Deuteronomy 16:18 ¶ Judges
and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God
giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just
judgment. 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. 20 That which is altogether just shalt thou
follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee. 21 Thou shalt not plant thee a
grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt
make thee. 22 Neither shalt thou set
thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.
Here is a command for the Israelites for civil authority. This
gives us an indication of what God intended before they demanded a king. Each
tribe would govern itself justly and wisely. Bribery and oppression were
forbidden.
His final command here involves the forbidding of heathen fixtures
of worship anywhere near His altar, including groves in which the heathen
worshipped or statues that they looked to as gods.
Deuteronomy, chapter 17
Deuteronomy 17:1 ¶ Thou
shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein
is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination
unto the LORD thy God. 2 If there be
found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee,
man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in
transgressing his covenant, 3 And hath
gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or
any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of
it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the
thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: 5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that
woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that
man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. 6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three
witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the
mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first
upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So
thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
The Israelites were not to offer diseased or deformed animals as
sacrifices. They were to offer their best trusting that God would bless them. The
perfect animal, unblemished, was a picture of Christ to come.
Deuteronomy 15:21 And if
there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill
blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.
Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall
be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the
sheep, or from the goats:
Leviticus 22:20 But
whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be
acceptable for you. 21 And whosoever
offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or
a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted;
there shall be no blemish therein. 22
Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye
shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon
the altar unto the LORD. 23 Either a
bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that
mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be
accepted. 24 Ye shall not offer unto the
LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye
make any offering thereof in your land. 25
Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of
any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them:
they shall not be accepted for you.
Malachi 1:8 And if ye offer
the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is
it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or
accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts…13
Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it,
saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and
the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith
the LORD. 14 But cursed be the deceiver,
which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a
corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is
dreadful among the heathen.
Hebrews 9:14 How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God?
1Peter 1:19 But with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Here also, it is said that if it becomes known that an Israelite
has gone and worshipped other gods by the mouth of two or more witnesses they
were to be stoned by the people collectively after the witnesses placed their
hands on them. The witnesses bore their responsibility for an honest accusation
and the people confirmed their belief that God’s ways were right ways by
participating in this public execution for idolatry.
This is similar to the admonition given in 13:1
Deuteronomy 13:1 ¶ If there
arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a
wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder
come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods,
which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that
prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know
whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God,
and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve
him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that
prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath
spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the
land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out
of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put
the evil away from the midst of thee.
Deuteronomy 17:8 ¶ If there
arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between
plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of
controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the
place which the LORD thy God shall choose; 9
And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge
that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence
of judgment: 10 And thou shalt do
according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose
shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform
thee: 11 According to the sentence of
the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they
shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which
they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and
will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the
LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put
away the evil from Israel. 13 And all
the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
As this follows chapter 16:18 this outlines a court of appeal for
the judges. Without Moses around this was necessary. This was not like our
court of appeals where if you don’t like the decision you appeal it. This was
for the judges appointed if they found a case too difficult to judge. This
final decision had to be accepted without question or fail, obviously as
maintaining social order is an important facet of any criminal justice system,
not just justice for the accused and the accuser.
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