Whole Life Concern
The publisher of my Bible added a heading over Deuteronomy 22. It reads, "Various Law". It's a heading that shouldn't be there. The term "various" implies these are random or somewhat less important laws. The original text did not treat the laws as such, in fact, they were important laws regarding the proper regard for one's neighbor, field, and whole life. In God's economy, your entire LIFE matters to Him. He wants all things to go well with you.
There are laws regarding the proper care of livestock and birds.
Deuteronomy 22:1 (ESV) “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother.
The law concerning the bird's nest is of particular interest. One commentator made the observation that taking the mother and leaving the eggs would have been cruel to both mother and eggs. It would have been the senseless killing of God's creatures and disregard the continuance of the species. Such an act would have an effect on Israel's heart for God's creation. We cannot treat it cruelly. We must regard all of the Earth with respect. If ever there was a passage in the Bible Peta would love, this is it.
The prohibition to plow with ox and donkey yoked together carries significance in regard to work and sanctification. First, the incompatibility of the animals working together would have exhausted one and possibly harmed the other. Secondly, one was clean and the other unclean. Israel was God's "clean" people and they were not to intertwine themselves with the common or unclean people. They were to represent His glory.
Perhaps the most troublesome law in the list concerns wearing clothing of two types of fabric.
Deuteronomy 22:11 (ESV) You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.
What's interesting is that the high priest garments disregard this law. What are are we to do with that? God is illustrating there are different allowances for the priests of Israel that the layperson cannot tolerate. Perhaps the priest, chosen to represent God who loves all nations and wants them all to come to Him, ministers to and supports the spiritual life of those who stay distinct and separate from the nations around them as testimony to the Lord God. It is at best a suggestion. But it also seems very plausible.
The fact of the matter is, these laws have a purpose for Israel that went beyond Israel. They were to be a people different from the peoples around them. They were to live with clear boundaries in all areas of life. Today, the church does well to regard these laws as signs of what God values among His people - a high regard for order, distinction, and proper arrangement in matters of our lives. We represent Him. Therefore all we have must glorify Him. When we do this, the world will see and praise our Father in heaven.
There are laws regarding the proper care of livestock and birds.
Deuteronomy 22:1 (ESV) “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother.
Deuteronomy 22:3 (ESV) And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it.
Deuteronomy 22:6 (ESV) “If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.
Deuteronomy 22:10 (ESV) You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
There are more laws outlawing cross-dressing, building negligence and sowing your field with two kinds of seed. In the sense that the laws are varied, I can agree with the heading. We learn from this list, however, whole life obedience was to be the order of the day for Israel.
I thought about what these laws mean for us as Christians. God is showing Israel that even the mundane realities of their lives were of His concern. You see God knows more than we do that the little things in our life can either bring us great joy or terrible frustration. What may seem like not that big of a deal to us could potentially harm our communal or individual prosperity. God cares for it all.
The law concerning the bird's nest is of particular interest. One commentator made the observation that taking the mother and leaving the eggs would have been cruel to both mother and eggs. It would have been the senseless killing of God's creatures and disregard the continuance of the species. Such an act would have an effect on Israel's heart for God's creation. We cannot treat it cruelly. We must regard all of the Earth with respect. If ever there was a passage in the Bible Peta would love, this is it.
The prohibition to plow with ox and donkey yoked together carries significance in regard to work and sanctification. First, the incompatibility of the animals working together would have exhausted one and possibly harmed the other. Secondly, one was clean and the other unclean. Israel was God's "clean" people and they were not to intertwine themselves with the common or unclean people. They were to represent His glory.
Perhaps the most troublesome law in the list concerns wearing clothing of two types of fabric.
Deuteronomy 22:11 (ESV) You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.
What's interesting is that the high priest garments disregard this law. What are are we to do with that? God is illustrating there are different allowances for the priests of Israel that the layperson cannot tolerate. Perhaps the priest, chosen to represent God who loves all nations and wants them all to come to Him, ministers to and supports the spiritual life of those who stay distinct and separate from the nations around them as testimony to the Lord God. It is at best a suggestion. But it also seems very plausible.
The fact of the matter is, these laws have a purpose for Israel that went beyond Israel. They were to be a people different from the peoples around them. They were to live with clear boundaries in all areas of life. Today, the church does well to regard these laws as signs of what God values among His people - a high regard for order, distinction, and proper arrangement in matters of our lives. We represent Him. Therefore all we have must glorify Him. When we do this, the world will see and praise our Father in heaven.
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