23: Religion of His People (Deut 18:1 – 22)

They needed to support the life of the Levites, for the Lord chose them to serve in His name. The Tabernacle, the priesthood, and the Levites symbolize the Lord's presence among His people. Supporting the Levites is to accept such a religious system God has designed.

πŸ‘‰ Read Deuteronomy 18:1 - 22

Verses 1 and 2 repeatedly say that the Levites have no (             ) among Israel, but (           ) is their inheritance.


A certain part of the offerings belongs to the priests. And they should give the best part of their harvests to the Levites. Why?


God doesn’t want us to serve Him in the ways of other religions. What were the pagan practices God forbade?

 

How does God communicate with His people? (15-19)

 

How did they know a prophet’s saying was God’s message?

 

Answers


Inheritance, the Lord


The Levites were chosen to stand and serve in God’s name.

They needed to support the Levites, not only because of their service for the Israelites before the Lord but also, furthermore, because of their identity as God’s chosen servants among Israel.

 

To sacrifice their own child in the fire,

To do divination

To cast spells

The Gentiles did these to control their gods and to know about the future. They wanted to achieve their own goals using divine powers.

Sacrificing their own child in the fire was to compel their god to react in the offerer’s favor. We should not force God to do something. Instead, we should submit to Him. We’d better not to know the hidden future but to entrust our future to Him.

Those things are detestable before the Lord God, who is sovereign and trustworthy. God has not given us permission to manipulate God (14).

 

Through a prophet

God’s thoughts are given to us through His chosen prophet, not through a divinist or an omen reader, nor human speculation or research.

Because they wanted a mediator to deliver God’s messages to them (16), they should listen to the mediator’s messages as God’s.

God will speak through the prophet. And the people should listen to him. Anyone who doesn’t listen to the prophet will be punished by God, not by the prophet.

 

If his saying comes true, he is from God.

God Himself will expose whether a prophet is genuine or not. You are not to assess it but to obey.

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