The Story of God's Law

Exodus 19:1 - 24:8

Beth was talking with a schoolmate of hers named Satana after school. "You know," Satana said, "it's easy to figure out when things are right or wrong."
"Really?" asked Beth. "How?"
"If you do something that hurts you or someone else, then it is wrong. Otherwise it's right," answered Satana.
This idea made Beth's brain hurt so as soon as the final bell rang she ran home to her mother. After she told her mother what Satana had said, her mother said, "You know, Dear One, that your schoolmate is wrong. One must follow all the rules that God gave us in order to be good. Hurting or helping others has nothing to do with it. Let me tell you about how God gave his laws to the Israelites."
And this is the story she told:

One day, God told Moses to come up on a mountain so they could talk. When Moses got there, God told him many things.
"I am God," said God, "and I helped you get out of slavery in Egypt. Don't ever say that other gods are better than me. Don't make pictures or statues of anything in the sky, on the land, or in the water. Don't worship pictures or statues or else I'll be really upset and punish you, your children, your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren. If you do what I say, I'll be nice to you.
"Don't say my name when you are cursing or you're in trouble," God continued. "Don't do any work on Saturday because it's holy. Don't let your children, your servants, your animals, or anyone visiting you do any work on Saturday, either. It took me six days to make the world and I rested on Saturday, so you should, too, because it's holy.
"Do what your parents tell you to do so that you'll live a long time. Don't kill anything or have sex with anyone that you're not married to. Don't steal things. Never lie and say that someone did something bad when they didn't. Don't want anything that someone else has, including their wife, servants, ox, donkey, or anything else."
About this time, all the people standing around the mountain saw thunder and lightning and trumpet noises and smoke so they got farther away. They were afraid that they'd hear God's voice and die, but Moses told them everything was all right.
God said to Moses, "Tell the Hebrews what I told you. Don't make idols of silver or gold. Instead, make an altar out of dirt and burn animals on it. Sheep, oxes, things like that. If you do that everywhere that my name is written, then I'll be nice to you. If you decide to make an altar out of stone, don't chisel it or it will be ruined. Also, don't put the altar on top of steps, or people will be able to see up your dress."

"Gosh, that's a lot of rules," interrupted Beth. "How am I going to remember them all?"
"You must remember them, Dear One," said her mother, "and you must live by them. But that is not all. There are more."

"Here's some more laws for the Hebrews," said God. "If you buy a Hebrew slave, you have to set him free after six years for nothing. If you bought a wife at the same time, then you should set her free, too. But if you gave the slave a wife while you owned him, and they made babies together, then you get to keep the wife and children. If the man doesn't want to leave without his family, then you should stick an awl through his ear and he will be your slave forever.
"There's different rules for girl slaves. If a girl slave doesn't make her master happy and he has put his penis in her, then her master should let her go for nothing. He can't sell her to strangers. If a man makes his slave marry his son, then he should treat her like a daughter. If a slave's master has another wife, she shouldn't get less food and clothes because of it.

"God sure makes it complicated to own slaves," said Beth.
"Yes," said her mother, "being a slave owner is a great responsibility."

"If someone hits a man and the man dies, then the person who hit him should be killed. If a man kills his neighbor sneakily, then he should die, too. A man who hits his mother or father should be killed, and anyone who steals someone else and sells him should be killed. People who say nasty things to their parents should be killed, too.
"If two men fight and one of them gets hurt so that he has to use a stick when he walks, then the person who hit him should pay for the time it takes him to get better. If a man hits a servant with a stick and kills him, then he should be punished, but if the servant doesn't die right away, then that's all right. You shouldn't be punished for treating your own property any way you like.
"If men fight and hurt a woman who has a baby growing in her tummy so that she doesn't have a baby in her tummy any more, then the man who hurt the woman with a baby growing in her tummy should be beaten up by the woman's husband and the man should have to pay money.
"If people fight and a man knocks out another man's eye, then he should loose an eye, too. The same for teeth, hands, feet, burns, and other booboos.
"If a man knocks out his slave's eye, then he should set the slave free. The same with teeth."

"There sure are a lot of punishment for hurting men and babies! But what is God's punishment for a man who hurts a woman?" asked Beth.
Her mother thought for a moment. "I don't think there is a punishment for that," she said. "But there are punishments for lots of other things. Just listen."

"If an ox kills someone with its horns," God continued, "then people should kill the ox with rocks, but they shouldn't eat it. And if the ox has done this before, then the ox's owner should be killed, too. But if people want money instead of killing the man, then that's all right. If an ox kills a slave then the man who owns the slave should get thirty dollars and the ox should be killed with rocks.
"If a man digs a hole and an ox or donkey falls into it, then the man who owns the hole has to pay for the animal but he gets to keep its dead body.
"If a man steals an ox or sheep and kills it or sells it, he should give the animal's original owner five oxes or four sheep, depending on what he stole. If the thief is caught stealing and killed, that's okay. If someone steals but can't pay, then he should be sold as a slave and the money given to the person he stole from. If someone steals an ox or a donkey or a sheep but the owner finds the animal, then the thief only has to give the owner one extra animal.
"If someone puts their animal in another man's field and lets the animal eat the field, then he has to pay for it. If a fire burns down a lot of corn or a field, then the person who started the fire has to pay for it.
"If a man gives his neighbor money or stuff to take care of and it is stolen, then the thief has to pay for the stolen things twice. If nobody can find the thief, then the person who was taking care of the things should be taken to court to see if he stole them.
"If a man gives his neighbor an animal to take care of and it dies, or is hurt, or runs away and there are not witnesses, then nobody has to pay because it was an accident. If an animal is stolen, though, then the person taking care of the animal has to pay for it. If the animal is torn into little pieces, then the person taking care of the animal should pay for the parts which were torn off.
"If a man borrows something from a neighbor and it is hurt or dies, then he has to pay for it, unless the owner is around.
"If a man puts his penis in a woman who isn't married, then he has to marry her. If her father doesn't want them to get married, then the man who put his penis in the woman has to pay the father just as if he was the first person to put a penis in her ever.
"If someone is a witch, kill them, and kill people who have had sex with animals, too. You should also kill people who are of different religions who make sacrifices.
"Be nice to strangers, widows, and children without fathers. If you are mean to these people, I'll hear them screaming and come to kill you with a sword."

Beth interrupted with another question. "What if a stranger is a witch or has sex with animals so you have to kill them. Isn't that being mean to them? I mean, if the stranger didn't want to be killed?"
That one was easy for her mother to answer. "In that case, both the stranger and the person who killed him would have to die," her mother said.

God said, "Don't charge interest when you lend money to poor people. If you borrow someone's clothes, return them before night. Don't complain about the gods or politicians."

"Can you complain about gods other than God?" asked Beth.
"No, Dear One," said her mother.

"Remember to give me the first fruits from your trees," said God, "the first of your drinks, and the first of your sons. Also, do this with oxes and sheep when they are a week old.
"If meat is ripped out of an animal in a field, give the meat to a dog. Don't eat it yourself, or you'll stop being holy.
"Don't lie, don't help someone get away with something by lying, don't do something bad just because everyone else is doing it, don't lie just because a lot of people want you to lie, and don't lie for someone just because they are poor.
"If you find an ox or donkey that belongs to someone you hate wandering around, return it to him. If you see a donkey that belongs to someone who hates you and it is carrying a lot of things, help it.
"Keep away from lies. You have nothing to fear from people who are honest and not guilty. Just to be safe, don't take gifts because gifts can make you change your mind about a person."

"Is that why you never give me anything for my birthday?" asked Beth.
Her mother smiled knowingly. "Yes, Dear One," she said.

"Be nice to strangers," God continued.
"You can work in fields and pick fruit from trees for six years in a row, but during the seventh year you shouldn't do that kind of work. Let the poor and animals take the food from the fields and trees instead. The same with grape vines and olive trees.
"Don't talk about other gods, and don't forget to have parties for me three times a year. You should have the flat bread party, the harvest party, and the bringing-stuff-in-from-the-fields party. Also, all the men should come to the temple three times a year with presents for me -- like blood, flat bread, and fruit that was picked first. If you bring me any fat, don't leave it around until the next day. And remember, don't boil a baby goat in milk that you got from its mother.
"Look, I sent an angel to keep you in line and lead you where I want you to go. Watch out for and obey him. Don't make him mad because he will not forgive you any more than I would. But if you do what he says, then I'll be mean to people that you don't like. My angel will lead you to the Amorites, the Hittites, and other people and throw them out of their homes. If you don't do things like they do, then I'll ruin them and destroy their religion."

"Who are the Armorties and the Hitties and those people?" asked Beth. "Why aren't there any living around here?"
"They are people from olden days," said her mother. "There aren't any more around because God killed them all."
This puzzled Beth. "Why did God kill them?" she asked.
"Because the Hebrews were good and those people were the Hebrews' enemies," answered her mother.
"If I'm good, will God kill Cassie Gnoll?" Beth asked. "She always throws pebbles at me from the school book depository window when I'm hall monitor."
"We'll see, Dear One," her mother said. "God promised that he will do many things for those who keep his laws. Now try not to interrupt during the rest of the story. It's almost over."

"Do what I say and I'll make sure that none of you ever gets sick. Your children will be happy, your women will all have children, and you'll live a long time. I'll make sure that people are afraid of you and kill anyone who comes after you or make them run away. I'll send hornets to make the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites run away from you. This might take a while, but I'll do it so that you can take their land. Just don't make peace with these people or worship their gods, and don't let them live on your land."
Moses went and told the people everything that God had said. The people answered, "We'll do all those things."
Moses wrote down everything God had said. Then he got up early in the morning, built an altar, and had a lot of people burn oxes and things for God.
When they were done, Moses took half the blood from the dead animals and put it in big containers, and splashed the rest around the altar. Then he read God's rules to the people and they said, "We'll do all those things," again.
Then Moses threw blood at the people and said, "That's the blood of your promise to God."

Beth thought about this for a moment. "Well, there sure are a lot of things to remember to do," she said. "But if I do them, then I'll never get sick again and I'll have lots of babies. That sounds like a good deal."
Her mother hugged her close and smiled. "Be sure to remember all the rules, Dear One," she said. "If you forget any of them, then God will not reward you. He might even kill you."
"And what should I say to Satana the next time that I see her?"
"Well," her mother thought this one over for a moment. "Satana doesn't seem to know God's rules. You should find out if she is a witch or makes sacrifices to other gods. Then we would know what to do."
"We sure would," Beth said, triumphant in knowledge of God's own truth. Then she smiled and hugged her mother. All her questions had been answered.