Deuteronomy 17: 1 – 20
He deserves only your best
17 “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God. 2 “If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing His covenant, 3 who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, 4 and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. 6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you. 8 “If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 9 And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. 10 You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the LORD chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. 11 According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. 12 Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously. 14 “When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.
Many times we demand the best from people but then, what kind of job do we do for God? Can you actually think of this as your best?
If some of the people who are doing such a sloppy job for the Lord were to do the same kind of sloppy job for their employer – they’d be fired before the afternoon was finished.
Being able to give your best at all times tells a lot about you. It determines your success in life and endears good to you. It defines the circle of people around you and what comes to you. When you give the best you can you are more likely to receive the best also from people: what you sow is what you reap.
Many people will thrive to give their best to men but won’t bother much about what they give God. May be because they can’t see God with their physical eyes or they think He would understand or not mind at all. But the truth is that God expects and demands your very best. Those who give God their best experience God more in their lives. They enjoy God’s best and are channels for God’s power and blessings.
God showed us a great example by giving His only begotten Son Jesus Christ as a sacrificial lamb for the forgiveness of our sins. He was His Precious and unblemished Lamb. Our Holy Father God Adoni Yahweh gave Him for a world deep in sin which was consistently doing things that displeased Him. He did this so that whoever believes in The Lord Jesus Christ will not perish but have everlasting life.
Now, you may ask, “how can I give God my best?” The following steps will be of great help to you.
1. Love God with all your heart, mind, and strength. It means that you set about your mind and your life to do exactly that.
God was able to give His only son for the world because he loves us. So also when you really love God, you will give Him the best you can. Your love for God will compel you to do whatever that will please Him, and if giving your very best will do it you will certainly do so.
2. Value God with all that you are and have. It all belongs to Him anyway. In case you forgot, so do you!
Is God important to you? What you value you will cherish and preserve. Where you place God in your value system will determine your actions towards Him. If you value your job, you will do your best to keep it. So also, if you value God, you will do all you can to have Him on your side all the time.
3. Have a revelation of The Son of God Adoni Yeshua through prayer and study of His Holy Word
A good revelation and understanding of who Jesus Christ Is, what He did for all humans and what He Is capable of doing will change your life forever. It will change your thoughts, words and actions. You will make Him number one and center of your life. And you will naturally give him your best. Praise God daily and often, the bible gives the most accurate revelation of our Lord Jesus with the counsel of the Holy Spirit, so search it out.
4. Pray because if you love someone you want to communicate with that special One.
Prayer is a two-way communication channel: you speak to God and He also speaks to you. Therefore, through prayers you receive the best way to please God. You also receive the strength to carry out His instructions effectively. Prayer draws you closer to God.
Today we are going to receive instructions from our Precious Holy Spirit on what He does not consider our very best. In fact sadly He has to list for us some things we might be tempted to pass off to Him that in all truth insults Him. That is a no no and we should wake us up.
The emphasis on right justice and right behaviour towards Yahweh has led on to the banning of wooden Asherim and stone Pillars as an approach to God. The mention of the Asherim and the Pillars leads on to other questions concerning their approach to God and their attitude towards other gods which are blemished offerings and outright idolatry. In order to serve Yahweh God it was necessary to be true within.
17 “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God.
Nothing must be brought to the altar of Yahweh which was blemished or evil. This included the bringing and sacrificing of blemished animals, whether ox bull or sheep, or animals with anything at all that could render them unsuitable. To offer a blemished animal was as bad as introducing false religious symbols. It was to treat Yahweh as though He could not see what was being offered, and with unfeigned contempt. It would be ‘an abomination to Yahweh your God’.
It is strange how easily even we think that we can deceive God. But we are only deceiving ourselves. When we come to Him with our offerings we must recognize that He knows precisely what is in our hearts.
2 “If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing His covenant, 3 who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,
The thought is of someone engaged in false worship, but this time they had gone the whole way. They had deserted Yahweh and were serving other gods and worshipping them. This included the worship of images and idols, and the worship of sun or moon or stars. By so worshipping they would have broken the covenant and done what Yahweh had not commanded. Indeed He had commanded that they should not do it. They must therefore face the judgment of His justices and officials.
4 and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.
If and when they heard of such a thing happening they must make diligent enquiry. If the matter was true and the thing certain that they were to proceed further with direct action.
With the case being proved, the man or woman who had done this evil was to be brought forth to the gates, to the place of justice, and once the case was satisfactorily proved, the man or woman was to be stoned to death with stones, the first stones being thrown by the witnesses. Stoning was always the penalty for this crime in Israel, for it prevented anyone having to touch those who had been defiled.
6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
Please understand that this must not be done at the hand of only one witness. There must be at least two or three witnesses. Then the hand of the witnesses were to throw the first stones, something which if they had spoken truly they would not hesitate to do, after which all the people were to take part. As all would have been affected by it so must all be involved in the punishment. So care was taken against false accusations, and against mob rule. But the finally important thing was that the evil would be put away from among them.
If a case was brought which was too hard for the local justices to decide, there was to be a final place of appeal made up of the levitical priests and the chief judge of the day. Their decision would be final.
8 “If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 9 And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. 10 You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the LORD chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. 11 According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you.
If any case proved too hard for the local elders to judge, whether it be a question of differentiation between murder and other forms of manslaughter, or between the approach to be taken on one type of plea as against another, or between grievous bodily harm and lesser violence, with the case producing differing views among the elders as they judged the matter within the gate. Then they must rise up and take the details of the case to the Central Sanctuary, to the place where Yahweh was pleased to dwell. They must come to the levitical priests and the judge of that day, and enquire there as to what to do.
12 Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel.
Anyone who openly rejected the final verdict of the court pronounced by the Judge and ‘the Priest’, the court having consisted of ‘the judge’ and the priests, whether it be the accused or the justices, was to be put to death, for it would be to attack the very authority on which justice was based. It would be to act evilly against the highest religious and civil authorities acting together.
13 And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.
The result of the death sentence on anyone who openly attacked the decision of the final court of appeal, whether the accused or the justices, would be that all Israel would hear about it, and fear, and not act presumptuously in the same way.
Having been speaking of ‘the Judge’ who would have authority over Israel took, and being very much aware of the people’s weaknesses and willingness to follow anyone who offered them what they wanted (to look after them and fight their battles for them) Moses’ thoughts turned back to the promises of Genesis. There God had said that one day kings would be established who would be descended from Abraham
14 “When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’
Moses knew that one day they would opt for someone to be king over them. And the prophecies confirmed it. They too spoke of the rise of kings. He therefore directed their minds to what a king under Yahweh must be like.
He first stressed that they must recognize that this option would only be open to them because of Yahweh’s activity. It was He Who was giving them the land. It was He Who would ensure their possession. It was He Who would settle them in it to dwell there. So they must not forget Him. But, as he knew from the past, once all that had happened and they had settled down, they would still be dissatisfied. They would find the burden of running the country very heavy. They would look around and see the glories of kings and their pageantry and how they took on all the responsibilities. And they would be envious. They would crave someone to take on all their responsibilities too.
15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
When they did come to this position they must ensure that the king they appointed was the chosen of Yahweh and one of themselves. There must be no foreigners selected for their great fighting ability.
16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’
This king must not be one who will depend on horses and chariots for that would only lead to further contact with Egypt as the obvious provider. In those days the horse was the symbol of military power, and the army was built around them, so the multiplying of horses indicated the building up of military power. They must not gaze with envy at Egypt’s power, and its many horses with its chariots, nor appoint a king who would submit to Pharaoh and return them under Egypt’s rule in return for some of those horses to be at his disposal. Egypt depended on their chariots and horses and they had been very much involved in the attempt to prevent Israel’s getaway so Israel were very conscious of them. Israel still sang about it in Moses’ day. To them they were a symbol of Egypt’s greatness, and Egypt’s oppression. But Israel must depend on Yahweh God for security, not on Pharaoh and Egypt and horses. To look to Egypt could only lead to subjection to Egypt.
17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
Nor must he seek to build up his position by marriage treaties which would involve marrying foreign wives who would turn his heart away from Yahweh, the only true and real God. But he also knew how much plotting and intrigue there could be among king’s wives, even home born ones, as each plotted and schemed for their own born sons to be given power.
Nor must he seek to amass great wealth in silver and gold so as to exercise his influence in that way. Multiplying silver and gold could involve raids into other people’s territory and heavy taxes on the people. It could cause great hardship to those from whom the wealth was extracted, and it would signify greed and being unsatisfied with what Yahweh had given. And it would lead to the desire for more and more. His eyes would more be on gold than on God.
We must remember that Moses knew only too well, from experience, what swayed men. He had seen it all too often. Power, women and wealth, that was what ruined men, and he would have seen through his experiences in the Egyptian court all these potential problems.
As you know the people had come to the point of wanting a king during the prophet Samuel’s life. Instead of digging out the books of Moses that listed the instructions on how to go about selecting a king then winged it. They picked someone who was tall and good looking. (look around today at some of the countries and see the same thing happening). They selected Saul. If the people did any research than they would have known that a future king had to come from the tribe of Judah. Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin. After experiencing the errors and incorrect decisions of king Saul our Precious Holy God Yahweh stepped in and righted the situation with a man who fulfilled all the requirements listed here by Moses. His name was David who had a heart after following God.
We will learn that David’s Son Solomon had two personal visits with Jehovah Elyon – The Lord God Most High. Our Great Master reminded Solomon about not doing the same three things which Moses has just listed here in this chapter.
18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,
Their king must rather be one who submits himself to Yahweh’s instruction. When he sits on his throne his consideration should not to be on how to build up his power base and his wealth, and how to please his wives, but on how to please Yahweh, The One Who had given them everything that they had, and how to build up the wealth of the nation. Thus he should ensure that he had his own copy of the record of Yahweh’s doings and of His Law as contained in the books which were in the levitical priests’ care. And he must keep it ever by him and read it every day of his life, so that he might learn to fear Yahweh his God, and keep His Instruction and what He had laid down, in accordance with what was now being spoken of by Moses.
20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.
The reason why he should do this with Yahweh’s Law was so that he might not become proud, nor see himself as mighty, but so that he might rather obey Yahweh’s instructions as given in His commandment (His statutes and His ordinances), not turning from them either one way or the other, but walking humbly before God. Then he would ensure his own long success and that of his successors and the continuance of their rule over Israel.
Here is an important fact for us to understand. This is the way too that we can ensure God’s blessing on us and on our families and on His people, by continually having by us His word, and reading it, and applying it to our lives.
