Deuteronomy 17:1-20
1 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep,a wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
2 If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;
9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:
10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:
11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love
Love and Obey the *LORD your God
Deuteronomy
Philip Smith
Chapter 17
v1 ‘If any sheep or *cattle are not perfect, do not *sacrifice them to the *LORD your God. The *LORD your God hates such *sacrifices.
v2 Maybe you hear that a man or a woman has *sinned against the *LORD your God. This person lives in one of the towns that the *LORD your God is giving to you. He has not *kept the *covenant laws. v3 He has given honour to false gods or he has served them. Perhaps he has given honour to the sun or the moon or the stars. That is against God’s command. v4 If you hear such a report, then you must inquire into it carefully. It might be true that someone has done such an evil thing in *Israel. v5 If so, take the man or woman who has done this wicked act to your city gate. Then throw stones at that person until he dies. v6 You can do that only if two or three *witnesses speak against him. You cannot kill him if there was only one *witness. v7 The *witnesses must throw the first stones. Then the rest of the people must throw stones at that person. You must remove completely the wicked behaviour that is among you.’
Moses told the *Israelites again about *sacrifices. They must not give an animal as a *sacrifice if it was not perfect. (See Deuteronomy 15:21.) The *Israelites punished severely anyone who *worshipped false gods. The people would take the guilty person to the gate of the city. That was the place where judges had their court. Two or three *witnesses had to see that the person had given honour to false gods. The *witnesses would throw stones at the guilty person first. If the *witnesses had not told the truth, then other people would kill the *witnesses.
v8 ‘Sometimes the situation might be too difficult for a local judge to make a decision. It might involve a murder. Or it might be a situation when someone kills another person by accident. It might be an argument about the owner of property. It might be about injuries that somebody did on purpose. In those situations, go to the place that the *LORD your God will choose. v9 Go to the priests who are *Levites. Go to the person who is the judge at that time. Ask them. Let them decide. v10 They will give to you their decision at the place that the *LORD will choose. You must be careful to do whatever they tell you. v11 Obey the law that they teach to you. Follow the decisions that they give to you. Do everything that they tell you to do. v12 The judge or the priest on duty serves the *LORD your God there. So you must kill any proud person who refuses to obey them. In that way you will remove that evil thing from *Israel. v13 Everyone will hear and everyone will be afraid. They will not refuse to obey again.’
Some decisions were too difficult for local judges to make. There are three situations here. The first was about a person’s death. They had to decide whether it was by accident or by plan. The second was about which person had particular rights. The third was about a serious attack. The head of the court was probably the chief priest. The court made the final decision. The *Lord helped the judges to make the decision. Also, the judges had good experience. The people must act in agreement with the decisions of the judges. The people killed anyone who refused to obey the judge or the priest. That was because that person was acting against God.
v14 ‘You will enter the country that the *LORD your God is giving to you. You will live there and you will possess it. Then you will want to have a king as other nations have. v15 Be careful to appoint the king that the *LORD your God chooses. The king must be a man from your own nation. He must be an *Israelite. Do not make a foreigner your king. v16 The king must not own large numbers of horses. He must not send people to Egypt to buy horses. The *LORD has told you not to go back that way again. v17 The king must not have many wives, because that would make him not continue to follow the *LORD. He must not make himself rich with gold and silver.
v18 When he becomes king, he must write a copy of this law. He will copy it from the law that the priests have. The priests come from the family called Levi. v19 The king must keep this book near to him. He must read from it during all his life. Then he will learn how to respect the *LORD his God. And he will learn to *keep all the words of this law and these rules. v20 He will not think that he is better than the other *Israelites. Also, he will not refuse to obey the *commandments. As a result, he and his *descendants will rule over the *kingdom called *Israel for a long time.’
This section tells the *Israelites what to do if they wanted a king. God was their real king. Any human king must be a person whom God had chosen. He must not be a foreigner. Maybe that was because a foreigner might want to give honour to false gods. The king must not be like the kings of foreign countries. He must not have many horses. Therefore, he cannot have a large army. He must not have many wives. He must not become too rich. All those things would make him trust other things. Then he would not continue to trust the *Lord. Solomon started well, but then he did not obey all those rules. He obtained horses from Egypt. (See 1 Kings 10:28.) He had 700 main wives and 300 other wives as well. (See 1 Kings 11:3.) He had more riches than all the other kings of the earth. (See 1 Kings 10:23.) As a result, the *kingdom divided into two after his death. The king must have a copy of the law that he would study. If he obeyed this law, he and his family would rule over *Israel for a long time.
The command to read God’s law every day is good. Christians should read the Bible regularly. And then we will learn what God wants us to do. We will not think that we are better than other people. We will receive God’s *blessing. Joshua had to study and to obey the book of the law. God told him to do that. He said, ‘then you will do well and you will be successful.’ (See Joshua 1:8.)
Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.
covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
cattle ~ cows and bulls.
bull ~ male farm animal; (the female is called a cow). The Israelites made a metal image of a bull, which they worshipped as an idol.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.
idol ~ an image of a false god that people give honour to; an object of wood, stone or metal that people worship.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Levite ~ an Israelite who belonged to the tribe of Levi. Levi was a son of Jacob. Levites had special duties connected to worship. All Israelite priests were Levites.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
tribe ~ a group of people from the same race, who all came from one person. The tribes of *Israel were the 12 large families of Jacob’s sons.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.
LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.
covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
keep ~ to do whatever you should do because of a promise or a law; to respect and to give honour to the law.
commandment ~ a rule or a command that God gave to the Jews; the 10 rules that God gave to Moses. That was on the mountain called Mount Sinai (or Horeb); a command from someone who has authority.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
kingdom ~ a country or a nation that a king or a queen rules; the kingdom of God (or heaven) means the people whom God rules.