Does God really
hate it when people wear two kinds of fabrics? Aren’t there more important
things to worry about in life such as poverty, famine, and injustice?
Critics of the
Old Testament often use the verse cited above and others like it to discredit
the Bible’s relevance and authority. For example Richard Dawkins, Britain’s
prominent evolutionist, scoffs at Deuteronomy 22:11 and refers to the God of
the Old Testament as “petty.” One blogger that I consulted believed that the
mixed fabric passage demonstrates that “The Bible exists as much, if not more, as an object
of opression [sic] as an object of
inspiration.”
One thing to
keep in mind is that the Old Testament was not written to twenty-first century
English speaking westerners. Rather, Deuteronomy 22:11 was addressed to Hebrew
speaking people who lived in an Ancient Near Eastern culture almost 3,500 years
ago. In order to understand the verse, one must read it in its proper context.
Object lessons
are powerful things that assist us in the learning process. For example, one
might say: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” This doesn’t mean that people
typically walk around with multiple containers of eggs, but that you should not
focus all of your time, resources, or energy into only one area. Another illustration
of an object lesson is the phrase: “You can’t unscramble an egg.” In other
words, we should be careful about what we do because some things cannot be
undone. And then there’s one of my favorites: “You can’t fit a round peg in a
square hole.” This short statement means that some things do not go well
together.
In much the same
way, Deuteronomy 22:11 served as a visible object lesson that taught the
Israelites a very important lesson. The statement is listed alongside other
objects that should not be grouped together: 1) two kinds of seed (22:9), and
2) plowing with an ox and donkey together (22:10). The point is that some
things should never be mixed together.
The key to
understanding this section of Scripture is Deuteronomy 22:12: You shall make yourself tassels on the four
corners of your garment with which you cover yourself. Numbers 15:39
explains the significance of the tassels that the Israelites were to weave into
their garments: It shall be a tassel for
you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after
your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot.
In other words,
the Israelites were to remember that there is only one God. They should worship
Him and must not follower the wicked desires of their hearts or adore the gods
of the peoples that surrounded them. The God of the Bible and other deities do
not mix!
Deuteronomy
22:11, therefore, provides an object lesson that every Hebrew speaking person
in the Ancient Near East would understand: And
[Jesus] said to him, “You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
