March 17 ▪ Day 76

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 13:14
Exodus 21–22
Luke 5
Psalms 76

Verse Focus (Proverbs 13:14)

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
     turning a person from the snares of death.

Meditation

Proverbs 13:14 says, “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.” By now, we’ve looked at a number of proverbs that talk about the benefits of wisdom. We’ve even seen the connection between life and learning. We know that wisdom protects us, guards us, and gives us longer life. But we haven’t really looked in depth at the opposite side of that coin: death.

This proverb describes death as something that traps you. The snares of death. Believe it or not, this is kind of a new idea for me. We know that fools can be enticed and led astray. And the Bible is filled with mentions of the wicked setting traps for the righteous. So I suppose it’s not too surprising to find that death itself relies on baiting, deceiving, and trapping to get you. I think in our modern culture we tend to be too fatalistic about death to think of personifying it this way.

However, it is useful to think about snares. There are things that can trip us up, that can trap us, that can deceive us. But if we fall into the trap, those things will lead us in the wrong direction — towards death. Whether that is physical death or spiritual death is immaterial. The point is that we don’t want to go that way. And it is wisdom — the teaching of the wise — that will protect us from these snares.

In hunting, some snares and traps are baited with food — something that the prey would find good and desirable. It is part of the deceitfulness of the trapper to use something that is otherwise good to entrap prey. I see no reason why death might not use the same tactics. In fact, in terms of medicine, we know how certain foods can trap us if we do not exercise self-control. There are many foods that are great in moderation, but addictive and destructive once you’ve had too much. Refined sugar is one of the biggest of those traps. How easily we can be snared into craving that sweetness! Sugar can even destroy our taste buds so that we no longer appreciate foods that really are good for us.

Father God, it’s a little dismaying to think of death as deceiving us with things that might be good in certain circumstances. The unwary are trapped: snared into going the wrong direction, tricked into death. Please help us to learn from your Word, and to learn from the people who love you. Protect us with wisdom. Thank you that your Holy Spirit is always with us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Exodus 21 and 22 begin recounting some of the laws that would govern Israelite society. First were laws concerning slavery. Then laws relating to death and violence, both violence in human interactions, as well as violence from dangerous livestock. There are laws about theft and restitution, about disputed ownership, and accidental damage. And we also have other social and religious laws, ranging from a prohibition against bestiality to the instruction not to eat meat from an animal found mangled.

The fact that there are laws about slavery in the Bible is problematic for some people. If slavery is wrong, as we believe it to be, why doesn’t the Bible just say, “Thou shalt not enslave any person, or own a person who has been enslaved”? In times past, the fact that slavery laws existed in the Bible was used to justify slavery in the United States. Granted, these laws about slavery give more rights to slaves and ensure more humane treatment than most slave laws do. But we come back to that same question about why.

I’ve commented before that the Bible frequently will tell stories without editorial comment. Unless you know the entire context of the Bible, you may not be able to tell from a particular passage whether or not something is displeasing to God. But doesn’t having laws about slavery imply that it is an acceptable practice to God, we ask? Not necessarily. Part of the reason for the law is to curb human evil. There are laws about divorce, but Jesus made it clear that divorce is allowed because of the “hardness” of our hearts — it was not intended to be that way before the Fall. And it is certainly a fact that slavery was very much an accepted practice in ancient civilizations. There were different reasons why one could become enslaved — as a result of poverty, or being on the losing side of a war, or even being born into slavery; but most cultures also had laws about how one could become manumitted (even if, in practice, it was quite rare). The Hebrews were supposed to utterly annihilate the Canaanites — we’ll leave aside for a moment how some might find that problematic, too — but if they failed to destroy them, what was the alternative? Typically slavery. So you might argue that these laws existed because God knew that the Hebrews would own slaves, regardless of whether or not that was what He wanted for His people.

Even though there is no law condemning slavery, there are many, many instances where God talks about how oppressing people is wrong. He doesn’t particularly call out slaves as the people being oppressed — it could also be free but indigent people — but it’s very clear from these other passages in the Bible that God does not want His people to oppress or take advantage of others.

In many ways, these laws are a function of the times when Moses and the others lived. As a woman, I see that there are protection for women in these laws — but women are not treated the same as men. Not that I want to argue that men and women are the “same.” Simply that, before God, we are of equal worth. So I would prefer that the Old Testament laws regarding men and women would indicate that equal value. But they don’t. In fact, we read in Exodus 21:2 how a male Hebrew slave will go free in the seventh year; but verses 7 and 11 make clear that a female Hebrew slave does not get set free in the seventh year. In fact, a female Hebrew slave becomes part of the family and is treated as a wife or daughter; if she does not receive these rights, then she may go free “without debt, without payment of money (v. 11).” At first reading, I was horrified, thinking that she would be set free without any funds to support herself — but then I realized that the “without payment of money” referred to the need to pay money to redeem her freedom.

There are some interesting laws in these two chapters. Verse 15 says that “Whoever strikes father or mother shall be put to death.” This follows a law about putting someone to death for striking someone mortally, but in the law about parents it doesn’t mention anything about whether or not the blow(s) to the parent caused death. Indeed, two verses later, in verse 17, we have the law that whoever curses their father or mother shall be put to death. Again, putting aside the whole question of capital punishment (which is also problematic for some people), one wonders why the penalty for harm to parents is so severe. In the Ten Commandments, the fifth law is to honor your mother and your father — as theologians point out, the first of the commandments with a promise: “so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

I don’t have all the answers by a long shot, so I would encourage you to meditate further upon these laws for insight. Off the top of my head, I would say that the reason the penalties for harm or distress to parents are so severe is because it is destroying the basic unit of society, which should be based on love — and it is responding to the love one received with hatred, which is why it’s so heinous.

Of course, there’s the famous “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” principle in Exodus 21:23-25. And there are the laws about an owner being put to death if that owner fails to restrain an animal previously known to be particularly dangerous so that the unrestrained animal later ends up killing someone.

Exodus 22 has a number of laws that deal with restitution. Since this is also a topic that comes up in connection with racial injustice, I will simply comment that the restitution described in this chapter is for direct, measurable offenses between two parties: theft of an ox, property damage from arson, borrowed livestock that gets injured or killed. The restitution is also quite generous — usually double the original value, although in a case where the thief had already disposed of and profited from the stolen livestock, the value of restitution quadrupled or more.

Verses 21 through 24 speak of the need to treat aliens, widows, and orphans well. With these laws, we actually have God’s promise that he will “kill with the sword” those who mistreat and oppress these vulnerable people in society.

Verse 28 says, “You shall not revile God, or curse a leader of your people.” No specific penalty is described for this law, but this behavior is abhorrent to the LORD. You might wonder if “cursing” in the Bible means something different than it does to us. After all, cursing and badmouthing people is prevalent in our society. Does it mean “hexing” someone — that is, invoking supernatural power to cause harm or misfortune? Or does it mean simply speaking ill of someone? I would argue — based on all the Proverbs that talk about the power of language and its ability to cause harm — that, indeed, Biblical cursing is the exactly the same kind language that we call cursing today.

My final comment is on verse 29. Here we actually have a law about delaying to make offerings to God. Do you strive to tithe? And is it the first thing you do? Or do you pay bills first, and then eventually get around to giving money to God? Did you even realize that it displeases God when you delay to make offerings from your harvests? As for me, I know that I should be putting God first, and also know that I don’t always live up to that — so, this is clearly a law that I need to meditate on further so that I can incorporate into my thinking.

In Luke chapter 5 we have some familiar stories — the calling of Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, the healing of a leper, the healing of a man who was paralyzed, the calling of Levi (also known as Matthew), and Jesus’ responses as to why he ate with tax collectors and sinners, as well as why his disciples didn’t fast.

Luke gives us additional details about this first meeting with Peter and the others. The fisherman are washing their nets after laboring fruitlessly all night long. Meanwhile, Jesus clambers into Peter’s boat and asks him to put out a little ways. So Jesus is able to teach comfortably from the boat without being squashed or pushed into the water by the multitudes. When he is done teaching, he tells Peter to pull out a bit further and let down the nets. Peter is so obviously humoring Jesus, but he agrees to do that. To his amazement, there is a huge catch. So much so that he calls his partners — the Zebedees — to come and help collect the catch. Peter’s amazement at this miracle is so great, he kneels before Jesus. “Depart from me,” he says in verse 8, “for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” There is something about being in the presence of divinity that makes one truly understand one’s sinfulness — we have seen this reaction elsewhere in Scripture (remember Isaiah 6?). Jesus reassures Peter, however, and tells him from now on they will fish for men. And it is at that point that the first disciples are willing to leave everything behind — even this huge, miraculous catch they just made — to follow Jesus.

Even though the stories are familiar, there is always more to understand and meditate upon. The leper’s question continues to haunt me. “If you are willing,” he says in verse 12, “you can make me clean.” He is so used to being an outcast that he doesn’t assume that Jesus will want to help him. Perhaps his disease has made him understand God’s sovereignty in both its power and its terribleness, but the leper no longer seems to believe in God’s compassion and mercy. He hopes for it, and so he does ask to be healed. But I don’t think he really believes this will happen for him. “If you are willing,” he says. IF. And, of course, Jesus is willing. And Jesus actually touches him. That touch was pure compassion. He likely wouldn’t have been touched since he became ill. And it’s not like Jesus couldn’t have just spoken and healed him. No, Jesus touches him. And the leper is cleansed.

I noticed another detail today. The scribes and Pharisees didn’t understand why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. We know they criticized Jesus for this. But today when I read the passage, I saw that the verse said that they were complaining to his disciples. And I realized something new: they were complaining because they were jealous! Their ideas of righteousness prevented them from associating with the tax collectors and sinners. When Jesus ate with these people, the scribes and Pharisees were not able to join them — they were excluded, and they were jealous. That’s why they complained to the disciples about Jesus doing this. That’s why they criticized him.

Psalm 76 focuses on God as one who dispenses justice. “Glorious are you,” says verse 4, “more majestic than the everlasting mountains.” God rules over kings and all lands; he rises up to save those who are afflicted. There is a sense of peace that comes from reading this psalm as we celebrate His sovereignty.

Father God, thank you that you rule over the earth. You do rise up to save the afflicted. You hate injustice and you will bring down nations and rulers as you see fit. I pray that you will turn hearts toward you. Let those who govern and those who are governed repent and seek your face.

Thank you that you are so patient and loving toward us. Thank you for Jesus’ compassion to the leper. Thank you that you are willing to heal us.

Please help us to grow in our knowledge of you. Thank you for your Scripture. Thank you that your Holy Spirit is here to help us understand and to remind us of the things you have said. In Jesus’ name, Amen.