Every law has a consequence if broken. But the one hanged on a tree is cursed by God. Jesus was cursed by God for us.
Deuteronomy 20: Laws Concerning Warfare
1 "When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
2 And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people
3 and shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them,
4 for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.'
5 Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, 'Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.
6 And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit.
7 And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.'
8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, 'Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.'
9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.
10 "When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it.
11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labour for you and shall serve you.
12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
13 And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword,
14 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you.
15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.
16 But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes,
17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded,
18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God.
19 "When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?
20 Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siege works against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.
Deuteronomy 21: Atonement for Unsolved Murders
1 "If in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him,
2 then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities.
3 And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke.
4 And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither ploughed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.
5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the LORD, and by their word every dispute 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 and they shall testify, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed.
8 Accept atonement, O LORD, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.'
9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
Marrying Female Captives
10 "When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive,
11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife,
12 and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails.
13 And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament 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 But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.
Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn
15 "If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved,
16 then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn,
17 but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.
A Rebellious Son
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, though they discipline him, will not listen to them,
19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives,
20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'
21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed
22 "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Things to think about…
Dt 20 shows both the mercy and the judgement of God. The mercy of God is displayed towards His people that they should know the blessings of this life before being taken into the next through death because of war. The judgement of God upon the enemies is seen by the commandment not to keep anything that has breath alive. These chapters are hard to accept and yet, here they are. What is the message for us today? God hates sin. Remember these nations were being removed because they were not filling the land with the Lord’s righteousness. The Jews would lose their right of inheritance for the same reason. The same for families and churches. If the gospel is not preached and believed faithfully, the Lord removes the candlestick and the church dies…as it should.
It is interesting to note the law required for unsolved murders in Dt 21:1-9. A payment for sin still had to be made, even though no-one knew who the murderer was. The Lord of course knew. We should constantly have the desire to be open with ourselves and each other confessing our sins to God and each other so that we may maintain a tender conscience. Let us never conceal sin within the church. We know where that leads. Let’s “do what is right in the sight of the Lord”, Dt 21:9.
Look at the law for a woman who was taken from enemies in battle, Dt 21:10-14. This woman was not to be treated as a slave but if married was to have the full privileges of a wife. Even if the man divorces her, she had the right to go where she liked and not ever be given slave status – she was free in Israel. God exalted women and marriage. This was not the common law at this time in history. Let us exalt marriage and honour God in our words and witness within Christian marriage. Those of you not married or who have been married – may Christ be your sufficiency. Remember in heaven – no marriage, except to the lamb!
God does not show partiality as fallen humanity commonly does, Dt 21:15-17. In this case, the man had two wives, one loved, one not. Again these verses show the Lord’s wisdom due to the outworking of sin, but clearly the Lord’s intention was one man, one woman, for life. If children were given to both unions and the unloved woman had the firstborn – the double portion would still be their right. Our inheritance comes from Christ. Children come to know the love and faithfulness of the Lord generally through the faithful witness of Christian parents. May we remain faithful to Christ, regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Look at the discipline required for a rebellious son. He was to be stoned to death, Dt 21:18-21. Note that this was not a little boy – this was a man who was known as “a glutton and a drunkard”. I.E an incorrigible man who should know better. I saw in Israel many kids growing into teenagers who are quite rebellious against authority. These kids have been let down by their parents and perhaps their legal system. I see such problems as opportunities for the church. True heart discipline and obedience can only come through Christ and His Spirit. May we see the generations behind us be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and not the spirit of the age.
The Apostle Paul referred to Dt 21:23 when writing to the Galatians about Christ being cursed as One who hung on a tree, Gal 3:13. Christ’s body did not hang on a tree (Wood) overnight, but He was still regarded as cursed by God, Gal 3:13. The fact that Christ died this way is still a stumbling block for the Jews. They cannot see the spiritual significance behind the cursing and the way He died. They see Christ as still cursed by God. What a struggle the modern Jew still has, because they cannot deny that He lived and that He worked many miracles. So why was He cursed? Pray many find the answer that He actually took their curse of sin on Himself.
Vision Point
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Questions for Cell groups
Sunday’s sermon, “Testing, testing” came from Deut 13 by Ps Jay.
1. Jay mentioned failing a test and not having a dream fulfilled. Have you ever failed a test? What were the consequences?
2. Deut 13 is a very difficult passage to read. What do you think about the reasoning of having to stone someone to death simply for suggesting that you follow after another god?
3. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, Heb 13:8. He is the Word, the Logos. He is the judge of the living and the dead. We will be judged by His word. As we live in a generation that changes or softens the word, 1Tim 4, 2 Tim 4. How do we apply grace and truth. How do we know we have the balance right?
4. Pray for your cell group and through the prayer points to help us achieve our Vision/Mission as a church.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Victoria and the rise in Corona virus cases. Restrictions are maintained for that state..
2. Continue to pray for peace in the west and virus recovery measures.
3. Jesse Baxter has badly broken his arm and badly injured both wrists. Pray for quick healing.
4. Pray for thepresent turmoil going on with the riots in America. Pray for Christ’s peace. Also for other countries including Australia that often ride on the back of these events.
5. Pray for wisdom and clarity with some restrictions are being lifted next month.
6. Continue to pray for our government for wisdom and economic management.
7. Sunday’s fb live messages and for Kids church. The message this week – “Tithes and offerings” Deut 26 – Pr Jay.
8. Our online Chuwar Kids at church program – that our kids still feel connected to church and love worshipping Him.
9. Pastoral care. Pray people feel connected in this isolation period. Been great catching up with people at the Bean Redeemed café.
10. Church finances to meet our expenses and to put a roof over our café.
11. Our City and Country – Pray for revival over our city and the leadership of our country even through these challenging times. Pray especially for people to be stable with respect to mental health.
Praise Points.
1. Dylan Brandazzi who was at Recharge Youth a few years ago has been involved in a traffic altercation. I heard from his family that he is healing well. Praise the Lord.
2. Jesse Baxter is gaining strength in his hands, praise the Lord.
3. This wonderful rain.
4. Restrictions being lifted – cell groups can now meet up.
5. Finances being maintained and donation to Café roof. Thankyou! New temporary cover put on this week.
8. Streaming and fb live being done very well by the technical team. Thanks Doug, Dan, Jesse and Peter. Thanks worship team.
9. Australia’s response to the infection has been blessed. Continue to pray for wisdom with respect to our economy.
10. Praise the Lord churches are functioning well in this environment and the gospel is going out in the media.
11. Encouraging online comments – the church is still functioning well and people are being cared for.
Announcements
1. We are going to two services starting on the 12th July. First service will start at 8:30am. The second at 10am. Only the 10am service will be live streamed.
2. Pray about offerings to help with putting a roof over the café. Our temporary white shade has come to the end of its life. $6k required for a new roof. $3k has been donated.
3. Cell groups can meet up – Ask for details as to how and what is required.
4. New church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Kids Church now streamed live at 9:00am every Sunday morning via CBC’s fb page. Will be run in the house for the 10am service starting on the 12th July.
