Moses Achievement

I was struck by a commenter saying the there is not much about governing nations in the New Testament. It made me wonder why we ignore the Old Testament teaching on how to govern a nation.

God gave a complete system of laws and government to Moses. The Israelites did not need a system of government while they were slaves, but once they went into the new land, they did. God gave them what they needed, yet we ignore it. Ok, its hidden amongst some other stuff, but it there for those who look. The only problem is that most don’t bother.

It feels like arrogance. We are much smarter than the primitive people that Moses led into the promised land, so we can develop a system of government for ourselves. We don’t need the one that God gave them.

I think Moses was amazing. Not only did he defeat the leading world emperor of his time and bring his people into a new land (with God’s help), he listened to God and recorded a full description of the tabernacle and its operation, guidance for economic life, as well as a complete system of laws and government. I have been following Jesus for forty years, and during that time I have tried to hear the voice of God, distinguishing his word from my thoughts. It is not easy. So hearing and receiving all this wisdom from God is an amazing achievement.

Moses did not have the Holy Spirit within him, as we do. He seemed to have to go up a mountain or into a tent of meeting to hear God speak. Yet with these disadvantages, he was able to hear God and record a complete set of laws for the functioning of a society and describe a system of judges for applying them. He also developed a system of temporary military leaders to protect the people from external attack. That is an amazing achievement, albeit with help from God.

I am not too proud to learn from all that God taught Moses. Yet many people believe that they can do better without God. They think that they can develop their own system of government and write their own laws. That is arrogance, so it is no wonder these efforts have failed.

Benefit of the Covenant with Moses (4) Evil Powers

The sole disadvantage of the Law of Moses was that it empowered the spiritual powers of evil. The law strengthened Satan who accuses people before God, because the law defined transgression and specified the curses associated with it. This made it easier for him to accuse God’s people transgression. The powers of evil demanded the right to enforce the curses of the law on everyone who transgressed the law.

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions (Gal 3:19).

Prior to the giving of the law through Moses, transgression was undefined. The law specified the behaviour that God required from the people that he called. The law also spelt out in detail the consequences of transgression.

The spiritual powers of evil gained authority to inflict the curses of the law on sinners. They demanded the right to shed blood for sin. He demanded death for all sinners.

The law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression (Rom 4:15).

Once the law of the covenant was in place, the spiritual powers of evil demanded the right to enforce the curses of the law against the children of Israel whenever they transgressed the law. A spirit called Wrath was often the leader of this activity. The giving of the law with curses specified for disobedience increased the power of Wrath and the destroying angels working with him.

More in Kingdom Authority

Benefit of the Covenant with Moses (3) The World

The Law of Moses restrained personal and social evil by providing a way for dealing with crime and settling disputes between people. The laws specified two types of crime. People caught stealing were required to make three- or fourfold restitution. A person guilty of assaulting another was required to pay financial compensation proportional to the harm done to their victims. This compensated the victims of crime and made stealing unattractive. Some people would still steal, but most would not run the risk.

The laws against these crimes were to be enforced by the local judges accepted within each community. These judges would emerge into their role when their wisdom was recognised within their families and tribes. Judges functioning within their local communities were expected to apply God’s law to personal and social disputes.

The law provided a way for large communities of people to live in peace with each other. The law could not eliminate sin, but it removed the worst effects of sin. If God’s laws had been applied, they would have constrained the worst evil in Israel.

God intended Israel to be a light to the nations. If the Israelites had submitted to his law, they would have experienced great blessing. The surrounding nations would see the blessing, and choose to adopt God’s law to get some blessing for themselves.

Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today (Deut 4:6-8)?

The nations would see the blessing that comes from submitting to God and his law. Even if they would not accept God, they would try to get the benefits that came from adopting his law.

Unfortunately, Israel rejected God’s authority and followed the ways of the nations. They lost their blessing and never demonstrated the benefits of God’s law to the nations. Their light was lost. The surrounding nations saw Israel under a curse, so they wanted to have nothing to do with its God.

Benefit of the Covenant with Moses (2) Israel

The children of Israel gained spiritual protection. The Law of Moses contained a set of sacrifices for dealing with human sin. These sacrifices did not make people righteous before God, as only the cross of Jesus could achieve such a difficult task. However, the sacrifices specified by Moses were sufficient to satisfy God until Jesus came, because they pointed to his perfect sacrifice. Sinful people could not change their hearts, but they could make peace with God by offering the sacrifices for sin. This would allow the children of Israel to keep their peace with God, even though they would often sin.

The sacrifices were an early form of spiritual protection, because they freed people from the guilt of sin (Heb 9:13). Evil spirits could not attack a person whose sin had been cleansed by a sacrifice, so the tabernacle sacrifices reduced their vulnerability to demonic attacks. They were not a permanent solution to sin, as only Jesus could provide that, but they did free the people from the guilt of sin, which protected them from demons.

Benefit of the Covenant with Moses (1)

The covenant God made with Moses on Mt Sinai marked a big authority shift on earth. Everyone was affected.

God
God regained some of the authority on earth that was lost when Adam and Eve sinned.

The Mosaic covenant gave God authority over the land of Canaan. The Israelites were free to reject his authority at any time but the consequences were different. The covenant with Adam and Eve was unconditional, which gave humans absolute authority on earth. If they chose to rebel against God, they could shut him out and he would lose his authority on the earth.

The covenant with Moses was conditional. It offered similar blessings, but human authority was significantly constrained. Under this covenant, the Israelites could still reject God’s authority, but they could not shut him out of the land. Rather, the covenant specified that if they rebelled against God, they would be ejected from the land instead of him.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess (Deut 30:17-18).

Under the covenant with Adam and Eve, God could be exiled from the earth. Under the covenant with Moses, the Israelites could be exiled, but God’s authority in the land would remain.

The covenant gave God a place on earth under his authority where his will could be done. For the first time in history, he had authority over a piece of land where he was free to operate, and humans could not push him out.

God had worked away for more than 2000 years to get this foothold of authority on earth. He gained authority over a small land situated in the middle of some powerful empires. This was not perfect. He could not be certain that his people would obey him. He knew they would rebel, but he could deal with that.

With land and a people, God could start some serious work on earth. His goal was to expand out into the rest of the earth. The Promised Land would be a beachhead from which he could launch his redeeming work to the world.

Abraham and Moses

Abraham was part of God’s solution to the problems described in a previous post. God needed a land where he could work and a people to watch over it, so that he would have a safe place to send his son as a Messiah. Sending Jesus as a baby was a huge risk. If God got this wrong, the spiritual powers of evil would kill Jesus as soon as he was born, and his deliverance plan would fail.

Abraham provided the people through his growing family of descendants. The land came when Moses led the people out of Egypt into the promised land. The law allowed the people to live in peace in the land.

Israel was called to be a light to the nations by operating a different system of government: local judges applying God’s law. This dealt with one of the problems listed in the previous post, but it could not deal with the rest.

If Israel had implemented God’s way, many nations would have copied them. Instead, Israel chose not to be a light and copied the darkness of the nations by adopting a king and military power. They hid their light under a bushel of kingly power.

If Israel had fulfilled its calling to live under God’s law, they would have established a place of safety, relatively free of the spiritual powers of evil, where it would be safety for God to send the Messiah.

Israel chose to have a king, giving the spiritual powers of evil a home.

God used Rome to establish a place of relative order using military power and system of law. This was not ideal, but it provided sufficient peace for God to send the Messiah as a baby. However, he had to send Jesus to refugee to Egypt to be safe from the attacks of King Herod, and the principalities and powers that controlled him.

Big Authority Shifts (6) Place on Earth

God needed a place on earth. Sin and the fall had given Satan a place in heaven, but God was shut out of the earth. To restore the earth back to his people, he needed a place on earth where he could operate.

God could not act on earth, unless a humans with authority on earth invited him, so he needed loyal people and a place to work.

1. God needed some people on earth to give him authority to act.
2. He needs a place free from evil, where he would be free to work.
3. He needs people to carry the Holy Spirit into the world.

The Abraham/Moses consortium provided God with a place on earth from which he could work. Abraham brought a burial cave at Hebron, which gave God a toehold on earth. When the people Israel called out to God, he was able to lead them into the land of Canaan and make a covenant with them.

The covenant with Israel marked a big shift of authority on earth. In return for rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, the children of Israel agreed to submit to God’s authority. This was a big change. Under the covenant with Adam and Eve, humans had absolute authority on earth. They could kick God out of the world, if they chose. The covenant with Moses offered similar blessings, but human authority was significantly constrained. Under the covenant with Moses, the Israelites could no longer reject God’s authority and push him out. If they rebelled against him, they could be ejected from the land, instead of God.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess (Deut 30:17-18).

This shift in authority was a huge step forward in God’s strategy. He now had a place and a people. His people could give him permission to work in the world. They could give him authority to deal to the empires that attacked them. God had a place on earth where he had authority and his will could be done. It would be a beachhead from which he could launch his redeeming salvation to the world.

Christians supporting the modern nation of Israel often do not get this. They see Israel has a permanent homeland (place) for the Jewish people. That is the wrong way round. God gave the land to the Jewish people forever, so he would have a permanent place on earth. Modern Israel is a secular militaristic nation. Religious Jews have rejected Jesus, which cuts them off from the Holy Spirit. A few Christians have established small places in Israel that are open to the Spirit, but generally is not a place where God has authority.

Establishing the children of Israel in the land of Canaan was an important authority shift. For the first time in history, he had authority to operate freely in one piece of the earth. He also gained a group of loyal people to release his power on earth and carry the Holy Spirit into the world. With land and a people, he could start doing some serious work on earth. His goal was to expand from Canaan out into the rest of the earth.

God had to work for 2000 years to get a place of authority on earth. The covenant with Israel gave him a land to work in and a people to work through. This was not perfect, because his people would not always obey him, but it was a great start.

God no longer needs one place on earth, because the blood of Jesus means that he Holy Spirit can dwell in the heart of everyone who believes in Jesus, so he now has a million places all over the world. He does not need one piece of land as his place any more. Since the cross, Now Satan has lost his place in heaven, so God is now well ahead in the game.

God intended Israel to be a light to the nations. If they submitted to his authority and covenant, they would receive great blessing. The surrounding nations would see the blessing, and choose to submit to God’s authority, so they could share in the same blessing. As they nations freely submitted, God authority on earth would expand. Unfortunately, Israel rejected God’s authority and chased after the ways of the nations. The surrounding nations saw Israel under a curse, so they wanted to have nothing to do with its God.

Gods OT Strategy (20) - Moses

Moses was a prophet. God gave the law through Moses to restrain personal and social evil by preventing violence and theft. God intended that other nations would copy Israel and get a similar reduction in personal and social evil by applying God’s law. The law should have constrained personal evil in Israel and throughout the world. Unfortunately, Israel chose to copy the nations and have a king, so they never demonstrated the benefits of God’s law to the nations.

Moses also released the ministry of the judge. These judges recognised for wisdom by their families and tribes applied God’s law to social and community disputes. They functioned within their local communities. This was an important step in God’s strategy, because it provided a way for larger communities to live in peace with each other. The law could not eliminate sins, but it provided a way for removing the worst effects of sin.

The Jubilee laws proved a tool for ensuring that the income distribution was fair. Concentration of wealth was prevented.

Gods OT Strategy (18) - Moses Covenant

The covenant God made with Moses on Mt Sinai marked a big change in authority on earth. God had rescued the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt and brought them into a new land. He promised to protect them and bless them in the future. In return for these blessings, they agreed to submit to God’s authority. This was a big change. Under the covenant with Adam and Eve, humans had absolute authority on earth. They could boot God out of the world if they chose. The covenant with Moses offered similar blessings, but human authority was significantly constrained. The terms of the covenant with Moses meant that he Israelites could no longer reject God’s authority and push him out of the world. The covenant provided that if they rebelled against God, they could be ejected from the land, not God.

God had worked away for more than 2000 years to get a foothold of authority on earth. He now had a piece of land where he was free to operate and a people to work through. This was not perfect. God could not be certain that his people would obey him. He knew they would eventually rebel. He also knew that if he exiled the chosen people from the land, he could lose control of it. Other people would move in who did not have a covenant with him. They could exclude him again, if he were not careful. God had to be sure that he had a way to bring his people back from exile at the right time. Cyrus was critical for that reason. Daniel was important too, because he had sufficient authority in Babylon to pray the return to the land into being. Nehemiah had a key role too. God had to raise the right people up and make sure that they are there at the right time.

Old Testament Violence (15) - Defence against Attack

Although the Israelites were over zealous in slaughtering the inhabitants of Canaan, this does not mean that is never a justification for war. There were a few times when the nations attacked Israel and defence was justified.

Sihon King of Heshbon is an interesting example. Moses sent a message to him asking if his people could pass by. Moses promised that they would stay on the main road and pay for any food that they used.

Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot (Deut 2:27-28).

Moses did everything possible to avoid picking a fight with them Heshbonites. He offered to pay for food and grazing. However, the heart of King Sihon was hardened. He responded to Moses’ request by sending his army out against the Israelites at Jahaz. God spoke to Moses and promised to defeat this army.

The LORD said to me, "See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land (Deut 2:31).

The Lord helped the Israelites win this battle. Deuteronomy does not describe how God intervened, but Moses describes the outcome.

At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them—men, women and children. We left no survivors (Deut 2:34).

This verse seems to imply that the Israelites destroyed all the men, woman and children, but that is not the full story.

Firstly, there is no evidence that God commanded them to destroy everyone. God allowed the Israelites to defend themselves, if when they were attacked. He assisted them in these situations. However, he never commanded them to annihilate the women and children when they were defending themselves.

If they had destroyed all the woman and children, Moses would have been disobeying God. However, Moses was not disobedient. This is just another example of a verse being translated harshly for no reason. The last three words literally say “We left none to remain”. This is not the same as “no survivors”. Moses may have been saying that they drove the people out and allowed no one to remain in the towns of this land. He was not claiming to have slaughtered all the women and children. This view is confirmed in Judges 11:23, where Jepthah sent the Ammonite king a message about the land taken from Sihon.

Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over?

This confirms that the Israel did not destroy the people of Heshbon, but drove them out before the people of Israel. The harsh translation of herem in misrepresents Moses actions.

A further confirmation is the Greek version (Septuagint) of Isaiah 17:9, which says that the Hivites and Amorites deserted their cities.

Old Testament Violence (8) - Moses Mistakes

Moses did not fully understand his gifting. He had released his people from captivity to Pharaoh by working signs and wonders. He had destroyed the mighty Egyptian army by holding out his staff. Despite these amazing experiences, when attacked by the Amalekites, Moses mixed the power of the staff with the power of the sword.

Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands (Ex 17:9).

God did not give this strategy to Moses, because Moses acted without consulting God. Moses stood on the hill with staff and prayed. Joshua stayed on the plain and fought with the sword. This was mixing God’s power with human strength, so it became a struggle. Moses should have used the power of the staff with Joshua standing at his side. By mixing God’s power with the power of the sword he set Joshua off in the direction of violence. Mixing God's power with human power works in the short term, but is damaging in the long term.

Judicial Laws of Moses (15) - Thats All

Biblical justice is limited to:

• Theft or damage to property
• Physical injury to a human person.

These two types of offence are the only ones specified in the Judicial Laws of Moses. There is nothing else. This makes God’s Judicial Law very simple and easy for everyone to understand. It means that we do not need a Congress or Parliament turn out hundreds of new laws every year. We do not need laws books with hundreds of pages of detailed legislation. All we need is wise judges, who can decide in any situation, whether a victim was harmed by assault, or if their property was harmed or stolen.

We do not need hundreds of legislators to pass laws specifying the penalty for every conceivable crime. All we need is wise judges who can work out in any situation what would be necessary to fully restore the victim to the situation in which they were in before the crime occurred.

The simplicity of these Judicial Laws demonstrates the brilliant wisdom of God. In twenty-five verses, he gives a set of laws that will function in any culture in any time. The laws give provide a standard that allows judges to decide when a crime has occurred. They are just as applicable in a modern industrialised culture as in a simple agrarian culture. They also give principles that allow judges decide the appropriate restitution that should be made to compensate for the crime in any culture or type of economy.

Human law makers have worked for hundreds of years and produced numerous statutes, but they have not been able to produce a system of judicial law that works well. What human law makers have failed to do, God did three thousand years ago using just a thousand words.

Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are ever with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.
Righteous are you, O LORD,
and your laws are right.
The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
they are fully trustworthy(Psalm 119:97-100,137-138).

This full series is here

Judicial Laws of Moses (14) - Limited Justice

The judicial laws of Exodus 22:12-22:16 have just two objectives.

• Protection of Property
• Protection of Human Life
  

God has specified only two types of sin for which remedy or punishment can be imposed by a human court. In a biblical system of justice, judges are limited to dealing with two types of activity.

• Theft or damage to property
• Physical injury to a human person.

The first type of sin is actions that harm the property of other people. This ranges from theft to careless actions that harm to another person’s property. The following are specifically mentioned in the judicial laws.

• Stealing another person’s property (Ex 22:1).
• Breaking into another person’s house (Ex 22:2).
• Allowing animals to wander and destroy another person’s crop (Ex 22:5).
• Allowing fire to spread and destroy another person’s property (Ex 22:6).
• Losing money that has been handed over for safekeeping (Ex 22:7). (This is an important principle for banking).
• Careless care of another person’s property that results in damage (Ex 22:10-13).
• Damaging animals or equipment that has been borrowed. (Ex 22:14-15).

The second type of sin consists of actions that injure the body of another person. This covers the range from an accidental assault to murder. The following are specifically mentioned in the judicial laws.

• Assault (Ex 21:18-19).
• Murder with intention to kill (Ex 21:14).
• Manslaughter (Ex 21:13).
• Assaulting a parent is particularly serious, because God requires children to honour their parents (Ex 21:15).
• Kidnapping is a serious assault, because it involves theft of another person’s life (Ex 21:16).
• A serious curse can do as harm a person’s body more than a blow with a fist (Ex 21:17).
• Assaulting and employee (Ex 21:20-21).
• An innocent bystander being injured by men fighting with each other (Ex 21:22-25).
• Allowing an animal or machinery to hurt another person (Ex 21:28-32).
• Leaving a hazard unguarded that hurts another person (Ex 21:33-36).
• Sexual seduction is a serious of assault (Ex 22:16-17).

The Bible has no distinction between criminal law where crimes are enforced by the state in criminal courts and civil law where breaches are pursued by individuals in civil courts. The concept of an offence or crime against the state simply does not exist in the scripture. The only distinction is between sins that affect property and those that harm the person. God is offended by both types of sin and his judges are responsible for dealing with both types of offence.

Judicial Laws of Moses (13) - Justice and Mercy

The remedy for a personal injury involves two principles:

• Justice
• Mercy.

The justice principle specifies that the person committing the assault should have done to him what he has done to his victim. This would be perfect justice, but would produce a lot of violence.

The mercy principle allows the person assaulted to make a payment sufficient to compensate the victim for the injury to his body. The principle is defined here with reference to a person whose actions have taken the life of another.

If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him (Ex 21:30).

The Hebrew word for ransom is “kopher”, which means cover or shelter. The figurative meaning is ransom, price or satisfaction. The ransom is a money payment that that provides shelter from the justice principle. The person who has caused another die should really pay with his life, but the payment of a ransom protects him from the full consequences of his actions. The offender does not have physical harm done to his body, but will still have to pay a heavy penalty.

The family of the victim are better off, because they receive financial compensation for their loss. The money paid will improve their lives, whereas harming the other person would only produce emotional satisfaction. Justice is still achieved, but everyone still living is better off.

Judicial Laws of Moses (12) - Compensation for Injury

The meeting of the principle of justice with the principle of mercy is very clear in the case of fighting men striking a pregnant woman by mistake.

If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Ex 21:22-25).

The justice principle in the second part of this passage describes what the offender deserves. If the woman or her baby is injured, justice demands the affliction of a similar injury on the offender. This is expressed in the commonly used, but misunderstood, expression: “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” The person who harms another deserves the same thing done to them.

The mercy principle is specified in the first part of the passage. The offender does not receive physical punishment, but must pay full financial compensation instead. If no harm comes to the baby, he shall pay what the woman’s husband demands. If the woman or the baby is injured, the compensation will be proportional to the injuries received. In each case the financial compensation must be approved by judges after listening to witnesses to the crime.

The financial compensation must be proportional to the loss. “An eye for an eye” is not a justification for personal revenge, but is the standard of justice to be applied by the judges when deciding compensation. They will decide the compensation for an injury to the eye by assessing the economic value of the eye. This involves estimating the loss of the income and enjoyment resulting from the lack of sight, just like the lump-sum compensation provided by some accident insurance companies. Loss of an eye could be worth $200,000 and loss of a hand might be worth $170,000, whereas a bruise might only be worth $1,000.

God could not define just compensation in terms of shekels, because inflation changes the value of a currency over time. By linking compensation back to the value of the specific limb or organ, God has provided a principle of compensation that is relevant in every culture, regardless of the currency in circulation at the time.

Exodus provides a humane way of making compensation to the victims of violence. Modern human justice makes offenders pay fines to the state, but very rarely provides financial compensation to the victims of violence. This is a good example of God’s standard of justice being better than human law.

Judicial Laws of Moses (11) - Personal Injury

The second half of Exodus 21 deals with protection from personal injury. The modern terms are assault and murder. Murder is the most serious form of assault. These laws are expressed in the same way as those that deal with protection of property.

If a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning… (v.14).
If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist… (v.18).
If a man hits his manservant or maidservant with a rod… (v.21).
If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely… (v.22).
If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it… (v.26).
If a bull gores a man or a woman to death… (v.28).
If a man opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it… (v.33)
If a man's ox butts another's… (v.35).

These laws define the scope of assault. The most serious assault is murder. The more common assault is one person striking another with his fist or a weapon. The definition of assault includes a careless action that causes another person to come to harm. It extends to harm done to animals.

These laws against assault are universal in application. They are not directed to a particular people, but to all people everywhere.

Judicial Laws of Moses (10) - Restitution

Restitution is specified as the remedy in all situations where personal property is damaged or stolen. The Hebrew word translated as restitution is “shalam”. It is used 18 times in these verses about property, although this is sometime lost in the translation. Twice the word is doubled for emphasis. Its basic meaning is “be safe” or “be made complete”. By implication it can mean “reciprocate, make amends, end, finish, full, make good, repay, recompense, requite, make restitution, restore”.

The person stealing or damaging the property of another must “make good” the harm done. They must “restore” the situation to the way it was before they committed their crime. The well-known Hebrew word for peace (shalom) comes from Shalam, so it has a strong sense of restoring peace to a situation that has been disrupted. Everything harmed must be put right.

The seduction of a young woman is also a form of theft.

If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her (Ex 2:16).

He has stolen the most precious thing that she has. Loss of virginity might prevent her from finding a good husband. The man who has robbed her of this potential must compensate here financially for what she has lost. He must also compensate here for any physical or emotional harm as well. He must pay the full cost of restoring her to the position that she was in before he intervened in here life.

Judicial Laws of Moses (9) - Protection of Property

Exodus 22:1-16 deals with protection of property. These laws define the nature of theft and specify appropriate remedies. These laws are all expressed in the same way.

If a man steals an ox or a sheep… (v.1).
If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field…(v.5).
If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house…(v.7)
If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured…(v.10).
If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it… (v.14).

The structure of these laws is quite different from the “You shall not steal” in the Ten Commandments. The latter is limited to a particular group of people represented by the word “you”. The statements above are not limited and apply to any person who undertakes the action specified. These laws against harming property are universal and not limited to the children of Israel.

Taking something that belongs to another person is forbidden. The scope is not limited to theft, but includes any careless action that harms another person’s property. Breach of contract is also prohibited.

Judicial Laws of Moses (8) - Laws for Everyman

Recently I found the key I have been looking for. That key is a phrase in the book of Exodus. Whereas most laws in Exodus are addressed to Israel, I noticed that a section of laws in the middle of the book seem to be addressed to a universal man. They all begin with the expression, “If a man” (kiy ish). These laws are not addressed to Israel, but to all men. This set of universal laws begins at Exodus 21:12 and ends at Exodus 22:17.

This section of law also stands out as being different, because it is expressed in the third person. Most of the other laws in Exodus are expressed in the second person, ie you shall not steal, you shall not murder. Moses used ”you”, because he was addressing Israel and announcing laws for his listeners and their descendents. . The Ten Commandments are all written in the second person, as they were spoken to Israel.

The laws beginning at Exodus 21:12 are written in the third person, ie if he does something, he shall receive this penalty. This mode of speech is used to when referring to someone who is not part of the conversation. It points to a third person, who is not the speaker (I) and not the listener (you). Moses used the third person here, because this section of laws are for all people and not just for those who participate in the covenant made on Mount Sinai.

In Exodus 22:18-19 Moses switches back to the second person and stops using the expression “if a man”, which indicates that he changed back to speaking just to Israel. Therefore, the commands about witchcraft and bestiality in these verses are only applicable to Israel. They are not part of the universal judicial laws.

The third factor that distinguishes the section of laws between Exodus 21:12 and Exodus 22:17 is that the subject of the verb is always “a man” or “men”. There is no definite article, so the reference is not to a particular man, but to any man. These seem to be laws for all men or “everyman”.

The use of the third person and “man” or “men” as the subject of the command marks off a set of laws that apply to all people in all societies everywhere. These laws are not just for Israel. The penalties for failure to comply with these laws are specified in a timeless way. I will refer to them as the Judicial Laws, as God intends them to be applied by judges in every society and culture.
The Judicial Laws of Moses cover two areas of life.

• personal injury
• protection of property

This full series is here

Judicial Laws of Moses (7) - Looking for the Key

God is our lawgiver. His law is found in the Bible. However, while some of the laws in the Bible have a universal application, others are just for Israel. The principles outlined yesterday are helpful, but they do not allow us to sort out the judicial laws that apply to all people in every age. We need a key to identify the laws that are still relevant now.

I searched many years for a key to identifying the universal, judicial laws in the Torah. I have learned to love the book of Moses. I obtained many wonderful insights into the ways of God. I identified much that was only applicable to Israel before the ministry of Jesus. I discovered that Leviticus is exclusively for Israel. Exodus and Deuteronomy are harder to handle, because they seem to be a mixture of laws for Israel and universal laws. A key is needed to separate these two types of law.

This is a really important question. My answer tomorrow.