Interestingly, from today's reading, Deuteronomy 21:22-23, I think I heard you say, "How in the world am I going to get something out of this? This is gross! Capital punishment and hanging the body on a tree?"
22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, 23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
The intensity of punishment for the crime of murder is shown here. However, prolonged exposure of body gives undue attention to the crime and the criminal. In an earlier post, I had dealt with the meaning of being "hung on a tree."
This crime places a person under God's curse. God had condemned murder, and hanging on a tree symbolizes divine judgment and rejection. Christ accepted the full punishment of our sins, thus becoming "a curse for us" (Gal 3:13) 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
Because of our sins, we are all under God's divine judgment. Jesus took our sins on the cross, and subject Himself to God's curse, so that we need not be cursed. He took all that we deserved and put it upon Himself. This is the ultimate demonstration of God's love, that He was willing to sacrifice His Only Son, and His Son was willing to lay down His life for us. We are extremely valuable to God. Unless we come to that point of understanding, we can never understand the love song sung throughout the entire Bible.
Therefore here we see an Old Testament law pointing to the Lord Jesus.
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