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513 | Remember Where You Came From (Deuteronomy 24) · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  God is in control.
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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Living her life for Christ She's a happy girl,
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  She's a happy girl.
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  Deuteronomy chapter 24 reminds us that God's commands were always rooted in
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  compassion and relationship.
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  Every instruction in this chapter, whether about marriage, lending,
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  justice, or caring for the poor, was given to help the Israelites live rightly
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  with God and with one another.
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  God wanted His people to remember their past, to remember that they were once
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  slaves in Egypt and to let that memory shape their actions towards others.
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  As believers, we too are called to remember where we came from.
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  We were once in bondage to sin, but through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
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  we have been redeemed and set free.
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  Our remembrance of what God has done for us should overflow in how we treat
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  others, with kindness, fairness, and love.
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  When we live with compassion and integrity, we honor both our Redeemer and the freedom He has given us.
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  Well, thank you so much for joining us in today's podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  Join with me as we hop into Deuteronomy chapter 24.
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  When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find
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  no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her,
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  then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand,
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  and send her out of his house.
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  And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.
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  And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement,
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  and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house,
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  or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife,
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  her former husband, which sent her away,
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  may not take her again to be his wife.
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  After that, she is defiled. For that is an abomination before the Lord,
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  and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
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  When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war,
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  neither shall he be charged with any business, but he shall be free at home
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  one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.
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  No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge,
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  for he taketh a man's life to pledge.
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  If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel,
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  and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him, then that thief shall die,
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  and thou shalt put away evil from among you.
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  Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently,
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  and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you,
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  as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.
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  Remember what the Lord thy God
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  did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt.
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  When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
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  Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out
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  the pledge abroad unto thee.
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  And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge.
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  In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down,
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  that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee, and it shall be righteousness
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  unto thee before thy God.
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  Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy,
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  whether he be of thy brethren or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates.
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  At this day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon
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  it, for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it, lest he cry against thee
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  unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.
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  The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children
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  be put to death for the fathers.
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  Every man shall be put to death for his own sins.
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  Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless,
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  nor take a widow's raiment to pledge.
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  But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondsman in Egypt, and the Lord thy
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  God redeemed thee thence.
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  Therefore I command thee to do this thing.
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  When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field, and hast forgot a sheaf in
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  the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it.
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  It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow,
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  that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
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  When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again.
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  It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
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  When thou gatherest the grapes of thine vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward.
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  It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
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  And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondsman in Egypt.
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  Therefore, I command thee to do this thing.
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  As we move into chapter 24, we are now just 10 chapters from the end of the book of Deuteronomy.
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  That means we have this chapter and then 10 more opportunities to look at what
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  the Lord needed to say to the Israelites and what we can take from it as application
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  to our lives today on this side of the cross.
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  Chapter 24 opens with verses related to divorce.
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  Verse 1 states that a husband could write a bill of divorce for a wife in whom
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  he had found some uncleanness.
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  Once that letter was written, she was then free to go and be married to someone else.
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  Verse 3 is very clear and specifies that if the second husband divorced her
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  or if he died, her first husband could not take her again as his wife.
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  Verse 5 also talks about marriage and the importance of time early in a marriage.
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  The verse specifies that if a man was newly married, he was not to go out to
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  war, but was to stay at home for one year to ensure that the marriage was established.
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  This instruction emphasized the value that God placed on the foundation of a
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  strong family and the importance of nurturing a new relationship before facing
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  the pressures of military or civic duty.
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  Verses six through nine talk about pledges and are very much in alignment with
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  other instructions later in the chapter.
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  Verse 6 states that if someone went to a creditor, the creditor could not take
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  any of the millstones as payment.
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  The millstones were vital for grinding corn and wheat to make flour.
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  It would have been wrong to take the very instrument that allowed someone to.
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  Earn a living in order to repay their debt.
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  Verse 7 clearly states that kidnapping and trafficking in people was wrong,
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  and in this case, punishable by death.
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  As we move into verse 8, we see laws concerning leprosy.
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  The laws about leprosy were already established in Leviticus 13.
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  Verse 9 references how leprosy had been allowed to infect Miriam,
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  Moses' sister, as a divine act of discipline.
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  Verses 10 through 13 deal with lending and demonstrate that the love of God
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  and love for fellow man needed to be included in lending.
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  Just as verse 6 talks about not taking away the tools with which a man makes
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  his livelihood, verse 10 teaches that if you lend something to someone,
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  you're not to go to their house to collect payment.
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  Instead, you're to stand outside and allow the man to bring the payment out to you.
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  It is also clear that if the man is poor, you're not to keep his pledge or payment overnight.
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  In the case of a poor man, the pledge or the payment was likely the bedclothes on which he slept.
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  They were not to be taken. And if they were, they were to be returned so that
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  he had safety and comfort throughout the night.
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  Workers were not to be oppressed, regardless of whether they were Israelites
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  or from other nations living within the Israelite community.
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  Workers were to be paid at the end of the day before the sun went down,
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  because the worker had set his
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  heart upon it, and it would be a sin to withhold from him what was due.
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  This next section deals with rules that needed to be followed by those who were
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  making judgments about others.
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  Verse 16 clearly states that fathers could not pay for the sins of their children,
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  and children could not pay for the sins of their fathers.
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  Each person had a personal responsibility for their own actions.
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  In verse 17, we see that justice needed to be provided to those who were vulnerable,
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  such as strangers, orphans, and widows.
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  The reason for this is given in verse 18, because those providing justice were
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  to remember that they had once been in bondage in Egypt and had been treated
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  as though they were criminals.
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  This final section deals with the harvest. In verse 19,
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  the Israelites were instructed that if they had forgotten a sheaf of wheat in
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  the field, they were not to go back for it, but to leave it for those who might
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  need to glean it, again referring to those who were vulnerable,
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  the stranger, the orphan, and the widow.
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  A blessing was tied to this, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
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  The same principle applied to the olive tree, which was to be harvested one
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  time and not gone over a second time.
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  The same was true in verse 21 for the vineyard. It was to be harvested one time,
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  and anything forgotten was to be left for the vulnerable.
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  Just as in verse 18, verse 22 reminded the Israelites that they had once been
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  in bondage in Egypt, calling them to remember that they were once as vulnerable
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  as those now living among them.
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  When we look at Deuteronomy chapter 24, we may see lessons that do not seem
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  to apply to us, but they do tell us things about God's intent for his people.
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  This chapter reminds us that God cares deeply about how we live in community,
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  how we treat each other, and how we honor our commitments.
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  All of the laws written in Deuteronomy chapter 24 were designed and created
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  to protect people, to promote fairness in community and to encourage compassion,
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  love, and care for one another.
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  Just like what has become our mantra, that it must have needed to be said.
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  Each of these laws had a purpose and was important and we can be confident that
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  there is a lesson here for all of us.
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  This chapter opens with some conversations that are all about marriage.
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  While the Lord clearly states that he hated divorce and the divorce was never
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  his choice, It was permitted in this situation in order to protect the wife.
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  If she found no favor in her husband's eyes, it was likely that he would not
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  treat her appropriately.
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  In the book of Matthew, chapter 19, verses 7 and 8, we read,
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  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
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  He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts,
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  suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
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  God's intent was not that divorce occur, but if the Israelites had hardened
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  their hearts and a husband had hardened his heart,
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  it was likely that the woman would not be protected in the marriage,
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  so much so that she could not return to that same man.
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  We read in verse four that if her second husband were to die,
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  she still could not return to the first husband.
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  The importance of marriage and building a strong marriage is reiterated in verse
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  five, where we learn that if someone was newly married, he was not to go to
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  war, but was to spend that year building his marriage and investing in it before
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  he went off to serve in battle.
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  Marriage is something that must be protected and invested in.
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  Well, earlier in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses stated that it was best that
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  an Israelite should not lend to his brother or another Israelite,
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  but only to the stranger.
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  This chapter includes further clarification related to lending.
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  If something was loaned to someone, the repayment could not prevent that person
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  from earning a living and being able to pay back the debt.
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  Additionally, anyone collecting a debt needed to ensure that it was done respectfully,
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  honoring even the poorest of the poor.
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  These verses clearly demonstrate that all individuals had value in society and
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  were to be treated as such.
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  The value of others is also demonstrated in the clear instruction against kidnapping
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  and trafficking in people, as well as in how workers were to be treated by their employers.
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  Even the most vulnerable, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow were to be
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  provided for out of the abundance of the harvest.
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  This next section deals with leprosy, and the laws concerning leprosy were clearly
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  defined in Leviticus chapter 13.
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  The reality is that these laws were not for people but for the priests and the
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  Levites, because at the time leprosy was very much seen as a spiritual issue.
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  Leprosy was used as a mark of God's displeasure for the sin committed by an individual.
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  Therefore, when leprosy was discovered, it was not to be concealed,
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  cut out, or taken to the doctor.
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  Instead, the individual needed to go to the priest and follow his direction.
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  In this situation, leprosy serves as a parallel for our sin.
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  When we come to realize and are convicted of our sin, we do not need to conceal
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  it, cover it up, or try to take care of it on our own, because we can't.
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  Instead, we need to go to God to confess our sin, repent for what we have done,
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  and receive his forgiveness.
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  Miriam, again, is given as an example, because leprosy for her marked her sin.
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  But praise be to God, we know that we have the solution for our sin, and his name is Jesus.
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  This chapter, like so many of the others, deals very much with how we are to
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  live in relationship within our families, how we are to live in relationship
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  within our communities, and how we are to live in relationship with God.
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  Our families should be focused on the Lord and should be governed by the things
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  that the Lord loves and be led by the things that the Lord loves.
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  How we act in community should be determined by our love for God.
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  How we treat others, how we deal in business, how we deal with employees,
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  and how we take care of the poor should all reflect our love for God.
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  Lastly, this chapter reminds us that we have an antidote for sin through the
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  death of Jesus on the cross.
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  We have a high priest to whom we can go to to confess, to pray, and to be forgiven.
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  Remember that you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.