Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy Chapter 24

• Deuteronomy 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find 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 her hand, and send her out of his house. 
• 2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. 
• 3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 
• 4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. 

The law concerning divorce and remarriage as described here is the same as Jesus stated in the New Testament. If in the case of fornication a man could divorce his wife. If her married her thinking she was a virgin and discovered she was not, he was allowed divorce. She then was allowed to remarry. He was not allowed to remarry her though after another man had married her. Divorce and remarriage causes confusion especially to the children. There is far too much of it going on in today's world.

When we read both Old and New Testament though we see that God hates divorce and disapproves of it. We see this in Malachi as well as in the New Testament. What it does to children is disastrous. It has been said that it is better to divorce than to allow children to see fighting all the time, but they are discovering that to be a myth. Divorce causes permanent harm to the minds of children and takes away their stability. 

God allowed this in the Old Testament but Jesus had this to say about it:

• Matthew 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 
• 32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. 
• 3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 
• 4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 
• 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 
• 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 
• 7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 
• 8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 
• 9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. 

• Mark 10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. 
• 3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? 
• 4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 
• 5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 
• 6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 
• 7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 
• 8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 
• 9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 
• 10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. 
• 11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. 
• 12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. 

It is sad that there is so much divorce that we've stopped warning about it because we would lose half of our people that might get offended.

• Luke 16:18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. 

The reason we have so much trouble in today's world is because we have not heeded to these words of Jesus and sad to say that even Christians have not listened to His words. So we have people calling themselves believers in Christ who have been through one divorce after another. I know someone who claims to be Christian and has broken up two families with children. In both cases they got involved with another person other their their own spouse. The sad part is that they  justify themselves by finding fault with the spouse, takes no blame upon themselves and both sets of children were hurt as a result. Selfishness is the cause of this. We can expect this among non Christian but among Christians it should not be.

We like to use Malachi to teach tithing but ignore the verses on divorce and claim it to be the law. I hear, "We are not under the law" when it comes of many teachings in the bible unless of course we are teaching on tithing. Yet God says in the book of Malachi that He hates putting away (divorce).   Jesus shows us the same thing in the New Testament. God hates divorce. 

• Malachi 2:14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 
• 15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. 
• 16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. 

Divorce harms the spirit. It destroys that which God has created. God created families. It is not meant for us to dwell alone. The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence but when we start walking on the other side, it is the same. If we can't work things out the first time around, it usually will not work the second time around. I know there are exceptions. Sometimes one party is totally innocent and it can't be helped. God created, one man and one woman. He never intended, one man to several women (plural marriage) nor man with man, women with women. Confusion. If we would only do things the way God intended there would be less trouble and children would not grow up so confused. 

• Deuteronomy 24:5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken. 

This shows our God has a heart. How sad to hear stories of men who go off to war after being newly married, only to be killed in battle. Allowing them some time together first does makes the marriage bond more secure. 

• Deuteronomy 24:6 No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge. 

They were not to take away a man's livelihood or his way of making a living. It shows a concern that we do all we can to protect families and provide employment for the bread winner. It is God's will for a man to work and provide for his family. When someone does not do this, it is worse than an infidel. 

• Deuteronomy 24:7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you. 

Again we see that God hates stealing and especially the buying and selling of slaves. God never endorses slavery. He expected servants to be paid and cared for. 

• Deuteronomy 24:8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do. 
• 9 Remember what the LORD thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt. 

Laws concerning disease and diet were always for their good and to teach purity. God always hated a mixture of unclean and clean. They were taught not to compromise their faith in Him by the law He gave them. Obeying the laws concerning leprosy would keep the disease from spreading. It shows also that sin will spread just like leprosy. 

There is only one way to get rid of sin and that is repentance and faith in Christ to remove the sin and forgive the sin. 

Repent simply means to turn away from sin and turn to Christ. 

• 1John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 

God's commandments are good and for the good of those the heed His words.

• Deuteronomy 24:10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. 
• 11 Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee. 
• 12 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: 
• 13 In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God. 
• 14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: 
• 15 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee. 

God has always had regard for the poor and so should we. He has always ordained for those that have plenty to care for those that have nothing. This though should come from our hearts in keeping with the will of God. I don't believe in communism and forcing one to give up their wealth and give it to another. This encourages laziness. To see a rich man run a business and use it to give employment to those in need is a real blessing. I believe God will bless such a business. If we would all walk in perfect love, there would never be a need for labor unions or welfare systems. We need those things only because people will not listen to God and be concerned for their fellowmen. Greed gets in the way. 

• Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 

This is a good law that our own laws in the United States are patterned after. Although death penalty now is only for capital crimes, all laws are aimed at punishing only the one who do the actual crime and not for his family. We saw in the case of Daniel being thrown in the lion's den, his deliverance by God and his being set free by the king that the men who put Daniel's life in danger by their lies were put in the same lion's den along with their families but this was done by the law of the king, not by God. 

• Deuteronomy 24:17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:

A pledge was when a person promised to pay something to another so they gave them a raiment or another piece of property for them to hold until they made good on their debt. Sort of like putting up collateral for a loan in today's society. 

In the case of the widow, they were not allowed to take and hold anything that belonged to her. In the case of the poor they were not allowed to hold it over night. They were to treat strangers with kindness as well as orphans. 

I'm not against our present welfare system that cares for widows and children. I realize that once in a while we support the lazy men who try to move in on widows and leech off what little they have but I wouldn't want us to cancel the system altogether and harm the innocent. I believe God blesses countries that care for the poor. 

• Deuteronomy 24:18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing. 

They were to remember the time that they were slaves and have compassion on their own servants, strangers, widows and fatherless. 

• Deuteronomy 24:19 When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. 

I love this part of the law where we see that they left a little of their harvest for those that were poor to glean after their own harvest was finished. This is mercy, kindness, and love in action. I believe in my heart that God would bless those that left some for the poor instead of trying to extract every single fruit for themselves. One never loses if they give from the depth of their heart and not to be seen of men. 

• Deuteronomy 24:20 When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 
• 21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 
• 22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing. 

So we see that God's laws were good, perfect and He had the answer to how to live and care for those that were widowed and orphaned. The law could not cleanse from sin and bring eternal salvation in itself but it did show us how to live in peace until the perfect way of salvation was ushered in. Even the dietary laws were for good. Not eating pork and keeping the feasts days did not save one from sin but it kept them healthy and in remembrance of what the Lord did for them.

It is the sin in the heart that needs cleansed and sanctified. The law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ for cleansing and for the indwelling of God's spirit. The law showed what sin was, how to live fairly and justly but it could not give victory over sin. Only faith in Christ can do that but I see compassion and love in the law of God, not cruelty. I see good, not evil. It was given to protect the innocent from those that had no regard for what is right or wrong. If everyone would walk in perfect love, we would need no laws at all. -DC

Deuteronomy 25