Day 21/Chapter 21

I started this journey with good intentions (I was hoping to finish this before or by Palm Sunday) but have found it harder and harder to keep up. Why is that?

Chapter 21 observations
- Verse 1-9 gives the Israelites what to do in case an unsolved murder happens. A "young cow" (v.3, NLT) is to be offered as a sacrifice to God. In a remote area away from everyone, its neck is to be broken.
- Verses 10-14 deals with the Israelites marrying captives they take in times of war. If the Israelites want to marry a beautiful foreign woman they can, but she must come to their home and live, shave her head, cut her nails, and be allowed to mourn the loss of her folks for a month. If the Israelite man decides to divorce her, he must let her go free.
- Verses 15-17 deals with the rights of the firstborn. Even if the Israelite doesn’t like the wife who gave him the firstborn, he must still keep his commitment to her and the firstborn. Firstborn sons have special rights.
- Verse 18-21 is section all children need to listen to. If an Israelite had a rebellious son, he was taken to the elders and then stoned. I’m glad I wasn’t an Israelite back then!
- Verses 22-23 are interesting in light of what we will be celebrating in a couple of weeks. Jesus was hung on a tree you could say when He was crucified. According to these verses in Deuteronomy the person who is “hung on a tree” (NLT) is “cursed in the sight of God.” Listen to Paul’s words in Galatians,

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”