Chuck Smith :: Verse by Verse Study on Deuteronomy 21-25 (C2000)

Now in the 21st chapter.

If you find a dead body out in the field and you don't know the circumstances of the death; here's a man; he's dead in the field. Then they are to measure from that dead body to the closest cities and you are to bring the elders of the city out. They are to sacrifice a bullock and they are to each one swear that they don't know how this person died. And thus, the cities would be cleared from this person who had been slain and whose body left there in the field. And so it was sort of an inquest kind of a thing for the dead, in order that there might be sort of the innocency, from the declaration of the innocency from the guilt.

Now if you go to war against your enemies,... and you happen to see a beautiful women among the captives, and you want her for your wife: You may take her for your wife, but first of all she has to shave her head, and to pare her nails; and then [for 30 days] she is to put off her robes of captivity, and after 30 days you may take her as your wife. But when you've taken her for your wife, then you find out you don't like her, then you can't sell her (Deu 21:10-14),

Now in those days, of course, they had slaves and they sold people, and the captives were usually sold as slaves. But the fact you have taken her for your wife, you can put her away. You don't have to stay with her, but you can't sell her as a slave.

you can't make merchandise or money off her, now a man has two wives, and he loves one, and hates the other; if the one he hates has his first born son: [and the one he loves has the second born son. You can't reverse the inheritance.] you can't give the second son who was from the wife you loved the first inheritance (Deu 21:14-16).

You can't reverse the inheritances on these sons. It doesn't matter if you didn't care for her so much, you got to give the first born son the first inheritance.

Now of course, in those days, stubborn and rebellious kids got into real trouble.

[Because] if you had a child who is stubborn and rebellious,... you spank him [you've done every thing you can to correct him], and he doesn't behave:... Then you bring him before the elders (Deu 21:18, 20),

And say I have a stubborn and rebellious kid here and I've done everything I can to correct him. He is incorrigible. I can't handle him, then they would stone him to death.

So you would say,

My son is stubborn, he is rebellious, he will not obey; he is a glutton, he's a drunkard (Deu 21:20).

So the penalty was being stoned.

Now the man is committed a sin worthy of death, and he needs to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged on a tree is accursed of God;) that the land be not defiled, which the Lord God gives you for an inheritance (Deu 21:22-23).

Now this of course becomes interesting to us. Any man who was hung on a tree was cursed of God. Paul tells us that Christ became a curse for us because it is written, "cursed is he who hangs on a tree" (Gal 3:13). Paul was referring to this particular verse here in Deuteronomy.

But showing that Christ became the curse for us in that He took our sins upon Himself when He was hung there upon the tree, He took the curse of God. He bore the curse of God against sin.

When Adam sinned, Adam brought the curse of God upon man, upon woman, and upon the earth itself. God said to Adam that he would be cursed, that the earth would no longer just bring forth for him but actually with the sweat of his brow, would he earn his bread. The earth would actually bring forth thorns, and briars, and thistles. Harvesting your crops is not gonna be easy, your going to have to do it now by the sweat of your brow. Up until then the earth had been just producing, you could go out and get just whatever you want, just enjoy it. Now the curse brought the thorns, the briars, the thistles, and it brought the hard labor for a man to eke out a living from the ground.

To the woman, the curse in childbearing, the labor pains and all: To the ground the curse in bringing forth the thorns and the thistles. And thus there was sort of a three fold curse: upon man, upon woman, and upon the earth itself and of course the forth upon the serpent. It shall go in the dust of the earth on its belly and so forth.

Now Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us, for it is written cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree. So you see the law actually cursed me. Man if I was living under this thing I would be stoned to death. The law condemned me to die. But Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law, because He became a curse for me. He bore the curse for me, because it is written accursed is everyone that hangs upon a tree. By Him being crucified there He bore God's curse.

Actually it is interesting that when the Roman soldiers made a crown for Him, what kind of a crown did they make? A crown of thorns. And where did the thorns come from? They came from the curse. So the crown that He bore upon His brow was really a sign of the curse of God against the earth because of sin. Really the crown of thorns was a very fitting crown because He came to bear God's curse against your sin, then hanged upon the tree, redeeming you from the curse of the law.

Chapter 22

Now in chapter twenty-two, now in those days they punished people for none involvement.

If you saw your brother's ox or his sheep going astray, and you just try to ignore it: [you don't go out and get it and so forth, then you're at fault.] you shall in any case bring them again to your brother. And if your brother is not near to you, and you know him not, then you shalt bring them into your own house, and you shall keep them until your brother seeks after them, and thou shalt restore them again. In like manner shall thou do with his ass; and so with his raiment; and all that is lost of thy brother's, which he has lost, and now has found, you're to do likewise: you may not hide it for yourself (Deu 22:1-3).

In other words, if you find something that is lost, you're to seek to restore it to its proper ownership. You're not to try to hide it for yourself.

Now, if you see your brother's ass or ox fall down by the way, and you hide yourself from them: and not turn to help and to lift them again, then you're at fault. Then a woman is not to wear man's apparel, nor is a man to put on a woman's garment: for to do that is an abomination unto the Lord (Deu 22:4-5).

Now, actually we are, you know, living in a weird age, where men are dissatisfied with being men, and having operations to become women. And we have other men who aren't satisfied as being men and are wearing dresses and makeup and that kind of junk, and sometimes I wish I was living under the Old Testament. These things are an abomination unto God. Now, they say, "Oh, but what about a woman wearing a pantsuit, or something. Well, let me tell you something, I never wear one of those pantsuits that the women wear. I don't consider that men's apparel at all. But the whole idea behind it is of lesbianism or homosexuality, where you are affecting to be one of the opposite sex or seeking to be one of the opposite sex, and that is what is actually being, you know, what he's coming down on here. Women who are trying to be men and men who are trying to be women.

Now, it is interesting if you see a bird's nest and a bird is sitting on its eggs or whatever, you're not to really disturb it. If there are little young birds, if you want to take the little, young birds, you're not to take the mother too. But you're not to disturb a mother bird sitting on its nest unless the birds are big enough to make it on their own, you want the little birds, that's fine, but you can't take the mother bird with them. Got to leave her go free.

When you build a new house, and you're putting on the roof, you've got to put supports around so no one falls off the roof and gets hurt while they're working on your house. If you're sowing the vineyards, you're not to sow with divers seeds:... You're not to plow with an ox and an ass together. You're not to wear a garment with different sorts of materials, wool and linen together. You are to make these blue fringes on the quarters of your garments (Deu 22:8-12).

And now the law of marriage.

If any man takes a wife, and goes in unto her and hates her, and gives occasion of speech against her, brings an evil name upon her, and says, I took this woman as my wife, but she wasn't a virgin [and you make these kinds of accusations against her]: then her parents are to bring forth her tokens of virginity (Deu 22:13-16).

Now in those days, when you had your marriage ceremony and you went in for the nuptial rites, actually you would take a cloth and hand it back out to your parents, proving that you were a virgin, and they would save that. Then if the guy you married turned out to be a dirty dog, and he says, she wasn't a virgin when I married her, and starts spreading evil stories, your parents would bring out the tokens of your virginity. Lay them out before the elders and you'd be found to be a dirty dog liar, and the fellow would have to pay your dad a hundred shekels of silver because he had brought an evil name upon a virgin in Israel, but if you couldn't prove your virginity then you would be in trouble. If you be put to death, pretty heavy duty.

[And then the adultery of] a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them be put to death. If a damsel that is a virgin is betrothed to a husband [that is engaged], and a man find her in the city and lies with her; then they are both to be put to death; that is, if he rapes her in the city, she's to be put to death because she should have screamed. But if she is raped out in the field, then only he is put to death, because she perhaps screamed but nobody could hear her. And thus, you are to put the evil away. Now, if you raped a girl, and she is a virgin, and she is not betrothed to someone else, then you're to take her as your wife to pay her father fifty shekels of silver (Deu 22:23-29).

Chapter 23

In chapter twenty-three, we find those that were restricted from coming into the temple. Eunuchs were forbidden in the temple.

An Ammonite or Moabite was forbidden unto the tenth generation, for their failure to help the children of Israel during their wilderness experiences, and because they hired Balaam to curse them. And you're not to seek their peace or their prosperity. However an Edomite; being the descendents of Esau: and the Egyptians; because you were a stranger in their land. They may be brought into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation (Deu 23:3-8).

Now, there are certain rules of cleanliness and sanitation that are given to them here that are very practical and I don't need to read them or rehearse them for you.

And in verse fifteen,

Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master to you. There shall be no whores of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite among the sons of Israel. You're not to bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD for any vow that you want to make unto God: for these are an abomination unto the LORD thy God. You're not to lend upon usury to your brother; that is of money, or victuals, or of anything that is lent upon usury: to a stranger you may lend with usury; but unto your brother you shall not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that you set your hand to do in the land for wherever you goeth. And when you vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it; and if you do not pay your vow it will be a sin to you. That which has gone out of your lips, you shall keep and perform it; the freewill offering, according as you have vowed unto the LORD, and you promised with your mouth. Now, when you come into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat all of the grapes you want; but you're not to put any in a container to carry out of the vineyard (Deu 23:15-24).

In other words, you go into a field, you're allowed to eat all of the grapes that you can hold while you're in the field, but you can't carry them out of the field except in your stomach.

When you come into the standing corn of your neighbor, you may pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle to your neighbor's (Deu 23:25)

In other words, what you can carry out with your hand, but you're not to take a sickle to his standing corn.

Chapter 24

Now,

When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she finds no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in unto her hand, and send her out of his house (Deu 24:1).

So the law of divorce.

Now what does constitute an uncleanness? A man marries a woman and finds an uncleanness. There are some who say "Well, he discovers that she is not a virgin". No, that's not it because that has already been dealt with in the previous laws. If he says she is not a virgin and they can't prove her virginity she is to be put to death. So it isn't that he marries her and then finds out the uncleanness, that she is not a virgin. That isn't it and that was the big argument among the Jews, what constituted uncleanness.

And one school of the rabbis said, "Well, if she wasn't a virgin". Well that could not be so because God has already dealt with that under other laws. So it left open what constituted uncleanness and that is an open issue.

Now surely they became extremely liberal in their interpretation of it. One school of the rabbis, they taught that if she doesn't fix your eggs to suit you for breakfast, that's uncleanness: you can give her a writing of divorcement. And of course in those days divorces were quite easy. All you do is write out "I divorce you" and you hand it to her and she's had it.

Now Jesus was challenged on this very issue. And really the challenge was "what constitutes uncleanness?" They came to Jesus one day with a trap question, and it was a definite trap question. They said to Jesus, "Can a man put away his wife for any cause?" Now here in the Mosaic Law if he find an uncleanness in her he can give her a bill of divorcement. Now they knew that Jesus was teaching a more strict code. So they came to Him with this trick, trap question, "Can a man put away his wife for any cause?" Jesus said, "If a man puts away his wife and marries another except it be for fornication, he causes her to commit adultery and whoso marries her commits adultery."

Aha. He's fallen right into their trap. That's just what they were hoping He would answer. So they came right back to Him, and said, "How is it then that Moses said let him give her a writing of a bill of divorcement"? They figured they had trapped Him. We've got you now because it is acknowledged that God gave the law to Moses. No challenge: no question about that. It was a well-established fact that the law came by God to Moses. So Jesus is actually now in conflict with what God declared. For God said unto Moses, "Let him give her a writing of a bill of divorcement" and the law of divorce was established by God through Moses, and it's there in their law. And for Jesus to come down in such a strict way puts Him now at variance against God, exactly what they were hoping He would do. But Jesus went on to say, "In the beginning it was not so."

Now the law was added later on; the law came many years later. "In the beginning," God now goes back to Adam and Eve. Jesus now goes back to God's perfect initial plan for family relationships or husband and wife relationships. It was originally God's divine intent, that you have a once for life marriage relationship. "In the beginning God made them male and female and for this cause a man shall leave his mother and father and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore that which God has joined together, let no man put asunder". And that is God's divine ideal for every couple. But Jesus said, "because of the hardness of your hearts Moses said let him give her a writing of a bill of divorcement".

Now, Jesus is not going back to the law. He's going back to before the law. He's going back to God's divine intent for man, for husband and wife relationships. But because man's heart is hard and he can not come up to God's divine ordinance and will, God then under the law gave the law of divorce that a man finding an uncleanness in his wife could put her away.

Now, I believe that some marriages are a mistake from the beginning. They should never have been. Young people so often getting married have a totally wrong concept of marriage. I'm tired of living at home. I don't want to take orders from my parents anymore. I'm going to escape. I'm going to get married. I want my freedom. And you say, "When are you going to get married?" "Oh, we're getting married the first." "The first what?" "The first chance I get." You know, they're just out to get married. So that many times they do not use good sense or good judgment in their choice of a marriage partner. Because he was good-looking and he was a tackle on the football team, and played first string and all, oh, you know, I'm in love. But the guy is as mean and rough at home as he is out on the football field. He has no love, no care, no tenderness; the marriage was a mistake from the beginning. He uses his wife as a punching bag. He gets rid of all his aggressions on her. And the poor little thing is beat up, terrified.

Now does God say, "Well, young lady, you made a mistake, you made your bed, you live in it. You're just going to have to settle down with the fact you are going to be his punching bag and you're going to live the rest of your life in terror of this brute". I don't believe so. I don't believe that God requires that. I don't believe that God ever intended that marriage be a terrorized paranoia where you live in constant terror. I don't think that was God's intention for marriage, ever.

In fact God said to the husbands, "Love your wives as God loves the church and gave Himself for it". But there are some people whose hearts are hardened against God's divine ideal. Whose hearts are hardened against God, thus they make very poor marriage partners. And God, knowing that people could not achieve, that is all people could not achieve His divine ideal, then created the alternate out by the law of divorcement that He gave to Moses. But no, that isn't God's best for a person's life; the best and first ideal that God gave to a person is one marriage for life. Now those who have made mistakes or can't live with that, God has developed the alternate, then give her a writing of a bill of divorcement.

Now it is obvious that this would come early, "If he marries her and finds an uncleanness in her;" in other words, just as soon as you're married, you realize, "hey this was a mistake" then you're allowed to put her away with a bill of divorcement. Now, if then she were to go out and marry another man and the other man that she married in time would die, and you think, "Well, she wasn't to bad, maybe I'll take her back". No, you can't do that. You've already put her away once: thus you are not to take her back again as your wife. This would be an abomination unto the Lord.

And so interesting law of divorce that is here under the law that God did give in certain conditions. And Jesus declared, "the law was given for the hardness of the hearts of the people" because man could not come up to God's divine ideal. How much better if we come up to God's divine ideal, but if you can't handle that then God has made the out through divorce.

Now when a man has taken a new wife, he doesn't have to go to war, or charged with any business: for a whole year. He can just stay at home and cheer his wife (Deu 24:5).

With some wives it wouldn't be much cheer after a few months.

You're not to take the upper millstone as a pledge (Deu 24:6):

Now the reason why you weren't to take a millstone as a pledge is because people, actually that was their livelihood. You used your millstone to grind your wheat and all. If you don't have your millstone you're out of bread, you know. So you weren't allowed to take these as a pledge for a debt.

If a man was found stealing [or kidnapping] any of the children to make merchandise of them; he was to be put to death [kidnappers, capital punishment]; Then watch out for the plague of leprosy, let the priest follow Moses' instructions on that. Remember what the Lord did to Miriam; [that is by her coming against Moses.] (Deu 24:7-9)

So, honor the leadership.

Then further laws concerning the pledges that you could take and the pledges you weren't to take. You weren't to take a man's blanket as a pledge because if at night he got cold and he said, "Oh, God, I'm cold" and started praying to God, God would hold it against you because you had his blanket. So you're in trouble with God because this guy is complaining to God and you're the fault, you see. You don't want to do any thing that would cause a fellow to complain to God about his situation, because then God comes to you for it.

And so if you hire a man, you are to pay him at the end of the day lest he is hungry and he complain to God. "Oh God he didn't pay me today and I'm so hungry, Oh I'm hungry". Then God comes to you because you're the fault of this guy bothering God.

So you're not to put the fathers to death for the sins of the children, and you're not to put the children to death for the sins of the fathers: A man was to be put to death for his own sin. You're not to pervert the judgment of a stranger, or the fatherless; or take a widow's raiment as a pledge (Deu 24:16-17):

God watches out for the stranger, for the fatherless, for the downcast, for the outcast, and so forth; God has a special tender care for them.

Now when you cut down the harvest in your field and if you remember, "Oh, I left a sheaf out in the field", don't go back and get it. Just leave that for the poor, they can come in behind you and get it.

When you go through and pick your olives, you only pick the olive tree once (Deu 24:20):

Those olives that are still green and not ready to be picked you just leave them on the tree, so the poor people can come into your grove. They can pick the olives that you leave.

When you go through and pick the grapes in your vineyard, you're to not pick them all (Deu 24:21):

Leave the green ones, those that aren't completely ripe, but you can't go back and pick your vineyard the second time. You have one shot through to get your harvest; whatever is left you just leave it on the vines for the poor people. So, it was an excellent welfare program. The poor could always go out into the fields and gather up whatever was left in the fields.

Now I've noticed up here when they are harvesting the cabbage and all. Actually they leave as much in the field as what they pick, almost. How wonderful it would be if after they have gone through, rather than plowing under the cabbage, the poor people could just come in and help themselves to the cabbage, or the celery, or the lettuce, or these various fields that are planted up here; much better than plowing it under. It would be there and you just say, "All right. Just come in and help yourselves." And the people would just come in and help themselves to it. That's what they did in those days. You could shake your olive tree once, and whatever came down in that first shaking you could have but then you had to leave the rest of it and the poor could move in, and thus the poor could actually, you know, gather enough to actually get along themselves. And so it was an excellent welfare program for the poor. You shall leave it. You're not to glean, for it will be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.

Chapter 25

Now in Chapter twenty-five, he continues these interesting kinds of regulations.

If two men have a controversy between themselves, then they come to the judges; and let the judges justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. And if it comes to pass, that the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, then you are to lay upon him not more than forty stripes, [forty stripes is the limit] (Deu 25:1-3):

Now forty is the number of judgment and they weren't to lay upon them more than forty stripes. Usually they would lay upon them thirty-nine, because you couldn't exceed forty and you wanted to have mercy tempered with your justice so the sentence was so often thirty-nine stripes. That was the sentence that was laid upon Jesus, thirty-nine stripes.

Now, thou shalt not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the corn (Deu 25:4).

As long as the ox is working treading out the corn then he gets to eat all the corn he wants, don't put a muzzle on him, let him eat.

If your brothers dwell together, and one of them dies, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry outside the family to a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. And the first child which she bears shall be named after the brother that is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel (Deu 25:5-6).

So it was a neat little provision so your name wouldn't die in Israel. You married a gal and you died, then your brother would have to marry her. And the first son would be named after you so that your name would go on in Israel. Now if your brother didn't want to marry her. Imagine the dog, look at all the problems she gave to my brother, I don't want that woman. Then he should come before the elders of the city. And he could say, "I don't want to marry her." So he would have to take off his shoe and hand it to her. And then she in turn would spit in his face.

Verse nine; I'm not joshing you, it's here.

Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall say to him, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed (Deu 25:9-10).

So you became sort of a villain kind of guy in Israel after that. You were the dirty guy, you know, who wouldn't fulfill a thing of raising up your brother's name or keeping alive your brother's name. You would be called "the house from whom the shoe was loosed." Quite a title that you would have to bear.

Now in verse eleven,

If men are striving together and the wives intervene (Deu 25:11):

Then so forth then it all depends upon how they intervene. They could be in big trouble.

You're not to have in your bag different weights, great and small (Deu 25:12).

Now this is a common practice. You know they did everything with balances. The only scales they had were balanced scales. But fellows would often have two weights for the balances, one when they were buying and one for when they were selling, diverse weights. And so, here is the national standard of weights and measures that God established in Israel. You're not to have different weights in your bag, but you are to use the standard weights when you're buying or selling, you know, instead of having the heavier ones when you're selling and the lighter ones when you are buying. Diverse weights are an abomination unto the Lord. There is a proverb to that effect and it was something that people were guilty of doing.

Thou shalt not have in thine house different measures, great and small. But thou shalt have a perfect and a just weight, a perfect and a just measure (Deu 25:14-15):

In other words, God wants you to deal honestly in your dealings with each other. No deceit, no cheating of one another.

For all of those that do such things, are unrighteous, and they're an abomination unto the LORD (Deu 25:16).

Now in verse seventeen, God goes back and He says,

Now, you remember [that guy] Amalek what he did unto you... And in time to come you're not to forget what Amalek did (Deu 25:17, 19).

He was dirty. What he did is he attacked them from the rear and killed off those people who were lame or sick and not able to keep up with the group, the stragglers. And he was attacking from the rear and wiping out the stragglers. It was a dirty tactic that Amalek did. And so you're to remember what Amalek did and one day you're going to get revenge and when you do you, you're going to wipe out Amalek completely.

Now the time came when Amalek was to be wiped out in their history and you remember that Samuel ordered Saul to go down and wipe out Amalek utterly. "Don't leave anything or anyone alive. Don't even leave their cattle or their sheep alive. Destroy them utterly."

Now as we get into Biblical typology it is interesting because Amalek is a type of the flesh. And God's edict for our flesh is, wipe it out utterly, don't leave any remnants. And any place you leave a remnant in the flesh you're going to be in trouble.

So Saul went down and he saw some of the cattle were really healthy and good-looking, you know, stock and all, so he kept those alive. But the sickly ones, man, he really just hacked them to pieces and the same with the sheep. Some of the good, healthy looking sheep they kept alive but the sickly ones, man, they just really cut them to pieces. And they also saved alive Agag, the king.

And so as he was returning from this battle and aged Samuel came out to meet him, he said unto Samuel, "As the Lord lives I have done all that God has commanded me". And Samuel said if you have done all that God has commanded how come I hear the bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the cattle? And, he, Saul, said they were such nice stock and all, we decided to bring them back so we could use them as sacrifices. We are going to offer them as sacrifices to God. And Samuel answered, "Thou has done foolishly, it is better to obey than to sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. In that you have done foolishly and not obeyed the voice of God in utterly wiping them out, God has now rejected you from being king over Israel. (1 Sam 15)

For now here back under the law God had declared that the Amaleks were to be utterly wiped out. When the time came Saul failed to do it.

Now do you know who the last Amalek is in the Scripture that is recorded? He comes up in the book of Esther, and his name was Hammon. And you remember that he conspired to wipe out all of the Jews. You see that if you don't obey God and utterly get rid of the flesh then one day the flesh will raise up and seek to destroy you. And so here in your typology that is why God ordered the utter destruction of Amalek. Hear unto the law and don't forget what Amalek did.

Therefore it shall be, [verse nineteen] when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; don't forget it (Deu 25:19).

But Saul failed in that and his failure almost cost the Jews their national existence. Hammon had the day set for the extermination of all the Jews and it was only because God divinely intervened through Esther that the Jews were spared. Interesting story of Amalek if you want to follow it through in a Biblical typology it's very fascinating indeed.

Shall we stand? May God's hand be upon your life in a special way this week. We're entering into the time of frenzy as people are preparing to observe the birthday of our Lord. Or are they? May the Lord keep you from the frenzy of this time of year, from the season. May it be for you a real time of reflection upon the Lord, upon what the coming of Christ has meant to you personally. Upon the gift that God has given unto you, His only begotten Son, eternal life, His Holy Spirit. And thus, may this be a very beautiful, rich time of the year as we remember again how much God cares. For God cares for you and God loves you more than you'll ever know. He just wants you to know that love and experience that. So, may this be a week of experiencing God's overflowing love. Just let it flow, let it happen. In Jesus' name.