From Captive to Bride: How Deuteronomy 21 Foreshadows Christ's Grace
Some of my favorite parts of Scripture are the portions that make me stop to ask, “What on earth did I just read?” The Nephilim (Genesis 6), the sin of Ham (Genesis 9), the circumcision of Moses’ son (Exodus 4) and so many other stories that seem to be strange outliers in Biblical history but demonstrate something fascinating when pursued.
What’s even more fascinating is reading these stories and understanding that somehow, someway, they are connected to Jesus (John 5:39-40, Luke 24:25-27). One of the great joys of studying Scripture is trying to answer a question, discovering the answer, and leaving with ten new questions (Proverbs 25:2).
One passage that has always stuck out to me is found in Deuteronomy 21.
“When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.” – Deuteronomy 21:10-14 (NIV)
God gives the laws of warfare to Moses and tells him what to do with the women who are taken captive. I think most Christians read this and are taken aback. How could the God of mercy and grace permit Israeli soldiers to take captive women as wives, after conquering their people?
How we react to this passage reveals how foreign the concept of grace is to us as sinners, and here’s why; this passage is a clear presentation of the Gospel. In the same way that the offering of Isaac is meant to prepare us for the coming of the Messiah, the laws governing captive women do the same thing. We are the bride (Isaiah 62:5), which was once under the rule of those who hate God. But by His conquest and initiative, we are freed and lifted to the status of the bride of Christ, after being born again (Acts 26:18).
The women who were taken captive after their people were conquered and then married first had to convert to the true faith, otherwise, the Israelite men would have been forbidden to marry them (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). They then had to shave their heads, cut their nails, and leave behind their clothing, to resemble a baby as it’s born. The women had to be “born again” to be fully brought into the Kingdom of God, where they would experience all the blessings that come with it (John 3:3).
The common reaction to this story is to try and explain it away somehow, but it is exactly how it reads. Through conquest, our conquering King has claimed His bride and through His conquest, we are born again, and the women of Deuteronomy 21 are one of many moments that foreshadow His grace. There is nothing in this passage for any Christian to be embarrassed of, and nothing in this passage that could ever mar the character of God. Like the rest of Scripture, it shows us more of who Jesus is. Our reaction shows how foreign the concept of grace is to us, how little we deserve, and how wonderful God is to extend it anyway (John 3:16).
