Today’s passage is a collection of commands that were given to Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. The commands cover loving others, gender differences, and mixing seeds, animals, and fabrics. These verses illustrate how to love your neighbor as yourself. This illustration helps us understand New Testament verses such as doing unto others as you would have them do to you.
At the end of yesterday’s passage, we read instructions regarding the rights of the first-born, dealing with rebellious sons, and burying corpses on the day of execution. Today’s passage is a continuation of the list of rules that were to govern Israelite society.
Deut. 22:1 ¶ “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother.
Look at the words “not” and “ignore”. Ignoring other people’s problems was prohibited. They were to help one another without being asked.
Deut. 22:2 And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother searches for it; then you shall give it back to him.
Notice the phrase “if you do not know him”. Finding lost property did not mean they could keep the property. Instead, they were to care for the lost property until the owner could be found.
Deut. 22:3 Thus you shall do with his donkey, and you shall do likewise with his garment, and you shall do likewise with anything lost by your brother, which he has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to ignore them.
Once again we see the words “not” and “ignore”.
Deut. 22:4 You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down on the way and ignore them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up.
This is the third time we see the words “not” and “ignore”.
Yahweh had commanded the Israelites to love their neighbors as themselves (see Leviticus 19:18). These commands in chapter 22 were concrete examples of how to do that. When Jesus was asked “Who is my neighbor?” He told the parable of the Good Samaritan. In that parable, the priest and Levite did not obey Deuteronomy 22:1-4. They ignored a man who needed help.
As we go through life, we are busy and have many things we need to attend to. It is tempting to ignore other people when they have problems or need help. However, the New Testament has commands that are very similar to Deuteronomy 22:1-4. Jesus told us to treat others the way we want them to treat us (see Luke 6:31). Paul wrote that those of us who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak (see Romans 15:1). He also commanded us to look out for the interests of others (see Philippians 2:4).
Deut. 22:5 ¶ “A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God.
Take note of the word “abomination”. It was an abomination to wear the clothing of the opposite sex.
The New Testament does not have a similar rule concerning how we dress. However, the Bible is consistently clear that men and women are different. They have different roles in the family and church (see 1 Corinthians 11:3 and 1 Timothy 2:12). The New Testament does encourage men to have short hair and women to have long hair (see 1 Corinthians 11:14-15).
Deut. 22:6 ¶ “If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young;
Deut. 22:7 you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
Deut. 22:8 ¶ “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone falls from it.
This is in line with the command to love your neighbor. When they built houses, they had to build them so that they were not dangerous to other people.
Deut. 22:9 ¶ “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard become defiled.
Deut. 22:10 ¶ “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
Deut. 22:11 ¶ “You shall not wear a material mixed of wool and flax together.
Verses 9-11 seem arbitrary and unnecessary. Unlike murder, lying, and stealing, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with mixing an ox and a donkey, or wool with flax.
On the other hand, in the Garden of Eden, there was nothing inherently wrong with eating from the tree in the middle of the garden. And yet, when Adam and Eve ate from that tree, there were severe long-term consequences. It was wrong to eat from that tree because Yahweh told Adam and Eve not to eat from that tree. The same is true of seeds, animals, and fabric. It was wrong for Israel to mix them simply because Yahweh said it was wrong.
The purpose of the rule against eating from the tree in the middle of the garden was to give Adam and Eve an opportunity to obey God, which is an opportunity to love God. The purpose of telling Israel not to mix seeds, animals, and fabric was to give them an opportunity to love God.
In the New Testament, there are also rules which seem arbitrary. Many people think there is nothing inherently wrong with women speaking in church, men wearing hats while praying, or same-sex attracted people joining together. However, all those things are wrong simply because God said they are wrong.
Deut. 22:12 ¶ “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.
Deut. 22:13 ¶ “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then turns against her,
Deut. 22:14 and charges her with shameful deeds and brings forth against her a bad name and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,’
Deut. 22:15 then the girl’s father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate.
Deut. 22:16 Then the girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he turned against her;
Deut. 22:17 and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, “I did not find your daughter a virgin.” But this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city.
Deut. 22:18 So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him,
Deut. 22:19 and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father because he brought forth a bad name against a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.
Notice the words “brought forth a bad name”. It was forbidden to make false accusations.
Deut. 22:20 ¶ “But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin,
Deut. 22:21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her, and she will die because she has committed a disgraceful act in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
As we go through life, it is tempting to focus on our own problems and let everyone else deal with their problems. The Israelites would have been tempted to do the same, but they were commanded to care for their neighbors’ animals and property when there was a need for care. That illustrates how we should go about obeying the commands in the New Testament to love one another, bear one another’s burdens, and do unto others as we want them to do to us.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”