Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Wed.’s Devo - The Holy and the Unclean

Read: Deut. 21-23
The children of Israel were to atone for every person who died, even if no one knew who he was because Jesus died for everyone. Most of today’s reading has to do with how to honor people. Some of it sounds a little cruel and compassionless but laws have to be that way. When we get our emotions involved it is hard to have good judgment. Everyone was responsible for themselves and the people they came in contact with. You were to honor God’s creations and your servants. God hates mixture so you were not to cross-pollinate. He was trying to teach us about compromise. You can’t mix the unholy with the holy. They dealt with every kind of sexual problem you might come across and gave specific commands about each one.
In Deut. 23:2 it says that a “bastard” could not enter into the congregation. I looked up that word and it meant a person who had a Jewish father and a heathen mother. In other words you can’t be a Christian and serve Jesus and the world. No Ammonites or Moabites were to enter into the congregation of the Lord to their tenth generation. Boaz married Ruth who was a Moabite and 30 generations later Mary had Jesus. I guess 30 generations were enough to cleanse their genes!
From today’s reading, we see that God is a holy God and we must worship him in holiness and truth.
Lord, cleanse our lives of the things that are stumbling blocks in our walk with you.

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