Refuge, Boundaries, Witnesses

Before we look to the Word of God this morning, if I could ask you to pray for a friend of mine, Pastor Tony Bartolucci and his wife, Gianna. I preached at the Clarksdale Community Church in New York a number of years ago.

Pastor Bartolucci has been pastoring there about ten years or so, I would say. And on Christmas Eve, he and his 14-year-old daughter, Gianna, were driving. Thankfully, they were, knowing it's a fairly rural area in New York, were on a road that was fairly near to some homes, thankfully.

A man, an illegal alien who had been deported once before, was drunk and he crossed the center line and hit them head-on. Their vehicle burst into flame. The man ran and hid in a ditch. He did not help them.

He did not call for help. Thankfully, the people in the homes nearby were having a Christmas party. They ran to the scene. Someone had a fire extinguisher. They got Tony out. They didn't even see Gianna at first.

But thankfully, the fire extinguisher allowed them to see her and they were able to get her out as well. Both were unconscious and Tony has severe burns, internal injuries, broken ribs. But Gianna took the full brunt of the crash and she has brain injuries, the extent of which we simply do not yet know.

So if you would pray for Pastor Tony Bartolucci and his daughter Gianna, she's 14, that would be a wonderful thing to do at this time. Surely, that is the best thing that we can do for them at this time as well.

Deuteronomy 19 and the Holiness of God’s Law

Before we look at Deuteronomy chapter 19, let's ask the Lord's blessing one more time. Indeed, Father, we ask that you would, by your Spirit, minister to us. That you would protect us from distraction.

That you would help us to focus upon your truth. That you would make us better servants of yours. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We have, over the course of this year, actually now that I realize, I think we started in 2014, maybe.

I don't know. But once we finished the book of Hebrews, we moved on to a study, we're calling it the Holiness Code. We've actually left this specific section of scripture normally identified as the Holiness Code.

But we are doing a study of God's law. We are doing so for the obvious reason, the necessary reason. That as believers in this place, it is our desire to be consistent in what we believe. It is our desire to be consistent in our testimony to the world around us.

We live in a world where the restraining hand of God on the evil of man is being withdrawn. And when that happens, man's natural spiritual antipathy to the law of God becomes more and more manifest. We are seeing this all around us.

I saw an article just a few days ago that indicated that a certain governmental group in the state of New York, obviously centered in the city of New York. It does seem that large gatherings of human beings just multiplies total depravity.

Has issued regulations that indicate that under the jurisdiction of that particular organization, which isn't everybody yet, but give it time. If you refuse to utilize an individual's expressed chosen gender pronouns.

So, if you call Bruce Jenner, Bruce, rather than Caitlyn, or say he instead of she. And now there's all these others that I can't even begin. Zee is one that's supposed to be non-gender. Just call her one Zee and Zim.

It sounds like an alien force invaded or something. It's very strange. If you do not use their specified gender pronouns, you can be fined up to $250 ,000. Which is 16 .6 times the maximum fee, the maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter in the same state.

16 times the monetary penalty. Now, the only explanation for that kind of absolute moral insanity is the judgment of God upon a people. I can't think of anything else. I cannot think of anything else.

What kind of a people could be more concerned about forcing you to deny the reality around you to embrace the fantasy that exists between someone's ears. Consider that to be more important than the taking of human life.

Probably the same country that continues to fund Planned Parenthood. Probably. And so in the midst of this immoral revolution, our knowledge of God's law and the fact that we have a creator and that the first five books of the Bible have not been rendered utterly irrelevant is more and more important.

Now, obviously, we spend a lot of time dealing with the issue of homosexuality, human sexuality, what is abiding about the ethical and moral law of God. We spend a lot of time on all those things. But we are then reinforcing that by working through the Deuteronomos, the second giving of the law here in Deuteronomy.

The last time that we were in this study, we were in chapter 18. And we looked at the important prophetic material that was there. And now we move to chapter 19. When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations whose land Yahweh your God gives you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and in their houses, you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess.

You shall prepare the roads for yourself and divide into three parts the territory of your land, which Yahweh your God will give you as a possession, so that any manslayer may flee there. Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live.

When he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously, as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies, he may flee to one of these cities and live.

Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger and overtake him, because the way is long, and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously.

Therefore I command you, saying, you shall set aside three cities for yourself. If Yahweh your God enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers and gives you all the land in which you promised to give your fathers, if you carefully observe all of this commandment, which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God and to walk in His ways always, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three.

So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance, and blood guiltiness be on you. But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him so that he dies and he flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you. You shall not move your neighbor's boundary mark, which the ancestors have set in your inheritance, which you will inherit in the land that Yahweh your God gives you to possess.

A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed. On the evidence of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be confirmed. If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days.

The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

The rest will hear and be afraid, and you will never again do such an evil thing among you. Thus you shall not show pity. Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Amen.

Cities of Refuge, Innocent Blood, and Blood Guiltiness

So here you have Deuteronomy chapter 19. A few background issues will help us to understand the beginning of the chapter and the concept of refuge cities. It was very much a part of the culture of that day throughout the Middle East that you would have tribes.

And if you took the life of someone of another tribe, then that tribe had a debt of blood. There would be an avenger that would seek to take your life because you had taken the life of the member of another tribe.

And so there was a form of tribalism that existed, and there was a concept of blood guiltiness. This goes all the way back to the very first murder. When the blood cried out from the ground, there is in the shedding of innocent blood, and we do not mean that in the sense of the only innocent man that ever lived, Jesus.

We're talking about someone who takes someone else's life outside of the legal parameters that are required for the taking of human life, which has to do with the judges analyzing and investigating and all those things.

We're talking about innocent in the sense of uncondemned by the law. When there is the shedding of innocent blood, there is blood guiltiness that comes upon a people. And this goes back to the fact that we are made in the image of God.

This would make no sense if we were but animals, if we were but cosmic accidents. But because we are made in the image of God, the shedding of blood is a terrible, horrible sin in the sight of God. And therefore, a people are to be concerned about justice being done on their land and that innocent blood not be shed.

And so, in God's mercy, he provides for his people cities of refuge. Because there are times when bad things happen. In fact, the illustration that is given is a very apt illustration of what can happen.

Now, of course, today, this could never happen, right? Because every axe has 47 warning labels attached to it. And warning labels save everyone's lives. They stop all bad things from happening. Now, unfortunately, you can have all the warning labels in the world.

You can have it on the handle. You can have it on the head. You can require people to sign waivers, everything else. You can be out in the woods, and of course, it's just the two of them alone. And you swing that thing, and you swing it back, the head comes off, and it hits your friend just right, and there is a terrible tragedy.

Well, the reality is that this individual, notice, notice is said, he had not hated him previously. There was no, as we would say, malicious intention. There was no planning. There was no malice. And so, this individual, however, doesn't get to just go, it's cool, it's cool.

Instead, his life is going to be affected by his having to flee to a city of refuge. There's no question about that. But, in the city of refuge, the avenger is not allowed, relative of the man who has died, is not allowed to take his life.

He may come there. There may even be a conversation, who knows. Over time, there might come to be a reconciliation. But, in that initial period of anger, where, believe me, I can tell you, when people are in grief or in shock at a death, rational, logical, long-term thinking, not the first priority.

Not the first priority. Which is why, if any of you have seen my little book on grieving, one of the little sections in there, is don't make major life decisions during that time period, because very often your ability to look down the road, see the implications of things, very clouded, very clouded, very often make decisions based upon emotion, rather than upon what is best for yourself and for those around you.

But, in that time period, there is a restraint that is provided here. Even so much so, that roads are to be provided. I mean, we sort of take that for granted. But, that wasn't the case in those days.

That they are literally to make pathways, roads available, so that one could get to a city of refuge at sufficient speed, not to be overtaken by the avenger, who possibly is driven by even greater amounts of adrenaline than the person who is fleeing.

And so, they are allowed to go to the cities of refuge. And, if the people were obedient, and the land were to be blessed and enlarged, they could set aside three more cities. This was considered a blessing to the people.

This was considered to be a means of promoting justice amongst the people. But, you will notice that verse 11 says, if there is a man who hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and rises up against him, and strikes him, so he dies, and he flees to one of these cities.

You know, cities of refuge were a blessing of grace and mercy. And, what does mankind always do with God's gifts? No matter how good they are, mankind is going to find a way to abuse God's good gifts.

It seems to be the intention of the heart of man. God's given me something good. How can I pervert it? How can I misuse it? It's supposed to glorify Him. How can I make it glorify me? How can I use it to help me do what I want to do, and to fulfill my lusts and my desires?

It's not just cities of refuge, but when you think about it, isn't that the very essence of sin in our own lives? God gives us good things, and when they become the thing that we love more than God, are we not doing a similar thing?

And so, what happens is, people take advantage of God's mercy and grace in the refuge cities. The elders of His city shall send and take Him from there. So, in other words, the elders of the city, and you'll notice there's a community aspect here.

There's a community aspect that is derived from a common commitment to Yahweh as God, so on and so forth, that does not exist in a vast majority of places today. But there is a responsibility that is recognized by the elders of that person's city.

One of our people has shed innocent blood, and they're going to be the ones who are in the best position. The elders of the city of refuge are not going to be in the best position to make this kind of analysis.

But the elders of the city in which that person dwelt, they're the ones that are going to know that person best, and because of the inheritance system, it's mentioned briefly later on about moving the boundary markers, because of the way that the land of Israel is laid out, basically you would stay within the inheritance of your tribe.

And so what that meant was, people got to know you pretty good. It was a little hard to hide the kind of animus, the kind of hatred that would cause you to hide out and to spring out upon someone and to slay them.

There has to be a tremendous amount of anger in a person's heart to do something like this. And so the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you. We have lost in Western society as a whole the concept of necessary justice amongst men that underlies what is seen in Scripture passages such as this.

We have such an individualism, an atomistic individualism. Do you know what? When I say atomistic, I use that term a lot. When I talk about people who atomize the text of Scripture, that is, they break it up into individual little parts that do not have any relationship to one another.

Well, we have an atomistic view of mankind, where each one of us is an island unto himself. And what we do does not impact anyone around us. I am the king of my own castle. I am the lord of my own thoughts.

No one can tell me what to think or to do and so on and so forth. That is the Western way of thinking. And when we think in that way, well, first of all, we cannot live that way. Well, I suppose there are probably a few people.

I went to Montana once. I think most of them are there. They have forgotten how to speak English because they haven't talked to anybody for 25 years. But they are probably not going to be listening to this sermon because they don't have electricity.

In fact, they don't even have cassette tapes, which is amazing when you think about it. They go that far back. But the reality is we all know that unless we are absolutely alone someplace out there, and I would even argue they have a family someplace.

There is somebody's son or daughter, father, mother, something like that. None of us live on that island. None of us live alone in that way. And as a result, what we think does impact others. Our private sins do impact others.

We may not see it as clearly as God can see it, but He can see it clearly. That's why He gives us His law to give us direction, to give us guidance. And so, because we think in this way, we don't understand, we don't see the foundation that the Scriptures here have.

You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel. When you allow injustice, especially at the level of the taking of human life, to go unpunished within a land, it has a fundamental degrading impact upon the view of life of the people in that land.

Do you hear me? You think that might be going on in our land? Do you think that might explain the degradation that we see amongst us in the view of human life? You must understand that the rebellion that we're seeing in our society, the moral decay, is all a part of the same thing.

If you do not see human life as given by God, as having transcendent meaning, because God is the one who made it, God is the one who defines it, then mankind, in his evil rebellion, will chip away at everything that God has given us that keeps life good.

It is good that we are made male and female. That's a good thing. So let's deny it. It is good for a husband and a wife to be together decade after decade after decade. So let's get rid of that. You see, once you start denying that men are men and women are women, everything else in the society is going to be impacted by that.

Human life no longer matters. So the continuation of that society doesn't matter anymore either. We have societies on this earth that are committing suicide right now. Did you know that? Once a woman has less than 2 .1 children, that society begins to shrink.

On average, obviously. I don't know what 0 .1 of a child looks like either. But on average. And we have societies that are at 1 .2. They will be gone in two generations. That's why the Japanese are inventing robots.

Because they know that they're going to need them to take care of them when they're old. Because they don't have enough people to take care of them when they're old. And that's why you have what's going...

There's tremendous... We are going to see tremendous upheavals in our world over the next number of decades. I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet. I am not going to be making any predictions or anything else.

I'm just simply telling you the trends that we see. And hopefully, if we look at these things with biblical eyes, we can see where these issues are coming from. When you view man as a mere animal, when you degrade human life, it impacts all of a society in all of its aspects.

In all of its aspects. Verse 14. You shall not move your neighbor's boundary mark, which the ancestors have set in your inheritance, which you will inherit in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess.

Now, very briefly, this is simple justice. The land was to be passed down in such a way that did not allow it to become aggregated under just a few people. There was a family and tribe relationship in these things.

And we know when we read the prophets, minor prophets, a number of times they make reference to the fundamental undercutting of God's intention as to how his people were to possess the land that took place over time.

By ignoring God's law, by ignoring the Jubilee years, by ignoring all sorts of these things, eventually evil men could begin to oppress others. And you could move the boundary markers. And one season you plant your crops and your land extends to such and such a point.

The next season you have to plant your crops and lo and behold, the boundary marker is 20 yards inside of where it was. How did that happen? And you have to get the judges involved and all the rest of that kind of stuff.

Who would do something like that? Well, someone who clearly does not respect God's right to determine how much you do and do not possess. That is a rebellion against God. Human greed is never a good thing.

And while we may live in a society that does everything in its power to exacerbate that, I mean, you all know that every one of us who has an iPhone, guess what? They're going to put out another one. And I don't know what's going to happen, but for some reason, the day that new one comes out, I don't know if they put a chip in there that starts putting out some type of vibration that makes you unhappy or discontent, but up until they announce it, that's the coolest piece of equipment you've ever had.

But then when they announce it, it's no longer the coolest piece of equipment they've ever had. And all of a sudden, you've just got to have a new one. Now there are two or three amongst you that has no idea what I'm talking about right now.

I'll let you judge who they might be. And they are right now wrapping their pharisaical robes around them going, I experience no technical envy ever. I warn you against that attitude too, just so you know.

But the reality is, contentment with godliness, probably not the first thing you're taught on Madison Avenue. Probably not the first thing. But that's why people would move the boundary marker. Now I know people have preached entire sermons on that verse and made application to everything under the sun.

Do not move the ancient boundary marker. So in other words, what the Puritans did is what we need to do. Well, the Puritans were awesome people. We can learn a lot from them. But they had their blind spots too.

I mean, there were a couple of them, honestly, and this is well documented, just sort of jumped ship on justification just a bit because of other issues that they were struggling with. And so, it doesn't matter who it is.

You look at people within their context. You read them within their context. You don't idolize anyone. And I think the primary meaning of this section of Deuteronomy is don't move boundary markers. Okay?

Respect God's law. Respect the idea. God gave you this much. If that ain't enough for you, well, there were legal ways to expand your possessions, but don't take the easy way. Don't take the easy way.

Maybe through hard work, you can buy land, but you don't do it that way. Then you have further concern for justice. A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed.

On the evidence of two or three witnesses, a matter shall be confirmed. Now, we know this came up a number of times during Jesus' own teaching. He used it as an illustration. Did he not? Remember in John chapter 5, John chapter 8, he wants to bring multiple witnesses to testify of his own Messiahship.

And so, the Father witnesses of me. The works witness. If you don't believe me, believe because of the Father. Believe because of the works themselves. The Spirit testifies of Jesus. So on and so forth.

And so, this is a general category that obviously is meant to protect, in some fashion, as best as you can, in the sinful and fallen world, a concept of justice. And so, you need to have multiple witnesses.

Now, you say, but sometimes there's only one witness. Yes, sometimes there is. And that's why, fundamentally, every Israelite was to recognize that they all lived under God's observation and that there would be justice done in finality amongst His people.

And there are sometimes when injustices take place in this world and God's people have always recognized that there is a day coming when all of those injustices shall be made right. When the record shall be cleansed, the truth shall be known, and all those skeletons buried in all those closets that have remained closed, they will all be opened.

And truth will be known. Every lie will be exposed. Justice will be done. And sometimes that's the best God's people have. And sometimes that situation has continued for God's people for generation after generation after generation.

And yet they've been called to remain faithful in the midst of all of that. It's easy for us to read those Old Testament books. We think about Joseph and the years that went by of injustice. But Joseph still got to see his vindication at the end.

Sometimes there are people who live their entire lives and they never see the vindication. But they remain faithful knowing that that day will come. That day will come. That's a great comfort to the people of God, but it's a comfort based upon God's character.

If God's character could change, who's to promise that? Who can give that promise if God's character can change? So, justice is to be done. And if a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing...

I hate movies where someone's framed. I really do. I mean, you know, I've seen some, but I... if I... sometimes because I don't know what the movie's about. And so I'll watch and, oh, man, this guy's innocent.

What was it? The Fugitive was one of them. I think it was one where an innocent man is framed, so on and so forth. But eventually... And you know what's normally going to happen at the end. I mean, if he ends up not vindicated by the end, you're going to really not like the movie.

But, once I find out that's what it is, I frequently won't end up watching that movie again. Because I don't want to go through that period where the innocent person is being accused again. I just don't like it.

And that's what this is about. A malicious witness. Someone who will maliciously abuse the truth. And so they are to stand before Yahweh. Before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days.

And the judges shall investigate thoroughly. And this is where, folks, unrighteous judges are a plague upon a people. A plague upon a people. And judges who do not believe that they someday will stand before THE judge of all.

A plague upon a people. And so there is to be a thorough investigation. And if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother.

There is to be strict, direct justice. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. There's something wrong with a people who don't care that there is evil in the land. Apathy is an act of rebellion against a holy God.

And yet that is so much. That's not my problem. Didn't affect me. Oh, it will. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. I read a story last week. A woman was arrested and she had walked up to a woman sitting on a park bench in a park, reading a book.

Now is there anything more innocuous than sitting on a park bench reading a book? I don't even know if it was a book or a Kindle. You're not bothering anybody. And she told the police she did what she did because she needed to feel really alive.

She needed to have an extreme experience. And so she plunged a knife into this woman's chest. She never had met the woman. Did not know who she was. She simply walked up to her and stabbed her in the chest and killed her right there.

And the only reason she could give I needed to feel an extreme experience. Now, I'm not sure what the demon's name is actually. They didn't ask. But that kind of evil doesn't just happen one day. There is I guarantee you there is a trail of sin leading right up to that blood spot in that park.

There is a trail of sin. And pretty much all along the way of that trail, people probably said, yeah, but it doesn't bother me. Doesn't impact me. There is a trail of sin that led to the fiery crash that my friend Tony Bartolucci experienced.

Trail of sin. Trail of sin. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you. You know, when you have laws that say this is wrong and then you ignore all of them, don't be shocked when people start doing that thing very regularly.

Don't be shocked if that says to everybody, eh, I mean, let's be honest. We all know that coming down I -17, starting at Dunlap, the speed limit drops to 55. All the way down to the stack. And around Durango curve.

And we all know if you drive 55 through there, you will be run over. You will be a spot on the road. Because the speed limit is 65 north of that, 65 south of that, 65 east of that on the 10, 65 west of that on the 10.

That's the one spot I don't think I've ever, not at least in the past decade, seen a cop pull somebody over in that section. Not once. I haven't seen it. Some of you might be sitting there going, oh, they do, they do.

But the reality is, I don't see the speed go down at Dunlap. We all just keep on, keep on a truckin'. And there's a reason for that. There's a reason for that. The rest will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you.

And then you have, how many of you know the Latin term that describes Deuteronomy 19 .21? Y 'all know what it's called? Oh, you're gonna learn something you'll be able to share with, like, all your friends and family this week.

And then they'll never come back over to your house again after you tell them. Deuteronomy 19 .21 is called the Lex Talionis. The Lex Talionis. The Law of Retribution. Thus you shall not show pity. Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

I'll bet a bunch of you know what, um, it wasn't the Dalai Lama. It was that other eastern dude. No, the Pope? No, not the Pope. What was that guy's name? Anyway, there was, um, the eastern fellow who was known as the pacifist.

Gandhi. You know what Gandhi said about this? That if we actually followed this, there wouldn't be anybody who had teeth anymore. Well, that's nice, but I think he missed the point. In individual relationships, it is good and proper to extend forgiveness and mercy.

This is talking about stopping the state. And this is talking about controlling the evil of men. And do you notice something about the Lex Talionis? Well, first of all, Jesus addressed the Lex Talionis.

Did he not? But he addressed the error of externalizing this only. Leaving it only as an external thing. He internalized it to our attitudes. But there's something else that needs to be understood about it.

This is a limitation on the powers of government. Eye for eye. Not head for eye. Hand for hand. Not arm for hand. Tooth for tooth. Not 20 years for tooth. It's a limitation. It says you cannot go beyond the damage that was done.

Now, good luck explaining to a jury exactly what that damage was. Sometimes you can't convince them of anything, and sometimes they think that having lost your tooth, you need to now own the United States government.

So it depends on the jury that you get, evidently. The point is, this is a limitation. This is a mercy. This is saying you can't go beyond this. You have to limit what can be done in regards to retribution.

And you see, the problem is, when you've been wrong, it's very easy to adopt the victim mantle. Victimhood is a powerful thing. The socialist left in our country has learned to harness the power of victimhood.

If you want to shame somebody, you just say that you're creating victims. So if, well, we see it, we just mentioned earlier, if you dare use the wrong pronoun, you're creating a victim. And therefore, you will be punished.

Far beyond anything like this. You see, there's no lex talionis anymore. This has been thrown out. The limitation's gone. The limitation is gone. And so, many people look at this and say, well, that means you need to do this.

In personal relationships, no. If someone punches me in the face, I can forgive them. I do not have to have them punched back. In personal relationships, that's fine. But when it comes to the state, this is a limitation on the power of the state to make sure that what is done is not even a more grievous injustice than the injustice that has been performed in the sinful act itself.

Justice, Witnesses, and the Limits of Retribution

So what do we see in this chapter? What do we see in this chapter? We see that God intends His people to live with an eye to justice because God is holy. How did the chapter start off? When you go on the land which Yahweh, what was the first few words there?

Yahweh is the one who is cutting them off. Cutting them off. He's cutting off these nations. It's the same Hebrew root that is used to cut a covenant. Remember in Genesis when they cut the animals in half and went through the animals?

That was the same term. He's cutting those people off because of the things they have done. Now when you go in to possess that land, you are my covenant people. I am the God of holiness. And as the God of holiness, you need to reflect who I am.

You need to reflect my goodness and my holiness and how you interact with everyone around you. Let's close with a word of prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word, your preservation of it.

We thank you that we still have a holy God. And we still recognize that the law that you gave the people of Israel, it reflects your holiness and that we are able to look into it. We are able to see those principles and we are able to make application even in our day today.

We would ask that you would help us to understand, that you would help us to explain to others when the opportunity is given to us, that we might be good servants of Jesus Christ. We thank you for this day.

We ask that you would continue to bless our fellowship together. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.