I said yesterday that the laws of Moses are concerned with two main things: holiness and mercy. Today I will expand on the latter. The law of Moses is particularly concerned that we show mercy to the vulnerable. This was a unique aspect of the law of Moses. Other comparative ancient law codes, while they provided some protection for the poor, invariably were designed to maintain the social order. The law of Moses was countercultural; in that it acknowledged the equal dignity and sacredness of each individual. So, wives were protected from being discarded at will, recently married men were not to be sent off to war, foreigners were to be cared for, children were not to be punished for their parents’ offences, there was to be no trading in human lives, physical punishments were strictly limited, the dignity of criminal offenders was protected and, most importantly, the poor were to receive special consideration. While other ancient codes gave some protection for the poor, they were largely designed to discourage widespread social mobility. In no ancient society were people seen as equal. On the contrary, natural inequality was seen as self-evident, even for the great Greek moralist Aristotle (who described slaves as ‘human tools’). People now accept notions of fundamental human dignity and equality as given, but the Bible is the origin of this idea. The challenge for us is to practice this belief with depth and rigour. Our inherited human nature delights in differentiating ourselves from others and upholding latent social hierarchies. These should be unearthed and challenged in each of us.
Reflect on your own attitudes and treatment of others.
Read Deuteronomy 24 and 25
