The Law of God Miscellanies (19)

“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.” Deuteronomy 25.5

Reflect and discuss.
1.  Should we expect that we will always be willing to obey whatever God requires of us in His Law (and all His Word)? Explain. What might keep us from obeying the Lord’s commandments?

2.  What’s the difference between duty and desire? Ideally, what should be the relationship between these?

Think about it.
Duty trumps desire and all other affections. Duty lodges in the conscience and serves as a default value against self-centered thinking or feeling. The people of Israel, to survive intact amid hostile pagan nations, needed to bring their sense of duty into line with their desires. Otherwise, their hearts would surely lead them astray (Deut. 5.29).

Obligations to community, legacy, family, and even the nation were more to be respected than the desires of the heart in the situation outlined in Deuteronomy 25.5-8. Duty is a value and thus must rule in the soul above all affections or ideas. Love can grow out of duty fulfilled. The duty to obey God should, as we fulfill it, lead to greater love for God. So also fulfilling one’s duty to family, community, and legacy can help to nurture love for neighbors. 

Love is doing the right thing and not merely satisfying desires. We must not allow ourselves to be captive to desires, because these may be misguided. Duty, on the other hand, is spelled out by God, so that we know what actions are required of us, whether or not we feel like performing them.

The statute outlined in Deuteronomy 25.5-10 would have seemed strange to those ancient Israelites. It was intended only for a time and was subject to change and modification as external conditions and circumstances changed (cf. Ruth 4). The main point of this Law is not about marrying widows within the family. God cares about widows. In ancient Israel, God determined that this was the wisest course for ensuring their wellbeing and for preserving the name and legacy – including property – of their deceased husbands. 

God cares for widows today. That has not changed. The way He commands us to care for them has changed, but God’s love for widows has not (cf. Acts 6.1-6; 1 Tim. 5.3-16).

Nor has the duty He assigns to the believing community changed. The duty remains; the manner of fulfilling it has changed because of the new conditions of the New Covenant. Caring for widows in families and churches today may not be convenient. Indeed, it may be costly. But God requires it. We submit to His duty and look to Him to bring our affections properly into line.

Particular applications of the Law of God change over time; the principles embedded in them do not. Only the Holy Spirit, speaking in all the Word of God, can lead us in applying those eternal principles in the unique situations and circumstances of our lives.

Meditate and discuss.
1.  Read Ruth 4.1-12. Here the statute of Deuteronomy 25.5-8 is invoked, but it has been somewhat changed. Clearly, God blessed the judgment of the elders as they looked to His Law to understand this situation. But has the principle in that ancient statute changed? Why might the actual practice of the statute have changed?

2.  Read 1 Timothy 5.3-16. The Law concerning widows has changed, but the principle remains the same. Explain.

3.  Why is it important that we understand what God requires of us – what our duty is? What should be the relationship between duty, feelings, and ideas?

“And what will be said, if instructing others, someone neglects his own family, though he has greater capacities and a higher obligation to benefit those near? Will it not be said: ‘Aha! These “Christians” are affectionate indeed, who neglect their own relatives!’ ‘He is worse than an infidel.’ So what? One who does not benefit those far away benefits even less those nearer. What is meant is this: The law of God and of nature is violated by him who does not provide for his own family.” John Chrysostom (344-407 AD)

Pray Psalm 146.1-10.
As you pray, let the Lord bring to mind specific people for whom you should intercede.

Psalm 146.5-9, 10 (Hallelujah! What a Savior!: Man of Sorrows)
Blessed are they whose hope resides in the Lord, Christ at His side.
By Him heav’n and earth abide –
         God forever reigns in Zion!

He is faithful evermore; He gives justice to the poor,
Feeds the hungry from His store –
         God forever reigns in Zion!

Jesus sets the pris’ner free, heals blind eyes that they may see,
Lifts those burdened painfully – 
         God forever reigns in Zion!

He the righteous loves the best; wand’rers in His grace are blest;
Needy ones in Him find rest –
         God forever reigns in Zion!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006.