I'll just pick up reading in Deuteronomy 14 at verse 1. You are the children of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God.
And the Lord has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. You shall not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals which you may eat, the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. and you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud among the animals. Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these, the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax, for they chew the cud, but they do not have cloven hooves.
They are unclean for you. Also, the swine is unclean for you because it has cloven hoofs, yet does not chew the cud. You shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses. These you may eat of all that are in the waters.
You may eat all that have fins and scales. And whatever does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat. It is unclean for you. All clean birds you may eat, but these you shall not eat.
The eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds. Every raven after its kind. The ostrich, the short-eared owl, the seagull, and the hawk after their kinds. The little owl, the screech owl, the white owl, the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl, the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.
Also, every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you. They shall not be eaten. You may eat all clean birds. You shall not eat anything that dies of itself.
You may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.
And you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to make his name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, where the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money. Take the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires.
You shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. At the end of every third year, you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Amen.
Introduction
I think just at the outset the underlying principle is the same as what we find in Deuteronomy 13 and of course in the entire law code given by God through Moses his servant, the fundamental importance of covenant faithfulness to Israel's Lord. That's what is highlighted here in these morning rites, in these dietary wrongs, and in these principles concerning the tithe. It is fidelity to God most high, primarily seen in their distinctiveness or holiness which does separate them from the peoples around them. So very much connected to what we find in Deuteronomy 13.
If the false prophet or the dreamer of dreams tries to entice you to go after other gods, you destroy him. If your family member entices you to go after other gods, you destroy him. If one of the cities in Israel or one of the Israelite cities in Canaan has apostatized, then you destroy them. You don't want that to affect the others and infect the entire community, because once that happens, then all of the people will be going astray from the Lord.
The same thing is true with the customs of the peoples around them. If you mourn like the pagans, it won't be long until you're worshipping their gods. If you eat like the pagans, it won't be long until you're worshipping their gods. That's the undergirding principle here, and that's what God is addressing. through Moses.
I'll just read a quote from Meredith Klein. I think he highlights or he gives a good introductory statement. He says, Israel was a distinctive nation that must be manifested throughout the ceremonial dimension of the nation's life. That's what's in view here.
We'll have cause to look at that in a little bit more detail as we move along. Remember that prior to our study of the law, we not only looked at the three-fold use of the law, but we looked at the three-fold division of the law.
Threefold Division of the Law
The law of God divides into three categories. There is the moral law, that is, the Decalogue. the Ten Commandments, the law given by God from Sinai that codified what God had originally written on Adam's heart in the garden. Our confession of faith wisely sees moral law is there based on God's creation. It is hardwired into us.
It was summarized, codified, given again or given afresh at Sinai, but not fundamentally different. What the Ten Commandments are is what God gave to Adam in the garden. Then there is judicial law, and we might call that civil law, and that deals with the polity, the civil polity functioning in the land of Canaan. You know, there was a law that they were to put a roof or a fence up on the roof of their house so that if somebody were to fall and die, they would be held civilly responsible or criminally responsible for that.
So the judicial law is the application of moral law to concrete settings in life. And then there were ceremonial laws, those things that were distinct, those things that were unique. to Israel that set them apart as the people of God. Our confession of faith speaks of the ceremonial law this way. It says they were typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits. and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties, all which ceremonial laws, being appointed only to the time of Reformation, are by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah and only lawgiver, who was furnished with power from the Father for that end, abrogated and taken away.
The book of Hebrews is a great expression of the ceremonial law being fulfilled in and through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. So there are things unique to Israel in this particular situation. I am not going to advocate tonight that you can no longer eat bacon with your eggs. I believe that we can eat bacon.
I believe those dietary restrictions have been lifted. They have been done away with. They have been fulfilled in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But all that to say, those ceremonial aspects put the people in a separate category, highlights their distinctiveness from the nations around them.
That's what Klein says, that distinctiveness must be manifested throughout the ceremonial dimension of the nation's life. Whether in connection with death, verses 1 and 2, or life, verses 3 to 21, the ceremonial practice of the people must reflect their peculiar sanctity. Their sacred consecration was also to be displayed in the consecration of the fruit of their life's labor to the Lord their God, verses 22 to 29. So whether it's a funeral, or food, or tithing, the principle remains the same, fidelity to our covenant Lord.
That is what is highlighted here in Deuteronomy 14.
Mourning Rites and Covenant Identity
So let's look at these mourning rites in verses 1 and 2. Notice verse 1, you are the children of the Lord your God. This goes back to Exodus chapter 4 when God highlights his choice of Israel and he calls them my firstborn. They weren't the first nation in the earth, but rather firstborn.
There are highlights or indicates their preeminence. There's special status. When we get to Paul's use of firstborn as he applies it to the Lord Jesus, it doesn't mean he's the firstborn creature, but rather it means he's the preeminent one. He has special status.
He is the only begotten of the Father. So God, already back in Exodus chapter 4, highlights the reality that Israel is His firstborn son. And then of course in Deuteronomy we have seen this referred to. Go back for just a moment to Deuteronomy 1.
Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 29, then I said to you, do not be terrified or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you, he will fight for you according to all he did for you in Egypt before your eyes. Now notice verse 31, and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son in all the way that you went until you came to this place. beautiful imagery there that God takes Israel his firstborn and he carries them through the wilderness remember we have seen that even in that context they had thought they had concluded that God brought them out of Egypt to the wilderness to kill them or because he hated them everything was... nothing could be further from the truth it was because God loved them that he carried them through the wilderness and then he says this in Deuteronomy chapter 8 as well Deuteronomy chapter 5 8 verse 5, you should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. So this imagery is used up to this point.
Notice though in Deuteronomy 14.1, the emphasis is not on God's fatherhood of Israel, though that's in the background to be sure, what is emphasized is Israel's child ship before God. In other words, since he is your father, you are to live in a particular way. Since He is your Father, you are to conduct yourselves as children of the Living God. Again, this is a New Testament theme Paul picks up on in Ephesians chapter 5.
We are to walk as sons of God. We are to conduct ourselves in a manner that is consistent with our adoption by God through Jesus Christ. We are blood-bought children of God, and the emphasis of the New Testament is that we live that way. Well, the same thing was true here.
They have been brought out of Egypt, they have been redeemed by the sovereign hand of God, they have been brought into marvelous light, and as a result, you are the children of the Lord your God. Now notice the specific prohibition. You shall not cut yourselves, nor shave the front of your head for the dead. Now, the commentators all refer to this having been a Canaanite practice.
This is not my area of expertise. All of these animals indicated in verses 3 through 21, not my area of expertise. I can encourage you to read the comments and to read the commentaries to get more backdrop. But suffice it to say, the Canaanites, in connection with mourning rites, with funerals, would cut themselves and would shave certain portions of their head.
It identified the reality that they were in conjunction with their fellow Canaanites honoring the God of the deceased. And so when an Israelite cut themselves or shaved their head in like manner at one of their funerals, it was not an expression of their distinctiveness. It was not an expression of their holiness or their separateness. They were borrowing They were imbibing the customs of the Canaanites used in concert with pagan worship.
They were taking that and using them in relationship to Yahweh of Israel. Remember, the first commandment prohibits other gods. The second commandment prohibits the worship of the true God in a false way. You're not supposed to make for yourself an idol.
Yes, of course, and call it Baal and bow down to it as Moloch. But you're not supposed to make an idol and use that as a means or a vehicle to worship the true and living God. That is just as bad as having other gods before the Lord, the regulative principle of worship. God regulates, God specifies, God defines for us how we are to approach Him.
And He has not sanctioned that we identify with pagans when it comes to our funerals. Israel was not supposed to grieve as the world grieved." I don't think that's what Paul had in mind in 1 Thessalonians 4.13, but that's certainly an application. They were not supposed to grieve as the world grieved. They were not supposed to cut themselves.
They were not supposed to shave the front of their head for the dead. That's the specific modifier in view here. Now notice the reason. Again, this is a reason that has been given already.
It's verse 2. It says, For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. verbatim quote from Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6. Remember, Deuteronomy 7 was the plan for the conquest. Go into the land of Canaan.
Utterly dispossess the land of the Canaanites. Destroy everything that they would use in conjunction with their idol worship. Destroy it. Do not have any truck with it.
Get rid of it. Demolish it. Devastate it. This was the reason for you are a holy people to the Lord your God.
The Lord has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." What is being underscored here seems to be this idea of distinctiveness. They're not the Canaanites. They're not to worship like the Canaanites. They're not to grieve like the Canaanites.
They're not to cut themselves or shave their heads like the Canaanites, but rather they are a holy people. They are a chosen people. They are a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. And as a result, they were not to mourn like the pagans at funerals.
Now, of course, they would mourn. Of course, they would weep. Of course, they would cry. But they could not imbibe these pagan ideals that the Canaanites employed in their funeral services.
So that's the first item with reference to distinctiveness.
Dietary Laws and Holiness
The second is dietary wrongs. There are prohibitions here on what they could and could not eat. Now again, We might read this, especially as 21st century North Americans who may have had a nice pork roast tonight, not that I did, but we might have done that and come here and said, whoa, wait a minute, what's going on with all of this? The idea seems to be separateness or holiness.
Notice the clean and the unclean animals categorized into three groups, which reflect the original creation account. Animals from the land, from the water, and from the air. There are prohibitions as to what they are to avoid. There are prescriptions as to what they are free to eat.
There are general guidelines in terms of hoofs and cut. I don't know if I say hoofs and sound like a southerner. or hooves can sound like a Canadian. I don't know. I think it's hooves.
But those are the general principles in terms of what they could eat and what they couldn't eat. Animals from the land, animals from the water, animals from the air. It's almost identical to what we find in Leviticus chapter 11. If there's any difference, it's a few more game animals, probably reflecting the geography.
They were no longer in one locale. They had been on their journey into the land of Canaan. A more hilly region would have different sorts of game animal. And so what God is speaking to is that condition, that geography, that newfound meat that they would have when they come into the promised land.
So if there's any difference in terms of the listings here, Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. It's simply some additions in terms of animals that would be available for them with reference to food. So very straightforward. We don't need to spend time and say, you know, first of all, what is an ox?
You know, the ox has four legs and he has hooves and he chews the cut. I mean, these are ruminants. You guys all already know these sorts of things. It's a list here prescribed in terms of what they were supposed to eat and what they weren't supposed to eat.
Now many have speculated as to the reason why. Again, I am not going to divorce us from that concept of holiness or distinctiveness. When I say holiness, I don't mean first and foremost here moral purity, though that's involved. The root idea of holiness is separateness.
It is sanctified. It is set apart. It is consecrated for a noble use. God's already indicated that these people are holy in that sense.
The Lord has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. They are a holy people. This holiness code was to reflect this. What they ate showed or signified who they were in terms of their covenant God.
But some have speculated that hygiene was the concern. Don't eat pig because you're going to get sick. We eat pigs, some of us do anyways, and we don't generally get sick. So that's not a universal rule.
Now, you might say, well, back then, they raised pigs in a bit of a different manner. They weren't as clean as the pigs we have today, if that is even a reality. I'm looking at Roger. Do you eat pork?
OK, all right. I'm meeting with spies here, like we don't like pork. I love pork. Yes?
And they treat us like pigs as well. Yeah. And bears have that too, right? That's why when you shoot a bear, you've got to freeze it.
Right, but that's probably not, and I'm just using an illustration here with reference to the pig, but any of these animals, some have seen in the animals of the air that what is prohibited are carnivorous birds, or birds of prey. But the hoop, is that right? Hoopoe? I didn't Google that one.
The hoopoe and the bat aren't carnivorous. So you don't have sort of these strict categories that you can automatically conclude that it's hygiene driven. In fact, when we get to that animal that dies on its own, Israel is prohibited from eating, but not other people. So what is at view there?
Distinctiveness, holiness, separateness. We'll look at that in just a moment. So some have speculated that it's hygiene. Don't eat pork today, because you'll get a bellyache, or you'll get whatever that disease is that Rebecca mentioned.
I find that kind of, when you think about it, it's sort of ridiculous because the nations around it That's right, yeah. Right, right. And then the second speculation is that the prohibited animals were associated with Canaanite religion. In other words, don't use the pig because this tribe worships the pig.
But that doesn't always bear out because bale worship included the bull. The bull was prominent with reference to bale worship, and yet bulls were not on the unclean animal list. So that's not an airtight category either. So what we're arguing, or what I believe is in view here, is eat these animals because it separates you or keeps you distinct from the peoples around you.
Distinctiveness. And here I quote Christopher Wright. I think he's right on with this statement. He said, the food laws were thus a daily reminder to Israel of their status and role in God's purpose and of the consequent call to holiness.
In fact, some of the commentators suggest that some of the categories are almost a bit arbitrary. And some have seen in that it's an identifier, a reminder to Israel that out of the pool of these peoples, God chose you. God doesn't have a moral axe to grind with a pig. God made the pig.
The pig reflects God's created order. It's not a horrible thing. We don't look at pigs and say, you mangy, wretched creature on God. No, God made the pig, and it's good.
There are some categories, though, that would indicate that God is showing something of what we find in Deuteronomy 8.3. You don't live by bread alone, but you live by every word that proceeds from my mouth. If I say don't eat a pig, don't eat the pig. If I say don't eat the jackdaw, don't eat the jackdaw.
Again, I didn't Google that. I don't even know what a jackdaw, if it landed on my head, I wouldn't know it was a jackdaw, right? God commands, God prescribes, but what Wright is alighting on is very appropriate, I think. He said, the food laws were thus a daily reminder to Israel of their status and role in God's purpose and of the consequent call to holiness in other more morally significant areas of personal and social life.
I mentioned that threefold division in the law. Search the prophets. You will never find them coming and nailing the nation for eating jackdaw. You will never see them going after the people for engaging in the breach of the ceremonies.
Though that was not permissible, what they always prosecuted was violation of the moral law and its social repercussions. So if anything, the prophets dealt with moral and judicial within the body politic of Israel. So even within the old covenant law, there does seem to be this separation or this distinction or division within the law itself. And if anybody's interested, A lot of people have a problem with this reformed view, this reformed understanding.
There's an excellent book by Philip Ross called From the Finger of God. It's an explanation of the threefold division of the law, and he shows and indicates that within the Old Covenant itself, it was built in this division. God says, it's not sacrifice that I desire, it's obedience that I desire. There is that division within the law itself.
But in this instance, what he says is that this food would be a daily reminder for us to maintain holiness in some of the more significant areas of personal and social life. If I can't have jackdaw with my pagan neighbors, I certainly can't go worship Baal with them. If I can't have a bat, if that's what they're inclined to eat, with my neighbors, I certainly can't fornicate with my neighbors. See, it would be an ongoing reminder of their distinctiveness as the people.
Here's what Wright goes on to say. He says, holiness was woven into everyday life. I like that. What's for dinner, mom?
Well, what God has commanded, son. It's woven into everyday life. He says every meal should have reminded the Israelite family of God's commitment to them and their commitment to God. And then this statement, I think, is just beautiful.
He said, a God who governs the kitchen should be not easily forgotten in the rest of life. A God who governs the kitchen should be not easily forgotten in the rest of life. If I can't eat jackdaw, I certainly can't go over here and fornicate with my Canaanite neighbors. You see, there was an ongoing reminder.
It was woven into their their conduct, into their code, into their life, that they were a distinct people, a unique people. If we begin to eat like they do, if we cut our heads and mark ourselves the way they do, if we engage in the same sorts of things they do, it won't be long before we find ourselves bowing before the gods that they do. So those are the unclean and clean animals.
Animals That Die of Themselves
Notice the dead animal. Verse 21a. You shall not eat anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God.
The one finding the animal would not be able to verify if it was ritually killed according to the law. Leviticus 17 prescribed how they were to butcher. And so if you happened upon a dead animal, which probably is not the best idea in the world to just munch on anyway, who knows how it died, but we would not be able to verify if in fact it had been killed ritually according to the law. But as well, it's not hygiene because these people could have given it to the alien.
It's the idea here. We have strangers in the land. We have not killed them to get rid of our immigration problem, but served them dead animals so that's not the way it was. We've got aliens that are new in our land.
They're starving to death. Let's not destroy these animals. We can give it to them, or we can sell it to a foreigner. So it's not a hygiene concern.
It's a holiness concern. They are to be distinct. They themselves are supposed to eat things killed according to the law, which indicates that the heathen were not subject to these ceremonial laws. They were not subject, they were not bound by these kosher laws concerning what they could and what they could not eat.
The Boiled Kid Prohibition
And then the final aspect in this list of dietary wrongs is the boiled kid of verse 21b. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. Again, this is a difficult one. Much greater minds than I have searched these things out.
Craigie says this, this prohibition no doubt reflects a practice common in Canaanite religion which was not to be permitted in the religion of the Israelites. You're not supposed to do this. don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk. Harmon says this prohibition still has relevance today for the Jewish people in that it continues to provide the rationale for Jewish food laws forbidding meat and milk products being eaten together. No cheeseburger based on this verse.
Right? Can't have a meat and a milk product occupying the same butt. So if you're a Jew consistent with the Old Testament, you subscribe to these things, you better not be at A&W getting a cheeseburger. Make sure you ask it with no cheese.
So that's the prohibitions against the sorts of things that they were to avoid in terms of what they could and what they could not eat. This was not moral law. This was ceremonial. Now, of course, the ceremonial law for the Israelites carried a moral connotation.
If they broke these ceremonial laws, they were guilty of sinning and unfaithfulness with reference to the God of Israel. So
Tithing Principles
mourning rites, dietary wrongs, and finally the tithing principles, verses 22 to 29. Now, if we compare this with Leviticus 27 and Numbers 18, you'll see some, not differences, but you'll see various nuances in terms of the tithing laws. This has led MacArthur to suggest that what we have in chapter 14 of Deuteronomy is a second tithe, and a third tithe. I don't think we need to go to that length.
I think that all three passages can be combined together to provide information about the tithe with reference to God and Israel.
The Annual Tithe and Festive Rejoicing
Notice the command. You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. So it's dealing with grain. It's dealing with those things that you grow.
Notice in conjunction with this tithe, there was a festival, a feast, a celebration, a time of rejoicing. Notice in verse 23, on the time or at the occasion of the tithe. This doesn't mean you ate all the tithe. More than likely, no Israelite could eat all the tithe.
That would be a lot of food. You're taking 10% of what you've produced. You're giving that to the Lord. But the Lord says, from that you may take a portion and have this celebratory meal together.
Enjoy the fruit of your labor. What's the end game here? When we're enjoying the fruit of our labor, we're enjoying the presence and the power of God who provided this for us. In other words, rejoicing is an expression of thanksgiving.
That's why they were to engage in this celebratory feast. So notice, verse 23, you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where he chooses to make his name abide. That was the emphasis of chapter 12. Remember, when they got into the land of Canaan, they were not free to worship wherever they wanted.
There was centralized sanctuary. There was a specific locale. Initially, it was probably Shiloh. There are evidences that it possibly was in.
Bethel at times, it would ultimately be centralized in Jerusalem under David's reign. But specifically here they are told, with reference to this tithe, you're to eat it in the place where the Lord chooses. In other words, this is religious expression. This is honoring the Lord your God.
This is praising and worshiping and delighting in Him. So you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks. Notice that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. It's an interesting thing, isn't it? take some of the portion of the tithe and have a feast.
In fact, as we move on through this passage, God's not Ebenezer Scrooge. God is very liberal. God says, take the money and buy whatever your heart desires. And yet, what is the fundamental principle here of verse 23?
In this time of feasting, we are to learn the fear of the Lord. Again, Christopher Wright says, inculcating the fear of God could be achieved during a family party just as much as during family prayers. In other words, this is life lived under the sovereignty of God. It's not compartmentalized, this due on Saturday, go to worship on Sabbath, have long faces, look terrible, look upset, look unhappy, and then the rest of the week rejoice yourselves in your work, in your wife, or in your family.
No. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. Do it under God. Do it for His glory.
Rejoice in the Lord who has brought you out of darkness into marvelous light and who has conveyed these blessings upon you. Take the tithe, take these items, and have a celebration with your family. primarily to learn to fear the Lord, as well to demonstrate thankfulness through rejoicing. When you hand your kid something that he likes and he's joyful and happy, you feel the love, don't you? Right?
If your kid is some ingrate, and he says, eh, I didn't want it, you want to smack him in the head. But when he's in joy, I'm speaking metaphorically, spank him where God says to spank him, in the manner that is consistent with the Bible. It's funny, with my daughters, I tell them, smack your kids. We didn't smack our kids.
We tried to lovingly discipline them according to the scripture. Anyways, if you hand your child something and they rejoice, in that joy is an acknowledgment of thanksgiving. And generally on the heels of that joy are expressions of thanksgiving. God says, take the fruit of your labors, enjoy a portion of it, rejoice in it, learn how to fear me, and express thankfulness to the Lord your God.
We will see later on in Deuteronomy one of the curses that would be one of the means whereby God would drive them out of the land is because they'd go into the land, would receive all these good gifts, and they wouldn't be thankful. Remember Paul says this in 1 Timothy chapter 4. He talks about doctrines of demons in the latter days where men would expressly deny marriage and things or meat. Marriage and meat.
What is Paul saying? These are good things. These aren't bad things. Everything is good if it's sanctified by prayer.
In other words, when God hands you a steak, don't say, well, no, I'm just too holy to eat that. No, thank the Lord for it and chow down. This is what God is saying to these people. Learn to fear the Lord.
Demonstrate thankfulness through rejoicing. and acknowledge that the prosperity, the joy that you have comes as a result of your God and your Father. It's not Baal who reigned on your fields. It's not the Canaanite deities that caused this produce. It is not what those pagans are worshiping that has yielded this good stuff.
Rather, it is God the Lord who has given it to you to enjoy. So fear Him, rejoice in Him, and acknowledge that prosperity came from the Lord. Craigie says by returning a tithe to God regularly, the people would learn to fear the Lord, and know that prosperity did not depend on irrigation or advanced agricultural techniques, but on the beneficence and provision of their God." That's a great, great mindset with reference to giving. Paul underscores these same sorts of principles when he highlights the reality of giving in the life of the church.
It's not drudgery, it's not pain, it's not suffering, it's not killing, it's a time to express our thankfulness to God, acknowledge His kind provision in our lives, and a time to help those who are less fortunate than we are as these tithing laws speak to here in Deuteronomy chapter 14. People that grudgingly give are not enjoined with the spirit of what Paul endorses in the book of 2 Corinthians or what we find here. This is a time of joy. They're not going to the temple, I've got to get all this stuff away.
Now that's what they devolve into. That's what they fall into. By the time we get to Malachi, they say, what a weariness to go to the temple. What a terrible thing to take the best of my flock.
Honey, find the one that's lame. Find the one that's maimed. Find the one that's blind. If we can't find one in the flock, let's steal one from someone else.
That's how it devolved into. That was the evil extent. that it fell prey to, but tithing as an institution in Israel was to be a time of rejoicing in the Lord, learning to fear the Lord, thanking the Lord, and acknowledging the Lord for his prosperity in our lives. And as we'll see, it also funded the community in terms of servicing those who did not have the sorts of provisions that many people in Israel had. So you see, it was a win-win situation and God speaks to that here.
It's a time of joy and thanksgiving and a time to learn to fear the Lord.
Qualifications for Distance and Abundance
Notice the qualification of verses... Did you have a question? I'm sorry. Right.
Daniel 1, they refused to eat the meat. There's different interpretations as to why. Was it in terms of Leviticus 11 and the dietary prohibitions? That's a different sort of an investigation.
You know, there's competing theories as to why Daniel and his friends didn't eat that particular meat. I mean, they could have said, we don't want pork chops, but we'll have that venison. No, I mean, there's something going on there. Could it have been that?
Yes, some think it was. There are other ideas, though, in terms of what it might have been. But all this to say, notice the qualification here in verse 24 to 26. Verses 24 to 26.
Basically, it's this. God's going to choose a central place for you to bring your tithe. If you can't carry it all there because you've got too much, sell it in your city and take the money to the location of the central sanctuary. Make sense?
Or if the journey is too far, Right? In that instance, you can enjoy that feast where you are. So these are the built-in qualifications. Verse 24.
If the journey is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. So basically what you do, in either instance, if you have too much to take there, or it's too far. sell what you have or exchange what you have for money, then go to the place where the central sanctuary is, purchase items there, and enjoy the time of feasting unto the Lord. Verse 25, you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink.
For whatever your heart desires, you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice. Again, it's a time of joy, a time of blessing, a time of happiness. I have this idea in the church, I mean, if we can jump Covenant here for just a moment, what an irritant that God would actually tell me I have to give my money. I mean, come on.
How dare him? Doesn't he know my hand prospered me? My ingenuity got me this? It's my hard work that provided all this stuff?
No, God says, I am the Lord. The earth is mine. I give you certain things to steward over. This in the old covenant is how you are to function.
This in the new covenant is how you are to function. Don't buck against it. Don't resist against it. Don't rebel against it.
There is blessing in this. There is joy in this. There is happiness in this. It's a time to teach your children we ought to fear the God of heaven and earth who gives us power to make wealth, who gives us power to go to work.
Praise God from whom all jobs come. Praise God that we have refrigerators. Praise God that we have the meat that we enjoy. Children, praise the Lord.
This is a time to promote the fear of God. At a party or at prayer, wherever we find ourselves, whether we rise up, whether we walk by the way, or whether we lie down, we're to be taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and pointing them to our benevolent God who has provided these things for His people, for their well-being.
Provision for the Levite
Built in as a reminder, verse 27, you shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. I mean, you might grow however much pounds of grain. You might have all the wine that every vat can hold, and you might have all the livestock in the world. Levi doesn't get a portion.
He doesn't have his own property. He doesn't have his own land. He is dependent upon the goodness of God and the generosity of God's people, right? It's great to be dependent upon the goodness of God.
It's not always so easy to be dependent upon the generosity of God's people. By the time I get to Malachi's day, they're stealing sacrifice. Probably looking after the Levites wasn't their primary concern. That's why the Levites were probably all messed up and teaching things that were false and wrong, probably trying to get more money.
I mean, it's a vicious cycle. So he builds in here a prescription not to forsake the Levite who is within your gates. When you parcel up the land or when you parcel up the land in the book of Joshua, the Levites are going to be left without a portion. Don't forget them.
Cough up. Be benevolent.
The Triennial Tithe and the Poor
And then verses 28 to 29. The triennial tithe. The triennial tithe. The every third year tithe.
What we're saying is the sabbatical cycle. The seventh year was the sabbatical. Sabbath year, certain laws, certain things prescribed. We'll find out about that, God willing, next time.
But here, every third year, you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. You see what you're doing every third year? You're putting things aside. Notice verse 29, And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Disbursement for the needy ones. The Levite benefits, the stranger benefits, the fatherless benefit, and the widow benefit. This is one prong in a several prong approach to deal with the poor. Remember the Bible is not communistic.
It's not socialistic. The poor you will always have with you. That doesn't mean you just make that a settled acceptance. Well, there's always going to be poor, so, you know, too bad for them.
No, built into Israel was this triennial tide. Built into Israel was this funding of a storage place so that the downtrodden and poor could benefit and prosper. There will be gleaning laws, the law of the fallow, allow the year or the field rather in the Sabbath year to lay fallow so that the poor among you can go out and eat. You see, it was built in to help and assist those who did not have the same sorts of blessing.
Not everybody in Israel was able to take a piece of property and turn it to gold. Not any more than everybody in Canada can do that, right? Not everybody has the same skill set. Not everybody's as sharp when it comes to dealing with those sorts of economic matters.
Not everybody has a green thumb. Some people could probably have difficulty planting a lima bean. let alone yielding a crop from a field to sustain their family. So what we do in this triennial year is we allot the tithe for storage or for the actual persons that stand in need. The gleaning laws and then there's laws concerning debt, usury, loans, all those things are built into the infrastructure so that the community as a whole is exercising kindness and charity to those in need within the community.
So that's the tithing principle.
Conclusion: Distinctiveness in Every Area of Life
So you see, in each of these three instances, each of these three areas, Israel is called to be distinct from the heathen around them. In that regard, it flows naturally from the urban revolutionaries that closed down Deuteronomy chapter 13. I mean, it's kind of an interesting flow of thought here. Right?
The end of Deuteronomy 13, go in and kill everybody with the edge of the sword, take all their stuff and burn it as a burnt offering unto the Lord. Chapter 14, don't mark yourself, don't cut yourself, and don't cut your hair when you're mourning for the dead. sort of an interesting transition there. I would submit, but the principle is the same. It's God the Lord whom you serve.
Whether you are having to deal with urban revolutionaries, you're at a funeral for a family member or a friend, you're sitting down to supper, or you're dealing with the tithe. In each of these areas, you need to be different than the Canaanites around you. Because the moment you start to imitate their practices, you will then open the door to worshiping their gods. And the genuine, primary, overarching concern in this section is the first table of the law.
You shall have no other gods before me. You need to guard yourself. You need to be on guard. Watch over your heart when you enter into the land of Canaan.
Well, let us close in prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for this, your holy word. We thank you for the principles that shine so clearly in this passage of scripture. And God, as we consider our place in the new covenant, certainly that principle stands fast. We are to be a holy people.
We are your special treasure. We are your people, as Titus 2 tells us. And we pray that you would help us to be a people deeply committed to the Lord Jesus, believing the truth, having sound doctrine, and then living consistently with that truth. We ask that you would cause us to be zealous for good works, cause us to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel, and truly to reflect the glory of God in our lives.
We just thank you for your mercy to us again. Thank you for saving us, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.