Exodus 21:23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth…
Read Exodus 21:12-27
This passage is one of the most well known and least well quoted in the Bible. Context is very important. Examine these identical paragraphs but put see that the punctuation makes their context utterly different. Which letter would you prefer to receive.
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy–will you let me be yours?
Jane
—- or —-
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Jane
These verses in Exodus are not primitive verses urging violence and vengeance. They urge the exact opposite. They are an indictment of the very desire of the human heart for revenge. These verses speak of restraint compared to the unmitigated, unmeasured revenge that Ancient Near Eastern cultures and even our modern cultures sometimes espouse, “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” (Gen. 4:24) No more can men avenge themselves sevenfold, for this law imposes a strict limit of justice (Exodus 21:23).
It is difficult to understand all that is going on in Exodus without understanding the context of the first five books of the Bible. Life is important. God created it.
These “Laws on Life” are a declaration of the sanctity of life. All humans are made in the image of God. An assault on someone made in the image of God is an assault on God himself. If one were to deface MichaelAngelo’s statue “David,“ the stone would not bear the moral outrage of the offense, it would be the artist.
God is stating to his people, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made. I have given you life; it is a precious gift. Guard it.” In upholding human rights, we declare that God is the Lord of Life.
On the Cross, the Lord of Life shows us the true meaning of these verses in Leviticus, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” (Lev. 17:11)
Every single one of us has committed cosmic vandalism at one point or another, whether in thought, word, or deed. The penalty for cosmic vandalism is death, but the beauty of the Cross is that God pays out of his own pocket, out of his own flesh and blood the penalty for vandalism.
Lord, today we want to honour your image found in all humanity. We have marred it and disfigured it. Lord, would you transform us and renew us into the image and likeness of your Dear Son, we ask this all in the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.