Confessional Lutheran Ministerium

Deuteronomy 24:1-22; 25:1-4

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, ² when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, ³ if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, ⁴ then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. ⁵ “When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. ⁶ “No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one’s living in pledge. ⁷ “If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil from among you.

⁸ “Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. ⁹ Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt!

¹⁰ “When you lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. ¹¹ You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you. ¹² And if the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight. ¹³ You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to you before the Lord your God.

¹⁴ “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. ¹⁵ Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.

¹⁶ “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.

¹⁷ “You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge. ¹⁸ But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.

¹⁹ “When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. ²¹ When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. ²² And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.

^25:1 “If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, ² then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. ³ Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight.

⁴ “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.

“You shall remember that… the Lord your God redeemed you… therefore I command you to do this thing” (24:18).

The Lord commands His people not just to obey Him, but to remember. Again and again in this passage, the people of Israel are called to remember their own redemption. God brought them out of Egypt, not because they were strong, deserving, or righteous, but because He is merciful. That memory was to shape the way they treated others.

These laws are not random. They speak of kindness to the vulnerable—divorced women, newly married men, poor debtors, hired servants, the fatherless, the widow, the stranger. God’s people are told not to take advantage, not to humiliate, not to overlook. Even when harvesting, they were to leave behind what remained in the fields. It wasn’t theirs to hoard. It belonged to those in need.

God is not indifferent to daily life. His mercy is not confined to the temple. It flows into the field, the threshing floor, and the city gate. It protects dignity. It guards justice. It refuses cruelty. When two men dispute, their case is to be judged rightly. When a guilty man is beaten, he must not be degraded. “Forty blows he may give him and no more,” says the Lord, “lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows…and your brother be humiliated in your sight.” Even in punishment, the man remains a brother.

And the ox must not be muzzled while treading out the grain. A small detail, but God cares for His creatures. If He does not ignore the labor of an animal, how much more will He not forget the labor, sorrow, and need of those made in His image?

The same Lord who gave these laws walked among us. Jesus did not overlook the stranger or despise the widow’s gift. He fed the hungry, lifted up the bowed down, and bore the curse of the Law for us. He became the outcast and was led to the slaughter without protest. His death was not just an act of mercy; it was our redemption. And remembering that changes how we live. Let us pray: Gracious Redeemer, teach us to remember Your mercy and to live it out in our dealings with others, that we may reflect Your goodness to all. Amen.

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Psalm 136:10-26 (NKJV)

¹⁰ To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹¹ And brought out Israel from among them,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹² With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹³ To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁴ And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁵ But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁶ To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁷ To Him who struck down great kings,
For His mercy endures forever;
¹⁸ And slew famous kings,
For His mercy endures forever—
¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites,
For His mercy endures forever;
²⁰ And Og king of Bashan,
For His mercy endures forever—
²¹ And gave their land as a heritage,
For His mercy endures forever;
²² A heritage to Israel His servant,
For His mercy endures forever.

²³ Who remembered us in our lowly state,
For His mercy endures forever;
²⁴ And rescued us from our enemies,
For His mercy endures forever;
²⁵ Who gives food to all flesh,
For His mercy endures forever.

²⁶ Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
For His mercy endures forever.

It is always good to recount the salvation of the Lord. The psalmist continues to recall the mighty works God did when He brought Israel out of Egypt and into the land of Canaan. Calling these mighty works to mind would strengthen the Israelites’ faith. Regardless of what was happening on any given day—what hardships were afflicting them—Israel was to remember the Lord’s mercy to them. He brought them out of Egypt with mighty wonders, He brought them through the Red Sea, He brought them victory over heathen kings, and finally, He brought them to the land He had promised long ago to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Israel is to remember that God remembered them in their lowly estate and rescued them from their enemies, bringing them out of Pharaoh’s slavery and making them His special people. Not only did He provide for their spiritual life through His word, He gave food to them and all flesh.

The Old Testament church and its salvation in the exodus may seem distant and remote to us. After all, we aren’t the people whom God brought out of Egypt in such a mighty way. Yet it is good for us to recount the salvation the Lord worked for us in our Lord Jesus Christ. God sent His only-begotten Son into our flesh to earn salvation for all, so that all who believe in Him might become children of God, receive the forgiveness of all their sins, the Holy Spirit, and the promise of eternal life. Christ leads us out from the slavery of sin. He defeats our enemies who rise up against us in temptation and trials. He leads us into the Promised Land of everlasting life. So, while we are not the people whom God brought out of Egypt, we give thanks for that salvation because it was a prototype of the greater redemption He worked for all mankind, which He gives to all who believe these promises. Recounting all that Christ did for us and taught us in His earthly life, we cannot help but join with our Old Testament forefathers and exclaim, “Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever” (26). Let us pray: Keep us mindful of all that Your Son accomplished for us and all that He now works in us by faith, O Lord, that the thankfulness of our hearts might overflow into our lips and lives. Amen.

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Deuteronomy 23:1-25 (NKJV)

“He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the Lord.

² “One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

³ “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever, ⁴ because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵ Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. ⁶ You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

⁷ “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. ⁸ The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.

⁹ “When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing. ¹⁰ If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp. ¹¹ But it shall be, when evening comes, that he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp.

¹² “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; ¹³ and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. ¹⁴ For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

¹⁵ “You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. ¹⁶ He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it seems best to him; you shall not oppress him.

¹⁷ “There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel. ¹⁸ You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

¹⁹ “You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. ²⁰ To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.

²¹ “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. ²² But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. ²³ That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

²⁴ “When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. ²⁵ When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.

The laws in this chapter teach the Israelites how they were to live as God’s holy people. First, their leadership is to be holy. This is what it means to “enter the assembly of the LORD” (1, 2, 3, 8). Eunuchs and bastards, Ammonites and Moabites could belong to the people of Israel, but they could not serve as leaders of God’s people. If they could not become members of Israel, they would not produce ten generations within Israel.

While on a military campaign, men were to be disciplined and follow God’s laws. God did not pause His laws for maintaining ritual purity due to battle. He would be with them and walk in the midst of their camp. The men should continue in holiness, lest their holy Lord turn away from them.

The rest of the laws in this chapter follow a similar trajectory: this is how a holy people, among whom God dwells, lives. The escaped slave had more than likely been harmed by his or her master, and thus, was free according to Exodus 21:26-27. He or she was not to be enslaved again. Prostitution was forbidden. Interest was forbidden when giving to fellow people of God because they were all of one family. Vows to the Lord were to be fulfilled. One’s vineyard or field could provide temporary relief for individuals if they were hungry and had nothing to eat. While the law about vows stresses faithfulness to God (and seriousness in prayer), the rest teach Israel how to love one’s neighbor in specific situations.

While these laws have been abrogated, their spirit continues among Christians. New converts are not to be admitted to the ministry of the church (1Tim 3:6), but they are certainly to be admitted into the church, and hopefully many generations follow them. The Christian lives in the world yet strives to keep oneself unspotted from the world (Jas 1:27) even as they do battle against temptations and lusts. Christians love all people, but especially the brethren, not taking advantage of them, but being gracious to them and sharing the fruits of their labor with them. Let us pray: We give You thanks, O Lord, for forgiving our sins and making us holy through faith in Christ. Help us to live holy lives of love for You and those around us. Amen.

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Deuteronomy 22:13-30 (NKJV)

¹³ “If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, ¹⁴ and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ ¹⁵ then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. ¹⁶ And the young woman’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. ¹⁷ Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, “I found your daughter was not a virgin,” and yet these are the evidences of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. ¹⁸ Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him; ¹⁹ and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.

²⁰ “But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, ²¹ then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house. So you shall ^[d]put away the evil from among you.

²² “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

²³ “If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, ²⁴ then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

²⁵ “But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. ²⁶ But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. ²⁷ For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.

²⁸ “If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, ²⁹ then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.

³⁰ “A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s bed.

Marriage—the lifelong union of a man and a woman in body and life—is divinely instituted. The laws in today’s reading taught Israel to honor marriage and the sexual union, as well as the consequences of violating His will. Fornicators, adulterers, and those who rape betrothed women were to be stoned to death. This punishment demonstrates what is written in Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” God highly exalts marriage and abominates those who defile it.

These laws would also teach Israel that marriage is not something to be taken lightly and that sexual relations are reserved only for that lifelong union. The man who dishonors his wife by false accusations of infidelity must remain married to her so that he can bear the fruit of repentance in his life by devoting himself to her and caring for her. The man who forces himself upon a woman who is not betrothed to a man must take the maiden as his wife for the same reason, that he may demonstrate his repentance and care for the woman whom he humiliated. While these laws seem harsh by modern standards, they reminded Israel to curb their wicked lusts. If they let sin reign in them, then these laws demanded them to honor and care for the women whom they humiliated.

The last verse of today’s reading, “A man shall not take his father’s wife,” leads us think of the man who took his father’s wife as his own in Corinth (1 Cor. 5:1ff). The civil law of Israel being abrogate, that man was not killed, but excommunicated so that he might repent and amend his ways. We know from 2 Corinthians 2 that he repented, put the evil away, and amended his life. Despite deserving death under the law, he received the apostle’s forgiveness as Christ’s forgiveness. This is the gospel for everyone—male or female—who has violated God’s will for marriage and sexual relations. He removes evil from among His people, not by executing the offenders, but forgiving the penitent. By faith, sinners are pure in God’s sight, and, as His forgiven people, honor marriage and the marriage bed. Let us pray: Give us pure hearts, O Lord, that we may glorify You with our bodies and honor marriage as holy. Amen.

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Deuteronomy 21:18—22:12 (NKJV)

¹⁸ “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, ¹⁹ then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. ²⁰ And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ ²¹ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

²² “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, ²³ his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

^22:1 “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. ² And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. ³ You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself.

⁴ “You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again. ⁵ “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God. ⁶ “If a bird’s nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; ⁷ you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.

⁸ “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it. ⁹ “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled. ¹⁰ “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. ¹¹ “You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together. ¹² “You shall make tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself.

The laws in today’s reading taught Israel how they were to live out certain of the Ten Commandments. That parents are to stone their impenitent children shows the severity of God’s judgment on all who break His commandments. That Israelites could take a bird’s eggs out of her nest, but not the mother, was not only a sustainability issue, reminded Israelites to honor their parents. If someone found another’s property he was to return it to the owner—or protect it until the unknown brother looked for it. Since Israelite homes had flat roofs, each roof was to have a parapet—a low protective wall around the roof’s perimeter—to protect others from falling off the roof.

There are several laws forbidding the mixture of things that do not belong together. Men and women are forbidden to wear the garments of the other sex. Different seed is not to be sown in a vineyard, which would mix the fruit of the vineyard with the fruit of the field. Two different animals are not to be used to plow, nor are two different materials to be combined in a garment. The prohibition against confusing men’s and women’s clothing is an abomination because it confuses the sexes which God created for marriage according to the Sixth Commandment. The rest of these laws remind us that truth is not to be mixed with error in the church, as this violates the Second Commandment by misusing God’s name for false teaching.  The command to make tassels for the corners of their garments remind Israel to “walk worthy of the calling with which they were called^” (Eph 4:1).

Amid these laws is one that reminds us of the salvation which Christ earned for us. The corpse of anyone hanged on a tree must not remain hanged overnight, “for he who is hanged is accursed of God” (23). Christ became the curse for the sake of all those under the curse of God’s judgment, so that all who trust that His death earns the forgiveness of sins are freed from God’s curse. Being called to such a blessing and receiving it by faith, let us “walk worthy of the calling with which they were called.” Let us pray: We give You thanks, O Christ, for becoming the curse to remove sin’s curse from us. Enable us to walk worthy of Your call and live in love for our neighbor. Amen.

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Deuteronomy 21:1-17 (NKJV)

“If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, ² then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities. ³ And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. ⁴ The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. ⁵ Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. ⁶ And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁷ Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. ⁸ Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. ⁹ So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁰ “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive, ¹¹ and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, ¹² then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. ¹³ She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴ And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you have humbled her.

¹⁵ “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, ¹⁶ then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. ¹⁷ But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Today’s reading includes three difficult laws God appointed for Old Testament Israel. As civil laws for the earthly kingdom of Israel, they were abrogated when Israel went into captivity.

The law concerning an unsolved murder—another law that provided atonement for the land when blood was shed—restrained Israel from murder. The second and third laws—the laws about female captives and the inheritance of the firstborn, are more troubling. If an Israelite soldier wanted to take a gentile captive as his wife, he could do so. She would shave her head, cut her nails, and put away the garment of captivity. This ceremony allowed her time to mourn her family and prepare her for joining the people of the true God. But if the Israelite man does not delight in the woman, he must set her free so that she may remarry. While this law protects the woman, who had been freed from slavery, from being enslaved again, it sanctions divorce.  The third law prevents Israelites from giving the status of firstborn, with all its rights and privileges, to son born of a favorite wife who is not the firstborn. While this law prevents a firstborn son from being defrauded, it sanctions polygamy.

Why would the Lord allow flippant divorce and polygamy among His people? Because Old Testament Israel was both church and state, and “They are not all Israel who are of Israel” (Rom 9:6). Not every Israelite believed God’s word. Many hardened their hearts against it. Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 1:9 apply to these laws: “The law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate . . .” These laws were unnecessary for true Israelites, i.e. those who believed God’s promises and wanted to live according to God’s law because they were thankful for His gifts.

God does not give His New Testament Israel—the Church—these same allowances. Christ rules in our hearts by His Holy Spirit so that we curb our sinful desires, receive His forgiveness, and willingly love others as God has loved us in Christ Jesus. This love has no need of laws like these in today’s reading. Let us pray: Fill our hearts with Your love, O Lord, that we may love our neighbors as You have loved us in Christ. Amen.

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Deuteronomy 20:1-20 (NKJV)

“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. ² So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. ³ And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; ⁴ for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’

⁵ “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. ⁶ Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. ⁷ And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’

⁸ “The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’ ⁹ And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

¹⁰ “When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. ¹¹ And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. ¹² Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. ¹³ And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. ¹⁴ But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the Lord your God gives you. ¹⁵ Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.

¹⁶ “But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, ¹⁷ but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, ¹⁸ lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹ “When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man’s food. ²⁰ Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued.

God teaches Israel how to battle against their enemies. Knowing that the sight of a larger army—with horses and chariots—would make human nature quail with fear, the Lord commands the priest to speak to the people whenever battle approaches. The priest is to say, “Hear, O Israel: Today you on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you” (3-4). Israel is to enter the fray with faith that is God who fights for them and will give them victory over their enemies.

After giving exemptions from warfare, the Lord instructs Israel offer peace to their enemies and what do to if their enemies do not want peace. Verse 15 tells us that this procedure is only for cities far away from Israel. Israel is not to make peace with the Canaanites. The Canaanites are to be utterly destroyed, first, as divine punishment for their sins and impenitence, and second, so that they do not teach Israel to follow them in their sins. If Israel did not destroy their enemies, their enemies would slowly destroy them by leading into sin through their influence.

How is this text for the Christian? Like Old Testament Israel, the New Testament Church must do battle against its enemies. There are no exemptions from this warfare, however, for the church’s enemies are the devil, the world, and each Christian’s own sinful nature. Like the Canaanites of old, these enemies must be valiantly fought against and overcome, “lest they teach you all their abominations . . . and you sin against the Lord” (18). If the Christian does not fight against the temptations of the devil, the world, and their own flesh, those enemies will overcome the Christian and lead them into sin and eventually away from true faith. How are you victorious against such great enemies? By faith in God’s promise to go with you, to fight for you against your enemies, and to save you. Armed with this promise, let not your heart faint as you fight. Let us pray: Strengthen our hearts, O Lord, that we may not fear or grow faint, but joyfully battle our enemies, knowing that you give us the victory through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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Psalm 135:1-21

Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
² You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courts of the house of our God,
³ Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.
⁴ For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His special treasure.

⁵ For I know that the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
⁶ Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
⁷ He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.

⁸ He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt,
Both of man and beast.
⁹ He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt,
Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
¹⁰ He defeated many nations
And slew mighty kings—
¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
And all the kingdoms of Canaan—
¹² And gave their land as a ^[e]heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.

¹³ Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations.
¹⁴ For the Lord will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
¹⁷ They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
¹⁸ Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.

¹⁹ Bless the Lord, O house of Israel!
Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron!
²⁰ Bless the Lord, O house of Levi!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
²¹ Blessed be the Lord out of Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem!

Praise the Lord!

In the midst of recalling the mercies God has given Israel, the psalmist teaches us the worthlessness of idols. “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands” (15). While they may glitter, they are not gods. They are the handiwork of an artisan. As such, “They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in their mouths” (16-17). They are unable to speak the word of God, watch over their worshipers, or hear the prayers of those who worship them. All this is because, as silver and gold, they have no breath in their mouths. They aren’t alive. Then the psalmist speaks the true God’s judgment on those who form them and worship them: “Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them” (18). Instead of, “You are what you eat,” God says, “You are what you worship.” Those who worship a created object that cannot speak, see, hear, or live, are spiritually mute, blind, deaf, and dead.

The same applies to all who worship twenty-first century idols, which are far more subtle than the false gods of antiquity. A god is that which from which we expect all good to come. That can be glittering gold, inanimate objects such as property or possessions, but it can also be a relationship, a job, popularity, or financial security. While all these are good gifts of God, they are not the source of our good, that from which we should expect all good things. If you are what you worship, then worshiping the temporal things turns the one who worships them mute to God, deaf to His word, blind to His promises—spiritually dead.

Only the true God—the Living God—speaks through His Word, sees all things, and hears the prayers of those who believe in Him. He is the highest good. He is that from which we should expect all good things. If we live by faith, fearing Him, loving Him, and trusting Him, then He gives us mouths to speak His praises and ask Him for what we need in prayer, eyes to see His blessings and ears to hear His word. Only by worshiping the true God, that is, expecting every good thing from Him, do we live.

Let us pray: Keep us from idols, O Lord, that fearing, loving, and trusting You as our highest good, we may truly live. Amen.

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Psalm 129:1-8 NKJV 129 “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,”
Let Israel now say—
² “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth;
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
³ The plowers plowed on my back;
They made their furrows long.”
⁴ The Lord is righteous;
He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.

⁵ Let all those who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned back.
⁶ Let them be as the grass on the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up,
⁷ With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Nor he who binds sheaves, his arms.
⁸ Neither let those who pass by them say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”

This psalm gives voice to a people shaped by suffering but not destroyed by it. Israel, from her earliest days, endured affliction—from Pharaoh’s bricks to Babylon’s chains. Yet through it all, she endured. “They have not prevailed,” the psalm says. That is not the boast of the strong, but the confession of the preserved.

The plowers plowed deep, the scars ran long—but the cords of the wicked were cut (v. 3–4). God did not forget His people. He did not leave them bound. The righteous Lord brought deliverance—not always quickly, not always in ways expected, but always with faithfulness.

This song is honest. It does not pretend the affliction wasn’t real. It doesn’t dress up pain with pretty words. Instead, it names the evil and remembers the Lord. It remembers that survival, not ease, has marked God’s people. And survival, by grace, is a victory.

The psalm then turns to the enemies of Zion—those who hate God’s people and seek their ruin. They will be like withered grass on a rooftop: visible for a moment, gone without notice (v. 6). They will not be blessed. They will not be remembered. Those who set themselves against the Lord and His people will not prevail.

Today, the Church is still afflicted. Not always by sword or exile, but often by mockery, rejection, false teaching, and spiritual weariness. Yet the Church endures. The people of Christ remain, not by their own strength, but because the Lord has bound Himself to them in mercy.

We have scars. But we also have a Savior who bore His own scars for our sake. We have been attacked. But we belong to One who was pierced and yet rose again. Affliction does not mean abandonment. It may shape us, but it does not define us.

Let the world rage. Let the enemies of truth come and go. The Lord is righteous. His Word stands. His people are kept.

Let us pray: Preserving God, though affliction rises and enemies rage, keep us faithful and firm. Remind us that we are Yours, and that no weapon formed against us will stand. Amen.