Wrapping Up the Laws

Deuteronomy 24-26

            Friday and Saturday’s readings mark the last of the laws! Yay! We still have some hard things to deal with in Deuteronomy, but this is the last of Moses’ legislation. Let me highlight three things for the end of this week.

            First, in Friday’s reading we read again about the Lord’s concern for marriage. The first thing to note is that Jesus’ interpretation (Matthew 19), that divorce is only allowed for sexual immorality is pretty close to the original command. Moses says a man can divorce a woman when “he finds something indecent in her,” but the word for indecency usually means “nakedness.” Although the later rabbis took a pretty broad view of reasons a man could divorce his wife, Moses seems to have something narrower in mind.

            Pastorally, I find the whole conversation convicting. In our era, we tolerate divorce for a lot of reasons. Now, to be fair, the New Testament adds an element and allows divorce for “malicious desertion,” which offers more cases in which divorce is allowed. (I can’t think of the reference right off hand, but it might be in 2 Corinthians.) For example, a lot of pastors consider spousal abuse justified grounds for divorce, because the abuser has, in some way, deserted the marriage. Still, reading Moses reminds me that marriage is sacred and it makes me wonder if the Church treats it so in our day…

            The second thing I’d highlight is also in Friday’s reading and that is the repeated concern for the poor and the marginalized—leaving some of the crop behind for the poor, refusing to take a pledge that would hurt the poor, letting the poor retain their dignity by not entering their houses to demand a pledge. We’ve seen it before in these laws, but it bears repeating: the poor are a cause for compassion, not scorn.

            Finally, let me just direct your attention to the “tithe speech” in chapter 26. When they bring their tithes in, they rehearse their history—from Jacob, the wandering Aramean, to the slavery in Egypt, to the Exodus and Conquest. I think this is of a piece with Paul’s statement that the Lord loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) Maybe we should train ourselves when we make our offerings to recount the same thing: “My father, Adam, was banished from God’s presence, but the Lord had mercy and sent His Son to die for me. He has blessed me spiritually and materially, and now I bring my offering to Him.”