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An Attack on Life? – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 05:01:37 +0000

An Attack on Life?

The Sixth Commandment

Deuteronomy 25:11, 12

“When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.”

Such an assault as is described here is an attack on the very idea of life—a threat to a man’s legacy. Even though her husband may be getting the worse of this scuffle, a woman must not think to attack her husband’s assailant by seeking to injure his private parts. He is, after all, still a man, and his private parts represent his ability to fulfill his God-given mandate to fill the earth. She must not take it in hand to jeopardize his ability to do that. Presumably, there must have been other ways to come to the defense of her husband, for the penalty for this violation is severe.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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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.

Protect Your Neighbors’ Well-being – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 05:01:27 +0000

Protect Your Neighbors’ Well-being

The Sixth Commandment

Deuteronomy 22:8

“When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.”

1 Corinthians 8.9-12

Here is yet another way that neighbors exercised responsibility for one another’s well-being. Since Israelites frequented their roofs for a variety of reasons, a railing was an essential safety measure. Today we put fences around pools, cut back bushes that obstruct the view of traffic, take precautions when burning in the open air, and enforce other measures that indicate we understand the wisdom and necessity of thinking about others and their well-being as part of our civic duty.

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Loans and Pledges – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 05:01:07 +0000

Loans and Pledges

The Sixth Commandment

Deuteronomy 24:6

“No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.”

Taking someone’s livelihood in pledge for a loan was absolutely forbidden. It is part of being in the image of God for me to work; thus, no one could deprive another of his vocation and means of support without, at the same time, assaulting his dignity as the image-bearer of God.

Loans were not encouraged, but, of course, they were necessary from time to time. With the loan came the pledge, usually, a physical token given to the lender as a declaration of intent to repay. But that pledge could not be of the sort that jeopardized a man’s ability to provide for himself and his family or his ability to repay his pledge, or that compromised his dignity as the image-bearer of God. Nor, if he was a Hebrew, could interest be fixed to the loan (although there is a debate about whether the issue is interest or inordinate interest, that is, usury).

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The Protection of Slaves – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 05:01:16 +0000

The Protection of Slaves

The Sixth Commandment

Exodus 21:20, 21

“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.”

Slaves in the ancient world before the Gospel had no rights and were typically worked to death—literally. Israel knew something about being slaves, and they knew this was not a happy condition for anyone. While the Law of God allowed for slaves, the New Testament moved away from the practice—although not in a revolutionary manner—and subsequent Christian history frowned on it and worked to end it. It’s a sad testimony to the state of Christian faith in the early modern period that chattel slavery was so much a part of the success of colonial economies.

Slaves in ancient Israel enjoyed certain protections. Owners were discouraged from abusing them and could expect to pay a price if, by mistreatment, they actually killed a slave. To be a slave in Israel was not the same as being a slave in a pagan nation. In Israel, at least, one’s life was protected by Law.

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Cities of Refuge (4) – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 05:01:22 +0000

Cities of Refuge (4)

The Sixth Commandment

Numbers 35:9-15

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.”

One more word is in order concerning the cities of refuge. Understandably, those who had lost a loved one at the hand of one of their neighbors, whether accidental or intentional, would be deeply grieved, perhaps even enraged. Some may even have thought to take it in their hand to wreak vengeance against the offender, regardless of the judgment of the city elders.

Separation of the guilty in a city of refuge for an extended period of time allowed grace to do its work in the hearts of those thus inclined. “Time heals all wounds,” we are told, and that is especially so in a community where grace is at work, bringing transformation to those who submit to God and His Law.

Our own civil codes mirror this. While an offender is required to suffer incarceration for his crime, those offended against can seek grace for him and for themselves. The offender may come to a sense of contrition, such that both rehabilitation and restitution can be performed. Even the lengthy process of enacting the death penalty leaves time for grace to work in all parties.

God knows the sinful tendencies of our hearts, and in His grace and wisdom, He also knows how to leave room for transformation to occur.

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Cities of Refuge (3) – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 05:01:01 +0000

Cities of Refuge (3)

The Sixth Commandment

Numbers 35:9-15

God knows the sinful tendencies of our hearts. He knows that the law of sin works powerfully within us to draw us away from the path of righteousness, quench the Spirit, and override the living and active Word of God in our souls. He knows also that sin is a part of every facet of our lives and can break in even when we don’t intend it to remind us of the sad legacy of our first parents’ disobedience. This was true for ancient Israel, and it remains true for us. There will always be sin in our midst, always be death, and always be people against whom revenge should be enacted—at least, as the offended see it.

These cities of refuge were not quite prisons, but we can see an analogy in them, to a point. However, whereas prisons today are meant to protect the innocent from the guilty, the cities of refuge were meant to protect those guilty of a lesser transgression from those who might do them harm. Confinement to a city of refuge until the death of the high priest was a recognition that a wrong had been committed, whether through neglect or simple accident, and that some measures needed to be taken to restore a sense of justice. He who had, even unwillingly, taken the life of another had to “forfeit,” after a fashion, his own life and freedom, if only for a time.

Such a measure of grace was designed to placate the survivors of the deceased, acknowledge the guilt, such as it was, of the offender, and keep peace and order within the society. To the extent that the American system of criminal justice strives for such ends, we may regard it as being not out of accord with the Law of God.

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Cities of Refuge (2) – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:01:56 +0000

Cities of Refuge (2)

The sixth commandment

Numbers 35:22-29

“But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.”

Note the role of the “congregation” in this. Justice was a community effort. Members of the community were obligated to submit to their judges and to assist in the prosecution of all crimes, as well as in carrying out any sentences that may have been required of them.

Any person guilty of manslaughter would, by continuing in the city of refuge, testify daily to his innocence. To leave the city of refuge before the appointed time would be both to flout justice and to risk falling into the hands of those aggrieved by his actions.

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Cities of Refuge (1) – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 05:01:00 +0000

Cities of Refuge (1)

The sixth commandment

6.3 Protect the lives of others

Deuteronomy 19:1-10

¹ “‘When the LORD your God cuts off the nations whose land the LORD your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, ²you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. ³You shall measure the distances and divide into three parts the area of the land that the LORD your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them. ⁴“This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— ⁵as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, ⁶lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. ⁷Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. ⁸And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— ⁹provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the LORD your God and by walking ever in his ways— then you shall add three other cities to these three, ¹⁰lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.’”

Israelites were not allowed to “rush to judgment” in a vengeful or passionate manner. Those guilty of manslaughter, as opposed to premeditated murder, were given safe haven. There would be punishment in this, of course—separation from family and friends, limited mobility, having to find a means of supporting oneself, and so forth—but the death penalty would be averted, and justly so.

These cities of refuge would have served as a continuous reminder both of the justice and grace of God, encouraging all members of the nation to honor the Law and keep all the commandments of God. The purpose of these was to avoid the shedding of innocent blood, which would itself have added guilt to the nation. The punishment of one assigned to a city of refuge would be sufficient. His willingness to abide there until the death of the high priest would signal to all that he was innocent of murder but willing to accept punishment for his part in the untimely death of a neighbor.

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A Hint of Grace to Come? – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 05:01:34 +0000

A Hint of Grace to Come?

The sixth commandment

Exodus 21:28-31

“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”

Parents may not have been responsible for the behavior of their children, but owners of large animals were held accountable for their beasts. Animals were not to be “blamed” when they harm humans; however, they were not to be excused, either. An animal that gored or butted had either to be restrained or, if it could not be restrained, destroyed—and its owner held accountable in the most severe manner.

However, note the hint of grace in this statute: a man whose ox gored another to death could be ransomed from death, presumably, if the survivors of the dead person agreed. There is in this, I think, a kind of foreshadowing concerning how we must today, in this age of grace, regard the harsh penalties of the Law of God. By extending a form of grace to those deserving harsh punishments, we do not excuse them; nor do we simply wink at their offense and thus affront justice. We simply exact punishment and achieve justice in a different way. However, the nature of the transgressor—for example, if such crimes have been habitual or if they persist—frees a society to impose harsher penalties for any subsequent violations of the Law.

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Individual Responsibility – The Sixth Commandment

thousandhills — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:01:53 +0000

Individual Responsibility

The sixth commandment

Deuteronomy 24:16

“‘Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.’”

Under the Law of God each person is responsible for his or her own conduct and alone is to bear the judgment against sin. Guilt by association, even as close relatives, was not considered a form of justice, even though it may have been commonly practiced in other societies.

Especially encouraging in this statute is the idea that parents are not responsible for the transgressions of their children. This did not give parents leave to raise their children to be hellions; at the same time, it alleviated faithful parents of any sense of culpability in their children’s wrongdoing. Here is a word of comfort to many Christian parents today, whose children are in rebellion against their upbringing, the Church, and the Lord.

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