Exodus 21:12-17 Precious Life

"Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death.

However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen,

he is to flee to a place I will designate.

But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately,

take him away from my altar and put him to death.

Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death.

Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him

 or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.

Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death."

Exodus 21:12-17 (NIV)

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Exodus 21:12-36 deals with laws regarding personal injuries.  Since that is too long a passage to do all in one post, I will divide it into three sections:

• personal injuries which cause the death of  someone (Exodus 21:12-17)
• personal injury which results from fighting (Exodus 21:18-27), and
• personal injuries involving animals. (Exodus 21:28-36)

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Exodus 21:12-17  Deliberate manslaughter was punishable by death.  Man was made in the image of God, and occupies a special place in God's plan.  Therefore it was not a trivial thing for someone to kill another person.  However, the fact is that sometimes things happen which result in the death of a person, when the one responsible had no intention of causing death.  In this case, the person was instructed to flee to what was called 'a city of refuge'.  These cities were designated as such by God, in order that an accidental killing would not result in a ceaseless round of additional deaths as devastated family members or relatives of the victim sought to even the score by exacting their own revenge.  Instead, the one who had caused the death of another accidentally could flee to one of these cities of refuge and have the case decided fairly by an impartial judge, who would hear both sides of the story.

Provision was being made for such cities, which would be located throughout the land which Israel had been given by God.  Eventually, there were six cities designated as cities of refuge.  The accused, if found innocent by the judges, was to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the current high priest.  After that, he could return to his own city.  However, if he left the city of refuge before that point, and was found elsewhere, an avenger of blood could kill him without being guilty of murder.  [For more information regarding the cities of refuge, take a look at Numbers 35:6-32, Deuteronomy 19:1-13 and Joshua 20:1-9]

Deliberate murder, on the other hand, was not to be tolerated.  A man who had killed someone deliberately and then sought refuge by remaining near God's altar, was to be taken away to be put to death.  The sense of the passage is 'even if he is taking refuge at my altar, if he committed a premeditated murder, take him away to be put to death'.  It should be noted that no one could be put to death for murder without the testimony of at least two witnesses.

Anyone who attacked his parents would also be put to death.  Even the calling down of curses upon parents would result in death, probably because the idea behind the curse was to bring death to that parent.  Such disrespect for parents violated the fifth and sixth commandments (Exodus 20:12-13) and had to be punished.

Similar disregard for a kidnapped person's life indicated a violation of the sixth and eighth commandments to not (possibly) murder or steal.  A kidnap victim could easily be injured or killed in the process of being kidnapped or sold to another person.

In both cases there is an obvious disregard for the person's life and for the image of God reflected in that person.  The penalties are severe, because the implications behind the act are rebellion against God and careless attitude toward the life which God has given to each person.  Not to mention the fact that you couldn't have a stable society if people felt free to kidnap others or kill the ones who had brought them into the world.     

Exodus 21:1-11 Laws Regarding Servants

"These are the laws you are to set before them:

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.

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.

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.

But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children

and do not want to go free,' then his master must take him before the judges.

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.

If a man sells his daughter as a servant,

she is not to go free as menservants do.

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.

If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.

If he marries another woman,

he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.

If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free,

without any payment of money."

Exodus 21:1-11 (NIV)

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Some observations:

• The verses from Exodus 21:1 through Exodus 23:19 is a section dealing with the laws regarding certain specific areas of life.
• Hebrew servants were to be set free after six years of service.  God had just brought the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.  He did not intend them to be held under servitude indefinitely.
• There is a certain fairness about the fact that the servant is allowed to depart after his six years of service with a wife which he had when he began his service.  If a master had given him his wife, however, she and any offspring would belong to the master.  I find this hard to understand, unless somehow it is fair for the master, who otherwise would not have been compensated for the loss of  these servants.  Since this is a family unit, I doubt that God would have wanted to tear it apart in this way if the manservant left.  I am glad that there is a provision for the family to remain intact, although it does come at great cost to the husband, who will now be a servant for life.  There are doubtless many cultural aspects of this that I do not understand.
• For example, why would a man sell his own daughter as a servant?  Possibly if he could not support her or was in some type of severe debt, he may have been forced to do so.  I know that in II Kings 4:1-7, a widow was nearly forced to sell her sons to satisfy her creditors, until the prophet Elisha miraculously supplied her with oil to sell to repay her debts.  Servitude was permitted under the Mosaic law in order to repay debts (Leviticus 25:39-41, Deuteronomy 15:1-11), but only for a limited time and the servant was to be kindly and fairly treated.  Needless to say, masters did not always live up to these standards.  Prophets often spoke against such abuses, particularly if they involved fellow Israelites.
• The rules regarding a woman servant are different.  Although it may seem unfair that a woman servant could not just go free after her service as the men did, we have to remember that in that society, a woman could not just wander about unprotected, for she would be in great danger of abuse.  Also, I imagine that there were few ways that a lone woman in that culture could support herself.  These rules regarding women servants actually protect her from just being sold off to whoever might be willing to pay her previous master.  Also, if the master had selected her as a wife for himself or his son, she was to be fairly treated, and if additional wives came into the picture, the master could not just cast her aside.  If he was not willing to provide her with food, clothing and marital rights, she would be set free without needing to pay anything to her master, for he had broken faith with her.  I imagine that this means that since he had taken her as a wife, he was obligated to provide for her.  If he wouldn't or couldn't, then she was to be set free to compensate for this breach of faith.
• Again, there may be cultural issues here of which I am not aware.  If I find anything more illuminating on these verses, I'll add it here.

Exodus 20:22-26 Instructions Regarding Idols and Altars

"Then the LORD said to Moses,

'Tell the Israelites this:

"You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven:

Do not make any gods to be alongside me;

do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

Make an altar of earth for me

and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings,

your sheep and goats and your cattle.

Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.

If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones,

for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.

And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed upon it." ' "

Exodus 20:22-26 (NIV)

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Some observations:

• The Israelites had heard God speak to them from heaven.  They knew that God had given instructions to Moses which they were to follow.  God reminded them of this fact, which implies that they now had a certain personal responsibility to follow these commands.
• The Israelites were to have only one God.  No additional 'gods' would be tolerated.  No images of God or other 'gods' were to be made, even if they used precious metals such as silver or gold.
• God directed them to use an earthen altar.  If they did make an altar of stones, they were not to shape the stones with tools, for this would defile it.
• They were to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.  Sheep, goats, and cattle were to be sacrificed.
• In the place where God caused His name to be honored, He would come to them and bless them.
• One practical instruction:  Their altars were not to be built upon platforms which were reached by steps.  Such an architecture might result in improper exposure as the priest went about his work.  To guard against such a situation, Aaron and his descendants were instructed to wear linen undergarments as part of their attire as they carried out their priestly duties.

Exodus 20:18-21 Trembling at the Presence

"When the people saw the thunder and lightning

and heard the trumpet

and saw the mountain in smoke,

they trembled with fear.

They stayed at a distance and said to Moses,

'Speak to us yourself and we will listen.

But do not have God speak to us or we will die.'

Moses said to the people,

'Do not be afraid.

God has come to test you,

so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'

The people remained at a distance,

while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was."

Exodus 20:18-21 (NIV)

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Even though the people had not seen God, they still trembled with fear at the thought of being in His presence.  They realized their own sinfulness in the presence of His holiness, and feared that they would be struck dead if they actually saw God or He spoke to them.  They begged Moses to be their go-between, and indicated that they would be willing to listen to what God had to say.

Moses assured them that they did not need to be in such abject fear.  God had come to test them, and to ensure that they would be able to realize more about who He was.  This experience would help to keep them from sinning, for who would want to offend such a God?

Despite Moses' words, the people remained at a distance.  Moses approached the thick darkness which concealed the presence of God.  If the people had trembled with fear at what was going on in nature as it reacted to His presence upon the mountaintop, imagine what they would have done if they had seen God face to face.  As we saw in Exodus 19:12,20-22, God had forbidden the Israelites from going up the mountain.  God did, however, want them to hear His voice so that they would believe that He had truly spoken to Moses.

Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,

 or his manservant or maidservant,

his ox or donkey,

 or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Exodus 20:17 (NIV)

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Now that I think about it, I should have used the example of Ahab coveting Naboth's vineyard (which I used in the previous post to illustrate the commandment about not giving false testimony against your neighbor) for this commandment against coveting, for Ahab certainly had a problem in this area.  However, I am sure that I can find plenty of other examples in the Bible.

I think of Jacob, and how his uncle Laban coveted the flocks with which God had blessed Jacob.  I guess that not only the grass, but also the flocks look better on the other side of the fence.  Laban's coveting (not to mention cheating Jacob of his wages) did not end well for Laban.  His own flocks were diminished and he lost the esteem of Jacob and his own two daughters in the process, and eventually, Jacob and his wives left Laban's presence entirely.

Too often, I think, we are so busy trying to see what the other guy has, that we miss the blessings which God has already given us.  We think that someone else has life better than us, and that everything seems to be working out great for them, while we struggle or suffer.  Actually, the truth is that all of us have been far more richly blessed than we realize.  Also, in this sinful world, all of us feel the effects of sin's destructive ways at some point.

I think of King David, and his coveting of Uriah's wife, Bathsheba.  He took Bathsheba and had Uriah killed in battle when he learned that Bathsheba had become pregnant with David's child while Uriah was away.  That sin resulted in the death of Uriah, and also the child.  In addition, the sword would not depart from David's household:  from his own household, a son would arise who would make a bid for the kingship by lying with some of David's wives.  Actually, altogether three of David's sons would die violently:

• Amnon (II Samuel 13:28-29)
• Absalom (II Samuel 18:14-15)
• Adonijah (I Kings 2:25)

One interesting aspect of this punishment was that when the prophet Nathan first came to David to confront him about the death of Uriah, Nathan told David a parable about a rich man who stole the only sheep of a poor man in order to feed his guest, instead of using one of his own many sheep.  (II Samuel 12)  Angrily, David had declared that such a man deserved death, but should suffer a fourfold retribution.  Nathan's parable had actually been about David's adultery with Bathsheba, and, in the end, David received the very punishment which he had declared would be appropriate:  Counting the child of Bathsheba who had died of an illness, along with the three sons who died violently above, David had suffered a fourfold loss.  Although David repented sincerely and was forgiven, this sin of coveting had left a permanent scar upon an otherwise exemplary life.

If that account of the spiraling devastation which sin can cause is not enough of an incentive to keep away from adultery and other forms of coveting, then I don't know what else could be.