Sundry Laws

The Purpose of Studying Difficult Old Testament Laws

Deuteronomy chapter 22 and once again before we look to God's Word. Let us ask him to Bless our time together. I grace heavenly father. We do pray that during this hour you would be honored and glorified your truth would be made known.

Lord help us to do the work of worship help us to hear your word. These are some difficult texts that we are seeking to understand. Help us that we may understand them are right. We may explain them to others all to your honor and glory.

We pray in Christ's name. Amen. For those of you who have not been with us before Normally on in most Reformed Baptist churches on Sunday mornings. There is a exhortation from the New Testament just as we read from the New Testament this morning and in the evenings from the Old Testament, but As I preach generally just on the last Sunday of the month and a couple times during the summers as well.

We have been doing a series for a number of months now. We began with and it's still titled the holiness code. We began back in Leviticus and the purpose of our seeking to work through quite honestly some of the most difficult texts in the Old Testament is Due to the reality of the fact that we live in a day when God's law is mocked and derided in our society openly with impunity and in fact with the great applause and Approbation of the large number of people within our society and one of the reasons that they are able to Get away with this is due to the fundamental ignorance of most of us Concerning what is found in the law specifically the Pentateuch the books of Moses and specifically in certain portions of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and When we began this series I did something that I can pretty much guarantee had never happened in a Reformed Baptist Church before and that was actually played a Segment from the West Wing television program During the sermon that had I just know that had in fact that has not happened since then either.

And probably will never happen again. I'm not a prophet nor a son of a prophet, but that's probably how that's going to work and it was the segment where the president mocked a particular person representing Dr. Laura Schlesinger, and it was based upon a and a letter written by a homosexual where You start off looking at Leviticus 18 and 20 and or Leviticus 18 and 20 says an abomination.

Homosexuality is abomination and and then what you do is you just grab Texts and well I have a daughter and and she speaks fluent French. And I'm thinking about selling her into slavery how much money should I be able to get in light of such-and-such attacks then and You know the Washington redskins.

They have to they have to hold the pigskin if you touch the pigskin. Then you're supposed to be unclean, and you know well if they wear gloves can do that. It was all a mockery a mockery of Christians for Selectively choosing some parts of the Old Testament law to believe and other parts to no longer believe and It's highly effective obviously because of the context in which it is placed.

You know you get the right music going and the right actors and camera angles, and you can make it look really really good. But the reason that it's effective is primarily due to the fact that we don't know our own Bibles very well and certainly the audience to whom this material is being presented.

They don't know the Bible basically at all and So very many Christians have been silenced by this kind of presentation and our whole attempt over the past basically year or more Has been to remove some of the restraint that might exist upon any one of us for fear of not being able to respond to Counter accusations or counter arguments should we seek to give testimony from? the law of God in regards to his moral and ethical commands and In so doing we've laid down certain parameters.

We've looked already at a number of texts that quite honestly Almost never get preached on a Sunday morning anywhere in the English-speaking world any longer. They may have been preached on in the days of the Puritans.

But in our day if it if you can't sort of match the hymns to your your sermon text. And if it's not going to fit into a certain Movement that you're a certain emphasis. You're having right now for missions giving or whatever else it might be.

Then it's probably best not to preach on those texts at all and we've worked through some really difficult Texts now when you enter into a section such as Deuteronomy chapter 22 where In the New American Standard the subtitle or the title to the entire chapter is sundry laws.

That's sort of a road sign that's going to tell you Ahead of time trying to come up with a specific theme. That's necessarily going to connect these various laws together might not actually be possible.

And I'm not going to try to come up with one. I'm not going to try any alliteration any poetry any heart-pulling stories about Puppies or anything else to try to to try to paper over the fact that we are looking at some some challenging texts Through the next chapters, and I'm not I I confess.

I am struggling a little bit with covering everything. Partly because on one side I go well. We've we've covered. We've covered the basics. We've covered the principles, and I think it would be good to leave it to folks to apply those principles in some places.

But I also recognize that there are people listening to this series literally all over the globe. I've been informed and If we do skip something I I can just I just guarantee That we're going to end up hearing something about ah you don't have an answer for that one.

And that's why you skipped over it. And so I I'm trying to find the proper balance between those various pressures and looking at what we are covering but let's look at chapter 22 and Begin our our study this morning.

Love for Neighbor and Restoring Lost Property

You shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep straying away and pay no attention to them. You shall certainly bring them back to your countryman if your countryman is not near you. Or if you do not know him.

Then you shall bring it home to your house and shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it. Then you shall restore it to him. Thus you should do with his donkey and you should do the same with his garment.

And you should do likewise with anything lost by your countryman which he has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to neglect them. You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox fallen down the way and pay no attention to them.

You shall certainly help him to raise them up. So we'll do one section at a time and try to at least have a topical connection at that point in these first Four verses are fairly straightforward. Life in Israel is to be life in community the people are bound together by their common covenant with God and this is Simply a recognition that when you live in a community that you have certain responsibilities to others now.

It is interesting in in our land today. There are still many people who not knowing this text would live in light of it. We see the stories about people who find wallets with Thousands of dollars in them and and go to extraordinary efforts to find the person.

Whose wallet that was? But I have a I have a feeling then the vast majority of those situations if you were to sort of look back in that Person's heritage look back as to who raised them. Somewhere along the lines you're probably gonna find somebody who had some some religious training.

Maybe grandma you know instilled or grandpa instilled that kind of thought in the mind even as a as a young person because Sadly the reality is most of us know that if you leave your iPhone on a seat And walk away.

What's the chances of you getting that thing back? It can happen. But we all know that we're hoping against hope that anything like that would actually take place. And the same thing certainly with a wallet you might get the wallet back, but the credit cards and the cash will be gone.

And that's why most of us are almost immediately you're you're calling Your credit card companies, or maybe if you've got one of those protection things you call them. And they call your credit card companies because the assumption is In our land today that there is going to be something bad.

That's going to come if something like that were to happen and of course when we're talking about Donkeys or oxen or things like that that wasn't just that's that's not that's not putting a picture of a doggie up on the On the light pole in the neighborhood say lost dog.

Please help me find my my my dear friend. You might like the donkey though I've never really met too many donkeys that were overly likable, but you might like the oxen or something along those lines but the reality is these were Very important tools of life.

They would be very much used in Transportation in in farming in tilling the soil so on and so forth and so you're not just talking about Being nice here and returning a kitty or a doggie or something like that.

You're talking about something more here his garment. Whatever else it might be the point is you are not to just simply overlook these things. You're not to live just for yourself. That's what is being said here this is in essence a a basic exhortation and Commandment that the people of God should not become self-absorbed.

But that instead they should be looking out for the interest of those around and of course It's it's not difficult to see that what you in essence have here is pretty much the golden rule. I mean If if your ox gets away you would very much like it if it wanders over to your neighbor's place.

That they would take care of it for you if they happen to recognize. It's yours. And you know if you if you did the hanging over the fence thing and talking with your with your neighbor. You'd get to recognize their ox might even know its name who knows.

But it even leaves the possibility that hey if it just wanders onto your property. And you don't know whose it is. You don't go aha and hide it away. And hope that no one finds it until they stop looking and now you've got you've got an extra ox.

You know you were saving up for a new one, but now you don't have to worry about it. No it doesn't doesn't work that way. There are certain Responsibilities that are to take place and if you're not to look at it as if well someone else has lost my gain.

No, this is someone else's property, and we are to recognize that God is the one who gives us things and Therefore we are not to in essence steal from others even though we might be able to get away with it.

We might be able to explain How we did that now? You go from general equity in the society to a single verse that That Doesn't seem to have anything to do with the verse before it or the verse after it.

The Created Order and Gender Distinction

Verse 5 a Woman shall not wear man's clothing nor shall a man put on women's clothing. For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God. Now I will confess that this text was probably quoted a A good bit last year when a certain former gold medalist Decided to Remake himself.

We all know what I'm referring to and I think that there would be relevance at that point. It's not like the sub subject of Transgenderism is directly addressed in the Bible. Positively it is we discussed it at the time positively it's addressed in the fact that God is the one who makes man male and female and Therefore it is fundamentally an act of rebellion against God.

And a questioning of his goodness and a questioning of his sovereignty and a questioning of his kingship. To pretend that you can reject God's sovereignty in your life and say well I may be quite obviously a male but I am going to act as a female or I'm going to dress as a female or I'm Even going to mutilate my body to make it less male because it's never going to be female no matter what you try.

It's not going to happen. But I doubt that almost anybody who quoted it took the time to look too much of what was before and after it because to be honest with you outside of just. The only general theme I can see here at the beginning of Deuteronomy chapter 22 is that there are.

The reality is none of us lives on an island. We've all heard that phrase before right nobody lives on an island. We may have the idea in American culture That what I do behind closed doors doesn't affect anybody else that is Absurd and no never has this nation lived on that on that foundation.

Never not once. What do I mean? Well If I am behind closed doors, and I abuse alcohol and become drunk. Do we really believe that. Well hey? You know as long as as long as you do that inside your house.

You can just get drunk all you want. Yeah, until your liver explodes. And then you want us to pay for your for your surgery right. Or unless you get into a car and kill somebody else or unless you beat on your wife your kids or.

Unless you burn your house down because you're stone-cold drunk. And it burns your neighbor's house down then that seems to have something to do with somebody else. We've we recognize we don't live on islands and The only thing that I can see that in general cause these particular Commandments to be grouped together is that we are talking about attitudes That end up having an impact upon all of us whether we want to admit it or not.

I Mean it would be a secret thing. You could probably get away with Hiding that ox that wanders onto your property right you know you just sort of put it in your barn. And and yet you keep it hidden away.

There's a certain place in your property. It might be good to put it there, so when the owner comes looking. They're not gonna see it. They move on they may not have time to come by figure. You know it was killed by predators.

Whatever and you've got it. Voila in the same way. In the privacy of your own home. Hey, you know. What does it matter if a if a woman wears men's clothing or or or vice versa? And what does that really matter who really cares?

Well There isn't an extended discussion here. But when you place this within the context of what we've already seen you should be a holy people for I Yahweh am holy and Who is Yahweh always described as being the creator of men and women?

Now you don't even have to get it. I think it's I think it's silly. When people start getting into well, you know What men wear today and what women wear today? That's that's that's that's just a cultural thing.

You know we know from from paintings and artwork and statuary and all sorts of stuff that that that men have not always worn pants with belts and and. And you know wore a tie on Sunday morning or anything like that there were there was.

Even to this day there is clothing that men wear in other cultures. That would really stand out if someone were to walk in here dressed in the same way in in Arab countries. Men wear the the long flowing robe now.

They may have pants on underneath. They may have shorts on underneath. It all depends, but if we went to a a Christian Church in Jordan today or in Lebanon today, and there are Christian churches or Christian seminaries in those lands.

They would not necessarily some might but they would not necessarily be wearing pants and a shirt and a tie and looking like us and. So people will dismiss Texts like this based upon that observation, and it's a true observation.

But the point is not Exactly what it was notice. It says woman's clothing man's clothing. So the point is you know which is which? You know which is which in your society and There seems to be Because of that term abomination a purposeful a purposeful rebellion against the created order.

In your experience, that's what's being referred to. It's not just some type of I don't think it would necessarily have had application for example to The theater in old days when very often men played even parts of women.

It was a natural thing everybody knew who was who so on so forth wearing a mask anything like that. Something here is to eva something here is an abomination, and it's hard not to remember The toe eva Abominations the exact same term used in Leviticus 18 and 20 in regards to homosexuality.

It's used in elsewhere in regards to causing The children to pass the fire and Idolatry and many things like that, but there is a perversity a perversion that is involved here and the point is this if you think that you can be one thing in your home and Yet still be what God wants you to be in your society.

You're wrong. You're a hypocrite, and we all know that We all we all know how to put on the one face outside of the home but in our heart of hearts, we know who we really are and we have seen over and over again and Recent history and the leadership of our own country has made it clear that you can have people who are one thing in public, and there's something else in private and that will end up having a degrading influence upon the moral worldview decisions that they make.

Now I'm not saying that you know we all know that All of the leaders of the United States if you dig far enough have had skeletons in their closets they've had Foibles and sometimes major issues that ended up influencing them and God continues to rule and reign no matter what man does he uses man as a He's not as his instrument.

He's not going. Oh, I hope this leader will do what I want him to do. I think God is still upon his throne. I hear all those things, but God's people are not to be hypocrites. God's people are this nation is not to be a nation.

I'm speaking of the nation of Israel here where you have the In the home type of person and then the external type of person and that isn't that exactly what ended up happening? Under the kings of Israel isn't that exactly What you end up seeing?

Where the prophets have to say I want a broken heart not the sacrifices. That's the very issue that comes up, and I think that's what we're seeing here is. Don't think that because you're in the secret in a secret place that God is not observing your religion is to be a religion of the entirety of your life and That seems to be connected with what comes afterwards though again.

The the description sundry laws does seem to be an appropriate description. If you happen to come upon a bird's nest along the way In any tree or on the ground with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs you shall not Take the mother with the young you shall certainly let the mother go.

But the young you may take for yourself in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days now. What what's this all about? Well again? It is a first of all it has appropriate application regards to allowing.

You know this this mother is probably going to be able to have other offspring in the future and so there is a Reality you know. Eggs are good. I don't know about the rest of you, but I I sort of I like eggs eggs are.

Eggs are good. Eggs and salsa are better. And you know so so there's there's nothing wrong With with doing that, but if you want to keep having eggs available you need to have these species continuing.

And so you curb your appetite? Do what's right in the long term and then there's a there's a promise and or that may be well with you. And that you may prolong your days. God Blesses people whose attitude in all of life even something as little as the gathering of food as as exercising discipline in little things in life is Done in the light of what would God have me to do?

How am I to behave because again? I mean most the time you wouldn't be out. This would this wouldn't be something that you would necessarily encounter when you're out in the middle of a huge Public group you're not going to find a bird's nest and necessarily in a situation like that again.

You're probably gonna be alone here and Here's an opportunity hey Eggs great stuff. We'll have some omelets for breakfast tomorrow morning. This would be wonderful but even in that Secluded situation There is to be an eye toward God and An eye toward the future and an eye toward doing what is well in God's sight and a recognition that there is a promise of God that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your Days.

God will bless the person whose heart is True no matter where it is. Because stand outside the temple. With the smell the sacrifices. It's easy to be religious. But does that Translate into when you are alone in your own home out in the wilderness.

There was a whole lot more wilderness then than there even is now obviously is their consistency in the person. That's the question. That's the question. Then we come to one of my favorite verses honestly I I like this verse.

And you might say why well we've talked about it before. I think it's one of the best verses for Illustrating What I think is a meaningful approach to examining these and by the way on a very practical level I sort of have a Way of applying this you might find useful.

Guarding Life by Building a Parapet

Verse 8 when you build a new house you shall make a parapet for your roof. So that you will not bring blood guilt on your house if anyone falls from it so once again If someone comes along let's say someone wants to be judgmental about something you do or do not do.

And They want to say well you shouldn't be doing that thing. Let's say well there are some there are some groups for example that Still push the necessity of keeping dietary laws all right. Let's say someone throws that at you.

How might you respond. Well, I know that one of the things that I've thought through is used to this verse. Could you could you show me a picture of your house? Do you have a picture of your house? You know a lot of us don't and that is I mean you know today?

We live we live in the iPhone generator well most of us with a Few exceptions in the congregation live in the iPhone or droid or something at least more than a flip phone generation and It used to be I'm old enough that I I still I found recently.

Remember how you'd carry pictures in your wallets. Remember the people had the big you know you could do anything like that. You know you had lots of pictures, but still I don't know how many I've got it.

I've got close to 2 ,000 pictures on my iPhone. Okay, I did and anybody else. Okay, see. There you go. Not they're not 4 ,000 pictures of my cat, but I do have a lot of pictures on my iPhone and so you couldn't carry nearly that many, but but I I guess I might have a couple in there of my house not many.

Not really, but but I would ask the person can I see a picture of your house? Okay here or or why or whatever else and however that comes out say well Let me just ask you what what kind of a fence did you put around your roof?

Fence fence fence around my roof, but why what. Well there it is. Deuteronomy 22 verse 8 when you build a new house. You should make a parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring blood guilt on your house or even falls from it.

What what if what if you're? Repairman you know we all we've all had to have that box up there that sucks our money out of our wallets. During June July August you know we've all had to have that box repaired.

Because none of them you know and they're you know entropy and the laws of physics. You know and the heat eventually gets to everything so. What if he falls off. You you will bring blood guilt on your house if anyone falls from.

And even more and and the same it would be say the blood guilt would be either the person who falls. Or what if somebody is down below and gets hit by something that falls from the roof you've got blood guiltiness.

So where's your where's your where's your fence now? I'm pretty certain. I'm pretty certain That no one in this room has a fence. Around the top of your house. I mean I gotta admit that would look a little bit odd unless You have one of those Pueblo type houses, and maybe some of you might have so I think those are really sort of cool-looking.

There's there's one of them up north. I ride by it on my bike once in a while even on their gate. It says White house, but Casa Blanca Casa Blanca, you know it's really pretty. But most of us we've got the slanted roof and in fact that's probably better.

I've had flat roofs out here in Arizona. Not it's not a good thing and No fence, so are we just ignoring this now you may recall months ago. When we first started this series I went to this as an illustration of excellent illustration of How we can look at these texts in the Old Testament law and try to discern?

What was the purpose of these laws and even when? Much has changed can we still make application of the intention of the law and It's fairly obvious What the intention of the law is and what the modern corollary of that would be in those days you spent a lot of time?

On your roof. It was a floor of the house. It was a place where cooking could be done. It was a place where obviously in the when it was hot. It would be the coolest place when the sun started to go down.

Inside it still took time for you know you didn't have a fan you could turn on all the rest that kind of stuff and so a lot took place on roofs and. So if you were up there, and you didn't take Consideration for yourself your family your guests or for your neighbors.

Then you can bring blood guiltiness upon yourself you could have. You know one of those you know big old pot with planting or something like that. And you know what happens when the seven-year-olds start chasing each other around and somebody trips.

And they they run into the pot and it they knock it off, and it it lands right on Imelda's head. Down below in the street and and poor poor that she's gone. It's it's it's done and and and oh what a terrible accident.

Well, but there's still blood guiltiness involved. You didn't take the precautions. You're supposed to have there's supposed to be fencing up there so that when the guys start roughhousing. They may run into it, but it hits the fence rather than poor Imelda on on the street down below.

And so the point was Protect life not only yours and your families and your guests. But just a plain old person you know your neighbor next door who might just be walking by your house because that's their way to get home it was being Considerate that's where I see the connection to everything else in this text as well is the consideration of those around you.

So what does that apply to us today? Well, I think especially I what? This week wasn't it the the little one in Glendale a little child Got away from mom. I guess through the back door Strain the pool eight and a half minutes underwater no pool fence whatsoever and Last I heard didn't look good, and I don't know I haven't had a haven't seen a follow-up I don't know if the if the child passed away or not, but did not sound good.

You're saying no Good. I hope so, but be that as it may. We have laws. We should we have to have them. I mean should not there not be a a recognition of the the inherent danger. That that big old hunk and the hole in the ground with water in it Represent well even without water in it as it sometimes is represents.

Sure, it's not it's it's not the exact application, but it is the principle. We don't live on a ruse anymore. Can you imagine what that roof would feel like in Arizona? It wouldn't be a good place to be.

Does that mean that the principle then is just out we can forget about it. No. I don't think so I think we have the goodness of taking those proper Precautions in regards to the saving of life and especially as how again this speaks to how we have Relationship with one another in society is very very important to recognize and there certainly is tremendous well there I Think I'm not certain of this.

I did not take the time to look into this because I would imagine it would be based upon what Municipality state so on and so forth, but I Think I've certainly heard of people who where it was very clear.

They had not exercised proper caution have gotten in trouble with the law because of people dying or being severely injured in situations like this, and I'm not talking about the. I Would not say that a text like this is the basis for the fact that every time you buy a ladder There are 47 warning signs on it in 15 different languages including graphical pictures, you know.

There is a level of common sense, I mean seriously I don't think every single step should be you could fall the next step you could fall farther at the top step. You're gonna die. I don't I really don't.

I don't think I don't see that that's necessary To have there, but there is obviously a balance and I think that this text Illustrates what we're talking about very well. But then you go from that to the next one and you go.

Yeah, good luck making an application here. But I think What we have now is in Versus nine and following there is a bit of a shift in the context as far as what binds the next few sections together. You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed or all the produce to see which you have sown and the increase the vineyard will become defiled now keep that in mind with you shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together and You shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together now.

What are these all share together? What's what's there? What's the common thread here? There is in Leviticus and Deuteronomy an emphasis upon consistency and purity. Even when that might cause you to have to exercise discipline and to restrain yourself from greed.

The idea of doing things in a pure fashion is what is in sight. I don't think that the ground is damaged or You know if you have a row of grapes Next to a line of corn that the grapes are somehow going to become poisonous or something like that but the point is the idea of Purity the idea of sameness the idea of oneness.

So an ox and a donkey together. I suppose you could argue the ox is going to be You know might have its spine put out of alignment because the are the donkey is not going to pull as hard. I mean again if you want to try to Dig down and say well, maybe this maybe that it's possible.

But it seems to me when you put it all together that each of these is saying the same thing about purity and about Keeping an eye toward what God wants you to do in all things. I mean you shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together.

Well. I suppose you could be really really really Strict and say well wool is only this and linen is only this. Some people actually say that the priests the high priestly garments violated this and that that what it's about is You should you shouldn't do anything that would imitate what the high priest does I?

Don't know. Every one of us in here though. I think on a fairly obvious level are probably violating this right now every one of us and Never gave a second thought. Because you know I I'm not I'm not you know I didn't bother reading the tags.

I mean half the time. I cut the tags off anyways. And wouldn't know but I I didn't bother reading tags, but something tells me that you know there's there's probably a mixture In in almost everything that everyone is wearing in this room you might have a 100 cotton whatever.

But I bet you your socks have some if your socks don't have some clingy stuff in it some Some spandex or some some something. You're probably the one that takes ten steps reach down pull up ten steps reach down pull up.

You know that kind of thing and and I'm I'm I'm not interested in that. And I don't think that it's a religious issue. To like the fact that my socks pretty much stay where I put them. And that's what that's what their job is they're supposed to stay right there.

I don't think it's a religious thing. I Do think that what we have here is religious? And why that why do I say that because verse 12 on a on a positive thing says you shall. Well verse 11 you shall not wear a material mixed with wool and linen together at verse 12 you shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself and So here was it seems to me.

This is all Very much has a we might identify it as somewhat ceremonial Aspect to it, but that it takes us back to the purity. That the people of Israel are supposed to demonstrate in their life on the positive side of verse 12.

It would be hard for you to hide That you're one of the covenant people of Israel when you have those telltale tassels on that which covers you. So in other words if you're Along the border between Israel and another country and You just really really like bacon there are a few people like that.

You really like bacon and so you might leave Israel and you might go into the Gentile area and You know there's a meat market over there and You might be able to get yourself a slab of bacon. But if the garment you're wearing Has those tassels on it everybody around you is going to know because they all know I Mean they're not sending people into Israel to set up bacon stands, okay?

They know that that was that's not going to be a good business plan and So if you are self-identified Well, what are you going to do? There is a public profession in the positive placement of those tassels that says I'm one of the covenant people of God and In the same way in a in a negative way the thought is to be Well God wants me to have purity in the sowing of my seeds in my field I Am NOT to try to mix things up just to try to To get some more money for myself.

I'm I'm to trust God and in this field I plant only this and that field I plant only that and and I'm not to try to mix things up. Even if it looks like my neighbor over in the Gentile area is doing well doing that.

I don't do that and I plow with only two oxen and two donkeys together and when my Gentile neighbor asks I may not be able to go well. It's because Well God knows that the the ox is going to pull harder.