“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:1-3 ESV)
South Trenton Presbyterian Church
Deuteronomy 24
Divorce, Marriage, and Lending
¡First and foremost, divorce was allowed under Biblical Law but it was highly frowned upon. Marriage is supposed to be a union of two people becoming one, joined together by God.
¡Read what Jesus had to say about divorce. (Matthew 19:3-12).
¡With that being said, under Old Testament Law divorce could happen but it was only for extreme circumstances like infidelity or personal safety (not the popular thing now a days called irreconcilable differences).
¡Here in the “Laws on Divorce” in Deuteronomy (24:1-4) it forbids that couples separate, try other people, and then get back together again; this is adultery.
¡The next law that is mentioned should help to curtail divorce- when a man is first married he is to stay home with his wife the full first year. We shall call this the “honeymoon period”.
¡But at any rate, that first year was important to couples and if a man went to military service it really curtailed the honeymoon; especially if he died.
¡The piece about taking millstones in pledge is because the millstone was the thing that ground food for people to eat- in essence it was the Israelite’s lively-hood. Don’t take someone’s millstone from them because it was their means of eating.
¡First and foremost, divorce was allowed under Biblical Law but it was highly frowned upon. Marriage is supposed to be a union of two people becoming one, joined together by God.
¡Read what Jesus had to say about divorce. (Matthew 19:3-12).
¡With that being said, under Old Testament Law divorce could happen but it was only for extreme circumstances like infidelity or personal safety (not the popular thing now a days called irreconcilable differences).
¡Here in the “Laws on Divorce” in Deuteronomy (24:1-4) it forbids that couples separate, try other people, and then get back together again; this is adultery.
¡The next law that is mentioned should help to curtail divorce- when a man is first married he is to stay home with his wife the full first year. We shall call this the “honeymoon period”.
¡But at any rate, that first year was important to couples and if a man went to military service it really curtailed the honeymoon; especially if he died.
¡The piece about taking millstones in pledge is because the millstone was the thing that ground food for people to eat- in essence it was the Israelite’s lively-hood. Don’t take someone’s millstone from them because it was their means of eating.
Divorce, Marriage, and Lending Continued
¡Stealing or kidnapping for any reason is serious but even to this day there are stories of people being kidnapped and placed into slavery- it’s been happening for thousands of years.
¡The Laws concerning leprosy are outlined in Leviticus but here Moses sums it up by telling the people to listen to what their priests tell them. Good advice since they were the ones that studied up on the law and knew it.
¡Two more things of note: First off don’t be a pushy lender. Emulate the Lord Jesus and stand outside his house and wait for him. Secondly, the text here is speaking of children a little older that commit capital sin. In Israeli culture 12 years old is the age of accountability.
¡Stealing or kidnapping for any reason is serious but even to this day there are stories of people being kidnapped and placed into slavery- it’s been happening for thousands of years.
¡The Laws concerning leprosy are outlined in Leviticus but here Moses sums it up by telling the people to listen to what their priests tell them. Good advice since they were the ones that studied up on the law and knew it.
¡Two more things of note: First off don’t be a pushy lender. Emulate the Lord Jesus and stand outside his house and wait for him. Secondly, the text here is speaking of children a little older that commit capital sin. In Israeli culture 12 years old is the age of accountability.
Deuteronomy 25
Public Punishment, Honest Scales
¡The maximum penalty under Israeli law for public punishment was 40 strikes of a whip. In order not to go beyond this, whenever someone was beaten they were only ever given 39 strikes with a whip.
¡There is a common misconception that when Jesus was flogged (by the Romans) that they struck him 39 times. This would not have been the case because the Romans did not have a clause in their law saying that someone could only be struck 40 times. Roman floggings were brutal, and were meant to seriously injure the guilty whereas this provision was put in place to keep the dignity of the guilty. See the problem with all the movies that show Jesus hit 39 times?
¡Verse 4 seems so short and insignificant but it really wasn’t. The reason you did not muzzle an ox while he worked in the field was so that it could eat and keep up its strength during work. This principle was supposed to be carried on to all aspects of work. When you did not allow your workers to eat and keep up their strength in the fields you in essence treated them worse than cattle or more like slaves.
¡The whole part about a woman reaching out and grabbing the genitals of her husbands attacker may seem strange but what it was supposed to address was “dirty” (or unfair) fighting.
¡Finally be honest and upright in every aspect of your life, of course it would have been easier if they had digital scales in ancient Israel though.
¡The maximum penalty under Israeli law for public punishment was 40 strikes of a whip. In order not to go beyond this, whenever someone was beaten they were only ever given 39 strikes with a whip.
¡There is a common misconception that when Jesus was flogged (by the Romans) that they struck him 39 times. This would not have been the case because the Romans did not have a clause in their law saying that someone could only be struck 40 times. Roman floggings were brutal, and were meant to seriously injure the guilty whereas this provision was put in place to keep the dignity of the guilty. See the problem with all the movies that show Jesus hit 39 times?
¡Verse 4 seems so short and insignificant but it really wasn’t. The reason you did not muzzle an ox while he worked in the field was so that it could eat and keep up its strength during work. This principle was supposed to be carried on to all aspects of work. When you did not allow your workers to eat and keep up their strength in the fields you in essence treated them worse than cattle or more like slaves.
¡The whole part about a woman reaching out and grabbing the genitals of her husbands attacker may seem strange but what it was supposed to address was “dirty” (or unfair) fighting.
¡Finally be honest and upright in every aspect of your life, of course it would have been easier if they had digital scales in ancient Israel though.
Deuteronomy 26
Firstfruits and Tithes
¡Although this is an often repeated theme in the entire Bible- it was a very important concept. We talked in other lessons about giving tithes because God first gave to us so we give back to him by supporting his workers, the priests.
¡We should always give God our best; a three-legged goat or a chicken that won’t lay eggs simply isn’t the best that we’ve got.
¡Chapter 26 is another reminder that Yahweh deserves the first and best portion of our labor not just when we arrive in the Promised Land, but throughout our entire lives and he does so this time with a promise:
¡“he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”
¡Although this is an often repeated theme in the entire Bible- it was a very important concept. We talked in other lessons about giving tithes because God first gave to us so we give back to him by supporting his workers, the priests.
¡We should always give God our best; a three-legged goat or a chicken that won’t lay eggs simply isn’t the best that we’ve got.
¡Chapter 26 is another reminder that Yahweh deserves the first and best portion of our labor not just when we arrive in the Promised Land, but throughout our entire lives and he does so this time with a promise:
¡“he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”