October 2, 2018 - Day 177 - Deuteronomy 24
I am writing from my desk in Seattle, WA.
Deuteronomy 24:
More dumb rules! But then a fantastic reminder at the end..
This one kicks off with some good old fashioned ancient misogyny.
If man 1 gets tired of his wife and divorces her, and she marries man 2, and he gets tired of her too (or he dies), man 1 cannot remarry her; since she has been defiled.
The man can do whatever he wants, but the woman, well, she's just dirty and discarded. Sound familiar?
This was thousands of years ago, and we are disgusted by it; yet we let this shit happen TODAY.
If a man is newly married, he has to stay home for a year to "bring happiness" to his wife.
AKA get her pregnant. Lets not pretend this means something else.
Kidnappers get executed.
Execution was en vogue wasn't it?
Reminder about skin defiling diseases.
If you borrow stuff, don't be rude or invasive about it.
Here's a good one that we should remember:
"Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns."
Let us not forget that.
Parents can't be put to death for their kids, or vice versa.
Another reminder about foreigners:
"Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge."
And then this...
"When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt."
---
Just like today, there were laws and rules and societal pressures in antiquity that breathed life into people, and some that were destructive. People say you can't "pick and choose" when you read the Bible, but it isn't hard to tell what is life-giving. That is what I focus on.
So far we've seen in the Old Testament that how we treat foreigners is very important.
Think about that.
Deuteronomy 24:
More dumb rules! But then a fantastic reminder at the end..
This one kicks off with some good old fashioned ancient misogyny.
If man 1 gets tired of his wife and divorces her, and she marries man 2, and he gets tired of her too (or he dies), man 1 cannot remarry her; since she has been defiled.
The man can do whatever he wants, but the woman, well, she's just dirty and discarded. Sound familiar?
This was thousands of years ago, and we are disgusted by it; yet we let this shit happen TODAY.
If a man is newly married, he has to stay home for a year to "bring happiness" to his wife.
AKA get her pregnant. Lets not pretend this means something else.
Kidnappers get executed.
Execution was en vogue wasn't it?
Reminder about skin defiling diseases.
If you borrow stuff, don't be rude or invasive about it.
Here's a good one that we should remember:
"Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns."
Let us not forget that.
Parents can't be put to death for their kids, or vice versa.
Another reminder about foreigners:
"Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge."
And then this...
"When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt."
---
Just like today, there were laws and rules and societal pressures in antiquity that breathed life into people, and some that were destructive. People say you can't "pick and choose" when you read the Bible, but it isn't hard to tell what is life-giving. That is what I focus on.
So far we've seen in the Old Testament that how we treat foreigners is very important.
Think about that.
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