Deuteronomy 24:6-25:10
Under the law no man was to be left without that which was necessary for his livelihood in order to settle a debt.
Anyone who practiced kidnapping was to be put to death. What wonders the grace of God can now do for the vilest! The people were also to be very careful to observe all the Lord had commanded as to leprosy, so that this dread sickness would not spread or cause defilement in the camp where the Lord dwelt.
There was also to be consideration for the needs of the poor, so that in their dealings one with another no one was to be put under hardship. A man’s wages were never to be withheld from him, especially if he were in need.
Moreover, a child was not to die for his father’s sins, nor a father for his sons. They were always to be just in their dealings.
There was to be special consideration given to the fatherless and the widow, and they were to leave gleanings in their fields and on their olive trees. God, in all His greatness, thinks of the needs of every one of His creatures, especially man, in spite of all his rebellion and sin. “How good is the God we adore!” Do you know Him as the One who has met the great need of your guilty soul, through the work of His Son on the cross? Are you redeemed by the precious blood of Christ? The needs of your body are not nearly as important as the need of your soul, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).
Whenever it was necessary to beat a man for his wrong doing, they were not to give him more than forty stripes, for if they kept on beating him it would be anger, and not justice he was receiving.
If an ox was put to work in a corn field, they were to allow the animal to eat all the corn it needed — they were not to muzzle it. The Apostle Paul mentions this in Corinthians, to show that this is applicable to those who labor for the Lord. Those of the Lord’s people, among whom they labor, are to care for their temporal needs (1 Corinthians 9:7-14).
The Faithfulness of a Brother
If a man died in Israel without having any children, then his brother was to marry his deceased brother’s wife and raise up seed to his brother. If he did not wish to do so, then in the presence of the elders of the city she was to loose off his shoe and spit in his face. Now, in a typical way, Israel was married to the law, but sadly there was no fruit for God from this “marriage,” for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and a broken law brought death. The Lord Jesus, the true Husband of Israel (Isaiah 54:5), came to restore that which He took not away (Psalm 69:4), but Israel would not have Him. He was faithful, as a brother was to be in Israel, but in spite of His faithfulness they rejected Him. They ought to have honored Him, for they were unfaithful and not He, but they robbed Him of the honor due to Him and spit in His blessed face. And yet, all this has not changed His love and faithfulness. He will not put them away (Isaiah 50:1), but will yet betroth them to Him in faithfulness, (Hosea 2:19-20). He will bless them and make them fruitful in the coming day when their seed shall be as the sand of the sea (Romans 9:27). What grace!
Further Meditations
1. What special consideration was given to the fatherless and the widow?
2. How has the Lord shown His faithfulness to His people Israel? to you?
3. If you’ve been thinking about the faithfulness of God you might be refreshed by the poem God’s Faithful Promises.