Law and Grace: Deuteronomy 19:14-20:8

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Deuteronomy 19:14-20:8
The children of Israel were taught to respect the property of others, and not remove the neighbors’ landmarks. Boy and girls, and older ones too, can learn from this to be careful with what is not their own. We should always take special care of anything that is loaned to us, so that it does not get spoiled or broken. Nor should we spoil our neighbors’ lawns or gardens, since they do not belong to us. These are little things that boys and girls often forget about, and yet thoughtlessness in these very things often hinders one’s testimony to Christ a great deal.
If anyone was accused of doing wrong, one witness was not sufficient to prove it. There must be two or three witnesses before the man was charged with guilt, and they were also to be careful lest any of the witnesses were false witnesses. They were to make careful inquiry to be sure that the man was really guilty before he was punished. God is just, and He taught the people these things that they might be just in their dealings, too. How solemn it is, when we stop to think of it, that the very people who were given these laws once took the Lord of glory to prison to judge Him. He came in humiliation, sent by God His Father in love, and they hated Him without a cause (John 15:25). When they could not find anything against Him, they sought false witnesses (Matt. 26:59), and even their false witnesses did not agree among themselves — yet still they condemned Him to die. What injustice! And now, knowing that they treated our blessed Lord in this way, can we expect anything different ourselves? Let us not expect righteousness from this “present evil world,” and then we will not be disappointed.
The Difference Between Law and Grace
In the end of the nineteenth chapter we can plainly see the difference between law and grace. Under law it was “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” but grace has taught us to love our enemies. We, as Christians, are not to “pay back,” but to show the kindness of God even to those who wrong us (Matthew 5:38, Romans 12:19-20).
The children of Israel were an earthly people, looking for an inheritance on the earth. It was therefore right for them to fight for the possession of their land — the land of Canaan. Our conflict as Christians is a spiritual one. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). We are not to fear the spiritual enemies in the way, but to do as the children of Israel were told, and go boldly forward, counting on the Lord to undertake for us.
Moreover, the Lord did not want His people to go forward with faint or divided hearts. If they had their hearts set upon a home, a vineyard or a young lady whom they had promised to marry, they were not to go into the battle line. Or if they were afraid, and would discourage others by their faintheartedness, they were told to turn back before they faced the enemy. These instructions have a lesson for us, showing that God wants our whole-hearted service to Him. How often someone who is earthly-minded, or afraid to endure any hardships for Christ’s sake, has been the means of discouraging others, or causing them to turn back to earthly things, too.
Further Meditations
1. What was necessary before a man was charged with guilt?
2. Whole-hearted service for the Lord can be a real encouragement to others. Describe how Jonathan brought a great victory to Israel by his personal devotedness to the Lord’s cause.
3. Eric Smith in the Audio CD Lovest Thou Me More Than These? presents a very touching message to your heart. The aged missionary encourages you to follow Christ with a full heart.