Bible Reading Challenge Blog

So, this was the chapter that we were supposed to get the blessing.  We do for a short period of time.  If you look at this very, very long chapter you will find the blessings from vs.1-14.  But then it quickly transfers to more, and more, and even more cursing.  As you read through the cursing you find it parallel the blessings from the beginning verses.  It mirrors that which we were given as a result of our obeying the commandments of the Lord.  But if we do not obey, oh boy, then things really go south.  After  mirroring the blessings then it goes off in a very different direction and takes on a reality of its own.

I had a sense of complete dread as I was reading through the curses and the results of what would happen if I did not obey the Lord the more I read through these verses.  Really, really bad things are depicted like parents eating their children as a result of our unfaithfulness.  This disobedience will cause a siege to take place where the people of God will hold out but as a result will find themselves in a situation where the only way they can survive is by doing things which are simply not humane.  The list of what will happen is not only long but dramatic and horrific. 

I’m not a huge fan of scaring people to faith.  I’m not a huge fan of incentivizing fear.  But you cannot escape this approach in this chapter.  The author is creating a scenario which he beseeches obedience otherwise the worst imaginable fate will befall us.  Chapter 29 couldn’t come soon enough.

As you read this chapter keep in mind that there are two mountains: one for a blessing and one for a cursing.  In this chapter we get the cursings, in the next chapter we get the blessings.  We begin as we should with the certainty that the people of God only worship the people of God.  No other gods are to be worshiped.   That makes sense because that is also what we have in the Ten Commandments.  Or simplistically, as I say to the preschool class: “No idols!”

We have another one of the 10 in making sure you honor your mom and dad, but then we go on a bit of a…shall  we say tangent?  Don’t move a boundary marker, don’t mislead a blind person.  Listen to this next one carefully: Cursed is anyone who deprives the alien…of justice.  There was such a high respect for the alien, for those seeking refuge, for those who came from foreign lands into the land of Israel, because who knows, just like Abraham, we could be found to be hosting angels.  Look at Hebrews 13:2 and catch your breath when you do.  It says very clearly…”do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers…”  I’m not sure we are the most hospitable people.  

And then we have a list of those we are not to lie down with: father’s wife, animal, sister, mother-in-law etc.  Pretty specific directives on a topic we would rather avoid.  The last one, vs.26, is so general that it seems as if the people are condemning themselves without knowing it.  “Cursed be anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by observing them.”  Everyone agrees, but I am not sure if we are talking just about the laws in these last few verses, but the law as handed down from Moses.  You know, the law that they broke the moment he stepped down from the mountain and saw the golden calf that they were worshiping.  We worship a God of grace.  Thanks be to God!!

This chapter contains the offering of thanksgiving which was supposed to take place once everyone was settled in and had claimed the land that the Lord had promised to them in the land flowing with milk and honey.  They were to present it to the Lord with the statements that they were continuing to follow the commandments of the Lord and doing that which the Lord would want them to do. 

Part of the purpose of this offering of thanksgiving was a reminder for them of the way things used to be.  Things in Egypt were pretty rough, very rough.  As a result it is a good idea to remember the times when things were rough so that when they are not so rough, you can be thankful. Vs.7 carries with it an important lesson: “We cried to the Lord…the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, our oppression.”  This chapter reminds us that there is a promise from God which finds its fulfillment in eternal life.  That must be our land flowing with milk and honey.

It is interesting how these judgments are given out with some attempt to allow the person who is in the wrong to save face.  Verse 3 gives a limit on the lashes the person is allowed to accept, and the reasoning for that is so that this will  not  happen: “your neighbor will be degraded in your sight.”  Don’t pile insult to injury is what the beginning part of this chapter tells us.

We also find the laws surrounding widows and their right to marry the brother of their spouse in order to carry on the family name.  Again, this assumes that polygamy was not only accepted but expected.  If a brother whose brother passed away is not willing to accept those duties  then they are to be shamed in public.  It is not an option to marry your brother’s widow, it was a law that it be done, and if you have a child with her then he shall inherit all of your brother’s stuff.  That sounds about right.

In the midst of  all of this starting in vs.11 we read an unfortunate occurrence which ends up with the wife getting the worse end of the deal.  I’ll leave you to read that on your own.  There is an overriding sense of fairness which ought to govern your dealings with your people.  You don’t want to be seen as that guy who can’t be trusted or who doesn’t follow the laws as laid out by God in anyone’s eyes.  So, we have this chapter to rely upon if by chance we enter into dispute and ought to be lashed for it.

There is a theme in these verses and it comes from the Hebrew verb, or command really: zayin.  This means remember.  Moses commands the Israelites after every rule that they are to remember that they were slaves in the land of Egypt and so they must not mistreat others nor must they keep an abomination within the nation of Israel, such as…, well, pretty much a lot.  It seems like we have quite a few strung together commandments, not all of which may make sense. 

We can’t really take this set of rules and apply them to marriage and divorce, especially since in this time if was the male who was able to write a certificate of divorce pretty much just because he may find “something objectionable about her.”   Boy am I glad that my wife isn’t given that green light because pretty much every encounter that I may have with her it would be easy to find “something objectionable about him.”  

But we digress.  There is a ban against taking another Israelite as a slave.  There is a real distinction between what happens to a person who is poor and one who is not poor.  The poor person gets a lot more latitude than one who might be better off.  What an incredible system of grace when we look at it from this perspective.  It must be where Jesus gets his prerogative for the poor.  When we read the parable about the laborers who line up and get their wages (Matthew 20:16), we see that the employer is fulfilling the law according to Deuteronomy.  

The last set of verses address how we are able to help the poor and that is by leaving our gleanings in the fields so that they are able to come up behind us after the harvest is completed and take the rest.  Modern day food banks do something very similar as people leave what is left over for them, what they do not need in order to survive in the form of canned goods, so that others are able to partake.  I love the way in which God does not forget the forgotten, those whom others wish weren’t around, those whom others wish would just pull themselves up by the bootstraps.  God says you reach out to them, that is your responsibility.

It might be helpful to read Acts 8:26ff where we see an Ethiopian Eunuch who is converted by Philip on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.  Keep in mind that the laws which this eunuch would have had to follow would have been these laws in chapter 23 of Deuteronomy.  As a result of his physical condition he would not be allowed to enter into the assembly of the Lord.   This was not just a geographic ban, but it was a ban on fellowship, it was a ban on family life, it was a ban on being an active participant in society.  In Jesus this was torn down and Philip brought this good news to the eunuch.

We enter this chapter with an understanding that it is rated – R.  I find it interesting that vs.2 states that no one born of an illicit union was admitted into the assembly and yet Jesus has a prostitute in his descendancy, (Rahab), and a foreigner (Ruth).  Our Savior’s lineage is one which makes it obvious that our New Testament understanding, the new covenant that has been established by God through Jesus is completely inclusive, completely.  

Now we begin to get to those sections that address certain issues that I somehow wish we could skip since they are addressed in pre-BC terms.  But I am not going to skip them, there is some redeeming value to them.  We find the laws of marriage and pre-marriage, and divorce.  But we also find a very important verse which tells us (vs.3): “You may not withhold your help.”  If someone is in need then it is a sin to withhold your help. If someone is being persecuted then it is a sin to withhold your help.  If someone is being treated unfairly and you say nothing, your silence is withholding your help.  What a powerful verse that we do not preach often enough.

Then we get into marriage and engagement.  If a woman is proven to not be a virgin before marriage then she is to be put to death.  If a man is proven to not be a virgin before marriage then…, well, we don’t hear, I guess nothing then.  How often do I hear that what a women wears dictates certain freedoms that a man is able to assume about that woman.  If she wears something too revealing then it means that she must be loose so a man is free to take what he wants.  Saying that a woman somehow deserves certain treatment as a result of what she wears is a sin.  Assuming the worst of a woman because of what she wears is a sin.  This is not Deuteronomy, this is Christian ethics.  We are never to blame the woman in a case where violence is used, even if she doesn’t cry out in the city.  

As a father of three daughters I want my daughters to have the same freedoms that I have.  I have the freedom to wear what I want to wear and what is comfortable.  I have the freedom to use words and phrases that I want to use and not have to think twice about what I say because men in my presence might interpret it as sexual or as leading them on.  Oh, we set rules on mission trips that limit the freedom of girls on our trips simply because we are responsible for them and we need to make sure they are protected from men who do not have Christian ethics.  

Can you imagine a world where we are all judged according to the same standard and the same ethic and that gives us all the same freedom to live out our lives in a way that increases the presence of the kingdom of  God?  That day will come.  It is not here yet and it was not there yet in Deuteronomy.  

We cover a lot of ground in this chapter.  We begin with the age old question of what do we do when we find a body lying around that no one has taken credit over their death?  Well, that’s an easy one.  You gather the elders of the city closest to the body, kill a calf in the river, wash your hands, and you should be good to go.  It’s pretty common practice these days, okay, it isn’t, but that’s what they did many, many years ago.  

You then have the directives over what do you do with the women whom you have conquered and you find them pleasing to your sight.  You bring them home, let them mourn for a month, and then they are all yours.  If the one you have taken home no longer pleases you then you can let her go, she is no longer a slave.  As we read this with 21st century eyes I hope, I really I hope that you read it as I do, as words that belong back nearly 1,000 years before Christ.  For when Jesus came he said you shall not divorce your wife, for once a woman was released from her house she had no life.  She had to prostitute herself and she found herself without a means to an income and in much worse state than when she was protected in a household.  Remember, this was nearly 3,000 years ago.

Finally, we find what we have to do with rebellious children.  Read this well  and pay attention.  Both mom and dad are to take this rebellious child to the square, tell the elders that he is rebellious, and then they are freed to stone him to death.  So that’s how things were handled 3,000 years ago.  

Really finally we find the reason why Jesus was not left hanging on the cross on Good Friday.  You read that when “his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day.”  Jesus was taken off the cross that same day and buried in the grave of Josephus.  The more we read  the Old Testament the more we understand why people did what they did back then.  Also, the more we realize why we do things differently than how they did it back then.  

It seems like this is a good cop, bad cop scenario.  The good cop is the priest, the religious leader, the pastor who encourages the troops when they go to battle.  Do not be afraid for it is the Lord who gives you the victory.  That sounds great and that is definitely something that I don’t mind telling the troops.  I’m grateful that I wasn’t given the role of the official, who is second to talk to the troops as they prepare for battle.  It seems like he has the role of the bad cop.   It is almost as if the roles are reversed.   The pastor gives them courage, the official gives them last rites.  If any of you want to leave, now is the time, leave.  

You also have rules of engagement for the towns upon which you come which need to be overtaken.  First you ask them if they want to give up.  If they do, then you spare them.  You make them slaves, but you spare them.  Secondly, and this is very curious and I’m glad to see this, the Israelites were absolutely environmentalists.  They were not allowed to cut down any trees as they besieged a town, unless it had specific usage, and certainly no fruit trees were allowed to be cut down, whether they were useful or not.  Look at vs.19-20 where we read this little known fact.  The Israelites as environmentalists.

We begin somewhat innocuously, and yet with a theme that is a very hot topic for today.  Sanctuary cities, do you see that the Lord set up sanctuary cities for those who might be pursued because they killed someone by mistake?   So this whole concept of sanctuary cities is absolutely not a new one, it is one that is biblical, and one that is meant to embrace those who are being sought after wrongly.  There was a time when what was called the sanctuary movement was quite popular within churches in the US.  This movement was spearheaded by Presbyterian pastors, my dad was one of them, who would house illegal immigrants primarily from El Salvador which was suffering from a terrible civil war and these immigrants, illegal that they were, would live in the church until their paperwork could be completed.  We housed a family in the church where I grew up in in Pleasantville, NJ.  It was pretty heady stuff.  But the Scriptural backing is there and continues to be there.  Be aware that whatever stance we take, whether morally or politically, must be supported in some way.  It cannot emanate simply from our agenda.

We end the chapter with a very famous verse which Jesus used.  In Matthew 5:38-48 Jesus is teaching and he tells the people: you have heard it said…, and he quotes the verses from Deuteronomy, and then he adds: but I say to you – “ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; ⁴⁰ and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; ⁴¹ and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. ⁴² Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”  That is a pretty different direction from where Deuteronomy takes us.  

Moses tells us that we have to purge the evil doer from our midst.   Jesus says we have to love the evildoer and then maybe, just maybe, they will see the love that God has for them and turn from their evil ways.  I’ll take Jesus’ approach.