Deuteronomy 21: 22-23 “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.“
There are many ways in which to pollute a land and defile it. Shedding innocent blood is one way of bringing curses. Leaving the body of someone who has been hung, impaled, or crucified is yet another way. Notice that the man in question has definitely committed a sin worthy of death. Presumably, the man has been stoned and then his body has been hung on a tree as an example to any who might otherwise consider committing a similar offense. But there are limits, and the body must be buried before sundown.
Why is God making a big thing about this practice? Pagan tribes sometimes would hang bodies on the city wall or would leave bodies out in the open for days. When King Saul and his son Jonathan were killed, the Philistines hung their bodies on the city walls. The men of Jabesh – Gilead came and stole the bones of Saul and Jonathan by night, keeping them in a safe place.
What might happen if bodies are left in the open? The story is told in 2 Samuel 21 of a time when King David was ruling and there was a famine for three successive years. When David inquired of the Lord, he learned that this drought had come because Saul had broken the covenant between the Israelites and the Gibeonites and had attacked the Gibeonites. David summoned the leaders of the Gibeonites, asking them what retribution they required. The Gibeonites demanded that seven of the sons of Saul be delivered to them to be hanged “before the Lord.” David allowed this hanging to take place, and the bodies of these men were left outside. The mother of two of the men guarded the bodies for nearly one month. Finally David took the bodies of the men who had been hanged along with the bones of Saul and Jonathan and buried all of them in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. Once these actions had been completed, God answered David’s prayers for the land.
At first, this story about the avenging of the Gibeonites sounds atrocious. But remember that these events took place before the coming of Jesus and that the law of lex talionis, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” was still in effect. The Gibeonites left the bodies of Saul’s sons out because they were not believers and this was their custom. But also notice that God did not lift the famine until all the bodies and bones were buried properly.
APPLICATION: Why is this passage so important? When Jesus Christ was crucified at Calvary, he was murdered to satisfy the fears of the Jewish religious leaders who wished to remain in good favor with the Romans. (These same rulers were also afraid that if Jesus really was the Messiah, they would be out of power.) Jesus did not commit any sins whatsoever, let alone anything worthy of death. Because Jesus was perfect and sinless, he could freely lay down his life for the sins of the entire world, for all those who would believe in him. Jesus took upon himself the curses that all of us would have faced otherwise.
When the friends of Jesus collected his body, they had to move quickly to place him in a tomb before the Sabbath began at sundown. Joseph of Arimathea gave up his own tomb so that Jesus could have a resting place close to Calvary. The women with Jesus did what they could and then wrapped up the body quickly so that they could return to their own homes before the beginning of the Sabbath. This hasty burial explains the reason that the women came to the tomb on Easter morning, expecting to complete the preparations of Jesus’ body. But the tomb was empty! By dying as a perfect sinless man, Jesus had conquered death and the grave and had already been resurrected.
The message of Christmas is actually the message of Easter. As the hymn “Good Christian Men Rejoice!” says, “He has opened heaven’s door and man shall live forevermore!” But there is one catch: we must acknowledge that we are sinners and that nothing we can do will earn us a spot in heaven. And we must believe that Jesus really lived, died, and arose. We must accept Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins and we must stop living for ourselves and live to please God instead.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that there is nothing that we can do that will earn us a place in heaven. We accept Jesus’ blood sacrifice on our behalf. Now we turn our lives over to You and ask You to help us live for You instead of for ourselves. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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