Laws for the good of society & Laws upholding marriage
Notes
Transcript
Order of Service
Order of Service
Welcome
Welcome
Prayer
Prayer
Hymn - LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH (314) - RICK FOUNDS
Hymn - LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH (314) - RICK FOUNDS
Notices
Notices
Prayer Meeting - 7:30pm
Friday 7pm - Online
Sunday Morning 11am & 6pm
Tithes & Offerings - £
Main Prayer
Main Prayer
Hymn - WITH A PRAYER YOU FED THE HUNGRY (1255) - Stuart Townend
Hymn - WITH A PRAYER YOU FED THE HUNGRY (1255) - Stuart Townend
Reading
Reading
“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 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. 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. 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. “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. “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. 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. “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. “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together. “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself. “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him, and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days. But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. “But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her. “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days. “A man shall not take his father’s wife, so that he does not uncover his father’s nakedness.
Sermon
Sermon
Chapters 22-26 contain a wide variety of laws.
These laws were for God’s people living in God’s land
They distinguished Israel from the nations around
They were given so that it would show the nations how much better it is to obey God and follow His way
Laws for the good of society
Laws for the good of society
Brotherly Love in Action (v1-4)
Brotherly Love in Action (v1-4)
“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 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. 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. 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.
Out working of the commandment “you shall love your neighbour as yourself”Deuteronomy
Stray animal
cannot ignore it
return it to its owner
if the owner is not known, sustain it until it is claimed
Lost items (e.g. garment)
same as with the animal
brother is struggling with animal
cannot ignore it
go and help them
Three Diverse Laws (v5-8)
Three Diverse Laws (v5-8)
“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. “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. 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. “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.
Shall not wear a grament from the opposite sex
sexual deviance
pagan worship
live according to the way we are made
Shall not take a bird and its young, only to take the eggs.
don’t just consider the now, but also the furture
don’t be shortsighted
When you build a house, ensure a parapet for your roof
parapet - low wall or barrier at the edge of a roof
that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it
health and safety should matter to Christians
Remember what you are (v9-12)
Remember what you are (v9-12)
“You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together. “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.
Three commands
Do not mix your crops
Do not mix unequal animals in joint work
Do not mix materials into a single garment
Meanings attributed:
To keep God’s people distinctive
do not be unequally joked (in business or marriage)
no moral compromises
no incorporation of paganism into the worship of God
Not to be isolationist
Show kindness and care to strangers and unbelievers
but to remain God’s holy people
Make tassels (bunch of cords fastened at one end) on the four corners of the garment
Tassels were to act as reminders of the commandments of the Lord, in order to do them
The concept of a knot in a handkerchief to remind you of something that needs doing
Laws upholding marriage (v13-30)
Laws upholding marriage (v13-30)
Sexual Immorality and the Married Woman (v13-22)
Sexual Immorality and the Married Woman (v13-22)
“If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him, and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days. But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
Accusation of Absence of Virginity
Father held responsibility of his daughter until marriage
After marriage this falls on her husband
The man is held responsible for any sin and the owman was responsible if she acquiesced (accepted without protest)
This does not undermine equality between men and women
Nor does it justify oppression of women
Women had the freedom to develop their abilities to the full
What is described is the placement of responsibility and care on the man
all members of the family work together
a marriage present was given to the family to ensure that they do not suffer from the loss of their planned contribution
marriage brings about an economic advantage
Marriage sheet - To protect the daughter from unfair and spurious accusations (kept by the brides parents)
A spurious accusation
beaten and fined 100 shekels of silver
prevented from ever divorcing her
the law was established to protect the women from slander
A proven accusation
she would be stoned to death
defilement of her father’s house through prostitution
disobedience to a father undermined the whole covenant structure of Israel’s life
Adultery with another mans’s wife
faithfulness between a husband and wife mirrored the relationship between the Lord and Israel
adultery is consensual of both parties and so both suffer the same penalty
Sexual Immorality and the Betrothed Virgin (v23-27)
Sexual Immorality and the Betrothed Virgin (v23-27)
“If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. “But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.
Betrothed
Clarity between adultery and rape
In a city her crys would be heard
In the open country she could not be heared
if open country would be assumed to be rape
The man is punished for rape by stoning to death
Based on decision in the moment not the changing of minds at a later date
Sexual Immortality and the Unbetrothed Virgin (v28-29)
Sexual Immortality and the Unbetrothed Virgin (v28-29)
“If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.
Unbetrothed
consentual sex outside marriage
would leave a women unable to marry, as were not likley to want to marry a girl who was not a virgin
50 shekels of silver
marriage, and no possibility for divorce
Summary
these laws were to deter secual immortality
to protect marriage because of its central importance in the life of Israel as a nation and as God’s people
A stable society needs stable marriage and healthy family life
A Special Restriction (v30)
A Special Restriction (v30)
“A man shall not take his father’s wife, so that he does not uncover his father’s nakedness.
This verse is really part of chapter 23 (those excluded from the assembly - worship gathering)
Not to marry stepmother
Inappropriate to enter into the same intimate sexual relationship that his father has had
Importance of this is seen in Deut 27:20
Summary
Death Penalty replaced with church discipline
We need to recognise God has not changed
he has declared what he is displeased with
we should seek to honour our father in the way we live
Hymn - FOR THE CAUSE (1265) - STUART TOWNEND, KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY
Hymn - FOR THE CAUSE (1265) - STUART TOWNEND, KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY
Q&A
Q&A
Hymn -
Hymn -
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Doxology
Doxology
