God's Book: An Honest Look at the Bible's Toughest Topicsنموونە

GOD IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

Skeptics caricature the God of the Bible as remote, oppressive, and primitive. Do they have a point? The story of liberation told in Exodus 1–20 gives the opposite impression. God Almighty, squaring up to Pharaoh the tyrant, rescuing the oppressed, guiding them to safety, and training them to stand on their own two feet. This is God the rescuer who answers the cries of the oppressed.

However, after the high point of the Ten Commandments, God gives a series of laws through Moses that seem to fly in the face of liberty. The law code is spread out across Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, but Exodus 21 captures the challenge. Some laws appear rather odd or strange to us, including cleansing rituals, sacrifices, dietary codes, and other civic instructions. These detailed laws remind us that God is interested in every sphere of our lives. The laws given through Moses relate to family & parenting, work & rest, ecology & the economy. There is no sacred/secular divide in the Torah.

However, other laws appear to be morally offensive from our perspective and seem to contradict other teachings in the Bible. For example, instructions about holding slaves (v.2-11) or the death penalty (v.12-17). Why would God issue ethically dubious instructions? Don’t they legitimise further oppression and abuse today? We must remember these laws were given over 3000 years ago as temporary signposts, not universal standards. The Torah belongs in a different epoch of the Bible from the one we’re living in. As Jesus himself explained regarding instructions about divorce, these laws were given to regulate behaviour in a particular context and because of their hardness of heart. They were not God’s ideal from the beginning.

As a general rule, then, unless Old Testament laws are rooted in creation (e.g., Sabbath, marriage, ecology) or reapplied in the New Testament (e.g., Ten Commandments), we may assume they are no longer directly binding on us. Nevertheless, Old Testament laws still contain great wisdom for today as they capture the heart of God to protect the poor and vulnerable and to help his people live sustainable and holy lives defined by worship and service. The Law of Moses can also increase our gratitude for Jesus, who fulfilled the cleansing rituals and sacrifices on our behalf and at great personal cost. The Holy Spirit now helps us fulfil the greater goal to which all the laws ultimately point: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul … [And] Love your neighbour as yourself ’ (Mark 12:30–31).

REFLECT: Consider the instructions in Exodus 21. Which feels most harsh or oppressive? Where do you see a concern for justice and the vulnerable? Do any instructions feel particularly strange from a modern perspective?