Deuteronomy 14: Improper Mourning
1 “You are the children of Yahweh your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead. 2 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
“The Arabs have long been noticed for cutting their flesh for the dead, and following the corpse with dreadful shrieks. The native Irish retain something of this custom still. About every two minutes, while following a corpse, the women raise a sudden and terrific yell; and in the intervals between the cries, they amuse themselves by looking at the shop- windows. The people of Otaheite carry these customs to great excess.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) Likewise, the catholics pray for the dead based on a Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.’” (CCC 1030) They spiritualize the Scriptures that talk of the purifying fires of God. They suppose that the soul is immortal and that people who were mediocre in their faith will be purified by the judgment fire of God.
“‘You are the children of Yahweh your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead,’ as if any of your actions could affect their eternal state. “The dignity of Israel's outward relationship to God as sons required them to act with proper dignity. The ungodly nations practiced such things as cutting themselves and shaving the front of their head to show how they respected people who had died. This was vain hypocrisy, a show of religiousness intended to draw attention to themselves. The Lord Jesus reproved even the loud weeping and wailing of people around the house of Jairus at his daughter's death (Mark 5:38-39). Cutting oneself, shaving the hair, weeping and wailing, can do nothing for the person who has died... If an unbeliever, it is too late then to be of any help, though hearts should be subdued before God. It is perfectly right that one should weep in feeling the loss of a loved one, as the Lord Jesus wept in sympathy with Mary and Martha (John 11:32-35), but to put on an outward show is repulsive. Israel ought to specially regard this instruction for they were a holy people, chosen by God, a special treasure above all other people (v.2). The Church of God today has a higher dignity than this, for she is invested with heavenly blessings, her inheritance being in heaven (Ephesians 1:3).” (L. M. Grant)
The lives of the dead have been lived and they are now sleeping with their fathers waiting on the resurrection of the body and judgment. The only basis of hope was the works they had performed before the their deaths.
“‘For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.’ Our hopel is herein described: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
The wicked will likewise be resurrected; yet for them, after judgment, they will die a second death in hell-fire. Concerning a time of shame and reproach, these words are recorded: “For thus says the Lord: ‘Do not enter the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people,’ says Yahweh, ‘lovingkindness and mercies. Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried; neither shall men lament for them, cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. Nor shall men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them for the dead; nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or their mother. Also you shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.” (Jeremiah 16:5-8) ”Hence, says the prophet, Jeremiah 48:37, when alluding to the destruction of his country by the Babylonians, ‘Every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.’” (Joseph Sutcliffe)
Deuteronomy 14: Clean and Unclean Meats and Practices
3“You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals. 7 Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. 8 Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses. 9 These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales. 10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. 11 All clean birds you may eat. 12 But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, 13 the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds; 14 every raven after its kind; 15 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds; 16 the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl, 17 the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl, 18 the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 Also every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20 You may eat all clean birds. 21 You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God.
Yahweh God “is interested in most minute details of our personal history, and most private life; that He takes cognisance of what we eat… He looks after us by day and by night, sleeping and waking, at home and abroad; in short, that His interest in and care for us go far beyond those of the most tender, loving mother for her babe.” (C. H. Mackintosh)
“You shall not eat any abominable thing’ etc. which is then expanded on. The word ‘abominable’ is strong. It is used in Deuteronomy 7:25; Deuteronomy 12:31 of what is totally despicable. It is what God hates. Thus he will deal here with what is abominable, and defiles Yahweh’s holy people. But why are they abominable? Because they are ‘unclean’, they do not live within their proper spheres, they enter into and eat in unclean places, they nuzzle in the dust to which the serpent was condemned, they are scavengers and/or killers and eat the forbidden blood. They are totally unholy. They are not worthy of Yahweh. To eat them is to bring dishonour on His name and partake in their disreputableness. The principle inculcates a pure attitude towards life.” (Peter Pett)
“These [are] the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,’ This ceremonial Law instructed the Jews to seek a spiritual pureness, even in their meat and drink.” (Geneva Study Bible) “These being sacrificial animals, naturally stand first. ‘The sheep and the goat’ are literally, ‘a young one of the sheep or of the goats.’ This may serve to illustrate Exodus 12:5, ‘Ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.’ According to the letter of the Law in Exodus, the Passover victim might be either lamb or kid.” (C. J. Ellicott) —
But next of interest are the game animals of the land: “‘the hart,’ the common deer of Palestine, ‘and the roebuck,’ or antelope, ‘and the fallow deer,’ a sort of mountain sheep, ‘and the wild goat,’ a species of gazelle, ‘and the pygarg,’ a small gazelle, ‘and the wild ox, and the chamois,’ a species of deer of the mountains.” Paul E. Kretzman)
“‘Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.’ The animals which were clean were seen to chew extensively (translated ‘chewed the cud’) and had cloven feet. All knew that they ate what was clean and, limited by their feet, tended to go where it was clean. They did not eat blood. They were not predators. They did not nuzzle in the dirt. They avoided unclean places. The fish that were clean swam and ate in the flowing water, not at the bottom of the river. The birds that were clean flew and ate insects or corn. They did not delve in dirt and dust (compare Psalms 22:15; Psalms 22:29; Psalms 30:9; Psalms 104:29; Ecclesiastes 3:20; Daniel 12:2). They did not eat carrion or kill their own kind, or eat blood, or gather food from the mud. The insects that were clean leaped above the ground, not grovelled in it. They all illustrate the walk in wholesomeness of the people of God. They ate only what God allowed.] They all kept to their ‘proper sphere’ and avoided the ‘dust of death’. What follows from this is that they were least likely to cause disease, which was another good reason for avoiding them, but that was not the central point, although it probably played a part. It was not in that sense a divine indication that all other creatures were not edible, only that avoiding them would as a whole be to their benefit. Some were certainly known by them to have been closely connected with the worship of false gods, but the ox bull could be eaten and yet was connected with Canaanite religion (although that may simply have been overridden by custom). There may have been something of both these in the conception of uncleanness, but mainly the principle was one of wholesomeness and unwholesomeness. This explains why the cleanness of animals is connected with Deuteronomy 14:1 which refers to deliberate disfigurements. Yahweh’s people were called on to be wholesome in every way, wholesome without and wholesome within.” (Peter Pett)
“‘You shall not eat anything that dies of itself,’ because their blood was not shed, but remains in them.” (Matthew Poole) And the blood is sacred, being the seat of life and therefore the means of atonement. ‘You may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it’ — not to the proselyte, for such were obliged by this law, Leviticus 17:15, but to such as were strangers in religion as well as in nation.” (Matthew Poole)— "or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God." We cannot be sure of all the reasons, but must take God at His Word. He has said "no!"; so, I will not partake thereof. “‘You shall not seethe a kid in his mother's milk’. ‘Thou shalt do nothing that may have any tendency to blunt thy moral feelings, or teach thee hardness of heart.’ Even human nature shudders at the thought of causing the mother to lend her milk to seethe the flesh of her young one!]” (Adam Clarke)
At Joppa in the house of Simon, the tanner, Peter had a vision. Peter “fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.’ And a voice spoke to him again the second time, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’” (Acts 10:9-15)
We have learned here that Yahweh distinguishes between clean and unclean. Only He can cleanse the soul of man. The Jews of Peter's day had generally been unfaithful. And the church was about to become the center of salvation. It firstly calls for trust and obedience to His Commands. “Let us assiduously seek for the soul the wholesome food of sound doctrine and evangelical truth, then shall we grow thereby to the health of everlasting life. For the kingdom of God is not in meats and drinks, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Sutcliffe)
Deuteronomy 14: The Second or Festival Tithe
22 “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. 23 And you shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always. 24 But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where Yahweh your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when Yahweh your God has blessed you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which Yahweh your God chooses. 26 And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. 27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.
"As the Israelites were to sanctify their food, on the one hand, positively by abstinence from everything unclean, so they were, on the other hand, to do so negatively by delivering the tithes and firstlings at the place where the LORD would cause His name to dwell, and by holding festal meals on the occasion, and rejoicing there before Jehovah their God." (Keil and Delitzsch)The first tithe was “ordained for the maintenance of the Levites, who had no inheritance.” “(Geneva Study Bible) It was an obligation for the Jew; this, the second, was a freewill offering to Yahweh.
“‘Thou shalt truly tithe all thine increase,’ etc. because the execution of this was left wholly to themselves, whereas the first tithes were received by the Levites, who therefore are said to take or receive those tithes, Numbers 18:26 Nehemiah 10:38 Hebrews 7:5.” (Matthew Poole) “These words recall in general terms the command of the earlier legislation respecting tithes (compare Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:26), but refer more particularly to the second or festival tithe, which was an exclusively vegetable one.” (Albert Barnes) “The offerer took it to the central place of worship where he presented it to God (and to the Levites) in a ceremonial meal. If the offerer lived so far from the tabernacle (or later the temple) that transporting his goods was a problem, he could sell his tithes locally and take the money instead [‘And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.’ 14:26] The Levites joined in the ceremonial meal, and so too did the offerer's family and slaves (22-27; see also 12:5-7,17-19).” (Bridgeway Commemtary)
28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
“The tithe thus directed in the third year to be dispensed in charity at home, was not paid in addition to that in other years bestowed on the sacred meals, but was substituted for it. The three years would count from the sabbatical year... In the third year and sixth year of the septennial cycle the feasts would be superseded by the private hospitality enjoined in these verses.” (Albert Barnes) “In this case the offerer, after he had distributed his tithes, had to go to the central place of worship and declare before God that he had fulfilled his obligations according to God's command (28-29; see also 26:12-15).” (Bridgeway Commentary) “The tithe described in Numbers was called ‘the first tithe,’ and was not considered sacred. The second tithe, on the contrary, was always regarded as a holy thing.” (C. J. Ellicott) Therefore in Acts 4-5, the “multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.” Ananias and Sapphira's problem was not the amount of the gift but rather that they lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back some of the proceeds to their eternal harm.
God wants us to worship in Spirit and in truth, desiring our hearts.
“In the seventh year, which was Sabbatical, there would probably be no tithe, for there was to be no harvest. The profit of the earth was for all, and every one was free to eat at pleasure.” (C. J. Ellicott) It was a picture of the ingather of the Lord’s people. “There is a gathering place for His people in the New Testament. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in My Name there am I in the midst of them.’ And when we remember His love at His table, we rejoice in Him and He rejoices in us. But the gathering of Israel in connection with the tithe also looks forward to the coming days when there will be a gathering for Israel and the nations. See Isaiah 2:1-4; Isaiah 11:10; Zechariah 14:16-17.” (Arno Gaebelein).
Thank you Jesus! for the former and the latter rains, as well as the harvest and the coming feast.