An eye for an eye bible7/27/2023 ![]() Read past devotionals on the Joseph Prince app. This devotional is from 100 Days of Favor. Be wise-don’t overdose yourself on information and knowledge that does not infuse you with God’s life and power. ![]() What I am saying is this: Know what is good for the wholeness of your body and mind. I am not asking you to become an ignoramus or to live in a cave. Such information may even be necessary for the industry that you are in. It is all right to keep yourself abreast of current world events and be in the know about what is happening in the Middle East, trends in the economy and developments in the political arena. There is just no nourishment for us there. If we are only feeding on the news media, magazines, or the unending stream of information on the Internet, it is no wonder that we feel weak and tired. The more we hear and see Jesus, the healthier and stronger we become! Our mortal bodies become infused with His resurrection life and power! The Bible shows us that there is a direct correlation between hearing and seeing Jesus, and the health of our physical bodies. The result of tuning our ear- and eye-gates to Jesus is that He will be life and health to us. It is all about beholding Jesus, and as we behold Him, we are transformed more and more into His likeness, full of unmerited favor and truth! Don’t miss this powerful promise, my friend. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” That’s what “give attention to my words” means today in the new covenant, for Jesus is God’s Word made flesh. He wants us to have our ears full of the gracious words of Jesus, our eyes full of the presence of Jesus and our hearts meditating on what we have heard and seen in Jesus. God tells us to guard what we hear, what we see, and what is in our hearts. Do not let them depart from your eyes keep them in the midst of your heart for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.” The Book of Proverbs, which is chock-full of God’s wisdom, tells us, “My son, give attention to my words incline your ear to my sayings. Essentially, this means that we need to be conscious of what we watch and hear on a regular basis. 5:38–39).I always encourage my church to be mindful of their eye- and ear-gates. Thus Jesus counseled individuals to “turn the other cheek” rather than pressing for “eye for an eye” justice (Matt. Justice can also be tempered by mercy in other ways. A person thus might avoid “an eye for an eye” if he provided appropriate compensation to the injured party. Numbers 35:31 specifies that no ransom can be accepted in a case of murder, suggest- ing that in lesser cases the guilty party could pay compensation. In a world without an extensive prison system, this may have liter- ally meant “an eye for an eye,” though not always. This promoted the common good and order of society by dis- couraging people from taking their own revenge. They direct courts to let the punishment fit the crime, which is a fundamental principle of justice. If they are seen as being too lenient, people may take matters into their own hands. To do their job properly, courts need to be seen as administering justice fairly. The ultimate Biblical meaning of eye for eye is clear. Courts exist to keep this from happening. A person who has been wounded or has seen a loved one wounded may kill the perpetrator. If people take their own revenge, they often do so excessively. The point of having a court system is to prevent people from doing that by seeing that justice is done when an innocent party is harmed. They aren’t instructions telling people to take personal revenge. Note that these passages are intended to be used by a court when a crime has been committed. In each passage a similar formula occurs: “you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exod. ![]() The third deals with a witness who lies in court to harm an innocent person. The second deals with a man who attacks and maims another. The first deals with the case of men who are fighting and accidentally injure a preg- nant woman, causing miscarriage. ![]() Three passages mention the “eye for an eye” principle: Exodus 21:22– 25, Leviticus 24:17–21, and Deuteronomy 19:16–21. Properly understood, these passages expressed a principle of justice and sought to promote the common good. King James Bible And thine eye shall not pity but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. ![]()
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