Fear of the LORD with Security

Deuteronomy 31:1-13
    1 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ 3 The LORD your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the LORD has said. 4 And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. 5 The LORD will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” 7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
    9 So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”

Here we see that the fear of the LORD should drive His people to carefully follow His word, yet do so in the security of knowing He is with them to deliver and to guide safely home to the promised country to come.  These things of course applied directly to Israel’s exodus from bondage and entrance into the land promised to be called Israel, but speak as an example and pattern of the fuller work in Christ.  We are called out of bondage to sin and towards the celestial city of His kingdom without end, and are not to fear destruction any longer (1 John 4:18).  We have the fear of the LORD which does not consider eternal torment but honor and reward in glorifying Him forever (1 Corinthians 3:14-15, Acts 9:31).  He will be with us in our sanctification as we work it out (Philippians 2:12-13), having sealed our salvation eternally until the work in us is complete (Philippians 1:6, Ephesians 1:13, 4:30).  Christ gives us victory over our enemy and will lead us into the promised land of eternity, just as foreshadowed by Israel’s procession into Canaan.  How faithful is He and how much more assurance we have in spite of our failures like Israel’s, but with a more certain hope then they had; our faith in His work is now the basis, not keeping every law perfectly!  Let us therefore learn to serve our Lord acceptably with godly fear (Hebrews 12:28).  May we be reminded in regular reading and hearing His word regularly to know the awe of godly fear and to follow His commands, principles, and examples of the scriptures, and not just every seven years as in this example, but daily (Hebrews 3:13) to remind us of our certain hope in Christ Jesus.  Amen. 

Obedience and Repentance

Deuteronomy 30:1-20
    1 “Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, 2 and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5 Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 “Also the LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 And you will again obey the voice of the LORD and do all His commandments which I command you today. 9 The LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10 if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
    11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
    15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

The LORD offered a choice to His people to follow in obedient trust or disobedient and willful rebellion against His commands.  The choice of the blessing or curse was given clearly, with the obvious right choice to obey His voice with all the heart and soul.  They were to follow what was plainly shown them because His voice was written down as evidence to accuse or excuse them (Romans 2:15) through their conscience and judgement of those set over them.  It was not a distant command too difficult to understand; they did not have to send someone to visit God in the heavens to grasp it nor travel far and wide so that they could then obey it, for the word of God was right there in front of them waiting to be heeded.  This is true of the gospel heard by faith as Romans 10:6-13 explains using these verses here.  What is the same is taking God at His word and doing what He says; what is different is to obey the gospel is trusting Christ’s work to fulfill the Law instead of us doing all it says to the letter for acceptance and deliverance from our just punishment due us for sin (Romans 3:23, 6:23).  This word of the gospel to trust and believe to receive Christ and His work is the gospel call of obedience to His word.  This is the choice of continued disobedience to the eternal curse of never-ending punishment or of eternal life in the presence of the Holy One whose word is very near us, in our mouths and in our hearts, that we may do it.  Repent from our efforts which always fall short (Romans 3:23) and believe His word and work (John 6:28-29).  Amen! 

Covenant and God’s Revealed Will

Deuteronomy 29:1-29
    1 These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb. 2 Now Moses called all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land— 3 the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day. 5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. 7 And when you came to this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we conquered them. 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.
    10 “All of you stand today before the LORD your God: your leaders and your tribes and your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones and your wives—also the stranger who is in your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water— 12 that you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today, 13 that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He may be God to you, just as He has spoken to you, and just as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
    14 “I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, 15 but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today 16 (for you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we came through the nations which you passed by, 17 and you saw their abominations and their idols which were among them—wood and stone and silver and gold); 18 so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood; 19 and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.
    20 “The LORD would not spare him; for then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the LORD would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law, 22 so that the coming generation of your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the LORD has laid on it:
    23 ‘The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath.’ 24 All nations would say, ‘Why has the LORD done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?’ 25 Then people would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them. 27 Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this book. 28 And the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’
    29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Because of God’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt and faithful leading towards the promised land by covenant, Israel was reminded to do as God commanded, though He did not give them a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear.  God had to give these things; they could not be obtained through mere knowledge to real understanding apart from His grace to give these, just as it is now in Christ for His called out ones.  We need the mind of God in Christ to feel and hear and see, or we also will continue to be deaf and blind, without spiritual understanding.  His covenant which the LORD initiated was to be agreed on by His chosen people by oath as sworn to Abraham, who by faith trusted Him and entered in as we do in the new covenant (Hebrews 8:8, 13, 9:15, 12:24) to fulfill and take over for the old covenant (Hebrews 11:9-10, 12, Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6-9).  For those hearing this first covenant from Moses and followed their own desires to rule over their hearts, the curses of the previous chapter were earned and given to them, “as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.”  When all but a remnant of Israel did these things in rejecting His commands and rule over them, as a nation they would suffer the wrath and just judgement due them as pronounced with these warnings.  Even now people are warned of the wrath to come (Acts 24:25, 1 Thessalonians 1:10) and told the good news of a new covenant of grace with heart-infused Law to escape the curse of Adam by which they can enter into through trust and obedience to believing Christ’s work of suffering, death, and resurrection.  These things are only revealed by God to each one given ears and eyes, for some things remain hidden until revealed by Him, including deliverance from the bondage, power, and penalty of sin.  We know enough to do the work of faith (John 6:28-29) by what He reveals, and that is sufficient, for some things remain secret until he end (1 Corinthians 13:12). 

Curses on Disobedience

Deuteronomy 28:15-68

15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

20 “The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.

25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.

28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.

34 So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see.

45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.

47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything,

58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you.

64 “Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. 65 And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.

68 “And the LORD will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

There are many more warnings of curses in this chapter for disobedience than blessings for obedience.  The details are many and are harsh in our eyes, yet justified to the LORD God who delivered His people from bondage representing sin, and who promised them a special place in His heart and in the land given by the promise of faith through Abraham.  Therefore their wickedness in rebellion would result in confusion, rebuke, and destruction.  It would bring defeat, madness, blindness, and confusion in their hearts.  There would be oppression, plunder, blindness, and lack of prosperity.   They would go mad in not being able to see in the darkness as the curses overtake and overwhelm them.  All these because they refused to obey God’s commandments and follow His ways of holiness over their own self-serving pursuits and other objects of worship.  They would have the blessings if they only served the LORD their God gladly and reaped His eternal benefits.  The ask and demand of God was simply to observe His words to live by them in order to honor their creator and sustainer, with fear of His glorious name.  To continue in unrepentant disobedience meant certain enslavement and defeat as if they wanted to go back to Egypt.  Their renewed bondage would then result in failing hearts and eyesight with deep anguish and a feeling nobody cared or wanted them.  How much better to be loved and wanted and cared for by the LORD who called them out as His people to live His way instead!  Likewise, unrepentant sin has consequences for us to include lack of reward (1 Corinthians 3:14-17) and even leading to physical death as Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:5, 10).  We reap what we sow in our walk with our Lord, yet still inherit eternal life because we are called as His people, just as a remnant of Israel cling to His word in repentance and faith.  Let us then learn from the blessings and curses. 

Blessings Crowning Obedience

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 

    1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
    3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.  4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.  5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.  6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.  7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.  8 “The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
    9 “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. 10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

God’s people were promised good and bad consequences for their obedience or disobedience to Him as revealed in His word to them.  This first part of the chapter covers the blessings, while the remainder (more than three quarters of the chapter) addresses the consequences of sin which is disobedience to His will and word.  It begins with not just obedience, but diligent attention to listen and hear God’s commands with the decided intent to follow what He says.  It means to take the LORD at His word and apply it to the heart, mind and soul with all one’s strength throughout life (2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Peter 1:5).  Application.  The consequences of obedience begin with blessings that run after and overtake the observant hearer.  Blessings of peace and joy in all things, such as wherever you go or live, the children, work and it’s produced food for sustenance, not lacking what is needed.  There was promised protection from enemies, prosperous savings for the future, and more.  Most of all, there was the promise of God establishing them as His holy people who imitated His holiness through willing and joyful obedience (1 Peter 1:16, 2:9).  God’s blessings on them and their works were results of this adherence to all He said and wrote down for them to live by.  They were warned not to turn aside to the right or left to other gods of the world who did not know or follow Him and His word in a life of worship.  We are likewise called to live by His word and work in us, listening to the scriptures and His Spirit living in us when tempted to turn aside fro it (Isaiah 30:21).  We are to follow Christ alone, walking in trust of Him and His word by faith, leaning on His grace and work for us for deliverance once and forever from judgement, following what He says as our sustenance (Jeremiah 15:16), and not worshipping any other thing or supposed god of the world like the cults do.  Our Savior, Lord and God, Jesus Christ is who we worship and obey in love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).  The blessings on our obedience are crowns for His glory in eternity (Revelation 4:10-11, 2 Timothy 4:8, James 1:12, 1 Peter 5:4).

Called to Follow God’s Word, Amen!

Deuteronomy 27:1-26 

    1 Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: “Keep all the commandments which I command you today. 2 And it shall be, on the day when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime. 3 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the LORD your God is giving you, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ just as the LORD God of your fathers promised you. 4 Therefore it shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that on Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime. 5 And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them. 6 You shall build with whole stones the altar of the LORD your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God. 7 You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God. 8 And you shall write very plainly on the stones all the words of this law.” 9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, “Take heed and listen, O Israel: This day you have become the people of the LORD your God. 10 Therefore you shall obey the voice of the LORD your God, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”
    11 And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying, 12 “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; 13 and these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
   
14 “And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: 15 ‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’
“And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’

16 ‘Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's landmark.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

18 ‘Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

19 ‘Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

20 ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's bed.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

21 ‘Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

22 ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

23 ‘Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

24 ‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

25 ‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

26 ‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.’
“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ”

The people of God were commanded to follow His words because they were chosen as His people.  They even memorialized this commitment and vow by setting up monuments where they entered the promised land with His commandments inscribed on them to look at and remember.  Moses then divided the tribes in half that six would pronounce blessings on the people who obey the words of God’s law, and six uttering curses on the disobedient.  It ended with the all-encompassing curse on those who did not affirm these things, and was agreed upon by the amen to let it be so as written.  The question for us then is do we take God at His word and acknowledge the consequences of our disobedience of sin, or do we confess our offenses toward Him from our heart and bear works demonstrating our repentance (Matthew 3:8)?  Do we indeed follow His word as written on our hearts (Matthew 4:4), or cheapen grace with lawless assent to do as we please as if true and willing obedience were legalism (1 John 2:15-17)?   God’s people should work out their salvation with fear and trembling, shaken to the core of our souls in awe of His saving and sanctifying grace in Christ.  We obey out of reverence and love for all He has done for us by loving according to His words of life as we follow Jesus wholeheartedly.  Amen. 

Firstfruits of His Chosen Obedient People

Deuteronomy 26:1-19
    1 “And it shall be, when you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, 2 that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. 3 And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4 “Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. 5 And you shall answer and say before the LORD your God: “My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. 7 Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. 8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, “a land flowing with milk and honey”; 10 and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O LORD, have given me.’
    “Then you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God. 11 So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
    12 “When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, 13 then you shall say before the LORD your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
    16 “This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. 18 Also today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, 19 and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken.”

The people of God are His firstfruits, then and now (James 1:18) because they are chosen by Him and called to follow His words and ways.  His people called out of the bondage of Egypt gave the first of what the LORD gave them back to Him in honor and obedient worship.  There should be accompanying joy of rejoicing in all good things He brings to us, and setting aside overflowing bounty for meeting needs of others who are needy and who minister to the Lord God.  We see that even now we should lay aside for the work of ministering the gospel (2 Corinthians 8:2-4, 8:12-15), as well as meeting needs (James 1:27).  This means a purposeful plan to set aside a storehouse to draw from in order to give freely as He has freely given to us, both in Israel’s land flowing with milk and honey as well as our spiritual land in Christ’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  Therefore, we should follow obediently, willingly, and purposefully as we take heed to hear what He says with the ears given us for that purpose, as we remember our calling as His special treasured people (Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9).  We have been called out of bondage and the darkness of sin into His marvelous light of His presence in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).  This is our motivation and reason to daily press toward that finish line in loving obedience and transforming holiness with our eyes on the Author and Perfecter of our faith, reminding ourselves each time that we are His jewels and treasured people by His calling of grace in Christ alone.  Amen and amen. 

Proportionate Punishment, Familial Care, Fairness

Deuteronomy 25:1-19 

    1 “If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. 3 Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight.  4 “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.
    5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 6 And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 But if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, ‘I do not want to take her,’ 9 then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother's house.’ 10 And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’
    11 “If two men fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall not pity her.
    13 “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. 14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 16 For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the LORD your God.
    17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, 18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

Proportional punishment.  Familial care.  Fairness and respect.  Defeating evil.  These are covered in the laws given by God to His people under the Old Testament, some of which apply only in principle to us under the New, and some just as directly.  Proportional punishment means that excessive sentencing that does not fit the type of crime is an offense to God, and taking away a man’s ability to make a living and provide for his family by taking away the means to do so in restraining it from eating and subsequent ability to work is not the purpose of just punishment.  This principle using a muzzled ox is used in the New Testament to show that we cannot refuse to care and feed those called to shepherd the flock of God (1 Corinthians 9:9-12, 1 Timothy 5:17-18).  They must be supported to work God’s work.  Familial care may not require that a man’s brother marry his widow to carry on the lineage of a name, but in principle we should spiritually carry on the transformative gospel work by others in us to other faithful men (2 Timothy 2:2) to carry on the name of Christ in the work of discipleship.  We are called to make disciples in the great commission, not just “get people saved.”  As for fairness in dealings with others, that can never change, except it should extend into our heart dealings and not just in monetary transactions.  This means seeking what is good for others and not just pleasing ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4).  Finally, we do not war against other people’s to defeat them in war because they offend God by not helping His people, but against spiritual forces ruling in this world (Ephesians 6:12) until the final judgement when they are forever cast down by the Lord Christ.  These we battle until He gives the final blow of victory. 

Divorce, War, Death, Disease, Remembrance

Deuteronomy 24:1-22
    1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, 2 when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife, 3 if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, 4 then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
    5 “When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.
    6 “No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one's living in pledge.
    7 “If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil from among you.
    8 “Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt!
    10 “When you lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you. 12 And if the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight. 13 You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to you before the LORD your God.
    14 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. 15 Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the LORD, and it be sin to you.
    16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.
    17 “You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow's garment as a pledge. 18 But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.
    19 “When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.

Divorce, War, Death, Disease, and Remembrance.  These are all addressed in the last part of this chapter.  For divorce, the situations and conditions of remarriage are covered; basically, one cannot remarry the same person after marrying another following the divorces.  This is clearly addressed as an abomination to the LORD because of defilement as if sleeping around (like adultery).  It also brings corporate consequences for the people if not enforced (compare Romans 1:32).  In a war, a man should not go to battle right away if just married, but wait a year to bring happiness to his wife by creating a foundation of love and care.  This applies to any other mandated business venture as well as marriage, something well advised for our present culture of overwork.  Collateral should not be taken away until a debt is paid if that item is required to live, and the death penalty should be for kidnapping and selling off a child (today’s sex trafficking is a modern day example).  Diseases like leprosy which are contagious to endanger others are to be quarantined and isolated to avoid infecting others and spreading, much like the present pandemic guidance and laws to protect our neighbors.  Treating slaves well is equivalent to treating employees rightly as well today; wages to day laborers should be paid in a timely manner so that they can sustain their families.  Each one’s sin and crimes are their own, and punishment by man and God fits the offender without retribution or stigma on parents for the way their children turn out (Ezekiel 18:20).  Justice is to be merciful as well as fair, for like Israel, we who are in Christ have been freed from bondage and the enslavement of sin.  Freely we have been given grace and mercy in order to show the same to others.  Finally, for farmers (and other manufacturers of needed gods by extension), not every last profit has to be made, but surplus should be left for the needy to live on (especially homeless, orphans, and widows).  Why?  Again,because of the freeing grace shown us. 

Laws of Holiness and Consideration

Deuteronomy 23:15-25
    15 “You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it seems best to him; you shall not oppress him.
    17 “There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.
    19 “You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. 20 To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.
    21 “When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. 22 But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. 23 That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth.
    24 “When you come into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. 25 When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor's standing grain.

More laws covering situations in life requiring God’s judgement and direction end this chapter.  First we see how escaped slaves are to be protected and not returned to their masters, which seems contrary to the runaway slave Onesimus of Philemon many years later (Philemon 1:10-15) whom Paul sent back.  However, that account also shows a slave who served the gospel and Paul and was returned as a brother in Christ instead of property alone.  This passage in Deuteronomy then decries the sin fo female and male prostitution and goes on to forbid ill gotten gain from regular non-temple prostitution to be given to God for His work.  We see that what we offer to Him must be honest and holy in its source to be honoring to the Lord.  This would certainly cover criminal as well as immoral gain.  Speaking of gain, the people of God were only to charge interest to those not His, the outsiders, not their brothers.  Do we seek to gain financially from fellow believers at every opportunity, or do we instead seek to give freely and meet needs (Matthew 10:8, Acts 20:35, Isaiah 58:7)?  God has given us an eternal kingdom without charge, so how can we profit from the gospel let alone our daily bread?  As to making binding promises to the Lord, the guidance given here in principle is to either follow through by keeping it, or first counting the cost before swearing to it.  Rash prayers and commitments in troubled times can quickly lead to accountability and consequence.  It is better in many cases to be silent with our lips and eager in our hearts committed to following by faith and obedience.  Finally, this passage addresses gleaning a bite to eat from someone’s farm instead of stealing by gathering more than is needed for a moment’s hunger.  Do we take more than is necessary in our times of need from others, or only what is offered or allowed?  Let us therefore do all things decently and in order with love and consideration for God and man, keeping the two greatest commandments.  These are laws inscribed in our hearts by the Spirit of God for holiness to the Lord and consideration for others. 

Exclusions, Inclusions, and Holiness

Deuteronomy 23:1-14
    1 “He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. 2 “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
    3 “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever, 4 because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. 6 You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.
    7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. 8 The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.
    9 “When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing. 10 If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp. 11 But it shall be, when evening comes, that he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp.
    12 “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; 13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. 14 For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

Some were excluded from the congregation of God’s people and some were included against the will of some of the people.  Sexual mutilation and out of wedlock birth origin were two brought up to exclude, along with the people of Moab who refused to provide sustenance for Israel on the way out of bondage to the promised country.  Those of Edom, on the other hand were related and included, and the Egyptians who enslaved them as well because Israel was a people alien to them and at first welcomed and well taken care of before the tide turned (Exodus 1:8-10).  We see from these instructions that God sets the standards of inclusion or exclusion from His people (the church), both then and now.  Furthermore, this passage goes on to speak of keeping from evil things if there is to be the Lord’s victory given in the battle, and even their personal waste had to be properly buried outside their camp because of His holy presence there.  If God was to see any unholiness or unclean thing among them, He would not be on their midst and ultimately not in their battles on the way to possess the promised country to come.  We see the analogy of our corporate and personal holiness being a stumbling block to our effective witness and work for the gospel of Christ’s kingdom which begins in and among us here and into eternity.  He tells us to be holy because He is, and Jesus lived out what that means to teach us what that looks like as we follow Him.  That is what called disciples do.  We imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1, 3 John 1:11).  We see for 1 Corinthians 6:9 that He is adamant about our holiness because we were called out of forgiven sin, and we know that are to pursue holiness (Hebrews 12:14) because of that great salvation given by grace in mercy through Jesus the Christ (2 Corinthians 7:1). 

Sexual and Spiritual Morality

Deuteronomy 22:13-30 

    13 “If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, 14 and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ 15 then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 And the young woman's father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. 17 Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, “I found your daughter was not a virgin,” and yet these are the evidences of my daughter's virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him; 19 and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.  20 “But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, 21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
    22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.
    23 “If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.  25 “But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. 27 For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.
    28 “If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.
    30 “A man shall not take his father's wife, nor uncover his father's bed.

Sexual morality was important in God’s commands because we later find out how it relates not only to God’s design, but also in our spiritual relationship with Him.  How often we read in the Old Testament about spiritual immortality in man’s relationship with God, and in the New Testament with we who are the church in relationship with our Lord as His bride (1 Corinthians 6:13, 18-19, 2 Corinthians 11:2).  The marriage bed is not to be defiled by adultery or other sexual immorality (Hebrews 13:4).  We see how this is addressed as still a valid prohibition in these commands when we look at how 1 Corinthians 5:1 speaks of what is in this passage in verse 30.  The command for sexual relations is for a man and wife only as we see again in 1 Corinthians 7:2.  These verses in Deuteronomy cover the main situations of unmarried men and women and appropriate consequences based on the situations with punishment or restitution as is fitting.  Willing or forced sex mostly determined the outcome.  We do know that any sexual immorality is against His design and commands, for He made us to be holy as and because He is (1 Thessalonians 4:3).  Those opposed to God and His design for man and wife in holy living are as Romans 1:28-29 and Leviticus 20:13 describe, willingly thinking debased things and defending them as they live in defiance of God and His righteousness in judgement (Romans 1:32).  Furthermore, those seeking to pervert His predetermined and unchanging design go so far as to mix and match in detestable way as mentioned in Romans 1:26-27 as a result of self-worship and neglect of His perfect design for sexual morality to live by.  These things fly on the face of an increasingly ungodly culture, but for us who know and follow the Lord in truth and obedience realize there is no living contrary to Him nor assent to those who choose to live in such defiance (Romans 1:32).  God sees this then and now in the same ways.  He does not change with the culture nor differently to different people in different times; His design and character do not change.  Ever.  To conclude this matter then, let us who are of the day walk accordingly (Romans 13:13, Galatians 5:16-17, 3:5-6) as called. 

Mixing and Matching with Care

Deuteronomy 22:1-12

    1 “You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. 2 And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. 3 You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother's, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself.
    4 “You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again.
    5 “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God.
    6 “If a bird's nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; 7 you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
    8 “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.
    9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.
    10 “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
    11 “You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together.
    12 “You shall make tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself.

This passage of seemingly random laws actually are related.  There is a common theme of not mixing things together which should not be, and restoring things matched back again which belong together.  Lost property, whether animals or clothing (or any lost thing), are to be restored and matched with their owner.  Care for your neighbor includes giving a helping hand when needed as with the fallen animal along the roadside.  Furthermore, clothing is to match the gender of the person wearing it; this is bypassed in our present cultural thinking by redefining male and female to excuse cross dressing, but this only emphasizes the unmatched dressing that is mixed in a way displeasing to the Creator who designed us with identity and roles according to His design and not our twisting the ways for our own passing pleasures of sin.  Hebrews 11:25 instructs is to follow God’s ways in His word, and not for our own.  Other examples in this passage of mixing and matching with care include caring for birds by only taking the eggs or young, not the mother, and building a railing around your rooftop so that nobody falls off the edge while walking there (most roofs were flat and people were on them often in that time and area).  Different seeds were not to be mixed together when planted, nor mismatched animals for plowing, nor different clothing materials worn together, and tassels were to balance out the corners of garments (Numbers 15:38-39) as a reminder of God’s words and commands threaded through all they do in life.  All of these things together teach us to do all things decently and in God’s order (1 Corinthians 14:40).  We must learn from this to mix and match righteously and with love that cares for God and man (Mark 12:29-31). 

Unsolved Murder, Rights, Rebellion, Compassion

Deuteronomy 21:1-23
    1 “If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities. 3 And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. 4 The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. 6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 7 Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. 8 Provide atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. 9 So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
    10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, 12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. 13 She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14 And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you have humbled her.
    15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, 16 then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. 17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
    18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.
    22 “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

Various laws here cover an unsolved murder and public atonement to appease God, the rights of captives to be treated with honor and loving dignity, the rights of a firstborn son of an unloved wife, the continued rebellion of a child, and punishment for sin with respect for the hung body in a timely burial.  All these miscellaneous laws were to show honor to God’s laws and commandments, bit also to treat others with dignity in fair dealings with compassionate handling of even the necessary punishment.  There was mercy in the seeming harshness, as the LORD set the boundaries and motives for His people for honor to Him and each other.  Christ goes further to expose our hearts in all dealings summarized by the command to first love God completely, then love others by treating them as we expect likewise to be treated, with honor, dignity, fairness, and compassion. 

Warfare is the LORD’s

Deuteronomy 20:1-20 

    1 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 2 So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. 3 And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; 4 for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’ 5 “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. 7 And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’
    8 “The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’ 9 And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.
    10 “When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. 11 And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. 12 Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the LORD your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. 14 But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the LORD your God gives you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
    16 “But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, 17 but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you, 18 lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God.
    19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man's food. 20 Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued.

Israel went to war to gain the land promised them; they were required to step out in faith by trusting that the LORD would be fighting for them, that He would bring victory through their efforts of obedient actions.  Only those not distracted or fearful were to enter the fray.  Any who hesitated or who had their minds focused on home and family more than the battle at hand were told to stay home; otherwise, they would be detrimental to those focused on the fighting.  When they did engage their enemies, Israel was told to first offer peace and surrender to become servants instead of dead men.  If there was no peace to be found, then they were to wipe out all those who could fight back and then take possession of all else.  The exception was for the specific cities of their inheritance.  These were to be completely eradicated in order to keep God’s people from following after their false gods and away from their LORD and Maker.  Even the details of not cutting down trees which provided food of fruit or nuts was given.  They were to use other trees to build ways to climb over the walls of the cities they sieged.  All the details and guidelines were given for victory and responsibility in fighting the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 2:4, 4:7), just as we are given specifics in the New Testament on our weapons of a higher order (2 Corinthians 10:4-5), but with the same loyal heart. We are not to be distracted (Matthew 13:22, Like 21:34) in following and fighting the good fight of faith, but are to put Christ and His everlasting gospel first.  This is the war we wage for the promised land in the heavenly kingdom of the New Jerusalem. 

Don’t Sway Justice with Pity

Deuteronomy 19:1-21
    1 “When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land the LORD your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 3 You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there. 4 “And this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him in time past— 5 as when a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live; 6 lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past. 7 Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall separate three cities for yourself.’
    8 “Now if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, 9 and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, 10 lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
    11 “But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.  14 “You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
    15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. 16 If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. 20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

The Law gave unforgiving principles to justice; pity was not to overtake fair and just punishment with emotional sway or partiality.  There were sanctuary cities for people to take refuge until their case was tried and the truth was determined.  They were not permanent shelter from justice for their crimes, but places to be safe until a verdict was determined.  Nothing like the present time.  When guilt was determined, the offender was immediately turned over for due punishment, and pity was not to paint over the offense with emotion or partiality. Equity in the punishment was to be determined and meted out.  The same held for sin against another, bit with two or three witnesses to the offense; one person’s word would be seen as that emotional sway without the consistency of fair punishment, so a balance had to be found from more than one perspective.  That is still the basis of most of our criminal laws today.  The phrase is repeated for not being swayed with pity, but exacting justice with punishment that fit the crime. What is less certain is if this was a literal limb for limb price, or the monetary equivalent.  Either way, the punishment was to fit the crime, and damages were given to compensate the level of loss, such as the inability to see which would affect a craftsman or the loss of a foot or hand would limit the farmer to provide a living or food on the table.  This is how the Jewish writings had interpreted the eye for an eye commands given here.  The exception of course would be that of capital punishment in the life required for shedding blood to death.  However, we see that Christ’s blood was shed as a sacrificial payment for our sin, and that did not directly demand that those putting Him to death should be likewise punished.  They were already under judgement requiring their blood for their sin, just as everyone else inheriting sin from the first Adam, including you and me.  That sentence was carried out on Jesus for us in our place so we no longer are required to give our blood in death for our sin; He died as us instead.  He showed pity and requires us to go and do likewise, as to turn the other cheek or let another keep our possessions when taken (Luke 6:29).  When tempted to judge others harshly, we do well to remember that He is our eternal refuge and our justification through His atoning death for our justly due punishment of life, eye, tooth, hand, and foot.  We don’t sway justice with pity, but accept the pity and justice paid for us in Christ. 

The Prophet to be Heard

Deuteronomy 18:15-22
    15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’
    17 “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall 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 happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

Moses foretold of a Prophet chosen and sent by God in the manner of Him.  This meant a deliverer, a priest, and leader to rule over His people.  He would come out of Israel and the people were told to listen and take heed to His words when He came.  God said that He would put His words in that Prophet’s mouth to speak as the LORD Himself to them.  Those who refused to listen would answer to the LORD; this means that those listening to other self-proclaimed prophets not sent by God nor having words of truth would have no lasting effect.  They would be revealed as false prophets by presumptuously speaking things which never come to pass, and their messages should not cause us to fear Him who has the power of eternal judgement (Luke 12:5) as the One sent in His name and power, Jesus the Christ.  Jesus is the Messenger who is deliverer from the bondage of sin and death, the eternal Priest in the heavens (Hebrews 8:1), and ruler over all (Hebrews 2:8).  Him we must hear (Acts 7:37), for there is no other with words of eternal life (Acts 4:12, John 6:68, John 12:47-50).  What Jesus the Christ of God spoke, we are to heed and live, or ignore and perish as those who listen to prophets not sent by God and therefore not speaking truth to life (Romans 6:23), but lies to destruction and certain judgement (Hebrews 12:24-25).  We see then that Christ Jesus is the Prophet raised up to be heard as prophet, priest, and king to be listened to for eternal life. Anyone bringing another message is a false self-proclaimed prophet who has no words of life or power over death and judgement.  He is the Prophet to be Heard who is greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:3).  Why would we listen to any other? 

Serving God or Spiritual Evil?

Deuteronomy 18:1-14 

    1 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and His portion. 2 Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the LORD is their inheritance, as He said to them. 3 “And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. 4 The firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5 For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons forever.
    6 “So if a Levite comes from any of your gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the LORD chooses, 7 then he may serve in the name of the LORD his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the LORD. 8 They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.
    9 “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.

The priests served and followed the LORD with Him alone as their inheritance; the sacrifices were theirs, but the promised land was not.  We who are in Christ Jesus have our inheritance in Him, not the country we live in, for we have a better heavenly one promised as our land.  He is our sacrifice and the Kingdom is as well.  We serve God and not the spiritual evil of this land, for we do not dare “dabble” in the occult practices of mediums, tarot card readers, seances, witchcraft, astrology, nor interpret signs or speak with the dead.  These things are abominable to the Lord God who made all things and in whom all exist and have their being.  How then could we ever follow the present parts of the darkness of society which worship he creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25)?  We are to be blameless, another word enclosed within holiness (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 20:26) to which we are chosen for and appointed to (Romans 6:22, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Ephesians 4:24) and which is essential (1 Thessalonians 4:7, Hebrews 12:14) to our new life from the darkness of death as we have been given eyes to see and ears to hear.  Are we then now serving God, or the spiritual evil age (Galatians 1:4), the bondage of our spiritual Egypt which we have been set free from as a kingdom of priests to Him (Exodus 19:6, Revelation 1:6, 5:10)?