Truth and Action

Synopsis     Deuteronomy 17:5-13     2/25/2018

Concerning the administration of law, Moses commanded that the death penalty required two or three witnesses. This was a minimum requirement. Also, the witnesses who testified in a capital case were required to be the first to impose any penalty.

Additionally, Moses provided a process for appealing cases to a more competent authority if a local judge could not make a determination. Either the Levitical priests or the judge in office would serve the people at the tabernacle. Whoever heard the case was responsible to make their own investigation – not merely rule on the facts already established. They would announce their decision which was final and binding.

Justice and Responsibility

Under the law of Moses, witnesses were required to participate in the execution of justice. It’s a different sort of business than our modern approach.

The process was ordered: Establish the truth of the circumstances. The baffling of a local judge was not the end of the process. The community had to go to a higher judge to establish the truth.But once a truth was established, everyone within the community was required to respond. Responding to the disvalue (or value) created by the situation was an imperative. It’s a curious mandate. Each person needed to engage with the truth. Not responding to the truth was not an option. As a result, truth was never an academic pursuit.

Truth, it seems, comes packaged with a moral requirement to respond.

Truth and Action

So, truth requires a response – an action. This is a non-option. Whether the circumstances are a matter of criminal misconduct or me simply living out my day-to-day experience, the God of all creation says, “Act”.

“Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” 1John 3:18