Nonsensical? | Sunday, October 2, 2022

You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother... You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again. (Deuteronomy 22:1–4)

Strange, even nonsensical laws—until you see they are the seedbed of love, stewardship, and the freedoms we enjoy today.

A Lawyer's Great Question

The Gospel of Luke records that one day a certain lawyer came to Jesus and tested him, asking, "Teacher, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?" If there was ever a good question, that's it. Many Christians would love to be asked that, and they might leap into the four spiritual laws or the Roman Road—all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

But Jesus didn't respond the way you or I might. He said, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" The lawyer answered:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)

Jesus replied, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." The lawyer was quoting two passages—Deuteronomy 6:4–5, the Shema, which we've already studied, and Leviticus 19:18, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord."

Strange Laws, Progressive Reforms

As we come to Deuteronomy 22, Moses is rehearsing for Israel some of the laws given back in Leviticus 19, about forty years earlier at Sinai. He is reminding Israel of God's law as they prepare to enter the Promised Land, where they will govern themselves according to His word. Israel had been redeemed from Egypt to be God's people, bound to Him in covenant, and therefore called to be separate, distinct, and different from the nations around them.

When we read Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy in 2022, many of these laws look bizarre—because we view them through the worldview of Western Americans. These miscellaneous laws of Israel are strange and out of step with our culture, and we don't need to pretend otherwise. But here's what I want to suggest: while these things seem bizarre to us, they were not in alignment with Canaanite customs in 1400 BC. They were reforms. They made the people of God distinct.

If you compared the social customs of the Philistines and Canaanites of 3,400 years ago, Israel's way of life would look far more merciful, gracious, and liberating. Israel's law was a progressive reform. And we are where we are today because of the principles of God's law in the Torah. Our views of women's rights, property rights, slavery, civil rights, crime and punishment—these would not exist as they do if not for what God did through Moses thousands of years ago.

Don't Be Quick to Judge

So a simple question: do you like the freedoms, rights, liberties, and rules of the highly civilized society we call home? If you do, all of that goes back to these very Scriptures. None of it would have happened without God's progressive revelation, which begins rudimentarily in weird passages like Deuteronomy 22.

We must be careful not to quickly judge the strangeness of what we read. You don't get the liberties we enjoy without the laws in passages like this. You can never get to calculus if you don't start with addition. This is the mere ABCs of what God is progressively revealing to His people.

Loving Your Neighbor—and Your Enemy

So in verses 1–4, Moses says if you see your neighbor's ox or sheep wandering, restore it. If you find anything your brother has lost, hold it and return it. Even his fallen donkey you must help lift up. This is the basis for all the law. When Jesus was asked the greatest commandment, He said love God and love your neighbor, and "on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Jesus then amplified that law of love:

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven... For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? (Matthew 5:43–46)

This kind of love—not just loving your countrymen or those who love you, but loving even your enemies—is what God calls us to. I don't think it's possible without supernatural enabling, but it is the path to becoming mature, complete, perfect, like our Father in heaven.

What This Means for Us

In North County San Diego in 2022, you probably won't find your brother's ox going astray or stumble upon a stranger's cloak. So these things have no word-for-word literal application. But ask yourself: do you like the idea of property rights, of personal property? We get that from God's law. Do you think it's good to restore lost property to others? We get that from God's law.

Would you rather live in a society where "finders keepers, losers weepers" is the rule, or one where people look out for you and your property even when you're not there? Is it better to live among people who will pull over and help when you break down, or those who look at you and drive on by?

Jesus's conversation with the lawyer didn't end where I left off. The lawyer asked, "Who is my neighbor?"—seeking to justify himself. So Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, where a priest and a Levite passed by the wounded man, but a Samaritan—and there was real racial animosity between Jews and Samaritans—had compassion, bandaged his wounds, and paid for his care. "Which of these was a neighbor?" Jesus asked. "He who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said, "Go and do likewise." The law of love is seen in how we show mercy to others—including those we are not exactly fond of.

Male and Female: God's Created Order

A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment; for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)

If there was ever an Old Testament passage with interesting modern application, this might be it. It's amazing how much discussions of sexual identity and gender are the major issues of our time. I wouldn't have seen that coming ten or twelve years ago, but here we are. And as strange as our cultural infatuation is, it only reminds us that Solomon was right: there is nothing new under the sun.

Is this a statute against cross-dressing and transgenderism? In one sense, yes, you could make that application. But I don't think that's the primary point. Primarily this is a focus on God's created order. Jesus said, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female?" and, "You err, not knowing the Scriptures." On page one of the Bible, "God created man in His own image... male and female He created them."

This passage is not teaching that women can't wear pants—ancient Israelites wore long robes, both men and women. It is teaching that there are distinct, important differences between men and women, and we should honor those differences within God's created order. Does this mean there's no variance in extreme minorities regarding sex organs? No, there is some variance—effects of the Fall upon the created order. Is there a spectrum of masculinity and femininity? Yes—even Esau the hunter and Jacob the mild man dwelling in tents show degrees. But characteristic differences do not change biology, and they do not change God's created order. A society that disregards God's order will sow confusion, chaos, and disorder—and we are seeing that.

To say such things in 2022 is culturally incorrect. It's a sad statement on our times that to be biblically correct is increasingly to be politically incorrect. But fight with God's created order and you find yourself fighting against God, and the effects will not be good. It's like the time, more than twenty years ago, when I decided to ride my little brother's friend's dirt bike. My mom said, "Miles, I don't think that's a good idea." I spent the afternoon in the emergency room getting stitches in my chin with a concussion. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes—and our society keeps running full speed ahead expecting things to turn out great.

Wise Dominion Over Creation

If a bird's nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young... you shall surely let the mother go and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days. (Deuteronomy 22:6–7)

Another weird passage. But Genesis 1:26 says God gave humanity dominion over the fish, birds, cattle, and every creeping thing. So you have the liberty to fish, to hunt, even to take the young of a bird. Yet God sets limits on how you exercise that dominion—limits informed by wisdom.

The underlying principle is that we must exercise wisdom in how we rule ecologically over creation. While the example is birds and nests, the principle extends to other environmental and ecological issues—how we clear land, mine minerals, produce energy, harvest game, and catch fish. We must be careful not to make creation into our God, but equally careful to recognize that God made creation and expects us to steward it wisely.

God placed humanity in a garden to tend and keep it. Later He judged Israel: "You... defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination" (Jeremiah 2:7). We don't worship the creature over the Creator, but we don't want to be unwise stewards either. He will hold us accountable for how we tend what He has made.

The Crown of Creation

When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from the roof. (Deuteronomy 22:8)

I find it interesting that Moses moves from the care of creation in verses 6–7 to the care of humanity in verse 8—and I believe God inspired that order on purpose. One danger in the modern environmental movement is advocacy for creation at any cost, even at the cost of human lives and livelihood. Environmental policies in the West, including ESG standards, are increasing global food insecurity—what we used to call hunger.

We ought to steward creation well, but not at the expense of people. Humans are the crowning glory of God's creation. The psalmist says, "You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor" (Psalm 8). Only for humans is there a guilt of bloodshed if one dies by error, negligence, or injustice—nowhere near the same restitution is expected for an animal. So Moses commands: take great care when you build, that your negligence doesn't cause an untimely death. Our care for God's creation should be most evident in how we care for our fellow man.

Reminders of Separateness

You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed... You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together. You shall make tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself. (Deuteronomy 22:9–12)

Four final rules that make little sense to us, but share a common theme. Israel was to be separate and holy unto God—different, distinct, consecrated. Many of their daily, weekly, seasonal, and annual practices were meant to remind them of their separateness.

Was there a moral problem with mixing two kinds of seed? No. But this statute reminded them to take great care in their separateness. Was there a moral issue with yoking an ox and a donkey? There were practical problems, but no holiness issue—yet God's people were to refrain from being unequally yoked with those who were not His. Paul carries this into the New Testament: "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?... For you are the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6:14–16).

Was there a deep theological issue with mixing linen and wool? This shirt I'm wearing probably has mixed threads. There were practical reasons, but the point was that even in their daily clothing they would be reminded that they were a holy people, not alloyed or scattered together with other nations.

Tassels and Wedding Rings

On the four corners of their clothing they were to put tassels—white thread with one blue thread through the middle. Why? Numbers tells us:

You shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord... that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. (Numbers 15:39–41)

It's like a wedding ring—a visible, tangible reminder of the relationship I have with my spouse, and a witness to others as well. God's law was ordered so that Israel would always remember that God was their God and they were His people.

I wonder if there's anything in your life or mine that serves as a daily reminder that we are children of God. Israel had rituals, feasts, daily practices, weekly gatherings, and meals to remind them of their connection to God. It's not a bad thing for us to order our lives so we are continuously reminded of our connection to Him—and so that it becomes a witness to others. Is there a gathering, a communion, a small group, a bracelet or necklace that would remind you, and witness to others, that you are set apart as His child, a light to the world?

Closing Prayer

God, I pray that You would help us as we think about these things in Deuteronomy. It's so easy for us to read a passage like Deuteronomy 22 or 23, find something weird and strange, and just move on quickly. But I pray that we would see that maybe You have something more here that You want to instruct us in, and that we would be open to that teaching. Lord, open our hearts and our minds that we would receive these things. Open our eyes that we would see the wonders from Your word and understand what application they have for us in 2022. We're probably not going to stumble upon a wandering ox or donkey, Lord, but there is still something more You want to teach us. So help us be open to it, to see and learn from Your word. We ask this in Jesus's name. Amen.