Week 49, Day 1: Capital Punishment

Today’s Reading:  Leviticus 24:1 – 25:55

Some thoughts from the reading..

We will continue to read two chapters a day until we finish this week with Leviticus, then we will go back to one chapter a day for the book of Numbers. 

There are several things in these chapters to be able to make comments on.  I am going to choose to make a short note regarding a statement made in 24:17-22.  In these verse it is stated that anyone who kills a man shall be put to death.  Also, any man who injures his neighbor, the same will be done to him.  You may not have thought about the justice that is taught in this requirement.  First, life is precious and should not be taken.  A person who murders another should not be excused because of how they were raised (making excuses for their conduct) nor should a person be able to escape punishment because they are rich or famous.  Verse 22 says there will be one standard for you.  Everyone will be held to the same standard, no favortism.  We have this concept reflected in the concept of “lady justice” being blind folded.  It doesn’t matter what you statis is, you get a fair trial and the punishment under the law of Moses was to be the same for all.  Second, the punishment was to match the crime.  If you punched out your neighbor’s tooth then your tooth was to be knocked out.  I think that this form of justice is actually better than what we have today.  Today you have someone rape another person and they spend 5 to 7 years sitting in a jailhouse.  How can you equate sitting in a jailhouse to such a violent act against a person.  An act that they will most likely never fully recover from.  So in these statutes we find justice was to be delivered without preference to one over another and that the punishment was supposed to match the crime committed. 

Question:  Under the Law of Moses, what punishment did God command to be done to the man who kidnapped someone?  Why do you thinkt he punishment was to be so severe?

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