Quick Note – Exodus 21 – Some Bible verses in reference to Slavery and Abortion

Exodus 21:16 – 16 “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.

A lot of people argue that the Bible teaches that slavery is okay, because there are a lot of passages in both the Old and New Testament that speak about how slaves should obey their masters.  However, slavery in the ancient world was different than the concept that we think about now.  When we think of slavery now, we think of how people are captured and taken from their homes apart from their own free will and sold to another person’s service.  Although this form of slavery occurred in Biblical times, there was also another way a person became a slave and that is in exchange for paying a debt.  This verse in Exodus clearly delineates the two versions.  As you can see here, the first description of slavery, which is the outright evil one that we talk about today, is denounced in vs. 16, “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”  The punishment for selling slaves or buying them was death.  So when the Bible talks about how servants should obey their masters, it is in reference to those who were enslaved because of choice either due to financial or other circumstances.  So don’t fall for the idea that the Bible supports slavery.  It does not.  It teaches two things:  1) Slavery is wrong but 2) If a slave, then show God’s love and character even as a slave.  Whether the person was enslaved willingly or unwillingly, the slave, if a Christian, should do his best to serve as a witness for God even in that bad situation. 

Exodus 21:22-25 – 22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

The Bible does not support abortion.  It is outright against it.  So if you know a Christian, who in some way tries to make it sound like God is okay with it, He is not.  As you can see here in Exodus 21:22-25, when two men are fighting and one hits a pregnant woman and the child comes out likely prematurely, then judgment occurs for the child.  If there is some type of harm, whether life, eye, tooth, hand, or foot, the man will pay in return the same thing.  This passage clearly indicates that God values the baby’s even though unborn as equal to a human beings.  A baby in the womb is not a bag of cells.  A baby is not some useless fetal tissue.  A baby is a human being living in the womb of its mother.  If God considers it a life to be protected, how can we so nonchalantly kill it.  Abortion is equivalent to murder.  Now, that is not to say there are no exceptions like if a mother’s life is in danger.  But that is to say that we shouldn’t treat taking life so nonchalantly.  God loves everyone including the unborn child. 

How to Battle Worry – Knowing the Value of Things

Matthew 6:25-34 – ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?^[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We all know a few details from the story of Chicken Little like how the little chicken would go out claiming to everyone that the sky is falling after some acorn or apple falls on top of his head, but most of us don’t really know the ending.  The reason for that is because it has many different endings, teaching different morals based on the ending given (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henny_Penny).  For example, in one story, the chicken ends up getting a bunch of animals to join him on his quest to warn the king about the end of the world, but in the end gets his friends and himself eaten by a fox.  The moral of that specific story was not to believe everything you hear.  The Disney version of this story had Chicken Little warn the world about aliens and actually saved them from the incurring invasion.  That moral was that even the smallest person could make a big difference.  The lessons that these two versions of the story were trying to teach are completely different, but one thing is common – Chicken Little worried about the sky falling after something that was not the sky fell on his head.  He had some really unrealistic worries that spread fear and panic in the community.

Although we laugh at the tale of Chicken Little and how foolish his worries were, if we were to be honest with ourselves, we would agree that we tend to worry quite a lot as well and usually over things just as nonsensical as the sky falling.  Just this week, I can name you at least three things that I worried about which may or may not have been justified.  First, I worried about getting some of my applications for school in on time.  Now that was a legitimate worry because they were due last Friday, but the hours I spent worrying about the deadline would have surely been enough time to get some of them done.  Second, I worried about getting to work safely without any car accidents.  Once again, a fairly legitimate worry seeing that I was only getting about three-four hours of sleep a day last week.  Third, I worried about what some people would say to me if I shared the Gospel with them or invited them to church, which ended up with me not doing anything at all and possibly missing a chance to be part of God’s wonderful work.  And these are only three of the worries that I remember having this past week.

Let me tell you about a time I worried about something quite ludicrous.  When I was maybe ten-twelve years old, I went on vacation with my parents to Austria and Switzerland.  On that trip I had two “traumatizing” events.  During the trip, twice I almost got locked in a bathroom unable to escape.  The first time I used the small bathroom on the bus when everyone was out looking at some memorial outside.  Right when I closed the door, I realized that I had no clue where the light switch was, so I moved for the door handle to open the door and shed some light.  But when I tried pushing it open, the door was stuck.  It had no way of opening!  Right then and there, I thought to myself, “Great!  I am going to die young in a bus bathroom.”  Fortunately, after pushing hard enough I got out, or I wouldn’t be with you here today.  The second time on that trip we went into a bathroom at the hotel.  Now, in America, our bathroom stalls tend to have openings on the bottom and the top so that air can flow and so that claustrophobic people don’t panic.  But in Europe, they are sealed shut from top to bottom like a child’s lips in a library.  Once again, I entered the stall and tried to come out but could not.  I was stuck again! – The second time on the trip!  I started to worry again because I thought I would lose oxygen and die in this bathroom.  Fortunately, my dad was in the room as well, and after panicking a little, he was able to figure out how to open the handle and taught me what to do from the other side.  In both cases, worry and fear made me freeze from action and prevented me from getting out.  Truthfully, those were really unwarranted worries about dying in a bathroom and had no reason to even cross my mind.  But even today, when I close a bathroom door, I check to make sure everything is okay, so I don’t die in a bathroom.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed this topic of worry right after He talked about the choice between serving God and money.  He knew that after telling people that they should not lay up treasures here on earth, that the next logical question they would ask is “Then how are we going to feed or clothes ourselves?”  Anticipating that question, He went straight to the solution and told them, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on” or simply like Bob Marley said, “Don’t worry.”  But how do we prevent from worrying?  How do we keep ourselves from this natural reaction to any issues that arise in life?  Jesus Christ left us a regiment of four questions to consider which evaluate the value of things.  By considering the answers to these questions, we can help dispel worry.

The Value of Life

The first question He presented the people with was found in vs. 25, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”  This one simple question forces us to consider the value of life.  Is life really just about food and drink?  Is the body all about the clothing you put on it?  Of course not, even a non-sentimentalist knows that life cannot be summed up to those three things – food, drink, and clothing.  Yes, of course, these three things are important in maintaining life but is that where its value lies?  No way!  Life is something precious, something dear, something that you just cannot put a price tag on.  Think about how the abortion industry values life.  They merely see it as a blob of cells that is invading another human being.  The “doctor” values it to however much money he can get to perform the procedure, while the “mother” values it to her future, her dreams, her upcoming career.  Life is a lot more valuable than that.

Here is a verse for you to consider when you think about the value of life:

• Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’”  Would God make something to be just like Him and not see it as valuable?

Life is not merely a bunch of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur atoms joined together to create a human body.  Life is not merely the money you make, the career you have, the people you know.  Life is not merely the vacations you enjoy, the hobbies you have, or the activities you participate in.  It is so much more than that.  If that was all there was to life, then life is simply not worth living.  But life is something valuable, something precious.  It is treasured by God and should be treasured by us.  Life is Jesus Christ, for He states in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  It is having a relationship with the God and Creator who desires to have that same relationship with us.  It is living for Him, dying for Him, and all that comes between.  It is having a Savior and Friend and King.  Life is valuable; life is Jesus Christ.

But when we worry about things saying words like “How are we going to pay for the car?” or “How will I put food on the table?” or “How am I going to get into medical school?”  We are simply treating life as if they can be valued by a car payment, a plate of food, or a career.  Life is infinitely more valuable and if summed up in a catch phrase, we could use the Mastercard commercials, “It’s priceless.”

The Value of You

The second question Jesus Christ asked the people to consider is found in vs. 26, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”  After asking them to consider the value of life in general, Christ asked them to dig in more personally – to search their own hearts and to find how they value themselves.  How do you value yourself?  Is it by how much money is in your bank account at this exact time?  Is it by the career that you currently have?  Is it by the family members who love and support you?  As good as all of those things are, you are worth more than all of that.  Let’s consider nature, just as Christ asked the people to do in this verse.  When you look at any bird, do they plant, do they reap, do they gather up like we do?  Of course not, they wait upon God knowing that their food will be supplied according to His timing and His will.  There is a famous poem called “Overheard in an Orchard” by Elizabeth Cheney that actually became a song, which I believe found its basis in this verse:

Said the robin to the sparrow,

“I should really like to know

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so!” 

 

Said the Sparrow to the Robin,

“Friend, I think that it must be

That they have no heavenly Father

Such as cares for you and me!”

We have a God who loves us, who even though we were enemies of His, sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins (John 3:16).  Anybody who knows a father’s love understands the emotional heartache and difficulty this one task would bring; but God did it for us.  He loved us so much that He wanted a relationship with us.  That He chased us.  That He like the father of the prodigal son runs to us if we will but open our hearts to Him.  God values us.  He gave His Son for us.  So what is your value?  You are worth everything to God.  How can you worry if you have a Heavenly Father like that, who will tax every animal, plant, ocean, and sky to bring you to Him?  You are worth a lot more than the birds.  You are worth His Son.

The Value of Worry

The third question Jesus posed in vs. 27 was actually quite practical to ask, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”  Jesus Christ asked them to consider the value of worrying.  Did it amount to anything in the end?  Would it bring out a profit of any kind?  No, the value of worry is simply nothing.  Worrying gets you nowhere, and I should know, as my parents can attest, I waste way too much time worrying.  The truth is that if I didn’t worry, I would probably get more things done in a day, but I still choose to do it, because when I worry, I forget to consider its value of nothing.  How many of us if we had $60, would go into a store and would pay $60 for an item that was only priced at $15?  No one in their right mind would do that; but we do that every time we worry.  We spend precious time (60 minutes of our every hour) that can never be recovered worrying, when we could have easily finished our task in less time if we didn’t.  Worry has robbed people of sleep.  Worry has robbed people of their future.  Worry has robbed people of opportunities.  It is completely useless and usually only results in guilt afterwards, when we realize that we didn’t need to worry in the first place.  If there is no point in doing it, why do it?  The value of worrying is nothing.

The Value of Gifts from God

The last question Jesus Christ asked the people was found in vs. 28-30, “And why are you anxious about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”  Being a person that enjoys photography, I love looking at the pictures people enter for contests.  Almost every time there is a nature category, a significant amount of photos are flowers.  People submit these photos, not necessarily because their photo was extremely powerful in conveying a message or because it took a significant amount of skill, but because they were able to capture the natural beauty of that flower on film/bits.  Flowers are beautifully dressed with more colors, more smells, and more designs than we can imagine.  They are so intricately and beautifully made.  Yet flowers have a life span of maybe two-three weeks at most, before they start wilting and dying.  Even grass, which is there one day and out the next, is beautifully arrayed.  If you have no appreciation for the beauty in a blade of grass, just go to the hills of Ireland and take in the breathtaking view of rolling green hills and come back with a changed mindset.  Consider the beauty of sunrises and sunsets, which do nothing more in those few minutes than display beauty, yet God spent the time to paint the sky those intertwisting colors of purple, red, yellow, and orange.  As fleeting as these things are, God took the time to array them with such beauty.  Could Louis Vuitton or Gucci or Coach come anywhere near to designing a purse that beautiful?  Could any high-end fashion designer, paint as beautiful a picture in nature as God did?  I think not; they actually borrow from nature.  God provided each and every one of these fleeting things the best clothing they could ever have.  Solomon with all his wealth, wisdom, and servants could not even array himself in a more glorious fashion.  If we remember that our God values life and values us and creates such things of beauty for things that are fleeting, how dare we think that He would provide us anything less?  God is no Scrooge McDuck.  God is no tightfisted Silas Marner.  God is no cheapskate.  God will always give you the best.  Worrying tends to cause us to settle for something less than the best.  Surely, we all know someone who has settled for a boyfriend/girlfriend that is definitely subpar to what they deserve, yet they decided to date them because they were afraid that nobody else would come along.  They were worried, they would not find someone.  We need not worry or fear, for our God, our Father, will give us the best.  He loves us.  If we can give good gifts to our children, cannot the God who owns the universe do the same for His?  The value of all things given by God is the best.

What Does This All Come Down To

To wrap up this portion of the Sermon on the Mount about money and the things of this earth, Jesus Christ boils down how to handle the worries of this life into two simple statements, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

First, Christ reveals to us how worry originates from two factors:  Desire and Fear/Lack of Faith.  Worry is first an issue of desire.  What you treasure is what you worry about.  Jesus Christ mentioned how the Gentiles (referring to unbelievers) seek after food, drink, clothing, and any other transient thing in this life.  They know not better than to go after money (which at one instant could disappear like it did in the 1929 stock market crash), fame (which tends to last only 15 minutes), or power (which according to Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 changes with time and population ).  Their desires are for the things of the earth and that is why they spend so much time worrying about how to get and then keep these things.  Jesus wanted all His disciples to realize that if they worried about the things of this earth, they were not doing anything different from the world, they were not shining as lights or salt, drawing this world to Him.  No, they were simply doing the same exact thing.

Worry is also an issue of fear/lack of faith.  It comes from this idea that what we desire or need will not be provided for us when the time comes that we want/need it.  Christ quells these fears by reminding His disciples that God already knew.  He knows exactly what we need and want and is already preparing a way for us to have it if it is according to His will.  A beautiful illustration of this is an old Native American ritual, in which, boys were sent to spend the night out into the woods all alone on their thirteenth birthday after they had learned how to hunt, scout, and fish.  They were put through this one final test in order to be considered a man.  Surely, many of the boys were afraid as they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere with no friends, no family, no anything except their own fears.  This happened to one young brave.  He was blindfolded, taken out into the woods, and left there alone without help or friends nearby.  When he heard a branch snap or some other mysterious sound, all he could think about was how long it would be before the next danger would come.  Could it be a bear?  Could it be a wolf?  He was shaking as he felt afraid and abandoned; but to his surprise, when the sun arose and the light illuminated the background, he saw his father armed with bow and arrow in the background ready to strike anything at a moment’s notice.  He was there all night.  It is the same with us and God.  We fear that He isn’t there, but He is there, always watching.  Another great picture of this is in the Chronicles of Narnia Book 3, The Horse and His Boy.  In this story, a boy named Shasta runs away with a horse from a slave trader and into a life of adventure.  As he was running away, a lion appeared and began chasing them towards a specific direction.  Throughout the book, the lion would appear and continue to alter the course of events so that the boy in the end would discover that he was a long-lost prince.  It was not until the end of the book though that the boy discovered that the lion was Aslan himself (a picture of God in all of C.S. Lewis’ books on Narnia), watching over every situation to make sure that the best would be worked out for the boy in the end.  This is what happens with God.  We may fear that He is not there.  We may think that He has no control over our lives, but He is there always working in the background to make sure that the best will come from it all.

Second, Christ gave us an alternative to worrying – to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”  Instead of worrying and being like the Gentiles who seek after the perishable things of this life, Christ asked us to place our eyes on Him, to focus our hearts and our attention to bringing about His rule and His righteousness in our lives and the world’s; because in the end of it all, God will provide the rest.  You know those deals, in which, you are told to put down the principle, and everything else will be taken care of.  That is exactly what Christ is asking His disciples to do.  Put down the principle of spending your time seeking and drawing closer to me, and I will take care of the rest.  There are countless illustrations of the trustworthiness of this statement; for example, when Solomon was given the option to request anything He wanted from God, all he said was that he wanted wisdom to rule the people of Israel according to the ways of God.  God in the end did not only give him his request to rule in that manner but gave him all the other things he could ask for, whether servants or wealth or peace from conflict with neighbors.  Solomon sought God first, and God took care of the rest (2 Chronicles 1).  Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son Isaac, the son he was promised his line would be established by; yet Abraham obeyed and found his son delivered in the end (Genesis 22).  Moses, according to Hebrews 11, gave up the pleasures of sin for a season and suffered to serve God and His people in the wilderness and is now remembered as one of the greatest faith heroes.  And these are only a few of the examples of people who put God first.  He will do the same for every disciple of His if we would but first focus our hearts and desires on Him.  He wants us to seek His rule over our hearts.  He wants us to seek His righteousness and be more like Him each day.  He wants us to know that God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory (Phil 4:9) by Christ Jesus.  Let us just spend and be spent for God.

Christ’s sermon on money gets wrapped up here and leaves us equipped to battle worry and fear in our lives.  First, we need to remember the values of things:  the value of life (priceless), the value of you (a treasure worth His Son), the value of worry (nothing), and the value of God’s good gifts (the best there is).  Second, we need to remember that we must act as lights in the world, which means that our desires need to be God’s desires.  Third, we must replace the bad habit of worrying with the desire to spread His Word to the world and see His character grow in and out of us.  Stop worrying about the rest of this day.   Stop worrying about tomorrow.  Worry will do nothing, instead seek God’s kingdom in your life and the lives of others and watch as God takes care of all the rest.