Day 79, March 20 Chronological Bible Study
Timeline. Map. Go to today’s Bible reading (use your browser arrow to return): Deuteronomy 19–22 Removing Evil Bulldozers clear the land before houses and businesses are built. Clearing physical land is similar to clearing barriers in our life, business, or ministry—we must remove them before we attempt to build. This is true of policies and bureaucratic red tape. However, sometimes people are obstacles. We need to address their evil actions, lack of obedience, or resistance to follow God’s will. How do we do that? Many of us hate taking the appropriate action because we do not want to become involved. Or, if confronting people is necessary, we will not do it because it is uncomfortable or difficult. Many who know something should be done will not take action but instead tolerate unacceptable behavior. What happens when We allow bullying, abuse, or do not report a crime? Parents do not swiftly discipline the misbehaviors of their children? Employers ignore treacherous actions against the company or even the laziness of their employees? Church leaders do not deal with minor but significant offenses in the church? Most of us can probably come up with simple answers to these questions. The lofty ideals we want for our family, business, or other organizations become tainted or ruined when we allow unacceptable behavior to go unchecked. Similarly, Israel had to remove evil in the land they were inheriting, or their inheritance would be ruined. How were they to do it? Deuteronomy 12-26 records specific stipulations God gives the Israelites, patterned after the Suzerain Treaties of that day (more…). From these, we can derive principles for purging evil in our society and our lives. Purging Social Injustice For the Israelites, purging evil first meant removing it from their community. Murder, accidental deaths, malicious accusations, and property theft have occurred since the beginning of civilizations. In Israel’s theocratic society, God instituted regulations to address these crimes. To deal with accidental deaths, cities of refuge with paved roads would be built and evenly spaced across their land. There someone might flee from an avenger. These were set up to protect the innocent, not the guilty. Suppose a court of elders determined a person committed murder but was living in a sanctuary city. In that case, he would be brought out from the city and handed over to the avenger (usually a close male relative) to be killed. No mercy would be extended. If a person was found slain and there were no witnesses, the dead person would be brought to the nearest town. Then, an animal would be killed, symbolizing the punishment the slayer should have received, and it would be accepted by God (Deuteronomy 21:1-9). Those who falsely accused their brother Israelites of crimes would suffer the same punishment as they intended to pin on the accused. Those who moved boundary stones so they might cheat others of their property would also be punished. Any crime required at least two witnesses to have a conviction. If there was a conviction, the elders were given these instructions: You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot (Deuteronomy 19:19b-21, NIV). Any government must act with fairness and justice if it is to eliminate corruption in its society. The innocent need protection and the guilty must be punished. This principle is also true in our families and other organizations. More about that later. Purging National Threats At this time in Israel’s history, she was in a holy war. Therefore, purging evil included the complete wiping out of all the evil and idol worshiping cities in Canaan. The Israelites were to destroy and dispossess them. If they did not do it, the Israelites would soon worship their gods, fall into sin, and lose their inheritance (Deuteronomy 20:18). God would expel them from their land. Our nation is not in a holy war. However, any government should prevent evil influences from invading and corrupting its country. To allow it is subversive to its liberty. Cities that were more distant from Israel were offered a peace settlement. If they accepted the terms, they became a vassal of Israel. If not, then the Israelites were to wipe out all the men from that foreign nation but save the women, children, livestock, and anything else valuable (except idols). Suppose some of the men wished to marry the foreign women. In that case, the women must first have their heads shaved (possibly symbolizing the removal of their old authority) and nails trimmed. Then they would be permitted to observe one month of mourning for their losses before the men married them. Distant cities would have a less evil influence on God’s people than the nearby towns in Canaan. Before acting, we should measure the threat level that needs to be purged in our society, organization, or family. Instead of over-acting with severity about everything, we should, at times, act with mercy and grace. Let us pray for God to give us wisdom on this. Purging Evil in Our Own Community Since the LORD is their Holy God and will go before them into battle, the Israelites must also purge any evil from their midsts. Idol worship, rebellion, sexual perversion, or sexual affairs must not be tolerated—they must be eliminated! The guilty participants must be killed. Obedience, respect, justice, and even kindness should prevail in their society. Holiness is the requirement for God to bless his people. The same is true for us. (A note of caution to those who might be over-zealous in applying these principles: 1. We must act lawfully and let our government handle legal and social matters. God instituted government for such a purpose (Romans 13:1-5) 2. We must deal with specific sin, but preferences in disputable matters that are not set forth in the Scriptures should be handled with grace. Focus Verses Colossians 3:5 (NIV) “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” 1Peter 1:15-16 (NIV) “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.'” Discussion (you can type in your answers) Why should we remove obstacles in our ministry and our lives? How should we purge social injustice? How should we purge the evil in our families and why?
Write a private prayer response to today’s Bible study: Enter your prayer here: Please send your comments to mtbiblestudies@gmail.com Looking Ahead:We purge evil, so we can be wholly dedicated to God. Still, there are commands (Policies and Rules) to obey so God might bless us. Learn more in our Next Lesson. Previous Lesson  |  Next Lesson Back to top of page Return to Chronological Bible Studies main page Go to Scriptures main page Go to Topics main page Go to Home page re-edited 3-19-21

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