Exodus 21

Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
(Exo 21:1)

And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
(Exo 21:23-25)

Over the next 3 chapters we have a series of JUDGMENTS that are set out for us by the Lord. We could literally translate this concept of a “judgment” to be God’s opinion and decision regarding the different choices we make, and the resulting consequences of these choices. They are not necessarily new “laws” added on to the 10 commandments; they are simply an explanation of how those laws affect our daily life.

According to Jesus, all of this information could be summed up in one simple sentence: “You should love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself”. This is the key to all of the law… if we truly love God, and really love everyone around us as much as we love ourselves, these things will come naturally! Well, not naturally, but SUPERNATURALLY!

Hector has already pointed out the way that the Law shows us the holiness of our God… As a result of showing us His holiness, it shows us our filthiness, our utter sinfulness. We CANNOT keep the law, not even for a single day! Especially not when we consider what Jesus had to say about God seeing our heart! The law was not about fixing people, or improving society, that is something the law cannot do… It is a mirror to show our dirt, a measuring tape to show how short we fall, and a straight edge to demonstrate just how crooked we are. That is why making things “illegal” will never really make them go away. The only cure for sin is the sinless life of Jesus being lived through us. Justice never changes; God is still seeing to it that justice will be served… For us that justice was served once and for all at the cross.

An Eye for an Eye… We all know the principle well. It shows that in God’s economy, the things we do MUST have consequences; the crimes we commit must result in punishment so that sinful man will be deterred from fulfilling his fleshly desires. Fear of judgment is a powerful motivator, but not powerful enough to transform a life. The only thing that will make our whole life change, from the inside out, is the Love of God shed abroad in our hearts, the Love given to us on the cross of Christ. Now it isn’t my eye for the eye I took… It is Jesus paying the price! May we all feel the great debt of love that we owe to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!