Read: Leviticus 24-25
Focus Verse: “‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death. Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.” (Leviticus 24:17-20).
Devotion: Scripture is messy, and sometimes downright confusing. The LORD here tells the Israelites “Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.” (24:20) Wait, wasn’t it Jesus who says that the world would be blind so instead he says to turn the other cheek? Does Jesus do away with laws like this, or does he contradict them? Perhaps there’s another reason all together. We could speak ad nauseam about the finer points here, but not the point that I want to reflect on today. Perhaps it is that Jesus recognizes the heart of these laws is to love, but yet here we still stay with what appears to be a contradiction of material. Scripture is MESSY! We have to engage our minds, read it often, be willing to challenge ourselves to really study and reflect on it. Most the time there are more questions than answers, yet we still persist! Here it seems to want to contradict what we know about the love of Jesus, yet in context when studied closely I don’t believe that to be the case. Remember we are still in a section where the LORD is trying to teach the Israelites how to be holy, how to be set apart, and how to be different than nations worshiping other gods. What stands out to me is the end of verse 17, ‘life for life’. To me that is telling us how valuable life is! For ancient Israel who is just becoming a free people, it is important for God to stress to them the value of every life. That’s what I see governing this section, is that the idea of ‘fracture for fracture’ is because every life is equally valuable. This really is a positive affirmation to the equal value of all life! Rather than allowing Israel to treat some life as more valuable than others (like nations around them are doing) God is setting them up for a society that values all life as equal.
Pray: LORD, help me to continue to engage with Your word and my mind. Help guide my reflection so I can study your sometimes confusing word. Let me have eyes too see and ears to hear! Amen!
Additional Scripture: “The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep His covenant and obey His demands.” (Psalm 25:10)