EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

Deuteronomy 24:1-22

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 24

v1 ‘Suppose that a man marries a woman. Later, he decides that she does not please him. He finds something about her that he does not like. So, he writes out a note of divorce and he gives it to her. Then he sends her away. v2 After she has left his house, she marries another man. v3 Then her second husband decides that he does not want her. He writes out a note of divorce and he gives it to her. Then he sends her away from his home. Or perhaps he dies. v4 Her first husband, who divorced her, cannot marry her again. She is not morally *clean. The *LORD would hate that. The *LORD your God is giving the country to you to possess. You must not do such a terrible *sin in that country.’

Maybe a man divorces his wife. He must not marry her again if her second husband divorces her. He must not marry her even if her second husband dies. We do not know why the first man wanted to divorce his wife. He had to write down his reason. It was not because his wife had sex with someone else. Death was the punishment for that *sin. The first husband could not claim back his first wife again. So this law protected his second wife. And it increased the importance of women. Also, the law would help to prevent easy divorces. A public official had to prepare the note of divorce. Although Hosea’s wife had not been loyal to him, he refused to divorce her. So, when he found her, he could take her back home as his wife. Jeremiah refers to this law in Jeremiah chapter 3. The people in *Israel were not loyal to God, but God would not leave them.

Men and women are equal when they are married. Jesus taught that. (See Mark 10:1-12.) God allowed divorce only because people were *sinful. God said that a marriage should be between one man and one woman. (See Genesis 2:21-24.) God said that they should be loyal to each other during their entire lives.

v5 ‘If a man has just married, he must not go to war. He must not do any other public duty. He is free to stay at home for one year. Then he can be happy with his new wife.

v6 Do not take a pair of flat stones that people used to make corn into flour. Do not take even one of them as *security for a debt. That would take away a person’s way to remain alive.

v7 Perhaps you will see that a man is taking an *Israelite as a prisoner. Perhaps he wants to make him a slave. Perhaps he wants to sell him. You must kill the man who does that act. Then you will remove the evil from among you.

v8 Someone may suffer from a disease on their skin. The priests from the family of Levi will give instructions to you. You must do what they tell you to do. You must do what I ordered them to do. v9 Remember what the *LORD your God did to Miriam. He did it after you came out of Egypt.

v10 Suppose that you lend something to your neighbour. Do not enter his house to take something as *security. v11 Stay outside and let him bring it to you himself. v12 He may be a poor man. So do not sleep in the coat that he has given to you. v13 Give it back to him in the evening so that he can sleep in it. Then he will *bless you. And what you do will please the *LORD your God.’

A new bridegroom did not have to do any public duty for one year. That meant that he did not have to fight in the army. It was important that he should have a child first. The family is very important to God.

God did not allow people to take away a person’s flat stones. A person must not take them as *security for a debt. If a person could not break up his corn with his flat stones, he could not make his daily food.

The *Israelites must kill anyone who stole another person as a prisoner. That was God’s serious punishment for an evil act.

The *Israelites had to obey the laws about how to deal with diseases on their skin. Those laws are in Leviticus Chapter s 13 and 14. Even Moses’ sister had to obey the laws. (See Numbers chapter 12.) They had to separate the people with those diseases from the rest of the people. Then the disease would not spread.

The *Israelites could lend money to the poor people. But they must not make the poor people pay extra money for that. However, they could take some kind of *security. The *security was usually the coat in which a person slept. The person who lent the money must not enter the home of the man with the debt. The person who lent the money could not choose a *security. Instead, he must return the coat each night so that the poor man could be warm and comfortable. These laws show that God cares about people’s needs.

v14 ‘Do not cheat a poor servant that you hire. He may be an *Israelite. Or he may be a foreigner who lives in one of your towns. v15 Pay his wages to him each day before sunset. He is poor and he needs his wages. If you do not pay him, he will cry to the *LORD against you. Then you will be guilty of *sin.

v16 You must not kill parents because their children have *sinned. And you must not kill children because their parents have sinned. You can kill a person only because of the *sins that he has done.

v17 Do not take away *justice from foreigners or from children without parents. Do not take a widow’s coat as *security for a loan. v18 Remember that you were *slaves in Egypt. The *LORD your God freed you from there. That is why I am giving that command to you.

v19 When you harvest your crops, you may forget to bring in some corn. Do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, the widows and the children without parents. Then the *LORD your God will *bless you in everything that you do. v20 When you have picked the *olives once, do not go back to get more. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the widows and the children without parents. v21 When you have gathered your *grapes once, do not go back a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the widows and the children without parents. v22 Remember that you were a *slave in Egypt. That is why I have given that command to you.’

God wanted people to receive their wages. Employers used to pay their workers every day. If they did not pay them, the workers would call to God. God would consider that the employer was guilty. Moses told them that that would happen.

James accuses rich Christians who are in a poor world. ‘You have not paid the wages of those who worked in your fields. The money that you kept from them calls to God against you. The *Lord of all power has heard the cries of the workers.’ (See James 5:4.)

Moses emphasised personal responsibility. When Jeremiah speaks about God’s new *covenant, he says this in Jeremiah 31:30. ‘Everyone will die because of the wrong things that he has done.’ The *Israelites must look after the poor people, especially foreigners, widows and children without parents. In Egypt, God had shown to the *Israelites that he loved them. Therefore, they must show other people that they love them. At harvest, they must leave part of the crops. That was for the poor people who had no land. We see that this happened in the story of Ruth. Boaz told his workers to drop some corn on purpose. Then Ruth picked it up. (See Ruth 2:16.) The gifts that they gave to the poor people were really *offerings to God. As a result, God would *bless the people who gave. Proverbs 19:17 says this. ‘He who is kind to the poor people is lending to the *Lord. The *Lord will repay him because of what he has done.’ And James 1:27 says this. ‘Religion that God our Father considers right and *clean is this: Look after widows and children without parents when they are suffering.’

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.