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Deuteronomy 22 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Many of these laws seem outdated or inapplicable to our modern culture. Furthermore, one might say that since we are under the New Covenant we are no longer under the Old Testament law. Though this is true, the laws themselves still guide us with useful principles that reveal the heart of God. We find, in general, that God was not a fan of mixtures. This was first and foremost because His desire was for His people to be separate and holy.
Deuteronomy 22:10 GNB “Do not hitch an ox and a donkey together for plowing.
“This sounds to me like a humorous thing which the Lord is saying here. Actually I saw this done over in Israel. In fact, I have a slide that I took showing an Arab plowing with an ox and an ass yoked together. So they do this over there even today. God says that Israel should not plow that way. Someone may ask, ‘What is wrong with that?’ Well, an ox is an ox and an ass is an ass, and they do not go together. They don’t walk together—their gait is different, and they do not pull together.”
J. Vernon McGee
Why does God caution against being unequally yoked? What did Jesus pray for His children in John 17?
I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One. 16 Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world.
John 17:15-16 GNB
When we choose to follow God and He places His Spirit in us, we bear His image and conform to the likeness of His Son. We begin to change as He pulls our hearts away from this shallow world toward the Kingdom of Heaven. This process draws a clear line between those who are following the world and those who are following Christ. When you meet someone who knows Jesus, it is evident. They are full of grace and truth. They love deeply and forgive quickly. They pray for their enemies and those who persecute them. They exhibit the fruits of the Spirit.
If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen. 21 The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love others also.
1 John 4:20-21 GNB
The bottom line is: God hates mixtures. When we live our lives with a mixture of Godly words with worldly actions, it is evident that there is something missing. We have not really seen the beauty of Christ.