(Oops! I tried to get this to post automatically this morning, but something went wrong. Still, better late than never!)
Every day I read the headings for the sections and chapters set for the day, make a little comment, then read. Up to now, I’ve always thought of something to say before I get started on reading the day’s allocation. Up to now. Perhaps this will be a short post.
The firstborn
Deuteronomy 21:15-17
A stubborn son
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Rule about hanging
Deuteronomy 21:22-23
Extent of punishment
Deuteronomy 25:1-3
Regarding the ox
Deuteronomy 25:4
Marriage of a brother’s wife
Deuteronomy 25:5-12
Regarding unjust weights
Deuteronomy 25:13-16
War against Amalek
Deuteronomy 25:17-19
Various laws
Deuteronomy 22:1-30
Regulations of the congregation
Deuteronomy 23:1-25
Death by hanging is a cursed way to die, death by stoning seems to be reserved for purging the community of sin or uncleanness. The New Testament writers picked up on this, pointing out that Jesus died a cursed death, bearing the curse of our sins. Like the scapegoat, upon whose head were place the sins of the community, and who was then driven out, Jesus died outside the city wall. The New Testament writers delight in telling us that when God did act to save the world, he did it not by power and strength, but through weakness.
In chapter 22, there are some strange regulations about not mixing things. Don’t plough with an ox and a donkey tied together, don’t wear clothes of mixed fabrics, don’t sow a field with mixed crops. Why? Is this a point about purity? Possibly. Purity and distinctiveness are behind quite a few of the laws I have read. the Israelites were to be different from the nations round about them. They weren’t to copy the practices of their neighbours, which might seem innocent in themselves, but which could lead to other things being copied, such as worshipping their gods.
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