Deuteronomy 28:1,2 - Exalted above all nations

This chapter is very similar to the corresponding one in Leviticus 26. Now we need to face up to a very fundamental fact. On our own merits every single one of us is in for the curses. Sometimes preachers proclaim these verses with a whe-hay. Well, as they stand they are bad news, for not one of us has "fully obeyed the Lord", so it is the curses for us then! There is only one man who has "fully obeyed the Lord", and that is Jesus Christ.  So it is only in Christ that we can take encouragement from these verses.

Having said that, there is much we can gain from these verses, remembering that it is only in Christ that we benefit from them. "I will exalt you above all nations". Now Jesus has been given the name above all names, has been exalted above every power and authority. But we are seated with Him in heavenly places. Now this is not pie in the sky, or fairy tale nonsense. It means that we are potentially the most influential people on earth. In every situation we find ourselves in we must act and live in a Christlike way. Some may find themselves in places of power, others just in everyday circumstances. It does not matter. We must be Christlike at all times, and we will find that the love and power of God flows through us in those situations.

We need to appreciate this. We are the people of God. Let me give you a very practical example. The country, along with most of the world, is going through an economic crisis. We should make it a goal to continue giving, even to increase our giving. For God is not suffering an economic downturn. The source of our life and strength is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He never fails.

Deuteronomy 27 - Remembering and Curses

When they entered the land they were to set up stones with the Law written on them. So there were two key things that they needed to remember. One was that it was the Lord who had brought them into the land, and secondly the way that the Lord had commanded them to live. It is the same for us today. We need to remind ourselves always that it is only because of Christ that we have been saved, but we also need to focus on the new way of living that Jesus taught and showed us. Being saved is not a ticket to heaven, it is about eternal life, about living a Christlike life.

This is followed by a whole list of curses that the Levites were to proclaim. Now a curse is not a spell, rather it is God's judgement on man's sin. So what the Levites are doing is declaring various actions that are sinful, that will bring God's wrath (His righteous judgement) upon the people.

Many of the prohibitions are the opposite of the Ten Commandments, eg despising your parents rather than honouring them. Several of these concern sexual sins. Sexual sins are different from others, because they affect our very being in a way that other sins do not. As Paul said, other sins are committed outside the body, sexual sins are committed in the body (1 Corinthians 6).

Deuteronomy 26 - Giving and serving

First we get instructions on tithes. After they had conquered the land they were to give some of the first produce to the Lord. Now there are several things to note about all this. First it happened after they had conquered the land, ie after God had fulfilled His promise. They were giving out of what they had (as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8,9). In giving they were acknowledging that it was God who had given them the land. Our tithes are a recognition of the ultimate source of our provision.

Then they were to remember where they had come from and how they had got here. Without the Lord they were nothing. The same applies to all of us. Not one of us had any say in our conception! To imagine that we are in full control of our lives is shear lunacy. None of us really knows why our heart continues to beat. We are capable of many things, but we need to recognise our true place as well. Without the Lord we are nothing. 

Then the giving was to be a time of celebration. They were to celebrate all the other things they had after having given to God, and they were to share this with everyone.

Every third year there was a special tithe for the Levites, and various groups of needy people, including foreigners. Giving to the poor has always been an essential part of the Christian life.

Finally we are to be completely committed to the Lord. We are His special people. Now remember the promise to Abraham, that all nations on earth would be blessed through him. This special relationship with God that we have is not a cause for being inward looking or self-satisfied, it is one from which we are able to bring God's blessing to all people. Jesus commanded this when He said go in to all the world.

Deuteronomy 25 - More laws

The purpose of the justice system is to acquit the innocent and condemn the guilty. Physical punishment was used, and was limited to forty lashes to avoid the offender being "degraded". Now to us this seems very strange. However, I think it is fair to say that our judicial system and punishment system is not exactly effective. Moreover, the advantage of corporal punishment is that it is over and done with. Prison drags on and seems to do little to help. So perhaps we should not be so quick to rush to judgement.

Under certain circumstances a brother was to take his brother's widow as a wife. The goal was to ensure that the family name did not die out. There was a much greater sense of family identity than we find in our very individualistic society.

Verses 11 and 12 contain a very amusing instruction. It is not quite clear why the woman should be punished for helping her husband.

Trade was to be carried out in a legal and straightforward manner, not cheating anyone.

Judgement was to be carried out against the Amalekites.

Deuteronomy 24 - A Socially Progressive Society

Now we get regulations on divorce. Again we need to remember that this law would give the woman more protection than she would otherwise have in the society of the day. 

We also need to note that this is not promoting divorce. As Jesus said, this was given because we are evil. Divorce will happen, it shouldn't, but sometimes it will. There can be contentious debates about divorce, some saying that New Testament teaching allows divorce, but not remarriage. In the society of the time (both here in Deuteronomy, and and New Testament times), it would be assumed that divorce allowed remarriage. 

Newly married men were not to go to war. He was to bring happiness to the wife, again the needs of the wife are put first here.

If someone was poor, it was a sin to take away his livelihood. Verses 10-15 show more concern for the poor. People are not to be exploited, but are to be respected. When we treat the poor well it is pleasing to God. Conversely, mistreating the poor can lead to them crying out to God, and He will hear their prayers.

Verse 16 is very important, especially in the context of teaching on "generational sins". Now it is obvious that things are passed down from one generation to the next. We see this genetically, we can also see trends in families, patterns of behaviour repeating themselves. But here we have a very clear statement that each person is responsible for his own actions. In all matters we need to look at the whole of the Bible's teaching, then we are much more likely to get to the truth of a matter.

The chapter closes with more concern for the poor.

Taken in context, and looked at as a whole, the teachings in the Old Testament are remarkably progressive, and indeed in some cases are more "liberal" than our own society. If atheists tell you that the Old Testament  teaches unjust and cruel laws they do not know what they are talking about. There is an awful lot we can learn from the Bible.

Deuteronomy 23 - Various Laws

The chapter starts with a list of various exclusions from the assembly. Those excluded were people who had been castrated, those born of a forbidden marriage, and Ammonites and Moabites.

What are we to make of all this? Well first of all it is worth reading Isaiah 56 where it says that eunuchs and foreigners will be welcome in the assembly. So this is only a temporary prohibition. Perhaps the best way to look at is to see it as the types of things that are not part of the kingdom. We see in the Law a picture of what the kingdom is like in terms of principles and standards, but the Law was powerless to deal with man's sinfulness and brokenness. So we see here various groups of sinful and broken people. In Christ sinners are forgiven and the brokenhearted are healed.

In verse 7 and 8 we see two groups who were not permanently excluded. Now both groups were enemies of Israel, but they were not permanently excluded because of Israel's relationship to them. In the case of Edom it was a blood relationship, in the case of Egypt she had lived there.

Next we get instructions on nocturnal emisions (wet dreams) and dealing with excrement. What a wonderful book the Bible is! Anytime anyone starts getting too prim and proper they should be sent to mediate on these verse for a week, and then deliver a teaching on it! Just a suggestion.

Similarly verses 15 and 16 are useful for those who think the Bible promotes slavery. It most certainly does not.

Prostitution is forbidden. There are those who say that prostitution should be treated like any other "profession". This is nonsense. Prostitution is always involved with the exploitation of people, and is demeaning, both to the prostitute and "client". God created us with a better purpose in mind.

We need to be careful what we say. Vows and promises are very serious matters. 

Deuteronomy 22 - More laws

The Bible shows a keen awareness of human psychology. It is always very easy for us to look the other way, but God here tells them that if they see a sheep or ox wandering around they are to take care of it, not just ignore it. And the same applied to other lost objects as well.

Next we have prohibition of transvestitism. The Biblical teaching is that men and women are both made in the image of God, but are distinct and compliment each other. This is why the Bible consistently teaches against homosexuality.

We then get concern for birds, and health and safety regulations. The rules on not using an ox and donkey, or mixing wool and linen, may be about not mixing things that should not be mixed.

The rest of the chapter deals with protecting a woman's integrity. A man could not falsely accuse his new wife of not being a virgin as an excuse to get rid of her. The opening paragraph closes with the instruction that the man must not divorce the woman. Now in our Western way of thinking we might think this odd, considering that the woman would be far better of without him! There may be something to be said for this, but society was different in those days, and it was important for a woman to be married. Despite the obvious changes in society, there is still something we can learn from this. Today we are far too ready to give up, far too ready to find an excuse for divorce. We could benefit a lot from focusing more on ways to make things work, ways to overcome difficulties.

There then various other laws on sexual sins. It is significant that in most cases both the man and the woman were held responsible. This seems obvious to us now, but looked at in the context of the times is an important and quite amazing advance.