READ: John 14:1-24
You are the children of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God … – Deut. 14:1,2
What value do various ceremonial regulations in the Old Testament have? They are also written for us (Rom. 15:4). The Belgic Confession, article 25 says that with the coming of Christ they have been abolished, yet for us their truth and substance remain in Christ Jesus, in whom they have their fulfillment.
In our text, the prohibition against applying heathen customs when someone has died is given. The reason given is that you are covenant children of the LORD your God. You belong to His chosen people! You are His property and therefore a holy people: separated from the heathen and dedicated to Him.
This is a great privilege and comfort for God’s people. But it also entails a command: to be holy as God is holy (Lev. 11:44, et al.). In everyday life too, Israel had to show that it belonged to God. The heathen made incisions in their own bodies as a sign of mourning after the death of a loved one and cut the hair from the front of their heads.
God forbade this for His people. They were allowed to mourn and sprinkle ashes, for example, but not to despise and mutilate their own bodies. They were also not allowed to look like a slave by cutting their hair. Their bodies were God’s property and – with true faith – have a glorious destiny. Yes, in the Old Testament this was related to the then still coming Christ, who would overcome death. He made it a passage to eternal glory which they could already know in the Old Testament (Ex. 3:6; Matt. 22:32; Ps. 16; Ps. 73; Is. 26:19; Dan. 12:2; Hebr. 11:10,16). Our life of holiness also has that wonderful perspective!
How does giving thanks to God apply to mourning (1 Thess. 5:18)?
Singing: Ps. 16:5