“If someone has committed a capital crime and is put to death, then hung on a tree, his body is not to remain all night on the tree, but you must bury him the same day, because a person who has been hanged has been cursed by God — so that you will not defile your land, which Adonai your God is giving you to inherit.”-Deuteronomy 21:22-23
Today, we finally come to the last topic of Deuteronomy Chapter 21.
From verse 22, we’re told that when a man is justifiably executed for a capital offense, if part of his execution procedures involve having his dead body impaled on a stake, then the corpse must be taken down before nightfall.
Doesn’t this bring to mind something familiar you may have heard of before?
That’s right.
It brings up the crucifixion of Yeshua of Nazareth.
However, we ain’t gonna be talking about Yeshua today.
We’ll discuss him tomorrow.
For now, let’s discuss this act of hoisting up the body of a dead criminal up on a pole or stake for public display.
The first thing you should know is that this gruesome act was actually the norm during Bible times.
It served as an ominous reminder of what happens to the person who disobeys God’s Law.
The stake itself may have been a long and thick pointed pole upon which the criminal was impaled as the means of execution (ouch!) OR…
…the criminal may have been impaled on the pole AFTER he was executed by other means.
Now the phrase “hung on a tree” or “hung on a pole” doesn’t always mean impalement.
But one thing I can say for sure is when the word “hanging” is used in the Scriptures, it most definitely does NOT mean strangulation via “hanging” at the gallows.
Why can I say that with such confidence?
Because the ancient Hebrews did not practice execution by hanging.
Onward.
After the execution, what usually happened is the dead body had its arms strapped down to a crossbeam which was then mounted to the top of an already standing pole situated by a road or some other public area.
Although it did happen from time to time, impaling a corpse just wasn’t customary in those days.
What was customary was to treat the dead body with respect, even if the dead person in question was a criminal.
Therefore, while God permitted the practice of hanging the corpse of a criminal in a public place, at the end of the day, the body had to be taken down and properly buried.
The corpse couldn’t just be thrown over a cliff or allowed to rot out in a field somewhere where scavengers could get at it.
The body had to be buried BEFORE sundown.
Period.
There is actually a very important SPIRITUAL reason for this.
What do you think it might be?
This is something we studied recently.
Here’s what it is.
If the body is NOT buried, it becomes an offense to God.
Not only does it become an offense, but if the corpse is not given a proper burial, the land becomes defiled!
Hmm..
…where did we study this before?
Let me give you a hint.
Remember how we talked about how a heifer’s neck had to be broken in response to the discovery of an unknown murder victim’s body out in a field somewhere?
Do you remember what that was all about?
That’s right!
I’m talking about bloodguilt.
Remember, killing a man in and of itself is NOT an automatic wrong.
However, one must obey the Lord’s procedures to first determine if death is warranted or not and if warranted…
…the killing and subsequent treatment of the dead body must done in accordance with the Lord’s commands.
That’s what we’re dealing with here: the treatment of the criminal’s dead body.
Here’s the thing.
If the Lord’s Torah is properly obeyed, then not only does the killing NOT bring the curse of bloodguilt upon the land BUT…
…it actually PURGES the land of bloodguilt…
…even if the accused is 100% guilty as charged!!!
On the other hand, if God’s Torah is NOT properly obeyed, then even if the killing is justified, it will still bring the curse of bloodguilt upon BOTH the land and the community.
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