Exodus 21 — Sketch
God of Social Justice
Big Idea:
God continues to give laws to Israel...
Hebrew slaves and their spouses must be allowed to go free after seven years, but they can remain slaves if they choose.
Daughters given as slaves must be redeemed and not sold to foreigners.
Slaves given to sons as wives must be treated as daughters and provided food, clothing, and rights.
Murderers must be put to death, but anyone who kills accidentally must have a safe place to flee. Anyone who injures another in a fight must pay for the injuries.
“Take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.”
Anyone who permanently injures a slave must let that slave go free.
People deserving death may redeem their life by paying what is demanded.
Jesus in This Chapter:
God protected and provided freedom for slaves in Israel. Jesus came to "set the captives free."
Just as God's law freed enslaved people, Jesus' death frees us from our slavery to sin.
God gave more than 600 laws to Israel. These laws — the Civil laws — kept order within Israel as a political nation. Ritual laws instructed the priestly sacrificial system. And moral laws direct us in living as God’s people. Because we are not a part of the political nation of Israel, the civil laws aren’t relevant to us. And because Jesus is our ultimate sacrifice, neither are the ritual laws. But the moral laws — the Ten Commandments and the Greatest Commandments — still apply to us because Jesus reinstated them. By putting our faith in Jesus, we are made innocent of breaking ANY of these laws — civil, ritual, or moral — because Jesus fulfills them all for us.
(Originally drawn October 4, 2010)