Whose Law is Law?
Exodus 22-24
Whose Law is Law? Exodus 22-24. God charges us to obey the rulers and authorities He has put over us, but these rulers and authorities are first subject to the laws of God. Is this true only if they are Christians? God is the Creator and Ruler of Earth; no laws can supersede His own.
1 “If a man steals an ox or a
sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and
four sheep for a sheep. 2 If a thief is found breaking in and is struck
so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, 3 but if the sun
has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely
pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the
stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a
donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.
14
“If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies,
the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. 15 If the
owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it
came for its hiring fee.
25
“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall
not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from
him. 26 If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall
return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 for that is his only
covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep?
And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Exodus 22:1-4, 14-15, & 25-27, ESV
12
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there,
that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the
commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”
Exodus 24:12, ESV
Whose Law is Law?
Exodus 22-24
As I was reading through Exodus 22-24, I thought of the question, "Whose law is law?" It is an
interesting question, and one with which we all must wrestle. God
introduced the Law in the form of the Ten Commandments, and then went on
in the books of Exodus and Leviticus to be more specific as to how the
law was to be interpreted.
In
today's reading, one does not have to read very far to realize that
many of God's laws contradict the laws of our own country. As a matter
of fact, a person could be considered a law breaker, subject to the
judgments of our courts in their attempt to be obedient to the laws of
God. What does that mean?
I
am certainly not advocating putting people to death as they did in the
Old Testament times; that power lies only within the courts. But, I do
think we should take a serious look at our own lives. Which laws do we
fear most? Do we fear the laws of our countries or the laws of God? Many
times when we obey one, we are also obeying the other. However, there
are certainly times when our courts would allow things that God's Law
does not. In that case, whose law is law?
God
charges us to obey the rulers and authorities He has put over us, but
these rulers and authorities are first subject to the laws of God. Is
this true only if they are Christians? No! God is the Creator and Ruler of
Earth; no laws can supersede His own. He is the God of all Gods and the
Lord of all Lords.
We love the stories of Moses, many of which we have been taught since childhood. Especially familiar is the story of Moses receiving the tables of the commandments from God. Let us remember that these Ten Commandments are still applicable to us today, just as they were to the children of Israel in the time of Moses.
Pray
that as you ponder the question, "Whose law is law?", you will, by the
grace of God, choose to be obedient to God's Law in everything you do
and say. He, alone, is our King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
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