Is God Concerned for Oxen? – Interpreting the Law of God (39)

Is God Concerned for Oxen?

Interpreting the Law of God (39)

Justice, not oxen, is the point.

Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? 1 Corinthians 9:8-10

From what we’ve seen thus far in Deuteronomy 25:4, some might be inclined to think that God is the original tree-hugger, a “Green God,” as it were, eco-friendly to the nines. God is for the environment, for animals, and for the earth!

But Paul says we misunderstand this statute if we’re drawing those kinds of conclusions. It’s not that God is not concerned about oxen; as we’ve seen, He loves and cares for all His creatures, and He expects human beings to do the same.

Rather, it is that He is not concerned about oxen as though they were the end of the commandment. God is concerned about justice—love for God and neighbor. This statute, with its focus on oxen, is ultimately about what is good for human beings and the justice with which God commands them to live together. The principles of rights, respect, and fair treatment which we have seen in this simple statute apply not just to animals, as Paul explains: “It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop” (v. 10).

We can see the Corinthians beginning to nod: OK, I think I get it. God wants all who work on the farm to benefit from the harvest. If the oxen should get to eat from the harvest, then the worker who walks behind them, plowing the furrows, should also share in the fruit of everyone’s labors.

But what in the world, the Corinthians might have wondered, does any of this have to do with us?

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.