Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 18-20.

I know I wrote abut this last year when I covered this passage, but it still seems like the most important point to be made.  Moses tells the Israelites that they must not imitate the detestable practices of the people who lived in the land that God was giving them.  He tells them that they must not sacrifice their children, they must not practice divination, or sorcery, they must not consult the dead.  I find it telling that killing your children as a sacrifice to your god is lumped in with divination and practicing witchcraft as equally detestable things.  God was driving the people out of the land in order to give it to the Israelites because they did these detestable practices.  All of these things are detestable to God.  He will drive from His presence anyone who practices them, just as He drove these people out of the land which He gave to the Israelites.  Moses goes on to tell the Israelites that God would raise up prophets to give them guidance, so that they need not turn to divination to know what to do.  We should pay careful attention to what those prophets say, but those who claim to speak in God’s name when He has not spoken to them are just as detestable as those who practice the previously mentioned acts.  If someone claims to be a prophet of God, and what they say does not come true, they have spoken presumptuously.  We can safely disregard what they say.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.