Page 124 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

132
prohibition in Deut. 22:11 similar to an average person taking the place of a priest? If we
apply the significance of a cloak to every item in life, we are additionally pressed with the laws
demands.

The seventh commandment on adultery (22:13-23:19) deals with the accusation of sexual immorality,
rape, and marrying a close relative. Many verses are given to this topic elsewhere (Deut. 27; Lev. 18;
etc.) Odds-and-ends about relationships are mentioned but not developed: sexual inability, children of
mixed marriages, mixed marriages, and general camp uncleanness.

The eighth commandment on theft (23:15-24:7) deals with financial oppression, a prostitutes earnings,
paying vows, vineyards, the potential theft involved in marriage vows, proper security for a debt, and
selling a person.

The ninth commandment discusses lying (24:8-25:4) and covers following a priest’s instructions, taking
a cloak as pledge, the cry of a poor worker, other people who give pledges, and harvesting.

The tenth commandment briefly touches on some situations having to do with coveting (25:5-26:15).
Even oxen deserve to eat while threshing. A brother’s widow must not be deprived of the means to a
living. Differing weights and measures should not be used to cheat. Israel must always remember how
the Amalekites showed them no pity, desiring instead the goods of the Israelites. The concluding section
on tithing can also be seen in the context of coveting when a person keeps more than his just share.

So how are we to use this large section of scripture today? We might find some principles of
government, for example, in passages like Deuteronomy 20. A nation should be careful about the
purposes of a standing army. The exemptions from military duty in 20:5-9 (new house, new vineyard,
new wife, or even faintheartedness), give some perspective on the parts of life that are most valuable.
“The building of homes and orchards, the marrying of a wife and other such things were of the essence
133
of life in the Promised Land, and if these things ceased, then the wars would become pointless.” A
nation that attacks its neighbors needlessly or spends too much of its resources on an army has lost its
perspective on the reason a nation exists. Israel was to be different. Nation’s today can incorporate
some of these principles.

The same can be said for the thinking of an individual.
Society in its popular expressions often glorifies sinful
outlooks. Throughout history nations have honored a
“warrior class.” These men have been highly trained in
the best weapons and tactics, whether swords and
arrows or tanks and body armor. At some point
admiration begins to deteriorate for the skill itself,
necessary or not. “Warriors” then no longer exist to
protect normal life. “Warriors” become better than
normal life. They alone are the heroes bearing the cost Fig. 81: Rambo
of normal life for everyone else. They can be glorified in

132 Hamilton, Exodus, 468
133 Craigie, Deuteronomy. 274.

123