신명기 Chapter 14

Translation: ESV

1

You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.

Key Message

Our identity determines our behavior. Children of God do not follow the ways of the world.

▸The chapter begins with an identity declaration that Israel is God's children.

The chapter begins with an identity declaration that Israel is God's children. This identity is the basis for rejecting pagan customs. The practice of cutting one's body for the dead and shaving the forehead were mourning customs of Canaan and Mesopotamia at the time.

Related Verses

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
2

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Key Message

We live a separate life not out of fear but because of identity. Being the people possessed by God is our motivation.

▸The identity of 'holy people' (am kadosh) is the foundation for all of the separate life required.

3

You shall not eat any abomination.

Key Message

Identity as God's people is expressed even in the ordinary act of eating.

▸The section on dietary laws begins.

4

These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

Key Message

God's law requires holiness in every area of life by distinguishing what may and may not be eaten.

▸The list of animals that may be eaten begins.

5

the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

Key Message

Gratefully enjoying what God has permitted is the balance of faith.

▸Clean wild animals that may be obtained through hunting are listed.

6

Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

Key Message

The criteria for distinction must be clear. God presents clear standards rather than ambiguity.

▸The criteria for clean animals are presented.

7

Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you.

Key Message

God's law also clearly addresses ambiguous cases. Careful discernment is needed.

▸Borderline cases are presented.

8

And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.

Key Message

Maintaining the identity of faith can sometimes require great sacrifice.

▸The pig has a split hoof but does not chew the cud, making it unclean.

9

Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat.

Key Message

In God's creation there is distinction, and recognizing and respecting that distinction is an expression of reverence.

▸The purity criteria for aquatic creatures are presented.

10

And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

Key Message

A holy life is characterized by distinction according to clear standards.

▸Aquatic creatures without fins or scales are unclean and may not be eaten.

11

You may eat all clean birds.

Key Message

God has permitted more than he has prohibited. There is sufficient freedom even within restrictions.

▸The regulations shift to birds.

12

But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

Key Message

What we take in forms who we are. Selective intake is important.

▸The list of unclean birds begins.

21

You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Key Message

Reverence for life and respect for the principles of nature are expressions of a holy life.

▸Two regulations are presented.

22

You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.

Key Message

Tithing is a concrete act of acknowledging that ownership belongs to God.

▸After the dietary laws, the tithe regulations are addressed.

23

And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

Key Message

Worship and eating are connected as one. Eating before God is training that teaches reverence.

▸The purpose of the second tithe is presented.

24

And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there,

Key Message

God's law is realistic. While maintaining principles, there is wise application according to circumstances.

▸This is a regulation that accommodates the practical difficulty caused by distance and weight.

25

then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the LORD your God chooses

Key Message

The principles of faith do not change, but their application can be carried out wisely according to circumstances.

▸The method of exchanging the tithe goods for money and bringing that money to the sanctuary is permitted.

26

and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

Key Message

Worship before God includes joy. Faith is not merely austere solemnity but a celebration of thanksgiving and joy.

▸Purchase whatever food you desire at the sanctuary and eat with your family and rejoice.

27

And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

Key Message

Caring for God's servants is the community's ongoing obligation.

▸The command not to neglect the Levite is repeated.

28

At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns.

Key Message

Systematic care for the poor is the obligation of the faith community.

▸A special tithe every three years is prescribed.

29

And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

Key Message

Caring for the socially vulnerable is the path to receiving God's blessing. Faith and social justice are not separate.

▸There are four groups who benefit from the three-year tithe: the Levite, the sojourner (resident alien), the fatherless, and the widow.