Confessional Lutheran Ministerium

Deuteronomy 19:1-21 NKJV

19 “When the Lord your God has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, ² you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. ³ You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there.

⁴ “And this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him in time past— ⁵ as when a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live; ⁶ lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past. ⁷ Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall separate three cities for yourself.’

⁸ “Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, ⁹ and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, ¹⁰ lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

¹¹ “But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, ¹² then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. ¹³ Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.

¹⁴ “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

¹⁵ “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. ¹⁶ If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. ¹⁸ And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. ²⁰ And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. ²¹ Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

God’s law does not float above life—it enters it. The Lord, who gave the land as a gift, also gave commands to guard the people who lived in it. Cities of refuge were appointed so that the one who killed accidentally might flee and live. The avenger of blood was not free to act without restraint. The nation was not free to ignore justice. Care was taken that no innocent blood be shed and no guilt be overlooked.

This is the mercy of God in action. He knows our weakness. He knows that conflict and sin will mark life in a fallen world. But He also knows how quickly justice can become vengeance, and how fear can silence truth. So He sets boundaries—for justice, for mercy, for the protection of both the wronged and the falsely accused.

False witnesses were another danger. A lie in court could cost a man his life. That is why “the judges shall make careful inquiry” (v. 18). God does not take lies lightly. When a false witness is exposed, “you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother” (v. 19). The punishment fits the crime—not out of revenge, but to preserve the fear of God among the people.

God cares about truth. He cares about justice. He cares about the lives of His people—not only their actions, but their intentions. And in every law, we see not only what God commands, but what He protects. The cities of refuge pointed to a deeper truth: the Lord Himself is a refuge for sinners. Those who flee to Him are not turned away.

Jesus was falsely accused, yet did not open His mouth in protest. He bore the judgment that should have fallen on others. In Him, the guilty find safety, and the innocent find vindication. He is both our shelter and our righteousness.

In a world where justice often fails and lies are loud, we cling to the One who judges rightly. His Word remains true. His mercy never fails. Let us pray: Righteous Lord, teach us to love justice, to speak truth, and to show mercy. Be our refuge in all things, and keep us in Your care. Amen.

Deuteronomy 18:1-22 NKJV

18 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have ^[a]no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His portion. ² Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He said to them.

³ “And this shall be the priest’s due^[b] from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. ⁴ The firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. ⁵ For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.

⁶ “So if a Levite comes from any of your ^[c]gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the Lord chooses, ⁷ then he may serve in the name of the Lord his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord. ⁸ They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.

Avoid Wicked Customs

⁹ “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the ^[d]abominations of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass^[e] through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. ¹² For all who do these things are ^[f]an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. ¹³ You shall be ^[g]blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not ^[h]appointed such for you.

A New Prophet Like Moses

¹⁵ “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, ¹⁶ according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’

¹⁷ “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. ¹⁹ And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. ²⁰ But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ ²¹ And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’— ²² when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

The Lord provided for His people in every way—even in how they heard His voice. The Levites were given no inheritance of land because the Lord Himself was their portion. Their role was to serve, to teach, and to lead the people in the worship of God. Yet above the Levites, above the priests, the Lord promised something greater: a Prophet who would speak not just about God, but for God.

The people had once stood trembling at Mount Horeb, overwhelmed by the thunder and fire. “Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God,” they pleaded, “nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die” (v. 16). In mercy, God answered with a promise. He would raise up one like Moses—a prophet from among them, one who would speak God’s words and command their hearing.

This promise was not fulfilled by the prophets who came and went in Israel’s history. They spoke truly, but they all pointed forward. The words of Moses find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He is the Prophet who came not only from among the people, but from the Father. He speaks not with borrowed authority, but as the eternal Word made flesh.

To hear Him is to hear the voice of God. To ignore Him is to ignore the only path of life. “Whoever will not hear My words which He speaks in My name,” the Lord says, “I will require it of him” (v. 19). There is no middle ground.

In a world full of voices—false prophets, smooth talkers, flattering spirits—the danger is real. God warned Israel not to be led by signs and wonders or popular opinion. The test was always faithfulness to the Word. The true prophet spoke what the Lord commanded, no more and no less.

We are not left without a voice. The Scriptures speak still. Christ is not silent. His words bring life, truth, and hope. We need no magic, no hidden signs, no new revelation—only ears to hear what He has already spoken. Let us pray: Lord Jesus, You are the Prophet promised long ago. Keep us from false voices and help us to listen to You with trust and obedience. Amen.

Deuteronomy 17:1-20 NKJV

17 “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any ^[a]blemish or defect, for that is an ^[b]abomination to the Lord your God.

² “If there is found among you, within any of your ^[c]gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, ³ who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, ⁴ and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an ^[d]abomination has been committed in Israel, ⁵ then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. ⁶ Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ⁷ The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.

⁸ “If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. ⁹ And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. ¹⁰ You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. ¹¹ According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. ¹² Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel. ¹³ And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.

Principles Governing Kings

¹⁴ “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶ But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ ¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

¹⁸ “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. ¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰ that his heart may not ^[e]be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may ^[f]prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

The Lord is not indifferent to how He is worshiped. A blemished offering may seem small to human eyes, but it reveals a heart that withholds. God, who gives all things, is not honored by leftovers. His people were called to bring what was whole, what was fitting, and what showed they feared Him more than they loved their own gain.

Justice, too, was not left to human opinion. Matters too difficult for local judges were to be brought to “the place which the Lord your God chooses”—where His appointed servants would decide. Their judgment was not to be questioned or ignored. “You shall be careful to do according to all that they order you” (v. 10). God values peace and order, not confusion or defiance.

Even kings, who might be tempted to rise above the law, were placed under it. The one who ruled Israel was not to trust in horses, riches, or political ties. Instead, he was to write for himself a copy of God’s law and read it all the days of his life (v. 18–19). The goal was not legal expertise, but humility and fear of the Lord.

These words speak to us still. God has not changed. He still calls for worship that is true, not casual. He still calls for justice that reflects His character, not personal preference. And He still calls those who lead—whether in church, home, or society—to be ruled by His Word, not their own wisdom.

The perfect sacrifice was offered not by us, but for us. Jesus Christ, without blemish or spot, gave Himself once for all. He fulfilled the law in every part and gave us peace through the cross. Now, we do not offer bulls and goats, but lives of obedience, thanksgiving, and trust.

We do not rule ourselves. We belong to the King who humbled Himself to serve. His Word still teaches us, corrects us, and shows us the way of life.

Let us pray: Lord, keep us from bringing You what is halfhearted. Teach us to walk in reverence, to love what is right, and to follow Your Word with joy. Amen.

Deuteronomy 16:1-22 NKJV

16 “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ² Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to put His name. ³ You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ⁴ And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until morning.

⁵ “You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you; ⁶ but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. ⁷ And you shall roast and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. ⁸ Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a ^[a]sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.

The Feast of Weeks Reviewed

⁹ “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. ¹⁰ Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. ¹¹ You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. ¹² And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles Reviewed

¹³ “You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. ¹⁴ And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your ^[b]gates. ¹⁵ Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.

¹⁶ “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. ¹⁷ Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

Justice Must Be Administered

¹⁸ “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your ^[c]gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. ¹⁹ You shall not pervert justice; you shall not ^[d]show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and ^[e]twists the words of the righteous. ²⁰ You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

²¹ “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a ^[f]wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God. ²² You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.

God called His people to remember—not in passing thought, but through gathered worship, shared meals, and joyful offerings. The calendar of Israel was shaped not by chance, but by the mighty acts of the Lord. Passover marked their deliverance. Thnme Feast of Weeks marked His provision. The Feast of Tabernacles reminded them of His faithful care through every season.

These were not merely cultural traditions. They were appointed times to come before the Lord with thanksgiving. Each feast carried its own message, yet all pointed back to the same truth: the Lord had saved them, sustained them, and remained present among them.

The command that no one appear empty-handed was not about wealth. It was about remembering rightly. Each gift was to be given “as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you” (v. 17). This was worship rooted in gratitude. The giving heart was to be a remembering heart.

The chapter ends with a call to justice—honest judges, impartial verdicts, no bribes. The people who came before the Lord with offerings were also to live before Him with integrity. “You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land” (v. 20). Worship was not confined to feasts; it shaped the daily life of the community.

In Christ, we are no longer bound to Israel’s feast days. But we are still called to remember. Every Lord’s Day is a return to the place where God has chosen to meet us—where His Word is proclaimed, where the body and blood of Christ are given for our forgiveness. We do not come empty-handed, but with our hearts lifted in praise, our sins laid bare, and our lives offered anew in service.

God is not forgotten by those who come near to Him in faith. And those who remember Him in worship are strengthened to walk in righteousness. Let us pray: Lord, keep us from forgetting. Make us faithful in worship and honest in daily life. Let our gatherings reflect Your mercy, and our lives bear witness to Your truth. Amen.

Deuteronomy 15:1-23 NKJV

15 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. ² And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the Lord’s release. ³ Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, ⁴ except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord will greatly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— ⁵ only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.

⁷ “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, ⁸ but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. ⁹ Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin among you. ¹⁰ You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. ¹¹ For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’

¹² “If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; ¹⁴ you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today. ¹⁶ And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

¹⁹ “All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall sanctify to the Lord your God; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ²⁰ You and your household shall eat it before the Lord your God year by year in the place which the Lord chooses. ²¹ But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You may eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer. ²³ Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.

God taught His people to live with open hands. Every seventh year, debts were to be forgiven. Slaves were to be released and sent away not empty-handed, but provided for generously. The land was to be marked by mercy, not endless repayment. In a world driven by gain and guarded accounts, this kind of release stands out. It reveals a God who gives, and who calls His people to reflect His generosity.

This was not optional kindness. It was commanded faithfulness. The Lord who brought Israel out of Egypt reminded them, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you” (v. 15). What they had was not earned but given. What they gave to others was not loss, but obedience.

The command to open one’s hand wide—twice repeated—cuts against our natural tendency to tighten our grip. But what we withhold out of fear, the Lord is able to restore in abundance. “The Lord your God will bless you in all to which you put your hand” (v. 10). The giving hand is not left empty. It is blessed.

This passage is not about a modern economic system or government structure. It is about hearts that know the mercy of God and do not forget it. It is about remembering what it means to live as the redeemed. Whether with time, money, or patience, the one who knows God’s grace cannot remain hard-hearted or closed-fisted.

The chapter ends with the setting apart of firstborn animals—another reminder that what we have comes from the Lord and belongs to Him. Nothing is truly ours by right. It is held in trust. And when we give freely, we confess that our hope is not in our wealth or our work, but in the Lord who provides.

Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, gave not only freedom but life. In Him, the debt of our sin is forgiven. In Him, we have received mercy beyond measure. Now we are called to live as those who remember.

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, teach us to live with open hands, to remember Your mercy, and to serve others in joy. Make us mindful of all we have received from You. Amen.

Psalm 120:1-7 NKJV

A Song of Ascents.

120 In my distress I cried to the Lord,
And He heard me.
² Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.

³ What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?
⁴ Sharp arrows of the ^[a]warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!

⁵ Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
⁶ My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.
⁷ I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war.

In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He heard me.

Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips

And from a deceitful tongue…

My soul has dwelt too long with one who hates peace.

I am for peace; But when I speak, they are for war.

The psalmist cries out from a place of deep distress, surrounded not by swords and spears, but by lies and hostility. The pain of living among those who twist words and stir conflict is no less real than the pain of physical danger. Yet the first line reveals the anchor of the believer: “In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He heard me.”

The world has always had its Meshechs and Kedars—distant lands, foreign in their ways, where peace is not valued and truth is cheap. For the child of God, life in such places is not merely uncomfortable. It is sorrowful. It is like a long exile. The psalmist’s words could be ours as we navigate a culture that despises what is good and true, and scorns those who seek to live quietly in faithfulness.

Even in such places, prayer remains. God does not shut His ears to His children. The psalmist does not begin by fighting lies with louder lies or meeting hatred with greater hate. He cries out to the Lord. He entrusts his pain to the One who sees, hears, and judges with perfect justice.

There is no romanticism here—only the sober confession that peace is elusive in a world at war with the truth. “I am for peace,” he says, “but when I speak, they are for war.” The longing for peace is not a longing for silence or compromise, but for the kind of peace that comes with truth, righteousness, and the fear of God.

We live now in the tents of this world, often misunderstood and misrepresented. But the Lord who hears us in distress is the same Lord who gives peace that the world cannot give. Let us pray: Lord, deliver us from falsehood and hostility, and grant us courage to speak truth with love. Hear us in our distress, and keep our eyes fixed on You. Amen.

Psalm 119:153-160 NKJV

ר RESH

¹⁵³ Consider my affliction and deliver me,
For I do not forget Your law.
¹⁵⁴ Plead my cause and redeem me;
Revive me according to Your word.
¹⁵⁵ Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.
¹⁵⁶ Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord;
Revive me according to Your judgments.
¹⁵⁷ Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
¹⁵⁸ I see the treacherous, and am disgusted,
Because they do not keep Your word.
¹⁵⁹ Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
¹⁶⁰ The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

The eight verses of today’s reading all begin with the Hebrew letter “Resh,” reflected below in bold type. (Again, today’s devotion is an extended prayer.)

“Consider,” that is, see my affliction, O LORD. See how I’m struggling, how I’m suffering. See, and deliver me! Because I do not forget Your law. Not that I have lived according to it without sin, but neither have I abandoned it. I repent of my sins and look to You for forgiveness through Christ, according to Your promise. I am Yours. Deliver me!

Plead my cause, Lord Jesus. Be my Advocate in the courtroom of divine justice, and redeem me from sin, from death, from the devil, and from every evil, because I cannot redeem myself. In Your Word, You have promised life to those who take refuge in You. So grant me life instead of death!

On the other hand, Your salvation is far from the wicked. For they are not interested in Your Word. They do as they please, not as pleases You. And, therefore, in their impenitence, they have You for a Judge and not for a Savior.

If only they knew You as I do, O LORD! Your tender mercies and compassion are truly great! On that basis, I ask You to judge me kindly and to preserve my life.

Because many are my persecutors and enemies. They seek to turn me away from You. They seek to punish me for being faithful to You. But I will not turn away from Your Word, no matter how many people turn against me.

I see treacherous and violent people all around me. I see lawlessness increasing in the world, and it sickens me, because men have rejected You, Your Word, Your truth, and all that is good and right.

But as for me, see how I love Your Word and Your commandments, O LORD. In the midst of the darkness, death, and destruction of this world, preserve my life, because You are faithful and true.

Yes, the entirety, the whole sum of Your Word, is truth. Everything You say is true. Everything You do is right. Everything You command is just. Everything You foretell must come true. And everything You have promised must be fulfilled, always. I praise You for Your faithfulness, O LORD! Amen.

Deuteronomy 14:1-18 NKJV

14 “You are the children of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead. ² For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

³ “You shall not eat any detestable thing. ⁴ These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ⁵ the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ⁶ And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals. ⁷ Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. ⁸ Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.

⁹ “These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales. ¹⁰ And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹ “All clean birds you may eat. ¹² But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, ¹³ the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds; ¹⁴ every raven after its kind; ¹⁵ the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds; ¹⁶ the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl, ¹⁷ the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl, ¹⁸ the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.

A prominent theme running through the Law of Moses is that God had separated the Israelites from the rest of the nations, had chosen them to be a special, holy people for Himself. And since God had separated or “sanctified” them, they were to lead lives that were also different from the lives led by pagans.

Moses mentions two of those differences in today’s reading. The first had to do with how they treated their bodies. The Gentiles had rituals they would perform as they mourned for the dead. They would cut themselves or shave their heads in a certain way. These were practices based on ignorance of God, a misunderstanding of death, and superstition. God’s treasured people were not to imitate the unbelievers in any of these practices, even in the way they cut their hair, because to imitate the world is to give the impression that one believes the same things as the world. God’s people were to be different.

Another difference had to do with their diet, as we’ve seen in previous readings. God’s people were to eat differently than the Gentiles did. In this case, it wasn’t because of anything inherently good or bad about certain kinds of food. It was simply an extra layer of separation that God chose to put between His holy people and the unholy Gentiles, to exercise them in practicing holiness (that is, “separateness”), to test the people’s obedience, and to keep the religion of Israel distinct from that of the nations until the Christ should come to them.

The dietary restrictions have been removed from the New Testament. But the importance of the Christian’s separateness from the world lingers. God would have His special people, the Church of Christ, avoid being unequally yoked with unbelievers (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14). He commands us not to participate in any rituals, practices, or behaviors that might give the impression that we are not, in fact, separate from the world. The truth is, Christians are a chosen “nation,” with distinct beliefs, distinct worship practices, behaviors, and goals, and having a unique hope. Let us be light and salt in the world, as the Lord has called us to be, remembering that, the brighter the light, the stronger the contrast with darkness will be.  Let us pray: O Lord, we thank You for graciously choosing us out of the world. Guide and strengthen us by Your Spirit to lead holy lives, that men may be drawn to Your light. Amen.

Deuteronomy 13:1-18 NKJV

13 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.

⁶ “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, ⁷ of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, ⁸ you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; ⁹ but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. ¹¹ So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.

¹² “If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying, ¹³ ‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” ’—which you have not known— ¹⁴ then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, ¹⁵ you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. ¹⁶ And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. ¹⁷ So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, ¹⁸ because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

You may wish to place a bookmark in Deuteronomy 13, for those times when people claim to have seen an apparition, or to have performed a miracle of some kind. As we learn in this chapter, visions and miracles do not necessarily indicate that a person’s words are true. They can also be a test to see who will adhere to God’s word, and who will run after the miracle instead.

False prophets, coming from within the Church of God, have been around since the time of Moses. And through him, the Lord instructed His people to be on the lookout for anyone claiming to have seen a vision, dreamed a prophetic dream, or performed a miracle. Dreams and miracles do not prove anything. Indeed, the devil himself is capable of performing certain miracles, and of transforming into an angel of light (cf. 2 Cor. 11:14). No, the Lord has warned His people since the time of Moses not to be deceived by dreamers and miracle-workers.

Even if someone has performed or witnessed a truly supernatural event, the first question to be asked is this: “Are the words of this person in perfect harmony with the revealed Word of God? Is this person leading me to trust in God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture, or is he leading me somewhere else?” As Isaiah wrote, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Is. 8:20).

The warning in Deut. 13 is not only to watch out for false prophets. It’s to watch out even for fellow church members who might attempt to lead us astray to worship other gods, or to stray in any way from God’s Word. In the Old Testament, such deceivers in Israel were to be killed. In the New Testament, they are to be marked and avoided (cf. Rom. 16:17).

Jesus tells us that many false prophets will come and will deceive many (cf. Matt. 24:11). St. Paul warns us in 2 Thess. 2 that such deception will sometimes have signs and wonders attached to it (vv. 9-10). So whether it’s an apparition of some saint, a miraculous healing, or the gibberish that passes for “speaking in tongues” today, remember this chapter of Deuteronomy and don’t let anything move you from God and His Word.

Let us pray: Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word! Amen.