Justice & Fairness (Deuteronomy 25)

Was God’s law concerned with fairness, animal welfare, just inheritances, and honest trade? How does modern justice compare? Let’s look at Deuteronomy 25.

Was there a punishment that deserved forty lashes in ancient Israel? Would that deter certain crimes today?

When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes. (Deuteronomy 25:1-3 NIV)

Does God care even for animals that are used for farm work?

You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. (Deuteronomy 25:4 NKJV)

Did Paul apply this principle to providing for those who preach the gospel?

Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:10 NKJV

What was important about a family having heirs to the land? Did a wife share in her husband's inheritance? Did the oldest son have a double inheritance to pay for care of elderly widows and spinsters?

If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law. The first son she bears to him will be considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel. (Deuteronomy 25:5-6 NLT)

What if a man refuses to sire an heir for his deceased brother?

If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.” Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him. If he stands and says, “I don’t want to take her,” then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his sandal from off his foot, and spit in his face. She shall answer and say, “So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.” His name shall be called in Israel, “The house of him who had his sandal removed.” (Deuteronomy 25:7-10 WEB)

What if a woman wanted to fight dirty by grabbing a man’s private parts?

If two men are fighting with each other—a man and his fellow Israelite—and the wife of one of them gets into the fight, trying to save her husband from his attacker and does so by reaching out and grabbing his genitals, you must cut off her hand. Show no mercy. (Deuteronomy 25:11-12 CEB)

What would God say to merchants who cheat their customers? Is merchandising fraud far too prevalent in our world?

Don't try to cheat people by having two sets of weights or measures, one to get more when you are buying, and the other to give less when you are selling. If you weigh and measure things honestly, the Lord your God will let you enjoy a long life in the land he is giving you. But the Lord is disgusted with anyone who cheats or is dishonest. (Deuteronomy 25:13-16 CEV)

What was Israel to do with the nation of Amalek once they settled the land?

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget. (Deuteronomy 25:17-19 ESV)

How are Christians to act differently in regard to their enemies?

You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect [complete], therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48 HCSB)

Was God’s law concerned with fairness, animal welfare, just inheritances, and honest trade? How does modern justice compare? You decide!