AM Bible Study Group; October 12, 2011

Deuteronomy 21:10-21

Theme: God’s law through Moses establishes the cursedness of sin—and the basis of the atonement of the sinner through Christ.

As we make our way through the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, we find that certain passages are so important in their implications that it’s worth slowing down to take a closer look. This morning’s portion—just two verses long—is just such a passage. It may, at first, seem like an incidental law concerning the treatment of victims of execution. But the New Testament uses this very same law to teach us the nature of our Savior’s atoning sacrifice for us.

I. THE CURSEDNESS OF THE MAN WHO IS HANGED ON A TREE (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).

A. This law—a part of the section of the law that deals with human relationships and human dignity—describes a situation in which a man had committed a capital crime. The form of execution itself is not what’s being described. Rather, what’s being describe is what was to be done with the body of the criminal afterward.

1. This command assumed, first, that the man had been truly guilty and had committed a capital crime: “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death . . .” (v. 22a; note that a possible example of such a capital crime is given in the previous verse).

2. It also assumed that the man’s body was then put on display, “and you hang him on a tree . . .” (v. 22b). This was something that was often done in ancient times—probably both to humiliate the dead body of the criminal, but also to serve as a warning to others that might see it. This was sometimes done in a military context; as when Joshua hung the king of Ai (Joshua 8:29) and the Amorite kings (10:26-27) on trees after they were killed. Other references to this practice are found in 2 Samuel 4:12; and 21:8-14. This was even a practice among pagan peoples (1 Samuel 31:10).

B. The command of God was that “his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day . . .” (v. 23a). There seems to be two reason for the burial of the body before the end of the day:

1. First, it was “so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance (v. 23b). As the law made clear in several places, contact with a dead body defiles the land and the people living on it (see Leviticus 18:24-25; 21:1; Numbers 6:6-7; 19:11-13; Deuteronomy 21:1-9).

2. But a second reason is also given: “for he who is hanged is accursed of God” (v. 23b). As Dr. P.C. Craige wrote, “The body was not accursed of God (or lit. “cursed of God”) because it was hanging on a tree; it was hanging on a tree because it was accursed of God” (P.C. Craige, The Book of Deuteronomy, NICOT (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976), p. 285.

II. THE SAVIOR WHO BECAME A CURSE FOR US ON THE CROSS (Galatians 3:10-14).

A. The apostle Paul took this very same law in his letter to the Galatians and used it to illustrate Christ’s substitutionary atonement for us. As Dr. Craige explained, “To break the law of God and live as though [H]e did not matter or exist, was in effect to curse [H]im; and he who cursed God would be accursed of God. To break the law of God and incur thereby the penalty of death, was to die the worst possible kind of death, for the means of death was a formal and terminal separation from the community of God’s people. Hence the use of this verse in Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians is very forceful. Christ took upon himself the curse of the law, the penalty of death, thereby redeeming us from the curse of the law. The manner of [H]is death, crucifixion, symbolized dramatically the meaning of [H]is death. His separation from the family of God made possible our admission to the family of God, because the curse of the broken law—which would have permanently barred admission—had been removed” (pp. 285-6).

B. In looking at Paul’s words in Galatians 3, we note that “as many as are of the works of the law are under the cures . . .” (Galatians 3:10). He says that those who are of faith are blessed (v. 9); but those who are of works of the law (that is, who try to achieve favor with God on the basis of conformity to the law of Moses) are “under the curse”.

1. This is because the Scripture has placed all under a curse who fail to keep God’s law perfectly. Later in Deuteronomy, we’ll find that just before the people of Israel entered the promised land, the Levites pronounced a curse on all who didn’t keep God’s law: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things which are written in the book of the law, to do them” (see Deuteronomy 27:26); to which the people responded with a hearty “Amen!”

2. By contrast, the Scriptures make it clear that no one could ever become righteous before God on the basis of the law, but only on the basis of faith. This is, as Paul says, “evident” (v. 11) from what it says in Habakkuk 2:4; that “the just shall live by faith” (see also Romans 1:17; Hebrews 10:38)—that is to say, they do not depend on a righteousness before God through their own works of the law, but upon the promise of God.

3. Righteousness before God is therefore impossible to achieve by the law, because the standard of works of the law is different from the standard of faith. When it comes to the law, as Paul says, “the man who does them shall live by them” (see Leviticus 18:5). The original intent of the words Paul quotes from Leviticus was to encourage the people to stay true to God’s law because, by them, they will live the prosperous life. But Paul, in verse 12, then takes that original intent and uses it to underscore the impossibility of keeping the standard (see also Matthew 5:48; James 2:10; Romans 3:20). To even try to do so only brings someone into a state of cursedness before God—thus making salvation through faith in God’s promise of grace our only hope (see Romans 4:1-5; Galatians 3:22-24).

C. But note how Christ has “redeemed” us (much as when a slave is bought out of his slavery by the grace of another). He did this for us by Himself becoming “a curse” for us (v. 13). He willingly allowed Himself to be hung on the cross made from beams of wood, and experienced the very cursedness that was described in Deuteronomy 21:23—”Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”. Thus, as Paul wrote elsewhere, God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus fully paid the debt of the curse for us by becoming ‘cursed’ in our place and on our behalf. He did this so that the blessing of Abraham—that is, the blessing that comes through being related to the promise given to him by faith—might come not only on the Jew who believes on Christ, but also on the Gentiles who believe on Christ (see v. 14).

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In giving us this law through Moses, God was preparing us for the promise of grace! Therefore, Paul was presenting nothing new in declaring the great doctrine of ‘justification by faith’. It was as old as the Old Testament Scriptures themselves—as old as the saving faith of Abraham—indeed, as old as the law itself!