We are continuing our study of the Book of Deuteronomy. We will be looking at the 14th and 15th Chapter.

Tonight, we are talking about food prohibitions for the Israelites. As a bacon loving, crab eating, cheeseburger afficionado- I am so glad I am no longer under the Law but saved by grace.

We will then move into the commands about tithing. I love the fact that we can never out give the Lord. He will never ever, ever, be our debtor.

Then in Chapter 15 we will discuss the sabbatical year. How the Israelites were to release any fellow Israelites that were in their debt or were servants. And if the servants wanted to stay, not out of compulsion but out of love, the master would take their ear and put an awl to it as a symbol that the person was perpetually their servant going forward.

There is an old saying that the focus of life is to find the right Master. As Christians we have indeed found the right Master and He is looking for us to make Him our Lord out of love and not out of compulsion as well.

We will close out the chapter by talking about how the firstborn of all their herds and flocks were to be dedicated to the Lord. The Israelites were to offer their first and best- no blemishes, no trying out the animals first. They were to be fully dedicated to the Lord.

So you may be asking?

Why did the Lord put prohibitions on certain foods?

Are we still under the command to tithe today?

What in the world is an Awl?

Why was the firstborn so important to dedicate to the Lord?

We will answer all these questions and more.