DEUTERONOMY LESSON 24


     We will begin this lesson in Deuteronomy 22:1 "Thou shalt not see
thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them:
thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother."

     "Brother", here, is not speaking of your immediate family, but
all those people of your race. This, is saying that he must think
enough of his brother, that he will help him get his animal back. An
animal that wanders on your place, still belongs to its owner. If you
can catch it, the best thing to do is take it back home. This answers
that age old question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" Yes you are. We
must do unto others, as we would want them to do unto us.

     Deuteronomy 22:2 "And if thy brother [be] not nigh unto thee, or
if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house,
and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou
shalt restore it to him again."

     Sometimes, the animal is a stranger, and you have no idea who it
belongs to. In that case, you should care for it, until the owner
comes looking for it. Then, you should give him his animal gladly.

     Deuteronomy 22:3 "In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and
so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy
brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do
likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself."

     It really makes no difference what the item is, if it is your
brothers, you should try to get it back to him. It is not yours, and
you should not claim it.

     Deuteronomy 22:4  "Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox
fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely
help him to lift [them] up again."

     It really does not matter who the animal belongs to, you must
help, if you can. In Leviticus, it says you should even help your
enemy.

     Deuteronomy 22:5  "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth
unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that
do so [are] abomination unto the LORD thy God."

     I do not believe this is speaking of women's slacks and that sort
of thing, because this was written when men wore long skirts. This is
saying, a man should not try to appear as a woman, and a woman should
not try to appear as a man. If a woman was the same size as her
husband, she should not put on his clothes, and try to be him. Women
should be proud they are women, and men should be proud to be men. God
made us what He wanted us to be.

     Deuteronomy 22:6  "If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in
the way in any tree, or on the ground, [whether they be] young ones,
or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou
shalt not take the dam with the young:"

     This is telling us how to be considerate of the animals and birds
around us. This would give the dam a chance to have more birds.

     Deuteronomy 22:7 "[But] thou shalt in any wise let the dam go,
and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and [that]
thou mayest prolong [thy] days."

     This shows a caring of God's kingdom. A cruel person would kill
them all. A kind person would let the mother go, and then, care for
the young themselves, until they are old enough to release.

     Deuteronomy 22:8  "When thou buildest a new house, then thou
shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon
thine house, if any man fall from thence."

     In many of their homes, they had celebrations upon the flat roof
of their houses. Someone might step off the edge and be hurt. This is
speaking of building some sort of stop around the roof of the houses
to keep this from happening. It would be like a small fence.

     Deuteronomy 22:9  "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers
seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit
of thy vineyard, be defiled."

     This is saying, you should not put two different kinds of seed in
one planting hole. A row of peas should be peas. It appears, that
somehow there might be some sort of crossbreeding, which God forbids.

     Deuteronomy 22:10  "Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass
together."

     An ox and an ass are of different sizes and different
temperaments. They would not work well together. It really would not
be fair to the animals to yoke them up with another so different in
size. This refers to the following Scripture. II Corinthians 6:14 "Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light
with darkness?"

    Deuteronomy 22:11  "Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts,
[as] of woollen and linen together."

     The Hebrews had learned their weaving of various materials from
their stay in Egypt. This is symbolic of them being a separate people,
not mingled with the world. God allowed them to wear linen, but it
must be pure. The same is true of the wool.

     Deuteronomy 22:12  "Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four
quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest [thyself]."

     Numbers 15:38 "Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them
that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments
throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the
borders a ribband of blue:" When they walked and saw this blue, it was
to remind them of their heavenly calling.

     Deuteronomy 22:13  "If any man take a wife, and go in unto her,
and hate her,"

     This is very strange, in the fact that he had made her his wife,
and then hates her. This sounds a bit like lust, and not love.

     Deuteronomy 22:14 "And give occasions of speech against her, and
bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I
came to her, I found her not a maid:"

     The husband, is forbidden to defame the character of his wife. If
this is an untrue statement he is saying, he will be severely punished
for it. If it is a true statement, she will be severely punished. God
does not want His people involved with sex scandals.

     Deuteronomy 22:15 "Then shall the father of the damsel, and her
mother, take and bring forth [the tokens of] the damsel's virginity
unto the elders of the city in the gate:"  Deuteronomy 22:16 "And the
damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto
this man to wife, and he hateth her;"

     The father acted in good faith, when he received the money for
his daughter. Now, he has come to elders to decide this situation.
This is not something that can be decided without the help of the
Lord. The father says, she was a virgin, that the man just hates her.

     Deuteronomy 22:17 "And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech
[against her], saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these
[are the tokens of] my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the
cloth before the elders of the city."

     All of this is for keeping the lives of the Israelites pure. The
father presents this situation to the elders, along with the tokens of
her virginity.

     Deuteronomy 22:18 "And the elders of that city shall take that
man and chastise him;"

     He shall be severely punished for defaming the good name of his
wife and her family.

     Deuteronomy 22:19 "And they shall amerce him in an hundred
[shekels] of silver, and give [them] unto the father of the damsel,
because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and
she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days."

     "Amerce" is to inflict a penalty. This is like a fine to be paid
to her and her family. He has not only defamed the name of the damsel,
but of her family, and even of all Israel. He is not allowed to put
her away, but must support her as a wife all the days of his life.

     Deuteronomy 22:20 "But if this thing be true, [and the tokens of]
virginity be not found for the damsel:" Deuteronomy 22:21 "Then they
shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the
men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she
hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house:
so shalt thou put evil away from among you."

     We see the seriousness of the accusation, here. Those who
participated in sex, other than in the marriage bed, were stoned to
death in those days. These harsh laws caused people to remain pure and
clean. They were to uphold marriage. They were strictly forbidden to
enter into any other relationship.

     Deuteronomy 22:22  "If a man be found lying with a woman married
to an husband, then they shall both of them die, [both] the man that
lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from
Israel."

     This is adultery. Leviticus 20:10  "And the man that committeth
adultery with [another] man's wife, [even he] that committeth adultery
with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall
surely be put to death."  Israel was to set a high moral standard for
the rest of the world. They were entrusted with God's law. They must
uphold that law, as an example to others.

     Deuteronomy 22:23  "If a damsel [that is] a virgin be betrothed
unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;"
Deuteronomy 22:24 "Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of
that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the
damsel, because she cried not, [being] in the city; and the man,
because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away
evil from among you."

     The woman's sin in this was the fact that she did not cry out for
help. This makes her a willing participant. In this case, they should
both be stoned to death, to drive this type sin out of Israel.

     Deuteronomy 22:25  "But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the
field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that
lay with her shall die:" Deuteronomy 22:26 "But unto the damsel thou
shalt do nothing; [there is] in the damsel no sin [worthy] of death:
for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even
so [is] this matter:" Deuteronomy 22:27 "For he found her in the
field, [and] the betrothed damsel cried, and [there was] none to save
her."

     The man is still guilty, and must die for that sin. In this case,
there was no one to hear her cries, so she is found not guilty of sin.
This seems harsh in our society today, but God was trying to keep
Israel pure. Thou shalt not commit adultery, is still one of the ten
commandments of God. Our society has become immoral.
     Deuteronomy 22:28  "If a man find a damsel [that is] a virgin,
which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and
they be found;"

     The only difference in this case, is the girl is not spoken for,
nor is she married. The man committed an offence, but under different
circumstances.

     Deuteronomy 22:29 "Then the man that lay with her shall give unto
the damsel's father fifty [shekels] of silver, and she shall be his
wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his
days."

     Silver symbolizes redemption. Of course, the number 50 has to do
with Jubilee, or setting of the captives free. Perhaps, these two
people are in love and this is a way for the man to be allowed to
marry her.  I cannot say for sure. He consumated the marriage, when he
lay with her. They two are now one flesh. They are husband and wife.
She has all privileges of a wife. He cannot put her away.

     Deuteronomy 22:30  "A man shall not take his father's wife, nor
discover his father's skirt."

     The wife of his father could be his mother, or his step mother.
Whichever she is, God forbids incest. The son would not only be
defaming her, but his father, as well. She belongs to his father. He
should have enough respect for his father, that he would not commit
this sin.


























                        Deuteronomy 24 Questions


1.  "Brother", in verse 1, is speaking of whom?
2.  What should he do with a stray animal, that he knows of?
3.  Am I my brother's keeper?
4.  What should he do with the stray animal, if he does not know who
    it belongs to?
5.  What if it is not an animal at all but, someone's clothing?
6.  In Leviticus, what is added to the statement in verse 4?
7.  The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a _______.
8.  Why does the author believe verse 5 is not speaking of women's
    slacks?
9.  What does the author believe this is saying?
10. What is verse 6 teaching?
11. Why was it necessary to build a battlement for the roof of the
    house?
12. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with ___________ kinds of seed.
13. Why should a person not plow with an ox and an ass at the same
    time?
14. Quote 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14.
15. Where had the Hebrews learned to weave different materials
    together?
16. What is the message in verse 11 symbolically?
17. Quote Numbers chapter 15 verse 38.
18. When they walked and saw the blue, what did it remind them of?
19. What was the complaint of the husband in verses 13 and 14?
20. What will happen, if this statement is untrue?
21. What does the father of the girl do, when he hears this?
22. Why do they come with this matter to the elders?
23. What is the husband to pay her father?
24. "Amerce" means what?
25. What is done to the girl, if the accusation is true?
26. What happens to a man and another man's wife, if they are found
    lying together?
27. If the girl is a betrothed virgin, and this happens in the city,
    what happens to them?
28. What is different, if the virgin is in the country, and this
    happens?
29. If a man sleeps with a woman, who is not betrothed or married,
    what happens to them?
30. What amount of silver is paid to her father?
31. A man shall not take his father's ________.