February 15 - Deuteronomy 18-20
God is such a fair and loving Father. His commands to His people show that abundant love over and over. There are several references to His fairness in this passage.
The priests in the Old Covenant were the full-time servants of God in that day. He did not give them a portion of the Promised Land for an inheritance, but He was their inheritance. In other words, they did not have to make a living for themselves and their families, because God would take care of them. They received food from the sacrifices of the people and money from the tithes, which were divided equally among all of the men in the tribe of Levi. In this way God blessed them for their continual service for Him. He made sure they did not lack for anything, while being able to focus totally on their service. That model carries over to the New Covenant. In the New Testament the Lord says that God's people should take care of those He called into His full-time service.
God lovingly warns against following the false religions again. We must know that Satan will try to counterfeit God's ways, but it is only through His prophets that we know the future, not through witchcraft or any type of spells. These things are hated by God, because they lead people not to trust God. In fact, He even promises to send another Prophet like Moses who will speak the words of God to them. This is ultimately a reference to Jesus. It shows that God will go to great lengths to communicate His will to us, even to the point of coming to earth in human flesh.
The fairness of God is seen again in the provision of the three cities of Refuge for the safety of the manslayers. God wanted their lives to be saved for an unintentional death, but He emphasized the need for death in a murder case so that there would not be a guilt on the Land from bloodshed. God's way is for the punishment of a crime to meet the level of the crime, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, etc. In fact, God even tells the people to set aside three more cities of Refuge if they conquer more land. God is holy, so He is always concerned about justice.
Even in making war God is so fair. Did you catch the list of people who were not required to go to war, even those who were afraid did not have to go? God is so good to take our needs into account in difficult times. In this same passage He outlines how to make war on people outside of Canaan in the future, and He reminds them to totally destroy the people of Canaan. This seems harsh to some people, but God's punishment for their paganism was to be killed. Since God is the righteous Judge, His sentence is always the right one. He is the only One who knows all the facts and even the intents of the heart.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 21-23.
The priests in the Old Covenant were the full-time servants of God in that day. He did not give them a portion of the Promised Land for an inheritance, but He was their inheritance. In other words, they did not have to make a living for themselves and their families, because God would take care of them. They received food from the sacrifices of the people and money from the tithes, which were divided equally among all of the men in the tribe of Levi. In this way God blessed them for their continual service for Him. He made sure they did not lack for anything, while being able to focus totally on their service. That model carries over to the New Covenant. In the New Testament the Lord says that God's people should take care of those He called into His full-time service.
God lovingly warns against following the false religions again. We must know that Satan will try to counterfeit God's ways, but it is only through His prophets that we know the future, not through witchcraft or any type of spells. These things are hated by God, because they lead people not to trust God. In fact, He even promises to send another Prophet like Moses who will speak the words of God to them. This is ultimately a reference to Jesus. It shows that God will go to great lengths to communicate His will to us, even to the point of coming to earth in human flesh.
The fairness of God is seen again in the provision of the three cities of Refuge for the safety of the manslayers. God wanted their lives to be saved for an unintentional death, but He emphasized the need for death in a murder case so that there would not be a guilt on the Land from bloodshed. God's way is for the punishment of a crime to meet the level of the crime, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, etc. In fact, God even tells the people to set aside three more cities of Refuge if they conquer more land. God is holy, so He is always concerned about justice.
Even in making war God is so fair. Did you catch the list of people who were not required to go to war, even those who were afraid did not have to go? God is so good to take our needs into account in difficult times. In this same passage He outlines how to make war on people outside of Canaan in the future, and He reminds them to totally destroy the people of Canaan. This seems harsh to some people, but God's punishment for their paganism was to be killed. Since God is the righteous Judge, His sentence is always the right one. He is the only One who knows all the facts and even the intents of the heart.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 21-23.