May 26 – Laws for a special time – Deuteronomy 21
Deuteronomy is a book of laws. In today’s reading we read the law if someone has been murdered and found in a field; the law of marrying a captive of war; the law of the firstborn’s inheritance; the law of punishment of a rebellious child; and the law of treating the body of a hanged criminal.
These are all laws for that specific time. When a person points at the Old Testament and claims that these “old” laws or commandments do not apply for today, they are partially correct. The Laws of the times do not apply for today, but Moral Laws do still apply today. To include the entire Old Testament as Laws of the times is an incorrect and costly assumption. If we discounted the Old Testament laws and commands, we would have to discount the Ten Commandments found in Exodus. Moral laws do still apply to us. It does matter if we kill, bear false witness, curse, worship other gods, and forsake the Lord’s Day. In Deuteronomy 22 there are moral laws mentioned that do apply to us today. Let’s please God in all aspects of life without picking and choosing which ones apply to us according to our preferences.
