HOW TO GET RIGHT WITH ALMIGHTY GOD AND STAY THAT
WAY.
What follows is based on the N.I.V. translation
of the book of Deuteronomy written about 45
lifetimes ago in B.C. 1406. Our comments are in
brackets.
Forty years after leaving Egypt, just before
Israel crossed the Jordan near Jericho, Moses
told them all the Lord had commanded concerning
them.
The Lord our God told us at Mt Sinai to take
possession of the land He had given you as
promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their
descendants.
At that time I said, The Lord your God has
increased your numbers. May He continue to do so
and bless you as He promised. But I can't handle
all your problems and disputes. So choose wise
men from each tribe and I will set them over
you. You agreed and I did so. I appointed
commanders of 1000s, 100s, 50s, 10s and tribal
officials. I told judges to act fairly, not
fearing men, for judgment belongs to God. And to
bring cases they couldn't handle to me.
So, as the Lord our God commanded, we set out
and reached Kadesh Barnea. I said, See the Lord
your God has given you the land. Don't fear,
take possession of it.
Then you said, Let's send men to spy it out and
tell us the best route and what towns there are.
I agreed and selected one man from each tribe.
They returned and said, It is a good land the
Lord our God is giving us.
But you wouldn't go up, you rebelled against the
command of the Lord your God. You grumbled
against Him and said, The Lord hates us, He
brought us out of Egypt to destroy us. We hear
that the people are stronger and taller than us
with cities with walls that reach to the skies.
But I said, Don't fear, the Lord your God who is
going before you, will fight for you. Your own
eyes saw how He did that for you in Egypt and in
the desert. You've seen how the Lord your God
has carried you, as a father carries his son,
all the way to this place.
But you did not trust the Lord your God. Even
though He went ahead of you in fire by night and
cloud by day to search out places for you to
camp and show the way to go.
The Lord heard what you said, was angry and
solemnly swore that, Not a man of this evil
generation shall see the good land except Caleb
because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.
Later, because of you, the Lord became angry
with me. He said, You shall not enter either,
but your assistant Joshua will lead Israel to
inherit the land. I'll give the land to your
little ones who you said would be taken captive.
But as for you, back to the desert you go.
Then you replied, We have sinned against the
Lord, we will go up and fight. So you put on
your weapons thinking it would be easy to go up.
But the Lord said to me, Tell them not to
because I won't be with you and you'll be
defeated.
I did so but you wouldn't listen. You rebelled
against the Lord's command again and arrogantly
marched. Defeated, you returned and wept before
the Lord but He paid no attention. So you stayed
at Kadesh Barnea.
(Chapter 1)
Then back to the desert we went, as the Lord
directed me. Then the Lord said to me, Turn
north. Pass through the territory of your
brothers, the descendants of Esau. Pay for the
food and water and don't provoke them to anger.
The Lord has blessed all the work of your hands,
watched over your journey and you have lacked
nothing.
So we did what the Lord commanded. Thirty eight
years had passed since we left Kadesh Barnea.
The entire generation of fighting men had
perished as the Lord had sworn they would.
With the last one dead, the Lord said to me,
Continue north but don't harass the descendants
of (your brother) Lot.
After doing this the Lord said to do battle with
and possess the kingdom of Sihon. The Lord said,
This very day I'll begin to put terror and fear
of you on all nations.
So I sent messengers to King Sihon offering to
pass through his territory peacefully until we
cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God
is giving us. But Sihon refused, for the Lord
your God had made his heart obstinate in order
to give him into your hands as He now has done.
The Lord said to me, Now begin to conquer. So we
defeated him completely, leaving no survivors.
But we kept livestock and plunder.
(Chapter 2)
We continued north and the king of Bashan with
his whole army marched out to meet us in battle.
The Lord said to me, Do not be afraid, do the
same to him as you did to King Sihon.
So the Lord our God gave him into our hands. We
left no survivors, destroyed 60 fortified cities
with high walls, gates and bars, keeping
livestock and plunder for ourselves.
So from these 2 kings we took all the territory
east of the Jordan from the Arnon River to Mt
Hermon. I gave the land to the tribes of Reuben,
Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh.
I commanded you,the Lord your God has given you
the land to possess. But all your able bodied
men armed for battle must cross the Jordan ahead
of your brother Israelites. Then, when the other
tribes have taken over the land the Lord your
God is giving them across the Jordan, you may
return to your land east of the Jordan.
At that time I commanded Joshua, You have seen
with your own eyes what the Lord has done to
these 2 kings. He will do the same to all the
kingdoms over the Jordan where you are going.
Don't fear them, the Lord your God Himself will
fight for you.
Then I pleaded with the Lord to let me go over
the Jordan and see the land. But, because of
you, the Lord was angry with me and wouldn't
listen. That is enough, the Lord said, Don't
talk to me again about this matter. But go to
the top of Mt Pisgah and look at the land. But
commission Joshua, encourage and strengthen him
to lead the people across to inherit the land.
(Chapter 3)
Israel, hear, keep and follow these laws so that
you may live and possess the land the Lord the
God of our fathers is giving you. Don't add to
or subtract from them.
You saw with your own eyes God destroy those who
worshipped the pagan Baal at Peor. But all of
you who held fast to the Lord your God are still
alive to-day.
I have taught you God's laws:
-Observe and follow them carefully when you
get into the promised land.
-Show your wisdom and understanding to the
nations who will:
-Hear about these decrees and say surely
this is a wise and understanding people.
-Say what other nation has gods near the way
the Lord our God is near whenever we pray
to Him.
-Say what other nation has such righteous
decrees and laws as this body of law I am
setting before you to-day.
-Be careful, watch yourselves closely so you
don't:
-Forget what your eyes have seen.
-Let them slip from your heart as long as
you live.
-Teach them to your children and
grandchildren.
-Remember the day at Mt Sinai you stood before
the Lord your God who:
-Said assemble the people.
-Said hear my words and learn to revere me.
-Made the mountain blaze with fire, with
black clouds and deep darkness.
-Spoke to you out of the fire, but you saw
no form.
-Declared to you His covenant, the 10
commandments, written on 2 stone tablets.
-Commanded you to keep them.
-Directed me to teach you the decrees and
laws you are to follow in the promised
land.
-Which forbid making and worshipping idols:
-For you saw no form at Mt Sinai.
-Which will corrupt you.
-Such as human, creatures or heavenly
bodies.
-Which represented CREATED things NOT THEIR
CREATOR.
-The laws of Him who brought you out of the
iron smelting furnace of Egypt, to be the
people of His inheritance, as you are now.
I am not entering with you because the Lord was
angry with me, because of you.
So remember the Lord your God is a consuming
fire, a jealous God:
-So if, after you have lived in the land a
long time, you become corrupt, make an idol,
and do evil, God will be angry. You'll
quickly perish from the land.
-In this case the Lord will scatter you and
only a few will survive among the nations.
-There you will worship man made gods.
-But if you seek the Lord your God with all
your heart and soul you'll find Him.
-When you return to the Lord and obey Him
you'll find He:
-Is merciful.
-Won't abandon, destroy you or forget His
covenant with your forefathers.
Ask about the days from when God created the
earth:
-Has any other people heard the voice of the
Lord speaking out of fire and lived as you
have?
-Has any other God ever tried to make Himself
one nation out of another by:
-Testings.
-Miraculous signs and wonders.
-War.
-A mighty hand and outstretched arm.
-Great and awesome deeds, like the Lord your
God did for you in Egypt before your very
eyes.
You were shown these things so that:
-You might know the Lord is God.
-From heaven you'd hear His voice to
discipline you.
-On earth you'd see His great fire and hear
His words.
-You'd know He:
-Loved your forefathers.
-Chose their descendants.
-Brought you out of Egypt by His presence
and great strength.
-Drove out nations greater and stronger than
you so as to give you their land for your
inheritance.
-You'd acknowledge and take heart that the
Lord is God in heaven and earth.
-You'd keep His commands so it may go well
with you and your children and that you may
live long in the promised land.
Moses set aside three cities of refuge east of
the Jordan to which anyone who killed another
unintentionally could flee to save his life.
(Chapter 4)
Moses told all Israel to fear, learn and follow
the decrees and laws of His covenant (agreement
between unequals) made face to face with all of
us alive here to-day out of the fire on Mt
Sinai. Which are to:
1.Have no other gods but me, the Lord who
brought you out of slavery in Egypt.
2.Not make, bow down and worship an idol in
the form of anything in:
-Heaven.
-Earth.
-Seas.
Because I:
-The Lord your God am a jealous God:
-Punishing children for the sin of their
fathers to the 3rd and 4th generation of
those who hate me.
-But showing love to a thousand
generations of those who love me and
keep my commandments.
3.Not misuse the name of the Lord your God. If
you do you're guilty.
4.Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
So no work for:
-You.
-Your son or daughter.
-Your maid or servant.
-Any of your animals.
-A foreigner staying with you.
Remember you were slaves in Egypt and the
Lord your God brought you out with a mighty
hand and an outstretched arm.
5.Honour your father and mother so it may go
well and you may live long in the land the
Lord your God is giving you.
6.No murder.
7.No adultery.
8.No stealing.
9.No false testimony against your neighbour.
10.No coveting your neighbour's:
-Wife.
-House or land.
-Servants.
-Livestock.
-Possessions of any kind.
The Lord proclaimed these commandments in a loud
voice to your whole assembly on Mt Sinai out of
fire, cloud and deep darkness. He added nothing
more, writing them on 2 stone tablets which He
gave to me.
When you heard the voice, your elders came to me
and said:
-To-day we have seen a man can live even if
God speaks to him.
-But why should we die? The great fire will
consume us.
-So go near, listen and tell us all God says.
-We will listen and obey.
The Lord heard this and said to me:
-Everything they said is good.
-If only their hearts would be inclined to
fear me and keep my commandments always, so
that it might go well with them and their
children forever.
Tell them to return to their tents, but you stay
here so I can give you all the commands, decrees
and laws you are to teach them to follow in the
promised land.
So be careful to:
-Do what the Lord your God commands you.
-Not turn aside to the right or left from
them.
-Walk in all the way that the Lord your God
has commanded you so you may live, prosper
and prolong your days in the promised land.
(Chapter 8)
God directed me to teach you to observe these
laws in the promised land so that you and your
descendants:
-May fear the Lord by keeping them.
-May enjoy long life.
-May carefully obey them, so it may go well
with you.
-May greatly increase in a land flowing with
milk and honey, just as God promised to you.
Hear O Israel:
-The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
-Love Him with all your heart, all your soul
and all your strength.
-These commandments are to be:
-On your hearts.
-Impressed on your children.
-Talked about when you
-Sit at home
-Walk along the road
-Lie down
-Get up.
-Tied as symbols on your hands.
-Bound on your foreheads.
-Written on
-Door frames of your houses
-Your gates.
-When the Lord brings you to the land promised
to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a land:
-With large flourishing cities you did not
build.
-With houses filled with good things you did
not provide.
-With wells you did not dig.
-With vineyards and olive groves you did not
plant.
Then when you eat and are satisfied, be
careful not to forget the Lord who rescued
you from slavery in Egypt.
-Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and
take oaths in His name.
-Don't follow the gods of the peoples around
you. If you do, because the Lord your God
among you is a jealous God, His anger will
burn against you and He will destroy you
from the face of the land.
-Don't test the Lord your God but be sure to
keep His laws.
-Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight
so that:
-It may go well with you.
-You may take over the good land the Lord
promised you.
-Your enemies will be thrust out before you
as the Lord said.
-In the future when your son askes the meaning
of these laws, tell him:
-We were slaves in Egypt.
-But the Lord brought us out with a mighty
hand.
-Before our eyes the Lord sent miraculous
signs and wonders on Egypt.
-But He brought us out to bring us in and
give us the land promised to our
forefathers.
-The Lord our God commanded us to obey all
these laws and to fear Him so that we
might always prosper and be kept alive as
is the case to-day.
-If we carefully obey God's law, that will
be our righteousness.
(Chapter 6)
When the Lord your God brings you in and drives
out 7 nations larger and stronger than you, you
must destroy them totally:
-Make no treaty with them.
-Show them no mercy.
-Don't intermarry with them. If you do you'll
turn from following me to serve other gods.
Then the Lord's anger will burn against and
quickly destroy you. So:
-Break down their altars.
-Smash sacred stones.
-Cut down Asherah poles.
-Burn their idols.
For you are a holy people to the Lord your God.
He has chosen you out of all the peoples on
earth to be His people, His treasured
possession.
The Lord did not set His affection on you
because you were more numerous than other
peoples, you were the fewest. But He did it
because:
-The Lord loved you.
-He kept His word to your forefathers that He
brought you out with a mighty hand and
redeemed you from slavery in Egypt.
So know that:
-The Lord your God is God.
-He is faithful.
-He keeps His covenant of love to a thousand
generations of those who love Him and keep
His commands, but those who hate Him He will
destroy quickly.
Therefore:
-Pay attention to His laws and carefully
follow them and God will:
-Keep His covenant of love as He swore to
your forefathers.
-Love you and bless you increasing your:
-Children.
-Crops.
-Herds and flocks.
-Bless you more than other people so that:
-None will be childless.
-Livestock will increase.
-You'll be free from the horrible diseases
you knew in Egypt. Those who hate you
will have those diseases.
-Destroy all the peoples the Lord your God
gives over to you. Don't pity them or
serve their gods.
-Don't fear these nations that are stronger
than you.
-Remember well what the Lord your God did to
Pharaoh and all Egypt. You saw with your own
eyes the miraculous signs, wonders, mighty
hand and outstretched arm with which the
Lord brought you out.
-The Lord your God will do the same to all the
peoples you now fear.
-Don't fear, the Lord your God who is amongst
you is a great and awesome God.
-He will drive out these nations before you
little by little:
-Throwing them into great confusion 'til
they are destroyed.
-You will wipe out the name of kings from
under heaven.
-No one will be able to stand against you.
-You are to burn the images of their gods.
-Don't take their silver or gold or it will
be a snare to you.
-Don't bring a detestable thing into your
house or you, like it, will be set apart
for destruction.
(Chapter 7)
Carefully follow all God's commands so you may:
-Live.
-Increase.
-Enter and possess the land.
Remember how the Lord your God:
-Led you all the way in the desert these 40
years to:
-Test you to know what was in your heart,
whether or not you would keep His
commands.
-Humble you, causing you to hunger and then
feeding you with manna. Thus He taught you
that man does not live on bread alone but
on every word that comes from the mouth of
the Lord.
-Show His provision by your clothes not
wearing out and your feet not swelling.
Know in your heart that as a man disciplines his
son so the Lord disciplines you.
Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walk
in His ways and reverence Him.
The Lord your God is bringing you into a good
land with:
-Streams, pools, springs, in the valleys.
-Wheat and barley, vines, fig trees,
pomegranates, olive oil, honey.
-No lack of bread or of anything.
-Iron and copper.
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise
the Lord your God. But be careful not to forget
the Lord and fail to keep His commands.
Otherwise when you:
-Eat and are satisfied
-Build fine houses
-Have flocks and herds increasing
-Have silver and gold increasing
-Find all you have is multiplied,
Your heart will become proud and you will forget
the Lord your God who:
-Brought you out of Egyptian slavery.
-Led you through the vast and dreadful desert,
that thirsty waterless land with venemous
snakes and scorpions.
-Brought you water out of hard rock.
-Gave you manna to eat, to humble and test
you, so that in the end it might go well
with you.
And you may say to yourself, my power and the
strength of my hands have produced this wealth
for me. But remember the Lord your God who gives
you the ability to produce wealth and so
confirms His covenant, which He swore to your
forefathers.
If you forget the Lord your God and follow other
gods you'll be destroyed for your disobedience,
just like the nations the Lord destroyed before
you.
(Chapter 8)
Israel, you are about to cross the Jordan and
go in and dispossess nations greater and
stronger than you. But be assured that the Lord
your God goes across ahead of you, to destroy
and subdue them. So you'll annihilate them
quickly, as the Lord has promised.
When He does, don't say to yourself it's because
of my righteousness or integrity, but it's
because of the wickedness of these nations that
He is driving them out, and to accomplish what
He swore to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob.
But you are a stiff necked people. Just remember
and never forget:
-How you provoked the Lord your God to anger
in the desert. From the day you left Egypt
'til you arrived here you have been
rebellious against the Lord.
-At Mt Sinai the Lord proclaimed to you all
the commandments out of the fire.
-Sent me 40 days without food or water on the
mountain to receive the commandments written
on tablets of stone by God's finger.
-Then the Lord told me to go down because the
people have become corrupt and made a cast
idol for themselves.
-The Lord said, Let me alone, I'll destroy
them and make you into a nation better than
them.
-So I went down from the mountain while it was
ablaze with fire.
-I saw you had sinned by turning quickly from
God's commands by making a golden calf.
-So threw the tablets down and broke them
before your eyes.
-I feared the wrath of the Lord, but again He
listened to me. He was going to destroy
Aaron but I prayed for him.
-I took this sinful thing of yours and burned
it in the fire. Then, crushed it into powder
and threw the dust into a stream.
-I lay prostrate before the Lord, not eating
or drinking for 40 days and nights because
of your sin, the evil that made Him angry. I
prayed:
-Do not destroy your people, your
inheritance you redeemed from Egypt.
-Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, overlook
the stubbornness of this people.
-Otherwise the Egyptians will say you were
not able to take them to the promised
land and because He hated them He killed
them in the desert.
-But they are your people, your inheritance
you brought out by your great power and
outstretched arm.
-How you complained about your hardships at
Taberah (Numbers 11:3).
-How you complained about lack of water at
Massah (Exodus 17:3).
-How you complained about the manna at Kibroth
(Numbers 11:34).
-How you rebelled at Kadesh, (Numbers 14:9)
not trusting or obeying the Lord your God.
-You have been rebellious against the Lord
your God ever since I have known you.
(Chapter 9)
The Lord told me to chisel out two stone tablets
like the first ones and make a wooden box (or
ark) to keep them in.
I did so and took the tablets up the mountain,
the Lord wrote as He did before and gave them to
me. I stayed there 40 days and nights, the Lord
listened to me. It was not His will to destroy
you. Go He said and lead the people to enter and
possess the land.
So I came back down the mountain and put the
tablets in the Ark. They are there now.
Now Israel what does the Lord your God require
of you but to:
-Fear Him.
-Walk in all His ways.
-Love Him.
-Serve Him with all your heart and soul.
-Observe the Lord's commands.
Heaven and earth and everything in it are the
Lord's, but He set His affection on your
forefathers, loved them and chose you above all
nations so:
-Circumcise your hearts.
-Don't be stiff necked any longer.
The Lord your God is:
-God of Gods and Lord of Lords.
-Great.
-Mighty.
-Awesome.
-One who shows no partiality.
-One who accepts no bribes.
-One who defends the fatherless and widow.
-One who loves the alien giving him food and
clothing.
So you are to:
-Love aliens (for so you were in Egypt).
-Fear and serve the Lord your God.
-Hold fast to Him.
-Take oaths in His name.
-Praise Him for the miracles you saw with your
own eyes.
-Remember your forefathers who went down to
Egypt were only 70 in number. But now the
Lord your God has made you as numerous as
stars in the sky.
(Chapter 10)
Love the Lord your God and keep His commandments
always. With your own eyes you saw and
experienced the discipline of the Lord your God,
His:
-Majesty.
-Mighty hand.
-Outstretched arm.
-Signs in the heart of Egypt to:
-Pharaoh.
-The whole country.
-The army, drowned in the sea.
-Wonders in the desert (manna, water, quails
etc.).
-Destruction of the rebels Dathan and Abiram
who disappeared tents and all as the earth
opened and swallowed them.
Therefore:
-Observe all the Lord your God commands so
that:
-You'll have strength to go in and take the
land.
-You may live long in the land:
-Flowing with milk and honey.
-Whose mountains and valleys drink rain from
Heaven - unlike Egypt which you had to
irrigate by foot.
-The Lord your God cares for because His
eyes are continually on it.
So, if you faithfully obey the commands I am
giving you to-day to love the Lord your God and
serve Him with all your heart and soul:
-I (God) will send rain on your land in its
season.
-You'll gather in your grain,new wine and oil.
-I'll provide grass for your cattle.
-You'll eat and be satisfied.
But be careful, or you'll be enticed to turn
away and worship other gods. If you do the
Lord's anger will burn against you and
-Drought will come.
-There will be no produce.
-You'll soon perish.
Therefore, so your days may be many in the land:
-Fix these words in your hearts and minds.
-Tie them as symbols on your hands.
-Bind them on your foreheads.
-Teach them to your children when:
-You sit at home.
-Walk along the road.
-Lie down.
-Get up.
-Write them on your doorposts and gates.
If you carefully observe all these commands to:
-Love the Lord your God
-Walk in His ways
-Hold fast to Him
Then:
-The Lord will drive out all the nations
before you even though they are larger and
stronger than you.
-Your territory will extend from the desert to
Lebanon, the Euphrates to the Mediterranean
Sea. (About 190 kms x 70 kms).
I am setting before you to-day a blessing and a
curse:
-A blessing if you obey the commands of the
Lord your God.
-A curse if you disobey and follow other gods.
-When the Lord your God has brought you into
the land, proclaim the blessings on Mt
Gerizim and the curses on Mt Ebal (about 30
kms north of Jerusalem, both about 3000 ft
high).
(Chapter 11)
Carefully follow these laws of the Lord your God
in the land He has given you:
-Destroy completely all the places of worship
of the nations you drive out:
-Break down their altars.
-Smash their sacred stones.
-Burn their Asherah poles.
-Cut down their idols of their gods.
-Wipe out their names.
-Don't worship the Lord your God in this way.
-Worship the Lord your God in this way.
Seek the place the Lord your God will put
His name for a dwelling. Then:
-Bring your burnt offerings, sacrifices,
tithes, special gifts, freewill offerings,
the firstborn of livestock etc. to that
place. Present them on the altar of the
Lord your God. You may eat the meat, the
blood must be poured beside the altar of
the Lord your God.
-Then in the presence of the Lord your God,
you and your families, servants and
Levites shall eat and rejoice in
everything you put your hand to because
the Lord your God has blessed you.
-Don't do as you do here, (east of the Jordan)
everyone as he sees fit, since you've not
reached your inheritance and resting place,
but when you cross the Jordan and settle in
the land your God is giving you, you'll have
rest and safety.
-Don't sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere
you please but only at the place I choose.
There observe everything I command you.
-But you may slaughter animals and eat in your
towns according to the Lord's blessing:
-Ceremonially clean and unclean may eat.
-But don't eat blood.
-Rejoice before the Lord in all you do. And
don't neglect the Levites.
-Carefully obey all these regulations, so it
may go well with you and your children. You
will be doing what is good and right in the
eyes of the Lord.
-When you settle in the land, don't be
ensnared by enquiring about their gods. You
must not worship the Lord your God in that
way because they do all kinds of detestable
things the Lord hates. They burn children as
sacrifices.
-Do what I command, don't add to or take away
from it.
(Chapter 12)
If a prophet or dream fortune teller appears
among you and announces a miraculous sign and it
happens and he then asks you to follow other
gods, put him to death because he has preached
rebellion against the Lord your God. Purge the
evil from among you.
This is a case of the Lord testing you to see if
you love Him with all your heart and soul. You
must follow and revere the Lord only. Keep His
commands, obey Him, serve and hold fast to Him.
If your brother, son, daughter, the wife you
love or your closest friend secretly entices you
to worship other gods, do not yield. Show no
pity. Your hand must be the first in putting him
to death. Stone him for trying to turn you away
from the Lord your God who brought you out of
slavery in Egypt.
Then all Israel will fear and no one will do
such an evil thing again.
If, in one of the towns the Lord your God is
giving you, wicked men arise and lead people
astray to worship other gods, check carefully.
If it's true kill all who live there, both
people and livestock. Put its plunder in the
public square and completely burn the town. It
is a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.
Never rebuild it.
No condemned things are to be found in your
hands, so the Lord will turn away from His
fierce anger to you.
He will show you mercy, compassion, and increase
your numbers as He promised. Because you obey
Him, keeping all His commands and doing what's
right in His eyes.
(Chapter 13)
You are the children of the Lord your God a
people holy (set apart) for Him. Out of all the
people on earth, the Lord has chosen you to be
His treasured possession. So:
-Don't cut yourselves.
-Don't shave the front of your head.
-Don't eat any detestable thing, you may eat:
-Ox.
-Sheep.
-Goat.
-Deer.
-Gazelle.
-Wild goat.
-Ibex.
-Antelope.
-Mountain sheep.
-Animals with split hoof divided in two
which chew the cud except the:
-Camel.
-Rabbit.
-Coney.
-The pig.
You are not to eat their meat or touch
their carcasses.
-Fish having scales.
-Clean birds except the
-Eagle.
-Vulture.
-Black vulture.
-Red kite.
-Black kite.
-Any kind of falcon.
-Any kind of raven.
-Horned owl.
-Screech owl.
-Little owl.
-Great owl.
-White owl.
-Desert owl.
-Gull
-Any kind of hawk.
-Osprey.
-Cormorant.
-Stork.
-Any kind of heron.
-Hoopoe.
-Bat.
-Flying insects except those which swarm.
-You are a people holy to the Lord, so
anything found already dead:
-You may not eat.
-But you can give it to an alien living in
your towns
-or sell it to a foreigner.
-Don't cook a young goat in its mother's
milk.
-Set aside one tenth of all your fields'
produce each year, grain, new wine and oil
and firstborn livestock.
-Eat these in the presence of the Lord your
God at the place He will choose as a
dwelling place for His name. Thus you may
learn to revere the Lord your God always.
-But if you live too far away from that
place or you can't carry the tithe:
-Sell it.
-Go to the place.
-Buy whatever sacrifice you like there
(cattle, sheep, wine etc.).
-Then eat there with your family in the
Lord your God's presence and rejoice.
-Don't neglect the Levites living in your
towns for they have no allotment or
inheritance of their own (the Lord is
their inheritance).
-Every three years bring all the tithes
of the year's produce and store it in
your towns so that Levites, aliens,
fatherless and widows may come, eat and
be satisfied and so the Lord your God
may bless you in all the work of your
hands.
(Chapter 14)
At the end of every 7 years cancel debts thus:
-Cancel loans to fellow Israelites.
-You may require payment from foreigners.
There should be no poor among you, for in the
land the Lord your God is giving you He will
richly bless you if you obey and fully follow
His commands.
You'll lend to many nations but borrow from
none. You'll rule over many nations but none
will rule over you.
If there is a poor man amongst you in any of the
towns the Lord your God is giving you:
-Don't be hardhearted or tightfisted to him.
-Be openhanded and freely lend to him.
-Don't harbour a wicked thought that the 7th
year for cancelling debts is near so that
you show ill will and give him nothing.
-If you do he may appeal to the Lord against
you and you will be found guilty of sin.
-Give generously to him without a grudging
heart then the Lord will bless you.
-There will always be poor in the land so I
command you to be openhanded to them.
If a fellow Hebrew sells himself to you and
serves you 6 years, let him go free in the 7th
year and:
-Don't consider it a hardship to set him free.
His service for 6 years has been worth twice
that of a hired hand. And the Lord will
bless you in everything you do.
-Don't send him away empty handed. Supply him
liberally from your flock, threshing floor
and winepress.
-Give to him as the Lord has blessed you.
Remember you were slaves in Egypt and the
Lord redeemed you.
-But if your servant says I don't want to
leave because he loves you and your family
and is well off with you, take an awl, push
it through his ear lobe into the door and he
will be your servant for life.
Set apart for the Lord all firstborn livestock.
Don't work or shear them:
-Each year you and your family are to eat them
in the presence of the Lord your God at the
place He will choose.
-If it has a defect, is lame, blind or has a
serious flaw, don't sacrifice it to the Lord
your God.
-Eat it in your own town.
-Both ceremonially clean and unclean may eat
it.
-But not its blood.
(Chapter 15)
PASSOVER.
Celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God on
the anniversary of your departure from Egypt
(March/April):
-Sacrifice an animal from your flock or herd.
-At the place the Lord will choose as a
dwelling for His name.
-Don't eat it with bread made from yeast.
-For 7 days eat unleavened bread, the bread of
affliction, because you left Egypt in haste-
so that all your days you'll remember the
time of your departure from Egypt.
-Let no yeast be found in your possession in
all your land for 7 days.
-Don't let any of the meat you sacrifice on
the evening of the 1st day remain 'til
morning.
-Sacrifice in the evening at sundown.
-Roast it and eat it.
-In the morning return to your tents.
-For 6 days eat unleavened bread.
-On the 7th hold an assembly to the Lord your
God and do no work.
FEAST OF WEEKS.
Count 7 weeks from when you begin to put the
sickle to the standing grain:
-Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord
your God by giving a freewill offering in
proportion to the blessing the Lord your God
has given you.
-Rejoice before the Lord your God at the place
He chooses as a dwelling for His name, you
your family, servants, the Levites in your
towns, aliens, fatherless and widows.
-Remember that you were slaves in Egypt.
FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
Celebrate it for 7 days after you have gathered
the produce of your threshing floor and
winepress:
-Be joyful, you, your family, servants,
Levites, aliens, fatherless and widows.
-Celebrate the feast for 7 days at the place
the Lord will choose.
-For the Lord will bless you in all your
harvest and work and your joy will be
complete.
Thrice annually all men must appear before the
Lord your God at the place He will choose: At
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of
Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man
should appear before the Lord empty handed, each
must bring a gift in proportion to the Lord's
blessing.
JUDGES.
Appoint judges and officers for each of your
tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving
you:
-They shall judge fairly.
-And not pervert justice.
-Or show partiality.
-Or accept a bribe which:
-Blinds the eye of the wise.
-Twists the words of the righteous.
-Follow justice alone, so that you may live
and possess the land.
OTHER GODS.
Do not set up a wooden Asherah pole beside the
altar you build to the Lord your God and do not
erect a sacred stone for these the Lord your God
hates.
(Chapter 16)
Don't sacrifice to the Lord your God an animal
with any defect. That would be detestable.
If an adult in one of the towns the Lord your
God gives you has worshipped other gods, sun,
moon or stars:
-This is evil, in violation of God's covenant
and contrary to His command.
-Investigate it carefully.
-If true on the testimony of two or three
witnesses,
-Take the person to the city gate.
-Stone the person to death.
-The witnesses casting the first stone.
-So purge this evil from amongst you.
-But no one shall be put to death on the
testimony of one witness.
LAW COURTS.
If cases come before your courts too difficult
for you to judge:
-Take them to the place the Lord your God
shall choose.
-Go to the priests and the judge in office at
the time.
-They'll give a verdict.
-Act on their decisions, don't deviate from
it.
-Anyone showing contempt for the judge or
priest who stands ministering to the Lord
there must be put to death.
-Purge this evil from Israel.
-All the people will hear, fear and not be
contemptuous again.
THE KING.
When you enter the land the Lord your God is
giving you and ask for a king:
-Appoint one the Lord your God chose.
-An Israelite.
-But he must not:
-Acquire a great number of horses.
-Make the people return to Egypt to get more
of them.
-Take many wives or his heart will be led
astray.
-Accumulate lots of silver and gold.
-He must write a copy of this law on a scroll.
-And read it all the days of his life.
-And learn to revere the Lord his God.
-And follow carefully all the words of this
law.
-And not consider himself better than his
brothers and deviate from the law.
-Then he and his descendants will reign a long
time.
(Chapter 17)
OFFERINGS FOR PRIESTS AND LEVITES.
Priests who are Levites have no allotment or
inheritance with Israel. The Lord has chosen
them to stand and minister in His name always.
-They live on offerings made to the Lord by
fire.
-The Lord is their inheritance as He promised
them.
-This is the share due to priests from people
who sacrifice a bull or sheep.
-Shoulder.
-Jowls.
-Inner parts.
-They are also to receive firstfruits of:
-Grain.
-New wine and oil.
-Wool.
If a Levite moves from a town in Israel to the
place the Lord chooses, he may minister in the
name of the Lord his God like all his fellow
Levites who serve there in the presence of the
Lord. He is to share equally in their benefit
even though he has received money from the sale
of family possession.
DETESTABLE PRACTICES.
When you enter the land the Lord is giving you
don't imitate the detestable practices of the
nations there. There must be no one among you
who:
-Sacrifices children.
-Practises sorcery.
-Practises divination.
-Interprets omens.
-Engages in witchcraft.
-Casts spells.
-Is a medium.
-Is a spiritist.
-Consults the dead.
Anyone who does these things is detestable to
the Lord.
But you must be blameless before Him.
CITIES OF REFUGE.
When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations
whose land He is giving you and you settle in
their cities, set three aside as cities of
refuge:
-Centrally located in the land.
-Build roads to them.
-Divide the land into three parts.
-Anyone who kills a man unintentionally may
flee there.
-Otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue
him, in a rage overtake him if the distance
is too great and kill him even though he is
innocent.
-If the Lord your God gives you the whole land
as He promised because you follow His laws
carefully to love the Lord your God, walk in
His ways always, then set aside three more
cities.
-So that innocent blood will not be shed in
your land.
-But if a man wilfully kills his neighbour and
flees to one of these cities the elders of
his town will send for him, bring him back
and hand him over to the avenger of blood.
-Show him no pity.
-Purge from Israel the guilt of shedding
innocent blood so it may go well with you.
-Don't move your neighbour's boundary stone.
WITNESSES.
One witness is not enough to convict a man
accused of any crime. A matter must be
established on the testimony of two or three
witnesses.
If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse
a man of a crime, the two in dispute must stand
in the presence of the Lord before the priests
and judges in office at the time. If the judges
prove the witness is a liar then do to him as he
intended to do to his brother. You must purge
this evil. The rest of the people will hear and
be afraid and never again will such an evil
thing be done among you. Show no pity, life for
life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for
hand, foot for foot.
(Chapter 19)
GOING TO WAR.
When going to war and the enemy has a stronger
army, don't fear. The Lord your God will be with
you. The priest is to tell your army Do not
fear, the Lord your God goes to fight for you to
give victory.
The officers shall say:
-Has anyone built a house and not dedicated
it? If so, go home or you might be killed
and someone else may dedicate it.
-Has anyone planted a vineyard and not enjoyed
it? If so, go home or you might be killed
and someone else enjoy it.
-Is anyone pledged to marry? If so, go home or
you might be killed and someone else marry
her.
-Is anyone afraid? If so, go home so you don't
discourage your brothers.
When you attack a city outside the territory of
your inheritance:
-Offer peace.
-If accepted, the people shall be subject to
forced labour working for you.
-If not, when the Lord gives it to you after a
siege, kill all the men. Everything else is
plunder for you.
For cities inside the inheritance territory:
-Don't leave anything alive, as the Lord your
God has commanded.
-Otherwise they'll teach you to sin against
the Lord your God by worshipping their gods.
When besieging a city don't cut down fruit trees
for siege works. Use non fruit bearing trees
instead.
(Chapter 20)
ATONEMENT FOR AN UNSOLVED MURDER.
If a man is found slain in a field in the land
the Lord your God is giving you to possess and
the murderer is unknown:
-The elders and judges are to find out which
is the closest town.
-The elders of that town take a heifer that
hasn't worked or been yoked:
-To a valley that hasn't been ploughed or
planted.
-That has a flowing stream.
-And break the heifer's neck.
-The priests step forward.
-The elders wash their hands over the heifer.
-The elders say:
-Our hands didn't shed this blood.
-Our eyes didn't see it done.
-Accept this atonement for Israel whom you
redeemed, O Lord, do not hold your people
guilty of the blood of an innocent man.
-Purge yourselves from the guilt of shedding
innocent blood in this way and do what is
right in the eyes of the Lord.
MARRYING A CAPTIVE WOMAN.
When you capture a woman from outside the
territory of your inheritance and you want to
marry her, bring her to your home and:
-Have her shave her head.
-Have her trim her nails.
-Have her put aside her captive's clothes.
-After she has mourned her father and mother
for a month,
-You may become husband and wife.
-If you're not pleased with her she is free to
go wherever she wishes.
-You must not sell or treat her as a slave
since you dishonoured her.
THE RIGHT OF THE FIRSTBORN.
If a man has two wives loving one and not the
other and the unloved one bears his first son,
that son has the full rights of the firstborn.
He gets a double share of all the man has in his
will.
A REBELLIOUS SON.
If a man's son is a stubborn, disobedient,
profligate, drunkard, his father and mother
shall take him to the elders at the gate of his
town and tell them:
-The elders will stone him to death.
-Thus you must purge the evil from among you.
-All Israel will hear and be afraid.
VARIOUS LAWS.
-If a guilty man is put to death and his body
hung on a tree, it must not be left there
overnight. Bury him that day. Anyone hung on
a tree is under God's curse. The land your
God is giving you must not be desecrated.
(Chapter 21)
-If you see your brother's livestock straying,
take it back to him. If he doesn't live
nearby or you don't know where he lives keep
it 'til he comes looking. The same applies
to anything he loses. Don't ignore it.
-If you see his livestock fallen down, help it
to its feet.
-Women must not wear men's clothing and
vice-versa. God detests anyone who does
this.
-If you find a bird in its nest you may take
the young but not the mother, so it may go
well with you and you may have a long life.
-When building a house put a parapet on the
roof. Then, if someone falls from the roof
you'll avoid the guilt of bloodshed.
-Don't plant two kinds of seed in your
vineyard or you'll defile the fruit and the
crop.
-Don't yoke an ox and a donkey and plough.
-Don't wear clothes of wool and linen woven
together.
-Make tassels of the four corners of your
cloak (to remind you of all the Lord's
commandments).
MARRIAGE VIOLATIONS.
If a man marries and slanders his wife saying
she is not a virgin:
-The girl's father and mother shall bring
proof she was a virgin (blood stained cloth)
to the town elders at the gate.
-The elders will then fine the man 1 kilogram
of silver and give it to the girl's father
for giving an Israelite virgin a bad name.
-She continues to be his wife and he can't
divorce her.
But if the man's charge is true and no proof
of her virginity can be found:
-She shall be brought to the door of her
father's house and stoned to death by the
men of her town.
-She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel
being promiscuous while still in her
father's house.
-You must purge this evil from Israel.
If a man is found sleeping with another's wife
both must die and the evil purged from Israel.
If a man sleeps with a virgin pledged to be
married in a town, both must be stoned to death.
The girl because she did not scream for help and
the man for violating another man's wife.
But if the same happens in the country only the
man is killed because, though she screamed there
was no one to rescue her.
If a man meets a virgin, not pledged in
marriage, rapes her and they are discovered, he
shall:
-Pay her father .6 of a kilogram of silver.
-Marry her.
-Never divorce her.
A man must not marry his father's wife (and
dishonour his father).
(Chapter 22)
EXCLUSION FROM THE LORD'S ASSEMBLY.
Those excluded from the Assembly of the Lord are:
-Eunuchs.
-Anyone born of a forbidden marriage or
illegitimate, to the tenth generation.
-Ammonites or Moabites or their descendants to
the tenth generation because they:
-Refused you food and water as you came out
of Egypt.
-Hired Balaam to curse you but the Lord your
God turned it into a blessing because THE
LORD YOUR GOD LOVES YOU.
So don't make a treaty of friendship with
them.
But don't abhor:
-Edomites, your brothers (from Esau).
-Egyptians, with whom you lived as aliens.
The third generation of children born to them
may enter the Lord's assembly.
UNCLEANNESS IN THE CAMP.
The Lord your God moves about in your camp to
protect you and deliver your enemies to you. It
must be holy, so that He will see nothing
indecent among you so:
-Anyone with a nocturnal emission must go
outside the camp, at evening wash himself
and at sunset return.
-Designate a place outside camp for relieving
yourself, digging a hole and covering
excrement.
MISCELLANEOUS LAWS.
-If a slave seeks refuge don't hand him over
to his master. Let him live wherever he
likes and don't oppress him.
-No Israelite (male or female) is to be shrine
prostitute.
-Prostitutes' earnings must not be brought
into the house of the Lord your God to pay
and vow. The Lord detests both the above.
-Don't charge a brother interest, so that the
Lord your God may bless you in everything in
the land you are entering to possess. But
you may charge a foreigner interest.
-Quickly pay any vow you make to the Lord. The
Lord your God will certainly demand it so if
you don't you'll be guilty of sin.
-You may eat grapes in your neighbour's
vineyard but not put any in a basket.
-You may pick grain with your hands in your
neighbour's grainfield but not put a sickle
into his standing grain.
(Chapter 23)
-If a man divorces his wife and she remarries
and is divorced or widowed he may not
remarry her. To do so would bring sin on the
land the Lord your God is giving you as an
inheritance. It is detestable to the Lord.
-A man recently married must not be sent to
war or have any other duty laid on him. For
one year he is free to bring happiness to
his wife.
-Don't take a pair of millstones as security
for a debt because it's taking a man's
livelihood as security.
-The kindnapper of a fellow Israelite for
slavery or to sell, must die. You must purge
this evil from among you.
-Those with leprous diseases must do exactly
as instructed by the priests.
-When you make a loan to your neighbour, don't
go into his house to get what he is offering
as a pledge:
-Let him bring it out.
-If he's poor don't keep his pledge
overnight. Return his cloak by sunset so
he may sleep in it. He will thank you and
it will be a righteous act in the sight of
the Lord your God.
-Don't take advantage of a poor and needy man.
Pay his wages daily before sunset.If not and
he cries to the Lord against you, you will
be guilty of sin.
-Each must die for their own sin (not fathers
for children or vice-versa).
-Don't deprive aliens or fatherless of justice
or take a widow's cloak as pledge. Remember
you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your
God redeemed you from there.
-When harvesting and you overlook a sheaf
don't go back. Leave it for the alien,
fatherless and widow so the Lord your God
may bless you.
Do the same with:
-Olive trees, don't beat the branches a second
time.
-Grapes in your vineyard, don't go over the
vines a second time. Remember that you were
slaves in Egypt.
(Chapter 24)
-Men must take disputes to the court and
judges. If one is sentenced to flogging he
must lie down in the judge's presence and
get the lashes his crime deserves. But not
more than 40 because this degrades your
brother in your eyes.
-If brothers live together and one dies
without a son, the surviving brother must
marry his brother's widow. Her son then will
carry on the dead brother's name so it won't
be blotted out of Israel.
-If he doesn't want to marry her, she shall
tell the elders at the town gate. They will
talk to him, but if he still won't marry her
she shall go up to him in the presence of
the elders:
-Take one of his sandals.
-Spit in his face and say, This is what is
done to the man who will not build up his
brother's family line.
-That man's line shall be known in Israel as
the Family of the Unsandalled.
-If two men are fighting and one's wife
assists him by seizing his assailant's
private parts you shall cut off her hand.
-Use only accurate weights and measures so you
may live long in the land the Lord your God
is giving you. The Lord detests anyone who
deals dishonestly.
-Remember how the Amalekites attacked you
after you came out of Egypt? When the Lord
your God gives you rest from all your
enemies in the land He is giving you as an
inheritance, you shall blot out the memory
of Amalek from under heaven.
(Chapter 25)
FIRSTFRUITS AND TITHES.
When you have taken possession of and settled in
the land the Lord your God is giving you as an
inheritance, put some firstfruits of the soil's
produce in a basket. Take it to the place the
Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for His
name.
Say to the priest in office there, I declare
to-day to the Lord your God that I have come to
the land the Lord swore to our forefathers to
give us. The priest shall take the basket and
set it in front of the altar of the Lord your
God. Then you shall say before the Lord your
God:
-My father was a wandering Aramean.
-He went to Egypt with few people.
-And became a great nation.
-So the Egyptians mistreated us.
-We cried out to the Lord.
-He brought us out with miraculous signs and
wonders.
-He brought us to this land flowing with milk
and honey.
-Now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that
you, O Lord, have given me.
-So bow to the Lord and rejoice in all the
good things the Lord your God has given you
and your household.
Give one tenth of all your produce in the 3rd
year, the Year of the Tithe to the Levite, the
alien, the fatherless and the widow. Then say to
the Lord your God I've:
-Given one tenth as you commanded.
-Done everything you commanded.
-Not eaten any of the sacred portion while
mourning.
-Not removed any of it while unclean.
-Not offered any of it to the dead.
-Obeyed the Lord my God.
So look down from heaven, your holy dwelling
place and bless your people Israel and the land
you've given us as promised on oath to our
forefathers.
FOLLOW THE LORD'S COMMANDS.
The Lord your God commands you this day to
follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe
them with all your heart and soul.
You have declared to-day that:
-The Lord is your God.
-You'll walk in His ways.
-You'll keep His decrees, commands and laws.
-You'll obey Him.
The Lord has declared this day that:
-You are His people.
-His treasured possession as He promised.
-You are to keep all His commands.
-He will set you in:
-Praise.
-Fame.
-High honour above all the nations He has
made.
-You will be a holy people to the Lord your
God as He promised.
(Chapter 26)
THE ALTAR ON MT EBAL.
Moses and the elders commanded the people:
-Keep all these commands.
-When Jordan's crossed, set up large stones on
Mt Ebal, coat them with plaster.
-Write on them all the words of God's law.
-Also build an altar of field stones there not
using iron tools to do so.
-Sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, eating
and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord
your God.
Then Moses and the priests said to all Israel,
Be silent and listen:
-You have now become the people of the Lord
your God.
-Obey Him and follow His commands.
-These tribes are to stand on Mt Gerizim to
bless the people; Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.
-These tribes are to stand on Mt Ebal to
pronounce curses; Reuben, Gad, Asher,
Zebulun, Dan and Napthali.
The Levites shall recite to all Israel in a loud
voice, Cursed is the man who:
-Carves an image or casts an idol and sets it
up in secret.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Dishonours his father and mother.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Moves his neighbour's boundary stone.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Leads the blind astray on the road,
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Withholds justice from the alien, fatherless
and widow.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Sleeps with his father's wife for he
dishonours his father's bed.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Has sex with an animal.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Sleeps with his sister, or the daughter of
his father or mother.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Sleeps with his mother-in-law.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Kills his neighbour secretly.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
-Does not uphold the words of this law by
obeying them.
Then all the people shall say, Amen!
(Chapter 27)
BLESSINGS FOR OBEDIENCE.
If you fully obey the Lord your God, He will set
you high above all the nations on earth and He
will bless:
-You in the city and the country.
-You with children.
-You with crops.
-You with reproductive livestock (calves,
lambs etc.).
-Your basket and kneading trough.
-You when you come in and go out.
-You in defeating your enemies.
-Your barns.
-Everything you put your hand to.
-You in the land He is giving you.
-You by establishing you as His holy people as
He promised on oath - If you keep His
commands and walk in His ways. Then:
-All the people on earth will see you are
called by the name of the Lord and fear
you.
-You with abundant prosperity, i.e.
-Children.
-Livestock.
-Crops.
-You with open heavens, the storehouse of His
bounty.
-You with seasonal rains.
-All the work of your hands.
-You in lending to many nations but borrowing
from none.
-You as the head not the tail.
-You by being always at the top never at the
bottom.
Do not turn aside from all of the commands I
give you to-day, to the right or left following
other gods and serving them.
CURSES FOR DISOBEDIENCE.
But if you disobey the Lord your God and don't
carefully follow all His commands and decrees He
will curse:
-You in city and country.
-Your basket and kneading trough.
-Your children.
-Your crops.
-Your livestock.
-You when you come in and go out.
-You with confusion and rebuke in everything
you put your hand to until you are destroyed
and come to sudden ruin because of your evil
in forsaking Him.
-You with diseases until you're destroyed from
the land He is giving you:
-Wasting diseases.
-Fever and inflammation.
-You with scorching heat and drought.
-You with blight and mildew until you perish.
-You with bronze sky above (no rain).
-You with iron ground below.
-You with dust and powder instead of rain
until you're destroyed.
-You with defeat by enemies so:
-You will be a thing of horror to all
nations.
-Your carcasses will be food for birds and
beasts, with no one to frighten them away.
-You with the boils of Egypt.
-You with incurable tumours, festering sores
and the itch.
-You with madness, blindness and confusion of
mind, so you'll grope about at midday like a
blind man in the dark.
-You with failure in all you do.
-You with oppression and robbery with no one
to rescue day after day.
-You with being pledged in marriage to a woman
but another will take and ravish her.
-You in building a house but not living in
it.
-You with planting a vineyard and not enjoying
its fruit.
-You with seeing your ox slaughtered but
getting none of its meat.
-You with seeing your donkey forcibly taken
and not returned.
-You in seeing your sheep given to your
enemies.
-You in seeing your sons and daughters given
to another nation so you will wear out your
eyes watching for them day by day, powerless
to lift a hand.
-You in having a people you don't know eating
what your land and labour produce.
-You with cruel oppression all your days.
-You with sights that drive you mad.
-Your knees and legs with painful boils that
can't be cured spreading from foot soles to
head.
-You by driving you and your king to an
unknown nation, where you'll worship gods of
wood and stone.
-You and make you a thing of horror ridicule
and scorn to all the nations where the Lord
scatters you.
-You in sowing much seed and seeing locusts
devour the crop.
-You in cultivating vineyards and seeing worms
eat the grapes.
-You in seeing the olives drop off your trees
so you'll have no oil.
-You in having children but seeing them taken
captive.
-You seeing locusts destroy your trees and
crops.
-You in having the alien among you rise higher
and higher while you sink lower and lower so
he will:
-Lend to you but you won't lend to him.
-Be the head and you the tail.
-You with hunger, thirst, nakedness and dire
poverty.
-You in serving your enemies.
-You with an iron yoke on your neck until
you're destroyed.
-You by bringing a nation against you:
-From far away.
-Like an eagle swooping down.
-With an unknown language.
-Which has no respect for the old or pity
for the young.
-Who will devour young livestock and crops.
-Who will leave no grain, new wine, oil,
calves or lambs until you are ruined.
-Who will siege your cities until the walls
you trust in fall down, as a result:
-You'll eat your children.
-The most gentle and sensitive man will
have no compassion on brother, wife or
children. He won't give them any of the
flesh of the children he is eating.
-The most gentle and sensitive woman among
you, so sensitive she would not touch
the ground with the sole of her foot -
will begrudge husband or children her
afterbirth and child. For she intends to
eat them secretly during the siege.
-You with fearful plagues.
-You with harsh and prolonged disasters.
-You with severe and lingering illnesses.
-You with all the diseases of Egypt.
-You with every kind of sickness and disaster
until you're destroyed.
-You who were numerous as the stars in heaven
making you few in number.
-You by scattering you from one end of the
earth to the other, among nations where:
-You'll worship gods of wood and stone.
-You'll find no repose, no resting place.
-You'll have an anxious mind.
-You'll have eyes weary with longing.
-You'll have a despairing heart.
-You'll live in constant suspense.
-You'll be filled with dread by day and
night.
-You'll never be sure of your life so that
-At morning you'll say, If only it were
evening.
-At evening you'll say, If only it were
morning.
-Because of the terror that will fill
your hearts and the sights your eyes
will see.
-You by sending you back in ships to Egypt on
a journey I said you should never make
again. There you'll offer yourselves as
slaves but no one will buy you.
All these curses will pursue you 'til you are
destroyed because you did not obey the Lord your
God and observe the commands and decrees He gave
you. They will be a sign and wonder to you and
your descendants forever. BECAUSE YOU DID NOT
SERVE THE LORD YOUR GOD JOYFULLY AND GLADLY IN
THE TIME OF PROSPERITY. NOR DID YOU REVERE THIS
GLORIOUS AND AWESOME NAME - THE LORD YOUR GOD.
(Chapter 28)
RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT.
These are the terms of the covenant (agreement
between unequals) the Lord commanded Moses to
make with Israel in Moab, in addition to the one
He made with them at Mt Sinai.
Moses summoned Israel and said:
-Your eyes saw how the Lord got you out of
Egypt with miraculous signs.
-But to this day the Lord has not given you a
mind that understands, eyes that see or ears
that hear.
-I led you 40 years through the desert
providing sandals and clothing that did not
wear out and food, but not bread, wine or
fermented drink so that YOU MIGHT KNOW THAT
I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD
-When we reached Moab we defeated two kings,
took their lands and gave it as an
inheritance to Reuben, Gad and half the
tribe of Manasseh.
-All of you are standing here to-day in the
presence of the Lord your God, to enter into
a covenant the Lord your God is making with
you and sealing with an oath. It's to
confirm you as His people, that He may be
your God as He promised you and swore to
your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And it's for Israelites not present to-day
as well.
-Carefully follow the terms of this covenant
so that you may prosper in all you do.
-You know how we lived in Egypt.
-You saw the detestable idols of the nations
we passed through on the way here.
-Make sure there is not one of you whose heart
turns away from the Lord your God to worship
the gods of those nations.
-Make sure there is no root among you that
produces such bitter poison.
-When such a person hears this covenant, he
thinks, I WILL BE SAFE EVEN THOUGH I
PERSIST IN GOING MY OWN WAY. The result?
-Disaster on the land.
-The Lord won't forgive him.
-The Lord's wrath will burn against him.
-All the curses in this book will fall on
him.
-The Lord will blot out his name.
-The Lord will single him out for disaster.
-Later generations and foreigners will see
the calamities that have befallen the
land.
-Its diseases.
-The burning wasteland of salt and
sulphur, nothing planted, nothing
growing. Like Sodom and Gommorah.
-All nations will ask, Why has the Lord done
this?
-The answer will be, because:
-The people abandoned the covenant of the
Lord the God of their forefathers.
-They went off and worshipped other gods.
-The Lord's anger burned against this land
and He cursed it as promised in this book.
-In furious anger the Lord uprooted them and
thrust them into another land.
-Secret things belong to the Lord but what
He's revealed belongs to us, THAT WE MAY
FOLLOW ALL THE WORDS OF THIS LAW.
(Chapter 29)
When you experience these blessings and curses
and take them to heart, returning to the Lord
your God and obeying Him with all your heart and
soul according to all I command you to-day, then
the Lord will:
-Restore your fortunes.
-Have compassion on you.
-Gather you from all the nations.
-Restore you to the land of your fathers.
-Make you more numerous and prosperous than
them.
-Circumcise your hearts so you'll love Him
with all your heart and soul, obey His
commands and live.
-Put all these curses on your enemies.
-Make your work, childbearing, livestock and
crops prosper.
-Delight in you.
But all this depends on you obeying the Lord
your God, keeping His commands as written in
this Book of the Law and turning to Him with all
your heart and soul.
THE OFFER OF LIFE AND DEATH.
WHAT I'M COMMANDING YOU IS NOT TOO DIFFICULT OR
BEYOND YOUR REACH.
You don't have to ascend to heaven or cross the
seas to get it.
NO, THE WORD IS VERY NEAR YOU; IT IS IN YOUR
MOUTH AND HEART SO YOU MAY OBEY IT.
See, I set before you to-day:
-Life and prosperity or
-Death and destruction.
-If you obey my command to love the Lord your
God, walk in His ways,and keep His commands,
decrees and laws then:
-You'll live and increase.
-The Lord will bless you in the land you are
entering to possess.
-But if your heart turns away and you disobey
and worship other gods then:
-You'll be destroyed.
-You won't live long in the promised land.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you
that I have set before you:
-Life and death.
-Blessings and cursings.
NOW CHOOSE LIFE that you and your children may
live and love the Lord your God, listen to His
voice and hold fast to Him. FOR THE LORD IS YOUR
LIFE and He will give you many years in the land
He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(Chapter 30)
JOSHUA TO SUCCEED MOSES.
Moses told all Israel:
-I'm 120 years old and no longer able to lead
you.
-The Lord told me I'll not cross the Jordan.
-The Lord your God Himself will cross over
ahead of you.
-He will destroy the nations before you.
-Joshua will also cross over ahead of you.
-You must do to the nations all I've
commanded.
-BE STRONG, COURAGEOUS, UNAFRAID and NOT
TERRIFIED BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD GOES
BEFORE YOU; HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR
FORSAKE YOU.
-Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the
presence of all Israel:
-Be strong and courageous.
-Go with Israel into the Promised Land.
-Divide it among them as their inheritance.
-THE LORD HIMSELF GOES BEFORE YOU AND WILL
BE WITH YOU. HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR
FORSAKE YOU. DO NOT BE AFRAID; DO NOT BE
DISCOURAGED.
THE READING OF THE LAW.
Moses wrote down the law and gave it to the
priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant.
He commanded them:
-Each 7 years, in the Year for Cancelling
Debts during the Feast of Tabernacles, when
all Israel comes before the Lord your God at
the place He will choose:
-Read this law so all hear it, adults,
children and aliens and
-LISTEN AND LEARN TO FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD
AND FOLLOW CAREFULLY ALL THE WORDS OF THIS
LAW.
-That children, who do not know the law must
hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as
long as you live in the Promised Land.
ISRAEL'S REBELLION PREDICTED.
The Lord said to Moses:
-You'll die soon.
-Call Joshua to the Tent of Meeting and I'll
commission him.
The Lord appeared at the entrance to the tent
in a pillar of cloud.
-You'll rest with your fathers.
-These people will:
-Soon prostitute themselves to foreign gods
in the Promised Land.
-Forsake me and break the covenant so:
-I'll be angry and forsake them.
-I'll hide my face from them because of
their wickedness in turning to other
gods.
-They'll be destroyed.
-Many disasters and difficulties will come
on them.
-They'll ask, Haven't these disasters come
on us because God is not with us?
-Write this song, teach them, have them sing
it as a witness for me against them.
-When I bring them in to the land flowing with
milk and honey and they eat their fill and
thrive:
-They will turn to other gods, reject me and
break my covenant.
-Many disasters and difficulties will come
on them.
-This song will testify against them because
it won't be forgotten by their descendants.
So Moses wrote the song and taught it to them.
The Lord commanded Joshua BE STRONG AND
COURAGEOUS FOR YOU WILL BRING THE ISRAELITES
INTO THE LAND I PROMISED THEM ON OATH AND I
MYSELF WILL BE WITH YOU.
After Moses finished writing the law he
commanded the Levites who carry the Ark of the
Covenant of the Lord to put this Book of the Law
beside the Ark of the Covenant as a witness
against you. He continued:
-I know how rebellious and stiff necked you
are.
-If you're like that while I'm alive how will
you behave when I'm dead?
-Assemble elders and officials so they can
hear me call heaven and earth to testify
against them.
-I know after my death they'll become utterly
corrupt and disaster will fall on them for
making idols.
Moses recited all this song to the whole
assembly of Israel.
(Chapter 31)
THE SONG OF MOSES.
-Listen O heavens, hear O earth:
-The words of my mouth
-My teaching and words falling like:
-Showers of rain on new grass
-Descending like dew
-Abundant rain on tender plants.
-I will:
-Proclaim the name of the Lord.
-Praise the greatness of the Lord:
-He is the rock.
-His works are perfect.
-All His ways are just.
-He is faithful.
-He does no wrong.
-He is upright and just.
-But Israel has
-Acted corruptly toward Him.
-To their shame they are no longer His
children.
-They are a warped and crooked generation.
-Is this how you repay the Lord O foolish and
unwise people?:
-Your father.
-Your creator.
-Who made and formed you.
-Remember the days of old, ask your father,
your elders:
-The Lord gave nations their inheritance:
-Dividing the Promised Land (by tribes)
according to their number.
-The Lord's portion is His people that:
-He found in a desert, a barren howling
waste.
-He shielded and cared for.
-He guarded as the apple of His eye.
-He hovers over like an eagle:
-Spreading his wings to catch them.
-That carries them on its pinions.
-He alone led, no foreign god being with
Him.
-He made ride on the heights of the land.
-He fed with the fruit of the fields.
-He nourished with:
-Honey from the rock.
-Oil from the flinty crag.
-Curds and milk from the herd.
-Fattened lambs and goats.
-Choice rams of Bashan.
-Finest kernels of wheat.
-The foaming blood of the grape.
-But Israel:
-Grew fat, filled with food, heavy and
sleek.
-Abandoned the God who made him.
-Rejected the rock, his Saviour.
-Made the Lord his God jealous with foreign
gods.
-Angered the Lord his God with detestable
idols.
-Sacrificed to demons which are:
-Unknown gods.
-Recently appearing gods.
-Gods your fathers did not fear.
-Deserted the rock who fathered you.
-Forgot the God who gave you birth.
-So the Lord:
-Saw this and rejected them because He was
angered by His sons and daughters.
-Said I will hide my face from them to see
what the end of this perverse, unfaithful
generation will be.
-Was made jealous and angry by their
worthless idols.
-Said I will make them envious and angry by
those not a people, a nation with no
understanding.
-Said a fire has been kindled by my wrath
that burns to the realm of death and:
-Will devour the earth and its harvests.
-And set afire the foundations of the
mountains.
-Said I'll heap calamities on them.
-Said I'll expend my arrows against them.
-Said I'll send against them:
-Wasting famine.
-Consuming pestilence.
-Deadly plague.
-Fangs of wild beasts.
-Venom of vipers.
-The sword in the street to:
-Make them childless.
-Bring terror to their homes.
-Kill young men and women, infants and
elderly.
-Scatter them and blot out their memory
from mankind.
-But I dreaded, lest the adversary
misunderstand and say:
-Our hand has triumphed.
-The Lord has not done all this.
-Said:
-They're a nation without sense or
discernment.
-If only they were wise and would
understand:
-What their end would be.
-That two of the enemy put 10,000 of
them to flight because:
-Their rock has sold them.
-The Lord has given them up.
-The rock (god) of their enemies is not
like our rock (Me). Even their enemies
know that.
-Their wine comes from Sodom and the
fields of Gomorrah so:
-Their grapes are filled with poison
and bitterness.
-Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the deadly poison of cobras.
-These plans of mine for the future are
certain because:
-It is mine to avenge and repay,
disaster and doom rushes upon them.
-The Lord will judge His people and have
compassion when He sees their strength
gone and no one left, slave or free.
-Now where are their gods, the rock they
took refuge in.
-Let them rise up to help and shelter
you.
-See now I am He, there is no God beside
me:
-I put to death and bring to life.
-I have wounded and I will heal.
-No one can deliver out of my hand.
-As surely as I live forever, when I
grasp my flashing sword of judgment, I
will take vengeance on my enemies and
repay those who hate me.
-Rejoice, O nations with His people for:
-He will avenge the blood of His
servants.
-He will take vengeance on His enemies.
-He will make atonement for His land and
people.
Moses and Joshua spoke all the words of this
song to the people. Then Moses said:
-Take all these words I have solemnly declared
to you to heart.
-Command your children to obey carefully all
the words of this law.
THEY ARE NOT JUST IDLE WORDS FOR YOU. THEY
ARE YOUR LIFE.
The same day Moses taught them this song, the
Lord told him to go up Mt Nebo, view the
Promised Land, die and be gathered to his
people. He didn't cross the Jordan God said,
Because, you broke faith with me in Israel's
presence at the Waters of Meribah (Numbers
20:10) and did not uphold my holiness among the
Israelites.
(Chapter 32)
MOSES BLESSES THE TRIBES.
Moses blessed the 12 tribes before his death
thus:
-The Lord came from Sinai with His people
Israel.
-Surely (God) you love all the people, they
are all in your hand.
-They bow at your feet to receive instruction
from the law Moses gave us.
-The Lord was King over Israel when the
leaders and tribes assembled.
-REUBEN.
-Let him live and his men be many.
-JUDAH.
-Hear his cry, O Lord, be his help against
his foe.
-LEVI.
-You favoured him, tested and contended with
him.
-He put you first.
-He watched over your word, guarded your
covenant.
-He teaches your precepts and laws to
Israel.
-He offers incense and burnt offerings to
you.
-Bless his skills O Lord, be pleased with
his work.
-Smite his enemies.
-BENJAMIN.
-Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in
Him for He shields him all day long.
-Let the one the Lord loves rest between His
shoulders.
-JOSEPH, EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH.
May the Lord bless his land with dew from
heaven, springs, choicest gifts of the
mountains, fruitfulness of the hills, best
gifts of the earth, strength to gore the
nations.
-ZEBULUN AND ISSACHAR.
Rejoice Zebulun in your going out and
Issachar in your tents. They will:
-Summon peoples to the mountains.
-Offer sacrifices of righteousness.
-Feast on the abundance of the seas.
-GAD.
-Blessed is he who enlarges Gad's domain.
-He carried out the Lord's righteous will.
-And His judgments concerning Israel.
-DAN.
Dan is a lion's cub springing out of Bashan.
-NAPTHALI.
Is abounding with the favour of the Lord and
is full of His blessing.
-ASHER.
-Is most blessed.
-Let him be favoured by his brothers and
bathe his feet in oil.
-Your strength will equal your days.
THERE'S NO ONE LIKE THE GOD OF ISRAEL:
-Who rides on the heavens to help you.
-And on the clouds of His majesty.
THE ETERNAL GOD IS YOUR REFUGE AND UNDERNEATH
ARE THE EVERLASTING ARMS.
He will drive out your enemy before you.
So Israel:
-Will live in safety alone.
-In a land of grain and new wine
-Where the heavens drop dew.
-Is blessed:
-No one is like you, a people saved by the
Lord:
-Your shield and helper.
-Your glorious sword.
-Makes enemies cower.
-Tramples down their high places.
(Chapter 33)
Moses climbed Mt Nebo to the top of Pisgah
across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him
the whole land.Then the Lord said to him,This is
the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob (Genesis 12:1).
Moses the servant of the Lord:
-Died there.
-Was buried by the Lord in a valley near Mt
Pisgah but in an unknown grave site.
-Was 120 years old but
-His eyes were not weak
-Nor his strength gone.
-Was Israel's greatest prophet (apart from
Jesus Christ).
-Knew the Lord face to face.
-Did all those miraculous signs and wonders
the Lord sent him to do in Egypt.
-Did what no one else did, showing the mighty
power and performing awesome deeds in the
sight of all Israel.
Israel grieved for Moses for 30 days.
Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the
spirit of wisdom because Moses laid his hands on
him.
So the Israelites listened to him and did what
the Lord had commanded Moses.
(Chapter 34)
HERE ARE SOME MAIN POINTS FROM DEUTERONOMY.
1.Deuteronomy is a history lesson. And history
is not, as one cynic said, bunk, but it's
His-story. So you either:
-Learn from it and avoid making the same
mistakes - or -
-Keep suffering as you repeat them.
-In short, you either learn from history or
repeat it.
So make it your aim to have a clear
understanding of your heavenly Father and
His-story from Genesis to Revelation.
2.Your heavenly Father has a perfect plan for
your life and place/s to accomplish it.
Exercise 100% faith in Him and enter into the
place/s where He wants you to be. DON'T fear
ANY opposition, He is big enough to remove
it. If you "chicken out" you, like the
Israelites, will wander in the desert 'til
you finally arrive back where you started and
are "smart enough" to do what you should have
done years before.
3.Do you have "logical reasons" for not
directly going to where your heavenly Father
wants you to be? Be honest. Are they just
fears masquerading as prudence?
If that's the case, just beware!
Your next step could be blaming your heavenly
Father, "passing the buck" on to Him for YOUR
failure to exercise faith in Him.
(Did Israel REALLY need to send spies in)?
4.So your heavenly Father wants you to be in a
specific place but "impossible" obstacles lie
in the way? Take time to recall His-story.
Draw courage from His historical miracle
working power. Is ANYTHING too hard for Him?
After all, He creates and keeps running,
every atom and every galaxy! Get yourself in
perspective.
5.It's great to have a loving harmonious
relationship with another person. But it's
distressing if they are angry with you.
Likewise, if you disobey and show lack of
faith in Him, it makes Him angry, and you'll
suffer.
6.Move to the place your heavenly Father wants
you to be only when He is with you.
If you move without Him, even if it's to the
right place, it will be a disaster.
(Chapters 1 & 2)
7.If, through lack of faith, you sentence
yourself to "40 years in the wilderness" at
least you'll learn that, because your
heavenly Father is with you, you will defeat
the enemy occupying your "promised land."
(Chapter 3)
8.Your "homeland," the place where your heart
and mind find peace and security, is God's
gift to you. You'll NEVER enter it as a
result of your own effort. Logic and worldly
wisdom says your brilliance/exertion will get
you in. It took Israel 40 years to learn to
trust God's logic (faith in Him) instead of
their own. But you will learn quicker than
that.
Commit yourself to know and obey God's word
and law.
You are confronted with false gods and their
false values daily. Almost everyone worships
them. They stand between you and your
promised land, so ask Jesus Christ to control
your brain so you'll be:
A. Able to recognise them.
B. Then defeat/destroy them completely.
When you arrive at your "promised land," obey
God's word daily. This will attract others to
Him. So God will use you to bring life to
others.
Ask God that your children and grandchildren
will look at you and see the face of Jesus
Christ and hear His words,
Recall and be encouraged by the historic
facts of God's love shown by miracles in your
life and in the lives of His people.
Be sure that if, in your Promised Land, you
turn to false gods, your God's anger will
return you to the desert 'til you "wake up"
to yourself and turn back to Him.
(Chapter 4)
9.Commit yourself to love God totally, to obey
the Ten Commandments and teach them to your
children. Then life will go well for you and
your children.
(Chapters 5 & 6)
10.Relax and enjoy God because you are not in
your Promised Land because you are good or
smart. It's because He loves you
unconditionally and keeps His word to you and
your forefathers. So obey Him positively with
joyful gratitude. (Obedience out of grudging
fear is negative. It shows you don't REALLY
understand Him).
Fear absolutely nothing. When, having
confessed ALL sin your hand is firmly in your
heavenly Father's, ALL opposition to you
(both) is dead. You (together) are
invincible. It's total positive confidence,
freedom and joy.
(Chapter 7)
11.Thank God that He loves you enough to
discipline you. Desert discipline:
-Tests your heart. Whether it will trust
and obey Him - or rebel.
-Teaches you humility. Without God's help
out there you're a dead man. You WON'T
make it in your own strength.
-Gives FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE of your
heavenly Father's love, His miraculous
life saving provision. Dying of thirst?
Water from a rock. Starving to death?
Bread from heaven. Without these you're
dead.
Jesus Christ was starving and dehydrating
in the desert. The devil said, Act to
save yourself - do it my way. Jesus
replied quoting the words from Chapter 8,
Man does not live on bread alone but on
every word that comes from the mouth of
the Lord.
Beware of complacency in your Promised Land.
Keep your hand as firmly in your Father's
hand there, in peace, security and prosperity
as if you were hanging tight in desperation
on some desert precipice. Otherwise you'll be
open to the devil's con that you are there
because you earned and deserved it. That's
just one step from disaster.
(Chapter 8)
12.The devil wants you dead. He will never, in
this life, cease tempting you. Be aware that
a golden calf of some sort will always be in
sight. And the devil will use the old tested
and tried trick that deceived Eve. Looks like
God doesn't care about you. He's not around.
But this calf is. Go for it!
Now these golden calves do look good. And
logical. To all the "smart" set. How could
THEY be wrong? And you don't want to look a
fool. The only one missing out on the fun.
Go for it the devil says.
What to do?
Remember what God's man Moses did to the
golden calf. And that it was not enough. It
took another man. One Friday. And rough Roman
justice. The God of Israel. Jesus Christ
executed as a criminal.
It took THAT to rid the world ONCE FOR ALL of
the power of a golden calf.
REMEMBER THAT!
(Chapter 9)
13.God's word written in stone. With a great
deal of sweat and effort. Meant to be
permanent. Meant to be obeyed. Given out of
love. To protect you. To give you the best
life you can have. NOT given to thwart and
frustrate you. But you'll feel that way if
you want to break them. They can't be broken.
But you can. And you will be if you disobey
them.
So what DOES the Lord require of you?
-To fear offending the creator and
sustainer of the universe who loves you
so much He died for you.
-To, with glad gratitude, walk in all His
ways. Because it's totally illogical not
to do so.
-To love Him with all your heart, soul
strength and mind. Go to Jerusalem. See
where it ACTUALLY happened. Golgotha,the
place of the skull. How can you NOT love
Him?
-To serve Him with ALL your heart and soul.
If you know Him REALLY, it's the only
response to His love possible for you.
-To observe the Lord's commands out of
loving gratitude, not grudging servility.
Spend as much time as you can gazing in
adoring wonder at your heavenly Father. Have
a regular look at Chapters 10 & 11.
So commit yourself to:
-Love "outsiders." You used to be one.
-Positively fear and serve the Lord.
-Hold fast to Him.
-Praise Him. Run through a list of your
blessings. Praise Him for each one.
(Chapter 10)
14.At any point in time you have two choices;
either to
-Obey your God with loving gratitude and be
blessed
-or disobey and bring curses on yourself.
(Chapter 11)
15.Rejoice before the Lord in ALL you do. It
shows your relationship with Him is real and
healthy.
Stick to God's word. Don't add to or take
away from it.
(Chapter 12)
16.Follow and revere the Lord only. Let
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING stand in your way of doing
that.
(Chapter 13)
17.By turning from your sin and trusting in the
Lord Jesus Christ you become a child of the
living God. In a positive, non judgmental
attractive way, this makes you different from
all who have not yet turned to Him.
Let the difference show. Get rid of your sin
and He will shine through you.
Giving the first 10% of your income to the
Lord shows:
-Gratitude, because all your income is an
expression of His love to you.
-Faith that He will continue to provide.
(chapter 14)
18.Be generous and ungrudging to those in
genuine need.
(Chapter 15)
19.Gather with other believers regularly.
Celebrate the passing over of your sins. Do
it by sharing in the broken bread and shared
wine. It's a remembrance of the broken body
and shed blood of Jesus Christ for you. He
commanded this remembrance be kept. These
should be times of great joy.
(Chapter 16)
20.When you gather with other believers (have
church) take action to remove unrepentant
sinners. God won't tolerate sin in a person
or a gathering. Neither must you.
Church is the name for a meeting of
believers. Therefore between meetings it
doesn't exist. I can see nothing in God's
word to warrant the institutional structures
we have to-day, called church.
But if a group of believers wanted a leader
for their meetings Chapter 17 sets out useful
guidelines. (Chapters 17 & 18)
21.Logically, there can be no better law than
God's law. Uphold it to ensure:
-Justice prevails.
-Punishment fits the crime.
-Punishment deters crime.
22.A nation is polluted by and comes under God's
judgment for continuing to shed innocent
blood.
(Chapters 19 & 20)
23.You will come up against many enemies
"stronger" than you. Don't fear. Confess all
sin. Face them with your hand in your
heavenly Father's and your enemy is dead.
(Chapter 20)
24.Jesus Christ hung on a "tree" for you. He was
cursed because of your sins. Because of that
He offers people a sinless new beginning if
they will believe.
(Chapter 21)
25.Care for your neighbour's property.
Live a life 100% for God. Less than that is
signified by confusion. And confusion is of
the devil. Mixed weaving, cross dressing,
mixed ploughing all are therefore outlawed in
Deuteronomy.
You are to be 100% faithful in marriage.
(Chapter 22)
26.Make sure your life, your dress, your home
etc. are all characterised by cleanness and
honesty.
(Chapter 23)
27.Trade in a fair and honest way. Don't take
advantage of the needy. Promote justice for
the downtrodden. Remember you were a "slave
in Egypt." Be generous.
(Chapter 24)
28.Encourage the settling of disputes according
to the law. And punishment befitting the
crime.
Use accurate weights and measures.
(Chapter 25)
29.Express your love for the Lord with regular
praise and thanksgiving. An example is in
Chapter 26.
Make a commitment to the Lord that:
-He is your God.
-You'll walk in His ways.
-You'll obey Him, His word, His laws,
decrees and commands.
And the Lord will:
-Say you are His treasured possession.
-Say you are to keep His commands.
-Set you:
In praise.
In fame.
In high favour with others.
Apart as a holy person to Him.
(Chapter 26)
30.God's love for His world is boundless. Those
who accept Him are truly blessed. But those
who reject Him put themselves under
unimaginable curses. The logic of justice
demands this.
Details of these blessings and curses are in-
(Chapters 27, 28 & 31)
31.And note the conclusion:
These curses will pursue you 'til you are
destroyed because you did not obey and serve
the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the
time of prosperity. Nor did you revere this
glorious and awesome name- the Lord your God.
(Chapter 28)
32.Your desert experiences are not because God
is capricious or vengeful. They are to get
you to "KNOW that I am the Lord your God."
Never make the mistake of thinking you can
selfishly take advantage of God's love. If
you think "I will be safe even though I
persist in going my own way" you'll find
yourself under God's curses.
(Chapter 29)
33.But restoration is always possible for those
who GENUINELY wake up to themselves and turn
back to God.
So God gives the choice of
life and prosperity - or
death and destruction.
What He commands is not too difficult or
beyond reach.
His word is very near you, in your mouth and
heart so you may obey it.
So choose life.
The Lord is your life.
(Chapter 30)
34.So be strong, courageous and unafraid because
the Lord your God goes before you.
He will never leave you or forsake you.
So listen, learn to fear the Lord your God
and follow carefully all His words.
(Chapter 31)
35.Praise the greatness of the Lord. This
chapter lists reasons for doing so.
Remember God's words aren't idle ones for
you. They are your life.
(Chapter 32)
36.There's no one like the God of Israel.
The eternal God is your refuge and underneath
are the everlasting arms.
He will drive out every enemy before you.
(Chapter 33)
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