Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy Chapter 21

• Deuteronomy 21:1 If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: 
• 2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 
• 3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 
• 4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley: 
• 5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: 
• 6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: 
• 7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. 
• 8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. 
• 9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD. 

We must stop and think for a minute why this was all done. It didn't right the wrong that was done, it didn't bring judgment against the murderer and it didn't comfort the family of the victim. What good was this? 

It shows us one thing. It shows us that God is not in the murder business. That murder is a serious offense and that murder is judged by God. By the elders doing this as described here, they are recognizing that God is a God of judgment for the sin of murder and they wanted to seek God's favor by vowing that they had nothing to do with the death of an innocent person. They would be showing their respect for the law of God and also it shows all who witness this that they are not merely turning a blind eye to the fact that someone was found dead. They knew God would bring judgment for this sin that was committed. By doing this religious act, they were recognizing God's law and they were absolving themselves of any guilt in the breaking of this law. 

While God is a just God and truly there will be a final judgment to right all the wrongs and bring the guilty to justice, I don't hold with the opinion that if someone is murdered, that it is God's will. 

Why would God make a law, "Thou shalt do no murder" and then cause someone to commit murder? Yet some say, it is the will of God. 

I believe we live in a fallen world. Unless the prayers of praying believers intercede or some other divine act of God prevents it, bad will happen in a fallen world. The more a nation gets away from God, the more God's hand of protection and divine intervention is kept from preventing disasters. We can't say God does things and everything that happens is His will. I don't believe He tells a man to get drunk, drive a car and bang into a car load of children. Bad happens in an evil fallen world. Some things can't be explained. True faith though is believing in and trusting in God no matter what. True faith is not name it, claim it, grab it and live in a perfect state with no trouble. 

This was written before the perfect way of salvation was revealed. They had to keep the rituals of the law at this time until the time when Christ came to fulfill this part of the law and bring in salvation by grace which brought forth forgiveness of sin and infilling of God's Holy Spirit. To keep the law before Christ was vital and necessary because it showed them the necessity to acknowledge when one had sinned and also to seek God to remove that sin. Those that kept the law was showing faith in God to bring salvation and bring in the one that could not only forgive sin but cleanse it away. This is what we call being "born again" by the Spirit of God. 

• Deuteronomy 21:10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, 
• 11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; 
• 12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 
• 13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. 
• 14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her. 

We must remember here that God is a merciful God. In some incidences He forbid Israel to intermarry with heathen nations because the seed was so evil that it would pollute the innocent. Heathen nations at one time did live human sacrifices to idols. Innocent children were slain to idols. God did not want Israel to sin in this manner. In other cases He allowed intermarriage. This was usually when it was possible to redeem and bring someone in who would accept the God of Israel. Intermarriage between two different religions is not good if both woman and man are strong in their religion. It causes much trouble. 

God never condones slavery here and under the gospel of Jesus Christ, it should never be, for all men and women are created equal. Yet we see an imperfect world especially before the coming of Christ. Men had slaves. It was part of the fallen world. In the case of Israel, it was a way to take care of people who had no jobs or a way to survive. When they defeated an evil nation, any captives were taken and made to serve. This actually kept them from dying with no support or food. This is one reason why I'm not totally against having a welfare system to care for the poor. It is better than slavery. Back then though before that which was perfect had come, the world had slavery. God never condoned it but He in His mercy made laws concerning the treatment of those they took captive. 

Once they took a captive girl to wife, they couldn't sell her back into slavery. Notice how they also gave the captive bride a chance to grieve for her family before she became a wife and left them. If we look closely in the Old Testament we can easily see a God of compassion like we see in the New Testament. The Old Testament simply shows us the seriousness of sin and how we need to saved out of it. Many times slavery was a judgment upon a nation that was into serious sin. Like the time Israel became slaves to Babylon because of the sin of idolatry and other sins against God.  Even good people can be caught up in it like in the case of Daniel and the three Hebrew friends he had. God cared for them even though they were among the captives at the time.

• Deuteronomy 21:15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: 
• 16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: 

Again we see the compassion of God here. God knows that it is not the fault of the child that his mother is the hated one. I would say that the hate mentioned here is not hatred as we know it and understand it but only that they are less liked or less loved by the husband. I do not believe God ever condones and ordains plural marriages. He sees the hurt and damage caused by a man having more than one wife. He instructs kings not to multiply wives to themselves. 

He made only one wife for Adam as a pattern. Yet mankind in the hardness of their hearts, couldn't control their desire and married more than one. This changes under the gospel but until that which was perfect had come, they were allowed to marry more than one wife. In all I've read about it though, there is always heartache with the one who is made to be second or subservient to the one that is loved. 

If we would stick to God's way and the pattern He sets forth, we would all be happier. In the days when women did not have any way to support themselves, having more than one wife did provide that support but it did more harm than good in most cases. 

Still we see the mercy of God here when He sees that man makes these choices but God has to intervene and make laws to protect those that are harmed by the lust and desires of man. 

• Deuteronomy 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. 

In other words, no favoritism when it came to the sons and inheritance. Jacob caused himself a lot of grief because he favored Joseph over all his other sons because Joseph was the first son of the woman he loved the most. Although it later turned out for good, Jacob was grieved for years thinking Joseph was dead. The other sons were willing to sell their own brother into slavery because they envied him. 

If we lived in a world with perfect love, God would not need to make these laws at all. The law is made to protect the weak and innocent. It is made for the disobedient, not for the obedient. 

The law of grace brings in a better covenant. Instead of trying to use will power to overcome sin, our hearts are changed by the power of the gospel. Now we have the inner strength to live above sin out of our love for God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We still have the power over our own decisions and can backslide away from God but we don't have to. We've been given power and victory over sin if we yield to that instead of our old nature. 

• Deuteronomy 21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 
• 19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 
• 20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 
• 21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. 

The law was very harsh toward rebellion against parents. Grace has softened this somewhat and offers forgiveness but it is still a serious sin. 

Long life is promised to those that honor parents. 

• Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 

We see also that the Lord will send Elijah the back to witness to Israel during the great tribulation period before the second coming of Christ. Elijah is to turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children back to their fathers. 

This to me shows the seriousness of the child/parent relationship.

• Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 
• 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. 

Elijah comes just before the Lord's second coming like John the Baptist came before the Lord's first coming.

• Deuteronomy 21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 
• 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt inwise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is cursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. 

God did ordain the death penalty for certain crimes. I can see that clearly. It was a curse to be hanged on a tree. Notice that this was the way Christ chose to die for our sins. He became a curse in our place in order to take our punishment for sin. That way we could go free if we believed and trusted in Him to take away our sins. 

• 2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 
• 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 
• 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 
• 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 
• 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

Praise God for this unspeakable gift. -DC

Deuteronomy 22