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 ...
Prostitution The Law of God forbade prostitution. Leviticus 19:29 “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.” Prostitution was closely linked to idolatry in pagan practice. It was often the case that pagan centers of worship included male and ...
Rape The Law favored a woman in cases of rape. Deuteronomy 22:25-27 “But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the ...
“Consensual” Sex The Law discourages “consensual” sex. Deuteronomy 22:23, 24 “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman ...