March 18 - Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

Good morning everyone,

Today we are going to read of a lot more “do’s and don’t’s” the Israelites were governed by, everything from what to do with a woman captured from the enemy camp one wanted to marry to how a man was to care for his brother’s widow. Some of the rules and laws just seem so “out there” to us, right? What we need to remember, though, is that these are Old Testament times, laws given to Jews who had previously been imprisoned as slaves knowing only the Egyptian way of doing things. People do not change over night or even over 40 years sometimes. There are certain things ingrained in us from the time we are born that we have to consciously work at to purge from our heads and behavior. Make sense?

Some of the Old Testament laws, the ones relating to sacrifices, were to show the Israelites how to worship God and atone for sin. While other laws were intended to make the Israelites distinct from other nations by the food they ate and the way they dressed. None of the Old Testament laws, and we read some really, oh shall we say different laws, are binding on us today. When Jesus died on the cross, He put an end to most of the Old Testament law, we are now under the law, the blood, of Christ. Matthew 22:37-39 says we are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and to love your neighbor as yourself” If we obey those two commands, we will be fulfilling all that Christ requires of us: vs. 40 “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”

Now, this does not mean all Old Testament law is irrelevant today; the Ten Commandments, essentially a summary of the entire Old Testament law, serves to show us how to love God, what’s right and wrong behavior and know what goes into loving your neighbor. God’s commands for us are not burdensome, if we are loving God, we will not be worshipping false gods or bowing down before idols. If we are loving our neighbors, we will not be murdering them, lying to them, committing adultery against them, or coveting what belongs to them. The Old Testament law was never intended by God to be the universal law for all people for all of time. We are to love God and love our neighbors. If we obey those two commands faithfully, we will be upholding all that God requires of us. Right on?

I pray you have a great day, to God be the glory.

God bless you all …