You Are The Children Of God

If you would open your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 14 this evening, Deuteronomy chapter 14.

Deuteronomy 14 · chapter mention Deuteronomy 14 · chapter mention

We're going to read verses 1 through 19.

And I know the content may not be the most riveting, so just lock in with me for a few minutes as we read this text.

It says, You are the children of the Lord your God.

You shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead, for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God.

And the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

These are the beasts which you shall eat, the ox, the sheep, and the goat, the heart, and the roebuck and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pargog, and the wild ox, and the shammoy, and every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beast, that you shall eat.

Nevertheless, these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof, as the camel and the hare and the cone, for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof.

Therefore they are unclean to you.

And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud.

It is unclean unto you, you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.

These you shall eat of all that are in the waters, all that have fins and scales shall ye eat.

And whatsoever hath not fins and scales you may not eat, it is unclean unto you.

Of all clean birds you shall eat, but these are they of which you shall not eat, the eagle and the ostrich and the osprey, and the gled and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, and every raven after his kind, and the owl and the night hawk, and the cuckoo and the hawk after this kind, the little owl and the great owl, and the swan, the pelican, and the gyre eagle, and the cormorant, and the stork and the huron after their kind, and the lapwing and the bat, and every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you.

They shall not be eaten.

Let's pray.

Dear Lord, we just approach unto your throne by the gracious invitation that is given to us in Christ.

We know, Lord, that we have no merit upon which we stand.

If it were up to us, Lord, to earn our way into access to you, we would fall short every single day.

But we stand and we come with confidence because Jesus made the way.

And in Christ, we have an open invitation to come into your throne room at any time, and you have guaranteed us an audience.

Not only do you listen, but you hear and you act.

And so, Father, we come to you confidently tonight, knowing, Lord, that you hear our prayer and that you respond to it.

Father, we just pray and ask that you would help us to understand this text of Scripture.

We understand that the covenant has changed.

We know that there were things applicable to Israel that are not applicable to the church.

Father, let's pray and ask that you would help me to make clear and connection between the two.

Father, we just want to thank you for your loving care for us, for the way that you take the effort to communicate in such detail so many things, so that if we are willing, Lord, that we can search the depths of Scripture and deepen our relationship with you.

That's what we desire to do tonight, Lord.

Help us to learn from this text, I pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

This is one of those chapters that uh that you read it and it makes you wonder what possible application you could make for you today as a New Testament believer, right?

Because this is talking about what to eat and what not to eat.

And then it gets a little bit technical, and it's like, well, you can eat this split-hoofed animal, but you can't eat that one.

You can eat this fowl, but you can't eat that one.

And uh so to understand this section of the law, I would just back up and remind you that under the Mosaic law, there were three classifications.

You had moral law, you had civil law, and you had ceremonial law.

So all the Old Testament is called the law.

It is all under the Mosaic law, but there's those three classifications.

Moral laws are exemplified in the Ten Commandments.

Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, not lie, and etc.

Those are moral laws.

They have to do with things that are morally right or morally wrong.

Civil laws had to do with societal issues.

Understand?

God is organizing and administrating a nation.

And as a nation, they couldn't just have moral laws.

They had to have civil laws.

They had to know how to assign responsibilities.

Who's responsible for this?

Who's responsible for that?

They had to have some sort of system to resolve disputes.

Well, my neighbor allowed his animal on my property, and it engored my ox, and who's responsible for this?

And so you have moral law, you have civil law, and then you have ceremonial law.

And the ceremonial law was governing rules for how the Israelites were to worship God, and how to keep themselves clean and how to operate the temple.

Much of Leviticus' ceremonial law has to do with what animal is sacrificed, what time, who is allowed to sacrifice it, how the blood is to be applied, when are the holy days, all of those things.

And so, Mosaic law, three classifications, moral, civil, and ceremonial.

Under the ceremonial law is where these dietary rules fall.

They have to do with keeping themselves clean in the eyes of God.

And so you'll find those terms in this chapter, clean and unclean.

You find them verse 7, verse 8, verse 10, verse 11, verse 19, verse 20.

You can eat these animals because they're clean.

Don't eat these animals because they are not clean.

And so this is under the ceremonial law, it's a dietary rule, has to do with keeping themselves clean in the eyes of God as part of their dedication to Him.

This chapter gives specificity to which animals are considered clean to eat and which animals are not to be eaten because they're considered unclean.

And some of those, as you think about animals, possibly could have to do with disease.

For example, all those birds that they're not to eat, those are carnivores or omnivores.

They're going to eat both herbs and meat.

And so an animal that's like a vulture that's consuming a dead carcass on the side of the road, there's great potential for you to get sick if you consume that animal.

Same with some of those hooven animals, they're ruminoids, and the way they digest, it just protects the person who's eating them.

And so there's probably some of that behind it, but it's not all of it.

That's not the only reason.

And I know that because these dietary restrictions were lifted by God under the New Testament.

And so there was a way to prepare those things that would keep you from getting ill.

So that wasn't the only intent.

But we know this because it was explicitly revealed to the Apostle Peter.

And I'd like to read that to you just so we understand that this is not in effect for us today.

Acts chapter 10, verses 9 through 15.

Acts 10:9–15

If you remember, Peter is on the rooftop.

He's up there praying, and God sends him into a trance.

It says, the next day as they went on their journey, drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.

Let me just uh insert this here for a quick illustration.

He went up on the housetop.

That was common there in Israel.

In the Middle East, it was a place where they might have shade or they could have a breeze up there.

Well, part of the civil law, if you go back in the laws of Moses, was that you had to have, you had to have almost like a fence around the top of your house to protect people from falling off of it.

And so that was under the Mosaic law, but it's not a moral law, it's a civil law simply to try to protect people from getting hurt.

Sidebar.

And so Peter went up on the housetop to pray, and he didn't fall off because there was a rail around the house about the sixth hour.

Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven open and an object like a great sheet, and in it the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth, and in it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, birds of the air, and a voice came to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.

But Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.

So Peter was a good Jew.

He understood what this law was.

It was a ceremonial law about being clean or unclean.

And a voice spoke to him again the second time, What God has cleansed, call not thou common.

And so for anybody who's in doubt or wondering, should we eat this, should we not eat that?

Are we under that dietary restriction?

The answer is God lifted that.

He lifted that under the new covenant.

And I, for one, am thankful that those restrictions have been lifted because I love bacon.

There's no other meat like bacon.

Have you ever thought about that?

You eat it by itself.

I had bacon today, man.

You just fry it up, eat a strip of it.

But it's a meat that you top vegetables with.

You put it on your salad, right?

And here's the kicker.

It's the meat that you top other meat with.

You put it on your hamburger.

You wrap it on your filet mignon.

You shove it inside of your cordon bleu.

I mean, what other meat do we use that is like that?

So I'm just very happy and I thank God that under the new covenant we can eat those animals.

Now, I'm with him on the shellfish, not touching them.

But the pig, I'm happy for that.

So, what does this passage in Deuteronomy, what do we to do with it?

I mean, clearly it's lifted.

I mean, we're not following those rules anymore.

Why do I even need this in my Bible?

Why don't I just skip over this?

Well, if you remember, the Old Testament is exemplar.

According to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, it serves as an example for us, and it oftentimes has a principle or principles that can be applied.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

So perhaps the direct instruction is no longer applying to us, but there's a principle behind that instruction.

There is a purpose that God has used for giving this, and that is what we need to get at.

And so, if you would, look back at the opening lines of Deuteronomy 14 to see the principle that is being set forth in this chapter.

I mean, it's it's signaled to us in the opening statement, you are the children of the Lord your God.

You are the children of your Lord your God.

That is the driving principle.

He goes on to say, you're holy.

You have been chosen to be a peculiar people.

Why do we have these dietary laws?

Because you're the children of God.

Why do we have these dietary laws?

Because you are holy.

Why do we have these dietary laws?

Because you were chosen to be a peculiar people to the Lord above all nations.

Think about those three statements for a moment.

Being God's children has to do with relationship and identity.

It has to do with their relationship.

You are the children of God.

They have a relationship with God that the rest of the world doesn't have.

And because of that relationship, they have an identity.

You and I are identified by our relationship.

Oftentimes, our last name is the name of our biological father, and that relationship marks us and identifies us.

I know that's not always the case, but that is often the situation.

Holy has to do with sacred and set apart for God.

He says, You're a holy people.

Not only are you my children, but as my children, you are holy.

That means you're sacred.

You're not common.

You're not unclean.

You are set apart for my purpose.

Now, I've talked to you about how the Levites were set apart from the rest of Israel to serve as the priests and the intercessors between the people and God.

But you and I have to understand that all of Israel is set apart.

They are set apart from the world and they are set apart for a special purpose.

I mentioned that purpose this morning.

They are the vessel through which God is going to bring the Messiah into the world.

But it's more than just bringing the Messiah into the world.

You've got to prepare the world for the Messiah.

And so through this nation, he demonstrates his power, he demonstrates his covenant, he demonstrates the principles of justification and atonement and substitutional sacrifice.

And he is explaining and demonstrating all of that principles of salvation and deliverance, principles of judgment and condemnation.

And he's doing all of that through the nation of Israel to deliver the Messiah to the world.

And so they're all set apart for the purpose of God.

And then peculiar has to do with being treasured.

That word, we use it today.

Well, she's a peculiar bird, right?

We don't always mean it as a compliment.

They're just out of the ordinary.

Well, when God uses the word peculiar, it was used in reference to a treasure that is rare.

Like a rare jewel.

Remember that pearl of great price that Jesus described in the parables?

That would have been peculiar.

That is, it's unlike any other, and it's super valuable because of that.

And so God says, You're my peculiar treasure.

You are valuable to me.

And so I would simply say this everything that follows in this chapter has to do with their dedication to God.

They are dedicated to him.

God has dedicated them to himself.

And so really the driving purpose behind all of this chapter is that they are dedicated to the Lord.

God has set them apart for himself.

And so, with that as our foundation, let me offer you three applications of this principle.

Number one, these dietary laws are an expression of dedication to God.

You see, what's this dietary stuff all about?

Well, full disclosure, God doesn't tell us what it's all about.

He doesn't give us every reason why he sanctions some animals to be clean and some animals to be unclean.

But what we do know, what is clear on the face of this text, is that these are an expression of their dedication.

True dedication is always expressed in action, is it not?

Just think about anyone that you know, that you think is a dedicated person, that you think that person is dedicated to a person or a thing, and you will discover what makes you think that they are dedicated is their actions.

It's their actions.

For example, think of a husband who is dedicated to his wife.

Why do I think that that husband is dedicated to his wife?

Because of the way he treats her.

Think about a mother who is dedicated to her children.

Why do I think that mother is dedicated to her children as opposed to that mother who is not?

It is because of her actions.

What about the student who is dedicated to her education?

Again, it's because of her actions.

Or the athlete who is dedicated to his sport.

Why do I think he's dedicated?

It's because of his actions.

The employee who's dedicated to his job.

Again, these are all identifiable by their actions.

So how is the world to know that these Hebrews are dedicated to the one true and living God?

It is expressed by their actions.

Likewise, a person who is dedicated to God will have certain actions in their life that express their dedication.

Just like the athletes' commitment to practice relentlessly hours upon end identifies their dedication.

People who are committed and dedicated to God will have actions in their life that mark it.

And so these dietary practices were simply an expression of their dedication to God.

It was one of the features that set Israel apart from the rest of the other nations in the world because the Jews served a God that nobody else served.

The Jews served a God that nobody else served.

And so they behaved in a way that nobody else behaved in.

You know, we no longer express our dedication to God by what we eat, right?

That has been lifted.

It is not the identifying action that shows the world that we are dedicated to God, but there are ample expressions of our dedication to God.

What are some of the actions that come out of a person's dedication to God?

I'd say one is how we speak.

Doesn't it reflect what is in our heart?

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

And so there's a good indication somebody's dedicated to God by the way they speak, the language they use, the language they don't use, the tone, those sorts of things.

How about this?

How about how we care for others?

Is that not an action that is supposed to be indicative of our dedication to God?

That we are called to love our neighbor, not just love our neighbor, love our enemy.

Who does that?

The people who are dedicated to the God who told them to love their enemy.

We express our dedication to the Lord in how we worship.

We consider Sunday to be our day of worship.

We set it apart.

We don't schedule other activities.

We rearrange our weekend, our weekend so that we can come here and worship God.

That's an expression of our dedication to the Lord.

How about how we forgive?

Right again, that's not how the world does it, but that's how we do it, because we're dedicated to God.

How we love, how we serve, and even how we give.

That's an expression.

Why in the world would a person voluntarily give 10% of their income to the Lord because they are dedicated to God?

That's an expression of their dedication.

And the same is true with witnessing.

And so, just like the dietary practices of the Jews, we do these things out of our dedication for God.

But not only was this an expression of their dedication, not only was it a declaration, did it express what was in their heart for God.

We love God, and so we're going to refrain from eating certain things.

Not only was it an expression of their dedication, but I find that these dietary practices were a reminder of their dedication to God.

They were a Reminder of their dedication to God.

They were outward expressions, but they were inward reminders.

Have you noticed that we humans seem to be wired in such a way that we need reminders?

And especially for some reason, we need to have reminders that we are in a covenant relationship with God.

We need to have reminders.

Take, for example, God's implementation of the Passover.

It's found in Exodus chapter 12, verses 11 through 14.

Exodus 12:11–14

And it says, Thus shall you eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, you shall eat in haste.

It is the Lord's Passover, for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, against all the gods of Egypt.

I will execute judgment.

I am the Lord, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you.

When I smite the land of Egypt, and this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and you shall keep it, a feast to the Lord throughout your generations.

Did you notice the purpose as stated there in verse 14?

It's a memorial.

Why did God implement the Passover?

Well, he gave it so they'd apply the blood, but then he says, you're going to keep this every year.

Even though the death angel is not going to pass through your land every single year and take out the firstborn.

I want you to keep this feast every single year perpetually throughout all your generations for a memorial.

A memorial is a stimulus to remind you of something.

And so God says, I want to remind you that you're in a covenant with me, that I saved you, I delivered you, I passed over judgment on you.

I want you to remember that.

And so he gives them this stimulus to remember.

But it's not just the Jews.

Because likewise, I would have you consider the language Jesus used when he implemented the Lord's Supper.

That's for us, isn't it?

We keep the Lord's Supper multiple times throughout the year.

The original Lord's Supper happened the night before he was crucified.

Jesus crucified, he rises again, he ascends into heaven.

He says, I'm not going to eat the meal with you again until I'm in my kingdom and you're there with me.

And yet we keep eating this Lord's Supper.

Why?

Because he took the bread, he gave thanks, he broke it, he gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you.

This do in remembrance of me.

And so again, these dietary laws that they are practicing not only express their dedication to the world around them, but it is also a reminder to them that they are dedicated.

Oh, I can't eat that.

Why?

But because I'm dedicated to the Lord.

My God has said I can't partake in that.

Isn't that what Peter said when it was offered to him in that vision?

Oh, I know I've never eaten anything unclean.

And so, in some ways, that diet was a reminder to them.

I'm set apart.

I'm a child of God.

I'm a peculiar treasure to my Lord.

Furthermore, I find that these dietary practices are a safeguard of their dedication to God.

They seem to be somewhat inconsequential.

And I don't mean that in any flippant way.

I just mean that they're not like the danger of drinking alcohol, and if you consume too much, you become intoxicated, and in an intoxicated state, you may have unrestrained inhibitions, you may make poor decisions, you may get into sin that you wouldn't get into if you're sober.

That's not the same effect that happens if you eat pork, right?

So, in that sense, we look at these diet practices like, well, what's the big deal?

It's not like those things are going to lead them into other sins.

I mean, what they eat really seems to be a rather small thing, doesn't it?

Like, what's the big deal?

Like, I get worshiping the only true and living God.

I get making the animal sacrifice and the blood atonement.

I get keeping the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

But this is such a small thing.

What you eat, not eating shellfish, not eating pork, not eating some of these things, I mean, it really seems kind of small.

And so I see it as a margin that keeps them from running off the page.

Think about it like a rumble strip.

Cooper is now driving solo, and Cooper has expressed to me multiple times that he hates the rumble strip that they've put in the yellow line.

I said, son, you should never hear the yellow, the rumble strip that they put in the yellow line.

Because the rumble strip is warning you you're crossing a line.

And you're putting yourself into a dangerous situation that could even become catastrophic.

And so this dietary law, even though it's a small thing, is it gonna be a terrible sin if they eat this?

Or are they gonna, is it gonna lead to their apostasy if they eat that?

No.

But it's a safeguard.

It's a rumble strip, it's a warning track that says, hey, listen, you're about to cross over into an area that's gonna get you into danger.

You see, some of God's rules are given to keep us at a safe distance from those things that would harm us.

Just think about some of the rules that you gave to your children when they were young that were really boundaries to keep them from getting into real dangerous situations, right?

Stay in the yard.

Stay in the yard.

Well, if your yard was like my yard when my kids were little, we had a sidewalk between the yard and the street.

Could they get on the sidewalk and not be in danger?

Sure they could.

But stepping into that street becomes a dangerous situation.

And so you say, stay in the yard.

You give them that boundary.

Or you say, don't talk to strangers, right?

Uh not every stranger you talk to is life-threatening, right?

They're not all trying to abduct you.

There really are some nice people out there.

But we tell our children that because we know if they don't talk to any strangers, then the bad ones won't be able to try to uh get to them.

Or, you know, when your kids get a little older, be home at 10, right?

Well, what happens?

Is that the witching hour?

Do you turn back into a pumpkin?

Or is that what?

No, no, it's just that that's a buffer to keep you from staying out late when the roaches come out, right?

And so we understand we use those type of things.

God is doing the same thing for his people.

Yes, it's a small thing, but it is that warning track for us.

You see, these things are meant to be boundaries in order to keep them from getting into the real danger zone.

And so even though we don't have these dietary restrictions in the New Testament, the principle still applies.

For example, listen to these commands that are given to us that I think are a safeguard against getting into a danger zone.

Ephesians 4.26.

Be angry and sin not.

Let not the sun go down on your wrath.

What happens if the sun goes down on your wrath?

What if you are mad when you go to bed?

You probably wake up mad.

You're not going to get struck dead in the middle of the night, are you?

Right?

I dare say, probably most of us have gone to bed mad at some point or another.

If you're married, I guarantee you have.

Or you stayed up all night and fought it out, right?

One of the two.

What is that?

That's a safeguard.

Because what God knows about human emotion is that if we let those things go unresolved, they start to harden like cement.

And that thing that we could have resolved pretty easily with some dialogue now has set up, and the next day, I guarantee you, that conversation's even harder to have.

Those feelings are starting to set up like stone.

And so God gives us this safeguard.

Don't get into the danger zone.

Sure, you're going to lose your temper sometimes.

Sure, you're going to get mad sometimes.

Resolve it as quickly as possible.

Don't let it fester.

Don't let it become infected.

How about this one?

I know you've heard it from preachers before, but again, I think it's a safeguard.

Hebrews 10 25.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

I believe it's absolutely important to worship the Lord.

I believe that we ought to worship the Lord on the first day of the week.

I think that we ought to make it a priority.

But what happens if you miss church?

Do you get struck down dead?

Do you immediately go back to drinking and drugs?

Is it no?

But it sure starts to put you in a situation where you get into danger.

There is something that is safeguarding us when we are in regular fellowship with other believers.

When we are able to provoke one another to love and good works, when we are able to receive the preached word, when we are able to be uplifted by the fellowship of those around us.

Isolation is not good for us.

And it gives the devil an opportunity to really sequester us and attack us.

And so God says, listen, listen, don't forsake the assembly.

Don't overschedule your life to where you can't be there.

It's important for you to be in the body of Christ.

It's important for you to worship with the church.

It really comes back to what Jesus taught about being faithful in small things.

Being faithful in small things will help you be faithful in the big things.

Remember, Jesus said in Luke 16, 10, he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much, and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

You say that diet thing was such a small thing.

Why did God even command it?

Well, if they're faithful in the small thing, it's going to help them be faithful in the big thing.

And the same is true for you and I.

If we're faithful to the Lord in the small things, if the small things matter to us, right?

Do you think that there could have been Hebrews that broke that dietary law, could have got by with it, could have snuck that food in, could have gone somewhere where it was being served, maybe they're traveling, right?

They could have very easily done that, and probably some of them did.

But when they are faithful in the small things, even when nobody else is watching, then it increases their odds of being faithful in the big things.

And the same is true for you and I.

And so this is a dietary law.

I see that principle there, and it's a principle that applies to us in the New Testament.

There's an expression of our dedication to God, there are things that are reminders of our dedication to God, and there's some things that are a safeguard to our dedication of God.

But like them, we are the children of God.

We are holy.

We are chosen to be his peculiar people.

You know all of those terms are used in the New Testament about us.

We're holy.

Be ye holy, for the Lord your God is holy.

You're a peculiar people, a chosen generation.

We are the children of God.

And so may we find ourselves in the same situation that the Israelites did.

That even in the stuff that seems small, we are faithful.

So that when the big stuff is challenged, we can also be faithful.

Would you bow with me?

Dear Heavenly Father, we just want to thank you for the principles that are transferable from text like this.

That with a little digging, a little study, we can discover that there is a driving principle behind this thing.

That while you have lifted this dietary restriction, we understand that we are your children and we are dedicated to you.

And that there are expressions of that dedication that you want us to carry out.

And not only do they express it to the world around us, but they remind us and they guard us.

And so, Father, I pray that we would not be begrudging of those boundaries that you set upon us, of those requirements that you have of us that the rest of the world doesn't seem to operate by.

May we see them as the gift that they truly are.

And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to live out our lives in dedication to you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.