That I May Know Him, page 114
| Be kind to strangers (Lev. 19:34); don’t belittle or oppress them (Ex. 22:21). Remember you, too, were once strangers in a foreign land, Ex. 23:9. |
Commenting on this precept, George Arthur Buttrick, noted Bible scholar, has this to say: "If God so spoke to Israel concerning the Gentile, shall he not through these same words speak to the Gentile concerning anti-Semitism?" (The Interpreter's Bible, Vol.2, page 100). "Remember you were aliens from God," he reminds us. Let us show compassion for those who are blind to their own Messiah, as well as those who are yet pagan in beliefs and behavior.
Today we need the compassion spoken of in this statute. But it cannot be commanded. It must come from a forgiven heart. To him little is forgiven, the same loveth little (Luke 7:47); Conversely, he who is forgiven much will love much . Should we not then express compassion toward the Jew caught in blindness, as strangers to their Messiah? Let us forgive them, for many still know not what they have cast away. There is not room in God’s true message to His people for the anti-Semitism still lingering among some Sabbath-keepers.
It might seem that it should be easy to put oneself in another's shoes, having walked that way before. When one quits smoking, shouldn't that victory quicken the overcomer's sympathy for the soul still trapped by this vice? The person once hooked on drugs, alcohol, or any compulsive habit, should be more tolerant and understanding of the addict, the alcoholic, and the compulsive drives yet uncontrolled in another's life. How sad it is to discover that vice plus overcoming is not equal to sympathy and compassion. Only when forgiveness is in the equation, do the quotients equal compassion for the weak.
Furthermore, when one turns away from childhood training to join the world and its glamour, the will is marred for life. The character, once weakened by habitual, deliberate sin, will never reach the potential it could have realized. Praise God when the sinner returns to the Saviour, but what a loss of influence for the years spent on destruction or discouragement to others. These willful strangers (prodigal sons) and strangers from far countries (spiritual infidels) need this statute demonstrated.
Let us, therefore, show loving compassion to spiritual Jew and spiritual Gentile alike, for where would we be, but for the grace of God? When we accept our forgiveness and cleansing, we allow God to restore what the "locust hath eaten," (Joel 2:25). Then we can share with others to the glory of God.
| You must give respect to foreigners in your land, helping them to avoid getting taken advantage of in money matters. You must treat them as your brothers (Lev. 19:33, 34), remembering that your ancestors were once foreigners in Egypt. |
Here a specific behavior is identified which may show one’s concern for the foreigner in one’s area. We are our brothers’ keepers. Even the refugee is our brother. Help him to understand the economic principles in our land. Advise him so he will not be gullible to high-pressure sales and gimmicks. Care for him as one of your own.
This statute bans racism in all its forms. Our modern equivalent to this statute might be, "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you." Most of us need an attitude adjustment at times. No matter the treatment, our response is to pattern after the Divine One, who made no defense in His own behalf.
| The same laws apply to strangers in your land as to your neighbors; you have one law for all, Lev. 24:22. |
In the previous verse (21), murder and property damages are addressed, with this verse following: You shall have one law for all, neighbor and stranger alike. In other words, whoever commits a crime, the same shall be punished, regardless of race or creed, with the same punishment as the Hebrew native in the land. The behavior may not be the stranger's choice; it may not be the law he is comfortable with, as in his own land. The law to be enforced must be Israel's Law, that standard given by their Elohim. We may safely conclude that when a stranger sojourned in Israel's land, he had previously been informed about the penalties for breaking their laws. The sojourner had no appeal to international court, no recourse for a less severe punishment.
We know that God forgives crimes confessed and forsaken, but the penalty is not withheld. Restitution must be made to the extent it is possible, for the citizen and foreigner alike. David's confession was deep and sincere, and from the Scriptures we know that he was forgiven; yet he suffered the consequences of his sin for the remainder of his life.
Apply the principle from this statute to the standards upheld in the home, and in the church. Everyone is to be treated generously, but the standards must not be lowered to accommodate the pleasure of the stranger to the Law of our God. Yet, that is exactly what has happened in many cases. There has always been the pressure to lower the standard of the Word of God, "so we won’t scare our visitors and new interests away," we are told. If we hadn't lost sight of this statute, there would, undoubtedly, be some people turned away by discipline and structure. Some people, no doubt, traveled around Israel's borders lest they would have to encounter Israel's religion and laws. Is that fact a good argument against holding high standards?
Years ago, my husband and I attended a ministers' retreat for the conference where he was serving. Consistently throughout the four days, we listened to appeals to uphold high standards in our churches. The speaker had recently attended the ministers' conference of another Protestant denomination (Baptist, as I recall). There, he heard their leader appealing to the pastors to raise their membership standards. His argument was based upon statistics showing, at that time, that the two fastest growing denominations in the United States and in the World were the SDA's and the LDS's.
Their president then enumerated the standards, which set these denominations apart from other churches. Two of the standards that I can recall were vegetarianism and tithing. "Do those things people will have to give up, stop them from joining those churches?" he asked. "No!" he responded after a moment of silence. "People want a church that sets them apart from the world. They want to come out of the world, not just change their name in the world."
How does this experience relate to the statute about the same law for all? Today, contrary to the implication of the above speech, some formerly conservative churches have lowered their standards hoping to make their tenants more attractive to the pleasure loving throng. Yet, according to this Protestant president, it was high standards that held the attraction for those seeking a better life.
Do times change the Word of God? Do culture and politics alter the policies of the Most High? In some ways, yes. The principles remain, although the actual cases may appear quite different in modern cultural trappings. What has happened to churches, our churches, then, that can justify the new tolerance for sin? It seems as though failure to interpret and extract the guiding principle in the ancient laws resulted, in the 1970’s and ’80, in a condescension to situation ethics. Once the focus shifted to interpretation, to the near-exclusion of Bible codes and prescriptions, the next phase progressed effortlessly. "Unity at any cost," and "tolerance toward all" led the way to the apostasy we see defended in many of our churches today. Nevertheless, God will have a people who will repave the old paths to higher ground.
Our publishing institutions are to exalt the claims of God's downtrodden law.—Standing before the world as reformers, they are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring reform. In clear, distinct lines they are to present the necessity of obedience to all His commandments. Constrained by the love of Christ, they are to cooperate with Him in building up the old waste places, raising up the foundations of many generations. They are to stand as repairers of the breach, restorers of paths to dwell in, The Publishing Ministry, page 48.
| The foreigners could become the servants of God’s people (Lev. 25:45-47), but no Hebrew could become a slave permanently. If the foreigner got rich in the Hebrew master's employ, while the master grew poor, he might become the servant of the foreigner, until Jubilee; then he would go free, Lev. 25:47-55. |
The meaning of the word "slave" has changed somewhat from the days of Israel in Canaan. Today, a slave is one who is taken, often against his or her will, and forced to work for a master who supplies only room and board and bare essentials. Consequently, we have a tendency to read the Old Testament passages about slavery with our own picture of the nineteenth century South.
It is true that slavery, as practiced by other nations was brutal and crude. To the extent that Israel was influenced away from God's design, they increased in cruelty and decreased in respect. Let us remember that all of God's laws form a transcript of His loving character. This fact His archenemy has sought to disfigure and destroy in His people. God required compassion for the weak, love for the neighbor, and respect toward all mankind. But God could not compel love; He could only demonstrate it.
The Hebrew might offer himself as an indentured servant, for a time, to get out of debt; but he would have his land restored to him in the year of Jubilee. The poor master could be redeemed by a kinsman before the Jubilee arrived, however. But the children of a foreigner would be slaves for life. We may speculate that no foreigner requested asylum in Israel without considering the consequences. The foreigner would have been choosing Israel's God, Israel laws and life-style, and giving up his own family traditions and religion. This must have been one of the ways Israel was to proselytize the peoples around them. We find few accounts of the heathen requesting servitude in exchange for Israel's security under God's rule, as the Gibeonites once did (Joshua 9:1-6).
Most slaves in Israel were acquired from prisoners of war. Even so, they were to be treated according to the statutes; some to be slaughtered to rid the land of the immorality and idolatry, and some to be accepted into their system of employment, if the captive did not blaspheme the God of Heaven.
There is no parallel between the slave-master relationship in Western society today, but the spirit of humble service still abides in the hearts of God's children.
| When the Lord brought judgments upon the heathen, Israel was not allowed to be sympathetic toward the evil doer, Deut.7:2. |
If God Almighty would not allow the Children of Israel to mourn the loss of life among the heathen worshippers of false gods, should we today? When God delivered the Children of Israel out of Egypt, it was both friendship and fear that brought the mixed multitude out with them. It was Israel's friendship with their Egyptian neighbors, their intermarriages, and subsequent children, which kept the Egyptians among them. Nevertheless, it was this mixed multitude that caused the demise of the first generation in the wilderness. As harsh as it sounds, it is still friendship with the world that will destroy us. Grieve not, therefore, for the loss of life among the heathen; grieve rather that you did not reach them for Christ.
| Intermarriage was forbidden. To intermarry would weaken their faith in the God of Israel, Deut. 7:3. |
Association with idolaters was allowed on God's terms, but intimate association with them was strictly forbidden. They were a covenanted people to hold before the world the power, compassion, and authority of a holy God. To intermarry would not only weaken the spiritual focus of the family; it would also crumble the protection around the nation.
Solomon, who had once prayed for godly wisdom to lead the nation, soon became a foremost influence to break down the nation (1 Kings 11:1). A major factor in that sad history was the disregard for this statute. Solomon's marriage to more than one wife was itself a confrontation with the oracles of God. For him to marry women of every major religion and nation flaunted his earthly power in the face of holy Deity.
The man who had aspired to rule the sacred nation in the most honorable way, got his eyes on his own accomplishments, and accepted the glory for himself. He turned to man's wisdom, ignoring the laws of Jehovah, and thus, he led Israel in the downward path to dishonor.
Solomon wasn't the only prominent leader who failed to practice what he preached. Scripture is replete with the accounts of others like Esau (Gen. 26:34,35) and Samson (Judges 14:1) who, by defying the admonition of the Lord, brought great discouragement to those faithful in their generations. That was then…
Little has change today, certainly not in principle, from those ancient tragedies. The same defiance to the statutes today brings the same consequences to families and nations as in the days of yore. Yet, the intermarriage continues, and it seems no one can stop it. Our families are compromised, and our children grow up to leave the covenant with the Lord God of Heaven, until like Israel of old, the church [nation] and the individuals will alike be judged in the balances of the Sanctuary. Christ warns us as He did the first century compromisers:
And thou, Capernaum [Seventh-day Adventists, who have had great light] which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day… (Review & Herald, Aug. 1, 1893).
God has invited us to be His peculiar people, separated from the wisdom of the World. Will we be captured by Satan’s sophistries? Will we hide in the ashes of Sodom and Capernaum? If we choose now to honor our Creator and Redeemer by cultivating a relationship through which He may write His laws in our hearts, we may be hidden in the Father's "cleft of the rock" in that day that will try all mankind.
| Debtors were released from their debt in the seventh year, but the Israelite could bill the foreigner again at the end of that year in order to give to the poor. If there were no poor among them, the foreigner was released from the debt, for Israel could afford to be generous. God had been so with them (Deut. 15:3-5). While they could not charge interest to their brother (Deut, 23:19), they could charge the foreigner interest on a loan (vs.20), unless he proselytized; then he was to be treated as a brother in financial dealing. See Lev. 19:33,34. |
Several points are worthy of acknowledgement here. First, that God had blessed Israel, and would continue to do so, so long as they continued in His covenant (Deut. 15:5). Secondly, Israel was to be a light to envelop the whole world. Thus, they must learn to treat the stranger as a brother. They were to be generous, first with their own, and then with those who proselytized to the Jewish faith. Finally, they were to be generous with the foreigners who traded with them or traveled in their land.
Another important concept here is the guard against greed and covetousness clarified in several statutes. Concern for the needy was based on the reality that all men are brothers. Consequently, Israel for centuries was practically a classless nation. The inherent worth of every life under-girded this sense of brotherhood. They should have had no need or occasion for coveting what others possessed.
Sadly, along with national apostasy, their regard for the "poor," –the word here referring to the "underdog," the "defenseless" citizen in Israel- was too soon set in casings to view only at the Feast of Tabernacles and in the year of Jubilee.
When the Messiah began His earthly ministry, poverty was an acknowledged and well-established fact. That Jesus often singled out the poor to share His power and glory reveals the compassion He had for this class. Had Israel obeyed the statute, there would have been virtually no poverty among them. Some would still have been richer and some poorer, but the abject poverty found on the streets of first-century Jerusalem would not have existed. Jesus did not condemn the poor; He himself had been born in a stable, raised in a poor-man's town, learning a poor-man's occupation. "You have the poor with you always," He reminded His listeners (Matt. 26:11). It was the poor who listened most eagerly to His gospel (Matt.11:5); it was the poor in spirit who would be blessed (Matt. 5:3).
Christianity, at its best, reaches for hungry hands as Jesus did, for He who calls us to be His ambassadors identified himself with the poor. "I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me…(Matt. 25:34-36).
From this statute we have the solution for one of the world's most vexing problems. Poverty creates class struggles, political conflict, and disdain for religion. The solution is simple and practical. Yet, it requires unreserved service to God.
To acknowledge that all are children of one Father, and to act accordingly in mercy, is to leave no room for poverty, special privilege, or injustice. Human need is not a matter just for systems and laws, but for mercy and lovingkindness. Therefore, fundamentally Deuteronomy's can be the only permanent solution, (The Interpreter's Bible, Vol.2, p.428).
| An Ammorite or Moabite could not enter the house of worship because they had caused much trouble for Israel and had hired Balaam to curse Israel. From that time ten generations must be counted before anyone of that nationality could participate in the religious services of Israel, Deut.23:3-6. |
God had already told Israel not to retaliate toward Ammon (Deut. 2:19) because He had given their land to the children of Lot. Although Ammon and Moab were related to Jacob, they had not shown the common courtesy due to strangers when Israel passed through their land (Gen. 14:18; 18:2; 19:1,2). They were reluctant to even trade with God's people as they traveled through the land. Furthermore, it had been the Moabites who, in years later, along with the Midianites (Num. 22:4-7), had employed Balaam to curse Israel. The Bible writer here seems to be saying, "Don't trust them!"
In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, Tobiah was excluded from the Temple service by the enforcement of this statute (Neh. 13:1-8; 2:10). Some Bible commentaries suggest that this statute may have been added after Moses delivered the laws of God at Sinai. Ammon, they claim, did not become a nation until after the Sinai experience. This statute may have been included because of the hostility that developed between Israel and their neighbors. We do know that some statutes were known before Sinai. In fact, some may be traced as far back as the entrance of sin in Eden. It seems that some statutes, set to protect the sacred from the common, continued to be added after the death of Moses. This would help explain how more than six hundred statutes and judgments came to be included in their writings by the time the Jews used them to condemn the Saviour.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their burdensome restrictions. Luke records the rebukes (Luke 11:39-54) toward the entire Jewish system at that time.
Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers,
Luke 11:46.
Can we glean from this statute a principle for our time? There are a couple of possibilities: Don't be quick to give church authority and responsibility to one who is newly converted; it takes time to test and prove the new heart experience. Secondly, could it be that when any religious body has shown intolerance toward the people of God, it should be given fifteen generations before anyone of that persecuting religion is allowed in your worship service, let alone in your pulpit? Perhaps the reader will think of other applications for this prohibition.
| The Edomites (descendents of Esau) and Egyptians were to be allowed in the sanctuary in the third generation, Deut. 23:7,8. |
The reason stated in these verses for not shunning descendents of Esau, nor the children of the Egyptians, is intriguing. Esau was a son in the lineage of the Covenant, whereas many Egyptians were kind to the Children of Israel when they sojourned in Egypt. In the third generation individuals from these two groups could be circumcised, showing their submission to the Covenant, and thereafter participate in the worship services of the congregation.
Jesus alluded to the principles of these two statutes (Deut.23:3-8) when He sent his disciples out to evangelize the regions around Galilee. (In other words, don't waste time on those who are prejudiced against you.) They were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Taking neither money nor map, the disciples were to test the worthiness of each household. Where the gospel of Jesus was welcomed, the disciples were instructed to leave a blessing; where they were met with prejudice and hostility, they were not to waste their time. The instruction was, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. See Matt. 10:5-15.
What application may be made to our day? Should we flaunt our religion in the face of non-believers assuring them that our religion makes us superior to them? Some do it. Should we doggedly debate and argue to convert our neighbors, family, and friends to our understanding of scripture? Some do it.
This was not Christ’s method. He instructed His disciples, when you come into a house, if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you (Matt. 10:11-13). There must be peace in the houses where their call is given. Their labor was not to be lost, producing no fruit for the kingdom of God. Then the Savior warned them that they were going out among wolves (verses 14-17). Some would turn them over to their city councils. Others would misrepresent their mission and message to bring about a character assassination of God's witness before the church board (modern application). Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (verse 16).
In a letter addressed to Elders Daniells, Colcord, and Starr, we find this commentary:
We are not to throw our arms about the men who are Satan's masterpieces for working out his will…Truth is to be proclaimed in warnings that will make hearts tremble in contrition before God. The sharp, clean-cut testimony must be born…[Matt.10:16 quoted] Make no compromise with those who have apostatized, but treat them kindly, giving no occasion for your good to be evil spoken of, (Manuscript Releases, Vol. 9, p. 88). Further amplification is found in Testimonies for the Church, (Vol. 9, page 230).The Lord has said: "Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations." Exodus 31:13. None should disobey His command in order to escape persecution. But let all consider the words of Christ: "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another." Matthew 10:23. If it can be avoided, do not put yourselves into the power of men who are worked by the spirit of antichrist. Everything that we can do should be done that those who are willing to suffer for the truth's sake may be saved from oppression and cruelty.
Satan's attacks against the advocates of the truth will wax more bitter and determined to the very close of time. As in Christ's day the chief priests and rulers stirred up the people against Him, so today the religious leaders will excite bitterness and prejudice against the truth for this time. The people will be led to acts of violence and opposition which they would never have thought of had they not been imbued with the animosity of professed Christians against the truth, (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, page 239).
| The Amalekites were to be wiped out completely for having no fear of God in their underhanded attack on Israel’s weak, feeble, and exhausted ones, Deut. 25:17-19. |
Exodus 17:8-16 gives us the reason for this judgment against the Amalekites. The children of Israel had left Egypt only weeks before their encounter with Amalek. It is not possible that the Amalekites had never heard of the power of Israel's God. Certainly merchants, from Egypt to India would have spread the word over all the then-known world. But these people were undaunted and defiant in the face of that knowledge. The children of Amalek flaunted their national strength in the face of the God of the universe, choosing to ignore His judgments against Egypt, the news of Israel's miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, the visible cloud of covering by day, and the pillar of light to open the darkness.
It was at Rephidim, where the children of Israel grumbled over the need for water. It was here that Moses met one of his greatest tests. How could these people be so quick to forget the songs of deliverance in favor of complaints over needs not met! The encampment was only a short distance from Mt. Sinai when Moses struck the rock at Horeb, bringing water to the weary travelers. In the setting of a negative, complaining multitude, faithless and ungrateful, Moses named the place Massah and Meribah (Temptation) because the Children of Israel tempted God there.
The domestic disturbance quieted, Moses needed quietness with God as well as physical rest. Instead, he was alerted that the Amalekites, descendants of Esau, who dominated the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, were marching against him. Moses had learned to submit his plans and his fears to the One who appointed him to undertake this enormous responsibility. Read the story of supportive faith and courage (Exodus 17) to be reminded of the how God intercepted the strongest army to teach Israel the greatest lesson about who fights Israel's battles. That was then…
All these things happened to them as examples—as object lessons to us—to warn us against doing the same things; they were written down so that we could read about them and learn from them in these last days as the world nears its end, 1 Corinthians 10:11 (The Living Bible).
Are we learning to abhor what God abhors, to seek God's direction in the face of overwhelming odds, to meet spiritual and emotional attacks with prayer, and to venture, under the impulses of the Word of the Lord, where others would fear to go? If so, we are learning from their examples what we must know for these last days.
| If an Israelite wanted a captive of war to become his wife, he must let her mourn her family for one month; then she could become his wife. But, if she didn’t please him, he must let her go; he could not sell her, as she has already been humiliated by being captured, Deut. 21:11-14. |
The rules for war with enemy nations were specified in Deuteronomy 20:10-15. There we learn that the first rule of war was to offer peace. Israel was not to enter battle with any nation without offering them a peaceful settlement first. If refused, the battle would begin, and their women and children would be taken as part of the spoil (vs. 14).
These women and children were not to be harmed in any way. The children, when separated from their parents, were taken into Israelite families where they were cared for as household servants. A favorite among our children today is the story of the little maid (2Kings 5:2-5), taken from the land of Israel during a battle with Syria. She witnessed to the power of the God of Israel before her captors. From her faithfulness to God, Naaman, her master, was healed of his leprosy and undoubtedly grew in respect for the God of Israel.
The captive woman whom an Israelite wanted to marry must be allowed to mourn her losses for one month. If, in time, she didn't embrace the new husband and his new religion, she could not be made into a slave, but must be set free to return to her own people.
Today women from captured territories are rarely treated with as much dignity as was required by God of the Israelites. The respect for women that God required of Israel, even in war times, framed the foundation for the recognition of womanhood's true dignity during the Early Christian Era. Yet, without the spiritual foundation for our ethics in wartime, women are often ravaged and disgraced. This ought not to be.
For the Christian there is ew nor Greek, neither male nor female (Gal. 3:28), for all are equal before God. Through Christ all are the children of the Kingdom. In every age, where the Word of the Lord does not hold the preeminence, men seek to dominate women, often reducing them to toys or servants. But it is not so among those who are seeking to align their lives with the oracles of God.
There appears in this passage from Deuteronomy (21:7-14) a beautiful analogy for thoughtful contemplation. It involves captives taken during wartime. A female captive might be brought into the household by the unmarried warrior to become a servant to the family. She would be given a period of time to adjust to the new way of life. If she pleased the family and was happy to worship their God, the son in the household might then ask for her hand in marriage. He would make his request of his father, who would betroth the servant girl to his son, if that pleased him. Once married, she inherited, with the son, all the estate of the master.
Is that not a picture of the gospel? God sent His Son into battle with His enemy Who took captives from the enemy's land. The Son presents us to the Father as servants in the house of the Lord for a period of probation. We have this period of probation to determine whether we will be rebellious or obedient. If compliant, we will be drawn by the love of the Son of God for us. If we learn to love the family, leaving behind our world-loving ways, we may fall in love with the Son.
Christ then asks the Father for our hand in marriage. The Heavenly Father betroths us to His Son, for that pleases Him to do so. Once slaves to sin, then captives of the Son of Righteousness, to be first servants of the Heavenly Family, we are elevated to the exalted honor as Bride of Christ, and daughters in the Master's house. We are then treated as equal with the Son to receive all the privileges and inheritance of the Kingdom.
Amazing Grace!
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost,
But now am found;
Was blind, but now I see!