With the Ten Commandments, God has set a basic moral standard, but now He gives Moses a list of laws which demonstrate how those commandments are to be put into effect. Here we find details of specific crimes and their punishments, and some basic rules for governing society. Again, God gives practical as well as moral and spiritual guidance.
First, some instructions regarding Hebrew servants. When the passage talks about buying servants, it may sound suspiciously like slavery, but this is not slavery as practiced in eighteenth century Europe and America. I've done a little reading, and according to my Bible commentary, the term "Hebrew servant" refers to an Israelite who has fallen into debt or destitution. When a person fell onto hard times, they could choose to sell themselves into servanthood, but their master could only own them for six years. When the six years were up, the servant could choose to either be released without debt and make a fresh start, or remain a servant in his master's house. It was always up to the servant, and at no point could anyone be held as a slave against their will. In fact, later on in this passage, kidnapping and selling another person is expressly forbidden. The only time one person was permitted to sell another was in the case of a father selling his daughter, but a daughter was her father's possession in as much as she was under his protection, and it was still about provision. This option was generally taken when a family couldn't afford a dowry, meaning the daughter would be unable to marry, and would therefore have no support after her parents had died. The law was very careful to make sure that a daughter sold as a servant would be cared for, and so this way she was guaranteed security, shelter and sustenance.
The system of servanthood was set up to provide a safety net for those in need. It is true that their lower status restricted their rights (for example, their master was allowed to beat them as long as they recovered within a couple of days), but it is also undeniable that they were better off than they would have been had they remained destitute. I'm not saying I agree with these practices - I find the idea of somebody owning another person abhorrent in any situation, and in no circumstance should a person's rights be restricted - but I think it is important to recognise that these laws were actually relatively kind, and the focus was on provision for the servant.
Next, we move on to personal injuries, and here we have a series of violent crimes and their appropriate punishments, mainly capital punishment. This area of the law worked on the basis of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". It sounds harsh, and I don't like it, but really it's only fair. If you take something, you should give it back. God wasn't being cruel or vengeful, He was being just. And there is some leniency here - provision is made for a sanctuary, allowing an accused person to defend their name and escape punishment if the death is judged to have been accidental. Still, this law is a prime example of the need for caution when reading the Old Testament. Jesus expressly taught against this kind of thinking (see Matthew 5:38-39) and His teaching must take precedence. If you want to learn about something, you look to the most recent information, right? Well it's the same with the Bible. So what changed? The simple answer is everything. When Jesus died and rose again, He ushered in a new way, a new law, a new way of relating to God. The old covenant was based on justice, but the new covenant is based on grace. Jesus took the punishment for our sins, so we don't have to. That's what's really unfair, but isn't it wonderful?
The next section deals with protection of property, and this works on the basis that a thief must pay back double what he took. Again, this is a law based on justice - the thief must make both restitution and compensation, making amends by undoing the damage he had done and then making up by giving of his own. It sounds to me like an excellent basis for an apology.
Now we have various laws regarding social responsibility. They're a bit of a mixed bag, but they're all aimed at making society run more smoothly. If a man rapes a virgin, he must marry her unless her father forbids it, but in either case he must pay the father the full bride-price for a virgin. I initally wrote that this law displayed a complete lack of consideration for the woman, and suggested that the needed to take human feelings into account. I stand by that last point, and I still think the law would have caused a great deal of pain for those women forced to marry their rapists, but I think I may have missed something the first time around. Any woman who had been raped would have been considered poor marriage material, and so I think this law was really about making sure the rapist was held accountable for his actions and the woman was provided for. Of course it would have been better for society to have changed its thinking so that rape bore no stigma and a rape survivor was never punished for what she had suffered, but the law was more compassionate than I perhaps gave it credit for.
We are then told very briefly that sorcery and bestiality are punishable by death, but I think they will be dealt with again later. Next there are instructions to care for foreigners, because the Israelites were once foreigners too; and to care for widows and orphans, because they are vulnerable. If you take these laws together with the laws regarding servants, you can see the beginnings of the world's first welfare state. It seems that whatever certain corners of the church might think, God is a liberal and He does not just help those who help themselves. Finally, if you lend money, do not charge interest; and if you take someone's cloak as a deposit, give it him back before nightfall so he does not freeze. Basically act out of kindness, not just personal interest.
Now come reminders of a couple of the commandments. The section the NIV calls "Laws of justice and mercy" (from which I got the title of this entry) basically elaborates on the ninth commandment, demanding honesty in all legal proceedings and human interaction. The sabbath laws are then extended to include leaving fields fallow for one year out of seven, and it is made clear that the Sabbath is for all - servants and animals included.
Having set out His laws, God now establishes three annual festivals - the Feast of Unleavened Bread, to commemorate the exodus, the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Ingathering. At these times, all the men of Israel must appear before God. It almost sounds like God is making a date with His people. He knows that we have tendency to stray, so He gives us these opportunities to come back to Him. He then promises that an angel will go before the Israelites to clear the way for them, and He warns the people against mingling with other peoples because He fears the will be tempted into worshipping their gods. We must follow Jesus' example in reaching out to everyone, but at the same time we must heed this warning and be careful that we do not allow others to lead us astray.
Finally the covenant is confirmed. The leaders of Israel set up twelve stones to represent the twelve tribes, because all the people are a part of the covenant, and then they make sacrifices and sprinkle the blood on the altar and the people. The first covenant was sealed with blood, so the second had to be too - that's part of the reason that Jesus died. Moses and the leaders then went up mountain and saw God. I missed this minor detail the first time I read the passage because it's said so casually. Meeting with God is always an awesome experience, and we should never dismiss or devalue it, but wouldn't it be great if it was so much a part of our lives that we could just drop it in to everyday conversation? The leaders then then eat and drink in God's presence to confirm the covenant. Sound familiar? Communion is our covenant meal, eaten in the presence of God, and maybe as we eat and drink we should think on that and remember all of His promises to us and the responsibilities we have to Him in return.
After this meal, Moses stays on the mountain for forty days. We'll see next time what else God has to say to Him.
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