Deuteronomy Chapters 14 – 17 force me, in the light of current events, to ask a large number of “what if” questions.
What if God inspired the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States to give his children a place to flee, to be free to worship him? What if, after almost 250 years of undeniable blessing and abundance, those freedoms suddenly disappear? What if God has had enough of American disobedience and idolatry? What if God chooses a new nation to favor instead of America?
And what if this new chosen nation has no geographical boundaries?
How would God instruct this new nation to govern itself? He already has.
These four chapters illuminate much of what God desires of his chosen nation, his chosen people (culminating with Jesus):
· You are the sons of the Lord your God (14:1).
· You are a holy people and the Lord has chosen you for his own possession (14:2).
· You shall surely tithe what the Lord provides to you to live on (14:22).
· You shall eat in the presence of the Lord in the place where he chooses, so that you will learn to fear him (14:23).
· At the end of every third year, you shall give the whole tithe to your faith community, so that the orphan, alien, and widow may eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord may bless you in your work (14:28-29).
· At the end of seven years, you shall grant a remission of debts in your faith community because of the Lord’s remission of debt for you (15:2)
· You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow (15:6)
· If one of your brothers is poor, you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand (15:7)
· You shall generously lend to your poor brother for whatever he lacks (15:8)
· You shall give generously and not be grieved, and the Lord will bless your work (15:10)
· If your brother must serve you to repay, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free from his debt (15:12)
· Remember that you were a slave to sin and the Lord bought you back (15:15)
· You shall not distort justice (16:19)
· You shall purge evil from the nation (17:12)
· Your king shall be one who the Lord chooses (17:15)
· This king shall write for himself a copy of God’s laws in the presence of religious leaders (17:18)
· And he shall read it all the days of his life (17:19)
What if this King is named Jesus, to whom every knee shall bow? What if the place we meet with him is the Holy Spirit within us?
What if this America realizes it is about to disappear and returns to its pre-1954 roots allowing prayer in the schools and stops killing babies and people with different skin color?
What if America chooses to rise again as the destination of all hearts that yearn to be free?
Franklin Graham stated this week, “May God bless America, though as a nation, we continue to give Him fewer reasons to do so.”
What if America chooses to ignore God?
What if God inspired the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States to give his children a place to flee, to be free to worship him? What if, after almost 250 years of undeniable blessing and abundance, those freedoms suddenly disappear? What if God has had enough of American disobedience and idolatry? What if God chooses a new nation to favor instead of America?
And what if this new chosen nation has no geographical boundaries?
How would God instruct this new nation to govern itself? He already has.
These four chapters illuminate much of what God desires of his chosen nation, his chosen people (culminating with Jesus):
· You are the sons of the Lord your God (14:1).
· You are a holy people and the Lord has chosen you for his own possession (14:2).
· You shall surely tithe what the Lord provides to you to live on (14:22).
· You shall eat in the presence of the Lord in the place where he chooses, so that you will learn to fear him (14:23).
· At the end of every third year, you shall give the whole tithe to your faith community, so that the orphan, alien, and widow may eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord may bless you in your work (14:28-29).
· At the end of seven years, you shall grant a remission of debts in your faith community because of the Lord’s remission of debt for you (15:2)
· You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow (15:6)
· If one of your brothers is poor, you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand (15:7)
· You shall generously lend to your poor brother for whatever he lacks (15:8)
· You shall give generously and not be grieved, and the Lord will bless your work (15:10)
· If your brother must serve you to repay, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free from his debt (15:12)
· Remember that you were a slave to sin and the Lord bought you back (15:15)
· You shall not distort justice (16:19)
· You shall purge evil from the nation (17:12)
· Your king shall be one who the Lord chooses (17:15)
· This king shall write for himself a copy of God’s laws in the presence of religious leaders (17:18)
· And he shall read it all the days of his life (17:19)
What if this King is named Jesus, to whom every knee shall bow? What if the place we meet with him is the Holy Spirit within us?
What if this America realizes it is about to disappear and returns to its pre-1954 roots allowing prayer in the schools and stops killing babies and people with different skin color?
What if America chooses to rise again as the destination of all hearts that yearn to be free?
Franklin Graham stated this week, “May God bless America, though as a nation, we continue to give Him fewer reasons to do so.”
What if America chooses to ignore God?
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