Learning from the Right One

Learning from the Right One

Well, I was expecting that. I was going to make some comments about how good it is to know that some folks still meet for church on Wednesday evenings. It's been quite some time, but here we are. And so if you'll turn with me in the Scriptures to Deuteronomy chapter 18.

Deuteronomy chapter 18. You know, it's been a while. I remember very clearly on a Wednesday night, many moons ago, we were in here and I don't know, did we, I think we showed up and the lights were already out, as I recall.

But I know at least one Wednesday night during the monsoon season, we actually had the doors and windows open and had a very brief time together that evening, as I recall. So we have had some weather.

I had it this morning. I was climbing on my bike out of Bartlett Lake this morning. It was like a little cell just decided to follow me right up the mountain for about 12 miles just to make sure that I was miserable the whole way.

Learning to Avoid the Detestable Things of the Nations

And so I already got my bad weather for Wednesday, but it's been a while since that's happened. But anyway, Deuteronomy chapter 18, looking ahead to our studies in the Holiness Code and things like that and in God's law.

And I was looking at this text and saw some interesting things, thought I would share them with you this evening. Deuteronomy chapter 18, beginning at verse nine. When you enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn.

And this translation says, learn to imitate. It's literally to do the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass to the fire. One who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft or who interprets omens or a sorcerer or one who casts a spell or a medium or a spiritus or one who calls up the dead.

For whoever does these things is detestable to Yahweh. And because of these detestable things, Yahweh your God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before Yahweh your God for those nations which you shall dispossess.

Listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners. But as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you to do so. Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen.

You shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of Yahweh your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God. Let me not see this great fire anymore or I will die.

Yahweh said to me, they have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you and I'll put my words in his mouth and he shall speak them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

So here you have what sort of looks like two rather disparate sections, but actually there is a connection between them. You have instructions in regards to once again when the people enter into the land which their God is giving to them.

And it is said in verse nine that they shall not, and as I said, this translation says, learn to imitate, to literally do the things, the detestable things. And you would probably guess that that term detestable is a term that we have heard before.

It's a term I think most of us probably know now. It's the term to eva to eva is the term that is used in Leviticus 18 and 20. It is a term that refers to that which is detestable in God's sight. The context to determine why it's detestable, but it is something that is detestable in in God's sight.

And specifically what is said in the original languages is that you will not tell mod to mod. And I remember in, in Hebrew, you have three letter roots. Basically, most of your words, almost all of your words are based upon tri literal or three letter roots.

And when you hear the word till mod, you might go, well, that that does sound like Talmud. And you've heard of the Jewish Talmud. Talmud is made up of two. It's made up what's called the Mishnah, which was a collation of traditions around 200, 250 years after Christ.

Important for our study of the New Testament. And then the sayings, the Gemara of commentary on that you put it all together, you have the Talmud, very important. There's Babylonian Talmud. There's different kinds of Talmud, but very important in Judaism.

Well, it means to learn. And so the command is you are, you are not to learn to do the detestable things of those nations. They, so many of the things these nations did, they had not even thought of. And there's, there's really almost a, an indication here of a process of learning how to do detestable things.

Now, sometimes we, we think of man is just so ready to do evil that there isn't even a learning curve. But the reality is that, that if you've not been exposed to certain things before, there is a, what we would call a learning curve.

There is a period of time where you have to become accustomed to doing certain evil things. And we know that some of the things were going on amongst those nations, especially the worship of Moloch, the, the passing of your children through the fire, the offering of child sacrifice.

This would be something that would take time. It would take time to become used to this, to learn how to do this. And God is saying, do not, do not begin down that road. Do not start down that road. Do not learn to do the detestable things of those nations.

Now, I can't help, but every time I see the, the discussion of the offering of children, when you think of how often, how many times this appears in the Old Testament text, that there is this, this specific mentioning of Moloch and how anything associated with Moloch is detestable in God's sight.

It's going to bring immediate judgment. I can't help but think about the past few weeks here in our, in our own land. I noted a article just before leaving on one of the news sites that a, that a judge has issued an injunction against this, this organization that has done all these recordings of the Planned Parenthood people, that the judge has issued an injunction that they can't release any more of these recordings.

And I just, I, my response on Twitter was, ah, yes, we must protect the High Priests of Moloch. And that's exactly what, what you're seeing. The, the, the High Priests of Moloch never dreamed of, of what we have going on with governmental monies in our land today.

And as, as one Reformed writer mentioned in social media this morning, remember that more people have been beheaded with the approbation of the United States Supreme Court than ISIS has ever beheaded.

And that's exactly true, which really makes you think. But there is a, there is, it certainly has been pointed out a number of times over the past 48 hours that there's this huge outcry about a lion in Africa.

And certainly I would not want to be a certain Dennis from Minnesota, let's just put it that way. He probably is moving to, has already had his name changed and has moved to some place in Scandinavia by now.

But there is, there is everything right about pointing out all the things that are wrong about that situation. But isn't it fascinating how people will become so absolutely thunderstruck and angry and everything else at the same time, all this other conversations going on and, and people just closing their ears because there is a learning curve.

There is a process and most people don't even want to think about what is being done in abortuaries and things like that across the United States and across the world. There is, you have to learn, you have to Talmud, you have to learn that level of depravity.

And God says, don't do it. And he said, there shall not be found among you. Anyone who makes his son or his daughter passes the fire. There's, there's a mullet very first thing. One who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer, one who passed a spell or a medium or a spiritist or one who calls up the dead.

So all of these activities that go around the way that God has ordained for there to be communication to the spiritual world, which is through him. He made it. He organizes it. And the only communication is to exist is that which he initiates.

He gives us his word. All these other things are man's attempts to get around God's sovereignty, to, to peer into the things that God has, has limited to himself. No, none of these people who engage in this kind of activity are to be found amongst the people of God when they go into the land.

But then notice what verse 12 says, for whoever does these things is detestable to Yahweh. It's not just the activities that are detestable. Those who engage in these things, the, the, the will that they show to go against God's way, they are detestable.

And because of these towevoth, these test, detestable things, Yahweh, your God will drive them out before you. Now, where did we see that before? We saw that in Leviticus chapter 18. Remember the beginning and the end of the chapter before all the sexual sins, the land will vomit these people out.

I will drive them out because they've done all these abominable things. Well, here you have more abominable things, all of these, the child sacrifice and all of the spiritualism associated with the various religious movements of that day.

God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before Yahweh, your God. Now, obviously we know that people of Israel were not blameless. Uh, there was a sacrificial system that was offered to provide a, a pointing away to a greater fulfillment, as we see in the book of Hebrews, but a way of peace with God.

But the call is to be blameless before Yahweh, your God. Well, how would they not be blameless? Look at verse 14 for those nations, which you shall dispossess and listen, listen to what it says. They listen, they listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners.

But as for you, Yahweh, your God has not allowed you to do so. They listen. The term there, you know, as well. You've heard it many times before the prayer that every Jewish person would offer at the, the morning light.

Shema Yisrael, Yahweh Eloheinu, Yahweh Echad. Hear, O Israel, Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one. That first word, shema, the imperative form. Hear, O Israel, listen, hear. Well, here you have the description that those nations, which will be dispossessed, well, they, they hear.

They, shema, they listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners. Who you listen to, who you allow to form your opinions, to give you guidance, who you hear. So often in the Gospel of John, how many times did I mention that phraseology of hearing, seeing.

Remember in chapter 9? The blind man can see, the seeing Pharisees are blind. So often, certain people can hear, other people cannot hear. Here it's the listening, the hearing. They listen to those who practice witchcraft and diviners.

They are looking away from the one true God, they are looking to these other people, and they give them authority. But as for you, Yahweh, your God has not allowed you to do so. You are not given that capacity or freedom.

Why? Because it's a detestable thing in the sight of your God. To listen to these people is to give them credence, it is to give them authority. It is to say, I will derive my, my decisions and my values from these individuals.

And God says they will dispossess those people. What do you say about a people when they are constantly turning their ears away from God's instruction, but are so interested to hear anything but that?

You think of Paul on Mars Hill, and they, they want to hear any new thing. That's the big thing, and they want to hear any new philosophy, any new way of thought. Well, at least until you mention the resurrection of the dead, and then, well, we don't want to hear that anymore.

Oh, how often man wants to pretend that he's a seeker. Oh, I've got an open mind. The reality is, if you dare listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, to those who pretend to present a way that is opposed to God and His ways, God's judgment is upon that nation.

They'll be dispossessed. As for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. Then notice, real quickly here, Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, and those, see that last phrase?

You shall listen to Him. And, of course, it is the exact same root. You shall schmaw Him. You will not schmaw, you will not listen to the people who would offer you guidance and say, oh, I have a special insight.

I have spiritual insight. No, but God will not leave you without. He will not leave you without guidance. He will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen. You shall listen to Him.

And this is according, according to verse 16, to the fact that, remember, the day of Horeb, when God showed forth His power and the thundering and the lightning, and the people were like, we can't take any more of this.

Think about what's being said here. Because, you all know what Deuteronomy 18 is about. You all know who this is. Go to Acts chapter 3. The fulfillment of this one, this prophet, according to Peter, is the Messiah, Jesus.

And God gives His words to him. And if you do not hear Him, God will hold it accountable of you. So here you have a messianic prophecy, and it's couched within the context of, you all said that you did not want to be in the presence of my glory.

When I appeared on Horeb, and you have the fire and the lightning, and anyone who approaches and touches the mountain is to be killed. Remember all that stuff taking place? And they said, we can't see this great fire anymore, or I will die.

So He says, I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and you shall speak to them all that I command him. How many times did Jesus say in John chapter 6, they're not my words, but I've seen the presence of the Father, so I speak to you.

And we are to hear Him. And so is there not here just a foreshadowing of the intercession? Is this not, what does Hebrews say? That His body is the way through the veil. We couldn't go ourselves, and when the people of God were faced with that holiness and that fire, we'll die.

So we need one who can make that way open to us. So even in words that we know and can prove were written hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before the time of Christ. You have this foreshadow.

You have this shadow of what is to come. Even in the context of intercession, in the context of the holiness and wrath of God against sin. And yet there is going to be one who is going to come, and we are to shema Him.

We are to hear Him. It's fascinating, of course. I think most of you know. You may not know. But our Muslim friends think that this Deuteronomy 18 is about Muhammad. They try to say that from among your countrymen simply means from the Semitic races.

Actually, if you go back to Deuteronomy 17, it's talking about Levites and things like that. It defines this term, and it's 12 tribes. There's no way they can mean this. But they try to find in Muhammad this coming prophet.

But there's nothing in Muhammad's ministry that even touches on the idea of serious intercession in regards to the wrath of God and everything else that is found here. And, of course, it ignores the fulfillment that is found in the New Testament as well.

And so it's a very important section in Deuteronomy 18, but it's in this context of who you will hear. Who you will hear. And it is a blessing upon any nation when the people want to turn their ear toward God.

When they want to hear what God would have them to do. But when a people are doing what I've told you before, and I remember it, I remember it. Three years of age, I don't know why I decided that running down the middle of County Road 15 outside of our house in Minneapolis was a good idea.

But it looked like fun. And my mom was coming after me at full steam. Screaming at me, get out of the middle of the road. Not many traffic. Not that I could see anyways.

Three.

And I decided the best way to deal with this, so I wouldn't be guilty when she caught up with me, because I sort of inevitably knew she was. Her legs were longer than mine. So, I just kept running and I put my hands over my ears.

That made me guiltless, right? Isn't that how that works?

If you can't hear your mom yelling at you, then you don't have any guilt. It didn't work, by the way. I got my rear end tanned real properly after that. But in my little mind, I thought I was giving myself an excuse by closing my ears.

Well, I was three years old. You can cut me some slack, I suppose. But how do you excuse an entire culture that is not three years old? I don't know how any excuse can indeed be offered. What a blight upon a people when they want to hear what is false and will not hear.

Words written long, long, long ago, and yet they still have great meaning for us.