If you have a copy of God's Word, please open it up to Exodus chapter 21. If you do not have a copy of God's Word, the text is printed for you in the bulletin. As we continue our study in Exodus through the book of the covenant, I just want to remind you that the first section of chapter 21 dealt with the protection of slaves, or servants, The next section that we looked at dealt with the protection of people. And chapter 22, which we're not gonna get to today, but chapter 22 deals with the protection of property. And so the text that we have today, the end of chapter one, is really a neat segue into chapter 22. It deals both with the protection of people as well as the protection of property. So let's read Exodus 21 beginning in verse 28 down through verse 36. Hear the word of the Lord. If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him. Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his. If one man's ox hurts another's so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it, and the dead ox they shall also divide. or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. By show of hands, how many of you own an ox or a servant? You know, I ask this question, and I know that you're not going to raise your hand because you're too Presbyterian, right? No. We don't own oxen, and we don't own servants, and so we might be tempted to think, well, maybe there's really nothing here that's applicable for us today as Christians. But I want you to remember 2 Timothy 3.16, as I think I've repeated almost every week. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. Which means that this text, every single word here, has been breathed out by God and is God's word and is profitable for you, for doctrine. for reproof or rebuke, for correction, to correct our thinking on certain things, and for instruction in righteousness. So don't cast out this text this morning. Don't think because I don't own an ox or I don't own a servant that this text doesn't have any application for me. This text is very profitable for you today. And I bet you never thought you would hear a sermon on biblical leash laws. But that's what we have here in these case laws is biblical leash laws. Well, guess what? I never thought to myself, you know, I'd like to preach a sermon on biblical leash laws. Doesn't that just sound exciting to hear or to preach about? No, it doesn't. However, this is the text that we have. And I trust that you'll see this morning that this is profitable for you. That this text matters to God. He left it in the Bible for a reason, and it matters to us. So really here, we have three case laws, three situations. If you look down at the text, verses 28 through 32 deal with what happens if an ox causes damage to a man. An ox to man. Verses 33 and 34 deal with what happens if a man causes damage to an ox. And then in verses 35 and 36, we have what happens if an ox causes damage to an ox. So we have ox-man, man-ox, ox-ox, which sounds like a Dr. Seuss book in the making. Let's begin with the first case law dealing with an ox causing damage to a man. It says in verse 28, if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, what happens? Then the ox shall surely be stoned. I think that it should be obvious to us from Genesis onward that man was created to have dominion over the animals. And so this animal must be put to death because it is rebelling against those who are supposed to have dominion over it. Man is to have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the beasts of the field, and since the fall, all of creation has, in some sense or another, rebelled against those who are supposed to have dominion over it. When you think of tornadoes, When you think of hurricanes, you need to think, something's not right in the world. And when you think of an animal causing damage to a human, you need to think, this is out of order. This is unnatural. And so it should go without question that if someone, excuse me, if a beast of the field or if an animal causes damage to a human, if it ends the life of a man, then that beast must be put to death. And this is what was said already in Genesis chapter 9. He says, Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning, from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. Now what might not be so obvious to us, why does he have to be stoned? Why couldn't it just say, put the animal to death? Why stoning? And the reason for this, I want you to think about how we practice capital punishment today. We typically put it behind closed doors, but even in times past, we think of hangings where capital punishment was practiced more publicly. But in the Bible, why stoning? Why stoning? Well, two reasons. One is because it's public. It was a way of showing and warning others. I know this has to do with an animal, and an animal would not have witnessed this and understood the judgment that was happening in place. But if people would have witnessed it, they would have understood the judgment that was taking place. But secondly, stoning was a way of everyone in the community participating. This wasn't just judges. You see, when a stoning took place, the people of the community, God's covenant people, took the stone into their hand, and they threw it at the beast, and they were in a sense saying, I agree with the judgment of God. Whenever they took the stone into their hand and cast it at the beast, they were saying, if you end the life of a man, God's judgment upon you is just. So the animal, not just put to death, but the animal is to be stoned, and all of the community is to participate in this. And then he says in verse 28, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten. Now, why is this? I mean, why couldn't we at least get a little bit of use, a little bit of profit from the animal that has ended the life of a human? Well, if you know your Old Testament, you know that one of the great emphases throughout the Old Covenant way was the distinction between clean and unclean animals. And there are certain reasons that particular animals were chosen to be clean and unclean, which we don't have time to get into all of those details today, but for now, remember that the distinction between the clean and the unclean was a way of distinguishing between that which God wanted His people separated from, namely sin, unrighteousness, trespassing the law of God. And if this ox gores a man, ends the life of a man or a woman, this ox at that point becomes unclean. And so you can't eat the ox because at this point, this ox has sin in it. And so this was a picture or representation, cleanness and uncleanness, was a picture, a representation, a symbol for sin and righteousness. And this ox, because of its unrighteousness, because of its ending of a human life, is now unclean. And so you can't participate. in taking of the flesh because of the sin, so to speak, of the ox, because the ox has ended a human life. So its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted, it says at the end of verse 28. And this is something I think that some of us have trouble with, at least I did. I mean, why is the owner of the ox not culpable for the damage if it happens on the first offense? And the answer is because God is sovereign. If the animal had at this point not given any indicators that he had a past history of aggression, then the owner is not culpable for the guilt, or I shouldn't say not culpable for the guilt. He's not seen as guilty. He is acquitted for the damage that has been done. Man cannot see the future. Only God knows the future. Only God knows what's going to happen. And so the owner is not seen as guilty of anything if this is the first time that the animal has demonstrated aggression in the past. And so the owner is acquitted. Now, this doesn't mean that the owner doesn't have any loss in this. An ox was a very expensive animal. In fact, in some more primitive cultures today, oxen are still very, very expensive. And if you have multiple oxen, you're seen as someone who is very wealthy. Oxen were very useful on the farm for doing work. You could use them for meat. And you could, if they died, use their skin for hide. They were a very valuable animal. in the ancient world. But in any case, if an ox scores a man and if this is the first offense or the first time that an ox shows any aggression, the owner is acquitted. But what happens if it does have a history of violence? This circumstance and several other circumstances are given in the following verses. And he says in verse 29, if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, which means if the owner has noticed it, that's one circumstance, or if someone else has pointed it out to the owner, then the owner is at that point culpable. And then it says, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner shall be put to death. Now notice that it says, if he has not kept it confined, which means that if an animal does demonstrate aggression, I think we can reasonably deduce from this, that it doesn't require the owner to put the animal down. That's not what it says here. But if it is made known, he is required to do something about it. He can sell it. He can sell it to someone. Of course, he would need to make known and give full disclosure that it does have a history of aggression. He could sell it for its meat, he could sell it for its hide, or he could build a fence, confinement for the ox, and make sure that this fence is strong enough and put a big sign up that says, beware of ox, beware of goring ox, to make sure that this ox is confined and that no one gets hurt by it. However, If he fails to do his due diligence, knowing that this ox has a history of aggression and has tendencies to harm humans, he is guilty. And so if you know that your animal causes damage to another person, and you knew that this animal had a history of aggression, then you are guilty for whatever violence your animal causes. And so if that meant death, then that means that you're guilty of murder. But then he gives another circumstance in verse number 30. If there is a sum of money, or excuse me, if there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed upon him. Now this is something that we might find interesting because one of the things that I've told you the last few weeks is that in the Old Testament, if someone was guilty of murder, it was not permitted to set a ransom for them, that it was required that they receive capital punishment. This is the exception to the rule. And the reason for that, I think, is because the owner is not directly responsible. He is only indirectly responsible for the death. Now, notice that it doesn't say anything about the judges here. As with previous cases, it would say, at the judge's approval or something to that effect. However, here it doesn't say that, which means that the victim's family could have set whatever price, whatever ransom they would have desired. And it doesn't mean that they have to. If they say, we don't want to set a price, they don't have to. If they say, we want this man executed, then this man must be executed because he was irresponsible. And we might also be tempted to think, well, that seems harsh. But it's not harsh. Here's what happens. This man is really guilty of murder because of his negligence. He knew something. He didn't do what was necessary to protect his neighbor. And because of that, someone has lost their life. And because this ransom can be imposed upon him, he has the opportunity to live in poverty or to live as a servant. And given The alternative, he would have thought this was a very gracious opportunity, rather than ending his life. So there's nothing harsh here. It's really an opportunity for the victim's family to receive some sort of ransom, even though they didn't have to, and even though no amount of money could ever make up for a human's life. Now I do want to point out the fact that this case law in particular points specifically to the case where someone dies. And then we might be tempted to think, well, what happens if it just causes damage? And we need to remember that when you're dealing with case law, case laws don't always deal with every single specific situation that's going to happen. What we're given in case laws are particular cases and specifics, oftentimes dealing with worst case or best case scenarios. So in this case, I think it's safe to say that if an animal did lesser damage, you would go back to the other case laws dealing with lesser damage, dealing with danger to property, excuse me, damage to property, and dealing with damage to one's own life. Let me give you an example. If your neighbor's dog comes into your yard, and your wife just planted some petunias, or if she's a good Calvinist, she planted some tulips out in the yard, and your neighbor's dog digs up those tulips, the first time, I think the owner's okay. If your neighbor's dog has never done this before, I think you should say, you know what, I forgive you, but Mr. Neighbor, if you could, please just make sure that little Fido doesn't come and mess up our plants again. But the second time that it happens, the owner needs to make it right. He needs to make it good. He hasn't done his due diligence of making sure that his dog stays confined. If damage happens to your hand, if it's the first time that a dog bites you, it's never shown any history of aggression before, then I think, based on these principles that we've learned thus far in Exodus 21, the owner shall be acquitted. But at that point, the owner has the responsibility of making sure that it doesn't happen again. If it does have a history of aggression, or I think we can also say if you have a particular animal that is known for being aggressive, a particular breed of animal, i.e. Rottweilers or something of that nature, then you have the responsibility to make sure that that dog doesn't cause any damage. So these are case laws, oftentimes worst case, best case scenarios that you have to judge based on the overarching principles. Now, there's an interesting note in verse 31 having to do with a son or a daughter that we might think is strange. He says, Why does he add that? Well, the reason that Moses adds this, or we really should say the Spirit of God by Moses adds this, is because in pagan forms of justice, what would often happen is that if your son was murdered or was killed by someone else or by someone else's animal, then the perpetrator's son would be taken instead of the one who owned the animal. You see the difference? And what God is saying here is, if your son or your daughter dies, we're not gonna take the life of the one who owned the animal, his son or his daughter. It's that person's responsibility. And so what we have here is essentially the biblical form of justice standing above the injustice of pagan systems. And then we have in verse 32, the last circumstance dealing with this. As we always see in Exodus 21, we have this particular case dealing with a servant. There's this exceptional case. Why is it always different for slaves? Well, you have to remember, what Israel was in Egypt. You have to remember that for many generations, Israel had been slaves in Egypt, and they've been brought out of Egypt, and they're going to be in the Promised Land at some point, and yet God has to correct their thinking about servitude. He has to correct their thinking about slavery. And so over and over again, we see this theme, particularly in the book of Exodus, having to do with no longer being slaves of the world or of Pharaoh or of Egypt, but of being slaves to God and how that looks differently for the people of God than it does for the rest of the world. And it says in verse 32 that if an ox gores a male or a female servant, he shall give to their master 30 shekels of silver and the ox shall be stoned. In other words, if the ox is guilty of goring a man's servant, male or female, not only does the ox have to be stoned, but he's required to make this payment. Come on in, sir. He's required to make this payment. Maybe a deacon go address that issue. Go out there and talk to somebody, please. So if a deacon, we're gonna have to edit this a little bit. So if an ox is guilty of goring a servant, then the price of a servant is set at 30 shekels of silver. So this is the law dealing with if an ox gores or takes the life of a man. Next case law, verses 33 and 34, what happens if a man causes damage to an ox? Verse 33, if a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls in it, then the owner of the pit shall make it good. Oftentimes this situation was given because it was a cistern. So if it's a pit or if it's a cistern or if it's a ditch or a hole or a swimming pool or whatever it is on your property that you've dug and somebody else's animal falls into the hole on your property, guess what? you're responsible for making it right. Now this rubs us as Americans the wrong way. You know why? Because we're ungodly and selfish and we think that all of our property belongs primarily to us and not to God. However, God says even if it's on your quote-unquote private property, If an animal comes on your property, you have the responsibility of making sure that your property is a safe place both for your neighbor and your neighbor's animals. So you have the responsibility to take care of your neighbor's animal if it falls in a pit. And then he says, but you shall give money to their owner, which as we would say, he's got to pay the owner of the ox what we would call the fair market value. but the dead animal shall be his, which means you've made it right between your neighbor, you've paid the fair market value to him, but to keep the system from being abused, this man gets to keep the dead ox. Why is that? Well, you could see how Joe so-and-so could see this as an opportunity. He thinks, you know, I get a new ox and I get to sell this animal for hide and use it for food if I make sure that my ox goes on someone else. someone else's property that I know they're not keeping it safe. And so to protect from that, this man gets paid, the owner of the ox gets paid for his ox, and it's made right with him, but the owner of the pit, the owner of the property, gets to keep the dead ox, and he can use it for hide, he can use it for meat, whatever he sees fit. And so we have the law concerning a man, if he causes damage by his negligence on his property to an ox, And then the third case law in verses 35 and 36, what happens if a man's ox hurts another's? Verse 35, if one man's ox hurts another so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it. and the dead ox, they shall also divide." If this is what happens, then it's very simple. You sell the live ox, you split it, you sell the dead ox for hide or for meat or whatever, whatever you can get out of it, and you split that as well. However, it says in the last verse, verse 36, if it has a history of aggression, then the owner of the aggressive ox has to pay the full price of the animal. Once again, If you know that the animal has demonstrated aggressive behaviors in the past, then you are, as an owner, totally culpable for the damage that your animal causes. Now, a couple of questions we might have, other than what in the world does this have to do with anything. Well, let me tell you a story that I know most of you have already heard, which is, one day I was running, minding my own business, and was bitten by a Rottweiler. And so let's put this test through the biblical case laws. And this dog, it was demonstrated based on the police report when they interviewed the owner that yes, this dog did have a history of aggression. And so what happened? When I was bitten by this dog, I had to go to court and much to my surprise, when we got to court, I was called as a witness to the county and the dogs were put down. However, my medical expenses that I had were not paid. I would have had to go to small claims court or something like that to get that taken care of. which probably would have cost me more than just paying for the medical bills myself. So, what's the problem here? Well, I want to remind you of a couple very important theological principles that we've already talked about. And the first thing is that all of reality is God-centered, which we've already established, which means that the ultimate victim in any case is God and not man. And so what happens if I'm attacked, really what that is, is a rebellion against God and God's law order in the universe. Well, what happened when I went to court? I, as the representative of God on earth, as the earthly victim, when I went to court, I wasn't given anything. Well, what happened? Who was given something? Well, the person who owned the dog had to pay fines to the county. Now we might think, what a terrible injustice. Get over it, Ray. And you're right, I do need to get over it. I need to quit thinking about it. I need to quit having nightmares about Rottweilers attacking me. All these things, you're right. I do need to do that. But I want you to think something much more serious has taken place. What we have seen is a gross form of idolatry take place in that court system. And you might think, idolatry, really? Really, Ray? Are you just a little upset that you got bit by your lifelong fear? No, let me tell you why. Who's the ultimate victim? God is the ultimate victim. And when his earthly representative is not given the justice that is due him, what this shows is we've exchanged gods. So what did the perpetrator have to do? The owner of this dog with a history of aggression, what did he have to do? He had to pay a fine to the state, to the county, to the civil magistrate. Why is that? Because we've changed gods. Because it's no longer affirmed that God is the ultimate lawgiver and that God is the ultimate victim and the one who is rebelled against. It is the state. And this is essentially a gross form of idolatry called statism, where we worship the state and we say the state is the ultimate victim. We must give to the state or give to the county or give to the city or give to whoever except the actual victim payment that is made. You see, all worldviews have a God. All law systems have a God at their root. And in a Christian civilization, what we ought to be striving for is Christian legislation that affirms that God is king, that God is the lawgiver, that God is the ultimate victim, and that man, made in God's image, is his earthly representative of victimhood on the earth. And again, when I say victim, I know that we think weakness, and that word is very much abused in our culture. However, we must recognize that a victim is a real thing. And it doesn't imply weakness, it doesn't imply goofiness on our part, or stupidity in any way. It is a real thing that people are sinned against, and God is sinned against. And so this is what happens when we reject God's laws even for something as simple as putting a leash on a dog or putting a leash on an ox. It's really a form of idolatry that our culture embraces. The fact that tortoise eggs on tabby are more protected than babies in utero is a gross demonstration of how ungodly, wicked, and idolatrous our culture is. It is not just a matter of putting a rope around a dog's neck. Something much more sinister is at work when we reject God's law having to do with animals. And now the next question I want to deal with is what in the world does this have to do with the gospel? How in the world could this possibly point us to Jesus? Would an ox goring a man, would a bull eating a man, would a lion tearing apart a man have anything to do with the gospel? Well, there's actually a reference to this law, this very case law, that you sing very regularly. In fact, in a couple of minutes, you're gonna sing it again. Psalm 22. for bulls of Bashan in their strength. Now circle me around, their lion jaws they open wide and roar to tear their prey. My heart is waxed, my bones unknit, my life is poured away. And if we were to keep reading in Psalm 22, this messianic psalm of the suffering of Christ, we would read this, from lion's mouth and oxen's horns, O save me, hear my prayer. You see, Psalm 22 is a messianic psalm about the suffering servant, or the suffering slave who is Christ. And this very case law is referred to in Psalm 22. What happens when an ox gores a slave? What happens when an ox is to gore the suffering servant? We just read at the beginning of the worship service earlier from Philippians 2 and verse 7 that Christ took the form of a slave or a servant. Well, what was supposed to happen? What was supposed to be given to the owner? How much were they supposed to be paid? It says in our text. How many? Thirty shekels of silver. What was Jesus sold for? 30 shekels of silver. Our Lord Jesus, who won salvation for us on the cross, was nothing more than a gored slave to the world. Think about that. Think about how precious Christ is to us, to win salvation for us, and yet to Judas, yet to the world, yet to those outside of this room who care nothing about the gospel, care nothing about their sin, He's worth nothing more than a gored slave. And yet, for us, Christ is everything, accomplishing our salvation for us. And the world says, I don't care about Christ. I don't care about following Jesus. I don't care about my sin. I'd rather have my sin than Christ. I'd rather go to hell than worship a suffering, gored slave. But I leave you with Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 1. But we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Amen? Amen, let's pray. Oh, Lord, we praise you for our Savior, a gourd servant sold for 30 shekels of silver. What a transaction. What a lowly and base king riding on a donkey. bringing salvation for his people through his death. We praise you for the law of the gourd slave that brings salvation to us. Amen.