BibleTrack Bible Commentary

Israel WAS NOT a freedom-of-religion nation. As a matter of fact, the daily life of the Hebrews revolved around their worship of Jehovah, the one true God. In these instructions, we see mandates to that effect.

First of all, verse 1 makes it very clear that any animal sacrifice must include an animal that is without blemish. What about something as blatant as worshipping OTHER gods? Here it is – get caught worshipping other gods, and you die. There’s a caveat though; if you report someone in Israel for serving other God’s, you’d better have other witnesses; it takes two or more witnesses to convict. Oh, one more thing – if you are a witness to this heathen worship, you gotta cast the first stone when he/she is put to death.

For a fuller view regarding the punishment of these corrupt worship practices, see Deuteronomy 13 (see notes).

Keep in mind, these instructions are given to the people as they are preparing to go over and inhabit their new land. They will be spread out – decentralized for the first time in their history. This section deals with appeals made to a higher court (so to speak). If you take a legal matter to the priest or to one of the judges in Israel for that ultimate level of mediation (criminal or civil), he’s the man! After he rules on a matter, if you disregard the ruling…it’s a death sentence.

As a matter of fact, Israel did plead for a king to reign over them in I Samuel 8 (see notes). Samuel (judge of Israel), after conferring with God on the request, appointed their first king, Saul, to reign over them in I Samuel 10 (see notes). Here are the guidelines for selecting a king to rule over Israel. He must be God-chosen, a home-grown Hebrew boy, not a gold digger, have a limited number of wives, not proud or conceited, and he better obey the law. As a matter of fact, he is to copy the law himself into his own book and read it daily as king. By the way, the practice of taking other Kings’ daughters as wives ended up being the downfall of Solomon.

Notice these verses regarding Solomon’s wives in I Kings 11 (see notes):

3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.

Solomon’s wives erected altars to pagan gods right there on the Temple grounds. No wonder the Northern Kingdom after the death of Solomon never, never, never served God. He should have heeded these verses in Deuteronomy.

In contrast, while Solomon’s father, David, had multiple wives (II Samuel 3, see notes), he did not indulge in excesses as did Solomon.

The priests had to eat…and with mighty fine cuts of meat; the sacrifice business had its rewards. They received compensation from the rest of Israel for their services to the people. Within the tribe of Levi, the priesthood proper was restricted to Aaron and his descendants according to Exodus 28:1 (see notes). The number of eligible priests narrowed even more two generations later when, in Numbers 25:10-13 (see notes), it was decreed that priests from that time forward would come only from the line of Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas. The remainder of the tribe of the Levites were set aside for supporting duties in the tabernacle and temple as we see in Numbers 3 (see notes). All of them were to be treated equally with regard to provisions.

Incidentally, despite this Phinehas prophecy, there was a period of time where the priesthood was not controlled by a descendant of Phinehas. Eli, during the period of the Judges, was not his descendant. However, we see in I Samuel 2:27-36 (see notes) that the priesthood through his lineage will be cut off. This transfer would take place later under Solomon’s authority as a fulfillment of this prophecy in I Kings 2:27,35 (see notes).

Upon arrival into Canaan, the Levites were to inhabit 48 cities spread through Israel (see notes on Joshua 21). A rotation of serving Levites (at the tabernacle) was apparently set up prior to the shifts we see in David’s era, which were established in I Chronicles 23-26 (see notes). Verses 6-8 here specify that the Levite who comes from outside of the region where the tabernacle is located to serve at the tabernacle is not to experience any discrimination from the local Levites.

You will recall that it was their heathen practices for which God allowed the Canaanites to be driven out of the land in the first place according to Deuteronomy 9:4 (see notes), “Do not think in your heart, after the LORD your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out from before you.” So, Israelites, you had better make DEAD sure none of those detestable heathen practices of worship rub off! It is worth noting that the practices of witchcraft are front and center in this section. Israel was to have nothing to do with witchcraft.

I think it is important to point out that, while these heathen nations were not under the Law of Moses, their practices of worship were such an abomination that God caused them to be driven out of their land. Do we see an era-spanning principle here? As a matter of fact, the wickedness of the nations in Canaan is also cited as the reason they had to be displaced in Leviticus 18:27-28 (see notes) and again in Leviticus 20:23 (see notes). Can it possibly be the case that God may orchestrate the demise of nations today based upon abominable practices toward the one true God?

Moses does two things in these eight verses. First of all, he prophesies regarding the coming of the Messiah to whom he refers as “a Prophet.” At first glance, one might assume he is talking about Joshua. Actually, however, Moses is talking about Jesus himself. It is interesting to note that “Jesus” is the English transliteration of the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew for “Joshua.” How appropriate that Joshua led them into Canaan and Jesus will lead them into the millennium. The Jews of Jesus’ day understood this to be a reference to the Messiah, as evidenced by Philip in John 1:45 (see notes). Philip points out that Jesus is the Messiah “of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write.” Additionally, we find that Jesus, after his resurrection, confirms that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 is a reference to himself in Luke 24:27 (see notes), “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” There is simply no other passage of scripture from the hand of Moses to which this statement could be referring. So, here’s a clear prophecy from Moses regarding the Messiah. As a matter of fact, Peter emphasizes that Jesus fulfilled this Mosaic prophecy in his message of Acts 3 – specifically Acts 3:22-23 (see notes).

Secondly, Moses warns against false prophets and gives a set of criteria that any true prophet will meet. Here are some guidelines for anyone who professes to be a prophet:

• He speaks only God’s words
• If he lies, he dies
• If he speaks for other gods, he dies
• If he’s ever wrong, you can disregard him.

What if someone was killed by you as a result of an accident (“Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him in time past…”) as in the example found in verses 4-5? Well, in that case, you better high tail it to one of the 6 cities of refuge (3 in Canaan and 3 east of the Jordan River). If you really didn’t mean to do it, they’ll protect you. It’s bad news though for the guy who intended to inflict harm (a premeditated murder) – they’re going to turn you over to the blood-relative avenger chasing you when he arrives and allow him to take you out (so to speak) according to the stipulations of verses 11-12. Elsewhere, the regulations concerning the Cities of Refuge are found in Numbers 35:9-34 (see notes) and Joshua 20 (see notes). These cities were six of the of the 48 cities inhabited by Levites – three of them east of the Jordan River, and three of them west. For more information on these cities, see the chart accompanying the notes on Joshua 21.

14 ¶ “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

Here’s one verse dedicated to insuring that survey markings don’t get moved or altered. You will recall that these land inheritances were perpetual. Even if you sold your land, it came back to your family in the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-55, see notes). So, don’t remove those markers!

As a witness to a crime, you had better be sure or you’re in for a surprise! Better yet, make certain to have a couple of other witnesses along to validate your accusation. Here’s the Hebrew version of “the loser pays the court fees” in verse 19. If the witness is deemed by the judges to be lying, he gets the punishment instead of the accused. It is likely that Jesus based Matthew 18:15-17 (see notes) on this passage with regard to the number of witnesses needed in the matter of church discipline.

Let’s talk about going to battle. Never mind the fact that the enemy has you out numbered; God will deliver them into your hands. Notice the careful selection of troops to fight Israel’s battles in these verses. “Sir! I just realized I forgot to dedicate my house before I came out here to the battlefield. May I be excused?” “Sure son; take off!” the general replies. Another says he’s betrothed (more than engaged, but less than married) to a woman and another says he’s working on his vineyard. “You’re all excused!” the general replies. Then one guy pops up and says, “Got no house, got no vineyard, got no wife – I’m just scaaaaaared!” He also gets to go home; what an understanding army – that Hebrew army. WHERE WE’RE GOING AND WHAT WE’RE GONNA DO TAKES DEDICATION! Thus, all the fighting men in the Hebrew army were to be men who were there willingly and without hesitation. Incidentally, Gideon pared his fighting force down from 32,000 to 10,000 by encouraging those who were fearful of battle to go home in Judges 7 (see notes).

When Israel’s army moves into a territory and the people surrender, make them tributaries. If they fight against Israel, kill all the men. This applied to territories outside Canaan (verse 15). None of the Canaanites should be permitted to stay (verse 16) because of their heathen worship practices – might rub off on the Israelites; the Hebrews did seem to gravitate to a good-looking idol. Again, keep in mind Deuteronomy 9:4 (see notes) regarding these pagan inhabitants of Canaan, “…it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out from before you.” God had already passed judgment upon these people just as certainly as he had on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19, see notes). Israel was simply to be God’s instrument of judgment here. Also they were instructed, when you make war against the Canaanites, take it easy on the natural resources (verses 19-20).