Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #7 of Genesis 34.  We have been reading a related passage in Deuteronomy 22.  We normally read our verses in Genesis first, but tonight we are going to go to that passage in Deuteronomy 22:13-19:

If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

I will stop there.  In our last study, we were looking at the “cloth,” and we came to understand it.  If you have not been following along in the last few Bible studies but you are joining us tonight, the “man” is a figure of the Law of God, and he married this woman, which can represent all of mankind, and can also represent national Israel.  We will also see that in this transition, the woman can represent the elect, the bride of Christ.

The man brought an accusation against the woman that she was not a virgin.  To not be a virgin would mean that she was unclean or impure.  Spiritually, that would translate to mean that she was a sinner, and her sins were upon her.  The Law of God in that spiritual marriage is charging the wife with fornication, or unfaithfulness, concerning the keeping of the Law.  It is a failure to keep the Law. 

That is why we see this term “occasions of speech,” because the Hebrew word translated as “speech” is the word

 “daw-bawr',” and that is the Hebrew word for “word.”  So the man gave “occasions of word” against the woman, but the damsel’s mother and father produced the token of her virginity, which was a cloth they spread before the elders of the city.  Historically, there is no problem; it was more than likely a sheet from the marriage night, and that proved she was a virgin.

Yet when we looked up the word “cloth,” we saw that this word did not direct us to the idea of “bed sheets,” but it directed us to clothing or raiment, again, and again.  So at the end of our last study, we saw in Genesis 9:23 and Deuteronomy 10:18 that the raiment identifies with covering spiritual nakedness, which is sin.  It points to the raiment that the Lord Jesus Christ provides for His people, which is His righteousness.  The righteousness of Christ adorns and covers each child of God so that our “nakedness,” or sins, are not seen.  God no longer sees any sin upon us.  He sees us clothed in pure, fine, white linen, which is the righteousness of saints.  That is the picture in view with the spreading of the cloth before the elders of the city.

Historically, the elders of the city would be the literal elders of that city of Israel.  But, spiritually, God is one God, but three Persons, and He is the ancient of days, who is “the elder” that is figured in 2John 1:1 where it says, “The elder unto the elect lady and her children.”  God is writing to all the elect children of God.  So the city would represent New Jerusalem, or the kingdom of heaven, and the elders have the cloth spread before them, so they are witnesses, and they now have the understanding that she was a virgin.  Therefore, we read in Deuteronomy 22:18-19:

And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

The first thing we read is that they chastised him, and this word “chastise” is used in regard to punishment for unfaithfulness.  What is unusual is that it is no longer the damsel who is in view, but her husband is now subject to the chastisement. 

If we go Leviticus 26, we find this same word that was translated as “chastised” used a few times here.  Let us look first at the context, in Leviticus 26:14:

But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

So it has to do with unfaithfulness, a failure to keep the Law of God.  Then we read in Leviticus 26:18:

And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

The word “punish” is a translation of the same Hebrew word translated as “chastised” in our verse.  It is Strong’s #3256.  Then we read in Leviticus 26:21:

And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

I read this just so we can see that this was not a light chastisement, or punishment, as God uses the number “seven,” which points to the perfection of plagues upon them for their sins.  The does have identification with the corporate body of national Israel and the churches of the New Testament.  God chastises, or punishes, them, and that is why judgment began at the house of God.

Then it says in Leviticus 26:27-28:

And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

Here we see God’s fury.  And keep in mind that this word “chastise” is the same word used in verse 18.  It is basically making the same statement, but the word has been changed, so that does tell us that “chastisement” is related to “punishment.”  It is something that we must keep in mind.

Now let us turn to 1Corinthians 11:32:

But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord.  This is interesting because God is bringing these two ideas together – being judged, and being chastened.  The word “judged” is #2919 in the Greek concordance, and it is the word translated as “judged” in the context of Judgment Day.  It is the same word used in Revelation 11:18:

And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged…

Again, I am just noting that God is making a connection between these two words, and it is helpful to us at this time because the elect of God have been left and living on the earth, remaining until the finalization of this prolonged Judgment Day.  On the last day we will be taken up, but we have been left on the earth to go through the judgment, and it is as a chastisement to us.  And there is a very good reason why it is a chastisement because God links together the ideas of “chastisement” with “judgment” in Hebrews 12:2-8:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

There is a key word in verse 6 which helps us to see that the context is speaking of Jesus, and it is relating Jesus’ experience of chastisement to His people and our expectation of chastisement.  In fact, God makes the statement that He chastens every son that He receives.  And if you are without chastisement, you are not a son, or true child of God.

The word “scourgeth” is used in verse 6: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”  This same word was used of Christ in John 19:1-2:

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

Then they took Him to be crucified.  The scourging was a part of the suffering of Christ, or the punishment He was receiving of the wrath of God, even unto death.  Now we have to be aware that Jesus made payment for sin at the foundation of the world, and what He experienced in 33 A. D. was a demonstration to show what He had done in eternity past at the point of the world’s foundation.  And yet the idea of the “scourging” of Christ and His suffering unto death on the cross does tell us of what happened at the foundation of the world when He was the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  We know from Romans 1 that God reveals something that was kept a mystery until relatively recently at this time of the end,  It says in Romans 1:3-4:

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

There is a lot of information here, so let me “condense” it a little bit by reading the first part of verse 4 with the last part of verse 4.  Referring to Jesus, it says, “declared to be the Son of God…by (through) the resurrection of the dead.”  That is Jesus died.  He was scourged, and He suffered.  All these things were illustrating His death at the foundation of the world.  He experienced the horror of being separated from His Father, and dying to pay for the sins of His people.  He died and paid the payment that the Law demanded, which was death, and then He arose from the dead at the foundation of the world, declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead.  He became the “firstborn Son of God” after going through this judgment which can be likened to “chastisement,” and He endured it, finally to be declared God’s Son. 

The people of God today are on a similar course, and we will experience a like resurrection.  God has left us on the earth to go through the judgment, as the world has been turned into “hell,” or the grave, at this time.  And at the last day, all the elect children of God will rise up out of the grave.  The ones that are in the physical grave will arise, and those that are in the spiritual grave of the condition of hell will also rise.  They will all rise up from “death,” to be declared sons of God, as Jesus was the firstborn of many brethren.  The very last day is the day that the “many brethren” will rise up after experiencing the chastisement of the judgment, finally declared to be sons of God.

This all fits in with what we are reading in Deuteronomy 22 concerning the elders of the city who took that man and chastised him.  Remember that Jesus was punished and judged by God the Father; it was the judgment of God according to the predeterminate counsel of God, and that was why Christ suffered the death and shame of the cross.  So we can see that the man started out as (representing) the Law, but then the cloth was produced, which was the righteousness of Christ, and the man now becomes Christ.  He is a picture of Christ, who through his punishment or chastisement became the (permanent) husband to the damsel.

We do not have any more time in this study.  But Lord willing, in our next study we will continue with verse 19 where it speaks of the elders  amercing him in an hundred shekels of silver; and why it is said that he must remain married to her.