READING FOR NOVEMEBER 26, 2024: DEUTERONOMY 17, 1 JOHN 3, PSALM 119:81-88 DEUTERONOMY 17 Once again we learn God desires that we give Him our very best, not that which is easily expendable. We need to examine our hearts to consider what that means in terms of giving Him our choice time, thoughts, energy, and resources. On the other hand, God hands down the ultimate penalty for serving other gods. Given that we do not live in a theocracy, capital punishment is not appropriate in the church. If we think about it, though, putting other gods before the creator God of the Bible now results in an eternal penalty from God, the final judge. We can trust the Lord to judge fairly, but we see here and throughout the Bible that He will hold us accountable for not seeking first the Kingdom of God (John 3:36).
The process for appropriately confronting those who do wrong still applies in the church. It isquite similar to what is found in Deuteronomy 17: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt 18:15-17).
One task God gave judges and Levites was to settle disputes between conflicting parties. God’s delegated authority to them was absolute and the parties had to abide by their decisions. Failure to do so would be punishable by death. This sounds harsh, but it likely deterred noncompliance. This writer recently witnessed a court case and was shocked to learn how long cases can drag on. God’s judicial system in Deuteronomy did not have endless delays.
God foresaw that Israel would eventually want to be like other nations and install a King. This desire surfaced during Samuel’s term as judge. Here God provides a position description and details of the search process. God is the hiring agent, completely. The king must not be a foreigner. He must not exploit his position to obtain great wealth or marry many wives. (This was Solomon’s great downfall.) While ruling, he must take time and copy down the entire Levitical law. (Such hand copying has been proven as an effective learning technique.) He shall read this law every single day. (A good leader, especially a spiritual leader, constantly studies the organization’s foundational documents.) The king should not consider himself better than others. (Most leaders think too highly of themselves, eventually causing huge messes for all.)
1 JOHN 3 In the first two verses we see two different groups. One group is called the “children of God;” the other group is called the “world” (kosmos). John states the world does not know God. One constantly hears the cliche that we are all children of God. The Bible usually reserves that designation for those comparatively few who have received Jesus: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his
READING FOR NOVEMBER 26, 2024 CONTINUE: 1 JOHN 3, PSALM 119:81-88 own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:10-12). Everyone in the world is not a child of God, at least not in this sense. We were all born into the group known as the world (kosmos), not knowing God. We become children of God only after we receive Him as our Lord and Savior. This is a point of great misunderstanding even for those who have attended church for a lifetime.
The New American Standard Bible renders verse six as follows: “No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.” This does not seem to suggest that Christians will all be perfect in thought and deed now. It does say, though, that those who practice sin as part of their lifestyle have not experienced salvation. Other passages such as 1 John 4:16-18 relate more to the concept of Christian perfection or entire sanctification. Verse ten again differentiates between the two major categories of people we previously observed: “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.”
Much of the remainder of the chapter focuses on the idea of knowing if we are Christians due to our love or lack of love for other Christians. A particularly convicting thought is that love that does not show itself in action for another believer does not meet God’s standard. Remember Jesus did not just say He loved us, but He bore our sins and gave his life for us while we were “children of the devil.” It is so easy for us to have the right intentions toward someone in need, but not actually meet those needs, even though we have the means to do so. John links this “follow-through love” for our fellow believers to answered prayer.
PSALM 119:81-88 This section looks at God’s word from the perspective of being in distress. This seems to be an increasing position for those of us getting older and experiencing chronic physical problems. The Psalmist implies that this situation drives him to the Bible with questions, seeking hope and comfort. This is such a wiser strategy than either relying totally on medical solutions or sinking into self-pity, understandable as that might be. The Psalmist confesses he feels like “a wineskin in the smoke.” This expression may have conveyed more meaning in earlier cultures, but at least we can say being in smoke was not the purpose of a wineskin. Perhaps it means feeling far away from what one intended to be and do at this present time of life. Despite this disappointment, he clings to the word, while asking God for timely relief from his persecutors. One can and should do both at the same time. Ever hear anyone say they especially like a certain verse? We know they mean a certain verse really resonate with them, but the Psalmist has it right: ALL GOD’S COMMANDS ARE FAITHFUL!
