Deuteronomy 25:1-19

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 25

v1 ‘Perhaps two men have an argument and they go to court. The judges declare that one man is innocent. Then he declares that the other man is guilty. v2 If the guilty man deserves punishment, the judge will make him lie down. Then someone will whip him in front of the judge. The number of strokes will depend on the crime that he has done. v3 He must not receive more than 40 strokes. If he received more, that would cause him great shame.’

*Justice was very important. The judge declared that the person was guilty. After that, they could whip him. They must not whip that man before the judge made his decision. The judge had to say what punishment the man should receive. All punishment must happen in front of the judge. They must not punish anyone more severely than he deserved. They respected the criminal’s value as a person. The maximum was 40 strokes. But they whipped someone only 39 times. They wanted to make sure that they did not count wrongly! Paul suffered that punishment 5 times. (See 2 Corinthians 11:24.)

v4 ‘Do not cover the mouth of an *ox when it is walking on the corn.’

God had created everything. The *Israelites must show love and they must be kind to everything. They used an *ox to walk on their corn. That separated the grain from the stem. Sometimes the *ox would stop to eat some grain. They must allow the *ox to feed in that way. Paul uses that verse when he writes about Christian workers. They provide benefits for the Christians’ *spirits. So the workers should receive physical benefits for their work. (See 1 Corinthians 9:9.)

v5 ‘Suppose that two brothers live in the same property. Then one of them dies without a son. His widow must not marry someone who is outside the family. It is the duty of her husband’s brother to marry her. v6 The first son that she has will have the name of the dead brother. So the name of his family will continue in *Israel.

v7 If the man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she must go to the town’s leaders. She will say this to them. “My husband’s brother will not do his duty. He refuses to give to his brother a *descendant among the *Israelites.” v8 Then the town’s leaders will order him to talk to them. If he still refuses to marry her, v9 his brother’s widow will go up to him. In front of the leaders, she will take off one of his shoes. Then she will cough water into his face and she will say this. “This man refuses to build up his brother’s family. That is what happens to him.” v10 The *Israelites will give his family this name: “The family of the man whose shoe they pulled off.” ’

This custom made sure that a woman’s dead husband had a son. In that society, it was very important for a man to have a son. That son continued to use the name of the family. The reason why people married was to build up the family as a social unit. People believed that something of yourself went into your children. So your name continued to live even after you had died. If the brother refused to do his duty, he had to go to the town leaders. If he still refused, the widow took off one of his shoes. Then she coughed water in his face. They did that because most people could not read legal notes.

v11 ‘Suppose that two men are fighting. Then the wife of one man comes to rescue her husband from the other man. If she grasps the other man’s sex parts, v12 cut off her hand. Do not show *mercy.’

This is the only place in the *Old Testament that orders this kind of punishment. It follows the laws about family and *descendants. Nothing and nobody should damage a man so that he cannot have *descendants.

v13 ‘Do not have in your bag unfair objects with which you weigh things. Do not have one heavy object and one light object. v14 Do not have in your house unfair objects to measure things with. Do not have one large and one small object for measurements. v15 You must weigh and measure things honestly. Then you will live for a long time in the country that the *LORD your God is giving to you. v16 The *LORD your God hates anyone who cheats.’

Merchants usually used stones to weigh their goods. They often used heavy stones to weigh goods when they bought them. Then they would get them for a cheap price. But they used light stones to weigh goods when they sold them. Then they would get more money. The merchants used pots to measure liquids or goods like grain. But they often used pots of the wrong size. God wanted the *Israelites to be completely honest. They had to weigh and measure everything correctly. God would punish the people if they used pots and stones of different sizes. Amos says in chapter 8:5 that the people did not obey these laws.

v17 ‘Remember the time when you were coming out of Egypt. You met the people called the Amalekites. Remember what they did to you. v18 They did not *fear God. You were so tired that you could not do anything. Then they attacked you. They killed all those who were going slowly at the back of your people. v19 The *LORD your God will give the country to you to possess. He will give you a rest from all your enemies. When he has done that, kill all the Amalekite people. Then nobody will continue to remember them. Do not forget!’

The people called the Amalekites attacked the *Israelites at Rephidim. Exodus 17:8-16 describes the battle. God punished the Amalekites because they did not show *mercy to the weak people. In 1 Samuel 15:3, God gave the command to King Saul to *destroy the Amalekite people.

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.
justice ~ when things are completely fair.
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.
ox ~ a strong farm animal like a bull that can pull the plough.

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.
descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
mercy ~ kindness instead of punishment.'Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, it tells about the history and the beliefs of the Israelites.

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.
fear ~ to be afraid; to respect someone who is very great.
destroy ~ to damage something so that it does not continue to exist; to kill people or animals.