Why is there a curse associated with hanging on a tree?

The curse which the law pronounced was a perfectly just sentence. The Jew having been placed under the law, its curse rested upon him, and it had to be righteously borne ere it could be lifted off him. In the death of Christ the curse was borne, and hence the believing Jew is redeemed from beneath it. In the days of Moses, the curse had been specially connected with the one who died as a transgressor by hanging on a tree. Many a one in ancient days, reading Deuteronomy 21:23, may have wondered why the curse was thus linked with death on a tree, as distinguished from death by any other means, such as stoning, or the sword. Now we know. In due season the Redeemer was to bear the curse for others, thus honouring the law, by hanging on a tree. It is another case of how the Scripture foresees!

Two things need a brief notice here. First, that (as should be obvious, but to some is not,) the hanging upon the tree is not itself the curse, but only marks the one upon whom the curse falls. The curse itself is no external thing, but a deep reality in the soul of him that bears it. This was the wrath upon sin which Christ bare for us, the forsaking of God, which, had it not been borne, assuredly no blessing could have been for any.

Secondly, therefore, it was not for Jews alone, or those under law, that the curse of the law was borne. The words of the apostle are surely plain here: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, … that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Clearly he says that blessing could not have been for Gentiles had Christ not borne the curse of the law, and this is, as simple as possible, as soon as we see what essentially the curse is.

When the death penalty was incurred because of a crime, only certain crimes called for hanging the body, for this indicated one dying under the curse of God (v.23). It was intended as a public disgrace and a warning to others. But that disgrace was not to be continued beyond the day of hanging. Galatians 3:13 shows this to be predominantly applicable to the Lord Jesus, who was on Calvary made a curse for us, subjected to the most dreadful disgrace for our sakes. But this awful course was confined to that one day. When His great work of atonement was finished, the body of the Lord Jesus was taken by those who loved him and laid in a grave (Jn.l9:38-42). We shall never understand the depths of agony He suffered under the curse of God for our sakes, but we thank God His work has been so perfectly done that He has been raised from the dead and is alive forevermore, thereby assuring believers of their eternal redemption. The result of His bearing that curse of God is blessing for Himself for eternity, and blessing for all those who have put their trust in Him.

It should be noted that hanging, or crucifixion, — the Jews used the same word for either — was not a mode of putting to death by the law of Moses. It came after death, to express peculiar enormity, and put a special brand upon the one so treated. As "lifting up from the earth" (John 3:14; John 12:32), it expressed rejection from among men; as lifting up toward heaven, it might well challenge heaven's approval of that rejection, and thus imply the "curse of God" upon the sinner. We can in this way understand better the apostle's appeal to this passage in Deuteronomy, and distinguish the two elements of the cross,death and curse, — the forsaking of God, which we have already had before us in the ritual of the sin-offering. (Lev. 4.)

We see also why the body of one hanging on a tree could not be permitted to remain there. The burial was not in this case an end of penalty. Rather it expressed the defiling character of sin and the abhorrence with which God beheld it. It was to be put out of sight and away, buried not with honor, but in the grave of a criminal; and here we see at once the significance of the change in the Lord's case. His grave was appointed with the wicked; but this could not be suffered to take effect: He was with the rich in His death. Joseph's tomb was the only fitting receptacle for its brief sojourn there, of the body of the Holy One who could not see corruption — His providential justification until resurrection should justify Him openly.

More than this: the hanging of the king of Ai shows that Joshua is informed as to the details of his conduct by the word of God. "As soon as the sun went down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree." (c.f. Deut. 21:22-23) To all human appearance this would be a detail of no importance, but a heart fed by the word of God could not overlook it. To neglect it, would have been to lose sight of the holiness of God, and Joshua would then have failed in the very point which brought down chastisement on the people. "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree … for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy God gives thee for an inheritance." (Deut. 21:23) And again: "Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel." (Num. 35:34) In a word, a holy God could not dwell in the midst of defilement; this was the blessed lesson which Joshua received from the Lord of hosts before Jericho, which he learnt amidst tears in the valley of Achor, and which, with a conscience exercised in the school of God, he blessedly realised in the day of victory.

We were hopeless to redeem ourselves. We had brought the curse on ourselves, but we had no way to escape from it. Then "Christ redeemed us out from this curse, being made a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed (is) every one hanging on a tree." Deut. 21:23. The word used for tree is sometimes translated "gallows." Christ hung on the gallows for us: this, according to the law, made Him a curse. The law had no claim against Him. The law could not curse Him. He had never broken it. He had always remained constantly in all the things written in it. But of His own voluntary will He went to the gallows for us; of His own voluntary will He became a curse to buy you and me out from the curse that lay upon us.

Another passage shews how unfounded your assertion is. In Galatians 3:13, it is written, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Were they man's curses that fell on the blessed Jesus on the cross? No: turn to Deuteronomy 20:23, and you will find that "he that is hanged is accursed of God," for the believer can say, "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6).

Not only is there shame, ignominy and dishonour connected with death by hanging on a tree, there is also a curse, even as it is written in Deuteronomy 21:23, “for he that is hanged is accursed of God.” The divine instructions of Deuteronomy 21 were followed when Joshua slew and hanged on five trees the five kings of the Amorites that had been hidden in a cave at Makkedah (Joshua 10:26-27). The piercing of the Lord Jesus in His crucifixion had been prophesied in Psalm 22:16, and Zechariah 12:10; 13:6, but the repentance of Israel awaits the time when “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.”

But the chapter does not even close with this. There is another scene, and a deeper one than all. "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which Jehovah thy God gives thee for an inheritance." This may not call for lengthened remark, but assuredly for solemn reflection and profound thankfulness at the grace in which God turns the deepest shame and suffering which man heaped on Jesus to the purposes of redeeming love; for who knows not that Jesus took this place of the curse on the cross, to bear our judgment in the sight of God? He too knew what it was to be hanged on a tree — knew what it was to be made a curse for us. Our souls have already entered into the blessing. But all shows how thoroughly Jesus is the object of the Holy Ghost; for a chapter, which looked somewhat obscure at first sight, is rendered plain and luminous and full of instruction the moment we bring Jesus in and see Him in relationship with His ancient people. Its substance and its spirit of course are equally true of the Christian, and in a higher way. It is entirely a question of whether we use the true light, or overlay the word of God with our own darkness. Unbelief not merely fails to see, but excludes and denies the only light of men.

Pass on to the New Testament, and look at that which is the very central feature in the whole scene, and what is the "curse of the law" which the Lord of glory bore? "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, as it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." The hanging on a tree was only the outward expression surely of the curse, and not the whole thing; and so, as I have urged, is death. This is death in its most shameful form; but it is not the second death, nor does the law speak of that.