Deuteronomy 17:8-13 Final Answer
Moses shares God’s plans for rendering final decisions. There is no appeal after it reaches this point and no compromise after the verdict has been rendered.
Moses had served the people in this capacity since his father in law Jethro had instructed him, through God’s wisdom, to make levels of authority. Moses had set leaders over the people to judge the issues brought to them that were between two opposing people. Anything that was too difficult for them to judge or was between God and a person was brought to him. He then consulted God and rendered judgment according to God’s will.
But Moses wasn’t going to be with the people any longer. God had a system in place for this eventuality. The Levites were His intermediaries and He gave them authority to pronounce judgments in His name. And the judgment that He passed was final.
In the United States we have tiered levels of authority. We have the county courts, State Applet Courts and the Supreme Court. I’m sure there are probably a couple in this hierarchy that I missed but the point I’m getting to is the power of the Supreme Court. This court is the highest in our nation. Its rulings are final. There is no appeal beyond this point and the litigants are required to adopt its decisions. Their decisions also affect the rest of the nation as their rulings impact cases at the lower levels.
Man’s systems are flawed and can make mistakes. God is above those flaws and when His directives are being STRICTLY followed there is no mistake. This was God’s ideal for the people. He expected the highest judges in the land to bring the decisions brought to them to Him. Not every decision probably but the ones that were unclear in His Laws and the ones that required knowing the heart of the men involved.
The cases of the degree of murder are certainly one He would be most capable of answering. Was this a premeditated act or an accident? Did the person reach for whatever was hand in the heat of the moment or lay in wait? These are things that HE would be able to know regardless of how well the accused story is. He knows the hearts of man. The same with the assault motives. But God said to bring ANY of the cases that were too difficult for the local judges to the Levites who would bring them to Him.
I’ sure the “any case” also included those that when a decision was rendered, one of the parties refused to accept the verdict. Cases where one party wanted to appeal the decision. I’ve been caught in a situation like this and it is NO FUN. I wonder if the appeals process is close to what we have in the United States today. Appeals can take several different avenues but the one most commonly used is a mistake or issue with the procedures involved in rendering the original decision.
God didn’t give a listing of reasons the lower judges were unable to settle the matters. What He did say was that once this final judgment was requested and rendered that there were no further appeals allowed. The decision had to be carried out, no matter what the parties thought of the final ruling. ANYONE who didn’t forfeited their life. God was firm on this point. He didn’t say who had to carry out the sentence against someone who refused to accept His final ruling. It may have even been Him who carried out this punishment.
God wasn’t doing this to be a harsh but it set the tone for obedience. This was the same tone set for following other gods. He would remove the leaven or infection before it had a chance to spread. This was how to keep His people safe. Unfortunately we know that the “people” part of this system failed. They stopped consulting God on the issues and figured they could handle it themselves.
Father God, I have balked at some of Your “final answers” at times too. I’m MORE than grateful that I didn’t earn the penalty prescribed in Your Law. But my not wanting or fighting against Your answers didn’t change the answer. I was eventually brought back to the place where I would hear it and obey. Sometimes I reached that place kicking and screaming but once I did comply I saw how much better Your answer was that ANY I could have come up with.
Holy Spirit thank You for speaking to my heart and showing me the difference between MY answer and God’s answer for me. Help me know the difference in where my walk is to go too. I want to follow God’s plans and not ones of my own flawed design. I know He can take anything I have and make it right even when I do mess up His intentions. But it is so much easier when I follow His plans. Give me Your insight and wisdom.
