How To Respond To Violence, Part 1 (Exodus 21:12-19) Series

We live in a time, and a place, when violent people do violent things all the time. The world as a whole feels unsafe, and it feels like it's getting worse. Every day, we get updates about some new terrible act of violence, and we go through life just sort of constantly thinking about it.

When we find ourselves thinking, or talking, about these things, we usually end up focusing on how society as a whole should respond. What do we want politicians, and district attorneys, and police officers, to do, to keep us safe, and to deal with violent people? When violent people are caught, what should happen to them?

These are good questions, and ones we need to ask. What we've seen in places like San Francisco, or Chicago, is that if you let people do whatever they want, without consequences, that they will do whatever they want. Chicago sounds like ancient Israel in the book of Judges: "Each one did what was right in his own eyes." (Liberal) Voters across the U.S. are surprised by this, but God has been telling his people that this is what humans are like for thousands of years. It's no surprise to us. Genesis 6:5: 5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually."

I'll probably talk a little about these questions this morning, because Exodus 21 is a good passage to help us think about these things. But my focus, for today, is on reading this for the church-- for God's people, who are living in covenant relationship with God. How does God expect his people to act-- people who have entered into his kingdom rule, and committed to living under his kingdom laws? And, beyond that, I really want to answer two specific questions: (1) Should you get in fights with people, and punch them in the face? (2) What should you do, when someone punches you in the face?

Next week, we'll answer a third question: (3) What should you do, when you see someone punching someone else in the face?

What we will see, today, and in the next few weeks, is that in the OT, God assumes his people won't do the right thing. Even his people will commit acts of violence. They will murder. They will commit manslaughter. They will abuse their "servants."

God seemingly assumes that simply telling his people, "Don't do these things," won't keep them from doing them.

Instead, when God speaks here, and gives Israel his law, He seems to have to other goals. First, He wants his people to understand the nature of sin. In Paul's words, "Through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20; Romans 7:7-9). We will find ourselves, after reading these words, having far more clarity about violent sins. And

God's second goal, in designing these laws, is to help is help his people understand how to respond to violence. These laws give guidance for how to pick up the pieces, after violent deeds are done. So I think our job, in reading these, has two steps. First, we will take these verses seriously, on their own, reading only Exodus. We will think about the nature of violence. Second, we will then take a step back, and think about what it is that God actually wants, bringing in the NT. And just to mix it up, I'm going to use Paul this morning, and not Jesus (and I want to bring out parts of my new commentary on Romans by Michael J. Gorman).

Let's start by reading just Exodus 21:12:

(12) A striker of a man-- and he dies-- shall surely be put to death,

This is the guiding principle, and the blanket statement, that governs everything else we are about to read. In the 10 commandments, God simply said, "You shall not murder." Here, we learn the consequences to murder. If you "strike" someone, and they die, you will surely be put to death. Murderers are not tolerated inside of God's kingdom. There's at least two reasons for this. The first is that we humans are made in God's image (Genesis 5:1). Part of what this means, is that we "image" God on earth. We serve as extensions of him, and representatives of him. The idea is something like a diplomat, working on behalf of his king or president. Any attack on the diplomat, is an attack on the king. [The standard work on this is J. Richard Middleton, The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1.]

The second reason murderers aren't tolerated inside God's kingdom, is that this is the complete opposite of God's vision for his kingdom. In the OT, God tolerates a certain amount of violence. But murder is too far. Murderers completely destroy society, and need to be removed.