Fugitive slave laws: Dt 23:15-16

"You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him." (Deuteronomy 23:15-16)

As we say earlier, the Jews were required to watch after and return anything which they might find that belonged to their neighbor. "You shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep straying away, and pay no attention to them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman." (Deuteronomy 22:1) The scriptures over and over validates the right of personal property. A person's property belongs to them and to take it, or to hide it when it is found, is the very definition of stealing. God commands us to respect the property of others and to return to them whatever might have been lost by them.

What is at issue in this scripture is whether or not a master's "slave" is his "property". God makes a distinction between the "ownership" of human souls that the owning of other forms of "property". Human slaves are not to be perceived as "property" and as such, should a slave escape his master, he was not to be returned to his former "owner" but left to live among those to whom he escaped, in what every place he should please.

In the early history of my country, there was a law called the "Fugitive Slave Act" which required runaway slaves to be returned to their owners. Even if the slave should make their way into a "free state" they were required by federal law to be returned to their "slave state" and to their master. Slaves were property and as such must be returned to their lawful owners. Even the rulings of our Supreme Court in that time validated and upheld these views and established the "justness" of such laws. The fate of fugitive slaves became a contentious issue between the north and south and was a contributing factor to the war between the states. How much pain, misery, and death could have been avoided had this godly principal been universal in the hearts of men, that men and women cannot and should never be taken as property.

David Robison

slavery, fugitive, The Robe, Book of Deuteronomy, Foundation of Governance, David Robison

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The price of His abiding: Dt: 23:1-14

"No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord. No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the Lord. No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 23:1-3)

In the assembly of the Israelite, there was only room for the pure, perfect, and pedigreed. Those with defects, illegitimate birth, or incorrect ancestry were excluded. Unless you were perfect, you were not accepted and were forced to dwell separated from the people of God and from the God of the people of God. Moreover, if you were one of the fortunate ones to be counted acceptable, there were times when you too would be forced "outside the camp" to wait out your times of impurity or uncleanness. Such uncleanness could be caused by sickness, touching something unclean (like a dead body), or some impure bodily emission.

"If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp. But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may reenter the camp." (Deuteronomy 23:10-11)

Everything inside the camp had to be pure, spotless, and without blemish or defect. So strict was God regarding their conduct within the camp, and the condition of the camp, that He even provided them rules regarding how they were to relieve themselves.

"You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement." (Deuteronomy 23:12-13)

Many of these commandments may seem to us to be extreme, extracting, and fastidious but they are the price of having the presence of God abiding in your midst.

"Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you." (Deuteronomy 23:13)

God is pure, holey, and perfect and he can only dwell in a place and with a people who are also pure, holy, and perfect. These commandments from God represent the minimum requirements necessary for God's presence to be able to abide in our midst. Without perfection, God's presence will either turn away from us or be a fire to consume us. "Sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has seized the godless. Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?" (Isaiah 33:14)

Under the Mosaic covenant, fellowship with God was dependent upon one keeping the law of God. "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully." (Psalms 24:3-4) Without keeping the law you could not approach God nor could His presence abide with or in you. "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." (Leviticus 19:2)

Fortunately, Jesus came to declare good news to us. That acceptance with God was to be made available, not by keeping the law, but rather by believing upon Jesus and trusting in the finished work of atonement which Jesus accomplished upon the cross. An acceptance that is by faith rather than by works. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13) Through faith in Christ we can have fellowship with God and He will come and make His abode in us. "My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him." (John 14:23) No more is the requirement perfection, but faith. God has called all to come to Him by faith, even the broken, hurting, defective, weak, and illegitimate. All are welcome in Christ, all are invited back to fellowship with God. We are all sinners, we are all fallen, and we are all invited. "Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

David Robison

law, grace, reconciliation, faith, The Robe, Book of Deuteronomy, David Robison

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Government and Sex: Dt 22:13-30

"But if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lies with her shall die." (Deuteronomy 22:25)

God's primary intentions in establishing laws pertaining to sexual behavior is not to regulate sexual behavior but rather to provide protection and recourse to those who might be violated or defrauded by the sexual behavior of others. God's laws on sex are designed to protect rather than regulate. Primarily, there are two classes of people that these laws seeks to protect. First are those who would be violated by the unwanted and unsolicited sexual advances and behavior of others. This would include rape, incest, and sexual harassment. Secondly are those who would be defrauded by another sexual behavior. This primarily includes adultery and infidelity. In these cases, the government has an interest to provide for both protections and recourse for those who are sexually violated or defrauded by others; to protect the innocent rather than regulate the consenting.

David Robison

sex, marriage, Book of Deuteronomy, The Robe, David Robison

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God and Sex: Dt 22:13-30

"If any man takes a wife and goes in to her..." (Deuteronomy 22:13)

At various times, both society and the church has looked upon sex as something carnal, dirty, base, and only one step away from sin. At other times, sex has been viewed as something rather casual and almost recreational. However, neither of these views has been God's perspective on sex. God both created and blessed sex. In the very beginning He ordained that couples should be joined together and become one though the act of sex. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24) The Hebrew literally says that the man and wife should "cleave" to one another. Paul further helps us to understand exactly what God meant by this command. "Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, 'The two shall become one flesh.'" (1 Corinthians 6:16) God created, and created us for, sex. However, God has designed that sex should only be enjoyed in the confines of the covenant of marriage. In this passage, God reveals some of His wisdom, design, and purpose for sex. Here are but a few.

Virginity is a gift given only once. "I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin." (Deuteronomy 22:14) In some part of society today, virginity is seen as something odd and an indication that something might be wrong with someone. We often see in the entertainment media where those who are virgins are mocked and those whom exploit others sexually are venerated, but our virginity is precious to God. God even speaks of "My virgins." (Lamentations 1:18) One of the greatest gifts we can give to each other in marriage is our virginity, but it is a gift that can only be given once. The world may not highly value our virginity, but God does, and He wants us to see it as something precious, something worth keeping, protecting, and saving for the one with whom we will live "till death do us part."

Sex is never casual. "The men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father's house." (Deuteronomy 22:21) The Hebrew word for folly means "stupid, vile, foolish, and folly". It speaks of the behavior that does not befit the wise, prudent, and righteous. Sex is serious and important to God. He did not create us to engage casually in sex; partaking in sex with nondescript partners for the mere purpose of satisfying a physical desire or need. To live in such a way is pure folly. Sex is special, and as such, God has committed it to the confines of marriage; to be enjoyed by those who, in a covenant of marriage, are committed to the mutual pleasure and satisfaction of one another.

Sex is exclusive. "If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die." (Deuteronomy 22:22) What makes sex so powerful is, in part, that it is exclusive and is done in secret. Intimacy grows out of shared secrets and one's secret sex life with their spouse is one such shared secret that causes two to become one. When others are let into this secret place, oneness in a marriage is destroyed. That same force that brought oneness will divide when the relationship is no longer exclusive. This is why Paul commands, "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge." (Hebrews 13:3)

Sex carries responsibility. "Then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife." (Deuteronomy 22:29) Part of what makes sex so special is the covenant out of which it grows. When sex is motivated by a selfish heart, then it seeks only its own desires and pleasures. Sex becomes something we do for ourselves and not for our partner; it becomes self-serving and degrades our partner to a mere object. However, when sex is the result of each others love for one another, a love that seeks to give and serve the needs and desires of another, then sex becomes a mutual expression of love; something we do for each other. The beauty of sex extends beyond the actual physical act of love, it encompasses all we do and say, and is enhanced by even the smallest acts of kindness shown to one another. Sex blooms out of the care, protection, and provision we demonstrate one to another. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her." (Ephesians 5:25)

David Robison

love, sex, marriage, Book of Deuteronomy, The Robe, David Robison

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