TOPIC: We Are Peculiar “

Text:  Deuteronomy 14:1-21

1. Ye are the children of the LORD your God; ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

2. 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.

3. Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.

4. These are the beasts which ye shall eat; the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

5. The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.

6. And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.

7. Nevertheless these ye 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 coney; for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.

8. And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.

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

10. And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.

11. Of all clean birds ye shall eat.

12. But these are they of which ye shall not eat; the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

13. And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,

14. And every raven after his kind,

15. And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,

16. The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

17. And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,

18. And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

19. And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten.

20. But of all clean fowls ye may eat.

21. Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself; thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien; for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

KEY VERSE: Deuteronomy 14:2

“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.”

MESSAGE

People who live in any palace of a king are expected to behave in a dignified way. Those in Buckingham Palace or White House, for instance, are known to bear that royalty and behave in some special ways to keep the aura and maintain the respect and dignity of the place. Even so, those who have accepted and confessed Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour must behave as true representatives of Christ in a dignified way.

Israel was a nation chosen by God from among the nations. For this reason, she was not to identify with any of the false religions of the nations. In our text today, God expressly commanded Israel to avoid some animals which He listed to maintain their holy affinity with Him. They did not question God but implicitly obeyed.

God wants us to be different from the people of the world. The way we handle our ceremonies: burials, weddings, and child dedications, house warming, etc., must be different and show that we truly belong to the Lord. When we do otherwise, we drag God’s glory in the mud.

We are God’s peculiar people. Let us wear this badge always and make it reflect in our conducts, interactions and practices. As God’s chosen generation, a holy and royal people, we must learn to live within the confines of God’s commandment and be distinct from others (1 Peter 2:9).

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Standing for God in obedience to His will makes life more fulfilling.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Chronicles 1-4

Daily Manna is the daily devotional of the Deeper Christian Life Bible Ministry (DCLM). It is an extraction of God’s Word designed to draw the sincere seeker closer to God on a daily basis through an insightful exposition and analysis of God’s Word.