Stipulations of the Covenant (chapters 4 – 26) Moral Law (4:44 – 11:32) Ceremonial Law (12:1 – 16:17) Civil Law (16:18 – 26:19)

Section C - Civil Law The Importance of Justice (ch 16: ) Forbidden forms of Worship (ch 16:21 – 17:7) Laws regarding priests, judges, kings(ch. 17) Provision for Priests and Levities (ch. 18) What to Avoid(ch. 18:9 – 14) A New Prophet like Moses (ch. 18:15 -22) Cities of Refuge, Boundaries, Witnesses (ch 19) Warfare Laws (ch. 20)

Section C - Civil Law Atonement for Unsolved Murders (ch 21:1 -9) Wives, Firstborn Sons, Rebellious Kids (ch 21) A Cursed Man Is Hanged on a Tree (ch 21: ) Various Laws (ch. 22) Unclean and Excluded (ch. 23) Divorce, Miscellaneous, and Marriage Laws (ch. 24 – 25) Firstfruits and Tithes (ch. 26)

Laws Concerning Warfare Chapter 20 THREE aspects of conduct during war: Before the Battle (vv 1 – 9) At the siege of a city (vv 10 – 18) The treatment of forests and orchards near the city (vv 19 – 20)

Laws Concerning Warfare When Israel crossed the Jordan into Canaan, they faced the great psychological disadvantage of confronting horses, chariots, and greater numbers of warriors. They were not to fear but to be mindful of the LORD and his mighty deeds of delivering them from Egypt.

Laws Concerning Warfare Priests remind the people that the Lord will go with them into battle to fight for them and give them the victory. (v. 2- 4) There are two classes of exemptions from military service: humanitarian situations and those who are unsuitability for service. (5 – 8)

Laws Concerning Warfare Two different cases of warfare are addressed here… Besieging a distant city (vv 10-15) Besieging a city in the land Israel is to possess (vv 16 – 18) Israel is to offer PEACE, with terms of surrender and promise to spare the city and it inhabitants if they agree to serve Israel

Laws Concerning Warfare If peace is REJECTED, then a siege is mounted. All males are put to DEATH, and all women, children, and plunder are taken as Israel’s possessions. All military victories are an act of God Cities outside the Promised Land were treated differently because they posed a different threat to Israel’s well-being.

Laws Concerning Warfare Cities within the Promised Land were not offered the OPTION of surrender but were to be utterly destroyed. The INFLUENCE of the wicked could lead Israel to forsake the LORD. The Israelites were instruments of the Lord’s JUDGMENT against the wicked Canaanites (20:18)

But in the cities of these people that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathers, but you shall devote them to complete destruction…so that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 20:17 – 18)

An ETHIC of War The PURPOSE of war was not to DESTROY the land There was not a scorched earth policy. Only trees without fruit were to be cut down for siege purposes (battering rams, towers, walls, ladders, etc.) The land was to be preserved for future generations.

Atonement for Unsolved Murders What happens if someone is murdered and no one knows who did it? “slain” – placed the people and the land under blood guilt, so atonement was necessary Civil authorities determined the closest city to the slain victim, whose elders would then undertake the legal procedure described in verses (3 – 8) The priests would carry out the ritual to purge the community from their guild of innocent blood.

Then the elders (of the nearest city) testified “Our hand did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. Accept atonement, O LORD, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for. (Deuteronomy 21:7 – 8)

Marriage Laws for Female Captives Verse 10 – 14 deal with what to do when a guy from Israel fancies a beautiful woman whose land has just been destroyed and she has just been captured These stipulations for marrying female captives ensure their appropriate moral treatment and consideration for their feelings. Marrying a female prisoner was permitted but if it didn’t work out divorce was also permitted

A Rebellious Son Upholding parental authority was necessary for the stability of the family and community. The offense here is one so serious that it would threaten the stability and continuity of the covenant community. Parents did not have the right to kill their children but had to bring them before the authorities, which protected children against capricious punishment by parents The intent of this law was not to rehabilitate but to cleanse the community and deter evil.

A Rebellious Son Persistent and utter rebellion against parental authority is covered by a law that demands capital punishment if there is no repentance. God demands that the integrity of the family be maintained by honoring fathers and mothers as His representative to their children. To despise one’s mother and father is to despise God Himself and threaten the well- being of the larger community.

Rebellious Son (Luke 15)

A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed To deter crime, ancient Near Eastern cultures would often display the corpses of executed criminals by hanging or impaling them publicly as a visual statement that justice was upheld. The body as accursed on account of the capital crime The NT uses this verse to describe Christ’s work for us.