Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 504 | Respect for Life and God’s Direction (Deuteronomy 21)

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504 | Respect for Life and God’s Direction (Deuteronomy 21) · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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Music.
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Have you ever wondered what God's Word teaches about honoring life and pursuing
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holiness, even when the culture around us does not?
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Deuteronomy chapter 21 may seem challenging at first, but it points us to timeless
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truths about God's care for people and His call to live set apart.
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In this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast.
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Erica Close walks through the chapter's rich lessons, from the need for atonement
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through the shedding of blood, to God's design for marriage and family,
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to the respect due to every human life, even in death.
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Together, we will see how these ancient instructions reveal God's heart for
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mercy, justice, and obedience, and how they ultimately lead us to Jesus,
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whose blood provides the only true atonement for sin.
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Join us as we explore how to live lives of holiness and love,
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remembering that every life is precious and that we are deeply loved by Christ.
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Join me as we start reading in Deuteronomy chapter 21.
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If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess
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it, lying in the field, and yet be not known who hath slain him,
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then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto
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the cities which are round about him that is slain.
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And it shall be that the city which is next unto the slain man,
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even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought
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with and which hath not drawn in the yoke.
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And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley,
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which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley.
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And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near.
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For them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in
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the name of the Lord, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried.
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And all the elders of that city that are next unto the slain man shall wash
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their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley, and they shall answer
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and say, Our hands have not shed this blood,
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neither have our eyes seen it.
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Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed,
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and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge,
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and the blood shall be forgiven them.
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So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you,
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when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.
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When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath
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delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
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and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her that
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thou wouldest have her to thy wife.
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Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shalt shave her head, and pair her nails.
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And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her,
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and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month.
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And after that thou shalt go in under her, and be her husband,
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and she shall be thy wife.
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And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go
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whither she will, but thou shalt not sell her at all for money.
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Thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.
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If a man have two wives, one beloved and another hated, and they have born him
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children, both the beloved and the hated, and the firstborn son be hers that was hated,
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then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath,
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that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the
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hated, which is indeed the firstborn.
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But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn,
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by giving him a double portion of all that he hath.
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For he is the beginning of his strength, the right of the firstborn is his.
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If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of
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his father or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him,
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will not hearken unto them.
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Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto
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the elders of his city and unto the gates of his place.
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And they shall say unto the elders of the city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious.
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He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.
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And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die so shalt
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thou put away evil from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear.
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And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death,
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and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree,
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but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day.
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For he that is hanged is a curse of God, that thy land be not defiled,
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which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
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As we walk through Deuteronomy, it is clear that some chapters are easy to understand.
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When we read them, we can see how they relate to our lives on this side of the
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cross, where we live in the freedom of Christ.
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Other times, it's harder to see how these Old Testament practices and times
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lived under the law of Moses still apply to us.
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Deuteronomy chapter 21 is definitely a little harder to find the application
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in, but it does not mean that it does not apply.
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This chapter deals with four specific topics.
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Deuteronomy chapter 21 talks about how a community had to be cleansed after
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a murderer was never caught and had fled the scene.
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The chapter deals with preserving the honor of women, even those who were considered
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foreigners or captives and could have been considered the spoils of war.
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There is a section on not allowing favoritism to influence how property was
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handed down, and there is instruction relating to the severity of the sin of
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not honoring one's parents,
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the sin of gluttony, and the sin of drunkenness.
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Lastly, this chapter deals with how to handle human bodies, even those of criminals,
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and how those human bodies were to be honored.
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As Deuteronomy chapter 21 starts, the topic of murder comes up again.
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The prohibition against murder was the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill.
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The Old Testament is very clear that only the shedding of blood can recompense
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the death and the sin of murder.
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For those of us on this side of the cross, we cling to Hebrews 9.22,
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which says, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood,
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and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.
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The idea that there is no remission of sin without blood is fundamental to the
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Christian faith, for our faith is founded upon the shedding of Jesus' blood.
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Yet the concept of the purging of sin by blood is an Old Testament concept.
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As this chapter opens in verse 1, the Israelites are learning how to deal in
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community when a murder has occurred but there is no one to blame,
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when the assailant has escaped and there is no one to take the punishment for the crime.
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Following a lengthy investigation, the community still had to respond because
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the shedding of blood still had to occur.
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In verses 2 and 3, we see how the elders and the judges determined which city
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was closest to where the murder occurred, and that city had to provide a heifer
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to be slaughtered to shed the blood. This was not a sacrifice.
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Instead, the heifer was brought down into a valley where crops would never be grown and was beheaded.
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Since the murderer could not be put to death, the heifer was put to death in his stead.
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In verses 6 and 7, the elders and the judges, those who had actually had to
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carry out the ceremonial cleansing,
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literally washed their hands over the dead heifer to declare that their hands,
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their lives, and the lives of those in their communities were not responsible
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for the murder and to ensure that payment was made through the shedding of blood.
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This section of the chapter ends in verses 8 and 9, where the elders prayed to God for mercy.
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While the ceremonial act of killing the heifer was violent in itself,
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the whole ceremony closed in prayer.
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The elders asked the Lord for mercy, requesting that He not lay the punishment
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for the murder on their community, but that He would forgive them and accept
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the shedding of the blood as payment for the innocent blood that had been shed.
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The elders and the judges then committed to do what was right in the sight of God.
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This is now the point where the chapter switches gears and talks about what
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was to happen when a soldier was part of a group that had conquered a city and
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therefore was permitted to take the city's women as part of the spoils of war
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throughout Israel's history as they moved into the promised land.
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There were times when the cities had to be completely destroyed and no spoils
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taken, and other times when people could be taken as captives and property could
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be taken as possessions.
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This section of the chapter in verses 10 through 14 addresses a very unique.
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Situation where a soldier was permitted to take a captive as a wife.
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Although the practice of taking multiple wives was not recommended,
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when a city was conquered and the women were taken as spoils of war,
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a foreign woman could be taken as a wife.
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Before the marriage could occur, the woman had to shave her head,
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cut her nails, and put off all the clothes and all of the practices of her former life.
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Only after she had given up her former ways could the marriage take place.
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This chapter is very specific and says that if the marriage did not work out,
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the woman still had to be respected.
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She was not to be sold, but was to be set free from her captivity.
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As further demonstration of why it was bad practice to have more than one wife,
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the chapter turns to the effect of this practice on children.
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In verse 15, we see that if a man had two wives, one that he loves more than another,
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and has children with both wives, the firstborn child, regardless of whether
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the firstborn child was born to the wife the man loves more or to the wife he loves less,
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had the rights of the firstborn children.
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We see this in verse 17. The rights of the children were to be respected,
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specifically the rights of their inheritance.
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Children had positional respect within this society, especially those who were the firstborn.
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But this chapter goes on to provide instructions as to what needed to happen
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to a child, specifically a son, who had completely turned and gone astray,
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disrespected his parents, and had become both a glutton and a drunk.
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These sins could greatly affect a community, as each of these sins was seen as contagious.
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Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, sins that were likely to involve or corrupt
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others were often punished with greater severity.
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In verses 18-21, we read that if a son was brought in having committed these
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sins, the punishment was stoning.
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In that culture, stoning was
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the only way to put away the evil that would have caused the son to turn.
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This last section of chapter 21 deals with what to do with the body of someone
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who had received a punishment of death.
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Even those who received death as a punishment were still to be respected.
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In verses 22 and 23, we read that the Israelites were instructed that the body
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could not hang all night but had to be buried, because the land itself would
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be defiled by the presence of the dead body.
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Just as the chapter opens with protecting the community from being defiled by
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a death, The chapter closes with protecting the community from being defiled by another death.
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While this chapter of Deuteronomy may seem difficult to apply to our lives,
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we can be confident that the application is still there.
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God's Word tells us that His Word never goes out to return void,
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and that He also tells us that the Holy Spirit will help us understand any portion
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of Scripture that we need to understand.
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If we approach this chapter in prayer and seek to understand its application,
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we can be confident that we will find the truth we need.
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When we look at this first section of chapter 21 that dealt with murder when
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the murder had gotten away, the important place to focus is on the fact that
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in order to atone for the sin, blood had to be shed.
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None of us are going to be in a position where it would ever be right for us
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to avenge someone's murder with the death of another person or to shed the blood
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of an innocent animal to pay for that murder.
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But all of us are in the position of needing atonement for our own sins.
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Romans 3.23 tells us that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
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Romans 6.23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
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eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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We know that the only way our sin could be forgiven was through Jesus' death
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and the shedding of His blood on the cross of Calvary.
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Just like the murderer who may have gotten away, we need atonement for our sins,
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and that can only come through the person of Jesus Christ.
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Just like the elders went before the Lord asking for mercy, we live our lives
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asking for mercy and praising God that the punishment we deserve,
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hell, will not come to us.
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We are saved through the shedding of Jesus' blood.
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Because of that, let us commit, like the Israelite elders and judges,
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to do what is right in the sight of God.
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This next section dealt with a soldier taking a second wife.
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We know that even in the Old Testament, multiple wives were not considered best practice.
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When God created Adam and Eve, his plan was for a marriage between one man and one woman.
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We read that in Genesis 1.27 and Genesis 2.24.
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Earlier in Deuteronomy 17, the law instructed that when Israel had a king,
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he should not have multiple wives because it would turn his heart away.
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In Matthew 19, four through six, Jesus indicated that taking a second wife was
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a departure from God's plan and that marriage is between one woman and one man.
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Lastly, in 1 Timothy 3.2, 3.12, and 5.9, we find the qualifications for church leaders.
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Church leaders must be the husband of one wife.
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It is clear that God's plan was not for people to have multiple wives.
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Yet the Israelites were moving into and living within a region where polygamy was common.
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In this case, polygamy was permitted, but it was not required.
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In the case of a captive in a war situation. There were likely only two alternatives for a woman.
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She could have been killed with the rest of the inhabitants of the city,
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or she would have been on her own and would have had to find a way to support herself.
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Neither of these alternatives makes polygamy a positive situation,
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but in this case, it was permitted.
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This chapter also deals with children, both in terms of the protection of children
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and in addressing children who had gone astray.
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I believe that the takeaway for us as Christians in this situation is twofold.
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First, the rights of children were to be respected.
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Children as humans have rights, and they are to be protected and cared for,
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and their interests need to be a priority and a community.
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Second, we see the severe response to a rebellious son.
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The latter portion of this section of Deuteronomy is very difficult.
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Given that the Israelites lived in a society in a region where stoning someone
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was a common way to put away evil, we can learn from this passage that disrespecting
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parents, gluttony, and drunkenness are sins that God views as seriously evil.
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By specifying the punishment, he showed the Israelites the gravity of those sins.
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While the punishment itself does not apply to our lives today,
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the weight of the sin still does.
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Our last section centers on the sanctity of life.
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We know the value that God places on every person and that all life is valuable and precious.
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Many of us have seen a television show or a movie in which a corpse is moved
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or defiled, which is clearly a crime.
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This section reminds us that every life is precious and that all human bodies
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deserve the utmost respect.
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While chapter 21 is filled with many examples of things that should not be done,
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we can turn each of those around to look at how the Lord would have us to live our lives.
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First, we are to live our lives asking the Lord to help us understand His Word.
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Second, God's desire is that all of us will come to know Him in the pardon and
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forgiveness of sin through the shedding of His blood on the cross of Calvary.
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God's desire is that we do what is right in His sight and make choices that
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benefit our families and our communities.
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God's desire is that we would be protected from evil and that we would live
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lives that do not introduce evil into our midst.
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God's desire is for obedience and holiness, and that as Christians,
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we would show love one to another.
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Remember, you are loved. Jesus.
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Music.