Fulfilling Religious Vows; Seeing that Justice is Done (See verse list in post)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time Focus: Fulfilling religious vows; Seeing that justice is done

 

Bible Reading & Meditation     Reference:  Deut. 23:17-18,21-23; 24:7, 16-18; 25:1-3, 11-16

 

          Message of the verses:  “17  "None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18  "You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of the LORD your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God. 21  "When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you. 22  "However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. 23  "You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised.”

            These verses are for the first section of this SD:  “Fulfilling religious vows.”

            I have gone over vows in earlier SD’s from Exodus and also Leviticus and for review the Jewish people could make vow’s to the Lord to give something or to not do something and they must fulfill these vows or they blaspheme the Lord.  Money could not be used to fulfill a vow that comes from something that is sinful such as shrine prostitutes or other sinful ventures.  Paul and Peter speak of money as “filthy lucre,” “but some money is especially filthy because of its origin,” writes Warren Wiersbe.

            “7  "If a man is caught kidnapping any of his countrymen of the sons of Israel, and he deals with him violently or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from among you.” 

            “16  "Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin. 17  "You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge. 18  "But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. 19  "When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20  "When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. 21  "When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.

            “1 ¶  "If there is a dispute between men and they go to court, and the judges decide their case, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2  then it shall be if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of stripes according to his guilt. 3  "He may beat him forty times but no more, so that he does not beat him with many more stripes than these and your brother is not degraded in your eyes.

            “11  "If two men, a man and his countryman, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, 12  then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity.

    “13 "You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. 14  "You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15  "You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. 16  "For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God.”

            In these verses Moses speaks of different laws and also at times the punishment for breaking these laws.  Kidnapping with the intent to hurt or sell to another people was punishable by death.  This reminds me of Joseph who was treated harshly, kidnapped, and then sold into slavery by all of his brothers, yet they were not punished by death for God had a bigger purpose for all of this.

            The punishment had to fit the crime so the limit for a crime was forty lashes, latter changed to thirty-nine so no one would go over forty.  Fathers could not die for the son’s sins or sons for the father’s sins, yet Jesus died for the sins of the entire world.

            Verses eleven and twelve kind of are self explanatory, although it would be better if the wife would have stayed out of the fight and allowed the two men to settle their differences.

            It was right to have honest weights and measurements for as Warren Wiersbe writes, “When they cheated others, they only cheated themselves.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  John McArthur, speaking on the Ten Commandments says that The Ten Commandments comes from the two greatest laws, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul, and also love your neighbor as yourself.” And then all of the rest of the laws come from the Ten Commandments.  I need to follow all of the laws in the Scripture because of the love that I have for the Lord Jesus Christ who loved me first so that I could love Him and also my neighbors.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
2. Put on my spiritual armor:  The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
3. Learn contentment.
4. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
5. Keep a short list with the Lord.