 You must not do the same to Yahveh your God, because they practice every repulsive act, which Yahveh hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

what God has to hate

If you were doing something which God hates, wouldn’t you want to know? God didn’t just on a whim decide to drive out the Canaanites and give the Israelites their land. The inhabitants of the land were committed disgusting, repulsive acts and doing so as part of their religious experience. Child sacrifice was one of those behaviors. God could not stand that. After generations of such iniquity, he decided to eliminate them.

God’s instructions were designed to keep the Israelites from making the same mistakes, and incurring the same judgment. He loves us just the way we are, but warns us not to become what he has to hate. He wants us to live and prosper.

Lord, thank you for teaching us to avoid what you have to hate.

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foreshadowing the death of Christ

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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foreshadowing the death of Christ

Deuteronomy 12:23 Only be strong enough not to eat the blood, since the blood is the personal existence, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
Deuteronomy 12:24 Do not eat blood; pour it on the land like water.
Deuteronomy 12:25 Do not eat it, so that you and your children after you will prosper, because you will be doing what is right in Yahveh’s sight.
Deuteronomy 12:26 “But you are to take the holy offerings you have and your solemn pledge offerings and go to the place Yahveh chooses.
Deuteronomy 12:27 Present the meat and blood of your ascending offerings on the altar of Yahveh your God. The blood of your other sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of Yahveh your God, but you may eat the meat.

foreshadowing the death of Christ

Animals could be hunted or raised for food by the Israelites in the promised land, or to be sacrificed at the tabernacle, but in neither case would they be allowed to consume the blood of the animals. The blood must be extracted from the animals and poured out. The only exception was the ascending offering, but even there the blood was not allowed to be consumed by the worshipers.

The blood symbolizes the life of the animal, paid as a ransom to purchase life for the Israelites. It had to be completely poured out to foreshadow the complete sacrifice of the Messiah’s life for his people.

Every time the Israelites would kill an animal for a meal or for an offering, they would face this prohibition, which was designed to foreshadow the death of Christ.

Lord, thank you for our redemption by the blood of Christ.

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enjoying a good steak

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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enjoying a good steak

Deuteronomy 12:20 “When Yahveh your God enlarges your territory as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I want to eat meat’ because you have a strong desire to eat meat, you may eat it whenever you want.
Deuteronomy 12:21 If the place where Yahveh your God chooses to place his name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock he has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your city gates whenever you want.
Deuteronomy 12:22 You may certainly eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the pure and the contaminated may eat it.

enjoying a good steak

With the possession of the promised land will come more land for more flocks and herds. The Israelites will not have to reserve their animals for only religious offerings. They will have plenty to satisfy their own appetites as well.

The the New Testament corollary to the promised land — the mind of Christ— is also related to this allowance. Satan wants us to avoid holiness because he tells us that we will be missing out on so much. The fact is, once we are disciplined to live holy lives before God, we will find that we have an abundance to enjoy.

Lord, lead us to your holiness, and help us to stop trusting the lies of the enemy.

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enjoy, but be considerate

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

 

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enjoy, but be considerate

Deuteronomy 12:15 “But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your city gates, according to the empowerment Yahveh your God has given you. Those who are pure or contaminated may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer,
Deuteronomy 12:16 but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the land like water.
Deuteronomy 12:17 Within your city gates you may not eat the tenth of your grain, new wine, or fresh oil; the firstborn of your herd or flock; any of your solemn pledge offerings that you pledge; your spontaneous voluntary offerings; or your personal contributions.
Deuteronomy 12:18 You are to eat them in the presence of Yahveh your God at the place Yahveh your God chooses – you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who is within your city gates. Enjoy the face of Yahveh your God in everything you do,
Deuteronomy 12:19 and be careful or else you will neglect the Levite, as long as you live in your land.

enjoy, but be considerate

The gist of these instructions seems to be that the Israelites are free to eat whatever they want as long as they are considerate of others, even the animals they kill to eat.

  • Any clean animal is okay, as long as they do not eat its blood.
  • They can eat their tithe meals, as long as it’s done together at the tabernacle.
  • Whenever they eat, they should be careful that Levites are also provided for.

God wants us to enjoy our lives, and his restrictions on us are not intended to stifle that enjoyment, but to ensure that everyone shares it.

Thank you Lord for commanding your people to be considerate.

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his one way

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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his one way

Deuteronomy 12:12 You will enjoy the face of Yahveh your God – you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your city gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
Deuteronomy 12:13 Be careful or else you will offer your ascending offerings in all the sacred places you see.
Deuteronomy 12:14 You must offer your ascending offerings only in the place Yahveh chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.

his one way

Only one place was to be the central point of worship for the Israelites. Only one tribe was to host them all for that worship. The multitude could experience all kinds of diversity and cultural differences, but in their connection to God, they had to be one nation with one God.

They could also do things differently as individuals or as members of a particular tribe, but the tabernacle was not the place to celebrate their individuality. Every aspect of the tabernacle worship was prescribed. The principal that follows us into the new covenant with Christ is this: we can all enjoy the presence of God but we have to be careful to do it his way. His way is Jesus.

Lord, thank you for the way you have provided for us all to come to you.

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his promised rest

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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his promised rest

Deuteronomy 12:8-11 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 12:8 “You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own sight.
Deuteronomy 12:9 You see, you have not yet come into the resting place and the inheritance Yahveh your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 12:10 When you cross the Jordan and live in the land Yahveh your God is giving you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security,
Deuteronomy 12:11 then Yahveh your God will choose the place to have his name dwell. Bring there everything I command you: your ascending offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions, and all your best offerings you solemnly pledge to Yahveh.

his promised rest

Moses describes the nature of the rest that the Israelites were to experience once they set foot on the promised land. It was not a lack of work. There would be plenty of working the land for crops, etc. It was not a rest of leisure. The rest God had in store for them is that of knowing who they inherited from. That is why Moses mentioned the various offerings and the tabernacle worship.

So, Christian, the same goes for you and me. We have a lot of work to do to possess the mind of Christ— something crucial to our mission. But we can also rest from our labor in trying to do it all according to our understanding of what needs to be done. Instead, we only need to take his yoke upon is, and learn from him.

Lord, thank you for your promised rest.

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what worship should be

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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what worship should be

Deuteronomy 12:5 Instead, turn to the place Yahveh your God chooses from all your tribes to place his name for his dwelling and go there.
Deuteronomy 12:6 You are to bring there your ascending offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions, your solemn pledge offerings and spontaneous voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
Deuteronomy 12:7 You will eat there in the presence of Yahveh your God and enjoy everything you do with your household, because Yahveh your God has empowered you.

what worship should be

The tabernacle was designed to be everything that idolatrous worship places were not. It was a place that God chose. The pagans chose their own places. It was structured for various kinds of offerings. Pagans usually followed one ritual. It was a place for the whole household to enjoy and experience. Pagans usually had a designated head to perform the ritual alone.

New covenant worship is also designed to be very different from what the world can produce. We come into his presence, seek his face, and enjoy fellowship with Christ. We share this joyful experience with our family. We leave refreshed and prepared for our mission to the world around us. This is what worship should be.

Lord, lead us to worship you with vital and honest worship.

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places we revere

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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places we revere

Deuteronomy 12:2 Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are taking possession of worship their gods — on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
Deuteronomy 12:3 Tear down their altars, smash their standing stones, burn their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and destroy their names from every place.
Deuteronomy 12:4 Don’t worship Yahveh your God this way.

places we revere

It was not simply the fact that there were false gods behind the religious trappings of Canaan. No, God’s instructions were to demolish the places where worship happened. He did not want the Israelites worshiping him in the same way the Canaanites worshiped their idols. The Israelites were to care for Yahveh, not manipulate him for their own wealth and advantage over others. So, it was not just the idols, but the whole religious system that had to change.

Christian, is God only your means of getting what you want, or correcting what you don’t like? Is church where you go to meet people you like — to be someone you are not? Do you think of your church building as a magical place that can change the people in your community if they would only visit it once a week? Then God’s command for you is to tear that structure down. The place itself has become an idol, and you have adapted the religion of the Canaanites.

Lord, give us the wisdom to destroy all the trappings of idolatry from our lives — even the places we revere.

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the land we are being given

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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the land we are being given

Deuteronomy 11:31-12:1

Deuteronomy 11:31 You see, you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land Yahveh your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and settle in it,
Deuteronomy 11:32 be careful to do all the prescriptions and rules I set before you today.
Deuteronomy 12:1 “Be careful to watch these prescriptions and rules in the land that Yahveh, the God of your fathers, has given you to take possession of all the days you live on the land.

the land we are being given

Did you notice the tense change? In 11:31, God “is giving” the land, and in 12:1, he “has given” it. From God’s standpoint all our salvation and all our inheritance is a gift already given. From our standpoint in space and time, it’s a gift in progress.

Life itself is a gift we have been given, but also a gift we are being given. Every good gift from God comes with a set of built in obligations. Abuse of the gift could lead to losing it.

For the Israelites, the land was a gift from God but also part of their mission to show off God’s holiness to the surrounding nations. That was where the law came into the picture. The prescriptions and rules for covenant living enabled them to accomplish God’s objective for the gift of the land.

In the new covenant, we have the same phenomenon at work. We have been saved by the finished work of Christ on the cross. But we are being saved in space and time. That is why Jesus did not just pop down for a few hours to suffer and die as our sacrifice. His mission involved more than the cross.

We need more than that. We need instructions for using the gift of salvation to accomplish God’s mission for us. Like the Israelites, God wants Christians to live holy lives to draw the nations to him. That was why Jesus spent years teaching us how to live in the land we are being given.

Lord, thank you for our finished salvation, bought by the blood of Christ. Thank you for the words of Christ which teach us how to live in such a way as to lead others to the same gift.

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two summits

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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two summits

Deuteronomy 11:29 When Yahveh your God brings you into the land you are entering to take possession of, you are to proclaim the empowerment at Mount Gerizim and the affliction at Mount Ebal.
Deuteronomy 11:30 Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks of Moreh?

two summits

There is something majestic and surreal about a mountain summit. After all that toil and sweat and exertion, when you finally reach the summit, and see the surrounding country from the advantage of superior elevation, you cannot help but feel different about life.

The Lord chose two mountain summits as the location for the Israelites to perform their first public dramatic presentation of the empowerments and afflictions. The mountains were located within the boundaries of the land they were to conquer. So, all the time they were busy assuming ownership of the land, they were also preparing for this show. What better way would there be for them to learn the consequences of covenant obedience and disobedience?

There is another way, but it is certainly not the better way. We can learn the consequences by failure to live up to our covenant. Then we will experience the covenant afflictions and lose the covenant empowerments.

Christian, listen to the words of Christ concerning our covenant with God through him. Memorize his words. Recite them aloud to yourself and your family. Take the covenant seriously.

Lord, thank you for the covenant of grace, bought by the blood of Christ.

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