Exodus Chapter 21 Deep-Dive: The Law is Given

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Exodus Ch 21 ISRAEL IS STILL AT MT SINAI … Laws About Slaves

EVERY NATION ON EARTH DURING THE BRONZE & IRON AGES PRACTICED SLAVERY … GOD IS GIVING DIRECTION TO HIS PEOPLE IN THE MIDST OF THE WORLD CULTURE OF THAT TIME. SLAVERY INCLUDED DEBT RELIEF … SELLING YOURSELF OR ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN, THE ANCIENT WORLD WAS AN AGRARIAN ECONOMY … LOT OF FARM LABOR NEEDED,

ALSO, THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD THE ONLY NATIONS THAT ABOLISHED SLAVERY WERE CHRISTIAN

SLAVERY IS STILL A MODERN ISSUE … LOT OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING STILL TAKING PLACE! IN THE ANCIENT WORLD THERE WAS VIRTUALLY NO MIDDLE CLASS. MOST PEOPLE WERE SERVANTS/SLAVES. THERE WERE FEW RICH, AND ALSO SOME MERCHANTS AND SKILLED WORKERS. WHOLE NATIONS WERE SLAVES SUCH AS THE SLAVIC PEOPLE IN EUROPE (POLAND) SUBJECT TO GERMAN TRIBES ON ONE SIDE & RUSSIANS ON THE OTHER, AND ALL SUBJECT TO GENGHIS KAHN’S INVASION.

THE MIDDLE CLASS BEGAN TO DEVELOP IN EUROPE IN THE 8^th -12^th CENTURIES. STILL, MOST PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIVED THROUGHOUT HISTORY WERE AT LEAST SERVANTS, INDENTURED SERVANTS OR SLAVES. BECOMING A SLAVE WAS A WAY TO MAKE A LIVING IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.

GOD IS USING ISRAEL TO EVENTUALLY MODIFY WORLD-WIDE PRACTICES.

ABRAHAM’S WEALTH INCLUDED SERVANTS AND SLAVES BOUGHT WITH HIS MONEY:

Gen 14:14When Abram heard that his kinsman (LOT) had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Gen 17:23Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. ABRAHAM HAD SLAVES OR SERVANTS BOUGHT WITH HIS MONEY.

Back to Exodus

Ex 21:1“Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. 5But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6then his master shall bring him to God (ELOHIM-SPIRITUAL BEINGS-ANCESTORS/SAMUEL – THE SLAVE BECOMES A PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE HOUSEHOLD RECOGNIZED BY GOD & THE SAINTS / ANCESTORS), and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever. THE SLAVE MAKES THIS DECISION!

THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. THINK ABOUT THE PROGRESS OF REDEMPTION GOD HAS CAUSED TO HAPPEN THROUGH HISTORY: OT Abraham / Isaac / Israel / law / prophets / King David … until … John / Jesus God Incarnate in one man & the Holy Spirit God inhabiting and empowering all true believers which results in changed lives of fruitful righteousness – like a butterfly: caterpillar/OT/Israel / chrysalis/Jesus / butterfly/NT & the church the body and bride of Christ.

PAUL’S VIEW ON SLAVERY/BOND-SERVITUDE (indentured servants):

Rom 1:1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

Rom 6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Cor 7:17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. 18Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. 20Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21Were you a bondservant (slave) when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. 23You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

JACOB/ISRAEL’S SON, JOSEPH (WHO RECEIVED THE DOUBLE PORTION RESERVED FOR THE FIRSTBORN - MANNASSEH / EPHRAIM) – SOLD INTO SLAVERY BY HIS BROTHERS IN ORDER TO SAVE THE WORLD … GOD WAS AWARE OF IT WHEN IT WAS DONE … GOD ORDAINED IT!

 

Gen 50:20 JOSEPH SPEAKING AS SECOND IN COMMAND IN EGYPT As for you (JOSEPH’S BROTHERS WHO SOLD HIM INTO SLAVERY), you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

 

IF JOSEPH HAD NOT “DONE HIS BEST” WHILE SERVING POTIPHER AND IN PRISON, IF HE HAD SULKED, REBELLED AND “FOUGHT FOR HIS FREEDOM” … GOD’S PLAN WOULD NOT HAVE WORKED. SCRIPTURE SEEMS TO BE SAYING THAT GOD IS MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN HOW WE BEHAVE IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES GOD HAS PUT US IN, RATHER THAN, SETTING US FREE FROM NEGATIVE SITUATIONS … LOOK AT THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS !! Heb 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. SUFFERING IS PART OF THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE

 

Heb 12:11For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

 

James 1:2 (THE HALF-BROTHER OF JESUS) Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

1 Pet 1:1 (THE ROCK ON WHICH JESUS BUILT HIS CHURCH … PETER’S FIRST LETTER TO THE CHURCH) Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

BACK TO EX 21

7“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do (AFTER 7 YEARS – SHE’S THERE FOR LIFE IF SHE WAS PURCHASED TO HAVE A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ONE WHO PURCHASED HER … SHE BECOMES A CONCUBINE OR WIFE). 8If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed (PURCHASED BY ANOTHER ISRAELITE). He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights (CONJUGAL). 11And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

IN THE ANCIENT WORLD A FATHER SELLS HIS DAUGHTER IN MOST CASES BECAUSE HE CAN’T FEED HER … THE PRIMARY ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE ANCIENT WORLD WAS TO HAVE CHILDREN, AND HAVING CHILDREN GUARANTEED HER VALUE AND/OR PROTECTION AS SHE AGED. WE HAVE TO GET PAST OUR MODERN WESTERN VIEW OF SEXUALITY … ROMANTIC LOVE MAY HAVE EXISTED IN THE ANCIENT WORLD BUT MOST PEOPLE WERE FOCUSED ON SIMPLE SURVIVAL, AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE FAMILY UNIT … HAVING MULTIPLE CHILDREN WAS CRITICAL FOR THAT.

THIS AMAZING LAW PROTECTED WOMEN IN ISRAEL FROM BECOMING SEX SLAVES. A WOMAN WHO WAS BOUGHT TO BECOME A CONCUBINE WAS GUARANTEED PROPER TREATMENT … JUST AS BILHAH (RACHEL’S MAIDSERVANT) AND ZILPAH (LEAH’S MAIDSERVANT) WERE TREATED BY JACOB; ALTHOUGH CONCUBINES THEY WERE TREATED AS WIVES AND THEIR SONS WERE EQUAL TO RACHEL AND LEAH’S SONS … AND THEY WERE LATER LISTED AS WIVES OF JACOB.

MARITAL RITES PROTECTED – EVEN FOR THESE CONCUBINES: FOOD, DRINK, CLOTHING, SHELTER, CONJUGAL, INHERITANCE, ETC.

REMEMBER, GOD IS DEALING WITH HUMAN CULTURE AS IT WAS AT THAT TIME – WORKING TO TRANSFORM IT FROM SOMETHING ALIENATED FROM GOD. GIVING REGULATIONS TO REQUIRE HUMANE TREATMENTS OF SLAVES WAS A STARTING POINT.

BACK TO EX 21

Ex 21:12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death (MURDER). 13But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand (SOVEREIGNTY – GOD DECIDES WHEN PEOPLE WILL DIE … BUT THE ASSAILANT DIDN’T PLAN TO KILL THE MAN), then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee (CITIES OF REFUGE - SANCTUARY). 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

Ex 21:15“Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death. JUST STRIKING – YOU DON’T EVEN NEED TO HARM THEM …

16 “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death. KIDNAPPING: JOSEPH’S BROTHERS SELLING HIM INTO SLAVERY. THIS IS THE TORAH’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE SLAVE TRADE … STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

ISRAEL IS STILL AT SINAI, MOSES IS RECEIVING … DIRECTLY FROM GOD … REVELATION NOT EVOLUTION … ADDITIONAL LAWS THAT OFFER GREATER AND GREATER DETAIL … EXPANDING ON THE 10 COMMANDMENTS. YOU CAN TELL THAT GOD LOVES THEM BY THE LAWS HE’S GIVING THEM. LAWLESSNESS = ANARCHY & CHAOS = HORROR. LAW & ORDER PRESERVES HUMAN LIFE & DIGNITY. GOD IS BRINGING ORDER OUT OF CHAOS. THERE’S ALSO THE ASPECT THAT GOD KNOWS THESE ARE A STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE SO HE’S TRYING TO FENCE THEM IN TO KEEP THEM ON THE PROPER PATH … THINK OF A PARENT OF A REBELLIOUS CHILD WHO IS TRYING TO GET THEM TO OBEY … MORE AND MORE LIMITATIONS IN ORDER TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR.

KEEP IN MIND THAT THE LAW IS GOOD … GOOD … GOOD! ISRAEL NEEDS THESE LAWS TO PROTECT THE NATION, THE SOCIETY, THE PRACTICE OF THEIR RELIGION, THE POOR, AND THE WEAK. GOD IS MAKING ISRAEL INTO A NATION THAT’S DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER NATIONS … HIS OWN POSSESSION. IN ORDER FOR THEM TO PLEASE GOD AND ULTIMATELY SERVE THEIR PAGAN NEIGHBORS THEY MUST FOLLOW THESE LAWS … THEY MUST BE DIFFERENT.

THERE ARE ABOUT 2 MILLION MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN AT SINAI (NUM CH 1) KEEP IN MIND THE DIFFICULTY OF EXPRESSING LARGE NUMBERS IN THE ANCIENT HEBREW LANGUAGE … WE REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT THE ACTUAL NUMBER WAS BUT THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE MILLING AROUND WITH LITTLE TO DO, ALSO, THEY HAD NUMEROUS HERDS WITH THEM. THESE LAWS SEEM BIZARRE TO US BUT THEY WERE VERY DETAILED AND FOCUSED ON WHAT ISRAEL NEEDED AT THAT TIME.

THEY NEED VERY, VERY SPECIFIC GUIDANCE … TECHNICAL. THEY NEED TO LEARN TO DRIVE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE DOUBLE YELLOW LINES ON THE ROADS. TO PARK WITHIN THE LINES AND DRIVE THE SPEED LIMIT. BUT THAT’S HOW WE LIVE LIFE – BY THE DETAILS.

OUR MODERN LAWS ARE DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE DETAILED LAWS THAT GOD GAVE TO ISRAEL. GOD’S REVELATION BECAUSE HE NEEDED TO GUIDE A LOT OF PEOPLE. THIS WAS NO LONGER A FAMILY OR SMALL TRIBE … THEY’RE BECOMING A TRUE NATION.

LAWS ARE WHAT CREATE CIVILIZATION. THE OPPOSITE OF OR ABSENCE OF LAW IS CHAOS. ALL GREAT CIVILIZATIONS THROUGHOUT HISTORY WERE GUIDED BY LAW. ROME’S PAX ROMANA (ROMAN PEACE), GAVE STRUCTURE AND PEACE DURING THE TIME OF CHRIST AND THE EARLY CHURCH. ALTHOUGH GOD DID USE ROME TO ALLOW PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH, OVERALL, ROME WAS A GOOD THING AND PROVIDED PEACE & PROSPERITY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD. MOST RECENTLY IN WORLD HISTORY THE BRITISH EMPIRE SPREAD COMMON LAW THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AS THEIR EMPIRE SPREAD – AT ONE POINT THE SUN NEVER SET ON THE BRITISH EMPIRE. THE BRITISH EMPIRE CONDONED SLAVERY UNTIL THE BRITISH SLAVERY ABOLITION ACT ENDED THE PRACTICE IN MOST OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE EARLY 19^th CENTURY AND THIS HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON COLONIAL SOCIETIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

CONFUCIAN CHINA, THE CODE OF HAMMURABI … THESE ANCIENT LAW CODES ARE VERY SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER AND TO THE LAW GIVEN TO ISRAEL DUE TO COMMON GRACE. ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE SIMILAR AND CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE. ALL PEOPLE HAVE A CERTAIN HUNGER FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS OR AT LEAST TO BE TREATED FAIRLY BE THEIR NEIGHBORS AND GOVERNMENT.

BACK TO EXODUS / SINAI

WE WILL SEE A LOT OF “DEATH PENALTY” LAWS AS WE MOVE THROUGH TORAH, HOWEVER, VERY FEW PEOPLE IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL WILL BE PUT TO DEATH THROUGH THESE LAWS … THERE WAS ROOM FOR REPENTANCE WITHIN THE LAW & THE CHARACTER OF GOD … THINK OF KING DAVID SLEEPING WITH BATHSHEBA, URIAH’S WIFE, AND SHE BECAME PREGNANT, THEN TO COVER IT UP DAVID ARRANGES TO HAVE URIAH KILLED IN A BATTLE WITH THE AMMONITES … DAVID REPENTED AND WAS RESTORED … BUT … THERE WERE CONSEQUENCES THAT GOD CAUSED DIRECTLY 2 Sam 12:9 NATHAN THE PROPHET CONFRONTING DAVID Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE DAVID ACCEPTED THIS DISCIPLINE FROM THE LORD AS WHAT HE DESERVED … HE REPENTED OVER AND OVER AND OVER … AND WE CAN SEE THAT IN THE PSALMS HE WROTE. THESE “DEATH PENALTIES” EXISTED FOR PEOPLE WHO REFUSED TO REPENT … SOMEONE INVOLVED IN THE SLAVE TRADE WHO REFUSED TO STOP … SAME AS MURDER … DEATH.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE; ADAM AND EVE IN THE GARDEN … Gen 2:16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” … DEATH PENALTY … BUT DID GOD PUT THEM TO DEATH? … HOWEVER, THERE WERE DIRE DEATH-LIKE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT RESULTED … DESIGNED TO DRIVE THEM TO REPENTANCE … THE MESSAGE OF THE WHOLE BIBLE IS … REPENT & TURN BACK TO GOD … OVER, AND OVER, AND OVER, AND OVER AGAIN … EVERY MAN OWES GOD A DEATH.

BACK TO EX 21 … Ex 21:17 “Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.

RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY IS AN ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL PART OF ISRAEL SURVIVING. LEARNING OBEDIENCE THROUGH THE FAMILY STRUCTURE. CURSING A PARENT … SPOKEN WORDS ARE INCREDIBLY POWERFUL James 3:5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

BACK TO EX 21 … YOU CAN TELL WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THE PEOPLE BY THE TYPES OF LAWS GOD WAS GIVING … SOME ROUGH STUFF!

Ex 21:18“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

FIRST LAW THAT MENTIONS RESTITUTION – OPPOSED TO RETRIBUTION … GOD IS WORKING TO LIMIT WHAT IS DONE AS A RESULT OF THE OFFENSE. DO WHAT’S FAIR TO RESTORE THE DAMAGE DONE.

Ex 21:20“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged MURDER. 21But if the slave survives a day or two (AND POSSIBLY DIES FROM SOMETHING ELSE), he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money (POSSESSION).

Ex 21:22“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

NOTE THAT HARM FOR HARM, EYE FOR EYE AND TOOTH FOR TOOTH WAS DESIGNED TO LIMIT RETRIBUTION … SO THAT LIFE DIDN’T TURN INTO ENDLESS UNRESTRAINED REVENGE FUEDS

THE DEATH OF THE UNBORN CHILD IS CONSIDERED MURDER … LIFE FOR LIFE.

THIS IS THE FIRST LAW THAT MENTIONS JUDGES …

Ex 21:26“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.

REMEMBER, WE’RE SLAVES OF JESUS CHRIST: KEEP THAT PERSPECTIVE IN MIND:

Rev 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants (doulos - SLAVES) the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant (SLAVE) John.

Rev 2:10 TO THE CHURCH IN SMYRNA Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

IF GOD ALLOWS OR CAUSES US TO LOSE AN EYE, OR A TOOTH … OR OUR LIFE – WE WON’T BE SET FREE, WE’RE SLAVES TO CHRIST FOR LIFE – NO MATTER WHAT OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. HOWEVER, WE WILL RECEIVE THE CROWN OF LIFE AND WON’T BE HURT BY THE 2^ND DEATH!

BACK TO EXODUS … Ex 21:28“When an ox (OXEN WERE EXPENSIVE AND VALUABLE) gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. NO RESTITUTION – BE CAREFUL AROUND OXEN!! 29But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32If 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. PUNITIVE ASPECT ADDED FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WARNED … INTENTIONAL VS NON-INTENTIONAL, ACCIDENT VS CRIMINAL INTENT MULTIPLIES RESTITUTION.

Ex 21:33“When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

IN THE ANCIENT WORLD HERDS AND FLOCKS ARE GOLD … MONEY … WEALTH … WHAT THEY USE TO LIVE ON. THERE’S EVEN RESIDUAL VALUE IN A DEAD BEST … YOU BROKE IT, YOU BOUGHT IT!

Ex 21:35“When one man’s ox butts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. 36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.

AND THAT WILL WRAP UP EX CH 21

 

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