ATONING GRACE
Play Audio
If you prefer listening to today’s Bible guide reading, play this audio file.
If the audio bar is not appearing, click here to play the audio.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, please teach me to be gracious, to have a heart like yours that is ready to give generously, even where reciprocity is not possible.
Read DEUTERONOMY 21:1–21
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Atonement for an Unsolved Murder
21 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was, 2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. 3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke 4 and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5 The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault. 6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. 8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for, 9 and you will have purged from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
Marrying a Captive Woman
10 When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, 11 if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. 12 Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails 13 and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.
The Right of the Firstborn
15 If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, 16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. 17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.
A Rebellious Son
18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How tempting is it for you to minimize or ignore certain types of sin?
The unlawful killing of a person made in the image of God greatly angers the Giver of life. Therefore, murder defiled the land and made cleansing necessary. The provisions mentioned here were intended to clear the inhabitants of the town nearest the murder scene from ‘the guilt of shedding innocent blood’ (v. 9). Guilt for such wrongdoing is so serious that only blood sacrifice can turn away God’s righteous anger, whether the perpetrator can be identified or not. Ultimately, God dealt with the guilt of our wrongdoing through the sacrifice of himself in Christ. That’s a measure of how sinful our sins are, including those of which we are unaware. It’s also a measure of how amazing God’s grace is!
That grace extends to providing protection for foreign women taken captive in war and firstborn sons at risk of being disinherited (vv. 10– 17). In these matters, God insists on fair treatment among his people for the vulnerable. How much do we imitate our heavenly Father by standing with the vulnerable in society to defend and protect them? However, such displays of divine grace are negated in many people’s opinion by the closing stipulation in today’s passage. Parents are instructed on how they must discipline their profligate sons. Have them stoned to death? Seriously? The Bible records no example of this ever actually happening. Nonetheless, it comes as a shock! This law was quite likely to have been meant to serve as a deterrent against reckless, decadent behavior and an incentive to godly, disciplined child-rearing. Social order depended on strong, healthy familial ties. Many Christians believe that society is breaking down today because of a concerted attack on traditional family values. Who can prove them wrong?
Apply
In what ways do you think the church can help parents to impact the faith of their children?
Closing prayer
Father, I pray for parents struggling to bring up their young children and teenagers in today’s ultra-permissive world. Help them to model Christ well; give them the tools they need to show those they care for his love and their need of him.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2025 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.