Going to war

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 24:5–13, “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken. No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man’s life to pledge. If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you. Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do. Remember what the LORD thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt. When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee. And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.”

The most basic fact about war is that people get maimed and killed and, if I go, there is no guarantee that it won’t be me. The Lord made sure that a man who was married didn’t have to go to war for twelve months so that the couple could have time to develop their marriage and even try to have a child so that the family could continue. There were laws about one Israeli charging interest to another Israeli. However, from time to time a person might need to borrow money. In that case the lender would expect to take some kind of guarantee for the loan. However, what kind of guarantee could a person take from someone who was poor? One possibility was the poor man’s overcoat. The Lord made it quite clear that He cared for the poor and needy and would look after them (Ex 22:21–24, “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”) If someone took a poor man’s coat then what would the poor man do about keeping warm at night? That is why the lender had to give the coat back before sunset, even though the loan wasn’t repaid at that time. Another think that a person who has money to lend does is act like he owns the borrower but this was not acceptable. The borrower wasn’t allowed to come into the poor man’s house and see if there was anything he might like to take. Even though a man is poor, he is still a child of God and must be treated with the dignity that a child of God deserves. Kidnaping was a capital offence, especially if a man kidnapped someone for profit.

No favour in his eyes

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 24:1–4, “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”

Over the years this section has been greatly debated by experts in the Law of the Lord. The definition of the words, “she find no favour in his eyes...” is open to many interpretations. Some scholars took it to mean something as trivial as a man could divorce his wife is he woke up in the morning and didn’t like her that day. The rest of the sentence , “because he hath found some uncleanness in her.” didn’t attract the same attention. The first time that we find the word “marry” in the Bible is in Gen 19: 14, where we find that Lot’s daughters were to be married but the concept of marriage is first discussed when the Lord gave Adam Eve to be his wife. (Gen 2:21–24, “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” In this case the man made a public declaration and, presumably, so did the woman. They belonged in the parents’ homes but they publicly declared (the marriage ceremony) that they would now form their own new home together. After that they would enjoy the privileges of marriage and be joined together. When we read about Adam earlier in that chapter (Gen 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”) Adam was different to all the other creatures because he had the breath of life and he was a living soul and Eve was exactly the same. When they were joined together their souls were joined. If a man or a woman sought to join with another person in that way they damaged their own souls, the part that was made in God’s own image. God’s intention was that they be joined together until they were separated. (Even though this took place before sin and death, God was not surprised by sin because He knew that both Adam and Eve had the ability to choose and that they would choose in the course of time.) When the Law was given, the social and cultural milieu was different and the society was strongly patriarchal. At that stage, a woman belonged to her husband or her father. If her husband put her out she would have no status in society and would be an outcast. Even though the couple were joined together in their souls the man could assert his superior status in that culture. The Lord established this regulation, as a last resort, to protect a helpless woman from literally becoming homeless and having no one to protect her. However, this protection was extended so that the man could not treat her with complete contempt and come back to her later. Leaving her in a position of complete emotional insecurity as he bullied her.

Your brother Israeli

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 23:15–25, “Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it. When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee. That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth. When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel. When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour’s standing corn.”

The Israelis were slaves in Egypt and they lived in a society where there was slavery. The Law made special provisions for slaves to be set free rather than keeping them as slaves for life. There were no bankruptcy laws in those days and people who got into financial trouble could only solve the problem by selling themselves as slaves to pay the debt. In view of all these issues, Israelis were not to return slaves who came from other countries to find refuge. They were not to send the slaves back to their masters but offer them hospitality as strangers. In fertility cultures, prostitution was a legitimate part of worship. Orphans were sent to the temples to become prostitutes, both female and male. Worshippers would then visit temple prostitutes as part of their worship, hoping for better crops, etc. The Lord promised Israel that they would be prosperous if they obeyed Him, meaning that there was no need for prostitution. Thus the money earned by prostitutes was actually money given to a false god and an abomination to the Lord. The same reasoning was behind the issue of lending money for interest. The Lord promised to make the nation prosperous so they were obliged, in the Lord’s Name, to help their fellow Israelis. The person who helped his fellow Israeli was just acting as the Lord’s agent and giving the benefits from the Lord second hand. This also applied to crops and fruit; a hungry person could take fruit from a tree to eat. If that person took a bag to carry the fruit he became thief. The wonderful benefits of belonging to the Lord and enjoying the benefits of His lovingkindness were sufficient for every Israeli and were best enjoyed by sharing them with the brothers and sisters from Israel.

Unclean in the camp

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 23:9–14, “When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing. If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp: But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again. Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.”

When the Lord told Abraham about the fact that his descendants would be slaves in Egypt, the Lord told him that the sin of the Amorites was not yet full. (Gen 15:16, “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”) This means that, by the time Israel reached the borders of the Promised Land their iniquity had reached the stage where Divine Judgment was necessary. In fact, as long as Israel kept being the source of blessing to all the families of the earth by keeping the covenant of the Land they would always be in a position to defend the Lord’s good Name and act as His agents of judgment in the world. If this was so, then they would have to make sure that each person in their armies was ceremonially clean before he went into battle to act as the Lord’s agent. The Lord HImself moved among His armies when they went into battle and we know that the Lord cannot look on iniquity. (Habakkuk 1:13, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?”) The Lord would no longer move among His people if they were not ceremonially pure and they would lose the battle rather than win victory and let their enemies know that the Lord is the Lord (compare, for example, Ex 7:5, “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”) Any man in the army who was ceremonially unclean in any way was to leave the camp and not participate in the battle.

Not enter into the congregation

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 23:1–8, “He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever: Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever. Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.”

The Lord God created a perfect earth and placed the world upon it. (according to 1 Sam 2:8 , “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.” the world is placed upon the pillars of the earth) When the Lord created the world, He created everything perfect and without sin. After sin came into the world then came imperfection and disabilities. We know that the Lord cares for the widow and the orphan, (see Ex 22:21, 22, “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.”) We can extend this to any person who is “different” in any way, including people with physical disabilities. However, when it comes to atoning for sin, the people involved must not be afflicted by the gross effects of sin. This is not to say that anyone serving as a priest was sinless while those who are afflicted are not sinless. When the Lord God began creating, He established chaos and then brought order from that chaos. After sin came into the world, chaos descended on that order moving the world from a predictable system to chaotic system, that is system that it unpredictable. This is why bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people while they live on the earth.

Relationships

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 22:13–30, “If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you. If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you. But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die: But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her. If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.”

When the Lord originally created Adam, He saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone so He made Eve to be Adam’s companion. Together, they were complementary, making a complete unit to work with each other and complete the task that the Lord gave Adam, that was to live in the garden. When Adam and Eve came together they were joined together, that is, they were joined in their souls. If people are joined together and they try to join with a third person then their souls are wounded, eventually they become scarred and they are no longer able to form relationships that are loving and supportive. The bride price was to intended to be set aside so that the bride could use that money later if something went wrong with the marriage. On the other hand, sometimes a couple would decide that they didn’t like each other after they were married. In that case, the woman had left her home but was not welcome in her new home so she had nowhere to go and no means of support. The Lord had compassion for a woman, under those circumstances and gave her support and different ways of protecting herself. The groom could not just make any accusation against his bride but he had to support his complaints with evidence. If he couldn’t support his claims then he would be punished for defaming a good woman and a good family in Israel. If there was a case of rape the girl had to call out to protect herself or she would be accused of compliance. On the other hand, if a girl was out in the county, where people couldn’t hear her cries then the man was considered to be guilty and would have to bear his punishment. This passage also prohibits incest of any kind. When close relatives have a relationship that produces children then there is a very high chance of the children being disabled. Disability occurs naturally in any society and those children must be treated with compassion and given every encouragement possible but it is wrong for relatives to go out of their way to cause problems like this.

Birds and eggs

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 22:5–12, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days. When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together. Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.”

This section contains a section of different regulations to cover areas not considered in some of the broader regulations. When the Lord created mankind, He created Adam and then Eve, according to His own wisdom. After the curse, He placed different obligations on men and women. The first regulation here insists that we all submit to the Lord’s first act in creating mankind, that is, He made men and women different. We are to submit to the Lord’s order in this matter and dress according to the way that the Lord God made us. However, as we move through this section we should be mindful of the fact that all the regulations belong in the same category. The second regulation shows something of the Lord’s grace. No one should kill a nesting bird on the same day that they take its eggs. After this we have some common sense. When a person builds a house they are required to consider safety in the design process. Never leave a flat roof without a fence because if a person falls off a house roof they will be badly injured or they may die. If a builder sets up a house without safety precautions then the builder is responsible for the safety of the people you come to the house. (This is similar, in some ways to Eze 33:1–6, “Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.”) The builder is required to take safety precautions but is not responsible for a foolish person. Leaders can also be held responsible for leading their flock in the right way and not leading them astray. The Lord had set Israel apart to be a special people dedicated to achieving His goal of blessing all the families of the earth so He told them they must remember the principle of purity in the farming practices as well. Lastly the Lord called upon them to wear a garment with tassels, or fringes on the four corners. This is to remind Israel of the four corners of the earth and that they are to be a source of blessing to the people right to the four corners of the earth. (compare Is 11:12, “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”). If a person is dogmatic about one part of this section, for example, men not wearing women’s clothes but is willing to a woollen suit with a cotton shirt then that person is being a hypocrite.