Thru the Bible - #168-Deuteronomy 17 - Administration of Justice

Transcript

Welcome And Settle In

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Welcome to Bereen's Corner, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Wherever you are in the world, thank you for joining. Grab a glass of water, a cup of coffee, a tea, and let's get into today's lesson. Welcome back and thank you for

Reading Deuteronomy 17

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joining me. Open your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 17. The title of today's lesson is A Ministration of Justice. Deuteronomy 17, and let's read.

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Deuteronomy 17. Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him. If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant, and contrary to my command has worshipped other gods, bowing down to them, or to the sun or the moon, or the stars of the sky, and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true, and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate, and stone that person to death. On the testimony of two or three witnesses, a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and in the hands of all the people, you must purge the evil from among you. If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge, whether blood shed, lawsuits, or assaults, take them to the place the Lord your God will choose. Go to the priests, who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you the verdict. You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do. Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left. The man who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest, who stands ministering there to the Lord your God, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel. All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again. When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it, and settled in it, and you say, Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us. Be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers, do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself, or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, you are not to go back that way again. He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees, and not consider himself better than his brothers, and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Three Applications For God’s Blessing

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Honoring God in worship, justice, and leadership. One truth that has been repeated through our Deuteronomy is that God's word is intended to impact every area of life. See, God never intended his truth to be limited to worship services or religious activities. His word is meant to shape how his people worship, how they handle his justice, and how they choose their leaders. If God's people truly know and obey his word, life looks very different, and how true that is. Now, in their execution of justice and in their election of a political leader, Moses presents three practical applications that Israel was to follow if they wanted to experience God's blessing.

Worship Must Offer The Best

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The first would be God's people must obey and honor God in their selection of a sacrifice. Verse 1: You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God. In every dispensation, worship must be done God's way. Worship is never about what we think is acceptable, it's about what God says is acceptable. Verse 1 makes it clear that no one was permitted to bring a sacrificial animal that was blemished or defective. Imagine someone looking through his herd and finding an animal that was injured, sick, or less useful than the others. It would be easy to think, I'll give that one to God. To people watching, it may even appear to be a generous act, but God says that it is not, and God says no. A defective sacrifice was unacceptable. Why? Because the sacrifice pointed to something greater. Every Old Testament sacrifice ultimately pointed to Jesus Christ, the perfect, spotless, unblemished Lamb of God. To offer a defective sacrifice was to distort the picture that God was painting of his son. God calls us offerings detestable. And here's a spiritual principle. There is an important principle here that many miss. No blemished, sinful person can offer God something that makes him acceptable before a holy God. A person may be religious, and they may even look religious. A person may appear moral, a person may seem impressive, but our works can never make us right with God. We are all defective sinners, every single one of us. The only way into a right relationship with God is through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He alone is the unblemished Lamb who makes sinners acceptable before God. Which brings us to the second application.

Justice Requires Truth And Witnesses

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God's people must obey and honor God in their execution of justice. We see this in verses 2 through 13. If there is found in your midst in any of your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God by transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worship them, or the sun or the moon, or any of the heavenly hosts, which I have not commanded, and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly, and behold, if it is true and a thing uh certain that is the testable thing has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil, who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death, he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people, so he shall purge the evil from your midst. If any case is too difficult for you to decide between one kind of homicide or another, between one kind of lawsuit or another, and between one kind of assault or another, being cases of dispute in your courts, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. So you shall come to the Levitical priest or the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall inquire of them, and they will declare to you the verdict in the case. You shall do according to the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from the place which the Lord chooses, and you shall be careful to observe according to all that they teach you, according to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you to the right or to the left. And the man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor the judge, that man shall die. Thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again. If God is going to bless his people, evil cannot be ignored. This applies personally, socially, nationally. Moses addresses two situations. The first is how to handle an idolatrous man or woman living among his people. We saw that in verses two through seven. The situation is straightforward. A man or woman within Israel turns away from God and begins worshiping another God. This was not an occasional failure, this was a deliberate rejection of God's covenant. Moses outlines eight regulations. The first, you have heard about it. Look at verse four. And if it is told you and you have heard of it, the matter comes to the attention of the community. The second regulation is you must thoroughly investigate it. Also in verse 4, it says, Then you shall inquire thoroughly. God never wants his people rushing to judgment. See, facts matter, evidence matter, truth matter. The third is, if proven true, it is a detestable act. Also in verse 4, it says, Uh, and behold, it is true and a thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel. Worshiping another God was not a minor issue, it was rebellion against the Lord. The fourth regulation would be the guilty person was to be executed. We saw that in verse 5. Then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. Under Israel's covenant law, idolatry carried the death penalty. It was just that simple. They were worshiping false gods, it was the death penalty. Number five, there must be two or three witnesses. Verse 6 says, On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses. No one was to be condemned based upon weak evidence. And here's the thing the Lord did that for a reason. You can't just have one person's word against another. There had to be two or three witnesses to the actual act. Because that one person could be lying, that one person could be holding a grudge against the other. So the Lord says that it's it's not even lawful to take the witness of one person, but two or three. Number six, one witness alone was not enough, as we just said. God's justice system protected against personal vendettas, and that's exactly what I was talking about. Somebody has a personal vendetta against you, they can lie a thing on you, they can say, hey, he you know came into my backyard and he stole, uh, he stole one of my lambs. Okay, well, who else saw it? It was just me. But me and but that guy and I had a quarrel the last couple of days, and this is his way of getting back at me. That's why the Lord said it's not on the witness of one person, and that is something that uh the courts nowadays need to make sure that they have into play. Uh, these laws that God gave Israel, they are still very effective. Number seven, the witness must cast the first stones. It says in verse seven, the hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death. This endures serious responsibility on the part of the witnesses because you have to be heartless to know that you're lying and you're casting the first stone. This was to show, no, I'm not lying, and I will be the first to cast a stone at him. Number eight, the community participates in removing the evil. Also, in verse 7, it says, And afterwards the hand of all the people, so you shall purge the evil from your midst. The entire nation had an interest in preserving holiness and truth. The goal was to purge evil from among God's people.

Hard Cases And Respect For Rulings

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Which brings us to the second situation: how to handle difficult legal cases. We see we see this in verses 8 through 13, which uh which we went through earlier. Some cases would be difficult for local authorities to resolve. Moses gives five regulations. The first, bring the case to the priest or the judge. Verse 9 says, So you shall come to the Levite priest or the judge who is in office in those days. The matter was to be taken to qualified spiritual and judicial leadership. Not just to anybody, but these had to be men who were qualified and they were known to be spiritual. Number two, present the case and receive a verdict. In verse 9 it says, And you shall inquire of them, and they will declare to you the verdict. The leaders were responsible to render judgment. Regulation number three, the verdict must be obeyed. In verse 10, it says, And you shall do according to the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses. The decision was not optional. God intended legal justice to teach his people how to live. That's what this was all about. The fourth regulation is the verdict must be followed precisely. In verse 11, according to the terms of the law which they teach you, the verdict must be followed precisely. There was no deviation to the right or to the left, but it was straight down the middle. Number five, rebellion against the ruling was punishable by death. We saw that in verses 12 through 13. And the man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor the judge, that man shall die, thus he shall purge the evil from Israel. Then all the people will hear and be afraid and will not act presumptuously again. God did not tolerate arrogant insubordination against legitimate authority. The result will be that the people will learn reverence and they will learn proper fear, and that was the reason why the Lord put that in place. Which brings us to the third application.

Standards For Choosing A King

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God's people must obey and honor God in the election of their political leaders. Notice verses 14 through 20. When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations who are around me, and you shall surely uh set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen. You shall set as king over yourselves, you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countrymen. Excuse me. See, God knew Israel would eventually desire a king, and when we get into first Samuel, you're gonna see that come to pass. Even before that happened, he established standards for selecting the leader, and there are seven guidelines to this. The first is the leader must be God's choice. Verse 15 says, You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. The best leader is not necessarily the one people naturally choose. God sees what people cannot see. Remember, we see the outside, but the Lord sees the inside. Number two, the leader must be one of their own people. In verse 15, it says, One from among your countrymen. Israel's king was to be an Israelite, not a foreigner. It's kind of like in most countries, uh, the leader of your country is somebody who's from that country. Uh guile number three, the leader must not be obsessed with personal gain. Look at verse 16. Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multi uh to multiply horses. A leader cannot become consumed with uh multiplying uh possessions uh with uh you know his possessions with and power. He was to not get into it for personal gain. Now, unfortunately, not only in countries like North America where I'm at, but in all of the other continents, there are a lot of these people who have gotten into ministry for personal gain. They came in with 15 cents and now they're worth 15 million dollars. How did that happen? It's not because he is a uh chosen man of God or that he's worthy of his wages, but it's because he has prostituted the people, he has misused the people, and he has used the ministry for his personal gain. Men like that will answer to the Lord. The fourth guideline is the leader must not lead people back to Egypt. Also, in verse 16, it says, Nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. Egypt represented the old life of bondage. God's leader was to move the people forward, not backwards. So, in other words, he's not supposed to always be looking behind him, pointing to what happened in the past, or even leading them back to that type of lifestyle or uh that type of comfort, but he was to move the people forward into where the Lord wants them to go, that straight, narrow path going forward, not backwards. The fifth guideline is the leader must not be a womanizer. Notice uh verse 17 neither shall he multiply wives for himself. Multiple wives would lead the king's heart away from God. That's just all it is to it. Having all those different women in your life, they're gonna come with different personalities, they're gonna come with different thoughts and different ideas. We're gonna learn later when we get into Solomon's life, is that that is what turned Solomon away from the Lord. As a young man, Solomon was on fire for the Lord. When he was in his early 20s, he listened to everything the Lord said. When the Lord asked him, What do you want, Solomon? Solomon said, Give me wisdom. And the Lord gave him wisdom. He didn't ask for other things, he wanted wisdom. But in his older years, he messed with other, he messed with all these women, he multiplied women, which the Lord told him not to do, and they led his heart away from the Lord. The same can happen to you and I if we are not careful and we're living that type of a lifestyle. Guideline number six the leader must not be consumed with wealth. In verse 17, it says, Nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. Money must never become the primary focus of leadership, as we talked about earlier. You're getting into it to win souls for the Lord, not to enrich your pockets. Guideline number seven the leader must be devoted to the written word of

A Leader Shaped By Scripture

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God. We see this in verses 18 through 20. Now it shall come about when he sets on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priest, and it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life. The final guideline receives the most attention because it is the most important. God gives seven traits of a godly leader. The first is he must personally write his own copy of God's word. We saw that in verse 18. Now it shall come about when he sits on his throne, a throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of the law. He must personally write that copy himself. Writing scripture will force him to carefully examine every word. And that is genius. If you sit down and you write out a whole book of the Bible, I know that would be a lot, you would be amazed at how much of it that you would digest. We read scripture and we study scripture over here, but if you wrote it down as you were reading it, you would actually digest it more. Trait number two He must write it under priestly supervision. Verse 18 says, He should write for himself a copy of the law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priest. See, even the king did not get to go on his own and do his own thing. This protected the integrity of the text. So he had to be supervised by the Levitical priest. Number three, he must keep God's word with him at all times and on all of his life. Verse 19 says, And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life. The word of God was to remain central to leadership, and that's something that I stand very big on here. All the days of my life, I want this word near me, and I want to be reading and going through this word all the days of my life. Trait number four, he must learn to fear the Lord. In verse 19, it says that he may learn to fear the Lord his God. He must learn that a proper fear of God comes from continual exposure to scripture, and that's how you get that healthy reverence fear of God. You have to stay in his word and in his scriptures. Number five, he must carefully obey God's word. Also, in verse 19, it says, By carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, knowledge without obedience, is not enough. He must not become proud. In verse 20, it says, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen. A leader is never above the people. Pride destroys leadership. You are even with the people. I remember an old pastor one time, I heard him say that he said, When I stand on the pulpit and I'm teaching the word of God, I'm standing above you. But when it comes time for us to be together, I step off the pulpit and we're looking at each other eye to eye. I come down, I bring myself down because I'm not going to be standing there in my pride. I'm not going to let that pride destroy me. Trait number seven. He must not deviate from God's word. In verse 20, it also says that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left. He must stay faithful to what God has said. The leader who does this will experience God's blessing on both his leadership and his family.

Jesus As Perfect Sacrifice And King

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We come to a conclude to the conclusion. Deuteronomy 17 has taught us that God's word must govern every major area of our life. God's people must honor him. In worship by offering what is acceptable to him. We saw that. In justice by handling wrongdoing according to truth and righteousness. The Lord established his law for that. In leadership by selecting and following leaders who are devoted to God's word. This chapter repeatedly reminds us that God's blessings follow obedience. It's just that simple. When God's people honor his word in worship, justice and leadership, they position themselves to experience the full blessing of God. And isn't that so true? And ultimately, all of this points us up to Jesus Christ. The perfect sacrifice, the righteous judge, and the only perfect king. And that is what all of this is leading to. Now, we know that this all has to do with Israel, but remember, this was the shadow of what was to come. As I've always said, this whole Bible, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, the whole Bible is about Christ. And that is what this is pointing, it will support them to that, to their uh Savior and Messiah, and the Lord wrote the scriptures for us so we can see how we got from point A to point B from this law to our Messiah. Alright. That brings us to the end of Deuteronomy 17. As always, I hope that you got something out of this lesson. I hope that it fed you and

Closing Prayer And Stay Connected

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it nourished you. As always, I ask you to pray for me that I stay on the straight and narrow path, that the Lord is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I pray. I I'm sorry, I ask you to pray that I stay steadfast in the scriptures. Uh-huh. And as always, I am praying for you wherever you are. I appreciate it a great deal that you take time out of your morning, afternoon, or evening to go through the scriptures with me. It means a great deal to me. And I am praying for you as well. I'm praying that you are in good spirits. I'm praying for you physically, and I was praying, I am praying for you mentally. That brings us to the end of Deuteronomy 17. That is all for now. God bless. Thank you for listening to Bereen's Corner. We appreciate you joining us as we dive into God's word and seek biblical truth together. If this episode encouraged or challenged you, be sure to subscribe, share, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. You can find Berean's Corner on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon Music, and more. Let's stay connected. If you have questions, comments, or prayer requests, reach out to us at Bereans Corner.buzzsprout.com where you can follow along with show transcripts and leave a message in the fan mail slot. Also follow us on YouTube at Berean's Corner and don't forget to subscribe. We'd love to hear from you. Until next time, keep searching the scriptures like a Berean. Stay discerning, stay faithful, and God bless.