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Scripture Reading: Deut. 18:1-8, 18:9-22; 14:27; 19:1-14
In this message we will cover six further aspects of the rehearsal of the general statutes and judgments.
Deuteronomy 18:1-8 speaks concerning the supply of the Levitical priests and the whole tribe of Levi. Whereas the priests were in the priesthood, the Levites were servants of the priests. The priests served God directly in His presence, and the Levites coordinated with the priests and served them by taking caring of various practical matters.
The Levitical priests and the Levites were not to have portion or inheritance with Israel (vv. 1a, 2a). For their living they depended on God's faithfulness. God, in His faithfulness, took care of them through those among the children of Israel who were faithful to give of the things which God had given them.
The priests and the Levites were to eat Jehovah's offerings by fire and His inheritance (v. 1b). God's inheritance consisted of the tithes offered to Him by the children of Israel. Some of these tithes were to be for the priests' eating. Thus the priests lived on the tithes offered to God by His people.
Jehovah would be the inheritance of the priests and the Levites, as He had promised them (v. 2b). They had no inheritance apart from God Himself.
The portion for the priests included all the shoulders, cheeks, and stomachs of the sacrifices and the offerings of the first fruits of the children of Israel (vv. 3-5; Num. 18:8-19). The priests ate God's food, and they ate this food before God and with God. What a blessing! We surely would be honored to eat with the president of our country. But it is a much greater honor to eat with God. As we eat with Him, sometimes He may encourage us to eat more, and we would then offer Him our thanks. It is possible for us to enjoy God to such an extent. This enjoyment is a very tender blessing.
The portion for the Levites was all the tithes of Israel (Deut. 18:6-8; Num. 18:21-24). The children of Israel offered their tithes not directly to God but to the Levites. The tithes went to the Levites, who then selected the best of the tithes to be offered to God as a particular tithe. This became God's food, which was also the food of the priests. God and the priests lived on the tithes offered to God by the Levites.
The children of Israel were not to forsake the Levites who were within their gates (Deut. 14:27). God's people were to remember the Levites, who served God, who had no inheritance with Israel, and who were supported by the tithes of the people.
In 18:9-14 we have the prohibition against the performing of divinations, the practice of soothsaying, the interpreting of omens, the employing of sorcery, the casting of spells, the consulting of a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit, or the inquiring of the dead. Those who did these things were an abomination to Jehovah, and on account of these abominations, Jehovah God dispossessed the nations from before the children of Israel (v. 12). Jehovah did not allow the children of Israel to practice these abominations.
Among the children of Israel, the performing of divinations was prohibited. Divination is the attempt to learn something about the future in a supernatural way. People try to learn of the future in this way because they are concerned about their security. God created us in His own image with the intention that we would express Him. He even entrusted us with the authority to rule over all other creatures. Therefore, as those created by God, we were given a very high position. Having such a position, Adam was not worried about security. However, human beings have become fallen, and now all fallen people are worried about their security. Fallen human beings are also concerned about such matters as longevity, peace, and well-being. Everyone wants to have a peaceful life, a life without trouble. Those who seek security, longevity, peace, and well-being may engage in the performing of divinations in order to learn something about the future. Such people may seek to contact the enemy's evil kingdom, which is full of demons and evil spirits.
Divination is actually a false foretelling of the future by demons and evil spirits. Those who are worried about their future, especially about their security, and who turn to the practice of divination are usually deceived by false promises made by demons and evil spirits. The demons and the evil spirits, who often hide behind the desire for security, longevity, peace, and well-being, may give to those who practice divination false information regarding the future.
The practicing of soothsaying was also prohibited. Soothsaying, like divination, is a matter of foretelling future events. Those who practice soothsaying may speak pleasing words of comfort, consolation, and encouragement. The ones who want to hear this kind of speaking about their future may go to one who practices soothsaying.
The children of Israel were not allowed to interpret omens. An omen is a sign. Someone who was worried about his business might consult a person who could give him an omen or a sign to indicate that in the coming year his business would flourish. This interpreting of omens was prohibited.
According to verses 10 and 11, the employing of sorcery and the casting of spells were also prohibited. Sorcery is a kind of witchcraft used to deceive people. The casting of spells is a matter of having a curse put on someone.
Finally, there was not to be found among the children of Israel anyone who consulted a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit or who inquired of the dead. Because the Canaanites practiced these abominations, they were dispossessed from before the children of Israel, who were forbidden to engage in these evil practices.
In 18:15-19 Moses spoke concerning Jehovah God's raising up of a Prophet (the coming Christ) like Moses for the children of Israel. Acts 3:22 applies these verses to Christ, indicating that Christ is the Prophet promised by God to His people, the children of Israel.
The Prophet was to be from among their brothers (v. 15a). This indicates that Christ as the coming Prophet would be human as well as divine, that He would be God incarnated to be a man, the God-man. As God, Christ could not be from among the Jews as a brother, but as the incarnated One, the One who has put on human nature and who was a Jew, Christ was from among His brothers.
Moses told the children of Israel that they were to listen to this Prophet (Deut. 18:15b).
The Prophet raised up by God would be according to all that the children of Israel asked of Jehovah their God at Horeb (vv. 16-17). They had told Moses that they could not bear to hear God's voice. They wanted a middleman, one who could hear God's word and pass it on to them. Because they wanted a prophet, Moses promised that God would fulfill their desire for a prophet.
"I will raise up a Prophet for them from the midst of their brothers like you; and I will put My words in His mouth, and He will speak to them all that I command Him" (v. 18). This indicates that God would raise up this Prophet through the incarnation of Christ to speak the word of God (John 1:14; 3:34; 7:16-17; Heb. 1:2a). When the Lord Jesus came, He surely spoke God's word. To speak God's word is to dispense God, to speak God forth into others. This is what the Lord Jesus did as the Prophet raised up by God.
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 concerns the false prophet. A false prophet was one who spoke a word presumptuously in God's name which God did not command him to speak or who spoke in the name of other gods (v. 20a). Such a prophet was to be put to death (v. 20b). When a prophet spoke in the name of Jehovah and the thing did not happen, that was the thing which Jehovah had not spoken (v. 22).
The children of Israel were to set apart cities of refuge (19:1-13), cities into which those who had killed others accidentally could escape. These cities signify God's preparing Christ as a refuge for all sinners.
The numbers related to the refuge cities are significant. For convenience, there were to be six refuge cities, three on either side of the Jordan. The number six signifies man, who was created on the sixth day. The number three signifies the Triune God. The Triune God has come in incarnation to be our refuge; He is for us. Furthermore, the number two, implied by the fact that there were cities on the two sides of the Jordan, signifies testimony or witness. The Triune God embodied in the incarnated Christ has come to the place where we live to be our refuge. Instead of asking us to come where He is, He came to where we are. This is the reason that in preaching the gospel, we should not ask people to come to us; rather, we should bring the gospel to them. To ask others to come to us is contrary to God's ordination. (For details on the refuge cities, please see the life-study on Numbers 35:9-34.)
"You shall not move your neighbor's boundary marker, which your ancestors have set, in your inheritance, which you will inherit in the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you to possess" (Deut. 19:14). The land was eventually divided by lot, and boundary markers were set up. The moving of such a boundary marker was not allowed by the faithful God, who gave the children of Israel the good land to possess. To move a boundary marker was to change God's ordination.
All the foregoing statutes and judgments show that our God is careful and detailed. They also reveal that in caring for His people He is loving, holy, righteous, and just.
The six points covered in this message can be arranged in three pairs. The first pair is the supply of the Levitical priests and the whole tribe of Levi and the prohibitions against certain evil practices. The first item shows us that God and His people, including the serving ones, are one large family. In this family God the Father is the source. He gave the good land to His children, who then had to work the land. Eventually, they reaped a harvest, which was to be enjoyed both by God and by all the people. They were to bring a portion of the produce to the serving ones, and the serving ones were to offer a portion of what they received to God. In this way, God and His serving ones shared the tithes and lived together.
God has a large family, and the entire family, including God, the One who has given the good land, is involved with the good land. The good land is a type of the all-inclusive Christ. God lives on the produce of this land. If we do not labor on the good land, there will not be any food for God. God's food is the produce of the good land, and this produce comes through our labor. If we do not labor on Christ as the good land and experience Christ, how can Christ be God's food? We need to labor on Christ and experience Christ. Then Christ will be the produce not only for our satisfaction but also for God's satisfaction.
The evil things prohibited in 18:9-14 indicate that there is another family, a family that is full of such devilish and demonic things as divination, soothsaying, sorcery, and witchcraft. Fallen human beings, having lost God, turn to these evil things for the sake of security, longevity, peace, and well-being. We have nothing to do with these things, for God Himself is our inheritance, security, and future. He is everything to us, including our amusement and entertainment. But those who have lost God as their enjoyment are in darkness and, turning from God to another source, practice the evil, demonic things forbidden by God.
The second pair includes the Prophet who was to be raised up by God and the false prophet. The Triune God embodied in Christ as the Spirit is not only our portion and our enjoyment but also our Prophet. As our Prophet, He speaks God's word to us. Our future is in Him.
For the third pair, we have the word concerning the cities of refuge and the word concerning the moving of the neighbor's boundary marker. On the one hand, we have a word indicating that Christ is our city of refuge, that He is the place into which we can escape. On the other hand, we have a warning about greed. Those who are greedy may want to change God's ordination by moving their neighbor's boundary marker. In order to get something more for themselves, they invade the land belonging to others. This is abominable in the eyes of God. Instead of being greedy and invading another's portion, we should learn to be contented with our Christ. As long as we have the portion God has ordained, we should be satisfied. Let us all enjoy Christ and be satisfied with Him.
