Exodus 21:1-22:31
Have you ever had to cope with someone who was inconsistent with their expectations of you?
If you have, then you know it is truly exhausting. Like when you were a child, and in the middle of a game, your playmate would try to change the rules to benefit him, and then if you disagreed he would threaten to leave and take his game with him. How are you supposed to play a game when you aren't sure of the rules of the game because they change each time the owner of the game takes his turn? In the game of life, behavior like this, in its subtlest form, results in strained or burnt out relationships. In its most extreme form this behavior results in tyranny. Whether extreme or subtle this is an unjust abuse of power and places people in situations where individual freedom is diminished.
The Israelites had lived for 400+ years as slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh thought of himself as a kind of incarnation of the gods. Therefore, he believed he had the power to change the rules whenever or however he saw fitting for the empire. The Israelites became subjects of tyranny. The laws of the land were the opinion of the sovereign power and authority of Pharaoh, and he was above the law. For the Israelites, slaves to Pharaoh, there was no freedom, because they were not given the authority to govern themselves. They were merely subjects of Pharaoh. This context is a necessity as we look at today's text. Without it, we miss interpreting the gift of God's Law.
In today's text, the underlying message is that God is laying out the law for the people and is giving it to them. God is not tyrannically holding the power to govern them over their heads. God is declaring up front, these are the ways you shall live, and then he commissions them to go and do. God is not holding onto power, He's giving it away. God gives the Law to the people and then empowers them to live freely within it. God wants them to take the Law and learn to govern themselves as a sovereign nation under His care and guidance, not as a tyrannized group of slaves. God uses the Law to enter into a covenant with His people whereby they would be free to self-regulate. He doesn't use the Law to dictate power over them. He gives his power to them in the form of a covenantal agreement. What God does with the Law is the extreme opposite of the tyranny they had experienced in Egypt.
With this in mind, we can hear this text more clearly. For instance, even though today's text speaks of slavery to the point of condoning it, what's more important is that we hear it as God's will in a specific historical context to protect the slaves, to provide laws that allow the people to treat them fairly and humanely. Also, with this understanding in mind, we are free to allow the historical context to speak God's will for slavery then, but not use the bible to contort God's will into condoning slavery today.
God's will---the Law, His expectations (particularly the Ten Commandments)---is made clear, remains steadfast over the generations and is given away with God's covenantal agreement so as to empower His people to live freely within the constraints of the law.
This is a bit more cerebral of a devotional topic than you may have become accustomed to with me, but it's an important one to grasp. It's important because it reminds us that freedom still requires laws that are clear and consistent. Where there are no laws, or where the one who makes the laws is above the law, there can be no freedom. God is sovereign to the law, but covenants with us to remain accountable to them as well. Within this relationship, the laws of God are what guide us in our relationship that are based in love, freedom, joy, and peace.
This is true in any relationship. Consider your most beloved relationships. Now think about all the laws that bind you together. Some are the written down kind, like possibly your marriage certificate, or a birth certificate. These come with obligations and commitments--covenants. Now, think about the unwritten laws that guide your relationships. All those little things that establish routines, boundaries, just simply knowing each other. Without these laws, we have no freedom to love and maintain peace, or find joy. Without these laws we do not know how to love or maintain love.
God gives to us His law, so that we would be free to love; free to prosper, free to just be.
Lord God, thank you for your Law. Like rebellious children we often think we can live without your restraint, but you know us better than we know ourselves. You restrain us by your Law and in doing so you free us to truly live and live abundantly. Help me this day, to recognize how much I depend upon you for guidance and protection from my own sinfully rebellious nature. Bring me to sense the peacefulness that is found only in your covenantal embrace. In Jesus' name. Amen
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