Deuteronomy 25:1-4 – Be fair and impartial

In Deuteronomy 25:1-3, God gave instructions on how to settle a dispute between two persons. The objective was to see to a fair and just settlement of a case. When a dispute had occurred, the accused and the offended party must both be presented before the court. After hearing out the argument, the presiding judge was expected to determine who was right and who was wrong. The innocent one would be acquitted, and the guilty offender would be condemned and punished. In the world then, beating an offender was a common practice. So when the offender was deemed to be guilty of the wrong and beating was ordered, the judge himself must supervise the implementation of the punishment. However, no punishment must be overdone. An offender should not be beaten with more than 40 stripes. This limit was intended to preserve human dignity.

Verse 4 seems unrelated to the focus of Deuteronomy 25. The thought however has to do with fairness. We get the picture that an animal an owner used for work must be treated fairly. In an agricultural society, oxen were used to pull the sledge to thresh the corn, to separate the grain from the chaff. The owner must not muzzle his ox as it threshed the corn. It must be allowed to eat as much of the corm as it wanted. It provides an illustration for us today that if God expected an animal to be treated fairly, how much more He would expect humans to be fair to his workers. As He expected an owner to be fair to his animal, God also expected him to be fair to his fellow human. Later in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul used this verse to argue that the people who served in the kingdom of God were worthy of the financial support of the people whom he served.   

Although these instructions were given to the people of Israel whom Moses had led out of Egypt, the principle derived from them is nonetheless applicable to us too. God expects His people to be fair and just. He expects us to act respectfully and impartially and to be sure to observe human dignity. There should be no brutality in dealing with an offending brother. Fair judgment must be accorded. A person must not be assumed guilty until his offense has been proven. God expects any punishment meted out to the offender to be proportionate to the wrong committed. Any punishment to be meted out must not be overdone. The lesson we learn from verse 4 is that as an employer one must not deprive his worker of his due. Just as an ox should not be muzzled as it treads the corn of the master, a worker of the Gospel must be given his or her due reward for the work done. The gist is that we must be fair to those who work for us. Let us be just and fair in our dealings. Let’s emulate God in this!