Deuteronomy 16-17

Deuteronomy 16-17

The first half of Deuteronomy 16 offers a quick summary or review of what has previously been stated about the different feasts in Israel: Passover, The Feast of Weeks, and The Feast of Booths. There is not a lot of detail given in these verses for they are more fully discussed in earlier books. There is one difference in Deuteronomy that in a way modifies these feasts for the newer generation. Now although the laws behind the feasts did not change, some of the traditions needed upgrading. For instance, there would be a permanent place eventually established in which to celebrate the Passover. The Israelites would be scattered across the Promised Land, more spread out than they had ever been. This permanent place where they were to celebrate Passover would bring them all back together to celebrate together as they had done up until this point. Other than this modification, all the laws given for these feasts remained in effect.

Likewise, the discussion on justice is much shorter in Deuteronomy. One of the reasons it is mentioned here is to again show the need for modification. Again, Israel would be more spread out, and would therefore need more than one person in charge. Moses had previously asked for help, a group of judges to handle some of the civil cases of Israel. This group would still be in charge as they had been for years, but their jobs would be more important since it would take much more time to travel to find the head leader of Israel, who would eventually be Joshua. They would have to handle more of the cases on their own.

Carrying over into Deuteronomy 17, the next topic Moses deals with is that of idol worship, which has been discussed on many occasions up to this point. Therefore, let us look at one of the other issues dealt with in this section. God outlines how to deal with those who have been convicted of idol worship. The consequence for such an offense was simply death. Anyone who was found to be worshipping some other god was to be stoned to death. If you think about it, this law could become a major problem. For instance, what if a close friend, or an enemy for that matter, found a reason to be mad at you. If they wanted to pay you back, all they would have to do is say that they saw you worshipping some other god, and you would be dead. God knew this possibility and instructed the Israelites to have at least two witnesses to such an offense. This gives more validity to the situation and allows the law to not be as easily misused. But this also shows the importance of community as we saw in Deuteronomy 15. We are not only to have each other’s backs in the hard times, but we should also look out for each other when we see someone in sin. Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 deal specifically with restoring a brother to the fellowship and church discipline. Deuteronomy 17 also gives a few insights into this topic. In context, this is being used to discuss the stoning of someone who has fallen into some type of idol worship, but we can also see how we are to correct each other and be concerned about the lives of our brothers and sisters.

Finally, the end of Deuteronomy 17 alludes back to the topic of justice from Deuteronomy 16. God knew that there would be those times in which the judge would not know how to handle a situation or in which they would need to go before some higher authority. So He continued to provide assistance for those instances. However, He wanted them to understand that when a case was brought before the higher judges or the Levites, they had to make sure that they did exactly as instructed. God is the ultimate authority in our lives, but He places other forms authority over us as well that He expects us to obey (as long as they are in line with His commands). Therefore, He made sure that Israel understood the roles that such authority figures held in their lives.

Matt