Deuteronomy 17

Let me start this morning by thanking those who have continued to pray for us and to give into this ministry during this difficult time.

While larger corporations and larger churches have received help from government payroll protection and other government emergency funding sources, we have received no help from them.

So, it is your support has kept us afloat.

If you want to participate in helping by giving, it’s very easy to give online at www.calvarybirmingham.com … just surf on over and click on “Giving” in the menu at the top.

If you prefer to give by regular mail, you can … just send it to 1738 Morgan Park Road, Pelham, AL 35124.

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Enough of that.

Let me go on a moment and just say that all people matter, regardless of skin color.

Jesus died for everyone … so all lives matter to God, including yours.

In regards to the difficult times we are in, let’s all keep that in mind and let’s remember that the LORD God Almighty, the Creator of all, provides the means of salvation to all.

And we are His ambassadors … ministers of that unchanging Gospel to ALL people.

As the Apostle John would say, “Little children, love one another.”

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We are preparing to move into 2 Chronicles and the rule of David’s son, Solomon.

But, before we do that we have taken some time to review chapters from 1 Kings that give information supporting our movement into 2 Chronicles.

First we hit on 1 Kings chapters 3 and 4 and then today we’ll hit on one more chapter to help us out.

And that chapter is Deuteronomy 17 in which God gave Israel some laws regarding future kings.

As we study Solomon’s reign as king of Israel, we will find that Solomon violated many of these laws.

And I’ll often refer back to Deuteronomy 17.

So, it’s important that we have an understanding of this chapter.

We’ll start with the end of chapter 16 and then move into chapter 17.

But first, let’s pray.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for everyone here this evening. Thank You that You know each of us by name and have caused us to walk with You. Lord, we open up Your word desiring to hear from You ... not man's word or wisdom, but Your Words and Wisdom. Please soften our hearts to receive from You.

Chapter 16:18-22

Back in Exodus 21 and 22, when the Lord was giving them laws, there was the command to bring disputes before Judges.

Here, we have formal command to establish courts in every city of Israel.

If a dispute could be handled by the individuals having the dispute or the families of the individuals then they would.

If not, then there were courts they could take their dispute to and if need be, the Sanhedrin could rule on the dispute.

The Torah required the appointment of court officers who were responsible for insuring the ruling was obeyed …

… and also to be present in the markets to enforce standards of honesty.

The decision of the court was to be taken very seriously.

God says, “you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you” (Deuteronomy 17:11).

Jewish sages wrote about this saying that God gave the Judges the wisdom to uphold the laws …

… and a loss of respect for their rulings would lead to a breakdown of the nation and fragmentation of God’s law.

Now, understand that the Judges were not to change God’s law, either.

So the judicial system was based on the Word of God and thus rulings that were handed down …

… were to be considered as God’s judgment in the situation.

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It was at one time that the 10 commandments were looked to in our courts.

Now, they have been kicked out.

Many judges today have little understanding of the Bible, or have rejected God entirely.

Thus court decisions today may be based on a code.

But instead of upholding Biblical morality, today’s courts lean more toward carnal man’s wisdom.

And so we get rulings that are often immoral according to God’s Wisdom

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v18-20

Verse 18 says that the Judges of Israel are to judge with just judgment.

The Hebrew word for just is “Tzedek” and for judgement, “Mishpat.”

Those words mean that the judgment should be righteous.

Now, the Word of God in places like Psalm 14, has told us that, “There is none who does good” and “They are corrupt,” and “there are none who understand.”

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Psalm 14:1–3 NKJV

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.

And so, one who is commanded by Got to issue just judgment cannot look to his own understanding …

… but must instead look to the Word of God, which is just in all it’s judgments.

Suddenly, we might understand why it is that judgments which clearly contradict God’s principles have so quickly justified iniquity in this land.

It’s the rejection of God’s standards for the standards that come from man’s wisdom.

We see the same thing in churches and in the lives of Christians who have given man’s understanding greater standing than God’s Word.

Go to a church where the Bible is not taught, or where the Pastor talks more about himself than about Jesus?

Then you need to leave, before you are corrupted … it’s really quite plain.

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Verse 20, in Hebrew reads, “Justice, justice shall you pursue” and it has been taught from this that one should pursue justice only through justice.

That meaning is that you will not achieve a justice ruling from that which is not just.

If you want to know what you should do regarding a situation because you want to take right action …

… then pursue understanding out of God’s Word.

Don’t say, “Well, I think God would say this …” … instead, take the issue to the Bible, which comes to us from God, the source of all truth.

It is hard enough to seek right understanding over what the flesh wants.

**The Bible never condones the pursuit of holiness through improper means.

This is why we must be very careful when we seek to receive understanding of God’s Word through that which is not given directly from God’s Word.

A good example might be most of the “Christian Living” section in the bookstore.

Among the top ten Christian books are those

(1) in which Jesus is supposedly channeled and is blatantly misquoted,

(2) someone says they went to heaven and came back and describe heaven is nothing like what the Bible teaches

(3) we should live for ourselves (Think Joel Osteen) … and

(4) that God didn’t actually say that homosexuality is sinful … among others with similar problems.

The Christian bookstore today has become a mine field of false doctrine and heretical teaching.

And it’s not getting better as Christians prop up teachers for themselves who “Tickle their ears” …

… and as Pastors and Teachers seek money rather than righteousness and are willing to receive the bribes of the unrepentant …

… to teach what is patently false and unscriptural to keep the money flowing in.

2 Timothy 4:3 (NLT) For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.

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2 Timothy 4:3 NKJV

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;

Righteousness that is pursued through other means than that which is righteous will only ever lead to corruption.

And that is what we are seeing in this nation today …

Revival must start with Christians, and that means that Christians must draw a line and choose to follow Jesus closely.

Don’t participate in those things.

Find a church where the Bible is taught verse by verse.

Desire righteousness in your life.

Again, God never condones the pursuit of holiness through improper means.

And, a little leaven corrupts the whole thing.

Righteousness can only ever come through that which is righteous.

Want to know why many Christians are not thriving in their lives?

It’s because they pursue righteousness through that which is not righteous.

V21-22

A grove was connected with idolatry and sinful worship in that day.

It was associated with the worship of Ashtoreth, the chief female diety worshipped in Canaan.

She also went by the name Ishtar.

It is interesting to me that if Israel had completely conquered the land as God commanded them to do …

… the worship of Ashtoreth would not have survived and plagued Israel as it did.

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This false god was represented by a limbless tree trunk planted in the ground and often carved into a representation of the goddess.

Because of the carved tree, the places where Ashtoreth worship happened were called “groves.”

We find this recognized in the Hebrew language in that the word “Asherah” could refer to either the goddess or a grove of trees.

As Solomon became idolatrous, he brought Asherah into the kingdom and later Jezebel made Asherah worship more prevalent …

… even placing 400 Asherah priests on the royal payroll.

Later, we find that the wicked King Manasseh even brought a carved Asherah pole and placed it in the Temple.

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Hebrew scholarship says that this text has a few meanings.

1. First, it speaks of a tree that is intended for worship, even if it was meant to be worshipped by someone else at some other time.

So, idols were to be destroyed and cast down … even idols that are common and inconspicuous … those that were there before Israel came into the land …and those that were placed there later.

2. Second, it was a custom of idolators to landscape their temples in order to attract worshippers.

Today, we see in the church Christians who choose the church that is befitting their social standing.

Or they may choose the church that has the laser-light show, the marble pillars, the disney-land level children’s ministry.

Those are very much the wrong things to choose a church by and they may actually be used to cover up what is actually disguise the shame of …

… not rightly dividing the Word of God.

You don’t bait a mouse trap with a dead mouse … you bait it with what appeals to a live mouse.

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The reason that we find this command here among scriptures about judges is that the judges were to make sure it did not happen.

There was not to be idolatry in the land.

They were to investigate, accumulate the facts, charge the guilty, and remove the idols from the land.

That one of these “groves” could be near the altar of the Lord demonstrates to us how sly idolatry is …

… and how we can so easily add idolatry into our worship of God.

How can that be avoided?

Well, just as the text says, pursue righteousness from righteousness.

What does God’s Word say about it?Does it speak against it or hold it in contempt?

Then what is it doing in your life?

Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (NKJV) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Do not read below:

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NKJV

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Have you allowed a “grove” to be near the altar of God?

Don’t jump to assumptions, but:

1 Thessalonians 5:21–22 (NKJV) Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

Do not read below:

1 Thessalonians 5:21–22 NKJV

Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

That goes for those Christian Living books … check them against God’s Word.

Does the author properly exegete the text, or do they start from their own idea and then try to make the scripture support it?

If it does not, then get rid of it.

That does not only apply to Christian extra-biblical literature, but to church as well.

Is the pastor teaching the Bible or is he teaching something else and propping it up by twisting scripture?

Does he do his homework, going back to the original Greek and Hebrew?

Is he properly exegete-ing the text or is he doing his best to make the text point at himself rather than Jesus?

Chapter 17

V1

God had said that the firstborn of every creature belongs to Him … and that every offering presented to Him was to be without spot or blemish.

Later, in the book of Malachi, God addressed Israel with a list of charges against them that they may know it was their sins that brought His judgment upon them.

Of those charges, the first was that they were offering not their best, but the sick animals to God.

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Back in Deuteronomy chapter 15, God specified that of the firstborn animals that were to be given in sacrifice to Him …

… they were to receive nothing from them … not to sheer them, not to work them.

They were to be sanctified in their hearts as belonging to God from birth … kept for sacrifice without any use.

In a similar way, what we have determined in our hearts to return to the Lord in our Tithes and Gifts …

… should be sanctified in our hearts as belonging to God and should not be used for anything else.

Today, we observe a principal in which God asks for the best and the best is to be given.

A situation might have happened where an Israelite went out to his stables and found that all his livestock were sick …

… except for the first born that was to be set aside to give to the Lord.

There might be one animal that is sick, yet not outwardly looking so and that man might say, quickly, son …

… put that one in the cart and take him quickly to the temple to offer to the Lord.

Others might look at that and say that this good man was doing what he should do, offering his best to the Lord.

But God knows the heart.

He says that to do that is an abomination to Him … it is unacceptable and completely meaningless.

I think we need to consider how we would fare if God were to be checked out on the way we do business with God.

Would we be found having said, “God doesn’t need my offering … He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.”

“Why would He want anything that I have?”

All you have that He wants is your heart, but He might show you whether He has your heart by what you are willing to give.

Actually, we cannot give anything to God … it already belongs to Him.

What we can do is surrender it to Him.

Many people today give what remains or what is unwanted to God and if they would listen to the Holy Spirit …

… they would recognize that what they give is an abomination to God and is nothing more than idolatry.

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V2-5

For a Jewish man, idolatry was the ultimate violation of God’s covenant, because it constitutes a denial of His very existence.

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The Bible speaks of idolatry very forcefully and there is no situation, obligation or threat that can justify idolatry.

Is there anything other than Himself which God has commanded people to worship?

No, there isn’t.

God says that even though He created those things … the sun, moon, starts … He has not created them to be worshipped.

This refutes a common claim of those who claim to be New Agers, and New Age Christians that God gave those things independent powers.

By no means is that the case.

God created them to serve certain functions, but they wield no power independent of the function God has created them to serve.

It may be well for us to make sure there is no thing that God has created which we are ascribing more meaning or worth to, than that which God gave it.

Celebrity preachers, worship as entertainment, personal prosperity … these are some of the more obvious idols.

But there is another infiltration that is happening … that is the New Age and Mysticism.

We see these things manifested as:

Anointed Objects or Venerated Things, Slain in the Spirit, Drunk in the Spirit: The Holy Spirit treated as an “it” or a “force” that is thrown around the room and pushed into people. That same force is said to be put in objects as an “anointing.” And other objects become the focus of meditations or a means to a closer relationship with God.

Dominionism or Kingdom Theology: Churches are teaching that if we can just get enough people together to pray we can accomplish whatever we desire "for the Lord" and thus bring a golden age of Utopian peace and tranquility to this world.

Contemplative Prayer, Labyrinth Visualization and Centering prayer: These things are done to empty the mind and focus thinking on self. They are a New Age practice said to cleanse a person from evil. We cannot be cleansed from evil by visualization techniques, only by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, our repentance from sin, and our believing and following Jesus.

Automatic Writing / Channeling: There are those today who say they are receiving messages from the Lord directly as he physically guides their hands to write. This is an occult technique.

These things have been making their way into the church for many years.

With the popularity of the seeker sensitive and the emergent church models, they are accelerating in their popularity and use in churches across the nation.

Somehow the message has been received that these things are glorifying the Lord or can bring some kind of closeness to the Lord.

But God makes it clear in His Word that righteousness can only ever come through that which is righteous.

We cannot come to a closer relationship or any relationship with God for that matter by anything that is unrighteous.

We cannot draw near to God by placing a grove at the altar.

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The penalty for idolatry was death, but not without care to make sure any charge is a valid charge.

V6-7

God is very careful to protect the innocent.

Of course, none are innocent, but God’s justice cannot be brought about unjustly.

So, there is the requirement of redundancy … for there to be more than one witness.

A person could not rashly rush to the authorities because one of his neighbors and made him angry or jealous.

Though he might be tempted to make claims against his neighbor of sun worship or Ashtoreth worship, he could not.

Witnesses had to number two or more before a man could be condemned.

The plain sense of the verse is that the court must question as many people as possible to insure the protection of the accused.

If it is known that three people observed the event, then all three should make their testimony before the court.

If only one witnessed the event, then there could be no charges brought.

Additionally, scholars wrote that whether two or three or more witnesses, all are considered to be one unit.

And so if the testimony of one is shown to be false, the testimony of all must be thrown out.

Being a false witness was a dangerous thing, for if your testimony was proven to be false, according to Deuteronomy 19:19 …

… you would then have done to you that which you sought to have done to the other.

But it went even further than that, because the false witness could not be charged unless all the witnesses were likewise charged.

So, if you were a witness, you wanted to make sure there were no false witnesses among you.

And, less you and other witnesses rehearsed your story, if two witnesses gave the exact same testimony, they were invalidated as false witnesses.

Now, not all of this is found here in the scriptures we just read.

They are found in historical volumes and commentary.

But I think it is good for us to understand that people were not just accused and then dragged to the gates and stoned with rocks.

God is very fair in His dealings and His justice is justly rendered.

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What about a case in which the abomination was actually committed, but the court cannot act because the guilty party was not properly warned …

… or the thing was not witnessed?

Well, in Hebrew the verse refers to the condemned person as “dead man” and it is said that this means God knows and God will punish him.

The torah went out of it’s way not to harm the innocent, and sometimes that may have meant the guilty went free.

However, God is not reliant on a court of men to punish the guilty, therefore the evil-doer should be in fear of God’s judgment …

… even when a court fails to convict him.

Being a witness against a person was not an easy thing to do.

Verse 7 tells us that it was by the hands of the witnesses that the verdict began to be carried out.

We should note here that the death penalty was not revenge against the criminal, but it was purging the evil out from among the people.

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V8-13

It was inevitable that there would be differences in opinion on how to apply the law and apply it in new situations.

Sometimes two points of view might seem equally valid in regards to how to administer the law in a situation.

Also, the Law didn’t cover every situation and so there might be a disagreement on what law to apply.

What to do if that happened?

God said that in that situation they were to go to the place God chooses, which would be Jerusalem.

There, they would bring the case to the priest, who had the authority to resolve all disputes.

Disobedience to the judgment of the priest was punishable by the death penalty, which included any lower judge who might try to overrule the Priest.

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Now, look with me to verse 9 where it says, “in those days” (B’Ha Hem Ha Yamim).

There was a prohibition against diminishing the judgement of the priest by saying that he is not as wise as the last priest.

Rashi said, “All you have is the judge of your own time.”

So, then while it may be recognized that the current priest is not “all that and a bag of chips” …

… it was to be taken by faith that God would provide Israel with leaders who are suited to the needs of the time and place.

I wish more Christians would heed this idea.

In the circles I find myself, being a pastor, I have found many pastors suffer from feelings of failure.

And some of that has to do with how people speak about their pastor.

They say very mean and callous things around pastors … about the pastor … or about the ministry that God has given the pastor.

And many churches and pastors have been devastated by callous congregants who will say things to and around their pastor that they would never say to others.

By people who compare pastors … or compare ministries … or blame the situation THEY GOT THEMSELVES INTO on the pastor.

It divides the people … and it Disheartens the pastor.

V14-17

In the theocracy, the people were to refer their cases to the priest or to the judges whom God would set over them.

They should never have had a king.

Yet, later on they would ask for a king to rule over them like the other nations and God would grant their request.

Psalm 106:15 (NKJV) And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul.

Do not read below:

Psalm 106:15 NKJV

And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul.

That was not written about their desiring a king, but about their experience in the wilderness.

It is also a truth for all time that sometimes God may allow us to have that thing we were willing to rebel against Him for.

That is not because He suddenly hates us, but because He desires for us to turn back to Him and give Him control of our lives.

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We very often pray for the wrong things.

We don’t have the Big Picture.

Yet, I think what Paul wrote in Romans about the Holy Spirit praying for us when we don’t know what to pray …… I think it applies also to this.

We pray for the wrong things and the Holy Spirit corrects our prayers.

Of course, God may yet give us what we ask for in order that we learn to desire what He desires rather than what we desire.

Anyway, even though it was not His ideal for Israel to have a king, He allowed them to have one …

… and way back here in Deuteronomy, we find God giving regulations for their king.

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God knows that there will be a time when Israel will demand a king like the other nations had kings.

The typical point of view is that Israel was wrong for asking for a king and for good reason.

The good reason is God’s reaction as recorded in scripture … the Lord responded to Samuel in this way:

1 Samuel 8:7 (NKJV) And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

Do not read below:

1 Samuel 8:7 NKJV

And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

However, Jewish commentary on the scriptures says that Israel had three commandments when they were established in the land:

To request a king

To eliminate the offspring of Amalek

To build the temple

Looking at it from this direction … They would say then that God’s anger in 1 Samuel was because they wanted a king merely to imitate the other nations.

They continue that it was the desire of the people for a king for glory, conquest, and wealth …

… that led to the disastrous kingship of Saul and many others, with the exception of David and Solomon.

So, they view verse 14 as a command to later request a king, but also as a prophetic foreshadowing of the improper motive they would have.

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Now, I lean toward the traditional understanding that they were to be ruled by God but that God knew they would later request a king to be like the other nations.

And so, God now lays down laws concerning the king.

It is interesting to note that King Solomon transgressed these rules.

1. First of all, he multiplied horses … the ruins of Solomons stables are around today at Tel Meggido in the Jezreel Valley.

Other stables have been excavated at other sites and the number of them are incredible.

Not only did Solomon break this, but he went as far as he could go in breaking this command from God.

God said, “Don’t do it” but Solomon did it and because the best horses came from Egypt, Solomon and Israel became entangled with Egypt.

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2. Next, Solomon took many wives.

God said, “Don’t do it.”

But Solomon did it anyway and it was his wives that led his heart away from God.

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3. Finally, God warned against the king multiplying silver and gold to himself.

Yet that is exactly what Solomon did.

David started collecting silver and gold, but he did so in order that Solomon could build the temple.

Solomon kept collecting silver and gold, far beyond the needs of the temple and for himself.

This became the undoing of Solomon and his grievous taxation directly caused the division of Israel as a nation …

… into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms after Solomon’s death.

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Those things that God forbid the Jewish king from doing were the very things that the Gentile kings did.

Self-aggrandizement was typical of those other kings.

They demonstrated their greatness by the number of steeds, the size of their harems, and the bulging of their treasuries.

That was not how the King of Israel was to do it.

Instead, he was to demonstrate God’s greatness and not his own.

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Today we find in the church a lot of self aggrandizement.

Status is according to dress, wealth, family, the size of the church or the income of the pastor.

How many books has he written?

Accumulating praise to himself.

We must be careful that we do not desire to increase in our life those things which the pagans desire … those things all bring a curse.

We must desire more of Christ and let God increase His good things in our life according to His will for us.

V18-20

The king was to keep one copy of the Torah with himself at all times.

Even if the king inherited copies from his father, he must write a new one for himself, but if his father did not leave any, he must write two.

They are to remind him that he is a servant of God.

That his own copy of the Torah was to be with him at all times meant that he was to consult it at all times and in every circumstance.

The King was to be a man of the Word of God.

King Solomon, the wisest man ever, could not have consulted the Torah and done the things he did.

He would have seen that the Torah strictly forbid his accumulation of horses, wives and gold and silver.

And he would have saved himself and Israel a lot of trouble.

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The same goes for us.

How much trouble would we save ourselves if the first place we went in any given situation was to the Bible?

I wonder how many sins have been committed by Christians within a few feet of a Bible?

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your love. We thank You for Your grace. We thank You for Your mercy. Your name is holy in our hearts and we pray that Your name would be holy in all the world, to all people and in all nations. Lord, we pray for the leaders of this nation … that You would be holy in their hearts. As a church body, we desire Your kingdom and we seek to do Your will. You have provided, and we know that You will continue to provide according to our needs and we thank You. As You love us, teach us to love one another. And as You have forgiven us, help us to forgive one another. Lord, help us to have our treasures in heaven, rather than seeking after our selves here on earth. We ask that You would establish us in all good things. We ask that You would guard our hearts and keep our hands from evil and that You would protect us from the deceptions of our enemy the devil. Thank You for the trials that You graciously see us and grow us through. May You be glorified in our trials. Thank You for being our Great High Priest. Lord, we place ourselves before you to do Your will. Lead us in victory, and use us to spread knowledge of Jesus Christ to the unsaved world.