Deut 17.1-20 tells us about the discovery and punishment for idolatry; the establishment of a high court at the central sanctuary for cases to hard for the local courts as seen later in 2 Chr 19.8; the selection, qualifications and duties of a king.
v 1…”You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God.
v 2…If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God (as defined in the Torah) by transgressing his covenant,
v 3…and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host which I have not commanded (to worship-Deut 4.15-19; not a valid form of worship and discounts any worship God has not commanded),
v 4…and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. And behold, it it is true and the thing certain that the detestable thing has been done in Israel,
v 5…then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed, to your gates (courts), that is, the man or the woman and you shall stone them to death.
v 6…On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses (credible witnesses who must agree in their testimony; no need to illicit a confession from the accused), he who is to die shall be put to death, he shall not be put to death one the evidence of one witness.
v 7…The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death (so they take more responsibility in their testimony), and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
v 8…If any case is too difficult for you to decide (in the lower courts), between one kind of homicide or another (blood and blood; whether it was intentional or accidental), between one kind of lawsuit or another (plea and plea; disputed rights and claims regarding property), and between one kind of assault or another (stroke and stroke; cases where bodily injury was inflicted and hard to assess the damages), being cases of dispute in your courts (local), then you shall arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses (Num 27.1-23 is an example).
v 9…And you shall come to the Levitical priest (kohen) or the judge (shophet) who is in office in those days and you shall inquire (of them) and they will declare to you the verdict in the case (The central sanctuary had these people there and they had the high priest with the Urim v’ Thummim, and prophets, who were sometimes judges, who could speak directly to the Lord, like Samuel. There are some who feel that v 8-13 gives the rabbis authority to make and declare law, and we as believers in Yeshua should follow their rulings. They will point to Matt 23.1-2 for proof that we should, but is that correct? In Matt 23 Yeshua is talking about the Pharisees from Beit Shammai and they were hypocrites. The “seat of Moses” is the great Sanhedrin and Beit Shammai had sat themselves there and dominated it at that time. But who says the rabbis are these judges in Deut 17.9? Exo 18.22 gives the hierarchy with a person at the top getting the answer in tough cases directly from the Lord. How does a priest do it? By consulting the Urim v’ Thummim as in the two instances in Num 27.15-23. Eventually this capability was gone in Neh 7.65 and Hos 3.4. The judge could consult a prophet, or was a prophet himself, who could speak with the Lord directly and this was done many times in the Scriptures. That’s why if he doesn’t listen he is put to death in 17.12. This is not the system the rabbis have invented. They even teach that they do not need to listen to “heaven” -Talmud, Bava Metzia 59. But before we get to incensed over that idea, Replacement Theology Christianity does the same thing with their teachings about Apostolic Authority, Pastoral Authority, the Church Fathers and “I am being led by the Spirit” even when it contradicts the Scriptures. Where did they get the idea that the “Law has been done away with?” They get it from false interpretations on some statements from Paul, who was a Torah observant believer in Yeshua himself. They also get it from the false teaching that Israel has been replaced by the “church” and the Torah has been replaced by the “New Testament” and God has given the “church leaders with the power to make new law. Nowhere does it say that we are to follow the rabbis, the Pope, or any pastor, if what they say contradicts the Scriptures! There are some Torah-based ministries who teach the the Jewish Oral Law should be followed by believing followers of Yeshua, using Matt 23.1-2 as their proof text, but is that what the verse is really saying? Matt 23.1-39 is talking about a group of Pharisees from the House of Shammai-see the book. “Jesus the Pharisee” by Harvey Falk. They were leading the people into many false interpretations of the Scriptures, and they contended with the House of HIllel in over 300 different issues. Yeshua is speaking against the House of Shammai, not all Pharisees. The contention between the house of HIllel and Shammai was so bad members of a coalition of Zealots, Sadducees and Shammai killed some of the members of HIllel over the 18 Edicts of Shammai in 20 BC. Yeshua refers to this incident in Matt 23.29-32. Josephus uses many of the same terms Yeshua used in Matt 23 to describe the House of Shammai in Antiquities, Chapter 11, Paragraph 1. You cannot use Matt 23.1-2 as a proof text that we should be following the Jewish Oral Law as believers in Yeshua. The system devised by the rabbis is not the system being described in Deut 17.8-13).
v 10…And you shall do according to the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses, and you shall be careful to observe according to all that they teach you.
v 11…According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you to the right or the left.
v 12…And the man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest (the head of the tribunal) who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die, thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.
v 13…Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.
v 14…When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say,
“I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me (a monarchy was not commanded like the appointment of judges, but permitted; they already had a king in Yehovah)”,
v 15…you shall surely set a king (“Melek”) over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.
v 16…Moreover he shall not multiply horses for himself (for war, or to keep his people in subjection to him), nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’
v 17…Neither shall he multiply wives for himself (or establish a harem), lest his heart turn away (like Solomon in all his glory, but strayed away from these verses-1 Kings 11.3), nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself (this was to protect the people from being exploited by him).
v 18…Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests (this is a written law, not oral; the king’s power was limited by the Torah).
v 19…And it shall be with him (always at home or traveling, wherever he went) and he shall read it (he was to study it day and night) all the days of is life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes;
v 20…that his heart may not be lifted up (in pride) above his countrymen (Hebrew “brethren”-his subjects were his brothers) and that he may not turn aside from the commandment (concerning kings and what he was to do), to the right or the left, in order that he and his sons (succession was hereditary position through the father, like the priests; a judge or an officer were appointed by the people, a prophet was appointed by God) may continue long in his kingdom in the midst (“karav”) of Israel.”
Leave a Reply