September 14, 2017
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Reading along with us in Deuteronomy? Here’s today’s reading:
Deuteronomy 22 (ESV)
“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 2 And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. 3 And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. 4 You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.
5 “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.
6 “If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. 7 You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.
8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it… Continue Reading
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I find verses 1-4 quite interesting because they are so counter-cultural to the idea of “finders keepers”. It’s so weird that from a young age we are taught anything we find can be ours, when the Bible says we should keep it safe and ready to return to our neighbor.
with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. 4You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.❤️
While I recognize these laws were given for the protection of women, this passage gives me renewed compassion for women in nations today where they are still treated as property, first by their fathers, then by their husbands — husbands who may even have been chosen for them.
And then, I look around at what has happened to us as freedom was granted to those who don’t live according to the boundaries set in place by a loving God, a God who knows so well what we will do when left to follow our deceitful, idolatrous, self-serving hearts. We live now in a generation where our freedom as women led also to sexual freedom: the freedom to choose who we would “lie with,” when we would “lie with” them, and why we would “lie with” them as well. Lust has become the driving force. The commitment of marriage, with all its protections and benefits, is not required or even expected; indeed, it’s not even part of the conversation anymore.
Sexually transmitted disease is so rampant, our prepubescent daughters are being given questionable vaccinations against a sexually transmitted virus. We teach elementary school children how to protect themselves from STDs and “unwanted” pregnancy.
Pornography and sex trafficking are multibillion dollar industries, and pornography addiction —
rampant even in the church — has been called a public health crisis. Our children’s brains are being molded and shaped by ease of access to perversion.
Rape and sexual assault is rampant on college campuses, where alcohol flows freely and young men and women bask in their “freedom,” only to wake up the next day with horrible regret and fear.
The abortion industry — the killing of the unborn — flourishes as “freedom” hardens our hearts and sears our consciences. And for those children whose lives are spared, many grow up without the benefit, protection, and security of having two parents, a mother and a father, fully committed not only to one another but to the family they have created.
In our demand to be “set free” from the boundaries set in place by God for our protection, we have created catastrophic bondage and slavery to sin as our hearts have hardened, our consciences have been seared, and we’ve lost our ability to discern right from wrong.
Thank You, God, for the freedom we have in Christ! Romans 8:1-4: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
livestock wander and people help them
people wander too and that is not so good
Wise words, Michelle. Oftentimes things that appear to be freedom are really just paths to slavery, especially when that freedom gives greater expression to our sin nature. Just think about the things that are broken in our society that this passage addresses. We find standards for personal responsibility, responsibility for others, crossdressing (a potential first step to transgender confusion), promiscuity, adultery and rape. Although the standards seem restrictive and outdated, there is provision and protection here as well along with the concern for how sin if allowed to go unchecked effects a whole society.
The hardest verse to come to grips with for me is verse 28. Thankfully there is no reinforcing of this in the law of Christ and therefore it has not translated into the laws of our society as well. Maybe if in addition to the 50 shekels there was a provision for the dad to give the guy a beat down it would make a little more sense 🙂 . But no such provision is here 🙁 . But the one silver lining is the man could not divorce her and therefore would have to take care of her for the rest of her life (ie God making provision for her in a patristic society).