Nonsensical? | Sunday, October 2, 2022

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When darkness tries to roll over my bones and sorrows come to steal the joy I own, when brokenness and pain are all I know, I won't be shaken. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in Your love.

I am no longer a captive to the light. I'm not afraid to leave my past behind. I won't be shaken.

Just when I stand in Your love, my love, I'll stand a chance. The Gospel of Luke records that one day a certain lawyer came to Jesus and tested Him with some questions, asking Him, "Rabbi, Teacher, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?" If ever there was a good question, that's it. For a lot of Christians, I would think that they would love to have someone come and ask them, "What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?" They might instantly respond by jumping into that old Four Spiritual Laws kind of mindset, or maybe they would begin to use those passages out of Romans that are sometimes referred to as the Roman Road. They would say, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus," who demonstrated God's love for us in that when we were still sinners, Christ died for us. If you would believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in Him, you would be saved.

It would be a great thing if someone just kind of stepped up and asked me, or maybe asked you, "How do I get to heaven? How do I inherit eternal life?" But Jesus didn't respond in the way that maybe you might or I might. As a pastor, His response to the lawyer was not what you might expect. He said to that lawyer, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?"

Luke chapter 10, verse 26, says that the lawyer answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus responded to that lawyer and said, "You have answered rightly. Do this and you will live."

Now, when the lawyer answered Jesus, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind," and when he said, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," he was quoting two passages from the law of Moses. One we have already studied previously in our journey through the book of Deuteronomy, from Deuteronomy chapter six, a passage that is called the Shema.

Shema is the opening word in Deuteronomy 6:4, which is the Hebrew word translated as "hear." In Deuteronomy 6:4, we read, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." The second passage that the lawyer quoted was from the Old Testament book of Leviticus. Leviticus 19:18 says, "You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."

As we come to Deuteronomy chapter 22 today, Moses is remembering and rehearsing for the children of Israel some of those laws that were given back in Leviticus 19. The law of God, given in the books of Exodus and Leviticus, preceded what Moses is teaching here in Deuteronomy by about 40 years. As I have shared many times before, as we have been making our way through the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is reminding Israel of God's law as they are now preparing to enter into the Promised Land.

When they enter into the Promised Land, they will be expected to govern themselves according to this law, according to His word. In the very near future, they will have to do that. The children of Israel were redeemed and rescued from Egypt to be God's people. He had saved them so that they would be His people and that He would be their God. They were in a covenant relationship, bound together with God, and therefore they were to be separate, distinct, and different from those who would live around them.

The laws that we read in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, which Israel was to live by and be governed by, were distinct and different in relation to the ways and customs of the other people living around them at the same time. If Israel lived according to God's law, they would be a people who were distinct and different from the Egyptians they had come out of, as well as from the Ammonites and Moabites. They had been moving through the region of Ammon and Moab just before they came into the Promised Land, and then they were going to go into the land of Canaan.

If they were to follow God's laws, they would be different from the Egyptians, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the Canaanites. That is exactly what God was calling them to be. He wanted them to be a separate people unto Himself, a distinct and different people.

As I have shared before, even just last week, if you were with us in our message last time, I will continue to emphasize this as we go through the book of Deuteronomy. Over and over again, when we look at these laws in 2022, when we read Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, we find things to be different and rather bizarre in the way that they were called to live.

We find these things to be bizarre because, looking at them through the mindset and worldview of Western Americans in 2022, they appear very strange to us. What we will come across here in what is titled the miscellaneous laws of Israel will indeed seem strange. We are going to find some weird things, as we already saw last week in these passages. It will appear to us that these laws are out of step with our culture and our time, and they are. We don't need to pretend that these things are not bizarre; they are.

However, I want to suggest to you that these things, which are bizarre to us and out of step with our culture in 2022, were actually not in alignment with Canaanite customs in 1400 BC. These statutes and judgments from God were intended to make the people of God, Israel, different and distinct. He was calling them to live a certain way that was different from the Canaanites. The ways, customs, and traditions of the Canaanites were very much at odds with the ways that God was calling His people, the children of Israel, to live.

These laws were reforms to how things were done in the ancient world. Israel's law seems strange to us because we are looking back 3,400 years, judging these things by our standards and our worldview in 2022. But I guarantee that if you were to look at the social life and customs of the Philistines and the Canaanites 3,400 years ago, then Israel's way of life according to God's law would look a whole lot better. It would appear more merciful, gracious, and liberating, even in comparison to the ancient Philistines and Canaanites. The ancient Israelites were a civilized and progressive people. Israel's law was a progressive reform to the way that things were among the people of that time.

Canaanites and we, 3,400 years after Moses, are where we are today because of the principles and the progressive reforms of God's law in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Even in these strange passages that we will be looking at, if it were not for what God did through Moses or with the children of Israel thousands of years ago, when they were at Mount Sinai back in Exodus chapters 19 and 20, or what He did with them in the plains of Moab here in the book of Deuteronomy, we would not be where we are today.

Our views on things like women's rights, property rights, gender rights, and the diversity, equity, and inclusion issues that are important in our culture would not have come about had it not been for what God did through His people thousands of years ago. Our perspectives on slavery and civil rights, as well as our views on crime and punishment, would not be the same in 2022 if it were not for the things that God did with His people in the law 3,400 years ago.

As strange as some of these things may seem to us, as we encounter them here in Deuteronomy, these were the first rudimentary steps that ultimately led over three thousand years of history to where we are today through God's progressive revelation.

So, a simple question: Do you like the freedoms, the rights, the liberties, and the rules and regulations that make up our highly civilized society that we call home here in the West in 2022? If you do, then all of that goes back to these things in Scripture. None of what we have today would have happened without God's progressive revelation, which begins rudimentarily in passages that may seem strange.

All that to say, I think we need to be careful that we do not quickly judge the bizarre strangeness of what we will read in these passages. Even though some of the things we will see in this passage this week and in the coming weeks may seem strange and bizarre to us, we shouldn't be so quick to judge. You do not get the rights, the liberties, and the freedoms that we enjoy in 2022 without the laws and the unusual passages like Deuteronomy 22. The bizarre statutes of the Torah are the basis for the civil society that you and I enjoy. You just do not get to where we are today if you do not start with where they began.

We are back there in the plains of Moab as Moses was giving them the law in the Book of Deuteronomy. In the same way that you can never get to Calculus if you don't start with addition, this is like starting with the mere ABCs of what God is progressively going to reveal to His people.

All of that is kind of a huge lead-in to what we see here, and again, some of the strange miscellaneous laws of the children of Israel beginning in Deuteronomy chapter 22. We read this in verse 1: "You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and hide yourself from them. You shall certainly bring them back to your brother. If your brother is not near you or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. You shall do the same with his donkey, and you shall do the same with his garment, with any lost thing of your brother's which he has lost and you have found. You shall do likewise. You must not hide yourself. You shall not see your brother's donkey or ox fall down along the road and hide yourself from them. You shall surely help him lift them up again."

You remember what the expert in the law, the lawyer, back in the Gospel of Luke said when Jesus asked him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" He answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." In reality, those words are the basis for all of the law.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment in the law is, in very much the same way that He asked the lawyer there in the Gospel of Luke, "How do you read the law?" Jesus answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. That is the first and greatest commandment." Then He said, "The second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

But then He said this, and it's recorded in Matthew's Gospel: "On these two commandments hang all of the law and the prophets." Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus expanded and amplified that statute, or what we might even call the law of love. The greatest commandment in the Scriptures is to love the Lord your God with all of your being and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus, in the Gospels, amplifies that and says, "I don't want you to only love your neighbor. I don't want you to only love those who are lovely. I want you also to love your enemies." In Matthew chapter 7, He said, "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do to them also, for this is all of the law and the prophets." There, in that passage in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, He says you are to...

Love your enemy. This is what I mean when I say that you don't get to the civil society of the Western world in 2022 without going through the foundational teachings of Deuteronomy chapter 22. What we see beginning in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy continues on and builds progressively through the prophets that we will eventually get to as we study through the Old Testament scriptures together here at Cross-Connection Church.

It starts in the law, moves through the prophets, and goes all the way up to Jesus. It is all pointing to Jesus; it is sign directing us to Him. You don't just look out for number one, as the scriptures would say. You don't just love your immediate family only. You don't just love those who love you, those who are the easy ones to love. You don't just love your brother, your neighbor, your friend, or your countrymen.

In the progressive revelation of God, as we move from the law to the prophets and on up to Christ, we learn that just as Jesus teaches again in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5, verse 43, "You have heard that it has been said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. For He makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect."

This kind of love that Jesus describes—loving not just your countrymen, not just those who are lovely, and not just those who love you, but even your enemies—is ultimately what God calls us to. I don't think it's possible without a supernatural enabling, but it is the path to becoming the children of God. As you love people in this way, this is the way that you become mature, complete, and perfect, like your Father in Heaven is perfect.

So here in these opening verses of Deuteronomy chapter 22, as Moses says, if you see your neighbor or your brother's ox wandering away, then you need to take it and restore it to them. Or if you find anything that your neighbor or your brother has lost, you need to take it and hold it for them and restore it to them. What is the point of this? What does this speak to us? What does Deuteronomy chapter 22 say to you and me?

Living in 2022, in North County, where I live in San Diego County, California, you are probably not going to see your brother's ox going astray. You are also unlikely to find your neighbor's donkey wandering out in a field, unless maybe you live out in the county, in Valley Center or somewhere similar. It is improbable that you will have to deal with stumbling upon some stranger's cloak or garment that they have lost, which you would need to hold for them until you find them to restore it.

These scenarios do not have a word-for-word, direct, literal application for us today, but what do they mean for us? This raises an important question: Do you like the idea of property rights? Do you value the concept of having personal property? Do you think that is important? We derive this idea from the law; we get it from the Scriptures. The notion that your brother owns or has an ox, a donkey, sheep, a cloak, or any other item reflects the idea of personal private property. We get that concept from God's law.

Do you think it is good to restore lost property to others? Again, we find that idea in God's law. Would you prefer to live in a society where "finders keepers, losers weepers" is the maxim we abide by, or would you rather live in a society where someone, whether you know who that person is or not, is looking out for you, your liberty, and your property? I think I want to live in a society where people are looking out for you and your property, even when you are not there.

Is it better to live among people who will pull over and help you when you break down on the side of the road, have a flat tire, or get into an accident? Or do you want to live where people look at you and just drive on by when you are on the side of the road after an accident?

You may remember, if you have read through the Gospel of Luke, that Jesus had a conversation with a lawyer about loving God and loving your neighbor. It didn't end where I left off just a moment ago. After Jesus told the lawyer to keep the two greatest commandments of loving God and loving his neighbor if he wanted to inherit eternal life, the lawyer came to Jesus with another question. He asked Him in Luke chapter 10, verse 29, "Okay, well, who is my neighbor?" Seeking to justify himself, he posed this question. Jesus then answered with a great story, which you may have read.

Before we begin, let’s consider the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus answered and said, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead."

Now, by chance, a certain priest came down the road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. I mean, the guy that you would expect to help in a crisis like this—the priest—passes by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite, who is from the Priestly tribe in Israel, arrived at the place, looked at the man, and then passed by on the other side as well.

But then a certain Samaritan came along. At the time of Jesus, there was real racial animosity and division between Jews and Samaritans. However, this Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where the wounded man was. When he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him, bandaged up his wounds, poured oil and wine on them, set him on his own donkey, and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him.

On the next day, he departed, took out two denarii—two days' wages—and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, "Take care of this man, and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you."

After Jesus tells the story, He asks the lawyer, "So which of these three do you think was a neighbor to him who fell among thieves?" The lawyer replied, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said, "Go and do likewise."

This is so important, and it begins to be taught to us in Deuteronomy chapter 22. It is carried out through the Old Testament prophets, but it ultimately finds its culmination in Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of the progressive revelation of God.

What does this passage begin to teach us? Jesus ultimately makes the primary application for us. He emphasizes the importance of loving in this way. The law of love is seen in how we show mercy to others, and the extent to which we show mercy—including to those we are not exactly fond of or those who are not exactly nice to us—reflects our understanding and application of the law of love. It shows that we know and love God.

The law of love is seen in how we show mercy to others. In Deuteronomy chapter 22, this passage opens with the instruction to restore lost property to your neighbor or even someone you don’t know. Moses says in this passage that this ultimately leads forward to loving your neighbor, fulfilling what God spoke in Leviticus.

Chapter 19. I'm definitely not getting as far as I wanted to today as quickly as I thought I would, but let's continue.

Look at Deuteronomy chapter 22, verse 5. We have something quite strange in the law of God: a woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. If ever there was an Old Testament passage that would seem to have some interesting modern application, this might be it. It is amazing to me to see the extent to which discussions about sexual identity and gender are the major issues of our time. I would not have seen that coming if you had asked me 10 or 12 years ago, but here we are in 2022, and this is the major cultural issue.

As strange as our cultural infatuation with these topics is at this moment, I think it only reminds us that the words of King Solomon from 3,000 years ago in Ecclesiastes chapter 1 are absolutely true: there is nothing new under the sun.

So, we have this Old Testament statute that appears to be against cross-dressing and transgenderism. Is that what this is all about? In one sense, yes, you could make that application, but I don't think that's the primary point of what Moses is talking about here in Deuteronomy chapter 22, verse 5. Primarily, I think this is more of a focus upon God's created order.

When I see the chaos and confusion of our time, especially as it relates to identity issues, I think about Jesus's words in Matthew chapter 19, verse 4, where He said, "Have you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female?" In another place in the Gospels, Jesus said, "You do err, not knowing the Scriptures." Certainly, we see a society in our day that is confused and descending further into chaos because we err, not recognizing the Scriptures or God's created order.

On page one of the Bible, in Genesis chapter 1, we read, "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him male and female.

God created them, and then He blessed them, male and female. God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the Earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the Earth."

I think it's important to point out Deuteronomy chapter 22, verse 5. When it talks about a man not dressing like a woman or a woman not dressing like a man, it is not teaching that women cannot wear pants. The ancient Israelites wore something more like a long robe or blouse; both men and women did. So, this passage isn't really teaching that women can't wear pants, as some people have wrongly interpreted it. This passage is teaching that there are distinct and important differences between men and women, which is what we find on the first page of the Bible. We should recognize and honor those distinct differences, as God has created them.

He has created things as they are, and He has ordered things so that we would live according to those principles. This passage emphasizes that God has a created order and has made a distinction between men and women. We would do well to recognize these differences and live within His created order.

Does that mean there's no variance in the extreme minorities as it relates to sex organs? No, there is some variance in the extreme minorities. Sometimes there are issues related to sex organs, and children are born with very small minorities. I think these are the effects of the Fall upon the created order. Is there something of a spectrum as it relates to masculinity and femininity? Yes, sometimes there are more masculine women and more feminine men. Even in the Bible, we see examples of this.

I think about Esau and Jacob in the Book of Genesis. We are told that Esau was a skillful hunter and a man of the field, but Jacob was a mild man dwelling in tents. Isaac, the father of Jacob and Esau, loved Esau because he ate of his game that he hunted, while Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau, loved Jacob, maybe because he was a good cook. We even see in that passage that he was a good cook.

There are differences in degrees as they relate to masculinity and femininity, but characteristic differences do not change biology, and they do not change God's created order. A society that disregards God's order will sow confusion, chaos, and disorder. We are seeing that in our culture if we disobey God's law.

We will distort and disorder His created order, and the result in the end will not be good. To say such things in 2022 here in the United States of America is culturally incorrect. It is, I think, a sad reality, a sad statement on our times that to be biblically correct is to be increasingly culturally and politically incorrect.

But I will say this: you fight with God's created order, and you will find yourself fighting against God. The effects will not be good; they will be very clear. You can try it, but I really don't think it's a good idea. It's like the time more than 20 years ago when I thought, "You know, I'm going to try riding my little brother's friend's dirt bike." My mom said, "Miles, I don't think that's a good idea," and I learned very quickly that it wasn't. I spent the rest of the afternoon in the emergency room getting stitches in my chin and having a concussion. As they sometimes say, "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

Our society keeps running full speed ahead, doing all kinds of crazy things, expecting that everything is just going to turn out great, and they're probably not. This is not new; there is nothing new under the sun.

Now, let's look at some more weird passages here in Deuteronomy chapter 22. In verses 6 and 7, we read: "If a bird's nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall surely let the mother go and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days."

Once again, we encounter another strange passage of Scripture in Deuteronomy, discussing mother birds sitting on nests with eggs or young. You can take the young, but you have to leave the mother. What on earth is going on here in this passage?

Well, just a moment ago, I read in Genesis chapter 1, verse 26: "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.'" The Bible teaches there in Genesis, and then coming forward into Deuteronomy chapter 22, that we human beings have authority and dominion over creation. This means that you have the liberty to go out and fish and to hunt. You even have the liberty to take the eggs or the young of a bird in the nest.

It may seem weird to you, but you have that liberty. Even though you have that liberty, Genesis chapter 1 and Moses here in Deuteronomy chapter 22 say that God has set some limits on how you can deal with these things in this world. Even though you have dominion over them, these limits are informed by wisdom. The simple underlying principle of these verses informs us that we must exercise wisdom in how we rule ecologically over creation as the Lords of creation.

While the specific example here has to do with birds and nests, the underlying principle extends to other environmental and ecological issues. God commands that we exercise wisdom in how we rule over and steward His creation, how we use natural resources, how we clear land for farming, how we mine minerals out of the ground, how we produce and use energy, and how we harvest game and catch fish.

Unfortunately, even in bringing this up, there are some within Christian circles who may become uncomfortable because of what we would call the environmental movement in our day. We have to be careful that we do not make creation into our God. At the same time, we need to recognize that God made creation and expects us to steward what He has given to us wisely.

When God created humanity, He also created a beautiful garden and placed humanity into His garden to tend and keep it. Later in the Old Testament, as you follow the timeline of Old Testament history, you find that God would judge the children of Israel for their lack of care and their lack of tending the promised land. He says to them, "You have defiled my land" in Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 7. They have made His heritage an abomination with their sinful practices, as well as failing to take care of the land in a proper way.

Now, we do not want to worship and serve the creation or the creature that God has made over the Creator who made these things. However, we also do not want to be unwise in our dominion and stewardship of all that God has made. He will hold us accountable for how we tend to the things that He has made. This is God's Earth; He has given it to us to have authority and dominion over it so that we would tend, keep, and take care of it.

Moses goes on to discuss another passage in Deuteronomy chapter 22.

Verse 8 states, "When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet, a small wall for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from the roof of your house." These exhortations in Deuteronomy chapter 22, regarding restoring lost property to your neighbor, the proper distinction between men and women in clothing, how to deal with birds, nests, and eggs, and how to manage your house when you build it, may seem scattered and disconnected. In one sense, they are somewhat proverbial and random. However, I find it interesting that Moses transitions from the care of creation in the previous verses, 6 and 7, to the care for humanity here in verse 8.

I believe this shift is intentional, inspired by God. One of the dangers evident in the modern environmental movement is the advocacy for the care of creation at any cost, even if it comes at the expense of human lives and livelihoods. For example, the environmental policies in the West today, including what has been termed ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) standards, are increasing global food insecurity, which we used to call hunger. While it is biblical to steward creation well, we ought not to do so at the expense of people. Humans are the crowning glory of God's creation, the final act of His creative work.

The psalmist in Psalm 8 says, "For you have made humanity a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor." The other things that God has made are beautiful and wonderful; they should be regarded highly and stewarded well. However, only for humans is there a guilt of bloodshed if one dies because of error, negligence, or injustice. There is nowhere near the same recompense or restitution expected for the death of an animal as there is for the death of a human. Therefore, Moses commands us to take great care when we build something like a house, ensuring that we do not, through negligence or dereliction, cause the untimely death of an individual. Our care for God's creative works should be paramount.

It is evident in how we care for our fellow man. Yes, we should steward creation well, but we should make sure that we give the most care to how we take care of other people, whether they are our neighbors, foreigners, or people on the other side of the planet. We should really be looking out for how we take care of people.

Now, I’m not getting nearly as far as I had planned when I stepped into Deuteronomy chapter 22. I had hoped that I might actually be able to get through Deuteronomy chapters 22 and 23 this week, but the more I looked at this passage, the more I realized that’s not going to happen.

Look at verse 9. Moses continues, "You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together. You shall make tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself."

These are four final rules that we’re going to look at today—four statutes for God's people—which seem to make very little sense to us in 2022. However, as I have thought about these and meditated on them, I see that they have a simple and shared focus. The reason I group all four of these together is that I think they have a common theme that God is trying to impart to His people.

As I said at the very beginning of this message, the children of Israel were to be a people that were separate and holy unto God. They were to be different and distinct, consecrated to the Lord only, holy and completely dedicated to Him. Many of the things that they would do on a daily, weekly, seasonal, and annual basis were meant to remind them of their separateness.

Was there some sort of moral or civil problem that would ensue if they mixed two different kinds of seeds or two different varieties of fruits together in their fields, vineyards, or orchards? No, that’s not what’s going on here. There is no immorality in doing so. But in their farming statutes, like this one in verse 9, they were given to remind them of their separateness and their consecration. God is saying, "I want you to take great care in your separateness."

Was there some sort of moral issue in yoking an ox and a donkey together?

There were some practical problems with yoking an ox or a donkey together if they were going to plow their field. However, was there a moral problem or a holiness issue? There was not. But God's people, the children of Israel, were to refrain from being unequally yoked with others who were not of God's people. This statute actually carries on into the New Testament. In the New Testament book of Second Corinthians, Paul says, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'"

God wants us to make sure that we are a separate and distinct people. He especially wanted the children of Israel to be separate and distinct from the Canaanites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites. He says that the things they were going to do would remind them of their separateness. They were not to unequally yoke an ox and a donkey together, nor were they to plant two different kinds of seed in the same field. These practices were to remind them that they were separate.

Was there a deep theological holiness issue regarding clothing that had mixed threads, such as linen and wool? I imagine there probably was, although I didn't look at the tag of this shirt; it probably has some mixed threads in it, like cotton and something else. However, was there some sort of theological holiness issue for the children of Israel regarding the mixing of linen and wool? There wasn't. It wasn't an immoral thing, but there were some practical reasons for not doing that. Even in their clothing, God was saying that the clothing they put on every single day should remind them that they are a holy people to the Lord. They are not mixed, alloyed, or scattered together with other people; they are distinct.

On their clothing, God instructed them to have tassels on the four corners. We find more information about the tassels in other passages of Scripture. They were to be made of white thread with one blue thread through the middle. When we look at that strange statute, we may wonder why it is there. The answer is given to us in the book of Numbers. In Numbers chapter 15, we read, "And you shall have the tassel that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord your God to do them." These things are to remind them to do all of God's commandments and to be holy, for He is the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt to be their God.

The Lord your God redeemed the children of Israel out of Egypt to be their God, and they would be His people. They entered into a covenant together in a relationship, and they were to be separate from the Canaanites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Moabites. They were to be a distinct people.

In all these things, the way they planted their fields, the way they plowed their fields with their animals yoked together, the way they put on their clothes, and the way they made their clothes were all intended to remind them of their separateness. There wasn't a moral issue about having these tassels on their clothing; rather, they served as a visual reminder of their holiness to the Lord and the commandments they had received. It is similar to a wedding ring, which is a visible, tangible reminder of the relationship I have with my spouse. It serves as a reminder to me and as a witness to others as well.

The law of God was ordered such that Israel would always remember that God was their God and they were His people. I wonder if there is anything in your life or in my life that serves as a daily reminder that I am a child of God. What do you have? Israel had rituals, feasts, daily practices, and weekly gatherings to remind them of their connection with God. I don't think it is a bad thing for us to order our lives in such a way that we are continuously reminded of our connection to God.

Not only should we be reminded of our connection to God, but it should also serve as a witness to others that we are His people. This is something to think about, perhaps even something to pray about. God, is there something I need to order in my life? Is there some sort of regular gathering with other people at church to partake of communion, or gathering in a small group in a home to have a meal together and pray? Is there a bracelet or necklace I might wear that could remind me of my connection to You or serve as a witness to others that I am set apart as one of Your children, one of Your followers, so that I may be a light to others?

God, I pray that You would help us as we reflect on these things. In Deuteronomy, it is easy for us to read a passage, like Deuteronomy chapter 22 or 23, and find some strange or weird content, thinking, "I don't know what this means," and quickly move on. But I pray that when we look at these things, we would see that You may have something more here that You want to instruct us in and teach us, and that we would be open to whatever that instruction and teaching may be, Lord.

Open our hearts and our minds that we would receive these things. Also, open our eyes that we would see the wonders from Your Word and that we would be able to understand what application that has to us in 2022. We are probably not going to stumble upon some wandering ox or donkey and have to hold on to it until we find the owner, Lord. However, there is still something more that You want to teach us. So, Lord, help us to be open to it. Help us to see these things and to learn from Your Word. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Power doesn't stand a chance when I stand in Your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance.

Thanks for joining us for our online service today. As we close, we would love to invite you to our on-campus service here at Cross Connection Church at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. every Sunday. Also, if you'd like more information about Cross Connection Church, make sure you check out lifeinconnection.com.

Good morning, Cross Connection! It's Pastor Garrett here. I'm so excited that you have come to join us for living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ. Today, we have some announcements for you and some upcoming events—ways that you can really be living life in connection this month.

We're already in October, so we're looking forward to Halloween and what we call our Harvest Home Fellowships. These are times where we encourage you to get your connect groups together and be hospitable to your neighbors by handing out candy, playing some games, and hopefully meeting some of your neighbors. It's just an awesome opportunity for you to do that.

If you have any questions about how to do a Harvest Home Group, please go see Pastor Nick as you're exiting the Sanctuary. He'll be right where the same Connect Five area is, underneath the orange roof, right in front of the office building. You can't miss it. Go ask him; he's also got a flyer for you. Any of our connect group leaders who would like to grab some of those can get an outline on how to do a Harvest Home Fellowship Group and how you can be a blessing to your neighbors, meet them, and of course, hand them some candy.

I'm looking forward to that! In line with that, we have some youth events coming up. You can check events.lifeinconnection.com. The one I want to highlight today for you parents is our next Youth Olympics, which is coming up on October 29th, Saturday. We're going to be starting at 10 a.m., so you can go ahead and sign your kids up on the website events.lifeinconnection.com. It's going to be a blast!

Hey, Cross Connection Church! If you were here with us about this time last year, you may remember that we converted our Sanctuary into a production facility. In one weekend, we filled about 30,000 meals for a ministry in South America called Surah Fujio. Today, I want to introduce you to Eric, who is the Director of Development from Surah Fujio. Eric, welcome to Cross Connection Church! Thank you, and thank you so much, Cross Connection. The reason why I'm here today is to present a piece of artwork to you as a way to show...

I want to express my gratitude for what you did as a church. You came together, raised funds, and packed so many meals for our children's care centers in Peru. This artwork comes from a supporter of ours who has created pieces for our projects in Argentina and Paraguay.

This particular piece is of a little girl at one of our care centers who receives the meals that you packed here at Cross Connection. With gratitude, we would like to present this photo from Sue Refugio to Cross Connection as a way of saying thank you and as a blessing to all of you who see it here at the church.

Thank you, Eric, not just for this, but for the work that you and your team are doing in South America. We continue to pray for the work you are doing, and we are glad to partner with your ministry as a church. Thank you very much.