Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.
2 And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.
3 In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.
4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.
5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
6 If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:
7 But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.
8 When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.
9 Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.
12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,
14 And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:
15 Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:
16 And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;
17 And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.
18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;
19 And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die.
26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:
27 For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
29 Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.
30 A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt. Deuteronomy 22 KJV
The first part is rather neighborly, and it removes the "it's his own fault or not my problem", your brother's issue is to be your own and I think that goes for so much. It is often as hypocrites we judge without any intent to help, but if we only understood that this is my brother and his struggle, while it may look different than my own, is still a result of the same. It is the golden rule, but even that is more if we were humble enough to acknowledge. I cannot, by order of God, hide myself from the issue, but rather hold that which is lost to him, for him, until he returns. The next part goes into that of men trying to be women and women trying to be men alike. It is a departure from, not only God's original creative intent, but from the visible, logical form. I remember reading the story of the Emperor's New Clothes when I was a kid, but now I live in that very age, where people think it enlightened to be politically correct at the expense of the truth and reason. I listen to them speak and can tell that they also believe that they are in some way more enlightened for pretending, but also there is with it this insistence that the truth is a rather malleable thing and those repeating what God says are not helpful or caring. First of all, just like my brother losing his donkey or his ox, I cannot hide from the issue, but here I must not only for my sake, but for his as well, hold on to that which is true. If I say I believe in God and that the Bible is His word, then there is nothing kinder that I can do for my brother than to tell him what God says. Even if he is lost, does not believe the same, I can respect that he is lost and as one who was lost, who needed Christ, who heard the gospel than responded, I should tell him the truth humbly. So what if I have no desire to wear women's clothes, I was still born under original sin, and while it may look one way with brother or my friend, has society, culture, family or my friends done me any grand favors by lessening what God says? Just say what God says, the gospel is amazing and when it takes hold in a person, it changes the way he sees himself and so many things that he now accepts.
Verse 6 takes us back to intent, when Adam and Eve were given dominion, this is a call to conservation. It is not fair to take the mother as she sits upon her eggs, for she becomes a sitting target, and to let her go is a mark towards sustainability. The health and density of animal populations is a good measure of our own health and ability as caretakers. The clean water, air and space that animals need to thrive is also a necessity of human beings as well. I am a fisherman, so if I like to fish then I need not pollute the water or support businesses that do. Above that I am a Christian, and so recognize that the earth does not belong to me to abuse, but to respect with gratitude. I hear people say that it doesn't matter because heaven and earth will pass away, but like Paul says, "do we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid." If we truly see ourselves as sinners, and God as holy, if we truly come to Him in Christ for forgiveness for the things that God is so infinitely opposed to, then it seems that in truth we would also repent from so many destructive behaviors.
Verse 8 could be OSHA's verse, recognize the danger and build in such a way as to prevent the fall. You should care for your own life because it technically belongs to God, Who made it. The life of your friend, employee or any other life should not be taken for granted, but this is not an open invitation, a lottery for ambulance chasers either. Ask for eyes that can see here, how precious are those made in His image, disguised to us by our egos.
Verses 13-19 deals with a man who falsely accuses his new wife of not being a virgin. This is a dishonor to her person, and an accusation against her family, saying that they had been involved in deception. I looked up the meaning of chastise and he was basically beaten for this, but he also couldn't put her away after this.
If it were true though, and I was astonished to read this, but the girl was stoned. This seemed rather harsh to me, but as a father of two girls, knowing this as part of that culture and being a Jew under the law of Moses, I was warned and should have taught my children. It's not just the severity of the punishment but look where it takes place, the blood is brought back to the father's door step. The deception of the other family in the most sacred of unions and sensitive of contracts, comes back to the father. We can't really pretend at something that we are not, it may work with some people for a time, but God sees us for who we are. It does not matter how I describe my children, what matters is what is true. I hear so many people talk of their child who is involved in criminal activity, addicted to drugs, stealing from their neighbors, hurting other children, disrespecting authority and so on, as a "good child", she has such a "big heart" and would do anything for anyone. Whether you read this chapter and find the punishment too severe like I did or think your child an angel because she likes puppies, rainbows and unicorns, or you say that the God that you believe in wouldn't damn anyone or punish sin, I would suggest that it's not your or my opinion that matters, but what God actually says.
The rest of this chapter deals with adultery and rape. As can be seen above it is important not to hide or lie about such a matter, but cry out for help. Marriage is used often to reflect the relationship between Christ and His church, that a man leaves father and mother to become one with his wife, it is a new life, a new family and the most sacred cornerstone of society. It is the union from which springs forth the next generation and the first part of their rearing and education. Children are given to their parents to bring up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The punishment under the Mosaic law for the interference here was death of the adulterers, but if a betrothed woman was raped then only the rapist died. Men and women in a fallen world, under corrupt lawgivers have suggested rape as good justification for the murder of our young. Punish the rapist not the woman and not the infant. Life belongs to God.
Verse 6 takes us back to intent, when Adam and Eve were given dominion, this is a call to conservation. It is not fair to take the mother as she sits upon her eggs, for she becomes a sitting target, and to let her go is a mark towards sustainability. The health and density of animal populations is a good measure of our own health and ability as caretakers. The clean water, air and space that animals need to thrive is also a necessity of human beings as well. I am a fisherman, so if I like to fish then I need not pollute the water or support businesses that do. Above that I am a Christian, and so recognize that the earth does not belong to me to abuse, but to respect with gratitude. I hear people say that it doesn't matter because heaven and earth will pass away, but like Paul says, "do we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid." If we truly see ourselves as sinners, and God as holy, if we truly come to Him in Christ for forgiveness for the things that God is so infinitely opposed to, then it seems that in truth we would also repent from so many destructive behaviors.
Verse 8 could be OSHA's verse, recognize the danger and build in such a way as to prevent the fall. You should care for your own life because it technically belongs to God, Who made it. The life of your friend, employee or any other life should not be taken for granted, but this is not an open invitation, a lottery for ambulance chasers either. Ask for eyes that can see here, how precious are those made in His image, disguised to us by our egos.
Verses 13-19 deals with a man who falsely accuses his new wife of not being a virgin. This is a dishonor to her person, and an accusation against her family, saying that they had been involved in deception. I looked up the meaning of chastise and he was basically beaten for this, but he also couldn't put her away after this.
If it were true though, and I was astonished to read this, but the girl was stoned. This seemed rather harsh to me, but as a father of two girls, knowing this as part of that culture and being a Jew under the law of Moses, I was warned and should have taught my children. It's not just the severity of the punishment but look where it takes place, the blood is brought back to the father's door step. The deception of the other family in the most sacred of unions and sensitive of contracts, comes back to the father. We can't really pretend at something that we are not, it may work with some people for a time, but God sees us for who we are. It does not matter how I describe my children, what matters is what is true. I hear so many people talk of their child who is involved in criminal activity, addicted to drugs, stealing from their neighbors, hurting other children, disrespecting authority and so on, as a "good child", she has such a "big heart" and would do anything for anyone. Whether you read this chapter and find the punishment too severe like I did or think your child an angel because she likes puppies, rainbows and unicorns, or you say that the God that you believe in wouldn't damn anyone or punish sin, I would suggest that it's not your or my opinion that matters, but what God actually says.
The rest of this chapter deals with adultery and rape. As can be seen above it is important not to hide or lie about such a matter, but cry out for help. Marriage is used often to reflect the relationship between Christ and His church, that a man leaves father and mother to become one with his wife, it is a new life, a new family and the most sacred cornerstone of society. It is the union from which springs forth the next generation and the first part of their rearing and education. Children are given to their parents to bring up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The punishment under the Mosaic law for the interference here was death of the adulterers, but if a betrothed woman was raped then only the rapist died. Men and women in a fallen world, under corrupt lawgivers have suggested rape as good justification for the murder of our young. Punish the rapist not the woman and not the infant. Life belongs to God.
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebrews 13: 4-16
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