Deuteronomy 14

Daily Devotional from Deuteronomy 14–


Clean, unclean, clean, unclean. I often wonder how the Israelites kept it all straight! This chapter may seem like it’s just full of tedious rules, but when we step back, we can see that God has a greater purpose in these regulations–holiness. He didn’t set the Israelites apart so he could boss them around and impose a bunch of rules on them. No, he set them apart because he wanted to save the whole world from certain death. What an incredible God! Generation after generation, God was at work in and through the Israelites. Eventually, the Savior of the world was born through their family line.

I’m sure the Israelites didn’t know God’s whole plan to save the world, but they had a choice: they could trust God and follow the regulations he put before them, or they could disobey and have to endure the consequences. Spoiler alert, they had moments of both. We all do. But like the Israelites, we also have a choice. Will we trust God and be obedient to what he’s asking us to do, even if we can’t see around the corner?


Zoe Opperman