Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 489 | Observe, Rejoice, and Give - Deuteronomy 16

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489 | Observe, Rejoice, and Give - Deuteronomy 16 · 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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  Living 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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  Have you ever noticed how much God values both remembrance and rejoicing?
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  Deuteronomy chapter 16 takes us on a journey through three important feasts,
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  Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles, reminding the Israelites to remember God's
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  deliverance, rejoice in His blessings, and gather in the place He has chosen.
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  These celebrations were not optional. They were acts of obedience,
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  opportunities for gratitude, and moments to come together as God's people.
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  But this chapter isn't only about feasts. It's about how we live every day.
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  God calls His people to give generously, to show up faithfully,
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  to choose leaders who value justice, and to guard the sacred places of worship
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  from anything that would come between us and Him.
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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 16.
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  Together, we'll discover how to live lives marked by remembrance,
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  rejoicing, generosity, and
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  purity of heart, so that nothing comes between us and the Lord we love.
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  Hello, everyone. I am so excited that we get to jump into Deuteronomy 16.
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  So here we go. Please start reading with me. Verse 1.
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  Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God.
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  For in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
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  Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord thy God of the flock
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  and the herd in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there.
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  Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it.
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  Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction,
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  for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, that thou mayest remember
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  the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
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  And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven
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  days, neither shall there anything of the flesh which thou sacrifices the first
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  day at even, remain all night until the morning.
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  Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates,
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  which the Lord thy God giveth thee, but at the place which the Lord thy God
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  shall choose to place his name in.
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  There thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun,
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  at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.
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  And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,
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  and thou shalt turn it in the morning, and go unto thy tents.
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  Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day shall be a
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  solemn assembly to the Lord thy God.
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  Thou shalt do no work therein.
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  Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee, begin to number the seven weeks from
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  such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.
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  And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute
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  of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy
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  God according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
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  And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son and thy daughter
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  and thy manservant and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates,
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  and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are among you,
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  in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
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  And thou shalt remember that thou
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  wast a bondsman in Egypt, and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
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  Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast
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  gathered in thine corn and thy wine.
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  And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou and thy son, and thy daughter,
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  and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger,
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  and the fatherless, and the widow that are within thy gates.
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  Seven days thou shalt keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place
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  which the Lord shall choose, because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all
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  thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands.
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  Therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
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  Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the
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  place which he shall choose, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
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  in the Feast of Weeks, and in
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  the Feast of Tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty.
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  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy
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  God which he hath given thee.
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  Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates which the Lord thy
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  God giveth thee throughout thy tribes.
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  And they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment,
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  thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift.
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  For a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous.
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  That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live and inherit
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  the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
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  Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord
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  thy God, which thou shalt make thee, neither shalt thou set thee up any image
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  which the Lord thy God hateth.
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  Last week, in Deuteronomy chapter 15, we read all about how grace was applied
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  by the Israelites at the command of God to those within their families and communities.
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  This week, we have another chapter that serves as a review.
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  Deuteronomy chapter 16 covers a number of very specific feasts that the Israelites
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  were required to celebrate, as well as the sacrifices they were required to
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  offer throughout the year.
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  Remember, by the time Deuteronomy was written, many of those who had actually
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  left Egypt had died, so the Israelites needed this review.
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  In this chapter, we see a recap of the Feast of the Passover,
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  the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
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  This chapter also provides instructions about choosing good leaders and applying
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  justice within our communities.
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  Finally, it teaches us, as it taught the Israelites, how we are to treat the
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  sacred spaces that God chooses for us.
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  As Deuteronomy chapter 16 opens, the Israelites are instructed to remember to
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  keep the feast of the Passover.
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  The feast of the Passover was to be celebrated during the month of Abib because
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  it was the month of Abib that the Israelites were brought out of Egypt.
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  It's important to note that this tells us that the Lord brought the Israelites
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  out of Egypt by night, and the night itself had an important role to play in
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  the feast of the Passover.
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  Like so many feasts, the Passover required a sacrifice from the flock and from
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  the herd, and that sacrifice was to be held at a very specific place.
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  The Passover, as we read in verse 3, was to be celebrated with unleavened bread,
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  which the verse refers to as the bread of affliction.
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  This was not necessarily tasty bread, but it served as a reminder of what occurred
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  in the lives of the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt.
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  The feast of the Passover lasted for seven days, ending with a solemn assembly.
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  As we read in verse 2, the sacrifice for Passover was to be held at the place
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  of God's choosing, at a specific time in that specific month,
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  which would therefore be for a specific season.
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  The solemn assembly was a day
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  set apart to the Lord, and it was a day in which there should be no work.
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  The second feast that is described in Deuteronomy chapter 16 is a feast of weeks.
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  The feast of weeks was held seven weeks from the time that the Israelites began
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  to put the sickle to the corn, or seven weeks after the harvest.
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  The Feast of Weeks was a time of rejoicing and required a freewill offering.
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  While there were very specific regulations about the Passover,
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  the Feast of Weeks included a freewill offering out of the hand of the Israelites,
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  which was to be given to the Lord according to how the Lord had blessed them.
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  This was not a tithe, but instead was a freewill offering above and beyond the
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  tithe that allowed the Israelites to give back to the Lord what He had blessed them with.
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  The Feast of Weeks was a time of rejoicing for all those in one's household.
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  In verse 11, we read that it was to be celebrated by the Israelites,
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  their sons, their daughters, their manservants, their maidservants,
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  and even the Levite that lived near their household.
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  Those who were not part of the family but were within the household or the community,
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  such as the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, were also to be included
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  in the rejoicing that occurred during the Feast of Weeks.
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  The last of the feasts that is reviewed in Deuteronomy 16 is the Feast of Tabernacles.
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  Like the others, the Feast of Tabernacles followed an instruction for the Israelites
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  to remember their time in Egypt.
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  The captivity and the subsequent freedom of the Israelites in Egypt set the
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  precedent for the ways that God would work in and through their lives.
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  And for that, they were to be continually reminded.
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  The Feast of Tabernacles was held after the Israelites had gathered in their
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  corn and their wine, and again, this was a feast of rejoicing.
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  Like the Feast of Weeks, everyone within a household, as well as all those who
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  live nearby, were to celebrate and rejoice in this feast.
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  Also like the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Tabernacles lasted seven days and
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  was to be held exactly in the place where the Lord had commanded.
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  It was not to be celebrated in any other way.
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  Deuteronomy 16.15 ends with a powerful statement about why all of these feasts were to occur.
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  Because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase and in all the
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  works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
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  Each of these feasts was about rejoicing and taking the time to pause and choosing to rejoice.
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  This chapter includes a few verses that refer back to all of the feasts.
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  These three feasts required that all the men in a household appear at the place
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  that the Lord chooses, and that when they appeared, they were not to appear
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  before the Lord empty-handed.
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  There was no reason for the Israelites to appear before the Lord empty-handed
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  because the Lord had truly blessed them, and He had blessed them abundantly.
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  Verse 17 reminded them, Every man shall give as he is able, according to the
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  blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee.
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  This chapter closes with some instruction about the judges and the officers
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  who were to be chosen within each community.
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  Judges and officers were to be chosen, and they were to judge the people justly.
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  A judgment was not to be wrested or wrestled from a judge, and judges weren't
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  to have any respect of persons or favorites.
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  They were not to take gifts as a bribe, because as the Scripture says,
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  a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous.
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  Verse 20 includes a powerful statement about justice.
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  The Israelites were to follow the things that were just, because in doing so,
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  they would live and be able to inherit the land the Lord wanted to give them.
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  The last part of Deuteronomy chapter 16 talks about taking care of the special
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  places that the Lord had chosen for them to offer their sacrifices.
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  The Lord laid these places out for the Israelites, and they were places of His choosing.
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  It's important that the Israelites made their sacrifices in these places because
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  it required them to be in a place where they were operating on God's terms and not on their own.
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  These were places where the Israelites could, through their sacrifice, commune with the Lord.
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  The Lord had two commands regarding these special places.
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  First, He did not want the Israelites to plant trees near the altar in the special places.
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  Doing so would give shade to the altar, but it would also place something in
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  between the altar and the Lord.
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  Second, in verse 22, the Israelites were not to set up any images,
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  like any graven images, but were to keep the altars sacred.
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  The Israelites lived surrounded by many different cultures, and there were many
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  opportunities for them to conform to other cultures.
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  But if Deuteronomy chapter 16 shows us anything. It shows us that God's desire
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  was that they would conform only to Him.
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  As we read Deuteronomy chapter 16, we may think, what on earth does this chapter have to do with me?
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  As Christians who live on this side of the cross, under the grace of the Lord,
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  all of this information about the Feast of the Passover, the Feast of Weeks,
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  and the Feast of Tabernacles seems so foreign and out of our practice as Christians.
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  But there are always lessons for us in each chapter of Deuteronomy.
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  And if we take a close look at this chapter, what we see is a number of commands
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  that all include these amazingly powerful verbs that apply 100% to how we are
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  to live our lives as Christians.
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  Verse 1 of Deuteronomy chapter 16 opens with the word observe.
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  In this case, observe means to set apart and to make sure that we are recognizing
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  the events that the Lord wants us to recognize.
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  Verse 2 talks about sacrifice. We may not be sacrificing animals to the Lord,
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  but we are called to live lives of sacrifice.
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  We're called to sacrifice our own will and our own desire and to follow the Lord and the Lord alone.
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  If we jump down into the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles and take
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  a look at those special verbs, we see that the Israelites were called to rejoice and to remember.
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  Again, they're called to observe, and again, they are called to rejoice.
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  They are called to keep a solemn feast.
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  We are called to keep our appointments with the Lord. The truth found in Deuteronomy
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  16.15 applies to each and every one of us.
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  Because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase and in all the
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  works of thine hands, and therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
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  We are called to rejoice. We are also called to show up.
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  While the Israelites were required to show up for these feasts three times a
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  year, we are called to show up.
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  We're called to show up in church. We're called to show up for those in our communities.
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  We are called to show up for our families.
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  We are called just to show up whenever the Lord gives us an assignment that only comes from Him.
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  Just as we are called to show up, we are called to give. God's Word is clear
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  about the importance of the tithe, but the Word is also clear about offerings.
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  While we ensure that we are giving our 10%, we are also called to give offerings
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  that are above and beyond our 10%, because those are our choices.
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  Those are the offerings that we choose to give back to the Lord.
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  Each and every one of these free will offerings is a demonstration of faith.
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  It's a demonstration of remembrance. It is saying, Lord, I saw what you did there.
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  And when we see what the Lord has done, we give thanks by offering back to Him.
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  While verses 19 and 20 are about leaders, they're applicable to our lives today.
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  When we are working with leaders of any kind, it's incredibly important that
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  the rule of law and justice is followed.
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  The Lord makes it clear that judgment is not to be wrestled,
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  that favoritism and impartiality are forgiven, and that leaders should not be
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  bribed because a bribe blinds the eyes of even the wisest person.
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  It sullies the words of those who are righteous.
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  We all know how leaders should act and how justice should occur,
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  but we can all use a reminder of how God is calling leaders to live.
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  Lastly, while we may not go to an altar to offer sacrifices,
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  we do go to church, and we do spend time in prayer, praise, worship,
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  and scripture reading at home.
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  And in the same way that the Israelites were not to plant a grove of trees around
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  an altar such that they would provide shade and that the leaves would be something
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  in between the altar and the Lord,
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  we shouldn't be planting things in our lives that can in any way come between us and the Lord.
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  God's desire is that nothing would be between us and Him.
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  Therefore, we are called to remove anything in our lives that hinders our relationship with Him.
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  God wants nothing more than our full hearts. Don't let anything come between you and Him.
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  Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
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  well in John chapter four.
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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 or on
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  our website at watwm.org.
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  We invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Music.