We remember that Deuteronomy is basically a set of four talks, four speeches that Moses gives to the children of Israel. Not the original group of Israel, a new generation. The original group is dead and buried. Their bones are scattered all over the Sinai Peninsula because of their failure to obey God and their love of, really, disbelief, not wanting to go into the land. God said, "Fine. You can stay right here," and he let them perish in the wilderness. But the new generation is on the plains of Moab, and Moses is rehearsing all that God has done. That's the first speech.

He goes through the past in the first four chapters: "This is what God has done in your past." And then beginning in chapter 5 through about chapter 26 he says, "In lieu of all that God has done for you in the past, this is how you are to respond to God in the present." The third speech is what God promises to do for them in the future, beginning in chapter 27, 28. And then, finally, the last speech is what God will do for them through the covenant relationship that he made with them. So four speeches, and we're really still in speech number two, what God expects them to do in the present. He wants them to obey him. After all, God delivered them from Egypt.

They had no hope. They were slaves as one time. God delivered them and now they're perched looking over a new land, new hope, about ready to cross the Jordan. It only makes sense that they would obey God, because they would remember the last time they said no to obeying God and what happened. So that would be quite a bit of incentive to obey God now in the present. I have always felt sorry for Moses in the sense that he had a couple million kids; really, that's what they acted like for so many years. And then after putting up with all of that, he himself didn't get to go into the Promised Land.

He just got see it while the next generation marched through, all because of his failure to misrepresent God on an occasion, because they were looking to Moses as the one who would represent to them the heart of God. And God had to say, "Moses, I wasn't angry with them today, but you made them think that I was by your attitude and by your action and beating the rock. And all I said was talk to it and water would come forth, so that they might have water." So here's Moses, he's going through the speeches, perched on the Promised Land's edge, not able to go in himself.

There is a beautiful verse in chapter 6, just to remind ourselves of it before we jump into chapter 18. In chapter 6 Moses says, "God brought you out from there [Egypt], that he might bring you into the land." In other words, "God did not just waste his time and spin his wheels giving you miracles, giving you signs, and protecting you up to this point so that you might die here and now. God has done what he has done because he has a plan for you in the future to walk in, so be obedient to him in the present." Whatever God starts, God finishes. He's "the author and the finisher of our faith."

"He that has begun a good work in you will complete it till the day of Christ." I love that. God doesn't save you and then sort of keep you in a certain place where you won't make leaps and bounds and growth and maturity; God has a plan for your life, a plan of service, a plan for you to be satisfied and fulfilled, a land of Canaan here and now ready for you. I think he has a plot, a territory for you, and I'm saying that metaphorically, some area of service where you can serve him, serve his people, and be satisfied in doing that. There's nothing more satisfying than serving God.

There's nothing more frustrating than serving yourself, because you can never please yourself. And if you live to please yourself, it's like, you know, the horse going after the --what goes after the carrot? I don't even know anything about those things, [laughter] but what chases the --[congregation interjects] The rabbit? They have actual rabbit races? Oh, forget it. [laughter] You know what I'm saying. It'll never work. Here I am having a conversation about rabbits, trying to figure this out in the Bible study. [laughter] [congregation interjects] A what? A greyhound goes after what? [Congregation replies, "A rabbit."] Thank you very much.

Now that we got that straight and I feel spiritually blessed, let's move on. [laughter] I can tell you spend a lot of time at the races. [laughter] Verse 1, "The priests, the Levites --indeed all the tribe of Levi --shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his portion," or his inheritance. "Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as he said to them. And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it is a bull or sheep; they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach.

"The firstfruits of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give to him." In a sense, the Old Testament priests functioned like a New Testament elder, pastor, minister. He was, first of all, to teach people about God. He was secondly, to be a godly example to the people. He was, thirdly, to maintain the temple or tabernacle and the ministries thereof, to make sure that all the duties were performed by all of the tribe of Levi. And, fourth, he was to disperse the offerings that were brought in to do the Lord's work. That was what he was called to do.

Now, God insured that he, that they, the tribe of Levi, would be taken care of. He had a special plan for them, an arrangement. So right off the bat God says that there's a certain portion that they will be given. And as offerings were brought --the thank offerings, the trespass offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering --these offerings were given and portions of them were given to the priests so that they could consume them, eat them. They wouldn't have to go out and go shopping, people would bring it to them, and they would live off of these things. The people would support them so that they could do the work of the ministry.

Then also it says in the end of verse 1, "and his [or God's] portion," or God's inheritance. In other words, there were certain things appropriated to God, a tithe, that people would give a tithe unto the Lord. That tithe went to the tribe of Levi, the priests who maintain the tabernacle as well as the firstfruits. They were given all to support the priesthood. "For the Lord your God has chosen him out of your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever." Also, you know, the tribe was fairly large, so not only did they stand around and minister in the tabernacle, there were courses or there were shifts throughout the year that the Levites worked in.

Because of that they didn't all stay in Jerusalem, but they had 48 different cities scattered throughout the land of Israel called Levitical cities. Six of them were specially designated, we'll get to that in the next chapter, but 48 cities where they were to live and they were to be taken care of by the people. "Now, if a Levite comes from any of your gates, where he sojourns among all Israel, and comes with all of the desire of his mind to the place which the Lord chooses, then he may serve in the name of the Lord his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord."

One day in the guy's life he might say, "You know, I'm a Levite. I'm called to minister as a priest. I really want to go to Jerusalem." If that's the desire of his heart, he can go to Jerusalem, share in the offering, share in the work of the ministry, receive remuneration for it, as well as being able to sell anything that he has and keep the proceeds from it. It says in verse 7, "Then he may serve in the name of the Lord his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord. They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.

"When you come into the land" --let me just set this up for context sake. He begins in this chapter by talking about priests and then he will talk about prophets. These are the big guns among the children of Israel. These are their spiritual leaders: priests and prophets. Before he talks about prophets, he's going to lay down a heavy admonition about what not to do. They're going into a land filled with people who believe in wizardry and all sorts of occultic practices, horoscopes, divination, witchcraft, sorcery, and they're going to be tempted by these things.

So he's going to talk about --"Here's the priesthood, but also if you want to know the future, if you want to know what I have to say, I'm going to give you prophets." So before he talks about the prophets, he tells them what not to do as they get into the land, avoiding the customs of the people. "When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations." I think it's a sad day when the Christian church takes its cues from the world, say, "Well, this is what the world is doing.

You know, that's the trend these days. Since that is the trend, we'll make that our trend. Since the world loves a Letterman format, then we'll do that in our church. Since the world loves entertainment, and not to really listen to truth, we won't really have much truth in our church. We will just entertain the goats rather than feeding the sheep. After all, that's what the trend is, that's what the people want." God says, "No. I have certain practices I want you to follow. Don't be like them. Don't be like those around you."

"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead," involved in necromancy. "For all those who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out before you. You shall be blameless [or wholehearted] before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you."

Now in verse 15 he speaks about the prophets. So he's showing them the difference between pagan sorcery and prophetic certainty. The pagans follow pagan sorcery and he lists them. "You are to listen to prophetic certainty. I am going to put my words in the mouths of the prophets." Now notice some of these customs. First of all, "anyone who makes their son or daughter pass through the fire." Did you know that there was a god called Molech, and on certain occasions people actually sacrificed to death their newborns?

They would heat up their little gods, their arms to blazing white or red hot fire, because they would kindle a fire underneath this little molten-iron god and the arms would become just steaming hot. And then they would lay their babies to be burned alive on the little statute of Molech thinking that that would give them blessing, that that would give them the favor of the gods, that that would give them more health or more wealth. They were willing to sacrifice their babies. It was one of the practices of the nations they were about to go into.

It was just idolatry. It was pagan. Then in Carthage, in the ruins of Carthage they have found a field filled with babies from infancy to four years old, all who died as being sacrificed to the gods or goddesses in order that the people, the parents might obtain favor and blessing of the gods. They were willing to kill their babies in order to make their life easier and more prosperous. God says it's an abomination. Now, with that in mind, what must God think of the millions of babies aborted every year, sacrificing babies all in the name of "what is convenient for me, what is easier for me, my choice, my rights, my life"? It must be the same sentiment.

It's an abomination. And, yet, our country is becoming more and more insensate to that. It's just on the news so much we think it's not even a big deal. It is a big deal. It is a sin for which this nation must pay, must be judged by God for the killing of millions of innocent babies every year all in the name of convenience --"It's just not convenience for me to have a baby." A couple of doctors, Francis Crick was one of them and James . . . oh, I can't think of his last name. [voice from congregation interjects] What? Watson. Thank you.

Both won Nobel Peace Prizes for DNA. They stated categorically that a baby shouldn't even be considered viable until it's after three days old, after being delivered as a baby three days old, and if it's defective the parents should have the right to terminate the life of that defective child --after being alive three days outside of the womb. God says here that is an abomination. In Maryland it's illegal to ship pregnant lobsters to the market. In Massachusetts giving goldfish out for rewards in school, little goldfish, is considered against --it's against the law. It breaks the anticruelty laws. Yet, that same state has enforced mandatory funding for abortions.

To kill a baby eagle is a $5,000 fine, five years in prison. You know, babies, human babies would fare much better in the courts of our land in they were in the animal kingdom. If they're in the animal --if they're lobsters or if they're eagles that they would be protected, but they're humans and so they're unprotected --all in the name of convenience. It is tragic. "Or one who practices witchcraft," verse 10, "or a soothsayer," literally this is cloud gazer. This is a guy who looks up and sees patterns in the clouds: "That means an omen. That means the gods are mad. That means it's, you know, going to be a blessing."

Cloud gazers: one who interprets omens. Or a sorcerer, literally: a poisoner, one who uses drugs to get into an altered state of consciousness to treat somebody or to tell the future. "One who conjures spells, or a medium, or spiritist, or one who calls up the dead" --all of these things are promoted by the media today. "For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you." It's estimated that right now in our country there's 200,000 registered witches and about 8 million witches worldwide.

Now, many of them don't register for obvious reasons. I'm amazed that that many would. They're proclaimed witches involved in sorcery and witchcraft. Now, I've got to say that all of these practices God knew would be very powerful. There are manifestations. Demons are real. There is a dark side. And anybody who has dabbled in any of these things knows the power that can be manifested in these practices. Before I was a Christian I dabbled in spirit writing, automatic writing, astral projection. Let me tell you, there is a power exerted on the dark side.

That's why so many kids get into these practices and get into Satanism, because so many churches are so irrelevant in the way they try to present the relevant Christ. And, you know, the kids just go and there's nothing real that is seen in the home, there's nothing real that is seen in their friends who proclaim to be Christian. They want something that's real, tangible. And I remember having incredible manifestations that I thought, "Wow! This has gotta be real." It was real. It was really wrong. It was really evil.

And I came to the point where I was crying out for spirits to inhabit me, to give me messages. I was crying out for demon possession. Very real, but one day I realized, wait a minute, where is God in all this? I was raised to believe in God. If there's that much power on the devil's side, how much power must there be on God's side? I want to be plugged into the right source. So God knew that. God commanded them to be blameless in verse 13, or wholehearted, don't pry into these things. For God is dispossessing those nations, they listened to the soothsayers and the diviners.

Now, with that as a setup he talks about prophets. "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him shall you hear, according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb," that is, the mountain of Sinai, "in the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.' The Lord said to me: 'What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

"And it should be that whoever will not hear my words, which he speaks in my name, I will require of it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' " God promised to give them a prophet, probably generic for the whole line of prophets, but Stephen in the New Testament uses this Scripture to refer to Jesus Christ. He saw this clearly as the Prophet, meaning the Christ. And when he was giving his testimony in Jerusalem, he referred to this very Scripture, that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment.

He was the Prophet of God likened to Moses. "For the law came by Moses," said John, "but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." When Jesus was transfigured, we remember there was Moses, who represented the covenant of the law; there was Elijah, who represented the prophets; and there was Jesus Christ, the Prophet Jesus Christ. God was raising up spokesmen prophets. They would be the voice of God to the people of Israel and in some cases to the people around them. God wanted them to listen to prophets for two reasons. Number one, because they would speak the truth and that was the way they would know what is the truth, listen to the prophet.

Well, how do you know he's telling the truth? Well, if he says something and it comes to pass, he's a true prophet. If he says something and it doesn't come to pass, he's a false prophet and he'll die. So it was a very narrow job description, and there weren't many applications for the job, because 1 percent of failure meant death. If you speak in the name of the Lord, you had to be, not 98 percent accurate, but 100 percent accurate. Secondly, not only did they tell the truth, God was preparing them to listen to the ultimate Prophet, Jesus Christ. We need to realize, in light of this passage, that Jesus is God's final word to the earth. He is.

The book of Hebrews sort of, I think, has this as a background. When it begins by saying, "God, who at different times and in different ways spoke in times past to our fathers through the prophets, has in these last days spoken, spoken to us by his own Son, whom he made heir of all things, and through also he made the world." God spoke through the prophets, but in these last days has spoken. That is a very, very, important term. God spoke in the past through the prophets; God has spoken through Jesus. The word that is used "spoken" in Christ is in the Greek language an aorist active imperative. It's a very, very important usage of the language.

It's the word elalēsen from the word laleó, to speak. And it means: spoken once and for all, it's over now, God isn't speaking anymore. His final word is the word Christ, the logos. God didn't speak through Jesus and then decide, "I want to raise up Bahá'u'lláh to speak, or Joseph Smith, the angel Moroni, or the Jehovah's Witnesses as ongoing prophetic voices." No. Once and for all God has spoken. God has nothing more to say outside of Jesus Christ. Now, if somebody says, "I've got a message from God," it better match up with what God has said in his Word or he's a false prophet. You have to test it by the Scripture.

God has spoken once and for all through his Son. I think this is brought out again in the transfiguration. That's a high hill, there's Jesus, there's Moses, there's Elijah. Jesus is appearing in great glory, vibrant white, brilliant as the sun. Peter is so excited he says, "Let's build three, you know, apartment houses, three tabernacles: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. You are great prophets, all of you. I recognize all of you." Jesus, he's in the great lineage. God said, "This is my beloved Son. Hear him!" God spoke in the past through Moses and Elijah; now, "This is my Son. Listen to him. Listen to what he has to say."

Now, "If a prophet," verse 20 again, "who presumes to speak a word in my name." And it still happens, doesn't it? "God has given me a word for you, brother. I've got a message from God. I've got a prophecy for you." Well, first of all, the Bible says in the New Testament we're not to despise prophecy. Be open, see if God is in it, and there's ways to test it. For instance, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, Paul says, "Let the prophet speak, two, at the most three, one at a time, and they should be judged by the elders of the church." In other words, the prophet isn't to be over the church, the church is to be judging the prophets.

The prophets speak in the context of church leadership; the elders and pastors much judge. In 1 Corinthians 14, verses 2 or 3, I can't remember which, it says the prophets, when they speak, should speak three different ways: edification, exhortation, or comfort. In other words, a prophetic voice today will be to build up, to stir up, or to cheer up: edification, it builds you up, encourages you in the faith; exhortation, it would stir you up into good works, it would cause you to want to serve the Lord; or to cheer you up, to comfort you, those who are downtrodden.

So, if somebody comes and is filled with anger, hatred, all in the name of Jesus Christ --"Thus saith the Lord, you cruddy children" --I automatically silence his voice, because there's no edification nor true exhortation nor comfort. So, how do you tell a true or a false prophet? Well, we already covered that in chapter 13, and now it's brought up again in chapter 18. Number one, well, let's read it and then we will discuss it. We should at least read the Scripture. " 'The prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, that I have not spoken to him, or to him who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'

"If you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?' --when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." Number one, it doesn't come to pass. Now, there are certain generic things that will always come to pass. Someone says, "Thus saith the Lord, it's going to rain tomorrow somewhere." [laughter] He didn't need the Lord to figure that out. There's nothing supernaturally understood about that fact. Yeah, we got that.

If it is a direct prediction, if it's from God, it will come to pass. God says if it doesn't, you're not to be afraid of that person. Today since God spoke in the past and now he speaks through Jesus Christ, it must be tested with the Scripture, with God's revelation. Why is it that some people don't read their Bibles but want to listen to fresh words from God? They don't want to listen to what God has spoken, they want to listen to what God will speak now, as if to say this doesn't count. Well, why would God reveal something to you until you have figured out what he has already said and read what he already said?

And Paul commended the church of Berea for following that practice, because "they received the word of God with all readiness of mind, but searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so." So test all things by the Word of God. Then, third test, what does he teach? That's Deuteronomy, chapter 13: if he performs a miracle but he's teaching you to follow some other god, he's a false prophet. And then, fourthly, the test of character, the test of character. And I think we just mentioned that in 1 Corinthians 14, edification, exhortation, or comfort, the way he would speak it.

Now, in chapter 19 we get to --it's still really dealing with the priesthood, because there's cities that are mentioned, there's special towns. In fact, there's not a town like them in our country. It would be a great place to have. They're called cities of refuge. Of the 49 Levitical cities that existed, six of them were to be designated as cities of refuge or places of sanctuary. Three of them were on one side of the Jordan River, and God said, "If you ever really obey me and I expand your borders like I promised, you can have three more on the other side of the Jordan." Let's read about it.

"When the Lord your God had cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. You shall prepare roads for yourself" --now, you're going to understand why these roads are so important, not just towns, but you need good roads to get there. "Divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there.

"And this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him in time past --as when a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies --he shall flee to one of these cities and live; lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long." The way would be long to the main sanctuary, wherever that would be, in Shiloh or later on in Jerusalem. "And kill him, though he was not worthy of death, since he has not hated the victim in time past."

In other words, this is involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder. He didn't mean to do it. "Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall separate three cities for yourself.' Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which he promised to give your fathers, and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in his ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus bloodguiltiness be upon you."

The cities of refuge were places where a fair trial could be held. They were Levitical cities probably because the idea is being priests, thinking of the law of God, studying the law of God, and applying to teach the law of God, you would find impartial judges in these six cities: three on the west side, three on the east side of the Jordan. The Talmud tells us that at every crossroads in the land of Israel was a signpost pointing the direction that said, "This way to the city of refuge." So no matter where you were in the land of Israel, if you're traveling on the road, you needed to get to a city of refuge because, you know, you killed somebody accidentally, you could flee to the nearest city of refuge.

Three cities, pretty much equal distance apart, so that wherever you are you could flee to one of them. Let's say you killed somebody; you'd flee to a city of refuge. You'd go through a trial in the gates of the city by the elders, the priests. If you were found not guilty, you were not indicted, you didn't hate the person, it was an accident and they would show proof of that, you would go free. The reason there was a city of refuge is because there was a custom, a Semitic custom. In fact, it's a custom that's still intact today by Bedouin tribes in the Middle East. It's the custom of blood revenge. If you killed --and this is a hypothetical if I lived in that part of the world.

If you killed a member of my family, I would designate somebody in my family to be the avenger of blood, chase that guy down, kill him --blood for blood. But what if that person killed my relative unintentionally? I might go after him and kill him, and I would be guilty, and the avenger of blood would be guilty. So knowing that was a common practice all over the territories, and it had been for many years, and still is in some cases today, the cities of refuge were there for a fair, impartial trial. Some see the cities of refuge as a type of Christ, the refuge that you can flee to, being guilty, being forgiven, a place of refuge, a place of sanctuary.

Today in the Middle East there are certain tents that are designated as sanctuaries, places of refuge, sprawling tents of tribal leaders, that if you have done this act of murder, second-degree murder, you could flee and have sanctuary. There's a story that is told, I've heard it on a couple of different occasions while I was in the Transjordan, of a young Arab man who was in a fight with his friend. And the Arab temper flared and he killed his friend. He didn't intentionally seek to kill him, but in the process of the quarrel his friend was there dead on the floor. Knowing the inflexible custom of the Arab people with the avenger of blood, he took out across the night under the cover of darkness in the moonlight.

And he came to the sprawling tent of a tribal sheikh, tribal leader, and confessed his crime of murder and asked for sanctuary in the tent. The tribal chieftain stood up and put hands on the guy ropes of the tent and swore by Allah that he would be his protector. In the morning the avengers of blood had come to the tent. They had pursued him all night long, and they came and they said, "We demand this man's blood." The tribal chieftain stood up and said, "But I have made a promise to protect him." "But this man has murdered. You don't know his crime." "But I have sworn to protect him." And then they told him, "This man killed your son." The tribal chieftain was visibly shaken.

And when he finally straightened himself out, knowing that his son was dead, that this man whom he was protecting had killed his son, his prized possession, his prized son --and if you know anything about the Semitic background, a son is it. He stood up and then he said to the pursuers, "Then, if he killed my son, he shall become my son. And everything that I have will one day be his." I heard that on a couple different occasions from those who travel among the Bedouins that this man took him in and adopt him. "He's now my son. You killed my son, you're going to be my son. And everything that I have will one day be his." God has done that for us. In that sense he is our city of refuge.

We killed his Son. We put his Son on a cross. You can't blame the Jewish people, the Roman government, the people at that time, we crucified him. And God says, "Everything I have will be yours. You will become my children through the death of my Son." Jesus, our city of refuge. "But if anyone hates his neighbor," verse 11, "lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, then the elders of the city shall send and bring him from there, deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die." If through a court of law he is sentenced to death, then he will die by their hand.

"Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you." Notice the word in verse 11, "If he hates his brother." So many people think the law was meant to just govern outward actions; not so, it was given to govern the inward attitude that prompts the outward action. Murder doesn't just begin by a guy saying, "I'm going to murder you." It begins by anger, sinful anger that leads to hatred that leads to murder. Jesus said, "You have heard that it has been said to those of old, 'You shall not murder . . .' But I say to unto you if you hate your brother, you're guilty of murder."

And so if you hate your brother, it's been proven that there's been that inward attitude. The law was given to govern the inward attitude. Jesus said, "Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, and the like." Now with that in mind, how many of us haven't been guilty of murder? You say, "I'm not a murderer!" Well, maybe you haven't gone as far as others, or maybe the opportunity hasn't presented itself. But Jesus said hatred --now, so many people, a lot of us love to excuse our anger. "Oh, I'm just temperamental." Ninety percent tempered, 10 percent mental. [laughter] But sinful anger is still wrong. It's the seedbed of murder itself.

"Your eye shall not pity him. You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess." You know, if you go to the Middle East, you'll see this today. They don't shoot in nails in the corner of your property with a little paint on the sidewalk saying, "This is where your property begins and there 40 feet over is where it ends." They have stones. Stones have been set there by your ancestors. The property is passed down. You have a pile of stones that designates your landmark.

One way of stealing property is when everybody is asleep at night, you get up at two or three in the morning and you just move your neighbor's stone. I mean, just a couple inches one night, you know, kind of rake it and smooth it in so it doesn't look it. And then kind of do that over a period of time and, you know, you can acquire more land personally just by moving the landmarks, the ancient landmarks. Don't remove them. It's thievery. You're enlarging your own borders by stealing. "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established."

Did you know that so many laws in modern, the modern jurisprudence system come from the Old Testament? The idea of the witnesses --the Old Testament law was really a heavy deal for them to keep. And because it was --there were some severe consequences, and the demands could be so terrible, you couldn't just say, "You know, I saw this guy do that and killed a guy," and have the guy punished. There had to be witness. "Two or three witnesses the matter shall be established." "If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrong doing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, go before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.

"And the judges shall make diligent inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness," --in Hebrew sheqer, one who is deceiving or betraying in his testimony --"who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother." You get a guy who makes an accusation up, and if you find that this guy is fraudulent, he just hated this guy, and it's a false witness, the guy who lied gets the punishment for the crime that he said the other guy was guilty of. I like that, you know, I do. It kind of --it would keep people straight. I think it's a great law. "So you shall put away the evil person from among you."

The Jewish law set up some beautifully strict requirements if you were to be a witness in court. And some of those things are still applied, I think, to the modern jury. First of all, there had to be at least two witnesses; "two or three" it says back here in verse 15. Secondly, they were examined independently of each other, not together. They were examined independently. If their testimony didn't match, they were not considered valid witnesses. Thirdly, you could only testify what you had personally seen or heard. That was the only valid testimony that could be entered into the court. And then, fourthly, you were disqualified if you took any money from any relative, or in you were related in any way, or if you were a dice player.

That was the law. If you were a gambler, they thought you're not worth your salt, you're unworthy, and so you were disqualified from being a witness. "And those who remain shall hear," verse 20, "and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you." Now, I think that we ought to apply the idea of a false witness to ourselves. It's one of the commandments, right? "Don't bear false witness against your neighbor." Don't betray your testimony. Don't lie. Make sure that your speech is correct. Be careful what you say when you speak. The Bible says in the book of James, "Let every man be slow to speak, slow to wrath, and swift to hear." We're to be slow to speak, but quick to hear, quick to listen.

As one person put it, "God gave you two ears and one mouth, use them proportionally." Listen twice as much as you speak. So, be careful not only what you say, but what you allow yourself to listen to, slander, gossip. Gossip is one of greatest sins among God's people. And gossip would not even be able to flourish if there weren't even so many people with sympathetic ears to listen to the gossip --"Ooh, tell me more. I relate, bro. I am concerned too. It'll be on my prayer list and I'll make sure it's on everybody's prayer list by tomorrow morning." [laughter] When somebody gives an evil report, you might want to ask a few questions to that person.

You might want to ask, number one: Why are you telling me? Why did you come to me with this? Why is it important that I know? Secondly, you should ask them: Where did you get your information? Thirdly: Have you gone to the people directly involved, directly responsible for this? Have you gone to them? "Well, no, because . . ." And that's usually the case. "No, I haven't gone directly. I wanted to come to you first." The Bible says don't come to me first, go to them first. Don't even talk to me until you've gone to them first. Fourthly: Have you checked your facts? Have you check it out? Have you done your own homework, investigated the facts to see if they're accurate?

And then, fifth: Can I quote you? As I research the facts, I want to be able to quote you. "Well, no." Well, then I don't even receive this report. "Those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you." A closed mouth gathers no feet. Be careful what you say. Watch what you say so that you don't have to eat your words later. "Your eye shall not pity" --now listen to this --"but life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." This is called lex talionis. It's the Latin term for the law of taliation or retaliation; tallying up so that I might provide the suitable action required. Lex talionis: eye for eye, tooth for tooth.

Most people misunderstand this law. Most people think it's the law of vengeance. It's not. It's the law to limit vengeance, because human nature would go above and beyond a tooth. "You took one of my teeth out? Really? I'll take five of yours out." [laughter] "You killed one of my relatives? I'll get your mother, your . . ." I mean, you go --that human nature is to pay back tenfold. This was originally given to enforce a mercy, and it was never to be adjudicated personally. It was never to be carried out in a judicial way on a personal level. It always had to go through the civil justice. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life in the civil court, not --you don't say, "Okay, well, you did this to me, I'll do this to you."

It had to be done within the legal restraints of the system of Israel. Well, we have plenty of time to go through the next chapter, so we'll do that. Chapter 20 is principles governing warfare. You know what? We will wait till next time. [laughter] It's an interesting idea that God would give laws about war, and I think we'll just sort of talk about that, warfare, in lieu of the commandment "You shall not kill." And here God gives them specific ways to select an armed force, and what the qualifications are for those who are to go out and serve in the army as different ones are drafted or conscripted into service. We'll talk about that.