9-28-15. Exodus 21:1-36. God Infuses Justice Into Society-my devotional

Exodus 21:1-36                                                                                 Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 21:2                                                                                 9-28-15

“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.

In this passage we see God, charting a moral course for his people. Chapters 21-23 contain detailed laws which God gave to govern the lives of the Israelites as they traveled through the desert wilderness. These laws were also looking forward to their life in Canaan. God was fully aware of the weaknesses of his people and of their need for discipline and training to mature as a nation. He knew the spiritual dangers to which many would succumb in Canaan. God made laws that would take hold of them, where they were, and lift them up from a nation of former slaves and set them on course to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

That was on a “macro” level. In a “micro” sense, we find God, caring about the rights of all individuals, infusing justice for all. God wanted to equip them, not just with food and water, but even with ethereal things, like law and justice, and associated principles, in order to preserve society and reveal God’s glory. After giving his people the law in the form of the Ten Commandments, he laid out further laws in dealing with various categories in running a just, fair and stable society. The laws were to benefit, bless, strengthen and sustain his people throughout the generations. In such a society people can find fulfillment and thrive and mature spiritually as they sought the Lord. All things can grow, like businesses, the economy, individuals and the community. They can set the example for future societies. We are even blessed today because of the laws God gave his people in 1400 BC.

Part 1: God Infuses Justice For All (1-11; 20-21;26-27)

God provides protections and hopes for a better tomorrow for all of his people. Look at verses 1-11, 20-21, and 26-27,

“These are the laws you are to set before them: 2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. 5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges.[a] He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. 7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.” (NIV)

Verses 20-21, “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.

Verses 26-27, “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.”

We see that there were slaves and indentured servants among the ancient Hebrews. The Bible acknowledges the existence of slavery, but never encourages it. Slavery was a common practice throughout the world. Though they were slaves themselves, Israelites had acquired the bad habits from those they hated, the Egyptians. I think about former American slaves would were freed and were given the opportunity to sail back to Liberia in the 1800’s to start a new life. They set up institutions that they were familiar with in America and lorded it over the indigenous people. In this Hebrew society, a person could become a slave because of poverty, debt, or even crime. But God challenged the Hebrew culture with these laws. The words, “Go free” are repeated four times in this chapter. God’s insistence that slaves had rights challenged the culture of the time.

In most nations, a slave had no rights; he was at the mercy of his master. But God’s laws protected the rights of slaves. It also taught basic rights fpr women, for even slave women were to be respected. Look at verse 11. The woman has some hope here of being treated justly .She can’t be sold as a slave. She is able to be bought by another. Any type of mistreatment meant that she could be set free and provided for and bought by another who actually cares about her. She could also receive a windfall and be rewarded with the rights of a daughter. God’s law set a new direction; it lighted a candle in a dark world.

God could have sought to dismantle many societal practices, but he didn’t. Why? In the cultural iceberg diagram, there are observable societal characteristics that occupy the top of the iceberg. These are outwards things in society we observe, like slavery. The larger portion of the iceberg, under water, are unobserved aspects of culture, like beliefs and philosophies that people live by, that may have produced slavery in the first place. To change a society, you need to change what is at the bottom of the iceberg and not the top. If one keeps focusing on changing the observable parts of the culture, like slavery, they succeed in changing nothing, long term. If they change cultural beliefs they change things forever. God seeks to change things forever. God would eventually change the whole slave situation in intervals. For now, he was changing the status of slaves and indentured servants, by granting them some rights, protections and hope for freedom.

Let’s think about slaves rights. Look at verse 2. “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.” Hebrew slaves and indentured servants were treated as people, not property. Indentured servants were allowed to work their way to freedom. This gives hope to the person who becomes an indentured servant. Normally this would be a hopeless situation. In American and British history some Irish indentured servants were worked to death, before their ten years were up.  But according to Hebrew law, yes, they would have to work hard, but they would also get three meals a day, some job training and security for six years. He may even get a wife and kids. Sure things were hard. But they may have been a whole lot harder and hopeless for the person living outside of the owner’s home in that ancient world.

This reminds me of companies like Starbucks. Even though there are things to criticize every company for, they are providing the means for their employees to get an education, knowing that they will be leaving in six or so years for greener pastures. They do it because it is the right and just thing to do.

There is also a hard teaching for us to accept here. The owners of slaves were also afforded some protections in the Bible. If and indentured servant was given a wife, who was a slave, then the wife and kids had to stay with the owner. I had heard that slavery in the ancient world was not as ruthless as we experienced in American history. In some cases slaves became part of the family and had even positions of influence in society. But the fact remained, slaves could not leave. The owners had some protections.

God wants justice for the owners as well. It is important for that ancient economy. Those who are owners run businesses and must be able to function in stability. They need to count on a stable system, or they could not invest in it. The need to know that the society will not deprive them of reaping the fruits of their investments. Think of Zimbabwe today. They were once a grain producer and exporter. But the government took farms away from the experienced farm owners and gave the land to the poor. The country fell into recession and even famine. The poor people could not run the farms. The farms were probably subdivided into smaller family plots. There was a time when people were actually gleaning seeds from animal excrement to eat. It was because there was no justice for the owners. The economy of a people must be protected.

This passage could also reflect Jesus and the Gospel. Think about it, Jesus indentured himself to us, becoming a servant of all. During his time of service, he gained a wife for himself, the church. (Rom 7:4) The church brought forth children. (Eph 2:13-18). Jesus was pierced on the cross, thereby committing himself to be our eternal intercessor. He did this because of his love for the Father and love for his bride, the church. The Gospel is reflected even in the Mosaic laws.

For ordinary folk, like myself, there are also some principles to hold onto, when we deal with others. We should act responsibly and justly with all people. We need to give people opportunities to prosper and grow. But we should expect our rights to be protected as well.

Part 2: Laws That Seek To Prevent Personal Injuries (12-36)

Fear of bodily harm and being taken advantage of, permeates our hearts. It is the theme of so many movies. We dread the thought of becoming victims of crime. The same was for people in 1400 BC. It was a very violent world. Nobody ever wanted to be victim of violence or exploitation. People would have been very scared because extreme violence was before their eyes always daily. But here we see God giving laws to protect people from violence and exploitation. Look at verses 12-36,

“12 “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. 13 However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. 14 But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death. 15 “Anyone who attacks[c] their father or mother is to be put to death. 16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession. 17 “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. 18 “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist[d] and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, 19 the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed. 20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. 22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely[e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. 28 “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. 30 However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death. 33 “If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange. 35 “If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.”

The Hebrew culture, as any other culture, was prone to violence. The laws in 21:12-27 talk about God, presenting rules, to curb mankind’s propensity to violence and exploitation. God is just, and he demands that his people be just in their dealings with each other.

In verse 13, we further see the mercy of God here. God institutes cities of refuge. One who sheds another’s blood may flee to one of these cities and be safe from retaliation from the relatives of the deceased. They could be free until their case was tried before the elders of the town or before the High Priest. (Num 35:22-25). When the high priest died the accused could go free.  All of this is a reflection of Christ, our great high priest. Because of his death on the cross we could go free.

In verse 14, we can see God’s justice. (1 King 2:28-34) It seems that some of the condemned murderers could attempt to take hold of the horns of the altar, seeking to be spared. This would work if the accused actions were justified. But if the person is guilty, they could not hold onto the horns of the altar to be set free. They had to pay the penalty for their crime. This is like, claiming faith in Christ and at the same time continuing to walk in darkness, claiming innocence without repenting and being forgiven by God. It doesn’t’ work this way. God is not fooled.
God’s laws also strike a balance between the rights of the injured and the rights who cause it. God’s law set a standard for justice. There is the principle of “eye for an eye”. This was given to make people responsible for their actions. Yet, God’s justice does not allow for undue vengeance or retaliation. This prevented cruel punishments that characterized many ancient cultures. It guides the severity of punishment. A punishment too harsh could be unfair. One too lenient does not teach.  For example, a person who steals a piece of fruit should not be hanged. Retaliation was rarely carried out under Jewish law. Wrongs were usually settled through the giving of money, the offering of labor, instead of forfeiting a life. Again, God’s mercy is at play.

There are assaults, damage to property, and people being injured by someone else’s animal. Verse 17 reminds me of Judge Judy on TV. It is happening now. It was happening then too in 1400 BC. All that I can say is that God cares. He understands about our propensity to violence. He knows the value of human life and provides laws to preserve justice. He cares.

God had to implement laws in order to protect slaves and those who would be dragged though the court system, falsely accused. Look at verses 35-36. God is fair to all people of all strata of society. The poorest and the rich and powerful were all subject to God’s justice. The property owners can not feign ignorance. They could not get away with subjecting others to extortion, lies and violence, depriving them of justice. There needs to be responsibility to protect the rights of our fellow man. It shows our human tendencies to oppress one another. God was looking out for all people. He is a just and caring God.

In conclusion, we see a merciful God, seeking to infuse justice into his newly formed nation. The people needed moral direction. They needed laws to protect peoples’ rights and maintain a stable, just and fruitful society. In doing so God revealed his just character, as well as his love and concern for his people. If we are to be called his people, we need to reflect his justice and fairness in our dealings with others. We must also be filled with thanksgiving for the solid foundations he has laid for us throughout the generations.

Prayer: “Lord, thank you for your justice. Thank you for protecting us from ourselves and providing laws for a safe, equitable society. Your word is indeed light in a dark world.”

One Word: God cares about justice and so should we, if we are called his people.