Avoid Idolatry, Obey God

Well, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning, we're at Deuteronomy chapter 16 verses 21 through chapter 17, verse 13. They tie together. They're all about adult idolatry and adultery, although it's kind of like spiritual adultery. But anyways, you want to have some coffee? We'll pray and get into God's word. It's warm. I don't think it's super hot. You can try it. Let me know if it's too hot for you. Only a sip, though, don't drink all my coffee. Good. OK, let me have some coffee here.
All right, let's go ahead and pray and we'll get into God's word. Lord, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. God, we pray that you would please help us as we read it, that we would understand it. Please, Lord, apply it to our hearts, apply it to our lives. Let us follow you. Thank you for this time with Dandan. Thank you for the blessing we have to read your word. Help us, Lord. We pray in Jesus's name. Amen.
All right, Deuteronomy chapter 16 beginning at verse 21 You shall not plant for yourself any tree as a wooden image Near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God You shall not set up a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates All right.
So what's this talking about? But he doesn't like idols. Yeah, right. So don't make it up for yourself an idol. I think this is specifically talking about an idol that would be called Asherah later. But yeah, no, no, no wooden images like that. No sacred pillars.
All right. Here we go. Chapter 17, verse one. You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to Lord your God. What's that talking about? Yeah. All right, no sacrificing bad animals, good. If there is found among you within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God in transgressing his covenant, who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the hosts of heaven which I have not commanded, and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently.
And if indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, then you shall bring out through your gates the man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses. He shall not be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
What's that talking about? That. Just something really. Mm hmm. What was the thing that you're saying would be really, really, really bad? It was idols and not. Yeah. And so if they find out about it and there's two or three witnesses, what's supposed to happen? Yeah. Right. Stoning. And who's the first people to throw the stones? Yeah. The witnesses. Right. You better be really certain about what you're saying.
If you're going to if you're going to testify like that, I hope you don't break the ninth commandment bearing false testimony. If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go to the place which Jehovah your God chooses. And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and the judge. to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them. They shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. according to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you you shall do. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you.
Now the man who acts presumptuously in will not heed the priest who stands to minister before the Lord your God or the judge that man shall die. You shall put away the evil from Israel and all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously.
All right. So if there's too hard of a case, they can't figure it out. What are they supposed to do? Tell it to whom? Well, they go to the temple where the Lord has put his priest. And what's the priest supposed to do? Yeah, right. He's supposed to go to the law and figure out what's supposed to happen. What if somebody says, forget that stupid priest? I don't care what he or that law says.
And what's the what does it say is supposed to happen to that man who acts presumptuously? What says he would be put to death? Yeah, doesn't that sound kind of harsh? Why do you think they would have to be put to death? This was called the it's it's both treason against God and the slippery slope.
Right. Who gave them the law? I did. Was God just a figment of their imagination? Nope. And so if they're not if this guy is not willing to obey the law, who's he not obeying? God himself. And so if you're not obeying the king, right, because God's supposed to be the king of Israel. What's that called? Yeah, there's a there's a fancy word for you. Ready? Reason.
On the ship, you know, it's called if people say, we're not going to listen to the captain, we're going to do whatever we want to do. We're going to take over this ship. What a mutiny. Even in the Navy today, you know what happens if there's a mutiny? Those who are in charge of the mutiny. Are liable to death. Yep, even in our own uniform code of military justice the UCMJ Well, that's the that's the military law they can be put to death Because it's an insurrection it's against it's against the the military itself and against the commander and against the nation Yeah, they're a threat, right? They're a threat to God and to the people being a nation as a whole.
And so is this an easy chapter or a very serious chapter? Serious chapter. What do you think you would, if you had to summarize all of these different things, right? Both idolatry laws and difficult laws and stuff like that. What do you think you would summarize that with? What's this A about? I think it's about maybe like just laws. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Right.
So, uh, so yeah, the Lord wrote the commandments and here's how they're to judge according to the commandments. Just before this, it was when God told them there to have, they were to appoint judges. The judges couldn't be impart, the judges couldn't be partial and they couldn't take bribes, but they needed to judge righteously. And here's some examples of that. Well, I think the best verse for this in my Bible, you see what I have underlined? I have verse 11 underlined.
According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do. So their judgment should be based on what? Yeah, God and his law, right? So they're not to just come up with whatever they want. They're to go to his word, go to his word and find out.
So I don't turn away from that. Right. Or to the left. Right. Do what they do, what they tell you is written in the law. Right. So that's what I think this is the best verse for this. OK, let's let's do the easy part now. Right. Easy said, hard to do. See, calling. What are you called to do? How do you think this applies to your life? I think it's that we try to make graven images. Okay, that's a good calling, right? We're not to make any graven images, even still today, right?
You'd bow down to the stars or the moon or the sun or any graven images. But the problem is, the New Testament says that covetousness is idolatry. Wanting other people's stuff and wishing you had their life, even that in your heart is idolatry. Is it easy to get rid of idolatry? No, it's not. Is it easy to follow God's law?
Oh, sure it is. You've never disobeyed me. You've always been a perfect son. You've never dishonored me. I know you've never hit your brothers and sisters. You've never committed murder in your heart. Mm hmm. You've always been a nice boy. What about stealing? I know you've never stolen anything in your entire life, right? Well, 50 times.
Right. So what hope do you have? That's right. That's right. But are you a slave to your sin? No, absolutely not. Why? Because Jesus saved us. Jesus saved us. And did he leave us alone like orphans? What do you do? He brought us into his house. Yeah, he brought us into his house. And guess what? He pours out his Holy Spirit in us. And we can fight against. Our sinful nature. We can put those things to death. Pretty good news. Would you like to pray or would you like me to pray? Let me pray. OK. God, thank you so much. for the blessing of knowing that you are our God.
Lord, we pray that you would keep us from idolatry. We pray that you would keep us from open, blazing sin, Lord, where we would have treason or mutiny against you. Lord, please lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, deliver us from even the temptations from our own hearts and from temptations outside of us. Lord, please help us to walk in your ways, not turning to the right or to the left.
Thank you for Jesus, who did this perfectly for us in his name, we pray. Amen. You want to say, well, how about I give you the coffee? I say goodbye. We wave and then we okay, ready? So Well, may the lord bless you and may you love him and follow him all your life. I'll see you next time. Bye