Observations and Interpretations
In Ch 12, Moses warned Israel to CAREFULLY obey the commandments, especially the commandment about not to worship the gods of the nations they were about to dispose.
2 ways to avoid their worships:
A. To totally destroy the places of worship v.2-3, 5-28
God would choose a place for them to worship 5-14. The temporary laxity in the wilderness would come to an end v.8. In the end of this section, Moses emphasized that they needed to be careful. This is the first of the 4 "be careful" in this passage (13, 19, 28, 30)
If you only want to eat meat (not for sacrifice) you have the freedom to eat anywhere v.15-28.
In other words, do not violate the law of worship just because you want to eat the sacrifice meat. You only need to go to the tabernacle when you sacrifice the meat to God.
In the passage about freedom to eat meat, Moses mentioned twice "be careful" v.19, 28. Moses probably wanted to warn us that freedom is only limited under certain circumstances. Human nature tends to relax too much when we have a chance to do so.
(BKC) Each of three sections in this chapter concludes with the admonition to be careful in carrying out the instructions (Deut. 12:13, 19, 28; also note vv. 1, 30). This is one of many emphases in Deuteronomy, given perhaps because the people tended to be careless and negligent.
Application: Do we careless when we want to satisfy our own desire? Do we abuse our freedom and do not have any boundary to our freedom? Do we tend to overdo our freedom and become negligent to God?
B. Not to copy the way they worshipped v.4, 29-32
Not only their gods Israel should not worship, but also the way they worship v.31. Do not just do that out of curiosity v.30. It is disgusting to God and is hated by God.
Application: Out of our emphasis on practicality, we usually ignore how things should be done. We think as long as we get the outcomes, the methods can be many. In some areas of our life, perhaps this is true. Be careful and serious when we come to worship God. Not all forms of worship are welcome by God.
If you have time and you want to understand these issues:
(1) 13:15 Why total annihilation to the whole city when some evil people enticed the inhabitants of their city?
(NAC) But now the punishment extended beyond the culpable parties, that is, the false prophets themselves, to include the entire community in which they lived (v. 15). The reason for this presumably was (1) the failure of the citizens of that town to address the matter themselves or (2) the fact that they had succumbed to the enticements of the prophets and had followed them into idolatry. In either case the entire place was placed under ḥerem, the judgment of annihilation, as though it were a Canaanite city, for this was the very judgment reserved for such recalcitrant pagans (cf. Deut 7:1–5). Clearly, those who rebel against the Lord by breaking the covenant and going after other gods are no better than the heathen and deserve the same divine punishment.
(2) In ch 14, why were some animals considered as clean and some as unclean?
To be “a people holy to the LORD” (v. 2) meant being a people set apart to God for His use. In the preceding section (12:29–13:18) Moses stressed the need for the nation in her worship to be set apart from all pagan nations. In chapter 14 Moses turned his attention to the everyday affairs of life and called for a distinctive lifestyle that would reflect Israel’s unique position among all the nations.
(BKC) A third explanation is that the clean and unclean animals were symbolic of good and evil in the human realm. This explanation became extremely subjective and even fanciful by earlier interpreters of the Old Testament. For instance, some held that chewing of the cud (14:6–8) represented the faithful believer who meditated on the Law. Others taught that the sheep (v. 4) was clean because it served as a reminder that the Lord is His people’s Shepherd. This symbolic interpretation should be rejected since it is divorced from the controls of grammatical historical exegesis, and therefore is impossible to validate. However, a symbolic interpretation may be essentially correct if it is applied comprehensively under strict exegetical controls to all the ceremonially clean and unclean animals here.
The animals are divided into three classes: Those that live on land, those that live in the water, and those that live in the air. It has been suggested that certain animals in each group provide the standard for that class; any deviation from that standard renders the animal unclean. For example, the unclean birds are birds of prey that eat flesh without draining the blood and/or are carrion eaters, whereas clean birds are presumably those that eat grain. This, some suggest, symbolizes the two classes of people: Gentiles who eat animal blood and animal flesh that they find already dead (v. 21), and Israelites who refrain from both. However, the standard for each class is sometimes difficult to discern.A fourth explanation is that the distinction between clean and unclean animals is purely arbitrary, that is, God made the distinctions so that Israel might have a way of expressing her unique relationship to Him, even in relation to food. Of these four explanations either the third or fourth one is preferable. If the clean and unclean animals symbolize the human realm (third explanation) then the food laws serve a double function. They were pedagogical illustrations to Israel of her relationship to God and the nations, and they reminded her of her uniqueness as a theocratic nation.
Audrey
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