Insatiable appetites, destructive unions (Exod 22:16-20)
Exod 22:16-20 When I was a student, I shared accommodation with four other girls, one of whom lived together with her boyfriend. Despite the obviously happy relationship she found herself in, she was musing one day how she would love…
Make it count! – Theft and damage to property (Exod 22:1-15)
Exod 22:1-15 One of the cheapest words in our vocabulary today is the word ‘sorry’. ‘Sorry for the inconvenience’, says the station announcement when all trains are cancelled, and you are stranded at night trying to find an Uber for…
- An eye for an eye (lex talionis), Bible reading notes, Exodus, Exodus 20-24 (Book of the Covenant), Topical
Protection and justice for all (Exod 21:18-36)
Exod 21:18-36 As a relative newcomer to NZ, I am nevertheless aware of Māori who rightly feel bitter about their historic grievances (loss of ancestral land, destruction of their identities and their way of life) whose impact reaches into the…
A matter of life and death – disrespect for parents (Exod 21:15, 17)
Exod 21:15, 17 The regulations we encounter in today’s reading are a good example of what readers struggle with concerning OT law. For most of us, the death penalty seems an unduly harsh punishment, especially for the kind of thing…
Lost lives, stolen years – murder and kidnapping (Exod 21:12-14, 16)
Exod 21:12-14, 16 A girl I know quickly got into a relationship as she started her undergraduate studies at uni. However, her boyfriend turned out to be very possessive and controlling, unhappy to let her meet with friends without him.…
Betrothed forever (Exod 21:7-11)
Exod 21:7-11 As noted in the previous post (see it here), these initial laws on slaves seem to be as much a commentary on Israel’s experience with God as they are instructions on how the people should conduct themselves. Other…
Shaped by our experience of God (Exod 21:1-6)
Exod 21:1-6 A friend, who worked in IT and was nearing retirement, decided to take a significant salary cut by leaving his well-paying job to support a rather smaller Christian institution. He asked and was promised flexible hours, since some…
Pointers towards reading OT Law
Making sense of OT law is one of the hardest parts of reading Scripture. First of all, we get side-tracked when some OT regulations (like the ones on slavery) shock us, so that we wonder how God could mandate or…
Encountering God in the mundane II (Exod 20:22-26)
Exod 20:22-26 Once, I overheard a woman talking to her friend describing her partner or spouse, ‘One minute, he is so sweet, it melts my heart and the next I could hit him, he irritates me so much’. Anyone who…
Encountering God in the mundane I (Exod 20:22-26)
Exod 20:22-26 Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had been one of the Israelites coming out of Egypt, seeing God’s hand so tangibly in the plagues, the parting of the waters and experiencing His presence at Sinai? The truth is…