Deuteronomy

Fear and Justice

 

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Fear and Justice

Lesson: 6-110

Genre: Lecture

Track: 06

Dictation Name: RR187C6

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say on the Lord.” Let us pray. Almighty God our heavenly father, teach us to wait on thee. Grant that as we face a world troubled with evil, ripe with corruption, where the wicked prosper and flourish, that we look not unto these things but unto thee, knowing that because thou art on the throne the ungodly shall not prosper but in due time shall receive their reward from thy hands. That thy hands shall be upon us for good, and that all the days of our life we shall see the glory of thy word and truth. Fill us with thy Spirit; make us joyful in thee, in Christ’s name, amen. Our scripture is Deuteronomy 3:1 through 29, and our subject; Fear and Justice.

Deuteronomy 3:1 to 29.  

“1Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

 2And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.

 3So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

 4And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

 5All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.

 6And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.

 7But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves.

 8And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon;

 9(Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;)

 10All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

 11For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.

 12And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.

 13And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.

 14Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.

 15And I gave Gilead unto Machir.

 16And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

 17The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward.

 18And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war.

 19But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;

 20Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.

 21And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.

 22Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.

 23And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,

 24O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?

 25I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.

 26But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.

 27Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

 28But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

 29So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.”

Deuteronomy is a legal covenant, a document which attests that Gods grant to Israel and his requirements of them. God is the sovereign, in his grace and mercy gives his covenant law to Israel. He reviews also what he has given to them and has done for them against their enemies. Moreover Canaan was to become legally theirs by this covenant until their actions disallowed the grant. Moses as the leader of Israel, had a responsibility in this negotiation, he was to receive the land legally. The recipient of a property in any transaction had the duty to look it over. Now Moses was not allowed to enter Canaan he was required to see it from the mountain top. In Anthony Phillips words and I quote,

“For the legal transfer of property took place when the purchaser looked it over, thus a similar passage in Deuteronomy 34 records the actual conveyance to Israel of the land of Canaan which is then immediately confirmed by the account of the conquest. The same method of transferring land is found in the New Testament, both in the story of Jesus temptation by the devil and in the parable of the guest who refused to come to the dinner party. Where the man who goes to inspect his land is not to be understood as engaged in some idle activity but is actually taking legal possession. This method of transfer of land is also found in Roman law.”

Unquote. Therefore to understand the Bible we must begin with the fact that it is a covenant book. A law book. And that one in the same time the covenant is law and grace. Given as an act of saving grace and as a law for the redeemed to live by. One aspect of the grace given to the people of redeeming, saving grace, is the gift of the land. The land is the local where the life of grace is lived. And the covenant law is kept. This fact of victory and possession is celebrated in Israel’s liturgy, the psalms. So in the Psalms,

Psalm 136:1 and 16-22 we read: “Praise ye the Lord, praise ye the name of the Lord. Praise him oh ye servants of the Lord, who smote great nations and slew mighty kings, Sihon King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashom and all the kingdoms of Canaan and gave their land for an heritage and Israel his people.”

And again: “Oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. To him which lead the people through the wilderness for his mercy endureth forever. To him who smote great kings for his mercy endureth forever, and slew famous Kings, for his mercy endureth forever. Sihon King of the Amorites for his mercy endureth forever. And Og the King of Bashon for his mercy endureth forever, and gave their land for an heritage, for his mercy endureth forever. Even an heritage unto Israel his servant for his mercy endureth forever.”

Gods covenant purpose says the psalmist was to create a covenant possession and an inheritance. There for the covenant clearly means more than spiritual blessings. And our Lord declares, “blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” He has in mind the covenant promise of land. Which is now expanded to include all the earth. We are the heirs of this world. We have a very interesting historical statement in verse 11 concerning Og King of Bashon. Bashon was north and northeast of Galilee which is also known as (Benesoreth?) and here in our text Chinnereth. In that era it was heavily forested, and good streams, excellent pastures. The whole area was over run and conquered by the Amorites or westerners about 2000BC. The Rephaim, the tall people who previously inhabited it were replaced. But their ruling family continued as the Amorite rulers. The Druses now live in this area. All over the world successive waves of conquerors have over the millennium replaced previous powers and sometimes have obliterated them. The battle for the areas it covers is a very accurate record of the past. When the spies gave their fear-filled report, God through Joshua told them: “Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these kings. So shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest. Ye shall not fear them for the Lord your God shall fight for you.”

God forbids them to fear their enemies. In verse 2 we have a similar statement concerning Og. “Fear him not for I will deliver him into thy hands.” Concerning fear we are told among other things in Proverbs “The fear of the Lord tendeth to life.” Proverbs 19:23 “The fear of man bringeth a snare.” Proverbs 29:25 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Beginning means the principle part. Proverbs 1:7 “Be not afraid of sudden death, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it commeth, for the Lord God shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy feet from being taken.” Proverbs 3:25 and 26. In other words the fear of God can be necessary and healthy, but the fear of man is the snare and an evil. Since no one can fight God it is suicidal to fear man, more than God. In verses 9 and 10 there is a reference of mount Hermin also known as Zion and in great antiquity as (Syrian and Shenere?). Mount Hermin rises to about 9500 feet and is often snowcapped.

Turning again to the command in verses 2, and 21 and 22, not to fear their enemy. Lang made a very important point, which I quote: “The first judicial qualification therefore is the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom.” The reference in Luke 18:2 is to a judge which feared not God neither regardeth man. Well the point made by Lang is that the fear of God is a legal requirement for justice. Both by the judge, the witnesses and all the people, they are all to fear God. Without the fear of God the legal system soon deteriorates. And justice gives way to tyranny. Fear is seen now, simply as an emotion. It is divorced from law, and the justice system. Lang's statement reminds us that a healthy fear of offending Gods justice has been in history the major fact in keeping a society law abiding. If men believe that they can with impunity break laws, and lay claim to rights to vindicate their lawlessness, then they are fully outlaws and an outlaw society is in process of developing.

I’ve been told by men in law enforcement that at times veteran criminals have openly mocked them and laughed at them and made clear that they have more rights than an arresting officer. It’s no wonder that so many of them are leaving police forces. And it is said that after the riots in Los Angeles recently, about 300 left the force. Fear and justice are clearly related when understood in this sense. It’s one thing to believe that one can commit crimes with little fear of consequences, and another thing to know that God and all of creation work against the lawless man. The strength of Debra as against the weakness of the men of war was her unwavering assurance, which she set forth in song. Judges 5:20 “They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses plot against Sisera.” Her strength was that she believed that basic to all creation was Gods justice. Men now fight alone, and justice bleeds out of society. Having divorced fear from justice, and having reduced fear to an emotion, Humanists have appealed to reason, experience and science as the foundation for social order. In doing so, they have failed to recognize that men are not rational animals, but creatures made in the image of God. Religious creatures. To build on any other foundation is to destroy law and order. And that’s why revolutions are so deadly. Because every one of them strikes at the religious foundations of law and supplants it with a humanistic foundation. The religion of humanism replacing the religion of the Bible. Lang is therefore right, fear is the first judicial qualification for justice in a society, beginning with the fear of God, beginning with the fear of all Godly authorities, beginning with the fear of parents, of teachers, of all those in positions of authority.

Because one knows that authority resides in them. Now authority is treated as a joke. Something to despise, something to ridicule and to work to over-throw. In our time the fear of God has been replaced by the fear of the totalitarian state. The Internal Revenue Service, men in the streets and much, much more. Fear has not been removed from the social order, it has been merely transferred as William Penn said. “If men will not fear God they will soon fear men.” And it’s the fear of men that now prevails. Psalm 19:9, links fear and justice. The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together. The psalmist, David, then compares the consequences of fear and justice to gold and honey. Because by them a society is preserved he says. From presumptuous sins. So David is saying, that fear and justice go together, remove fear and you remove justice. So that fear and justice going together are like gold and honey in a society. Apart from Godly fear, we have presumptuousness and a lawless arrogance ruling society.

Let us pray. Our father we thank thee for thy word. We pray our father that thou wilt use us to restore justice and godly fear in the world around us. That we may again be a nation where in righteousness, justice dwelleth. We thank thee that thy judgments are sure and altogether righteous. We pray for them, it is time for thee to work oh Lord, for they have made void thy law and they trample underfoot thy precepts. We look unto thee oh Lord our God. For thy delivering and prospering hand. In Christ’s name, amen. Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[man from crowd] I read recently that since courts no longer require witnesses, to swear to give true testimony, In court that the incidence of perjury has risen considerably.

[Rushdoony] Yes, perjury is routine now and rarely ever punished. About the only time where perjury has been invoked since world war two if someone perjures himself before Congress and they are out to get him for political reasons, then they will act on it. But otherwise perjury has become routine. And at one time in the courts of the United States a judge could exclude the testimony of an atheist or if he allowed it would warn the jury this man cannot take a legitimate oath. Therefore you are not to give full weight to his testimony. Yes?

[Man in audience, difficult to hear] God uses his Spirit in a number of ways, when I was down in (Wash?), looking at the Black element, all the schools were black, and then thinking about the ones I worked with in San Fernando, and Los Angeles that were white, they were scared to death every board of education, all the superiors downtown, if they did anything that was a little out of line, if the board (?) Could discipline or something. But the fear of the black was much greater then (more) of their superiors downtown which were white, were much greater of the black administrator in the school, because, you know you don’t attack a back kid, you just don’t put him down on the carpet. So they were able to run their schools with an iron hand, if they were Godly people, and in several schools they did run their--- I never saw this discipline in the last 15 or twenty years that didn’t, that was coming out of (Wash?) it’s the only place it was coming at them, because they had no worry about the board, no worry about a superior coming down saying “You’re not going to do that to that child, and you’re not going to suspend that child,” which had been done a hundred thousand times in the ten years prior to that 15. They were fearful of the blacks, and the blacks took advantage of it in a very godly manner. Which was really unique. And that’s why, if I had my choice, if I had to go back, I’d go back to (Wash?) Although there is an element it’s true that is hysterical but in the school system, it was better than any other place in Las Angeles.

[Rushdoony] Yes?

[Man from audience] Lawyers use to routinely exclude black jurors when there was a black defendant involved because they knew that if the fellow was guilty particularly from a sentencing trial that the black jurors would be much harder on a black defendant then the others would be. And now the supreme court has ruled that race cannot be considered when picking jurors.

[Rushdoony] One of the things the Bible stresses over and over again is that fear and knowledge must go together, knowledge of the Lord, knowledge of God’s Word. So that it’s not a blind fear, it’s a fear based on the knowledge of God and what his justice requires, and what his wrath means, in terms of time and eternity. So it begins with knowledge, and the fear of the Bible requires is premised on knowing God, knowing his word from beginning to end. Now what humanistic regimes resort to finally is terror, not knowledge. Because they have no foundation for their order or their law in God, so they resort to terror. And Roland Huntford points out in his telling book The New Totalitarians that there were only two ways the modern totalitarian state, and he saw all the modern states moving into totalitarianism, could establish themselves: either the Russian model, total terror, or the Swedish model, total indoctrination from childhood on up so you brainwash the child to do exactly what he was programmed to do. You tried to make him a creature of the state. And those were only two ways and he said the new model is increasingly that of Sweden which will eventually take over the whole western world, if not the whole world. Well the Russian model has since collapsed, but there is no reason to believe that the Swedish model will not result also in a resort to terror and a resort to force, because they have nothing except total indoctrination or total terror as a means of creating a social order.

And Sweden has had to create a fear of the state, a fear of deviation from the social norm. And where that fear will wind up, unless they change their course socially, no one knows. Probably the same place the Russian model has. And the Russian model has not substantially altered in spite of all the propaganda because the slave labor camps have not been dissolved. When Yeltsin the other day said perhaps there were American prisoners in the camps, the reason he couldn’t say for sure is that there are so many millions. Nothing has been done to alter the situation and each of these slave labor camps is an area of total terror. They’re the only part of the soviet economy that is productive, They are little empires, and they ship men and women around from one camp to another as needed. And I question whether the Soviet regime Yeltsin, or the Duma or whatever other agency can make much impact on it, because they are totally dependent on it, or the economy would collapse. But it’s total terror. And it is interesting that the only country that is quarantining homosexuals is Sweden, its putting them on an island. And there has been no public outcry or protest because they are afraid. So the element of terror is creeping out there. Any other questions or comments about our lesson. Yes?

[Man from audience] I read some years ago that Sweden was paying a price for this in the form of the highest alcoholism rate per capita, and the highest suicide rate per capita, and there was a tremendous brain drain, a lot of their engineers and professional people have been leaving the country, but now I think the United States has caught up with if not surpassed Sweden in both Alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide.

[Rushdoony] Well besides the alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide, there is also absenteeism. And throughout Swedish industry it’s creating a crisis. Because with the benefits it’s so easy for them to stay home and say they are sick, or to get a doctor friend who doesn’t want to incur their wrath or protest to certify they are not well. The one plant that is deluged with absenteeism is Volvo, but there at the end of last year was 18%, which is very serious. So they are paying a price. Well if there are no further questions let us bow our heads in prayer. Our father, teach us to know thee and to fear thee, to rejoice in thy ways. And to be always thankful for thy mercies and blessings. We give thanks our Father for thy word. Thy grace. And thy spirit. Bless us and use us. And now go in peace God the father, God the son, and God the Holy Ghost. Bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.