HEIRS OF GOD
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Opening Prayer
Jesus, I could receive no greater gift than your offering yourself on the cross for me. Help me to show my gratitude in ways that glorify you, that lead others to you.
Read DEUTERONOMY 18
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Offerings for Priests and Levites
18 The Levitical priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.
3 This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head. 4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, 5 for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord’s name always.
6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose, 7 he may minister in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord. 8 He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.
Occult Practices
9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.
The Prophet
14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
God gave us himself in Christ!
The first section of today’s text, verses 1–8, deals with the material provision Israel was to make for its ministers, the priests, and Levites. These arrangements made sure that these men could look after the nation’s spiritual welfare without worrying about where their next meal would come from. The same principle is rightly applied in most Christian churches for the support of their pastors and teachers. What a privilege Israel’s priests and Levites enjoyed, to have the Lord as their sole inheritance (v. 2). Since all Christ’s followers together form ‘a royal priesthood,’1 God himself has become our special inheritance too!
The second section, verses 9–13, speaks about the occult practices that prevailed in Canaan. God clearly hates human attempts to contact and harness the powers of the spiritual beings in the unseen realm. One of the most horrific rituals was the sacrifice of children as burnt offerings to the Canaanite deity, Molech. God must have a special place in his heart for ‘little children,’ as witnessed by Jesus’ tender words about them.2 How much, then, should we Christians emulate our heavenly Father by cherishing and protecting the most vulnerable among us!
The third section, verses 14–22, warns Israel against false prophets, whose crime in leading people astray is so grave that it deserves the death penalty (v. 20). They are easy to identify because their messages fail to come true. Mankind’s longing for truth and spiritual fulfillment leaves many open to abuse by self-seeking and often demon-inspired guides. Moses was a true prophet of God, but he points forward (v. 15) to the coming of the Prophet of prophets to whom we must all listen—Jesus Christ. His voice is revealed and applied to us by his Spirit through the Scriptures.
Apply
Have you ever dabbled in the occult (e.g., horoscopes)? If so, how have you been intentional in your renunciation of such practices?
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, give me discernment in identifying things that would attempt to sway me from Jesus. Help me to keep my path straight as I follow him.
1 1 Pet 2:9 2 Matt 18:2–5
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