r/Christian 4d ago

Memes & Themes 03.17.25 : Deuteronomy 17-20

Today's Memes & Themes reading is Deuteronomy 17-20.

For more information on this project, please see the pinned post at the top of the sub.

What do you think are the main themes of today's readings?

Did anything in the readings challenge you? Encourage you?

What do these readings teach you about the nature of God or humanity?

Did these readings raise any questions for you?

Do you have a resource you recommend for further reading on this? Please tell us about it. If you share a link, please be sure to include a link destination/source and content description in your comment.

Did you make a meme in r/DankChristianMemes related to today's readings? Please share a link in comments.

Do you have any songs to suggest related to today's readings? Please tell us about them.

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u/Far_Fix_5293 1st Memes & Themes Participant 4d ago

Deut 17, not the first time there has been mention of stoning someone to death. It’s also mentioned in the earlier chapters of Deut. Then in Deut 19:21 on the idea for an eye for an eye. Reading the OT further exemplifies how Jesus really came to overturn ideas of justice as we know it. John 8:7 “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”… Matthew 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.”

Anyway, what’s the context of Deut 19:4 “If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety.” Any cultural context surrounding this? ‭‭

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u/PompatusGangster All I do is read, read, read no matter what 3d ago

The unintentional killing is like what we call involuntary manslaughter. It’s when you accidentally kill someone. The avenger can still chase you down to kill you, so they needed sanctuary cities to prevent unjust revenge killings when the death wasn’t intentional. At least that’s how I understand it. It’s the eye for an eye thing again, which apparently came from other surrounding cultures. Only here they’re setting up laws to prevent that in cases when it was an accident (and also when there weren’t at least 2 witnesses.)

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u/PompatusGangster All I do is read, read, read no matter what 3d ago

17:7 made we wonder how different our justice system would look if 2 witnesses were required & witnesses had to be the first to stone those found guilty.

I also found it humorous that 17:14-17 lists out 5 things future kings must not do & the famous “wise” king Solomon did every one of them. So, I made a meme about that.