the watcher

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel. The strongest book of knowledge a leader should have is the word of the Lord. One common thing about great leaders of Israel were their knowledge of the scriptures. The book of the law was to be the guide of the Jewish leader and today as believers the Bible is our guide as leaders. As we will see when we move to the book of Joshua, one of the first instructions he re

MORE ON THE LAW -- Festivals, Judgement and Idolatry. Deuteronomy 16:18-20 “Appoint judges and officials for yourselves from each of your tribes in all the towns the lord your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly. You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly. Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you. In this chapter three major instructions are expounded,  * The celebration of festivals * Justice * Idolatry As we have studied in a recent devotional, celebrations/festivals are done to keep us in remembrance of what they Lord has done and ofcourse to honour Him. Deuteronomy 16:1,3 “In honor of the Lord your God, celebrate the Passover each year in the early spring, in the month of Abib, for that was the month in which the lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Eat it with bread made without yeast. For se

Deuteronomy 15:1-2,10 “At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money. This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the Lord’s time of release has arrived. Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. After the instructions on tithes and how it should be done, more instructions on giving was enacted. Many still have this strong issue with matters concerning tithe and how it is not a new testament practice. As expected, the topic always brings about some ruptures. The question remains, what of the other instructions, even the one Christ called weightier, that He said is more important? Matthew 23:23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you

Deuteronomy 14:22-23,27 “You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God. And do not neglect the Levites in your town, for they will receive no allotment of land among you. We have some old testament practices of the Jews that has been in contention in certain times with the church, they include circumcision, Sabbath, priesthood, tithes etc.  Today we look at tithe and what the commandment about it was. We see it in verses 22 to 29 of the 14th chapter of Deuteronomy. The instruction was to bring 10% of their farm produce to the Lord's chosen place of worship, if the place was too far they should convert the farm produce to money

Deuteronomy 14:2 You have been set apart as holy to the Lord your God, and He has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be His own special treasure. As they were about to enter through the Jordan into the promised land, Moses reminded the people of who they were and what was the implication of their being God's people. There was a need to be separate! Everyone mourns when one of their people dies, however the children of Israel must mourn in  a different way. Deuteronomy 14:1 “Since you are the people of the lord your God, never cut yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead. Everyone eats and dines, however, they were not to eat all that others eat: Deuteronomy 14:4,8-9,21 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, And you may not eat the pig. It has split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. “Of all the marine

Deuteronomy 13:1-4,18 “Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’—gods you have not known before— do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul. Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. “The Lord your God will be merciful only if you listen to his voice and keep all his commands that I am giving you today, doing what pleases him. The danger of seeking signs and miracles has always been a snare for the believer. The truth is that we are meant to be the sign and not chasing after the sign. Mark 16:17a These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe:  Moses told the people that one way they could fall into idolatry was following those who come with signs and miracles to worship o

Deuteronomy 12:1,4-5 “These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey them as long as you live. “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods. Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored. Moses admonished the people to be careful of how they worshipped God. They were not to follow the examples of the nations they were going to displace in the promised land. Moses told them that they worshipped anyhow they wished because they were yet to enter the promised land, however when they get in, they had to follow the procedures: Deuteronomy 12:8-9,30-32 “Your pattern of worship will change. Today all of you are doing as you please, because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the Lord your God is giving you as your s

Deuteronomy 11:2,5,7,19 Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the Lord your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm. “Your children didn’t see how the Lord cared for you in the wilderness until you arrived here. But you have seen the Lord perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes! Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Moses told the people that his message was to those who were there from the exodus from Egypt. Though they were young then, they were old enough to see God's mighty power. They witnessed God's power as they journeyed and also saw their fathers perish because of rebellion. Now, those young ones then are now the elders of today, they have the duty to teach the children. Are you a parent, are you an elder in the group or church, are you a leader? You have a respo

Deuteronomy 10:12,16-17,20 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn. “For the lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone. What did God require from the children of Israel?  Love and obedience. As simple as it is, they couldn't comply. With all the great miracles God did in their presence, yet they could not commit. What really was their problem? They cried out when they were suffering in Egypt, the Lord came and delivered them, they yet cried out on their journey to the promise land. What really did they want? Moses saw their nature and spent his last days admonish

Deuteronomy 9:4-6 “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people. Moses let the people of Israel know that they did not get to enter the promised land because they were good or righteous but because of two things: firstly the other nations living there were full of wickedness and their judgement had come, secondly, because of the promise He made with their fathers(who were faithful). Moses made i

Deuteronomy 8:19-20 “But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. Just as the Lord has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the Lord your God. The same way obedience brings about the blessings, disobedience brings about punishment. Moses informed the people of Israel on the blessings that will follow their obedience, he also added that if they decided to walk in disobedience the consequences would be punishment. Look at it, the people previously living there were being displaced because of their evil deeds. If the children of Israel go there to do the same, they would also become liable for the same offence - they will also be punished likewise. This is just judgment! No wonder Jesus told the people of His day: Matthew 11:20-24 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t

Deuteronomy 7:11-15 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today. “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies! The condition was simple: walk in obedience then you stay in blessings. The same condition was given to man

Deuteronomy 6:1-2,24-25 “These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.’ As we said yesterday, no nation can thrive were there are no good laws and ordinances. For where there are no laws or regulations chaos is eminent, people will do whatever pleases them. It is therefore good for the next generation to be taught these laws and be guided to inculcate them as young people so that it is not strange to them as they get older. There is a strange push by certain

Deuteronomy 5:29,32-33 Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever. So Moses told the people, “You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, following his instructions in every detail. Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy. It is recorded that God desired that man would live in obedience to Him, that is what He desired of the children of Israel: Deuteronomy 5:29a Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands!  The children of Israel were afraid and ready to obey when they saw the splendor of His glory. However take them away from that experience for a moment, they then forget everything about it and do that which they ought not to. Doesn't this look like what supposed belie

 Deuteronomy 4:44-45 This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the Israelites. These are the laws, decrees, and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they left Egypt, The children of Israel were about to enter the promised land. One thing was important - instructions. Every nation that will survive and prosper would need to be guided by instructions. There is no way you can build any solid foundation  without instructions. Good laws make the land great. Proverbs 7:1-2 Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes. If only the children of Israel had stuck to obedience they would surely have continued to prosper and conquer their enemies. As believers we also need to stick with God's instructions. That is the only way we can prosper and win in this world and thus take our position here and in the world to come. Proverbs 4:13 Take hold of my instructions; don’t let the

Deuteronomy 4:34-35,38-39 Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes. “He showed you these things so you would know that the lord is God and there is no other. He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today. “So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other. What a testimony, Moses reminded the people of God's mighty power and authority. The wonderful things God had done for them that no one could compete with. Taking a people out of captivity with trials and mighty works. Displacing nations bigger than them so that they could inherit the land. They children of Israel ought to perpetually remain faithful and glorify God t

Deuteronomy 4:23-24,26,29,31 So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the Lord your God has forbidden this. The Lord your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God. “Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed. But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors. The children of Israel were working with a covenant as a people based on the promise God gave to Abraham. This passed down to Isaac, then to Jacob from where the tribes of Israel were named. The covenant was clear, they were to be the ro

Deuteronomy 4:4-6 But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today—every one of you. “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ The people were about to enter the promise land. Moses admonished them. He reminded them of what the Lord had instructed them through him. He emphasized the importance of obedience as they enter the promised land. This is also a very important admonition for all believers. Believers are suppose to be conscious of their obedience when they are about to enter another level. It is not just about praying for a breakthrough, promotion etc, are we ready with the right character and disposition for our next le