Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 492 | God Desires Our Best and Our First - Deuteronomy 17

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492 | God Desires Our Best and Our First - Deuteronomy 17 · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  God is in control.
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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Livin' her life for Christ She's a happy girl.
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  Music.
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  She's a happy girl,
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  She's a happy girl Have you ever thought about what it really means to give God your best?
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  Deuteronomy chapter 17 is full of instructions for the Israelites on sacrifices,
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  avoiding idolatry, resolving disputes, and even how to choose a king.
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  While some of these commands may feel distant from our everyday lives,
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  the principles behind them are timeless.
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  This chapter reminds us that God deserves our very best, our purest worship,
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  our highest devotion, and our first priority.
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  It warns us about anything that would take His rightful place in our lives.
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  It calls us to respect authority, to live justly, and to make decisions that honor Him.
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  And it challenges leaders, whether kings or everyday influencers,
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  to lead with humility, keep God's Word close, and never let pride take root.
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  Join us in this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast as Erica
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  Close teaches from Deuteronomy chapter 17.
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  Together, we'll discover how to live lives with integrity, honor God's authority,
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  and lead, whether in our homes, workplaces, or communities, in a way that reflects God's heart.
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  Well, thank you so much for joining us in this podcast of Women at the Well Ministries.
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  I just love the book of Deuteronomy. It's not a simple book,
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  but I find it to be an absolute goldmine of lessons for each and every one of
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  us, though we may live thousands of years from when Deuteronomy was written,
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  and though we live on this side of the cross in the full forgiveness and the
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  grace and mercy of Jesus.
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  Deuteronomy still holds true.
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  Join me as we start in Deuteronomy chapter 17.
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  Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or sheep wherein
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  is blemish or any evil favoredness, for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.
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  If there be found among you within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth
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  thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy
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  God, in transgressing his covenant,
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  and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun or
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  moon or any of the hosts of heaven which I have not commanded,
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  and it be told thee, and thou hast heard it, and inquired diligently,
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  and behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such an abomination is wrought in Israel,
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  then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman which have committed that
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  wicked thing unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them
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  with stones till they die.
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  At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of
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  death be put to death, but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
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  The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death,
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  and afterward the hands of all the people.
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  So thou shalt put away the evil from among you.
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  If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood,
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  between plea and plea, and between
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  stroke and stroke, be in matters of controversy within thy gates, then.
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  Then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.
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  And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall
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  be in those days, and inquire, and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment.
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  And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the
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  Lord shall choose shall shew thee, and thou shalt observe to do according to
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  all that they inform thee,
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  according to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee,
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  and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do.
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  Thou shalt not decline from the
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  sentence which they shall show thee to the right hand, nor to the left.
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  And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest
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  that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge,
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  even that man shall die, and thou shalt be put away the evil from Israel.
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  And all the people shall hear, and fear and do no more presumptuously.
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  When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
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  and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me,
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  like as all the nations that are about me, thou shalt in any wise set him king
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  over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose.
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  One from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee.
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  Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee which is not thy brother,
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  but he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return
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  to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses, for as much as the Lord
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  hath said unto you, he shall henceforth return no more that way.
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  Neither shall he multiply wives to himself that his heart turn not away,
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  and neither shall he multiply greatly to himself silver and gold.
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  And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom,
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  that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before
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  the priests, the Levites.
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  And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life,
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  that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all of the words of this
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  law and these statutes, to do them.
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  That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren and that he turn not aside
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  from the commandment to the right hand or to the left to the end that he may
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  prolong his days in his kingdom he and his children in the midst of Israel.
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  What a chapter! This chapter includes some tough instructions for the Israelites.
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  Chapter 17 gives instruction on sacrifices, dealing with idolaters,
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  how to settle hard decisions, and how to select a king.
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  While many of these things may not have even occurred yet, the Lord is ensuring
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  that no one can say they never knew what God thought about something.
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  The chapter opens up with a verse on giving God our best.
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  As sacrifices are made to the Lord, whether it's a bull or a sheep,
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  those sacrifices were to be perfect, and they were to be the best that the owner
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  had, and they were to be without blemish or any evil part.
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  A blemish to the sacrifice was an abomination to the Lord.
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  God is the best. God has given us His best, and to Him we must give our best.
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  As we give him our best, he's also supposed to be first.
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  Verses 2 through 7 deal with the sin of idolatry.
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  Idolatry transgressed the covenant set between God and the Israelites.
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  To go out and to serve and worship other gods, whether they were the gods of
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  the sun, the moon, or the stars, was to sever completely the relationship between oneself and God.
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  Chapter 13 of Deuteronomy set forth that it was a capital crime to draw others
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  away to serve other gods.
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  And here in chapter 17, it sets forth that it is a capital crime to be drawn
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  away and to serve other gods.
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  The rest of this section describes that capital punishment.
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  The capital punishment was not to be taken lightly, but was to be investigated
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  diligently so that the truth was discovered.
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  The investigation required more than one witness And most strikingly,
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  the witnesses themselves were to be the ones to carry out the capital punishment.
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  The capital punishment was not to be taken lightly, but if it was going to occur,
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  it was going to occur in such a way that those who witnessed the crime understood the punishment.
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  The next section of this chapter instructs the Israelites on what to do when.
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  A difficult decision or a difficult disagreement occurred between two parties.
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  When there was a difficulty, whether it was between family or neighbors,
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  the Israelites were to go to God's chosen place of judgment.
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  Judges and officers were set up in the previous chapter, Deuteronomy 16,
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  18, and it was to them that one was to travel.
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  The judges and the Levites were the ones to make judgments regarding issues,
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  and those judgments were to be followed.
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  These judgments, as delivered by God's chosen, were to be considered judgments from God himself.
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  Thus, they were to be followed completely, with no diversion to the left or to the right.
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  Like the sin of idolatry, not following the judgments was a severe crime, punishable by death.
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  The last section of this chapter deals with the selection of a king.
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  While the Israelites didn't have kings, the nations around them did have a king.
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  And the Lord knew that as soon as they moved into the promised land,
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  they too would want a king.
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  Thus he laid out what they would need to know about having a king.
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  The king was to be chosen by the Lord from the Israelites and the Israelites alone.
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  The king was not to focus on collecting wealth like horses or to take the Israelites back to Egypt.
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  The king was also not to collect wives or silver or gold so that his heart would
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  be turned away from the Lord.
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  The king was also instructed to know the law. The king was to copy out his own
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  copy of the law and to read it every day of his life so that he would learn
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  to fear the Lord and to keep his law and statues.
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  The end goal for the king is found in verse 20. The king's heart was not to
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  be lifted above his brothers in pride, and he was not to turn away from the law.
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  Only in doing so would he be a prosperous king.
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  Goodness, this chapter may at times seem challenging when trying to find application
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  to our lives on this side of the cross.
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  However, regardless of where we find ourselves in God's Word,
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  there is always a lesson for us.
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  God's intent is for us to ask Him for help in discovering those lessons.
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  As we look at the opening of chapter 17 in Deuteronomy, the lessons on the sacrifice
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  of a bull or a sheep should resonate in our hearts.
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  The instruction wasn't about the bull or the sheep. It was about giving God our very best.
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  Anything offered to him that was blemished was considered an abomination because
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  it didn't represent the best.
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  Our goal as Christians is to give God our best. God gave us his son Jesus as
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  the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
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  While we can never offer anything remotely equal to that sacrifice,
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  we can still intentionally give him our best at all times.
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  The second lesson in this chapter is about making God first.
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  While this passage includes specific instructions related to Jewish law and
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  the practice of capital punishment, the key for us is not the punishment itself, but what led to it.
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  God desires to be first in our lives.
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  When we make an idol of anything other than God, we commit the sin of idolatry.
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  Just as God made a covenant with the Israelites, we have a covenant relationship
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  with God, sealed by the blood of Jesus.
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  We should never sin against that covenant by making anything else an idol or
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  allowing something to take God's place of authority in our lives.
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  The Israelites were instructed to take idolatry seriously, and it's wise for
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  us to take the time to examine our own lives to ensure that we aren't allowing
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  anything to take God's rightful place.
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  When dealing with disagreements or making difficult decisions,
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  we can turn to these lessons from the Old Testament for guidance.
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  When the Israelites couldn't make a decision, they were instructed to go to
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  the judges and officers for rulings or judgments on those matters.
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  The judgments were to be followed because the judges themselves were considered to be chosen by the Lord.
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  This brings us back to this main theme of authority.
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  While the authority of God is paramount, here we see the authority of man at work.
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  Romans 13, 1-2 says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
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  For there is no power but of God, and the powers that be are ordained of God.
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  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God,
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  and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
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  The systems and the structures that
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  are in place are designed to help our communities remain safe and lawful.
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  As Christians, we are called to live in a way that honors not only God's laws,
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  but also the laws of the land in which we live.
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  This reflects our respect for authority, which ultimately honors God.
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  Romans 13, 8-10 also guides us in that principle.
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  O no man anything but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
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  For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill,
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  thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet,
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  and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,
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  Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
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  Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
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  The last section in this chapter for the Israelites was a lesson on the selection
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  of and responsibilities of a king.
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  But there is a lesson here for all those in any kind of leadership.
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  First of all, leaders are put in place by the Lord himself.
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  When we find ourselves in a position of leadership, we must check to ensure
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  it is the Lord who has placed us there.
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  We need to trust that if we are in a position of leadership,
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  it is where the Lord wants us to be.
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  Therefore, as leaders, we must make sure that we are leading the way God wants us to lead.
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  When we look at what God desired for a king of the Israelites,
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  we can find lessons for ourselves.
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  The king wasn't supposed to focus on wealth or influence because these things
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  would turn his heart away from the Lord.
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  But the king was also supposed to know the Lord.
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  He was meant to know God's word well and understand God himself intimately.
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  Just like the end goal for the king was found in verse 20, a powerful lesson
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  in leadership is also found there.
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  The king's heart was not to be lifted up in pride above his brothers,
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  and he was not to turn away from God's word.
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  That lesson rings true for all of us. We are to live humble lives,
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  not thinking more highly of ourselves than we should, and keeping our hearts
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  and minds focused on God's word,
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  looking to it as the rule of law for our very lives.
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  Friends, remember that you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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  Remember that God loves you, you.
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  Music.