We've been walking through God's commands to Israel as they prepare to enter the promised land. Today he points out to them that life in society is really pretty tough. Actions have consequences. Laws have consequences. Sometimes you plan something and it works but it may have a result you didn't plan on or desire.
God cares about just treatment. He talks here about just treatment when someone has been murdered but the killer is not found. That person, even if unknown, is treated with respect. He talks about justice for captives who have been taken into families. He talks about just treatment for the children of unloved wives. When it comes time for an inheritance they are to be treated justly. He talks about just treatment for parents of rebellious children, and for those rebellious children themselves. Even criminals who have been executed are not trampled and defiled. Their very bodies, as something created somehow to bear God's image, receive dignity in their treatment.
No matter how you stack it, God's standard for love of neighbors in our community far surpasses our ideas. We do not find this kind of legislation anywhere but places where God's Word has been taken seriously. May the Lord give us a deep and genuine love for our neighbors.
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