Preserving Family Property This strange law made perfect sense within the economy of ancient Israel. Deuteronomy 25:5-10 “‘If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to ...
Right to Inherit Government must not steal from inheritances. Numbers 27:8-11 “And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ...
[Editor’s Note – Sabbath School Lessons writer the Rev. Dr. L. Robert LaMay joined the ranks of Christ’s good and faithful servants on 29 December 2013 when he passed from this world into the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Please pray for the Christian Observer ...
Care in the Use of Property We must use our property with a view to our neighbor’s well-being. Exodus 21:33, 34 “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, the owner of the pit ...
Finders, Keepers? Found property is to be returned to its owner. Deuteronomy 22:1-4 “‘You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you ...
Guard Against Negligence Preventive justice requires that we guard against negligence. Exodus 22:6 “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.” James 3:5, 6 Exodus 22:5 “If a man causes a field or ...
Property in God’s Service God intends us to use our property to serve Him. All things have been created to serve God’s purposes in bringing glory and honor to His Name (Ps. 119:89-91). God distributes His blessing among men as He will, to whom He will, and in the proportion that He ...
Stealing God is Lord of all property. Exodus 20:15 “You shall not steal.” Deuteronomy 5:19 “‘And you shall not steal.’” The eighth commandment is accompanied by more statutes, rules, and precepts than any other of the Ten Commandments. What does this say about human beings? Many things: we are not easily contented with the gifts God ...
Divorce The Law regulated divorce, and the New Testament followed suit. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 “‘When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand ...
Other Sexual Sins God’s Law forbids homosexuality and bestiality. Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood ...