Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

God reminds the people to KEEP Passover (for the New Covenant believer, this is Communion), the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was to be kept on the date they left Egypt. They weren’t to have any leaven in their house or their TERRITORY – leaven represents sin, and if they did not get rid of it completely they lost out on the lesson to rid yourself of all sin by obeying God. Passover HAD to take place at your towns you live in, but ONLY at the place where God puts His name (Jerusalem and the twelfth time God has mentioned this). This, of course, points to Jesus who died for us in Jerusalem. At evening. The first and seventh days of Passover (Feast of Unleavened Bread) were to be Sabbaths, whether they land on a Sabbath day or not. They were to be reminders bookending this festival to imprint on them the importance of being delivered and who was delivering them.

After Passover, they counted seven weeks – Feast of Weeks. To commemorate this, they were to give a tribute of a freewill offering to God. It was to be in proportion to how much they had been blessed. They were to REJOICE. Whether they were well off, orphans, foreigners, widows, or whomever. It didn’t matter if their circumstances were negative or positive. They were to REJOICE. They were to remember they had been slaves, but were now FREE. Rejoicing in this freedom is a CHOICE. It has nothing to do with what is going on in your life. It had EVERYTHING to do with honouring the freedom God has given.

The Feast of Tabernacles happened seven days after the harvest had been gathered, fifty days from Passover. This is also when Pentecost happened. It was to be a seven day festival and was to happen where God puts His name (thirteenth time). If they did this, they would be blessed in all their produce and all the works of their hands.

These were the three festivals where all males had to present themselves where God chooses to place His name. They were not to ever appear empty, but to give as they were able, in proportion to how they had been blessed by God. It was to be done with a rejoicing heart. This is all done in relationship language and with the same value as a bride meeting the bridegroom.

There were judges and officers that would sit in the gates of each town. They were to judge the local people, not to take bribes, judge righteously, not to show partiality, and follow what is just. One of the things the judges were to pay attention to is the community behaviour around them. Idolatry was NOT to be permitted.

No planting trees around or even near the altar of God. No images were to be set up and worshipped. No animals with blemishes were acceptable for sacrifice to God – that was detestable. Again, it was pointing to Jesus who was blameless (blemishless). This was an IMPORTANT shadow for them to really understand. If someone was found to have worshipped the sun, stars, other gods, or images; if they had sacrificed to them and set up high places; then they were to be stoned. Male or female. Stoned to death. The death penalty was enacted to show how deadly sin was, how it had to be kept from spreading, and as a deterrent to anyone else considering it. This was serious, so only on the testimony of two or three witnesses was someone to be found guilty. The witnesses would be the ones to kill the guilty.

If the judges and officers couldn’t handle a judgment, it was to be taken to the Levitical priests. There was civil law, but it was answerable to God’s laws. Whatever you took to them, you had to abide by their decision. You HAD to do what they said. Anyone who did NOT do exactly what they said, the way they said it, was killed. It would be itself a preventative measure to keep frivolous things being brought to the Lord’s priests.

“When you have come to that land that Yahweh your God is giving to you and you have taken possession of it and you have settled in it, and you say, ‘I will set over me a king like all the nations that are around me,’ indeed, you may set a king over you whom Yahweh your God will choose, from the midst of your countrymen you must set a king over you; you are not allowed to appoint over you a man, a foreigner, who is not your countryman.” (Deuteronomy 17:14-15)

God was prescribing to them the way they were to live, looking to Him for all judgment and source and living. But He knew their sinful nature, and made provision for that too. Here He tells them that they would go into the land, turn away, and demand a king – being unwilling to look to them as their Source. So God told them what the king was to do and not to do. For example, He was to write out all the Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy) and to keep it with him all the time. To refer to it, read it, keep it in mind, and run his life that way. Sadly, there is no record of any king doing this.

The king was NOT to take a lot of wives. The king was NOT to gather a lot of horses for himself – especially not horses from Egypt (to keep away from trade with them). They were NOT to look backward to where they had been, but trust in the Lord to provide for them. Solomon is a sad example of a king who did not follow these rules. He started out strong, but did not obey ALL the commands and so fell away from true worship of God later in his life.

The Levites did not have a portion in the land, so all their food came from the offerings and portions given to the Lord. The people would bring of the best of the land to the Lord and the Levites would live off of it – also tithing their portion to the high priest. Any Levite living in a town could leave there, go to where God had placed His name, and serve there. They would have the same portion as the other priests. All the Levites were to have the same portions.

The Israelites were called to lives of holiness. They were NOT to participate, copy, or perform the abominations of the nations currently in the land. Once they got those nations out, they were to be holy to the Lord. If they participated in those abominations, they would participate in the judgment on those abominations. They must keep themselves blameless in these matters before the Lord.

One of the ways that they had to keep their course corrected – apart from the Torah that they were to learn, keep in mind, and follow – was the prophet. The office of the prophet was to give the people the words of the Lord. The people were not to follow just ANY prophet, but only TRUE prophets. It didn’t matter if they SAID they were speaking words of the Lord. They needed to ACTUALLY be truly speaking the words of the Lord. How do you know what a true prophet was? Regardless of any far away prophecy, they had to prophesy something near. If it came to pass, it was the Lord. If it did not, the Lord was not in it and they were in no way to fear that person’s words. Also, when and if they found a false prophet, they were to kill that false prophet. They were not allowed to live. God doesn’t take kindly to people who lead His children falsely.

Summary

Key Players: God, Moses

Key Themes: Festivals, Idolatry, Conduct of Priests, Conduct of Prophets, Conduct of Kings

Key Verse(s): Deuteronomy 16:1-2, 9-11, 13-15, 18, 21; 17:1, 7, 8-9, 14-15; 18:3-5, 9, 15-18