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Deuteronomy chapter 24. Last 
time we were together, we looked at verses 1 to 5. We saw the law concerning divorce. This section doesn't deal with 
everything concerning divorce. The specific issue is that if 
a man sends his wife away, she remarries, she cannot return 
to her former husband. That's the prohibition in Deuteronomy 
chapter 24, verses 1 to 4. And then there was that law for 
the newlywed, verse 5, lest we have negative thoughts about 
marriage, we ought to have positive thoughts. Verse 5, when a man 
has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged 
with any business. he shall be free at home one 
year and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. Now the remainder of the chapter 
deals with miscellaneous laws. We're going to follow the remainder 
of the chapter all the way up to chapter 25 verses 1 to 3. Probably 25 verses 1 to 3 is 
what we'll spend most of the time on. The other ones are pretty 
cut and dry. 25, 1 to 3 is pretty cut and 
dry as well, but I think we do see in it displayed God's wisdom. And one of the things that I 
have sought to do as we've worked our way through this book is 
to show how the people or opponents of God's law who say that it's 
a barbaric code, it's an ancient code, it has no relevance, are 
simply wrong. The law of God is equitable, 
it is righteous, it is just, it reflects his holy will and 
his holy character. Remember, the larger context 
that we are in began in chapter 4 at the end of the chapter, 
verse 44, and it goes all the way to 2619. This is the bulk 
of the book of Deuteronomy. It's the exposition of God's 
law, the application of it. Remember, the fundamental core 
are the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue in Deuteronomy 5, and 
then from that are developed all of these statutes and ordinances 
and laws that they would need to hold to in the land of Canaan. Laws governing warfare and family 
life and government and kings and prophets and all those sorts 
of things. Well, we actually are coming 
to the end pretty soon of that larger section. After 26, then 
we get into 27 and following, and that's covenant renewal. 
That's the blessings and the curses pronounced upon those 
who either A, obey, or those who violate. So this larger section, 
we are coming to a conclusion. As I said, in verses 6 and following, 
we have miscellaneous laws. Laws of life, justice, charity, 
and punishment. That's what we'll be looking 
at this evening. So I'll pick up reading in chapter 24 at verse 
6. No man shall take the lower or 
the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one's living in 
pledge. If a man is found kidnapping 
any of his brethren, of the children of Israel, and mistreats him 
or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die, and you shall put 
away the evil from among you. take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, 
that you carefully observe and do according to all that the 
priests, the Levites, shall teach you. Just as I commanded them, 
so you shall be careful to do. Remember what the Lord your God 
did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt. When you 
lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to 
get his pledge. You shall stand outside, and 
the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you. 
And if the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight. 
You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when 
the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and 
bless you. And it shall be righteousness 
to you before the Lord your God. You shall not oppress a hired 
servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren 
or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. 
Each day you shall give him his wages and not let the sun go 
down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it, lest 
he cry out against you to the Lord and it be sin to you. Fathers shall not be put to death 
for their children, nor shall children be put to death for 
their fathers. A person shall be put to death 
for his own sin. You shall not pervert justice, 
do the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow's garment as 
a pledge. But you shall remember that you 
were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from 
there. Therefore, I command you to do 
this thing. When you reap your harvest in 
your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go 
back to get it. It shall be for the stranger, 
the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless 
you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, 
you shall not go over the boughs again. It shall be for the stranger, 
the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of 
your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward. It shall 
be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. And you shall 
remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore, 
I command you to do this thing. If there is a dispute between 
men, and they come to court, that the judge may judge them, 
and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, then 
it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the 
judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, 
according to his guilt with a certain number of blows. 40 blows he 
may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat 
him with many blows above these. And your brother be humiliated 
in your sight. Amen. As I said, laws of life, 
justice, charity, and punishment are what are covered here in 
Deuteronomy. They're being prepared on the 
plains of Moab to go into the promised land. And these things 
would be that stipulation, that rule for them to obey with reference 
to God and with reference to the community. They were the 
covenant community of the Lord God. If you look back for just 
a moment, just by way of reminder to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy 
chapter 4 verse 5 says, Surely I have taught you statutes and 
judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should 
act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 
Therefore be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom 
and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will 
hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a 
wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there 
that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for 
whatever reason we may call upon him? And what great nation is 
there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are 
in all this law which I set before you this day." So Israel functioning 
among the peoples of the land would demonstrate the wisdom 
of God, would demonstrate the wisdom of God's law and would 
show its beauty and its majesty. And so that's what we need to 
remember as we approach this law code that these things are 
given for the glory of God, the good of his people, but there 
is as well this witness effect. The peoples around them are to 
see, they are to take heed, they are to ask the question, what 
kind of a nation is this that has such a law code? and has 
such a wonderful God. We see something analogous to 
this in the life of the church. We are to live in such a way, 
we are to let our conduct be in such a manner that the peoples 
outside the church would be able to look upon us and say, that 
is a great place to be. It reflects the glory, the majesty, 
and the excellence of God. They love God, they love one 
another. There is to be that witness within the Church of 
Christ, as there was to be within the covenant community in Israel 
in the Old Covenant. So let's look at the laws of 
life. This is verses 6 to 15, and there 
are five. Notice, first, it speaks to the 
type of pledge that someone was allowed to take. If I loan you 
money, I take a pledge, or you give me a pledge that you will, 
in fact, pay me back. it's a token, a sign of good 
faith, a collateral we might also call it. Well in verse 6 
it says, no man shall take the lower or the upper millstone 
in pledge for he takes one's living in pledge. Now in the 
home the people would have a millstone and with that millstone there 
would be two stones and they would grind their grain, and 
with that ground grain they would then make bread. So if you took 
one of those millstones, the guy, the family, would basically 
be without bread. So verse 6 speaks to the type 
of collateral that you are allowed to take. It speaks to the type 
of a pledge you are allowed to take. You cannot take a pledge 
or collateral that is going to cause the man to die. That simply 
cannot be the case. You don't function in such a 
manner. for he takes one's living in 
pledge. The second law speaking to life 
is the penalty for kidnapping. Notice in verse 7, if a man is 
found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel and 
mistreats him or sells him, probably what's in view is not the child 
that's abducted and taken and held for ransom because of the 
rich parents. But it is somebody that is taken 
into servanthood in someone's own house, or they are sold as 
a slave to someone else. Either way, it is man-stealing, 
it is kidnapping, and God's law mandates that we don't do that. You're not allowed to take someone 
and enslave them. You are not allowed to sell another 
human being. Now, the law speaks to indentured 
servitude. If I steal from you and I am 
told to pay you back, and I don't have money to pay you back, I 
can willingly enter into a servant relationship with that person 
so that I can work in order to pay them back. But that's a far 
cry different. than somebody stealing me, nabbing 
me, and then selling me to someone else. That is strictly prohibited, 
and the penalty is very stiff. Craigie says the crime is social 
murder. For though the victim does not 
literally die by being sold into slavery, he is effectively cut 
off from the covenant family of God. You are taking him, you 
are removing him, from everything that is near and dear to him, 
it is as if you are murdering the man himself. And the law 
is very particular. If you do this and you mistreat 
him or sell him, then that kidnapper shall die and you shall put away 
the evil from among you. It's been a recurring theme in 
this section of legislation. When you get into the land, capital 
punishment is mandated. There are various forms of punishment 
that the law of God stipulates. Capital punishment is certainly 
one of them. Very often people say, well, 
that was then. That doesn't carry over into 
the New Testament. But the two primary texts which 
speak to capital punishment are not found in the Deuteronomy 
legislation. Does anybody know where the first 
text is that prohibits or that mandates, rather, capital punishment? Genesis 9 verse 6, whoever sheds 
man's blood, by man his blood will be shed for in the image 
of God he made man. It's a very crucial task to understand 
what's going on in that section of God's word. Noah comes out 
of the ark. he had gone into the ark and 
previous to that the earth was exceedingly corrupt and it was 
filled with violence. When Noah and his family emerge, 
God mandates the place of civil government to execute criminal 
offenders. Whoever sheds man's blood, by 
man his blood will be shed. The agent there is specified, 
by man his blood will be shed, and then the reason given for, 
in the image of God, he made man. Now the Deuteronomy legislation, 
Exodus legislation, differentiates or highlights or illustrates 
the difference between manslaughter or accidental homicide and murder. It is the murderer that is to 
be capitally punished. Remember that distinction. If 
I'm swinging my axe and the head flies off accidentally and hits 
someone in the head and they die, I am not going to be capitally 
punished. I go to the city of refuge, I 
wait out the time, and then I'm free to go. But if I lay and 
wait, and I have malice aforethought, and I'm premeditating it, and 
I bury my axe in this man's head, I've committed murder, and therefore 
I am supposed to die. Remember at the end of Numbers, 
it says you cannot take a ransom. or an atonement. You cannot take 
a sacrifice for a murderer. In other words, what has to happen 
when a murder is committed is that the murderer must be put 
to death. That's a passage that terrifies 
me. You know, we talk about all this 
stuff in our own generation and in our own civil state and sphere. We've got fiscal clefts, we've 
got ungodly uses of power and arrogance and all that sort of 
thing. We have a whole lot of innocent blood that has not been 
atoned for in the biblically prescribed manner, which is through 
capital punishment. And then when you get those people 
who say, well, capital punishment is confined to Genesis and it's 
confined to Old Covenant Israel, it just doesn't wash. When we 
get to Romans chapter 13, it is imperative that we understand 
that Paul the Apostle is writing at a time when the old covenant 
theocracy is gone. He's writing during the Roman 
Empire. He's writing during the reign 
of Nero. And Paul says, let every soul 
be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except 
from God. He says, whoever resists the 
authority resists God. And then he says that the government, 
the magistrate, the civil authority is God's minister to avenge, 
or to execute rather, God's wrath. He's an avenger of God's wrath. And so the death penalty is a 
biblical punishment through and through. In other words, when 
we pray, God have mercy on our rulers, cause them to operate 
in a fiscally responsible manner, cause them to legislate against 
abortion, cause them to implement the execution of criminal offenders. That is as much a biblical concern 
as many of the other concerns that we pray for on an ongoing 
basis. So for the kidnapper, what is 
mandated is execution. Notice thirdly, the outbreak 
of leprosy. Again, you can see how these 
things pertain to life. You can't take a pledge from 
a man if it jeopardizes his life. Somebody kidnaps or steals a 
man. That kidnapper must be executed. With reference to the outbreak 
of leprosy, verses 8 and 9, you need to heed the priests. What 
happens if you don't heed the priests? What happens if these 
infectious diseases are not quarantined in a body that is in a camp-like 
setting? That infectious disease is going 
to spread and everybody's going to die. You need to follow this 
particular law. Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy 
that you carefully observe and do according to all that the 
priests, the Levites, shall teach you. Do what they say. Don't 
say, well, I have a remedy. or I've got a tea, or I've got 
a plant, or I've got no. You listen to the priest. If 
you need to be under quarantine to stop the spread of an infectious 
disease, it is love for neighbor that dictates. You see this idea 
that I'm just going to do whatever I want, and it's my freedom and 
my liberty. No, you need to stop and not 
be selfish, and you need to make sure that your neighbor is protected. 
He says, just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful 
to do. Remember what the Lord your God 
did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt. Klein 
says, respect for the whole community's life and health demanded careful 
attention to the divine prescriptions for dealing with the disease 
of leprosy, the seriousness of which was evidenced by Miriam's 
experience. If you've got the ability to 
infect someone, don't do it. You know, these guys that take 
their AIDS-tainted blood or HIV-tainted blood, use that as a weapon. 
Certainly the Lord God frowns on that sort of a mindset. That 
is an attempt to commit murder. You cannot do that. We need to 
be responsible human beings, and we need to realize that when 
we live in a community, there are certain obligations, certain 
stipulations, and a certain degree of selflessness that we need 
to maintain for the good of those with whom we live. Notice, fourthly, 
the rule regarding a pledge in a loan. Verse 6 dealt with the 
type of a pledge or the type of collateral. Here is the rule 
with reference to that collateral, with reference to that particular 
pledge. Verse 10, when you lend your 
brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his 
pledge. Why? Because the guy's got a 
right to privacy and dignity. You know, as we read through 
this, especially when we get to chapter 25, again, we read 
verses 1 to 3, and it seems so barbaric, this idea of flogging 
somebody or beating somebody. But it's stipulated that there 
is dignity for the man even being beaten. Throughout this passage, 
what is recognized is that persons do have a certain right under 
God to privacy. They have a certain right under 
God to dignity. They're human beings. They bear 
the divine image, and therefore we need to treat them in that 
particular manner. When you lend your brother anything, 
you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. Don't be the 
thug that wanders through his house and says, well, that's 
not good enough. Give me that. No, the guy needs money. That 
doesn't mean he is, you know, subhuman. It doesn't mean he's 
become an animal. You still treat him with respect, 
even in this particular transaction. You need to appreciate that as 
we work through Deuteronomy. There's a lot of respect horizontally. We are to love brethren. We are 
to be selfless. We are to be kind and caring. 
We are to treat them as we would like to be treated. If I had 
to give up a pledge, I wouldn't want somebody barging in my house 
and saying, well, that's not good enough. I want that. Wait 
a minute. My mom gave me that. I don't 
want you to have that. I want you to have this. No, 
we're not thugs. We're not animals. We are to 
deal with one another in a God-honoring and Christ-exalting manner. So that's the right to privacy. Notice verse 11, you shall stand 
outside and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out 
to you. And if the man is poor, you shall 
not keep his pledge overnight. Don't do it. What pledge is in 
view specifically here is his garment. The outer garment would 
serve as the man's blanket at night. If you don't return his 
garment, what's going to happen at night? He's going to freeze 
to death. Godly people in a covenant community 
don't do that to one another. They don't say, tough on you, 
you should get a better job or learn how to pay your debts quicker. 
No, here's your garment back. And some might wonder, well, 
why even take his garment at all if you're going to have to 
return it every night? Probably to discourage the man 
from seeking out loans from various persons. He's only got one garment, 
then he's only got one creditor, and it helps him. So take his 
garment back to him at night, let him have it, go back in the 
morning and get it and hold it as a pledge for the money that 
you have loaned in. This is a transaction between 
covenant community members. One has a bit more, one has a 
bit less. We are to conduct ourselves with 
love, respect, with dignity. And notice what underscores all 
of this. Verse 13, you shall in any case 
return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that 
he may sleep in his own garment and bless you. And it shall be 
righteousness to you before the Lord your God. I don't think 
we're supposed to read this in terms of sola fide or compromise, 
a sola fide, and a Catholic saying, well, there you go. I return 
it, and that's my righteousness before God. I think what God 
is saying through Moses, it's the right thing to do. It's decent. It's what covenant members do 
for one another. You don't hold the man's garment 
overnight so that he almost freezes to death. Bring him his garment, 
go back in the morning, and get it. That's the bottom line. It is right to do, the man will 
bless you, and it shall be righteousness to you before the Lord your God. And then notice fifthly, the 
law regarding hired labor, verses 14 and 15. We also see this in 
Leviticus, previously in Deuteronomy, it's in Proverbs, and it's in 
James chapter 5 as well. What's the basic rule? You shall 
not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy. Whether one 
of your brethren, notice, or one of the aliens who is in your 
land within your gates. You don't get to oppress them 
because they're an alien. You know, they're inferior, they're 
subferior, they're lower than us. We can just trounce all over 
their rights. No, God says that if an alien 
comes in among your gates, he does what is necessary to be 
there among you, treat him the way you treat other covenant 
members. It's a beautiful thing. I think 
this speaks to the issue of immigration. If somebody comes in legally, 
they have the right and entitlement to be there. You don't treat 
them as if they're inferior. They're not as good. They're 
not as well as you are. No, if they've gone through the 
hoops, they've come into the body politic, they deserve the 
same respect and the same rights that everyone else gets. But 
notice, you shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and 
needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in 
your land within your gates. Each day you shall give him his 
wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and 
has set his heart on it. This is a day laborer. What does 
he do if he doesn't have his money? He doesn't eat. Pay the 
guy. Just pay. Pay on time. Don't be the guy that, well, 
I'll get you your check next week. Don't be the federal government. The check is in the mail. Don't 
be that person. If somebody has done work for 
you, pay them. Square off. At the end of the 
day, most contractual obligations in our setting is in every week 
and every two weeks and every month, however it is. Don't be 
late on the guy's pay. Sometimes I hear from businessmen, 
I hear, you know, guys, oh, it's so hard to get people to pay. 
It shouldn't be that way. If you get a service or you purchase 
a good, pay. It's just a good thing. Each 
day you shall give him his wages and not let the sun go down on 
it. for he is poor, and has set his heart on it. If he doesn't 
get the wages, he doesn't eat. If he doesn't get the wages, 
his wife doesn't eat. If he doesn't get the wages, 
his kids don't eat. And then notice, lest he cry 
out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you. That is 
hardcore. God says, if this man cries out 
to the Lord, the Lord will indeed indict you for that particular 
sin. Now even if the guy doesn't cry 
out to the Lord, it's not as if the Lord is being taught, 
hey, there's something happening here. The Lord knows this, and 
the Lord sees this, and the Lord says, don't do this. In James 
chapter 5, he speaks to this same issue. What do you think 
James has in mind? Not only the dead beats in his 
church, but he has the book of Deuteronomy. He has the book 
of Leviticus. He has Exodus. He has Proverbs 
in his mind. Come now, you rich, weep and 
howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches 
are corrupted and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and 
silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against 
you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure 
in the last days. Indeed, the wages of the laborers 
who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out." 
I've always thought about that text. You've heard that phrase, 
money talks. We always use it in a positive 
sense, like money talks. I showed the guy a 20 and I got 
a good seat in the restaurant. I've never done that, but some 
people do that, right? Money talks. Money does talk, 
according to James. But in this instance, that money 
talks to indict professing Christians is who James is talking to. professing 
Christians who have oppressed those who work for them. Indeed, 
the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you 
kept back by fraud, cry out. The wages cry out. The wages 
crying out reach the ears of Lord of Sabaoth, and he is angry. It is a sin. to God most high 
that you have done this and oppressed this man who did work for you. So those are laws of life. Notice 
secondly, by way of a larger category, laws of justice. And 
there are two here. Laws of justice, verses 16 to 
18. The first is the law of personal 
responsibility. Verse 16, fathers shall not be 
put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to 
death for their fathers. A person shall be put to death 
for his own sin. Now, I've noticed something over 
the last few years, I'm sure it's predated the last few years, 
but some people are teaching this doctrine of the transgenerational 
nature of sin and curse and something that I do is somehow going to 
be a bad thing for my son. And they ground this idea in 
the second commandment, where in the second commandment says, 
for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 
of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation 
of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who 
love me and keep my commandments. So the idea is that if I send 
my children, grandchildren, and grand-grandchildren are going 
to fall because of my sin. And then we read this in chapter 
24, and we say, wait a minute, here it's a personal responsibility. Well, this idea of a transgenerational 
curse being passed down from me to my son, to my grandson, 
to my great grandson, and so on and so forth, is not what 
I think that Moses is speaking about. I think the idea here 
is that when I'm an idolater, I teach my children idolatry. They are punished for their idolatry, 
not mine. The soul who sins shall die. There is a personal responsibility 
that we need to assume. Now, as parents, of course, we 
ought not to help our children to sin. We ought not to make 
it easy for them to violate the law of God. But the civil or 
the criminal or the judicial idea is clear in verse 16 of 
24. Fathers shall not be put to death 
for their children, nor shall children be put to death for 
their fathers. A person shall be put to death 
for his own sin." Personal responsibility. You cannot blame your parents. 
You cannot blame your grandparents. You cannot blame the TV. You 
cannot blame anything. You cannot blame the gun. The 
gun didn't jump up into your hand and make you shoot it into 
the head of that person. You are at fault. And I've always 
delighted in Genesis 9.6, whoever sheds man's blood, by man his 
blood will be shed. You know what a very famous defense 
has been recently? Is not guilty by reason of insanity. Well, 9.6 says, whether you're 
insane or not, if you murder someone, the law stipulates you 
die. That's the bottom line. Verse 
16 of chapter 24, I don't have all the ins and outs about the 
mentally ill and the incapacitated. We just need to deal with what 
the text actually does say with reference to criminals and non-criminals. Fathers shall not be put to death 
for their children, nor shall children be put to death for 
their fathers. A person shall be put to death 
for his own sin. This comes up later in the prophet 
Ezekiel. Remember, in Ezekiel's day they 
said the fathers ate sour grapes and the children's teeth are 
set on edge. What does Ezekiel say? No, the 
soul that sins shall die. You cannot blame daddy, you cannot 
blame granddaddy for the idolatry and the rebellion and the sin 
and the wickedness that you are currently in. The issue is that 
you have sinned against God and therefore you will go into the 
Babylonian captivity. So personal responsibility is 
highlighted. The principle here applies to 
the civil realm. It does not indicate some genetic 
predisposition. It simply highlights, if we take 
the passage in the Second Commandment, This perpetuity of idolatry through 
imitation. So, again, I don't know if you've 
heard this, but this idea, this transgenerational, you know, 
I'm being punished because my grandfather, you know, had a 
slave, or my grandfather did this, and therefore, whatever 
the offense may be. That's not biblical. Biblical 
is, if you sin, you shall be put to death. It's personal responsibility 
and personal liability. And then the second law of justice 
in verses 17 and 18, do not pervert justice toward the needy. You 
shall not pervert justice, verse 17, do the stranger or the fatherless. Do not pervert justice, do the 
stranger or the fatherless. These people are weaker by nature, 
weaker by station rather. Do not exploit them. Do not say, 
well, you really don't matter. Remember years ago during the 
O.J. Simpson trial, Johnny Cochran afterwards said the color of 
justice in America is green. And what he meant by that is, 
if you have good money, you get good justice. That is so foreign 
and contrary to the Bible. The Bible says, do not pervert 
justice, do the stranger or the fatherless. This is why Lady 
Justice is blindfolded. So she doesn't see these particularities 
or peculiarities between persons. Justice is to be rendered in 
that particular fashion without partiality. So do not pervert 
justice, do the stranger or the fatherless. And this cuts the 
other way too. In the book of Exodus, you're 
not to give special place to the poor man. You're not to let 
his poverty, you're not to let his pitiable condition affect 
your judgment. You're not to say, well, you 
know, it's too bad that you're this way, and I can understand. 
No, you're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to rule 
justly. Justice doesn't apply with reference 
to whether you've got money or whether you don't have money. 
Do not pervert justice, nor take a widow's garment as a pledge. 
We've already seen that. I mean, a widow, right? You've 
got to be a special kind of a man to say, I'm going to loan you 
money. I'm going to take your garment. To a widow, leave her 
alone. Let her have her garment. Give 
her the money. Maybe you don't even want to 
loan it. Just give her. This is a great charity case 
for you. And then notice what God says 
through Moses as the reason for this particular stipulation. But you shall remember that you 
were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from 
there. Therefore, I command you to do 
this thing. You see the implication? You've 
been redeemed. How could you live in such a 
way as to pervert justice? You've been redeemed. How could 
you live in such a way as to take some poor old doll's garment? She's a widow. Let her be. Give her the money. Give her 
some food. Give her some help. That's okay. This is what the covenant community 
should look like. You were redeemed from there. Therefore, I command you to do 
this thing. So the laws of justice, verses 
16 to 18. Now notice finally the laws of 
charity, verses 19 to 22. It's the same stipulation with 
reference to grain, olives, and grapes. Leave some. Just leave some, okay? You'll make it if you don't get 
every last olive. Every last piece of grain. Every 
last grain. It's okay. You can leave some. Remember that hero in the book 
of Ruth, that man called Boaz. Didn't he tell them, leave some 
for the gleaners. Make sure that they get theirs. That's That's kind. That's benevolent. That's good. Maximum profit is 
not the only thing involved in agriculture. There's an element 
of decency, an element of kindness, an element of graciousness, especially 
in the covenant community in the land that the Lord your God 
is giving you. You shall remember that you were 
a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore, I command you to do 
this thing." Craigie says, the manner of their participation 
in the fruit of the land would be such that they could maintain 
their honor and self-respect. This idea of leaving some. If 
you didn't have a lot, but you could go behind and glean and 
get some, there's still some self-respect there. You're going 
out and you're working. You know, the honest guys at 
Union Gospel Mission, I remember, and Steve and I would go there. 
We used to go there quite a bit. And you'd ask somebody, you know, 
about work. I remember this one guy said, 
I want my dignity back. I want to work because it's what 
I should be doing. I don't want welfare. I want 
to work. That's the guy's mindset. Well, 
in this arrangement, when you leave some grains, some olives, 
and some grapes, these poor people can go out and participate. They 
can maintain honor and self-respect in gathering their own fruit 
from the land. They would not have to beg or 
seek a handout. They would go into the fields 
and orchards after the harvest, and like the farmer, they would 
work for their own small harvest as they searched and gleaned 
for the grain and fruit that had been left there. And the 
farmers who had allowed some of their produce, allowed some 
produce to remain, were not simply being charitable to those less 
fortunate to themselves. They were expressing their gratitude 
to God who had brought them out of the slavery in Egypt and given 
to them a land of their own. There's dignity, there's respect, 
there's honor in this arrangement. It's not just a handout. You 
know, here you go, the government of Israel, here's your check, 
or here's your olives, or here's your grapes, or here's your grain. No, they worked. They had the 
dignity, the self-respect, the honor involved, the men that 
were the farmers leaving that. Again, it expresses gratitude 
to God, acknowledgment of His kindness, and a genuine benevolent 
spirit toward their brethren who were in need. So the laws 
of charity, very clear. These things were obviously abused 
later on, as I've said many, many times. As soon as we get 
out of Deuteronomy and we start getting into the history, we 
see they didn't do these things. But this is the marching order. 
This is what they were supposed to do in the land. And then the 
last broad category, verses 1 to 3 in chapter 25, the law of corporal 
punishment. The law of corporal punishment. Now, the types of punishment 
that we've seen thus far in the Pentateuch, or in the law of 
God, we have seen, as I've already mentioned, capital punishment. 
Genesis 9, Romans 13. Capital punishment is biblical. I know that sometimes ruffles 
Canadian feathers, and sometimes even Canadian Christian feathers. I had a pastor one time. I asked 
him, so have you ever preached on the death penalty? He says, 
well, you know, I don't know. I kind of feel like we should 
do it. But Jesus said to turn the other cheek. And I'm like, 
dude, you don't even know what you believe on this issue? Come 
on. So people that I have met, I 
I've just assumed that Christians believe that the death penalty 
is biblical because of Genesis 9 and Romans 13. Of course, the 
Sinai legislation in between. Anyway, so we've seen capital 
punishment. There is also restitution or 
compensation. to include indentured servitude 
if the criminal does not have the ability to pay back the victim 
of his crime. You see, in Old Covenant Israel, 
if I stole from you and I got caught, I didn't go to prison 
to pay my debt to society. That's a crime. I paid you back. Why should the 
state or the federal government get money out of me when I stole 
it from you? And then the state and federal 
government taxes you to provide for me. So you, the victim, are 
getting it twice. That's the modern situation. Compensation or restitution is 
the biblical prescription for a thief or for property crime. 
You know the guy that goes out and tags something? Get him out 
there to clean it up. Make him pay restitution. That will quickly discourage, 
I hope, I think it would, discourage, I think it would, Steve's over 
there going, I think it would. If we did it in mass and people 
got held accountable and we said, what saith the word? Flog him. Then everybody would start hopefully 
toeing the line. So restitution or payback. capital punishment, and then 
there's corporal punishment. That's what we're going to look 
at here. There is one instance that I know of, of punitive amputation. Punitive amputation. What I mean 
by that is as a punishment, somebody loses a hand. That's going to 
probably be next Wednesday night. That's the instance in Deuteronomy 
25 when two men fight and one of the men's wives intervenes 
and tries to break up the fight and in her intervention she grabs 
the genitals of not her husband and She is to have her hand cut 
off for that particular offense. So that's the only instance of 
punitive amputation that I'm aware of. The Bible isn't Sharia. If you go out and steal a Milky 
Way, they chop your hand off or whatever it is. That is the 
one instance that I'm aware of. So we've got restitution. We've 
got capital punishment. We've got corporal punishment. 
And then as a subset, we'll call it punitive amputation. Again, 
I don't know that that's you know, something that is widespread, 
how widespread that would have been as a crime in Old Covenant 
Israel. I don't know that it would be 
any more widespread then as it was or as it would be even today. So corporal punishment, notice 
in verses 1 to 3, If there is a dispute between 
men and they come to court, that the judges may judge them and 
they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. What do we 
notice first? There must be a trial. Remember, judicial procedure 
is big in the law of God. Deuteronomy 17 and Deuteronomy 
19, Deuteronomy 22. You don't just turn someone over 
to punishment. There is due process. You listen. You hear witnesses. You give 
evidence. You give testimony. Judges weigh 
the case and then they give a verdict or they make a ruling. So it's 
the first thing we need to understand as we approach this particular 
passage. There must be a trial. Secondly, if the man is found 
guilty and the decision is made to punish him corporally or to 
flog him or beat him, probably with a rod was the instrument. 
More so a rod than a whip. Exodus 21 speaks of a rod. So if the decision is made to 
flog the man or to beat the man, there must be supervision. Again, this is not something 
we're used to. So I want to walk us through 
it, just so if you have this idea, wow, this is terrible, 
at least appreciate all of the safeguards that are put into 
place so that there wouldn't be an abuse of power, an abuse 
of authority. So there must be supervision. 
If the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will 
cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence. OK, the judge is presiding. It is a legal situation. It is not barbarism. It's not 
take him out back and show him what the score is all about. Craigie says, if the judge has 
declared that corporal punishment was in order, then the flogging 
was to be carried out in his presence. In this way, the judge 
was able to see that the sentence was properly executed and that 
the offender was not treated too leniently. You know, my kids 
have all confessed that they preferred me spanking them than 
my wife. She was a little one, but she 
really hauled back and let them have it. They much preferred 
my spankings, because I was too lenient. I hope it wasn't too 
lenient. Yeah, it was, probably. But that's 
as bad a problem as too much. You see, the judge is there to 
make sure that the punishment fits the crime. And if the man 
has done something worthy of 20 stripes, then he gets 20 stripes. But not just that it was too 
leniently, but also that it wouldn't be too harshly by the officer 
of the law entrusted with the task. He can't lose all abandon 
and beat this guy like he's an animal. There has to be restraint. There has to be supervision. Notice thirdly, there must be 
proportion. There must be proportion. Then 
it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the 
judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, 
notice, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. According to his guilt with a 
certain number of blows. A man steals something or a man 
does something that's worthy of 10 stripes, don't give him 
30. Right? There's proportion. you Isn't 
that the fundamental principle of punishment? It must fit the 
crime. So if a guy's done five stripes 
worth of crime, don't give him 25. Make sure that the punishment 
indeed fits the crime. There must be proportion in the 
execution of this particular penalty. Notice, fourthly, there 
must be a limit. There must be a limit. You cannot 
exceed 40 stripes. That is it. The Code of Hammurabi, 
which was another law code, I believe, of the Hittites, either the Hittites 
or the Hivites, said 60. So the Jews had it a whole lot 
better by 20 stripes. But remember, when we get to 
the New Testament, they would say 40 minus 1. They didn't want 
to go over that 40, so they would end up giving 39. Paul himself 
received that from the Jews. And notice Paul never went on 
a campaign to end corporal punishment. He never stood out, not that 
we know of, no more corporal punishment. He received it. It wasn't just, but he received 
it nevertheless. But there must be a limit. Forty 
blows he may give him and no more. And then fifthly, there 
must be concern for dignity. Verse three, really ought to 
blow our minds. 40 blows he may give him and 
no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows 
above these, and your brother, notice. still your brother, still 
in the covenant community. He's not been ostracized. You're 
not throwing him out to the Hittites or the Hivites. This is remedial. He's going to get his beating, 
and he's going to enter back into society, and he's going 
to have learned his valuable lesson, paid the debt to the 
person he was supposed to do, and go back to operating as a 
normal human being. You see, it's a very humanitarian 
system. You know, the way we do it, a 
guy goes to prison, he comes out of prison, he can't get a 
job. Well, this guy could get his job, this guy could go back 
to whatever it was he did. He got his penalty, he got his 
punishment, he paid his debt, and off he goes back to wherever 
it was that he did, where he should be. If he was a brain 
surgeon beforehand, he can return to his calling. But notice, he's 
your brother, lest he should exceed this and beat him with 
many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your 
sight. So even in the execution of punishment, 
God is concerned that his image bearers, even the criminals, 
maintain their dignity, maintain the fact that they're not being 
degraded. So this wasn't a spectacle done 
just for sport. Rather, it was the punishment 
that was fit for the crime that this man received. He received 
it, and he went back to wherever it was that he was supposed to 
go. The just punishment of the guilty 
was to be dispensed in such a way that his individual human dignity 
was honored. And then Christopher Wright says 
that it is sad that in the popular perception the Old Testament 
is so often vilified for the severity of its punishments, 
whereas this law with its careful limitations and its explicit 
protection of the rights and dignity of criminals is overlooked. Oh, the Bible, it speaks about 
flogging people or beating people. Yeah, read it. See what's involved. See the safeguards that are involved. 
See that God wants this man's dignity to remain intact. It's beautiful. It's fair. It's 
wise. It's equitable. It's justice. And it reflects the goodness 
of our God. He doesn't say when you get into 
the land, there's not going to be any crime. He says when you 
get in the land, there's going to be crime. And this is the 
way you ought to deal with it. So in summary, we have seen various 
laws, and this last one deals with the law of corporal punishment. 
What in our study has not been a form of punishment that you've 
seen in the Old Covenant Israel? Anything missing or anything 
that has not appeared when we just go through this list? Restitution, 
corporal punishment, capital punishment. What's not in that 
list? Prison, right? You don't see prison in the Pentateuch. You see holding cells. Micaiah 
went to a holding cell. I'm sure there was, you know, 
when men were awaiting trial, there wasn't a prison system. 
There wasn't what we have today in terms of an institutionalized 
prison system. I argue that that is far more 
barbaric than this threefold manner of punishment that the 
Bible sets forth. Prisons were not in Israel. Egypt had them. Again, I suspect 
there was a holding cell for certain persons, waiting trial 
and that sort of thing. But just imagine, just real quick, 
because we're on this theme, at least I'm on this theme, I 
just think the biblical principles of punishment are really what 
we ought to pursue as a body politic. Just some thoughts about 
prisons. First, if the biblical principle 
of punishment is an eye for an eye, the punishment must fit 
the crime. That's what eye for an eye means. You'll meet people 
today and say, oh, the eye for the eye, that's terrible. No, 
it isn't. It means the punishment must fit the crime. Somebody 
murders, you put them to death. If somebody gouges out an eye, 
you gouge out their eye. If somebody breaks a tooth, you 
pop out their tooth. It's the punishment must fit 
the crime. The only crime that answers to 
imprisonment is if the criminal imprisons someone. Why are you 
in here? Because I put someone in prison. 
That would be one of the only reasons, equitably, to put someone 
in prison. Kind of a cheeky one, but it 
is, nevertheless. Secondly, imprisonment thwarts 
the biblical principle of restitution. I steal your business, I get 
thrown in prison, you're out. Right? I get three squares a 
day. I get to lift weights. I get 
to get in buffed shape. Cops can't. They're eating donuts 
or none of them, but they don't have the leisure to exercise 
like some of these criminals do. It thwarts the biblical principle 
of restitution. My job as a convicted criminal 
ought to be paying back the person for whom I stole. Not going into 
prison where the state is paying for my life. And again, taking, 
if I stole your business, they're going to say, you need to pay 
for me now to live in prison. It just doesn't, I don't know 
how we don't see that this makes no sense. Thirdly, the slavery 
envisaged in Exodus 22 3 seems offensive to many people. That's 
where, again, if I steal from you and I say, I can't pay back. I'll be your servant until I 
pay back the debt. That seems barbaric to some people. Have you heard about the modern 
prison system? That's barbarism. Young men go 
in, and they are homosexually raped. If I was a young man, 
criminal offender, I would much rather live with the Lawsons 
and pay back my debt than go to a prison where there is as 
much crime and more crime than what I'm previously used to. Fourthly, prison does not deter 
crime. It simply removes it to another 
location. Drugs, theft, rape, et cetera, 
are rampant in prisons today. And fifthly, prison is not designed 
to promote effective rehabilitation. It's just not designed that way. 
Poitras says, criminals have the most hope for rehabilitation 
if they feel the justice of their punishment. In addition, criminals 
have a greater chance to reform if they are in normal contact 
with normal society. You see, the guy gets his 20 
stripes, he goes back to normalcy. He's done. It's over. That's not the defining thing 
in his life now. He goes on to say, they then 
have the opportunity immediately to engage in just, socially profitable 
work and contributions to others. The abnormalities of prison life 
can never become a viable environment for training in righteousness. So, I just say this not so we 
can go on and hold up signs outside the local prisons, but to get 
us thinking. You know, so many of the opponents 
of biblical law say, oh this flogging, this beating. It's 
terrible. It's barbaric. I personally would 
rather get 20 stripes, have it done, than go live in a prison 
cell for 20 years and get out and only be able to get a job 
at a car wash. I just, to me, and I mean, with 
the thought of either one of them, I hope it promotes enough 
deterrent effect that I don't go out and commit the crime. 
But there are much better options than what has been set before 
us as humanitarian. I argue that the modern day prison 
system is the opposite of humanitarian. It is anti-humanitarian. Just think, when you come to 
these biblical passages, read them in context, look at what 
is being said, look at the checks and balances, look at how God 
structures it, look at how the safeguards are in place. We've 
seen that for even capital crimes. Two or three witnesses are necessary. Somebody is false witness. All 
those things are all brought into play and they all promote 
or help promote justice and righteousness with reference to these matters. 
Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for your 
word and we thank you for this section in Deuteronomy. We thank 
you for this entire book. It's been a wonderful time to 
see the wisdom of God. in the revelation of these truths. 
And we just pray now that you would go with us and watch over 
us. Again, we pray for our brothers and sisters in our local church 
that you would just protect each and every one. And we ask in 
Jesus' name. Amen.