In this section of sheep go astray, and hide through ape-like creatures to his

Deuteronomy we come to the thyself from them: thou shalt in present condition. We believe
conclusion of the exposition of any case bring them back unto Qod created man upright and
the Sixth Commandment, thy brother. And if thy brother with a high' intellect. It was not
"Thou shalt not kill." In the four be not nigh unto thee, or if until after Adam's fall and as
laws found in our text we have thou know him not, then thou men got further from Qod that
commandments that insure the shalt bring it \lnto thine own "cave-men" appeared in history,
promotion of life. These laws house, and it shall be with thee We have this view of things
deal with the positive oukome until thy brother seek after it. because we believe Qod's
of obeying the negative com- and thou shalt restore it to him Word when it teaches of the
mand,' "Tholl shalt not kill." again. In like manner shalt origin of the universe; the
VnJortunately; we sometimes ' thou do with his ass, and so world, and man, One very
tend to think of Qod's Law as a shalt thou do with his raiment, important aspect of this original
series of negations. This is due and with all lost things of thy creation by (jod is that Qod
largely to the fact that only the brother's, which he hath lost, created man as a material
Fifth Commandment, of all the and thou hast found, shalt thou being, and ordained his 'mate-
Ten, ,has a totally positive rial rights. If you will
formula: "Honor thy 'l9' t+ th recall the Biblical narra-
father and thy mother," 1P
r
.o
m
.o tug 'l.e tive of creation; you wiH
However, mere negation 'Til" uln.e,ss .of 111 if.e remember that Qod only
is not virtue, It is true I e- named "night" and
that spiritual 22:1-11 "day", He gave to
includes avoiding that Adam the right to
which is evil, to be sure, Rev. Kenneth L. Gentry,]r. "name" all the animals.
But it also obligates the Adam was given the
virtuous to do that which is do likewise: thoumayest not Qarden of Eden as his property
good, as well. Some of the hide thyself. Thou shalt not see and the naming' of the material
laws before us now command thy brother's ass or his ox fall world as his calling. He was a
positive duty. We could derive down by the way, and hide material being, his life de-
a great deal of benefit from thyself from them: thou shalt pended on material sustenance
studying each of the laws surely help him to lift them up and his calling of Qod on
individually, one per message. again" (Deul. 22:1-4). Later bringing order to the material
However, due to the length of when we get to the section realm. 50 right from the
Deuteronqmy it may serve us dealing with the laws prohibit- beginning we see that material-
better to compact ,these four ing theft and covetousness, we property rights are important. '
t
' 'I t will study more fully the
into one message 0 ,aCI ita e The first law lays upon the
b bl fi h h
implications of property laws.
our eing a e to 'nis t e godly the moral obligation to
But here it is important to note
book! As we consider these assist in the protection of the
that Moses deals with property
four, let us keep in mind that h f h I property of our nel'ghbors. The
rig ts in terms 0 t eir imp ica-
they are developing the Sixth 'h f I ' of man's ll'fe, requl'res
tion ,or t e promotion 0 i,e '
Commandment and are, thus, If A h (r, d actl've l'nvolveme'nt and particl'-
itse . t eistic ,-/0 -cen-
enhancing the protection of tered) approach to life is rooted pation. If a neighbor loses
human life. firmly in a Bible-based under- some of his property aivestock
1, The Promotion of standing of the world. We do in terms of the case here pre-
Property Rights, "Tho", shalt not believe that man descended sented), the godly person will
not see thy brother's ox or his from gerbil-like animals be, diligent to see that it is
10 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon l' November, 1996
returned. The godly must not someone you do not personally wear a garment of divers sorts,
"hide" himself from his neigh- like having trouble.... If you as of woolen and linen to-
bor by expecting the childish are a Law abiding Christian, gether: Contrary to my college
gain that comes from a "finders, you will return these goods or alma mater, Tennessee Temple
keepers/losers, weepers" ap- help that person in distress Vniversity, and to our local Bob
proach. Our well-being de- (whichever the case may be). Jones Vniversity, this law does
pends on the maintenance of T11is is what is meant by the not teach that a woman shall
our material property. The Second Cireat Commandment not wear slacks. The law is
godly man promotes the mate- which Jesus quoted in Mat- much more serious than that.
rial well-being of his neighbor thew 2.2.: "Thou shalt love thy It is not a fashion law; it is a
by protecting his property rights neighbor as thyself." Jesus fundamental social/moral
in times of loss. As a matter of quoted this commandment obligation. This law is one that
fact, this sort of law is men- from Leviticus 19:13. Ciod's is hated by the humanistic elite
tioned in Exodus 2.3: 4-5 and is Law promotes life by defending of our day. The gay commu-
related even to one's enemy: "If property rights. nity despises the Old Testament
thou meet thine enemy's r;::::==============il due to this and related
ox or his ass going astray, "'The godly man promotet the laws. Modern psychology
thou shalt surely bring it material well-being of his neigh- abhors the moral principle
back to him again. If thou laid down here. You will
see the ass of him that bor by protecting his property never find a Bible study at
hateth thee lying under his rightt in times of loss." Reedy River Falls in
burden, and wouldest Cireenville studying the
forbear to help him, thou shalt 2. The Promotion of implications of this law. What
surely help with him." Again, Sexual Distinclives. As we this law forbids is homosexual
as in our last message: Ciod's study the promotion of life conduct and transvestism. This
Law protects the rights of relative to sexual distinctives, law forbids the male to pass
others, -- whether you like we need to combine verses 5 himself off as a female, and
them or not! Furthermore, and 9 through 11. Verse 5 vice versa. It forbids one sex
when your neighbor (or en- states the moral principl e; from attempting to conduct
emy) is in distress, you must verses 9 through 11 ritualisti- themselves as if it were the
not forbear to help him: "Tho.u cally remind the people of the other. It is not a fashion law, or
shalt not see thy brother's ass or fundamental moral principle by else it would say. "For all that
his ox fall down by the way, forbidding the mixing of kinds: do such have poor taste." But
and hide thyself from them: "The woman shall not wear instead it warns: "For all that
thou shalt surely help him to that which pertaineth unto a do such are abomination unto
lift them up again." This the man, neither shall a man put the Lord thy Ciod: That
law background to Jesus' on a woman's garment: for all which is abominable is radi-
"Ciood Samaritan Parable." that do so are abomination cally immoral and anti-godly.
Ciodly faith is not a passive unto the lord thy Ciod.. .. Homosexual conduct is an
"believing right". It includes an Thou shalt not sow thy vine- abomination to Ciod; it is
active "doing right". Ciod's yard with divers seeds: lest the detestable in His sight. It
Law prompts a concerned, fruit of thy seed which thou perverts one of the most basic
involved society. If you find hast sown, and the fruit of thy distinctions in Ciod's created
property that is not yours.... If vineyard, be defiled. Thou order: the distinction between
you are given too much change shalt not plow with an ox and ... male and-female. When Ciod
by a store clerk.... If you see an ass together. Thou shalt not created mankind, He did so by
November, 1996 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 11
establishing two very distinct
sexes: "So qod created man in
his own image, in the image of
qod created he him: male and
female created he them" (qen.
1 :27). The original Hebrew
words translated "male" and
"female" are words that deal
with sexual function. One of
the leading pseudo-scientific
psychologies plaguing our
society today is Freudianism.
Freudian psychologists avoid
calling a baby a "he" or a "she".
They prefer to call the child an
"it", until the child "comes of
age" at puberty and determines
for himself which sex he will
bel This is directly opposed to
the Creation order and to qod's
holy Law! Such does not
promote life. It promotes death
-- cultural and social, as well as
individual, death. Paul warns
of the specter of social collapse
in Romans 1. He lists rampant
homosexuality as an indicator
of cultural debasement and
collapse. Romans 1 :26-28
speaks of qod's judicial "giving
over" a culture to homosexual-
ity as a judgment: "For this
cause qod gave them up unto
vile affections: for even their
women did change the natural
use into that which is against
nature: and likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of
the woman, burned in their
lust one toward another; men
with men working that which
is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompense of
their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like
to retain qod in their knowl-
edge, qod gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those
things which are not conve-
nient: We do not promote life
by altering qod-created, funda-
mental distinctions between
the sexes. Ood forbids homo-
sexual conduct and transves-
tism. It is an "abomination". It
should never be a legal "right"!
How can a wrong be a right!
Ood's Law promotes life by
demanding the maintenance of
created sexual distinctions.
3. The Promotion of
Environmental Health.
The next case law in verse 6
protects the environment: "If a
bird's nest chance to be before
thee in the way in any tree, or
on the ground, whether they be
young ones, or eggs, and the
dam sitting upon the young, or
upon the eggs, thou shalt not
take the dam with the young."
Here is a theme we ran upon
earlier in our exposition of the
Sixth Commandment. It
should be remembered that in
Deuteronomy 20:19-20 the
laws of war forbade wanton
destruction of fruit trees. In this
case law regulating peace-time
conditions, we have a moral
demand of an identical nature
and result. In Deuteronomy 20
the fruit trees were protected
from wanton destruction by the
army. The basic reason was
because the godly are not at
war with creation, but with
evil men. A pragmatic reason
for such was that they would
be very helpful during the
siege: "thou mayest eat of
them." Here in Deuteronomy
12 " THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f November, 1996
22 the moral directive forbids
the killing of the mother and
the young animaL The case
presented is one of an edible
fowl of some sort. If man were
to kill the mother and the
young, there would be no way
of replenishing man's food
supply. Such conduct could
recklessly endanger the entire
species. This in no way pro-
motes man's life! This law
promotes a respect for Ood' s
creation and conserves the food
chain for man. This is a moral
law. Our modem laws gov-
erning hunting limits, forbid-
ding the shooting of does,
killing endangered species, and
so forth, have this biblical law
as a moral foundation. Laws of
conservation do have a place in
a godly society. We must
respect such laws. Ood intends
for man to develop, .not destroy,
His creation. Now, as we point
this out, we must be aware that
laws of conservation may be
carried too far. Radical envi-
ronmental groups often are
nothing other than idolatrous
nature worshipers. They fre-
quently tend to discourage all
cultural advance and all techno-
logical development while
calling for a return to primitiv-
ism and to nature. In essence,
they worship the creature more
than the Creator. We must be
careful, however, not to over-
react against environmentalists
and "throw out the baby with
the bath water: Ood's Law
commands a healthy respect for
and a care of nature. Nature is
Ood's creation and man's
environment. qod's Law
promotes life by protecting
man's environment.
4. The Promotion of
Community Safety. In the
final law presented in this
message, we come to a com-
mandment that sounds quite
unusual to the modern ear.
Deuteronomy 20:8 commands:
"When thou buildest a new
house, then thou shalt make a
battlement for thy roof, that
thou bring not blood upon
thine house, if any man faU
from thence." Some who
ridicule the Refonned
Christianity's ethical reliance
upon the Law of qod often
facetiously point to this law
and demand: "Where is your
battlementl" In the late 1970's
when theonomic ethics (ethics
based on qod's Law) was
attacked in some parts of the
PCA, this requirement was
frequently aUuded to, as if it.
showed theonomic ethics to be
outmoded. Thankfully the
qeneral Assembly of the PCA
acted twice to uphold confes-
sional theonomic ethics. But
what is the implication of this
law! In order to grasp the
significance and understanding
of this case law, it wilt be
necessal)' to consider the
circumstances of the day. In
biblical days houses were flat-
roofed. The flat roofs of the
houses were frequently used to
entertain guests on. Such a
cultural phenomenon is indi-
cated in numerous Scripture
passages. Let us cite just a
couple by way of iUustration: In
Matthew 10:27 Jesus says,
"What I teU you in darkness,
that speak ye in light: and what
ye hear in the ear, that preach
ye upon the housetops: In Acts
10:9 it is said of Peter: "On the
morrow, as they went on their
journey, and drew nigh unto
the city, Peter went up upon
the housetop to pray about the
sixth hour." Today it would be
strange and fruitless to go up on
the roof to preach, but not in
Jesus' day. Today it would be
dangerous and unheard of to go
up on one's roof to pray, but not
in biblical times. In Ught of the
common cultural usage of the
roof for entertaining guests, for
prayer, and so forth, qod
commanded that His people
make the roof safe by putting a
railing (a "battlement") around
its edges. This was a safety
regulation. In Exodus 21 :33-34
we read of a similar safety law:
"And if a man shall open a pit,
or if a man shall dig a pit, and
not cover it, and an ox or an ass
fall therein, The owner of the
pit shaU make it good, and give
money unto the owner of
them, and the dead beast shaH
be his." There are numerous
other such case-laws. These are
safety laws that give a moral
justification for modern safety
regulations and safety inspec-
tors. life can be hazardous to
your health! But biblical Law
provides safeguards to one's
health in society. But again, as
with the preceding law, these
laws can be carried too far.
Vndoubtedly the extreme has
been reached in many of our
government's O.s.H.A.
regulations. These regulations
are so far reaching, so minute,
so comprehensive that they are
impossible and sometimes even
dangerous to keep! They
border on attempts at predesti-
nation by man. But, as with
the previous law, we must not
"throw out the baby with the
bath water." Not only is this
law a safety law, but a safety
law that establishes legal
liability in accidents: "When
thou build est a new house,
then thou shalt make a battle-
ment for thy roof, that thou
bring not blood upon thine
house, if any man fall from
thence" (v. 8). The law is clear:
If a man entertains guests on
his house with an unprotected
edge, he is liable for damages
for anyone who falls off.
"Blood" is "upon thine house:
However, the converse is true,
as well: If a man has taken
reasonable precautions to insure
the safety of his guests, he is
not liable for damages to
anyone who foolishly faUs off
despite the railing. This is a
vel)' important concept in
biblical law: limited liability.
Lawyers would have been
unemployed most of the time
in biblical days, rather than
being one of the leading
growth industries! Negligence
brings liability, not pure foolish-
ness on the part of the injured.
A related safety law that is
extremely important today is
found in Exodus 21 :28-29: "If
an ox gore a man or a woman,
that they die: then the ox shall
be surely stoned, and his flesh
shall not be eaten; but the
November, 1996 t THE COUNSEL of Cbalcedon t 13
owner of the ox shall be
quit. . But iUhe ox were
wonUo push with his
horn in time past; and it
hath been testified to his
owner, and he hath not
kept him in, but that he
hath killed a man or a
woman; the ox shall be
stoned, and his owner
also shall be put to
death." Notice that
blood-guilt is not laid
upon the owner if it were
not known that the ox
was dangerous (although
financial loss was to be
suffered. by the owner).
But ifthe ox was known
to be dangerous and the
owner did not insure his
being penned up, then
the owner became guilty
of murder. This is directly
applicable to the modern
environment: Driving a
car is not dangerous
when safety laws are
observed. But if a man
drives a car while drunk
and he kills someone,
Ood's justice views that
as murder. It is a known
fact that drunken driving .
is extremely dangerous.
The drunk should not be .
allowed to plead mitigat
ing circumstances or
diminished capacity. He
should be capitally pun-
ished. The same is true
of drug"related damages,
And, of course, such
modern applications
could be multiplied.
Ood's Law promotes life
by establishing public safety
laws.
of the EtemaUudge of man.
We should familiarize our-
selves with Ood's holy Law in
order to seek to live up to Ood's
moral expectations for us. We
should also let Ood's Law
infonn us on current mora!,
socia!, and legal issues. We
must "Let Ood be true, but
every man a liar." We must,
because as Isaiah 33:22 says,
"The Lord is our judge, the
Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord
is our king; he will save us."
Conclusion
Christianity is a religion of
life, abundant life. It encour-
ages a lifestyle that promotes
longevity. It allows scientific
advance which increases life
expectancy. It establishes moral
and social laws that protect
human life. Ood's Law is not
an outdated, relativistic moral-
ity, It is the ever-abiding Word
Biblically Correct (B.C), Not Politically Correct (P.C)
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14 mE COUNSEL of November, 1996