Deut. 25:1 ¶ If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
Deut. 25:2 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
Deut. 25:3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
This section gives instruction as to judicial procedures. In any case that is brought before the judges, they are to ensure that the righteous is given justice and the wicked condemned. (You wouldn’t find that kind of terminology used today.)
The condemned person, if worthy of beating, is to have judgment carried out on the spot in front of the judge. He is to lie down and receive the number of stripes determined by the judge to be appropriate to the offense. In no case was the number of stripes to exceed 40. That number seems to represent the limit so as not to provoke vengeance. This seems to be defining the difference between appropriate punishment and malicious torture.
I think the significant principles in this passage are:
Judgment should be rendered fairly without partiality.
Sentence should be carried out immediately with the proper supervision.
Deut. 25:4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
In other words, you aren’t to forbid the ox to eat while it works. You shouldn’t be cruel to the animal that is serving you.
Deut. 25:5 ¶ If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.
Deut. 25:6 And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
My, Moses’ mind seems to work more randomly than mine does sometimes.
These verses provide for a man’s family line to be maintained if he were to die before having children. If he has brothers, the brother (I would assume the next oldest) is to take his sister-in-law as his wife and “perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.” In other words, he is to get her pregnant and produce a male heir for his brother. This is known as a “levirate marriage.” I would assume that future children would take the new husband’s name.
Wonder what happened if the first child was a girl? I wonder if she became like the daughters of Zelophehad and had to marry into the family tribe. (Numbers 36:6-8) Maybe it just means that the firstborn male would take the dead brother’s name.
Deut. 25:7 And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.
Deut. 25:8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;
Deut. 25:9 Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.
Deut. 25:10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.
This section of verses gives instruction regarding the dead man’s brother not wanting to take his dead brother’s wife as his own. She is to go to the elders and inform them of the brother’s refusal to marry her. The elders are to call the brother to appear before them and confirm the truth of the accusation. If he still refuses, his brother’s wife is to take his shoe off his foot and spit in his face and state, “So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.” The context implies that these were very shameful acts to endure and would cause stigma to the man’s reputation.
This scenario seems almost laughable to us today. Not the part of providing for an heir for the deceased brother, but the thought that publicly taking off his shoe, spitting in his face and speaking a few spiteful words would be a deterrent to refusing to comply with this arrangement. Not so in the culture of that day.
Though not handled exactly as explained here, this was the law that was invoked that allowed Boaz to marry Ruth.
Deut. 25:11 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:
Deut. 25:12 Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.
I had to think about this section for a bit. The instruction pertains to a woman who is interceding to protect her husband from being beaten up. In doing so she grabs the attacker by the “secrets,” his private parts. Instead of being justified for helping her husband, she is to have her hand cut off.
After thinking about it for a while, I think it is because of the potential for human life that can be affected through such an action. We argue today about when life begins. (As far as I am concerned, there is no argument; it begins at inception.) It would seem that God values even the source of potential for new life.
Deut. 25:13 ¶ Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
Deut. 25:14 Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.
Deut. 25:15 But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
These verses forbid the use of rigged weights and measures in order to make an unfair profit. You are only to use “perfect and just” weights and measures. Obedience to this command will ensure that their days in the land will continue—in other words, that God doesn’t judge them by having them taken captive by another nation.
Deut. 25:16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
I think the principle being expressed is much broader than just involving weights and measures. I think the principle being addressed is unfair business practices in general. God detests people who take advantage of other people through dishonest business practices.
Deut. 25:17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;
Deut. 25:18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
Deut. 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.
The last section in this chapter is a special reminder to completely destroy the Amalekites. This was in direct reference to the words of God recorded in Exodus 17.
Exodus 17:14-16 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
When Israel pitched camp at Rephidim, the Amalekites attacked them without provocation. It was at a time that they were weak and vulnerable and the Lord provided His people water from the rock. It was during this battle that Aaron and Hur had to stand by Moses and hold his hands up as he held up the rod of God until the battle was won.
As I looked at a couple of commentaries, I was reminded that Amalek is a type of the flesh, and it is always to our benefit to completely destroy the desires of the flesh in our lives. The Israelites did not heed this command; Saul did not destroy Agag, the Amalekite king; and the evil Hamaan from the book of Esther, who tried to destroy the Jewish nation, was one of his descendants.
1Samuel 15:8-9 “And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.”
Esther 3:1 “After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.”
If you don’t destroy the flesh, it will destroy you.
Deut. 26:1 ¶ And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein;
This chapter begins with a “when” statement regarding the people of Israel possessing the land God promised to give them. Again, the emphasis is on the fact that God is giving this land to them; implication being that they could not take it in their own strength.
I got to wondering about the use of the words inheritance, possess and dwell. For them to inherit the land acknowledges the authority and ownership of the benefactor.
Deuteronomy 10:14 “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.”
Psalms 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
The Hebrew for possess includes “to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit….” I was surprised to find that this idea of taking by seizure was included in Webster’s definition of the word. I think we normally just think of it in connection with ownership. God is very clear in instructing His people to take possession of the land by completely destroying the current occupants of the land.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2 “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them….”
To dwell is a reference to settling down, marrying and becoming established in the land. We would describe it as being home and having an expectation of enjoying fellowship with friends and family and reaping the fruit of one’s labor. We find this same thought echoed in the book of Numbers.
Numbers 33:53-54 “And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families….”
The important key to their success is that they trust and obey God as LORD.
Deuteronomy 30:16-18 “In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.”
Deut. 26:2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.
Deut. 26:3 And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us.
Deut. 26:4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.
This section of verses begins to give instruction regarding the harvest that they reap in their new land. This whole section through verse 15 is making reference to a prescribed ritual of thanksgiving and acknowledgement of God’s provision and to make provision for “the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow” (cf verse 12). This basket is obviously just a representative portion of the tithe that they were to give from each harvest.
It’s always interesting to note that the people were to act in accordance with God’s instruction at the place of His choosing. My mind immediately jumped to thoughts of Cain and Abel. Cain obviously chose to deviate from God’s instructions while going through the motions of worship. True worship is an act of complete submission and thankfulness to God. Do we not also continually struggle with serving God according to our own ideas and justifications rather than just accepting the truth and direction given us in God’s word according to His will?
It is also interesting to note that when bringing this basket of firstfruits, the people are to make public declaration before the priest that their possession of the land is a result of God’s promises to their fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). Only then is the priest to take the basket and place it before the altar of YHWH.
I think the “profession” in verse 3 is a reminder that God keeps His covenants.
Deut. 26:5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
Deut. 26:6 And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:
Deut. 26:7 And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:
Deut. 26:8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:
Deut. 26:9 And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.
The person is then to continue with a recitation that acknowledges their humble beginnings as a nation and how God had raised them up to such a place of blessing.
The father in verse 5 seems to be a reference to Jacob who began his family in the land of Syria while working for his father-in-law Laban. His whole family eventually ended up in Egypt as a result of God’s miraculous provision for His people in a time of famine through the faithful service of Jacob’s son Joseph to Pharaoh. They went down a few dozen and grew to be great in number. They are to remember the harsh treatment suffered at the hands of the Egyptians and that YHWH responded to the cries of His people for deliverance. They are to remember that YHWH brought them out of Egypt with an awesome miraculous display of power and authority over His creation. They are to once again reiterate that the land of abundance and blessing they now call their own is a gift from God.
Deut. 26:10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:
Deut. 26:11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
They are to continue by declaring that their gift of firstfruits is in honor of all that God has given them. They are then to prostrate themselves before the LORD as an act of worship. Verse 11 implies that this offering is being given by the head of the house, who will then lead all who are part of his household in giving thanks to YHWH for His bountiful blessing. The importance of spiritual leadership in the home is an ongoing theme throughout scripture.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
Psalms 34:11 “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
Proverbs 29:17 “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.”
Isaiah 38:19 “The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.”
Ephesians 6:4 “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Deut. 26:12 ¶ When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;
This issue of tithing instructions is still a bit confusing to me. In chapter 14 it was made clear that the tithe of all increase was to be done yearly.
Deuteronomy 14:22 “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.”
A bit further down in the same chapter the instruction seemed to indicate that the tithe every third year was not only to be used by the Levites, but was to be stored and used to provide for the “stranger, fatherless, and the widow.”
Deuteronomy 14:27-29 “And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.”
The Levites were not exempt from tithing; they were instructed to offer up a heave offering of a tenth of the tithe they received from the people.
Numbers 18:26 “Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.”
I also remember reading in Leviticus that the people were not to harvest from the land for their first three years in the land.
Leviticus 19:23 “And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.”
In spending a bit of time in research, I found that no one seems to be definitive on the biblical instructions for tithing; opinions are quite varied. Emphasis is given more to teaching the principle rather than understanding the specifics.
Gill: “Every year a tithe was paid to the Levites; and besides that a second tithe, which was carried to Jerusalem and eaten there; and every third year it was eaten at home, in their towns and cities in the country instead of it, with the Levite, poor and stranger, and was called the poor's tithe; and hence the Targum of Jonathan here calls this year the year of the poor's tithe, as was also the sixth year….”
The counting was in reference to every seven year cycle leading to the release from debt in the seventh year.
Henry: “Concerning the disposal of their tithe the third year we had the law before (Deuteronomy 14:28,29). The second tithe, which in the other two years was to be spent in extraordinaries at the feasts, was to be spent the third year at home, in entertaining the poor. Now because this was done from under the eye of the priests, and a great confidence was put in the people's honesty, that they would dispose of it according to the law, to the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless (Deuteronomy 26:12), it is therefore required that when at the next feast after they appeared before the Lord they should there testify (as it were) upon oath, in a religious manner, that they had fully administered, and been true to their trust.”
Which leads to the next verse.
Deut. 26:13 Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
Deut. 26:14 I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.
I think the CJB gives a clearer understanding of these verses.
I have rid my house of the things set aside for God and given them to the Levi, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, in keeping with every one of the mitzvot you gave me. I haven’t disobeyed any of your mitzvot or forgotten them. I haven’t eaten any of this food when mourning, I haven’t put any of it aside when unclean, nor have I given any of it for the dead. I have listened to what ADONAI my God has said, and I have done everything you ordered me to do.
The focus in this section is on the desire of those bringing the tithe to honor God through careful diligence in following His instructions. This should be the heart of every child of God as he/she applies the teaching of scripture to his/her own life today.
Our desire should be to do ALL that He has commanded us, not just the part that fits in easily and conveniently with our preferred way of living.
Deut. 26:15 Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
When one honors God through submission and obedience, he can confidently lift up prayers asking for God’s blessing. The people of Israel at this time were focused on God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to establish their descendants in the Promised Land, the land of Canaan that was rich in all the resources needed to live with abundant provision.
Deut. 26:16 ¶ This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
Moses again drives home the importance of obeying every one of God’s commands. The phrasing is very interesting; they are to “keep and do them” with all their “heart and soul.” This is an instruction regarding the attitude of the heart as one performs the physical, observable actions of obedience. In other words, it is a statement that declares the importance of one’s relationship to YHWH as he demonstrates obedience. He is obeying from a heart of love and gratitude rather than just going through the motions of a ritual with no heart involvement. I couldn’t help but think of these verses from my study of Isaiah that emphasize this truth.
Isaiah 1:11-14 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.”
And from the prophet Micah.
Micah 6:6-8 “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
Deut. 26:17 Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:
Moses marks this day as one of public declaration that the people have declared their desire to follow YHWH as their Lord and to obey Him according to His every command and instruction. I’m not sure I can discern between statutes and commandments; but after looking at the Hebrew, I think judgments makes references to the consequences or penalties that God established for choosing to disobey. After looking at Webster, maybe the statutes are a reference to the civil laws, while the commandments made reference to spiritual laws.
Deut. 26:18 And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;
Deut. 26:19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
Moses is also marking the day as one of YHWH’s public affirmation of His promise to set the people of Israel apart as His “peculiar” people, a people He treasures as a special jewel among the nations. In accordance with such privilege, He expects the people to keep all His commandments. They are to stand out as living clean and sanctified lives before the LORD in stark contrast to the rest of the nations.
The balance sheet is way out of whack in my opinion. All the people have to do is submit and obey. In return they will be given special status over all other nations. His desire is to establish them in “praise…name…and honor.” The record shows that only for a brief time in their history did they experience such blessing, basically during the reign of Solomon. Even then it was a time of God’s mercy, because Solomon certainly didn’t continue in leading the nation to maintain spiritual purity. Throughout most of their history, the Jewish people have been despised and mistreated.
Satan has certainly proven himself to be a master at deception and in tricking people into giving up the blessings of God in exchange for experiencing the pleasures of sin for a season. It began with Adam and Eve, continued on with the nation of Israel, and continues to this day in the church. You would think we would learn to recognize the lies of the enemy at some point along the way and to reject them and embrace the promises of God.