CbC July 6-12

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July 6, Sunday

Reading A187 — Deut. 21 — Commandments Applied                      Audio: Deut. 21 (ESV)

An audio recording of the following comments is available below:

Applying Truth — This chapter presents potential examples of serious sins that relate to the fifth, sixth, and seventh of the Ten Commandments, i.e., honoring parents, murder, and adultery, respectively.  The sin of murder (the sixth Commandment, Ex. 20:13) must be atoned for, even when the murderer is not known (v. 8).  The innocent heifer had to die in place of the unknown murderer.  The examples of the young woman captured in a war (v. 10) at an apparently “far city,” read about yesterday (20:10-15), and the firstborn boy of an “unloved” wife (21:15), are loosely connected to the seventh Commandment about not committing adultery (Ex. 20:14).  The example of the rebellious son (vv. 18-22) is obviously tied to the fifth Commandment about honoring one’s parents (Ex. 20:12).  Each of these examples seems to raise a question in the minds of those involved, which is, “What has God said about this?”  We also ought to ask that question often.  How does God’s Word apply to our situation?  Finding those answers is made much easier when we are familiar with God’s message to us, the Bible.  Keep reading and learning!

July 7, Monday

Reading A188 — Deut. 22 — The Purity of Marriage                          Audio: Deut. 22 (ESV)

An audio recording of the following comments is available below:

Avoiding Adultery — After presenting short laws on several different subjects, the rest of this chapter centers generally on the seventh Commandment about committing adultery.  It begins with a man and woman who marry legally, but he immediately changes his mind about her and accuses her of wrongdoing (vv. 13-21).  It is not clear regarding the physical “evidence of my daughter’s virginity” that her father presented (v. 17), but it would be enough to expose the husband’s dishonesty, causing him to be whipped, fined, and prevented from divorcing her.  In this and other examples in this section, the rights of godly women were protected.  God gave us a very strong sexual urge, but He also gave us strict limitations regarding its use, which must be used only within one’s marital relationship.  In this sphere, our true love for God is revealed by our obedience.

July 8, Tuesday

Reading A189 — Deut. 23-24 — Restricting and Protecting         Audio: Deut. 23-24 (ESV)

An audio recording of the following comments is available below:

Holy and Loving — In these two chapters, God seems to be equally protective of His honor and the wellbeing of weak and disadvantaged people.  Restrictions relate to the expression, “the assembly of the LORD,” used seven times in the first eight verses of chapter 23.  God must be honored as holy, i.e., set apart from sinful mankind.  Some people were prevented temporarily or permanently from worshiping together with God’s chosen people.  Most of the rest of today’s reading centers on protecting people who were easily overlooked or abused: the runaway slave (23:15-16), the person in debt (23:19-20; 24:6, 10-13), the very poor (23:24-25; 24:14-15), the newly married soldier (24:5), and those without land,  father, or husband (vv. 17-21).  Many of these commands fall under the broad category of the eighth commandment, “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15) and the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18).

July 9, Wednesday

Reading A190 — Deut. 25-26 — Protecting and Giving               Audio: Deut. 25-26 (ESV)

An audio recording of the following comments is available below:

Disputing and Giving — The laws in chapter 25 are mostly about disputes between people.  There is a court case that results in the guilty man being whipped in shame (vv. 1-3).  Laws meant to protect a widow and to continue the name of her husband end in shaming a reluctant brother-in-law (vv. 5-10).  A physical fight between two men results in one’s wife losing a hand (vv. 11-12).  There are also subtle disputes that may arise from dishonesty by using two slightly different sizes of measures for buying and selling (vv. 13-16).  The purpose of these laws is to promote honesty and maintain harmony.  Chapter 26 is all about giving back to God from His blessings.  Three attitudes are pointed out here.  First, is the attitude of gratitude (vv. 5-10).  People responded to God’s grace in giving to build up Israel, starting from Abraham, growing in Egypt, being rescued from slavery, and being brought to the land of promise.  They were grateful.  They also had the attitude of joy: “And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you” (v. 11).  The third attitude was that of obedience, whole-hearted obedience: “This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules … with all your heart and with all your soul” (v. 16).  Let us also resolve to be grateful, glad, and genuine in our attitudes today!

July 10, Thursday

Reading A191 — Deut. 27 — Ebal’s Altar and Curses                        Audio: Deut. 27 (ESV)

An audio recording of the following comments is available below:

Laws Written and Spoken — Obedience to the commandments of God is emphasized in this chapter.  The Law is central.  After crossing the Jordan River, the people of Israel would go to the city of Shechem, where God initially made this promise to Abram: “To your offspring I will give this land” (Gen. 12:7).  Abram responded by building an altar there.  Shechem was between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, about 3 miles (5 km) apart.  In today’s reading, Moses instructed Israel to divide into two groups, one on each of the mountains to form a responsive choir.  First, they would build an altar on Mt. Ebal and write on its white-plastered stones “all the words of this law” (v. 3)—the written Word of God.  Next would come the spoken Word of God as the two groups alternately shouted the curses of the Law and the blessings of the Law.  Only a 12-part sample of these curses is contained in this chapter, with four of them focusing on sexual sins (vv. 20-23).  Written or spoken, the people of Israel and Christians today are told this: “You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes” (v. 10).

July 11, Friday

Reading A192 — Deut. 28 — Blessing and Cursing                         Audio: Deut. 28 (ESV)

An audio recording of the following comments is available below:

Consequences — This long chapter is divided into two uneven sections: 14 verses of blessings followed by 54 verses of curses.  The emphasis on curses here is as it was with the 12 sample curses in yesterday’s reading.  Both the blessings and curses are consequences of how Israel would obey the commands of God.  The blessings would be the result of obedience (v. 1) and the curses would follow disobedience (v. 15).  God knew the future of Israel.  Their early history in the Promised Land would be miraculously wonderful, but after Solomon’s reign, their kingdom would start crumbling.  God’s general principle to us as well as to Israel is that He blesses obedience.   We should not hope for blessings without obedience.  “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal. 6:7).

July 12, Saturday

Reading A193 — Deut. 29-30 — The Covenant Repeated          Audio: Deut. 29-30 (ESV)

An audio recording of the following comments is available below:

You Can Do It — God had established His covenant with Israel initially at Horeb (i.e., Sinai, 29:1).  Now that they were in Moab, ready to cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land, God repeated that covenant with them.  They had operated at a disadvantage for 40 years in the desert because God had not yet given them “a heart to understand” (29:4).  After they would live in the Promised Land for centuries and be exiled for their failure to follow God, however, God promised that He would “circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (30:6).  They would be given supernatural help to live for Yahweh.  They were challenged and encouraged that this commitment “is not too hard for you” (v. 11), and that “you can do it” (v. 14).  That kind of dedication became even more possible after the Holy Spirit came to indwell the hearts of believers at the Day of Pentecost.  It is also not too hard for us to live a godly life; we can do it.