The fifth commandment

Deuteronomy 20:19-20

“‘When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.’”

Here the principle of conservation is somewhat more broadly elaborated. Not even extreme situations sanction the wanton destruction of creation. Not even when that creation belongs to one’s enemies. Trees could be put to proper use in making siegeworks to carry out war against an aggressor, but they must not be wantonly destroyed as a kind of vendetta against one’s enemies. As the text implies, the creation is not at war with us.

Creation is to be used wisely and well; it is to be honored as a work of God’s hand. All creation is God’s servant to accomplish His good purposes (Ps. 119:89-91). As God’s people delight in His Law, they find the wisdom to function as His stewards and regents over all creation and all of life.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The fifth commandment

5.6 Honor creation

We are to honor the creation, using it in such a way as to conserve it for the future.

Deuteronomy 22:6, 7

“If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.”

Genesis 2:15; Psalm 24:1; Psalm 111:2; Romans 8:19-23

Two principles of environmental care and responsibility close out the fifth commandment. Even the creation deserves a healthy measure of respect and honor from the people of God.

In this case, the principle of conservation is in view. By taking the eggs or the young, Israelites would have spared the adult bird to produce more. This represents a principle of selective harvesting of the creation in order to meet the needs of human beings. If we will work hard to understand the implications and applications of this principle more broadly, God promises to bless us.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The fifth commandment

Deuteronomy 24:10-13

“When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God.”

Even those who are in our debt are to be respected and honored appropriately. If one who was poor had to borrow from one better off, and gave up his cloak as pledge of repayment, that cloak had to be returned to the poor man by nightfall. It would be taken up again the next day. My sense is that the tediousness of having to do this each day would discourage those making the loans from requiring a pledge and, by implication, repayment of the loan.

The man who made a pledge that was to be collected at his home was to be allowed the opportunity of bringing that pledge out. No debtor could transgress his threshold to take what had been promised. Waiting outside for the man to bring out his pledge was a way of saying that the debtor’s word was good.

Keeping such everyday statutes and rules was a way of fulfilling the righteous expectations of God, and, hence, of keeping righteousness alive within the community.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The fifth commandment

5.5 Honor others

We are to show respect to the elderly, the poor, and all other people, because they are the image-bearers of God.

Leviticus 19:32

“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.”

Luke 14:7-11; Romans 12:10-17; 1 Peter 2:17

The reference here may be specifically to a ruler or judge or elder in a local community, but it was probably meant to include all elderly. Standing is a way of showing deference, as if to give up one’s seat to the arriving person. The story, told by Bede, of how the Celtic priests used this little test to determine whether or not they could trust the Roman missionary, Augustine, demonstrates how seriously the people of that day regarded the Law of God. When Augustine failed to stand as the Celtic elders entered his presence, it indicated he either did not know the Law or did not regard it as he should. Either way, he was not to be trusted, and the Celtic priests did not.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The fifth commandment

5.4 Civil authorities: Honor God’s Law

Civil magistrates must live and rule in accordance with the Law of God.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”

2 Samuel 23:3, 4; 1 Kings 6:11-13; Matthew 14:1-4; Acts 23:1-3; Romans 13:1-4; 1 Peter 2:13, 14

This is not the first time God had told His people they could have a king. In Genesis 49:8-10 Jacob had foretold the coming of a king through the tribe of Judah, who would rule over his brothers and ultimately extend his rule to all the nations. Here God simply expands on what He had previously said.

The king must be appointed from among the people of Israel. He must not aspire to great wealth or power; instead, the king’s primary concern must be the just administration of the Law of God. He was to write a copy of the Law of God in his own hand. This would then be examined and approved by the priests before it became his personal possession. He was expected to read in the Law of God all the days of his life. This would fit him to serve the people of Israel out of fear of God and desire for them to know the blessings of divine rule.

We can only imagine the effect of such rule, although we see glimpses of it during parts of the reigns of David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, and others. Psalms 1 and 2, coming in the order they do, are perhaps intended to reinforce God’s plan for order in civil society: focus on the Law, anoint kings who will rule in God’s stead and for His glory.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The fifth commandment

Deuteronomy 17:8-13

“If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that the LORD your God will choose. And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision. Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the LORD will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.”

1 Corinthians 16:15, 16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13; Hebrews 13:17

This provision is not exactly a form of appeal, but it’s easy enough to see how such a practice could derive from what we see here. Higher courts existed to help those at local levels decide cases too hard for them. It’s interesting to note that the ultimate court in Israel was both sacred and secular: it was comprised of both a judge and a priest (or priests).

Decisions of these “higher courts” were final; all were expected to carry out their judgments in a fair and efficient manner. We cannot help but note the deterrent effect of such speedy justice. The people would see the judgments of courts carried out quickly and thoroughly, and they would fear to find themselves at odds with the Law of God.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Fifth Commandment

Deuteronomy 25:1-3

“If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to the offense. Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.”

It’s not clear for what cause a transgressor might deserve to beaten. If we keep in mind the “eye for an eye” character of Old Testament justice, beatings may have been inflicted on those who did bodily harm to another. The beating may have been a substitute, for example, for putting out someone’s eye or breaking one of his bones.

This retributive form of justice was harsh but necessary, at least for this period of Israel’s history. Note, however, that the punishment must be carefully measured. Justice was meant to restore order and social harmony, not to humiliate offenders or to leave them permanently degraded in the eyes of their neighbors. Once the judgment was made and the penalty inflicted, the community would consider that justice had been done, and people could then get on with their lives. How unlike this system is our own, which creates an enduring stigma for those sentenced to time in jail or prison.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Fifth Commandment

5.3 Honor authorities

The rulers of God’s people are called to exercise just judgment, and they are to be honored and obeyed.

Exodus 22:28

“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”

Acts 23:1-5; Romans 13:5; Titus 3:1

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

John 7:24; Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5

We note that Jesus extended the charge to rulers to the people of God generally in John 7:24. All God’s people must judge righteous judgment in their dealings with one another. Thus we may expect to stimulate one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24), to deliver one who has fallen into sin (Gal. 6:1), and to exercise our gifts in ministry unto love for God and neighbor and the building-up of the Body of Christ.

God’s promise is that, when His people thus live in justice, according to all His Word, as faithfully taught and judged by the rulers of each community, they will know the fullness of His covenant blessings. Here is all the more reason for every believer to take seriously the Lord’s command to learn, obey, and teach His Law, for the progress of His Kingdom and the glory of His Name (Matt. 5:17-19).

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Fifth Commandment

5.3 Honor authorities

The rulers of God’s people are called to exercise just judgment, and they are to be honored and obeyed.

Exodus 22:28

“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”

Acts 23:1-5; Romans 13:5; Titus 3:1

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

John 7:24; Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5

Rulers in the communities of ancient Israel were “appointed” to their posts; they had to have the approval of the community to serve in this capacity, which meant they had to be trustworthy men, godly in all their ways, and capable of interpreting the Law of the Lord to the people.

Rulers met in the gates of the city, for both practical and symbolic reasons. Meeting in the gates symbolized their guardianship over what came into the community. Like shepherds, sitting in the entrance to the sheepfold, the rulers judged the people at the gates of the city and guarded the city from sin. But their deliberations would also have been open for all to see (cf. Ruth 4). Thus, the people would learn how to think about the application of God’s Law to their own lives by listening to the rulers and judges of the city as they deliberated various cases and reached decisions. Their charge was to seek justice, the righteous will of God, so that the good purposes of God—love for God and neighbor—could flourish in each community of the land.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Fifth Commandment

5.3 Honor authorities

The rulers of God’s people are called to exercise just judgment, and they are to be honored and obeyed.

Exodus 22:28

“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”

Acts 23:1-5; Romans 13:5; Titus 3:1

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

John 7:24; Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5

Parents, prophets, and rulers: these are the primary authorities God has established to bring order and blessing to the community of His people. Just as we should not curse our parents or revile those who, as God’s spokesmen, bring us His Word, so we should not curse or revile our rulers. They may not be the best rulers, and they may even be wicked at times; still, we must guard our tongues in speaking about them, as Paul showed (Acts 23:1-5).

When we speak ill of our rulers the danger is that we will demean the office and, hence, contribute to the undermining of God’s ordained order. There are proper ways of speaking about the decisions, actions, or character of rulers, and we must do so as often as is necessary, for this, too, protects the integrity of the divinely appointed office. However, we must be careful in all our criticisms that we not condemn or curse those whom God has appointed to rule. Wicked rulers must not be obeyed, but not even they may be made subject to our cursing and reviling. If we must disobey a wicked ruler, we must do so honorably, as the Lord Jesus and apostles, following the prophets, demonstrated.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.