**LEV.

20:10** - We take into consideration that this verse speaks about

adulterers, and we should understand the complete meaning of this verse after the
coming of Christ and the establishment of the New Testament. Let's adress it.
Today, the Bible does not recommend any such punishment for adultery. However, the
act of adultery carries its own punishment. Sexual sin is an offense committed
against one’s own body (1 Corinthians 6:18). The book of Proverbs warns of the
consequences of adultery: (Proverbs 5:9–11) (Proverbs 5:14)(Proverbs 5:22–23)
(Proverbs 6:32),Proverbs 6:34) (Proverbs 6:27–29)
The message of Lev. 20:10 modern day - Now that Christ has incarnated, we can take
the message of Lev. 20:10 that adulterers are bad people. VERY bad people, that
would mainly be the whole example of Leviticus 20. Lev 20:13 teaches about gays,
they are abominations and we should not dwelve into our desires.

**What did Christ teach?**

Jesus is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). He tells the woman to stop committing
adultery, and He forgives her. This is a wonderful picture of John 3:17: “God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him.” The punishment for adultery, or for any other sin, is wiped away when we
receive Christ’s taking of that punishment for us.
~~~
**EXODUS 22:18** - When reading this verse, it is understandable why there may be
hurt feelings. Taken out of context, Exodus 22:18 seems to give Christians blanket
permission to kill witches. Considering this is a verse that could be used to
justify hate and violence, an in-depth examination seems to be in order.
Because, the Israelites were continually being led astray and losing focus, God
instructed them to not allow a witch to “live.” The word live in this case is
translated from the Hebrew word châyâh (pronounced khaw-yaw’) and refers to both a
literal and figurative life. Exodus 22:18 could have just as easily been translated
as a command to not allow witches to live and thrive within the Israelite
community. This is especially probable considering the rules against the
exploitation and oppression of foreigners presented in Exodus 22:21.

In all fairness, a “witch” or sorceress who refused to leave and continued to lead
the Israelites astray would have no doubt faced capital punishment on the command
of Exodus 22:18, but I tend to believe this would have only been used as a last
resort.

**LEV. 24:14**
Leviticus can’t be compared with the gospel as presented by Paul in the New
Testament. Paul’s Gospel was one of Grace and Mercy. Leviticus was outlining the
Law. There is no Grace, nor Mercy under the Law. Moses was warned (after the Law
came) by the Angel that would lead the Israelites that there would be zero
tolerance. For example,EXODUS 23:21 Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not
provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions;

Different covenants, completely different. The Levitical Law required man to ‘be
good’ (righteous). The new covenant doesn’t - just as well, because man couldn’t.
So, no contradiction - as each covenant had a different ‘foundation. So it’s not a
matter of God changing. Man (specifically the Israelites) asked for that covenant.
It was not Gods idea, it came about as a result of a ‘stiff necked’ people. This
‘apparent’ death penalty was not Gods idea, nor intent. It was the penalty for
violating the Law, any Law, not just the ‘blasphemy’ you quoted. The death penalty
was demanded by the LAW. That’s why (one of the reasons) Jesus came (had to come),
to free the Jews from the hold that the HUMAN LAW ITSELF had on them. Same goes
for.. I can see, most of the verses that concern you.

**ZECHARIAH 13:3**
My answer for Leviticus 24:14 and past answers are almost the same to this, I can't
be bothered to type out that the state Law has demanded this, and these things were
written so we would be aware of what it was like during that time.

**LEV. 20:27**

There are the gifts of the Spirit wich includes the gift of prophecy. They are sent
from God. But there are also demons who can give the person magic. This is wrong,
the Bible is very clear about that. The main differences between these two are:

Spiritual gifts are given to those who believe in God (remember that not all gifts
are as strange or otherworldly as prophecy or speaking in tongues. Just being able
to interpret Bible verses is seen as one) while anyone can do magic (just like we
are able to do other sins)
Spiritual gifts are used in the worship of God and the users do it in Jesus's name
while magic users don't.
Spiritual gifts are only used when God deems it fit and the person is aware of that
while magic users can use it any time for their own whims
Spiritual gifts help others while magic, even though you can heal ailments, would
only be harming people spiritually because a doorway was opened and if they don't
have the armour of God they are vulnerable to spiritual attack and that can keep
someone from God.
It boils down to the fact that magic can only be used if you are in link with your
spirit. God cut that link when man sinned and showed he was not spiritually mature
enough to handle it. And while a demon can provide a link to it and then you can do
magic with simply your own spirit or make use of other spirits ( demons ). But it
is still a sin. But God wants a spiritual connection with us. That is capable
because of Jesus Christ. For all who believe are born again and won't die the
second death (death of the spirit). Spiritual gifts are sent by God to inspire
others to believe in Him, to help those in need through YOU, and to further your
understanding of Him and His word. Also,as I said... Do not actually kill fortune
tellers, just reject them instead. That's the whole point of these verses in modern
day.

You have to read the whole chapter, but here is the passage in a little larger
context: Ezekiel 18:1–4: Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “What do you
mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat
the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live,” declares
the Lord God, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore.
Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son
is Mine. The soul who sins will die.”

For reference, soul represents our individual status as a child of God (in the
sense of a created being, not necessarily a saved being or a new creation in
Christ). That is, God has no grandchildren. Every human has a direct relationship
with and God, thus the godly father or the evil father has no bearing on that
relationship. Die refers to eternal death or hell. When Eve quoted the Law of God
To Satan, she already knew that disobedience carried a death penalty “on the day
they ate if it.” The process of physical death set in, but didn’t happen on that
day. Spiritual death with eternal consequences, however, was immediate.

God is addressing a problem among the Jews regarding wrong theology (parents were
responsible for the sins of the grown children). Parents certainly were accountable
before God for not following God’s instruction for godly child rearing, and that
included providing godly counsel and guidance even for adult children because
elders were revered in that culture. But instead of applying those guidelines to
themselves, they were applying it to their own parent’s and using failed parenting
as an excuse for their own sin. God is saying, “I don’t want to hear it. What your
father did or didn’t doesn’t matter. Every human who has reached the age of
reasoning is subject to the same law of God and will be held accountable before God
for their own action. The wounded, poorly brought up child must still repent and
live right to be accepted before God. The bad child or the bad parent can repent
and begin to live right and will be accepted before God, or the good father or good
child can turn away to sin and will be rejected before God at judgment because they
did not repent.

I am sure you see the application today in our culture. Psychology has us making
excuses for all kinds of things Scrioture calls sin. But God’s power is available
to every person who will submit to Him, and He is sufficient for enabling them to
live righteously before Him…not in an immediate perfection, but in a consistent
growth toward more Christlikeness, no matter what they have experienced in life.
When we stand before God and try to blame our sin on our fathers, God will also say
to us (in essence), “I don’t want to hear it.”

**1 SAMUEL 6:19-20**

!!!!!!!!!!!!!SHORT ANSWERThey had acted innapropriately is the short answer. So the
conclusion here would be What is your attitude towards God this morning? If you are
afraid of God, you will only push him away. That’s no good. If you have no fear of
God, you will show him disrespect and provoke his anger. That’s no good either. So
what’s the answer? God wants you to come to him with an attitude of reverence and
respect. Recognize that he is God. Submit yourself to him as Lord. Acknowledge his
holiness. Come confessing your sin, and trusting in Christ.
Long answer.
Fear the Lord..BUT!
What does it mean to fear the Lord? The book of Proverbs says, “The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10) But a lot of people get confused
by that. They say, “But I thought God loves us. Isn’t he our Father? And aren’t I
supposed to love God? How can I love God if I am afraid of him?”

Those are good questions, and our passage today helps answer these questions. In
today’s passage we meet three groups of people who responded to the ark in three
different ways. We have the Philistines who sent the ark away; the people of Beth
Shemesh who received the ark gladly; and the seventy men who died after looking
into the ark. These three groups of people illustrate three different attitudes
towards God – 1) fear, 2) reverence, and 3) disrespect. And they also illustrate
for us how each of these attitudes produces a different result. Those who are
afraid of God’s holiness push him away. Those who have reverence for God’s holiness
receive him gladly. Those who show disrespect for God’s holiness provoke his anger.
So let’s take a look at each of these attitudes towards God and see what we can
learn about our own attitude towards God this morning.

I. Those who are afraid of God’s holiness push him away. (1 Samuel 6:1-12)

The first attitude is that of fear. Those who are afraid of God’s holiness push him
away. That’s what we see happening with the Philistines here in chapter six. They
are afraid of God’s holiness, and they do not want him or the ark around any
longer. Look at verses 1-2:

When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, the
Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do
with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.” (1
Samuel 6:1-2)

If you remember from last week, the Philistines captured the ark, brought it back
to their own territory, and put it in their temple. As a result God sent tumors
among the Philistines, possibly a form of the bubonic plague carried by an
infestation of rats. The Philistines moved the ark from one city to the next, but
the plague followed the ark wherever it went and even got worse. After seven months
of this, they finally had enough and called their priests and diviners and asked
them, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it
back to its place.” We find their answer in verses 3-6:

They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away
empty, but by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and
you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”

The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”

They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the
Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.
Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and pay
honor to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and
your land. Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he
treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on
their way?” (1 Samuel 6:3-6)

The priests and diviners encourage the Philistines not to send the ark away empty-
handed but to include a guilt offering of five gold tumors and five gold rats. Now
I am sure they meant well by this, but there is just so much they get wrong here.
First of all, God didn’t want a statue for a guilt offering. He wanted a sacrifice.
The Philistines attempted to pay honor to God through the gold images, but only a
sacrifice would work as a guilt offering. According to the book of Leviticus, you
were supposed to sacrifice a ram for this type of offering. (Leviticus 5:15) And
secondly, these images they made would not be pleasing to God anyways. Tumors were
a form of unclean skin disease (Leviticus 13), and rats were unclean animals
(Leviticus 11:29). God would not want images of things that he had declared
unclean. Besides, the second commandment forbade the making images for worship
anyways.

But, of course, the Philistine priests and diviners didn’t know any of this. They
just wanted to get rid of the ark, so they made their plan according to their own
wisdom. They urged the Philistines not to harden their hearts like the Egyptians
did, but to send the ark back to Israel.

Now, apparently there were some who were still not convinced that God was the cause
of their suffering. Even though the plague had followed the ark around Philistine
territory for seven months, some still thought this might all be a coincidence. So
they devised an ingenious test to see if God really was behind all this. Look at
verses 7-11. This is the priest and diviners still speaking here:

“Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been
yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take
the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold
objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but
keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the
LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know
that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance.”

So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned
up their calves. They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the
chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. (1 Samuel 6:7-11)

The plan here is simple. They put the ark and the gold objects on a cart, and they
hitch the cart up to a pair of cows. These are cows that have never been yoked
before, which means they should fight against each other rather than walk smoothly
in the same direction. Not only that, but these two cows have just given birth. The
Philistines take their calves away from them and put them in a pen, which means the
cows should be trying to get back to their calves rather than walking the other
way. Not only that, but there is no one to lead or drive the cows towards Beth
Shemesh. They will just hitch up the cows, let them go and see what happens. In
other words, they have stacked the deck against these cows ever heading back into
Israel with the ark. So if they do, then the Philistines will know for certain that
God’s hand was behind all this.

So what happened? What did the cows do? Verse 12:

Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing
all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the
Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh. (1 Samuel 6:12)

God “passed” their test, and the Philistines finally got rid of the ark. The
Philistines were afraid of God’s holiness, and they pushed him away. Instead of
submitting to God and worshiping him, they sent the ark back to Israel. This story
reminds me of the New Testament story of Jesus and the pigs. Remember Jesus cast
the demons out of the man in the graveyard into the herd of pigs, and the whole
herd stampeded over the cliff and into the water? The Bible tells us that when the
people saw what had happened, they were afraid and they pleaded with Jesus to go
away. (Mark 5:15-17) Those who are afraid of God’s holiness push him away.

Are you afraid of God? If you do not know God’s forgiveness through Christ, then
you are still under God’s judgment for sin and, yes, you should be afraid. But if
you simply stay afraid of God, then you will continue to push him away, and you
will never be close to him. So what do you do? There is a different attitude that
we must take towards God, and that is moving from fear to reverence.

II. Those who have reverence for God’s holiness receive him gladly. (1 Samuel 6:13-
18)

Those who are afraid of God’s holiness push him away. But those who have reverence
for God’s holiness receive him gladly. We see this illustrated for us by the people
of Beth Shemesh. Look at verses 13-16:

Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when
they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. The cart came to the
field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The
people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering
to the LORD. The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest
containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the
people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. The
five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to
Ekron. (1 Samuel 6:13-16)

How did the people of Beth Shemesh show reverence for God’s holiness? First of all,
they put God first in their lives. It was wheat harvest, which was a busy season.
You had to work hard every day to get all the wheat harvested in time. And yet as
soon as they saw the ark, they immediately stopped what they were doing and took
care of the ark instead. And they were glad to do it. They showed reverence for God
by putting God first in their lives.

Secondly, they made a sacrifice. They chopped up the wood of the cart that had
carried the ark, and they sacrificed the cows. God gave Israel the sacrifices to
teach them that you cannot approach God on your own. God is holy. We are sinners.
They didn’t know it at the time, but the sacrifices really pointed forward to Jesus
who would give himself as a sacrifice for our sins that we might approach God
without fear. They showed reverence for God by approaching him through a sacrifice.
Thirdly, they followed God’s laws. The Israelites made sure that only the Levites
handled the ark. Beth Shemesh was one of the cities that had been given to the
Levites as an inheritance (Joshua 21:16), so there were plenty of Levites around.
The people did not presume to take the ark down from the cart themselves, but they
let the Levites handle it according to God’s law.

The people of Beth Shemesh showed reverence for God’s holiness. They put God first,
they approached him through a sacrifice, and they obeyed his laws. And what was the
result? They rejoiced, they offered burnt offerings, and they made sacrifices to
the Lord. They had reverence for God’s holiness, and they received him gladly.

This is what the Bible means by the fear of the Lord. It is not simply being afraid
of God. It is drawing near to God in reverence through the sacrifices that he has
ordained. In the Old Testament that meant drawing near through the sacrifice of
animals. But now that Christ has come, we draw near to God through the sacrifice of
Jesus on the cross. The book of Hebrews says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have
confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus … let us draw near to
God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:19-22) Those who
are afraid of God’s holiness push him away. But those who have reverence for God’s
holiness receive him gladly.

III. Those who show disrespect for God’s holiness provoke his anger. (1 Samuel
6:19-7:1)

There is, however, a third attitude that we find in the text this morning that is
neither fear nor reverence. That is the attitude of disrespect. Those who show
disrespect for God’s holiness provoke his anger. We find this illustrated for us in
the seventy men of Beth Shemesh who looked into the ark. Look at verses 19-20:

But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to
death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because
of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them, and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who
can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up
from here?” (1 Samuel 6:19-20)

The people rejoiced when the ark first arrived and the Levites handled it properly,
but now these seventy men decided to look into the ark. The people were not even
supposed to look at the ark, never mind into it. Nobody saw the ark except for the
priest. The ark was kept behind a curtain in the innermost room of the tabernacle.
When it was time to move the ark, the priest first covered it, and then the Levites
carried it to its new destination. So for these men to look into the ark was an act
of complete disrespect for God’s holiness.

What happened? Well, if you have ever seen the Indiana Jones movies then you know
that bad things happen when you look into the ark. (I even thought about calling
this message “Raiders of the Found Ark.”) Seventy men looked into the ark, and
seventy men died. They showed disrespect for God’s holiness, and they provoked
God’s anger.

How do we show disrespect for God’s holiness today? I can think of several ways.
One way is when we show a lack of respect for God’s Word. The Bible is God’s Word
and therefore holy. When we disobey God’s Word in our lives, we show disrespect for
God’s holiness.

Another way we can show disrespect for God’s holiness is during communion or the
Lord’s Supper. The Bible says we should examine ourselves before taking communion.
When we take communion without focusing on Christ and repenting of sin, we show
disrespect for God’s holiness. The Bible tells us that some of the people in the
early church actually got sick and died because they took communion in an unworthy
manner. (1 Corinthians 11)

But the main way we show disrespect for God’s holiness today is simply by rejecting
Jesus Christ as Savior. The book of Hebrews says,

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or
three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished
who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the
blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of
grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again,
“The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God. (Hebrews 10:28-31)

God sent his Son as a perfect and holy sacrifice for our sins. What greater
disrespect can we show for God’s holiness than rejecting his Son as Savior?

Seventy men from Beth Shemesh looked into the ark and died. The people’s rejoicing
turned to mourning, and they asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD,
this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?” They suddenly found
themselves in the same position as the Philistines. They were afraid of God’s
holiness, and they wanted to push God away.

So what did they do? Look at the last verse of chapter 6 and the first verse of
chapter 7:

Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines
have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your place.” So the
men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to
Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of
the LORD. (1 Samuel 6:19-7:1)

The people of Kiriath Jearim came and took the ark. The ark would now stay at
Kiriath Jearim until King David finally brought it to Jerusalem. The people of
Kiriath Jearim showed reverence for God’s holiness, and God blessed their city as a
result.Those who are afraid of God’s holiness push him away. Those who show
disrespect for God’s holiness provoke his anger. But those who have reverence for
God’s holiness receive him gladly. “Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel
before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.” (Psalm 95:6-7)

**LEV. 20:13**
You know the rules already..If you read some of my explanations on your Leviticus
verses, you'd know the answer to this one too...Wouldn't you?... I suppose you
don't, so..Man made Law, Law was written in Book, Christ came down to invalidate
invalid Law in Book. Wow.

**DET. 20:16**
The people did not do as commanded. They learned the worship of the baals. Even
threw their own children into fires, adorned the temple Solomon built with
paintings of people having sex and they themselves had sex, homosexual and bestial
sex ON THE ***LITERAL ALTAR OF GOD***..INSANE,ISNT IT?... The Tanakh is much less
politically correct than our translation. Our Bible frequently says and all their
inequities, the Tanakh spells it out. But that happened centuries after the first
Jews didn’t kill everything that was breathing.

Malachi 1: 1–5 talks about Gods continued hatred of the descendants of Esau. Romans
9:6–33 Paul uses this to show God elects people to whatever station he chooses, has
mercy on who he chooses, and all Abraham’s children are not the children of the
promise. Only those that came through Isaac. But Glory to God, Jesus came, died and
rose, and now we can all be joint heirs in Christ. Also with Jesus comes the
knowledge that a Great apostasy will occur before He returns. 2 Thessalonians 2: 1–
12. Any believer in Jesus is promised to receive the Holy Spirit, that will guide
you into wisdom. Ask for the Holy Spirit. John 14: 18.

**ISAIAH 14:21**

This verse..It contains a mocking, sarcastic dirge for the fallen king of Babylon.
The song imitates the respects otherwise paid to honor a fallen king. Instead, this
song describes celebration of both people and trees at his death. The fallen kings
in Sheol rise to mock the man for his weakness. The king is sarcastically referred
to as the "Day Star"—leading to speculation that this is also a description of
Satan's fall from heaven. The fallen one had ambition to become like the Most High
among the gods, but instead was cut down to nothing in his death.. The summary of
this verse is the following; After the oracle against Babylon in the previous
chapter, Isaiah briefly describes what will follow for Judah. In compassion, the
Lord will choose His people once more. He will return them to their homeland. They
will sing a mocking taunt-song against the fallen king of Babylon. Isaiah
pronounces oracles from the Lord against Assyria and Philistia. The Lord will break
the Assyrians in His land. With heavy symbolism, Isaiah seems to prophecy that the
Assyrians will defeat the Philistines with a siege four years before it happens.
God's people will find refuge in Zion.

**2 CHRON. 15:12-13**

By reading 2 Chronicles 15 verse 1 onward you will get a better idea of what was
happening with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The divisions this was causing in
the land. They were warned of the judgement that would occur for those who
continued to worship pagan Gods.

The false worship the nations were carrying out included sites or shrines where
idolatry was being carried out. These were to be found not only on hills and
mountains but also in the valleys, in streambeds, in cities, and under the trees.
(De 12:2; 1Ki 14:23; 2Ki 17:29; Eze 6:3) They were equipped with altars for
sacrifice, incense stands, sacred poles, sacred pillars, and graven images. (Le
26:30; Nu 33:52; De 12:2, 3; Eze 6:6) At many of the high places, male and female
prostitutes served. (1Ki 14:23, 24; Ho 4:13, 14) Frequently the high places were
the scenes of licentious rites, including ceremonial prostitution and child
sacrifice.—Isa 57:5; Jer 7:31; 19:5.

This internal struggle with regards to false worship amongst Jehovah’s people meant
that they were not granted Gods favour and could not be representative of his
people. This would in turn mean that God could not support or bless them when it
came to protecting their land from invaders or when there was a famine or food
shortages. Without their reliance and help from God many would die and they would
be quickly turned out of the land.

Today God supports those who “worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23–24) God is
wanting us to be a spiritually clean people (Isaiah 52:11). By engaging in acts
that God disapproves of means that we can not expect him to want to help us.

Gods people today would likewise be made unclean by trying to worship with those
that wilfully chose not to live in accord with Gods teachings as this would effect
the peace and unity of the whole congregation. We do not want to make ourselves
complicit by not hating what God hates and losing his approval.

So on balance Asa presented the people with a choice. If they wanted to stay in
Jerusalem and the surrounding land they would be expected to be worshippers of the
true God. As for those that chose to engage in other types of worship they would be
expected to leave and join the 10 tribe kingdom of Israel (who had given way at
this time to pagan practices) or live amongst the surrounding nations where pagan
worship was common and acceptable.

A number of the 10 tribes of Israel had already joined Asa choosing to worship the
true God rather than stay amongst the Israelite tribes. So the choice was theirs to
stay or go.

**EXODUS 21:15**
The word curse simply means "to belittle," "to make light of," "to be contemptuous
of."

In the book of Matthew, as Jesus was giving the Sermon on the Mount, He says:

You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not kill, and
whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That
whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the
judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the
council. (Matthew 5:21-22)

Raca means empty-headed; moron. It is a form of cursing, belittling, or speaking

contemptuously of. The person who says this shall be in danger of the council.

But whosoever shall say, You fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matthew 5:22)

Jesus is saying that He agrees with Exodus 21:15-17. For a child to speak
contemptuously of or to consider his parents to be foolish puts him in danger of
the death penalty. This is God's law, and here, Jesus Christ, our Savior, says that
He agrees with it. He will be the God who judges. Cursing is placed on a par with
murder, and there is a reason why: because it proceeds from this same attitude of
heart. Thus, it is punishable by death.

The majesty and office of God is violated in the person of the parent because God
regards the parent as His representative and as a type of Him. So, the fifth
commandment is broken, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). It is that
simple. In terms of the penalty, it is just as wrong to curse parents as it is to
curse God.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE WOULD BE:
EXODUS 21:15-17
Maltreatment of a father and mother through striking (ver. 15), man-stealing (ver.
16), and cursing parents (ver. 17, cf. Leviticus xx.9) were all to be placed on a
par with murder, and punished in the same way. By "smiting" of parents we are not
to understand smiting to death, . . . but any kind of maltreatment. The murder of
parents is not mentioned at all, as not likely to occur and hardly conceivable. The
cursing of parents is placed on a par with smiting, because it proceeds from the
same disposition; and both were to be punished with death, because the majesty of
God was violated in the persons of the parents.

"The majesty of God was violated"! In this lies the importance of keeping this
commandment. The relationship God intends within the family is an exact type of a
Christian's spiritual relationship with God the Father and the church as mother.

**DT. 21:20**

This verse was, for its original hearers, a vivid reminder of the dynamics of
covenant life. Faithfulness to God was not a responsibility to be taken lightly, as
failure to be obedient could result in horrific malediction. Ancient hearers of
this law understood God's wrath as a force with which to be reckoned, a reality of
life that was impossible to ignore. Further, this law reminded them of the purity
and holiness that characterized both Yahweh and his land, and the need to maintain
his dwelling place's sanctity. As we understand this law in its original context,
Christ's sacrificial death gains a new depth and significance—Christ is a covenant
representative, a pact keeper who dies for pact breakers to make them a pure
dwelling place of God into eternity. In doing so, he undergoes the worst of curses
so that our filthiness and decay are transformed into spotlessness and eternal
life. So, as we read Deut 21:22-23 from our place within redemptive history, we
should rejoice because of the wrath He has averted (Eph 2:3), the redemption He has
secured (Gal 3:10), and the hope he has laid before us all of a glorious eternity
in the presence of our wonderful Father and King (Col 1:5).

**EX. 21:17**
The translation issues involved
it.
How could such a penalty (being
circumstance? Father and mother
that he has been executed, they
with “shall surely be put to death. Let's look into
put to death) possibly benefit anyone in this
were upset because their son cursed them but now
feel better! That is absurd!

And God feels better! How could it be true?

“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not
that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Eze 18:23)

“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from
your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Eze 33:11)

The following verses bring out that putting the offender to death would end the
possibility of them repenting and receiving pardon:

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him
return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon.” (Isa 55:7)

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance.” (2 Pet 3:9)

People who believe that God means that children who curse their parents must be
killed are not thinking clearly! But that is the sort of thinking that happens
when the words (as written in our English Bible) are taken literally, without even
questioning whether there might be translation or other issues involved. God says:

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool.” (Isa 1:18)

Now some might want to link Exodus 21:17 to this verse:

“And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that
had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel
did as the LORD commanded Moses.” (Lev 24:23)

It is not exactly the same situation as that person had cursed, blaspheming the
name of the Lord. However, it is very similar. See the page on stoning (coming
soon) to understand Leviticus 24:23 and help with the issue of stoning.

The directive in Exodus 21:17 was included in the list of judgments given at Sinai
and was not a reference to a specific incident. A similar direction was given a few
verses earlier:
“He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.” (Exo 21:12)

That brings to mind the story of Cain and Abel.

“And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the
field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” (Gen 4:8)

According to the judgments given in Exodus 21, Cain should have been put to death.
God’s action, however, after what was likely a call to repentance (“… Where is Abel
thy brother? …” – Gen 4:9), was to grant Cain protection from death:

“And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be
taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him
should kill him.” (Gen 4:15)
“He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.” (Exodus
21:12)

could be understood as:

a warning against a wrong action,

a call to repentance and
a plea to not be separated from God,
and could have been properly translated as:

“He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely die.” (Exo 21:12, adapted)

and be paraphrased and expanded as:

“He that smiteth a man, so that he die, has separated himself from me (God
speaking) and if he does not repent and return to Me, the eventual, inevitable and
natural (not imposed) result is that he shall surely die.” (Exo 21:12, adapted)

The same reasoning could be used in the following and probably other verses:

“And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.” (Exo
21:15)

“And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he
shall surely be put to death.” (Exo 21:16)

“Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.” (Exo 22:19)

So, parents, if your children curse you, you are not required by Exodus 21:17 to
stone or otherwise put them to death. However, the verse is a warning to them, and
to you, to guide them in the right direction. This verse indicates that the
“surely” does not exclude the possibility of repentance:

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him
return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7)

**MARK 7:10**
This verse argues that the traditions of Jewish elders are twisted interpretations
of the Mosaic Law that hide the purpose of that law. Washing is a particular
requirement of priests and has nothing to do with ensuring the ceremonial cleanness
of a meal. And keeping a rash oath does not relieve a child from the commandment to
care for his parents. In their attempt to add to the ceremonial law, the elders
subtract from the moral law. They find that anyone who attempts to find salvation
through works will end up stumbling on Christ (Romans 9:30–33). This story is also
found in Matthew 15:1–9.

THE CHAPTER CONTEXT:Jesus counters another traditional error from the scribes and
Pharisees, explaining that food in and of itself does not make a person unclean.
Rather, it is the intent of the heart that matters to God. He specifically condemns
traditions which effectively undo the original intent of God's commands. Jesus
heals the daughter of a persistent Gentile woman, and a man suffering from deafness
and a speech impediment.

ven though the Levites were one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the LORD commanded
that they were not to be numbered. The reason He gave was that the Levites were
designated to be the ones who maintained and transported the tabernacle, the LORD’s
dwelling place amongst His people. Thus, they were to be exempt from military duty.

There has been one omission from the census. It was that the Levites, however, were
not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe. Levi was the third son of Jacob
and Leah (Genesis 29:34), but the tribe of Levi did not participate in the census.
There were still twelve tribes numbered, because Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and
Manasseh each became a tribe.

The reason why the Levites were not included in the census was that the Lord had
spoken to Moses, telling him that only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor
shall you take their census among the sons of Israel. Thus, the LORD had set them
aside for a specific task related to the tabernacle and the attendant worship of
God.

The job the LORD wanted Moses to perform was to appoint the Levites over the
tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings and over all that belongs
to it. Here, the tabernacle is called tabernacle of the testimony. The “testimony”
is a reference to the tablets containing the Ten Commandments that were placed in
the ark (Exodus 31:18; 40:20).

Specifically, the LORD assigned them to carry the tabernacle and all its
furnishings, and they shall take care of it. Their task was to carry all of the
parts of the tabernacle and all of the furnishings, utensils, and other items
associated with the tabernacle. They were also to “take care” (that is, “minister”
or “serve”) the tabernacle and its furnishings.

Not only that, the LORD directed that they shall also camp around the tabernacle.
This was to insulate the tabernacle from being approached or touched by those not
authorized to do so. The twelve fighting tribes were to camp three by three,
encircling the tabernacle, and the Levites were to camp between the fighting tribes
and the tabernacle, as a buffer between the fighting tribes and the tabernacle.

This buffer was for the protection of the fighting tribes. As seen in verse 51, the
consequence for a non-Levite getting near to the tabernacle could be fatal.

Levite-CampNumbers 1:47-54
The LORD then specified the details about the service of the Levites.

–When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down (v. 51). The
tabernacle was constructed to be portable, per the specific instructions God gave
in Exodus chapters 25-31. The tabernacle was apparently constructed and erected by
skilled craftsmen and the people (Exodus 36-40). But now, since the glory of the
Lord descended on the tabernacle, only the Levites are allowed to interact with the
tabernacle. The Levites are to take down the portable elements when they are
preparing to move locations.
–When the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up.

–But the layman who comes near shall be put to death. The layman (Heb. “zar,”
“stranger”) refers to a non-Levite in this context.

–In addition to dismantling and packing up the portable elements of the tabernacle,
the Levites are to reassemble its parts when they reach their new destination.

–The sons of Israel shall camp, each man by his own camp, and each man by his own
standard, according to their armies. The arrangement of the other tribes will be
given to Moses in Numbers 2. The members of each tribe were to camp with their
household, then their tribal “standard” (or “banner”).

–But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there
will be no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel(v. 53). Because the
Levites did not participate in military actions, they were not placed on the
perimeter like the other tribes. Their position surrounding the tabernacle both
symbolized their dedication to serving the tabernacle and being a buffer between it
and the other tribes. Only the Levites could come near or touch the tabernacle (v.
51).

In summary, the LORD stated that the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of
the testimony. They were given the task of taking down and setting up the
tabernacle when relocating, carrying the tabernacle through the wilderness when
they were on the move, and camping around it, providing a buffer between the
tabernacle and the twelve fighting tribes when they stopped.

All of this work organizing the Israelite camp the sons of Israel did. They did the
work according to all which the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did (v. 54). It
is interesting that the Israelites were very obedient to the LORD in regard to
being organized. They were significantly less obedient when it came to worshipping
Him and Him alone.

It is clear from this chapter that the LORD does not want His covenant people to
operate as a disorganized group of nomads. He desires them to be well organized,
and well ordered. Since He is the God of order (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40), they
should be orderly.

47 The Levites, however, were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe.48
For the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying,49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not
number, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel.50 But you shall
appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its
furnishings and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and
all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around
the tabernacle.51 So when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it
down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman
who comes near shall be put to death.52 The sons of Israel shall camp, each man by
his own camp, and each man by his own standard, according to their armies.53 But
the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there will
be no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall keep
charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.”54 Thus the sons of Israel did;
according to all which the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did.

**DEUT. 20:13**
At first glance, this law seems barbaric, too. Remember, we have no problem
admitting that (see principle two above). Furthermore, this is an example of case
law (see principle three above), which was a concession –not a command. However, in
addition to these already established principles, we can make additional
observations:
First, the foreign woman wasn’t raped. This is astonishing, when we consider the
culture in the ancient Near East. Military rape was par for the course. The Jews
were not permitted to do this.

Second, the foreign woman was given 30 days to grieve. The Jewish soldier couldn’t
lustfully take her into bed right away. He had to wait for a full month. In that
time, he might change his mind. If the man changed his mind, the woman had to be
set free.

Third, widows of war were typically destitute. They were turned into sex slaves,
tortured, or killed. In Jewish culture, however, these women were given the dignity
of marriage and a home. They weren’t considered sex objects; they were considered
spouses. Moreover, if the marriage fell apart, the women could not be sold as
slaves (v.14). John Wenham writes, “In a world where there are wars, and therefore
prisoners of war, such regulations in fact set a high standard of conduct.”[1]
Moreover, in 2 Kings 6:20-23, we read that the Jews would not kill POW’s, because
they considered it morally evil.

**LEV. 20:9**
a. Everyone who curses his father or his mother: Virtually all commentators agree
this is not the outburst of a small child – or even an adolescent – against their
parent, but the settled heart of an adult child against their parent. Such inter-
generational warfare was not to be tolerated and was punishable by death. This was
a crime against the family and the community.

i. “Unlike other ancient Near Eastern civilizations, in Israel crimes of a

religious nature or against family life received the strongest punishment. This
pattern contrasts with the cuneiform laws of the ancient Near East, where
violations resulting in economic loss tended to be treated more severely.” (Rooker)

ii. This command against cursing one’s parents was quoted by Jesus as He spoke to
the religious leaders (Mathew 15:4, Mark 7:10). Jesus observed that they used
clever, hypocritical tricks to avoid fulfilling the spirit of this command.

b. Curses his father or his mother: This wasn’t merely saying something bad about
or to one’s parents; it was likely the calling down of a death-curse on them.

i. “Elaborate curses, many of which appear to have the nature of magical spells,
were current in the ancient Near East, and amongst superstitious people often
worked with devastating effect since in the eastern mind the curse carried with
itself its own power of execution.” (Harrison)

**''eng'' DEUT. 22:21**

First and foremost, it's Deuteronomy. Not ENG.

Second: Here lies: Your argument
Moses described the situation as follows:

If a man takes a wife (v. 13)

The husband goes in to her. This of course means that they sexually consummated
their marriage.
Then, at some point, the husband turns against her. The phrase turn against is
literally “to hate” (Heb. “šānē’”), which can also mean to “reject.”
He charges her with shameful deeds (v. 14). The reference to shameful deeds is
literally “deeds of things” in the Hebrew text.
He also publicly defames he The Hebrew reads “brings against her a bad name,” where
“name” refers to one’s reputation. The husband here seems intent upon ruining his
wife’s reputation and thus justifying his rejection of her.
The shocking statement the man used to publicly defame his wife was I took this
woman, but when I came to her, I did not find her a virgin. The phrase came to her
is another euphemism for sexual relations.

The accusation was that the husband rightly expected his bride to be a virgin and
she was not. In Old Testament times in Israel, a girl would remain in her father’s
house and under her father’s care until the day of her wedding ceremony where her
father would give her in marriage. But prior to giving his daughter in marriage,
the father received a bride-price from the prospective husband at the betrothal
ceremony (Genesis 34:12; Exodus 22:15). The money given to the girl’s father was
regarded as a form of compensation for the loss of his daughter, a custom still
practiced today in some parts of the world.

Since a girl was to remain in her father’s house until she got married, she was
expected to remain a virgin to be honored by her husband. Not only was the
virginity of the new bride necessary for her honor, it was also important to
protect the integrity of the family. In fact, a husband who found out that his wife
was not a virgin at the time of marriage could easily expose her and the community
would stone her to death for sexual misconduct (vv. 21-23).

Once the accusation was made, the girl’s father and her mother were to take and
bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the
gate (v. 15). The gate was the place where civil matters would be taken under
consideration by the elders (or rulers) of the city. It was here that the girl’s
father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he
turned against her (v. 16). As seen in v. 13, the Hebrew word translated turned
against literally means “to hate.” He was to continue the accusation against his
daughter by telling them that the husband has charged her with shameful deeds,
saying, “I did not find your daughter a virgin” (v. 17).

To counter this accusation, the parents said that “this is the evidence of my
daughter’s virginity.” Then they were to spread the garment before the elders of
the city. The garment was that which was used on the wedding night. If there was
blood on the garment, this would prove that the woman’s hymen was perforated at
that time, proving the woman’s virginity.

The woman’s virginity having been proven, the elders of that city shall take the
man (v. 18) and perform the following on the lying husband:

First, they were to chastise him. The Hebrew word for chastise (Heb. “yāsar”)
includes the idea of rebuking the person and instructing him concerning the
covenant with the LORD.
Second, they shall fine him a hundred shekelsof silver and give it to the girl’s
father (v. 19). A hundred shekels of silver is about two and one-half pounds,
making it payment of great value. Notice also that the husband was to give it
directly to the girl’s father, which would add to the solemn nature of this. The
lying husband was to pay this heavy price because he publicly defamed a virgin of
Israel. Doing this would also restore the woman’s (and her family’s) honor and
integrity within the community.
Finally, she shall remain his wife. Even if the husband wanted to get rid of his
wife, the law stipulated that he cannot divorce her all his days. This also
protected the sacredness of the marriage relationship. Marriage, like the Mosaic
Law, is a covenant, and both needed to be preserved.
Verses 20 – 21 deal with the second part of this case. They specify what was to be
done if this charge was true (v. 20), meaning that the girl was not found a virgin,
then they were to bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house (v. 21).
It was here that the men of her city shall stone her to death. In Old Testament
times, stoning was the most common form of capital punishment (Leviticus 24:14;
Numbers 15:35; Deuteronomy 21:21), because it allowed the community of Israel to
actively participate in the process of killing the guilty person.

The idea for this to take place at the doorway of her father’s house was to bring
shame and dishonor to her family. The reason for stoning the woman was because she
had committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s
house. The phrase translated as “an act of folly” is used elsewhere in the Bible
for sexual misconduct (Genesis 34:7; Judges 20:6). Here, it underscores the immoral
action committed by the girl while under her father’s roof. This is further
emphasized by the term “harlot,” which, in this context, means “fornication.”

Not only did the woman commit fornication before her marriage, she also deceived
her husband and others concerning her virginity. For these reasons, she would get
the same punishment as the rebellious son, with the men of the city doing the
execution (Deuteronomy 21:21). Doing so would also purge the evil from among
Israel. That means that removing the woman from the Israelite community prevented
contamination of the community and maintained the purity of the covenant with the
LORD.

Some two thousand years later, a devout young Jewish man named Joseph will discover
that his betrothed Mary is pregnant prior to the consummation of their marriage.
Matthew records that Joseph “being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her,
planned to send her away secretly” (Matthew 1:19). That Joseph chose not to want to
disgrace Mary showed that he was “righteous.” He did not seek to invoke his rights
under the law set forth here in Deuteronomy 22:13-21. Rather he sought to benefit
Mary, and protect her. Such was the man who was Jesus’s earthly father. Joseph
followed the general principle Jesus conveyed concerning divorce. The law of Moses
was given due to the hardness of men’s hearts (Matthew 19:8). God’s desire is for
justice, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23).

**THE BIBLICAL TEXT!!!!!also hi its ST_11G here God bless you :3**

13 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then turns against her, 14 and
charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this
woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,’ 15 then the girl’s
father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity
to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 The girl’s father shall say to the
elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he turned against her; 17
and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, “I did not find your
daughter a virgin.” But this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they
shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. 18 So the elders of that
city shall take the man and chastise him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred
shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he publicly defamed a
virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his
days. 20 “But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, 21 then
they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of
her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in
Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil
from among you.”

**NUM. 25:1-9**
First we MUST look into the CHAPTER OF NUMBERS 25 AND THE AFTERMATH!!!

Israel is on the way to the promised land with the second generation. The first
generation has all passed away for their sins except for Moses. But Moses has been
told that he will also not enter the land because he did not uphold the holiness of
God (20:12). Israel has been moving through the lands of Moab which are situated on
the eastern side of the Jordan River. Balak, the king of Moab, has attempted thwart
the power of Israel by hiring Balaam to pronounce curses against Israel. However,
God will not allow cursing to come from the lips of Balaam because God has
determined that Israel will be blessed and will be successful in their upcoming
campaign to take the promised land. We are now very close to the promised land. We
do not realize it yet, but this is the final encampment location before the people
will cross into the promised land. These chapters possess the final narrative and
instructions from the Lord before Moses gives his final speech as recorded in
Deuteronomy. So let us look at what happens in these final days before entering the
promised land.

The Stench of Sin (25:1-9)

The people begin to indulge in sexual immorality with the women of Moab and began
to offer sacrifices to Moab’s gods. One of the common elements of idolatry was
sexual immorality. Verse 3 tells us that this is Baal worship, and this is the
first time we read about Baal worship in the scriptures. Israel yokes itself to the
Baal, angering the Lord. Yet again we are seeing that there is nothing righteous or
morally higher about this second generation of Israelites over the first generation
that died in the wilderness for their sins. So God gives the command in verse 4 to
hang all of the chiefs of the people in the sun before the Lord. Moses tells the
judges of Israel to kill those who have yoked themselves to Baal. You may consider
that there is some strong similarity here to the first generation and their worship
of the golden calf when they ate, drank, and rose up to play. So the anger of the
Lord is aroused and the command is given to kill those who are involved in this
immorality.

But notice what happens in verse 6. An Israelite man brings in a Midianite woman
right in front of the sight of Moses and the whole community while they are weeping
at the entrance of the tent. Everyone is mourning the decree of death for their
sins and here comes this guy walking in with this woman to participate in this
sexual immorality. It is brazen rebellion that we are witnesses as this man has no
regard for what God and Moses have said nor for the weeping of the people of Israel
over these sins. The brazenness becomes even clearer in verses 7-8. Phinehas, the
son of the high priest Eleazer, takes his spear and goes into this man’s tent and
thrust the spear through the man and into the woman’s stomach. These two are
engaging in sexual immorality as Phinehas drives the spear through both of them in
one stab. With this, the plague stops after killing 24,000.

Consider what a powerful picture God is sending in this event and throughout the
book of Numbers. Sin must be put to death. Sin is not acceptable. Sin is not
something that we are to allow or tolerate in our lives. God wants sin to be put to
death. These are the kinds of pictures that need to come to mind when we speak
about the battle against sin.

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the
flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit
you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:12–13 ESV)

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity,

passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the
wrath of God is coming. (Colossians 3:5–6 ESV)

These scriptures are giving us a picture of the spiritual battle that we must war
with sin, war with temptation, war with the flesh, and war against Satan. God is
not indifferent toward sin and he expects his people to not be indifferent either.
How shocking and sad that this man rebels before all the people of Israel, consumed
by his own passions and desires! Rebellious sin cannot be ignored, which is shown
to us in 1 Corinthians 5 and Matthew 18. We are called to be holy.

The Praise From God (25:10-11)

Look at the praise God gives Phinehas for what he did. God says that Phinehas was
jealous with my jealousy. He did what he was supposed to do in his priestly role:
represent God to the people. He represented the jealousy of God and acted with
great zeal for the Lord. Phinehas showed the holiness of the Lord to all the
congregation. We have seen this idea depicted throughout the book of Numbers. The
priests and the Levites were to defend the holiness of God. This failure is what
made Moses and Aaron’s sin so terrible. They failed to uphold the holiness of God.
Listen to what God says about what Phinehas did in the account of the Psalms.

Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the
dead; they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out
among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed. And
that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever.
(Psalm 106:28–31 ESV)

Did you hear how this act of holiness and zealousness for God was perceived by the
Lord? “It was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation
forever.” This is a term that the apostle Paul uses in the book of Romans many
times in references to faith being the means by which Abraham was credited as
righteous.

So what does this mean? It means the pursuit of holiness is the pursuit of faith.
True faith seeks holiness in all of life. Since faith is how we are counted as
righteous before the Lord (Romans 4:3-11; 4:22; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23) and it
was counted to Phinehas as righteousness by acting for God’s holiness, then we must
conclude that the pursuit of holiness is the path of faith. Or to say it the other
way, walking by faith means pursuing holiness in all areas of life. Faith defends
the holiness of God. In fact, please consider that this is exactly what God told
Moses and Aaron regarding their failure. Look at it again in Numbers 20:12.

Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people
of Israel….

Do we see that faith and holiness are directly tied together and they cannot be
separated? To live by faith means to live for God’s holiness and pursue holiness in
all areas of life.

The Reward From God (25:12-18)

Notice the great blessing given to Phinehas in verse 12. God gives to Phinehas and
his descendants a covenant of peace and a covenant of a perpetual priesthood
because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.
Putting an end to the sin was the way he made atonement for the people in this
scene. Consider that God is picturing that there will always be a priesthood
available for Israel. God will have an enduring priesthood for the people of
Israel. Five times the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus continues as “priest
forever.” Because we have a faithful high priest in Jesus who was appointed as
priest forever, we are able to enjoy this covenant of peace. The priesthood of
Jesus is what brings us to peace with God. Jesus lives forever to intercede for us
as a continual high priest on our behalf. Oh how great Jesus is who defended God’s
honor and revealed God’s glory to all the world! We have a great high priest.

The Message
So what is the message? Jesus came and put sin to death. Therefore we must put sin
to death in our own lives (Romans 6:10-13). We must take up the fight against sin
and now allow sin to remain in the camp of our hearts. Putting sin to death is the
life of faith (Psalm 106). Walking by faith is not a contrast to killing sin.
Killing sin is what walking by faith looks like. The pursuit of holiness in all
areas of life is what it looks like to walk by faith. Sin pops up and we go to war
against it. We may not always be successful, but we battle against it. We do not
cave in or capitulate to our desires. We attack it daily.
Consider that our hope for rescue is lost when in the face of God’s law we walk
right past a nation mourning over its sins so that we can continue to commit our
sins. When we no longer mourn for our sins and are not longer broken by our
rebellion but brazenly live our lives without regard for what God has said, there
no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a fearful expectation of judgment
(Hebrews 10:26-27). Put sin to death and enjoy the covenant of peace as one of
God’s chosen people.

**(eng) DEUT. 13:13-16**

Yet again, silly samithemuslim, it's Deuteronomy.
Let us read it first and then discuss: (Deut. 13: 6-11) [“If your brother, the son
of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend
who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other
gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, some of the gods of the
peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end
of the earth to the other, you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall
your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you
shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and
afterward the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death with stones,
because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. And all Israel shall hear and fear
and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.]

Now Consider the background:

God selected Abraham to bring up a people for a special mission.

God was continuously interacting with them. Day and night he was present among them
and guided them.
There was no other who experienced God as the Israel did in those days.
God was a known fact to Israel, and not just a belief.
God was preparing the people for the Christ Event.
Now let us see what the passage says:

It is not against the ones who believe in 'other Gods'.

But it is against the ones who try to deviate the path of others so that the
purpose of bringing up Israel should be served.
The purpose is "all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such
wickedness as this" and killing is not a target in itself. It is considered as a
way of protecting others from deviating their faith from the true God already known
to them.
This should also understood in the social and political background of Israel in the
times of Old Testament. We also need to remember Jesus Christ has given us a New
Rule to follow. Let us see how the same situation is handled in the New Testament:

(Mat. 18: 15-20) “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault,
between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But
if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may
be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen
to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let
him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything
they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three
are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
(Mat. 5: 43-48) [“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he
makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on
the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not
even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more
are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must
be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.]

**LEV. 24:17**
If you're using this verse you're contradicting yourself on the note of Shariah
law: ''Qisas is a category of sentencing where sharia permits capital punishment,
for intentional or unintentional murder. In the case of death, sharia gives the
murder victim's nearest relative or Wali (‫ )ولي‬a right to, if the court approves,
take the life of the killer.''
As I said now, these are one of the few verses we can SLIGHTLY justify in a way.
This verse speaks out about your own vengeance, and it doesn't tell us to
MANDATORILY ''forgive everyone'' in the Bible. And even if it does, even if we
don't, it's not a sin as you have put somebody who has ruined your life to death. I
don't see the wrong in self defense. It never tells us to **''MURDER''**.

**EXODUS 22:20**
If you read the rest of the Tanach -- just keep reading on past Deuteronomy -- the
main theme of the entire N'viim, from Joshua to Kings and from Isaiah to the
Twelve, is that Israelites shouldn't worship other gods. Alien worship practices is
why the Israelites were kicked out of their land by the Assyrians and then the
Babylonians. Given that worshipping other gods is a violation of the very first
Commandment in the Decalogue, and most (if not all) of those commandments have the
death penalty as punishment, I don't see any way for Exodus 22:20 to be prescribing
anything other than the death penalty for alien worship.

Remember, these are the laws of Israel. If you weren't an Israelite, you were not
under special obligation to worship YHWH. The Israelites were meant to be a holy
people, "holy" has a very particular meaning in the Bible as specifically dedicated
to YHWH and not to anything else. For example, Shabbat is a holy day, because it's
dedicated to its religious purpose; the Torah forbids you to do secular things on
it. Similarly, Israel is a holy people. The law against homosexuality -- which is a
homophobic verse, bee tee dubs -- is similarly stated specifically to satisfy the
requirement for Israel to be holy. It's possible that it was in part a reference to
alien practices, but it's clearly among a list of sexual sins and not specifically
labeled as a religious practice.

(Also, I wouldn't call it Sodomy; Sodom's sin was lack of hospitality. The
homosexuality was just a bonus. Use your brain.)

Exodus also does not command that you shall not kill. It says that you shall not
murder. A judicial execution following due process and standards of evidence was
not murder.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST... Exodus 35:3? You shall kindle no fire in all your
dwelling places on the Sabbath day? That Exodus 35:3? I don't understand. God bless
you! - - - ST_11G