Deuteronomy 25 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence

Although, on the surface, God’s law may seem to be merely a list of do’s and don’ts, it is essentially a very practical treatise on love. In this particular chapter Israel is taught how to show love even to criminals, violent enemies and even beasts of burden in addition to the widows of deceased relatives and those with whom one might do regular business.

In the first section dealing with the punishment of a guilty man in a court of law, love is to be shown to criminal in limiting the number of lashes he receives for his wrongdoing. In the presence of his neighbor he is not to receive more than forty lashes so as not to be degraded in some subhuman manner. Later on, in the New Testament, this mercy rule was still in place, for in 2 Corinthians 11:24 Paul admits that he received at the hands of the Jews forty lashes less one on five separate occasions. In Isaiah 53, on the other hand, Jesus was depicted as degraded and humiliated in the sight of man for our sin for he was “despised and rejected by men.”

In the next section, the laws commands that a man shall not muzzle his ox when treading out the grain to show mercy and goodness even unto one’s animals. In Proverbs 12:10, Solomon says, “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast.” Of course, in the New Testament on two occasions Paul uses this law in reference unto men in showing that a worker is worthy of his wages. So this too is an aspect of loving those who work for you.

In the third section, the requirement is placed upon a man to love his deceased brother or close relative by taking his widowed wife and bearing a son in his name in order to preserve his name and inheritance in the Promised Land. Anyone who refused to fulfill this duty, the widow had the right to pull off his sandal and spit in his face as one who refused to build up his brother’s house in love.

On the other hand, in the fourth section, a woman is severely punished for seizing the private parts of a man who is beating her husband. The concern seems to be for his progeny and the ability to carry on his own name in the land of promise. Thus it is a very unloving act even towards ones enemies to hinder his ability to procreate.

The fifth section deals with traders carrying with them false weights and measures to sell their merchandize at a very high price and to buy other’s merchandise at a very low price, but in a deceitful manner. Clearly, the man who does such things cares about no one but himself, and he shows that he hates his brother through his lying and stealing.

Finally, in the last section, the Lord brings severe punishment upon the Amalekites for attacking Israel on their way through the desert by particularly picking off the weak and the vulnerable at the tail of their caravan. Because the Amalekites showed no evidence of love and mercy for those passing through their land, the Lord would show them no mercy and love in return. So it is because they hated Israel that God destroyed them. On the other hand, God shows his steadfast love to thousands of those who love him and seek to keep his commandments of love.