Deuteronomy 22:20-21
Proscribes the Draconian measure of executing a woman for not being a virgin on
her wedding day - something which if enforced today would involve the
extermination of over half the population. This commandment also carries in its
phrasing rather unpleasant notions of ownership, wherein the punishment takes
place if the husband is displeased.
But if this thing be true, and
the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
Then they shall bring out the
damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall
stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in
Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away
from among you [Deut. 22:20–21].
Suppose the woman was guilty. Then
she was to be stoned.
Today people talk about the “new”
morality and consider sex apart from marriage a great step forward. God gave
a standard of morality to His people, Israel. God-given morality has always
been a blessing to any nation. Any nation that has broken over at this point
has gone down. When I think of this, and when I think of the condition of my
country, I weep. Under God’s law to Israel, a person guilty of adultery was
stoned to death, whether man or woman. If we did that here in Southern
California, there would be so many rock piles it would be impossible to
drive a car through this part of the country.
God honors marriage and God honors
sexual purity. Adultery in Israel was to be punished by stoning. This tells
us how God feels about adultery, friends. Remember that God’s love for His
people is expressed in His Law. This law regarding the protection of the
sanctity of marriage is a very fine example of His love and concern for the
human family.
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (1:ix-588). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson.
Titus 2:9
Tells slaves not to resist their owners, and that it's moral to be entirely
submissive to them. There are several other verses to this effect, also.
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters,
and to please them well in all things; not answering again [Titus 2:9].
“Exhort servants”—now Paul turns
his attention to another group. In the early church there were many slaves.
In fact, 90 percent of the names on the walls of the catacombs are those of
slaves or ex-slaves. The gospel met a great need for this class of people in
that day.
“To be obedient unto their own
masters, and to please them well in all things.” Again, the idea behind
obedience is that they should respond to their masters, be interested in
them and in their work. Anyone, especially those in Christian work, should
put their heart into their job or else get out of it. If you work for a
Christian organization, you do it because you
want to work for it. I hope you get a good
living out of it, but that is not the point. Christian work is to be done
with the heart as well as with the head and hands.
“Not answering again,” that is, not
talking back to your employer.
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:490). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
1 Samuel 15:2-3
Encourages the genocidal massacre of Amalek's people, including tiny children,
as a punishment for a command given my their leader.
Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, I remember
that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when
he came up from Egypt.
Now go and smite Amalek, and
utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man
and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass [1 Sam. 15:1–3].
These instructions may seem extreme
to you if you are not familiar with the history of Amalek. Moses, who was
there when it happened, rehearsed the episode for the younger generation in
Deuteronomy 25:17–19: “Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when
ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the
hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast
faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the
Lord thy God hath given thee
rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee for
an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of
Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.”
If these people had been permitted
to live, they would probably have caused more trouble in the future than is
imaginable. Apparently Saul spared some of these people, and when we come to
the Book of Esther, we will get acquainted with one of them, Haman. He tried
to exterminate the Hebrew nation and would have succeeded had not God
intervened. When we get God’s perspective we understand His immediate
action. Very candidly, since you and I are not God and are not obligated to
make God’s decisions, we cannot pass judgment upon Him.
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (2:151). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
The end of Psalm 137
Again, encourages the painful murder of children.
Happy shall he be, that taketh
and dasheth thy little ones against the stones [Ps. 137:9].
This Israelite, sitting yonder by
the canals of Babylon, dejected, despondent, being jeered and taunted to
sing, says, “I can’t sing.” His mind goes back to the destruction of his
beloved city and of God’s temple. He thinks again of what took place. He can
see that Edomite in the cheering section, urging the Babylonians on. He sees
how the Babylonians had destroyed his city. And then happened that
frightful, awful thing. His wife was holding their precious little one. That
great big brutal Babylonian soldier came to her, wrested the baby out of her
arms, took it by the heels, and—with her screaming—hit its head across the
rock, dashing its brains out! Remembering that, he says, “Because there is a
just God in heaven, somebody will do that to the Babylonians.”
Whether you and I like it or not,
it is already a matter of history that Cyrus the Great through his general
did exactly to the Babylonians what the Babylonians had done to the people
of Jerusalem.
Is this psalm for the Dark Ages? Is
it outmoded in this enlightened day? Has man grown more civilized and loving
so that this psalm is no longer relevant?
Today on every continent strife is
being fomented. And the most tragic casualties are the children. Man’s
inhumanity to man makes this psalm very up-to-date. And there is coming a
day when all hell will break loose in this world. I thank God there is a God
in heaven who is a God of justice and righteousness, and He is going to put
an end to sin. Also I am thankful that He is a God of mercy, that He is not
like men, but is merciful. The cross yonder reveals His love; it reveals His
holiness. My Savior took upon Himself my sin. God so loved me that He gave
His Son to die in my place, because He must judge sin.
Oh, today, in this day of grace He
is merciful. But don’t let it deceive you—He is also holy, and He is
righteous. Those who will not receive the Savior, those who will spurn His
grace, those who will turn their backs on His mercy, will be judged. He
makes no apologies to us in the twentieth century for doing that, because He
has been patient with us. He has been gracious so long.
Have you availed yourself of His
mercy?
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (2:869-870). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson.
Exodus 21:15
Leviticus 20:9
I'm not saying striking or cursing one's parents is to be encouraged - although
there are circumstances in which it would be justified, I feel, such as in cases
of abuse - but to execute someone for doing so is absurd.
But if a man come presumptuously
upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine
altar, that he may die [Exod. 21:14].
If a man commits a premeditated
murder, that man is to be executed. If a man kills someone in self-defense
while trying to defend himself, without premeditation, that man would not
merit execution.
And he that smiteth his father,
or his mother, shall be surely put to death [Exod. 21:15].
This is God’s protection for the
home.
And he that stealeth a man, and
selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death
[Exod. 21:16].
God did not approve of slavery at
all and, in fact, He condemned it. It was a great system in that day, but
God dealt with it.
For every one that curseth his
father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father
or his mother: his blood shall be upon him [Lev. 20:9].
The
fifth commandment was not to be considered of minor importance. In Leviticus
19:3 the Israelite was instructed to fear his father and mother. Now the
death penalty was inflicted for cursing father and mother. In Romans 1:31
Paul spoke of those “without natural affection.” And we are told that in the
last days children will be disobedient to parents, and men will be without
natural affection (2 Tim. 3:2–3). This characterized the heathen of the past
and will characterize the last days. The punishment stated here is extreme.
We need to mention here that the
Bible also offers grace in this regard. The Lord Jesus told the parable of
the prodigal son who came home and was received by the father. That is
grace. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (1:ix-418). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson.
2 Chronicles 15:12-13
Commands the murder of all those who aren't a member of your religion (sound
familiar?)
And they entered into a covenant
to seek the Lord God of their
fathers with all their heart and with all their soul [2 Chron. 15:10–12].
You will notice that these people
are crossing the first bridge. They are not trying to detour around it. They
have come to a knowledge of God’s Word. They are turning to God and seeking
Him with all their heart and soul. This characterized every one of the
revivals. There was a return to the Word of God.
I am bold enough to state
dogmatically that there has never been a revival without a return to the
Word of God. There is no detour around the Bible. There is no substitute for
it. The great spiritual movement in the days of John Wesley, my friend, was
built around the Word of God. Wesley read the Bible in three languages every
morning! Dwight L. Moody and the great spiritual awakening in his day led to
the great Bible institute movement, one of the greatest movements in the
study of the Word. It is dying out in our day. Why? Because they are getting
away from the Word of God. We need more than just a superficial familiarity
with the Word of God. We need more than an artificial vocabulary of the
right words. Revival does not depend on an activity, nor on a service, nor
on a method. It requires a real knowledge and love of the Word of God.
In our contemporary society there
are movements and there are evangelists whom God is using, but I am
disturbed because they are not making the study of the Word of God
paramount. I find it difficult to get these movements, and even some of our
schools, interested in studying the entire Word of God. My friend, we cannot
have a real revival unless it is based on a thorough knowledge of the Bible.
I hope revival will come. I believe this is the first bridge on the route.
We’ll have to cross over this bridge first.
Now at this great assembly which
Asa had called in Jerusalem, they entered into a covenant with God to seek
Him with all their hearts.
That whosoever would not seek
the Lord God of Israel should
be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
And they sware unto the
Lord with a loud voice, and
with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets [2 Chron. 15:13–14].
This was making it very harsh; yet
there was a ready response from the hearts of the people. This man Asa
brought about many reforms at this time.
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (2:434). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
Deuteronomy 13:13-19
Not only commands execution of advocates of other religion, but also commands
the wholesale slaughter of the entire population of the city.
Certain men, the children of
Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of
their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
Then shalt thou inquire, and
make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing
certain, that such abomination is wrought among you [Deut. 13:12–14].
They were not to do anything
rashly. A thorough investigation must be made and truth arrived at before
any action was to be taken.
Thou shalt surely smite the
inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly,
and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
And thou shalt gather all the
spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire
the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the
Lord thy God: and it shall be
an heap for ever; it shall not be built again [Deut. 13:15–16].
Again, this is severe. A city, an
entire city, would be destroyed. Suppose there was someone in that city who
hadn’t gone into idolatry. Had they protested? Had they just sat by and done
nothing? If they had done nothing about it, they were to be judged along
with the rest.
There are too many Christians today
who think that it is Christian to be silent. There are so many Christians
who do not take a stand on important issues even when truth is at stake. You
hear the old cliché, “Silence is golden.” Friends, sometimes it is
yellow—not golden—to remain silent and not to take a stand. The minority is
to protest that which is wrong.
Everything in such a city was to be
completely destroyed.
And there shall cleave nought of
the cursed thing to thine hand: that the
Lord may turn from the
fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee,
and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers [Deut. 13:17].
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (1:ix-568). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson.
13:1–18 IDOLATRY
Three possible means of seduction
to idolatry were condemned: (1) a prophet (13:1–5); (2) a family member
(13:6–11); and (3) wicked and worthless men (13:12–18). Note the repeated
phrase “let us worship” (13:2, 6, 13). In Moses’ day, treaties were made
between kings and the subjects they had conquered (sometimes called
suzerain-vassal treaties). In these ancient treaties, the king required his
vassals (subject nations) to report any conspiracy, rebellion, or disloyalty
and to take active measures against offenders. This obligation finds its
counterpart in Deuteronomy 13.
14:1–29 DIET
God as the Creator and Redeemer has
a right to dictate even what his people can eat. Here the conditions of what
to eat (14:3–21) and where to eat (14:22–29) were established along with
Israel’s responsibility to be separate and holy to God. Shaving the head and
lacerating the body, activities forbidden to the Israelites, were pagan
cultic practices performed to secure favor from false gods (1 Kings 18:28).
Regulations were repeated for clean and unclean foods (cf. Lev. 11:1–45 with
Deut. 14:3–20) and the pagan practice of boiling a young goat in its
mother’s milk was again forbidden (cf. 14:21 with Exodus 23:19).
Each year Israel was to bring its
tithes to Jerusalem to share with the Levites and priests (Deut. 14:22–27).
Every third year, the people were to store the tithes in their own towns to
share with the Levites and the needy (14:28–29). That third-year offering
appears to replace the regular yearly tithe that was to be taken to
Jerusalem (“the tithe of all your crops,” 14:28). Some scholars see the
third-year tithe to be in addition to the regular yearly tithe. Both the
local and the centralized locations for the tithes met the general command
to share the yearly tithes with the Levites and the priests throughout the
land (Lev. 27:30–33; Num. 18:21–32).
Hughes, R. B.,
Laney, J. C., & Hughes, R. B. (2001). Tyndale concise Bible
commentary. Rev. ed. of: New Bible companion. 1990.; Includes
index. The Tyndale reference library (74). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale
House Publishers.
2 Kings 2:23-24
Forty-two children die for being rude.
And he went up from thence unto
Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children
out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head;
go up, thou bald head [2 Kings 2:23].
Then “little children” came out of
the city. The accepted opinion is that these were precious little children.
All of us are moved by children. I have a little grandson, and he has
grandpa wrapped around his finger. These little ones really get to you. When
you read this portion of Scripture, it touches your heart. If these
“children” were beginners, primaries, juniors, or even junior high young
people, I would have to admit that Elisha was rather cruel because what
happened would be contrary to the teaching of the rest of Scripture.
The Lord Jesus said, “… Suffer
little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the
kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14). As you read the Bible, you will discover
God’s tender care of the little ones.
Remember that at Kadesh-Barnea the
people of Israel refused to go into the land, and they gave the following
excuse: “And wherefore hath the Lord
brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our
children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?”
(Num. 14:3). They felt that their little ones would be in danger. But God
said to them in essence, “You should have trusted Me. You thought that I
would not take care of your little ones. Well, although you will die in the
wilderness, your little ones, who you thought were in danger, are going to
inherit the land and dwell in it.”
“Little children” is
naar
or nahar
in Hebrew. It is used of Isaac when he was twenty-eight, of Joseph when he
was thirty-nine, also for the Sodomites who attacked the home of Lot. You
will find it used in other places in Scripture, and it does not refer to
little children as we think of them. For example, 1 Kings 12:8 says, “But he
forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted
with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him.”
This verse is speaking about the time Rehoboam forsook the wisdom of the
older men, the wise men, and consulted with the younger men who had grown up
with him. The word translated “young men” is the same word translated
“little children” in 2 Kings 2:23. I am sure no one believes that Rehoboam
was consulting with little juniors, or that he went to nursery school and
talked things over with the little ones. They were young men. When Samuel
came to anoint as king one of the sons of Jesse, you will remember that his
sons were grown. As they passed by Samuel one by one, he said to Jesse, “Are
these all thy children?” Well, the word
children is the same word used in 2 Kings
2:23. It is used to describe Jesse’s grown sons. The youngest son, David,
was not even there. The hoodlums who were taunting Elisha were young men,
not little children. You will find this word used in many places in
Scripture, and in every other place it is translated “young men.” This was a
crowd of young fellows.
They were students of the false
prophets. They were a gang that mocked and ridiculed Elisha. They said, “Go
up, thou bald head.” What did they mean by that? They were telling him to do
the same thing Elijah had done. They were saying, “Why don’t you take off
like Elijah did?” They were ridiculing the truth in Scripture that God will
take a people out of this world.
This is the same attitude, Peter
says, that will appear on the earth again in the last days. This incident in
2 Kings is given to us to let us know that God intends to judge those who
ridicule the second coming of Christ. Second Peter 3:3–4 says, “Knowing this
first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their
own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
the creation.” During the last days on earth there will be those who will
ridicule believers about the coming of Christ. They will say something like,
“Well, what is the matter? You haven’t gone up yet. You are still hanging
around. I thought you were going to leave us.” This is the type of thing
scoffers will say to believers. Many are already saying, “Where is the sign
of His coming?” For this reason we ought to be careful today in the way that
we teach the second coming of Christ. We should not go out on a limb. We
should not become fanatics on the subject. We should handle it with care,
even in a manner in which the Word of God handles it. So 2 Kings is just a
little picture of the judgment that will come upon those who will ridicule
Christ’s return to earth. It is a fearful judgment.
And he turned back, and looked
on them, and cursed them in the name of the
Lord. And there came forth
two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them [2
Kings 2:24].
It is an awful thing for a preacher
to deny the deity of Christ and the work He did at His first coming. It is a
terrible thing to deny and ridicule the second coming of Christ. This brings
a very severe judgment.
Notice that they called Elisha
“bald head.” We do know something about this man: he had a bald head.
There is a great deal about
judgment in the Word of God. We need, therefore, to get our facts squared
away. When you understand what we are talking about in this section, there
is nothing here that is out of line with the rest of Scripture. He
pronounced a curse upon them. Elisha sounds like Elijah here. He also sounds
like the Lord Jesus Christ who said, “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto
thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been
done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and
ashes” (Matt. 11:21). He went on to say; “And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell …” (Matt. 11:23). That is
judgment, friends.
We are living in a day when there
is a great deal of pussy-footing in our legal system. The lack of the
enforcement of law on the part of some judges is a scandal; it is
responsible for the lawlessness on every hand. It is responsible for the
shooting down of policemen. It is not safe to walk our streets any more. The
minds of people in this country have been brainwashed. When are we going to
wake up? When gangs of young hoodlums terrorize our neighborhoods, there
should be punishment. I personally heard a leading attorney recently tell a
small group, privately, that these young lawbreakers should be taken out and
publicly whipped, as they used to do in the early days. He said if that were
done it would break up a lot of the lawlessness. May I say to you that after
the bears did their work, nobody else around Beth-el ridiculed Elisha—you
may be sure of that.
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (2:306-307). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson.
Isaiah 14:21
Advocates killing people for the sins of their ancestors. This entirely violates
the concept of justice and God's punishment being a result of one's own
decisions.
All the kings of the nations,
even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house [Isa. 14:18].
Babylon
was controlled by Satan. You remember that Satan offered to the Lord Jesus
the kingdoms of this world (see Luke 4:5–7). Babylon belonged to him. Back
of Babylon and all the kingdoms of this world is Satan. In the future,
Babylon will evidently become the rallying point for all the nations which
are against God.
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (3:235). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
Exodus 12:29-30
Again, wholesale murder of a people for the decisions of their leader (whom they
didn't choose for themselves).
And it came to pass, that at
midnight the Lord smote all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat
on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and
all the firstborn of cattle.
And Pharaoh rose up in the
night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a
great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead
[Exod. 12:29–30].
This final judgment claimed the
life of the firstborn in each house. Up to this point God had not touched
human life. Now he does, but do not say that God is a murderer. “The Lord
gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” He who
creates life has the authority to take it away.
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (1:ix-240). Nashville:
Thomas Nelson.
Isaiah 13:15-18
To protect His followers, God is causing people to commit rape and mass murder.
I will make a man more precious
than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir [Isa. 13:12].
When Christ died for you and me on
the cross, that added value to us.
Verses 13–16 go on to tell us that
the Tribulation will be a time of worldwide destruction when no “flesh would
survive” except for the fact that God will preserve a remnant for Himself.
McGee, J. V.
(1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru
the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (3:231). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.