protecting the right to reproduce

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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protecting the right to reproduce

Deuteronomy 25:11-12 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 25:11 “If two men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she puts out her hand and holds his genitals strongly,
Deuteronomy 25:12 you are to cut off her hand. Do not show pity.

protecting the right to reproduce

I don’t recall ever getting a lesson about this when I was a child in Sunday School. It’s one of those “mature audiences” texts. It seems rather extreme, but it is perfectly understandable from its Mosaic covenant context. In trying to protect her husband, this wife is actually doing something that might prevent her husband’s opponent from having children. Raising families was an essential part of the covenant under Moses.

The covenant under Christ is all about making disciples for him. We should be very serious about making choices that prevent our fellow believers from evangelizing. Those choices include our passive acceptance of cultural norms that discourage discussion of religion. It is a shame that in so many nations where we claim to have religious freedom, we tiptoe around other people, and stay away from sharing the riches of the gospel with those who need it.

Lord, make us people who courageously defend everyone’s right to lead others to Christ.

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sandal and spit

Posted on April 13, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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sandal and spit

Deuteronomy 25:7-10 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 25:7 But if the man doesn’t want to marry his sister-in-law, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He isn’t willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.’
Deuteronomy 25:8 The elders of his city will summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’
Deuteronomy 25:9 then his sister-in-law will go up to him in the sight of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she will answer, ‘This is what is done to a man who will not build up his brother’s house.’
Deuteronomy 25:10 And his family name in Israel will be ‘The house of the man whose sandal was removed.’

sandal and spit

It is difficult to imagine this situation playing out in one of our modern societies. But in Moses’ day, preserving a family line was essential to passing on the covenant through that family. Shame was the deterrent. Even if a man did not feel like doing this duty toward his brother, he would think twice because he would not want the shame associated with this sandal and spit ritual.

I have been thinking about these texts as to how they might apply in a modern context. Our covenant is different, so certain aspects of the application will also be different. The covenant mission under Christ involves making disciples of all nations. So, under this covenant, it will be more important that we bring people to faith than it is to raise families.

We should consider it a shameful thing if we have an opportunity to make disciples, but we do not. It brands a person with shame — the shame of leaving barren what should have been fruitful.

Lord, make us people who honor you and ourselves by being committed to making disciples.

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protecting joy

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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protecting joy

Deuteronomy 25:4-6 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 25:4 “Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain.
Deuteronomy 25:5 “When brothers live on the same property and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man may not marry illegitimately outside the family. Her brother-in-law is to take her as his wife, have sexual relations with her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
Deuteronomy 25:6 The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

protecting joy

From laws about redeeming the poor, this instruction proceeds to outline a plan to redeem the name of a brother who dies without producing an heir. One of the joys of life is raising children and being part of a larger family. The Mosaic covenant provided levirate marriage as a means of protecting that joy even in a time of sorrow.

Lord, make us people who find ways of bringing joy to others — especially those who are experiencing loss.

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flogged with forty

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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flogged with forty

Deuteronomy 25:1-3 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 25:1 “If there is a dispute between men, they are to go seek justice, and the judges will hear their case. They will clear the innocent and condemn the guilty.
Deuteronomy 25:2 If the guilty party deserves to be flogged, the judge will make him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate for his crime.
Deuteronomy 25:3 He may be flogged with forty lashes, but none added to it. Or else, if he is flogged with lashes added to these, your brother will be degraded in your sight.

flogged with forty

The concern here is dealing with an injustice without causing another injustice. Criminals guilty of minor crimes could be flogged, and go home. Even the flogging was limited so that both crime and punishment could be eventually forgotten. Incarceration does not allow for that. Too often, prison becomes a place to learn how to become a more efficient criminal.

Lord, help us build justice systems that deal with crime quickly, and change those that produce more crime.

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leftovers

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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leftovers

Deuteronomy 24:18-22 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 24:18 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Yahveh your God redeemed you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.
Deuteronomy 24:19 “When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the guest, the fatherless, and the widow, so that Yahveh your God may empower you in all the work of your hands.
Deuteronomy 24:20 When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, do not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the guest, the fatherless, and the widow.
Deuteronomy 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left. What remains will be for the guest, the fatherless, and the widow.
Deuteronomy 24:22 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

leftovers

The law of leavings was a way of demonstrating that the covenant community of Israel remembers their bondage in Egypt. When they were slaves, Pharaoh made them work hard for everything they got. Now that they are free from that bondage, they were not to treat the poor among them as slaves. Instead, they were to provide their leftovers free for the taking. In this way, they demonstrated the difference between the two communities.

How do we treat the poor among us? Do we stick them in government programs that rob them of their dignity and foster dependence? That’s not the way to treat the needy. Instead, we need to find ways of helping the poor to escape their poverty and provide for their families.

I am not saying that redeeming the poor is easy. But if we are serious about living God’s way, we have to come up with better answers.

Lord, make us a community of redeemers, not a community of enslavers.

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fair to everyone

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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fair to everyone

Deuteronomy 24:16-17 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 24:16 “Fathers are not to be put to death for their children, and children are not to be put to death for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own mistake.
Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not deny justice to a guest or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security.

fair to everyone

What Moses describes is a system of interaction that intends to be fair to all. There are standards of behavior that all are expected to comply to. For example, murder is prohibited. Anyone who commits murder can expect to be caught, tried, and executed. The murderer cannot escape justice by providing an alternate victim, even from his own family.

The people in the margins of this community are equally protected by its legal system. Those who have no parents or spouse to protect them can rely on the rules of the community to come to their rescue.

Most war, and much of today’s political conflict and strife has to do with seeking a system of rules and governance that is fair to everyone. The Israelites had that, but they didn’t always let it do what it was designed to do.

Lord, thank you for caring about everyone. Help us to be fair to everyone too.

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daily wages rule

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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daily wages rule

Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 24:14 “Do not exploit a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether one of your Israelite brothers or one of the guests in a town in your land.
Deuteronomy 24:15 You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and his throat depends on them. Otherwise he will cry out to Yahveh against you, and you will be held guilty of the mistake.

daily wages rule

The daily wages rule ensured that hired workers would be able to eat and provide for their families. Notice also that Yahveh is listening to the prayers of the hired worker. He will provide justice for the workers who are being mistreated by punishing the employer who exploits them.

This is practical Christian living here. A believer who thinks that he can follow any selfish practice he wants and use his employees any way he wants does not understand God. Our God is a deliverer, a bringer of justice to the oppressed. If we want to reflect his character in our workplace, we have to begin with fair and equitable treatment of all employees.

Lord, make us people who care for our employees, worthy of the work they give us.

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poverty and dignity

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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poverty and dignity

Deuteronomy 24:10-13 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 24:10 “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect what he offers as security.
Deuteronomy 24:11 Stand outside while the man you are making the loan to brings the security out to you.
Deuteronomy 24:12 If he is a poor man, do not sleep with the garment he has given as security.
Deuteronomy 24:13 Be sure to return it to him at sunset. Then he will sleep in it and celebrate you, and this will be counted as righteousness to you before Yahveh your God.

poverty and dignity

I like the way Moses takes pains to preserve the dignity of the poor man in this text. It is embarrassing to have to pawn off an item you need to secure a loan. It would be an affront to the poor person’s dignity to sleep in the cold because someone has your garment who doesn’t really need it.

How important is the dignity of the poor to us? Sometimes our political rhetoric reveals a casual attitude or even animosity toward those who find themselves in need. We need to check that attitude, because it does not reflect God.

Lord, give us attitudes about the poor that reflect the way you care about all of us.

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remember Miriam

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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remember Miriam

Deuteronomy 24:8-9 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 24:8 “Be careful with a person who has a case of serious skin disease, watching carefully everything the Levitical priests instruct you to do. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.
Deuteronomy 24:9 Remember what Yahveh your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.

remember Miriam

This instruction is a clue for us that skin diseases in the Israelite camp were more than a medical issue. Yahveh had inflicted Miriam with a skin disease as punishment for her involvement in inciting rebellion. So, the instructions concerning the treatment and containment of skin diseases in the Mosaic corpus are important because the Israelite camp could not tolerate persons who appeared to have been similarly judged by God. The containment of these diseased individuals is in line with the general admonitions for God’s people to avoid anything unclean or impure.

God’s people in any age and under any covenant are encouraged to avoid the appearance of defilement, corruption or condemnation. We need to regularly examine ourselves, and remove anything that might lead others to see us as impure. God walks among our camp, and he pays attention to the witness we are giving.

Lord, show us how to rid our camp of anything that would counter our testimony about you.

For today’s video, I am joined by Dr. John Roller, pastor of First Advent Christian Church, of Hickory, North Carolina.

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jobs and the will of God

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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jobs and the will of God

Deuteronomy 24:6-7 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 24:6 “Do not take a pair of grindstones or even the upper millstone as security for a debt, because that is like taking a throat as security.
Deuteronomy 24:7 “If a man is discovered stealing a throat of one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from you.

jobs and the will of God

I avoid using the typical word “soul” in my translation because it is so theologically charged that it obscures the meaning of most of the texts where the Hebrew word nefesh is found. Instead, I use the word “throat” in most cases. The point of today’s passage is that taking away a person’s livelihood is the same as taking his life. Since the grindstones or millstone are the way a person lives and eats, the Israelite was prohibited from taking it as security.

Enslaving a fellow Israelite was also stealing a throat — taking away a brother’s freedom to live on his own. Such an offense was punishable by death.

What God wants for you and me is to be free from the bondage of debt, or any other kind of slavery. He wants us to be able to provide for ourselves and our families and to demonstrate his care of others, not the exploitation of others.

Lord, thank you for the jobs you have given us. We pray for all those around us to find meaningful and profitable employment so that you are glorified. We also ask you to keep us from being obstacles to their freedom to do so.

Rev. David Davis joins me today to reflect about jobs, the pandemic, and Palm Sunday!

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