Bible Reading Reflection from Deuteronomy 13-19

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (KD), a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]

𝔻𝔼𝕌𝕋𝔼ℝ𝕆ℕ𝕆𝕄𝕐 𝟙𝟛

Kill anyone and everyone who tries to lead you astray in worshiping a false god. Hmm!

God is serious that He is only the one to be worshipped. There is none like Him.

May we be serious about "the seriousness of God"!

 

𝔻𝔼𝕌𝕋𝔼ℝ𝕆ℕ𝕆𝕄𝕐 𝟙𝟜:𝟚

"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."

Chapter 14 contains the don'ts of the Law. The reason is they are different. They belong to God.

We want to be famous like the rest of the world. We want to be rich to eat the delicious foods of the world. We want glory, power, honor and to be able to go to all the places of the world and be held in awe by all. We want many great things for ourselves. We really love ourselves. We really do everything for ourselves. We really serve ourselves. We really idolize ourselves! We are our own god.

God wants the Israelites to live for Him. He gives them all things but asks them to avoid a few things for His name's sake. God gave Adam and Eve everything and asked them to avoid only one tree for His name's sake.

Every time, God is the same. He gives everything for us, allows us to do everything, but with few exceptions.

If I were God, I would send everybody to hell, and I will put myself in the first batch!

 

𝔻𝔼𝕌𝕋𝔼ℝ𝕆ℕ𝕆𝕄𝕐 𝟙𝟝:𝟙𝟙, 𝟜

v11. "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.’"

v4. "However, there will be no poor among you, since the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess"

No poor in the ideal plan. Yes, poor people are everywhere in reality. Obedience and disobedience!

Well, the poor must not be despised but be cared for. And poverty must be reduced as much as it can be

 

𝔻𝔼𝕌𝕋𝔼ℝ𝕆ℕ𝕆𝕄𝕐 𝟙𝟞:𝟚𝟘

"Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you."

In a society, justice is a top priority to pursue. Leaders are to be a man of principle—justice.

Our leaders of nation, state, district, town, village are hardly known for justice. They are known for corruption, bribery, VIP culture. They are known for opportunism, slander, and nepotism!

Let's look out for just people! Let’s elect just people for the leadership.

 

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."

I am 100% confident that when I grew up in my grandma's home, my grandma and all the villagers offered the best products of their labor (fields, cattle) to God (church). I would often hear, "This is so good, this has to be brought to Church."

I also grew up seeing people giving the best and cleanest note (money) in the hour of offering. Indeed, what a commendable practice! There's a warrant for this practice based on this verse1 of Deut. 17.

However, we failed in many areas. We must consider such thing as well: Have we given our best time to God (early morning or whatever time you think is best)? Are you serving God in the best days of your life? Or are you waiting for the days of your gray hairs?

BTW, I also saw some families who had many sons, proposing to send at least one of them for the work of Christian ministry, which is commendable. Only that they didn't send the first son or the best child.

BTW, I also saw people putting on their best dress on Sunday, when they come to church Sunday morning to worship God. Nowadays, people are so casual!

God wants the best! There is only one perfect man in the universe. And God used that person for a sacrifice. God demands His life. He was offered up to God for a pleasing sacrifice, Lord Jesus Christ!

 

𝔻𝔼𝕌𝕋𝔼ℝ𝕆ℕ𝕆𝕄𝕐 𝟙𝟠:𝟚𝟚

"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 lots of people in Manipur who are prophesying and predicting this and that thing to come in the name of the God of the Bible. Let me be very clear:

They are doing so by the leading of the spirit of Satan, who transformed himself into an angel of light. Or at best, they are being deluded, being biblically uneducated, ill-informed, and ill-taught. To them the saying is appropriate, "Better to be untaught than to be ill-taught!"

According to the Scriptures, the test of a prophet is not: how many of his prophecies/ predictions are true? The real test is: is any of his prophecies found to be false?

The standard is: even if he is 99% correct, if it's not 100% correct, he is not of God. He is a presumptuous prophet. Remember this verse Deuteronomy 18:22.

I dare say, all of them are presumptuous prophets. Lucky that, our generation doesn't have the guts to stone them to death!

 

𝔻𝔼𝕌𝕋𝔼ℝ𝕆ℕ𝕆𝕄𝕐 𝟙𝟡:𝟚𝟙

"Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."

This is legal justice! Well, we don't want justice when we are the guilty party. We want mercy. We look for excuses, forgiveness, leniency.

But when we are the victims, we want to repay them exactly, actually doubly! 😬

It looks that our cry for justice is often driven by selfishness.