Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

“When you are in the land the Lord your God is giving you, someone may be found murdered in a field, and you don’t know who committed the murder. ² In such a case, your elders and judges must measure the distance from the site of the crime to the nearby towns. ³ When the nearest town has been determined, that town’s elders must select from the herd a heifer that has never been trained or yoked to a plow. ⁴ They must lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and that has a stream running through it. There in the valley they must break the heifer’s neck. ⁵ Then the Levitical priests must step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in the Lord’s name. They are to decide all legal and criminal cases.

⁶ “The elders of the town must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken. ⁷ Then they must say, ‘Our hands did not shed this person’s blood, nor did we see it happen. ⁸ O Lord, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed. Do not charge your people with the guilt of murdering an innocent person.’ Then they will be absolved of the guilt of this person’s blood. ⁹ By following these instructions, you will do what is right in the Lord’s sight and will cleanse the guilt of murder from your community.

¹⁰ “Suppose you go out to war against your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you, and you take some of them as captives. ¹¹ And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her. ¹² If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails, ¹³ and change the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. She will stay in your home, but let her mourn for her father and mother for a full month. Then you may marry her, and you will be her husband and she will be your wife. ¹⁴ But if you marry her and she does not please you, you must let her go free. You may not sell her or treat her as a slave, for you have humiliated her.

¹⁵ “Suppose a man has two wives, but he loves one and not the other, and both have given him sons. And suppose the firstborn son is the son of the wife he does not love. ¹⁶ When the man divides his inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves, as if he were the firstborn son. ¹⁷ He must recognize the rights of his oldest son, the son of the wife he does not love, by giving him a double portion. He is the first son of his father’s virility, and the rights of the firstborn belong to him.

¹⁸ “Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. ¹⁹ In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. ²⁰ The parents must say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ ²¹ Then all the men of his town must stone him to death. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.

²² “If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree, ²³ the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Deuteronomy 21:

1. What does this chapter tell me about God?

2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?

Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.  

1. God cares about the people He created even after their death, either alone in a field or through execution (hung on a tree, impaled on a stake, or crucified). He laid out a plan for women to be treated compassionately by their captors during war. 

2. A man was not to let his feelings overrule his duty toward his firstborn son even if the man hated the boy’s mother. Parents were not allowed to kill a stubborn and rebellious son. They were instructed to take him to court which was to decide whether he should be stoned by the whole community.  

Prayer:

3. How might I pray regarding Deuteronomy 21?

Dear LORD God, thank You for being a God who shows compassion even for those who die a violent death. Please help those in our society who are tasked with carrying out justice to investigate thoroughly and fairly and to carry out their duties competently. Please keep public officials from being complicit in crime of any kind. Please be with the hearts of women who are captured by violent men. Please work in the hearts and circumstances of the captors so that they turn from their wicked ways and either marry these women or let them go free according to the instructions You gave here. Today, in this country [USA], polygamy is not allowed, but please help the men who are divorced to treat the children of their ex-wives fairly. Father God, guide the parents, and any counselors they seek, to deal properly with stubborn, rebellious, and disobedient children. Only You know the hearts of those involved, the plans You have for each one, and how they will respond. Help us to purge evil from our hearts and our nation and bring glory to Your name. AMEN  

Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Deuteronomy 21?

• I will research to see what God says in scripture about dealing with homicide and capital punishment and/or bodies of the dead.
• I will pray for and support (financially or by physical service) ministries to women or girls who have been raped or molested.
• I will offer counsel and/or assistance to victims of divorce (men, women, or children).
• I will ask the Triune God–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–to purge evil from my heart so that I can better bring glory to His name. 

Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.