Exodus 21:22-25 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

When Studying Scripture, Context Is King

It is always good to read Scripture in context!

A “Feud” is a battle between two families, often ending in bloodshed. Nearly everyone has heard of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, whether you have ever read it or not. Quickly explaining the plot, Romeo and Juliet were a young couple who fell in love with one another. Their families (the House of Capulet and the House of Montague) were at war with one another, and forbade the couple from marrying. Both Romeo and Juliet end up dead, and their deaths cause the families to reconsider their feud, and to seek the peace.

There have been feuds between families and people since the beginning of human history. Nearly everyone has heard of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud (1863-1891), two families of West Virginia and Kentucky. More than a dozen were killed on each side of this feud, with several imprisoned and one executed by the state for murder. Closer to home for us all is the Greene-Jones feud (1863-late 1880s), two mountain clans from North Carolina and Tennessee. The feud eventually spreaGod will avenge His people. We are not to do so. Beloved, every life has value. Every life is precious. Even that tiny baby yet residing in its mother’s womb. We who belong to Christ have been given life so that we can speak life and love. We are not given life so that we can kill. Let us love. Let us reach out and do as Christ would have us do. Let us be the Light that Christ wants us to be.d – like a cancer – into remote areas in Virginia and Kentucky. The feud caused the death of 30 people and at least one child. The feud was only ended when martial law was enacted, and the Tennessee State Militia was deployed.

The feud began over the killing of a pig.

Many of the feuds and bitter rivalries that have occurred in American history are wrapped up in a religious overcoat. Those holding grudges loved to cite the Biblical Law of Tooth and Claw (aka. Lex Talionis):

Exodus 21:23-25 … thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

The reasoning for many feuds was “God said it is all right for me to avenge my neighbor’s offense. I am only responding to what the Lord God said.” The Scripture is taken and applied out of context.

Scripture Is Not Scripture
If It Is Taken Out Of Context

You cannot twist scripture to make it say what you want it to say. If you do, you are not studying (nor benefiting by) the scripture. The Bible commands:

2 Timothy 2:15-19 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

The Christian saved by faith in the Blood of Christ pleases God when he or she “rightly divides the Word of Truth”. And Beloved, the saved want to please God!God will avenge His people. We are not to do so. Beloved, every life has value. Every life is precious. Even that tiny baby yet residing in its mother’s womb. We who belong to Christ have been given life so that we can speak life and love. We are not given life so that we can kill. Let us love. Let us reach out and do as Christ would have us do. Let us be the Light that Christ wants us to be.

To “rightly divide” scripture is to read it in context, then do it as a command from God.

READ and DO.

But we must be very careful to read the Scripture in CONTEXT. If we take the Scripture out of context and twist it to suit our preferences then we become like Hymenaeus and Philetus, two early Church members who taught that the resurrection was already passed. Their teachings – much like the teachings of the so called “Prosperity Preachers” of our day,

Oral Roberts
Joel Osteen
Bruce Wilkinson
Zig Ziglar

eventually lead to the overthrowing of the faith of some. I was in a Church years ago when a guest speaker said “If you can raise you hand, you can be saved.” Not contented to stay there this false prophet went on to say, “If you want to be saved, raise your hand”. He then pronounced the entire room saved.

This is blasphemy!

He never preached at my Church again.
On another front, popular speaker Joel Osteen said:

“God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.”

So what’s wrong with this? Frankly, it deceives and discourages. The person who remains in poverty or homeless, though he “names and claims“ this “blessing” and does not receive it, begins to feel that God does not care for him. That person hearing “profane and vain babblings {which} increase unto more ungodliness” never hears the glorious Gospel of salvation. That person is likely to walk away from God, and die in their sins. Does God “want us to prosper financially”? If He does, then NOTHING can stand against the will of God.

NOTHING can thwart the Will of God!

“Job 42:2 I know that Thou {O Lord} canst DO EVERY THING, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.”

“Isaiah 14:27 For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out,
and WHO SHALL TURN IT BACK?”

God will avenge His people. We are not to do so. Beloved, every life has value. Every life is precious. Even that tiny baby yet residing in its mother’s womb. We who belong to Christ have been given life so that we can speak life and love. We are not given life so that we can kill. Let us love. Let us reach out and do as Christ would have us do. Let us be the Light that Christ wants us to be.Our Lord Jesus declared “for with God NOTHING shall be IMPOSSIBLE” (Luke 1:37). If it is God’s decreetive will that every Christian would “prosper financially, to have plenty of money”, then every Christian worldwide would be very well off. Yet this does not happen because the statement is biblically false. Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

Mark 14:7 (Matthew 26:11; John 12:7-8)
… ye have the poor with you ALWAYS …

And God told His Old Testament Israel:

Deuteronomy 15:11 For the POOR SHALL NEVER CEASE OUT OF THE LAND: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

God allows poverty so that His people can reach out and help. Those who are going to Heaven one day are those who are generous with their giving to the needy. Jesus specifically said this. He said:

Matthew 25:35-45 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

The Sheep who live on the right hand of the Great King/Shepherd Jesus are those who SHINE FOR HIM. God said we would always poor among us. Who should be helping these poor? WE WHO ARE SAVED. The stepbrother of our Lord Jesus declared:

James 2:14-16 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

God allows poverty – even among Christians
– so that we can shine for Him.

1 John 3:16-19 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

Is it God’s will that all be rich? Absolutely not. It is, instead, God’s will that WE who are HIS mobilize to help those in need as if they were our brothers and sisters. Jesus gave to us, so we are to give to others. We were left on this earth after being “born again of the Spirit”, by faith in Christ Jesus:

1 Peter 1:18-23 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Examining The Mosaic Law Of God

So let’s return to our focal text IN CONTEXT. To whom was it addressed? The Lex Talionis is part of the Mosaic Law, a covenental Law that God gave to His nation Israel. God told Moses

“ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.” (Exodus 19:6).

God specifically addressed this Levitical Code to His nation Israel. We are told in Leviticus 26:46,

“These are the statutes, judgment, and laws, which the LORD made between Him AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL in Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses”

The Apostle Paul declared of the Israelites that the “covenants, and the giving of the Law” was to them only (Romans 9:4). The Mosaic Law contained three major divisions:

The Ten Commandments
The Ordinances or Civil and Dietary Laws
The Ceremonial Laws

The Mosaic Law did several things:

• It taught the holiness of God, and the sinfulness of man.
• It taught the need of Grace and salvation, that no one could earn righteousness through their own abilities.
• It led the Jews to realize that all needed a Savior. The blood sacrifices of the Law were only temporary remedies.

Galatians 3:18-26 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

As the Jew followed the ceremonial animal sacrifices year after year, they were constantly reminded that all fall far short of God.

Hebrews 10:1-4 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5) are repeated in the New Testament in various ways. These Ten Commandments are often considered universal commandments. Why? Because every person in their hearts knows that murder is wrong. The Bible says:

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Murderers shall go to eternal damnation. Those who commit sexual sin will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The Apostle Paul quoted many of the Ten Commandments to the Church at Rome, a Gentile body of believers:

Romans 13:8-10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Paul expected believers in Christ to fulfill the Ten Commandments – for when we love as God calls us to love, we keep these Commandments (Exodus 20:12-17; Deuteronomy 5:16-21; Matthew 19:18-19; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20). The Apostle Paul warned against violating the eighth commandment (Thou shalt not steal – Ephesians 4:28; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Romans 13:9), and against the tenth commandment (Thou shalt not covet or be greedy – Ephesians 5:3-5; Romans 13:9), and the general teaching of the New Testament supports the Ten Commandments as universal truths that transcend Israel. However the Blood Sacrifices, ceremonial feasts, and circumcision are specific to Israel alone.

In fact, our text for today is specific to Israel alone – though it does have a contemporary teaching.

Lex Talionis And The Value Of A Life

The Law of Tooth and Claw or the Lex Talionis is a law that God applied to the nation of Israel. God wanted His people – a people from whom He would bring the Messiah – to understand the value of every life.

Exodus 21:22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child ….

This text has often been used by the “Pro-Choice” abortionists to downplay the death of unborn children. Yet that is a terrible twisting of the text. In the previous context of this Israeli statute we are told:

Exodus 21:12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

God made man and woman in His image, and in His likeness (Genesis 1:27). All life is valuable. All life! God told Noah when he left the Ark:

Genesis 9:5-6 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Life belongs to God, Not to us!

God says all souls are mine (Ezekiel 18:4). None of us earned nor deserved the life we were given. God gives us life as a gift, and we are entrusted to guard that life and to be good stewards of that life until our lease is up. No one has the right to take another person’s life – unless that person is guilty of taking another person’s life. God said:

Exodus 21:14-16 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. 15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. 16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

Life has value. Parents were considered sacred because they were entrusted will raising a young life up to worship the Lord. For a child to attack his parents was to commit a capital offense. Life is so very valuable. All life belongs to God.

So now we come to two men struggling with one another. In their battle they inadvertently “hurt a woman with child”. They did not intend this action. The Scripture said:

Exodus 21:22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow

The literal Hebrew says “her child or offspring (יֶלֶד yeled, yeh’-led) be born” and “no injury occur” – that is, the woman has a premature birth and neither her nor the child are injured, then:

Exodus 21:22… he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.

A fine is levied on the offenders by the husband for the unnecessary suffering inflicted. However, the Law continues:

Exodus 21:23 … And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life ….

The Lex Talionis demands that the death of the mother or of the child be punished by death. The Lex Talionis was not a Law in Israel that gave every person the right to avenge themselves. It was a Law that recognized the value of all life. It stated:

Exodus 21:23-25 … And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

This Law established a limit on what could be done to an offender, and required that punishment in kind be administered among the Children of Israel. This Law was an Israeli Statute, and never applied to the Gentiles.

However it does show us something that we can apply to our contemporary America.

God does not support nor honor the death of children, even the unborn.
The taking of a child’s life was punished by death in Israel.

There are numerous places in the Scripture where the fetus is considered a real human being (Psalm 51:5; Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15). The Lex Talionis was not a blanket statement to support feuding. In fact, the Bible specifically forbids vengeance in both Old and New Testaments:

Deuteronomy 32:35 To Me belongeth vengeance and recompense;..

Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.

Proverbs 24:17-19 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;

Romans 12:17-19 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Luke 6:27-29 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.

God will avenge His people. We are not to do so. Beloved, every life has value. Every life is precious. Even that tiny baby yet residing in its mother’s womb. We who belong to Christ have been given life so that we can speak life and love. We are not given life so that we can kill. Let us love. Let us reach out and do as Christ would have us do. Let us be the Light that Christ wants us to be.

May God the Holy Spirit guide you as you feed upon His Word!. Amen!