(Deuteronomy)
SACRIFICES WITHOUT
DEFECTS
Chapter 17 begins with an isolated verse which refers to the quality of
the sacrifices that are offered to God in the Temple…
(Deut. 17:1) You shall not sacrifice
to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any
defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God.
This concept, regarding the consecration of the
first born animals (Deut. 15:21), had already been mentioned. In Leviticus 22,
it defines what is considered a defect in an animal destined to be sacrificed…
(Leviticus 22:20-22) You
shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for
you. (21) And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to
the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or
from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in
it. (22) Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or
an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the LORD or give them to
the LORD as a food offering on the altar.
If an Israelite is going to offer something to
God, it has to be without flaw, because the Lord deserves the best.
The rest of this chapter (17) covers two main
themes:
1. How to deal with idolatry in Israel
2. Expectations from a king in Israel
IDOLATERS
IN THE MIDST OF ISRAEL
Idolatry is a very serious sin for the Kingdom of
God. In fact, it is in the second commandment, right after recognizing Jehovah
as God…
(Deut. 5:6-8) I am
the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery. (7) You shall have no other gods before me. (8) You shall
not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth.
The temptation of idolatry doesn’t just happen
among the pagan people, but it can also surface among the people of God, which
is why the Torah deals with the subject and it forbids it.
The question that is answered in this chapter is:
What must be done when an Israelite falls into idolatry?
(Deut. 17:2-5) If there is
found among you, within any of your towns that the LORD your God is
giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of
the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant, (3) and has
gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of
the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, (4) and it is told you and you hear
of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that
such an abomination has been done in Israel, (5) then you shall bring out
to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall
stone that man or woman to death with stones.
If an Israelite is committing idolatry, the
witnesses must take him or her to the city gates, where the judges are seated.
The judgment and condemnation of an idolater is not done in the streets nor do
the people do it, but it is left in the hands of the judges. Given that the
consequence is very serious, the judge must be very sure that the Israelite has
committed such a sin.
To condemn someone in Israel to death, there had
to be a testimony from two or more witnesses, who would confirm that the person
had done such evil and deserves the death penalty.
(Deut. 17:6) On the evidence
of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to
death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
The role of the two witnesses was not only to give
a testimony, but that they would also participate in the condemnation…
(Deut. 17:7) The hand of the
witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the
hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
ASHERAH’S
TREE
Speaking on the subject of idolatry, let’s go back
to the last verses of the previous chapter, which talk about the same thing…
(Deut. 16:21-22) You
shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of
the LORD your God that you shall make. (22) And you shall not
set up a pillar, which the LORD your God hates.
Here it specifically mentions the idol of Asherah,
which was represented with a stick or a tree, as a symbol of fertility. The
trees dedicated to Asherah were planted by the pagan altars in the high places.
The Torah explicitly forbids that the Israelites
imitate such evil Canaanite traditions.
(Leviticus 26:1) You
shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall
not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am
the LORD your God.
KINGS IN
ISRAEL
The second main subject in this chapter is about
the kings in Israel. This is a controversial subject in the beginning of
Israel’s history since, in theory, God was king over Israel. He is the maximum
authority and the one who decided on the legislation. However, God knew that
the day would come when the people would ask for “a king like the other
nations” (either because they wanted to have a visible leader, or because they
wanted to be like the other nations).
(Deut. 17:14-15) When
you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you
possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all
the nations that are around me,’ (15) you may indeed set a king over you
whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you
shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not
your brother.
God makes it clear that He is still the Supreme
Sovereign, since even when there is a human king in Israel it will be the Lord
who will choose him. It is not about a democracy (where the leader is chosen by
the people), nor a monarchy (where the king decides on the laws); instead, it
is about a constitutional monarchy, having the Torah as the legal framework and
a king who submits to God.
Until now, the requirements for the king of Israel
are:
a. A king chosen by God
b. He must be an Israelite; never a foreigner
The other requirements for a king in Israel are
the following:
c. He will not increase his horses
d. He will not take many women for himself
e. He will not acquire riches in abundance
f. He will write a copy of the Torah, and read it
every day
Let’s see these last requirements one by one…
c. He will
not increase his horses
(Deut. 17:16) Only he must
not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in
order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You
shall never return that way again.’
The horses were not just a symbol of military
power. The armies that had a cavalry had a comparative advantage over those
soldiers who fought on foot.
The king of Israel has to trust in God, and not in
this military power.
(Psalms 20:7) Some trust in
chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our
God.
Further ahead, we will see this principle again
(Deut. 20:1).
(Deut. 20:1) When you go out
to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger
than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God
is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
d. He will
not take many women for himself
e. He will
not acquire riches in abundance
(Deut. 17:17) And he shall
not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire
for himself excessive silver and gold.
This is the opposite of what Solomon did (1 Kings
10:26; 1 Kings 11:1-13).
f. He will
write a copy of the Torah, and read it every day
(Deut. 17:18-20) And
when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book
a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. (19) And it
shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he
may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this
law and these statutes, and doing them, (20) that his heart may not be
lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the
commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue
long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
This requirement was one of the most important requirements
because it placed the king under God, who is the real King of Israel. On the
other hand, knowing the Law would also help him be a better leader.
More lessons
on Deuteronomy: DEVARIM (Deut.)
Comments
Post a Comment