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Deuteronomy Chapter 12 "Laws of the Land, Sacred Places and Meats." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location In the last chapter Moses warned the people of the blessings that would come to them for keeping the commandments and statutes, and the curses that would come upon those that would not keep the commandments of God. These commandments and statutes which is called the "laws of the land". This is what we will look at for the next fifteen chapters, for the laws that God gave us to govern our people, sets our relationship with the heavenly Father. Though it is a repetition given over and over, it still is the heart of what we need to know about the law. The law is in relationship to ourselves and our heavenly Father, and it gives us the rights and duties to our spiritual and political leaders within our community. How we govern all parts of our lives is laid out within these teachings that Moses is giving us in the law. This is what Moses taught the people in the last thirty days of his life. Deuteronomy 12:1 "These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth." We know from the last chapter that these laws are to be passed on father to son, mother to daughter for a thousand generation. The law and the commandments were to be followed all the days of your life for all the generation of this earth age. The law is give for this earth age of the flesh, and as long as you are on the earth, being blessed by God, you are to be following these laws and commandments. There are many New Testament preachers teach that: "all of the law is done away with". The law has not been done away with, however there are some blood rituals and offerings that God did do away with, when they were fulfilled by Jesus death on the cross. As far as the law is or should be concerned with, every law and statute of our local, state, and federal government is based on these laws that Moses is about to give us. These laws are based upon the ten commandments, and those commandments regulate and set the limits and bounds for the rest of our laws. The laws that are on the books govern how you treat other, and their property, and each of them has their roots in the laws of God given to Moses. We will see part of the the health laws in this chapter, and we must be careful that we separate the laws and statutes concerning our health, from those concerning blood sacrifice. Jesus Christ became our blood sacrifice for one and all times, however that sacrifice simply does not touch the health laws. They are addressing two separate things. God created your flesh body, and He knows what it takes to keep your flesh body healthy. God is the one instructing us as to what we should and should not eat to keep our flesh healthy and disease free. We will see in this chapter instructions concerning our eating of meats. We see continually where physicians come up with their great find as to why many people are getting sick on certain foods, however, all the time their finds were written in God's health laws that many Christian say are done away with. In their doing away with God's laws, their flesh body suffers for their stupidity of rejecting the instructions of our Lord. God told us that we are not to eat the scavengers, and that includes pork, catfish, the raven and many other creatures that are on the earth for the sole purpose of eating the filth of the earth, and keeping the poisons within themselves. These creatures are not food to be partaken of, and the passage given in I Timothy 4:4 is concerning those animals "created to be partaken of". Verse five is the completion of verse four, and identifies what creatures Timothy is referring to. I Timothy 4:4 "For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving." I Timothy 4:5 "For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." The Word of God, under the law of God [the health laws] absolutely does not sanctify any of the scavengers in any part of the law. When you eat the pork, your body takes on all the poisons of that animal. It has nothing to do with sinning, however for your ignorance of the law and your eating of forbidden foods, your body takes on the poisons, and the metabolism of your body gets all messed up. The results of a few moments of enjoyment of eating those foods results in suffering and sickness within your body until your body rids itself of those poisons. Colosians 2:16 "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:" We are not to be judged of those animals that God created to be partaken of as being clean. It seems that people like to take only the portions of the scripture that they want to apply to themselves and they feel that by their ignorance God is suppose to change the rest of His Word for them to fit your wants. The traditions of men makes void the issue that the Word speaks of. So we will try to separate the statutes and ordinances of the law that deal with animal sacrifices, and those dealing with the health laws. We will separate those things that have been fulfilled in Christ's death on the cross and no longer apply, from those instructions dealing with our eating habits and food.. Deuteronomy 12:2 "Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:" The "groves" of worship, "under the green tree", are places where the religious sexual orgies and fertility rites took place in Baal and Asharoth worship. These included all sorts of religious rights that are unbelievable to our generation today. The "green tree" stand for the things that are hidden, and those things which are done in private places, which dealt with fertility rights and sexual orgies. God is telling us to stay away from those things, and even the places where those things took place. However many churches have mixed a form of these rites in with the most holiest of all Christian days, and renamed the day of "Passover" after the "feast of Ishtar", and called this day "Easter". They give no thought to their rolling of Easter eggs out in the woods, and they have even brought this form of Ishtar worship into their churches in ignorance. They think of it as something cute for the children, and use the heathen custom with their sunrise services, which also dates back into Baal worship. There is only one altar as far as God's children are concerned, and that is the altar of God. If you want God's blessings you will follow those instructions that God is giving us through Moses. Today there are many houses that hang their shingle of their denomination out front, while inside they still teach a form of grove worship. The only way those churches will teach the Word of God is by fragmenting it to the point of supporting their own traditions and mixed doctrines. Those traditions are the traditions of men, and not as God instructed us to study, chapter by chapter, line upon line, and precept upon precept. It is the teaching with understanding of the entire Word. Deuteronomy 12:3 "And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire: and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place." Deuteronomy 12:4 "Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God." God is instructing the children of Israel, all the tribes, that when you go into the land where every it may be, you are to take down their altars, break down their pillars, and burn their groves with fire. You are to utterly destroy all forms of their worship, and all the objects that they used in their worship. Yet today we witness many heathen forms that have crept in with the things of God, Their sacred idols to the saints, and they call those forms of idolatry, "of God". However God also said, don't you go out there and build My altars where ever you chose. God will chose the place where ever He requires His altars to be built. God is in control, and He controls the form of worship that are acceptable by Him, and where that worship will take place. Those set of instructions are detailed here in His Word. Deuteronomy 12:5 "But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, even unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:" There were many places that God chose for His altar to be built as the tribes moved in to take their land. He picked Shiloh, and Jerusalem, and so on, however there is also instructions for those that are living and located to far away from these locations as to how they will chose their place of worship. God will give His reasons and instruction in the choosing of the place that is pleasing to Him. When the northern tribes of the House of Israel built their two golden calves, this was in direct defiance of God's instruction, and it led to the bringing in of all sorts of other heathen religious practices. This defiance of God's laws caused their destruction by the Assyrians, and led to their scattering and migrations to the lands where they now live. This is applied to us today in that if you go to a place of worship where God's Word is not honored, but instead men's traditions are taught, you are not going to please God. God wanted the Israelite tribes to destroy all of those heathen traditions, all of their religious practices to where not even the thought of those traditions and forms of worship would be left. Even fragments of those old wicked ways have a way of working themselves into God's instructions and turn into men's traditions. God is telling them to clean house or get out. Deuteronomy 12:6 "And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:" The "burnt offerings and rites of sacrifices" do not apply to us this day, for they were fulfilled in the sacrifice of Christ death on the cross and His resurrection. All that which is sacrificial is done away with, as is recorded in Hebrews 10:3-9. Hebrews 10:3 "But in those sacrifiecs there is a remembrance again made of sins every year." This is saying that just as the requirement of blood sacrifices were required year after year, so also is repentance for sins under the New Covenant required whenever you fall short of those laws of God. Hebrews 10:4 "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins." It was never possible for the blood of any animal to take away sin, but the blood sacrifices were only a temporary covering for that year. The reason for this is the fact that in the blood of any animal there is not a return or indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The blood of any animal does not bring the Holy Spirit, but in Christ's sacrifice it does. For it is the Holy Spirit that teaches, guides and comforts us in our daily lives continually. It is the Holy Spirit that stands between and protects you and your enemies. It is good to have a conscience, for our conscience allows us to look at the law and record in our minds that we have fallen short of the law. When you break any law you fall short of the entire law. The law is good for it is our schoolmaster, but it is man that becomes the sinner when he breaks it. When you try to keep the laws and commandments, and repent when you fall short of the law, God accepts it as perfect. Hebrews 10:5 "Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldst not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me:" Paul writes of this when He quoted from the book of Psalms. "Thou shalt prepare Me" by opening my ears to hear the Word and understand the truths therein. Paul is taking this from Psalms 40:6-8: however Paul has left out, "Mine ears hast Thou opened". Psalms 40:6 "Sacrifices and offering Thou didst not desire; Mine ears hast Thou opened: Burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required" Psalms 40:7 "Then said I, Lo, I Come: In the volume of the book it is written of me," Psalm 40:8 "I delight to do Thy will, O my God: Yea, Thy law is within My heart." These three verses are one sentence. Paul did not quote the part that is left out in Hebrews from this passage, because in the time of David's writing of this prophecy, their ears were not opened yet, because the Holy Spirit had not yet been sent, and Christ had not been born. Paul's eyes and ears to the truth were opened with understanding. Hebrews 10:6 "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure." Burning an animal on an altar could not forgive sin for anyone, but it was a shadow of something that would come later. It was a type of what would happen when Jesus willfully was sent to the cross to die. When they put their animal on the altar, that animal represented the best that they had, and that is what they gave to God. Their animal sacrifice was given to be a tribute to God the Father Himself. Hebrews 10:7 "Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will O God." Jesus Christ came to fulfill all the volume of the book, all of the prophecies and promises that are and were recorded in the Old Testament. God our Father did not want the burnt offerings, but after His Son became that sacrifice, He wanted our love for Him. Hebrews 10:8 "Above when He said, "Sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and offering for sin therein;" which are offered by the law;" This is what the Lord is saying in Psalms 40:8: "I don't want your animal and your sacrifices, but I want your love." Hebrews 10:9 "Then said He, "Lo, I come to do Thy will O God." He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second." God did take away the first blood sacrifices and ordinances, when His Son went to the cross. That was the establishment of the second. He took them away because the blood of Christ paid the price once, and for all times. God did not take away the law, but the blood rites and sacrifices and those things that were required under those ordinances were taken away. No blood sacrifice can send the Holy Spirit, for those blood sacrifices are dead and gone. Jesus Christ's death and resurrection from the dead brought forth the Holy Spirit, and His Spirit warms the hearts of everyone He touches. Hebrews 10:10 "By the which will we are sanctified through the offerings of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." "By the which will" is the will of our heavenly Father, did Jesus Christ willfully offer himself as the perfect sacrifice. The blood of any animal never did sanctify anyone, or made them perfect. However, the blood of Jesus Christ, through our repentance removes all sins from us, and makes us perfect in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. We are being sanctified through the Spirit of the one that was sacrificed on the cross. So you can forget about sacrificing the your first animal for any of your sins. All forms of these sacrifices and ordinances are over and gone for ever. The rest of the offerings, called the "field offerings" are those where by the first fruits of your corn, wheat and so forth are given for a different purpose. Of course these offerings were given for a specific purpose. The Levites, the priests that God scattered amongst all the people, were not allotted any land, and thus this offering is given for their subsistence. It was the provision for His priests and their families. However in our modern day, this is what is represented in our tithe, the first tenth of our livelihood given back to the Lord to take care of those that are giving forth the Word. Above and beyond the tithe are the "freewill offerings" and the "vows offerings", those offerings that are given up beyond the tithe. Under the "vows" that we make to a man in the name of the Lord; these are the things that are covered under the contract law that we must keep, for those vows are separate from the tithe. The tithe is one tenth of your earnings, or your crop. That is owed to the Father and is not yours to give, for it already belongs to the Father. To short the tithe is to steal for the Father. That is not yours to give because it already belongs to the Him. That tithe is what goes to where you get your spiritual food, and it doesn't matter where that place may be, except that if the Word is not taught there, but some form of traditions and doctrine that goes against God's Word, then it is given to Satan and not to God. The "free will offering" is something up and over the tithe, that you give to share with or for a particular work or congregation. It is your right to give this money or gift in any manner that you desire, or to withhold that gift. When you allow another person to sway you into making a vow offering to him, than you have made a vow to him, and not to God. What ever blessing you receive in recognition and praise for that gift is what you receive here and now. When these super-preachers force you emotionally into your vow to them, that vow is not between you and God, but between you and that super-preacher. Your thank you letter from him is your reward. "Free will" is exactly that, it is you personally that sees the need, as God lays it on your mind, as the Spirit of God leads you to give on your own, without pressure being put on you. From this type of giving to the Father, there will be a blessing not only here on earth, but recorded in heaven. These are part of what is called your "righteous acts". If you listen to a beggar in priests robes try to con you out of your money, you are not going to get any good from it because you did not give it of your own free will. Instead you submitted yourself to a beggar. Deuteronomy 12:7 "And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your household, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee." God will bless you when you give as He instructed you through His Word. You will find peace of mind, and your needs fulfilled when you give as God instructed you to give. God will give the blessing, but you are the one that must give as God has instructed us to give. This is a matter of love for the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, and not the force that the local church board brings down on you to meet their building plans, or the pension program for their men in robes. Love never uses force. Deuteronomy 12:8 "Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes." Moses is setting up a chain of order for the people to follow as they move into the promise land, and set up their government to run their land and the things of God. The key to this verse is "what is right in his own eyes". When what is right in each man's own eyes is what is in the laws of God, then each man can expect to be blessed by God. It is a matter then of "what is right in each man's own eyes". This is not a matter of what feels right to do, for when a man allows his emotions to rule his life, he will go off in many directions. It becomes a matter of knowing to do right from God's Word and following those commandments and instruction of the law. The Spirit of God does not lead any person to go against any part of God's Word, so when something is emotionally pressing, and God's Word is against it, than it is not from God's Spirit but from evil spirits. When a church presses to mix and allow forms of Sodomy within their congregation, allowing same sex marriages, and condoning such activity, you know that it is not of God but of evil spirits. Stop and think what God's Word says about it, and let that be your guide. God's Spirit will not mislead you, but the false spirits will. This goes for the rapture doctrine and any other doctrine that God's Word doesn't teach or endorse. Deuteronomy 12:9 "For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you." Moses is saying that we have not arrived to this place yet completely. However we are getting there when we learn to lean and trust on Him. Deuteronomy 12:10 "But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;" Deuteronomy 12:11 "Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord." Remember that these burnt offerings and sacrifices are fulfilled in the blood of Christ and are obsolete, with the exception of the sacrifice of love. This love is not to man, but to our heavenly Father. Your tithe is the first tenth of your earnings, and blessings that God has given you. Your "heave offerings" is an offering that is given as a present to pay tribute. The "Heave" is "the shoulder" of the sacrificed animal, also called the oblation or communion [today], and it is given in tribute to God. Today we take the communion in remembrance and tribute of our Lord's blood shed on the cross, and His body that was given for our sins. You take it by your choice in remembrance for what he has done. Christ is the one that is worthy, for you will never be worthy. If you think that Christ is worthy to receive the honor and praise, then you are to receive the cup and the bread. If you wait until you are worthy, then you will never take the communion for you will never be worthy. It is your acceptance and inspection of what Christ has done that determines the worth, for no man other than Christ will ever be worthy. God promised that when we partake of the sacrifice that Christ gave through the communion there will be a blessing because of It. Back in Moses day you had to raise the sacrifice, the first of the flock, and then offer the first and the best to God. Just as God allowed that sacrifice to be grown and placed in your hand, He also allowed for His Son to grow up, and become the first and best to be offered for our sins. Sure His sacrifice is free to you, but it took an awesome prices for your sins to be forgiven. We are told in Isaiah 1:11 that God didn't want their burnt offerings but He wanted their love. He wanted them to give up the very cream of their crops and animals to prove their love for Him. Your love for God is what this is all about. The blood sacrifice passed away because a great and more perfect sacrifice was given, and that became each of our sacrifice when you by faith accept it through repentance in Jesus name. When Jesus became our kinsman Redeemer, our heavenly Father could then say, "I forgive you", and He does. Deuteronomy 12:12 "And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your son, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you." The Levites were the priestly tribe that was set aside as the carriers of God's Word to the rest of the tribes. Deuteronomy 12:13 "Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:" God was very particular as to where the sacrifices would and could be made, and the Levitical priests were there to tell them where to make their sacrifices and give instruction. Deuteronomy 12:14 "But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee." So how does this apply today in as much as there are no more burnt offerings? In as much as Christ loved us, and our returning our love to Him is our offering and sacrifice to Him. Because the Holy Spirit is everywhere in the world today, we are released from picking a particular spot. The reason for identifying a certain spot was that God's name could be attached there. It is a matter of knowing the name of the Lord, the name of Jesus Christ, and that He is our authority to approach the throne of God. That is why our faith and prayers are "in the name of Jesus", By our naming that name we recognize that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the only sacrifice for our sins, and that He is the only name whereby men can be saved. The name of Jesus Christ is our credential for having Him as our defender before the throne of God in heaven. In the Hebrew text, the very sacred name "YHVH" is used here. You can say that name anywhere, however many simply call Him "Father", and say all their confessions and prayers in the name of Jesus, the one that paid the price. In Jesus name we can rely on our protection no matter where we are, or what time of the day it is. We do not have to go to a certain spot to approach God, for His Spirit is within us at all times. This is why Jesus said in John 14:6. John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:7 "If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." There is simply is no other way to the throne of God than by and through Jesus Christ. To try to come in another way into eternal life will not do it. When you are in Christ, you are one of Christ's sheep and under His protection. John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they know Me:" John 10:28 "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." John 10:29 "My Father, which gave them to Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand." John 10:30 "I and My father are one." This is all getting back to the only sacrifice that is acceptable by the Father, and that is your love and acceptance of His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. When you know the Son, you know the Father. When you accept the Father's Son, than the Father accepts you. It is only through the Son that eternal live can be obtained, and those out side of the Son shall perish for their sins. This is why we pray all our prayers, "in Jesus name". Deuteronomy 12:15 "Notwithstanding thou mayest, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart." The roebuck and the hart are deer. These are not domestic nor are they sacrificial animals but wild beasts. God requires you to put forth a little effort to raise what ever you sacrificed, or it would not be a sacrifice on your part. Man doesn't harvest a crop to feed the deer, but the deer goes where ever it can find its food. There simply is nothing invested in wild beasts for God takes care of them Himself. So when you eat of that flesh, it is God's gift to you, and at the time of this writing this was especially true. So this is not referring to what you can or can not eat, but it is referring to the eater of these beast. God is telling the Israelites that when you sit down to eat the sacrifice, you can go ahead and let those that are unclean partake with you. So to find out what the unclean is, we need a little more of the law. There are many things that makes you unclean. Touching a dead body makes you unclean. However after a person buries his dead loved one, God is telling them, let these persons that have been with the dead eat with you. However there were certain things that this person could not do at the altar of God. Then in the sense of the sacrifice of love, this carries even over into the Millennium age, as is recorded in Ezekiel 44:23-25. That if you have a relative that is spiritually dead, and you go to them and touch them, you cannot go back into the presence of Christ for a period of seven days. It is a time of purifying your soul. So God is giving them the right to eat with the unclean at any of the entrances or places within their city, and with all peoples. Deuteronomy 12:16 "Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water." It is true that the life of the animal is within their blood. There was no refrigeration in those days, so there could be no way to preserve their meats over several days. This is why there was a sharing of the animal, for the animal would spoil before it could be consumed by one family. Thus it became essential that these health laws were observed, or the entire community would become ill over polluted meats. When the animal is bled, and the blood is allow to drain out onto the ground, the meats will stay fresh for a longer period of time. Don't let anyone tell you that this bleeding of the animal was meant for anything more than this. The blood of no animal has any spiritual value in your life, no matter what the animal or how the creature was bled. There is absolutely no spiritual value even in the way that the animal has been strangled or cut. What this is talking about is the pollution of blood that comes on the death of the animal, and when the blood is left in the animal, that animal is considered unclean. This has nothing to do with scavenger foods, for they are creatures of another type, they were created to be the living garbage cans of the earth, and not food. They are unclean no matter if they are bled or not. Remember this is given to us to be part of our health laws, for providing a healthy disease free life as we live. Deuteronomy 12:17 "Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, of heave offering of thine hand:" God is telling you that if you are going to give something to Him, you cannot eat it yourself or expect a gain from it. If you have killed the best of your flocks to give to Me, it then is for My people to eat. It is for the Levites and their families to eat and live off of. When you give something to Me, keep your hand's off of it, and out of your own bellies. Deuteronomy 12:18 "But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto." This then is referring to blessings that are left over. Those things that you have after you have given God His share. It is from this that you pay your bill, buy your food, pay the utilities, and it is also from this that your free will offerings are given. We will not get into that portion here, as to what is required of the Levitical priests and their families concerning the tithe, that which is given of the tenth. the book of Deuteronomy is given to the people, and much of the Levitical instruction is left out of this book. Deuteronomy 12:19 "Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth." God is reminding you not to forget about your preacher [the Levite] and his family, while you are living your life on this earth. He is God's person and God expects you to take care of him and his family on the same level of living standard as you do your own family. This is the joint responsibility of the entire congregation. You expect to educate your kids, and so are the Levites kids to receive the same level of education, the same goes with food, health protection, and retirement. When the pastor is supplying you with the food from God's Word and teaching as God's Word instructs than you become obligated to tend to his needs just like you do your own. Deuteronomy 12:20 "When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as He hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after." To "enlarge thy border" refers to the time when these tribes would be scattered beyond the area of Palestine, into the areas of western Europe, America, Canada, and so forth. When we live in our day in these lands, and call ourselves Christians, it is Okay to eat the flesh of these animals that God has considered fit to eat. There is no religious value in the eating of any flesh, however the health laws must be respected for your own sake. "Flesh" in this sense is food, and food only, it has nothing to do with any form of worship. God has already told us what flesh is as food, and what flesh is not. Deuteronomy 12:21 "If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put His name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after." "The place" is any place where God becomes the center point, no matter where you are. That place can be in the workplace, or in the home, for God should be the center of your life no matter when you are, even on the football field on Sunday afternoon. Many people take to many liberties with this verse. This covers the fact that when the tribes were scattered all over the world, they could not all go back to Shiloh to worship as God commanded them to worship, not to Jerusalem at a latter date. It just would not work, this is why as time passes, we must update and give our offerings in a different manner at a latter time. Deuteronomy 12:22 "Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike." Wild meat that you did not grow domestically can be eaten and enjoyed by those that are unclean right along side of you. Those of a different race that are part of your community can eat with you. There will be no division amongst the people that are eating of the same food. Deuteronomy 12:23 "Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh." Deuteronomy 12:24 "Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water." Once again Moses is reminding us that the blood pollutes the flesh of the animal that is taken for food. Deuteronomy 12:25 "Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord." God is telling you how to be healthy, and how to keep the rest of your family healthy also. God created these flesh bodies which are in the exact image of His own. The food that our forefather took of called manna was angels food. So God knows what it takes to keep our bodies healthy, and He released that information to us in the form of His health laws. When you break a health law, that is not a sin unto death, but it is a sin that will cause you to get sick and diseased. It does not have any thing to do with your spiritual condition, except for the fact that you are turning your back on instructions that God gave you for the maintenance of your flesh body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, when you belong to Christ. Deuteronomy 12:26 "Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose:" God is telling us through Moses how we are to chose our places of worship. Has the Lord chosen your place of worship? Do you know what that place of worship should teach, and what must be done there before God will accept it? There must be certain things observed and tended to, which primarily is the Word of God. If God's Word is not taught as it should be, it is not a place of Worship that God excepts. Deuteronomy 12:27 "and thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and you shalt eat the flesh." Again we are to substitute "our love for God" in place of the burnt offerings, for blood offerings were done away with at the cross of Christ. The life, soul or "nephesh" in the Hebrew is in the blood. We are living in New Testament times, and the life or Nephesh is in the blood of Christ that was shed on the cross. It is Christ's blood that cleanses you, not the blood of bulls and other animals. Your sins are forgiven through Christ blood, and make you whole and complete in the eyes of the Father. In other words, these blood offerings and burnt offerings were replaced by the blood of Christ on the cross. They were fulfilled by the blood of Jesus Christ, and our sins will be forgiven when we repent of them by our faith in Jesus Christ, and in His name. Deuteronomy 12:28 "Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God." Moses is addressing all generation of the children of Israel, even to our generation. God will always appreciate your love when you live for Him and follow His ways. This is why we must tell Him that we love Him daily, no matter where we are. "Thank you Father for the blessings you have given to me, I love you Father for all your love to Me." It isn't difficult to tell God that you love Him, and He will bless you for it. Deuteronomy 12:29 "When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;" Deuteronomy 12:30 "Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be enquire not after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.' " There is nothing wrong in studying how they worshipped, however don't ever research it to where you yourself could be tempted to worship that same way. When you study the migrations of the children of Israel, and their cultures, you will find that their forms can be traced back to the same culture that yours came. However it takes wisdom to ascertain their form and type. What Moses is trying to say here is don't go whoring after other gods of the heathen. There is only one God, and that is our Father, and all other forms of worship we are to stay away from. Look out for those things that try to work on your emotions, that go against God's Word. Be careful when you look for new things and ways to God, for there is only one way, and that is through Christ. Deuteronomy 12:31 "Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God: for every abomination to the Lord, which He hateth, have thy done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods." Our God is a jealous God, and He doesn't like you to go whoring after those heathen religious forms of worship, and mixing them with His Word. The burning of their children was an ancient form of worship, and it was called "Molach worship". Molach was the heathen god of fire, and they thought that they pleased their god Molach by burning their children. This is where the idea came from when Christian parents threaten their kids that God will burn them in hell if they don't do what ever they say. They have taken the evil act of Molach worship, and mixed it with their mixed up thoughts of God, to form something that God had never imagined. God is a God of love for all His children, and we are to teach our children the love of God, and not mixed with the doctrines evil spirits. God told the Israelites; "you thought that one up, for it never even entered my mind as a form of worship." There can only be one sacrificial Lamb, and He is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. When the tribes of both houses, Israel and Judah were driven from the land, it was because they had become an abomination, but God still loved His children. As they migrated through the Caucasus mountains and spread out around the world, God never forgot the promise that He made to father Abraham. In due time, at God appointed time and place, they would return to Him, and the blessings would be fulfilled. Hosea 1:10 "Yet the number of the children [house] of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, 'Ye are not My People,' there it shall be said unto them, 'Ye are the sons of the living God.' " The "living God" is Jesus Christ and those that are the sons of the living God are called Christians. The people of the former house of Israel are scattered, and most of them have no idea of their lineage, that they are of Israel, not Jews of Judah, but they call themselves "Caucasians" after the event of the migrations when the ten northern tribes when through the Caucasus mountains after Assyria removed them from their lands in Palestine. God has blessed them well in the lands that they occupy today, and their numbers have increased just as God promised Abraham that they would. God brought about the scattering and led them to the lands that they would be blessed in. Deuteronomy 12:32 "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Moses is telling the people that the words that God gives us, we are to follow it to the letter. Don't try to add to it through adopting new ways, or sensationalism, or for any other reason, but keep to the letter of the law as I am giving it to you. We find that we fall short of the letter of the law, and that is why we have repentance through the blood of Christ. Even though we are not perfect, we are to try to keep the law and the commandments. This is also what we are to teach our children to strive for. It should start within the homes when the child is young and can grow up with the Word as part of his or her life. However in most Christian homes today, the parents are biblical illiterate. If the parents are not taught the truth from the Word of God, and it is withheld from them at church and school, they grow up void of the ways of God. The only thing that most young people know today is what man's traditions say that God's Word says, and in most cases it is just the opposite. Christians should at least know the overall plan of God, of the three earth ages, of what happened in that first earth age to cause the need for this second earth age. We should know how and why sin entered into the world, and the reason for the need of the sacrificial Lamb of Christ. The bible is a story that runs continuously from the beginning of our family, through the lineage all the way back to the beginning of this earth age, and into the time of the creation. The bible tells us about the beginning of our family from beginning, and on into the eternity. Yet most of the people today could care less about what is going to happen to them and this world age, when it is all laid out for them by God in His Word. They desire to remain ignorant, which is their choice. Satan is taking control of every part of their life because of their ignorance, and yet they could care less. The spiritual battle of the end times is well under way, and Satan is bombarding them from every side, yet they sit back and wonder how all this trouble could come upon them and the world. People have rejected God's ways, and are looking for other ways to worship that goes along with their desires and feelings. It simply doesn't matter to them what God's Word says, for they live for only their own pleasures. God is real, and those that seek Him through His Word will find Him. As you study and seek God through the Word of God, He will open the Word to them in your mind, and God will make a change in your life. As you seek the truths of God's God, He will bless you for it.
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