Deuteronomy. Day 98, Curses Pronounced From Mount Ebal

In Deuteronomy 11:19 the Israelites were told that after they cross into the promised land they are to pronounce blessings from Mount Gerizim and curses from Mount Ebal. Today we look at the curses.

"Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, 'Be silent, Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God. Obey the Lord your God and follow His commands and decrees that I give you today.' On the same day Moses commanded the people: When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali." (Deuteronomy 27:9-13) This landscape of this location creates a natural amphitheater. With the congregation standing in the space between the two mountains, everyone will be able to hear everything that is said. The instructions from today's passage will be obeyed in Joshua 8. 

"The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice: 'Cursed is anyone who makes an idol---a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of skilled hands---and sets it up in secret.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:14-15) The people are to have no gods other than the one true God. This is one of the ten commandments---the first commandment upon which all the others hinge. God is to be the God of the nation of Israel, both publicly and privately. Committing a sin in secret may hide a person's wickedness from their fellow man but it doesn't hide it from God. Committing an act of idolatry in secret is as much of a sin as committing it out in the open. 

The Levites continue on down the list of curses. "'Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:16) Honoring one's father and mother is another of the ten commandments.

"'Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor's boundary stone.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:17) An action like this amounts to theft. A prohibition against stealing is one of the ten commandments.

These next two curses don't involve the breaking of specific laws outlined in the ten commandments but they do involve the breaking of the laws to love your neighbor as yourself and to treat others as you want to be treated. "'Cursed is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:19-20) The Lord has already made it clear, by the laws He's set forth in our study of the Old Testament, that He defends the cause of the helpless and needy. He will hear them when they cry out against their oppressors.

The next set of curses involve sexual sins. "'Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his father's wife, for he dishonors his father's bed.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is anyone who has sexual relations with any animal.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his mother-in-law.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:20-23) We studied a list of sexual prohibitions earlier in the Bible. These things are prohibited due to being unnatural (humans mating with animals) or due to being incestuous in nature and therefore detrimental to the health of the family/the community (a man having an affair with his step-mother, for example, causing a family rift) and detrimental to the health of any resulting offspring (a sexual relationship between a brother and a sister, for example, causing birth defects in a child born to them). 

Next we see that a person is cursed even when he appears to have gotten away with murder. "'Cursed is anyone who kills their neighbor secretly.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:24) The community may not know the identity of the perpetrator of this crime. The murderer may never be brought into a human court and judged guilty, but the Lord knows his identity and will judge his crime. The guilty man will pay sooner or later.

The person who perverts justice is under a curse, as we've already learned earlier in the Bible, but the one who performs a "contract killing" is under an even greater curse. Let's say, for example, a court case is coming up in which an innocent person will give testimony that proves the guilt of a wicked person. The wicked person may decide, prior to the trial, to pay someone to kill the one who is going to testify against him. Both the wicked person and the one he paid to perform this dirty deed have brought a curse upon themselves. "'Cursed is anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:25)

The congregation is to say, 'Amen!' to each individual statement in this list of curses. Then, at the conclusion of the list, they are to say, 'Amen!' to the list as a whole. "'Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.' Then all the people shall say, 'Amen!'" (Deuteronomy 27:26) They agree to keep these laws individually and as a whole.

Deuteronomy. Day 97, The Altar On Mount Ebal

In Deuteronomy 11 the congregation was told: "When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses." Moses will go into more detail about Mount Ebal and the curses to be pronounced there in our current chapter. The actual ceremony for this will not take place until we study the book of Joshua.

"Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: 'Keep all these commands that I give you today. When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.'" (Deuteronomy 27:1-2) We will find these instructions fulfilled in Joshua 8:30-31a. After the Israelites enter the promised land, we will read that, "Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites."

"Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you." (Deuteronomy 27:3) After building the altar and coating it with plaster, "Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses." (Joshua 8:32) The laws we've been studying in the Old Testament are often referred to as "the law of Moses" because Moses relayed the Lord's instructions to the people, but the people must never forget that these laws are the Lord's laws. Moses didn't make these statutes up. Moses received the word of the Lord and passed it along to the people with whom the Lord intended to make a covenant. The Bible may refer to this whole body of regulations as "the law of Moses" but the Israelites understood them to be "the law of the Lord". This is why they will make sacrifices and offerings on the altar at Ebal. They aren't making sacrifices in memory of Moses or in worship of him; they are sacrificing to the Lord. They are confirming their covenant with the Lord, renewing their promise to submit to His authority, and acknowledging Him as Lawgiver and Judge and God.

"And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I commanded you today, and coat them with plaster. Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool on them." (Deuteronomy 27:4-5) Joshua will obey these instructions to the letter. "He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses---an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used." (Joshua 8:31b) Earlier in our study of the Old Testament we discussed why uncut stones were used for altars. The uncut stones symbolize the fact that man cannot improve upon anything God has done. It is God who provides a means of salvation; man cannot save himself. Therefore, stones for altars were to be used in their natural state---as God made them through the forces of nature which were created by Him. Man comes to God on God's terms, not on his own terms. Salvation is obtained by coming to God through the method God has chosen, not by performing manmade rituals. We cannot find our own path to God; we come to God only by the path He has marked out for us. 

Altars for sacrifice were used under the old covenant. But we can compare what we're discussing in Deuteronomy 27 with the new covenant which was established by the sacrifice Christ made. Is anything lacking in what He did for us? Can we add anything to it? Can we become "more saved" than we already are? No, Christ did all that needed to be done. We can't improve on it; it's perfect just as it is. In this same way, the people of the Old Testament did not need to make alterations to the stones they were setting up for altars to the Lord. The Lord was doing the work that made them holy. The blood that was shed to atone for sins was being accepted by Him on these altars instead of requiring the death of those who transgressed His covenant. He accepted substitutionary sacrifices on the altars of Israel. Performing extra work on the altars or performing extra rituals during the sacrifices would not have made the people "more saved/more forgiven". They were to do in faith exactly what God said. In this same way, God accepts our faith regarding the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. We cannot add anything to what Christ has done. In fact, when man meddles in anything the Lord has done, he actually detracts from it. We are imperfect creatures with dirty hands and dirty hearts. We must come to the Lord by the means He provides for us, not adding anything to it and not taking anything away from it.

After the people have built the altar at Ebal, they are to make sacrifices on it. "Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God. And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up." (Deuteronomy 27:6-8) After the altar is set up in the book of Joshua, the Bible says, "On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings." (Joshua 8:31c) 

The people will follow the Lord's instructions exactly as Moses relayed them to them, not adding to the instructions or taking away from them. The word of the Lord will be written "very clearly" on the stones they have set up. The Lord never wants us to guess at what He considers holy living. He doesn't want us to walk through life unsure if we are doing right or doing wrong. He doesn't want us to wonder whether or not He loves us. He doesn't want us to doubt our salvation. He has very clearly shown us what He considers holy living. In doing so, He has revealed to us that we fall short of perfection and that we need a means of obtaining forgiveness. He has shown us we need a Savior and, after clearly demonstrating to us that we need a Savior, He tells us who our Savior is and how to be saved by Him. The Lord could not have made His plan of salvation any plainer than it is. He told us in the simplest words possible that no one comes to Him except by the way He has chosen---and that way is His Son. (John 14:6) He tells us that, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) He provides the gospel message to us in words that couldn't be easier to understand: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31a), and, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

Deuteronomy. Day 96, Follow The Lord's Commands

Moses has been restating all the Lord's laws in the book of Deuteronomy. He now pauses to give the congregation a reminder about how important it is to follow the Lord's commands.

"The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deuteronomy 26:16) Moses has been speaking to the next generation---the generation that will go into the promised land. The original generation that came out of Egypt was not allowed to enter the promised land because so many of them rebelled against the Lord at Kadesh in Numbers 14. They accused Him of having brought them out of Egypt only to die by the sword and to have their women and children captured. As a result of their faithlessness, the Lord declared, "Not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors." He made an exception for Joshua and Caleb who, after returning from the reconnaissance mission into the promised land, believed the Lord would enable them to take the fortified cities and defeat the giants in battle.

Because the older generation has died out during the years in the wilderness, Moses has restated all the Lord's laws and commandments to the next generation. The time is almost at hand to begin taking possession of the land. Moses reminds them they must always follow the Lord's commands, today and every day going forward.

Four decades ago the Israelites accepted the Lord's covenant with them in Exodus 24 and perhaps have restated their acceptance of His covenant here in Deuteronomy 26, for Moses says, "You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to Him, that you will keep His decrees, commands and laws---that you will listen to Him." (Deuteronomy 26:17) There's nothing wrong with reminding ourselves that the Lord is our God and that we intend to remain faithful to Him. We don't have to get saved over and over again; that is, we don't lose our salvation and have to be reinstated into the Lord's grace by praying the "sinner's prayer" more than once. But there's nothing wrong with making a statement of faith a number of times over the course of our lives. Doing so reminds us who the Lord is and who we are in Him. It strengthens our souls. It provides courage to our hearts when we say, "Lord, You are still my God. I still believe in You. I still trust You. I still love You. I will continue to follow You all the days of my life."

The people testify that the Lord is their God. In response He testifies that they are His people. "And the Lord has declared this day that you are His people, His treasured possession as He promised, and that you are to keep all His commands." (Deuteronomy 26:18)

One of the most obvious outward signs that they are His people is that they strive to follow His commands. The Lord Jesus told His disciples (and by extension, all who would believe on Him as Lord) that there would be outward signs of belonging Him. He said the world would know we are His if we love our fellow man. (John 13:15) And He said that the world would know we are His if we keep His commandments. (John 14:15) 

In return for loving Him and keeping His commandments, the Lord plans to bless the nation of Israel abundantly. Moses tells the congregation, "He has declared that He will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations He has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised." (Deuteronomy 26:19) Israel will stand out from all the nations of the world by her obedience to the Lord. Because of her obedience to the Lord, she will also stand out from all the nations of the world by how the Lord will bless her. 

You and I should stand out too, if we are children of the one true God. We shouldn't be indistinguishable from unbelievers. If we are faithful and obedient to our God, we will stand out not only by our behavior toward the Lord but also by the Lord's behavior toward us in the matter of blessing. This may or may not take the form of wealth or of everything in life going just as we want it to go, but it will certainly take the form of spiritual blessing. There will be something about us---a peace, a confidence, a calmness---that the unbelieving world doesn't have. We will shine like lights in a dark world, hopefully drawing others to the light. Just as the ancient heathen world noticed something different about Israel (and untold numbers converted to the God of Israel because of this), today's world will notice something different about those of us who believe in and serve the Lord and may come to Him in faith because they want what we have. They want peace with God. They want peace in their hearts. They want the comfort of knowing He is always with them. They want the confidence of feeling His love for them. They want the assurance of knowing the eternal destiny of their souls. We must stand out so that, when a person wants to know about the Lord, they will know who to ask. 

Deuteronomy. Day 95, Instructions About Firstfruits And Tithes

Today we begin Chapter 26.

Moses tells the congregation, "When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket." (Deuteronomy 26:1-2a) This is an offering of thankfulness for the provision of the Lord.

It is also an offering of remembrance, for the bringer of it is to recite a specific testimony about what the Lord has done for Israel. "Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for His name and say to the priest in office at the time, 'I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.' The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: 'My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that You, Lord, have given me.'" (Deuteronomy 26:2b-10a)

Jacob was not an Aramean, racially speaking. But he lived for a very long time in Paddan Aram and this is why the reference to him being an Aramean is used. 

We would all do well to regularly recite to ourselves and to the Lord a list of the great things He has done for us. We have so much to be thankful for and I think our faith and our joy would overflow if we were in the habit of thinking over, at the end of each day, all the things the Lord did for us that day. We should thank Him for all the things He's done for and for the things He protected us from. If we're alive and well enough to be talking to Him at bedtime, then that means He kept body and soul together. We are still breathing and we owe Him our praise, as the psalmist said: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." (Psalm 150:6)

After reciting the way the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, the bringer of the offering places his offering down in the tabernacle and everyone present rejoices. "Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before Him. Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household." (Deuteronomy 26:10b-11)

Next Moses speaks of tithes. "When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied." (Deuteronomy 26:12) Tithing was required every year. But every third year's tithe went not only to support the priests and Levites but also to support the foreigners, the fatherless, and the widows. (Deuteronomy 14:22-29) We owe the Lord our praise for the blessings He's given us and we owe it to Him to be a blessing to those around us. One way to "give back" to the Lord is to give to those in need. 

A special recitation is to be said when bringing the third-year tithe. "Then say to the Lord your God: 'I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all You commanded. I have not turned aside from Your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything You commanded me. Look down from heaven, Your holy dwelling place, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.'" (Deuteronomy 26:13-15)

The person has not done anything to make the food unfit for offering, including setting any of it before the dead, which was a heathen practice. In return for being obedient to the Lord's commands regarding tithes, the person asks Him for continued blessings in the promised land.

Being obedient to the Lord doesn't necessarily guarantee us an easy life. Some of the most obedient people in the Bible endured great hardships, including the Lord Jesus. But being obedient puts us in a position to receive blessings from the Lord, not only material and physical blessings but spiritual blessings as well. Living in opposition to the Lord is guaranteed to bring hardship into our lives, for the way of transgressors is hard, as the wise King Solomon said. (Proverbs 13:15) When we are disobedient we put ourselves in a position that makes it difficult or even impossible for the Lord to bless us the way He'd like to. Just as a responsible parent doesn't reward a child for deliberate disobedience, the Lord is a responsible Father. So we see that the Lord cannot, in good conscience, bless bad behavior. In addition, living contrary to godliness brings all sorts of sin---and the natural consequences of sin---into our lives. When we cheat and mistreat others, we are going to reap the natural consequences of living a dishonest and immoral life. Doing bad things brings bad things into our lives. It's a principle of the world we live in. We reap what we sow, as the Apostle Paul warned us in Galatians 6:7. If we sow obedience and godliness into our lives, the Lord can bless us. If we sow disobedience and sin into our lives, the Lord can't reward us for such behavior. We'll reap the spiritual consequences and the natural consequences of sinful living.

Deuteronomy. Day 94, Meddling In A Fight, Dishonest Business Practices, Destroying The Amalekites

Today's passage, which is the remainder of Chapter 25, deals with three different subjects.

The first segment of our portion of Scripture today has to do with a certain type of meddling in a fight between two men. The penalty for causing a particular type of injury is quite severe. "If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity." (Deuteronomy 25:11-12) What on earth is going on here? Scholars have various opinions on these two verses and some of the writers of Bible commentaries simply skip over these two verses entirely because they don't want to deal with them. I will speculate on this portion of Scripture but we may not be able to come to any firm conclusions about why the woman's penalty is so harsh.

The way the passage is worded it sounds as if her husband is the victim in the altercation; it says she is coming to rescue him from his assailant. Perhaps it looks to her as if her husband is losing the fight and needs someone to intervene before he's seriously wounded or killed. She runs up and grabs his assailant by his private parts, maybe in such a way as to render him permanently maimed. Maiming in the testicles is something that was taken so seriously in ancient Israel that no man with an injury to his testicles could hold any type of religious office in the nation. (Leviticus 21:16-23) He could not serve in the house of God, regardless of being a Levite or even a direct descendant of Aaron. Injuries to the testicles of animals were taken seriously as well. Animals with any type of problem in the testicles could not be offered as sacrifices according to Leviticus 22:24. Testicular injuries disqualified a man to serve the Lord in any official capacity and disqualified any male animal, no matter how otherwise perfect and spotless, unclean to offer to the Lord. 

In addition, continuing the family line was of the utmost importance in any clanlike ancient culture. In yesterday's study we looked at a law that helped to preserve a childless man's name and legacy even after his death. If a man is rendered sterile by the injury the woman causes him in verses 11-12, he cannot continue his family line. He will have no direct heirs to whom to pass his property in the promised land. 

Some scholars believe verses 11-12 are an issue of female modesty and that the woman has committed an act of immorality by grabbing hold of the private parts of the man who is fighting with her husband. They think that to underscore the importance of female modesty and virtue, the woman will go through the rest of her life missing the hand that touched a man in this intimate matter. I personally feel there's a lot more to it than this, as outlined above, but choosing to grab the man by his testicles instead of hitting him over the head with a tree limb to stop the fight, for example, may indicate she is a woman of coarse character. A woman of more delicate and modest character might not think to intervene in quite this way. Then again, if no weapon was at hand with which to rescue her husband from a violent man, a woman of even the most strict morals might resort to intervening in this way, knowing the pain resulting from such an action will immediately cause her husband's assailant to let go of him. I feel that the answer to why her penalty is so harsh has to do with much more than modesty but it's difficult to say for certain exactly what's going on here. It may even have to do with ancient laws or customs that we have no knowledge of in our modern times. 

Moving on, we'll take a look at how much the Lord hates dishonesty. "Do not have two differing weights in your bag---one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house---one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly." (Deuteronomy 25:13-16)

King Solomon mentioned this dishonest business practice a number of times in the book of Proverbs, pointing out how much the Lord hates it when a person cheats his fellow man. The Lord had very harsh words, in the days of the prophet Micah, for those who were making themselves rich by cheating people in this manner. He said He was about to bring judgment upon the nation, in part because dishonesty and the financial oppression of the poor was so rampant. The Lord is honest and true. He will never tell a lie; He can't tell a lie because it isn't in Him to tell one. No one who belongs to the Lord should be lying and cheating and making a dishonest buck off their fellow man. The children of the Lord should look like Him, not like children of the devil.

Finally, to conclude Chapter 25, the Lord reminds the congregation of Israel that they must rid the promised land of the Amalekites. "Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land He is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!" (Deuteronomy 25:17-19)

This was an unforgivable offense on the part of the Amalekites. If they had ever sought forgiveness, perhaps the Lord would have heard their cries for mercy and made them subject to Israel, but they never repented of their grievous attack on His people. Here in Deuteronomy 25, forty years after the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Amalekites still hated them and wanted them dead. The Amalekites will continue to be a problem for the Israelites. Because the Lord knows this, He orders the Israelites to wipe them from the earth. 

The Lord mentions the way the Amalekites not only opposed the Israelites as a whole but how they also attacked those who were "lagging behind". Who is it that would have been lagging behind? Those who were slowed down by age or illnesses or disabilities. Those who were carrying infants and leading small children by the hand and those who were heavily pregnant. The most defenseless of the people of Israel were specifically targeted by the Amalekites. This enraged the Lord. This offended the Lord. This made the Lord declare: "I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven." (Exodus 17:14) The Israelites were minding their own business, escaping slavery in Egypt and moving toward the land the Lord promised them, not being a threat or a bother to anyone along the way. The attack on them was unprovoked. The attack on their women, children, elderly, sick, and disabled persons was grievous and inhumane. The Lord was not going to tolerate it, not only because this particular attack was so cruel but because the Amalekites were going to continue to be cruel. He said, in response, something like this: "I will rid the earth of them! By your hands---the hands of My people Israel---the name of Amalek will be wiped from the earth. A day is coming when no Amalekite can be found anywhere in the world. Because these people attacked you for no cause, I will allow you to take part in their destruction. When I have brought you into the land as I have promised, see to it that none of them remains alive."

Deuteronomy. Day 93, Levirate Marriage And A Nickname Of Shame

The law we will study today has to do with marriage and property rights in the case of a man dying before he has produced an heir. 

"If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel." (Deuteronomy 25:5-6) This is known as "levirate marriage", from the Latin word "levir" which means "brother-in-law", or "a husband's brother". 

This type of marriage was practiced not only in ancient Israel but in many other ancient cultures. It not only protected and provided for the widow but it also allowed the dead man's property to remain in the family. A childless widow in those times almost had to remarry, if she could, because a woman without a husband or son to take care of her might find herself in dire financial straits. If the widow married outside the family then anything she inherited from her dead husband could end up belonging to another tribe or clan. For example, let's say a woman married a man from the tribe of Reuben but he died before producing a son. If one of his brothers does not marry her and have children with her, she will have to marry outside of the immediate family and possibly outside of the tribe of Reuben as well. This means any property she inherited from her dead husband will follow her new family line, not the family line of her late husband. 

Some scholars believe a man was not required to marry the widow of his brother unless, as verse 5 says, the brothers had been "living together". (The surviving brother is assumed to be unmarried himself, although this is not certain since there are Biblical examples of men who had more than one wife.) But verse 5 indicates that the two brothers were both still living and working together on the family farm or working in the family business together. They were sharing the same property or the same business and were making their income as a team. If that's the case then we can see what a serious problem it would be if the widow married outside the family. Her new husband would become a shareholder in the family farm or business. The children she had with her new husband would inherit his shares upon his death. The property or business would end up being split in a number of ways over time among a number of shareholders. But if the widow marries her brother-in-law, their first son is to be named after her dead husband and will become the heir of the dead man's property, just as if he were the dead man's own biological son. 

Suppose the widow and her new husband never have a son, only daughters? The word translated into English as "son" can also simply mean "child". I don't think they have to have a son in order to pass the property down to their offspring. I believe daughters would have the same inheritance rights as sons, based on Numbers 27:1-11 in which a man named Zelophehad died with no sons but with five daughters. These ladies appealed to Moses and Eleazar and all the elders of Israel and said, "Why should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no son?" In response to their question the Lord made this law: "If a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter." So if the widow and her husband's brother, who is now her husband, have only female offspring, I believe the law of Numbers 27 applies and the property would pass down to the female heirs. The female heirs would likely be required to marry men of their same clan, for that was the requirement presented to the daughters of Zelophedad who were told to marry within their father's tribe, the tribe of Manasseh. This keeps the territories of the promised land within the proper tribe.

In consideration of this law, I think we can assume that levirate marriage would not have to take place if the man who died left at least one daughter. His brother would not have to marry his widow unless he just wanted to, for the dead man's property would pass down to the daughter and then on to her offspring. I believe the daughter or daughters would be encouraged to marry within their father's tribe. 

A man might not want to marry his brother's childless widow. He would be in disgrace if he chose not to, but there was a procedure to be followed in cases like that. "However, if a man does not want to marry his brother's wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.' Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him." (Deuteronomy 25:7-8a) 

The man is showing disregard for the welfare of his brother's widow and for the welfare of his own family and tribe. He is showing disrespect to the memory of his brother. He is less concerned with the continuation of his brother's name and the dispensation of his brother's property than with the fact that, for whatever reason, he does not want to get married (either at this particular time or to this particular woman). The elders will try to talk to him about his responsibility to help the woman. They will talk to him about his responsibility to keep the family land within the family. But if he still does not want to marry his brother's widow, he will not be forced to marry her. If he cannot be kindly affectioned toward her then this will be a miserable union for the both of them, but he will still be publicly shamed for refusing his responsibilities toward his dead brother, toward his brother's widow, and toward his own family and his family's property.

"If he persists in saying, 'I do not want to marry her,' his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, 'This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's line.' That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled." (Deuteronomy 25:8b-10) This nickname will cling to the man's family line, not only to him personally. It was such a serious thing to refuse to marry and provide for a childless sister-in-law, and it was such a serious thing to allow family land to move outside of the family, that the man who refused to marry his sister-in-law would be disgraced along with his heirs. Considering how long his heirs will bear the shameful nickname, most men probably felt compelled to follow the law of levirate marriage.

It can be difficult to translate a law like this into today's society but one thing we can always translate into any era of time is the law of love. The law of levirate marriage was a law of compassion to benefit a childless widow. It was a law to preserve the God-given territories of each tribe. It is always right to do good and if we take anything away from our study today it's that we should have mercy on the lonely and the needy. We should try to help people if it's within our power to do so. 

Deuteronomy. Day 92, Discipline Handed Down In Court, Animal Welfare

We are still studying a compilation of various laws passed onto the congregation by Moses. These laws were compiled without being in any particular order or relationship to each other. Today we'll take a look at a law regarding discipline in court and a law regarding animal welfare.

We begin with some rules regarding court cases. "When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty." (Deuteronomy 25:1) This is a type of case that can't be settled between the two parties. The guilty party will not admit guilt and make amends. The case must go before the judges where, upon the preponderance of evidence and upon the guidance of the Lord, the judges will render a verdict.

In ancient Israel the punishment for certain crimes and misdemeanors was flogging. "If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes." (Deuteronomy 25:2-3) A person could be sentenced up to forty lashes but not more than forty lashes. It was up to the discretion of the judges, based on the severity of the person's wrongdoing, how many lashes between one and forty he would receive. It became standard practice to stop at thirty-nine lashes to prevent an error in counting; the judges themselves would be lawbreakers if a miscount occurred and the offender received forty-one lashes. 

The Apostle Paul stated he had received thirty-nine lashes on five separate occasions for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:24) Blasphemy is one of the charges for which a flogging could be administered. Since the religious leaders of Israel considered the gospel of Jesus Christ to be blasphemy, the judges sentenced Paul to thirty-nine lashes on five different occasions. He preached the gospel of Christ inside and outside of Israel many more times than just those five times, not always with anyone laying hands on him to charge him with blasphemy, but on a lot of occasions he was arrested and imprisoned or beaten with rods. Once he was pelted with stones and left for dead. (For the entire list of things Paul endured for the sake of the gospel, see 2 Corinthians 11:23-28.) 

Now we'll move on to a law the Lord made for the benefit of an animal doing labor for its master. "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." (Deuteronomy 25:4) The ox is to be allowed to eat of the grain while it treads grain free from the husk. An ox would usually be tied to a post while the grain was spread out around the post in a circle. The ox would walk around and around the post for a while, repeatedly stepping on the same grain, until the husks were busted loose. While the ox works it is to be paid for its labor by allowing it to eat. A person with a greedy heart might be tempted to muzzle his ox in order to conserve as much of the grain for himself as possible, but the Lord says this is wrong. The animal deserves to be paid while it is working. It is earning its keep. The Lord considers it cruel for the animal to be able to look at the grain but not be able to eat of the grain if it feels hungry while it is working.

The Apostle Paul said the Lord also made this law for the benefit of the Old Testament priests and the New Testament (and church age) ministers of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:7-12, 1 Timothy 5:18) Paul pointed out that the priests who served at the tabernacle and later at the temple made their living from their work at the house of the Lord. A portion of most of the offerings went to support the priests and Levites and their families. In this same way, Paul said the ministers of the gospel were to be supported by their churches. A church pastor ought to be paid a living wage. A pastor should not have to maintain a full time job in addition to leading the church and ministering to the flock. My own pastor and his assistant pastor are basically on call 24/7. Not only is our church office manned by one of them all day long on weekdays, but they visit sick congregants at home or in the hospital several times a week, sometimes being called to someone's bedside at odd hours of the day or night. They officiate over funerals and weddings, and in a church as large as mine, these occasions are fairly frequent. A pastor who has to do all these things, plus maintain a full time job outside the church, is going to burn out quickly. That's why it's so important to pay pastors a good wage so they don't need secondary employment. They cannot be effective in their work for the church and be effective in their work for a secular employer at the same time. Their work in both places will suffer along with their health and their home life with their families.

Join us tomorrow as we move on into the laws regarding a practice known as "Levirate Marriage".