A Chapter Without a Title, For Good Reason (Deuteronomy 25)

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Could These Sundry Laws Get Any More Offbeat -- Deuteronomy 25

As I was finishing my study of the previous chapter in Deuteronomy (chapter 24), my eyes kept going to the next one (this 25th chapter). I noticed that my bible (NASB) which usually gives chapters and even sub-chapters headings had nothing of the sort for this one. There was a reason for that as we will discover.

This chapter has six very distinct pieces of instruction that are very curious and strange in nature for some very common circumstances in life. I wondered whether to try and unravel them over several studies or to deal with them all at once and get it over with. I went with the latter approach in mind. Here goes. Bear with me.

1. Lawsuits Between People (Verses 1-3) When two men go to court against each other and one is found guilty, the judge decides the merits of the case, and the 'wicked' man is made to lie down in his presence and be beaten as many times as is appropriate in accordance with his crime. But only to a maximum of forty stripes. The rationale being that you don't want even this 'brother' to be "degraded in your eyes".

I find that a little hard to understand, given that any public beating (say 39 stripes or even 3) would be degrading, would it not?

What is interesting though is if we move forward about 1400 years, we come to the Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians and saying, in 2 Corinthians 11:24, "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes." I guess they didn't want to degrade him in their own eyes.

Robert Jamieson says the Mosaic Law introduced two requirements: punishment was not to be carried out in private (so it would not be beyond what was established as the amount needed in a specific case) and it was not to cause death, thus the limitation of 40 lashes.

David Guzik points out that apparently God felt there are some crimes carried out by wicked people that deserve to be beaten. He goes on, "We seem to have a justice system today that considers itself more compassionate and kind than God Himself, yet we can't say that we live in a more just or safe society."

He then quotes Trapp who said, "Among the Mohammedans there are very few law-suits, and the reason is given … because they that sue others without just cause are to be whipped publicly." Now wouldn't that be something in this day and age. Frivolous lawsuits get severely punished. I have lived through such a lawsuit and our side spent close to a hundred thousand dollars defending ourselves. We won, but the other party only had to pay one quarter of our costs.

What can we take from this. Perhaps a few things. First, we don't take the law into our own hands. The Israelites had judges amongst them, usually priests, who had that responsibility of deciding guilt and its appropriate penalty. Second, crime is to punished in accordance to a set of guidelines established perhaps in relation to what harm the crime caused to others or to the community. Thirdly, there is a limit to the punishment for crimes that are not punishable by death. That is, you cannot punish someone to the point of death where death is not warranted. Wow.

2. Muzzling a Threshing Ox (Verse 4) Here stands this solitary verse all by itself telling the Israelites not to "muzzle the ox while he is threshing". I know they were into a lot of farming, but, seriously, what on earth is this all about?

Jamieson says that while they were threshing, the oxen would move their heads to the left or the right (or down to their feet) and take a bite of wheat or grass or broken off grains) that lay on the side or before. This was not to be stopped by the farmer or ploughman. It would have been cruelty to do so.

Proverbs 12:10 may be of some help as we read, "A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast." Okay, but we knew that. It makes sense. In 1 Corinthians 9:9, Paul basically repeats this verse from Deuteronomy and goes on to say that doing so is also not for the sake of the animal, but rather for our own sake. That is we are to plow (physically and spiritually) in hope, especially in hope of sharing the crop that was sown. Thus we treat those who help us kindly.

It is not until we get to yet another quote of this verse that we more fully understand its meaning. In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul quotes it and then adds, "The laborer is worthy of his wages." So that is what Moses was trying to say. Treat all persons and animals that help you in your work with great kindness, and fairness, and honesty.

3. What You Owe Your Deceased Brother (Verses 5-10) So what happens when your married brother dies? Well, it depends. If he has no son, you can't let her marry outside the family. Dying without a male heir was considered a great tragedy in those days. You, the brother, then would have to get her pregnant yourself by taking her as a wife and performing the duty of a husband. And her first-born (we assume the text really means first-born son as women didn't count as much in those days, although there is debate among Jewish scholars as to whether it does mean son or child) would be given the dead brother's name so that name and its lineage continues among the Israelites. So far so good, I think.

Apparently this practice existed before Moses, but here the Mosaic Law made it mandatory. Guzik quotes Thompson as saying, "The practice of levirate marriage … was not peculiar to Israel, for it was practiced among the Hittites and Assyrians as well as in countries such as India, Africa and South America."

But what happens when you don't want to be a husband to your dead brother's wife? Well, she can then go to the elders at the gate of the city and let the world know that you refuse to establish a name for your dead brother and won't perform the duty of a husband with her. You'll then get a talking to from the elders, hoping to change your mind.

And here's what would happen if you didn't change your mind. She would come to you in public, pull off one of your sandals (a sign of degradation), spit in your face (the strongest expression of ignominy and contempt among Eastern people, although some say this description referred to spitting on the ground before you), and declare, "This is what we do to men who don't build up their brother's house." And from then on, you will be known as "The house of him whose sandal is removed." Can I say 'wow' again?

Robertson says that "The shoe was kept by the magistrate as an evidence of the transaction, and the parties separated." However, I would point out as reminded by Matthew Henry, that it was not 'mandatory' that a man sleep with his dead brother's wife to give her a son, as long as he would or could withstand the 'shame' of not doing so. That's a relief.

We don't do things just like that any more. I do, however, believe those of us (regardless of our gender) who have brothers or sisters for that matter, whether they already have sons or daughters or not, and whose spouse dies have a responsibilities at that time. I believe we have a responsibility to step up to the plate and help in whatever way possible -- to help the spouse get through the difficult days ahead; to help any young children cope with the loss of their parent; and so on. We don't just stay distant, embroiled in only our own challenges. 

4. Keep Your Wife Out of Your Battles at least with other men. (Verses 11-12) The text clearly tells us that if two Israelites are struggling together (hand to hand battle), and one wife comes to help her husband by grabbing the genitals of the other man, her hand should be cut off without any mercy to be shown. Wow. You must my dear let me fight my own battles.

Seemed, at face value, that the Israelites didn't think it appropriate to have a woman fighting a man's battle. But was there more to that? The text also leaves as asking what if it wasn't another Israelite you were fighting with? Would it be okay then for her to help her husband out?  And what if she only kicked your enemy or pulled his hair, and didn't grab his genitals -- would that be alright? We don't know. Matthew Henry comes out and says that what is described in this section is rather action of not just someone coming to the physical defence of her husband, but rather coming to his defence in a very 'immodest' way. And perhaps this restriction was all about that.

Guzik again quoting Thompson admits this is a difficult passage. He quotes, "Possibly it was representative of similar offences and provided a standard for judgment in all such cases. Perhaps also, the law arose from the desire to protect the reproductive organs and thus obviate anything that might prevent a man leaving descendants." And why show her no pity? "Partly because of the great mischief she did to him, both to his person and posterity, and partly to deter all women from immodest and impudent carriages, and to secure that modesty which is indeed the guardian of all the virtues, as immodesty is an inlet to all vices, as the sad experience of this degenerate age shows; and therefore it is not strange that it is so severely restrained and punished." (Matthew Poole, 1683) I'll let you think about it and decide for yourself. Difficult indeed. 

Let's just say that women who love their husbands can do a lot of things for them, the foremost of which is pray for them, but there are some things that even today they should stay out of.

5. No Double Standards in Business (Verses 13-16) These verses simply say do not cheat anyone you do business with, anywhere. A pound is a pound and must weigh the same each time.  You don't have two different pound weights to put on a scale when measuring things you are selling, so that you may be honest with one person as you sell them something by weight and cheat the other person.

There is a difference between not giving someone a discount for a particular reason and lying to them about what they're getting. Today, more than ever, as Christian retailers, we must be careful that we are business men and women of integrity. Not doing these things God expects, is acting unjustly, and anyone who acts unjustly, the text says is "an abomination to the Lord your God." It is your choice and mine. Do we want to be a horror in the eyes of God?  I for one, do not.

6. Remember the Enemies God Saved You From (Verses 17-19) The chapter finally ends with instructions that the Israelites were not to forget what Amalek and his army (men who did not fear God) did to the Israelites that were lagging behind, when all of Israel was faint and weary. The Israelites were to remember that and know that once God had dealt with all their enemies and had given them rest in their new land, then they will be able to go back and take care of the Amalekites, and thus blot out the memory of Amalek.

The chapter ends with the phrase, "you must not forget". It is not clear to me whether they were not to forget Amalek's actions and that he still needed to be punished or that God has given then a land to possess, and rest from all their enemies. Guzik helps us out here, suggesting the former:

"Israel was to make this war against the Amalekites later, when they were at rest in the land. Some 400 years later, God directed Saul to make war against the Amalekites, and his failure to completely destroy them was the primary act of disobedience which cost Saul the throne (1 Samuel 15:2-9; 28:18)."

As I reflect on this portion of Scripture written to and primarily for the Israelites, I think of modern-day Israel today, and I also think of the whole spectrum of God's Children now that the Gospel has come to both the Jew and the Gentile. We are not to forget the time when God saved us from our Enemy or Enemies. We are to enjoy the rest He gives us in our new promised land that we currently live in as we enjoy and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. We are not to forget the battles He can still help us win here on earth. And we must never forget what God has promised He will still do for us when He takes us home.

Finally, here for me is the bottom line based on all these various laws and regulations we have been studying over the last few chapters:

1. God through Moses is very much interested in all aspects of our lives. He was for the Israelites and He is so for us now.

2. God has His reasons for why certain laws are in place. Usually they are for purposes of righteousness and the avoidance of idolatry. Those things are an abomination to Him.

3. God wants us to remain as individuals and as His People, pure and clean in every respect. He also wants our land to the same way.

4. In the bigger scheme of things even though we may not like some of the things God expects of us, or has us do, we realize that His plan and reasoning is way above ours. 

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