Exodus 21:1-19 NKJV
21 “Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them: 2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. 3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 5 But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
7 “And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9 And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. 10 If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights. 11 And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.
12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
14 “But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.
15 “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
16 “He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.
17 “And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
18 “If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, 19 if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.
Today’s reading begins a section of civil laws governing Israelite society under the Old Testament. It’s important to remember that these laws were not designed either to create or to govern a perfect society on earth. They were laws intended to govern a society of sinners, all of whom were members of the Visible Church of Israel, but many of whom were not actual believers in the God of Israel. Nor has God imposed these civil laws, with their specific penalties, on any society except for Old Testament Israel. Still, we learn some things about our God from them.
The first laws given in this chapter have to do with Hebrew servants, or “slaves,” where an Israelite man could voluntarily sell himself or a family member into the service of another Israelite. Why was this practice allowed at all? It was God’s alternative to a welfare system for those who were able to work. God commanded charity, but He didn’t regulate it or make it a long-term solution to poverty in Israel. Instead, He set up a well-regulated system in which those who bankrupted themselves could sell themselves temporarily to their neighbor, to become his full-time indentured servants, ensuring that they would at least have food, clothing, and shelter. Here we see the principle that the apostle Paul also expresses, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10).
Next, we encounter the penalties God established for certain crimes: the death penalty for premeditated murder, for striking or even cursing one’s father or mother, and for kidnapping, while lesser penalties were imposed for assault and battery. See how serious God was (and still is) about the 4th Commandment (“Honor your father and mother”) and about the 5th Commandment (“You shall not murder”)! See how God’s law served as a curb against bad behavior! Unlike modern ideas about reforming criminals, God’s plan of justice in a fallen world was to punish criminals swiftly, with punishments that fit the crime, both giving the criminals what they deserved and deterring others from committing similar crimes. Let us pray: Lord God, we thank You for the laws You gave to Israel. Teach us by them, so that we may always do what is right in Your sight; through Christ our Lord. Amen.