“Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.”
~ Deuteronomy 21:21
Hi James and Ellen,
Have your dad and ma made rules that they expect you to obey. If your dad and ma have made rules that they expect you to obey, what will happen to you if you do not obey a rule that your dad and ma have made for you to obey? Are you punished by your dad and/or ma? If you are punished by your dad and/or ma, how are you punished? When your grandpaa was a kid, your grandpaa’s dad and ma, your grandpaa’s three bros and two sisters and your grandpaa would eat dinners and suppers together. If your grandpaa or one of your grandpaa’s bros or sisters was not at the table when your grandpaa’s dad and ma were ready to eat, your grandpaa’s dad and ma would not wait for the kid who was not at the table. Your grandpaa’s dad would pray and then whoever was at the table would begin to eat. Your grandpaa found out that it was a feeling that he did not want to have again after the first time that he showed up at the table to find his dad, ma, bros and sisters already eating. Your grandpaa – when your grandpaa was a kid, had chores such as feeding the cows, milking a couple of cows by hand, hauling bedding for the cows, and cleaning the gutter, that your grandpaa’s dad expected your grandpaa to do every day. Do you have chores in your home that your dad and ma expect you to do every day? If you have chores in your home that your dad and ma expect you to do every day, what will happen to you if you do not do a chore that your dad and ma are expecting you to do? Your grandpaa always did his chores because he did not want his dad to be disappointed with him. Can you think of any rules that your dad and ma are to obey? What if your dad or ma drives a lot faster on a road or street than what a posted speed limit sign says that your dad or ma can go and a highway patrolman or policeman stops your dad or ma, what do you think will happen do your dad or ma? Your dad or ma will be punished by having to pay a fine. Rules are good. Rules teach obedience. Rules also teach discipline. If you do not have rules in your home, what would you do? Your grandpaa is quite sure that you would do whatever you feel like doing. You would stay up late instead of going to bed early. You would sit all day in front of a TV or computer. Your grandpaa is sure that if your dad and ma did not see a posted speed limit sign telling them how fast that they could drive on a road or street that your dad or ma would probably drive at an unsafe speed on the road or street.
God knows that guys, gals and kids need rules. Rules can become laws. God gave His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, rules and laws to obey. Deuteronomy 21 talks about some of the stranger rules and laws that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to obey. There were specific times when Moses – knowing what God would want him to do, would make the call to do what needed to be done. What would you do if you found the body of a murdered guy, gal or kid on the land that had just been given to you? What would you do after you spotted a beautiful young slave gal and married her but after being married to the gal, you no longer wanted to have the gal as your wife? What would you do when it came time to will your land and property to your firstborn son who was to get an inheritance that was double to what each of the other kids in your family were to get but you totally detested your firstborn son’s ma? What would you do if you had two wives and the wife who you loved was not the ma of your firstborn son, who would you will the double portion of your land and property? What would you do if you have a stubborn, rebellious son who just will not obey you?
Ask your dad how he deals with a hard problem. Because Moses had been instructed by God how to resolve a thorny issue, Moses knew what to do. Because of what God had told Moses to do regarding a guy, gal or kid who was found slain on a guy’s land, Moses knew exactly what was to do. The guy on whose land the guy, gal or kid was found who was killed and the guy who found the dead guy, gal or kid were to go to the judges and elders in nearby towns. These judges and elders would decide which town was the closest town to the deceased guy, gal or kid. The judges and elders in the nearest town to the body of the murdered guy, gal or kid were to break a young heifer’s neck. The heifer having her neck broke was to take away the blame from the guy on whose land the murdered guy, gal or kid was found. Moses knew – because God had told him, that a guy could marry a slave girl who had been captured from an enemy people group if the guy wanted to marry the gal. The guy just had to first shave off all the gal’s hair from her head, cut the gal’s fingernails and wait one month before the gal could sleep with him. If after the guy and gal had slept together and the guy was not happy with the gal being his wife, the guy could tell the gal to leave him. The guy though was not to sell the slave girl or treat her bad. The firstborn son – no matter if his dad did not love his son’s ma, was to be willed a double portion of his dad’s land and property. A dad of a really stubborn, rebellious son who refused to listen to him was to take his son to the elders in the town where he lived. The town elders would instruct guys in the town to punish the stubborn, rebellious kid by throwing stones at the kid until the kid was dead. A guy who killed another guy was to be killed and his body hung until dark on a tree where it could be seen. One of the worse things that could happen to a guy about 3400 years ago was to have his dead body hung on a tree. What do you think God’s purpose was for these strange, horrific rules and laws? Verse 21 says “Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.” No guy or gal can control his or her evil ways if he or she does not having God controlling his or her life.
Deuteronomy 21 (146)