Fair Trade Fines
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, teach me from Your Word today so that I may possess all the wisdom You want me to display to others.
Read Exodus 21:12-27
[12] “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. [13] However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. [14] But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death. [15] “Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death. [16] “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession. [17] “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. [18] “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, [19] the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed. [20] “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, [21] but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. [22] “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. [23] But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, [24] eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, [25] burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. [26] “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. [27] And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How does God deal with the intentional vs. the accidental act?The Israelites couldn’t sentence someone to life imprisonment in the wilderness, because they were traveling people and there was nowhere to put long-term prisoners. Death as a punishment might feel harsh in societies today, but in this context, the payment of one life for another shows a high respect for the value of every life. The laws in other Near Eastern societies at the time punished theft with death, which put the value of property higher than that of life. Once again, God’s laws reflect his covenant. Most of the consequences here (23-27) are not dependent on someone’s financial ability to pay compensation where a large fine may be a huge punishment to some, and trivial to others. They are barbaric in comparison to twenty-first-century law, but they are equal. Fair trade fines, as it were. Ethics are complex. We don’t live by many of these laws now. So, as Christians, how do we decide and discern what is right in society? How do we discipline our children? What is acceptable behavior in a Christian community? And how do we take responsibility for those we have wronged (19)?
Apply
After reading today’s Scripture, what questions does it raise? How shall I raise my concerns to Jesus?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, enter into this world and spread peace and equity over all of us, Your people, for Your everlasting glory.
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