His Righteousness Revealed Through Our Honest Living
Scripture Passage: Deuteronomy 25:11-19 (NASB)
11 “If two men, a man and his countryman, have a fight with each other, and the wife of one comes up to save her husband from the hand of the one who is hitting him, and she reaches out with her hand and grasps that man’s genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity.
13 “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a correct and honest weight; you shall have a correct and honest measure, so that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the Lord your God.
17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt, 18 how he confronted you on the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. 19 So it shall come about, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall wipe out the mention of the name Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.
SUMMARY
A summary of laws: the first law about the wife delivering her husband during a struggle with another man, was slightly confusing, and further research only deepened my confusion. Then there is a law that we must have honest weights; we must not cheat on the weight for buying or selling. Those who have small and large weights for their own unjust benefit are an abomination to the Lord. He also says, “remember what Amalek did to you... how he met you along the way and attacked the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God.” (v. 17-18)
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
In these verses, I see God’s heart for justice, and his heart for his people. He is a righteous God who cares about the little and big transactions in our lives - in our buying, are we honest? In our selling, are we honest? To not be so is declared an abomination; God is serious about honesty and integrity in the way we live and honor him. God wants us to be holy, because He is holy.
I also saw his heart for his people in the way he responded to Amalek, the people who attacked the weak ones without fear of the Lord, despite all the Lord had done to bring his people out of Egypt. “Therefore... you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven...” (v. 19)
God’s heart for the weak, his passion for justice, his fierce love for his people reminds me that there is a right and a wrong way to live. There is a way that brings God joy, and there is a way that is an abomination to the Lord. I wonder about the times I get impatient with people who straggle behind, or wish there was an easier way to do things, and am reminded about how important justice, honesty and kindness are to God.
APPLICATION
I will be honest, even when it is hard, even when it takes more time, and even when it is inconvenient. I will be kind, even when I am in a rush, even when I am tired, and even when I want to be alone.
PRAYER
Abba Father, thank you for the way that you teach us what is right and wrong. Teach us to be holy, as you are holy, and continue to make us into a people who reveal Your righteousness and justice on earth.
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