Deuteronomy 22 – Be wholly devoted to God

God’s intention for the people of Israel was clear. In Exodus 19:6, He particularly told them saying, “…you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” They were His covenant people, and their lives must reflect so. Now that they were about to enter the promised land where the pagans live, there would be the risk of being influenced by them. They would be tempted to live like them. God wanted them to remember their identity and calling. Deuteronomy 22:9-12 gave four instructions to help them to remember their identity and calling. Three of the instructions told them what they could not do, and one told them what they should do.  

The three instructions stated in the negative were: they must not sow mixed seeds in the same vineyard. They were not to plow the ground with the ox and donkey together. Lastly, they were not to wear clothes made with wool and linen. By not allowing them to plant mixed seeds in their sowing, mixed animals in plowing, and mixed material in their dressing, they would be reminded of their unique position in God. These constitute a call from God for them to remain singular in their devotion to Him. Those forbidden practices were intended to remind them not to contaminate their belief and walk, with the way the pagan would conduct their lives. Whether in personal or working life, the people of God must devote themselves wholeheartedly to Him. What about the instruction to sew tassels on the four corners of their garment? The tassels were meant to remind them of the commandments of God and the need to practice them. When they do that, they would identify themselves as God’s holy people.

There are many luring attractions in the world. Many voices are constantly speaking and calling out, vying for our attention. Yet we know that Godly values and worldly values are incongruent. We have been drawn out of the world to be God’s peculiar people. We cannot afford to put one foot in God’s kingdom and the other in the world. We cannot profess to be His and live like the world. God wants to be the Lord of every aspect of our lives. It is hard to live for Him when are not totally devoted to Him. We have put out hands on the plow, so don’t look back. Set your affection on Him and not on the things of the world. Live to honor and please Him! 

 

Deuteronomy 22:8 – Consider the needs of others

The children of Israel were to be a big caring family of God. They belonged to each other and had to be concerned for each other. They were called not to live for themselves only but also for God and for one another. The call of Leviticus 19:18 was for them to love their neighbors as themselves. So even in building their houses, they had to consider the safety of others. 

In Deuteronomy 22:8, they were instructed to make a parapet on the roof of their houses. Why the necessity for building a parapet? It is because houses in those days had flat roofs. The parapet was needed to prevent anyone from falling when they went up to the roof. More than a safety concern, this instruction was given to prevent the house owner and family from suffering a guilt-stricken conscience because of someone’s accidental fall from his roof.

This instruction has a much deeper implication than just a safety concern. Through it, we can sense the call of God to consider others in the things we do. We are not to be concerned only for our own needs but also for the needs of others as well. In a self-centered world, it is easy for anyone of us to develop a “me”, “mine”, and “I” mentality. The kind that wants to be exclusive. But as Christians, our attitude must be broader. Philippians 2:3-4 say that we are to “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Self-centredness is certainly not God’s way for us to do life. Being a member of the family of Christ, we need to accommodate one another in our living. Remember we are called to build up one another, so let’s do it willingly!

 

Deuteronomy 22:6-7 – Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg

The Bible reveals that God cares for His people and would take care of the minutest detail of their lives. But it does not mean that one should live life without considering the future. So in Deuteronomy 22:6-7, apart from the call to be merciful, God even taught the children of Israel on the need to live life considerately. They must not just live life as if there would be no tomorrow. In these verses, we detect a call not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

These verses say, “If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.” The temptation in life is always to live it only for today without considering one’s resources for the future. A windfall today does not mean that one should live wantonly and not consider what would happen when the windfall is totally squandered and depleted.

There is an important principle to be gleaned here. While we put faith in God and not be unduly worried about the future, we must not live life as if tomorrow will never come. Jesus in the New Testament says that God cares about us. He knows the number of hairs on our heads, even the blade of hair that has fallen. While God knows and will take care of our needs, He does not want us to live without considering the future. He only tells us not to be excessively consumed by worries about the provision of life for tomorrow. We must trust God and live well for today but everything we do today must also help us to build a better tomorrow too. Know that in all our provisions, God is the source and whatever means He chooses to provide for us are our resources. So as we consider our future, we trust God to be our source. While we journey with Him each day, we need to wisely handle the resources through which He provides for us. Don’t squander them mindlessly!

Deuteronomy 22:5 - Be the person God has made us to be

As God’s redeemed and covenant people, the children of Israel were not just a unique but also a distinct people. And they must live as such. They were called to influence the nations surrounding them and not vice-versa. The commandments and instructions God gave them should facilitate them to be His unique people and effective witnesses to the nations. Being the all-knowing God, He would not spare even the minutest detail to help them be such.

To achieve God’s mandate for them, the children of Israel had to acknowledge one fundamental truth: whether one was a male or a female, God had made each of them as each should be. Hence, every child of God, male or female, must accept his or her gender and hold it sacredly. Each of them must then live and behave as each had been made to be. So it was in that light that Deuteronomy 22:5 forbade crossed dressing. A woman was not to wear a man’s clothing nor a man, a woman’s clothing. God would not allow them to be confused about their respective genders.

Firstly, to cross-dress would be a violation of common decency. It violates the natural image of the man or the woman God had made one to be. It is suggesting that God could have made a mistake on one’s gender. Secondly, cross-dressing was a common practice in pagan worship. The sexes of pagan deities were often mystical. Devotees seeking to please a particular deity would come attired like that deity. If it was a goddess, they would come dressed like a female or vice-versa. Besides, the priest would dress as a female to minister to their goddess. God would not allow His people to emulate them. Thirdly, cross-dressing could open the way for deception and debauchery which to God were abominations.

The Bible is clear that God has made us who we are, yes even our gender. Genesis 1:27 puts it this way, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” As people who believe in God and the Bible as His Word, we can be sure that He has made us who we are, including our gender. Therefore we must live to honor the person that God has made us to be and not to try to be otherwise. This is fundamental if we are to live as the person God has made us to be. Like the people of Israel were called to be witnesses to the nations surrounding them, we are called to be His effective witnesses in the fallen world. We will find it hard to be effective witnesses when we are even confused about our gender. Let us live according to whom God has made us. We should not be ashamed of who God has made us. Don’t languish in trying to be the person God did not make us to be. Rather be the flourishing person we are made to be. Our Heavenly Father knows best!

 

Deuteronomy 22:1-4 – Why should we be compassionate?

When Israel became God’s covenant people, they were given the Ten Commandments.  Living by them would make them stand out as God’s unique people. The first four commandments deal with relating with God while the next six deal with relating with one’s fellowmen. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses was dealing with how those commandments of God should be applied in life. Now in Deuteronomy 22 and the next three chapters, Moses would be dealing with several sundry issues on building a decent society in the promised land. In Deuteronomy 22, he dealt with two issues broadly. They have to do with being good neighbors and ensuring faithful marriage. We shall also reflect on the different issues and their implications presented in this chapter in bite sizes.

In the first four verses of Deuteronomy 22 is the call to exercise brotherly love for one’s neighbors. The people of Israel, all 12 tribes, belonged to the same family. Hence, they must recognize the fact that they belonged to each other. Here we see Moses urging God’s people to act rightly as a family. They must act cordially toward each other even though they might not personally know each other. God expected them to be each other’s keepers. Hence, their kind action should include returning each other’s strayed animals and lost goods.

Here in these four verses, we sense a call of God for His people to develop a spirit of compassion and care towards each other. The account talked about a person coming across a strayed animal not belonging to him or finding some lost goods. The person could respond in one of these ways.  Firstly, if he knew who the owner was, he must seek out the owner and return the animal or his lost goods to him. Secondly, if he did not know who the owner was, he could hold on to it, take care of it till the owner showed up to claim it. And thirdly, he could simply ignore it. God’s expectation was of course for him to do the first two. He could not choose the third option. With the same spirit,  in verse 4, God prescribed what a person must do when he discovered a neighbor’s animal in trouble. He must not ignore it but rather rescue it.

God wants us, His people, to develop a love for our neighbors. In His community, we must learn to view ourselves as family members of one another even though we may not always know each other personally. He expects us to do the right thing. He will not allow us not to offer a helping hand to someone in need. One attitude that can sabotage the spirit of compassion is the spirit of nonchalance. God will not allow His people to develop it. We are to be kind to one another. Our compassion can be the reason why others can believe and trust in God. Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. This will demonstrate His love through us. Let’s do it!

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 – Living a leaven-free life

How to make sense of Deuteronomy 21:22-23? What applicable principles can we see in these two verses? To help us make sense of the drift of these two verses we need to bear in mind that Israel as a nation described in the Old Testament was God’s covenant community. And being the covenant people of God, they had covenant obligation. God must be at the center of their existence. Hence, their social life and spiritual life were not separate entities. Their relationship and experience with God would best be seen in the way they lived out their lives. Factoring God into every aspect of their life was not a choice but a necessity because they were accountable to God. As Christ’s redeemed people we share the same sentiment. While we must obey the law of the land, we are ultimately accountable to God. Hence, we must live our lives responsibly to please Him. Remember that God's instructions were given to enforce good social behaviors. 

Now to the two verses in focus. These verses presupposed that punishment by death was already a practice then. The construction of verse 22 tells us that hanging to death was not the mode of the sentence. A person was hanged on the tree only after he had been put to death, most likely by stoning. In a God-centric community, a person who had committed a capital crime was not just a social problem. It was a spiritual one too. And God did not want the crime to be emulated. The person must be executed usually by stoning. After that, he would then be hanged upon a tree publicly to be a lesson on the seriousness of the crime. The objective was to deter the commitment of such crimes. In these verses, we also see that even in capital punishment God’s mercy and value of life could be seen. He would not allow the dead body to decompose, pollute the land and harm His people. Hence the instruction was for the body to be taken down on the same day to be buried and not left overnight.  

Interestingly, Paul quoted this verse in Galatians 3:13. The quotation was made in relation to Christ's death at Calvary. Paul's point, however, was not on Christ’s death by being hung on the tree. His emphasis was that our Lord was hanged on that cursed tree to bear the curse of our sin. He bore our sin on Calvary’s tree to free us from its polluting influence. God wants us to be a holy people, living free lives. And Christ died to enable us to live that kind of sin-free life. And only in Him that the polluting effect of sin can be halted. Just like God wanted the promised land He gave to His people to be free from the pollution of the decomposed body, God wants the life He has granted us to be free from the pollution of sin.    

The objectives of these two verses are firstly to tell us that God wants a righteous people free from sinful activities. The death sentence and public display of the dead body were prescribed as a deterrent. It was a visual message to the people on the seriousness of sin. This is what Calvary would do for us. Whenever we think of Christ on Calvary’s tree,  we should feel the gravity of sin. It should motivate us to want to live a sin-free life. Thinking of Christ’s tormenting death on our behalf should disincentivize us from wanting to commit sin ever again. Secondly, the removal of the dead body to be buried on the same day was to prevent the decomposition of the body to pollute the land and harm the people. It is a grim reminder to us of the polluting effect of sin that must be removed. Symbolically, this tells us that God does not want the curse of sin to pollute the community and harm His holy people. Hence at Calvary, Christ took away the curse of sin. It is only in Him that the polluting effect of sin can be dealt with. By the grace of God, let us live a leaven-free life to glorify Him. It can be done by the power of the Holy Spirit in us!

 

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 – Nurturing the spirit of obedience

Obedience and submission are two godly habits every one of us needs to nurture in our children. These were God’s expectations of the children of Israel during their wandering years. Yet these were precisely the two areas that they constantly got into trouble. However, when they realized their wrong, repented, and returned to God, He would forgive them. But being gracious to them was one thing and allowing them to continue in these harmful attitudes was another. God certainly did not want the spirit of disobedience and insubordination to be cultivated and fomented. Hence the instruction of Deuteronomy 21:18-23 was necessitated. The pertinent question we ask then is, what has recalcitrant children who rebelled against their parents to do with obeying and submitting to God? The answer is simply this: obedience and submission are first cultivated in the home. If a son would not obey and submit to his parents, he most likely would not obey and submit to God. Furthermore, in the fifth commandment, God specifically said, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” God requires of every child to honor their parents.

So in Deuteronomy 21:18-21, God prescribed the discipline for a rebellious son who continued in a life of indulgence in gluttony and drunken revelry. The parents were expected to forcefully bring the son to the elders of the city. At the gate of the city, the parents would then openly declare the son’s rebelliousness and indulgence before the elders. Then all the men of the city would stone that wayward son to death. God’s objective for this act was stated clearly in verse 21. It was to make a public example of what would happen to rebelliousness, hence to purge this evil from the midst of His people. we learn here that the spirit of rebelliousness that starts in the home against one’s parents has the potential of nurturing the same spirit of rebelliousness against the Lord. It must be curbed.  

In these verses, we see the Lord’s aversion to the spirit of disobedience and insubordination. In 1 Samuel 15:23, we are told that “rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.” Cultivation of the spirit of obedience and submissiveness begins in the home. This underscores the need for good and godly parenting. As Christian parents, we need to inculcate obedience when our children are young and help them to make obedience a habit. Obedience will curtail the spirit of insubordination. The home is our children’s first training ground for godly living. Don’t waste the opportunity to use it to raise godly children for the glory of God. Spare the rod and hate the child!