Deuteronomy 22 (Listen)

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. 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. 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. 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.

“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.

“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. 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.

“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.

“You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited,1 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.

Laws Concerning Sexual Immorality

13 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then hates her 14 and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16 And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; 17 and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip2 him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels3 of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin4 of Israel. And she shall be his wife. He may not divorce her all his days. 20 But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, 21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

22 “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

23 “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

25 “But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, 27 because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.

28 “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.

5

30 “A man shall not take his father’s wife, so that he does not uncover his father’s nakedness.6

Footnotes

[1] 22:9 Hebrew become holy
[2] 22:18 Or discipline
[3] 22:19 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
[4] 22:19 Or girl of marriageable age
[5] 22:29 Ch 23:1 in Hebrew
[6] 22:30 Hebrew uncover his father’s skirt

(ESV)

OT summary
O the tender heart of the Most High beheld in the “little things” of the first half of this chapter. Care for your brother’s lost goods as your own: “you shall help him.” Tender Love preserves life, letting the mother-bird free. Protective walls around roofs ensured the safety of others. Simple purity marked God’s people: sow one type of seed, with one kind of beast, in garments of one material, and don’t forget the tassels at the corners. These “little things” reminded of their royalty in being called out by the Most High.

“Man and woman, He made them.” “The pot shall not say to the Potter, 'Why have You made me this way. '” Trust the Lord.

Sexual immorality is “an outrageous thing in Israel.” “Purge the evil from your midst.”

Holiness set God’s people apart.

Galatians 3:15–4:7 (Listen)

The Law and the Promise

15 To give a human example, brothers:1 even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave2 nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Sons and Heirs

4:1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,3 though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles4 of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Footnotes

[1] 3:15 Or brothers and sisters
[2] 3:28 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
[3] 4:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 7
[4] 4:3 Or elemental spirits; also verse 9

(ESV)

NT summary
3 The Galatians were being lead to believe that their justification (being declared righteous) was based on their obedience to the law. But Paul points out that the father of faith, Abraham, was counted righteous 430 years before the law even came into existence. So the basis of his being declared righteous was not his obedience to the law but because he believed, trusted in God’s promises. Anticipating the conclusion of his opposers, Paul states their question: “Well then if righteousness comes — not by obedience to the law, but — by faith, why did God give the law?” It was added to reveal and reign in sin: to reveal the brokenness of humanity and its desperate need to be set free from its bondage, though unable to do anything about it but sin. Humanity had a problem no mere human could solve. Enter the God-man, Jesus the Christ! 4 Like a good baby sitter, the law kept the slaves-to-sin in check until the gift of faith brought the righteousness necessary to rebirth believers who received a new Govenor, One of love from the Father, through the Son: the Spirit of God. Believing slaves are reborn as sons, recipients of the promises fulfilled in God’s Son, Christ Jesus the Lord.