In our passage today we see the Israelites recognizing the power of God and the fear that rightly falls upon them. God's power should instil a sense of fear within us. His holiness cannot abide our sinfulness. Truly, it is only when we grasp this that we can fully appreciate the amazingness of His grace, mercy, and love. This awesome, holy God loves us enough to find a way to reconcile Himself to a sinful people. Amazing!
Chapter 20 brings us the well known Ten Commandments. They truly can be summarized, like Jesus did, by the phrase "love God, love man". If we love God, we will keep the first commandments. If we love each other, we will keep the last ones. The following chapters break down the ten commandments into specific examples and situations. But the root remains the same - love God, love man. Simple - but certainly not easy!
In Chapter 21 we see God giving laws to ensure fair and loving treatment of slaves. These were not slaves the way we think of slaves, but rather it was a way for the poor to be rescued, but still giving them a chance to start over again, and being treated well throughout it all.
The portion that jumped out at me was....
22 “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. 23 But if there is harm,[i]then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Here we see the law demanding an eye for an eye in regards to the unborn. Once again, we see the value God places on human life right from the womb. The abortion holocaust of the past several decades is truly abhorrent.
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Exodus 22-24
3 comments:
We also see, when reading some of the laws Moses gave, how it's emphasized that the Israelites had to take responsibility for their own acts as well as the acts of their animals. How much different our culture today would be if we all knew we had to take responsibility, crime would be down and people in general would be thinking of other's welfare more.
The last part of chapter 19 verse 18 says "and the whole mountain shook violently". This makes me think of a part of a song "Savior, He can move the mountains. My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save." Just to think that OUR God can move mountains is amazing. God is so powerful, and the fear we have for Him replaces the fear we have of others.
This part stood out for me:
36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.
We are guilty for not doing something we should just as we are guilty for doing something we shouldn't.
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