Deuteronomy: 19-20

What’s Happening?

Moses has covered the first five commandments, and now starts unpacking the final five - murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting.

When it comes to murder, what is Israel to do when someone is accidentally killed? A distinction is made between premeditated murder and accidental killing (Deuteronomy 19:4). For those who murder, the penalty is death. But for those who are involved in an accidental death, a city of refuge is provided where they can flee and be safe.

What about lying? If a liar is caught trying to get someone punished for a thing they didn’t do in court, then the liar himself is sentenced to the very punishment he was trying to put on someone else (Deuteronomy 19:19). Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.

Then there is stealing and coveting which is covered in the rules about spoils of war. The armies must devote everything to destruction when they take cities in the promised land (Deuteronomy 20:16). But  spoils may be taken from cities outside the promised land. Israel must show restraint and not covet or steal that which God has devoted to destruction.

In these commands, we see that God is concerned about protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. These are not at odds with each other, but are two sides of the same coin. That coin is justice. But neither us nor our societies have protected the innocent or punished evil perfectly.

Where is the Gospel?

This is why the Gospel is such bafflingly good news. Jesus is both the just and the justifier (Romans 3:26). In him, God does not shrug at murder, lies, or greed, but brings evil into the light, judges it, and then makes a way to set guilty people right. On the cross, God “condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). The verdict falls on our sin, and in Jesus’ death the old, violent, lying, coveting humanity finally meets its rightful end (Romans 6:6).

At the same time, that death is our rescue. By faith we are united to Jesus, so that his story becomes ours. Our guilt and bloodshed are brought into his death, and his innocence and life are given back to us as a gift. The eye-for-eye logic of retribution lands on the old self that is crucified with Christ, and what rises from the grave is a new creation who can actually love God and neighbor (Romans 6:4). Justice is not abandoned; it is passed through death and resurrection and comes out the other side as mercy.

Jesus is also our city of refuge. When we run to him, even with blood on our hands, the sentence over us is “no condemnation” (Romans 8:1). He is the one who was lied about in court, yet he opened not his mouth and entrusted himself to the Father who judges justly (Matthew 26:59; 1 Peter 2:23). He is the one who had every right to devote the whole world to destruction, yet instead let the world’s hatred fall on him so that the world might be saved (John 3:16–17). In his cross, the world that opposes God is judged (John 12:31), and in his resurrection a new world begins.

Now that we have been set right in Jesus, we finally have the grace necessary to live a life that does obey these last five commandments. Because of the love Christ has shown us, and his Spirit living in us, we can become people who protect life, keep faith with our spouses, tell the truth, give generously, and refuse to covet. And as this just and merciful love of Jesus takes root in us, it becomes visible to the societies we live in and draws others toward the God who both exposes evil and heals it (1 Peter 2:12).

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who protects the innocent and judges the guilty. And may you see Jesus as the one who put sin to death, hanging it on the cross so that I might live to righteousness instead.