Chapter 21
Deuteronomy 21:9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
1-9 is regarding a dead person that they don’t know how he died. Closest city has got to do something.
Guilt of innocent blood. Why is there guilt if it’s innocent?
An heifer not wrought with, and has not drawn in the yoke. Cut off the heifer’s head! Weird stuff.
Deuteronomy 21:12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
Shave her head? What?
Deuteronomy 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
There’s much important and special regarding the firstborn. No explanation for it. It’s just God ordained stuff.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: (19) Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; (20) And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. (21) And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
A gluttonous son? Stoned? What about gluttony? What is that? Nobody is guilty of that anymore. Stubborn and rebellious. The children of Israel. Very stubborn and rebellious. But not all. Stubbornness is as witchcraft and rebellion is as idolatry. Or visa versa.
Deuteronomy 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Jesus was took down right away. The law was followed even in death. Sinless perfection.
Chapter 22
Deuteronomy 22:1-3 Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. (2) And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. (3) In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.
Am I my brother’s keeper? I guess so.
Deuteronomy 22:4 Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.
Sins of omission.
Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Hey look! This is still in the bible.
Deuteronomy 22:6-7 If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: (7) But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.
Good hunting advice.
Deuteronomy 22:10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
Oxen and asses just don’t get along. They don’t step the same. They’re not the same height. They don’t travel the same speed. Just a bad idea. The bible is sensible. There’s got to be a spiritual application to this.
Deuteronomy 22:19 And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
Deuteronomy 22:22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
Alot of people try to use that “except it be for fornication” clause in the NT to justify divorce. They say if a wife or husband commits adultery, then they are justified in divorcing them. Well, that’s not the way it worked back in the day. If a wife or husband committed adultery they were not divorced, they were stoned. I really believe that the divorce law applied either to the betrothal period or the very beginning of a marriage. Remember, marriages back then were sometimes financial deals. If there was a bad deal, then that was taken care of. But once the deal was settled, the marriage final, it was for life. (22:19) “he may not put her away all his days”
The “except it be for fornication” clause is just sense. If the spouse has committed adultery then you did not cause her to commit adultery, she’s already committed it. It’s just a clause of qualification or explanation. It is not a justification for divorce.
Deuteronomy 22:23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
Deuteronomy 22:25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die:
In the city? In the field? I’ve got to study that one. City girl? Country girl?
Chapter 23
Deuteronomy 23:1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
Ouch! They stay outside the camp. Not just the tabernacle. The camp.
Deuteronomy 23:2 A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
10 generation outside the camp. This is how serious it is to God to for children to be born in wedlock. Serious thing.
Deuteronomy 23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:
These are the children of Lot’s daughters. This is how bad God despised what they did.
Deuteronomy 23:7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.
Mercy even for Egyptians.
Deuteronomy 23:13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
Bury your poop. It’s just sense. God’s law is practical and sensible. So the things we don’t understand are things that we don’t see the practicality or sensibility in it. That’s our problem, not God’s.
Deuteronomy 23:17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
Notice sodomite is not capitalized. I remember some clown said that this verse was just referring to inhabitants of Sodom.
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: (20) Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Can’t charge interest to your brother. Sorry.
Deuteronomy 23:21-23 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. (22) But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. (23) That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
Pay your vows. Vows are a big deal in the OT. Dr. Green – “You’ll never get anywhere with God unless you make some vows.”
Deuteronomy 23:24 When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.
HEB is my neighbor. That’s why I taste the grapes before I buy them.
Chapter 24
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. (2) And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. (3) And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; (4) Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Touchy subject.
(1) “She may go and be another man’s wife.” Now does this mean she doesn’t commit adultery? Nope. That’s why (4) is so: “after that she is defiled.” That is why she is defiled. The bible doesn’t contradict itself. Jesus said that if you put away your wife, you cause her to commit adultery. Verse 4 confirms that in that now that woman is defiled. But people don’t care what the bible says. Marrying and giving away in marriage.
Deuteronomy 24:5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.
So honeymoons should last a years? I can’t afford that.
Deuteronomy 24:8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.
One verse here, but chapter after chapter after chapter in Leviticus.
Deuteronomy 24:10-13 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. (11) Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee. (12) And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: (13) In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.
I need to look at the NT where Jesus talks about asking for a garment and giving a coat. There’s something else, but I’m too tired to think right now.
Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
Thanks God for that. Both ways!
Deuteronomy 24:19-21 When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. (20) When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. (21) When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
Don’t be greedy. You got plenty. You could spare some. I need to remember this one!
Chapter 25
Deuteronomy 25:3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
By his stripes we are healed.
Deuteronomy 25:4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
I’ve always assumed that God is saying to let the ox eat. Is that correct? What does it mean to tread out the corn? Question for another day.
Deuteronomy 25:10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.
This is regarding a brother that supposed to take his dead brother’s wife and raise up children for him. I think most people would think that was weird. But we can apply this to taking financial care dead brother’s wife, can we not. I think alot of people do. Anyhow, that’s why you should tie your shoe laces. It’s a shame to not have them tied.
Deuteronomy 25:11 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:
Why is this in the bible?
Deuteronomy 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.
God really has it in for the Amelekites! We got to study them one day.