Deuteronomy 19-20

Intro:

Read Deuteronomy 18:15-20

I. A New Prophet vs. 15-22

vs. 15-19 Listening to the Prophet

Moses talks of a new prophet like Moses himself.

The original application of this would be to the prophetic line that followed Moses in the history of Israel.

He says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers” (18:15a; also 18:18a).

Note that this prophet is going to be appointed neither because of birth to a certain family nor because of election or appointment by humans to the task.

God will raise up prophets for his service by directly calling them.

The prophet is to be “like [Moses].”

The Israelites needed to hear from God, but they could not handle the strain of a direct encounter with God.

The Israelites did not have idols.

But they had what they knew to be direct words from God.

This gave them the security of living under the authority of the Lord of the universe.

vs. 19 Whoever will not listen to my words

Moses comforts the people by telling them that a prophet will come, but he also warns them about not listening

There will be dire consequences if God speaks and the people ignore it

That is what “I will require it of him.” means

vs. 20-22 False Prophets

Moses also has some words for those who are presumptuous enough to be a false prophet

In the OT, if someone presumed to speak in God’s name or in other gods name, they were to die

Deut 13:5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God

Testing the Prophet

How can you know the Lord has not spoken?

If it doesn’t come to pass

The key words are at the end of this passage

“You need not be afraid of him”

False prophets bring a lot of pomp but little power

II. Cities of Refuge vs. 1-13

vs. 1-3 Divide land into 3 parts

The land was regionally divided “into three parts,” and cities were put in such a way that the whole population had a city within fleeing distance.

vs. 4-10 Unintentional Killing

Manslaughter has been defined as “the unlawful killing of a human being without express or implied malice.”

Here’s how Moses describes the situation: “If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past …”

The particular type of manslaughter described here is what is today called involuntary manslaughter.

This is distinguished from voluntary manslaughter, which is “an unintentional killing of sudden heat or passion resulting from a provocation

tMoses once more presents the prospect of conquest in verse 8: “And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers …”

This time he adds that this blessing is contingent upon their obedience: “… provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways”

When weak and innocent people suffer because their society has not made provision for their safety, the whole society shares in the guilt of the harm done

The Bible applies this picture of the city of refuge to the believer finding refuge in God on more than one occasion:

Psalm 46:1: God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

More than 15 other times, the Psalms speak of God as being our refuge.

Hebrews 6:18: That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us

Both Jesus and the cities of refuge are within easy reach of the needy person; they were of no use unless someone could get to the place of refuge

Both Jesus and the cities of refuge are open to all, not just the Israelite; no one needs to fear that they would be turned away from their place of refuge in their time of need (Numbers 35:15).

Both Jesus and the cities of refuge became a place where the one in need would live; you didn’t come to a city of refuge in time of need just to look around

vs. 11-13 Lies in Wait

When there is a facility to help needy people, there will always be people not qualified to receive help who will abuse it.

Then, as now, there were genuine asylum seekers and false ones.

Moses says that those who committed premeditated murder will also try to find refuge in the cities of refuge

The murder was premeditated; in today’s legal language it would be called murder in the first degree. It thus earns the maximum sentence.

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III. Property Boundaries vs. 14

God here established and supported the basic right to private property.

When your neighbor has a lawful landmark, you must respect it – and are forbidden to change it as you might please.

This command supports an important foundation for human society: The right to personal property.

God has clearly entrusted certain possessions to certain individuals, and other people or states are not permitted to take that property without due process of law.

Which the men of old have set:

This law also reflects an important spiritual principle: It isn’t wise to ignore what the men of old have set when doing the work of the LORD.

Many a young man, or a new man, has greatly hindered his own work by being a revolutionary – and ignoring the “landmarks” which the men of old have set.

IV. Witnesses vs. 15-21

vs. 15 More than 1 Witness

One witness was never enough to establish a fact in a Biblical court of law.

One needed two or three witness to establish a matter.

This isn’t just because it is possible for one witness to lie without having his story corroborated.

It is because one witness can be confused, or mistaken in his testimony.

It is a basic measure of reliability that it must be more than a simple case of “my word against theirs.”

Some have carried this principle to modern courts by saying that two independent lines of evidence can be valid “witnesses.”

For example, if there were a murder which no one witnessed with their eyes, yet there was a murder weapon with clear fingerprints, and additional blood evidence each pointing to one suspect, this would be counted as two independents “witnesses.”

vs. 16-19 False Witnesses

False witness was discovered by careful examination (the judges shall make diligent inquiry) and was punished by giving the false witness the same penalty which would have gone to the man he falsely accused (you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother).

At the trial of Jesus, many false witnesses rose up against him, and were demonstrated to be false witnesses by their confused and contradictory testimony (Matthew 26:59-60).

The false witnesses, under Jewish law, should have been put to death, because that is the punishment they sought for Jesus.

And those who remain shall hear and fear:

Many modern people doubt that the punishment of others is an effective deterrent to crime; but the Bible clearly says that it is. Weak or inconsistent punishment does not deter crime, but effective punishment does.

vs. 20-21 Eye for Eye

This was an important principle for the Biblical court of law; here, connected to the punishment described for false witness, it shows that whatever evil was planned or practiced against another, a similar punishment should be brought against the false witness.

Life shall be for life, eye for eye:

retribution was always limited by the eye for eye principle.

This law was meant to be a check to our desire for revenge, not a license for revenge.

Our tendency is to want to do more to the offending party than what they have done to us.

But we cannot punish from a motive of revenge, only from a motive of justice.

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth:

In Matthew 5:38-39, Jesus quoted this passage in His teaching on the true interpretation of the law.

He does not say that the eye for eye principle is wrong; rather, He simply condemns the use of it to make it an obligation to exact revenge against someone who has personally offended me.

Many Rabbis in Jesus’ day taught that the eye for eye law meant you were obligated to avenge yourself of a personal insult or attack brought against you.

Jesus rightly disallowed the application of this law in our personal relationships; it was a law intended to guide the judges in the law courts of Israel, not to guide our personal relationships.

V. Warfare vs. 1-19

vs. 1-4 Do not fear

vs. 5-9 Exemptions

vs. 10-18 Making Peace

vs. 19-20 Save the Trees