Verse 1 If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
The theme of accountability continues as God further defines various instances in which the ten commandments can be broken. In the above verse, a man breaks the eighth and tenth commandments. He steals and covets what is not his own property. Here is introduced God’s plan of rectifying the situation. Instead of building prisons and putting violators of the law into those prisons for a specific period of time decided by a judge and paid for through the taxes of the people, the criminal was to make restitution, and a hefty restitution it was.
Verses 2-4 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. 3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.
A victim who caught a burglar breaking into his house or barn and who fought and killed the burglar was innocent of breaking the sixth commandment. In God’s view, the killing would be justifiable homicide. If the burglar survived, he had to make restitution or be sold into slavery.
Verse 5 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
Here a man is described as stealing and coveting. Again, restitution was to be required.
Verse 6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
Here the perpetrator of the fire and damage that resulted because of the fire was to be responsible. No insurance companies existed to pay the farmer for his loss. The one who caused the problem had to pay to fix the problem.
Verses 7-8 If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, let him pay double. 8 If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods.
Restitution is again the way God intended these conflicts between people to be resolved. Should no thief be found, then a court appearance before judges was to occur to determine if the neighbor had stolen the stuff himself.
Verse 9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.
Conflicts that were not resolved between the parties involved were to then become court cases. Otherwise, God expected people to work it out and to pay restitution without the use of the legal system.
Verses 10-13 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it: 11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good. 12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof. 13 If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.
No law suits here. A person’s word was to be accepted as the people were aware that what they said was known by a powerful God who would know if they were lying or not. The person experiencing the loss was thereby leaving the consequences to the LORD as there would be no way to ascertain for certain if the neighbor was telling the truth.
Verses 14-15 And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good. 15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.
Once again, personal responsibility was expected by God. When a person was in charge of something, it was that person’s duty to care for it and to keep it safe.
Verses 16-17 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. 17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
Personal responsibility extended to relationships between men and women. Sex outside of marriage was not to be tolerated by the Hebrew society and if it occurred, the couple were then married to each other unless the father refused the marriage. In this way, there would be no illegitimate children in the society and the children would have parents to raise them up to adulthood.
Verse 18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
This commandment is very clear. For those readers who are not familiar with witches and their practices, everything they do is opposed to the LORD. They worship the creation instead of the Creator and they use evil spirits to carry out their desires. They are not harmless individuals doing good as is portrayed by television programs, movies, books and games. They often refer to themselves as “pagans” and they keep what is often referred to as “a book of shadows” in which they record the spells that they have created and cast upon people and things. Witchcraft is alive and well in all societies today and the believer needs to not become involved with their religion or their practices.
Application: One of the most far reaching witchcraft influences in the recent past is the creation of the Harry Potter books, movies and associated products. Many church leaders embraced these books as being excellent teaching tools for young children as they were dealing with the battle between good and evil. Well, these pastors obviously forgot the verse above when they endorsed their congregations’ attendance at the movies that resulted from the books. This writer observed that school children who were in special education programs because they had attention deficit disorders and reading disorders and who were not able complete classroom or homework assignments were able to read a Harry Potter book with relative ease and in a fairly short period of time with excellent comprehension. These children did not want to put the books down and the content of these books were all that they talked about. Why? Because the evil spirits attached to the books made sure the children were able to read and understand the content. The children were being taught how to be good little witches and wizards. They were teaching tools, but not for the discernment of good and evil. This writer checked out the first in the series Harry Potter book from the school library to try and discern what the attraction was for the school children. The very first chapter presented the family Harry was living with as Christian religious idiots who were abusive to poor Harry. In order to have the time to read the rest of the book, this writer took the book on a 100 mile round trip during which there occurred five near misses on the highway, all of which would have ended in severe injury or death had not this writer been protected by the Spirit of God and His army of angelic beings. At one point, this writer had to pull off of the road because of severe physical trembling that prohibited driving. This was after nearly being killed in a head on collision by a driver speeding after dark in the wrong lane on a two lane highway. Needless to say, this writer did not finish reading the book and it was returned to the school library as this writer, even though the desire was to burn the book, did not want to be guilty of breaking the eighth commandment regarding stealing. Remember that the number five is the Biblical number of death. It was very clear that the evil spirits or devils behind the Harry Potter books did not want a believer delving into their turf. So beware of entanglements into the world of witchcraft. This is not to say that believers need to be afraid of this stuff, but to say that if you do not know how to engage in spiritual warfare against this force of darkness, stay away.
Verse 19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
God’s plan for sexual unions was established back in the book of Genesis. His plan is for one virgin man and one virgin woman to live together for the rest of their lives on the Earth and to be “fruitful” and raise children in the fear and admonition of the LORD. Engaging in sexual acts with animals is an abomination to the LORD. Such perversion was to be purged from the Hebrew people via the death penalty. God created animals and saw that they were “good”. He did not then and He does not now want them tortured by mankind. This is termed “confusion” and should never occur. To have this commandment in the Scripture at the time of Moses indicates that this behavior was going on, perhaps in Egypt or perhaps in the camp of the Hebrews. Not sure. And today, unfortunately, this behavior continues in many societies throughout the world.
Verse 20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
The “eth” ending on the word “sacrifice” indicates ongoing action and not just a one time event. The Hebrew word used here is “zabach” and it means offer, kill, or slay. A sacrifice could therefore include things other than animals that do not have to be slaughtered. Grains, vegetables, money, or personal items would all be considered an offering. A person sacrificing to another god was breaking the first and most likely second commandments.
Verse 21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Human nature demonstrates that those who are bullied can easily become bullies themselves. God knew that the Hebrew people, once freed from the bondage of Egypt, were perfectly capable of putting other people from other nations they would conquer into bondage and oppression. The Hebrew people were chosen by God to represent Him in a fallen world. Being oppressive would be contrary to the nature of God and not representative of who He is.
Verses 22-24 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. 23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
Widows and orphans in Biblical days were at the mercy of the community in which they lived. There were no food stamps, welfare programs or low income housing options and most women did not possess the skills to support themselves financially. God’s nature is to care for the widow and orphan and for those who are oppressed and He expected His people, the Hebrews, to do the same for each other. When a society forgets the weak and the defenseless, God promises to punish that society.
Application: Back in the day, churches were the welfare programs in society. The members of the churches took into their homes the orphans and widows that needed assistance. The members of the churches banded together and assisted with physical labor such as repairing roofs, barns or fences as needed by the poorer members of the community. A brief look at the book of Acts shows that the early church appointed honorable men to oversee a program that would meet the needs of members of their congregations. Over time, this function of the church has been given over to governmental systems. This is not the way God wanted the care of the disadvantaged to be done. There are many local churches today that have clothing and food banks and that prepare free meals during the week for members of their local community and this is to be commended and supported financially by more affluent church members. However, many more churches need to look seriously at the needs of the people where their church is located and consider starting outreach programs to help the poor, the widows and the orphans. How better to reach a lost world with the love of Christ and the message of the Gospel?
Verses 25-27 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. 26 If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: 27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
When lending money to the poor, the Hebrew people were not to become creditors and add interest to the repayment. The poor person often would give something to the lender as a pledge to repay the loan. It the pledge was a coat or clothing of some kind, it was to be returned by the lender by nightfall as the borrower needed it to stay warm. All these statutes in this chapter reveal the character of God Almighty. He loves and cares about all His creation and only wants the best for them. He is indeed gracious.
Verse 28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
The use of the word “gods” means rulers and or judges. It does not mean deity in this verse. The Hebrew people were to be respectful of the rulers and judges in their society as it was God who put them there, and if a person took the position of ruler or judge and was not ordained by God, it was God who allowed that person to retain the position so that His will and purpose would be done.
Verses 29-30 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. 30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.
This statute was a repeat of what God demanded of His people in order for them to always remember the exodus out of Egypt in which the firstborn died but the Hebrew people were protected by the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their houses. This was to always point to the coming the the LORD Jesus Christ as the final offering for the sins of the world.
Verse 31 And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.
Being holy means to be set apart. The Hebrew people were to be set apart from the other pagan nations in the world. They were to set an example of how a righteous people should live and have faith in the one true God. This statute or commandment was also to keep the people healthy as meat that had been laying around in a field for an unspecified amount of time would be loaded with bacteria and flies and most likely cause the people who consumed it to become sick.