DEUTERONOMY Lesson 10
DISCUSSION CHPTS. 23-25, INTRO TO CHAPTS. 26-27
OPEN WITH PRAYER
Pass out Prayer Request Cards. Fill them out and pass them
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR WEEK 11 Chapters 23-25
1. The first 6 verses of Ch. 6 deal with excluding groups of people from the assembly, based on their physical defects or their ancestry. This is not the elders, but all those who assemble to worship together. What groups are many churches today tempted to exclude? Are there any groups we should exclude from our worship? Why/why not?
2. Versus 1-6 contain part of the law that Jesus’ life and death made obsolete. (Heb. 8:13) While we are to act like a single body (Eph. 3:6, 4:4, etc.), we must come to faith individually (1Cor. 12). In what sense is this individual freedom echoed in the preamble to our constitution?
3. Ch.23: 9-14 seem like they don’t apply to us. Most of us don’t do primitive camping. Yet, what is God saying here about keeping our homes free of indecency? (v.14) What are the contaminants we must keep out?
4. While I suspect that none us can even imagine male and female temple prostitutes, again, there is a principle for us here in v. 18. Restate v. 18 pertaining to today.
5. Have you ever made a vow to the Lord? If so, what have you vowed?
6. In light of Ch. 23:24-25, what is phony about the Pharisee’s charge in Matt. 12:1-2?
7. Again, in light of Ch. 24:1 we see the Pharisees bating Jesus in their questioning. What is wrong with their question in Matt.19:3? What grounds is God in vs.1 allowing the man to divorce his wife?
8. For what reason was a newly wed to be kept out of the army? (24:5) What does this say about the position God gives to wives?
9. Kidnapping is a crime punishable by death (24:7). Should it be here? What is (or should be) the function in a modern society of capital punishment?
10. Why does God say (v. 18, 22) they should treat the poor and the alien (foreigner) as He does in verses of Ch. 24:10-21? What would God say about “workfare” vs. “welfare”, based on 24:19-21?
11. Again in Ch. 25:1-3 we have the antecedent of our Bill of Rights amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. How do we judge what is cruel and unusual when it comes to punishment?
12. Ch. 25:13-16 are about dishonesty in business. They apply today in many kinds of businesses. Discuss some.
INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTERS 26-28
Ch. 26 begins with what they are supposed to do when they harvest their very first crop in the new land. He then repeats the instructions from 14:28-29 and ends with the admonition to follow God and His promises.
Ch. 27 begins with the memorial and altar they were to erect. As they entered the Promised Land, two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal, stood facing each other. Half of the tribes were to stand on each of the mountains with the Levites in the valley. As the Levites read the curses, all of the people were to say, “Amen” in agreement, that the curses would be just.
CH. 28 contains the blessings and curses, and that the Lord will scatter them.
DISCUSSION QUETIONS FOR WEEK 12, CHAPTERS 26-28
1. In 26:1-11, God commands them to recount out loud their collective history in the first person. What would be the effect in your family or in your life if you live alone, if, from time to time or on special holidays, like Christmas or a birthday, you recounted aloud your family history and what God has done for you and your family? Having read 26:1-11, are you tempted to do it?
2. What do 26:12-13 say about sharing what God has enabled us to earn and have?
3. God says, “Obey Me” 29 times in Deuteronomy, but it is more than obedience He wants. He tells us to do so with all of our hearts 9 times in Deuteronomy.
a. How is this different from just obedience?
b. Three times in Deuteronomy God says to walk in His ways. What does it mean to you to “Walk in His Ways”? (See Rom. 8:29) Practically, for you, what does it mean?
4. In Deuteronomy 27:1-8 God command them to take stones, whitewash them and write the word of the covenant. Likewise, we have place copies of the Ten Commandments, usually on stone, in courthouses, government buildings, schools, etc., until the courts have rescinded that right. Why was it important for the Israelites to have the words written before them and why is it important for us to keep God’s Law before us, publicly?
5. How does the wording of the commandments of Deuteronomy 27:9-26 reveal that they (we) have hearts of selfishness, greed and idolatry?
6. The commandment of Deuteronomy 27:9-26 seem far fetched for us. We cannot imagine doing any of these. Yet, many of us have prejudices against certain alien groups. (vs. 19). What constitute “withholds justice?”