Deuteronomy 14:1-29

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 14

v1 ‘You are the children of the *LORD your God. When someone dies, do not cut yourselves. Do not shave the front of your head. v2 You belong to the *LORD your God. The *LORD has chosen you to be his special nation. He chose you out of all the nations that live on the earth.

v3 Do not eat anything that is not *clean. v4 You can eat *cattle, sheep, goats, v5 *deer, wild sheep, wild goats and *antelopes. v6 Some animals have the hard part of the foot in two parts. And they bring back food from their stomach to eat again. You can eat those animals. v7 You must not eat the camel, the rabbit or the type of rabbit called a coney. Those animals bring back their food but they do not have the hard part of the foot in two parts. For you, those animals are not *clean. v8 The pig is not *clean also. It has the hard part of its foot two parts, but it does not bring back its food. You must not eat any of those animals. You must not touch their dead bodies.

v9 Some fish have hard things on their body that help them to swim. And they have hard material that covers their skin. You can eat any kind of fish like that. v10 But other fish do not have hard things on their body that help them to swim. And they do not have hard material that covers their skin. You must not eat things like that that live in the water. They are not *clean.

v11 You can eat any *clean bird. v12 But you must not eat these birds: eagle, vulture, black vulture, v13 red kite, all types of kite or falcon. v14 And you must not eat any of these birds: any kind of raven, v15-16 horned owl, screech owl, gull or hawk. v16 You must not eat any of these birds: little owl, great owl or white owl. v17 And you must not eat any of these birds: desert owl, osprey, cormorant, v18 stork, heron, hoopoe, or bat.

v19 Some insects crawl and fly too. You cannot that kind of insect. v20 But you can eat any *clean insect.

v21 Do not eat anything that is already dead. The foreigners who live in your towns can eat it. You can sell it to foreigners. But you belong to the *LORD your God. You are his special nation.

Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.’

The *Israelites were God’s special nation. Because of that, they should look after their bodies. They should not imitate what other nations did in their religion. God did not want the *Israelites to cut their bodies. God made people as the image of himself. People must not spoil that image.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 Paul says this. The Christian’s body is the place where the Holy Spirit lives. ‘Therefore give honour to God with your body.’

God did not allow the *Israelites to eat certain animals. Those animals might be bad for their health. Pigs, shell-fish (fish that have a hard outer cover) and birds that eat dead bodies can all cause disease. Other nations gave honour to certain animals. So God told the *Israelites not eat those animals. People in Cyprus gave honour to the pig. People in Egypt gave honour to certain fish and snakes. God allowed the *Israelites to eat *clean insects. A locust is a *clean insect. John ate them. (See Matthew 3:4.) The *Israelites must not eat animals that had died in a natural way. That was partly because there might be poisons in the animal. Also, the blood was still in the animal’s body. That law did not apply to foreigners. God did not allow the *Israelites to cook a goat in its mother’s milk. That was a *Canaanite custom. They thought that it increased people’s desire for sex. The *Israelites must *keep God’s laws. Then their actions would show that they gave honour to God.

In Mark 7:15 Jesus said this. ‘Nothing that goes into a man from outside will make him not *clean. What comes out of a man makes him not *clean.’ And Mark adds in verse 19, ‘In this way, Jesus declared that all foods are *clean.’ Jesus was referring to the law about waste products from people’s bodies. He was using this law to refer to bad thoughts. Those bad thoughts lead to bad actions. (See Mark 7:20-23.) Non-*Jewish Christians did not have to obey the *Jewish laws about food. The stories in Acts Chapter s 10 and 15 show that.

v22 ‘Put aside a 10^th of all that your fields produce each year. Make sure that you do that. v23 Go to the place that the *LORD your God has chosen. The *LORD will be there in a special way. There, in front of the *LORD, eat the 10^th part of your corn, new wine, and oil. You can also eat the young animals that are born first to your sheep and to your *cattle. Do that so that you will learn to respect the *LORD your God always. v24 Perhaps the place is too far away. Perhaps you cannot carry to that place the *tithe with which the *LORD your God has *blessed you. (That will happen if the place is very far away. The *LORD your God has chosen the place himself. And the*LORD will be there in a special way.) v25 If so, sell that 10^th part of your harvest. Take the money with you to the place that the *LORD your God has chosen. v26 Buy whatever you desire with the money. You can buy *cattle, sheep, or strong alcohol or whatever you desire. Then, in front of the *LORD your God, you and your family can eat. And you can be happy. v27 Do not neglect the *Levites who live in your towns. They do not own any land.

v28 At the end of every three years, bring all the *tithes of that year’s harvest. Store it in your towns. v29 This is for the *Levites. (They do not own any land.) It is also for the foreigners, the widows and the children without parents who live in your towns. They can eat. They can have all that they need. They can be full. Then the *LORD your God will *bless you in all the work that you do.’

Moses told the *Israelites to bring a 10^th of the harvest from their land and to give it to God. That reminded them that everything came from God. They must go to the place that God chose. They must go to thank him. They ate their *tithe at the place that God had chosen. They did that so that they would not eat it at a place for foreign gods. Some people lived too far from the place to bring their *tithe. So they would sell it and they would bring the money. Then they would buy food to eat there. (Some bad people used that as a way to get money unfairly from other people. That led to the evil actions for which Jesus forced the traders from the *temple in John 2:13-17. People who bought animals had to pay more than the animals were worth.) The person and his family would be happy as they ate the meal. They also shared it with the *Levites who had nothing to give. Every three years, the people stored the *tithe in the local town. Then they gave it to the *Levites and to the poor people.

Jesus said that the *Pharisees were wrong. They gave a 10^th of everything to God, but they forgot *justice, *mercy and *faith. (See Matthew 23:23.) Paul said this about the Christians in Macedonia. ‘They gave as much as they could give. In fact, they gave even more than they really could afford. But first they gave themselves to the *Lord.’ (See 2 Corinthians 8:3; 2 Corinthians 8:5.) ‘Each man should give what he has decided to give. God loves the person who gives gladly.’ (See 2 Corinthians 9:7.) The reason why we give is important. It is more important than the amount that we give.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
clean ~ good in thought and in action. But, in the Old Testament, many things could make a person not clean towards God. For example, if they touched a dead body, that would make them not clean. And the Israelites must not eat animals that God called not clean.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, it tells about the history and the beliefs of the Israelites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
cattle ~ cows and bulls.

bull ~ male farm animal; (the female is called a cow). The Israelites made a metal image of a bull, which they worshipped as an idol.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

idol ~ an image of a false god that people give honour to; an object of wood, stone or metal that people worship.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
deer ~ an animal. It has long legs and it runs quickly. It eats grass and leaves.
antelope ~ an animal like a deer that can run very fast.

deer ~ an animal. It has long legs and it runs quickly. It eats grass and leaves.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Canaanites ~ the people who originally lived in the country called Canaan.
keep ~ to do whatever you should do because of a promise or a law; to respect and to give honour to the law.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
tithe ~ a tenth of something. To tithe means that people give a tenth of their money or of their possessions.
Levite ~ an Israelite who belonged to the tribe of Levi. Levi was a son of Jacob. Levites had special duties connected to worship. All Israelite priests were Levites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

tribe ~ a group of people from the same race, who all came from one person. The tribes of *Israel were the 12 large families of Jacob’s sons.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
temple ~ the chief place of worship for the Jews. King Solomon built the first temple for God in Jerusalem. But the word can refer to a similar building for a false god.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Pharisees ~ a group of Jews who thought that they obeyed all the laws of their religion. Those laws were all the commandments that God gave to Moses plus extra laws.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.

Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.
justice ~ when things are completely fair.
mercy ~ kindness instead of punishment.
faith ~ strong belief and trust.
Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.