Kidnapping, Pandemics, & Collecting Debts -- More Lessons from the O.T. -- Deuteronomy 24:7-13

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Is There Anything God Didn't Think Of? More Rules To Live By -- Deuteronomy 24:7-13

In this passage of Deuteronomy, God through Moses deals with three things.

1: Verse 7 tells us that kidnapping is non-starter. It is an evil act and there's no place for it among God's people. The penalty for those that deal with their kidnap victims violently or sell them is death. Of course today we try to negotiate the ransom with them. Makes for great movies. Now I must admit that the part of the verse that presents some difficulty is the part that refers to kidnappers who kidnap a "countryman from the sons of Israel".  This begs the question as to whether the kidnapping of others other than Israelites, is okay. One could also ask what was the penalty for those who kidnap someone but don't treat them violently or sell them. Today, we get a lot of that as people kidnap children because they can't have any themselves and just want a child.  What do we do with them?

Well, the issues and the answers or solutions, can well have that too-often used phrase these days apply to them --  "it's complicated".  So much else has gone wrong in a society or a person's life before we even get to that stage.

Bottom line here is that people of God do not kidnap neither do they condone it. Matthew Henry may be of some help here as he writes:

"It was not death by the law of Moses to steal cattle or goods; but to steal a child, or a weak and simple man, or one that a man had in his power, and to make merchandize of him, this was a capital crime, and could not be expiated, as other thefts, by restitution-so much is a man better than a sheep, Mt. 12:12. It was a very heinous offence, for, 

• 1. It was robbing the public of one of its members.
• 2. It was taking away a man's liberty, the liberty of a free-born Israelite, which was next in value to his life.
• 3. It was driving a man out from the inheritance of the land, to the privileges of which he was entitled, and bidding him go serve other gods, as David complains against Saul, 1 Sa. 26:19."

2: The next thing dealt wth in this short passage is the issue of infections or for our purposes (in 2021) a pandemic. This is covered in verses 8-9.

We are to take the necessary precautions and be careful. We are to diligently observe all that we are asked to do and are taught to do. So, does that mean we are to follow what our local and national governments are demanding of us with respect to Covid-19?  Maybe. But not so fast. Read the rest of verse 8. It clearly states two things. First, these instructions are to come from the Levitical priests. They ran the show in those days. Who has replaced them today?  Is it the local mayor or the state/provincial leader, or the president/prime minister?  Or is it our church leaders? I'll leave that for you to decide as you study this portion. And the second, most important condition, regardless of who represents the Levitical priests today, is this: Their instructions would be as God commanded them through Moses. Now if you believe that today's priest replacement (church or otherwise) meets that second condition, by all means, go for it.  Do exactly as they say.

In either case, there may be a good reason to do. God reminds us of what happened to Miriam as the Israelites were making their way out of Egypt. You will remember Miriam and her brother Aaron as being rebuked by God for criticizing Moses on account of his "Cushite" wife. As a result, Miriam was punished for a week with leprosy.

3: The last of three areas discussed in our text today is that of collecting debts. Verse 10 says when you are collecting either the collateral or the debt, don't enter the debtor's home. We're to stay outside and respect his privacy. He is to bring us the pledge of what he owes.

David Guzik writes extensively on this:

"God does not condemn the principle of taking a pledge, only commanding that it be received humanely. The idea of taking collateral for a loan is valid, because it encourages personal responsibility in the one receiving the loan. You shall not keep his pledge overnight: Assuming the pledge was something to keep the man warm (such as a garment or a blanket, which would often be the only pledge a poor man could make), the pledge had to be returned so the man could use it to keep warm overnight. "The Jews in several cases did act contrary to this rule, and we find them cuttingly reproved for it by the Prophet Amos, chap. ii. 8." (Clarke)"

Robert Jamieson says it this way:

"The course recommended was, in kind and considerate regard, to spare the borrower's feelings. In the case of a poor man who had pledged his cloak, it was to be restored before night, as the poor in Eastern countries have commonly no other covering for wrapping themselves in when they go to sleep than the garment they have worn during the day."

Did you catch the twist for God's people? If the debtor is a poor person working hard to make ends meet and to provide for his family, and who has done all he could to put together what he owes you and gives it to you -- then, you person of God are not to keep it overnight. You can't "sleep" with it -- your godly conscious shouldn't allow it. In fact, when the sun goes down that very day, you are to take it right back to him and let him sleep with it (in the O.T. it was usually a warm cloak) and let him bless you for doing so. But above all that will count for "righteousness for you before the Lord your God."

That is powerful. You can't buy that kind of heart-felt sincere blessing from others or that kind of righteousness in the eyes of God. But that action of yours has to come from your own heart. It has to come from the realization that you are blessed far above what you deserve in this life, by God. And from a knowledge that has been well-engrained in your mind that you have been "blessed to be a blessing" to others.

Bottom line, we are to always be mindful of the other person's needs and above all, their dignity in any of these business relationships. Yes, it is business, but for the Christian, it is also about "our business with God".

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