Deuteronomy
chapter 21 contains a group of seemingly unrelated and odd laws.
Together they serve to remind us that “doing your own thing”
spiritually is dangerous. The chapter begins, “If
a man is found slain in a field… and it is not known who killed
him, your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance to
the nearest town“.
The elders and priests of the nearest town must then perform a
purification and cleansing ceremony. “Take
a heifer that has never been worked and never worn a yoke… lead her
down to a valley that has never been plowed or planted and where
there is a flowing stream… break the heifer’s neck. Then all the
elders … shall wash their hands over the heifer… and they shall
declare: Our hands did not shed this blood… accept this atonement
for Your people and do not hold Your people guilty of the blood of an
innocent man“.
Remember Numbers 35:33 warned, “Bloodshed
pollutes the land”
and demanded atonement had to made by the one who shed it. It is
interesting when looking back at Matthew 27:24, when the people cried
out for Christ to be crucified, Pilate responded by washing his hands
before the crowd and pronouncing, “I
am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your responsibility“.
In reality each of us is responsible for the sacrifice of Christ,
but His innocent blood was payment (atonement) for our rebellion and
sin. When we accept that by faith we are forgiven completely and we
become one of God’s people.
Next
we read that when going to war, an Israelite may take for himself a
wife from the captives, but first he must follow a procedure of
purification and separation. “Bring
her into your home and shave her head, trim her nails and put aside
the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in
your home and mourned for her father and mother for a full month, you
may go to her and be her husband and she will be your wife“.
What a picture of the process of becoming a Christian. We were
first slaves to sin, but after we were chosen by Christ, we had to be
humbled and purified and separated from the rags of righteousness
were wore (Isaiah 64:6 says, “All
our righteous works are as filthy rags“).
Then by spending time in the presence of God’s holiness, we
become His bride. And notice, after this process, the bride is no
longer a slave; she is given full citizenship. “Let
her go whenever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a
slave.”
The
chapter also explains the rights of the first born to inherit a
double portion from his father, and the responsibility of a parent of
a rebellious son to turn him over to receive judgment for his
rebellion. The chapter ends with a mention that, “If
a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is
hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight“.
The
body was to be buried the same day. We read,
“Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse“.
This is not referring to a lynching, but the practice of humiliating
the guilty by leaving them on public display. In Galatians 3:13-14,
the apostle writes of this verse, “Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us”
and he concludes, “He
redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to
the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive
the promise of the Spirit“.
Don’t
be deceived into believing you can be good enough to earn your way
into heaven. The Law demands perfection. All of the protections and
privileges and inheritance given to God’s people are extended to
you and me when we are humbled and accept Jesus as our Savior. What
a merciful God we serve!