Deuteronomy 1:9-18 comments: Moses reflects on delegating authority

 

Deuteronomy 1:9 ¶  And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10  The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 11  (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) 12  How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 13  Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. 14  And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. 15  So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. 16  And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. 17  Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. 18  And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

 

The stars of heaven equivalence is a hyperbole, a comparison meaning there is an awful lot of Hebrews. Moses prays that they are made a thousand times more in number.

 

For verse 9, this was a tremendous responsibility for Moses. Note also in verse 12 how using context we can see that a cumbrance is a burden and a strife.

 

Exodus 18:18  Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

 

Numbers 11:11  And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

 

Moses delegated authority to leaders among the tribes. In Exodus 18 his father in law recommended he delegate authority.

 

Exodus 18:13 ¶  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. 14  And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? 15  And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: 16  When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. 17  And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 18  Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. 19  Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: 20  And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. 21  Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: 22  And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. 23  If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. 24  So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. 25  And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26  And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

 

God confirmed that Moses delegating authority was truly a good idea.

Numbers 11:16 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. 17  And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

 

Here in Deuteronomy we get more information about his charge to the elders of Israel regarding decision making and judgment, which has been confirmed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers already.

 

Included in this are the instructions to judge righteously and impartially.  See Exodus 23:1-9 and Leviticus 19:11-18. Next are my comments on both of those passages which will include some things that aren’t necessarily relevant to the passage here in Deuteronomy.

 

“Exodus 23:1 ¶  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: 3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. 4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. 6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. 7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. 8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. 9  Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The context of this entire passage is about not mistreating the poor person or the foreigner, both politically powerless entities. Here begins with a warning not to bear false witness as stated in the list of ten earlier. Another admonition against following wicked and evil people follows. The book of Proverbs gives warnings against following the sinful ways of others. To wrest judgment is to pervert judgment, a corrupt thing to do. Here, in context it is referring to abusing the poor and backing the powerful in a way that perverts judgment.

James 2:6  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Verse 3 is difficult because of the archaic use of the word countenance as a verb. It does not necessarily mean, ‘to favor,’ as some commentators insist, stating that you should not support a poor man just because he was poor. In Baret’s 1574 dictionary, referenced earlier, you can find one meaning as to deny, refuse, or forbid. Other dictionaries at the same general time frame, and you can verify this by accessing the early modern English website previously mentioned, also suggest the possibility of the false pretense of justice by putting a good face on it but the reality not being so. So here it is forbidden to refuse a poor man equitable judgment and put a false, hypocritical honest face on it. This is an archaic meaning of the verb but one that is readily accessible to anyone interested. This meaning fits well in the context here and in the context of other Biblical admonitions against abusing the poor. It is not the proverbial ‘rocket science.’ Just look for the meaning of a difficult word used rarely in a particular form in the Bible around the time that this Bible was translated. The information is there. Do you really want to know what the Bible says?

Verse 4 mandates kindness, as taking it on oneself to return another’s straying beast back to him. Verse 5 requires one to render assistance to a beast struggling with a load he is having a hard time supporting even if the owner of the beast is someone they know doesn’t like them and they probably don’t like. This calls for compassion for an animal regardless who owns it.

Verse 6 reinforces verse 3 and 7 verse 1. Clearly, the context of these judgments is a fair and equal treatment regardless of someone’s social status and an attitude of mercy and compassion regardless of your difficult relationship with others. Verse 8 denies bribery or oppressing the politically powerless or weak.

These are important principles that are often not followed. It may be helpful to offer examples that are easy to understand. If you do not get along with someone or even have a feud going and their dog escapes from their yard you would return the dog regardless of your feud as an act of righteousness. Although we use mechanical ‘beasts’ of burden now in that time if a Hebrew were to see another man’s donkey struggling under a burden he would be compelled to ease the burden of the poor animal. The fact that these are listed under the Law given to Moses for the Hebrews shows us that matters of personal responsibility were coded into the civil regulations. You could be held responsible for not being a good neighbor even to a neighbor you didn’t like.

Bribery was forbidden.

Deuteronomy 16:19  Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Proverbs 17:23 ¶  A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Our government is corrupt today because of lobbyists for even good causes who put money, desirable vacations, and even luxurious homes in front of our lawmakers to pervert judgment.

There is a tie-in here with doing right regardless of another’s social status and following the law regardless of your relationship with another person. There is an absolute standard here that rises above your petty selfishness. There is compassion for the weak that goes beyond your hatred or contempt. The righteous man does right regardless of the enticement to pervert judgment or ignore the suffering of another. From the point of view of God another person’s social status or your relationship with them should not be affected by your doing what is right in obedience to God and not doing what is wrong.

Leviticus 19:11 ¶  Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. 12  And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 13  Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. 14  Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. 15  Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16  Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. 17  Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

 

In the Hebrew’s personal and business relations with each other there are important statements said again.

Exodus 20:15  Thou shalt not steal.

 

Verse 11 is more specific, though, in context talking about stealing in the sense of dealing falsely and defrauding each other. I imagine thinking of a school offering a worthless degree and the government forking over money to make a naïve student indebted to a bank today. Think of buying gasoline that is diluted or prescription meds that are nothing but ground up drywall dust or some other substance. We are robbed and lied to about it, unlike the honest thug who sticks a gun in your face and demands your money as there is no question about what that’s about.

God calls the Hebrews to honest weights and measures and to not being clever with each other in cheating each other out of something. This is one of the historical stereotypes of the Jew, as a conniver, Jacob-like, always trying to be clever and sneaky, cheating some Gentile, what Jews call a goy, out of something treating each other and non-Jews like gullible marks fit only for a confidence game.

Verse 12 echoes a previous warning.

 

Exodus 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

 

Using God’s name as a swear word or declaration or even one of the dumbed down versions like ‘gosh’ for God or ‘gee whiz’ for Jesus Christ should be carefully considered.

Verse 13 is interesting as there are conservative Christian business owners and employers who would follow the Law given to the Hebrews as their own personal standard in certain situations but have no problem in defrauding their employees, as per the Law, by not paying them at the end of each day for their work. We tend to pick and choose which of these standards we will claim as our own. My point is not that we should expect to be paid at the end of each day as that would be so difficult in this modern age as to be too great a burden. Most of us don’t even expect it. My point is simply that you should be careful when picking and choosing which standard of a Law that does not justify you as a Christian that you choose to follow as a sign of your piety and righteousness.

Verse 14 forbids verbal abuse or discriminatory behavior toward the handicapped. Verse 15 demands equality under the Law. A poor person’s estate could be considered no more than a rich person’s position in regard to a legal judgment. The notion that justice should be blind comes to mind.

Verse 16 condemns a talebearer, one that slanders his brother or sister. This is reinforced elsewhere with a very lethal intent.

Exodus 23:1 ¶  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

 

Psalm 15:3  He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

 

Ezekiel 22:9a  In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood…

 

Verse 17 continues this thought commanding not even to hate your brother, your neighbor, as the two are linked in the context, in your heart. In verse 18 we find one of what Jesus calls the two greatest commandment of the Law and around which the Law is wrapped containing the spirit of the Law given by God to Moses for the Hebrews. The first is found in;

Deuteronomy 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

 

Then, as Jesus restates them as the Holy Spirit gave wisdom to the gospel writers. Don’t make the mistake of reading the Bible like you would the owner’s manual to your lawn mower. It is not written like that, nor is most of it given by word-for-word dictation. As I’ve noted previously the Bible says that the Holy Spirit gave the writers wisdom and understanding. So, there will be some variance in accounts because God wants us to have all of the words. Put them together in the following verses to get the complete picture.

Matthew 22:35  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

Mark 12:28 ¶  And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32  And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34  And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

 

Luke 10:25 ¶  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”