161 "Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God , for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night . 2 "You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd , in the place where e the Lord chooses to establish His name . 3 " You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread , the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste ), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt . 4 "For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory , and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning . 5 "You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the Lord your God is giving you; 6 but at the place where e the Lord your God chooses to establish His name , you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset e , at the time that you came out of Egypt . 7 "You shall cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses . In the morning you are to return e to your tents . 8 "Six days you shall eat unleavened bread , and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God ; you shall do no work on it. 9 " You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain . 10 "Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand , which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you; 11 and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God , you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants e and the Levite who is in your town , and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst , in the place where e the Lord your God chooses to establish His name . 12 " You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt , and you shall be careful to observe these statutes . 13 " You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat ; 14 and you shall rejoice in your feast , you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants e and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns . 15 "Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses , because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands , so that you will be altogether joyful . 16 " Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses , at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths , and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed . 17 "Every man shall give as he is able , according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.
18 "You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes , and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment . 19 " You shall not distort justice ; you shall not be partial e , and you shall not take a bribe , for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous . 20 "Justice , and only justice , you shall pursue , that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 21 " You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God , which you shall make for yourself. 22 " You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates .
171 " You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect , for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God . 2 " If there is found in your midst , in any of your towns , which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God , by transgressing His covenant , 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host , which I have not commanded , 4 and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly . Behold , if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel , 5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates , that is, the man or the woman , and you shall stone them to death . 6 " On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses , he who is to die shall be put to death ; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness . 7 " The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death , and afterward the hand of all the people . So you shall purge the evil from your midst .
8 " If any case is too difficult for you to decide , between one kind of homicide or another , between one kind of lawsuit or another , and between one kind of assault or another , being cases of dispute in your courts , then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses . 9 "So you shall come to the Levitical priest or the judge who is in office in those days , and you shall inquire of them and they will declare to you the verdict in the case . 10 "You shall do according to the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses ; and you shall be careful to observe according to all that they teach you. 11 " According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do ; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left . 12 "The man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God , nor to the judge , that man shall die ; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel . 13 "Then all the people will hear and be afraid , and will not act presumptuously again .
14 "When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say , ' I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,' 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses , one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman . 16 " Moreover , he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses , since the Lord has said to you, 'You shall never again return that way .' 17 " He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away ; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. 18 "Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom , he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests . 19 "It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life , that he may learn to fear the Lord his God , by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes , 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment , to the right or the left , so that he and his sons may continue long e in his kingdom in the midst of Israel .
181 " The Levitical priests , the whole tribe of Levi , shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel ; they shall eat the Lord'S offerings by fire and His portion . 2 " They shall have no inheritance among their countrymen ; the Lord is their inheritance , as He promised them. 3 " Now this shall be the priests' due from the people , from those who offer a sacrifice , either an ox or a sheep , of which they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach . 4 "You shall give him the first fruits of your grain , your new wine , and your oil , and the first shearing of your sheep . 5 " For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes , to stand and serve in the name of the Lord forever e . 6 "Now if a Levite comes from any of your towns throughout e Israel where e he resides , and comes whenever he desires to the place which the Lord chooses , 7 then he shall serve in the name of the Lord his God , like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord . 8 " They shall eat equal portions , except what they receive from the sale of their fathers' estates.
9 "When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations . 10 "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire , one who uses divination , one who practices witchcraft , or one who interprets omens , or a sorcerer , 11 or one who casts a spell , or a medium e , or a spiritist , or one who calls up the dead . 12 "For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord ; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before e you. 13 " You shall be blameless before the Lord your God . 14 "For those nations , which you shall dispossess , listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners , but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so .
15 " The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen , you shall listen to him. 16 "This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly , saying , 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God , let me not see this great fire anymore , or I will die .' 17 " The Lord said to me, 'They have spoken well . 18 'I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth , and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ' It shall come about that whoever e will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name , I Myself will require it of him. 20 'But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak , or which he speaks in the name of other gods , that prophet shall die .' 21 "You may say in your heart , 'How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken ?' 22 " When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord , if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken . The prophet has spoken it presumptuously ; you shall not be afraid of him.
131 As He was going out of the temple , one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher , behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings !" 2 And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings ? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down ." 3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple , Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately e , 4 "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled ?"
5 And Jesus began to say to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 6 "Many will come in My name , saying , ' I am He!' and will mislead many . 7 "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars , do not be frightened ; those things must take place ; but that is not yet the end . 8 "For nation will rise up against nation , and kingdom against kingdom ; there will be earthquakes in various places ; there will also be famines . These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs . 9 "But be on your guard ; for they will deliver you to the courts , and you will be flogged in the synagogues , and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake , as a testimony to them. 10 " The gospel must first be preached to all the nations . 11 " When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say , but say whatever e is given you in that hour ; for it is not you who speak , but it is the Holy Spirit . 12 "Brother will betray brother to death , and a father his child ; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death . 13 " You will be hated by all because of My name , but the one who endures to the end , he will be saved .
14 "But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand ), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains . 15 " The one who is on the housetop must not go down , or go in to get anything out of his house ; 16 and the one who is in the field must not turn back e to get his coat . 17 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days ! 18 "But pray that it may not happen in the winter . 19 "For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now , and never e will. 20 "Unless the Lord had shortened those days , no e life would have been saved ; but for the sake of the elect , whom He chose , He shortened the days .
(Read Mark 13:1-4)
See how little Christ values outward pomp, where there is not real purity of heart. He looks with pity upon the ruin of precious souls, and weeps over them, but we do not find him look with pity upon the ruin of a fine house. Let us then be reminded how needful it is for us to have a more lasting abode in heaven, and to be prepared for it by the influences of the Holy Spirit, sought in the earnest use of all the means of grace.
(Read Mark 13:5-13)
Our Lord Jesus, in reply to the disciples' question, does not so much satisfy their curiosity as direct their consciences. When many are deceived, we should thereby be awakened to look to ourselves. And the disciples of Christ, if it be not their own fault, may enjoy holy security and peace of mind, when all around is in disorder. But they must take heed that they are not drawn away from Christ and their duty to him, by the sufferings they will meet with for his sake. They shall be hated of all men: trouble enough! Yet the work they were called to should be carried on and prosper. Though they may be crushed and borne down, the gospel cannot be. The salvation promised is more than deliverance from evil, it is everlasting blessedness.
(Read Mark 13:14-23)
The Jews in rebelling against the Romans, and in persecuting the Christians, hastened their own ruin apace. Here we have a prediction of that ruin which came upon them within less than forty years after this. Such destruction and desolation, that the like cannot be found in any history. Promises of power to persevere, and cautions against falling away, well agree with each other. But the more we consider these things, the more we shall see abundant cause to flee without delay for refuge to Christ, and to renounce every earthly object, for the salvation of our souls.
