Deuteronomy: At Journey's EndSample

Purging the Community

At first sight chapter 22 is just a mixum-gatherum of assorted bits and pieces, some of which have a loose link with the seventh commandment. Closer examination suggests that the theme is purging society (as is explicit in vv. 21, 22, 24). 

Moses opens with brotherliness (vv. 1–4). Contrary to the tendency not to get involved, we must accept a responsibility of care for each other. Note how ‘your brother’ (vv. 1, 4) brackets the verses. You may not know him or he may be at the other end of the country (v. 2), but he is still ‘your brother’. 

The word ‘detests’ (v. 5; ‘abomination’, NKJV) suggests some foul religious element in cross-dressing. The distinction of the sexes is sacred to the Lord. In the next example, where the principle of immediate advantage says take the eggs and the mature bird found (vv. 6–7), the ongoing security of the community (‘long life’, v. 7) means our actions must take a longer view. Likewise, immediate advantage suggests avoiding the expense of adding a parapet to the roof (v. 8); care for the community says otherwise. Verses 9–11 offer no explanation, and may be best left at that! On the other hand, reference to Leviticus 19:19 suggests a call to respect the order and ordering of creation – each seed has its proper place, each animal its proper work, and each person should show in dress an avoidance of compromise. The stress in verse 12 is lost in translation – it is ‘the covering with which you are covered’. Nakedness was a feature of pagan, orgiastic worship; in a way that is not clear, the provision of ‘tassels’ was an extra guarantee of modesty and seemliness. 

One thread binds verses 13–29: marriage and sex belong inseparably together in a pure society. Do we flinch at the harshness of the death penalty (vv. 21, 24)? Of course we do – but it is in part because we no longer class adultery and fornication as ‘serious’. Balance that severity, however, with the humanitarian insistence that the misused girl be taken in an indissoluble marriage (vv. 19, 29). That is not a great start to home life, we would say. No, but it is providing shelter and provision for one who would otherwise be an unmarriageable outcast. The Lord’s laws are marvellously caring towards the vulnerable – as all true laws should be – of which the ‘benefit of the doubt’ regulation of verses 25–27 is a striking example. 

Reflection

Pray for our legislators. Pray for humane, considerate laws. Get involved in creating a caring, pure community.