Deuteronomy has shown us, chapter after chapter, that God is in the details. The King of Kings has thought of everything to prepare His people for obedience, peace, and prosperity in the Promised Land. The Good Shepherd speaks about the roles and care for the priests, singles, married, and widows. Our merciful and just Father speaks about how to handle accidental death and even delineates cities of safety for the innocent. The Lord of Hosts ensures the right warriors go to battle, excluding newly married, new homeowners and landowners, and the fainthearted. At the end of Chapter 20, one sees that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, even cares about the fruit bearing trees.

Jumping to the end of the passage today, “Various Laws” is the title of Chapter 21.23-22.12. God provided these “laws” so His people would love His creation and others created His image. Creation is protected from the one who is to “rule over” it in 22.6-7, 9, and 10. The people may take a bird’s eggs, but not the mother. The beasts of burden are cared for, as well as the field itself in the types of seed that may be sown.

Things that were lost should be restored in 22.1-3. Aid a brother in need. People who strayed from the original design of their Creator (by dressing as another gender) are to be rebuked and restored (22.5). The God who sees, also makes provision for female captives during the conquest in 21.10-14. He protects first-born “rights” in the following verses, knowing the favoritism that lurks in human hearts. Roofs should be built with rails to protect visitors according to 22.8.

God even cared about the garments His people wore according to 22.11-12. They should be of one fabric, and tasseled! As Numbers 15.39 tells us, tassels were to be placed on the edges of every garment “to look at so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.”

God, the ultimate Suzerain, as we see, down to the tassels, provided detailed laws and boundaries to love and protect His people. The law would be their tutor, their guide, as they made their way into the Promised Land. And yet, as God knew, these laws would not be enough.

In Chapter 21, one sees a radical rescue rimming the narrative. The language is elevated. In 21.1-9, one sees he desires for all sin to be atoned for, even if the sinner is unknown. A sacrifice is specifically appointed to cover the sin. The flippant disobedience of the “Rebellious Son” is taken very seriously in 21.18-21. The wages of rebellion is death by stoning at the hand of the elders.

In 21.22-23 we see what happens to a man who has committed “a crime punishable by death.” He is hung on a tree and under God’s curse.

And here enters the tension in God’s redemptive narrative. One full generation already disobeyed in the desert. They were the rebellious sons. They needed atonement. They were under God’s curse and died in the desert. Why would this generation be any different? Would the Lord, their Suzerain provide the ultimate protection?

Man of Sorrows - Hillsong Worship

[Deuteronomy 21.1-22.12]

21.1 “If in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. 3 And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. 4 And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. 6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. 8 Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ 9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

Marrying Female Captives

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, 12 and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. 13 And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14 But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.

Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn

15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, 16 then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, 17 but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.

A Rebellious Son

18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed

22 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.

Various Laws

22.1 “You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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.

5 “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.

6 “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. 7 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.

8 “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.

9 “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. 10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.

12 “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ Re-read Deuteronomy 21.18-21. In the context of the Israelite nation so far in the redemptive narrative, who is the rebellious son? Who is the Loving Father?

+ In the midst of the Son’ sin, what should the Father (and mother) do to correct the rebellion? [v. 18]

+ What adjectives are used to describe the son?

+ Who else is described using these adjectives in the redemptive narrative? [See Psalm 7.8, Jeremiah 5.23 and 6.28]

+ What nouns are used to describe the son?

+ What is the key sin of the “rebellious son” repeated twice in 18 and once in v. 20?

+ What commandment does this rebellious son break?

+ If God is the Loving Father, what commandment does the “rebellious son” break?

+ What is the punishment for the “rebellious son.” [v. 21]

+ What is the two-fold purpose of this punishment for God’s people? [v. 21]

+ Re-read Deuteronomy 21.22-23. How do these verses relate to the rebellious son section?

+ See Paul’s letter to the Galatians Chapter 3.10-13.

+ Why might Paul cite Deuteronomy 21.23 in v. 13?

+ Who is cursed in Deuteronomy? In Galatians?

+ What is Paul’s conclusion in verse Gal 3.11?

+ How should God’s people live according to v. 11?

+ What is the shortcoming of the law in Deuteronomy and other places of the law from v. 12?

+ Who actually becomes the cursed one in Gal 3.13?

+ How has YAHWEH, the God of Israel, provided everything His people needed as the redemptive narrative unfolds?

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ Have I acknowledged that I am a stubborn and rebellious son? Or do I think my “good works” are acceptable to a Holy God?

+ Where in my life am I not listening and not obeying? How can I know?

+ Do I strive to “keep the law” or do I live by faith in the one who lived it perfectly?

+ Do I trust that Jesus “became the curse for me” and took that curse to the grave, or am I still enslaved to the curse?

+ What kind of “tassels'' do I wear on my garments to remind me of the law and the Savior who rescued me? Do I have a steady diet of God’s Word? Do I actively participate in God’s Kingdom for His purpose with His people? Is there someone in my life who will hold me accountable to the truth? Am I thanking the Lord for all of His goodness and mercy moment by moment?

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?

+ Who might welcome a call, a coffee, a meal, or a text to remind them of God’s love, protection, and provision for them personally through His Son, Jesus Christ regardless of their current standing with the Lord?

+ Who may be counting on their “good works” to bring them into a right relationship with the Lord? How can you speak truth into their lives with love and compassion?

+ As I repent and believe again, who in my sphere of influence is actively watching, asking thoughtful questions, or showing more interest in my faith?