Deuteronomy Chapters 19-21

19:21 - Moses instructs that the punishment fit the crime as perfectly as possible. In this example if someone lies at a trial to try to get another person killed with capital punishment, the liar is to be put to death. He tried to have someone killed through the court system, so he is punished with death. Life for life. This goes for any intentional murders...unintentional killings are treated with grace as long as the killer gets to a city of refuge and is deemed innocent by the elders there. When we look at other verses we have read in the past, like Numbers 35, we see that there was a system of paying penalties monetarily instead if bodily. There was a price that could be paid for an eye, a hand, etc. But with regards to murder, there was only one price to be paid - life for life.

20:1 - Sometimes as Christians today, it seems like the spiritual war we are facing is insurmountable. All around we see Christians falling to the culture. All around we see evil and we see levels of brutality, hatred and selfishness that seem more powerful than the forces of good in the world. But we must never forget that the Lord is on our side. The ultimate battle has already been won by Jesus Christ. There is hope and resurrection, and no matter what the odds, when God is with us, we have the advantage.

20:10 - Here we see God instructing the Israelites to offer peace the the cities that lay siege on. If the cities accept, they are spared. So we know that God does not simply order the destruction of every people group that stands int he way of the Israelites. There must be something deeper going on when He does order absolute destruction.

20:14 - Even the people that fight back against the Israelites have their women and children spared. Merciful treatment in that day and age. Again, why do some peoples get mercy and others total judgement?

20:16 - Why is it different with these people? Because God as the ultimate judge has declared judgement on these people groups. These people have hardened their hearts against God and as described in previous chapters...they infect the Israelites with their pagan beliefs. These people are destroyed because it is a matter of life and death for God's people. These people have and will lead the Israelites away from God and when the Israelites turn away from God - they lose their protection...they face the wrath of God...they are judged. (See: verse 18)

20:19 - I thought this was interesting. This shows the responsibility that human beings have to nature itself. Moses tells the people not to destroy trees that bear fruit, because the trees cannot protect themselves. They cannot run into a city for protection like the people can. Often in these times, besieging armies would destroy every fruit bearing tree to utterly demolish the economy and livelihood of the people they were attacking. God doesn't want good fruit bearing trees destroyed, just because that is an easier path to take in their human ambitions. God has set us as the overseers of nature, something that most Christians don't take seriously at all.

21:9 - Blood guilt was something that polluted a community as a whole and had to be dealt with or God would remove His hand of protection from the people of Israel. Throughout these three chapters we see how important it is to God that innocent blood guilt be washed away - 19:10, 11, 19.

21:12-13 - Why the shaving of the hair and the removal of the clothes. These are parts of a person that can be removed and destroyed. This was probably symbolic of the gentile woman shedding her old life, so she could live as part of the Jewish community. We as Christians know a little bit about shedding the old life, huh? We are buried with Christ Jesus and rise in his resurrection life. Are there remnants of your old life that you are still clinging on to...things that need to be shed once and for all?

21:14 - In the Jewish commentaries, rabbis look at this story as a lesson in true love. Since this relationship was based purely on lust and beauty, Moses seems to imply that there is little hope for the fulfillment to last. Beauty is fleeting and a man who bases his love solely on that - is bound to find out quickly that beauty does not satisfy in the long run. We also see again the merciful love of God as He gives the woman rights to free choice, since it is not her fault that the man took her as his wife because he was blinded by beauty.

21:18ff - Wow - pretty intense stuff here! This passage speaks to children who are repeat offenders. Over and over they are corrected and punished and they refuse to change. They refuse to honor their parents and respect the community of Israel. It should be noted that the husband and the wife have to bring the child together...the husband does not have the right to do this alone in his anger. And you gotta figure, if a mother is willing to take her kid before the elders...this kid is crazy rebellious! What would you have to do to get a mom to take their son to a capital trial? And again, there is justice, the parents can't just kill the child...there is a trial that takes place. The elders preside over the situation and sentence death only as a last option to a completely obstinate and rebellious young man. We also see that the parents do not take part in the stoning. In every other case of offense, the offended party is the first to throw stones, but here we see the parents don;t take part. This is so the parents don't have to take part in the killing of their son. This shows that the whole process must be heartbreaking...this is only a last resort (And in all reality it may not have happened very often if at all - maybe the possibility of this being an option was enough to deter young people). The whole punishment process highlights the seriousness of respect for parents and authority in the Israelite world. It is a reflection of the ability to be humble and obedient before God and this respect was vital to the health of the community as a whole.