Deuteronomy 22

CHAPTER 22THEME: Miscellaneous laws concerning brother relationships, mixtures, and marriageThis chapter brings us to another division of the Book of Deuteronomy. We have seen the repetition and interpretation of the Ten Commandments in chapters 5-7. Then there are the religious and national regulations in chapters 8-21. Now we come to regulations for domestic and personal relations in chapters 22-26. God directed many of these laws to the nation; now He gets right down to the nitty-gritty where the people live with laws relative to their domestic and their personal relations.

Deuteronomy 22:1

BROTHER RELATIONSHIPSIn my day we have heard a great deal about a good neighbor policy, and we see that God had a good neighbor policy for His people in that day. I remember during Franklin Roosevelt’s administration when he came out with the “good neighbor policy,” all the pundits and reporters acclaimed it as something brand new. They hailed Roosevelt as a sort of messiah and thought he had come up with something wonderful. May I say to you that the good neighbor policy is as old as Mosesactually much older than Moses. It goes back to the very throne of God in eternity. He is the One who says we are to adopt a good neighbor policy, and it is to be demonstrated in our everyday life.

Deuteronomy 22:4

They were not to assume a nonchalant attitude toward the neighbor, nor were they to pass by as if the neighbor’s problem were none of their business. They were to extend their help to the neighbor.

Deuteronomy 22:5

DRESS CODESomeone will say this does not apply to us today because we are not under the Law. That is true. However, all these laws which we are studying do lay down certain principles which we do well to notice. I may be out of step with the times, but I believe it is still true today that a woman looks better dressed as a woman, and a man looks better dressed as a man. As my wife and I were driving in San Francisco, we were behind a little Volkswagen. I remarked that the wife was driving and the man was sitting next to her, and she was driving pretty fast. When they were going up a hill, they couldn’t maintain their speed, so I passed them. Do you know that I was wrong? The man was driving and the woman was sitting beside him. That man looked a woman, and the woman looked like a man. Frankly, I don’t see the benefit of that. God created us male and female. God is saying here that a man ought to look like a man, and a woman ought to look like a woman. We are having a great deal of trouble today because the sexes are trying to look alike and are trying to act alike. I personally feel that womanhood is paying an awful price for demanding equal rights. Men would like to treat women as women, and that means men would like to elevate them, and give them more than equal rights.

Deuteronomy 22:6

PROTECTION FOR BIRDSIt is a wonderful thing to see that God is concerned for birds. Remember the Lord Jesus said that not even a single sparrow falls without the Father’s knowledge (Mat_10:29). Actually, the language has the thought that a sparrow always falls into the lap of the Father. Just a birdyet the Father is concerned about it! The Lord Jesus said, “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Mat_10:31). How wonderful that is. If the Father is concerned about a sparrow, He is also concerned and knows all about you.

Deuteronomy 22:8

BUILDING CODEOne must understand that the roof of the house in that day in Israel served as the front porch, the patio, the deck, whatever you wish to call it. It was the place where the family went to sit in the cool of the evening. Now God says that the area is to be protected. There was to be a railing around it so little children would not fall off and so that people would not step off the roof in the darkness. Do you know that it is only in recent years that our nation has had building codes to protect people? God is not behind the times as a great many people seem to think He is. God has a concern about the way people build their homes. He is interested in that. He wants your home to be dedicated to Him, and He wants that home to be a safe place. Do you have a railing around your home? Do you protect your children from the things of this world? Many parents let their children move from the home and do not even know where the children are. Many children have gone out to live on the street or in communes. The railing, the protection, is not there as it should be in the modern home.

Deuteronomy 22:9

MIXTURESThis sounds to me like a humorous thing which the Lord is saying here. Actually I saw this done over in Israel. In fact, I have a slide that I took showing an Arab plowing with an ox and an ass yoked together. So they do this over there even today. God says that Israel should not plow that way. Someone may ask, “What is wrong with that?” Well, an ox is an ox and an ass is an ass, and they do not go together. They don’t walk togethertheir gait is different, and they do not pull together. Have you noticed that the Lord does not like mixtures? The same thing is true in marriage. God does not want a mixture of the saved and the unsaved. Unfortunately, I have seen quite a few marriages that reminded me of an ox and an ass yoked togethera Christian girl marries an unsaved fellow, or vice versa.

Deuteronomy 22:11

Do you know what happens with a mixture like that? When you wash it, the wool will shrink but the linen will not. Then you have a real problem.

Deuteronomy 22:12

That fringe was most generally blue. We know it was blue on the garment of the high priest. The fringe was a reminder of their relationship to God. Later the fringes became distinct badges of Judaism. God warns against mixtures. The child of God cannot mix with the world. I hear Christians say that they go the way of the world in order to reach the people of the world. I have news for you. That is not the way to reach them. If you ever hear of anybody being reached because a Christian went the way of the world, let me know. The seeds were not to be mixed. The ox and the ass were not to try to work together. The wool and the linen were not to be mixed. The Christian is not to mix with the world, my friend.

Deuteronomy 22:13

MARRIAGEHere was a law to protect the innocent wife, and it was to keep a wife from being falsely charged. This protected a wife from a godless and hateful husband. It was a way we do not have today, but God had made an arrangement to protect a wife under such circumstances.

Deuteronomy 22:20

Suppose the woman was guilty. Then she was to be stoned. Today people talk about the “new” morality and consider sex apart from marriage a great step forward. God gave a standard of morality to His people, Israel. God-given morality has always been a blessing to any nation. Any nation that has broken over at this point has gone down. When I think of this, and when I think of the condition of my country, I weep. Under God’s law to Israel, a person guilty of adultery was stoned to death, whether man or woman. If we did that here in Southern California, there would be so many rock piles it would be impossible to drive a car through this part of the country. God honors marriage and God honors sexual purity. Adultery in Israel was to be punished by stoning. This tells us how God feels about adultery, friends. Remember that God’s love for His people is expressed in His Law. This law regarding the protection of the sanctity of marriage is a very fine example of His love and concern for the human family.