Seder 155: Deuteronomy 24:19-25:19---Responsibility for the Welfare of Others

 Moses lays out several cases in this section of Deuteronomy.  In 24:19-22, farmers are told to not harvest every bit of a crop, but to leave some for the poor.  We see this instruction in action in Ruth 2, where Boaz leaves grain in his field for Ruth to glean.  

In commenting on this passage at Church of the Messiah on August 5, 2023, Frank Fenton observed that a person who obeys this instruction is, in effect, giving some of one's life to one's friends (Jn 15:13).

Deuteronomy 25:1-3 places limitations on a punishment for wrongdoing so as not to humiliate the criminal.  For a beating, the stated limit is 40 lashes.  In practice the limit was set at 39 in order to make sure that the number did not exceed 40 by mistake. 

Paul later made reference to this practice in 2 Corinthians 11:24 when he mentioned, "Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one."  In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on August 5, 2023, Kyle Kettering pointed out this example as further evidence for a Torah-observant "Paul within Judaism." In receiving such a punishment, Paul was submitting to the authority of a local synagogue, an indication that he was still working within synagogue communities when he planted his congregations. 

Deuteronomy 25:4 is a principle stated as a proverb:  "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain."  This principle is applied in the New Testament to argue that church workers are entitled to be supported by their congregations (1 Cor 9:1-14; 1 Tim 5:17-18).  

 Deuteronomy 25:5-10 deals with the ancient institution of levirate marriage, where if a man died childless, his brother might marry his widow in order to continue the man's family line.  We see an example of this institution in Ruth 4, where Boaz marries Ruth to perpetuate the line of Elimelech.  There is another example in Genesis 38, where Tamar, the wife of Judah's oldest son Er, makes sure that Judah carries out this responsibility after he and his other sons neglect it. 

Deuteronomy 25:11-12 is another case meant to ensure that family lines are continued.  Verses 13-16 emphasize the importance of honest weights and measures.  Finally, verses 17-19 are on Israel's responsibility to punish the Amalekites for their unwarranted attack on the Israelites shortly after their departure from Egypt (Ex 17).  This attack was, in effect, an attempt to thwart God's plan to bless all nations through the descendants of Abraham.  Moses also mentions here that the Amalekites took advantage of the weak in their cowardly offensive.

Seder 102: Numbers 1---Everybody Counts

 The book of Numbers begins early in the second year of the Exodus.  The Israelites have been camped at Sinai for around 11 months, and in a few weeks they will break camp and travel toward the Promised Land.  

On their journey they will be organized as a military camp.  God authorizes a military census of males 20 years old and up----the soldiers---and selects a man from each tribe to supervise the count.  What an honor it would have been to have been named by God for this role!  There are a few familiar names among the list in Num 1:5-15.  For example, Judah's representative, Nahshon, is an ancestor of Jesus (Ruth 4:20).   Elishama, Ephraim's representative, is Joshua's grandfather (I Ch 7:26-27).  Many of the names are theophoric---i.e., they contain a name of God, like El, Shaddai, or Zur.  

The Israelites carried out the census "as the Lord commanded Moses" (v 19).  This refrain, which we have seen through the final chapters of Exodus, continues through the first ten chapters of Numbers.  (Commentator Dale Brueggemann counts 19 times that the phrase occurs in Num 1-10.)  

The numbers reported from the census in our English translattions raise questions for us.  We will first begin to question our translations in Num 3, when the number of firstborn males reported is an order of magnitude too low to be in sync with the large numbers in Num 1.  I have written about these issues in a previous post.

From a theological standpoint, these details are not so important.  The big message is that God has blessed Israel greatly, carrying out his promises to the patriarchs by greatly multiplying their descendants.  Moreover, God knows the name of each Israelite, and each Israelite matters.

The tribe of Levi is not involved in the military census but will have its own count.  Levites have their own important responsibility to care for and guard the tabernacle (v 53).  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on May 14, 2022, Kyle Kettering looked at all the important biblical events that occur in wilderness settings.  The wilderness is a place where people can tune out extraneous noise and hear the voice of God.