God's Laws: When people injure each other

Exodus Chapter 21

18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.

God doesn't like it when His people fight one another, and it doesn't matter who was right or wrong, there are consequences!

If two men are fighting, and one beats the other one so bad that he has to be hospitalized, and if the man who is hospitalized doesn't die, the man who beat him has to pay the hospital bills and for his loss of wages that he incurred during the time it took for him to heal.

Obviously, servants are treated differently. One can assume it is because the servant is in debt to the master already. If a servant is killed at the master's hand, then the master should be punished. But, if the servant doesn't die instantly, but remains alive a couple of days, then the master is spending money caring for the servant that he injured. Since the servant "is his money", then the master is freed from punishment at this point, because he has paid the servant back for injuring him, and now the servant can never work off his debt to the master.

God's Law's: Don't curse your parents

Exodus 21:17
“And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.”

Exodus 20:12 tells us that we are to honor our father and mother. This verse tells us what will happen if we don't.

Many of us did not grow up with good parents who had great values and really cared about their children's future. Some were children of drug addicts and prostitutes. Some were born to mothers who were too young and deadbeat dads. Some parents abused their children in horrific ways. None of this is an excuse to curse your parents.

Matthew 5:44 teaches us, from the words of Jesus, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

It is a good thing that God sent His son to die on the cross for our sins. Many of us have shaken our fists at our parents and screamed at them that we wished they would die. The rebellious teenage years leave many of us wanting in our godly attitudes.

It also makes us wonder what life must have been like back in the days God gave this commandment. How did parents make their children behave back then? Shouldn't we be following THEIR example?

This is worthy of discussion.

God's Laws: Human Trafficking

Exodus 21:16
“And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.”

In today's world, where millions of children are being kidnapped and sold into slavery and used in sweatshops and as sex slaves and servants and for any other reason, this verse deals the consequence that such sin should incur.

God's Laws: Consequences for Killing Someone

Exodus 21

12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.

14 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.

15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

We have already been told that it is wrong to kill in Exodus 20:13. God has laid out consequences of such actions.

If you kill someone, you must die. Period. But, if you are acting in self defense, the sentence is still death, but God will provide a place of sanctuary for you. If you stay in the place that He has given for you as a sanctuary, you may survive. If you leave that place, the judges can take hold of you to exact punishment for your crime.

This is only good for self defense, not for sneaking up on someone and executing them.

And, you better NOT kill your parents for ANY reason.

God has provided us a sanctuary in the Lord Jesus Christ today. As long as we abide in Him, our sins -- our CRIMES -- are forgiven!

God's Laws: Treatment of Daughters

Exodus 22:

7 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.

8 If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.

9 And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

10 If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.

11 And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.

In Biblical days, sons and daughters were treated differently. If a man had children, he had servants for life.

If a man had a son, he had someone to leave his inheritance to. He had hope for the future of his family.

If a man had a daughter, he had a treasure that he could invest in. He could trade her for favors and connections that could benefit his family's future.

At any rate, the patriarch of the family ruled over his progeny. It didn't matter what country he lived in, his family was his to rule over and control. If you want to hurt a man, destroy his family.

Now days, at least here in the United States, things are different. The government has done everything possible to destroy the authority a family has over an individual. This may, at first glance, seem like a good thing in some ways, but is it how God intended it?

In this case, if a man owed a debt and decided to sell his daughter to the person he owed the debt to, then his daughter "belonged" to the person he sold her to for life.

She would be used in any manner a master saw fit to use her. If the master did not get on well with her, the man had the option of buying her back, but the master could not sell her to another nation. If the man did not buy her back, the daughter would have to suffer her fate in the master's hands, and that may not be good. So daughters who were sold into servanthood were taught from an early age to be the best servants they could be for anyone to avoid any future problems for the family.

If a master bought the daughter and then introduced her to his son for a future union, he was responsible to treat her as if she were his own daughter, not a servant that he gave away.

If the master chose to sexually use her, she was then to be treated as his wife. And if he married someone else, he was still to treat her as he would a wife, providing for her and allowing her to raise her children by him.

If a master buys the daughter of a debtor, and he doesn't sell her back to her father, give her to his son, or take to him as a wife, then she is to be set free to survive on her own. This can be a tricky situation for women, who only had one way of surviving back in those days, unless they begged on the streets and were able to somehow buy property of their own, which was mostly impossible.

In our neck of the woods, buying and selling servants is not allowed. So, if we were to edit this to our standard, here is how it would look:

If a man owed a debt but could not work for it, he could offer to let his daughter work out the debt for him.

If an employer accepted that offer, he could not contract her to another employer in order to work out his OWN debt. And, if a man were to somehow come into some money and was able to pay off his debt, she would be free from her contract.

If she and the employer's son fell in love and got married, she would not be under contract any longer, and she would then be a part of the employer's family.

If the employer married her, then he would treat her with the respect any wife deserves.

If the employer was not pleased with the work she was contracted to do, then he could tear up the contract and no one would owe him anything. At any rate, it is up to the employer whether to accept the deal.

God's Laws: Treatment of Servants

Remember, servants aren't slaves. Servants are those who are working to pay off a debt. Or, servanthood can be voluntary.

God calls all of us to serve. We will never be able to pay off the debt that Jesus paid, which is why Jesus paid it.

In this case, God is speaking of those who are working to pay off a debt.

Any debt owed must be given six years work to pay off. In the seventh year, the servant is to be released, nothing owed. Free.

So, if someone is working for you in order to pay off a debt, you must NOT make him work more than six years for it. You must pursue the payment for six years, after that, you need to forgive whatever debt is owed over that and let him have piece of mind.

Exodus 21:

3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.

4 If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

Back then, marriages were assigned. If they weren't assigned, there were traditional steps that had to be taken in order to occur. In this case, if a servant was already married, and he enters into servanthood, then his whole family is entered with him. When he leaves, his whole family leaves with him.

However, if he decides to marry his "boss's" daughter, then he cannot take her away from her family. He is married into that family for life. If he leaves, he leaves on his own. Whatever family he builds with his employer's family, he leaves behind. OR, he can stay and be part of that family for life.

Families are called to serve each other. It is your DUTY to serve your family first and above all!

1 Timothy 5:8

“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

What is the Difference between a Servant and a Slave?

In the Bible, there are very few times in which God's people owned slaves. However, there are MANY instances of them having servants.

A man or woman who was a servant was usually so because of a debt that was owed.

Today, if you work for an employer, it is because you are paying off a debt. Bills are forms of debt. If you are employed, then you are a servant.

As a servant - or employee - today, you have the opportunity to start your own business and be the boss, thus working your way out of servitude.

A slave has no hope of ever having freedom unless his master wills it. A slave's sole purpose is obedience, and that includes servitude.

A servant, on the other hand, can buy his freedom. A servant has the freedom to choose his master, in most cases. A servant can rise up to the master's level eventually, whereas a slave will never have such opportunity.

The Bible teaches us to be good servants. It teaches us how to serve God, and how serving man is vital to our service to God.

In Chapter 21 of Exodus, we will be talking about servitude, slavery, and women's roles in society, as well as women's rights in the Old Testament, and how that effects us today.