Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 15:12-23.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 15:12-15 (NIV)
12  If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free.
13  And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.
14  Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.
15  Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.
 
On verses 12-15:  Moses tells the Israelites to be gracious to a servant who leaves them after several years of service. He tells the Israelites to “supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress.” (v14)  Applied to us today, when a person has served you well for a long time, instead of bitterly grieving their departure or indifferently letting them go, go out of your way to honour and bless that person.  Celebrate the ways you are better off because of them and bless them liberally.  Be gracious to them as God has been gracious to you.  When we send people off this way, we will be blessed as well (see v18).

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 15:1-11.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 15:1-3 (NIV)
1  At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
2  This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.
3  You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.

On verses 1-3:  Moses instituted a system where every 7 years debts between fellow Israelites were to be canceled.  It was a way to remember and demonstrate God’s grace, as well as to give people a fresh start.  For that is God’s heart for every person: to give them a fresh start.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 14:1-21.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 14:1-2 (NIV)
1  You are the children of the LORD your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead,
2  for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

On verses 1-2:  In Canaanite culture, when a person died, their family would mutilate themselves out of grief and hopelessness, cutting themselves and shaving the fronts of their heads.  Moses told the Israelites that they do not need to grieve this way because “you are the children of the Lord your God” (v1), chosen to be “His treasured possession” (v2). In other words, because the Israelites could have confidence that those who trust in Him will be with Him in eternity, they could grieve with hope.  Similarly, as Christians we are God’s treasured possession.  When a Christian friend dies, we do not need to grieve hopelessly because we have assurance that our friend is now in heaven with God, happier and healthier than they’ve ever been.  Instead of mourning hopelessly, we can grieve with hope, celebrating the fact that through faith in Jesus Christ that person who died has not left home, but gone home.
 

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 13:1-18.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 13:1-18 (NIV)
1  If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder,
2  and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,”
3  you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
4  It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
5  That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you…….

On verses 1-18:  In ancient Israel, leading a person to worship anyone other than the LORD was considered a capital offense punishable by death.  What are we as Christians to do with a passage like this today?  It’s worth remembering that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for all our sins – including all the ways we have ever led others astray, and all the ways we ourselves have been led astray.  When we deserved to die for our sins, Jesus Christ, who was innocent, took the fall for us all.  That way God could turn His fierce anger away from our sins and instead show us mercy and compassion.