Living Distinctively in a Fallen World

chapter 21. If you are in a pew Bible, that's page number 62. We've been going through the

book of Exodus this year, and we've seen that the God of the Bible is a God who saves, right?

He saved the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, and He has saved us from sin and death

through the resurrection, the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we've also seen that

the God who saves us sustains us. God sustained the people of Israel through the wilderness,

and He continues to sustain and provide for us by His Holy Spirit and His grace. And we've also

seen that the same God who saves and sustains us also instructs us in His laws. For the last two

weeks, we've looked at the Ten Commandments, the heart of God's moral law, which teaches us to love

God above everything else and love our neighbor as ourselves. Now, for the next four Sundays,

during this month of June, we're focusing in on God's wise instructions for His redeemed people

in Exodus 21 through 23. So today, we're looking at a long section of chapter 21 and most of chapter 22.

I won't read all of it, but let's begin by reading chapter 21, starting at verse 1. Here we go.

Now, these are the rules that you shall set before them. Now, God is speaking to Moses to then speak

to the people of Israel. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh,

he shall go out free for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single. If he comes in

married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons

or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out alone. But if the

slave plainly says, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free, then his master

will bring him to God, 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. When a man sells his daughter as a

slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master who has designated

her for himself, he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people

since he has broken faith with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a

daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, clothing, or marital

rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing without payment

of money. Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait

for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.

But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar

that he may die. Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death. Whoever steals a

man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him shall be put to death. Whoever curses his

father or his mother shall be put to death. 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, then 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. When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod,

and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two,

he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money. 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. But if there is harm,

then you shall 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. I'm going to stop there. Now, one of our commitments

at Trinity Baptist Church is to preach or teach the whole counsel of God. That is, all of the truths

that God has revealed to us in the different books and sections of the Bible. And often we do that by

preaching through whole books of the Bible without skipping anything. And so, we come to this morning's

passage that we might not dare to tackle if each of the preachers just got to choose a different text

each Sunday on our own. Now, a handful of you are lawyers or law school students, and some of you might

be fascinated by this. But most people who try to read straight through the Bible come to passages

like this, and their eyes start to glaze over, and—or maybe you're thinking, yikes, some of these laws

sound really harsh. Slavery, the death penalty for cursing your parents, an eye for an eye and a tooth

for a tooth. Can I really trust that these laws come from a good and just and wise God? But here's the

thing. If the whole Bible is God's Word for us, then God has something good for us here in these chapters,

no matter how strange and alien they may seem. So, this morning I want us to take a deeper look at these

chapters that are easy to misunderstand because we don't live in that cultural context, or we can be tempted

to just ignore and overlook because we don't know what to do with them. Now, a bit of the big picture.

Back in chapter 19, verse 6, God said to the people of Israel, you are to be my kingdom of priests

and my holy nation. In other words, God was calling the Israelites to reflect His distinctive character,

His wisdom and justice and love to the surrounding nations. And this section in particular is teaching

the Israelites how to reflect God's character in their life together as a civil society, as a nation.

Now, these laws we're looking at today were specifically intended for the Old Testament people

of Israel. They don't apply directly to the Christian church because the Christian church is not a nation

state. Jesus Christ did not tell His disciples to set up a king and get a military force together

and take a piece of land and from there expand the Christian kingdom throughout the earth. No.

He never said that. In fact, the disciples seem to have had that idea, and Jesus said no. They said,

are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said, no, but I'll give you the Holy Spirit,

and you will go to the ends of the earth and bear witness to me as the Savior and Lord.

So, these laws are also not meant to be directly implemented by modern governments,

because modern governments do not have the authority or are not given the responsibility

to… No modern nation state is God's kingdom of priests and God's holy nation on earth.

And modern governments have the responsibility to administer justice, Romans 13,

tells us that. But God has not authorized any government to enforce the laws of the New Testament,

to compel people to come to church or compel people to obey the particular commands of the Lord Jesus

Christ. Jesus said Christians are exiles scattered among the nations. We live in loyalty to Jesus,

but we live throughout all the nations of the world. So, then you might ask, well, wait a minute. Okay,

if these chapters don't apply directly to the church, and they don't apply directly to modern

governments, then are they really any use for us at all? And the answer to that is yes,

because they show us God's wisdom in applying the principles of His moral law within a particular

historical and cultural context. And don't we need God's wisdom to apply the Ten Commandments,

for example, to our own lives and our own habits and our life as a Christian community,

as a church, our own particular circumstances? Second reason these laws are helpful is they don't

just tell us how God wants us to live ideally, but also how to deal with some of the realities of life

in a messy and broken world. The section we're looking at today is sometimes called the case law

because it outlines common situations, common cases that the ancient Israelites would have faced,

and it gives guidance about how to pursue justice on a case-by-case kind of basis.

First one says, these are the rules. That word can also be translated judgments or judicial

rulings. In other words, the case law sets a judicial precedent for how to deal with other

similar situations that may arise. But I want you to notice just from the start that every situation

mentioned in these chapters is a result of living in a fallen world. Notice how the paragraphs begin.

Verse 2, when you buy a Hebrew slave. Verse 10, when a man sells his daughter as a slave.

Verse 12 to 17 have a different structure. We'll look at that later on. But verse 18,

when men quarrel and one strikes the other. Verse 20, when a man strikes his slave and the slave dies.

Verse 22, when men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, an innocent bystander. Verse 28,

when an ox gores a man or a woman to death. Verse 33, when someone falls into a pit.

Chapter 22, verse 1, if a man steals an ox or a sheep,

every one of these situations, including, by the way, slavery, is a result of living in a fallen world.

None of these situations would occur if we were still living in the Garden of Eden

and harmony with God and in a right relationship with each other.

But you see, when God saves us, God doesn't magically transport us out of our sinful flesh

and this broken world. We still have to deal with potentially oppressive work situations,

quarrels and fights, car accidents, wildfires, things that get lost or stolen,

etc., etc., etc., etc. And what we see here is that God makes provision for us in the midst of a messy world.

He doesn't promise a utopia, then or now, but He does show us a way forward,

one step at a time toward His redemptive and righteous purposes.

So the laws we're looking at today are not God's last or only word on these topics,

but they do show us God's wisdom in applying the law in concrete situations

and in responding redemptively to the realities of a fallen world.

As we go through these chapters, I want to do two basic things as we go along.

I want to point out some of the ways that Israel's laws distinctively reflected God's character

in their historical context.

So I'm going to mention some comparisons to other laws of other nations of that time,

of the ancient Near East.

And we'll see some ways that the laws distinctively reflected God's character.

And second, I want us to consider God's intention for us here and now.

We won't be implementing these laws directly,

but we need to consider how we're called to live distinctly as followers of Jesus Christ.

As we heard earlier from the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus said,

you're to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, a city on a hill,

a distinct people who bear witness to the goodness and glory of God.

Now, there are five categories of laws that we're going to look at this morning.

First, laws about slaves.

First, I'm going to spend a longer time on the slavery laws

because those are more complicated and more fraught in our context.

Second, there's laws about capital punishment.

Third, laws about bodily injury.

Fourth, laws about lost or stolen property.

And fifth, a law about premarital sex.

We're going all over the place today.

All right, so let's dive in.

First, the laws about slavery, chapter 21, 1 to 11.

Now, for those of us who are Americans,

we can have trouble with Bible passages about slavery

in part because of our own country's history.

When many of us hear the word slavery,

we think about Africans who were kidnapped by slave traders,

taken across the Atlantic Ocean,

treated as less than human,

often separated from their wives and children,

and enslaved for life without a real possibility of freedom.

Now, even though slavery was abolished over 150 years ago,

we still wrestle as a nation with its many twisted legacies.

And even in the church, it can be an ongoing struggle

to build deep trust and relationships

among Christians of different races.

And that's something we need to keep working on

by God's grace and with patient endurance.

But when we read about slavery in the Bible,

we need to take a step back from our own country's history

and try to understand it for what it was back then.

Let me make four points to help us do that.

First, the Bible acknowledges the reality of slavery

in a fallen world,

but it does not say that God instituted slavery

as part of the natural order.

God instituted marriage from the beginning.

God gave human beings meaningful work to do

from the beginning.

After the flood, God instituted government

in Genesis 9.

But we never see God instituting slavery

or defending it as something

that should necessarily should be preserved.

Second, the word slave is hard to translate precisely.

It can mean a household servant.

It can mean an employee.

It can mean an apprentice as well as a slave.

Some slaves had no authority at all,

while others had considerable responsibility

within a household.

Back then, pretty much every business

ran out of a household,

and most of the household workers

lived either on the premises or right nearby.

So very often, your boss was also your landlord,

and your workplace was also your home.

That's just how life was.

Third, it's helpful to understand

how people in Israel became slaves

in the first place.

There were basically two reasons.

First, you might grow up in desperate poverty.

Some children might have grown up

with slaves as their parents.

Or chapter 21, verse 7,

talks about a father who sells his child into slavery,

probably because the parents were desperate

and had no way to provide for the child's needs.

A bit like a child today who ends up in foster care.

So you might grow up in desperate poverty

and end up in slavery,

or you might end up in desperate poverty

either through your own fault or otherwise.

Chapter 22, verse 3,

says that sometimes people were sold into slavery

because they had stolen something

and they were not able to make restitution.

They were not able to pay the person back

who they had wronged.

And so the law said they would be sold into slavery.

Someone would pay a price up front,

and that would pay off their debt,

and then they'd be a slave for a time.

Leviticus 25 talks about someone who becomes poor

and sells himself into slavery.

Sort of voluntarily enters into that agreement.

Perhaps, again, if you're in debt,

that's the only way to deal with your debts.

Now, the one thing that was absolutely prohibited

was kidnapping someone

and selling them into slavery.

That's what happened to Joseph in the book of Genesis.

That's what happened to many slaves

who were brought to the United States.

And sadly, it continues to happen

throughout the world today,

especially to children.

But this is something that God hates.

Verse 16 prescribes the death penalty

for anyone who steals a man and sells him,

and anyone found in possession of him.

Talk about a strong law against the slave trade.

It was already there in ancient Israel.

Fourth, we should notice

how God's laws protected slaves in Israel.

One of the things God says over and over to his people is this.

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,

and I brought you out of there.

The people of Israel had experienced oppressive

and cruel masters, taskmasters,

and they had experienced the gracious deliverance of God.

And so one of God's first priorities in their society

was to make sure that slaves in Israel

would never be treated like the Israelites had been in Egypt.

That's actually why the laws about slaves come first

in the civil law of Israel.

In many other law codes from the ancient Near East,

like the Code of Hammurabi,

the laws about slaves come last,

and they mostly focus on the importance

of catching slaves who run away.

In most other societies of the time,

slaves had few or no legal protections,

but not so in Israel.

Consider five ways that God's law protected

the rights of slaves.

First, the Fourth Commandment specified

that slaves, just like everyone else

in Israelite society,

got a full day off every week on the Sabbath.

That was not the case in any other ancient society.

It's not even the case for many people today.

Second, with the exception of those captured in war,

Hebrew slavery was temporary rather than permanent.

Verse 2,

When you buy a Hebrew slave,

he shall serve six years,

and the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

So in one sense,

slavery back then

was a bit like enlisting in the military today.

When you enlist in the military,

you sign a contract,

and your life is not your own anymore.

You go where your officer tells you to go.

You move where your officer tells you to move.

You work whatever hours the military sets for you.

But when you finish your years of service,

you're free to go.

Another modern analogy could be Job Corps,

even though that's only for a year or two.

And Deuteronomy 15 said that

when a slave goes out after serving six years,

it says,

You shall not send him away empty-handed.

Supply him generously out of your flock,

your threshing floor,

and your winepress,

because you were a slave in Egypt,

and the Lord your God redeemed you.

You see, according to God's law,

slavery in Israel was meant to be a way

for people who had either grown up

in desperate poverty

or fallen into desperate poverty

to get out of crushing debt,

to have a roof over their head

and food in their stomachs

in the meantime,

to learn skills and grow in self-discipline,

and after six years,

they'd have the chance for a fresh start.

If you'd followed these laws,

that's what slavery would have looked like

within Israel.

Now, verse 7 might seem like it's saying

that female slaves, unlike male slaves,

don't go free after six years.

You might say,

What's the deal with that?

But that's actually not the case.

Deuteronomy 15, verse 13 and following,

Deuteronomy 15:13

specifies that the six-year rule

applies to both male and female slaves.

Verses 7 to 11 in this chapter

are about a woman who becomes

both a household servant and a wife

to either the father,

the head of the family,

or one of his sons.

And the reason why she doesn't go out

after six years

is because marriage is not a six-year contract.

Marriage is a lifelong arrangement

in God's design.

Third, Hebrew slavery honored

the integrity of slave families.

Another difference with much American slavery.

If he comes in single,

he shall go out single, verse 3.

If he comes in married,

then his wife shall go out with him.

But then you might say,

What about verse 4?

Verse 4 seems to present a problem.

The boss allows his worker

to marry another worker,

and now they have kids,

and the guy's six-year contract is up,

but he can't take his wife and kids with him.

I mean, what's that about?

Well, the boss has rights too.

You see, the worker can't just walk off

with his wife and kids

if they still have time on their contract,

if the wife hasn't reached her six years yet.

So the man owes the boss's family

for the loss of his wife's services.

So he really has three options.

One, he can presumably wait

until his wife's six-year contract is up,

and then they can go free together.

Although that might be an option

if his wife was a captive in war.

Second option, he can go out,

make money, come back,

and buy his wife and kids

out of the rest of their contract obligation.

Third option,

he can take the option of verses five and six.

He can say,

we've got a good thing going here,

so let's settle here for good.

So those are the three options in those cases.

So slaves get the Sabbath day.

Hebrew slavery was temporary rather than permanent.

Hebrew slavery honored

the integrity of slave families.

Fourth, God's law protected female slaves,

arguably the most vulnerable people

in the ancient world.

Verses eight to 11 envision three situations

where a daughter sold into slavery

might be particularly vulnerable.

First situation,

the master, the head of the household,

takes her as a wife

and then decides he is not pleased with her.

In other words, he decides to divorce her.

That's not a good thing.

Verse eight says,

he has broken faith with her.

God hates divorce.

But God cares for women

whose husbands have broken faith

and abandoned their marriage

and left them alone.

And today,

as most divorces are initiated by women,

we should say God cares for men as well

whose wives have broken faith

and abandoned their marriage.

The provision here for the woman is

he must let her be redeemed.

That is,

he must let one of her relatives

take responsibility to care for her

and not sell her to strangers

who would not have her best interests at heart.

That's the protection

in the first instance.

Second situation,

the master designates her for his son.

In other words,

she becomes the wife of

one of the sons in the family.

In this case,

the law says she is no longer merely a slave.

She has all the rights and privileges

of a daughter in the family.

Third situation,

the master takes another wife to himself.

Again,

this is not a good thing.

We are dealing with situations

that happen in a messy,

broken,

fallen world.

Polygamy was never God's intention.

The Bible never promotes it.

It shows all kinds of bad consequences of it.

But it happened,

and so God's law protected women

who found themselves in that situation.

In this case,

her husband owes her food,

clothing,

and marital rights.

Provision,

protection,

and physical expressions of love.

If he doesn't do those things,

she can go free,

which presumably means

she would be free to marry someone else.

Because he has failed to live up to

the marriage,

the promise to provide and protect for her.

So, God's law protected female slaves

who often found themselves

in the most vulnerable and difficult situations of all.

And fifth,

slaves in Israel had legal recourse

in the case of serious injury or death.

Verse 20 and 21,

verse 20 tells us

that if a man strikes a slave

with a rod

and the slave dies

under his hand,

that is what,

immediately,

that is considered

intentional homicide,

and the master

deserves the death penalty.

That's what it means,

he shall be avenged.

Now, verse 21

is making a distinction

between murder

and manslaughter.

Intentional,

willful murder

that deserves the death penalty

and manslaughter,

which doesn't.

If the slave doesn't die immediately

but survives a day or two

before dying,

that's considered manslaughter.

And the reason given is

for the slave is his money.

Now, that is a very jarring phrase,

and it was taken completely out of context

and abused

in the history of this country.

But that phrase is not denying

the full humanity of the slave.

It's simply a shorthand way of saying

a boss has a financial interest

in his workers staying alive.

So it's likely

that he didn't actually intend

to kill the slave,

and so he shouldn't be prosecuted

for intentional homicide.

Now, verses 26 and 27

give more protections

to a slave.

If a man destroys a slave's eye,

that's an example of an injury

with significant future implications,

or even if he knocks out

a slave's tooth,

an injury with relatively minor

future implications,

in either case,

he shall immediately

let the slave go free.

No other law codes

in the ancient world

had a provision

anything like

verse 26 and 27.

Protecting slaves

against permanent bodily injury.

By giving them the right

to immediate liberation.

You see, slavery was not

in itself a good thing.

But God's laws

protected slaves in Israel

because God had identified

with a nation of slaves

who were being oppressed

under cruel bondage.

And God chose to deliver them

and make them his own.

And today,

God still identifies

with people who are poor

and desperate

and vulnerable

and who cry out to him

and place their hope in him.

And God is still the same God

who protects

and provides

for the most vulnerable

in society.

So that's the first section

of laws.

Next sections,

we're going to go more quickly.

Next section of laws

concerns capital offenses,

verses 12 through 17,

and also chapter 22,

verses 18 through 20.

Now, if you notice,

these laws are worded

differently than the others

because they are not

less than ideal situations

that God is willing

to temporarily tolerate

while mitigating

some of the most harmful

consequences of them.

Rather,

these are deeply wicked behaviors

that have no place

among the people of God,

that God is very serious about.

These are blatant violations

of the Ten Commandments.

Verse 12,

premeditated murder.

Again, verse 13,

distinguishes that manslaughter

is a different case.

Premeditated murder

deserved the death penalty

in ancient Israel.

Now, one of the ways

that this law

distinctively reflected

God's character

is that in other

ancient Near Eastern law codes,

murder was only punishable

by death

if the victim

was of equal

or higher social status.

If the victim

was of a lower social status,

you only had to pay a fine.

Or, in some cases,

a lower class member

of your household

was put to death instead.

But in the Bible,

the punishment

for violent crimes

does not vary

according to the social status

of the victim.

Because the God of the Bible

is no respecter of persons.

Proverbs says,

the rich and the poor

meet together

because the Lord

is the maker of them all.

Every human being

bears the image of God.

And so this law

is whoever.

Young or old,

rich or poor,

male or female,

slave or free.

Now, verses 15 and 17

also prescribe

the death penalty

for striking or cursing

one's father or mother.

It's not just referring

to a careless word

or a one-time

slap in the face,

disrespectful as

those things are.

This is referring

to a serious

physical assault.

Most likely

with intent to kill,

that's how the word

strike is most often used,

even if the parent

doesn't actually die.

Or an out-and-out

rejection of one's parents,

cursing them,

publicly disowning them,

wishing they were dead.

And God says

that kind of behavior

cannot be tolerated.

Because how will

God's holy nation

hold together

if its families

are continually

tearing themselves apart?

Now, we live in an age

where it's pretty common

to disrespect authority,

but the Christian community

is called to be distinctive

in showing respect

for the authorities

that God has placed

over us,

beginning with

children and adults

honoring,

respecting,

their father and mother.

chapter 22,

18 through 20

lists three additional

capital offenses.

Sorcery,

that is witchcraft

or magic,

trying to control

or manipulate God

by channeling

spiritual powers.

Bestiality,

this is also connected

with idolatrous worship

and it lowers people

to the level of animals.

And three,

idolatry,

sacrificing to any

God other

than the Lord.

Chapter 21,

12 to 17,

is three offenses

against human beings

and chapter 22,

18 through 20

are three offenses

against God.

They're all blatant

violations of the

Ten Commandments

and they're deeply

destructive

and dishonoring behaviors

and God wanted them

to have no place

among His redeemed people.

Now,

you might ask,

what does the New Testament

say along these lines?

Again,

the church is never

authorized to use

physical force,

so the church

should never be

administering

the death penalty.

But,

what the New Testament

does say

is that if someone

professes to be a Christian

and yet persists

in serious

and unrepentant sin

that violates

one of God's

clear moral laws,

the church is instructed

to remove them

from the membership

of the church,

to no longer

treat them

as a fellow believer.

to say you are

not living

in accordance

with the new covenant

in Jesus Christ,

we can no longer

call you a brother

or sister in Christ.

We will respect you

as a human being,

but you may no longer

call yourself

a fellow believer

if you continue

to persistently act

in destructive

and dishonoring ways.

Third category,

bodily injury,

verses 18 to 36,

the rest of chapter 21.

Now, broadly speaking,

this section goes

from more

to less serious.

Verses 18 to 27,

a human injures

another human.

Verses 28 to 32,

an animal injures

a human.

Verses 33 to 34,

a human injures

an animal.

Verses 35 to 36,

an animal injures

an animal.

You could also say

verses 18 to 27

are about sins

of commission,

that is,

actions that cause harm

to someone else.

Verses 28 to 36

are sins of omission,

that is,

negligence.

You're causing harm

to somebody else

by doing nothing

when you should do something.

And one thing we see

is just because

you didn't intend

to harm somebody

doesn't mean

you're not responsible

for the consequences

of your actions

or words.

and just because

you did nothing

doesn't mean

you're blameless

if you had a responsibility

to do something.

God takes negligence

seriously

as well as

active

malice

or harm.

Now,

I'm not going to go through

each of these sections

in detail,

but I want us to look

at the main principle

for this section

found in verse 23

to 25,

which is also

a verse that has been

widely misunderstood.

That is what's called

the lex talionis,

that is the law

of retaliation,

right?

Life for life,

eye for eye,

tooth for tooth,

etc., etc.

Two clarifications.

Number one,

these verses

do not justify

private vendettas

or family feuds.

Actually,

that's in part

what they were intended

to guard against.

In the ancient world,

there were all kinds

of ongoing feuds

between clans

and tribes.

And what happens

in a feud

or a vendetta?

It's not equal.

It's not,

I pay you back

exactly as you pay me back.

It escalates.

You insulted me,

I'll beat you up.

You beat me up,

I'll...

It goes on and on,

right?

You always try

to one-up

whoever hurt you last.

And these verses

are trying to stop

that cycle

of revenge

and saying

these matters

need to be brought

before the judges

and the punishment

should correspond

exactly to the crime

and no more.

Second clarification,

these verses

are not actually

recommending

literal,

physical mutilation.

compensation.

There is no record

in the Bible

or anywhere else

of anyone

in ancient Israel

who was punished

by having his tooth

knocked out

or his eye gouged out

or his hand cut off

or being burned

or anything like that.

The principle is

the law was never

applied in that way.

It was actually

never meant to be

applied in that way.

The principle is

compensation

should correspond

as precisely

as possible

to the damage

inflicted.

Notice it says

you shall pay

eye for eye,

tooth for tooth.

So the question is

what is an appropriate

payment

given the damages?

In verses 26 and 27

immediately following

verse 25

we have one example

of that.

A master knocks out

a slave's tooth

or gouges out

his eye.

What's the punishment?

The slave goes free

immediately.

That is

one example

of an appropriate

compensation

that the law

provides.

And in other

situations

the judges

had to determine

what's an appropriate

compensation

monetary or otherwise.

In the case

of premeditated

murder

no monetary

payment could suffice

in ancient Israel.

Numbers 35

31 says

you shall accept

no ransom

for the life

of a murderer.

But the interesting

thing about that

verse

is it seems

to assume

that every other

kind of damage

or injury

can be compensated

somehow.

You just have

to figure out

how.

Now how does

that apply

to Christians?

Well of course

Jesus Christ

in the Sermon

on the Mount

goes one step

further.

He says

you have heard

that it was said

eye for eye

and tooth for tooth.

And some people

misunderstood that

back then

just like they

misunderstand it

today.

And Jesus said

but I tell you

do not resist

an evil person.

In other words

Jesus says

sometimes it takes

more strength

to absorb

an injury

rather than

retaliate.

To forbear

rather than

fight back

and to overcome

evil

by doing good.

And of course

that's what

Jesus Christ

did

when he

willingly

allowed himself

to be nailed

to the cross.

His life

for ours.

Fourth

lost,

stolen,

or damaged

property.

This is chapter

Isaiah 22:1–15

22

verses 1 to 15.

Again I'm not

going to go

through each

section

and each

part in detail

but I want

to point out

two themes.

Number one

the importance

of restitution.

When property

is lost

or stolen

or damaged

and when

someone's

responsible

either by

their action

or by

their negligence

restitution

is what's

required

in order

to make

things right.

What does

that mean?

If you

stole something

you bring

back what

you stole

plus some

more.

If you

lose or

break

something

that someone

entrusted

to you

or that

belongs to

someone else

or that

you borrowed

you buy

them another

one

even if

you didn't

mean to

lose it

or break

it.

Or if

something

happens that's

genuinely out

of your

control someone

entrusts someone

says I'm

leaving for

the summer

can you

hold on

to this

box and

a robber

comes into

your house

and you

had no

control over

it and

they take

the box

and run

and it's

never found.

Then you

make an oath

before God

and say I

did all

that I

could and

something

happened that

was completely

out of my

control and

then that's

all you

need to

do.

You don't

have to pay

them back

because something

happened that

was completely

beyond your

control.

So the

importance of

restitution and

in the New

Testament we

see somebody who

understood this

principle and it's

Zacchaeus.

What did

Zacchaeus say?

He said if I've

defrauded anyone I'll

pay them back four

times over.

You know

Zacchaeus didn't

just say

Jesus I've

done a ton of

bad things in

my life.

I've hurt a lot

of people.

I've sort of

swindled some

people and

taken some

things I

shouldn't have

taken.

Will you just

forgive me so

that I can

forget about it

all and not

have to deal

with any of

those things I've

done before?

No.

Zacchaeus said

in effect

Jesus I know

I've done

wrong but I

can see that

you've accepted

me despite

my sins and

so now I want

to do whatever

I can to

make things

right with

anyone I've

wronged.

And Jesus

says to

Zacchaeus when

he hears this

he says salvation

has come to

this house.

You too are a

son of Abraham.

In other

words that's

what it means

to be saved.

To know that

Jesus has

accepted you

despite your

sin and

therefore if

you've wronged

anybody else

you're going to

do whatever

you can to

make things

right with

them.

You're not

just going to

forget about

it and pretend

it never

happened.

You're not

going to leave

relationships

unreconciled as

far as it's

in your power.

you're going

to come to

Jesus and

say I know

I'm a

sinner.

You've

accepted me

by your

amazing grace

and so I

want to do

what I can

to make

things right

with others.

That's what

a Christian

does.

That's a

distinctive

Christian witness

in this

world because

you know

what in

this world

most people

don't like

to pay

restitution

or pursue

reconciliation.

Even in

the justice

system you

can pursue

restitution.

It's in the

legal code

but what's

the more

common penalty

a restraining

order or

incarceration?

The Bible

never promotes

incarceration for

stealing or

even assault

but it does

say you have

to pay the

person back

and more.

Or in the

case of

assault that

hurt somebody

you pay their

medical expenses

and you pay

them for

loss of time.

and it's a

way of seeking

to right

relationships

between people

in the

covenant

family of

God.

And so as

Christians we

need to do

that regardless

of what the

world may do

or not do.

Regardless of

what the

justice system

may or may

not do.

As Christians

we need to

take responsibility

to make

things right

and pursue

reconciliation

with anybody

we've wronged.

Second point

about the

property laws

is that people

are always

more important

than things.

In Hammurabi's

law code

a thief who

couldn't pay

back what he

stole should

be killed.

He should

receive the

death penalty.

And robbery

or burglary

was also

deserving of

the death

penalty.

The Assyrian

laws and the

Hittite laws

required restitution

on the order

of 10 to

30 times

what was

stolen.

Of course

it depended

who you

stole from.

If you

steal from

someone of

equal or

higher status

you have

to pay

them back

more.

If you

steal from

someone of

lower status

you have

to pay

just a

little tiny

bit.

In Israel

restitution

was much

more reasonable

and doable.

It was

normally

double

sometimes

up to

four or

five times.

And property

crimes are

never punished

by the death

penalty in

Israel because

among God's

people people

are always

more important

than things.

One specific

example

chapter 22

verse 2

if a thief

is found

breaking in

and is struck

so that he

dies there

shall be no

blood guilt

for him

but if the

sun has risen

on him there

shall be

blood guilt

for him.

What does

that mean?

If somebody

breaks into

your house

at night

you can't

really see

what's going

on

you kill

him

that's

self-defense

because you

don't know

what the

thief is

trying to

do and

he might

be trying

to kill

you and

self-defense

is allowed

in the

law.

But if

it's

daytime

you can

see that

the thief

is not

trying to

kill you

he's only

trying to

take your

stuff.

If you

kill him

you are

guilty of

murder

or

manslaughter

depending on

how that's

judged.

But still

you're

guilty.

Even

though

the thief

was obviously

committing a

crime.

You see

God's law

even protects

the dignity

of criminals.

Criminals

too are

created in

the image

of God

and God's

law

protected

them.

Last

section

chapter 22

verse 16

and 17

if a man

seduces a

virgin who

is not

betrothed

and lies

with her

he shall

give the

bride price

for her

and make

her his

wife.

If her

father utterly

refuses to

give her

to him

he shall

pay money

equal to

the bride

price

for

virgins.

Alright?

This is

about

premarital

sex.

It's not

about

rape.

This is

a situation

where the

man

initiates

but the

woman

consents.

Deuteronomy

has a law

about rape.

And if

a man

finds a

woman in

the open

country

and she

screams for

help and

nobody can

hear her

and he

violates

her he

deserves a

death

penalty.

That was

the law.

If she

was around

other people

then she

could have

called for

help.

And it's

not the

death

penalty.

It's a

different...

It is a

penalty but

it's different.

Anyway,

we're not

talking about

rape here.

The

consequence

is...

But the

situation

is a

man

initiates

and he

and the

woman

sleep

together.

Neither

of them

are already

married.

Neither

of them

are already

betrothed.

That is

in a

binding

covenant

that they

would be

married.

Consequence,

man must

give the

bride price

for her

and make

her his

wife.

You

think,

what does

that

mean?

Okay,

in the

ancient

Near East

if a

man wants

to marry

a woman

he would

normally

give a

substantial

sum of

money to

the bride's

family.

Although

sometimes

it was

even

given

to

the

bride

herself.

In

Genesis

24,

Abraham's

servant

gave

silver

and

gold

jewelry

and

clothing

to

Rebecca

who

was

to

marry

Isaac

and

he

also

gave

gifts

costly

ornaments

to

her

brother

and

her

mother.

What

was

this?

It

was

a

way

of

acknowledging

the

seriousness

and

costliness

of the

marriage

covenant.

It

was a

man's

way

of

saying,

I

am

not

doing

this

lightly

or

I'm

willing

to

put

a lot

of

things

on

the

line.

And

usually

the

bride

or

her

family

would

save

or

invest

the

bride

price.

You

could

also

call

it

the

wedding

present.

It

was

kept

as a

kind

of

insurance

policy

for

the

bride

just

in

case

her

husband

died

unexpectedly

or

in

case

her

husband

abandoned

her.

And

she

had

no

other

way

to

provide

for

herself.

It

was

a

safety

net.

It

was

actually

something

that

protected

the

woman.

The

problem

here is

the

man

sleeps

with

the

woman

without

making

any

promise

to

her

and

without

going

through

any

preparation

for

marriage.

And

by

doing

this

he

puts

the

woman

at

great

risk.

For

one

thing

she

might

be

pregnant

or

if

he

abandons

her

another

guy

might

refuse

to

marry

her

because

she's

no

longer

a

virgin.

Again

in

that

Now of

course

the

fact

that

this

law

was

on

the

books

would

make

any

single

guy

in

Israel

think

twice

before

asking

any

single

girl

in

Israel

to

go

to

bed

with

him.

Right?

Because

he

would

know

that

among

the

people

of

God

sex

is

not

cheap

and

it's

not

casual.

Two

applications

for

Christians

today.

Number

one,

don't

have

sex

before

marriage.

According

to God's

design,

sex

is like

superglue.

It's

meant

to

seal

the

deal

on

a

covenant

of

marriage

and

is

meant

to

build

on

that

bond

for

the

rest

of

your

life.

Second,

some

of

you

are

married

now

but

you

started

having

sex

with

each

other

before

you

got

married.

Now,

ironically,

if you're

a Christian,

having sex

before

marriage

often makes

it harder

for you

to enjoy

sex

after

marriage

because

you have

residual

guilt

and shame

tied up

with having

sex

before

marriage

when you

knew

that it

was

wrong.

But if

that's

you,

and if

you have

confessed

to God

your

premarital

sin

and mourned

over that

before the

Lord,

that guilt

and shame

can be

removed.

It doesn't

have to

hang over

your bed

and your

marriage

forever.

You can

go

forward

with the

blessing

of your