We have a little sample platter of various laws in these 2 chapters: 🍱
- Proper sacrifices
- Handling Idolaters
- Levitical court system
- How to have a king
- Portions for priests and Levites
- Forbidden practices
- The Prophet like Moses
- False prophets
I want to summarize the concepts involved in each one.
PROPER SACRIFICES – 17:1 🥇🐏
This is a simple reminder to not give God the scraps and unwanted leftovers. Most of us read that and immediately assume that it has no application to us because our relationship with God is important enough that we’re reading the Bible through and reading a blog about it to boot.
Let’s not think in terms of animals or even monetary offerings. Does the Lord get the choicest part of your time – your very life – or the little bits and pieces left over after everything else is done? Does He get the first and best of your effort and intelligence and industry or do you keep that for you and give him a few token volunteer hours?
I’m not necessarily suggesting you add more church stuff to your plate. I’m suggesting we take a hard look at our priorities and see if we’re compartmentalizing Christ. If so, we need to undo that and integrate Him and the work of the Kingdom into everything we do.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24 ESV
HANDLING IDOLATERS – 17:2-7 🗿🪨
This is a capital offense punishable by stoning. But – you need solid evidence from at least 2 witnesses. You cannot execute a person on the evidence of only one person. This law will come up in the trial of Jesus.
Why so severe? In our pluralistic, you-do-you society, the idea of executing someone for having a different religious view is considered intolerant, bigoted, and hateful. This passage is one of the reasons that many people say that the Bible is “hate speech” and consider Christians to be backward, bigoted and perhaps even violent extremists. I’m not sure if such people realize that Christians aren’t going around stoning people for idolatry. And neither are Jews for that matter. Like – nobody has even attempted to do this since probably the Book of Acts.
Whether we like it or not, the ancient world was a pretty violent place. The only hope for the world to get out of that violent darkness was the Seed of the Woman to be born from the family of Abraham. Yahweh sets up very strict penalties to protect that seed and the record of His dealings with humanity.
Stiffer penalties reflect greater value. When we check out a laptop computer at my library, the late fee is $10 per day. It’s only $0.10 per day for a book. Why? The book is far cheaper to replace.
LEVITICAL COURT SYSTEM – 17:8-13 ⚖️
Speaking of penalties… All citizens have access to a court system to decide on legal matters. When a penalty or decision is handed down, it is final. Failure to comply with the court’s decision is also punishable by death.
Again, the death penalty is there to put a healthy fear of breaking the law in people’s minds. How much crime would we have in America if lawbreakers knew that failure to comply would result in near immediate death? It’s a pretty powerful deterrent.
HOW TO HAVE A KING – 17:14-20 🤴🏽
This one surprises most of us. We’ve probably all heard a preacher preach about Israel going to Samuel and demanding a king. And most preachers that I’ve heard expound on that story seem to not know this section exists. I usually hear claims that “Israel was never supposed to have a king.” “God didn’t want them to have a king.”
Here, the Lord is foretelling a bit but also says that “you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose.”
Deuteronomy 17:15 ESV
It’s not going to end well, but there is a provision for Israel to have a king and instructions (which will mostly be ignored) for how that king is to behave. For most of Israel’s history the kings will be chosen by men rather than Yahweh. But no one can say that God didn’t tell them how He wanted it done.
PORTIONS for PRIESTS & LEVITES – 18:1-8
This is getting said again.
God: If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you three dozen times! Share your food with your brother! I gave you that sandwich to share with him. You give him his part. 🥪
And all the parents said “Amen.”
FORBIDDEN PRACTICES – 18:9-14 ⛔️
This is quite a list. And some of the terms may be unfamiliar. Let’s look at them.
- Burning children or making them “pass through the fire.”
- This one is diabolical. It’s child sacrifice by burning a child to death in a superheated metal image of Molech or Chemosh. The priests would beat loud drums in a frenzy to try to drown out the child’s screams. Although I’d say that chemical abortion is not very different.
- Divination
- This is to determine divine will by casting lots, or magic scrolls, or things like reading tea leaves or the liver of a ritually killed animal.
- Soothsayer / “Observer of times”
- The Hebrew word is anan and it means “to cover.” It’s nearly identical to the word for a cloud – because it covers the sky. It means to act covertly, to practice magic. This is sorcery; interpreting signs; perhaps doing occult rituals – the word “occult” also just means hidden, covert.
- Augur / Interpreter of Omens
- This is the practice of reading signs concerning future destiny and outcomes from natural and celestial events, the behavior of animals and other natural phenomena. Palm reading, astrology, and tarot cards would fall in this category.
- It is rendered “enchanter” in the KJV and is the Hebrew word Nachash – serpent and to hiss (whisper) magic spells.
- Sorcerer / Witch
- This one is similar to the above. It means to cast spells and practice magic.
- Charmer – also spell-casting
- Medium
- A medium is a person (often a woman) who communicates with the spirit realm, perhaps allowing a spirit to speak through the medium.
- Spiritist (KJV: “Wizard”)
- This is not a Gandalf character. This is a “knowing one,” a person who conjures up ghosts, like in a seance, perhaps for the purpose of allowing others to communicate with it.
- Isaiah 8:19 describes wizards as making strange sounds.
- Necromancer – one who consults with the spirits of the dead, apparently for the purpose of getting power or information.
You want to know what the Canaanite tribes were doing before Israel conquered them? Here’s your list. Not very nice people.
“For everyone doing these things is detestable to Yahweh, and because of these detestable things Yahweh your God is driving them out from before you.
For these nations that you are about to dispossess listen to interpreters of signs and to diviners, but Yahweh your God has not allowed you to do the same.”
Deuteronomy 18:12, 14 LEB
THE PROPHET LIKE MOSES – 18:15-19 😇
This is a Messianic prophecy. Jesus is the prophet like Moses. How do we know that? Let’s peek ahead in the story.
“And not again has a prophet arisen in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face.” Deuteronomy 34:10 LEB
The thing that made Moses special was his “face-to-face” relationship with God.
“And Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his neighbor…”
Exodus 33:11 LEB
“Not so with my servant Moses; in all my house he is faithful. I will speak to him mouth to mouth, in clearness, not in riddles; and he will look at the form of Yahweh…”
Numbers 12:7-8 LEB
Now we know that this face-to-face interaction must have been with the visible Word of Yahweh and with His glory restrained because not even Moses was allowed to see God’s face in His glory (Ex. 33:20).
There were other prophets like Isaiah and Daniel that had visions of Yahweh but the only other person who has been a prophet AND been in a face-to-face relationship with Yahweh is the Word of Yahweh – Jesus Christ.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This one was in the beginning with God.
And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him known.” John 1:1-2, 14, 18 LEB
FALSE PROPHETS – 18:20-22 🥸
There are two ways to be a “false prophet.” 1
- You prophesy in the name of Yahweh but Yahweh didn’t actually speak to you.
- You prophesy in the name of a false god.
The second kind is easy to spot. And they are to be put to death. (There’s that strong deterrent again.)
The first kind though – how can you tell if a person is a real prophet or a false one?
The Test:
Did the predicted thing happen?
Yes? Yahweh sent him. You should listen.
No? Ignore him.
This also works today – especially with the whole “the internet is forever” thing. You can go back and watch video clips of people prophesying things 20 years (or more) ago that were supposed to have happened already. And they didn’t. Not even close.
Be careful who you believe.
If you have a prophetic gift, be careful what you say.
To The Reader 