Scott Moore: Welcome to the "Building Faith and Family" podcast with Steve Demme.  I'm your host, Scott Moore. Thanks for joining us today. Good morning, Steve. How  are you today? 

Steve: Anticipating a warm day even though it's a little chilly. Turned off the heat last  night and didn't turn it on again because I know it's going to be even warmer today,  but I think my wife got cold because she got up and turned it on. It makes it really  nice to sleep, but it makes it rather hard to get up.  

Scott: I hear that. 

Steve: We are still in one of my favorite books of the Bible and in a section which I'm  pretty familiar with, but I don't want to be presumptuous. I don't want to assume that  because I understand it pretty thoroughly that it's going to be something special. I do  want God's blessing on it, and I do want God to talk to us, so let's pray. Father, thank You for Your word. Thank You that every word of God is inspired, and  we eat by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father. Help us to eat  today. Help us to take in the inspiration. 

Help us to have ears to hear what Your Spirit is saying to us through these words, and  bless all those who have made it this far. Give them a fresh dose of grace and a fresh  impetus to continue on. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Scott: Amen. 

Steve: Chuck Colson was famous in the Nixon impeachment hearings way back in the  day. Chuck Colson was like the hatchet man. He ended up going to prison, and there  God worked mightily in that man's life, and he became an advocate not only for  prisoners, but for biblical thinking. 

When I think of those two words, biblical worldview, I think of Chuck Colson. One of  the things he said really struck me, which I heard on a broadcast, and he said, "If  we're going to embrace the concept of a death penalty, then we also need to embrace  the process." 

In other words, if we're going to think biblically and say, "God says there's a penalty  for death," then we have to look at what God says concerning, "How do we determine  whether this person is worthy of death?" It says in Deuteronomy 17, "On the evidence  of two witnesses or of three witnesses, the one who is to die shall be put to death. A  person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness." 

That lodged in me, and I thought that is such good advice. If we're going to pick some  pieces of the Bible, we have to pick it all. We have to look at the process as well as the  penalty. 

Also in the 17th chapter of Deuteronomy, is the basis for my favorite talk to do for  young people or old people. If I walked into a church and they said, "Hey, do you have  something for us today?" I could easily fill up 20 to 30 minutes just from  Deuteronomy 17. 

14th verse, God says, "When you come into the land that Jehovah your God is giving  you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and then say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me.'" He goes on to say, "You can do it, but make sure  that it's the one that I choose." 

Then He gives them three things that this king is not supposed to do. He's not  supposed to go down to Egypt and multiply horses. He's not to acquire many wives  for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver  and gold. 

Then I have the young people, or whomever I'm speaking to, go over to 1 Kings 10,  and we see that Solomon went down to Egypt for horses. He had 700 wives and 300  concubines or something similar, maybe reversed. Still, it's a thousand, which is a lot.  Then it says, "Silver and gold were like rocks.” 

Then sadly, it says, "Because of all of his wives, his heart turned away." This to me is a  little snapshot of why we have Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy lays the foundation.  Deuteronomy is the basis for what you're going to see in the life of this nation. As I'm reading through chapter 17 to 28, I couldn't help but recognize that these  things really did come to pass in Israel, and He laid it all out for them here. "This is  what's going to happen if you do this. This is what's going to happen if you do this,"  and it all comes to pass. 

Solomon, the wisest king, was given three commandments, and he didn't do them,  and he fell exactly like God said he was going to fall. One of the cool things is He  does say what to do, and that's in the 18th to the 20th verses. 

"When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a  copy of this law," which I think I've already referenced this, but in the Greek  Septuagint, this is when the Hebrew was translated into Greek. In the Greek, that  expression copy of this law is deutero-nomon or deutero-nomos which means copy  of this law. 

"Approved by the Levitical priest, and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all  the days of his life." There you go. That's why we read the Bible every day, all the days  of his life. There are five benefits, five blessings, five perks, if you will, that follow him  if he will do it. 

Number one, he may learn to fear Jehovah his God. Perfect. 

Number two, By keeping all the words of this law and these statutes to do them, you'll  be fearing God. He'll be obedient. 

Number three, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers. He'll be humble.  Number four, that he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right  hand or to the left. He'll stay right in the middle where he's supposed to be.  Number five, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children in  Israel. 

If he will write himself a copy of Deuteronomy and read it all the days of his life. That  is enough impetus for me to continue to read the Bible all the days of my life.  In the 18th chapter, he's talking to the Levitical priests, how their portion is in God.  There's a passage here in the 15th verse that is quoted in Acts. 

I probably shouldn't tell you all that, but I think it's important. It says, "Jehovah your  God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from among your  brethren. It is to him you shall listen." Now this is future. He's going to raise up a  prophet for you, from among you, from among your brothers. 

I think probably the first person that we think of, it could be Joshua, but it could also  be Jesus, which is the same name in Hebrew, Yeshua, Yeshua. Then in chapter three  of Acts, perhaps it's another forerunner, somewhat like John the Baptist who prepared  the first coming of the Lord. 

Perhaps there's another person coming that's going to prepare the way of the Lord for  His second coming. I'm putting that in there. This is a very important passage, 15th  verse.  

Then we come to prophets again, and we've already talked about this previously, but  this is 20 to 22. I'm going to give you my two cents, but I think it makes sense. Sorry,  pun intended. 

"The prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name that I have not commanded  him to speak," and then it goes on, "or who speaks in the name of other gods, that  same prophet shall die." I think that last phrase should be in parentheses. God is talking about someone who presumes, but then He kind of puts a pause in  there and says, "Or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall  die," that one. 

Then it goes on, "And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that  Jehovah has not spoken?' When a prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah, if a word  does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that Jehovah has not spoken. The  prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him." I think what you have here is two prophets. You have one who presumed to speak in  the name of God, but if it doesn't come to pass or come true, don't fear him. No  problem. Then there's this other prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, that  prophet shall die. 

This helps me. It makes sense. Because we have this thing in our culture that if a  prophet speaks, and it didn't come to pass, he's wrong. Kill him or something. I don't think the scripture teaches that. I think what it does teach, though is some  prophets that get you to follow other gods or who speaks in the name of other gods,  that's the one you're supposed to fear and take care of.  

19th chapter. This is a common misunderstanding of the Old Testament. People say,  "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, etc.," but in the 18th verse, this is talking about  someone who's a malicious witness. 

It reiterates that we need two or three witnesses for something to be established, but  the judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness, then you shall  do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. You see, this guy is trying to get his  brother killed, now he needs to die. 

Then it wraps it up in the 20th verse, "It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for  tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” The concept is similar to the second commandment that Jesus referred to, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," but if  you have made a false witness and accused your brother falsely, and he's going to pay  a terrific penalty, and we find out that you're lying, then you shall be receiving the  same penalty that you thought to put on your brother. 

Deuteronomy 20. When you go out to war, He gives some very specific directions.  "Don't be afraid. I'll be with you. We got this," but then He says, "When you go to  battle, if you are about to dedicate a house, don't go to battle. 

"You need to go back and take care of your house. If you planted a vineyard, no, no,  no. Go back to your house. Take care of your vineyard." Or "Did you get married? Oh,  you need to spend time with her." It says later, further on, you need to spend a whole  year there. God is pro-family. 

I looked at that and I thought, "What's more important?" I mean, these are important  things in a person's life, their spouse, their source of income, their vineyard providing  for your spouse, your house, where you're going to live with your spouse, these are  big things. 

It shows me again how practical God is. Yes, there's going to be a battle, but I'm also  aware that you bought a new house and you planted a vineyard, and you got married,  and I want you take care of that.  

Then He tells them how to fight, ”When you draw near to a city to fight against it, first  offer terms of peace to it. If it responds to you peaceably, opens to you, OK, then  they'll become your servants, but if it does not make peace with you, but makes war  against you, then you shall besiege it." He even tells you how to do it, what trees to  use, what trees not to use, so practical. 

21st chapter, "If a body is found," this is God, Who lives with His people. This is God  that knows what's happening, but if you find this person dead, here's what you do.  The elders, they go out, they measure, and then the priests, the sons of Levi shall  come forward. These were not second-class citizens. 

Sadly, in our culture today, the priests, the Levites, the pastors, they're treated as, this  a nice thing, but it's not a necessary thing. No. In God's plan, these were the people  that were chosen to minister to Him, bless Him, but they were also chosen to settle  disputes. 

They were to help in all these situations, not only with leprosy, but if they find bodies  and trying to decide who's right and who's wrong. This is really important stuff, and  the priests are put in their proper perspective.  

Then you have captive women. We don't have that in our culture today, but God tells  them what to do and how to do it. God's also aware of what happens in a home where  some young man has two wives and he likes the one better than the other one. He  wants to give the second one, that's the loved one, he wants to make sure that her  child has more than the unloved one. 

God said, "That's not right." He shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the  unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the first fruits of  his strength. The right of the firstborn is his. We saw that way back in Genesis when Jacob was blessing his children, Reuben had blown it, so he did not get the rights of  the firstborn. 

Joseph did, and Judah received the prophecy that Christ was going to come from him,  the ruler was going to come from Judah. Then you have the sad story about what  happens if you have a stubborn and rebellious son, and you've disciplined him, you've  done everything you know to do, then you bring them to the elders of the city, and  this boy dies. This is hard. 

This is hard to read, but God knows what He's doing. God’s making provision for  every situation. Deuteronomy 21, 22, and 23. I read this and all I could think about  was Jesus. "If a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to  death, you shall hang him on a tree. His body shall not remain all night on a tree, but  you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.” He was  hanged, He hung, and He was cursed because of our sin. Thank you, Jesus.  In 22, I picked a couple in here. There's a whole bunch that's really practical, but I  thought about this one. "When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for  your roof." I've dug holes. I've dug ditches. I've built decks. 

I've got to make sure that I put a fence around the edge so people don't fall off my  roof or they don't fall into a ditch. This is so practical and so good. It's in the fifth  chapter that we read the 10 Commandments, but then 6 through 26, the next 21  chapters God has been fleshing them out. 

This is all that God is doing is, He's not leaving 10 commandments for you to  interpret with the help of Him and His priests, but He is fleshing them out. This is  loving your neighbor as yourself.  

If your neighbor's building a house and he digs this big pit, and you happen to be  walking around in the night looking for your donkey that got out, you don't want to  fall into this pit. 

23rd chapter, here's my observation. It says, "No Ammonite," third verse, "or Moabite  may enter the assembly of Jehovah, even to the 10th generation." Then He explains  why, ”Because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way when you  came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam, the son of Beor from  Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse you." 

OK. We get that, but when we read the Book of Ruth later, we're going to find out that  this was not the 10th generation, and Ruth was allowed to become one of the  forebears of David, and therefore of Christ Himself. God makes exceptions. I couldn't help but think of that Canaanite woman, who came to Jesus and says, "Heal  my son." "No. No. I can't give crumbs to the dogs.” You remember the whole thing.  God sees something in people and He can make exceptions, and He did right there. 23rd chapter, not only do you have to be careful that you don't fall into somebody's  pit and you don't fall off of the roof, but if you're going to go to the bathroom at  night, make sure that you take a shovel with you and take care of things because God  walks among your camp. What a great thought. Practical? Extremely. Delicate? Yes. 

We don't talk about these things, but God is there. Deuteronomy 24, we have the  certificate of divorce. This was referenced by Jesus in Matthew 19. Again, the  foundation, Deuteronomy, is fleshed out in the rest of the Bible. Then also in that  chapter, "When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army." We've  already read about this, for God is pro-marriage. 

Then it says in the eighth verse, "Take care in case of leprous disease, to be very  careful, to do according to all that the Levitical priest shall direct you." Yes. We read  the directions given to the Levites about these very leprous diseases back in Leviticus. 15th verse of 24th chapter, when somebody works for you and does some yard work  for you, let's say, they shovel your driveway, they cut your grass. They do a small  painting job, something like that, and these people do not have a regular source of  income, it says you shall give them their wages on the same day. 

I have been careful to do that since reading this. When my grandkids come over and  they do chores for me, I pay them the same day. Don't tell them that you'll get it later.  Pay them the same day. 

Here is something that I think is very practical that I've applied in my life. When you're  harvesting your field, don't go over it four times to make sure you've got every little  piece of grain. Go over it once, and then it says, "You shall not go back to get it. It  shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that Jehovah your God may  bless you in all the work of your hands." 

He's thinking not only about you, that he'll bless you if you do this, but He's thinking  about that sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow that count on what's left over  from the harvest.  

25th chapter, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.” Paul  references this because he said a pastor needs to be paid appropriately, and then he  quotes this passage. In my mind, I have a picture of an ox going around and around  with this big yoke on his thing and he's treading out the grain. 

Every once in a while, he stops and takes the mouthful and keeps on. Apparently,  some people used to say, "No, no, that's my grain," and so he puts a muzzle on him  because he's all concerned about every little piece. God says, "No, no, no. Don't  muzzle the ox. Nope." He had to say it. Must have been a reason why he said it. Deuteronomy 25 also talks about just measures, not having two kinds of weight. I  remember reading the biography of Isaac Newton, I think he was one of the smartest  men that ever lived. Wonderful Christian man, but Isaac Newton ended up getting a  job with the treasury trying to figure out how to make just weights and measures. People used to pay in silver coins, but sometimes the merchants would get the coin  and then shave a little bit of the edge off, and then the next person, they'd pay them  back, but now they weren't getting a full amount of silver because some of it had  been shaved off. He came up with the idea of putting the little edges all around the  coin, little slots, so you couldn't shave it off. 

It was a godly man doing a godly thing, restoring just weights and measures, which I  think about whenever I go to gas stations and I look on the pump while I'm pumping my gas, and see when it was last checked to make sure that a gallon was really a  gallon. We assume and take these things for granted, not every culture in the world  has these same kind of laws. 

I don't think you've ever heard of John Wanamaker. Lovely Christian gentleman out of  Philadelphia. I could go on and on. I've read his biography a couple times, but he was  the first person to put price tags on items for sale in a store. 

Because it used to be, and if you've ever traveled, it still is in many countries, you go  into a shop and they kind of look you over to see if you have any money and you  begin to dicker. 

You have to dicker over how much everything costs. John Wanamaker says, "If we are  equal before God, we shall be equal before price." He was the first person to put price  tags on things because he was a Christian. That was part of his biblical worldview.  Wonderful guy. 

By the way, he founded the first, what we call today, the superstores like a Walmart,  but there used to be Kmarts, and there used to be Murphy Marts and different places  where you have all these different vendors under one roof. Before that you had to go  to the dressmaker, then you went to the hat maker, then you went to the butcher.  Now you can go into Walmart and you can get everything. 

Deuteronomy 26. "When you come into the land that Jehovah your God is giving you  for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, you shall take some  of the first of all the fruit of the ground which you harvest and put it in a basket and  take it to the place that Jehovah your God has chosen and pass it on to God's people,  

the priests and the Levites." 

This is in 26th 5-11, these verses. It says you're supposed to make a speech when  you do, "A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down to Egypt and  sojourn there." It goes all the way through. Long speech. You're supposed to do that  when you take your first fruits of the house of God. 

I remember being a pastor in Georgia, and my neighbors had planted some peach  trees, and one day their kids came walking up the path between our homes with a  little basket of peaches. They said, "This is the first fruits. Since you're representing  God here in our congregation, here they are for you."  

I never forgot that. Very special. At the end of the 26th chapter, God sums it all up.  "This day, Jehovah your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall  therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have  declared today that Jehovah is your God and that you will walk in His ways and keep  His statutes and His commandments and His rules and will obey His voice. "And Jehovah has declared today that you are a people for His treasured possession,  as He has promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments, that He will  set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all the nations that He has  made, and that you shall be a people holy to Jehovah your God as He promised." It's the benediction after 21 chapters of these wonderful instructions and practical  statutes, he says, "OK, we'll wrap it up here."  

27th chapter, they needed to procure huge stones and plaster them and write the law  on them, and six tribes were supposed to be on Mount Ebal, and six tribes on Mount  Gerizim, and the Levites were going to read aloud. 

This is responsive reading. They're going to read aloud seven curses, and Israel is  going to respond, all the tribes, with "Amen." I don't know if you know this, but in  Hebrew, the word "amen" is amen. That is a total Hebrew word. It's a response, but it  means it is true, so be it. Amen. 

It's as if God looks down from heaven and says, "This is what I'm teaching you," and  then we on earth, we look up in response to His directives and say, "Yes, we agree.  They are true, amen, so be it." That word's only used 30 times in the Old Testament,  but we use it a lot. It's a Hebrew word which means amen. 

28th chapter, 68 verses. Huge. The first 14 verses are some of the most wonderful  verses that God's ever written describing the blessings of obedience. If you will do  what I tell you, this is what will happen. The next 54 verses are the fruit of  disobedience. I didn't want to read them, but I have to every year. Having read the whole Bible so many times, I know that most of those we're going to  see lived out in the history of Israel. This is tragic. This is what exactly happens to  Israel when they disregard God's word, when they disobey God's person, when they  reject and rebel against Him, these things happen. God told them it was going to  happen, and you sigh. OK. Scott. Thus endeth the sermon from Steve. Scott: There's a lot of practical stuff in there. 

Steve: There is. 

Scott: The bit about Solomon doing the things that he was told not to do right here in  Deuteronomy, I feel like that needs to be shouted every year. I still feel like every time  we read about Solomon, it's like, "Oh, Israel was at the peak of their culture. They had  all these riches, and everything was great and wonderful, and Solomon was the wisest  man who ever lived." 

Because that's what you hear all the time, but no, no, no. They were at the peak of  their disobedience by the king who was leading them in the disobedience doing  exactly what God told them not to do. 

That smacks me in the face because I remember the first time, I think it was one of  the times you said this several years back probably, where I was like, "Wait a minute.  What? I've read that. How did I not connect these two?" It's right there in print. You  have to connect the dots. 

Steve: It makes me think of that verse that says, "Let him that thinks he stands take  heed lest he fall." Because Solomon was drinking the Kool-Aid too. He was reading his  press clippings. "I don't need to read the Bible every day. I don't need to write a copy  of this. I'm going to have all the horses I want. Best horses are in Egypt. I'm going  down to there." Grieves me. 

Scott: The bit about when they're going to war and if you've got a wife or a house or  whatever, don't go to war. Stay home. It even says if you're fainthearted, stay home.  They didn't want anybody who was even a little bit nervous about going to war. They want the guys who are all in. I think that’s a pretty good principle for like, "Hey, let's  not conscript the teenagers who, don't want to go and force them to go fight  somewhere." That's a terrible idea and a good way to lose a war and a country, in my  opinion. Anyway, I'm taking it from the Bible, so here you go. 

Steve: We see that's what Gideon does later. He makes his army go down and drink  the water. Basically, he's saying, "Hey, if you guys are a little shaky, I don't think I  want you in the battle because you're going to make the guy next to you shaky, and  then pretty soon we'll all be shaky." 

Scott: Didn't they have like 300 men at the end of all that? 

Steve: Yep. They went from thousands down to hundreds. 

Scott: The last one I was going to mention is 24:16. I wrote down that verse number,  and I'm thinking like, "Oh, yeah." "Parents are not to be put to death for their children,  nor children put to death for their parents. Each one will die for their own sin." That  even comes up today. It's been brought up recently. 

I remember hearing in the news that they were thinking of punishing parents for  things that the kids do because their parents didn't do some. It's like, "OK. I'm pretty  sure that's a biblical principle right there. Don't do that." I don't know what will  happen to us because of it, but God says it's not a good idea. 

Steve: Thank You. Thank You, Father, for Your Word. Thank You for how all encompassing and real and practical it is. I can't help but ask you where we have blind  spots, like Solomon had a blind spot, and he thought he had everything under control  and his whole world was about to fall apart. I pray that you'll reveal our blind spots to  us. 

Help us to read therein all the days of our life, listen to Your Spirit, and have You lead  us in the way that we're able to walk in obedience and not in rebellion. In Jesus' name,  amen. 

Scott: Amen. That's our show for this week, folks. Thanks for joining us for the  Building Faith and Family podcast with Steve Demme. If you have a question for the  show, email Steve at spdemme@Gmail.com. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week.