Nothing To Be Afraid Of

 

Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

Ki Tete “When You Go”

This week’s Torah portion contains a very different feel than last weeks.  As we review the laws that Moses outlines in this week’s portion, we see another pattern being established.  As believers in Jesus, the pinnacle of this week’s Torah portion just might be Deuteronomy 21:22-23 “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.”

As soon as I read this my mind went to Galatians 3:13 where Paul tells us that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—”

The concept of what I believe I am seeing here spans across a multitude of scripture.  To help you see how I got to where I am with this, I will share the highlights of the journey.  In Romans 8 Paul shares that in a faith-based relationship with Christ there is no condemnation and that now we do not need to fear death as did our ancestors.  This reminded me of the giving of the Torah and how the people of God were scared to let God tell them the entire law but stopped Him after the first ten commandments.  I pondered why I had been led to these sections of scripture during the time of this Torah portion.  The general flow of the commandments in this section of the Torah portion all deal with the difference between humility and disgrace.  The pinnacle of this is the man hung on the tree.

To understand this, we need a little background.  If you notice, the man is put to death then hung on the tree.  In other words, the hanging on the tree was not for the purpose of killing the man physically.  By this point the man would already be physically dead.  The point for the hanging on the tree is twofold.  To hand on the tree for a short time is to instill a sense of understanding into the people to purge the evil from amongst Israel.  However, leaving the man hanging on the tree overnight and beyond leads to the stripping down of the man’s integrity and reputation utterly destroying any positive aspects of his memory.  This would be like killing him twice.  Once to kill him physically, then to kill him spiritually.  If we stop and think about it in this light, the command not to do this now carries the same general principle as the other laws outlined in this section of scripture.  Even in the situation of war, the men of Israel were not to rape the women they found beautiful. They were to treat them with respect, give them a time of mourning, and properly marry them.  This image of respect and grace weaves its way throughout this week’s parsha.

The interesting thing about this scripture is how God outlines that leaving a man hanging on a tree overnight “defiles the land”.  Over and over in scripture we read about how the actions of the people bring defilement upon the land.  This section of scripture brings that to a head where we see that the foundation of Torah is love.  When we step away from love and start treating other people like the rest of the world treats people we step away from Torah and fall away from our calling in Him.

Moving back to where I felt the Spirit was leading me with this, I ended up reading Galatians over and over again.  Then it hit me.  Disgrace…..dis-grace.  Going back to what we were discussing in Romans and how the people of Israel were under fear, it hit me that the ultimate “curse of the law” is the fear of being rejected by God and coming under His condemnation and falling from His “grace”.  In this, there is a fear of death that paralyzes us in our ability to have a relationship with Him, to hear His voice, and to allow the Spirit to grow us deeper in our freedom and ability to serve Him.  This fear of dis-grace is very closely associated with the concept of disgrace, condemnation, and humility.  This reminds me of the servant in Luke 19 who was scared of the master and saw him as an exacting man and did not invest what the master had given in because of fear.  In return, the master treated him in the exact way he expected to be treated. (Luke 19:20-27)

As God’s people we are called to represent Him.  There is really no other way that we represent Him more than when we are extending grace to others.  This is love.  In this section of scripture God lays down a pattern of how He is expecting His people to live but more importantly, how we relate to others is the greatest indication of how we believe how He relates to us.  It is here in this understanding where we can see how disgracing others brings a defilement to the land.

The point is, when we are in a right relationship with God, we understand that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.  This sets us free to open up our ears, open up our hearts, and to open up our eyes to step into a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit.  In this position we are free to hear the truth and know that no matter what we hear, we have not been dis-graced.  We are simply being told the truth because it is the truth that sets us free.  In this we live lives of peace, joy, repentance, and growth.  This transforms us from the inside where the foundation of the transformation is brokenness and humility.

When we allow ourselves to see TRUTH, be broken, and fall into lives of humility we pass God’s love onto others.  We do not dis-grace them but treat them with the same love we have received.  When God’s people can learn to live like this then the blessings of God are free to follow them where ever they go.

On the other hand, when the people of God fall into religion things become very different.  Instead of feeling safe with our relationship with Him we become fearful.  Just like Adam and Eve, we hid from the truth and just like the children of Israel, we tell God that we don’t believe we are capable of hearing anything beyond a few basic rules.  Without the truth we never become free from Satan and his works.  In this position we miss the opportunities for brokenness and humility and fall into self-loathing and condemnation.  In this place of woundedness we deal with others in a way that is intended to not only kill the sin but, kill the spirit of the sinner.

We must always remember that the end destination of the law is love and that living within the law is not the end unto itself.  I believe this is what Paul was getting at in Galatians chapter 3.  What I hear Paul saying is that the greatest curse of the law is when we become “of” the law.  Paul goes through great pains to help us understand that the Law was not given as a condition of grace but that it was given because of transgressions.  He outlines that God made particular promises to Abraham and that those promises, that were made through covenant, cannot be added to.  As such, the promises to Abraham could not be tied to the law at some later date.  When we start believing that honoring the law is a requirement of God fulfilling His promises to Abraham we become “of” the law.  In this place we move from faith to works where we believe the promises are the result of our godly living.

The point of living in such a way that the land becomes defiled cannot be skipped.  Paul is very clear in addressing that the law was given because of transgressions.  In other words, God is not placing the honoring of the law as a condition of the fulfillment of the promises.  However, living ungodly lives does defile the land, and when the land becomes defiled it protects itself and expels the people from occupying it.  Because the land is a major part of the “inheritance”, this stops the process of the fulfillment of the promises and keeps the promises from coming into fruition. 

So, what I believe Paul is saying is this: “God did not require the children of Israel to honor the law as a condition of His honoring the promise He made to Abraham and his seed regarding becoming a great nation.  However, He saw that the way Abraham’s descendants were living was so unholy that they had no ability to live in peace with the land and as such hold onto it.  Because of this, He gave them the Law to teach them a way of life that would allow them to live in peace with the land so that the land would not become defiled and kick them out.  This is a critical part of God honoring His promises.  However, God’s people made themselves “of” the law and made religion out of what was intended to be relationship.  Through what Jesus did on the cross He nailed the threat of dis-grace to the cross and as such set us free to live lives that are free to see the truth and grow in humility and fulfill Torah as He fulfilled Torah.  As such, it is only in and through Jesus that we are capable of living in such a way that we do not defile the land and as such, the fullness of the inheritance can only come through Abraham and his seed.”

As believer’s in Jesus Christ, we are descendants of Abraham and as such given the same promise of the same inheritance.  One day the Children of Abraham and his seed will live together in unity, in the holy land, be a great nation, be His bride, and be the sparkle in His eye.  This is the image of the one new man that Jesus came to create.  This is the promise that we all await and as such we should all mourn for.  Maybe next year in Israel, in unity, in Him.  Amen, Amen.