Civil Laws

Deut 22:8 speaks of putting a protective barrier around our roof, when people sit on the roof, as they did in Israel, to help prevent people accidentally falling off. This puts some burden of responsibility on the owner to take due care for the wellbeing of others and to avoid their harm.

This does not mean that the property owner is responsible for the foolish behaviour of others. It is not meant to be an opportunity for a litigious society of corrupt lawyers and greedy people seeking to take money from others.

Thieves who went outside the law to steal private property would to some extent, but not entirely, lose the protection of the law. The owner of the property had rights to protect the property. Ex 22:1-3 said if the thief is killed at night the house owner is not blamed. Here there is a balance between the right to protect oneself and the responsibility not to take extreme measures against others.

In so many different laws, regarding slaves, property, marriage and many other civil issues, there is the balance between rights and responsibilities. These are the guiding principles for our societies today. The scripture is beyond equal in the principles it furnishes for modern nations to build upon.

Regarding slavery, the Law of Moses did not outlaw it but accommodated it as a fact of the society of fallen man, due to the hardness of their heart. It is right that in Christian society we do not have slavery. The Christians (such as William Wilberforce) who finally won over the selfish business interests of Britain and outlawed slavery were possibly the first in human history to achieve this.

But Moses’ Law protected the interests of slaves. Slaves were often temporary economic slaves, because they owed a debt. They had rights. This system, with cities of refuge, the Year of Jubilee and capital punishment for serious crimes, can sometimes be favourably compared with modern systems of crowded prisons and increasing crime rates.