relationships (Deuteronomy 16:18-17:13) Be an Inspiration

(Deuteronomy 16:18-22) “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

21 “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates.

(Deuteronomy 17:1-13) “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God.

2 “If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by transgressing His covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded, 4 and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. 6 On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

8 “If any case is too difficult for you to decide, between one kind of homicide or another, between one kind of lawsuit or another, and between one kind of assault or another, being cases of dispute in your courts, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 9 So you shall come to the Levitical priest or the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall inquire of them and they will declare to you the verdict in the case. 10 You shall do according to the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses; and you shall be careful to observe according to all that they teach you. 11 According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left. 12 The man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

The Israelites were to manage their land in righteousness and justice.  God never told them to go to other nations and make them comply.  They were to focus on themselves individually and as a nation, with God at the heart of everything.

The Israelites were not to act presumptuously, to the left, meaning that a person would become lenient, or to the right, meaning that a person would add to the law.  Both stances demonstrate a person who thinks they know better than God.  These are people who don't trust or believe that God has the best intentions.

God's desire is that all come to know Him, and that His children will desire to trust Him in what He tells us, and follow through on that.  God never forces Himself on anyone to believe, and even after someone becomes a believer, the Lord never forces Himself on anyone to be obedient.  In this way, we are to treat others.  

It is not our place to tell unbelievers that they have to comply to godly standards.  With love and compassion, we should be going out to tell people about Jesus and His gospel message.  Jesus is the only one who is able to forgive our sins and change us from the inside out.  

Even towards other believers, we need to exercise grace and understanding, while encouraging one another.  We ourselves will still sin, so we have to be careful how we judge others - as Jesus said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone..." Therefore, we need to continually examine ourselves, to "purge" the sin from our own hearts and lives, to remain focused - not on what others may or may not be doing or saying - but on the Lord Jesus Christ and His word.  Let us strive to inspire others to keep God at the heart of everything, based solely on His word.