Lex Talionis Among Other Things
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Holiness is Timeless
Holiness is Timeless
There is a lot of revisionist history going on in our society right now.
Things many of us were taught back in the day, we are told now, they weren’t true.
I read an article recently where someone stated that our legal system was not based on the Bible or any Old Testament law.
And they sounded all smart and stuff - only there is a problem.
We are in Exodus, today beginning at Chapter 21 and when you read it, anyone with the IQ of a kumquat will hear the foundation of our legal system in this text.
It’s unmistakable to anyone except those who are deliberately and defiantly anti-God.
Several very popular pastors in recent months have advocated ditching the preaching of the Old Testament.
The laws are a turn off.
They say that many of the laws are used as “gotcha” laws, especially where it deals with same-sex relationships.
They even say correctly that Jesus Himself says in Matthew 5:17 ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law they say - why bother with them then?
That answer is simple, Holiness is Timeless and 1 Peter 1:16 reminds us “since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””
So how does the Lord teach us to be holy?
That’s one of the purposes of the Law.
So, open you Bibles to Exodus 21.
Our entire text is Exodus 21:1-23:19 but we aren’t going to read it all word for word, I encourage you to do that at home.
Instead, right now, turn to Exodus 21:22-25.
While you are headed there, Kids.
I so wish I could teach you all of the things I wish I had learned at your age but I can’t.
There is too much and you’d probably be like me and not listen anyway.
But I really, really want you to understand this.
Lots of people, and I mean LOTS of people are going to give you reasons why the Bible is filled with crazy talk
And why talking about God is crazy talk.
Please, please remember me saying this: never believe anyone who contradicts what you’ve been taught until you’ve researched it for yourself.
A very popular preacher said we should not teach the Old Testament.
When you listen to the message today, you are going to see he was wrong.
A lot of people listened to him and did the wrong thing - because they didn’t think for themselves.
Don’t be those people.
Don’t give up what you know to be true without a fight - you hear me?
Our three words to help you listen are Jesus, Laws, and Ox.
Now brothers and sisters, hear the Word of the Lord from the Book of Exodus 21:22-25
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
Let’s ask the Spirit’s help in discerning God’s truth.
Dear Holy Spirit, please use Your Word to convince us of truth and convict us of sin.
Help us to see clearly the value of Your Word.
We are but dust - help us to understand the meaning and purpose of Your Word.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
So let’s start with an objection the world throws at us regularly - why do we follow some laws and not others.
In our current environment, why would Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination” be any more authoritative than Leviticus 11:12 “Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you?”
One says the LGBTQ+ movement is ungodly and the other says catfish and shrimp are ungodly.
I hear a whole bunch of Evangelicals decrying the LGBTQ+ community while they chow down on fried catfish and boiled shrimp.
Non-Christians say that sounds like selective outrage and use it to prove the Bible says crazy things.
So that’s a good question, right?
Why one and not the other?
Here’s why.
J.D. Greear published an article (https://jdgreear.com/why-dont-we-follow-all-of-the-old-testament-laws/) about this very thing.
In that article, he explains there are three types of laws found in the Old Testament.
There are Civil Laws.
They were used to govern the nation of Israel and we are no longer bound to those laws
But, we are bound to the principles of those laws.
There are Ceremonial Laws.
These revolved around sacrifices and how the temple was to be administered.
What they taught us is the difference between holy and unholy.
We are not bound by the ceremonial laws and really, it would be an abomination for us to keep them.
Jesus came and made the ultimate, final, perfect sacrifice.
And if we followed those laws, that would be us saying that Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection was not enough to save us.
The third set of laws are Moral laws.
These are where God defines right and wrong.
These reflect God’s character and since His character never changes, God’s morality never changes.
And if you want to say, “But Pastor Randy, what about Jesus?”
I’d tell you to read starting with Matthew 5 where Jesus takes laws like “Do not murder,” and intensifies it to say, “Do not believe in your heart your brother is worthless.”
We keep the Lord’s moral commands because we love God and want to be different like Him.
Again, 1 Peter 1:16
since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
So why catfish and not LGBTQ+?
The prohibition against catfish and shellfish are ceremonial.
For them it was a matter of clean and unclean, holy and unholy.
Peter’s vision in Acts 11 said that dietary restrictions on clean and unclean no longer matter.
God tells Peter in Acts 11:9 ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’”
We aren’t bound to ceremonial laws.
So why not LGBTQ+?
It’s because those desires are against creation order - they are moral laws.
Those desires don’t lead us to holiness - they don’t lead us to be like God
Instead they lead us away from God and towards ourselves.
Laws about all types of sexuality in the Bible, regardless of how that sexuality is expressed, are Moral laws.
They display God’s character - His trustworthiness - His fidelity - and we are to strive to be like the Lord.
As we said, Holiness is timeless.
So should someone say to you, “You Christians are hypocrites, you have your pet sins but ignore things you enjoy.”
Well, now you can quit being defensive and feeling like a hypocrite - because you aren’t.
If you are a Christ-follower, you are a born-again child of God..
You know right from wrong because the Lord has defined for all time what is morally right and what is morally wrong.
And that morality will not change.
So, let’s look at the text - Exodus 21:22 ““When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.”
So two dudes are arguing politics and they get so mad they come to blows.
It’s a big fight.
They are punching and pulling and hitting and one slams the other one up against a wall.
Unfortunately, an innocent pregnant woman is scurrying to get out of their way when the guy body slams the other guy
And she gets caught between him and the wall.
And she goes into labor.
That’s the scene here - two men - not necessarily her husband and someone else, just two random dudes.
She goes into labor and her child is born, “but there is no harm.”
The woman doesn’t sustain any permanent harm and the baby is healthy.
In this case, the husband will ask for damages and the judge will determine if that is fair or not.
That sounds strangely contemporary doesn’t it?
A criminal case would be pursued, but the family could file a civil case as well asking for damages.
Now, verse 23-24 Exodus 21:23–25 “But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
This is called the lex talionis.
Lex Talionis means the law of retribution and this is foundational to our legal system.
The Lord wants us to have a fair and impartial justice system where the punishment equals the crime?
So if the baby dies, it’s a capital offense.
If the child is born and it’s leg is broken, then the punishment to the men wouldn’t necessarily be that each of their legs would be broken,
But it would be that their lives would be impacted with the same severity as someone with a broken leg.
What could that look like?
A broken leg keeps you from working for six weeks, it incurs all kinds of medical bills, and follow up.
Maybe it looks like the perpetrators are locked up for six weeks, then are required to pay all of the medical bills, lost wages.
But you wouldn’t execute them for it.
And neither would you let them go for a small fine.
We are outraged at those District Attorneys in the big cities that let criminals go with either no punishment or a light slap on the wrist
Because this notion of lex talionis is burned in our souls.
The Lord is a fair and impartial judge and he wants us to be fair an impartial as well.
Here are a few examples, look at Exodus 21:28–29 ““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.”
Forget the ox - I’m not aware of anyone here who has an ox - but what is the principle.
The man was warned that his ox was a danger to the community and the man did nothing to protect others.
You’ve heard the word negligence right?
And yet something happens and he says “It was just an accident”
It was an accident because you were lazy and just didn’t want to fix it or you knew it needed fixing and you just didn’t care.
You’re still guilty and you deserve punishment because you knew and you did nothing.
Now let me say this one sentence and then you can fill in the blanks any way you want to.
If you produce a product, any product with a defect you know can kill or injure people, but you hide that defect and distribute it anyway you are acting unGodly
You are immoral and you deserve whatever punishment would equal the pain and suffering of those you injured.
This is happening right now and if you are outraged, you should be.
Immorality should make us outraged.
How about these verses Exodus 23:1–3 ““You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.”
Christians, here this loud and clear “do not fall in with the many to do evil…do not side with the many, so as to pervert justice.”
“I was afraid of what they would say about me” is not a defense.
Well, every one has a right to do what they want to do?
That’s not a defense either.
You do remember what Jesus said, right?
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
The times are getting hard, brothers and sisters, and the enemy is getting bold.
We need to be strong and courageous.
We need to speak the truth and live the truth.
And, and, and, and, and - did you notice the nugget at the very end.
It’s real popular to bash rich people - according to some if we’d just tax them their fair share all of our problems will go away.
Of course that’s a lie from the pits of hell and it smells like smoke - but notice the last phrase in verse 3
“…nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.”
The lex talionis applies to everyone equally.
When a poor man goes to court, he must not be rewarded simply because he’s poor.
The Lord expects us to apply justice equally to all people.
But I want to finish today with this and it’s really more of a thought than anything else.
Exodus 21:32 “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.”
This is that same ox of the negligent man who had been told he had an ox that hurt people and he did nothing.
If that ox killed a free man, it would be a capital offense.
But if it killed a slave, the slave owner would get 30 pieces of silver - that’s about a pound of silver.
We aren’t going to get into the whole slave thing right now - we’ll save that for another day.
But what rang in my ears was the phrase “thirty shekels” or “thirty pieces of silver.”
Rings a bell, doesn’t it?
Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
They gave Judas the price of a slave to betray Jesus - they bought Jesus.
Now, follow me here - who were we before we met Jesus?
Do you remember Romans 6:20 “For when you were slaves of sin...”
We were slaves to sin.
You and I know intimately the pain of sin.
We know what regret feels like.
We know what shame feels like.
We know what it feels like to hurt someone and to cause people pain.
And we know that because we all have made sinful choices and we saw what happened when we did..
But Jesus didn’t.
Jesus never once in His entire life felt shame for anything He did.
He never felt regret.
He never felt the pain of unjustly hurting another human being.
Because everything Jesus did was done in righteousness and love.
Jesus knew what sin was - but He never participated.
He is the only person born who was not a slave to sin.
Yet He was sold into our slavery for the price of a slave and His masters hated Him.
In their hatred, they tried to intimidate Him
And when that didn’t work, they spit in His face and slapped Him to degrade Him.
And when that didn’t work, they beat Him almost to death.
And when that didn’t work, they nailed him naked to a cross.
And as darkness closed in on them right in the middle of the day
All of the sins of every person who would ever be saved was poured out on Jesus
In an instant, Jesus felt shame as His nakedness was exposed on the cross.
He knew the guilt of our sins, He saw the countless faces of those we had grieved with our sins
He knew our regret.
The pain was so deep, the feelings so raw that Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
In the weariness and agony of his soul, Jesus quoted the first line of Psalm 22.
Because he expected us to know the rest of the Psalm.
“Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groanings?
“Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”
He knew we’d know that it started a a Psalm of defeat, but it ends as a Psalm of victory.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!
My vows I will perform.
What was Jesus’ vows?
“Not my will, but thine be done.”
Who are those who seek Him?
That’s you and me.
Hanging on the cross in the bitterest of agony, Jesus blessed us “May your hearts live forever.”
The man sold for 30 pieces of silver died dirty and sin-stained.
Every sin of every person who would ever be saved - Jesus carried their load.
What’s the worst you ever felt over a sin you committed?
You do realize that Jesus felt what you felt - only more intense - because Jesus knew what should have happened.
When He died, He said, “It is finished.”
And it was.
When Jesus was raised to new life, Jesus gave me the power to be born out of slavery into a new life..
I, me, us, slaves to sin, we were bought out of sin by the resolute, unbendable, tenacious, unyielding determination of Savior Jesus.
Jesus fulfilled the law - He kept His vow perfectly.
Our job as born again followers of Jesus, is to act just like Him as best we can.
Be holy as He is holy.
And if you are not a Christ follower - you’ve heard the good news.
Your sins are yours to own until you ask Jesus to take them and you commit to following Him.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
But 2 Timothy 2:12 “if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;”
Deny him and your sins are yours.
You will carry them through eternity in a place of gut-wrenching revulsion called hell.
It’s your choice - so you have to ask yourself, what am I going to do?
We’ll pray and sing and I’ll be standing down front.
If you want to talk about Jesus, you can come and we’ll talk.
Or tell your friend beside you or grab any Elder or Deacon.
I don’t care - just please, cry out to Jesus and be saved.
Let us pray.