Care for Others: Deuteronomy 13:14-15:18

From: The Place of Blessing: Bible Talks on Deuteronomy By: Gordon Henry Hayhoe

Deuteronomy 13:14‑15:18 • 3 min. read • grade level: 8

Deuteronomy 13:14-15:18¹⁴Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; ¹⁵Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. ¹⁶And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again. ¹⁷And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; ¹⁸When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God. ¹Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. ²For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. ³Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. ⁴These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, ⁵The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. ⁶And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. ⁷Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. ⁸And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. ⁹These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat: ¹⁰And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. ¹¹Of all clean birds ye shall eat. ¹²But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, ¹³And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, ¹⁴And every raven after his kind, ¹⁵And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, ¹⁶The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, ¹⁷And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, ¹⁸And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. ¹⁹And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. ²⁰But of all clean fowls ye may eat. ²¹Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. ²²Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. ²³And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. ²⁴And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: ²⁵Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: ²⁶And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, ²⁷And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. ²⁸At 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: ²⁹And 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. ¹At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. ²And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord's release. ³Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release; ⁴Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it: ⁵Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day. ⁶For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee. ⁷If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: ⁸But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. ⁹Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. ¹⁰Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. ¹¹For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. ¹²And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. ¹³And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: ¹⁴Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. ¹⁵And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day. ¹⁶And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; ¹⁷Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. ¹⁸It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest. (Deuteronomy 13:14‑15:18)

Any matter that concerns the glory of God is to concern us too, not for gossip, of course, but for action according to God. And so here, when the facts were established, judgment was to be carried out upon all those who consented in the evil.

Any abuse of the body in mourning was forbidden of God. Believers are never to neglect their bodies for they are now the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Colossians 2:23²³Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. (Colossians 2:23)).

We have remarked before, in our talks on Leviticus 11, about the clean and unclean foods mentioned here. They are figures for us, and have necessary and helpful lessons in a spiritual way as to our walk through this world.

Thoughtfulness to Others

It is beautiful, in the end of the chapter, to find the Lord making provision for those who had a long journey to travel to the place where He put His Name; also to see His care for those who served Him, and for the poor and needy of His people. How thoughtful divine love is, and what a lesson for us to be thoughtful of others. There is so much self-seeking on every hand that it is needful at times to remind our hearts to think of others, and to cultivate the spirit of kindness and consideration for them at all times. Let us not forget the simple acrostic for JOY,

Jesus First
Others Next
Yourself Last

Slaves Set Free

At the end of every seven years the children of Israel were to set their slaves free. They were also to release any of their brethren from debts, and the Lord told them that if they did these things He would bless them abundantly. He would give them plenty, so that they could lend, but would not have to borrow.

Moreover they were always to consider the need of a poor brother, and not refuse to help him. Even if it were near the year of release and they might never be repaid, they were to help their brother, if he were in need.

When they set their Hebrew servant free at the end of his six years of service, they were not to send him away empty-handed. They were to give to him generously of what they had at the time of his release. Moreover, they were not to let him go grudgingly. Sometimes if a man has served his employer well, the employer does not want to let him go to another job, or even promote him to another department, but here the Israelite was charged to consider the good of his help. How many labor troubles would be saved if these principles were carried out! Sadly, selfishness rules the world and all suffer for it.

If the servant (or slave) chose to remain with his master, instead of going out free, then his ear was to be bored through with an awl and he was to serve him forever. This is a wonderful type of the Lord Jesus, who perfectly served His Father as man here, and could have gone back to heaven alone, but He would not. He loved His Father, whose perfect will He always did, and He loved His own here too, so He went to the cross to put away our sins. Now He is serving us in glory as our Great High Priest and Advocate (Hebrews 4:15-16; 1¹⁵For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15‑16) John 2:1¹And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: (John 2:1)).

Further Meditations

1. What principles were to be followed in setting a Hebrew servant or slave free?

2. How does selfishness stop true joy in our Christian lives? Describe how Absalom acted selfishly and the effect it had on his life.

3. You might enjoy thinking more on the subject of joy by reading the pamphlet Joy by D. F. Rule.

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