SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/15/2020 11:07 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Principle of Mosaic Law”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:38
Message of the
verse: “38
"You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth.’”
If we look at Exodus 21:24; Leviticus
24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21 we will see where this verse is quoted from. This verse reflects the principle of lex talionis, which is one of the most
ancient law codes found. MacArthur
writes “Simply put, it required that punishment exactly match the crime. The same idea is carried in the expressions tit for tat and quid pro quo. The earliest
record of lex talionis is in the Code
of Hammurabi, the great Babylonian king who lived a hundred or so years before
Moses. It is likely, however, that the
principle was in wide use long before that time.”
Now if we go back to the Pentateuch
to look at the verses mentioned above we will find that there are parts which
are added and include “hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for
wound, bruise for bruise” (see Exodus 21:24-25 and “fracture for fracture”
found in Lev. 24:20). What we have both
in the Pentateuch and also in the Code of Hammurabi we see the principle that
the punishment should fit the crime and this had two purposes. The first one was to curtail any further
crime. When a person is punished for his
crimes or wrongdoing, then the rest will hear and be afraid, and will never
again do such an evil thing among the children of Israel as seen in Deut
19:20. Now we move to the second purpose
which is to prevent excessive punishment based on personal vengeance and angry
retaliation of the type. Both of these
purposes are not being followed in our country today, and it keeps getting
worse. Let us look at Genesis 4:23-24 “23
Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives
of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And
a boy for striking me; 24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech
seventy-sevenfold.’” MacArthur adds “Punishment
was to match, but not exceed, the harm done by the offense itself.”
What we have to understand that each
of the three Pentateuch accounts that are describe “the eye for an eye”
principle have to do with the civil law, as do the similar teaching in
Leviticus 24 and also Deuteronomy 19.
Looking at these we can see that the punishment was to be taken out by
the victims, however the trial and the sentencing were always the
responsibility of duly appointed judges of a large, representative body of
citizens as seen in Ex. 21:22; Deut. 19:18; and Lev. 24:14-16.
This “eye for an eye” was a just
law, and the reason was because as mentioned it matched punishment to the
offense. It was also a merciful law, and
the reason for this was because it limited the innate propensity of the human heart to seek
retribution beyond what an offense deserved.
One more thing and that it was also a beneficent law, and the reason is
because it protected society by restraining wrongdoing.
The sinful human being wants to do
more as far as punishment is concerned as human vengeance is never satisfied
with justice; it wants a pound of flesh for an once of offense. This is the reason we read in several
passages “Vengeance is Mine, and retribution” in Deut. 32:35; and we can compare
that with Rom. 12:19; and also Hebrews 10:30.
MacArthur concludes this section by
writing “God’s command for the individual has always been, ‘If your enemy is
hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink’
(Prov. 25:21; cf. Matt. 5:44; Rom. 12:20).
No individual has the right to say, ‘Thus I shall do to him as he has
done to me; I will render to the man according to his work’ (Pro. 24:29). In no instance did the Old Testament allow an
individual to take the law into his own hands and apply it personally.”
9/15/2020 11:39
PM
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