Deuteronomy 24-26

CHAPTER 24:
          This chapter continues the topic of purity and then circles back to the subject of the treatment of one’s neighbor in daily life.
 
           Verses 1-4: This is the passage which the Pharisees used in an attempt to trick Jesus during one of their many debates with Him. (Matthew 19:3-9) Jesus’ response in verse 8 actually explains this passage in Deuteronomy. While God never intended a marriage to end in divorce, there were many Israelite men who were, apparently, divorcing their wives for various reasons. Therefore Moses, in an attempt to keep the camp and the community pure before God, clarified in this passage the conditions that were acceptable for a bill of divorcement.
            As for the uncleanness that Moses references in verse 1, Biblical commentators and scholars differ on what exactly that refers to. We know it can’t be adultery or premarital unfaithfulness since those are punishable by death. (Deuteronomy 22:20-22) The only other logical answer is some other form of sexual impurity or indecency which would not merit the death penalty but is still severe enough to warrant a bill of divorcement. The woman is free to marry another man (v.2), but if he, too, divorces her because of some form of uncleanness or indecency, or if he dies, then she is not allowed to remarry her first husband. She is considered unclean and defiled. (v.4) That is the whole point of this section of the law. (Jeremiah 3:1)
           
            Verse 5: A newly married man's primary responsibility is to his home and his wife in the first year of the marriage. This increases the possibility – and the blessing – of children, thereby ensuring the growth of the nation and the stability of the whole community. (Deuteronomy 20:7) God places great importance on marriage and family, for this is the foundation of all society and a healthy, viable community.
 
            Verse 6: No Israelite is allowed to take his neighbor’s millstone as collateral for a loan. To do so would rob the borrower of his only means of sustenance and livelihood, thus making it impossible for him to pay back the loan.
 
            Verse 7: Any Israelite caught kidnapping and selling his brethren into slavery will be put to death. God abhors slavery, and to do such a thing is a great evil that would poison the whole community. This relates to the ongoing theme of Israel being delivered from bondage in Egypt, of which God reminds His chosen people frequently throughout Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
 
            Verses 8-9: Moses reminds the people of the uncleanness of leprosy, and that they need to do all that the law and the priests instruct them to do to remove the uncleanness from the camp. (Leviticus 13:2, 14:2) Verse 9 is also a reminder that God will sometimes use leprosy as a punishment for disobedience. (Numbers 12:10, 1 Corinthians 10:6)
 
            Verses 10-13: Moses gives clarification on the collateral that is used for loans among the Israelites. The lender is to respect the privacy and personal property of the borrower by not entering the latter’s house to collect on a loan. (v.10-11) The borrower is required to bring the payment to the lender. Nor is the lender allowed to keep the collateral overnight if that thing is required for shelter or sustenance; a cloak, for example. (v.12-13) (Exodus 22:26, Ezekiel 18:7) By obeying this commandment and showing mercy to the poor, the lender will demonstrate his righteousness in the eyes of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:25, Psalm 106:31, Daniel 4:27)
 
            Verses 14-15: While on the subject of oppression of the poor, Moses reminds the employers that they are required to pay their workers the appropriate wages at the end of each work day. This law applies to both Israelite employees and any hired foreigners that are living among them. To withhold the day’s wages is a sin in the eyes of God. (Leviticus 19:13, Jeremiah 22:13)
 
            Verses 16-18: Each man/woman is responsible for his/her own sin. Children will not be held accountable for the sins of their parents, and vice versa. (v.16) (2 Kings 14:6, 2 Chronicles 25:4, Jeremiah 31:29-30, Ezekiel 18:20) This doesn’t mean, however, that God will not allow the consequences of the sins of the fathers to be visited upon the sons, even to the third and fourth generations. This is made clear later in the OT when all of Israel is delivered into captivity in Babylon. God makes it clear to Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel that His righteous judgment and punishment is upon not only the first generation that committed the sins of apostasy, idolatry, and immorality, but also the successive generations as well who must endure the captivity and loss of their homeland because of the sins of their fathers and grandfathers. This point is also made clear in the sin of Adam and Eve. You and I today did not violate God’s law regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet we are still reaping the consequences of their sin of disobedience. However, you and I – and all of mankind since – are also still responsible for our own sins that we have committed of our own free will and choice in our lifetimes.
            Verses 17-18, 22 are a reminder to the judges to be fair and impartial when deciding cases that involve the foreigners and orphans. (Exodus 23:6) Lenders are not to take advantage of the widows when giving them a loan. As stated many times before, God reminds His people where they came from, that they were once enslaved and oppressed in a foreign land. Furthermore, because it was God who redeemed and delivered the Israelites from their oppression, He has every right to command them not to do the same to others. They, in turn, are obligated to obey this command because it was God who delivered them and redeemed them. (v.18, 22)
 
            Verses 19-21: The landowners are not to thoroughly harvest their fields or their vineyards so that nothing is left behind. They are to leave some of their crops for the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners that are living within the Israelite community. God ensures His blessing to those who also provide for the less fortunate, and this commandment is also linked to the Israelites’ bondage in Egypt. They are to be kind and generous because of how God delivered them from oppression and also because He has promised to always care and provide for all their basic needs in the promised land. If the nation as a whole remains obedient and faithful to God in their honor and worship of Him, then He will bless them abundantly.

CHAPTER 25:
           Verses 1-3: Moses reminds the people that those who are judges must not only be fair and just (v.1), but the sentence and punishment must also fit the crime and be humane. (v.2-3) Every man and woman has dignity, regardless of his/her crime, and this has been a common theme throughout the Pentateuch. Moses commands that no more than forty stripes be given as punishment when the crime warrants it, lest “…thy brother should seem vile unto thee.” In other words, the dignity of the accused – as well as his human rights – must not be violated. (Job 18:3)
            Later on, when Christ appears on the scene for his earthly ministry, Jewish law has been amended to limit the flogging to only 39 lashes as an extra measure of ensuring that this commandment is never broken. (2 Corinthians 11:24)
 
            Verse 4: This is an oddly specific law, and it seems especially out of place given the topic of corporal punishment as well as the next section that deals with marriage and inheritance law. But, as we’ve already seen earlier in this book, some of these passages are a hodgepodge of legislation that isn’t always connected by a specific theme or topic. Moses often moves from one subject to the next without any discernible pattern or preamble, and this chapter is a good example of that.
            This particular law, however, can be connected to the theme of dignity that Moses addresses in the first three verses. Animals, too, have certain rights, and the point of this verse is that the Israelites are to treat their cattle and livestock humanely. (Proverbs 12:10, 1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Timothy 5:18) Oxen, especially, were of the more expensive livestock in the ANE, and therefore only the wealthy of the community owned them. The owners would likely rent them to their neighbors during the harvest season in order to thresh grain, and that’s probably another reason for this particular commandment. The one borrowing his neighbor’s ox should treat the animal with kindness and respect, just as he would his own livestock. This is another way of loving one’s neighbor as oneself.
 
            Verses 5-10: This section is an example of two different values, or goals, within the law that could come into tension, and so further clarity is needed in order to settle such a conflict. In this case, the two values are the necessity of having a male heir in order to pass on one’s family name and the demand of the law for sexual purity within the Israelite community. In this scenario, Moses gives the example of two brothers that live in the same household, and one of them is married. The law states that a brother may not have sex with his sister-in-law, but if the husband dies before producing any children, how can the family name continue?
         Moses gives the condition whereby it will be acceptable for a man to take his brother’s widow as his wife in verse 5. If the two siblings are living in the same household, and only one of them is married, and if that one dies before fathering a son, the surviving brother may take his sister-in-law as his new wife. The firstborn son produced by that marriage will then take the name of the deceased brother.
           However, if the widow’s brother-in-law is unwilling to take her as his wife, he must undergo a public – and very humiliating – ritual in order to get out of his lawful obligation. (v.7-9) This is precisely what happened to Ruth and how Boaz was able to take her for his wife. (Ruth 4:7-10) It’s not clear from the text here in Deuteronomy – or in Ruth – the exact symbolism of the sandal and its removal, but the spitting in one’s face would make that man ceremonially unclean for seven days. (Numbers 12:14) He would also be forever marked as “…him that hath his shoe loosed…” by the entire community, a stigma that will follow him for the rest of his life. (v.10)
 
          Verses 11-12: If two men are in the midst of a fight, and the wife of one of them seizes the other man by the genitals in an effort to give her husband the upper hand, then her hand should be cut off as punishment. There are two standards in view here: 1) the possible injury to a man’s genitals, thus adversely affecting his ability to procreate and thereby preventing him from producing a male heir whereby his family name will be preserved; and 2) the general issue of modesty and moral decency. The woman should not be touching anyone’s private parts other than her husband’s, even if it is in his defense.
This is the only law that requires physical mutilation as punishment.
 
          Verses 13-16: The Israelites are to have one standard of weights and measures, and are to deal honestly with not only their fellow Israelites but also any foreigners with whom they conduct business transactions. (Leviticus 19:35, Proverbs 11:1, 20:23, Ezekiel 45:10, Micah 6:11) To do otherwise is to invite God’s wrath and judgment.
 
          Verses 16-19: Moses reminds the Israelites of what the Amalekites did to them as they were fleeing Egypt. Verse 18 is information that had not previously been included in the earlier accounts of Israel’s encounters with this heathen people. (Exodus 17, Numbers 14) The Amalekites had actually killed the weakest of the Israelites during their march from Egypt, preying upon the stragglers at the rear of the crowd which were “…faint and weary…”. (v.18) This was an especially egregious sin against His chosen people in the eyes of God, as it violates His commandments to care for the poor, the weak, the elderly, and all others who are incapable of defending themselves. This has been a theme throughout the Pentateuch, and Moses reminds the people now of what they must do to the Amalekites once they have eliminated all other enemies in the promised land. (v.19)
            This also explains why King Saul’s disobedience cost him not only his kingship but also his eternal salvation. (1 Samuel 15:2-3, 22-23) God had pronounced final judgment against the Amalekites, ordering Saul to utterly wipe out the nation completely from the face of the earth, sparing not even their livestock. (Exodus 17:14) Yet Saul allowed the Amalekite king to live and the people to bring back spoils, including the livestock. It was up to Samuel to carry out God’s judgment by slaying the king who was the last of his people.

CHAPTER 26:
          Chapters 26 is the closing passage of Moses’ second address to the people that began in chapter 12. The overall theme of this second sermon was that Israel keep “…the statutes and judgments…” (Deuteronomy 12:1) of the LORD their God, for that is the only way that they will successfully conquer and settle in the promised land. The focus of chapter 12 was the right and proper ways in which Israel should worship and honor God. Here in chapter 26, Moses returns to that theme, forming an appropriate bookend to his sermon.
 
          Verses 1-11: In chapter 16, the first fruits offering wasn’t mentioned in the list of holidays, and perhaps Moses was intentional in that regard, for he goes into great detail about the holiday here. Notice his use of the phrase “the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place His name there” in verse 2. This was the same reference to the tabernacle in Deuteronomy 12:5. God had instituted the firstfruits offering as a form of tithe and worship, a way for the people to recognize the true source of all their blessings, and to thank God for all that He has done for them in their daily lives. (Exodus 22:29, 23:16, 19, Numbers 18:13, Proverbs 3:9)
             What’s new in this passage is a declaration that is made in the presence of God and the high priest by the one bringing the offering. (v.5-10) It remembers God’s deliverance of the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. (Exodus 12:37, 51, 13:3, 14, 16, Deuteronomy 5:15) Jacob is referred to as a Syrian in verse 5, confirming the lineage of Abraham. (Genesis 24:2-4, 25:20, Hosea 12:12) This prayer of thanksgiving recognizes the small size of Jacob’s family when he entered Egypt and God’s magnificent providence and blessing in the size of the nation that embarked on the exodus four hundred years later. (Genesis 46:27, Deuteronomy 10:22) It acknowledges the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham regarding “…a land that floweth with milk and honey.” (v.9) (Exodus 3:8, 17) It then concludes with a statement about the firstfruits of that promised land, again acknowledging God’s blessings and providence at the time of harvest. (v.10)
             Moses ends this section with another reminder that such offering and prayer of thanksgiving is the right and proper way of “…worship before the LORD thy God.” (v.10) He also commands the people to “…rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee…”. (Deuteronomy 12:7, 16:11, Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, 5:18) Everything that happens in our lives, as well as everything we have, is by the providence and hand of God alone. Acknowledging that, and rejoicing in it, and giving a portion back to Him is not only right for the believer, but it is also commanded by God throughout scripture. Obedience is not optional for the child of God.
 
             Verses 12-15: This particular tithe is not to be offered until the third year after the Israelites have entered the promised land. (v.12) This tithe was first referenced in Deuteronomy 14:28-29. It’s to be distributed among the people, the priests, and any foreigners living within the nation rather than given to the LORD. (v.12) The phrasing of verse 12, as well as those in chapter 14, suggest that this special tithe is one time only and is to be given after the customary annual tithes and offerings have been brought to the tabernacle and given to God. (Leviticus 27:30, Numbers 18:24)
           Verses 13-15 are a prayer/declaration made before God by each member of the community after they have brought their portion to the city gates. Similar to the prayer in the first section of this chapter, this declaration states what the individual has done in accordance with God’s law regarding this tithe, and that he/she has obeyed the law and all its commandments. (v.13) (Psalm 119:141, 153, 176) The Israelite is also declaring that he/she has not used any portion of the offering in violation of God’s law. (v.14) The prayer closes with a request that God bless the nation and the land, and this is the first clear statement in the OT that God’s dwelling place is in heaven. (v.15) (Psalm 80:14, Isaiah 63:15, Zechariah 2:13)
 
             Verses 16-19: This closing statement from Moses sums up the whole of his second address: 1) God has commanded the Israelites to keep, honor, and obey all the statutes and judgments in His law (v.16); 2) the people have vowed to do so (v.17); and 3) God has proclaimed Israel to be a chosen nation set above all other nations on the earth (v.18-19). (Exodus 6:7, 19:5, Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2, 28:9, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9)