Deuteronomy 12:15-32; Luke 9:1-6; 22:35-38

Law School

Preached at Sycamore RPC

Kokomo, IN

December 16, 2001

Sermon Text

15 “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the deer.  16 “Only you shall not eat the blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.  17 “You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the contribution of your hand.  18 “But you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all your undertakings.  19 “Be careful that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

20 “When the LORD your God extends your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you desire to eat meat,  then you may eat meat, whatever you desire.  21 “If the place which the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever you desire.  22 “Just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten, so you will eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat of it.  23 “Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.  24 “You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.  25 “You shall not eat it, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you, for you will be doing what is right in the sight of the LORD.  26 “Only your holy things which you may have and your votive offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses.  27 “And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the flesh.

28 “Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

29 “When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,  30 beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’  31 “You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

32 “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

We shall encounter many strange commandments in our journey through Deuteronomy. After weeks of hearing Moses urge the people on to faithfulness, to love God by keeping His testimonies, statutes, and judgments, we have finally arrived to that part of Deuteronomy that is filled with those commandments. We have one before us today that could leave us scratching our heads if we are not careful to study it out and apply it. Yet we shall encounter others ones that are stranger still, and we will have to work on those when we get there (For instance, consider the examples found in Deut. 23:9-14 & Deut. 25:11-12).

When we come to commandments like these, it will be helpful if we remember a basic component regarding the nature of God’s law. Like a teething ring, many laws are given to create maturity in us. We chew on a certain commandment one, two, maybe ten times, trying to understand what it is saying and how it is to be applied. Israel was to do this in the Old Covenant (Psalm 1:1-3), and we are to do it in the New (same verses!). In the process we cut our spiritual teeth, for as we meditate on His Law it strengthens us, gives us the power and wisdom of God to direct us in every area of life, and makes our mind and heart work in ways they normally would not.

We have to guard against a sinful tendency that might creep in during this series. We can encounter the strangeness of a commandment and want to set it aside because it is too hard to understand or too difficult to discuss. Yet let us remember one thing about these laws. These strange rules are God’s rules. They are not outmoded, outdated, or outlandish. Statements to that effect fall outside the realm of Biblical Christianity. To accuse the law of this is to accuse God of this. God in His eternal wisdom knew not only Israel would need these laws but also that the church would need them. The church would need them to chew on, to grow on, to become strong upon. Let us have the attitude that God has about His Law, expressed by a Puritan who said, “The Law by which God rules us is as dear to Him as the Gospel by which He saves us.” (William Secker).

So let’s remember we are in Law School, learning to appreciate the law and letting it guide our lives. Consider the lessons God’s law teaches us in this passage, lessons that build one upon the other.

I. The Law takes us through stages of maturity.

This commandment encapsulated and explained in verses 15-28 is not that difficult to understand, exegetically speaking. Last time, we saw in the first half of this chapter how Israel was not to imitate the Canaanites when they went into the land by having altars under every tree and on top of every hill and mountain. Instead they were to have a central place of worship, which we recalled would be Jerusalem, where the tabernacle ended up eventually and later the temple was built. This location would be the only acceptable place to offer their sacrifices.

Now in this section, Moses is giving them a further explanation of this mandate, and is actually indicating there will be a fundamental change in the law as they knew it. Leviticus 17:3-4 instructed Israel at the BEGINNING of their wilderness journeys to bring all animals slain to the tabernacle to be offered before the LORD. Not just the animals given in offerings, but commentators agree that the commandment I am about to read was for every animal that was to be killed, be it for sacrifice or food:

“Whatever man of the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, the guilt of bloodshed shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people”

Yet now at the END of their wilderness journey, they are told that when they live in the Promised Land they will no longer have to offer the animals that are being slain for food in the central place of worship. They have the freedom to eat their meat within their own gates.

“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike…. (then Moses repeats it just so they will understand it si okay to do this!) When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires. 21If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the LORD has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires.” – Deuteronomy 12:15,20-21

Yet they still were to bring their offerings to the temple (see verses 17-19, 26-27).

Why was it necessary at the BEGINNING of their exodus from Egypt to make them offer their food as sacrifice to the LORD? Leviticus 17:7 tells us why: “They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot.” Coming out of Egypt, where Israel had seen all food eaten offered to the gods of the land, and being around the pagans in the wilderness who had the same practice, God instituted this protective measure in Leviticus 17 to keep them from secretly giving their food to idols. They initially needed to sacrifice even their meals to the Lord to train them that now all their life was to be holy to God. This was forty years of “boot camp” training! The end of this training in the wilderness coincided in the providence of God with the practical necessity that they could not now offer every meal to God as they came into the Promised Land. Most of them would be too far away. In effect God is saying here, “It is time to grow up and eat meat, whatever you desire, but never forget what I taught you in the wilderness. It is those fearing Me that are provided with food.” (See Psalm 111:5).

Read recently what a writer referred to as “Cage Christians.” These are young Christians who “belong in a cage” for the first year or two of their Christianity, for their new life in Christ is often dangerous to themselves and others. They have to be carefully watched, and perhaps have some of their freedoms restricted, for in their zeal they often say or do things that hurt or mislead others. Like a child who has learned to walk, you have to guard them extra carefully or they might kill themselves. God was “caging” Israel with this law to guard them from idolatry.

If you have been to our home, you know we live on a busy street with a driveway sloping down to it. Our fear as parents was that one of our young children on a riding toy might get started down that driveway and go into the path of a car (that fear has been activated a time or two!). So we had a rule – the children were not allowed past the corner of the house. There is a crack in the driveway that marks it, and if the children passed that line they were sure to get reprimanded. Now, if we still held Jamey to that rule, he couldn’t mow my lawn. So he has passed from one law to the next. He is still under other laws that restrict him now, but will be lifted later. He cannot drive my car yet. But the time is coming, as scary as it is to think about, when he’ll grow into that law. If we cannot see how God’s law designed to take us through stages, we will be immature and even crass in our application of it.

II. The Law trains us to make distinctions of holiness.

In the pagan world, one finds the inability to make fine distinctions, to recognize proper variations. The Egyptians behind them and the Canaanites before them were people whose idolatry enforced conformity among the people. All of life was lived under the slavish control of the idol and the implementation of the lifestyle mandated by the priests of their national religions. They were not making distinctions between animals for eating and those for sacrifice. Their gods were entitled to all of it, and when their gods were done eating they could have the leftovers, i.e., the people living under such systems had to give extraordinary amounts of their livelihood to the rulers and priests. Yet God’s desire for Israel was for her to develop in maturity, and live in freedom under God’s benevolent rule. Israel was to learn the difference of eating for their own pleasure and sustenance versus making sacrifices to God. They were to make distinctions of holiness, a vital component of growing to spiritual maturity.

As we see in Islamic societies, those who do not live under the knowledge of the Triune God – One God existing eternally in Three Persons – do not know how to live with variation under the allegiance to their god. The basic law becomes “To not conform is to disobey.” Without the wisdom of God’s law, a herd morality develops. Idolatry leads to everyone doing what everyone else is doing. “Thou shalt eat the same food, pray in the same manner, and dress in the same style as everyone else.” Even in Paul’s day he had to spend considerable time with the Corinthian church helping them understand what to do with meat sacrificed to idols, because EVERYONE was sacrificing their meat to idols before they ate it.

Here we see the LORD giving Israel great freedom as His people. Read verse 20 and hear the LORD say, “whatever you desire.” Only the “holy things” had to be offered at the tabernacle or temple (verse 26). Now under the gospel we have greater freedom still. Matthew Henry says, “ Now, under the gospel, we have no temple or altar that sanctifies the gift but Christ only: and as to the places of worship, the prophets foretold that in every place the spiritual incense should be offered. As Malachi 1:11 says,

“For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,

My name shall be great among the Gentiles;

In every place incense shall be offered to My name,

And a pure offering;

For My name shall be great among the nations,’

Says the LORD of hosts.”

Beloved, even the commandment to worship in one central place has been waived for us! What freedom God has granted us. Yet let us be careful. This does not mean that there are now NO places of worship where holy distinctions are made between what is allowed in my home and what is required in the church.

This is where the modern church errs. She believes what she does in the home is what God must want in the worship service. No distinctions of holiness are made. If drama, rock music, and entertainment is what I enjoy at home, then certainly that’s what God would want me to do at church with all my friends, as long as its “Christian” drama, rock, and entertainment. The church fails to see that EVEN the Israelites had meats they could eat but not offer – venison was great for a meal at home (Deuteronomy 14:4) but was an abomination at the altar. How much more discerning should be those living in the age of the Spirit with the fullness of God’s revelation! Have we grown so dull that we cannot see we get in trouble if we read the Bible and hear it say we are “to love our enemy” and “to love our wife,” then conclude we love our enemy and our wife the exact same way? (Certainly that would result in no distinctions of holiness. If one tries to love his enemy like his wife, he’ll end up with a black eye. And if he tries to love his wife like he does his enemy, the same thing will probably happen!) God’s law shows that He desires for you to enjoy Him in your home as you eat and feast, and enjoy Him at worship as you eat and feast. Yet not in the same way! You are to glorify Him in “whatever you do” in your home, and glorify Him at church. But it will look different, and that is a blessed difference.

III. The Law shows us the necessity of blood.

Listen to this quote about God’s law from R.C. Sproul: “The law and the gospel may never be absolutely separated…for the gospel has stipulations. We live in an age in which both Law and gospel have been obscured. As a result evangelism often is expressed simply as an announcement of redemption without obligation. We hear preachers declare, “God loves you unconditionally.” What does this mean? The danger with such declarations is that they are often heard or understood to mean that God’s love imposes no conditions or obligations upon people. It suggests that I can have a loving relationship with God even if I do not repent or if I do not embrace the gospel. It suggests that I am acceptable to God just as I am. This sounds more like Mr. Roger’s neighborhood than the kingdom of God.”

A lawless gospel preached by pastors impersonating Mr. Rogers will undoubtedly result in bloodless sermons. And bloodless sermons are damning sermons, for the law shows us the necessity of blood. It continually puts before us the need we have for blood atonement. It trains us in the theology necessary for life and salvation. This is the fundamental distinction of holiness needed by the church. When the church begins to blur the lines God’s law sets out for us, she will not be able to answer this question: “Am I covered by the blood of Christ?”

This is brought out in verse 16. We see the prohibition against eating blood, with verse 23 supplying the reason for this commandment. “The blood is life.” This commandment is repeated again in verses 24 and 25. I want to now tell you something that may surprise you. This law is still a binding law. We have not outgrown this one. We are not to eat blood. The early church Council of Jerusalem worked this out for us. Though they made it clear the church is not to be under the ceremonial regulations such as circumcision, this law against eating blood is still an obligation to both Jew and Gentile. Acts 15:19-20 states their ruling:

“Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. 21For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

This ruling was taken to every church by representatives from this council.

Why is this law still binding? Because “the blood is life.” We are to be careful as the people of God to give the clear message that there is only one source for blood that can give life. As Jesus said in John 6:53-56:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

We are not to eat or drink blood in our homes because it is to be drank only by faith in our worship.

Friend, have you made that distinction? As you stand before the holy God today, have you drank the blood of the Son of God? Do you believe that the death of the crucified Christ alone is what gives you life, makes you acceptable before God? Young people, as you prepare for communion, are you prepared to eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood? Is Christ alone the source of life for you? As we eat and drink of Him, we receive the blessings of our life and salvation.

IV. The Law prepares us for the inheritance of God.

One final lesson we are to learn here. The change from the need to offer even the meal of meat in the tabernacle while in the wilderness to the freedom to eat in one’s home in the Promised Land is typical. This change that decentralized their living was representative of a great change that would occur at the time of Christ, when the gospel was decentralized from a concentration on Israel to a distribution throughout the world.

That is why we read from the gospel of Luke this morning about the restrictions on the disciples in Luke 9. We read that as Jesus sent them out to preach the kingdom of God, they were limited to going to Jews and they couldn’t take a sword. Why? Because they couldn’t yet be trusted with the greater responsibility of taking the gospel to the Gentiles. What had the Sons of Thunder wanted to do in the Samaritan village when they had passed through it with Jesus, and the people had rejected Him? They wanted to send fire from heaven upon them. They had not yet learned Jesus came to save, not destroy. He came to redeem the world and its nations, and He was training them through their ministry to the Jews first that important truth.

Then we read from Luke 22 how Jesus lifted these restrictions. After three years of training and on the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus grants them now the freedom to go to the Gentiles, and to take swords with them as they went. They had reached an age of maturity where they could be further entrusted with the ministry of the LORD to the nations. Like handing the keys of the car to our children, they were now to go forth preaching the gospel to the nations. They would need swords now, because as they traveled through the Roman Empire they would face dangers unlike being among their own people in Israel. (Of course, Peter had an immediate setback that very night with this new-found freedom, but Peter was always having setbacks!).

God trains His people for greater responsibility, and by faith in Christ can you see that He has been training this church? He has brought us through times of wilderness wanderings, testings, disciplines, in order to prepare us for more ministry responsibilities. We are wiser, stronger, more trained and prepared than we were ten years ago. And He is opening new doors for us, be it ministry in other cities such as Marion, greater responsibility to the denomination, or sending our own elsewhere to serve His kingdom in new places. Will we keep growing through stages of maturity, become wiser at making important distinctions, continue deepening in our love for the gospel for which Christ died, and be willing to sacrifice to bring that gospel to others both near and far? May it be.

And may it also be that our motto along the way is “Whatever law, however strange, we obey!” For it is God’s law, and it will bring life to us and to the people to whom God takes us.