Scripture: "...but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes." Deuteronomy 25:3 NIV Application: Today, we have to apply the basic principles of decency that God had to graphically deliver to His people through Moses and the priests. Remember, the Israelites were surrounded by degraded communities that had enticements that seemed OK, but were pagan and deliberately distanced from God. Furthermore,God's people had been severely mistreated in Egypt, and probably had learned to be gruff and even animalistic (Deut 25:1-3 "...If you hit him more than forty times, you will degrade him to something less than human"). In a word, God's people required "rehab." They needed to be reminded how difficult and demeaning life was for them when they were captives. Mercifully, God wanted to lift them and teach them to be gracious to each other, and to the poor, the disabled, the broken families, those in the criminal justice system, and the foreigners (e.g. Deut. 24:21,22). Nothing's really changed. We modern day Christians have to remember the horrible feeling of captivity. We have to ask God for help. We have to apply the same standards of decency toward others in our daily lives. Be decent. Prayer: Father, we pray that You will remove those degraded tendencies that still lie within us. Make us compassionate toward others, and purified by the blood of Jesus. Amen. Comments are closed.
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