S3E286 – Deuteronomy 1-3: Moses On The Threshold

Transcript Podcast Introduction Today is Monday so we’ll read from the Law. We’re still in Deuteronomy, the last book we’ll read from the Law, and our chapters tomorrow will be 13-15. I do have an on this date in church history for you. I’m calling today’s episode “What’s In It For You?”   Design: Steve Webb | Photo: Annie Spratt on Unsplash Comments on Deuteronomy 15 Have you ever heard someone make a statement like, “You should give, without any expectation of receiving anything in return”? In general, I agree with that statement as it relates to our attitude toward people. We should not give with the expectation of receiving something back from them. If we do, great. But don’t give with the motivation of getting something back from them.  Do you agree with that? It seems like a good way to avoid being disappointed if they don’t reciprocate, doesn’t it? And if we only give to those who have the ability to give back to us, we probably won’t be giving to people who really *need* the help. So there’s that. But in Deuteronomy 15, the people were told to be generous to those in need because God would bless them for it. So it seems to me that it is alright for us to be generous with the expectation that there will be a blessing for us from God. And of course, this is not the only place that this principle is spoken of in the Bible. In Luke 6:38, Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” To tell you the truth, I would much rather receive a blessing from God than from man! One more thing. Because God has made it clear that He will bless us when we give, I don’t think it’s bad that we expect a blessing. But we need to remember that we cannot manipulate God. He will never be beholden to us. We can’t *obligate* Him. This promise of His does not give us license to say, “Okay, God. I gave a thousand dollars to such-and-such, so You have to give it back to me.” I doesn’t work that way, in my opinion. God blesses us in ways we might not see until we see Him in Heaven. Yes, sometimes He does bless us materially, but not always. He might bless us with good health, or the friendship of someone, or keeping something we own from breaking. The possibilities are endless. And sometimes it might just be the satisfaction of knowing we did something good for someone.  The point I’m trying to make here is this: Don’t be mercenary in your giving. Give cheerfully and generously out of the goodness of your heart. And as a plus, I believe that is when God is most generous in returning a blessing. Also in Deuteronomy 15, God spoke about slaves. These days the subject of slavery is triggering for some people. I’ve spoken about it a few times here on the show, so I won’t address it today, If you would like to listen to that show, here it is: https://lifespringmedia.com/family-bible/lsfab0077-1-corinthians-7-8/ Today’s Bible Translation Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 13 CEB; Ch. 14 CEV; Ch. 15 GNT Support This a value for value podcast. There are no advertisers because advertising=censorship. If you enjoy the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, decide how much value it brings to you. Only you can make that determination. Then put a number on the value and send it to me here: SUPPORT. Transcript Download .txt file. STEVE WEBB – 0:00We can’t manipulate God. INTRO S12E320 – 0:10Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, and podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily show where we are reading through the entire Bible in a year. Today’s Monday, so we’ll read from one of the books of the Law. We’re in Deuteronomy which is the last book we’ll read from the Law. And our chapters today are 13th through 15th. I’m calling today’s episode, “What’s In It For You?”. The show notes page for today’s episode is at lifespringmedia.com/s12e320. My email address is st***@*************ia.com. Let’s begin. DEUTERONOMY 13 (CEB) – 0:46Deuteronomy, chapter 13. (1) Now if a prophet or a dream interpreter appears among you and performs a sign or wonder for you, (2) and the sign or wonder that was spoken actually occurs; if he says: “Come on! We should follow other gods”—ones you haven’t experienced—“and we should worship them,” (3) you must not listen to that prophet’s or dream interpreter’s words, because the LORD your God is testing you to see if you love the LORD your God with all your mind and all your being. (4) You must follow the LORD your God alone! Revere him! Follow his commandments! Obey his voice! Worship him! Cling to him—no other! (5) That prophet or dream interpreter must be executed because he encouraged you to turn away from the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, who redeemed you from the house of slavery; they tried to lead you away from the path the LORD your God commanded you to take. Remove such evil from your community! (6) Similarly, if one of your relatives—even one of your own siblings—or your own son or daughter or your dear spouse or best friend entices you secretly, if someone like that says: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones that neither you nor your ancestors have experienced, (7) gods from all the neighboring peoples, whether nearby or far away, from one end of the earth to the other— (8) don’t give in to them! Don’t obey them! Don’t have any mercy on them! Don’t have compassion on them and don’t protect them! (9) Instead, you must execute them. Your own hand must be against them from the beginning of the execution; the hand of all the people will be involved at the end. (10) Stone them until they are dead because they desired to lead you away from the LORD your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (11) All Israel will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t do that sort of evil thing among you again. (12) Or if you hear about one of your towns the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, that (13) certain wicked people have gone out from your community and they’ve led the citizens of their town astray by saying: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones you haven’t experienced before; (14) at that point you must look into this situation very carefully to see if it’s true. And if it’s definitely true that this detestable thing was done in your community, (15) you must completely strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Place it and all that is in it under the ban. Put its animals to the sword. (16) Gather all the plunder into the middle of the town’s square. Then burn the city and all of its plunder as an entirely burned offering to the LORD your God. It must remain a heap of rubble forever. It must not be rebuilt. (17) Don’t hold on to any of the banned items—this will ensure that the LORD turns from his great anger and is compassionate to you, showing you mercy and multiplying you just like he swore to your ancestors. (18) You must definitely obey the LORD your God’s voice, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you right now, by doing what is right in the LORD your God’s eyes! DEUTERONOMY 14 (CEV) – 3:50Deuteronomy, chapter 14. (1) People of Israel, you are the Lord’s children, so when you mourn for the dead, you must not cut yourselves or shave your forehead. (2) Out of all the nations on this earth, the Lord your God chose you to be his own. You belong to the Lord, so don’t behave like those who worship other gods. (3) Don’t eat any disgusting animals. (4-5) You may eat the meat of cattle, sheep, and goats; wild sheep and goats; and gazelles, antelopes, and all kinds of deer. (6) It is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. (7) But don’t eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. These animals chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. You must treat them as unclean. (8) And don’t eat pork, since pigs have divided hoofs, but they do not chew their cud. Don’t even touch a dead pig! (9) You can eat any fish that has fins and scales. But there are other creatures that live in the water, (10) and if they do not have fins and scales, you must not eat them. Treat them as unclean. (11) You can eat any clean bird. (12-18) But don’t eat the meat of any of the following birds: eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawks, pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, storks, herons, and hoopoes. You must not eat bats. (19) Swarming insects are unclean, so don’t eat them. (20) However, you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects. (21) You belong to the Lord your God, so if you happen to find a dead animal, don’t eat its meat. You may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town. Don’t boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. (22) People of Israel, every year you must set aside ten percent of your grain harvest. (23) Also set aside ten percent of your wine and olive oil, and the first-born of every cow, sheep, and goat. Take these to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped, and eat them there. This will teach you to always respect the Lord your God. (24) But suppose you can’t carry that ten percent of your harvest to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. If you live too far away, or if the Lord gives you a big harvest, (25) then sell this part and take the money there instead. (26) When you and your family arrive, spend the money on food for a big celebration. Buy cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, and if there are any other kinds of food that you want, buy those too. (27) And since people of the Levi tribe won’t own any land for growing crops, remember to ask the Levites to celebrate with you. (28) Every third year,...