Deuteronomy 12:20 says, When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. Moses once again told the people of Israel that they could eat flesh, or meat, and as stated before, this still applies today. Verse twenty-one adds, If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. Moses said if they were too far away from the place that He designated as the place to worship Him, they were to kill of their flocks and eat in the gates wherever they were. Verse twenty-two continues, Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike. Those who were spiritually clean and unclean could both eat of the hart, or deer, though I don't believe this means they would eat together. There is nothing that we cannot eat today for spiritual reasons. Verse twenty-three states, Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. The only exception was that they could not eat the blood, because it represented life. I believe that after Jesus shed His blood for us on the cross, thereby eliminating the need for physical sacrifices to atone for sin that even this prohibition was lifted. Verse twenty-four adds, Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. They were to pour the blood on the earth as water. Verse twenty-three continues, Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD. Moses again warned them not to eat the blood as a sign of obedience to God. If they did not, thereby obeying Him, it would go well with them. As Christians today, though we are saved forever by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we still must obey God's commandments to show the world that we truly believe what God says. If we do, it will go well with our soul. Verse twenty-six declares, Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose: Moses said that the holy things that they had and the vows that they took should be taken to the place that God designated. Hopefully today, as we gather together to worship God it will be in a place that God designated. We should never attempt to establish a place of worship if God is not leading us to do it. Verse twenty-seven adds, And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh. Moses said that once that once their burnt offerings, both the flesh and the blood had been offered on the altar that they could eat what was left. Verse twenty-eight says, Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. Moses called on the people of Israel to do all that God through Moses had commanded them to do, both them and their descendants if they wanted things to go well with them. If we as followers of Christ want things to go well for us spiritually, we must obey God's law. Verse twenty-nine adds, When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Verse thirty adds,, Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Moses warned them against becoming curious about the gods that the people that He had given them victory over and beginning to question why they should not worship them. As Christians, we should never begin to be curious about other religions to the point that we begin to think that there might be something in them that we want to believe. Verse thirty-one continues, Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. Moses said that they were not to sacrifice unto other gods because if they did it would mean that they were unfaithful to God. Moses said that some even sacrificed their sons and daughters to these false gods. I believe that we cannot participate in anything whereby a baby, born or unborn, is sacriced for any reason. Verse thirty-two concludes, What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. God said that they were to do what He had instructed them to do without adding to it or taking away from it. We today should be the same way about God's word, especially the gospel of Christ. We should never add to it nor take away from it, but simply accept it by faith.
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