We have further various laws laid down.
Firstly, to caring for one’s brother’s ox, sheep, or donkey. If the animals go astray, they had a responsibility to take them back if they found them, they could not ignore it. If the brother is not near or they didn’t even know him, they had to take the animals into their own house and keep it until the brother looked for them and found them and then they were to restore it to him. This also applied to the brother’s garment or anything which he had lost, and they had found.
They couldn’t just do nothing and ignore their responsibility and keep it as if it were their own. Even if a person’s donkey falls down, they were to help lift it up again. It was very much like the Good Samaritan after the priest and the Levite had passed by on the other side in the parable told by Jesus. Obviously in view of this law, much to their shame, the priest and Levite deliberately disobeyed it, and to do so was a sin (v1-4).
Secondly, the distinction between men’s and women’s clothing (v5). When we see images of their clothing in Old Testament times, they look very similar, but it states that women shall not wear men’s clothing and vice versa. To do so was an abomination to The LORD. Both wore long robes and garments draped around them but it evident that there was a difference. It is interesting and significant especially in today’s society. Fashion has often led to men and women wearing similar clothes but there obviously was some significance in those days and there should still be a difference. One of my respected Bible Teachers, the late Derick Bingham once said that women should dress attractively but not seductively. Fashion is somewhat of a mystery to me, but I don’t understand why men wear shorts and women long trousers, where in the past women wore skirts (often far too short, in my humble opinion) and men wore trousers.
On a more serious note, cross-dressing was a feature of pagan, idolatrous worship in the ancient world. To pretend and overlook the difference between men and women leads to disastrous consequences and, sadly, there is a resurgence in these things which will only lead to society paying a terrible price.
There is a rise in so-called cross-dressing and transvestitism in society. There is a great danger of gender confusion permeating to the youngest in society. Governments are being urged to pass laws allowing the young to change their gender at a whim. This will only lead to more confusion, and we will reap a bitter harvest.
All this is an abomination to The LORD our God.
Most of our parents, those of us who are older, would be astonished at what is being suggested today, even absolutely disgusted. They wouldn’t have believed what is going on today. Sadly, less than 10% of our population (according to those who answered such questions in the last Census 2021) are dictating to the rest of us what should be done and allowed.
God deals with a variety of laws in this chapter and He next deals with cruelty to animals (v6,7) particularly birds – so, if one sees a bird’s nest with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or eggs, they were to let the mother go and take the young for themselves. There is a promise, even with this seeming minor offence, of things going well with them and prolonging of days.
This may seem small and insignificant, but God shows that He cares for even the birds. Jesus said that not one sparrow falls to the ground without The Father knowing about it (Matthew 10:29-31) and assures us that we are of more value than many sparrows.
If they showed kindness to the smallest, God would bring blessings upon them as individuals and as a nation. Many people may not be animal lovers, but they are God’s creation and should not be treated cruelly.
Next, we come to how buildings should be constructed (v8). When building they were to put a parapet (railing) around the roof to prevent people falling off. Liability was upon the owner or builder. They were responsible for the protection of visitors to their houses, just as we are responsible for protecting others from false teaching.
I’m sure that we may never have thought that God would include things like this in His instructions to His people when they took over the Promised Land. It really shows How much He cares for every aspect of our lives.
He continued in verses 9-12 – they were not to sow different kinds of seed in their vineyard because this would defile their vineyards. They were not to plough with an ox and a donkey together. They were not to wear a garment of different materials like wool and linen, and they were to make tassels on the four corners of their clothing.
These four laws were to show that the Israelites were different from their pagan neighbours, and they were not to imitate their customs. They were to show their separation from the worldly things, just as we need to do as believers in Jesus Christ. Sadly, many of our churches have tried to mix ‘worldly’ things with ‘spiritual’. As individual Christians we must be very careful in our separation. This does not mean isolation; we live in the world, but we must do our best to keep the world out from us. Even our personal circumstances should be committed to The Lord – In 2 Corinthians 6:14 we are urged to ‘not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, we have no real fellowship between righteousness and lawlessness, and no communion, light with darkness.’
I’ve known several fellow Christians who got girlfriends/boyfriends who were not Christians and in 99% of the cases the Christian went away from their profession of faith. I’ve often said that if you go into the world to find a partner, the devil will see to it that you find one. What he wants to do more than anything else is to entice Christians away, and he will use any means that he can to do it.
The tassels were, again, a distinguishing feature in how they dressed. It seems that they were symbolic as a reminder to keep God’s law (Numbers 15:37-41)
The last part of the chapter deals with sexual matters and morals (v13-30).
Firstly, if a man takes a wife and after intimate relations with her, finds that she is detestable in that he finds, presumably on her wedding night, when they had sexual intercourse, that she is not a virgin, and charges her with bad conduct and defiles her name. The woman’s father and mother were to take ‘evidence of her virginity’ to the elders of the city at the gate. The gate was the usual place where the elders met. It was like the Town Hall where the leaders of the city met, and the local court where judicial decisions were made.
Virginity was very important in any intimate relationship. It should still be the case today, that two people keep themselves virgin for the person they marry. No-one really wants ‘used goods’ when it comes to their most important relationship. Virginity was highly prized, and it is sad that it is not always so today.
Some years ago, I believe in the USA, there was started an organisation where young women and girls wore a ring indicating that they were virgin and committing themselves to be pure for their eventual husband. It caught on in some areas in UK, but I’m not sure it is still popular, which is a pity. Obviously, one doesn’t have to wear something to show this as it should be ‘normal’ behaviour both for males and females.
The parents were to go to the elders and say, “I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, ‘I found your daughter was not a virgin,’ and yet these are the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.” They were to produce the cloth to the elders, to prove her virginity. I am not certain what this means, but it seems that it was good evidence because in some parts of the world it is still used today.
On that evidence the elders were to fine the man 100 shekels of silver and give them to the woman’s father. The man shall take her as his wife, and he cannot divorce her all his days. However, if they the allegation is true and she is not a virgin, they were to stone her to death, to put away the evil from you. The penalty was high and the man losing his right to divorce her all his days would be a huge deterrent to men to make false allegations. The consequences for the woman who was not a virgin were even higher in that she would lose her life.
The seventh of the Ten Commandments is ‘You shall not commit adultery’. In verse 22, The LORD, through Moses, reminded them of this and stated that if a man was found lying with a married woman, they should both be put to death. Once again, there had to be evidence of two or three witnesses and they should be ready to cast the first stone (chapter 17:6,7) thus it was probably rare for there to be such. However, the penalty was a deterrent because they might never know if they would be caught in the act by the required witnesses.
Maybe this was the situation when Jesus told them to cast the first stone (John 8:1-12) because they only brought the woman caught in adultery and not the man as well.
The LORD then laid down the situation where a virgin was betrothed to a husband, and she was raped by another man. A betrothal was an important step in a marriage, in fact, in this passage, she is referred to as ‘his neighbour’s wife’. I understand that a Jewish marriage contract started with 12 months betrothal, during which they were called husband and wife, and which was allowed so that sufficient time was to elapse to prove the wife’s virginity.
You will recall that when Joseph discovered that Mary, who was betrothed to him, was expecting a child, even though she was a virgin, was going to divorce her quietly, until the angel assured him that the conception was not by a human, but the work of The Holy Spirit. Thus, the only way he could have got out of the betrothal was by a divorce. He could not just walk away.
If the betrothed virgin and the man were found in the city, they were both to be stoned to death at the city gate, because being in the city, she did not cry out for help. If, however, it happened in the countryside, only the man should be put to death, because there was no-one around to hear her cry for help. It is as if the man had killed her.
If a man raped a woman who is a virgin but is not betrothed, he must pay a fine of 50 shekels of silver to her father, and he must marry her and never divorce her.
In verse 30 a man was prevented from taking his father’s wife. It doesn’t say his mother, which would seem to be logical, therefore, it was probably his stepmother, who was not a blood relative. Nor was a man to uncover his father’s bed. I’m not sure what this means, but it could mean, that his father’s and mother’s intimacy was private and not for his or anyone else’s eyes.
This sin continued and was mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:1,2 where Paul rebuked them for a man having his father’s wife.
In the book of Leviticus (chapter 18) the law of God stated that there were prohibitions as to who a person could not have sexual relations with or marry.
