Ki Tetse – When You Go Out Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

This portion is filled with many varied instructions. If you read the passage through it is obvious that we, as a society, are not following most of these. It shouldn’t be hard to see that if we all obeyed YHVH’s commands, we would be much better off as a whole. Who would complain if our neighbors watched out for us and returned anything that we might have lost. But some of these instructions are difficult to understand how and if we are to apply them in our lives. Why would a loving Father give some of these instructions in His word? I propose that they are necessary because of our own nature. The living Torah said Himself: "Moses permitted divorce as a concession to your hard-hearted wickedness, but it was not what God had originally intended." (Matthew 19:8) The instructions given to us are born out of our own need for them. Our Father knows us and knows what we need, just as we would give instructions to our own children as we see fit.

If you examine these instructions there is an underlying theme in this passage that isn’t mentioned specifically. That theme is kindness. Kindness toward servants, kindness toward wives, kindness toward children, kindness for dead bodies, kindness for your brother and his possessions, kindness toward animals, kindness toward strangers, the fatherless, and widows. We could all learn to exercise more kindness.

But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Against such things there is not a law. (Galatians 5:22-23)