Deuteronomy 25
McGeeCHAPTER 25THEME: Punishment of the guilty; law protecting widows; judgment of AmalekThis is a remarkable chapter that expresses God’s concern for protecting the innocent by punishing the guilty and by perpetuating a brother’s name in Israel. It concludes with the command to “blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
Deuteronomy 25:1
FORTY STRIPESThere were certain crimes that arose through difficulties between individuals. I think that in our legal nomenclature today we would call them misdemeanors. These would not be serious crimes which would merit the death sentence. However, they would require punishment. Forty stripes would be the limit. Otherwise there would be the danger of killing the man. The number of the stripes, one to forty, depended on the seriousness of the crime. This method of punishment has gone entirely out of style. It was interesting to me to hear several outstanding attorneys discussing this. They agreed that it would break up a great deal of this lawlessness if there were public floggings. That is, when a person commits a minor crime, instead of putting him in an air-conditioned jail to loaf for a few days, he should be taken out and publicly flogged. Apparently God thought that is the way it should be handled, and the answer as to whether or not it was effective is found in the fact that Israel had a very low crime level.
Deuteronomy 25:4
THE OX NOT TO BE MUZZLEDHere is a lovely thing. God is protecting the ox. When I was in Israel, I took pictures of this very thing because they still do this over there. For a long time I watched an Arab who had his ox going round and round, treading out the corn, and, do you know, he had his ox muzzled. God had said, “Don’t do that. The ox is working for you; he is treading out your cornlet him eat.” God’s concern is a very wonderful thing. It is interesting that Paul reaches into the Book of Deuteronomy and uses this verse in his letter to the Corinthian Christians. “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? (1Co_9:9-11). Do you see how Paul is applying this?
He is saying, “Pay your preacher.” “Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1Co_9:14). The man who is ministering to you in spiritual things is feeding you spiritual food. You, in turn, are to feed him with material things. That is how Paul is making the application of this verse. While I sit and talk into a microphone, making a record on tape for broadcasting on radio, I see the tape going round and round, and I feel like an ox treading out the corn. And you know, that is what I am trying to dotread out the corn. God says not to muzzle the ox that treads out the corn. I’ll let you make your own application of that!
Deuteronomy 25:5
LAW PROTECTING WIDOWSNow we move on to another point. You can’t make me believe that God does not have a sense of humor. God has a law here to take care of widows. It worked effectively, as we shall see in the Book of Ruth. But to me it is very humorous. God was protecting womanhood. We hear a great deal about women’s rights, and it is interesting that God guarded their rights. We need to remember that in Israel most of the people were farmers. The land was divided among the people and each had his own piece of land. When a man died, he could leave a farm with all his wheat and corn and also his livestock of sheep and oxen. The widow was left with this farm to care for.
Suppose some man from the outside, a foreigner, or a man from another tribe wanted to marry her and thus come into possession of the land. This was forbidden. She was not permitted to marry outside. Here is a case where the widow does the proposing. What she was to do was to go and claim one of her husband’s brothers, a cousin, or the nearest relative and ask him to marry her.
Deuteronomy 25:7
If the brother, or relative, doesn’t want to marry her, she can take him to court, you see.
Deuteronomy 25:8
If the man refused to marry her, the woman could take him to courtthe city gate was where court was held in those days. She would tell the elders how it was. If he still refuses to marry the widow, there is a penalty. He is disgraced for not performing that which he should do according to the law. It reveals the fact that he is not being true to his brother, or to his family, or to his tribe, or to his nation, or to his God. The man is disgraced. Here is a marvelous example of how God protected the widow. We will see this law in operation when we get to the Book of Ruth. It was used effectively in that book. Can you imagine how this would affect a family in Israel? Suppose there was a family of four sons living on a farm in Ephraim country. Suppose that night after night one of the boys went off with the lantern and when he came back to go to bed, he would be whistling. Pretty soon the family would get into a huddle and the brothers would ask him, “Where are you going every evening?” They’d do a little investigating of their own and find there was a daughter in the family that lived down the road. So the brother would admit, “I believe in the good-neighbor policy, and I have been going down there to visit that family that just moved in.” And he would admit that he was thinking of marrying the girl. Now, if those brothers didn’t care too much for that girl, can you imagine what would happen?
They’d say, “Listenbefore you get any notions, you go the doctor and have a physical check-up. We want to be sure you are in good health before you marry her, because none of us want to get stuck with her.” Believe me, they got down to business. Getting married was a family affair. This was God’s way of drawing families very close together, of protecting the widows, and also of protecting the land. You see, this was the way the land would always stay in the same family. It was a very good law for them. The next verses give a severe punishment for involvement when men strive together. Also God commands His people to be accurate in their measurements and in their weights. They are to be absolutely honest in their business dealings.
Deuteronomy 25:17
JUDGMENT OF AMALEKIn Exodus 17 we have the record of Amalek’s attack upon the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. The Amalekites were marauding nomads out on that desert. Israel had suffered an unprovoked attack by Amalek at Rephidim. That was the battle when Moses was on the top of the mountain and Aaron and Hur held up his arms in prayer to God. When his hands were up, Joshua and the army of Israel won; when his hands were down, they lost. They finally won a victory over Amalek. At that time the Lord said a very interesting thing, “…thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” As I have mentioned before, Amalek represents the flesh; that is, the fallen nature we inherited from Adam. God intends eventually to get rid of that old natureit would be impossible to go to heaven with it. You and I have an old nature that can never be obedient unto God. We will deal with this subject quite thoroughly when we get to the Epistle to the Romans. Amalek is an illustration of the flesh. As long as we are in this life, we shall never get rid of the flesh"Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exo_17:16).
We saw in chapter 23 that the flesh is not for us to despise. We cannot overcome the flesh by becoming ascetic or by trying to beat it down or by becoming super-pious. That won’t accomplish anything. But we do need to recognize that there is a war going on in each one of us. It is a war between the spirit and the flesh. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal_5:17). We cannot overcome the flesh by fighting. The only way we can overcome the flesh is by yielding to the Spirit of God. Only the Spirit of God can produce the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. The Lord says that He is going to blot out the remembrances of Amalek from under heaven. I thank God that He intends to get rid of the flesh someday!