BIAY - Holy unto God
Deuteronomy 23-26, Psalm 47
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Holiness object lessons (Deut. 23) - Reading through theses rules about cleanliness and uncleanliness is a reminder about boundary-setting and holiness. There are ways in which we read these differently in light of the life, ministry, and teaching of Jesus (who said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”). Yet, assuming a positive function in their original time, these boundaries would have brought home the distinctiveness and holiness of God as well as the importance of complete and total dedication of one’s life to Him.
Surprising justice (Deut. 23-24) - Reading Deuteronomy for modern people can be a challenge. It is a complicated book for us because it is both ancient and cross-cultural. That said, there are seeds sown for a different ethical trajectory than we typically think of. Here are a few things I find refreshing and surprising:
Support for sheltering runaway slaves (23:15-16)
Evil of slave-trading a fellow Israelite (24:7)
Fair and timely pay for workers (24:14-15)
Rather than maximize profit, leave extra as provision for those with less (24:19-22). We see this passage play out in the story of Boaz and Ruth in Ruth 2:15-16.
Levirite Law (Deut. 25:5-10) - Ok, for one thing, “The Family of the Unsandaled” is a funny and fantastic name for shaming the person who violates this law. This law is noteworthy, at least, for its connection to Tamar (Genesis 38), who shows up in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus.
A people for others (Deut. 26:1-15) - It is significant that the tithes and first fruits were to be for the Levite, foreigner, fatherless and widow (v12). This illustrates a key ethic that runs throughout scripture—that the People of God are to be a people not only for themselves, but for the sake of others. Also, as we learn in the Great Commandment, loving our neighbor is paired with loving our God, which aligns neatly with this ethic.
Questions:
How does holiness get expressed today? How can we balance having boundaries with avoiding legalism?
How do you see God’s People living out the calling to be a “people for the sake of others”?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, you are the awesome and mighty King. Give me eyes to see those you want to bless through me and a heart to to share your love for my neighbors. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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