Lesson 10: The Nitty Gritty
Exodus 21
Justice is the practical result of the work of righteousness of God in human history. There may be a great deal of injustice in our world today, but the time will come when God will judge the world in light of the righteousness practiced and taught by Jesus Christ. Even though the world has rejected Jesus as Savior and Lord, God will still judge man according to His own standards. While much of the nitty gritty of the laws seem archaic to us today, remember the status and condition of the people of that time and remember there were good reasons for these laws to be put in place.
Read 21:1-11
1. What are the two types of servitude used as examples in this passage? _____________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. What was the term of service for a man who became an indentured servant? _________
3. At the end of the six years what options were available to him? _____________________
4. What was the difference between men becoming indentured servants and women who were sold? ___________________________________________________________________
5. In both cases, how were they to be treated? ______________________________________
Read 21:12-17
6. Laws concerning capital crimes were an outgrowth of the ________ Commandment.
7. The Law made a distinction between ________________ murder and __________________
manslaughter.
8. The _________________ of the victim was expected to see that justice was done.
9. What provision for protection of the accused was made until the facts of the matter could be learned? ______________________________________________________________________
Read 21:15, 17
10. What was the penalty for someone attacking or abusing their mother or father? _____________________________________________________________________________
11. Doesn’t this seem to be a severe punishment? _____________________________________
Read 21:16
12. Why was kidnapping considered to be such a heinous crime? ________________________
Read 21:18-36
(Note: Though the Jews were permitted to have slaves from other nations, usually prisoners of war, they were not permitted to enslave their own people. Sometimes “slave” is used to denote indentured servants but the rules for their use and treatment were vastly different. In the case of a man, he had to agree to become the servant of another for a price and agree to serve for a number of years, usually six. In the case of women, they were generally sold because of poverty on the part of her family and she became a member of the household of the purchaser. Many married sons of the one who bought them and their rights were protected. Under some conditions, they could be redeemed at a later time by their families. These actions were not taken unilaterally but had to be approved by the judges who monitored their care and treatment.)
13. Why was the subject of injuries and resolution of fault so important? ________________
___________________________________________________________________________
14. How do you reconcile the severe punishments listed in this section and Jesus’ prohibition to his disciples from retaliating against those who hurt them? (Matthew 5:38-44)
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15. How does this compare with Jesus’ statement that he came “to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it?” __________________________________________________________________________
(Chapter 22 contains detail of other areas of the Law)
Read 23:14-19
16. What were the three festivals each year God instructed the people to observe?
A. Feast of the ____________ _____________
B. Feast of the ______________
C. Feast of the ______________
Read 23:20-33
17. Who was the angel God said he would send to guard them and to protect them along their way? ______________________________________________________________________
18. What information substantiates this conclusion? ________________________________
19. What were some of the benefits the people would enjoy by listening and obeying the Angel?
____________________________________________________________________________
20. How do you reconcile how God promised to destroy the people of the lands they would enter with the words of John 3:16? ________________________________________________
At the end of this chapter God once again warns them about the sin of idolatry, worshipping the false gods of the nations around them, the nations they would eventually defeat. If Israel was devoted wholly to God, He would go before them, confound their enemies and enable them to conquer the land. It took Joshua and his army about seven years to conquer the land in accordance with God’s plan to take the land gradually so they could control it. But, alas, the Israelites never did fully defeat them and as a result felt the wrath of God because they became tainted by worshiping the gods of those people.