Exodus 21 Devotional Bible Study

Exodus 21 Chapter Summary

Israelites could buy other Israelite men as slaves, but they had to free them after six years. The slave, however, could choose to belong to the master permanently. Female slaves did not have to be freed.

Men who married more than one woman were to treat each woman fairly in regard to daily necessities and sex.

 

Someone who killed another person was to be put to death. If they killed someone unintentionally, they could run and live in a city of refuge.

 

People who attacked their father or mother were to be put to death, or even if they cursed their father or mother.

 

Kidnappers were to be put to death.

 

If people fought with each other, and one was injured, the other must pay for their healing and any loss of time from work.

 

“But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,

hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

- Exodus 21:23-25

 

If someone hit a pregnant woman and she lost the baby, he was to pay whatever fine the husband of the woman demanded.

 

If someone hit their slave and knocked out an eye or tooth, they were to let the slave go free.

 

If a bull gored a person, the bull was to be stoned and the meat left uneaten. If the bull had the habit of goring and the owner didn’t already kill it, both the bull and the owner were to be put to death. The owner could also pay a fine if the injured person allowed it. He could always pay for goring a slave. The cost was 30 shekels.

 

If someone dug a pit, and another’s person’s animal fell into it, the person who dug the put had to pay for the animal.

 

If someone’s bull killed another person’s bull, the two people were to sell the live bull and divide both the money from the live bull and the meat from the dead bull. If the bull had the habit of goring and the owner didn’t keep it penned, the owner was to pay for the dead bull.

 

Do You Love Your Master?

Exodus 21:2-6

“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”

The servant here can make the decision to go free, or he can stay with the master. Why would he stay with the master when he has the right to go free? Because he recognizes all that the master has given him and loves the master for it!

Think about all that the Lord, your Master has given you. Scripture tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17). Every good thing you have is from God! Will you show your gratitude and give Him your heart today? Will you dedicate yourself and say, “I love my Master and do not want to go free from Him. I will be His servant for life!”

 

The Situation of Women

Exodus 21:7-11

“If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.”

In the previous passage, we saw that male servants were to be released after seven years, with the option to stay on. But female servants were not to go free. They were servants for life. The master who owned a woman could marry her if he chose or give her in marriage to his son, and she had no right to refuse. When a marriage took place, the master-husband had to treat her fairly (kind of?), but he could divorce her and send her away if he decided he didn’t like her. He could also marry as many other women as he chose.

All of this servitude of women started with the Fall and was a punishment to Eve for committing the first sin among the human race. Thank Jesus that He came to take all of our punishments, remove all of our curses, and restore each of us to our rightful place!

Galatians 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

God Knows Accidents Happen…

Exodus 21:12-14

“Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.”

Aren’t you glad that our Heavenly Father doesn’t look at the result of our actions only, but our motive behind them? Sometimes, a situation gets out of our control and something happens that we didn’t mean to happen. God understands that and judges us accordingly. He’s merciful to us.

At the same time, if, in our hearts, we are willingly and deliberately sinning against Him and others, He will not overlook it. Let’s pray today that the Holy Spirit will purify our hearts so that we want only what He wants.

 

Does God Care About What Happens to You? His Law Shows that He Does!

Many of the laws God gave to Moses deal with what to do to a person who sins against God. Others deal with what to do a person who sins against another person. Consider a few of these laws from Exodus 21. This is just a sampling of the laws given to Moses.

 

¹⁶ “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.

¹⁸ “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, ¹⁹ the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.

²² “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. ²³ But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

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.

 

So, put yourself in the shoes of the victim of these sin-crimes. Would God care about you if you were kidnapped? Would He care about you if someone injured you to the point you couldn’t work for a few days? Would He care about you if someone knocked out your eye or tooth, or worse? Would He care about you if someone didn’t control their animals and you were hurt as a result?

Yes, God cares about those things! He made Laws to see that you get justice in those situations. He cares about what happens to you!