![](https://cdn.monkplatform.com/image/czoxODg6Imh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGczMuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbSUyRmFjY291bnQtbWVkaWElMkYyMjY5NiUyRnVwbG9hZGVkJTJGbyUyRjBlMTg5NzE2NzRfMTczODA4OTMwMV9veG1hbmV1dmVyLmpwZyUzRnElM0Q5MCUyNnclM0QxMDgwJTI2aCUzRDAlMjZmaXQlM0Rjcm9wJTI2cyUzRDJhMjZkNzg0Y2ViYTVjYWM2ZDdjNTY5Y2Q1NWM3YTQ2Ijs=/oxmaneuver.jpg?fm=webp)
SCRIPTURE:
"But suppose the ox had a reputation for goring, and the owner had been informed but failed to keep it under control. If the ox then kills someone, it must be stoned, and the owner must also be put to death."
Exodus 21:29 NLT
OBSERVATION:
Interesting, all these rules and regulations being laid out by God to Moses. Here we see regulations on slavery and injuries and death to others. Strangely enough, there's a lot here on oxen and goring.
I'm guessing that oxen must've been on the "high-risk" list as a hazardous animal, yet they were necessary as a farming implement or a food source.
I was at a friend's homestead on Molokai, and in a fenced off area were perhaps a dozen head of cattle, cows primarily. We asked permission to go up to the fence to take a few pictures of the cows, and Grandma Florence was fine with it.
But before we could get 50 feet from them, in unison they pivoted in the opposite direction and literally thundered away from us...I swear I felt the ground shaking as the dust kicked up in a swirling haze.
We were just as freaked out, and the cows must have been freaked out at us too! But I'm just glad they were cows that charged away from us, and not a bull that could charge at us and gore us!
I think about what could be deduced as God's micromanaging our lives and going into such detail...an ox goring a man, or woman, a boy or a girl, a slave, male or female...and even ox to ox goring action! It would make the most opportunistic lawyers cheer! But why?
Because the law was the regulatory factor for the Israelites to practice responsible living with each other in community.
The Ten Commandments were the foundational bedrock on which God instructed His people on right living.
The supplementary laws, detailed in Exodus and Leviticus, are basically when you think about it, the Commandments broken down into modular components specifying certain situations, conditions, and conduct for the people to obey.
In the case of a goring ox, it boils down to whether it was a one-time ox goring (an accident), or whether one had been warned that their ox was a "gore-risk" and yet restraint and precautions had not been taken, resulting in another goring (negligence).
So irresponsible "ox maneuver" resulted in someone or some ox being gored. And that was deserving of death!
APPLICATION:
Sometimes I wished that some of the OT law could be applied to the law of the land today; we'd probably have a lot less crime! But when Jesus came, He didn't come to overturn or circumvent the Law; He came to fulfill it!
I think about when Jesus said how all of God's laws are summed up in Jesus' two "greatest commandments"; love God, and love each other.
Paul teaches this clearly to the Roman believers (Romans 13:8-10 NLT); "Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.
For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.”
These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law."
The real question comes down to; "Do I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? And, do I really love my neighbor as myself?
If I do, I wouldn't have my ox out there to harm them! Grandma Florence wouldn't have allowed us near her cows if she'd think they'd harm us! We're kinda sorry we spooked them!
Personal responsibility in interpersonal relationships are at the core of these detailed laws, and genuine love for God and each other, demonstrated in our behavior and conduct, are the evidence of a lifestyle connected to God.
Be it oxen as back then, or illegal fireworks today…how do we handle the law and it’s impact on our neighbors? The law is there, but shouldn’t love be the motivating factor to show others where we stand?
Quite simply, "We love, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
PRAYER:
So thank You Jesus, for loving us first, and always. Forgive us when we are negligent in the simple but sometimes challenging "greatest commandment", and when we ourselves get a little "gore-y" with each other.
(I've never used the words "ox" and "gore" so much in a devotion!)
Love You Jesus! Amen.
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