Bird's-eye view
In these two verses, Moses lays down a foundational principle for all of Christian ethics. The principle is this: your identity determines your behavior. Who you are in God dictates what you do for God. Before Moses gives any command, he makes a profound declaration of fact. "You are the sons of Yahweh your God." This is the indicative. The command that follows, the imperative, flows directly from it. Because they are sons, they are not to mimic the pagan nations in their mourning rituals. The reason for this distinction is their unique status before God, a status grounded entirely in His gracious and sovereign choice. They are holy, chosen, and a treasured possession. This is not about earning God's favor through distinctive behavior; it is about living out the glorious status that God has already bestowed.
This passage is a direct confrontation with the syncretistic impulse to blend in with the surrounding culture. The Canaanites engaged in self-laceration and ritual shaving as expressions of grief, but also as attempts to appease their gods of the underworld. For Israel to do this would be to deny the character of their own God, the Lord of life. Their grief was to be shaped by hope, and their lives were to be marked by a joyful separation unto the God who had called them out of darkness. This principle is magnified and fulfilled in the New Covenant, where our identity as adopted sons in Christ is the bedrock of our sanctification.
Outline
- 1. The Declaration of Sonship (v. 1a)
- 2. The Prohibition of Pagan Mourning (v. 1b)
- 3. The Reason for the Prohibition: A Holy Identity (v. 2)
- a. A Holy People (v. 2a)
- b. A Chosen People (v. 2b)
- c. A Treasured People (v. 2c)
Context In Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy is Moses' great sermon series to the second generation of Israelites, delivered on the plains of Moab just before they entered the Promised Land. The book is a renewal of the covenant. The generation that came out of Egypt had perished in the wilderness because of their unbelief, and now their children are being prepared to possess their inheritance. A central theme of the book is the absolute loyalty that Yahweh requires of His people. They are going into a land filled with idols and false gods, and the great temptation will be to compromise. Deuteronomy repeatedly warns against this, calling Israel to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might. Chapter 14 fits squarely within this theme, moving from dietary laws (what goes into the body) to mourning rituals (how the body is treated), both of which are to be governed by their covenant relationship with God.
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Deuteronomy 14:1
"You are the sons of Yahweh your God; you shall not gash yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead."
The verse begins with the bedrock of all Christian living. "You are the sons of Yahweh your God." Notice that this is a statement of fact, not a command. It is in the indicative mood, not the imperative. God is not telling them to become His sons. He is telling them who they are. This is their identity, given to them by grace. This national sonship for Israel is a type and a shadow of the personal, saving adoption that believers receive through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:4-7). Our obedience does not make us sons; our sonship enables our obedience.
From this glorious identity flows the prohibition. "You shall not gash yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead." These were common mourning practices among the Canaanites and other pagan peoples. Self-laceration was a frantic, hopeless expression of grief, and often an attempt to appease or get the attention of chthonic deities, the gods of the underworld. It was a physical manifestation of a theology of despair. By forbidding this, God was teaching His children that their grief must be different. Of course they would mourn, but not as those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). Their God is the God of the living, not the dead. He is the one who holds the keys of death and Hades. Therefore, the sons of the living God do not mourn like the sons of darkness. Their bodies are to reflect their hope in the resurrection, not the despair of paganism.
Deuteronomy 14:2
"For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."
The word "For" at the beginning of this verse is crucial. It provides the reason for the command in verse one. Why must they abstain from pagan mourning rituals? The answer is threefold, and it all has to do with their identity.
First, "you are a holy people to Yahweh your God." The word holy (qadosh) means "set apart" or "distinct." They are not common. They have been consecrated, set apart from all other nations for a special purpose and for a special relationship with God Himself. Their lives, down to the details of how they grieve, must reflect this set-apart status. Holiness is not a list of rules; it is a state of being that results in a certain kind of living.
Second, "Yahweh has chosen you." Here is the ultimate foundation of their holiness. They are holy because God chose them. Their special status is not based on any inherent goodness, strength, or wisdom in them (Deut. 7:7). It is based entirely on the sovereign, electing love of God. He set His affection on them. This is pure grace, from beginning to end. Because they are the chosen people, they must live like the chosen people.
Third, they are to be "a people for His treasured possession." The Hebrew word here is segulah. This is a magnificent term. It refers to a king's private, personal treasure, something he values above all his other possessions. Israel is God's segulah. Out of all the nations on the earth, God looks at Israel and says, "That one is Mine. They are my personal treasure." This is what the church is in Christ (1 Peter 2:9). We are God's treasured possession, purchased not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. How can a people who are the personal treasure of the Almighty live as though they were common? How can they deface their bodies in service to dead idols? They cannot. Their high calling demands a high and holy conduct.
Application
The logic of this passage is the logic of the entire Christian life. The indicative precedes the imperative. Grace precedes ethics. Who you are in Christ is the foundation for everything you do.
We are not commanded to stop gashing ourselves today, because that is not the particular temptation of our culture. But the principle is perennial. Our culture has its own rituals of hopelessness and despair. It has its own ways of conforming us to the image of the world. And the Word of God comes to us with the same force: "You are the sons of God through Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not live like the world."
This means that our grief should look different. Our entertainment should look different. Our business practices should look different. Our family lives should look different. Why? Because we are a holy people, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, God's own treasured possession. We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Let us, therefore, walk as children of light, demonstrating by our distinct way of life the praises of Him who called us.