The Lord is giving rules for maintaining law and order in the new society the Israelites are forming. He's letting them know what penalties are appropriate for various crimes. Today we begin a portion of law involving personal injuries. It's important for us to study these laws because the heart of God is revealed in them. He clearly shows His concern for human beings and He stresses the importance of obeying laws and the importance of enforcing penalties when laws are not obeyed.
First He deals with the intentional and unintentional taking of human life. "Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from My altar and put to death." (Exodus 21:12-14)
The death penalty was to be carried out in cases that clearly involve premeditated murder. In ancient times the next of kin of the victim had the right to avenge the blood of their relative, so typically the capital punishment was carried out by the person or persons closest to the victim. It was also an ancient custom for an accused person to find sanctuary at an altar or in a temple, but when that person has clearly plotted out and caused the deliberate death of another, he is not to be considered untouchable while he's at a temple or an altar.
There are going to be cases where a person unintentionally causes the death of another while being negligent or while committing another type of crime. In our courts today we might call this "manslaughter" or "negligent homicide". An example of this would be when someone drives drunk and causes an accident that kills another person. His intent was not to kill anyone at all but he was operating his vehicle in an unlawful manner which led to the death of someone else. Sometimes a death occurs by pure accident with no malice or negligence involved whatsoever. This is why in verse 13 the Lord says there are times when God "lets it happen". In other words, a person might perish in an accident because it's the will of God, not because anyone else involved in the incident wanted anything to happen to that person and not because anyone else was breaking a law at the time the death occurred. When deaths occur that are not clearly the result of premeditated murder, the relatives of the deceased are not to be allowed to take any measures against the accused until an investigation is carried out and/or a trial is held. There will be a sanctuary city set up where the accused can dwell until his case is heard. No one is to be allowed to violate the sanctity of the sanctuary city to enact revenge on the person.
"Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death." (Exodus 21:15) The word rendered "attacks" can also be translated as "kills", but either way it indicates a deliberate, premeditated crime upon one's father or mother. The fifth commandment says, "Honor your father and mother," and the breaking of this commandment is to be dealt with quite harshly, especially if the breaking of it involves any type of physical violence. Some scholars believe verse 15 means a person who strikes one of their parents (starts a physical altercation that doesn't lead to the death of the parent) is to be put to death, but others believe verse 15 is talking about when a person actually causes the death of one of his parents. Whichever one the Lord means, He's showing the people that they are to have concern and care for the elderly in their society. They are not to disrespect or physically abuse the elderly and they are not to behave as if the elderly are not important, contributing members of their society. I believe the Lord is stating that no violence of any type will be tolerated against one's parents and that the person who strikes a parent is to be treated as harshly as one who is a murderer. We'll see why I think this in a minute when we arrive at verse 17.
"Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper's possession." (Exodus 21:16) Kidnapping is to be considered a capital crime in their society. In those days kidnapping was done primarily for the purpose of selling the kidnapped person into slavery. In some versions of the Bible we'll find it called "manstealing" but in our day we might call it "human trafficking". It's such a heinous crime in the Lord's eyes that the person who commits this sin is not to be allowed to continue living. There are other reasons why a person might kidnap someone and those reasons are equally heinous if not even worse. An example of this would be when a person kidnaps another person (a child or a woman, for instance) for the purpose of perpetrating sexual assaults on them and/or murdering them to fulfill their own twisted, psychopathic desires. But in the Bible days most or all kidnappings were carried out for monetary gain. In Genesis we found the brothers of Joseph selling him into slavery for both monetary gain and to rid themselves of his presence in the family home. What they did would be considered a capital offense after the law in Exodus 21:16 was given.
"Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death." (Exodus 21:17) This is why I think verse 15 doesn't mean a person has to kill his father or mother to be put to death; an adult child simply striking a parent was a capital crime. Later in Deuteronomy more details will be given regarding the crime of an adult child cursing (threatening or verbally abusing) one's parent. The parent has to be able to prove this verbal altercation took place. The accused can't be put to death on the parent's word alone. The parent is to bring the child before the judges and elders of the community and put on their case, then the judges will decide whether the case has been proven and whether or not any discipline of any type is to be administered.
Again we see the Lord forbidding "ageism" in the society. A grown child is not to treat his parents as if they are no longer relevant. Instead he is to make certain they are taken care of for the rest of their lives, as the Lord Jesus pointed out in Mark 7:9-13 when He referenced the passage we're studying today. He was criticizing the religious rulers of Jerusalem for allowing a person to dishonor his parents by refusing to financially provide for them in their old age. The religious leaders had stated that the person could pledge the money to the temple instead and bypass the commandment to honor his father and mother. Jesus said they were breaking the fifth commandment and replacing it with a manmade law of their own. He equated what they were doing with cursing their parents and then quoted Exodus 21:17 in reference to their disregard for their parents' wellbeing.
If a person cannot feel any honor or respect for his parents, he is probably going to have some difficulty feeling honor and respect for his Father in heaven. If a person thinks the rules of his parents' household are foolish then he's likely to think the rules of the Lord are foolish. I realize some people have had abusive or neglectful parents and I know there can be some serious issues involved there with a person having trouble feeling anything very positive toward such parents, but the majority of parents actually care about their children's wellbeing and provide for their children and put rules in place for their children's safety and moral values. If a person grows up and decides his parents are no longer relevant to his life, and if he has no concern for them, and if he has no respect for all the years they put a roof over his head and food in his belly, then this is a person the Lord can't really use for anything because this is a person who scoffs at authority and who doesn't appreciate the good things that have been done for him. This person likely will be unwilling to bow his knees to God and allow God to be Lord of his life.
The laws we've studied today can be broken down by taking a look at the words of the Apostle John who said that if we can't love a fellow human being whom we have seen, how can we love God whom we have not seen? (1 John 4:20) If we feel no respect for those who are right in front of our eyes, how can we respect the unseen God? If we refuse to honor and obey our parents or those in authority over us at school or at work, how are we going to learn to honor and obey God? If we can't manage to have respectful attitude toward visible human beings then we are going to have problems having a respectful attitude toward God our Maker.
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