I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
The first interesting thing I noticed in this passage was that the idea of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” is placed here in the context of people fighting and a pregnant woman getting hit and caused to give birth prematurely. The passage says that if no serious injury occurs, the one who hit the woman must pay a fine determined by the woman’s husband and allowed by the court. However, in this situation if there is serious injury, the offender is to suffer loss of life for loss of life, loss of eye for the loss of an eye, etc. This is not a command for general situations where someone causes injury to someone else, but for a case where people are fighting and one of them causes injury to a pregnant woman, and/or her child.
Yesterday’s passage had a command that is often used to condemn Old Testament law. It said that if someone beat their slave and caused injury, but the slave recovered after a few days there should be no punishment. However, in today’s passage we have more on the treatment of slaves. In today’s passage, the command is that if a master knocks out the eye or tooth of their slave, they must set the slave free to compensate the slave for the loss. The passage goes on to suggest that people not be held accountable for the unpredictable behavior of the animals they own. However, if an animal repeatedly demonstrates a tendency to attack people or other animals and the owner allows it to do so again, then the owner shall be held responsible for the damages. Overall, this passage consists of a series of commands about taking responsibility for one’s actions.
There are a few of the commands here that I think are worthy of emphasis. The first is one that is stated twice in this passage: Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner. The passage offers an explanation for this command. It reminds the people that they were foreigners in Egypt and know how it feels to be a foreigner. Another is a warning not to take advantage of widows or the fatherless. God promises that if this warning is not heeded He will avenge them. The final is two passages that I feel make a matched set. The first tells us not to follow the crowd when it favors doing wrong and most definitely to not show favoritism to the poor in a lawsuit. The second says that we should not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits. I think these two show two problems that societies often have…as a matter of fact, I think that societies often have both of them. That is, there is often a tendency to weigh the scales of justice in favor of the poor over the rich in highly publicized cases, while in cases that are out of the limelight, the poor often have trouble receiving justice in the courts. I think there is a principle here about how we should treat people in general. We should show the same level of respect for the opinions offered by all people regardless of their economic situation.
As Jesus was leaving the Temple area, His disciples pointed out the wonderful architecture of the various buildings. Jesus responds by telling them that these wonderful buildings will be completely destroyed. His disciples then asked Him a question that has led to many misunderstandings. They asked Him when that would happen and what would be the signs of His return and the end of the age? Jesus’ answer as recorded by the Gospel writer clearly refers to the coming Jewish revolt that culminated with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. To what extent this reads this way because the Gospel writer saw Jesus’ prophecy applying to what was going on when he wrote the gospel (I believe that the Gospel was written sometime around 60 AD and thus the writer would have been aware of the rising unrest in Judea) or because that was the focus of Jesus’ answer, I do not know. However, that being said, I do believe that a large part of what Jesus was saying was about the coming Jewish revolt against the Romans and what was going to happen in the days leading up to it (which would answer the first part of the disciples’ question).
All of that being said, there are some important points to be noticed here. One of those points is that many will come claiming to be the Messiah, the one who will save us from troubled times. They will perform great signs and wonders in order to deceive. And many will be deceived by them. In addition there will be people proclaiming that this person or that person is the Messiah. Some will proclaim someone who is preaching in the wilderness, who is an outsider, as the Messiah. Others will proclaim someone who is in the “inner rooms”, which I take to mean a religious or political insider/power broker, as the Messiah. Jesus warns us to believe none of them. Another important point is that those who remain faithful to His teachings will be hated and persecuted. He tells us that many will turn away from the faith, that many will lose their love for God because of the increase in wickedness around them. Yet despite all of the trials and troubles for those who believe, the Gospel will be preached throughout the entire world.
Today we have a psalm of praise. The psalmist tells us that the voice of the Lord is powerful and can be heard over roaring waters (such as the sound of waves breaking on the beach or a mighty waterfall). The sound of the Lord’s voice is powerful, it can shatter mighty trees and cause the ground to shake. I will give praise to the Lord because His word shakes the earth to its core.
Once again the proverb writer talks about the danger of adultery. I have not kept careful track, but I am in the seventh chapter of Proverbs and the overwhelming majority of what I have read thus far in the book is a warning against committing adultery. I think this tells us something about the importance of sexual fidelity to our marriages…and avoiding sexual relationships with those married to others.