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June 24 - Deuteronomy 14 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello, friends, it's Sean here. It's Tuesday.
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  It's the 24th of June. So glad to have your company as
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  we are continuing making our way through Deuteronomy, which
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  literally is the second law. And this is a book that, well,
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  it's caused so much consternation and confusion to
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  biblical scholars for such a long time.
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  And it was really actually not that long ago, even in my
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  lifetime in 1979, when Steven Kaufman sat down and and pulled
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  the book apart and came up with the theory of the structure of
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  the book actually mirroring the 10 commandments.
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  And that has kind of revolutionised how people see
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  the book and work their way through it.
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  And we are at the moment in a part, and you might think, well,
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  yesterday's reading had very little to do with not misusing
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  God's name, but looking at the theme more broadly about
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  commitment to God yesterday and today.
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  And then before we wrap up today, we kind of begin the next
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  section, which cracks open the things that we owe God, like
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  tithe. So let's do it.
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  Let us continue to unpack what it looks like to keep God at the
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  centre of our lives as we read together Deuteronomy chapter 14.
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  Since you are the people of the Lord your God, never cut
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  yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning
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  for the dead. You have been set apart as holy
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  to the Lord your God, and He has chosen you from all the nations
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  of the earth to be His own special treasure.
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  You must not eat any detestable animals that are ceremonially
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  unclean. These are the animals you may
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  eat, the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the
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  Rd deer, the wild goat, the addicts, the antelope, and the
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  mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has
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  completely split hooves and chews the cud, but if the animal
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  doesn't have both, it may not be eaten.
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  So you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the hyrax.
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  They chew the cud but do not have split hooves, so they are
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  ceremonially unclean for you. And you may not eat the pig.
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  It has split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is
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  ceremonially unclean for you. You may not eat the meat of
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  these animals, or even touch their carcasses.
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  Of all the marine animals, you may eat whatever has both fins
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  and scales. You may not, however, eat marine
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  animals that do not have both fins and scales.
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  They are ceremonially unclean for you.
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  You may eat any bird that is ceremonially clean.
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  These are the birds you may not eat.
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  The gryphon vulture, the bearded vulture, The black vulture, the
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  kite, The Falcon, buzzards of all kinds, Ravens of all kinds.
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  The eagle owl, The short eared owl, The seagull, Hawks of all
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  kinds. The little owl, The great owl,
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  The barn owl, The desert owl, The Egyptian vulture, The
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  cormorant, The stork, herons of all kinds, The hoopoo, and the
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  bat. All winged insects that can walk
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  along the ground are ceremonially uncleaned for you
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  and may not be eaten, but you may eat any winged bird or
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  insect that is ceremonially clean.
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  You must not eat anything that has died a natural death.
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  You may give it to a foreigner living in your town, or you may
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  sell it to a stranger, but do not eat it yourselves, for you
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  are set apart as holy to the Lord your God.
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  You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
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  You must set aside a tithe of your crops, 110th of all the
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  crops you harvest each year. Bring this tithe to the
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  designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses
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  for His name to be honoured, and eat it there in His presence.
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  This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and
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  the first born males of your flocks and herds.
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  Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God.
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  Now when the Lord your God blesses you with a good harvest,
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  the place of worship He chooses for His name to be honoured
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  might be too far for you to bring the tithe.
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  If so, you must sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds,
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  put the money in a pouch and go to the place the Lord your God
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  has chosen. When you arrive, you may use the
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  money to buy any kind of food you want, cattle, sheep, goats,
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  wine or other alcoholic drink. Then feast there in the presence
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  of the Lord your God and celebrate with your household.
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  And do not neglect the Levites in your town, for they will
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  receive no allotment of land among you.
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  At the end of every 3rd year, bring the entire tithe of that
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  year's harvest and store it in the nearest town.
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  Give it to the Levites who will receive no allotment of land
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  among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the
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  orphans and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be
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  satisfied. Then the Lord your God will
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  bless you in all your work. Jesus, in these words that we
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  read, we see so clearly that we are set apart.
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  We are not to be the same as everyone else, but you have a
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  special way for us to be, a way for us to interact with the
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  world, a way that uses a lens. A lens primarily fine tunes to
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  seeing you and everything. You as our provider and our
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  Lord, You as our Heavenly Father who looks after us.
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  And Lord, it may not be wanting to eat bats or the desert owl,
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  but certainly there will be things in our lives that look
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  awfully tempting and simple and easy and just so convenient to
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  do, things that we know probably aren't what You would want for
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  us. Our Lord, I pray when those
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  desires tempt our hearts that you sharpen that lens before us,
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  that we continue to engage with the world as you're blessed
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  people, chosen and loved by you, set apart to be holy, and your
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  special possession, Ah, we just claim our identity as your
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  special ones. And we are so grateful that you
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  would call U.S. special. And so we give ourselves to you
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  again and pray that you use us as you would have us and hold us
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  ever close. And we pray this all in your
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  name, Jesus, Amen.