Deuteronomy 21:10-23 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 21:10-23. Let’s go!
Deuteronomy 21:10-13 (NIV)
10 When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives,
11 if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.
12 Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails
13 and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.
On verses 10-13: Here Moses tells the Israelites that when they conquer another nation and notice a beautiful woman from that nation, one of the Israelites may take her as his wife. The woman must first do the things that signify her break from whatever faith she ascribed to before — shaving her head, trimming her nails, changing her clothes and mourning her parents. After that, an Israelite could marry her.
Does this conflict with Moses’ previous command to destroy everything that breathes whenever they conquer nations in the Promised Land (20:16)? No. It’s because Moses is not referring to nations in the Promised Land. He is referring to nations that are far away and who do not live in the Promised Land (20:14).
What can we learn from this? The Bible repeatedly warns followers of Jesus about marrying someone who does not follow Jesus (for example, see 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). But if a Christian meets someone who is willing to become a Christian themselves and that person does in fact place their faith in Jesus Christ, going through the act of baptism to signify their new identity in Christ, it is not a sin to marry that person afterwards. That person may have come from a non-Christian background, but if their heart has truly been won by Christ and they in fact put their faith in Him, that, according to the Bible, is a totally acceptable arrangement.
Deuteronomy 21:14 (NIV)
14 If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.
On verse 14: Although divorce has never been God’s ideal, it appears that here Moses allowed for divorce in certain situations. For more on this, see Jesus’ explanation in Matthew 19:3-12. It seems to me that the main purpose of this verse is less about condoning divorce and more about protecting the wife, to make sure that the husband did not sell her or treat her as a slave after a breakdown of the marriage.
Deuteronomy 21:15-17 (NIV)
15 If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love,
16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.
17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.
On verses 15-17: Is God condoning polygamy here? No. God’s ideal for marriage has always been between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:20-24). But because their hearts were hard some men would still insist on marrying more than one wife. Given the reality of polygamy both in ancient Israelite culture and in other cultures, verses 15-17 are acknowledging a problem that often happens when a man decides to marry two wives: when a man has two wives, at least one of the wives will very likely be unloved, mistreated and neglected. This is presumably a major reason why God does not condone polygamy.
Also, verses 15-17 remind us that whenever we do not follow God’s ideal for marriage, it’s the children who suffer the most. So this passage is less about condoning polygamy and more about protecting children. God especially wants to protect children who are born into a situation where one or both of the parents have not followed God’s ideal for marriage and family.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (NIV)
18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,
19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.
20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.”
21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
On verses 18-21: According to Moses, every Israelite child who had ever been stubborn or rebellious toward their parents deserved to be stoned. This passage shows us how seriously God sees stubbornness and rebellion in a child toward their parents. How amazing it is that Jesus Christ, the only truly perfect one, died on the cross to set us free from the penalty we deserve for our own stubbornness and rebellion.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (NIV)
22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree,
23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
On verses 22-23: Verse 23 says that anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. Verse 23 is pointing us to Jesus Christ. Jesus was hung on a tree and became a curse for our sake. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
Thank You Jesus for becoming a curse for me when You hung on a tree, so that we could receive God’s blessing. Today I proclaim that, because of Jesus, God’s favour and protection rest upon me, my family and the generations after me. May we honour Your ideal for marriage, family and children and experience much of Your blessing. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
