Revering the Word
Deuteronomy 22. What are Sundry Laws and how do they apply today?
Good morning everyone this morning we are in Deuteronomy chapter 22 you might have in your Bible where it's labeled and the labels aren't Most the time necessarily biblical or meaning inspired meaning in the original text You don't consistently have headings, but someone put them there throughout history To give us an ideas to what's said in the passage to come, but it's good to know that it's not necessarily inspired but you may see the word sun dry laws there and what that means is various varied so We're going to have some disconnected Sains in this chapter. They're not all tied together into a topic They're a varied varied teachings. They're quite interesting. Let's take them in You shall not see your countrymen's ox or his sheep strain away and pay no attention to them You shall certainly bring them back to your countrymen if your countrymen is not near you or if you do not know him then you shall bring it home to your house and It shall remain with you until your countrymen looks for it and then you shall restore it to them Thus you shall do with his donkey and you shall do the same with his garment And you shall do likewise with anything lost by your countrymen Which he has lost and you have found you are not allowed to neglect them You shall not see your countrymen's donkey or his ox falling down on the way and pay no attention to them You shall certainly help him to raise them up and what a neat thing, you know Most of us it aren't we don't have ox I can think of you know at least one person at our church that does but most of us don't or most of us Don't have a donkey, but I know people who have horses But this would apply not only to cattle I mean you even talked about clothing and basically care about your neighbor care about your fellow countrymen Let's expand it, you know to really anyone And that's that's really true when you say love your neighbor as yourself It's not used to your direct neighbor, but just people you know and and in here God is giving us Good guidance on how to just care about your fellow man and not to steal even if you find something that's lost Try to get it returned to the persons who is it is care for it And that's that's something that honors God and he he just honors good and right behavior like that have you ever lost a Wallet or lost something significant and someone returned it to you and it had all the money in it And what a blessing that is and it's it's almost like you see God in people when you see them Acting in such a righteous way like that. So let's be those kind of people. That's what God wants us to be a woman shall not wear man's clothing nor shall a Man put on woman's closing for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God now we are in the old covenant and as a result we have God's teachings in the old covenant and We have to have have judgment on what? applies today in the new covenant because not everything does So we have to look at the new covenant and see what it specifies in order to interpret what applies in the old covenant now Additionally in the old covenant the Bible says that Homosexuality is an abomination as it says here wearing someone out, you know wearing a woman's clothes a man wearing woman's clothes or woman wearing man's clothes is an abomination and So then the question is is what does it say in the New Testament? Well, those of you have been following along You would know that in Romans chapter one. It says very clearly men committing with men Decent acts and receiving the due penalty for their shame and it says in Romans one that Like God gave people over to the lust of their minds to do what they ought not to do men mine with men and it's very very clear in the New covenant that homosexuality is a sin and an abomination Just like it is in the in the new covenant. I'm so saddened. I really am by our world I was watching the news at live in Wisconsin. I was watching the news last night and they put a memorial up You know celebrating LGBTQ stuff as a way of celebrating the equal rights of LGBTQ and it's some some memorial was set up in Milwaukee for that purpose and You know, we should all bow down to that and it's just it's so sad how people have fallen away from God's word and It's not meant for a man to be a woman It's not meant for a man to lie with a man and a man should not wear woman's clothes and you know We could flip all that for the woman now Sometimes we have to use judgment. I'm not aware of where in The new covenant it says don't wear a man's clothes Or you know don't have a man where a woman's clothes specifically But if it says that it's an indecent act and you're gonna receive the due penalty for your air And it's called a shameful act for a man to lie with a man I think we can safely say that God does not want us dressing as a woman So, you know, sometimes the new covenant doesn't cover it Exactly and in this case, I think we have a clear homosexual Homosexuality teaching and we could rightly say well that don't you know, you know He created us male and female by the way, and that's that's quoted not only in the Old Testament But quoted in the New Testament as well Never talks about someone being misgendered or something like that. So like you know It's not that difficult, but there are some areas where it'll come up in this passage that are a little bit more difficult Like did you know that in the Old Testament? I believe it's in like vidic Leviticus 19. It says do not tattoo yourselves and You know, some people will say well that was a tattooing for some kind of false worship or you know People tattooed to worship a false goddess and sometimes what people do is they'll make up commentary that's not clear to kind of justify their cause but just bear with me for a moment in the New Testament It doesn't specifically say that you are not to tattoo yourselves It says in the Old, but it doesn't say in the New so we we can't really say It because here's the problem. If you if you want to take every Old Testament teaching that's not repeated in the New Now we're under the law again. We're having to abide by the Old Testament law But Jesus Christ and on that cross To pay for the violation of our sins under the law and to free us of the law and now we live under grace So it is true that if something's not mentioned in the New Testament It's not that we can't look at the Old Testament. So so what's my point? I can't go to someone and say listen You can't tattoo yourselves God's not does not approve that because it says an old because it's not talked about in the New Now I can personally I don't have a tattoo. I can personally say, you know what? I think God designed it that we don't but it's not a law anymore We don't we can we have freedom because it's not specified, but I choose not to and maybe you choose to You know and and this is talked about, you know We could really get into this in depth because as an example We can eat and all foods are clean now but in the Old Testament, you know, you wouldn't eat pork shrimp and a lot of other things and Some people feel like you know what if God said that in the Old Testament not to eat that I'm just not gonna eat it because I think God knew what was best and that's fine You have personal freedom to choose either to eat or not to eat and if you feel convicted about something Then you should honor that and follow that and and so but you can't place that that yoke on Everybody else unless it's clear now see this is why you know the issue of homosexuality gets so bent It's very clear old and new so therefore there's no gray area anymore But other issues might we'll see even in this chapter there is it's it's not specified in the New Testament So therefore we'd be kind of reverting back to the law of the Old Covenant to mandate that everyone follows that so It's interesting. We do have to look through the lens of the New Testament to understand how to rightly divide and how to rightly apply the Old Testament today All right, verse six If you happen to come upon a bird's nest along the way in any tree or on the ground with the young ones or eggs and The mother sitting on the young or on the eggs you shall not take the mother with the young You shall certainly let the mother go but the young you may take for yourself in order that that may be Well with you and that you may prolong your days. So This is something that God had set up you may take the young ones But you may not take the mother you know might you might recall that God gave us dominion over the animals So some people who are animal lovers and I love animals might not like even what they read there But I mean how do you think we eat beef and chicken and you know you name it? You know, I guess chicken would be a kind of bird, wouldn't it? I mean You know God gave us the animals to eat now That's interesting too because at one time in biblical history, you know, people didn't eat animals and then after I believe it was after Noah's Ark then, you know, you can you can eat anything So some people will say well God's original design was to be vegetarian So I want to be be a vegetarian well you can do that if you want, but you can't mandate that That's kind of a similar thing that we've been talking about today When you build a new house You shall make a parapet on your roof so that you will not bring bug guilt on your house if anyone falls from it And they spent a lot of time on roofs back in the day. It was a way to cool off especially in the evening and God is saying, you know what you're better off putting a fence up there Because you don't want people falling off your roof So that that actually made it a responsibility didn't it to put some kind of fence or block structure, you know up on the on the top to kind of keep people bordered in You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed Or all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will become defiled So when you are making a vineyard you they would only use one type of seed This is God something God set up. I think he thought and believed and maybe it's true that it would be more fruitful that way But there's no law about you know having two times different types of seed today people have Lots of farms where they're growing more than one kind of thing now This is specifically a vineyard, but again, this isn't talked about in the New Testament So it's you know, you can honor it if you want but you don't have to you should not plow with an ox and a donkey together Probably just make sense and probably doesn't work very well You shall not wear in material mixed of wool and linen together. So you were supposed to keep your garments of one type of You know Fabric Now again, that's not talked about in the New Testament. We almost all of us are wearing clothes that have mixed fabrics Now this specifically was woolen linen I'm not really a someone who makes clothing like that, but Maybe there's a reason for that that God had a trust that he did but regardless This is not mentioned. We don't have to worry about whether we have clothes of mixed linen or woolen linen today You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garments which you cover yourself and Tassels had a spiritual nature to it. But again, we're not under the law That's not mentioned today in the New Covenant. We don't have to follow it if any man takes a wife and goes into her and then turns against her and Charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her what a jerk by the way to do that and says I took this woman, but when I came near her I did not find her virgin For whatever reason in Old Testament times they felt like they could prove better if someone was a virgin or not I'm not sure how they did that. I doubt the sincerity of that Then the girl's father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl's virginity To the elders of the city at the gate the girl's father shall say to the elders I gave my daughter to this man for a wife But he turned against her and behold he has charged her with shameful deeds saying I did not find your daughter a virgin But this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity and they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him So this whole thing that's being said here is to prevent Bad things from happening one if you're a woman be a virgin till you get married This is what God had set up number two man. Don't don't shame a woman And here what's happening is there's Indicating a really big penalty of someone were to do this and it what it's doing what what I've been seeing You know as we go through the whole Bible and I've read it many times But I haven't always taught what I've read sometimes. I just read it And what I'm seeing is that God sets up harsh penalties for things and I really believe in large part It's just to prevent things from happening We actually don't see most of this play itself out even in the Old Testament meaning We don't see that this actually occurred I'm not saying it never occurred But we don't see a lot of this actually played out And I think a lot of it was just to warn Israel not to do corrupt things So that they would do what was right Anyway, so the others that city shall take the man and chastise him This would be the man who embarrassed that woman and they shall find him a hundred shackles of silver and give it to the girl's father Because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel and he shall Remain his wife. He cannot divorce her all his days. So He you know don't do that now you might recall that When Joseph was with Mary and Mary got pregnant by the Holy Spirit, but Joseph had doubts well instead of publicly shaming her he was gonna he was he was gonna he was gonna divorce her quietly And that would be a more honorable thing to do He did not want her to have to go through this well in that case She you know wasn't she didn't do anything wrong It was of God's doing and the angel spoke to Joseph and let him know that Joseph don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife Because what is conceived and hers of the Holy Spirit? hallelujah All right verse 20 But if this charge is true that the girl was not found to virgin now now we're getting a strong case for virginity and you know God does want us to remain virgins for our Wives and husbands, but if this charge is true that the girl was not found a virgin Then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of the father father's house And the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel By playing the harlot in her father's house. Thus you shall purge the evil from along you now This is not repeated in the New Testament. We don't do this today But it is interesting to see how much God cared about sexual purity and I we have way too Lack of a concern about sexual purity today and by the way sexual purity is talked about Significantly sexual immorality in the New Testament that God wants us to be pure sexually It's it's it's talked about a lot However, this penalty is not talked about as far as something that they are too Taken and remember this was a theocracy at the time God was setting up a family in which he was going to be able to dictate the laws But now even in Jesus day and in today. We are not under a theocracy We have a government and we have laws we have to follow in our country, but nonetheless. This is showing you what God is Desiring as far as sexual purity if a man is found line with a married woman Then both of them shall die the man who lie with the woman and the woman thus you shall purge evil from Israel adultery You know now Jesus said the Bible in the old covenant the Ten Commandments you should not come in adultery Jesus said you shall not even lust after another woman and look how we violate that today with You know pornography being a legal thing, which is such a sad thing because that's lust and we should not even have pornography in our world from from my perspective I believe from God's - But in here Look at the harsh penalty for adultery. They both would be killed Again, it's not a law today, but it's showing us that you know how much God has a distaste for sexual immorality If there's a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man another man finds her in the city in lies With her then you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and she stoned them to death The girl because she did not cry out in the city in the man because he has violated his neighbor's wife Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. So this was someone who Some man who forcibly went on a woman who was engaged God is setting up a situation where the woman can't have an easy excuse in the sense that she's supposed to scream But you'll see in a second how God gives grace to the woman, but again rape is a really bad thing and this being rape The man's gonna be killed now You know what God didn't want is for a woman to partake in this and then act like falsify that she was raped when she was really actually in on it too and And that's what happened there But if you go in on it here in verse 25 listen But if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged and the man forces her in lies with her And then only the man who lies with her shall die But you should do nothing to the girl. There is no sin in the girl worthy of death for just as a man rises against his neighbor in Murder sin so is this case when he found her in the field the engaged girl cried out But there was no one to save her so if the girl could do nothing about it if she was forcibly raped and there was You know, she didn't go along with it and like, you know Or no one was there to protect her or no one was there to hear her The woman was protected in that manner and rightfully so, right? But he got is trying to make this a strong thing that woman Don't don't partake and then make it sound like it's rape and there's that today as well But look at all this time God is spending on sexual immorality rape adultery He does not want us to in to partake of any of this kind of stuff And I think these harsh laws prevented it now We have such a willy-nilly culture in regards to sexual immorality and sexual immorality just runs rough shot If a man finds a girl who is a virgin who is not engaged and seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered Then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl's father 50 shekels of silver and he shall he comments white because he is dilated or he cannot divorce her all her days and in that interesting and what what's that I think meant to do is like Man don't start lying with a woman unless you want to be with her the rest of your life and pay the father the dowry or whatever so you know Consequences again God had significant consequences for doing wrong or doing something sexual immoral You better realize that that sexual encounters an act of marriage and that would make you think twice wouldn't it? And then finally verse 30 a man shall not take his father's wife so that he will not uncover his father's skirt and Well, you know, yes, you don't take your father's wife I mean, I think it's referring to even if your father were to die. You don't you don't marry your father's wife whether It's your mom, or maybe he's not a second marriage, but Some of that seems kind of obvious, but yet God's putting it in his words so that we would know what it has to say So it's interesting. We have to use logic You know, not everything spoken about in the Old Testament is spoken about in the new and I think sometimes you have to evaluate God's heart God's desire God's character and insignificant things like, you know Seed in a field or wearing clothes of mixed garment. There's so many things that don't apply today I think sometimes we have to use our judgment as well anyways there are the sundry laws various laws and You know, I believe God had good intention and good reason to make such harsh laws He was trying to create a pure people. May we be a pure or people living for God today? God bless you all.