Moral Questions in the Old Testament

OBJECTIVE

To present and answer difficult questions regarding morality found in the Old Testament and demonstrate that Christ the true light presents to us true life as the image of the invisible God.

INTRODUCTION - 5 Minutes

Consider starting with the discussion since the youth may have their own thoughts on these topics and may discuss in order to become invested in the lesson.

At this point, the purpose of the hook should be achieved and the youth will now be in a condition in which they are hungry for the content of this lesson and may find that it answers many of the questions posed by the servant.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 5:17-20)

34 "But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?' 37 Jesus said to him, '"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets'" (Mt. 22:34-37)

Memory Verse: Jesus said to him, '"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Mt. 22:37)

CONTENT (KEY POINTS)

Why does God demand Sacrifice?

Sacrifice Meant to Give up Something of Value

Sacrifice did not have a negative connotation as it may have today

Today our culture finds slaughtering animals to be repulsive and shocking

Israelites of their time understood sacrifice to mean a joyous dedication of something valuable to one's Lord

Sacrifice, whose Latin roots are "to make something holy," implies that something brought to the altar enters the presence of God

Sacrifice, Sin, and Forgiveness

Sacrifice was deeply connected to the problem of sin, so that the life of the animal was substituted for the human's life

Since an animal's life is not equivalent to a human's, this sacrifice needed to be repeated since it could not take away sin

However, animal sacrifice allowed the person offering the animal to be declared forgiven and set free of the debt and guilt that would have hung over their head from there on out had they not been delivered or ransomed by a substitute

Just as the blood symbolized the death of a life (Lev 17:11), so the life of the animal was given in exchange for the life of the sinner

Anything less than such a payment would devalue sin in the eyes of the people.

What the worshiper offered to God, therefore, had to be the best, the most perfect of its kind, and it had to cost the presenter something

Fulfilled in Christ's Sacrifice

This of course points to Christ's sacrifice "set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (cf. Rm. 3:25-26) "offered once to bear the sins of many" (cf. Heb. 9:28)

How can God be a Jealous God if He is without sin?

Problem of Jealousy

We see examples throughout Scripture where jealousy is condemned, such as Cain and Abel as well as Joseph with his brothers

Jealousy is very well a vice, as St. Paul numbers it among the works of the flesh (cf. Gal. 5:20)

God spoke to Moses, saying, "for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Ex. 34:14) and "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (cf. Ex. 20:5)

Therefore, how can God be called jealous?

God's Jealousy Describes the Intensity of His Love

These descriptions of God help us understand that He isn't an idea, but rather He is living and active

Jealousy is used to characterize the intensity of God's love towards mankind

St. Paul describes good jealousy, which he describes as godly jealousy, "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Co. 11:2)

The Fathers explain here that St. Paul's use of jealousy is meant to be a word stronger than love
Jealous souls burn for those they love, and jealousy means that there is strong affection
St. Paul says that his jealousy is "godly" because God's jealousy is not like human jealousy because God does what He does for their exclusive benefit and has this right as God to care for His children
Whereas human jealousy is selfish, divine jealousy is both intense and pure

In the same chapter that God tells Moses that He is jealous, He also proclaimed "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin" (cf. Ex. 34:6-7)

God's jealousy is an expression of His holiness insofar that His very being is against evil since evil is itself the absence of God

God is against sin because He is life and the wages of sin is death (cf. Rm. 6:23)

Therefore, in the Old Testament, God responds in two ways when His people fall into sin:

He becomes the champion of those oppressed by the enemy
He punishes those who break covenant with Him

Moreover, expressions like "vengeful" are used regarding God, such as "'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay' says the Lord" (Dt. 32:35; Rm. 12:19), which also demonstrate His love and holiness

God does not indifferently or helplessly watch the sin multiply, since this divides humanity from Him, but rather because although He is loving and understanding, He is also thoroughly just and righteous and will act against those who persist to stand against holiness and righteousness
Therefore His jealousy, vengeance, and even wrath are demonstrably signs that He cares for His people and is a champion for their cause because such sin divides us from His presence

God is jealous when we depart from him through sin and prefer His absence over His presence and divide ourselves from the life giving Sacraments by which we experience divine grace and salvation

Therefore divine jealousy must be understood as God willing the best for mankind

The Cross Demonstrates the Intensity of God's Love

Through the cross of our Lord, the enemy of mankind--death--is defeated, and all persons are drawn to Him (cf. Jn. 12:32) since that sin that is the chasm between God and man is defeated

Why were punishments under the law so harsh?

The Law Demands the Death-Penalty and Harsh Punishments

The Law is undeniably harsh compared to modern standards:

"For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him" (Lv. 20:9)
"Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. And the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan). Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the Lord might be shown to them. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him'" (Lv. 24:10-14)
"Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.' So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died" (Nm. 15:32-36)
"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear" (Dt. 21:18-21)

Compared to Laws of its time, Mosaic law was not harsh, but valued human life

The severity of the transgression should both show the value of what is being transgressed (e.g. a pure marriage, human life, honor of parents etc.) as well as warn/deter people from committing the sin

The Mosaic law, compared to other forms of law at its time, applied much more fairly across classes of people and had far less severe punishments

Moreover, the Mosaic law regarded human life above all, presenting greater punishments for killing humans than other systems of law

For example, under the Hammurabi law, which was an ancient code of law, if an ox was in the habit of killing people and the owner didn't do anything about it, the punishment would be money paid by the owner to the victim's family
However, under the Mosaic law, the ox in this situation would be put to death along with its owner since he has demonstrated a lack of regard for human life

Verses such as "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" (Ex. 21:24) demonstrate the concept of proportionality, which means that the punishment for a crime should not be too severe but rather should fit the evil committed

Many penalties, on the other hand, prescribe "cutting off" the people, which demonstrates that sin separates us from the body of God

"Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death" (Nm. 35:30-31)

While many crimes may list the death penalty as a possible punishment, this may be more indicitive of the severity of the crime itself without calling for the actual implementation of this sentence in every case

The Old Testament lists sixteen sins requiring the death penalty, but provides the option for a ransom to be paid for all except murder the malice and planning, as seen in Numbers 35:31 above

The only crime in which the death penalty was mandatory was premeditated murder with malice and planning, whereas other sins calling for the death penalty may have lesser consequences according to an investigation, trial, and due process
There is little evidence demonstrating that the death penalty was ever actually carried out in Israel, save instances in Scripture where God was setting a precedent or an example, discussed below

First-Time Violations Punished Harshly as an Example

Many of the severe instances of killing under the law were done as an example to further teach the people that defiance towards God led to death

As we see in the New Testament, St. Paul clearly articulates that the wages of sin is death, while the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rm. 6:23)
Being the tutor and shadow of the grace and salvation to come, the law demonstrates that sin leads to death and that defiance towards God's commandments is the very reason why men fell in the garden

First time violators were treated the most harshly in order to demonstrate a precedent and teach the people that these actions separate us from God

This occurred not only in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament when Ananias and Sapphira died after lying to the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 5:1-11)
God did this to demonstrate that lying to the church was lying to the Holy Spirit

Did God allow for Capital Punishment and why?

Continuing from the above point on the harshness of the law, although the law is a tutor, it contains many eternal principles demonstrating the character of God

Genesis 9:6 states: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man"

The reason the murderer must suffer death as a result of his action is because murder is fundamentally the denial of the image of God in the victim

This person who murdered a human being created in God's image harmed God Himself

Moreover this demonstrates the importance and sacredness God bestows upon the life of a person, that it is precious and must be preserved

However, the text does not demonstrate that this authority to take a life belongs to the state
Reading the New Testament to understand the Old, both Jesus and St. Paul recognize the authority of government to take lives while recognizing that the government will be judged for distributing justice

Jesus spoke to Pilate and reminded Him that he "could have no power at all against Jesus unless it had been given to him from above. Therefore the one who delivered Jesus to Pilate has the greater sin" (cf. Jn. 19:11)

Therefore Christ gave the authority to the state to exercise capital punishment to prevent a society that persists in lawlessness and murder

Moreover St. Paul says "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vaid; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil" (Rm. 13:1-4)

However, the government is judged for its actions and, therefore, if a government kills someone for an unjust reason, it will incur God's judgment
Therefore governments ought to err on mercy and waive the death penalty where reasonable doubt exists, since it is not right for a government to take the life of an innocent man

St. Paul also said that if he is an offender, or has committed anything deserving death, then he does not object to dying (cf. Acts 25:11)

If a society persists in refusing to take the life of those conclusively proven to have deliberately and violently taken others' lives, then that society will stand under God's judgment and the value, worth, dignity, and respect for persons in that society and nation will diminish accordingly

Did God allow slavery and why?

The Mosaic Law provided the Israelites with laws regarding servants and slavery:

20 "And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. 21 Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property" (Ex. 21:20-21)
39 "And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. 40 As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 And then he shall depart from you---he and his children with him---and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God. 44 And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have---from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45 Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. 46 And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor" (Lv. 25:39-46)
47 "Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger's family, 48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49 or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself. 50 Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time of a hired servant for him. 51 If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. 52 And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption. 53 He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee---he and his children with him. 55 For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God" (Lv. 25:47-55)
12 "If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13 And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; 14 you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today. 16 And if it happens that he says to you, 'I will not go away from you,' because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, 17 then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. 18 It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do" (Dt. 15:12-18)
5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free (Eph. 6:5-8)

Commandments like these beg the question whether God approves of slavery

Three Types of Slaves

There are basically two types of slaves in the Old Testament:

The fellow Hebrew who sold himself in order to raise capital (Lv. 25:39-55; Dt. 15:12-18); and
The foreign prisoner of war

However, during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, a third type arose:

This was a clerical order attached to the temple with positions ranking just below that of Levites, who also assisted in the services of the temple

Hebrew Slaves

A fellow Israelite who needed to raise money to pay for debts or the like could not borrow against his property (for that was owned by the Lord according to Leviticus 25:23) but had to sell the only asset he possessed: his labor power

However, there were strict rules that governed his or her treatment during the maximum of six years that such a relationship could be entered into with another Israelite
Should any master mistreat his slave with a rod, leaving an injury, the owner forfeited his whole investment (Ex 21:20--21, 26) and the slave was immediately released, or if the master caused the slave's death, the master was subject to capital punishment

Non-Hebrew Slaves

These captives were permanent slaves to the Israelites, but that did not mean that they could treat them as if they were merely personal property

One evidence of a mistreatment and they too went free.
The foreign slave, along with the Hebrew household, had a day of rest each week (Ex 20:10; Deut 5:14).
A female slave who was married to her captor could not be sold again as a slave.
If her master, now her husband, grew to hate her, she had to be liberated and was declared a free person (Deut 21:14).

Comparing Ideas of Slavery from Old Testament to Present Understanding

The laws concerning slavery in the Old Testament appear to function to moderate a practice that worked as a means of loaning money for Jewish people to one another or for handling the problem of the prisoners of war

Slavery in the Old Testament is nothing like how we understand it today

Nowhere was the institution of slavery as such condemned; but then, neither did it have anything like the connotations it grew to have during the days of those who traded human life as if it were a mere commodity for sale
This type of slavery was voluntary for the Hebrew and the foreigner
Only the war prisoner was shackled involuntarily

In all cases the institution was closely watched and divine judgment was declared by the prophets and others for all abuses they spotted

St. Paul Advocated Social Reform

In the books of Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and 1 Peter, there is no criticism of slavery

In fact, these books actually exhort slaves to obey their masters

St. Paul calls for social reform among wives and husbands, children and fathers, and slaves and masters, addressing the subordinate first with a call to the traditional virtue of submission with the new twist that this traditional duty is understood in terms of a relationship to Christ

He removes this submission from the earthly context and puts it in the context of something that the Lord will reward
Therefore obedience has a higher meaning within a theological understanding that supersedes the cultural understanding of these relationships

The "subordinate," which in this case would be the slave, has been raised to the status of a full human being

This personhood was recognized in the law and was why slaves were protected and honored

St. Paul was concerned more with the Heavenly Reward

We are created in the image and likeness of God, which means that there is no partiality in God's love towards His children

St. Paul recognizes this without calling for a rebellion since rebellion does not demonstrate the spirit of God since Christ gave up His rights and suffered

Moreover St. Paul does not call for rebellion, social reform, or social justice because none of those things matter to him

The important issue for St. Paul is serving Christ, while social status is simply the context for that service

The master is to treat slaves appropriately in the light of knowing that in reality both the master and the slave are servants of the same heavenly Master (cf. Eph. 6:9)

Christianity was not subversive in the sense of stirring up rebellion.

At the same time, it raised the slave to a new status of an equal human being before Christ

After all, in the eyes of the church slavery was just a job, and what job or social status one had on earth did not matter (Jesus did not have a great social status at any time in his life either, and he died a most shameful death, an executed slave's death)
If the job was done "as a slave of Christ" the reward was equal, whether one was a human slave or a human master.

St. Paul's strategy was thus that of producing an expression of the kingdom of God in the church, not that of trying to change society.

Interior Repentance led to Exterior Change

The church never adopted a rule that converts had to give up their slaves

Christians were not under law but under grace

However we read in the literature of the second century and later of many masters who upon their conversion freed their slaves

The reality stands that it is difficult to call a person a slave during the week and treat them like a brother or sister in the church

Sooner or later the implications of the kingdom they experienced in church seeped into the behavior of the masters during the week

St. Paul did in the end create a revolution, not one from without, but one from within, in which a changed heart produced changed behavior and through that in the end brought about social change

This change happened wherever the kingdom of God was expressed through the church, so the world could see that faith in Christ really was a transformation of the whole person.

St. Paul did in fact believe in slavery because he believed that all Christians are all equally slaves of Jesus Christ and that that is the one social relationship that has permanent value

APPLICATION (Action)

Christ is the Fountain of Virtue and Lawgiver

Scripture begins with the creation and affirmation that all humans are made in God's image according to His likeness

The law sought to bring man towards this ideal

The Old Testament provides us with enduring perspectives about human dignity and fallenness as well as moral insights regarding justice, faithfulness, mercy, and generosity

Christ, the law giver, gave us the law to prepare our hearts and minds to receive Him

Christ fulfilled the law but did not do away with it

Christ's commandments are not contrary to the law, but are broader
Christ's commandments contain the law, but the law does not contain His commands

Whoever fulfills the commands of Christ fulfills the commands of the law

For example, one who does not get angry is less capable of killing, but one who refrains from killing may still become angry

Christ, the image of God, gives us the law as our tutor that we may recognize sin and may receive grace and healing, that we may be recreated in His image

St. Paul articulates in Galatians 3:24 that the "law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith"

The fathers explain that the law was given to a proud people that rebelled against God, but the grace of love cannot be received by any but the humble

Israel was meant to be humbled in its transgressions that it may seek grace, but instead it arrogantly sought to be saved by its own merits

Law without grace can expose a disease, but has no means to heal

The law, as a tutor, was meant to prepare the heart of mankind for the coming of Christ when we may be justified by faith

The Israelites left Egypt an undisciplined, untaught, rebellious people prone to worshiping false gods, quarrelling, and hating their neighbor
The law was added to teach them the sinfulness of their sins, that they might hate their sins and seek after God and true righteousness

Therefore the law was meant to prepare mankind to receive the Gospel

DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY

What role does the value of human life play into the law? In other words, how does the law demonstrate the value of human life?
How can the value of human life affect conversations happening today on topics such as abortion?
What is the underlying spirit regarding laws for sacrifice, harsh punishments, capital punishment, and slavery?
What is the relationship between the Image of God and the law?

SERVANT RESOURCES

Copan, Paul. Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God. Baker Books, 2011.

Kaiser, Walter C., Davids, H. Peter, Bruce, F.F., and Brauch, Manfred T. Hard Sayings of the Bible. IterVarsity Press, 1996.