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Deuteronomy 25:1-3

This passage may be placed here because the previous section caused disputes.  The was surely a balance of leaving some of your harvest for the poor and the poor coming onto your land to take what they think is God’s provision for them.  It’s not hard to imagine how this might often become a dispute.

When there is a dispute, the judge would render a decision.  The wicked man would then be beaten at the direction and oversight of the judge.  He was to be flogged according to his guilt, and it was not to exceed forty blows.  It’s strange that forty is acceptable, but forty-one might shame him.

This punishment was widely used in the Middle Eastern countries.  Most did not impose a limit.

Deuteronomy 25:4

Several different animals were used to tread out the grain, so this isn’t just speaking about the ox specifically.  The thought is that the animal must be allowed to eat to continue working.  It should get to taste the fruit of its work.

Paul applies this principle to those ministering in the word to Timothy (1 Timothy 5:18).

Deuteronomy 25:5-10

This section describes the levirate marriage.  The brothers dwelling “together” is undefined and unclear.  It may be in the same home under their father's roof or near each other.  The word for “son” in the Septuagint is taken as offspring on the basis of Numbers 27:1-11 where the daughters were allowed to inherit the land.  However, the man’s name would not continue on.  Other places, particularly Deuteronomy 25 are explicit in regards to the male carrying on his father’s name.  If a man died without offspring, the brother would step in and father a child in his brother’s name.  This ensured that his brother's lineage continued on.

If the brother refused to carry this out, then the woman was to take this to the elders at the gate.  They would then talk to the man.  If he refused, she would then approach this man in the witness of the elders and the community, and remove his sandal and spit in his face.  She would verbally state the charge against him.  His name would then bear the shame of refusing to provide a son for his brother.  He would be called ‘The houses of him who had his sandal removed.’

Deuteronomy 25:11-12

This is related to the previous section because this woman’s actions could harm the man’s ability to father heirs.  This was viewed as bringing death to the heirs and offspring.  She could harm the man’s God-ordained role to procreate.

Consider the tortured lineage of Joseph and Mary.  The line leading to Christ was fragile and appeared to have been broken several times.  The Lord sustained that line through attacks by the enemy and the consequences of the sin of men.  To disregard this was to reveal unrighteousness which was inconsistent with the God they served and who brought them into the land.

The Talmud taught the “cutting off “ meant the woman was fined the value of her hand, as though she had to redeem it.

Deuteronomy 25:13-16

The Lord called for a perfect and just weight to use in the buying and selling.  They were not to use shade their honesty to gain an advantage over anyone.  It was a compromise of integrity.  Their honesty and integrity in this were directly linked to their stay in the land.

See Amos 8:5, Micah 6:10.

What does it say about the people’s God if they operate with fraud and deceit among their neighbors?

Deuteronomy 25:17-19

Haman, the villain in the story of Esther, was an Amalekite.  He is connected to Agag (1 Sam15:8-33), the offspring of the Amalekites of Exodus 17:8-16.  They lived in the Negev.  Moses and the children of Israel encountered them on their journey to the Promised Land.  The Amalekites were bent on the destruction of Israel. 

In Exodus, Moses held up the rod of God with the help of his leaders, and Israel defeated the Amalekites that day.  The Lord declared them to write this as a memorial that He would blot out the Amalekite from under heaven.  Moses built an altar as a memorial to this.  It was called The Lord is My Banner (Jehovah-Nicci). 

Many years later, Saul was directed to wipe out the Amalekites in memory of what they had done.  Saul spared King Agag and failed to destroy them utterly.  This allowed the villain Haman to attempt to wipe out Israel in the days of Esther.  He ended up being hanged along with all his family.

The demonic zeal to wipe out Israel is familiar even today.  Israel’s enemies come with murderous intentions, leaving logic, sound thinking, and reason behind.  they become blinded by their hatred for the Jews.  They display early Anti-Semitism.

©2007, 2023 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater