Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / July 24 - Deuteronomy 24

Transcript

July 24 - Deuteronomy 24 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello, friends. It's Sean here.
• 0:13
  It's Thursday. It's the 24th of Deuteronomy,
• 0:17
  and I don't know whether you've noticed, but this is one of
• 0:19
  those magical weeks, which doesn't happen all that often,
• 0:21
  where the chapter that we're reading and the date of the
• 0:24
  month are the same number. Oh, Gee, that is a glorious
• 0:27
  thing. I don't know whether that makes
• 0:29
  me somewhat odd, but these sort of things really work for me.
• 0:32
  And I can hear you diagnosing me right now as I say this, but
• 0:37
  that's OK. We are who we are, right?
• 0:39
  And this Bible reading is what it is.
• 0:42
  And, you know, terrible things like crushed nuts.
• 0:45
  Yeah, that's just part of the Bible reading.
• 0:47
  And we've got to read it and keep on going.
• 0:49
  And today the the 1st 7 verses of the next chapter is where
• 0:54
  Moses continues to unpack not stealing.
• 0:57
  And this is not just stealing people's possessions, but
• 1:01
  stealing their livelihood, stealing their dignity, stealing
• 1:04
  their self respect. And then it moves on to the next
• 1:09
  commandment. This is the 9th commandment.
• 1:12
  Of course you shall not give false testimony against your
• 1:15
  neighbour. When I say of course, fear not.
• 1:18
  I had to look it up to make sure I was getting it right as well.
• 1:20
  And this this talks about having good relationships with our
• 1:25
  neighbours and building relationships that are based on
• 1:28
  truth and mutual respect. And that is certainly something
• 1:32
  that is worth reading about today as much as it was back in
• 1:35
  the day when this was shared with God's people.
• 1:38
  So let us unwrap this gift together as we read together
• 1:42
  Deuteronomy chapter 24. Suppose a man marries a woman,
• 1:57
  but she does not please him. Having discovered something
• 2:00
  wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to
• 2:04
  her, and sends her away from his house.
• 2:07
  When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man.
• 2:11
  But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a
• 2:14
  document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if
• 2:18
  he dies, the first husband may not marry her again, for she has
• 2:24
  been defiled. That would be detestable to the
• 2:27
  Lord. You must not bring guilt upon
• 2:30
  the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special
• 2:33
  possession. A newly married man must not be
• 2:37
  drafted into the army or given any other official
• 2:40
  responsibilities. He must be free to spend one
• 2:43
  year at home bringing happiness to the wife he has married.
• 2:49
  It is wrong to take a set of millstones or even just the
• 2:52
  upper millstone as security for a loan for the owner uses it to
• 2:57
  make a living. If anyone kidnaps A fellow
• 3:01
  Israelite and treats him as a slave or sells him, the
• 3:04
  kidnapper must die. In this way you will purge the
• 3:08
  evil from among you. In all cases involving serious
• 3:13
  skin diseases, be careful to follow the instructions of the
• 3:17
  Levitical priests. Obey all the commands I've given
• 3:20
  them. Remember what the Lord your God
• 3:23
  did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt.
• 3:27
  If you lend anything to your neighbour, do not enter his
• 3:30
  house to pick up the item he is giving as security.
• 3:34
  You must wait outside while he goes in and brings it out to
• 3:37
  you. If your neighbour is poor and
• 3:40
  gives you his cloak as security for a loan, do not keep the
• 3:43
  cloak overnight. Return the cloak to its owner by
• 3:47
  sunset so he can stay warm through the night and bless you,
• 3:51
  and the Lord your God will count you as righteous.
• 3:56
  Never take advantage of poor and destitute labourers, whether
• 4:00
  they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns.
• 4:04
  You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because
• 4:08
  they are poor and are counting on it.
• 4:11
  If you don't, they might cry out to the Lord against you, and it
• 4:16
  would be counted against you as sin.
• 4:20
  Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children,
• 4:24
  nor children for the sins of their parents.
• 4:26
  Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own
• 4:29
  crimes. True justice must be given to
• 4:33
  foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never
• 4:37
  accept a widow's garment as security for her debt.
• 4:41
  Always remember that you are slaves in Egypt and that the
• 4:44
  Lord your God redeemed you from slavery.
• 4:47
  That is why I have given you this command.
• 4:51
  When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a
• 4:54
  bundle of grain from your field, don't go back to get it.
• 4:58
  Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.
• 5:01
  Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.
• 5:05
  When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don't go over
• 5:09
  the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for
• 5:12
  the foreigners, orphans, and widows.
• 5:14
  When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don't glean the
• 5:17
  vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for
• 5:21
  the foreigners, orphans, and widows.
• 5:24
  Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt.
• 5:27
  That is why I am giving you this command,
• 5:41
  Our Lord. What refreshing insight and
• 5:43
  kindness we see in these verses in our lives and in our world,
• 5:48
  where we chase every last penny of what's owed to us as we seek
• 5:55
  to eke out the last little bits of efficiencies.
• 6:00
  Here you show us a different way, a way of generosity, a way
• 6:05
  that says I have enough, what's leftover.
• 6:08
  Let that go to those who don't have as much, a way that cares
• 6:13
  for those less fortunate than us.
• 6:18
  Our Lord, I pray that you continue your work of softening
• 6:21
  our hearts to look beyond our own needs to the needs of
• 6:24
  others, so that when we leave this world, we leave it a better
• 6:29
  place, A place where your Kingdom has come, a place where
• 6:34
  others have had their needs met, and not just exclusively all of
• 6:38
  our toils and labours toward meeting our own needs.
• 6:41
  Our Lord, we need your help building up the generosity of
• 6:45
  our hearts to be this way. So come Holy Spirit, transform
• 6:50
  us from the inside out. We pray this in Jesus name,
• 6:54
  Amen.