Ex. 21:33 “When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration…
Read Exodus 21: 28-36
This is part of Exodus, Levitcus and Deuteronomy we normally skip over. Boring laws… More Boring Laws… Boring Laws about animals…
Have you ever wondered why some human beings keep pets? Is it just because we are lonely? Bored? Needy? The Bible gives a reason why this is jus a smaller illustration of the theological term, “cultural mandate.”
The cultural mandate is the belief that we are to bring God’s truth to bear upon every area of human society, from arts and literature, to politics, to government, to economics, to the schools, to scientific progress, and so on. It is based in Genesis 1:28 which says, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
We are to create God honouring culture. Even the way we treat animals is to be regarded as part of this sacred trust. Often we read passages like Genesis 1:28 and Exodus 21:28-36 and see them as only applying to animals. The bigger picture is actually realizing that this world is a “tale of two cities.” One is the the city of God and the other the city of man—either a God-honouring culture or a humanity-centred culture.
As Abraham Kuyper says: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”
Laws about animals are more than that. They are laws which at the very heart ask, “Who are you centring your life around? What does your culture look like? Are you creating God-honouring culture? Or are you creating Self-honouring culture?”
Today remember Christ has declared you His. Live life as a steward and creator of culture.