Don't Discourage Your Brethren From Fulfilling Yahweh's Will For Them
Numbers 32 reads,
32:1
Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for cattle; 32:2the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, 32:3Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, 32:4the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle. 32:5They said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; don’t bring us over the Jordan.32:6
Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brothers go to the war, and shall you sit here? 32:7Why discourage you the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Yahweh has given them? 32:8Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 32:9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them. 32:10Yahweh’s anger was kindled in that day, and he swore, saying, 32:11Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: 32:12save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed Yahweh. 32:13Yahweh’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in the sight of Yahweh, was consumed. 32:14Behold, you are risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel. 32:15For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.32:16
They came near to him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: 32:17but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 32:18We will not return to our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 32:19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.32:20
Moses said to them, If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to the war, 32:21and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him, 32:22and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless towards Yahweh, and towards Israel; and this land shall be to you for a possession before Yahweh. 32:23But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out. 32:24Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.32:25
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, Your servants will do as my lord commands. 32:26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead; 32:27but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says. 32:28So Moses gave charge concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.32:29
Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle, before Yahweh, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: 32:30but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.32:31
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do. 32:32We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.32:33
Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, according to the cities of it with their borders, even the cities of the land round about. 32:34The children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 32:35and Atrothshophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah, 32:36and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran: fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 32:37The children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, 32:38and Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 32:39The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. 32:40Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein. 32:41Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the towns of it, and called them Havvoth-jair. 32:42Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages of it, and called it Nobah, after his own name.Don't the words of Moses show that when brethren have a common objective, they should not behave in a manner discouraging others of their number with respect to attaining to the objective? Isn't part of being our brethren's keeper ensuring that we provide them with all their needs when it is in our power to do so, including providing moral and psychological support? Isn't encouraging one's brethren an important requirement when there is a major task to be undertaken by one's brethren?
Yahweh Regulates How Brethren Should Dwell Together
Numbers 36:1-12 reads,
36:1
The heads of the fathers’ houses of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the children of Israel: 36:2and they said, Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 36:3If they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 36:4When the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.36:5
Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Yahweh, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks right. 36:6This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. 36:7So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 36:8Every daughter, who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers. 36:9So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to his own inheritance.36:10
Even as Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: 36:11for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons. 36:12They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.Hasn't Yahweh given the children of Israel laws concerning how they are to live together in the inheritance he gave to their fathers? Hasn't Yahweh given laws authorising daughters without brothers to inherit their father's inheritance? Hasn't Yahweh also given laws ensuring that inheritance land does not pass from one tribe to another? Hasn't Yahweh also restricted the choice of marriage partners for daughters in possession of their father's inheritance, seeing that a daughter belongs to the family of her husband, and ceases to belong to the family of her father once she is married?
Yahweh's Judicial System Handles Conflicts Among Brethren
Deuteronomy 1:9-18 reads,
1:9
I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 1:10Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day as the stars of the sky for multitude. 1:11Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you! 1:12How can I myself alone bear your encumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 1:13Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. 1:14You answered me, and said, The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do. 1:15So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. 1:16I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner who is with him. 1:17You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it. 1:18I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.Didn't Yahweh establish a judicial system in Israel, for handling the conflicts that arise among the children of Israel? Shouldn't brethren dwelling together have a judicial system for addressing the matters that arise out of their dwelling together?
Never Discourage Your Brethren From Observing Yahweh's Word
Deuteronomy 1:19-36 reads,
1:19
We journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.1:20
I said to you, You are come to the hill-country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. 1:21Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you: go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you; don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed. 1:22You came near to me everyone of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come. 1:23The thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe: 1:24and they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 1:25They took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.1:26
Yet you wouldn’t go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God: 1:27and you murmured in your tents, and said, Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 1:28Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there. 1:29Then I said to you, Don’t dread, neither be afraid of them. 1:30Yahweh your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 1:31and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that Yahweh your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place. 1:32Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God, 1:33who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.1:34
Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, 1:35Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers, 1:36save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.Isn't it important that brethren should never discourage one another from observing the commands that Yahweh commands them, even when the signs around them are all negative? Isn't Yahweh the All-Powerful One? Can't Yahweh succeed in undertakings that are humanly impossible? Shouldn't brethren therefore encourage one another to rely on Yahweh and wholly follow him, that they may indeed abide by Yahweh's commands to them, that he may fulfil for them his desires for them?
Levi Has No Inheritance Among His Brethren
Deuteronomy 10:6-9 reads,
10:6
(The children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his place. 10:7From there they journeyed to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. 10:8At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. 10:9Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; Yahweh is his inheritance, according as Yahweh your God spoke to him.)
Love Yahweh Above Your Brethren
Deuteronomy 13:6-11 reads,
13:6
If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you, nor your fathers; 13:7of the gods of the peoples who are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; 13:8you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him: 13:9but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 13:10You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13:11All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more such wickedness as this is in the midst of you.Doesn't Yahweh show that we are to love him more than we love our brethren? Doesn't Yahweh show that we are to obey his word even if the cost of so doing is losing a close relative?
Deal Kindly With Your Brethren
Deuteronomy 15:1-11 reads,
15:1
At the end of every seven years you shall make a release. 15:2This is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother; because Yahweh’s release has been proclaimed. 15:3Of a foreigner you may exact it: but whatever of your is with your brother your hand shall release.15:4
However there shall be no poor with you; (for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it;) 15:5if only you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you this day. 15:6For Yahweh your God will bless you, as he promised you: and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. 15:7If there be with you a poor man, one of your brothers, within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; 15:8but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wants. 15:9Beware that there not be a base thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you. 15:10You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because that for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to. 15:11For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.
Yahweh Makes Distinction Between Brethren And Outsiders
Doesn't Yahweh again make a distinction between brethren and outsiders? Doesn't Yahweh allow his people to exact after the year of release credit given to a foreigner, but forbids them from so doing with their brethren, insisting that they forgive such debts?
Yahweh Has Conditionally Promised His People The Absence Of Poverty
Hasn't Yahweh promised his people Israel the absence of poverty, if only they listen to his word and diligently observe his commandments? Shouldn't Yahweh's people abide by his words that they might not be poor?
Doesn't Yahweh again stress to his people that they are indeed their brethren's keepers? Aren't Yahweh's people to see the needs of their needy brethren and provide for those needs when it is in their power to do so? Doesn't Yahweh show that when his people see the needs of their brethren but fail to provide for those needs, yet are able to do so, they indeed have an "evil eye"? Doesn't Yahweh show that an evil eye, a heart that does not have compassion upon the needy, is a sinful eye and heart? And doesn't Yahweh promise to bless his people for providing for the needs of their brethren?
Don't Make Bondservants Of Your Brethren
Deuteronomy 15:12-17 reads,
15:12
If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold to you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 15:13When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty: 15:14you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress; as Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15:15You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today. 15:16It shall be, if he tell you, I will not go out from you; because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you; 15:17then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your maid-servant you shall do likewise. 15:18It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you; for to the double of the hire of a hireling has he served you six years: and Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do.Doesn't Yahweh show that his people the children of Israel are not to make bondservants of their brethren, but are only to enter into limited duration services? Doesn't Yahweh promise to bless his people when they release their brethren who are their servants from their service?
Only One Of Your Brethren Should Rule Over You
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 reads,
17:14
When you are come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; 17:15you shall surely set him king over you, whom Yahweh your God shall choose: one from among your brothers shall you set king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 17:16Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, You shall henceforth return no more that way. 17:17Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 17:18It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 17:19and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; 17:20that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.Doesn't Yahweh show that his people should be ruled only by one of their number? Doesn't Yahweh also show that brethren should not have hearts that are lifted up above their fellows, but should be humble before their fellows? Doesn't Yahweh also show that by abiding by his word, keeping all the words of his law, brethren will not have hearts lifted up above their fellows? Doesn't this show that observance of Yahweh's law teaches us humility? And doesn't this show that Yahweh desires humble hearts within his people, rather than proud or arrogant hearts?
Deuteronomy 18:1-5 reads,
18:1
The priests the Levites, even all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, and his inheritance. 18:2They shall have no inheritance among their brothers: Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them. 18:3This shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. 18:4The first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him. 18:5For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh, him and his sons for ever.
Yahweh's Laws Ensure That His Ministers Are Adequately Provided For
Deuteronomy 18:6-8 reads,
18:6
If a Levite come from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he sojourns, and come with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose; 18:7then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh. 18:8They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which comes of the sale of his patrimony.Hasn't Yahweh instituted laws to ensure that those who serve him at his Tent of Meeting have their needs provided for? Shouldn't brethren, in keeping with Yahweh's word that they are their brethren's keepers, provide for the needs of their fellows?
Yahweh's Prophesied Prophet Like Moses To Have Been Raised From Among The Children Of Israel
Deuteronomy 18:15-22 reads,
18:15
Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to him you shall listen; 18:16according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die. 18:17Yahweh said to me, They have well said that which they have spoken. 18:18I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. 18:19It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 18:20But the prophet, who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. 18:21If you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken? 18:22When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken: the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.Didn't Yahweh prophesy by Moses that he would indeed send the children of Israel another prophet like Moses, raised up from among them and not an outsider? Didn't Yahweh require the children of Israel to listen to his words by this prophet like Moses, seeing that this prophet would speak Yahweh's words and command the children of Israel all that Yahweh would command him? Didn't Yahweh say that he would require it of anyone who would not listen to his words by his prophet like Moses?
Not All Prophets Professing Yahweh Belong To Him
Hasn't Yahweh also shown his people that not all who profess to be Yahweh's prophets are indeed Yahweh's prophets? Don't some prophets speak in Yahweh's name presumptuously, thereby causing the people to believe in a lie?
Yahweh's Words Never Fall To The Ground
Doesn't Yahweh also indicate that his words never fall to the ground, with all the words that he utters being fulfilled at their appointed time? Doesn't this show that all can indeed rely on Yahweh's words, seeing he is always dependable and faithful?
Don't Abuse The Judicial Process Against Your Brethren
Deuteronomy 19:16-21 reads,
19:16
If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of wrong-doing, 19:17then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; 19:18and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother; 19:19then shall you do to him, as he had thought to do to his brother: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you. 19:20Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of you. 19:21Your eyes shall not pity; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.Doesn't Yahweh teach his children to deal truthfully with one another, and not seek to abuse judicial process? Doesn't Yahweh also show that the penalty for those who falsely seek a judgement against another is the judgement they falsely sought against the other?
Be Courageous And Fearless When Doing Battle With Your Brethren For Yahweh
Deuteronomy 20:1-9 reads,
20:1
When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 20:2It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people, 20:3and shall tell them, Hear, Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: don’t let your heart faint; don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; 20:4for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. 20:5The officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 20:6What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used the fruit of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit of it. 20:7What man is there who has pledged to be married a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. 20:8The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart. 20:9It shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking to the people, that they shall appoint captains of hosts at the head of the people.Doesn't Yahweh show his people that they are to be courageous and fearless when they do battle for Yahweh, for Yahweh accompanies them in their battles? Doesn't Yahweh also show that those who are not courageous and fearless should be removed from the army of Yahweh's people going to battle, for these are a liability to his army? Don't these cause the hearts of the rest of the army to become weak and fearful, thereby preventing Yahweh accomplishing his exploits through them? Doesn't this show that it is indeed essential for those battling for Yahweh to have courage and fearlessness when they so battle for him?
Preserve Your Brethren's Property
Deuteronomy 22:1-4 reads,
22:1
You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother. 22:2If your brother isn’t near to you, or if you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him. 22:3So shall you do with his donkey; and so shall you do with his garment; and so shall you do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost, and you have found: you may not hide yourself. 22:4You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely help him to lift them up again.Doesn't Yahweh show that the principle of being our brethren's keeper does not stop with providing our brethren with their needs when it is in our power to do so, but also extends to protecting or preserving their property when it is in our power to do so?
Yahweh Makes Distinction Between Brethren And Foreigners
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 reads,
23:19
You shall not lend on interest to your brother; interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of anything that is lent on interest: 23:20to a foreigner you may lend on interest; but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it.Doesn't Yahweh again make distinction between brethren and outsiders in the dealings a person has with them? Doesn't Yahweh forbid brethren lending to one another on interest, but allows them to do so when lending to outsiders? Doesn't this show that it is not wrong to lend upon interest, but that one's close relatives should be given preferential treatment in one's dealing with them?
Deuteronomy 24:7 reads,
24:7
If a man be found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deal with him as a slave, or sell him; then that thief shall die: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.Doesn't Yahweh repeatedly show that one is not to defraud one's brethren in any matter, including that of personal freedom?
Deuteronomy 24:14-15 reads,
24:14
You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your sojourners who are in your land within your gates: 24:15in his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it: lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you.Doesn't Yahweh show that it is oppression for one to withhold or delay payment of those who are one's servants, whether brethren or not? Doesn't Yahweh command his people not to oppress those under their authority, seeing it is sin to do so? Shouldn't Yahweh's people avoid this sin of oppressing those under their authority?
Deuteronomy 25:1-3 reads,
25:1
If there be a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked; 25:2and it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. 25:3Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then your brother should seem vile to you.Doesn't Yahweh show that in our dealings with our brethren we should maintain their dignity, even when they are punished for their iniquity?
Take Care Of Your Brethren, Even In Death
Deuteronomy 25:5-10 reads,
25:5
If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her to him as wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 25:6It shall be, that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel. 25:7If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me. 25:8Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him: and if he stand, and say, I don’t want to take her; 25:9then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house. 25:10His name shall be called in Israel, The house of him who has his shoe loosed.Doesn't Yahweh again reiterate that we are indeed to act as our brethren's keepers, even when they are dead? Aren't we to ensure that their name or inheritance is preserved, thereby fulfilling our duty to our brethren?
Yahweh Does Not Force Us To Keep Our Brethren
Doesn't Yahweh also show that he does not force us to fulfil our duty? Nevertheless, doesn't he also show that when we do not do so, we incur shame by our omission and deserve to be treated in a shameful manner?
Don't Have An Evil Eye Against Your Brethren
Deuteronomy 28:45-57 reads,
28:45
All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn’t listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you: 28:46and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever. 28:47Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; 28:48therefore shall you serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he have destroyed you. 28:49Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand; 28:50a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young, 28:51and shall eat the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your cattle, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 28:52They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you. 28:53You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 28:54The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining; 28:55so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates. 28:56The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 28:57and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.Isn't it clear that an evil eye is synonymous with a heart that is not concerned for the needy among his brethren, caring only for its own interests?
Doesn't Yahweh show in 28:46 that his terrible curses would be on the seed of the children of Israel forever, on account of their rebellion against Yahweh in not listening to his words? Shouldn't we listen to Yahweh's words to avoid bringing upon our seed and ourselves curses?
Love Yahweh More Than You Love Your Brethren
Deuteronomy 33:8-11 reads,
33:8
Of Levi he said,Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one,
Whom you did prove at Massah,
With whom you did strive at the waters of Meribah;
33:9
Who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him;Neither did he acknowledge his brothers,
Nor knew he his own children:
For they have observed your word,
Keep your covenant.
33:10
They shall teach Jacob your ordinances,Israel your law:
They shall put incense before you,
Whole burnt offering on your altar.
33:11
Bless, Yahweh, his substance,Accept the work of his hands:
Smite through the loins of those who rise up against him,
Of those who hate him, that they not rise again.
Doesn't Yahweh show, through the example of Levi, that we should love him more than we love our brethren? Doesn't loving Yahweh above our brethren entail obeying Yahweh even when there are adverse consequences against our brethren?
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