UNROLL
At dusk on a hilltop, a round stone threshing floor with golden grain heaped in the middle and a wooden winnowing fork leaning against it, terraced fields falling away below.

The Book of

Deuteronomy 25

A fair court, a fed ox, a brother’s name kept alive, an honest weight: God cares about justice in the smallest things.

19 verses≈ 4 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–4Remember the wayFrom Horeb to Moab
  2. 5–11Love the LORDThe heart of the covenant
  3. 12–26Laws for the landWorship, justice, neighborChapter 25
  4. 27–30Blessing and curseChoose life
  5. 31–34Moses' farewellA song, a blessing, a death

Fairness and Mercy

If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.

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If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants. He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.

Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.

Deuteronomy 25:4

Late afternoon on a stone threshing floor: a brown ox with no muzzle treads thick golden sheaves, its head lowered to take a mouthful as it walks, while a farmer seen from behind turns the straw with a wooden fork.

Reflect

Fair and generous

Even a guilty man was not to be beaten past the limit, “lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.” And the ox that worked the grain was to eat from it. God wanted Israel to be fair and kind at once. Where is He asking you to be both this week: with someone who has wronged you, or with someone who works for you? Write it down.

Widowhood and Marriage

Morning in the gate passage of a small walled hill town: gray-bearded elders sit on stone benches along both walls, the middle of the passage empty, light from the open gateway behind.

The law

A brother’s name

  1. The family name

    A widow left without a son

    When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family.

  2. Her husband’s brother marries her

    Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.

  3. Her firstborn carries the name

    The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

  4. At the gate

    If he refuses: to the elders

    But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.”

  5. The elders speak with him

    Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak with him.

  6. He persists in refusing

    If he persists and says, “I do not want to marry her,”

  7. Public shame

    She removes his sandal

    his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother’s line.”

  8. The House of the Unsandaled

    And his family name in Israel will be called “The House of the Unsandaled.”

A single worn leather sandal lies in the dust of an empty town gate passage in morning light, stone benches along the wall behind.

If two men are fighting, and the wife of one comes to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals, you are to cut off her hand. You must show her no pity.

Pray

Carry one another

This law would not let a widow be left alone or a brother’s name be “blotted out from Israel.” Pray for the widows you know by name, and for families carrying one another through loss. Ask God for the courage to do the duty you would rather avoid, and thank Him that in Christ He has given the lonely a family and a name that will never be forgotten.

Standard Weights and Measures

At dawn on a market table, a small leather bag spilled open beside a bronze balance, two smooth dome-shaped stone weights of the same shape but plainly different sizes lying side by side, a clay grain measure behind.

You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small.

You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God.

0:23

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

On a rough wooden market table in morning light, a small bronze balance with two pans, polished stone weights beside it, a clay measure of barley and a clay jar of oil.

You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land

Deuteronomy 25:15

Revenge on the Amalekites

Moses

Question

Quick question

A widow’s brother-in-law will not marry her. She does not settle it at home; she goes to the city gate.

What did the widow tell the elders her brother-in-law refused to do?

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Deuteronomy 25

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A verse to carry with you

You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 25:15

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