Deuteronomy 12-26: Additional Laws
INTRODUCTION.
A. In this lesson of our study through Deuteronomy, we will take a look at chapters 12-26. This section of Deuteronomy contains a wide assortment of laws, instructions, and regulations for the children of Israel.
B. After examining chapters 12-26, we will then observe some lessons that we can apply today.
I. ADDITIONAL LAWS - FROM PLACES OF SACRIFICES TO RULES FOR TITHING. (12:1 - 26:19)
A. Instructions for the Central Place of Sacrifices. (12:1-32)
1. Upon taking the land of Canaan, the Israelites were to destroy the places of pagan worship. (vs 1-4)
2. A central place for burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, etc. would be established for the people. (vs 5-14)
3. Regular meals could be consumed anywhere. Anything considered a contribution to the Lord had to be eaten before the Lord. (vs 15-19)
4. If the people lived too far from the central place, then they could eat their contributions at home. However, all holy things, vowed offerings, and burnt offerings had to be done before the presence of the Lord. (vs 20-28)
5. The people were warned against following after the practices of the people who had dwelt in Canaan. (vs 29-32)
B. Moses Warned the Israelites Against Listening to False Prophets. (13:1-18)
1. The people were not to listen to any prophet who would tell them to go after other gods. (vs 1-5)
2. The people were not to listen to any family members if the family members told them to go after other gods. Notice the text says, “...the wife of your bosom.” (vs 6-11)
3. Instructions were given on how to deal with a city led astray to worship other gods. (vs 12-18)
C. Animals the Israelites Were Allowed to Eat. (14:1-29)
1. The Israelites were God’s people, a special treasure. (vs 1-2)
2. The Israelites could eat every animal that had split cloven hooves AND that chewed the cud. Any animal that chewed the cud OR had cloven hooves could not be eaten. (vs 3-8)
3. The Israelites could eat water animals that had fins and scales. (vs 9-10)
4. A list of birds considered unclean was given. (vs 11-20)
5. The people were not to eat any animal that had died by itself. (vs 21)
6. The Israelites were to eat their tithe in the place before the Lord. If the journey was too long to carry their tithe, then they were to sell the tithe for money, go to the place before the Lord and buy whatever they wanted to consume before the Lord. (vs 22-27)
7. At the end of every third year, the Israelites were to take the tithe of their produce and store it up in the city gates. This store house would be reserved for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widows. (vs 28-29)
D. Laws Regarding Debt, Slaves, and Firstborn. (15:1-23)
1. Every seventh year, all debts were to be released. (vs 1-11)
2. If a Hebrew brother or sister was sold to another Hebrew, then they would serve them for six years. In the seventh year, the Hebrew slave would be set free. (vs 12-18)
3. The firstborn males from their heard would be sanctified to the Lord. They were to eat it before the Lord in the place the Lord would choose. (vs 19-23)
E. Rules for Feasts and Appointment of Judges. (16:1-22)
1. Instructions were given for the Feast of the Passover. (vs 1-8)
2. Instructions were given for the Feast of Weeks. (vs 9-12)
3. Instructions were given for the Feast of Tabernacles. (vs 13-17)
4. The Israelites were told to appoint judges and officers. (vs 18-20)
5. The Israelites were told not to plant a tree as a wooden image and they were not to build a sacred pillar. (vs 21-22)
F. Rules for Judges and Kings. (17:1-20)
1. Anyone who served false gods was to be put to death upon the testimony of two or three witnesses. (vs 1-7)
2. For difficult matters, the people were to go to the priests, the Levites, and the judges. They were to abide by whatever judgment was passed. (vs 8-13)
3. The Lord established rules for future kings. (vs 14-20)
a. The Lord would choose the king from among the people.
b. The king was neither to multiply horses for himself nor was he to return to Egypt to multiply horses.
c. The king was not to multiply wives for himself.
d. The king was not to multiply silver and gold for himself.
e. The king was to write these laws in a book and read them all the days of his life.
G. Priests, Abominable Acts, and the Prophet to Come. (18:1-22)
1. The instructions for providing for the priests. (vs 1-8)
2. The people were warned about following the abominations of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. (vs 9-14)
3. The Lord promised to raise up a Prophet like Moses who would teach the people the commands of God. (vs 15-22)
H. The Cities of Refuge and the Law for Witnesses. (19:1-21)
I. Rules for Selecting Soldiers for War. Also, What to Do If a City Will Not Make Peace. (20:1-20)
J. Finding A Person Who Has Been Killed, Taking a Captive Woman as a Wife, and Dealing with a Rebellious Son. (21:1-23)
1. Instructions on how to receive atonement for the murder of a man when the murderer was unknown. (vs 1-9)
2. Instructions on taking a woman to wife from among the captives. (vs 10-14)
3. Respecting the firstborn son’s right to the inheritance of the father. (vs 15-17)
4. Instructions on dealing with a stubborn and rebellious son. (vs 18-23)
K. Taking Care of Your Brother’s Property and Instructions for Dealing with Fornication and Adultery. (22:1-30)
L. Laws on Who Would Not be Allowed into the Congregation and Other Instructions. (23:1-25)
M. Instructions Regarding Divorce, Dealing with Leprosy, and Helping the Poor, the Widows, and the Fatherless. (24:1-22)
N. Instructions on Punishing a Man with Forty Blows, The Responsibility of a Brother to His Dead Brother’s Wife, and The Need for Accurate Weights. (25:1-19)
O. Instructions and Purpose for Tithing. (26:1-15)
1. The Israelites were to take the first of the produce of the ground, put it in a basket, and take it before the Lord. (vs 1-2)
2. When the tithe is taken before the Lord, the person bringing the tithe was to acknowledge that it was the Lord who had delivered them from Egypt into the promise land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (vs 3-11)
3. More instructions regarding the year of tithing, the third year. This tithing was for the purpose of providing for the Levites, the strangers, the fatherless, and the widow. (vs 12-15)
P. Moses Commands Israel to Observe These Statutes and Judgments. (26:16-19)
1. The Israelites were to observe these statutes and judgments with all their heart and with all their soul. (vs 16)
2. The Israelites proclaimed the Lord to be their God and they agreed to walk in His ways and to keep HIs statutes, commands, and judgments. (vs 17)
3. The Lord proclaimed Israel to be His special people. He also promised to set them above all nations and they would be His holy people as long as they obeyed His voice. (vs 18-19)
II. LESSONS LEARNED.
A. Do not listen to family members if they are directing you away from God. (13:6-11)
1. Galatians 1:6-9 - Paul warned against being led astray from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Luke 14:26 - Jesus said that we must hate our family.
3. Matthew 10:37-38 - Jesus said that we must not love our family more than God.
4. We should always listen to the words of Jesus and the Bible. If our family encourages us to do differently, then we must choose the way of Jesus.
B. We should not be led astray by the influences of the world.
1. The Lord established rules for the future kings to follow. One rule pertained to having multiple wives. "Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away:. . ." (17:17, KJV)
2. Solomon is an example of a future king who allowed his many wives to lead him into idolatry. "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father." (I Kings 11:4, KJV)
3. In a parallel lesson, we must not allow ourselves to be led astray into the varying believes and sinful practices of the world. Consider the warning found in II Peter 2:18-22.
C. We should keep evil away from us.
1. Eight times during the text for this lesson, we see God requiring the death of one who had violated His laws. The purpose for the death was stated each time:
a. Deut. 13:5 - ". . . So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee."
b. Deut. 17:7 - ". . . So thou shalt put the evil away from among you."
c. Deut. 17:12 - ". . . and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel."
d. Deut. 19:19-20 - ". . . so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you."
e. Deut. 21:21 - ". . . so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear."
f. Deut. 22:21 - ". . . so shalt thou put evil away from among you."
g. Deut. 22:22 - ". . . so shalt thou put away evil from Israel."
h. Deut. 22:24 - ". . . so thou shalt put away evil from among you."
i. Deut. 24:7 - ". . . and thou shalt put evil away from among you."
2. While the Lord no longer requires physical death for certain sins, He still teaches the need to keep ourselves from evil.
a. Paul teaches that we are to avoid evil, in all forms. "Abstain from every form of evil." (I Thessalonians 5:22, NKJV)
(1) abstain - apechomai (ap-ekh'-om-ahee) - 1) to hold one's self off, refrain, abstain
(2) form (appearance, KJV) - eidos (i'-dos)- 1) the external or outward appearance, form figure, shape 2) form, kind. The word is translated as shape, fashion, sight, and appearance in the King James Version.
b. Paul taught that evil company or companionship can corrupt one's righteous living. (I Corinthians 15:33-34)
c. In church discipline, there are times when discipline is exercised in part to protect of the local congregation. (Romans 16:17-18)
3. There may be times in our lives when we have to severe our friendship with someone who may be inflicting an ungodly influence upon us. When we begin to behave, speak, and think in sinful ways, then it is certain that we have not been avoiding all forms of evil.
D. We are to listen to Jesus Christ.
1. Moses promised that the Lord would one day raise up a Prophet like Moses who would teach the people the commands of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 18:15-22)
2. In Acts 3:22, Peter explained that Moses was referring to Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-26)
3. Hebrews 1:1-3 teaches that God now speaks to us through Jesus Christ.
4. As the Israelites were to listen to Moses, we are to listen only to Jesus Christ and His inspired writers. Hear Him and obey Him today.
CONCLUSION.
A. While there are other lessons that we can learn from this reading let us take home with us the lessons that we have examined.
1. Do not listen to family members if they are directing you away from God.
2. We should not be led astray by the influences of the world.
3. We should keep evil away from us.
4. We are to listen to Jesus Christ.
B. If you are not a Christian, become one today by listening to Jesus Christ and obeying His commands.
C. If you are a Christian, then listen only to Jesus and His teachings.
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Old Testament Series: Deuteronomy 12 - 26: Additional Laws -- November 12, 2000 -- File # 668
by John M. Duvall – Lawton, OK