Deuteronomy 24 God’s Miscellaneous Commands
1-4 Teaching on Divorce: “Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. 2 When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man. 3 But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if he dies, 4 the first husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession.”
Want a red-hot argument among Evangelical Christians? Just mention the word “divorce” and stand back while people take sides and throw verbal rocks at one another. Some of these arguments have been so vicious that years ago, one Christian writer and speaker who was forced into divorce by her husband’s infidelity wrote a book entitled “Don’t Shoot! I’m Wounded!” Surprisingly, here God is already describing situations in which a woman might be divorced and re-marry. Notice that the condition of divorce is that the woman does not please the man; evidently, the assumption is that women need protection and therefore must endure whatever behavior their husbands exhibit. But the lady is free to marry; only she is not free to return to the first husband.
Before any divorce can happen, the husband must find some uncleanness in the woman, something so bad that he cannot stand to live with her. And the husband must secure a legal document; he cannot simply throw the lady out of the house. The idea is to encourage marriage partners to work as hard on the marriage as possible; yet, there are times when things fall apart. Compassion and kindness are far more important in such situations than judgement, for many people don’t want to admit that their marriages have become emotionally or physically dangerous.
5 “A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or be given any other official responsibilities. He must be free to spend one year at home, bringing happiness to the wife he has married.” The idea here is to allow the couple to procreate so that even if the man goes to war and is killed, there will still be an heir at home. Inheritance remains critically important.
6 “It is wrong to take a set of millstones, or even just the upper millstone, as security for a loan, for the owner uses it to make a living.” Wow! Obviously, God knows that there will be money lenders so wicked that they will even take the means of a man’s livelihood if they are not stopped. Loan sharks have existed since Biblical times.
7 “If anyone kidnaps a fellow Israelite and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.” Among many of the surrounding tribes, kidnapping someone and selling them into slavery was a common thing. Remember Joseph’s brothers, who sold him to a passing caravan.
8 “In all cases involving serious skin diseases, be careful to follow the instructions of the Levitical priests; obey all the commands I have given them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt.” Here the skin disease referred to is leprosy. When Aaron and Miriam began envying Moses, God caused Miriam to break out with leprosy, frightening Aaron and demonstrating that their rebellion was wrong.
10 “If you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to pick up the item he is giving as security. 11 You must wait outside while he goes in and brings it out to you. 12 If your neighbor is poor and gives you his cloak as security for a loan, do not keep the cloak overnight. 13 Return the cloak to its owner by sunset so he can stay warm through the night and bless you, and the Lord your God will count you as righteous.” God wants to protect debtors, for a lender might enter a house and seize something to which he has no right. At the same time, a cloak given as security must be returned at night so its owner can stay warm. It can get bitterly cold in Israel, and God wants lenders to care for their debtors.
14 “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. 15 You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. If you don’t, they might cry out to the Lord against you, and it would be counted against you as sin.” Refusing to pay on time is sinful! Only last night, one of our friends who is a local artisan was complaining that an institution for which he had done a great deal of work was delaying his compensation. This was working a major hardship on his family and him.
16 “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.” This command sounds simple; however, it was common among other tribes to punish any relatives available, even if the culprit was apprehended.
17 “True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt. 18 Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command.
19 “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. 20 When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 21 When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command.”
Foreigners, widows, orphans, and the poor-God cares for all of them and demands that His people should care as well. All of these groups are vulnerable, and God hates those who prey on the vulnerable. God also wants His people to trust that their harvests will be so plentiful that they will not suffer by leaving gleanings in the field, olives on the tree, or grapes on the vines. One elderly lady in my home area had wonderful grape vines, and she told my mother that as long as she shared her grapes with others, they bore amazing crops. The few years when she failed to share, the grape vines did not bear well.
God cares about every aspect of our lives, and He is particularly concerned that we care for those in need. May God who gives us all good things bless us with a spirit of generosity so that we may behave like His true children!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to be kind, compassionate, merciful, and free from rushing to judgement. Thank You for Your great heart of Love. Let Your Love shine through everything we say and do. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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