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Deuteronomy Chapter 16 "Three
Feasts; Passover [1-8]." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Remember that this is the law which Moses is addressing to the congregation, all of the people of all of the tribes of Israel. This book was written as looking far into the future, to the arrival of Christ at His first advent. Some of the things and sacrifices that are disgust in the book of Deuteronomy are things that Jesus Christ would fulfill and become. This is the subject of this chapter. Deuteronomy 16:1 " Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought the forth out of Egypt by night." The month of "Abib" is known as the month of "Nisan", in latter passages. The Children of Israel left Egypt quickly by night, yet they left Egypt far richer than when Jacob and his family of seventy entered four hundred years prior. We know that Jacob's family, or Israel entered into Egypt during the time that the great famine in the land of Canaan. They were fed and kept under the protection of Joseph, who had rose to the second in command under the Pharaoh in all the land of Egypt. Genesis 47:1 "Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold they are in the land of Goshen." The family of Israel [Jacob] grew from a family of seventy, into a nation while in Egypt over the next four hundred years. When they arrived Joseph gave the family of Israel the best land in all Egypt, they received land in the land of Goshen. The Israelites were treated and fed with great care while Joseph was still alive. Joseph lived one hundred and ten years, and then at his death Egypt fell under another ruler that knew not Joseph or his people. Exodus 1:8 "Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph." Exodus 1:9 "And he said unto his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:" Exodus 1:10 "Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land." Exodus 1:11 "Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses." When Moses was a baby, his mother put him in a basket and placed him in the Nile to where the Pharaoh's daughter went daily. When Pharaoh's daughter took Moses from the river, she raised Moses as her own. Moses grew up in the household of Raamses the Pharaoh and when Moses was an adult he became aware of his lineage, that he was an Hebrew, and he sought to help his people. For this act, Moses was turned loose in the desert to die, only God spared his life. Exodus 1:12 "But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel." Exodus 1:13 "And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:" Exodus 1:14 "And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in order, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service wherein they made them serve, was with rigour." This sets the stage for the great bondage that the children of Israel were put under, until God sent Moses to free them from their heavy bonds of labor in Egypt. So in that four hundred years in Egypt, the Israelites grew into a nation of several million people. Moses presented himself before the Pharaoh, the very man whose household that he grew up in, and gave the command that God had instructed Him to say. "Let My people Go." The Pharaoh heard the commands and God hardened His heart. The Pharaoh refused to allow the Israelites of be released of their bondage, and depart from Egypt. In response to Pharaoh's hardness of heart, God led Moses Moses to bring nine different plagues upon the people and the land of Egypt, yet Pharaoh still would not release the children of Israel. Then on the tenth time that Moses came before the Pharaoh, he brought that last and most deadly plague of all upon Egypt by God. God allowed the death angel to claim the life of all the firstborn of the land that was not under the blood of the lamb. This is a type of what would come later, through the promised Messiah. This is what Moses said. Exodus 11:4 "And Moses said, "thus saith the Lord, 'About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:" Exodus 11:5 "And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts." Exodus 11:6 "And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more." This time of that month marks the moment that the death angel passed over the homes in Egypt and the beginning of freedom for the Israelites. God commanded our people that we should never forget this event from their minds. That month is the start of the Jewish calendar, and is the month of Abib, which means "green-ear-month" in Egyptian, and in Hebrew is called the month of "Nisan". This is when the start of "Passover" begins. Exodus 12:1 "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying," Exodus 12:2 "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." In other words, you will not longer be going by the solar calendar, but by the year that begins on the day of the Passover. It starts at the time of this tenth plague that is coming upon Egypt. Moses instructed them here in Exodus 12 to take the best and purest of their lambs, and slay the lamb, and put the blood on the door post of their homes. Then go inside and eat the lamb and the unleavened bread, and prepare yourself for the journey for it shall begin immediately. It is important to understand what happened on that night for the sake of understanding the three feasts that we will discussing in this chapter, so we shall review that Passover night. Exodus 12:6 "And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening." Exodus 12:7 "And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it." Exodus 12:8 "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it." Exodus 12:9 "Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof." Exodus 12:10 "And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire." Exodus 12:11 "And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover." Exodus 21:12 "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord." Exodus 12:13 " "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." Exodus 12:14 "And this day shall be unto you a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever." Passover then was the time that the death angel passed over Israel. God spared the lives of those that believed upon Him. God spared the lives of those people who took God's instructions and followed it to the letter. They killed the lamb as instructed, and put the blood on the sides of the door post, and over the top of the door post. This is exactly as it is today also, for you either have that sacrificial blood on the door post of your heart, or else. When Jesus Christ came to earth, and allowed Himself to be taken and killed, He became our Passover. From that day to this, you either have Christ, or you are spiritually dead. I Corinthians 5:6 "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" Paul is telling the Corinthians that they don't have anything that they can boast of within themselves. Paul asks, Don't you know that even a little leaven or unclean sins amongst you can spread amongst the entire congregation? Paul is using the baking of a loaf of bread here to give us an example of just how sin can spread. When a church has allowed even one of these acts of iniquity and evil to go on in their midst and they condone the act, every member of that congregation will feel the recourse of that sinful act. I Corinthians 5:7 "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:" Paul is telling the Corinthians to get rid of that man that is taking part in an evil act, and don't let him come into your midst. He is not of Christ, and don't coddle him and put up with him . When he is gone from the church, then Christ, who is our Passover can come into the congregation and His Spirit can start to mend the hearts and minds of the rest of the people. "Passover" is the most high day in Christianity. That is the day that Christ became our passover, when He died on the cross for the sins of all those that would believe on His name and repent of their sins in Jesus name. Most Christians today call Passover "Easter", after the heathen feast festival of "Ishatar", and they just don't know the difference. The only time that the word "Easter" is mentioned in the Word of God is when it was mistranslated from the Greek in Acts 12:4; "And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of souldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people." The number for "Easter" in the Strong's Greek dictionary is # 3957; "Pascha, pas'-khah; The Passover, (the meal, the day, the festival or the special sacrifices connected with it): Passover." We read from the secular history that Easter is a heathen term, derived from the Son goddess Eastre, the same as Astarte, the Syrian Venus, also called Ashtoreth in the Old Testament. Ashtoreth is the female sex counterpart of Baal worship, and dates back to the ancient Sumerian religions, and to the wife of Nimrud named Semiremis. There were a pantheon of god's formed in that ancient Babylon, over 4000 gods and goddesses, however there were six of these gods that would carry on down through the ages as being of importance. It was believed that Semiremis was reincarnated in the form of a goddess, and became the mother goddess of fertility. She became known by many other names down through the centuries, such as "Ishtar, and the "Diana" of the city of Corinth of Paul's day. "Easter" was the feast day to honor this ancient goddess "Ishtar" of the Baal worship, which was little more than a religious sex orgy. Yet because of some unknown scribe's mishandling of the Word of God, in translating "Pascha" [Passover] to "Easter", Christians have allowed this heathen feast ritual to replace the very holy day of Passover, and inject the elements of Baal into the worship of our Lord and Savior. Passover is symbolic of the day in Egypt when the death angel passed over the Israelites, and took the life of the first born in all the land. God instructed Moses to have the children of Israel place the blood of an innocent lamb over the doorpost of their home, and roast and eat the rest of the lamb for strength. That night the death angel would pass over and on the next day the children of Israel would be freed from their bonds and allow to leave Egypt. Passover was remembered from that day forth because it also was the promise of a Messiah that would come and free them from their bonds of sin, and their need of animal sacrifices. When Jesus Christ went to the cross on the day of Passover, he was in the tomb for exactly three days, as this would be the only sign that Jesus would give the Jews of His resurrection. This is why we are to remember the Passover, for on that day God's people not only were freed from the bonds of Egypt, but also the bonds of sin that Satan had all mankind. This is why we must place the blood of Jesus Christ on the door posts of our minds and hearts, and we do that by faith when we come to God in repentance in Jesus name. You can be enslaved by this world today through the bondage of sin. All of us to a certain degree will be around the things of the flesh and tempted by them. There will be certain things that keep pulling us back into sin, and that is why we must repent when we yield to those things. Therefore with Christ being the sacrificial lamb, having paid the price, through repentance we have freedom in Christ. Freedom both from the world and into eternal life. This is why we are to keep the Passover even to our day. I Corinthians 5:8 "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of Malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Our unleavened bread today is the "body of Christ". Jesus said, "I am the bread of life", "I am" being the sacred name. Our Passover is the "Communion table", for Christ did not destroy the law, but He fulfilled it and became our Passover. When we take of the cup, and eat of the bread in Holy Communion, we are taking of the Passover, symbolically, yet in reality. Deuteronomy 16:2 "Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place His name there." God is the one that declares where the Passover will be taken. After the Israelites entered into the promise land, Passover was observed at Shiloh and later in Jerusalem, for those were the place where God chose for His altar to be. Yet in our day; in that Christ became our Passover, Christ is in our hearts and minds. Within Jesus name, means "YHVH's Savior", so our location is in the name of Christ which is where we take our Passover. So in taking the Passover through repentance, not only are we taking the sacrifice that Christ gave for our sins, but those sin are at the same time nail to the cross and gone from you forever. When you repent to the Father in Jesus name, then you are participating in that very place that the Lord choose for His Passover to be taken. There is no geographic location for Communion to be taken today, for Christ's Spirit is everywhere. We are to continue to take the Communion right into the Millennium age when Jesus will be here with us. That which will be sacrificed by us is through our love for Him. I simply don't know how God could have made it any more easier for His children to obey His command in keeping the Passover, as well as the rest of the Holy days, for in Christ are all those feast day and they are in you when you are in Christ. There is no reason at all that you cannot partake. It is not by your worthiness that you partake but Jesus Christ's. You do not examine yourself for the worthiness of the cup and the bread, but Christ is worthy for you to take the cup and bread of the holy communion. He paid the price, you didn't, and all he requires is that you accept His blood and broken body for the remission of your sins. Christians are scattered all over the world, even in the remote place of the earth and in the sky above, and it is for this reason that even if we are alone, we can still take the cup and the bread of the body of Christ in Holy Communion, which is the Passover. God is everywhere through the Holy Spirit He has made it so simple that anyone that chooses can partake of the Passover. The only requirement is that you love Jesus and take Him by faith. Deuteronomy 16:3 "Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of afflction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life." That old death angel is still around, that angel that God allowed to kill all the firstborn. As long as you keep the seal of our people on the door post of your mind, you will be protected from that death angel, who is Satan. That seal is His Word, and you have the right to order Satan and his evil spirits out of your house and life. God will not allow that demonic presence past that doorpost of your heart. First of all, why is the bread unleavened in the Passover feast? Because they are leaving in hast, there would not be time for the bread to rise. It takes time for the leaven to work into the bread to where it would rise into a loaf. So the reason that you don't put the yeast in the bread is to remind you that you had to leave in haste. Leaven also is the impurities that are in the bread. There are many today that are still under bondage, and this was only a type to show us what the bondage could be. Today the greatest of all bondage is ignorance to our Father's Word. Those that are in bondage to the ways of this world, and to their church systems because they simply don't know any better. They are ignorant of the freedoms that we have through God's Word. Yes, a lot of the blame is on the teachers and preachers, but much of the blame is still on the person. It is not right to blame your problems on someone else, because you have the right to study and know the truth on our own. Deuteronomy 16:4 "And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificed the first day at even, remain all night until the morning." In the first place, the children of Israel were leaving Egypt the next morning in haste, but as far as the meat is concerned, God was going to provide the meat in the desert. God brought quail to them in massive amounts to provide their needs. Remember that there were well over a million people that were leaving Egypt on that day. God provided the meat and the manna, or bread for that entire forty years. This is related to our generation and God is telling us that rest in Him, and tomorrow will take care of itself. This is not saying that you are not to plan for the future, and your retirement, but in a sense that you know that even in your plans, God is going to preserve and bless you in your life. Deuteronomy 16:5 "Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee:" Deuteronomy 16:6 "But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt." So when we take of the Passover, we are to take of the Passover on that day specified according to the solar calendar. It is to be taken at the same instant every year, and many churches have their set times within their churches for the taking of Communion. Again, it was in Jesus Christ that God placed His name, and He became our Passover. There is no particular geographic location where God requires you to take the Communion. Deuteronomy 16:7 "And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents." Our sacrifice was chosen by God, the time, the place and the exact moment of Jesus' death on the cross was foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53 tells us of how the Sacrifice would take place, while Daniel 9:24-27 tells us the moment in time that Messiah would come and be that sacrifice. The fact that it would take place was prophesied way back in the garden of Eden, in Genesis 3:15. Genesis 3:15 "And I [God] will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [Eve], and between thy seed [the Kenites] and her Seed [Jesus Christ]; It [Christ] shall bruise thy [Satan's] head, and thou [Satan] shalt bruise His [Christ's] heel." Eve's Seed is our Lord Jesus Christ, while Satan's seed are the children, to the last generation, called the Kenites. Those offspring or fruit that are born from the sexual union between Eve and Satan [the serpent and the tree of good and evil] are called Kenites, the children of Cain. God is telling us that He will put trouble between Eve's children [through Adam and Seth, and Satan's offspring through Cain, called the Kenites. Jesus Christ shall bruise the head of Satan at His return at the second advent; while it will be Satan's children [not brother Judah] that bruises the heel of our Lord at Calvary's cross. This was done when the spikes were driven through Christ's heel, as He hung on the cross to pay the full price for our sins. Most ministers acknowledge that the "seed" is referring to the children that came through Eve. Yet somehow they like to spiritualize away everything else. The sin that took place in the garden of Eden was a sexual sin between two men [Satan and Adam] and a woman [Eve]. The word "seed" as used here in the Hebrew text is "zimah", and in the Greek is "sperma". Int the English we call that seed "sperm", and in the Strong's Hebrew Dictionary it is # 2233; "Posterity, carnally, child fruitful". It can't be any clearer, this seed of Satan's posterity are the offspring of Satan's son Cain, the first born of the two that were born to Eve. The Word "Kenite" means "sons of Cain, the first born", # 7013. 7017 in the Hebrew dictionary. Adam's posterity was not through Abel, for Cain murdered his brother Abel, and thus Jesus bloodline was through Seth. This lineage of Seth was pure and without the contamination of the fallen angels, or "Nephilim" that came to earth as recorded in Genesis 6. Until you understand what really took place in the garden of Eden, and why, it will be difficult for you to grow up and mature in the Word of God, and in true Christianity. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ lives on through the sacraments of the church of Christ, the body of believers. These words from the book of Deuteronomy are only a type of the things that come later. Colossians 2, will help you understand the details of these types. Deuteronomy 16:8 "Six days thou shalt eat unleavend bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work therein." This is a type of what is written in II Peter 3:8; "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Do you think that God looks at the Passover as a one time happening? Of course not, six days with the Lord as six thousand years. Six thousand years you will eat unleavened bread, and man will live in the flesh, with affliction, and then shall come the seventh day. That seventh day or last thousand years man will live in the thousand year Millennium period whereby all truth will reign supreme. Satan will be locked away for that thousand year period. We are approaching the end of the six thousand year period, and the Millennium age is not far away. It is in the Millennium age, or this time of the "solemn assembly to the Lord thy God" that all souls will come to the full realization that you will either love the Father or you will die. You will not work to maintain your flesh bodies at that time, for your flesh and all the evil rudiments [elements] of the age of the flesh will be done, and gone forever. Deuteronomy 16:9 "Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn." This then is the start of the "Feast of the weeks". Seven weeks are forty nine days, and on the next day we are to celebrate another feast day. Fifty in the Greek is "Pentecost", the real Sabbath day. "Pentecost" is the fiftieth day after Passover, or the day that Christ went into the tomb. Remember that Jesus walked with the disciples and over five hundred other followers for forty days, and He asked them not to leave Jerusalem until after the day of Pentecost. The Acts 1:4 "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them tat they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, "which saith He, "Ye have Me." " The reason for the wait is as follows. The Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." They were to wait for the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would be with them where ever they went. However Jerusalem was God's choice of the location of His special place until the Holy Spirit's coming. Then after the Holy Spirit entered into them, God's special location was where ever they would be. So we see that here in Deuteronomy God is looking forward to a day when this would take place, and what happened back in the wilderness was a type of what would take place later. There is another Pentecost day that is approaching very shortly, if it not upon us right now, and Peter spoke of this day in Acts 2:15-21. That was the day that was spoken of by Joel the prophet in Joel 2:28-32, when "in the last days, saidth God, 'I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" God's children will speak in a tongue that will need no interpreter. But they would be understood at the same time by all tongues of the earth. Each person would hear the Word given in the dialect of their neighborhood that they grew up on. This will be the reversal of the tower of Babel when the tongues were scrambled. The speaking in this pure tongue, is the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. When someone speaks and all of the languages of the entire world are understood without an interpreter, that is the presence of the tongue of the Holy Spirit. You just can't fake that my friend, and this is not said to upset those that like to delve in what is known as their "speaking in tongues", which requires an interpreter. However we are talking about a special time here, which is on that fiftieth day, that time when the death angel [Satan] shall pass over, and this pure tongue of the Holy Spirit will be spoken. That time is when Satan is here on earth playing his role as the false Christ, or Antichrist. If you are living in that day when Satan arrives here on earth, you can count on it. You will be delivered up to speak that tongue of the Holy Spirit, and at that time even the gainsayers will be convienced by what you speak on that day. This is all woven together in one smooth pattern of thought, whereby we can know exactly what to expect when that day comes. It is part of the plan of the six thousand years, plus the Millennium age before judgment. The feast days are a type and Christ became all of these things. Christ fulfilled all of the feast days of the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 16:10 "And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee:" Remember that the "feast of weeks" is "Pentecost". What you give is up and over the tithe, and is based on the blessings of the Lord for the past year. This is not necessarily talking only of money, but in the knowledge and blessings that the Lord has given you. Deuteronomy 16:11 "And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place His name there." Of course that place where God has chosen to place His name, is in His Son Jesus Christ. This is saying that you will share that name with the poor, those that have no knowledge of Christ, and the Lord our God. Deuteronomy 16:12 "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes." Remember that you were bonded to your sins until Christ gave you your freedom which we have in Christ. Just as these Israelites looked back to their time in Egypt, we are to remember that each of us was at one time also a slave to Satan and the things of this world. Not only are you to take Communion on Passover, but on this Pentecost feast day also. It is one of the three times of the year that we are required to take communion. Deuteronomy 16:13 "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:" This "feast of tabernacles" is in the fall after the harvest. You can liken it to our Thanksgiving holiday. Deuteronomy 16:14 "And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, and stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates." Every person that is in the community are to respect this time, even the foreigners that are with you are to partake of this special time to give thanks to the Lord. Deuteronomy 16:15 "Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto thee Place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice." This is the third feast day that is of special importance to our Lord. Deuteronomy 16:16 "Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty:" God is listing the three times that we are to take communion here. The place which He chose was in His Son, and that location is within ourselves when the Holy Spirit is there. These three times are Passover, Pentecost, and the feast of tabernacles. Though Jesus said, "take as often as you meet", the reason that most take only three times a year, is that this was how often they met. Some churches take the communion monthly, some weekly and other every time they meet, however it should be taken for sure on these three feast days. There is no harm in taking it every time you meet, however there is a danger in having the table of the Lord become a ritual, routine matter. If it became a habit, and it would lose the sincerity and love that we should have for this precious moment. It is a Holy Communion, a Holy time to present yourself to the Lord, and it should be very special for you, for it is honoring Christ for the sacrifice that He gave for you. Deuteronomy 16:17 "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee." You may be in a hard place as far as your financial status, however God is asking you to do something that He can bless you for. Give God a little room to bless you, because if you do nothing for Him, that is exactly what He will do for you. Nothing! Deuteronomy 16:18 "Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment." In the Hebrew text "throughout the tribes", means much more than just back there in ancient times. It means "all the way to the end of time". This has to do with discipline and the civil and political order within the nation(s) of God's people. In some states judges are voted in, while in other states they are appointed. As far as our leaders go, we vote for those that rule over us. In the Hebrew text it is very clear that these men and women are to be just and devout persons who serve God, if you expect blessings to come your way in our nation. God requires us to set His standards on our nation if we are to be blessed. At least our law makers finally took a stand on something, when they stopped the emigrants with HIV at the border from entry, and put a restriction on the Sodomites in the Military. If you are tied to this perversion, God gave His Son so that you could repent of those evil acts of perversion and come under the blood of Christ. There is forgiveness at the cross for the Sodomite, the drugger, and all the other filthy acts if you will by faith ask forgiveness of the Father in Jesus name. He will make a change in your life. When you make a stand, God will help you. We are to pick wise leaders in all levels of our government, and that is getting harder and harder today. We are to chose those that desire to lead justly, according to God's Word. Even in the times we are living in now, we know that our Heavenly Father is in control. Deuteronomy 16:19 "Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous." God is warning those persons that have entered office that they had better not take a bribe. Anytime any one will take a bribe or money, their mind is not focused on fair judgment. If you are an office holder or judge, your position is to enforce the law and make a judgment. In that Christ became the law, it is up to every Christian to make fair judgment as to what we do and say. This goes especially in our dealing with other brothers and sisters in the Lord and how we treat them. This even goes into the church and the respecter of persons as to matters of judgment dealing within the congregation. When you allow money and status to cloud your mind, it perverts you judgment of other matters also. "To blind the eyes of the wise", is another way to say, "you make yourself stupid". Deuteronomy 16:20 "That which is altogether just shall thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Living as stated here, is eternal live. Your reward for being honest is beyond this age of the flesh, for it is part of the inheritance that we have in Christ. There is no measure of that wealth eternally, for God will also start those blessing right here on earth, and continue it on forever. The richness of pleasing the Heavenly Father is tied to our eternal life. Gains that come by bribes and other ill gotten perversion cannot be hid from the Father, and you will answer for each of them. Deuteronomy 16:21 "Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee." In the Hebrew, this "grove" is "asherah", which is a grove of trees to have a worship in. Those groves were where the fertility rites or Baal worship were committed. There is absolutely nothing in grove worship that has anything to do with Christianity. If you are going to make an altar to God, you keep all the other forms of idolatry away from the place where you worship God. This goes for those traditions and false teachings that go against the Word of God. Deuteronomy 16:22 "Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth." People set up images today just as they did in olden times. Anything that you place before God, and interferes with your study and commitment to Him is an image. It gets into the priorities that you set in your mind for yourself as to what is important to you, and what is not. Sports, your family, and even your church can become so important that you neglect your own study and nourishment of God Word.
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