Don’t Goat With the Flow

What are some of the strangest verses in the Bible?

So clearly, there are some verses in the Bible that are a bit strange, or maybe weird, or wild, or seem kind of wacky. And we aren’t being flippant to say that there’s some stuff in Scripture that just leaves us scratching our heads going “what???” They confuse us. Sometimes we can laugh it off. But, if we believe that God’s Word really is breathed out by Him, if we believe that”

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Then that means even the weird, wacky, and wild passages have a place, and in fact may actually have a lot to say to us in our modern context today. We’re starting a new series called “It says WHAT?!” Finding Jesus in some of the weird, wild, and wacky parts of the Bible. We can’t cover everything that might not make sense, but there’s some spots in Scripture that can be real head scratchers. The goal in this series is to ask 2 questions:

How does this fit into the grand story of the Bible?

How does it communicate the truth of the gospel?

All Scripture is breathed out by God. It’s a gift to us so that we might know Him. Therefore, all of it is worthy of our study. But even in the harder to get parts, we need to look and understand why God put it in there, what He is saying, and how through it we can continue to be challenged in our faith.

Exodus 23:19 (ESV)

“The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Exodus 34:26 (ESV)

The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

Deuteronomy 14:21 (ESV)

“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

At a first glance, this sentence seems strange, out of place, and odd even on its own. It’s not even a full verse, and might seem like someone just tacked it on because they could find a better place for it. This sentence has been used as a weapon against Scripture - a reason not to believe the Bible and the truth it presents.

So, does that mean that it doesn’t matter? Or maybe it mattered way back when, but it holds virtually no significance for us today perhaps?

We know God does not do things by chance. Although we are not subject to the Old Testament law as ancient Israel was, it is still just as important to us as the New Testament, and our guide for understanding our God and how to walk in a way pleasing to Him. We also know that all Scripture, start to finish is about Jesus - pointing to Jesus. So, today we are starting our series on the weird, wild, and wacky part of Scripture by exploring this statement, in its original context, to discover how it fits into the grand story of Scripture.

We are a holy people, set apart for God

Them & Us: Holy to God

So, to start, we’re going to understand what this verse meant to Israel in their time, which means we’re going all the way back to the first 100 years after Israel left Egypt. In this time frame, Israel wandered the desert for 40 years. They then settled the land. Stories like Joshua and the battle of Jericho, and some of the early parts of the book of Judges happened within those years. In those times, Israel saw great victories, but some of the 12 tribes of Israel failed to do all that God had commanded, and drive the Canaanites out of the land God had given them. As a result, within the land, and therefore within tempting view were pagan Canaanite religions and practices.

Not much is actually known about this statement. There’s very little ancient documentation on it outside of Scripture. So, what are we reasonably sure about?

Boiling a young goat in it’s mother’s milk was most likely an ancient fertility rite.

This seems to be the most likely explanation for what this practice was all about. Doing so in ancient culture was supposed to bring fertility to the land, and to people. That was the superstition of the day.

Ok, that’s great, so maybe God’s just concerned about goat-rights?

Haha, does God care about goats, and young goats? Yes! But the primary reason here actually seems to have little to do with animals’ rights. It’s been suggested that perhaps this has to do with other pagan religions as well, like the Greek Dionysian worship. Or perhaps the overarching theme has to do with not destroying the nature of how something is supposed to go. It seems a bit revolting to think that we’d cook something in the very stuff that is supposed to give it life.

Particularly for this latter idea, there could be merit in looking more into this. But, as we look at the context of these verses we see that it has to do with God telling His people that they are a holy nation - set apart for Him. This is where we start to understand that God doesn’t do anything haphazardly. This little command actually has a larger role to play - and within it we begin to see the need for all of God’s people - then and now - to pay close attention to how we choose to live our lives for Jesus.

The first occurrence of this little command is in Exodus 23, as we read. This section of Exodus is the ending to the book of the covenant, where God gives the laws that govern His people, and renews with them the covenant - or promise - that is between Himself and the people. Already we see this cannot be an accident. There’s more going on here than just some random command that doesn’t make sense. The smaller section that this command finds itself is connected to feasts. The prescribed feasts the Israelite were supposed to observe as part of their worship of the One True God incidentally happened around the same time as some Canaanite feasts. So God starts this smaller section with:

Exodus 23:13 ESV

“Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

Pay attention to all that I have said to you, don’t even entertain other gods. This is what God says to His people. He then ends by giving this command that specifically addresses a most likely pagan worship practice that was superstitious, and had nothing to do with worshipping Yahweh. Yet, it probably had everything to do with worshipping other false gods.

I don’t want us to get lost in the woods here. This is the point: There’s purpose in why God chose to say what He said, and here in Exodus it has to do with the people not allowing pagan practices into their homes, even if for something like cooking a goat in it’s mother’s milk.

Again, if we turn to Deuteronomy 14, we see that the very first verse in the chapter to start this section reads as follows:

Deuteronomy 14:1 ESV

“You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.

This proceeds a list of things that are ok to eat, and animals that aren’t. Again, we’re working within this larger idea of the people being set apart - holy to God. So this is part of their worship of the One True God. This whole section, 1-21 where we find our little command about young goats, is framed around two specific commands not to participate in pagan ways of doing things. The Israelites needed to be different in both practice and physical appearance from the rest of the world around them. So, they were not to shave their heads or cut themselves in mourning when someone died. Notice how God starts: You are the sons of Yahweh! Now move down to verse 21, and we read

Deuteronomy 14:21 (ESV)

“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Again, they must act different, live different, and be different. There’s both the moral implication that practicing a superstitious fertility rite had its roots in the worship of pagan gods, and also the realization that Israel was supposed to demonstrate to the world what it meant to live in covenant relationship with the Most High God! This was supposed to be a good thing!

Notice what we read here: “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.” In Exodus 34:26, the other occurrence of this command about young goats, we see that it again falls within this context of worshipping the One True God. So, this is the big point:

Israel had to be a people HOLY to the Lord - set apart in thought, word and deed.

We might not know 100% what this command was targeting, though we are pretty sure it’s a pagan fertility rite. But of this we can be sure: God placed it in His Word, in the sections He did, to address ways in which the people of Israel, as a set apart people, were NOT supposed to act. Perhaps it seems small to you, or maybe it seemed small to them. Perhaps they thought: “Oh you know, who really cares if we practice this one little ritual? The folks up the street do it, and they’re fine. What’s the big deal?”

Maybe they might have felt pressure at points to be like the world around them, or appease the people around them. We could maybe create a sizeable list of reasons why the Israelites might be tempted to do this. But clearly from God’s perspective this marred the holiness of the nation.

So, we’ve explored the “then.” Now we ask, “what does this mean for us today?”

We Must Be Watchful

Remember how we read in Deuteronomy “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.” Well, we find it again in the New Testament as well:

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

See, that same pronouncement that God gave to Israel, that they were His people who were set apart for Him, is still true today of every person that knows Jesus as Lord and Saviour. But now, that isn’t restricted to one nation. Now, there are no barriers. Instead, anyone who accepts Jesus Christ, repents, and places their faith in Him will be saved. Which means you too are part of this body, this family, that is holy. We are set apart. We are by nature different. Not because we are great or we saved ourselves. But God declares us not guilty because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf.

We find Jesus in this little Old Testament command as we realize that Jesus kept the law at every point. Even this tiny little half-verse in Exodus and Deuteronomy. He was perfect, sinless. Now, as His people, we are supposed to live lives that are set apart for Christ. Church, we are a chosen race, and royal priesthood. We are a possession for God’s own - we are His people. Wrap your head around that for a minute. God has claimed us as His own! How amazing is that.

But if we are going to proclaim the excellencies of the God who saved us, we must so talk and so live in a way that glorifies God. We must live as James told us to:

James 1:27 ESV

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Notice at this moment particularly the last part of this verse: “keep oneself unstained from the world.” James here is talking about what it means to not just hear the Word of God, but to do it, to live it. Israel would have known this little command, just like they knew a whole host of other commands that God had given in the law. Commands to keep them safe, to protect them from the destructive cultures and practices around them. Yet as we chart Israel’s history down through the time of the judges, to the kings, and finally exile, we see that they repeatedly failed to keep those commands. Did this happen all at once? Not likely. Likely it was a gradual increase of allowing worship of other gods, other foreign unhealthy practices. I’m sure that no one thought they would be so crazy as to sacrifice their infants to some pagan god when they first got to the promised land. But by the time we get to some later kings in history, we read this:

2 Kings 21:6 ESV

And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

How detestable this is, and yet, little by little it crept in. In the same way, as God’s people today we must be watchful, and not allow the enemy to gain a foothold.

How often do we allow ourselves as God’s people to engage in things that would not be honouring to God? How often do we dabble in that which is abhorrent to God, yet we give it a place in our lives? Perhaps even in an effort to appease the world around us?

Have you ever heard of Christians playing with taro cards? It happens.

How many would be willing accept such things as pornography as normal, in the sense that “oh, it’s not that bad.”

How many choose to sleep with their significant other prior to marriage?

How many of us choose to buy lottery tickets, allowing the thrill of getting rich quick, or a love of money to begin to sink in?

How many might choose to watch media that fills our minds and hearts with things contrary to God’s Word?

These are some of the more recognizable things that we might allow to gain a foothold. But there’s other sins that plague each and every one of us as human beings, whether they’re super recognizable or not. We may either allow it to slip in over time, or we say “it could never happen to us!” and then get caught unawares when it does happen within our families, or to our friends. Someone get ensnared in addiction, or becomes entangled in the occult. We allow such things as these, and at the root of it a pride or complacency, that erode the character of being a people who are set apart, holy to God.

It’s not about being perfect, because none of us are able to do that. Every one of us has sins that we struggle with, burdens that we carry, and hurts and hangups that need to be overcome. Don’t look at that list and think, “Oh I’m good” that’s not what that was about.

I didn’t list those things above to shame anyone, or guilt trip any person. I look at this list, see things on it that I was trapped in, and praise God for the freedom He brings. But I desperately need His help so that I might become less like the world and more like Jesus, and not give myself to things of the world. Friends, it is not about perfection, but about being people who are both hearers and doers of the Word. We cannot, and we must not allow Satan to gain even the smallest foothold. So this is about keeping both our feet firmly in Jesus.

Friends, works don’t save us. It is a lie to think that you can make it to heaven on your own. But in James 2:18, just a chapter later, we read this:

James 2:18 ESV

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Our lives need to demonstrate the inward transformation that is taking place as a result of the Spirit of God literally indwelling. Even as Israel’s modus operandi in everything had to be about being a nation who was holy, set apart for Yahweh, so ours must be the 100% 24/7, 365 worship of God. Living for Jesus Christ, in a way pleasing to Him doesn’t start when you come in here. It doesn’t stop when you go out there. This is just an encouragement session along the way! So we must be watchful, lest we too fall into the trap of allowing even something small to enter into our lives that could lead us astray. Is that to say that you can never watch anything ever again that has a swear word in it? Well I suppose that is up to you, although it’s not a legalistic thing either. It’s about relationship with Jesus Christ. How closely do you value your relationship with Jesus? If you do value it highly, act like it.

Conclusion

Maybe you’ve given this little statement a lot of thought over time. Maybe you’ve never given it a second glance. Maybe until today you had no idea it was in the Bible! Regardless of how much time you’ve spent in this command, we all need to see how Jesus, even within this tiny statement, has something to say to us. The entire counsel of God’s Word is needed for us today, even if we don’t necessarily have the same cultural things to worry about.

We are a holy people, set apart for God

Back then, this little command most likely had to do with a pagan worship rite. We don’t know much about it, but the prohibition here was meant to keep Israel on the path of being a nation Holy to God, set apart for Him. Different from the world. It may seem small, but the concept is the same: Don’t entertain the world, even in the little things.

Now, we are still a holy people, set apart for God! We cannot and must not forget that. If we truly value our relationship with Christ. If we truly value His sacrifice for us, we will want to live in a way pleasing to Him. That means we must stay watchful, because Satan will tempt us. He will try and get us to allow sin into our lives. Just little bitty ones. He’ll use tactics like “everyone does it” “it’ll make them happy” or “does it really matter if it’s sin if it makes me happy?” Don’t fall prey. Be watchful, be on your guard, and ask God to reveal to you how you can better live for Him. None of us is perfect, and that’s ok. What’s not ok is either pride or complacency, both of which quickly lead to straying from Christ. Instead, ask God to show you what He’s working on in your life, if you’re not sure. Be humble before God, and listen to what He is telling you. Because the Holy Spirit will continue - as we are humbled to Him - that work of making us more like Jesus everyday.

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.