January 23, 2014 - Thursday

Start Time: 4:55 A.M.

End Time: 5:34 A.M.

Title: Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

Scripture: Deuteronomy 22:1 – 30

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ When they see their neighbor’s ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; they must return it without fail to their neighbor.  If the owner does not live near them or they do not know who the owner is, then they must corral the animal at their house and let it stay with them until the owner looks for it; then they must return it to him.  They shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else their neighbor has lost and they have found; they must not refuse to get involved.  When they see their neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, they are not to ignore it; instead, they must be sure to help him get the animal on its feet again. A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive to the Lord their God.  If they happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them, they must not take the mother from the young.  They must be sure to let the mother go, but they may take the young for themselves.  They are to do this so that it may go well with them and they may have a long life.  If they build a new house, they must construct a guard rail around their roof to avoid being culpable (guilty/responsible) in the event someone should fall from it.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God who wants to be involved and for us to be involved with each other!  In the passage above, it is clear that as humans or children of God, we are not just to stand in one place and seclude ourselves from others.  Clearly, God is saying that we are to look after our neighbors things and help them by returning what they have lost that we have found.  God also said that we are NOT TO IGNORE or that we MUST NOT REFUSE TO GET INVOLVED!  In this age of time, most people are thinking of themselves; what’s in it for me, what can I get, what will it give me?  And if the answers to those questions are none, then people tend to just sit or stand by the side and watch things fall apart from a distance.  But God is saying that we are not to refuse to get involved!  He is saying that we should help just as He is involved in our lives!  He wants us to help others just as He is helping us.  This character is done not only to people but even to animals or things built.  So let’s get ourselves involved just like Jesus!

→ They must not plant their vineyard with two kinds of seed; otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plan and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled.  They must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.  They must not wear clothing made with wool and linen meshed together.  They shall make themselves tassels for the four corners of the clothing they wear.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God of distinction!  HE separates what’s His and make clusters of each type of living and non-living things.  God created us with a specific distinction that’s why He knew us because of that distinction and He separates us and gather us with the same type of groups so we bond together with them and flourish.  God is not disorganized, He is in order always  even in His creations and people.  So know your distinction in God and find your group where God sets You so You may flourish and grow!

→ Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her and then rejects her, accusing her of impropriety (rudeness/bad behavior/ indecency/bad taste) and defaming (insult/slander/libel) her reputation by saying that she is not a virgin, then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity for the elders of the city at the gate.  The young woman’s father must say to the elders that he gave his daughter to this man and he has rejected her.  Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety against his daughter, then present the evidence of his daughter’s virginity.  The cloth must then be spread out before the city’s elders.  The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish him.  They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin.  She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.  But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house.  In this way they will purge evil from among them.  If a man is caught having sexual relations with a married woman both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way they will purge evil from Israel.  If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets her in the city and has sexual relations with her, they must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated his neighbor’s fiancée; in this way they will purge evil from among them.  But if the man came across the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped her, then only the rapist must die.  They must not do anything to the young woman – she has done nothing deserving of death.  This case is the same as when someone attacks another person and murders him, for the man met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.  Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and overpowers and rapes her and they are discovered.  The man who has raped her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her; he may never divorce her as long as he lives. 

NOTES:

Ø God is a God who requires evil purged out from among us!  God knew us and we are prone to the temptations of the world.  In this passage, He specifically speak of sexual relations between man and woman that is evil or wrong, when to punish and when not to.  God allowed sexual relations between man and woman as a sacred act that bond or unite them both; it is an act of value that must be kept sacred between married people.  Yet people are lured into pleasuring themselves than understanding the whole value of this act and its deeper meaning.  So many are tempted to use this act in the wrong concept which brings evil within them.  That’s why God took the time to speak of law in this area and told His people how to wash out, exonerate, or eradicate this evil from them.  The solution is death!  So evil within us must die when God comes and rule us as a whole.

Application / Realization:

Ø God wants to be involved and He wants us to be involved as well.  He wants us living with each other with the love and care HE, himself, pours upon us.  He wants us to do the same to others.  When God is involved, He sets distinction to His people!  He created each one of us with a specific distinction and this distinction separates us from the rest and allows us to function as our purpose – this does not mean only distinction between good and evil; this also could mean distinction in the part of God’s body.  Some of us may be the hands, some the feet, some the brain, some the eyes, etc.  So God places us together in a body where we can best function as our purpose.  When God is involved, He separates us and He requires purging of evil from us!  For He does not operate when sin is present… in fact, sin ultimately vanishes when God becomes involved!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus thank you because You are a God who wants to be involved in my life.  Father, I am greatly thankful for You are a God who is not satisfied with just watching us from afar.  You want to be involved in our lives and be part of our daily activities so we can be assured that all things will work out for our own good because You are involved always!  Thank You because You separate me and set a distinction in each one of us so that we may function as we are intended to be.  Lord thank You because when You are involve, evil gets dissolved!  Holy Spirit, help me to be involved with others as You are involved in me.  Help me to portray You to others Lord.  Help me to also see things thru Your eyes, that I may see the distinction You set in each one of us.  The same way, I pray that as I get myself involved with others, You will work in me to dissolved anything that is not of You!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!