Deuteronomy 21
McGeeCHAPTER 21THEME: Laws regarding murder, marriage, and delinquent sonsThis chapter concludes the section concerning religious and national regulations which began with chapter 8. We find here interesting and remarkable laws regulating many different aspects of the life of Israel.
Deuteronomy 21:1
If a man has obviously been murdered and his body is found, the officials of the city are to measure to find the closest city. Then that city is held responsible for the murder. It may not be that he was slain in the city, but the city is still held responsible. This is what they are to do:
Deuteronomy 21:5
There is a basic truth taught in this procedure. When a crime takes place in a city, the inhabitants of that city have a certain responsibility. This is my reason for believing that ultimately there will have to be a demand made by concerned citizens that laws be enforced to get rid of the crimes that are taking place. God holds a community responsible. Even if the murder was not committed in the city, the city still is responsible. The elders of that city were to come and ask for forgiveness for the city, and forgiveness would be granted them. In America I wonder if there ever is even a suggestion that we ask God for forgiveness for our many crimes and the many things happening in our land. It is one thing to say that things are terrible, things are awful. It is another thing to go to God and say, “Oh, God, forgive us as a nation. God, forgive us for our sins today.” Do you know that Christ was murdered outside a city? Yes, He was. But His death could save His murderers. I think the Roman centurion who had charge of His crucifixion is one of the men who was saved. Verses Deu_21:10-17 give the law regulating marriage with a woman who was captured in warfare. Also there is the legal protection of the rights of the firstborn in the case of dual marriage where one wife was loved and the one was hated. We have seen this illustrated in the life of Jacob.
Deuteronomy 21:18
Here is the law concerning the “prodigal son.” We can understand how our Lord shocked the crowd listening to Him when He told them the parable of the prodigal son. When that boy came home, the listening crowd would expect that he would be stoned. Imagine their surprise when our Lord said that the father went out with open arms to meet the boy. They had expected the boy to get what he justly deserved. He had been a disgrace. He deserved to die. But what does the father do? He puts his arms around the boy and kisses him. He says, “…let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luk_15:23-24). Friends, aren’t you glad that we are not under law today? When we come to God, and we confess our sins, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn_1:9). Instead of judgment, there is mercy for us. How wonderful and how merciful God is to accept us and receive us when we come to Him! Now we have the strange case of one being hanged on a tree.
Deuteronomy 21:22
A criminal who was executed by hanging was not to remain on the tree all night. This was because everyone who hangs on a tree is accursed. It seems strange to us that this law is mentioned here. The form of capital punishment which was used in Israel was stoning. Apparently Israel did not use hanging as a form of capital punishment. So what this really means is that a person who was put to death by stoning was then hung on a tree. This applies to criminals of the worst type, to let it be seen that he had died for his terrible crime. It would be a warning to others. The body was to be taken down from the tree by nightfall and buried. The reason was that the criminal was accursed of God. Probably Moses did not realize, and certainly the children of Israel did not realize, the full significance of this law. In Gal_3:13, Paul picks up this statement in the law and applies it to Christ. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” In the time when our Lord Jesus lived on earth, He was delivered into the hands of the Romans for execution. Because Rome was in control of the land, the death penalty could only be executed by Rome. Our Lord was crucified on a Roman cross, sometimes called a tree. Now Paul picks that up and says that when Christ was hanging there on the tree, He was taking our sins and was accursed of God in that condition. Because of what He had done?
No. He became a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of sin. He redeemed us from the penalty of sin, and He has bought our pardon. Why? Because He was made a curse for us. I get weary of people arguing about whether the Romans or the Jews were to blame for the death of the Lord Jesus. Actually you and I were responsible for His death. Christ was made a curse for us. This is the thing He did for us on the Cross, which makes us responsible for His death.