Boundaries & Witnesses

Introduction

In Deuteronomy 19:14-21 we find ourselves in the justice section of Moses’ second speech to the Israelites just before they enter the Promised Land.

In the Promised Land, the Israelites will need judges, officers, and priests to uphold God’s Law, settle disputes, and administer justice in general.

This administration of justice was built around God’s Ten Commandments.

For example, God said in His Ten Commandments, “You shall not murder.” Then in Deuteronomy 19 we learn about these cities of refuge—cities of justice where a trial would decide if a man was guilty of manslaughter or murder.

If it was manslaughter, then the guilty one had to remain until the city of refuge until the death of the high priest.

If it was murder, the murderer had forfeited his life and was, therefore, to be put to death.

In this way, God’s “You shall not murder,” was upheld and justice was administered.

But now in Deuteronomy 19:14ff we come to what seems to be a random law regarding property markers and then some laws regarding witnesses in legal proceedings.

What do these things have to do with one another?

How do they uphold God’s law?

How do they point us to Christ?

Let’s read the text and pray God give us answers to these questions.

[READING - Deuteronomy 19:14-21]

Deuteronomy 19:14–21 NASB95

14 “You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God gives you to possess. 15 “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. 16 “If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. 20 “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

[PRAYER]

[TS] Notice, first, that you shall not steal from your neighbor…

Major Ideas

#1: You shall not steal from your neighbor (Deut. 19:14)

Deuteronomy 19:14 NASB95

14 “You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God gives you to possess.

[EXP] The Ten Commandments divide into two parts:

Part One—Love for God

“You shall have not other gods before Me.”

“You shall not make for yourself an idol...”

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain...”

“Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy...”

And “honor your and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you...”

One writer said that we typically think of the “honor father and mother” command as belonging to part two of the Ten Commandments, but because parents are an authority established by God and, therefore, must be obeyed as if obeying God, and God will reward those who honor father and mother, this “honor father and mother command” belongs with part one of the Ten Commandments—Love for God.

Part Two—Love for Neighbor

“You shall not murder.”

“You shall not commit adultery.”

“You shall not steal.”

“You shall not bear false witness…”

“You shall not covet…”

Moving someone’s boundary mark, which is forbidden in Deuteronomy 19:14, would be a violation of the eighth commandment—“You shall not steal.”

First, the boundary mark is not yours to move. It is your neighbors.

Second, the boundary mark was set by your ancestors. It was not set by you.

Third, the boundary mark represents the inheritance that God gave to your neighbor.

Would you dare to steal from your neighbor what God gave to him as his inheritance? Surely not.

Now, it may be that more than just a stone marking a property line is in view here. The Mesopotamians had a stone that served as a property line but it was also inscribed with the details of the property rights.

In other words, this landmark, boundary mark, or boundary stone may have been like a deed detailing just what someone owned.

Thus, to move your neighbor’s boundary mark may have been more than just trying steal a few more acres. It may have been an attempt to steal your neighbors property in total.

In Deuteronomy 27, moving your neighbor’s boundary mark is listed with many other sins especially cursed by God. Moses says…

Deuteronomy 27:17 NASB95

17 ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

But what makes this sin and the others in Deuteronomy 27 especially heinous? It seems to be that they would be committed in secret, which means outside the reach of human justice.

If you moved or stole your neighbor’s boundary mark, how would your neighbor prove that you had done so? He wouldn’t have the stone that proved his case because you stole it.

Therefore, you might get away with it here on earth, but God sees all and there is no escaping his justice.

“Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.”

[ILLUS] Cheryl’s grandmother owned a little land before she died. Toward the end of her life, she was very concerned that someone had moved her property lines. She was convinced that someone was stealing her land. Her son-in-law, her daughters, and her grandchildren all tried to convince her it wasn’t true, but she went to her grave believing that someone was encroaching of her territory.

We’d love to believe that things like thievery and stealing are all just parts of our paranoid imaginations playing tricks on us, but they are real.

What Deuteronomy 19:14 warns against still happens today.

[APP] What we learn here then is that we have every right to use all lawful means to protect and preserve what is ours.

We also learn that we must never take part in robbing anyone of anything that is rightfully there’s.

We are not to forge anything, conceal anything, destroy anything, alter anything, or shift anything so as to steal from our neighbor.

Rather, we must be content, or as Matthew Henry said, “Let every man be content with his own lot.”

[TS] …

#2: You shall not lie about your neighbor (Deut. 19:15-21)

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 NASB95

15 “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. 16 “If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. 20 “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

[EXP] The moving of the boundary mark in v. 14 may provide an example of a dispute that might involve witnesses.

Let’s say that one Israelite accuses another of moving his landmark. Witnesses (plural—two or three) must be brought in to substantiate the accusation.

But let’s say that as the witnesses testify, the one testified against says, “These are, in fact, false, malicious witnesses who are lying about me.”

In that case, the parties in dispute come before the Lord, i.e., before the priests and judges whom the Lord has appointed. Then these witnesses are examined more closely.

If the witness is found to be false or malicious then “he (was to) undergo the same penalty which his (false testimony) would have brought (to his neighbor)” (Matthew Henry).

As v. 19 says, “You shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother.”

So, for example, if a false witness falsely accused an Israelite of moving a boundary stone so that he stood to lose the land that was rightfully his, then the false witness was to have his land taken from him.

The harsh penalty would “purge the evil from among (the Israelites),” (Deut. 19:19).

This was because “the rest (would) hear and be afraid, and (would) never again do such an evil thing,” (Deut. 19:20).

This was because the malicious witness would be shown no pity—if he took a life, he would give his life; if an eye, then he would give an eye; if land, then he would give his land (Deut. 19:21).

[ILLUS] In one of the last conversations I had with Bill Guy before he died, he told me of his rough and tumble younger days when he found himself in scraps with other young men from time to time. Looking back on it, he said that was no way to live.

He referenced the words here at the end of v. 21, “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

He and I agreed that to live that way personally is a great way to set everyone at war against one another. Or, as the old saying goes, “An eye for an eye soon makes the whole world go blind.”

But v. 21 isn’t talking about personal revenge. It’s talking about societal justice.

[APP] Societal justice as God designed it demands multiple witnesses (v. 15). The testimony of one individual was never to be accepted as sufficient to try or let alone convict someone.

Societal justice as God designed it demands honest witnesses (v. 16). This is why God said in the ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness.”

Societal justice as God designed it demands just judges (v. 17).

Societal justice as God designed it demands thorough investigation (v. 18).

Societal justice as God designed it demands stiff penalties (v. 19). This is so that others hear and fear and never do such evil thing among us.

Societal justice as God designed it demands that we not be more merciful than God (v. 21).

Some complain that some punishments are too harsh for some crimes in our society, but the opposite problem is just as bad—too many times heinous crimes are not punished as severely as God requires in His law.

Take murder, for example, according to God’s law, the murderer is to be put to death, but this doesn’t happen with any frequency and so our land is filled with murder.

We can preach the gospel to murderers, but if they have been convicted of murder, they should be put to death.

This may seem harsh, but if would have justice in our society, it must be justice as God designed it.

It’s the only way to purge the evil from our land.

[TS] …

Conclusion

But what does all of this have to do with Jesus? Let’s think about this in a few ways as we close…

One, Deuteronomy 19:14 tells us that we are not to steal from our neighbor.

If we do, we are following the way of Satan who is “the thief (who) comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

But in pursuing justice by God’s design (in this case, not stealing from our neighbors) we aim at societal flourishing, which is the way of Jesus who “came that (we) may have life, and have it abundantly,” (John 10:10).

Two, Deuteronomy 19:15 tells us that we are not to lie about our neighbor.

If we do, we are following the way of Satan who “is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

But in pursuing justice by God’s design (in this case, not lying about our neighbors) we aim at societal flourishing, which is the way of Jesus who is the truth and speaks the truth (John 8:45; 14:6).

Third, we have it on the testimony of the very best witnesses that Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus and the Father testify that Jesus is the Son of God. In John 8, we read…

John 8:12–13 NASB95

12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.”

John 8:16–18 NASB95

16 “But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 “Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 “I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”

And the Holy Spirit also testifies that Jesus is the Son of God.

John 15:26 NASB95

26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,

These witnesses are brought together in 1 John 5:7-12…

1 John 5:7–12 NASB95

7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

Let us live in the way of Jesus, pursuing justice as God has designed it so that we and our neighbors may flourish.

And let us believe these witnesses—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—concerning Jesus.

He is the Son of God.

If we repent of sin, believe on Him, and obey His commands, God has given us eternal life in Him.