What I Noticed Today (Deuteronomy 17-20)
I’m not sure why I didn’t notice this before but, since the beginning of Deuteronomy, the phrase, “the Lord your God” (or a variation) occurs over and over. Moses is telling the people what God expects of them, but making sure they realize these commands are coming from God, not simply from him.
At the end of Deuteronomy 16, Moses relates God’s instructions for establishing a system of justice that was to be fair and impartial. Deuteronomy 17 concerns the execution of justice.
Deuteronomy 17
Chapter 17 begins by reminding the people once again that they are to remain holy, set apart, and not to transgress the covenant God made with the people.
In verses 1-7, the idea of transgressing is immediately applied to those who would seek to worship foreign gods. On the evidence of two to three witnesses, these people were to be put to death by stoning in order to keep the entire nation from falling away.
In verses 8-13, difficult cases involving bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults were to be brought to the judges at the city gates.
- More difficult cases were to be brought before the priests and the chief judge.
- People are reminded that they must be true to all of God’s law; they cannot pick and choose what they will obey. Anyone who brought a case to the priests and judges for adjudication must obey whatever they decided.
- Any refusal to obey the decision of the judges/priests was considered a capital offense.
In verses 14-20, the Lord also lays out laws concerning kings:
- The king must be a man of the Lord’s choosing.
- The king must not acquire many horses for himself or send men back to Egypt to acquire them.
- He must not acquire many wives so that his heart will not be led astray.
- They were not to be concerned with the acquisition of wealth.
- As they sit on the throne, they are to write for themselves a copy of the book of the law, keep it with them and read from it every day so as to not turn away from God.
Deuteronomy 18
Deuteronomy 18 includes instructions regarding provisions for the Levites and an admonition against cultic practices.
In verses 1-8, there is another reminder not to neglect their offerings for the Levites since they have no inheritance in the land.
In verses 9-22, there is yet another reminder to remain holy by not following any of the abominable practices of the people in the land.
- Anyone who does these things is detestable, and the Lord is driving out the people of the land because of their detestable practices.
- God promised to send prophets who will speak the word of the Lord. The people must listen to him. Anyone who refuses to listen to the Lord’s prophet will be held accountable.
- But, the Lord warns that some prophets are not from God. The way to tell if they are prophets of God is whether or not what they say comes true.
Deuteronomy 19
Deuteronomy 19 restates the laws concerning the cities of refuge and justice for the accused.
- God makes a clear distinction between causing an accidental death, and premeditated murder.
- A total of six cities were to be set aside (three on each side of the Jordan River) where a person accused of manslaughter could seek refuge.
- However, if someone committed premeditated murder and fled to a city of refuge they were to be handed over to the avenger of blood to be killed. In this way, they will purge the evil from the Israelites.
Note: In the event of growth in the population, an additional three cities were to be set aside as cities of refuge.
In verses 15-21, concluding this section on matters of justice, God established a rule of evidence that an individual cannot be convicted on the testimony of a single witness, but only when there are two or three witnesses.
Note: This witness rule comes into play during one of Jesus’ trials.
- If one person testifies against another and there are no other witnesses, the two must be brought before the Lord in the presence of the priests and judges.
- The priests and judges must investigate the matter thoroughly. If one person is found to have lied accusing his brother falsely, he is to be punished by doing to him what he intended to do to the other person. In this way, the evil will be purged from among the people.
- You must not show pity; judgment must be life for life, eye for an eye, etc. (Exodus 21:23-25).
Note: This concept of proportionate justice is also known by its Latin term: Lex Talionis.
Deuteronomy 20
Deuteronomy 20 establishes laws of warfare (similar instructions in Deuteronomy 2:24-3:11).
- The priests are to step forward and remind the Israelites the battle is the Lord’s and that He goes before them. They need not be afraid.
- The army is to be an all-volunteer army. God excuses those who have just built a new house, recently planted a vineyard, become engaged, or are fearful.
- Separate rules were established for land that God had promised the Israelites versus land that was far away. Lands further away from the Promised Land were spared if they opened their gates to live in peace with the Israelites. The Promised Land of the Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, Canaanites, Perizzites, and Hivites was to be completely destroyed.
- When they laid siege to a city for a long time, they were not to cut down trees used for food, but it was alright to cut down trees that did not produce fruit and use them as siegeworks.
Some thoughts for further consideration:
- The administration of justice is important to God. The people were to remain holy, and they could not remain holy if there were an element of the people that turned away from God. Those that turned away purposefully were to be killed so that they would not corrupt others.
- In some ways this seems harsh, but as we shall see the Israelite’s reluctance to purge their body of unfaithful men did indeed cause the people to turn away from God.
- I wonder what would happen today if our leaders took the time to handwrite God’s commands and keep it with them if they would follow God more faithfully!
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
