consensual and criminal

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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consensual and criminal

Deuteronomy 22:20-22 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 22:20 But if this accusation is true and no evidence of the young woman’s virginity is found,
Deuteronomy 22:21 they will bring the woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. You see, she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from you.
Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is discovered having sexual relations with another man’s wife, both the man who had sex with the woman and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

consensual and criminal

Sexual immorality was seen as such an evil within the Israelite community precisely because it was a covenant community. The covenant of marriage was sacred because it was part of the greater covenant with the Lord. One could break the lesser covenant by having sexual relations before marriage or by having an affair with someone else during marriage. It did not matter whether it was consensual. It was evil,and it had to be purged from the nation. It reflected the casual attitude about sex that pervaded the pagan nations God had already judged. It was criminal!

Former generations understood why such restrictions were necessary. How much heartache and family dissolution must we in this present generation endure before we realize that the God who gave us sex in the first place has provided appropriate boundaries for its enjoyment?

Lord, renew our minds so that we can see the evil in transgressing the boundaries you have set for us.

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a higher standard of mutual respect

Posted on March 22, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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a higher standard of mutual respect

Deuteronomy 22:13-19 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 22:13 “If a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, and comes to hate her,
Deuteronomy 22:14 and places an accusation on her of shameful conduct, and gives her a bad name, saying, ‘I married this woman and was intimate with her, but I didn’t find any evidence of her virginity,’
Deuteronomy 22:15 the young woman’s father and mother will take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the city elders at the city gate.
Deuteronomy 22:16 The young woman’s father will say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her.
Deuteronomy 22:17 Notice he has placed an accusation on her of shameful conduct, and this is what he said: “I didn’t find any evidence of your daughter’s virginity,” but here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ They will spread out the cloth before the city elders.
Deuteronomy 22:18 Then the elders of that city will take the man and punish him.
Deuteronomy 22:19 They will also fine him a hundred silver shekels and give them to the young woman’s father, because that man gave an Israelite virgin a bad name. She will remain his wife; he cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

a higher standard of mutual respect

In yesterday’s text we saw that the Israelites were to demonstrate that they were distinctly the people of Yahveh. Today’s text shows how that distinctiveness was to be shown by how a husband treated his wife. To turn against one’s bride and accuse her of having been promiscuous and unfaithful was to bring shame upon her and her parents. It was a violation of the covenant. Being an Israelite was more than railings on your roof and tassels on your robe. It was to be demonstrated by a marriage based on mutual care and honor. The New Testament corollary to this instruction is submission to one another, which — for husbands — means sacrificially caring for our wives (Ephesians 5:21,25). It is a higher standard of mutual respect.

Lord, give us marriages which demonstrate respect for one another, because the world is watching to see if we are different.

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a distinctive people

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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a distinctive people

Deuteronomy 22:8-12 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 22:8 If you build a new house, make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t place blood-guilt on your house if someone falls from it.
Deuteronomy 22:9 Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed; or else, the entire harvest, both the crop you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will become defiled.
Deuteronomy 22:10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
Deuteronomy 22:11 Do not wear clothes made of both wool and linen.
Deuteronomy 22:12 Make tassels on the four corners of the outer garment you wear.

a distinctive people

Whether it was the houses they lived in, the crops they produced, or the clothes they wore, the Israelites were to demonstrate that they were distinctly the people of Yahveh. His rules made sense in their context, because they represented a way of life that was diametrically opposed to the paganism of the nations who had previously possessed the land. Anyone rejecting these rules would be immediately recognized as a violator — not just of societal mores, but of the covenant itself. The Israelite was called to be different from others, but the same as his brothers.

Christians as well have an obligation to live distinctive lives. They should live as “children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom (they should) appear as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).

Is your light shining, or do you look too much like the lost around you?

Lord, make us a distinctive people.

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transvestites and mother bird theft

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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transvestites and mother bird theft

Deuteronomy 22:5-7 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 22:5 “A woman is not to wear male clothing, and a man is not to put on a woman’s garment, because everyone who does these things is repulsive to Yahveh your God.
Deuteronomy 22:6 “If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the land along the road, and the mother is caring for the chicks or eggs, do not take the mother along with the young.
Deuteronomy 22:7 You may take the young for yourself, but be sure to let the mother go free, so that you may prosper and live long.

transvestites and mother bird theft

In the Mosaic covenant community, both transvestites and those who raided the whole nest were considered violators of the covenant. Before we denounce this rule as outdated and ridiculous to begin with, we had better give it close scrutiny. The mother bird is given to the community in order to fulfill her role as a mother of young birds. Take away the young birds for your food, and you still leave the mother bird to lay more eggs. But take away the mother and she can no longer fulfill that role.

Wearing the clothing of the opposite gender was a rejection of one’s role as defined by genetic make-up at birth. This instruction exists in the Mosaic law because the forces that influence such decisions today were around then as well.

God has already spoken to the question of whether transvestitism and related conditions should be tolerated in any society. The society that rejects that wisdom will pay the price. Anyone who hears the words of our Lord and refuses to live by them will be like a stupid man who built his house on the sand (Matthew 7:24-26). A society full of stupid men falls apart when the floods come, just as quickly as the wrongly built house.

God, teach us how to build societies that last — societies that listen to your word.

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puffy jacket story

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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puffy jacket story

Deuteronomy 22:1-4 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 22:1 “If you see your brother Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it; make sure you return it to your brother.
Deuteronomy 22:2 If your brother does not live near you or you don’t know him, you are to bring the animal to your home to remain with you until your brother comes looking for it; then you can return it to him.
Deuteronomy 22:3 Do the same for his donkey, his garment, or anything your brother has lost and you have found. You must not ignore it.
Deuteronomy 22:4 If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen down on the road, do not ignore it; help him lift it up.

puffy jacket story

Out on the trail, we often come across an object which was lost by another hiker. If we are reasonable sure that we are going in the direction of the hiker who lost the object, we will pick it up and bring it to the next shelter. I lost a valuable puffy jacket once and was able to reclaim it because someone found it, and brought it to a hostel near me. We look out for each other on the trail.

Twice in this passage, the covenant citizen is charged to not ignore something. The ox or sheep straying, or anything that one’s brother has lost — these things should not be ignored. A covenant citizen is his brother’s keeper, but should not keep things that his brother has lost. “Finders keepers” is not a biblical principle. It sets aside relationship and responsibility for greed and more stuff.

However, ignoring the lost animal or object does not mean just walking away from it. Because it belongs to somebody, the covenant citizen is charged with protecting the lost animal or object until it can be reclaimed.

That is the way it should be for believers. Things will go wrong for those around us, but we are all responsible to look out for each other,and not to prey on each other.

Lord, make us the kind of people who are considerate of each other.

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why he was taken down

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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why he was taken down

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

Deuteronomy 21:22 “If anyone is found guilty of a mistake deserving the death penalty and is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,
Deuteronomy 21:23 you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s affliction. You must not defile the land Yahveh your God is giving you as an inheritance.

why he was taken down

The Romans had no such rule. That is why Jesus’ body had to be quickly removed from the cross and placed in a borrowed tomb. After his sacrificial death, everything necessary to purchase our redemption had been accomplished. Christ was no longer under God’s affliction curse. He was raised triumphant from the grave, forever blessed and the means of our blessing.

Thank you Lord, for taking the curse of death upon yourself in order to rescue us.

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staying compliant and connected

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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staying compliant and connected

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 21:18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn’t listen to them even after they discipline him,
Deuteronomy 21:19 his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown.
Deuteronomy 21:20 They will say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he doesn’t obey us. He’s a glutton and a drunkard.’
Deuteronomy 21:21 Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. You must purge the evil from you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

staying compliant and connected

The situation here is an adult son who brings shame to his parents by refusing their direction, and wastes his life with alcohol and gluttony — substance abuse. This rule was intended to deter this practice. As a last resort, the parents of the stubborn and rebellious son can hand him over to the city elders. But the elders would not put him in rehab. They would stone him to death. Such behavior is an affront not only to God and the man’s parents, it defiles the community.

I’m not advocating this practice today — particularly since it was designed for the Mosaic covenant community and not the mixed communities we belong to. But I would like to point out that it shows remarkable insight. Societies crumble when their young men refuse to follow their parents instruction, or when parents neglect them. Either way, it produces wasted lives.

Lord, show us how to be compliant and connected to our families, to bring honor to our parents and to you.

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bypassing preferences

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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bypassing preferences

Deuteronomy 21:15-17 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 21:15 “If a man has two wives, one cared about and the other not cared about, and both the cared about and the not cared about bear him sons, and if the wife not cared about has the firstborn son,
Deuteronomy 21:16 when that man gives what he has to his sons as an inheritance, he is not to show favoritism to the son of the wife cared about as his firstborn over the firstborn of the not cared about wife.
Deuteronomy 21:17 He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the wife not cared about, by giving him two shares of his estate, because he is the first of his virility; he legally deserves the firstborn’s share.

bypassing preferences

This instruction is about fairness. It is about looking beyond your personal preference and doing what is right. There were even examples in the ancestry of the Israelites where fathers acted prejudicially against on child in favor of another, so if a person was inclined to do that, he could use that history to justify it. So, God had to set the record straight. Such prejudice is wrong.

Everyone has preferences. It is so easy as a parent, or a leader in an organization or a church — to let your preferences determine your actions. But fair parents and leaders train themselves to bypass their preferences and make decisions based on principles.

Lord, guide us in the fair exercise of our authority in every situation.

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from captive to family

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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from captive to family

Deuteronomy 21:10-14 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 21:10 “When you go to war against your enemies and Yahveh your God hands them over to you and you take some of them prisoner, and
Deuteronomy 21:11 if you see a beautiful woman among the captives, desire her, and want to take her as your wife,
Deuteronomy 21:12 you are to bring her into your house. She is to shave her head, trim her nails,
Deuteronomy 21:13 remove the clothes she was wearing when she was taken prisoner, live in your house, and mourn for her father and mother a full month. After that, you may have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife.
Deuteronomy 21:14 But if you do not treasure her, you are to let her go as her personality prefers, and you must not sell her or treat her as merchandise, because you have humiliated her.

from captive to family

At first glance, it seems barbaric. But this passage treats a reality that needed to be addressed by the covenant law. There would be many captives during the possession of the land, and they were not all to be executed or enslaved. This practice actually served to assimilate people into the community.

This was an opportunity for the Israelite man to show his allegiance to God and to pass on that covenant loyalty by inviting a captive woman to become part of his family. The alternative for the captive woman was destitution and possibly death as she tried to go to distant lands in search of a new life. But, because God respects the dignity of everyone, it would be her choice. By the end of that month of waiting, the Israelite man would also know if his desire for the captive woman was merely physical. If he did not treasure her, she would be free to go. She was not to be sold or bartered as merchandise.

Barbaric or not, there are some timeless principles from God’s word in this text. Respect for other people’s choice is one. Expanding the covenant community through marriage is another. Treasuring your life partner is also essential.

Lord, show those of us who are married how to respect and treasure one another, passing on our covenant relationship with you through marriage.

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hand washing cow

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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hand washing cow

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 21:1 “If a murder victim is found lying in a field in the land Yahveh your God is giving you to take possession of, and it is not known who killed him,
Deuteronomy 21:2 your elders and judges are to come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby cities.
Deuteronomy 21:3 The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work.
Deuteronomy 21:4 The elders of that city will bring the cow down to a continually flowing stream, to a place not tilled or planted, and they will break its neck there by the stream.
Deuteronomy 21:5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, will come forward, because Yahveh your God has chosen them to assist him and pronounce empowerments in his name, and they are to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.
Deuteronomy 21:6 All the elders of the city nearest to the victim will wash their hands by the stream over the young cow whose neck has been broken.
Deuteronomy 21:7 They will answer, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood; our eyes did not see it.
Deuteronomy 21:8 Yahveh, provide reconciliation for the guilt of your people Israel whom you redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.’ Then the responsibility for bloodshed will be wiped away from them.
Deuteronomy 21:9 You must purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, because you will be doing what is right in Yahveh’s sight.

hand washing cow

Ironically, this very ritual became the basis for the washing of one’s hands as a way of distancing oneself. The ritual was part of a process of discovering the perpetrator of a crime. But when no suspects have been revealed, the community could ask God to spare them from judgment because due process had been followed.

You should not wash your hands of a matter just to avoid complications. If you are aware of wrong that is happening, you need expose that wrong and get justice for those being wronged.

Lord, show us how to extend our love for each other by seeking justice.

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