AM Bible Study Group; July 27, 2011

Deuteronomy 16:18-17:13

Theme: In this passage, God commands the people to appoint judges for a just government.

A long section on the general theme of worship being completed (Deuteronomy 12:1-16:17), Moses now begins to review laws concerning the civil government of the people of Israel (16:18-21:21). This first section deals with the appointment and authority of just judges over the people.

I. THE COMMAND TO APPOINT JUDGES WHO ARE JUST (16:18-20).

A. The command that they be appointed (16:18). It is not God’s will that His people be without civil government. The fallen heart of man will make human government necessary until the time that Jesus Christ returns to this earth and reigns. And so, God specifically commanded that “judges and officers” be appointed “in all your gates” (that is, in all the towns). (“Officers” may be understood as those who are appointed with the task of putting the decisions of the “judges” into action.) But they are not to hold dominion over the people. Note that they are to “judge the people with just judgment”.

B. The integrity that is to characterize their administration (16:19-20). The character of their administration is clearly defined. They are not to “pervert” justice, or “show partiality” (literally, “regard faces”), nor “take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous” (v. 19). Instead they are to “follow what is altogether just”. Their inheritance of the land from God depended upon it (v. 20).

C. 1 Timothy 2:1-7 reminds us of how necessary a just civil government is to us who are citizens of the greater kingdom of Jesus Christ; and of how supportive we should be of it. Paul wrote, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”

II. THE SITUATIONS THAT REQUIRED THAT JUSTICE BE ADMINISTERED

BY THEM (16:21-17:9).

A. The matters that the people were commanded to judge (16:21-17:7). Since this section deals with the worship practices of the people, rather than directly with the appointment of judges, it may seem out of place. But it really isn’t. As J.A. Thompson (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary on Deuteronomy, p. 199) points out, it deals with the loyalty of the people to their covenant God. In Israel there was to be a unity between political-judicial righteousness of the people and their religious devotion to God, since He was both king and God. “Religious law and civil law were one.”

B. Among the things to be considered in executing justice were such questions as:

1. Has there been an effort to combine paganism with the worship of God? (16:21-22).

2. Has the sacred offering to God been treated with disrespect? (17:1; see also Leviticus 22:17-25; Malachi 1:6-14).

3. Has anyone departed from the one true God to worship false gods? (17:2-7; see also Numbers 35:30). Note that in 13:1-5, it was a matter of a false prophet misleading the people and causing them to wander. Now its a matter of the people themselves who wander away. Also note that this was not to be done on the authority of one witness only, but on the basis of two or three witnesses. The person(s) who made the accusation were to be the first to stone the accused; thus bringing the guilt of bloodshed upon themselves if they were lying.

B. The instruction of what to do in matters too hard for the people to judge (17:8-9). (See Exodus 18:19-26 for how smaller matters were dealt with by lower tribunals and harder cases sent to higher tribunals.) Hard matters were to be taken to a higher court. (Note how our own court appeals system draws from this!)

C. The apostle Peter connected our godly behavior as citizens of a heavenly kingdom to submission to the earthly civil government. In fact, that is one way that we are to bear witness to this world of King Jesus. He wrote, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12). And to explain how we are to do this, he then goes on to say, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (vv. 13-17).

III. THE REGARD THAT IS TO BE SHOWN TO THEIR JUDGMENT (17:10-13).

A. The command to do as the governing authority pronounces (17:10-11). When the higher tribunal is appealed to, the people were to “do according to the sentence which they [the higher authorities] pronounce”. (vv. 9-10). They were not to turn from it “to the right hand or to the left” (v. 11).

B. The command to put to death the one who does not heed the governing authority (17:12-13). To rebel against the higher court was to rebel against the authority of God. Such rebellion constituted a willful breaking of the covenant with God; and the people were to remove all such rebels from their midst. (See also Numbers 15:30-31).

C. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are recognize that the civil authority of the government to which we are earthly citizens is to be submitted to by us as authority derived from God. As Paul wrote to his brothers and sisters—even as they lived under the authority of the paganistic Roman empire—”Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor (Romans 13:1-7).