Deuteronomy 13–15

to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 13. Thanks, sir. Deuteronomy, chapter 13.

Tonight there's a... The goal is to cover three chapters. I don't know if that's going to happen or not, but we'll do the best that we can. But of course, Moses has been talking to us about what the Lord expects, and after rehearsing the law and the importance of obedience, the commands about the sanctuary, now he once again returns to an aspect of warning, an aspect of instruction.

Because as we come to chapter 13, he's going to talk to them about a couple of things. First of all, idolatry, and how to shun idolatry, but also false prophets. And so as we pick up in chapter 13, verse 1, it says this, If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true concerning which he has spoken to you, saying, Let us go after other gods whom you have not known, and let us serve them, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

You shall follow the Lord your God and follow him, and fear him, and you shall keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and cling to him. Now as Moses is talking to the people and instructing them about what God commands, he also knows that there's going to be a potential for something to take place knowing the land that they're moving into and knowing the tendency of man to want to give in to idolatry. And so he says, Listen, there could potentially come a time that if a prophet or a dreamer of dreams comes along, to teach you things. Now, prophets and dreams are very valid things within scripture.

God oftentimes used dreams in powerful ways to speak forth messages to the people. We see that throughout scripture. And of course, prophets are individuals that God used in a very powerful way. But notice how he describes these prophets. He says, If they arise among you and they give you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true concerning which he spoke to you,

they will come to you. Now, as he begins to warn them against this, he begins to warn them about something that might really catch them off guard. Because you've heard about people saying, Well, here's a sign or a wonder, but it never actually came true. As a matter of fact, in other places in scripture, we'll warn that if a prophet speaks forth a word and that word doesn't come true, you know that it's a false prophet.

But this particular time, the prophet's successful. The prophet's successful in what he does. He performs some sort of a sign or a wonder in the sign or the wonder. Or the wonder comes true. We have to be aware of those kinds of things because oftentimes people, especially in the world that we live in today, can put their faith in things like signs and wonders.

As a matter of fact, we can oftentimes look for the sign instead of the giver of the sign. We want to be led by the signs instead of seeing the signs follow what the word of God already has to say. Our faith has to be in what God's word has to say because there's going to be lying signs and wonders, and we're warned about that in the book of 2 Thessalonians. In the book of 2 Thessalonians, it says that his ministers will come as angels of light performing lying signs and wonders.

And these things will actually come true. Now, I listened to a guy speak one time who had been a part of the occultic world at one point in time. He'd actually been a medium at one point in time. And he said something really interesting. He said, when I first got involved in the world of spirits and mediums, I started seeing something. I started seeing, first of all, that it was real.

A lot of people don't believe that that whole world is real. They don't believe that the spirit world, that those kinds of things actually can happen. But we must understand that that's demonic in nature, but it is real. He said, and in my mind, it was good. And all I could think was, if it's real, and if it's good, then it must be of God. He said, but then I began to hear the message of the gospel.

And once I began to hear, the message of the gospel and started inching my way closer to believing the truth of the gospel, that spiritism started becoming very negative towards me. It actually started becoming very harmful towards me. And so I started realizing something just because it was real. And just because it seemed good, didn't mean that it was of God.

And I think that that's something that we as 21st century believers have to understand is that there can be lying signs and wonders. And, they can look real and sometimes even be real. And in our minds can sometimes appear good, but that doesn't mean that it's of God. Because the things of God will always line up with scripture in everything that they have to do and say.

Because you see the problem with these prophets was not that they could perform signs and wonders and not that they could be successful in their signs and wonders. The problem with these prophets is that their message was opposed to the truth. Notice what he says. He says, and the sign of the wonder, verse two comes true concerning which he spoke to you saying, let us go after other gods whom you have not known and let us serve them.

You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord. Your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now this tells us something. I think also that we need to pay attention to. And that's that when we see these lying signs, these signs and wonders that we immediately turn around

and walk the other direction. That's the first step that they were to take. They were not to obey the message of those who were performing these signs and wonders. We'll see what the second step was here in just a moment. But the first step is you must turn around and walk away from it. And brothers and sisters, this is why we have to know what the word of God has to say.

And we have to have that discernment of the Holy Spirit inside of us. Because the enemy walks about seeking whom he not only may devour, but seeking whom he may, but he may deceive. And that's what Moses is warning against is because the ultimate goal is to pull the people away so that they will serve these other gods so that they will go after idolatry. He says, as soon as you hear that, you need to shun that person.

You need to completely walk away from that person. As a matter of fact, there's something swift that they're going to have to do that we'll see here in a couple of verses, but it was something that they were to pay attention to. And I think that it's something that we as believers in Jesus Christ in the world that we live in today have to pay attention to because there is a God who is going to serve us. And we have to pay attention to that.

And we have to pay attention to that. And we have to pay attention to that. There is everywhere deception. And that deception will pull us away from the truth. And we must listen to what the message is. Because if the message doesn't line up with God's word, then no matter how real it looks and no matter how good it seems, it is not of God. I remember going to a conference one time.

A friend invited me to it and something just felt off about this conference. I'd never heard of it. I'd never heard of the people before, but something just kind of felt off from the minute that I walked in. And I walked in there and the worship was definitely different, partly because, well, the worship was just different. We'll put it that way. And so I'm going,

man, something just really feels off about this. And then the teaching started and I thought, huh, you know what I've noticed? I'm noticing that they're stringing together a bunch of different verses from completely different portions of scripture to make it say something that it actually doesn't say. Well, that feels odd. And the longer the message went, I was like, there it is.

Now I see where we've gone wrong. Everything felt really good. Everything seemed really real, but it was definitely not of God because the message was not really about God. And so he says, you have to pay attention to those kinds of things. And then he sort of gives us what I consider to be the heart of chapter 13. He says, instead, you shall follow the Lord your God

and you shall fear him. You shall keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him and cling to him. I think that, I think that there's a handful of things that he tells us that we need to do. First of all, follow the Lord your God. Here's the most important thing that we can do. Follow as closely as we can to the truth of who God is. You see, the closer I can follow to God,

the harder it's gonna be for me to stray away. When my girls were very tiny, if we'd go to a place that was really busy like our Kalala Festival or anything like that, the thing that I would always tell them to do is hold on to the back of my shirt. If we're walking through where it's really an arrow area, just hold on to the back of my shirt. That way you always know you've got me.

Follow as closely as you can so that you know I'm always the one right in front of you. And I would always know if I felt them let go of my shirt, I would immediately turn around because I knew we'd gotten distracted. And that's the way we're supposed to be with the Lord. You see, we're fighting our way through a crowded world with all kinds of things that would want to pull us astray.

And the best thing that we can do is hold onto his coat and follow him as closely as we can. He says, first of all, follow the Lord. Second of all, keep his commandments. In other words, just do what he says to do. Again, the image of walking through someplace that's very crowded with your child. What's the one thing you want him to do? Listen to what I say

because there's gonna be a lot of people here. And the only way that you can stay close to me is if you're listening to what I tell you to do because if you don't, you're gonna end up getting pulled away. And then the third thing that he says, did you notice it? Cling to him. Again, with the same imagery. What would I have my girls do? Hold onto the back of my shirt.

Why? Because I knew if they were clinging to the back of my shirt, they were right there with me. Now, what I did tend to find is that my girls clung to my shirt a little too tight sometimes. And I would be like, okay, that's too tight. Daddy actually can't breathe right now. But that's kind of what the way we're supposed to be with the Lord. It says cling to him.

Why? Because if I'm clinging to the Lord, then I'm not gonna give in to all of these other things that are in the world. That's the heart of everything that he's telling us in chapter 14. There will be those who will want to pull you away. There will be those who will want to lead you away from God. So you follow close, keep his commandments and cling to him

so that when some will want to lead you away, they can't because you're right on his tail. Well, he goes on to tell him what they should do if that begins to take place. He says, verse five, but that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death. Because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk.

So you shall purge the evil from among you. Well, he says to handle this in a pretty swift way, doesn't he? He says, if that person does it, first of all, you should not listen to them. You should shun their teaching and what they have to say. Second of all, you should put them to death. Now, I thought David Guzik brought an amazing balance to this for the world that we live in today

because there are some, if they live in an unbalanced world in their own mind, would want to take this and begin to put people to death today. And I don't think that that's what we're called to do as New Testament believers to just start putting people to death. And he pointed out why that was the case. He said, remember in the ancient Israel, it was the kingdom of Israel and they were a theocracy living under the command of God.

He said in the New Testament, we're no longer living in the kingdom of Israel. We're living according to the kingdom of heaven. And this world is not our home. Therefore, putting people to death physically in this world is not our job as kingdom citizens. That's not what we're supposed to do. Now, we do shun that kind of evil. We put away that kind of evil.

And in our minds, we put that idea to death and we decide that's not the direction I'm going to go. As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to let that in my ear gates because I know that that might, that might lead me astray. But it's now not our job as New Testament believers that every time we hear somebody teach something false, we should go put them to death. Quite frankly, in the world that we live in today, that's all that we would do, right?

Like we would just be vigilantes running around and that's not what God would call us to do. God would call us to continue to speak the truth and love. So he says, that's the way that you should handle that kind of thing. But there is a reminder there for us about two things. Number one is the fact that Jesus tells us that if something causes us to sin, that's the way that you should handle that kind of thing.

If something causes us to sin, in that specific context, he says your right hand or your right eye, you should cut it off because it's better to go into eternity, life eternal, maimed, than into death eternal with all of your members. And I think that that's true of anything that would lead us astray, that we should be willing to put that to death, that we should be willing to cut that off. Oh, but so much of what they had to say is so good. I like to eat the, eat the meat and spit out the bones.

But just remember, sometimes you can choke on the bones. Beware of the things that are false and put them away and put them to death because that's how we keep ourselves close to God. But we're also reminded of something in the book of Matthew chapter 18, verse six. Remember where it said, woe unto those who would stumble any of these little ones because it would be better if a millstone had been hung around their neck.

And that they were drowned in the bottom of the sea rather than to lead one of these little ones astray. I sometimes struggle with the fact that there's so many people teaching so many false things in the world. And I can sometimes get a little bit fired up about it. Matter of fact, if you want to see my head spin off my body, that's exactly what you do. You tell me about something false

that somebody's teaching and that they led somebody else astray and I'll get real fired up about it. But I always have to remind myself of one thing. They, they will have to answer to God for what they've done. And that may be the scariest statement that anyone can ever make in regards to somebody teaching false things. So he goes on from there to bring up a couple of other examples in verse six.

He says, if your brother or your mother's son or your son or daughter or the wife you cherish or your friend who is as your own soul entice you secretly saying, let us go and serve other gods whom neither you nor your fathers have known of the gods of the people who are around you, near you or far from you from one end of earth to the other end. You shall not yield to him or listen to him and your eyes shall not pity him nor shall you spare or conceal him. But you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death and afterwards the hand of all the people.

So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid and will never again do such a wicked thing among you. Now it hits a little bit closer to home. Even if it's one of your close relatives, even your own spouse, if they seek to lead you astray into idolatry and you're to deal with them very swiftly, in other words, there can't even be a close relationship in our life that would be pulling us away from the things of God.

Well, he goes on to give one more example. He says, if you hear in one of your cities which the Lord your God is giving you to live, anyone saying that some worthless men, verse 13, have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city saying, let us go and serve other gods whom you have not known, then you shall not be able to live but you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with a sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. Then you shall gather all its spoil into the middle of the open square and burn the city

and all its spoil with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. To the Lord your God, and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. Nothing from that which is put under the band shall cling to your hand in order that the Lord may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you and have compassion on you and make you increase just as He has sworn to your fathers.

If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today and do what is right in the sight of the Lord your God. If you hear of an entire city that's given into that, there's no mercy that's shown to the city. You completely destroy it. As a matter of fact, you gather everything in the middle of it and you burn it up so that nothing will cling to you.

So that there's no part of that sin that is any aspect of your life. You know why He told them that? Because in the middle of a city like that, there's going to be some riches and some spoils that look pretty good. And you're like, oh man, that would really add to my bank account. That would really add to my retirement fund. That would really, really set me up well for the future.

I'm just going to take a little bit of it. But you see, it's tainted. It's tainted by the things of the world. It's tainted by the evil of that city. Do away with it completely so that none of it clings to you. You see, God takes this very seriously because God takes sin very seriously because God takes idolatry very seriously. I was having a conversation with someone earlier today.

I said, you know, I'm not sure that myself or really a lot of Christians in the 21st century really take idolatry that seriously. I don't know that we always take sin as seriously as the Bible does because when you start reading sections like this and you start seeing how God wanted them to deal with the sin that was in their land, with the idolatry that was all around them, all of a sudden you look and you go, you know, it's not just a simple thing that they were dealing with. It's not just a simple issue that they were dealing with. It was something that either they were going to destroy it or it was going to destroy them.

And they had to view it that way. But you see, in our culture today, how do we view sin? We view sin as just one of those things that I kind of struggle with. Don't get me wrong. We all struggle with sin. But I'm saying sometimes we excuse it by saying that's just my struggle instead of saying, but that's the thing I need to put to death. But that's the thing I need to cut out of my life.

That that's the thing I need to take so seriously to get rid of that I make no compromises with it, that I make no bargains with it, that I completely, completely do away with it in my life. And sometimes I think that we as Western culture Christians should take idolatry just a little bit more seriously. Because while I probably don't own some sort of an actual idol that sits up on my mantle that I may struggle with, I own a lot of idols. I own a lot of things that could become idols in my life.

And there are areas that we all have in our lives that can take a place where only God belongs. And sometimes I'm not sure that God's not calling us to put that thing to death, to get rid of that thing, to completely remove that thing from our lives. Because if it keeps us from God, then it keeps us from life. As David Guzzi closed up this chapter, I want to read you the last paragraph that he put in his commentary.

He said, this chapter asks an important question. I had her put the question up, at least I think I did. I don't know if I did or not. But it asks an important question. What would it take to lead you away from God? The quote goes on to say, would signs and wonders do it? What if your spouse forsook God or all of your friends? What if culture or nationalism

or ethnic ties called you away from Jesus? We must never allow such ties to come before our bond to Jesus. We must decide, as the song says, though no one go with me, still I will follow. That quote right there has kind of been running through my mind all day. What would it take to lead you away from God? I started thinking about some of the different individuals

that were led away from God by certain things. I'm reminded of the fact that Solomon was led away from God with all of the foreign women that he loved. Other kings were led away from God because of their pride, Saul was led away from God because of his pride. Some were led away from God because of their riches. Some were led away from God because of their success.

The Old Testament is filled with stories of men who started well but were led away from God by something of this world. What is it that you find in your life that has a tendency to pull you away from God? It's only a question you and Jesus can answer. But I think it's a question we should ask ourselves quite often because brothers and sisters, I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell kids all the time.

Everything in the world wants to pull you away from God. Well, he goes on from there to chapter 14 to talk about holiness. As a matter of fact, I titled chapter 14, Be Holy. He starts off speaking of how you deal with those who have passed away. He says, you, chapter 14, verse 1, you are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead

for the sake of the dead. Now that part got me just a little bit. But I just want to remind you that in the book of Leviticus it says if a man's forehead is bald, he is bald, but he is clean. Okay? So I've not shaved my head for any dead people. I do it because it looks really, really bad if I let it grow. And it's just the easiest thing for me to do. But he makes this first statement.

He says you should not shave your forehead, nor cut yourselves for the sake of the dead. These, of course, were pagan practices that took place as they would mourn for the dead. And some of them were ways of hoping that they could bring the dead back to life. It's interesting what people will do for the sake of those who have passed away. Having done a good number

of services, I've seen some interesting moments in the middle of services. And every now and then I think to myself, probably not what I would have done. But that's between them and their loved ones, I suppose. And every now and then I just kind of step back and think, hmm, there it is. So some of the songs that are played sometimes, I've heard some Ozzy Osbourne songs

get played at funerals, which is always kind of an interesting one. And then somebody played Simple Man one time. And that's a long song. I don't know if you realize that or not, but that's a really, really long song. And I've seen 30-minute videos, all kinds of things. It's interesting what people will do. But what he tells us right here is you should not act like

pagan nations that are around you in the way that you mourn for the dead. And then in the middle of this, he breaks into what I consider to be the heart of chapter 14. He says, 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. Now that tells me

that what he said before and what he's about to say all have to do with one subject and one subject only, the fact that you are a holy people. That word holy literally means to be set apart. They are set apart unto God, which is why what he tells them in their mourning for the dead and what he's about to tell them with all of their dietary requirements will cause them to be completely set apart from the nations that are around them. They are for a specific purpose because they're set apart as a chosen people unto the Lord, a possession that is only for God.

I always like to tell the story about a favorite pair of socks. That I had when I was in junior high. That doesn't sound like much, but for me it was a cool thing. All my friends had Nike socks when I was growing up. They had the ones that they would, they were up to about your calf and they had the little Nike swoosh on the side and they were really expensive.

We didn't have very much money when I was growing up. And so finally, I got a pair of the sweet Nike socks and those socks were sanctified in my mind. They were set apart. They were set apart for one purpose and one purpose only, wrestling tournaments. They were only worn on wrestling tournament days because those were my cool socks. Those were my lucky socks.

Not nearly as lucky as I would have hoped they would have been, but those were my lucky socks. But they were set apart. I never wore them for anything else. They were set apart for that one purpose because those were cool in my mind. And you know what? Some of us forget that we are set apart for one purpose. The one purpose that we're set apart for is to be holy,

to be God's special possession. And if I am set apart for that purpose, I can't be used for any other purpose. And all of the things of the pagan nations around me are being used for common things. That which is holy should not be lowered to that which is common. All of the things of the world. He says, don't act like the world around you because you are set apart as holy.

You're my own special possession. I'm only going to use you for the holy things in life. He says, don't act like those other nations around you because you, my friend, are holy. Therefore, be holy. He then goes on to say in verse 3, you shall not eat any detestable thing or any unclean thing. Now, I'm going to spare us all verses 4 through 21. If you want to read

about what all of those detestable things that they were not supposed to eat, you're more than welcome to go back and read that. But I figure we covered it in Leviticus. There's no need to cover it a second time. Right? So, let's pick up in verse 22 because now he continues to talk to them about being holy in the aspect of tithing. Notice what he says. You shall surely tithe,

verse 22 of chapter 14, all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God at the place where he chooses to establish his name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock in order that you, you may learn to fear the Lord your God. If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to set his name is too far away from you, when the Lord your God blesses you, then you shall exchange it for money and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires,

for oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink or whatever you want. Whatever your heart desires and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice you and your household. Part of their being holy was tithing of what they had, giving back to the Lord that which he had already blessed them with. And part of that tithe was to give their first fruits to the Lord, the first fruits of everything, not only of their crops, but also of their herds.

And they were to bring that to the temple and that's where they were to have a sacrifice that part of which would go to the priest, part of which would be burned to the Lord and part of which they would partake of themselves. Because it was a reminder of a couple of things. It was a reminder, first of all, that all of their blessings were from God and they were returning that sacrifice unto him. But it was also a reminder that their lives were meant for fellowship with God because that's what that offering was.

It was an offering of fellowship because part of it went to the Lord and part of it was for them. It was to remind them that that's what their life was all about. Their life did not consist in how much grain they produced. Their life did not consist in how big their flocks and herds were. Their life did not consist in how great their crops were. Their life consisted

of their fellowship with the Lord. And I think that's a great reminder for us as believers in Jesus Christ, as New Testament believers. Like most of the commoners, commentators point out, the New Testament doesn't spend a great deal of time talking about tithing. Instead, what it talks about is giving. I actually just read this portion in 2 Corinthians today

where Paul was talking to the people about giving an offering to the saints in another church. And he said, he was talking about the saints that were in Asia that they had first given themselves to God and then they gave themselves to each other. And isn't that great? Everything about our lives is first to be given to God and then to whatever else God calls us to.

And that's even what's to be true about the way that we handle the first fruits of everything that we have is that it's to show us that our life doesn't just consist in the things that we own. It doesn't consist in how successful my job is, how big my bank account is, how big my house is, any of those kinds of things. My life consists of one thing, my fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, I first give myself to God and then to whatever else he calls me to.

And so he tells them about this tithe and reminds them. And I love that he even makes a concession because God is so gracious even in the sacrifices that they were supposed to bring. He said, listen, if the distance is too great for you to haul a bunch of animals, for you to haul some large amount of crops, then here's what I want you to do. I don't want it to be too hard on you to do this.

Sell your first fruits right there where you are. Take that. Take that money, which is much easier to travel with than some huge grain bin. Take that money. Go to the place where the tabernacle has been established later, where the temple will be established and there purchase whatever it is that you want to sacrifice to the Lord. And then make your sacrifice

to the Lord and enjoy your fellowship meal with him because God is gracious. He doesn't want there to be anything that keeps us from our time with him. Well, then he wraps up chapter 14 by saying, Also, you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. At the end of every third year, you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year and shall deposit it in your town.

The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town shall come and eat and be satisfied in order that the Lord, your God may bless you and the work of the hand of your hand, which you do. Hey, don't forget about people like the Levites and those who have a little bit less. Every third year, you're going to bring an extra offering and that's going to be for them. And that, interestingly enough, segues us very well into chapter 15 because chapter 15 talks about the Sabbath year.

Only not the Sabbath year of giving your land rest, but the Sabbath year of forgiving debts. Chapter 15, verse 1, says this, At the end of every seven years, you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of remission. Every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother because the Lord's remission

has been proclaimed. From a foreigner, you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. However, there shall 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, if you only listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today.

For the Lord your God shall bless you as he has promised you and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. Now, this is an interesting concept that if somebody were to get into debt and they took a loan out from their neighbor, that loan was based on the next seven years and should be either repaid within that seven years or forgiven within that seven years. Can you imagine how different our economy would look right now if every seven years all debts were forgiven? It's an interesting thought and I'm not totally sure how this all works out.

Although, I feel confident given some of the other passages of scripture that the debt accrued in this point in time didn't have to do with getting a brand new Escalade. It had a whole lot more to do with keeping your land because you couldn't afford to keep it any longer. I have a feeling it had a little bit more to do with need than want. But that's what they were supposed to do.

If your brother found himself on hard financial times and he couldn't make his payments on something and he took a loan out and he got a loan from you in order to make that happen and after seven years that loan was completely forgiven. Do you notice what it says? You shall not exact it of your neighbor because the Lord's remission has been proclaimed. Now I found the next verse, verse three kind of interesting because it says from a foreigner you may exact it.

Let me make sure I read that correctly. Yes, I did. You may exact it but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with you. I don't know why that stuck out to me but it did because that feels like one of those things that was more of a concession from the Lord not a command of the Lord that you may exact it of a foreigner but you don't have to. It's kind of like that

eye for an eye tooth for a tooth sort of a thing. That was more of a concession from the Lord more than a command of the Lord. This is how far I'll let you go but no farther but you don't have to go that far. Anyway, something that kind of stuck out to me something that I was thinking about because after all we know that if we are to show love to our neighbor and as Jesus said who is our neighbor?

Well, even the people that you disagree with the most. Maybe that was kind of the idea behind that. He says, however, there should be no poor among you if you're doing what I'm telling you to do. As a matter of fact, if you're obeying me you won't borrow from other nations. You will lend to other nations. If you're obeying me I will always make sure that you are

financially secure. I believe that speaking of as a nation but I do think there's an aspect of personal involvement there too. Well, he goes on to verse 7 and says if there is a poor man with you one of your brothers in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand from your poor brother but you shall freely open your hand to him and you shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. Beware that there is no base thought in your heart saying the remission is near and your eye is hostile towards your brother your poor brother and you give him nothing.

Then he may cry out to the Lord against you and it will be a sin in you. Verses 7 through 9 are challenging verses in my opinion. He says listen you need to be careful that if there are one of the poor brothers among you that you don't close your hand to them. I think that's an easy thing sometimes for us to do because we see systems abused a lot. I see systems

abused a lot. It happens quite often and you always have to make really tough decisions in the midst of things and say hey what's a real need and what's someone taking advantage? There's always got to be discernment used in these things because every day I get emails or phone calls and every email or phone call that I get seemingly has to do with somebody wanting something and you always have to make a decision. What is enabling somebody to continue to live a lifestyle of sin and what is helping someone?

What is really helping them to get ahead? And every day I have to make decisions like that and it's very hard to do but I keep trying to remind myself because it's the easy thing for us to do as believers in Jesus Christ especially as conservative believers in Jesus Christ which is what I would consider most of us that attend this church is we can find ourselves going nope they need to work for it themselves and don't get me wrong I feel that way too but we also have to remember what God says here that you shouldn't close your hand to your poor brother nor should you think to yourself shoot we're only two and a half years away from seven years if I loan him that there's no way on God's green earth he'll pay me back and two and a half years

there's no way he'll pay me back in 30 years let alone the next two and a half I'm just not going to help him I'm going to pretend la la la I'm going to pretend he doesn't really need help right he says don't do that you know why because that guy's going to cry out to God and then God's going to hold you responsible I try to work off of this this is the policy I try to work off of when in doubt help when in doubt go ahead and extend the hand will it bite me in the rear end sometimes yep has it bitten me in the rear end sometimes yep but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that those people will have to answer to the Lord they'll have to answer to the Lord from what they've given there are those times where I have to say this is the fifth time

this month I can't help you again at some point in time I'm enabling you but there is also the point where I have to say but you know what God's grace continues to be extended and so he says don't close your hand to him because man they may cry out to God and that's not going to be good either he says in verse 10 you shall generously give to him and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings for the poor will never cease to be in the land wait what he just said that if you obey me you'll never be poor and yet here he says the poor will never cease to be in the land as a matter of fact in the New Testament Jesus says the poor you'll have

with you always wait how do we how do we bring these two things together well you see Moses knew the people he knew they'd have a hard time obeying God therefore the poor will always be in the land because you're always going to have people who will not obey the commands of God you ever found that well I won't say that some people will not obey the commands of God therefore the poor will not obey the commands of God therefore the poor will never cease to be in the land therefore I command you you shall freely open your hand to your brother to your needy and poor in your land verse 12 if your kinsman a Hebrew man or woman is sold to you then he shall serve you six years but in the seventh year you shall set him free when you set him free

you shall not send him away empty handed you shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your house and from your wine vat you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you therefore I command you this today it shall come about if he says to you I will not go out from you because he loves you and your household since he fares well with you then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door and he shall be your servant forever also you shall do likewise to your maidservant it shall not seem hard to you when you set him free for he has given you six years with double the service

of a hired man so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do this last portion that we'll look at here tonight is what's referred to as the law of the bond slave much of the slavery that's mentioned in the law in Exodus through Deuteronomy actually is what we would refer to as indentured servitude it wasn't that they went out and captured them and enslaved them and put them under their rule it was somebody who had found themselves under hard financial times they had to give up their land they had to give up their life and the only thing that they could do is say I will serve you for the next six years to pay off my debt and so that's what would take place and they were to serve for those six years to pay off the debt but in order to maintain

that same idea of the release from slavery in the seventh year they were to let them go free because they paid off their debt but do you notice what they were to do with them after they set them free when you set them free you were to give them all the things that they needed as a matter of fact the terminology that's used here is you shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing ground and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you and you remember how God set you free from slavery because do you remember what happened with the children of Israel when God set them free from slavery he didn't just set them free all of the people of Egypt started giving them

all of their jewelry and precious goods and God said in that way you'll get all of your back pay from all of the time of slavery and so he says that's what you're to do with those who are set free it's kind of interesting isn't it because ultimately you and I owed a debt that we couldn't pay and then God in his perfect completion in the fullness of time because seven is completion in the fullness of time when the time was right he came and died for us paid the debt we couldn't pay and he set us free right only when he set us free what did he give to us he gave to us that gift of the Holy Spirit and every spiritual blessing like we read about in the book of Ephesians kind of an interesting parallel there is it not it's kind of like what Jesus tells us

in the book or what Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing and heavenly places that start with us being set free but he talks about one other group of people within the midst of this bond slave you see let's say you served your time but you found that you loved your master so much when everything was said and done you were like man we've almost become more like brothers than servant master sort of a sort of a relationship and as a matter of fact I've really grown grown pretty fond of the family I've grown pretty fond of him and even though I can be set free even though ultimately I have my freedom I'm now gonna make a decision of my own free will of my own accord that I can that I'm gonna stay

with him and continue to be his servant even though I don't have to even though it's not what's required of me and so he said this is what you're to do with him you're to take him to the door post and you're to take an awl and you're to pierce their ear because it will be a sign to everybody that that individual is a bond slave a slave of choice they have made a decision that because they love their master and because they love their home even though they're free they're gonna continue to serve there's actually two very interesting New Testament parallels that are given to us here the first of course is none other than Jesus himself who though he was completely free made himself our servant of his own accord and he did so by laying aside his glory

by taking on the form of a man and coming down to earth where he tells us that he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many and he did so not because he had to but because he chose to being free he subjected himself to all of that for you and I because of the great love that he had for us and knowing that that's who Jesus is for us we're reminded that we as believers in Jesus Christ have the power have a decision to make you see Paul in a good number of the epistles that he wrote referred to himself a certain way he said Paul a bond slave of Jesus Christ he referred to himself as it says there in the Greek as a doulos one who is now serving out of his own free will a slave of his own free will

because of the great love that he had for his master you see you and I same symbolism as before you and I owed a debt that we couldn't pay and even though Jesus set us free and we could go do whatever we wanted to now as believers in Jesus Christ we should make the choice to say even though I can go free and do whatever I want to do I will choose to serve you I will choose to be your slave to be your servant and do whatever you call me to do and for me again this brings up another really challenging question in my life do I live like a bond slave of Christ or do I live like a bond slave to me who am I a slave to Paul tells us in the book of Romans that we used to present ourselves as slaves to sin we used to present ourselves as slaves

to unrighteousness but now as born again set free believers we have the ability to present ourselves as slaves to Christ who do we serve who is my life serving on a daily basis I want my life to be just like what Paul said a bond slave of Christ amen let's all bow Father we come before you and Lord I thank you for these challenging words that Moses spoke to the children of Israel that have deep application for us as New Testament believers Lord I pray that you would use your word to continue to do your work in our lives Father that we would find ourselves set apart from the world and set apart unto you living as your own special possession living as becomes us in holiness so Father continue to do that work in our hearts and in our lives

we just pray these things in Jesus name amen be blessed