Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

This whole section is about honour. Honouring life. Honouring commitment. These are basic rules of conduct. They were good for the Israelites to keep them close to the heart of God – who reveres life. They are ALSO good guidelines for us (minus the sacrifices, which are embodied within Jesus).

If there was a murder, but no known murderer, responsibility still needed to be taken. Distance was measured from the body to the towns nearby. The nearest town was responsible. The elders would take a heifer that has never been worked and sacrifice it. But they would say, before the killing, that they had not shed the blood but were redeeming it.

They were allowed to marry female captives (as long as they weren’t part of the nations being spewed out of Canaan). They were to be treated with respect. It was not to be instant passion. They were given grieving time and treated like proper marriage candidates. She was NEVER to be sold or turned into merchandise of ANY kind in ANY way.

The rights of the firstborn were to be upheld whether that firstborn came from a favoured wife or an unpopular wife. The firstborn was the firstborn PERIOD. There is an example of this with Reuben who was Jacob’s firstborn from Leah, but Rachel was the favoured wife (Genesis 35:23). Just because you don’t favour his mother is no reason to deprive the son of ANYTHING of which he was entitled.

If you have a rebellious son – this is an older son who was fully responsible for his behaviour in the home AND in the community – who refuses to listen to his parents, becoming a glutton and a drunkard; the parents can bring him to the elders of the community for judgment. Judgment is death. Rebellion is not tolerated. It is a shadow of how the people were not to be rebellious against God’s commands and standards of living.

“You shall make tassels for yourselves on the four corners of your clothing with which you cover yourself.” (Deuteronomy 22:12)

If someone commits a sin and earned the penalty of hanging, they are not to be left hanging after nightfall. They were to be buried that day, because hanging is cursed and it will defile the land.

If you see something of your fellow citizen that has been lost (an ox going astray, for example), you are to bring it back to the rightful owner – whether you like that person or not. If you find something, but don’t know who it belongs to, you may keep and steward it – but return it as soon as the owner comes looking for it. It does not matter WHAT had been lost, you WILL treat it the same way.

Along the same lines, you will help people you see in need. You won’t avoid them or hide so they don’t see you. Help those who need help regardless of your personal opinions. We are to love one another.

Don’t abuse species. If you take the eggs of a bird, don’t take the bird too. Birds can survive on their own, the young cannot. Also, it will eventually destroy the species. Take this food only when you NEED it. It isn’t good management of resources to treat it any way you want.

There was to be a reverence for life in all you did. Build a house? You need to put a railing around the outside of the roof so that no one falls off of it by accident. If we can prevent injury to others, we need to take the responsibility to do that. Life is not to be treated cheaply.

Things should not be unequally yoked. What does that mean? When two things connected together aren’t equal, there is a risk that both of them get injured. Don’t plow with an ox and a donkey. Don’t wear clothing made of wool and linen together. Mixing spiritually is a HUGE no-no. Among other things, these are reasons to keep separate. To make sure we are with the like-minded. To make sure that we are following exactly what God tells us, keeping ourselves a separate people. Which is why they were to wear tassels on the four quarters of their clothing. To remind them of who they were to be like. Who they were separated to. Always remembering to lift their eyes to His Way.

Marriage was not a game. It was not an excuse to give in to immoral behaviour. It was not an excuse to take what you wanted when you wanted or how you wanted. There were consequences to their actions. If you took a wife, and then decided you didn’t like her, you could claim she wasn’t a virgin when you got together. It was the only way to divorce your wife. But it would leave her destitute because who would want a woman of such low character? Her parents would therefore bring proof of her virginity (probably the sheet from their first coupling) to the elders and show it. Since it was obvious the husband was lying, he was punished. First, he could NEVER divorce her. Second, he owed her father a hundred shekels of silver (twice the dowry). The father? Yes. By claiming SHE wasn’t a virgin, the claim is that the FATHER raised an immoral daughter. If the accusation was true, she was stoned for acting like a whore in her father’s house. Were men off the hook? No.

If a man had sex with a woman engaged to another man were caught having sex, they were both stoned for immorality. Why the girl too? Because she didn’t cry out for help, which showed she was a willing partner. If however they were out of the city in the field, only the man was stoned. Why? Because the girl might well have been crying out for help, but not heard. If an UNMARRIED couple (male and female) were found having sex, they were to be married AND the man could not divorce her. Ever. He had to give the father the dowry of fifty shekels.

However, under ANY circumstances at all, a man was NOT to marry his father’s wife. This would dishonor his father and was never acceptable.

Summary

Key Players: God, Moses

Key Themes: Unsolved Murder, Firstborn Rights, Rebellion, Marriage, Reverence for Life

Key Verse(s): Deuteronomy 21:8-9, 14, 17, 21; 22:18-19, 22, 24, 30