Laws & Instructions for Life & Conduct

Transcript

GRS 55
7/10/1988
Laws & Instructions for Life & Conduct
Deuteronomy 19-22
Gil Rugh

Come to the section that really is a collection of laws and instructions for the children of Israel. Chapters 19 to 26 of Deuteronomy, the laws in these Chapters cover a variety of subjects that govern the life of Israel and the conduct of God’s people in the land of Palestine. Remember these instructions and commandments are given in preparation for Israel possessing the land that God has promised them. They are on the brink of crossing to Jordan and entering the land that God had promised so long ago to Abraham.

Chapter 19 deals with the cities of refuge, and really there are two main sections in the Chapter, I have called the cities of refuge because of the first main subject, the first 13 verses deal with the City of Refuge and then the remaining verses, verses 14 to 21 will deal with the matter of witnesses. One of those verses will be unique to itself and we’ll comment on that. The Cities of refuge we’ve already been talked about in Numbers Chapter 35 that’s where the name comes from, cities of refuge. These were cities that a person could flee to for safety if he accidently killed someone. If he was guilty of manslaughter, he could run to a City of Refuge there he was safe, no revenge could be taken on him until the case had been evaluated.

Verse 2 you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God gives you to possess, three cities of refuge in Palestine proper. Now if you remember, back in Chapter 4 there were cities set aside in the Transjordan region, on the side of the Jordan where Israel is right now. Now there will be three additional cities of refuge in Palestine proper when Israel crosses into that area. Verse 3 tells us these cities are to be evenly distributed through the land so that everyone has equal access.

You shall prepare for the roads for yourself and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as a possession so that any manslayer may flee there. So balanced or evenly distributed through the land good access so that wherever you are in the land, if you are guilty of manslaughter you would have reasonable access to a city of refuge. In verses 4 to 6 you have a clear distinction drawn between murder and manslaughter. This was not a place of refuge for a murderer; this was a place of refuge for a person guilty of manslaughter. Again, Chapter 35 of Numbers gave a more full description.

Verse 4 now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live when he kills his friend unintentionally not hating him previously. If for example, when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood his hands swings the axe to cut down the tree and the iron head slips of the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies he may flee to one of these cities and live. That’s an example of an accidental killing. The reasonless the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger and overtake him, because the way is long and take his life, though he was not deserving of death since he had not hated him previously.

The avenger of blood was the nearest male relative of the person who had been killed. It was his responsibility to avenge the death of his relative. So this is an established form of justice. The nearest male relative has the prerogative if you will of execution in case of a killing particularly murder. So for a manslaughter this person had to have a place to hide and be protected until things cool down and his case was properly evaluated. Now we have to note the cities of refuge were not only a place of safety and protection for the person who had killed another person accidently but they really became a place of punishment where sin was atone for.

The person who had committed the act of man slaughter had to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. So there is a punishment for manslaughter; you just don’t walk away scot free. If the crime is murder you are executed. If it is manslaughter you are confined in this city until the death of the high priest and that could obviously be any amount of time, the high priest might live for extended years. Well, if the person guilty of manslaughter left the city of refuge before the high priest died, then the avenger, the nearest relative of the killed person have the right to execute him because he had violated the commandment. He in fact had left his protection and he had refused to take his punishment.

You can see this would be inconvenient. Here you are living, raising your family, working a job in this city over here; you accidently kill someone you have to flee immediately to the city of refuge because if you are caught before you get there, you can be executed. And then once you are there you cannot leave until the high priest dies. So the city of refuge is not only a place of safety, it is a place of punishment. Numbers Chapter 35 gives some of those details. With the death of the high priest then the blood that has been shed is viewed as having been atoned for and the person could return to his home.

Down in verse 9 we are told that if Israel is faithful in the land and God gives them a greater territory, then he’ll add to the three additional cities of refuge so that there will be a total of nine. Three on the Transjordan side in the Transjordan region, three in Palestine proper then three more because of the enlarged territory. This never occurred and these three additional cities are never given. You ought to note in verse 9 if you carefully observe all this commandment which I command you today, to love the Lord, to walk in his ways always then you’ll have three more cities for yourself besides these three.

I think it’s important to note here that God gave the law to Israel as a means for Israel to express her love for God. If you carefully observe all this commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God; you see the keeping of the commandments is an expression of love on the part of the people of God for their God. So aren’t to see the commandments just as some isolated cold hard laws. For God’s people Israel they were a means of expressing love, it was simply obeying commandments it was loving God and out of love expressing that love by obedience.

The principle does not change in the New Testament, even though we are not under the Mosaic Law we have the commandments of God, we have the word of God and we as believers express our love for God just as Israel did by being obedient to him. Turn over to John Chapter 14. We’ve been reminded to this several times as we’ve looked through the Old Testament. John Chapter 14 and verse 15 Jesus is speaking in his sense to his disciples "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." Now he’s not talking about the Mosaic Commandments here; he’s talking about his commandments now. He will bring the law the completion with his death. We are no longer obligated to be obedient to the Mosaic Law which was given for an earthly nation living in a prescribed kingdom. But nonetheless as God’s children today we manifest our love by our obedience.

You note if you love me, you will keep my commandment. Obedience is an expression of love. Down in verse 21 "He who has my commandments and keeps them he it is who loves me." You will note love and obedience are inseparably joined together. Those who truly love Jesus Christ are obedient to his word. Look over in First John Chapter 2. First John Chapter 2 verse 3 and by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep His commandments. That’s how I know, that’s one of the ways God has given me to know that I really have to come to know him if I keep his commandments. The one who says I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word in him the love God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him.

So that is one of the ways that you and I as believers have assurance if you will of our salvation, of our relationship with Jesus Christ. We are those who are obedient to his word, we have the desire to express our love for him by obedience to his word. Over in First John 5 verse 3, For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. Again we are not talking about the Mosaic Commandments, John uses a different word to refer to Mosaic commandments than he does here. He’s talking about the commandments now we have as the church from Jesus Christ the head of the church.

By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and observe his commandments. And this is the love of God that we keep his commandments; his commandments are not burdensome. Now we need to be careful as we come back to Deuteronomy Chapter 19, we don’t have the idea that living in the age of grace in the church means we are free from obligation. We are no freer than Israel was from that standpoint; we have a different set of instructions and commands. The expression of our love is in the same pattern, not to the same commandments, but obedience is the expression of love. So it would be for the children of Israel.

When you look at that way the law given to Israel is a great blessing for Israel, a great privilege that they should be the people called to express love for their God by obedience to his commandments. Back in Deuteronomy 19 and verses 11 to 13 you’re told that if anyone is guilty of murder and tried to take refuge in the city of refuge he’s to be taken out and executed and there is to be no pity verse 13 "You shall not pity him." Again we have to be careful, God is a God of graciousness, a God of mercy, a God of love and we need to be careful that we don’t try to outdo him.

If Israel would show pity on a murderer and not kill him, they would be guilty of violating God’s commandment. We move to the section on witnesses, but verse 14 really isn’t talking about witnesses it’s talking about changing boundary lines and that was the way of defrauding someone. You would move the stones that mark the property line, the boundary marker and you are really trying to steal someone’s property, so a word of warning about that. The land was given and delegated by God. That was a possession from God that each of the tribes had and the individual people within the tribes.

So you’re really trying to defraud God when you try to steal another Israelites land. Then in verses 15 to 21 the matter of witnesses, and I just want to jump down to verse 21 this law of retaliation. Thus you shall not show pity, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. This stated more fully in Exodus Chapter 21 verse 23 to 25. Leviticus Chapter 24 verses 17 to 20, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand that’s Israel’s law of retaliation. If I put someone’s eye out my eye was to be put out, if I cut someone’s hand off my hand was to be cut off. And this is the guidelines for justice in Israel.

Now as you first read it, it sounds harsh but you’ll note what this does, this secures and encourages that the penalty will fit the crime. You put my eye out I am going to kill you that punishment wouldn’t fit the crime. So here what you have is justice being administered and the penalty is to fit the crime that is committed. That’s the point in verse 21. Chapter 20 talks about warfare, and instructions concerning warfare comes into two parts the first nine verses talks about the preparation for war and then verses 10 to 20 talk about the siege of a city and how you carry that out.

Its’ interesting, here God is called his people to Palestine. Here is a land he is going to give them but they are going to have to go to war to get it. And there are laws for warfare. The preparation for war in the first nine verses, the focus in preparing for war is to be on the strength of God. So Israel prepares to go to war they are to turn their attention to their God, his might, his power, his ability to give the victory. That’s the key preparation process get your eyes on God and his ability. In light of that verse 1 when you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt is with you.

The size and strength of the opposing armies is not a relevant issue, because Israel has the Lord as their God. And you note, this is the God who brought them up from the land of Egypt, that great work of redemption was to be routed and fixed in the mind of God’s people so that even as they go to war they’re reminded we have a great God who has redeemed us and he is able to give us the victory in this particular battle.

Verse 2 the priest has a role in preparing the people. He’s to come and address the people as they prepare for battle. And he shall say to them in verse 3 "Here O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today, do not be faint hearted, do not be afraid or panic or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you. Priest’s responsibility was to remind the people not to be afraid because God is the one who goes with you and does the battle ultimately.

Now we’re going to go into war and they had to go into hand to hand combat and here they are told it’s the Lord doing the battle. So they are going to be there in the thick of the battle in the conflict and yet it’s God doing the battle. And here you get a picture of how God uses his people. Here we’re saying it’s the Lord that goes with you to fight for you but that did not mean that Israel could prop up in Transjordan and wait for God to clear out the enemy without their involvement; they had to go to war but God would do the battling for them.

Verses 5 to 9 you have some guidelines who can be in the army. Now since God would fight for Israel and he was going to use these soldiers as these instruments the goal was not to have the largest army possible, the goal was to have the best army possible. And the best army possible would be those soldiers with unrestricted commitment to God and serving him. Those would be the ones that God could use. He doesn’t need great numbers to bring about victory but he needs is those select individuals who will commit themselves to him without distraction without reservation and through that number, great or small he gives the victory.

So verses 5 to 9 talk about routing out those who would be less than whole heartedly committed to the battle and you see some interesting guidelines here. Verse 5 here’s a man who’s built a new house and hasn’t dedicated it. He can go home and dedicate his house otherwise he might die in the battle and someone else would dedicate his house. And war doesn’t take precedence over everything else. The domestic life of Israel is to go on. Everything is not going to stop for the battle. So here if he has a house he’ll be distracted from that, he has the right to dedicate that house.

If you’ve planted a vineyard in verse 6 well and you haven’t taken the fruit from it, you are exempted for military service. Now to appreciate it you have to understand it took five years before you personally got to partake of the fruit of your vineyard. We are not just talking about waiting a few months necessarily. For the first three years, no fruit could be taken, then in the fourth year, the fruit was dedicated to the Lord. In the fifth year you personally could begin to benefit from the produce. So if a man had planted a vineyard and it was in the second year, he hasn’t benefited from it, taken the fruit of it. He as exempted from warfare.

Verse 7 the man that is engaged to a women, is not married her let him depart, return to his house lest he die in the battle and another man marry her. The engagement being a binding betrothal in Israel and he ought to have the right to follow that through with marriage and the consummation of the marriage. So those engaged were excluded. This next one is an interesting one. I probably wouldn’t have put it here. "Then the officers shall speak further to the people and they shall say, 'Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him depart and return to his house. You know interesting, here we are going to go war now anybody that’s sacred go on home. So wonder there was anybody left you know, anybody in the right mind not afraid to go to war but those who have full confidence in God can even be excited about the prospect of being his soldier and going to war.

God doesn’t need those who are afraid because someone who is afraid is evidencing the fact they are not trusting him. They don’t believe that he can do what he said he can do, they become an obstacle not an asset and it would be a trap to think our goal is to get the biggest army possible but you fill it with men that undermine the battle what do they do at the end of verse 8 they’ll make their, the hearts of their brothers melt. It happens when you are around a person and here you see, here’s it we ought to do, I am trusting the Lord, I am going forward and all of the sudden this person starts to talk to you about all the problems, all it could happen, how scary it is, pretty soon you begin to wonder may be I better rethink this.

May be I am not thinking straight here, and you can’t have that in the battle. God doesn’t want anyone there that can’t trust him without reservation. You see how select he’s been. You have a good example with Gideon in the Book of Judges Chapter 7 where it started out with the thousands in his army, when it’s all done you finally get through to the cowards and those who are afraid and everybody else he has three hundred left. Believe he started with ten thousand he end up with three hundred. You see God is not really concerned about the numbers. We have three hundred men that God could use no one could stop them that’s the principle that is being established here.

Verses 10 through 20 talk about the siege of a city and two divisions here, there are the sieges of cities that are outside Palestine. Israel will be in war with surrounding peoples and if they are with a distance city they could offer that city terms of peace, the people of that city could chose to become the servants and slaves of Israel rather than being destroyed. If they chose to battle it out then they would be destroyed, if they chose to become salves then they’d be spared. Now with a city within Palestine there could be no terms of agreement. All the people in the land of Palestine had to be destroyed so that when they came to a city in Palestine they couldn’t offer a terms of peace, they had to destroy those cities.

Verses 16 to 18 talk about the cities in the land of Palestine those people couldn’t be offered terms of peace. You know this whole issue of warfare is carried over into the New Testament. Again, you have what happens in the Old Testament as the picture in a literal physical sense of what we are going through often in the spiritual sense in the New Testament. So believers today are involved in the warfare just like believers were in the Old Testament but we are not involved in a physical warfare and establishing an earthly kingdom but we are involved in a spiritual warfare.

A number of passages but look just at Second Corinthians Chapter 10, Second Corinthians Chapter 10 I think you see some of the similarity or parallel with what God instructs Israel in Deuteronomy Chapter 20. In Second Corinthians Chapter 10 verse 3 for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. You see we are supernaturally equipped by God for the warfare in which we are involved. Ephesians Chapter 6 says we don’t war against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore we are to take up the full armor of God, the provision that he makes.

First John 4:4 tells us the greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So we in fact are an invincible army but as we’d study parallel passages which we won’t take the time to do, we also find that we as believers who have been saved by faith are also to live by faith and when I do not trust God and put on his armor and go into the battle in confidence in his ability I find myself in difficulty. And often we as believers we approach our difficulties, our struggles, our battles and we try to marshal our forces physically. We want to gather together all our resources, we want to evaluate how strong we are and we get our eyes off the Lord. We think well numbers will give us the victory or financial power will enable us to get it done or political influence will do this and we forget.

Now God doesn’t need great numbers he needs committed people and whether that’s a small group or a large group is not the issue because God is not depended on numbers. Miracle, the amazing thing is he chooses to use us. He could blow out the enemy without us being part of it. He could what, and Palestine would have been cleaned of every enemy but he chose to use Israel that was an important part of his plan, that’s the way it is for you and I. So I need to realize hey there’s not the questions here can there be a victory. He’ll say well wait a minute, he’ll say let those who are be afraid step aside. Thos who have commitments to keep them from a wholehearted commitment and attention to what God has called them to do they are set aside, those called to be the servants are called of wholehearted commitments that’s all of this in the church of Jesus Christ, a call to warfare with the weapons he’s provided.

Come back to Deuteronomy Chapter 21 you know I sometimes think we as believers look at what’s going on in the world around us, we have to say sometimes we get the feelings say there’s no hope, we’re being overwhelmed. The tide of wickedness and evil and sin is just like a tidal wave and there’s just no way to stop it. Wait a minute I am a servant of the living God if there is no one else but me with God that’s enough. If there are only two or three of it, it doesn’t matter that is enough. You say there’s millions on the other side, it doesn’t matter. Now that’s encouraging I think sometimes we as believers begin to despair and then we begin to look for other alternatives.

We have the victory, our God dwells within us. I don’t need political power, I don’t need financial power, I don’t need numerical power all I need is my God and as I trust him the victory is assured and secured. Now easy for me to say that but when I am in the battle I begin to forget that he is enough. In Deuteronomy 21 we talk about domestic matters, miscellaneous regulations it’s not necessarily any particular order. And a lot of these are in no particular arrangement just different commandments that are given.

The first nine verses talk about murder by an unknown person, the procedure to be followed if you find a body but you don’t know who committed the crime. Well, the elders of that city are to come out and follow the procedure that God has set down to remove the bloodguiltiness in verse 8 the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them. You shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst. You see the land belongs to God. So it must be kept clean if you will purified before God, so even whether is a killing and a crime you don’t you aren’t able to solve, you have to go through the procedure to cleanse the land.

Verses 10 to 21 talk about some domestic matters, matters relating to the home wives and children. Verses 10 to 14 talk about marrying a prisoner of war. Remember in Chapter 20 if you were doing battle with or a war with a city outside of Palestine you could offer that city turns to peace and take the people of that city as your slaves. Now it might be then an Israelite man would see a woman that he would like to have for his wife. Well, verses 10 to 14 give you the instructions that need to be followed. Back in Chapter verse 3 of Deuteronomy they were reminded they could not marry Canaanite women, the women of Palestine were not allowed to be taken as wives.

What this did to in the instructions here, she had to go through a certain procedure and then if the man decided to divorce her, he had to let her go free. He couldn’t sell her; he couldn’t keep her as a slave. And these regulations rather they may seem strange to us, they protected the dignity of the women that would be conquered. In other words Israel could not follow a program of rape and plunder like the pagan nations did. They weren’t free to take women as spoils of war and use them as they chose. That they weren’t become sexually involved with this women they had to follow the procedure and marry her first. So they’re going to go to war, there’s going to be killings as wars have. Mass executions but the people of God have to be careful that they function as the people of God.

Verses 15 to 17 talk about the rights of first born and not instructing an Israelite to have more than one wife but some will. Now if you have more than one wife you have a problem, it’s always been a problem, and it was a problem for Israel and what could easily happen is if you have more than one wife you might like one better than the other, and may be your wife does not so favored had a son as your first born, you think well I love this wife over her better, but her son wasn’t the first born, but since I love her better I am going to make her son the first born. The commandments in verse 15 to 17 forbid that. The first born is the first born and you couldn’t change that.

So if the first born was born to your least favorite wife, he still is the first born that mean he got a double portion verse 17. You had to honor him with a double portion of all that you had and in fact this guaranteed the rights that God had established and it kept the sinfulness of man even though they had married more than one woman under control. He could not misuse and abuse his wives and his offspring in this way. Verses 18 to 21 are some verses that put the fear of God in the young people of Israel because this tells you what to do with the rebellious son. If any man has a, this is worth reading being a father.

If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, when they chasten him he will not even listen to them then his father and mother shall seize him, bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown and they shall say to the elders of his city 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us he’s a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of city shall stone him to death. There was a limit to juvenile delinquency in Israel.

There was a sure cure for disobedience to parents. Where we had ongoing rebellion and the child got out of hand and the parents did their best to discipline him but he wouldn’t obey. He pursued a life of gluttony and drunkenness, then they brought him to the elders of Israel, the elders of their city, these were the rulers of that city and presented their case, they don’t have to bring other witnesses, the witnesses of the parent is adequate in this situation. And the elders stone him. Now you note here the parents are required to do the stoning. The elders as the representatives of that city do the stoning. They carry out the execution.

We’ve already been told in the law Exodus Chapter 21 verse 15, verse 17 Leviticus Chapter 20 verse 9 that any child who cursed or struck his parents was to be executed. But here you have added to that ongoing rebellion. Now it’s interesting to note there is no record of this ever being carried in Israel. We don’t know whether it was or not but it certainly gave the parents some leverage in dealing with the rebellious child. You always had the option when it got to the point you couldn’t control them to say are you ready to go to the elders with me and that would cause the son to stop and think a little bit.

That would be very difficult to do as a parent but God is concerned with the family in Israel and order is established in the family you’ll note here there’s nothing said about the character of these parents keep in mind Israelite parents are sinful people we already have polygamy in this section. And yet it is still required that the children in the families of Israel be submissive and obedient to their parents and there are no excuses given here for being otherwise. So the point is established that God expects that the children in Israel will be obedient to the parents.

Verses 22 and 23 are very significant verses even though they seem just tact on here because there, a section of this is picked up in the New Testament and applied to Jesus Christ. If any man is committed to sin worthy of death he’s put to death and you hang him on a tree his corps shall not hang all night on the tree but you shall surely bury him on the same day for he who is hanged is a curse of God so that you do not defile your land which your God gives you as an inheritance. Seems to be in the practice in the Old Testament where a person was particularly a cursed after they were executed their body was hung on a tree or impaled on a stick. And that was a way of displaying before all that this man was under a curse. Though it doesn’t seem that they executed them by hanging them on a tree but after they’d executed them if this was a cursed person for a particular reason then they hung the body on a tree as a sign that it was under a curse.

It wasn’t cursed because it was on the tree; it was on the tree because it was cursed. It was a sign that this person was under God's curse so there are examples through the Old Testament where this happens we won’t take time to trace them down but turn over to Galatians Chapter 3 in the New Testament. Galatians Chapter 3 verse 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. So Christ hung on a tree unique and special way. Here are the Romans who used crucifixion as a form of punishment or carrying out what God had said in the Old Testament. Christ is there as a curse, he bears all our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and lived the righteousness.

He was taking the curse of the law on himself because of our sin we were under the curse of God. He took our sin and thus he had to become cursed by God and his hanging on the tree is the demonstration of that very fact. Acts Chapter 5 and verse 30 alludes to this a little more indirectly, Acts 5:30 Paul says to Israel the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you had put to death by hanging him on a cross. Hanging him on a cross, hanging him on wood they hung him on a tree and thus he became a curse. You see how precisely and concisely God fulfills his word here in, back in Deuteronomy Chapter 21 in verse 23 seemingly almost passing statement, he was hanged is a curse of God and you come to Jesus Christ and he is hanged on a tree because he is a curse for us.

Deuteronomy Chapter 22 sexual morality and the first part of the Chapter verses 1 to 12 gives nine laws on a variety of subjects. The rest of the Chapter verses 13 to 20 give laws relating to sexual morality. First four verses of the Chapter had to do with giving help to a neighbor basic principle here is that the Israelites were not allowed to remain uninvolved. You know in our day we talk about people who don’t want to get involved. We have crimes committed and nobody called the police, nobody wanted the raid they didn’t want to get involved. Well for Israel that was not an option, they were commanded of God to get involved they couldn’t take the attitude it’s not my problem. And the first four verses gives some examples there of helping your countrymen.

And you had to do this whether you knew the person or not, you are obligated to fellow Israelites although obviously you didn’t know everyone among the several million Israelites but you had an obligation to them nonetheless. You had an obligation even if the person was an enemy according to Exodus Chapter 23 verse 4 and 5 verse 4 on helping a man if he’s donkey or ox’s leaded down and he falls down the man won’t be able to get him up by himself and you can’t say well I got enough trouble of my own you shouldn’t have put so much on the poor dumb animal, no we got to go help him. In Exodus 24 elaborates, Exodus 23 verses 4 and 5 tell you even if that’s your enemy there, somebody you don’t like you can’t sit there and say I am glad he stuck now, he’ll never get that donkey up. You got to go help him you are obligated to give assistance.

Principle in the New Testament for us as believers if we see someone in need we’re obligated to help him. James Chapter 2 verses 15 and 16 First John 3 verse 17 you know if I know a brother has needed food or clothing and I just tell him go be warmed, be filled how does the love of God abide in me? I can’t be uninvolved; I have to do what I can to help. So the same Idea or principle is carried over for us as the children of God. We’re obligated to one another as God's people.

Verse 5 of Deuteronomy 22 an interesting little verse and there have been many wonderful things done with this verse, A women shall not wear man’s clothing, not shall a man put on a women clothing for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God. Men have to dress as man and women have to dress as women, now you note here there is nothing said about what the dress of women is or what the dress of men is. There are no distinctions drawn on this is the kind of clothing a woman should wear and this is the kind of clothing a man should wear because that will vary from society to society.

In fact you are aware of we’ve all seen pictures from biblical times in many ways the dress of men of women was quite similar. Perhaps when you looked on and just their outside and say well I guess you could call it a man’s cloths or women’s cloth but they were distinctions and that’s the point. A woman was to wear a women’s cloth and a man was to wear a man’s cloth. Now you note here, some things we’ve talked about in our other studies God has built-in distinction between men and women from the creation and he expects those to be observed even in the way that we dress. We are not just persons, we are men and we are women and God expects that difference to be reflected in the way we dress.

Now I am not going to get into the cultural issues here either, what is a women’s dress and what is a man’s dress and some groups today say that women should not wear slacks because that’s a man’s dress. Now it’s a little easier to say men shouldn’t’ wear dresses but we’re even crossing that line today. Transvestitism would be ruled out obviously by this. The point is women’s clothes are to be women’s cloths and I believe women’s slacks or women slacks women can have slacks that are obviously women’s slacks but we are to be careful that we are not dressing in unisex where I am not sure is that a women or is that a man which the world is more comfortable promoting. But we recognize the distinctions, now again we’re not under the law but the principle here of the distinction between the man and the women we’ve seen that carried over in the passages in the New Testament like First Timothy 2 and First Peter 3 on the proper attire for a women and so on.

The word abomination used here same word used to refer homosexual behavior in Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus Chapter 20 verse 13 which sometimes would involve the cross dressing and so on. So that would definitely be ruled out here. In verse 8 they had built a wall around their house. In those houses again we are familiar with that they have flat roofs and people would use the roof of the house. Well they had to build a wall or a fence around the roof so that someone didn’t fall off that have a concern to do the common sense thing to protect life in Israel. Verses 9 to 11 we’ve seen these kinds of regulations previously, you can’t sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed. Verse 10 you cannot plough with an oxen and a donkey, verse 11 you can’t wear material mixed of wool and linen together.

And part of the purpose of these regulations may simply be to emphasize the distinctions the God has made in creation. We saw that was the clothing of the men and the women back in verse 5. Now here as further reemphasize to recognize God has made different things different and that difference is to be recognized and maintained. In verse 12 the tassels on the garments, we were told about this previously back in Numbers Chapters 15 verses 37 to 41 the tassels around the garment were a reminder of the commandments of the Lord so they were symbolic of God’s commandments. So any time you saw somebody walked by with the tassels on their garment you were reminded I am to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord. That’s the point of the tassels on the garment

And some laws on morality, verses 13 to 21 talk about the virginity of a new bride. And the point of the section is pre-marital chastity is required and it was found after a bride is married that she had been unfaithful prior to her marriage she’s to be executed that’s the point here. Verses 18 and the way this comes up the man accuses her of not being a virgin so here’s a man who is married this Israelite girl. Now he accuses her of not being a virgin when he married her then it’s brought to the elders to be evaluated in light of what is said here.

Verse 18 if he’s acquisition is found to be false, then he is publically beaten, whipped publically and fined heavily a hundred shekels of silver and it’s to be given to the girl’s father because he publically defamed a virgin of Israel and at the end of verse 19 she shall remain his wife, he cannot divorce her all his days. You might think well that seems like a punishment for the women. Would you like to be stuck with this guy? I mean he’s accused her of being an immoral women and it’s been proved that she wasn’t so now the law says he can’t divorce her. You might have thought for her good she was free and could find someone decent, but no she’s to stay with him and were in fact this did it protected her rights and the rights of her children, their inheritance perhaps her son would be the first born.

Well his rights of inheritance, her rights as a wife are protected by this law. So that’s established he’s not free now, well I didn’t get her that time, I am going to work on this. He’s bound to her and the obligations that come with that wife permanently. So it keeps it from being any coming up again or coming around with a different tactic.

It’s interesting if she is guilty, verse 21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she committed an act defiling Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house thus she shall purge the evil from among you. Now she had been guilty of immorality before she was married while she was living at home and these points to the shame she had brought on her father’s house. Her immorality had brought shame on the father’s house and she’s executed at the door way of his house. It is partly a reflection on him, her shameful deed and so she is executed at the doorway of her father’s home. Matter of sexual fidelity, sexual purity before marriage just is clear in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament.

Verses 22 to 30 these laws govern all kind of illicit sexual behavior, rape becomes a key matter in what is discussed in these situations verse 22 here is adultery and the adulteress are executed. The virgin verse 23 if there’s a virgin engaged to a man and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, you’ll bring them both out and execute them. When she is engaged that’s a binding relationship, a betrothal, an engagement could only be broken by divorce. Remember Joseph when he found that Mary was pregnant was minded to divorce her so even though the marriage hadn’t been consummated they were in a binding relationship.

And the instructions what about if the girl is forcibly raped then there’s instructions concerning that. Verse 28 if a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged and sees her and lies with her and they are discovered then the man who lay with her shall give to the father 50 shekels of silver and she shall become his wife. He’s violated her he cannot divorce her all his days. Again that almost sounds strange poor girl. Somebody rapes her and now she’s got to live with them the rest of her life. But again, this is given as a protection. Here is an unattached woman, unengaged woman, he is obligated to take her as his wife, the child that is born if it’s a man that will be obviously his first born, he’ll have the rights of inheritance and all Israel in this area will know of the situation and his obligation to her. So it becomes a means of protection for this woman as well.

Matter of purity, though we’ve just touched on these lightly, key area God’s people are to manifest God’s character and purity is required. And that involves us as a family, that involves me as a father as well as the children in the home. Just come to the New Testament to First Corinthians Chapter 6 read a couple of verses in closing. It’s one of this area where it seems like today with the lack of morality, lack of moral standards, the flood of immorality today, you know the world’s solution to the problem is safe sex which is another way of saying we have no standard of morality and you can be like the animals except be a little more careful but that’s all the discrimination is required.

Interested in the articles and the discussions in the paper in the secular media about giving birth control to young people whole concern is that they have to have safe sex. Now we’ve all gotten mailings on this. It’s a tragedy, we as believers need to be careful, again it’s not so unusual that the world would be like that but we’re aware this is sweeping though the church and our young people are being swept away by it and it’s becoming more and more difficult to tell the difference between the world and the church in the area of the morals of our young people.

There’s no problem with the morals of the adults let’s be honest but with our young people are particular concerned that brings a responsibility to us as parents what is required here in the raising of our children in a biblical and godly way. We just can’t throw up our hands and say well what do we do with kids today, we are responsible, I am responsible as a father but is home, those are my children. God holds me accountable. I just can’t write it often and say you just can’t fight the world.

First Corinthians Chapter 6 tells us about the seriousness of sexual sin. We’re reminded that those who are the practitioners of immorality of all kinds as well as other sins will not inherit the kingdom of God in verses 9 and 10. And such were some of you but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is to be a difference you note here, here Paul doesn’t say that these are pure people to begin with, so it’s not surprising that the world is like that we have a message of washing sanctifying justifying to a world that is involved in all kind of fornication and sexual immorality but when the church is no longer living cleansed What a tragedy.

verse 15 do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ, shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot, may that never be. Strongest way in a Greek language to say that’s repulsive; the very idea is abominable. King James says God forbid. Could you say here I am inseparably joined to Jesus Christ now I am going to take parts of Christ and join them in immoral relationship with a harlot a whore? You know we need to be reminded as believers I cannot leave behind that relationship I have with Jesus Christ. He is inseparably with me everyplace I go and involved in everything I do. So I am enjoying with Christ, this body is his body and now I take it and join it in immorality?

You know we as believers fail to emphasize that doctrine of sanctification what is involved in right relationship with God. Do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For it says the two will become one flesh but the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, the immoral man sins against his own body. You bodies are the temple of the wholly spirit you’ve been bought with the price therefore glory God in your body.

There’s no difference standard for God’s people today than there was for the people of Israel. And I did say we’re not doing any better job of keeping the standard that God has set for us than Israel did and it brought Israel to ruin and there is less excuse for us, we have the fullness of revelation, we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The condition of the world is not an excuse, the world has always been repulsive, the world has always been immoral. The problem is not the world, the problem is believers. The problems is not lack of power on God’s part, the problems is believers. You have to say the problem of purity, the problem of sexual immorality is a problem that we have as the church. The fact that world is going off the wall, nothings new folks that was going on and it has been going on for varying degrees. When the Bible was written it was going on.

The problem is we have failed to submit ourselves to the word of God. Make godliness our goal and we live –