Read Deuteronomy 21:10-22:7 at Bible Gateway.
Previously: deuteronomy 21:10-22:7, kind treatment of captives
(Please review the teaching tools of scripture, especially the Hebrew paragraph divisions and chiastic structures. The paragraphs marked by an “s” at their close are weak paragraphs, which indicate a change of facet but not a change of theme or topic. The paragraphs marked by a “p” at their close are strong paragraphs, which indicate the completion of a theme or topic. The paragraph divisions reveal the chiastic structures: narratives which zero in on the main point of the narrative at its center, like a bull’s eye at the center of a target. The main point is revealed, because the narrative elements before the main point (or central axis) are repeated after the central axis, in reverse order, while the central axis itself is not repeated.)
We are considering what each of the weak paragraphs in Deu 21:10-22:7, the first section explaining Do not commit adultery (Deu 21:10-23:14), have to teach us in the matter of adultery. The Hebrew paragraph divisions are:
Deu 21:10-14 {s} Treatment of the captive woman
Deu 21:15-17 {s} Do not reject the legitimate firstborn
Deu 21:18-21 {s} Treatment of the rebellious son
Deu 21:22-23 {s} Treatment of the executed criminal
Deu 22:1-3 {s} Treatment of a neighbor’s lost animals
Deu 22:4 {s} Treatment of a neighbor’s burdened animals
Deu 22:5 {s} Sanctity of gender distinction
Deu 22:6-7 {s} Treatment of a mother bird
We saw that the first paragraph, Deu 21:10-14, protects captive women from rape or otherwise being used for [s-x] in wartime, without a proper marriage covenant with all its protections and privileges.
The next two paragraphs are:
Deu 21:15-17 {s} Do not reject the legitimate firstborn
Deu 21:18-21 {s} Treatment of the rebellious son
At first glance they do not seem to have anything to do with adultery, so it sets up an interesting puzzle. Why are they here, and we suppose by the weak paragraph division, a facet of our main topic? Upon meditation, it is my belief that both these are teaching us to preserve the sanctity of the next generation. Why might these paragraphs be here, and not in the section of Deu explaining honoring father and mother? The command, Do not commit adultery (or in other words, restated positively), Preserve the sanctity of marital intimacy, is because the next generation comes from the marital union, whether that union is honored in the heart, or not. We preserve the sanctity of marital intimacy so that we may preserve the sanctity of the next generation.
Not every command is all about us, in other words. Others are affected by our actions and choices, and children do not have the power to make things better for themselves, so beware parents!
When a father refuses to reject his children, he preserves the sanctity of the next generation. Children have a much better chance reaching adulthood without being burdened by bitterness and broken hearts, which I believe is a great open door for the enemy to poison their hearts with rebellion and wickedness.
When a son refuses to honor and obey his parents, despite all their efforts, then he is a seed of rebellion, foolishness, and wickedness beyond all reason, embedded in the next generation. This is one of the hard sayings of Torah, and God is routinely pilloried as an unfeeling monster because this command is in Torah. Is He truly unfeeling? Perhaps He has compassion for all of this son’s peers who will most likely be introduced to evils which will hurt them dreadfully, if he is allowed to continue unchecked?
Does the son not know that this command is in Torah, the Law which governs his society? Doesn’t he know what will happen to him if he does not listen to his parents? For 99% of sons, knowing this would reform them. They have just enough wisdom, in other words, to take a course which will preserve their life. A course I might add, which is for their good only. Parents know better than smart alecky teens, so it is in the son’s best interest to listen to his parents and obey them.
The rebellious son, however, knows that this command is in the Law which governs his society, but is so consumed with rebellion, foolishness, and wickedness, that he would rather perish than reform. Only a hardened fool will take a course which will ensure his destruction. So in order to preserve the sanctity of the next generation, this great wickedness of refusing to obey or honor parents, is purged from society.
I know how difficult this sounds to modern ears. God is good and in Him is no darkness at all. Knowing that, let this teach us, then, how serious a thing it really is, to not protect, but instead pollute the next generation.
Continued: deuteronomy 21:10-22:7, the integrity of the land
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