March 6
Deuteronomy 21–23
Scripture Text: Deuteronomy 21:1–23:25
Series: Read the Bible in a Year
Blood (life) is so important to the Lord, as are purity and righteousness. It is a tenuous balance for us sometimes. How do we make these things work together in a way that seems reasonable to us? The Lord provides the answers here as to how deal with unsolved murders — the loss of life, the shedding of blood, for which no one will pay the price. Atonement may still be offered and vengeance left to the Lord.
What is to be done with captives taken in war? This might be an especially perplexing question if the captive is female. God provides instruction. Furthermore, if a man has more than one wife, how should he treat the children of the less-favored wife? Now, these things seem foreign to us, but to the ancient people they were important and puzzling questions that God provides answers for in our reading today.
God even provides answers about how to handle rebellious children. If you think the first 17 verses are strange, wait until verses 18–21.
The last paragraph of chapter 21 is not as strange to Christian readers. They have encountered this concept before. Paul writes that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He then quotes Deuteronomy 21:23. Christ's atoning work on the cross, though a curse upon that one man, becomes the blessing of Abraham for the whole world. This blessing is appropriated through faith.
Chapter 22 deals with various, and to us, obscure rules and regulations. Chapter 23 is about who may not come into the assembly or even the camp. These regulations are also about uncleanness being kept apart from the people and therefore, from God who dwells among his people.
The reading ends with what may simply be considered miscellaneous laws.
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Author
Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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