God's way of settling controversies
Deut. 17:8-13, If there arise a matter too hard for thee
in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between
stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then
shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God
shall choose; 9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto
the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew
thee the sentence of judgment: 10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence,
which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and
thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: 11 According
to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to
the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not
decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand,
nor to the left. 12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not
hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD
thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put
away the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear, and fear,
and do no more presumptuously.
(V. 11.) [being] matter of controversy within thy gates; or
what are matters of controversy about anything else; for the phrase is
general, as Aben Ezra observes, and takes in everything in which anything
difficult might occur; so Jarchi interprets it of things which the wise
men of a city are divided about; one pronounces a person or thing unclean,
another clean, one condemning and another justifying, and so far rightly;
for this respects not controversies between men, that may be brought into
courts of judicature, but controversies or divisions arising in these courts
upon them, between the judges themselves, they not agreeing in their opinions...
(John Gill, 1696-1771. Online Bible.)
Deut 19:15-19, One witness shall not rise up against a man
for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth
of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter
be established. 16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify
against him that which is wrong; 17 Then both the men, between whom the
controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the
judges, which shall be in those days; 18 And the judges shall make diligent
inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified
falsely against his brother; 19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought
to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among
you.
Ver. 15. One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity,
or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth, &c.] Whether capital sins,
or pecuniary debts; or whatsoever sins a man may be guilty of whether sins
against the first or second table of the law, whether greater or lesser
sins, whether in moral or civil things; the Jews except only in the case
of a woman suspected of adultery and of beheading the heifer: (Gill.)
The only exception to the required two witnesses was in the case of adultery
where the husband acted on his suspicions against his wife. (Num. 5:17.
However, he had better be very confident in his suspicions.)
When the witness brought the charge, the godly judges were to
make diligent inquisition into the matter--God was then depended upon to
make known the truth in the controversy. Also, one witness (e.g., victim)
to an evil was not left hopeless. Those told of the evil, hear-say, were
required to check it out, and take appropriate action:
Deut. 13:12-15, If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities,
which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, 13 Certain
men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn
the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods,
which ye have not known; 14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and
ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that
such abomination is wrought among you; 15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants
of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all
that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
The single witness to the evil was to bring the report of the evil to the
proper authorities, who were to make diligent enquiry into what they were
told.
See also:
Deut. 1:15-17, So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men,
and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains
over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers
among your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear
the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man
and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. 17 Ye shall not respect
persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great;
ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's...
(See Deut. 16:18, 19.)
As diligent inquisition was made into the controversy by third parties,
godly men, the Lord was depended upon to reveal the truth of the matter.
The judges then ruled accordingly, and the parties abided by their ruling.
The party who refused to abide by that ruling was removed from the congregation
of the Lord.
Old Testament Judgment in the New Testament
1 Corinthians 6 follows chapter 5 where Paul had strongly rebuked the
church for not taking proper action in judging sin among its members (5:4,
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together,
and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ...):.
1 Cor. 6:1-8 Dare any of you, having a matter against another,
go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 2 Do ye not know
that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged
by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye not that
we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them
to judge who are least esteemed in the church.5 I speak to your shame.
Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall
be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goeth to law with
brother, and that before the unbelievers. 7 Now therefore there is utterly
a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not
rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
Paul is here addressing controversies among Christians, particularly people
in the same local assembly. He is not addressing situations where one party
of the controversy is a Christian and the other is not, nor is he addressing
situations where one party tries to do the Christian thing and the other,
though professing to be a Christian, refuses to follow Biblical instructions.
He covers that situation elsewhere, e.g., Mt. 18:17.
Observe:
Ver. 1. Dare any of you, having a matter against another, &c.],
Any thing in difference, an action, cause, or suit. The apostle having
dispatched the affair of the incestuous person, and blamed this church
for their conduct therein: and having given them instructions what they
should do, proceeds to lay before them another evil among them he had to
complain of; which was, when any difference arose among them about their
worldly concerns, they would
go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints; a method
of proceeding condemned by the Jews, who would not suffer any causes of
theirs to be tried before Gentiles, only before Israelites; their canon
runs thus {u},
"he that tries a cause before the judges of the Gentiles, and before
their tribunals, although their judgments are as the judgments of the Israelites,
lo, this is an ungodly man; and it is as if he blasphemed and reproached,
and lift up his hand against the law of Moses our master, as it is said,
Ex 21:1 now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them, [Hebrew
word], "and not before the Gentiles"; [Hebrew word], "and not before idiots",
private or illiterate men.''
They looked upon such an action as bad as profaning the name of God;
hence they say {w},
"we must not try a cause in the courts of the Gentiles, for they come
from the strength of judgment; this is Esau an hairy man, for they have
no concord nor mercy--and he that comes before thee [Hebrew word], "profanes
the name of God", who is gracious and merciful, and honours the name of
an idol--wherefore he that brings a cause before the Gentiles, is the occasion
of spreading the property of judgment in the world----therefore let a cause
be tried before the Israelites, for they are the secret of mercy, and not
before the Gentiles, nor before idiots:''
they affirm {x} it to be a greater sin than murder, and that not only
profanations of the name of God, but rapine and violence are comprehended
in it; and that to give evidence in an Heathen court against an Israelite,
deserves excommunication; for so it is said, {y}
"he that bears witness against an Israelite [Hebrew word], "in the
courts of the Gentiles", and by his testimony gets money from him, which
is not according to the judgment of the Israelites, they excommunicate
him until he repays it.''
Again {z}
"it is forbidden to order causes in the courts of (the rest of the
nations) idolaters, for they have no part in the side of our faith.''
The apostle here dissuades from this practice, of going to law before
Heathen magistrates, not only from its being an imprudent, but an impudent,
"daring", rash and adventurous action; and seems surprised that any should
attempt it, when it must unavoidably expose their weaknesses and faults
to their enemies; nor could they expect justice to be done them by men
of such a character, as "unjust", who neither feared God, nor regarded
men; were not only destitute of righteousness, but filled with all unrighteousness,
and had not so much as the principles of common justice and equity in them;
when on the contrary, from the saints, men who have the principles of grace
and holiness wrought in them, and live soberly, righteously, and godly,
who have the fear of God before their eyes, and upon their hearts; they
might reasonably conclude, were matters brought before them, they would
be adjusted according to judgment and truth, without exposing the sin and
weakness of any party to the world.
{u} Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 26. sect. 7. Vid. T. Bab. Gittin,
fol. 38. 2.
{w} R. Abraham Seba in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 80. 4.
{x} R. Bechai in Kad Hakkemach, fol. 21. 4. apud Buxtorf, Lex. Talm.
col. 1666.
{y} Maimon. Talmud Tora, c. 6. sect. 14.
{z} Zohar in Exod. fol. 103. 3. (Gill)
Problems with going before heathen magistrates:
1) willingly going before a heathen magistrate is not only imprudent,
but is a daring, rash, adventurous action to be avoided if one expects
justice. The heathen magistrates are commonly not godly men who fear God;
therefore, have no concept of justice (justice is only according to God's
word), grace, holiness, &c. Obviously, there are exceptions, though
very few and far between, where godly men still set as magistrates.
2) it is an unwise expectation to expect godly justice from ungodly
men.
3) willingly seeking justice from the heathen for controversies among
Christians brings reproach on the name of Christ. It exposes the sins and
weakness of any party to the world. "Washing dirty laundry" before the
world does not glorify Christ.
Paul commands that for Christians, the first recourse for controversies
among Christians must be ecclesiastical (church) authority. If the
church will not or cannot do anything, then the controversies goes to civil
authority.
Scriptural requirement (the only way the situation can be Biblically
resolved):
1. Before the elders of the church, each present their side of the story.
2. The elders then make diligent inquisition into the matter.
3. Elders make the determination of where the truth lies, and what should
be done.
4. Only if the parties do not abide by the elders' decision is the matter
made public.
And thus the Lord is depended upon to straighten out the controversies.