The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 11 August 2021 – Caution In Executing Judgement
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TOPIC: Caution In Executing Judgement
Read: Deuteronomy 21:22,23 ( NKJV)
- ” If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
- “his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you [as] an inheritance; for he who is hanged [is] accursed of God.
THE MESSAGE:
One of the reasons for public hanging of some criminals in ancient Palestine was to strike fear into others. It was a punishment for a capital offence and served as deterrent to others. God set a time of bringing down one who is hung on a tree; as in another law, He set a number of stripes for a crime worthy of stripes. The criminal who deserves to be beaten with stripes should not receive more than thirty-nine stripes. Time of hanging the criminal notwithstanding. at sun-set, they must be taken down and buried. The reason for these is
(1) to preserve human honour, and
(2) to avoid defiling the land (verse 23). Touching a dead body, according to Moses’ law, is defiling. By the same rule, this would defile the land.
Apostle Paul while admonishing the Corinthian Christians urged them to be cautious while executing judgment against an offender (II Corinthians 2:6). The stipulated punishment should not be exceeded. Any Church member who commits a serious offence must be punished by the Church (I Corinthians 5:1-3), so as to defend the integrity of the Church. The Church must punish the offender with a punishment sufficient to produce spiritual transformation in him/her, yet not so harsh as to deny hope of divine mercy and re-entry into the fellowship. Punishment for an offender could not be more or longer than necessary, “lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow “(II Corinthians 2:7).
PRAYER: God help me to understand the weight of my sins which Jesus Christ took upon Himself in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
