LIFE SCRIPTS

26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. 28 “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. 30 However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death. 33 “If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.
Exodus 21:26‭-‬34 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.21.26-34.NIV.

Though slavery could’ve been rife, God set rules which protected the weak especially the slaves. Unlike days to come when slaves would endure all sorts of abuses, God’s laws sought to offer relief from injury. Examples are given of an owner gouging out his slave’s eye or knocking off his teeth as reason enough to set them free. Remember that the owners of slaves paid heavily to purchase them. So letting them go would have been a big loss. But this tells us something about God’s heart. His desire is for us to enjoy freedom from slavery. Ages to come, Christ would die on the cross in order to set the captives free. His death brought redemption and freedom to all…enslaved to sin, battered and damaged. God delivers and frees us from the shackles of sin through the death of His Son. God’s laws also called His people to responsibility. It’s interesting how the punishment differed from different types of owners of oxen: one who knew about the bull’s waywardness and the other who didn’t. In the event the bull gored people the one who knew about it would pay dearly…with his life. Even in law, if we are aware of a person’s intention to do wrong yet hold our peace, we participate in the crime as accomplices. If we know that situations within our control will negatively affect the lives of others, it is our responsibility to correct the wrongs or take measures to prevent or minimize damage. That’s the crux of these instructions. Doing things or not doing things that we know shall safeguard the welfare of others is wrong before God…keeping quiet while witnessing officials bribing to pervert justice…knowingly misinforming workmates through a shoddy report whose repercussions are immense…doing a shoddy job in fixing an electric shower as a technician knowing so well that it could endanger lives…lying about repairing someone’s car yet doing a poor job in the process etc. Our actions must carry with them a sense of responsibility.