Sermon Notes: Exodus 21:12-22:15
Read it! Exodus 21:12-17.
On October 14, 2012, about two weeks away from leaving for Afghanistan, I had a booger of a situation at our home when we lived in Silver Creek.
I’m an early riser, and I’m a conceal carry guy. It was 5:15 AM. I was up already strapped. I had gone to let Panzer outside from the front door, went back into the bedroom to get something, was walking out of our bedroom back down the hallway into our living room area, and I somehow knew something wasn’t right. I could feel it. I realized as I entered the foyer to our living area that a man was trying to enter our front door. I had not locked that door when I let Panzer out.
My taught response was to step toward, draw, punch to target, fire. The whole thing took somewhere around 4-5 seconds.
My weapon was touching his forehead, and for some reason I didn’t pull the trigger. I still don’t know all the reasons why I didn’t pull the trigger. Fear? Caution? An awareness I didn’t have to?
That interaction (4’ish seconds) was slow motion, and perhaps the only explanation for why I didn’t pull the trigger. I was aware of every move I made as well as his movement. I could see his eyes. I made out the details of his dragon tattoo up his neck. I could smell him. When my gun touched his forehead, I could feel him turning away to run before he did. When he turned to run, I saw his weapon as he ran. Then things came back to normal speed. I lowered my weapon, reholstered, got my phone, and called 911. The rest of that day was full of reflection and lots of questions.
What if I had not been strapped? What If I pulled the trigger? What if he had gotten the drop on me? What would my family have seen? What would clean-up be like? What are the laws for home invasion for the homeowner in Georgia? What would have happened if I had pulled the trigger as he was on the threshold of my front door? What would have happened if he fell outside versus inside based on where we were when I shot him? Would I have been arrested? What are the laws around such a situation? Would I be guilty of some degree of manslaughter? Would I be guilty of some degree of murder? Would I deserve the death penalty? What about prison time? What about restitution to the family of the person I killed? Who wrote those laws? Why are those laws written the way they are written? Do those laws lean in favor to the intruder or homeowner, and why?
Law and life are complicated when it comes to interactions and incidents between humans. The curse from sin has made necessary laws that address interactions and incidents between humans across a wide spectrum of situations. Laws should create boundaries for human flourishing and prevent human destruction.
What is the government’s role in writing these kinds of laws? How detailed do those laws need to be? Are those laws just? Do those laws allow for minimum consequences where appropriate so that a guilty party has an opportunity to make right what they wronged and be restored to a place of potential success rather than a life of ruin? Do those laws provide justice for the victim?
Lots of questions.
Let’s look at the laws of our text today with the lens we put in place last week from Galatians 3:19-25, observe what the Lord says, and make the best application we can.
Order for human flourishing. The good news.
We can organize the laws in our text today into 5 categories: 1. Capital crimes (21:12-17) 2. Injury to another person (21:18-27) 3. Negligence resulting in another person’s injury (21:28-36; 22:5-13) 4. Theft (22:1-4) 5. Borrowing, lending, leasing (22:14-15)
Capital crimes. Exodus 21:12-17
In God’s economy of law, there are 5 capital offenses given in verses 12-17 and verse 29.
Here are the 5: Murder, violent attack against parents, cursing parents, and stealing and selling humans (slavery), and death due to negligence.
Murder
God is clear that there are crimes requiring the penalty of death. Capital punishment is based on the fundamental principle that since humans are created in God’s image, certain crimes that directly assault God’s image warrant the ultimate punishment of death. God is clear about this before his gives the law all the way back in Genesis.
God told Noah in Genesis 9:5b-6 that when a man takes the life of another man intentionally, he should die. God’s stated reason in verse 6 for this is that man is created in God’s image, and in murdering another, we do violence against God. Therefore, the proper consequence for violence against God by doing this kind of violence against man is that the murderer forfeits their life.
The only exception, which we will see in verses 13, is when a man kills another unintentionally, which is manslaughter. The wording of verse 13, “God made it befall him (my translation)” is a Hebrew way of saying it was a crime of passion not committed with forethought on the part of the one who struck the deadly blow.
Still, a life has been taken, and there is a demand for justice. Numbers 35 and Deuteronomy 19 provide cities of refuge for the person guilty of manslaughter to escape to until their case can be tried by the city leaders, and if it truly was a crime of passion, his life would be spared from vengeance from the family of the person that was killed.
The Hebrew language has different words for killing, and the sixth commandment cannot be used to nullify the death penalty because what the sixth commandment outlaws is murder not just killing.
So, those who want to use commandment six to outlaw the death penalty on biblical grounds simply don’t have a leg to stand on. Just retribution for murder is that the guilty party forfeits their life.
Capital negligence
There is an instance in Exodus 21:29, that I mention below in the section on negligence, where a man who knows his animal is prone to harm others and does not do the work to keep that animal contained and the animal kills someone, that man is liable to capital punishment.
The one guilty of negligence can be redeemed from capital punishment for a price, and if that price is not paid the guilty party is to be executed for capital negligence.
Violent attack against parents/Cursing parents.
The word “nakah” in verse 15 translated as “strike” means striking with harmful intent. Any hitting of a parent carries harmful intent.
The fifth commandment tells us to honor our father and mother. To strike father or mother is to display the Serpent’s intent to harm the family that God himself created, and to strike at the heart of God. Striking one’s parents incurs the wrath of God in capital punishment.
The idea of cursing one’s parents is the rejection of parental authority by effectively disowning them. To understand what I just said and thus the law’s intent, we can observe how Jesus interprets this law in Mark 7:9-13 and Matthew 15:3-6.
Jesus shows us this law’s intent by condemning the tradition of the elders that had become a defacto law. The law the religious elite had “created” led to rejecting what God said and thus not caring for parents in their old age.
What they had done was reinterpret the law and the law’s intent to turn it into a religious ritual that served their religious/political ends to throw off Roman rule. Rather than taking care of one’s aging parents and thus honoring them, they would leave their parents to either fend for themselves or leave them in some state of lack and give what they would spend on their parents for their benefit and provision to God as an offering to the “temple”. Jesus said that by this religious tradition they had nullified God’s word for the sake of their man-made tradition.
Neglecting one’s parents when they need care to use what they need from us for something else is cursing one’s parents. Usually, we tend to start finding excuses for overlooking what God says here, just like the leaders of Jesus’ day, and I’m sure we can justify exceptions, but the aim here is to just let the text speak.
There are huge implications on how we view, manage, train, mobilize, grow, and shepherd our families if we actually worked this instruction out, and we need to come back to this as something we seriously consider as a gospel culture shift that is needed now.
Jesus said this is what cursing one’s parents looks like, and God says it deserves death.
Slavery.
Eric’s sermon on the first part of Exodus 21 showed us that slavery is restless evil full of deadly poison. We learned God’s way of ridding creation of slavery is a slow unentangling of slavery from cultures and systems constructed around slavery over a long time because of its entangled, dark, and restless nature that touches so many domains of creation.
One take away we should draw from how God addresses slavery is that there is no easy and quick fix in creation to what the Serpent and his agents twist and break to the demise of creation. Sin has no quick fix.
Fixing the destruction of sin is a slow process, and in some cases will only be repaired in the resurrection. There are some things that won’t be fully repaired in this life, so don’t give in to the temptation to sin.
We can’t get impatient with God’s means of reversing the curse of sin. We work with God in the work of reversal and restoration at a sometimes painfully slow pace.
For those who have a strong sense of justice and get impatient with God’s means of ridding the world of slavery, remember that those who deal in human souls forfeit their lives in God’s economy, and he appoints governing authorities to get after it.
Maybe your job is to get into those roles of governing authority and make a difference. The global slave trade is real, more robust than ever, and those who trade in it deserve capital punishment.
Injury to another person Exodus 21:18-27
Quarreling
In the case of a quarrel, two men get into some kind of fight and one man hurts the other so that the hurt man is unable to work for a period of time. The one who did the damage must pay restitution for the loss of the hurt man’s time.
*Mistreatment of a slave
In verses 20, 21, 26, 27 God’s standard of justice is stark compared to other legal codes of the time like Hammurabi’s Code (1754’ish BC). Slaves are afforded justice in God’s law. If the slave is killed, he and his family get the justice of capital punishment applied to his murderer.
If the slave is harmed, he gets to go free.
So, the one who does the harm to the slave has to pay either with their life or the loss of revenue they would have earned with the slave they harmed.
*Hurting an innocent bystander
In the cited case, the innocent bystander is a mother and her unborn child.
If the mother and child survived either in womb or an early birth due to the physical trauma, the one who hit the mother causing the harm would be fined an amount the judge determined to be appropriate.
If there was harm, including death, the guilty person would be required to pay “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (verses 23-25).
This section of Exodus is the place we anchor our belief that children in the womb are human lives worthy of protection under civil law. Therefore, to kill them requires the penalty of “life for life”. In other words, to kill an unborn child is a capital offense in God’s economy of law.
As we will make application toward the end, the creation of and execution of laws that capture the heart of God to give justice to the victim and extract appropriate reconning from the guilty requires wisdom and deep thought on how to do justice before God and man.
Negligence resulting in another person or animal’s harm. Exodus 21:28-36; 22:5-13
An animal previously not causing harm, kills a person
If there is a situation where an animal who has no history of hurting anyone kills a person, the animal is to be killed, and the owner is not liable.
An animal known to cause harm, kills a person
If an animal was known to cause harm, and the owner did not make plans to prevent a dangerous animal from causing more harm, the animal is to be put to death, and the owner is to be put to death as capital punishment for negligence that leads to another’s death.
A ransom could be placed on the owner’s life and the owner could be redeemed with the payment of that ransom and thus not have to die.
A man causes harm to another man’s animal(s) by negligence
If a man causes the death of another man’s animal (by falling into a pit he dug and did not cover properly), the guilty party must make financial restitution to the person who lost their animal.
A man’s animal inadvertently harms or kills another man’s animal
If an animal harms another man’s animal but in a more inadvertent way, the guilty man’s animal is to be sold, and the guilty man gets half of the sale price and the man who lost his animal gets half.
The final instance is one in which an animal that is known to cause harm is not managed well, and it kills another man’s animal, the guilty owner is to pay for the dead animal.
*Why all the laws about negligence that cause harm to people and animals?
A man’s animals (particularly the ox) could be considered the ancient equivalent to a farmer’s tractor today. That ox did the heavy pulling, and to lose that ox was a major blow to a man’s ability to produce food.
It’s more than the animals. Animals matter. Proverbs 12:10 (ESV) Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
So, it’s also not less than the animals, but it’s more too. What God is getting at is mankind being everything he is capable of being as a responsible image-bearer created to have oversight over the universe not a bumbling, lazy, and negligent fool who hurts others and other creatures whether the means of hurt is an ox or a dangerously driven car or a poorly used piece of equipment.
God cares about repairing what negligence takes from others, and he requires restitution so that those who lost at the hands of another are taken care of and the negligent learn to be diligent.
Theft and killing the thief. 22:1-4
Theft
If a man steals another man’s ox and the ox is not recovered, the restitution is 5 oxen for 1. If a man steals another man’s sheep and the sheep is not recovered, the restitution is 4 sheep for 1.
If a man cannot pay the required restitution, he is to be placed in a position of servitude to pay off the debt he incurred by theft.
If a man steals an animal and the stolen animal is recovered in his possession, the restitution is double, 2 for 1.
Killing a thief
Now, according to God’s standard applied to my situation, if it’s dark outside and I strike a blow that results in the death of the person entering to do harm, I am not guilty. Darkness is a situation in which my ability to fully discern the level of threat is impeded, and that is considered.
But if it’s daylight, and I can discern the level of threat is not deadly, and I strike a deadly blow, there is bloodguilt on me, likely manslaughter and the opportunity to flee to a city of refuge until my case can be heard by the elders.
Borrowing, lending, and leasing. 22:14-15
When we borrow and lose or break what we borrow, we are to replace what we borrow.
If the owner is present while his neighbor is using what is being borrowed, the implication seems to be they are likewise using what has been lent, and if the animal or tool is harmed, the borrower is not liable.
If owner leases the animal or tool and there is damage, the cost of the damage is covered in the lease price, so the lender must cover their potential loss when determining how much to charge.
Application: What are we to think and believe because of these laws?
Living in ordered community is taught and learned, and it is taught and learned with boundaries for order. Laws are those boundaries. God reinforces boundaries by mandating restitution to be paid for breached boundaries.
God cares about order. God gave us boundaries as a means of order and flourishing. We know God loves order and order applied to human interaction with boundaries because order is how Jesus created the universe.
We know from the Proverbs 25:2 study of creation that matter is irreducibly complex and ordered into highly complex systems that work like magic.
For example, the flagellum on a bacterium is incredibly complex and cannot be reduced without losing function. This flagellum is a microscopic, whip-like motor that some bacteria use for propulsion. It has several key components: Rotary motor, hook joint, propeller, drive shaft, and a bushing.
These parts work together with precision to allow the bacteria to move. If any one of these components is missing, the flagellum cannot function.
Order. Organization. Boundaries between working parts. Glory!!!!
God created order and boundaries in creation.
Laws as boundaries and boundary enforcement are God’s ideas. Appropriate restitution for broken boundaries is also God’s idea.
There are no such things as consequence free decisions. Sowing and reaping are woven by the Wise Creator Jesus into his universe.
God puts this truth on display with laws as boundaries and restitution as balancing the scales of justice when boundaries are broken.
Therefore, it is no wonder that God would give detailed laws as boundaries for humans to function efficiently for good.
And as we learned last week, these laws are to lead us to see the glorious and good complexity and simplicity of the good news of Jesus and his kingdom. We’ll pick an easy one and draw that arc in just a minute.
God grants the responsibility of “ownership” to mankind as his stewards of creation.
The fact that restitution must be made to people based on how the property they had attained as God’s stewards was treated lets us know ownership under God as his stewards is a value to God and should be a value to us.
God’s idea of ownership is not total, rather it is an ownership rooted in the idea of a divine gift from God for which I will give account one day and offer back to God as worship. See Jesus’ parable of the talents.
God’s idea steward/owner is so robust that he has a law (Leviticus 25, Jubilee, every 50 years) that whatever we attain over the years from others as “owners” will revert to the original owner/steward as a reminder that we are owner/stewards not merely owners who will give account to God and offer what is his entrusted to us for a time back to him as worship.
God’s holds man accountable for what he does and for what he fails to do.
Sin is commission. Sin is also omission.
God calls us to a life of being tuned in to what we do and what we fail to do.
Good law requires us to be vigilant to act correctly and not be inappropriately passive. There is a time to let things lie and not act as we trust God to do what we can’t. By omission we are talking about not taking appropriate responsibility.
Knowing when to commit and when to omit and vice versa requires us to know and understand God’s word and work hard to make application today in our homes, cities, and the world.
Restitution must fit the crime.
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”.
The purpose of this law was to prevent the innocent party from taking their own revenge and going beyond God’s standard and thus creating more chaos.
It was the responsibility of the elders of a city to apply the law for the innocent party. The intent was NOT retaliation but appropriate compensation for what was lost.
Restitution was not allowed in a murder case. Murder required capital punishment. Life for life.
However, in every other case there is a call for restitution, thus reserving maximum punishment for the most severe crime and leaving room for mercy in the application of the law to other situations as deemed necessary by the offense through wise leadership.
During Jesus’ ministry on earth this understanding was challenged and strict justice with no room for mercy was considered minimum rather than maximum, and the Sanhedrin would use the law to take private revenge as far as they could. Bitterness at the Romans drove a bitter misuse of the law that Jesus preached against, and it’s one of the occasions they took to accuse Jesus.
Thus, Jesus comes along in Matthew 5:38-39 and seems to contradict what he inspired Moses to write. We know Jesus does not contradict his word. What Jesus is doing is combatting the idea of applying maximum sentences for private revenge with no place in non-capital offenses for restoration of relationship and financial viability for the guilty party.
God is not trying to ruin the guilty. Rather, he is providing training for them in his law and restitution for restoration.
We have a long way to go in figuring this out today in our legal system as it stands.
God’s law is to be applied to and for everyone equally.
Women, men, and the slave are to be treated equally. God’s law was unique because it was divinely given, and because it elevated every human to equally important.
Good law treats everyone as equal.
The application of God’s law required wise elders in Israel. Writing good laws and applying good laws today still require super detailed wisdom from wise men and women.
We need wise men and women in the role of government who can write good law. We need wise followers of Jesus in government who will write good law.
We need wise law enforcement who can enforce good law in a way that makes room for restoration. We need wise Christian law enforcement personnel who can represent Jesus in that hard place.
We need wise Christian judges to apply good laws for order, for restoration, and for leading people to know Jesus.
God’s law prepares us to see Jesus and follow him. (invite band to come up now)
I want you to see God’s sovereign rule in history, his divine inspiration of Scripture (all 66 books written over 1,500 years by 40+ scribes, multiple genres, and completely hyperlinked with nothing contrary to fact), and how he uses his word to point us to Jesus.
Exodus 21:32 (ESV) 32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Jesus was betrayed by Judas (the son of destruction) for the restitution price of a slave gored by an ox.
Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, resulting in his death, paid the ransom of the inestimable value of himself, far above what is required in the law, to redeem guilty murderous slaves of sin (me and you) from their death sentence and make them sons and daughters of God.
When the murdering governing body of leaders paid the traitor Judas 30 shekels of silver for the betrayal of the Son of God, this is what they determined Jesus to be worth, the price of a slave gored by an ox. They mis-applied the law to the One who wrote the law.
In their murder of and betrayal of Jesus their Creator, they fulfilled the Father’s historical, supernatural, and gospel purpose in Exodus 21:32 completely unaware they were walking in a sovereignly designed moment the law given by God to Moses would prophesy, and they showed they did not believe God’s law or Jesus it’s divine Author, who was completely in charge of the moment for eternally glorious purposes.
Their unbelief deserves the capital punishment of death since their offense is against their Creator.
There are no logical explanations for this glorious reality of God giving a law to be mis-applied to himself later in order to condemn the real violators for breaking the law and failing to believe and save those who would see it and embrace him by faith.
Our job is not to make logical sense of it. We are to be awe struck and soak it in. You can’t solve it. Just sit in it. Let it feed your trust in God. It’s a Psalm 29 moment where the Lord commands, and with is command moves men in history for redemptive purpose and just sentence. Witnessing such moments in God’s word should move those who know to see, enjoy, and obey:
Psalm 29:7-9 (ESV) 7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
What will you do with the Creator Jesus who was sold for the price of a gored slave yet paid for your sin and mine with the cost of his blood to ransom us from our just death sentence? His law demands a response.
Will you believe? Will you follow him today into the unknown? Will you worship him? Will you submit to his way? Or will you join those who violate his law to forever punishment for the eternal crime of unbelief?