Gary North wrote in his book Political Polytheism, "The problem facing the West today is that for three centuries, 1673 to 1973, Protestant Christians abandoned the intellectual discipline of casuistry–applied biblical morality–and thereby abandoned the crucial task of developing an explicitly and exclusively biblical social theory." This is the great lack of the church of our day, a cohesive biblical social theory. This is one of the major reasons that the church has been unable to stop the humanist juggernaut. We had no answers to social issues. We have been assured that we would be able to escape by the false prophets of the imminent Rapture fame. Yet, while the church awaits His return, they keep getting older and soon die without Jesus returning. No one dares ask the question, "Maybe the imminent Rapture is a total farce?" If we are going to be around for awhile, the church needs to come up with answers to the humanist mess caused by the church’s retreat from the battlefield.
Application
To properly understand the Bible, we need to use what is known as applied theology.
We have completed going through the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are a summation of the law of God. There are sub-groupings under this main head. Now we are going to learn to apply the law to specific cases and then we will move into the law application of the prophets. God said to Moses in Exodus 21:1, "Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them." God’s people are to be aware of God’s commandments. We are not to be ignorant of His word.
In Exodus 21:2, we read, "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing." The first thing to notice the little word that this sentence begins with. It is the two letter word "if." This signifies that if this is the situation, then this is what we are to do. It is a cause and effect situation. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of this word, "It is used as the sign of a condition, or it introduces a conditional sentence." When thinking of the word "if" think conditional. Salvation is conditional. Covenant is conditional. The whole of the Bible contains conditions. Meet the conditions and the promises are yours.
In the above verse, we have the condition of the buying of a servant. This servant, however, is no ordinary servant. He is a Hebrew servant. This means that he has to be dealt with in a different manner than a non-Hebrew servant. We notice here a familiar pattern given in the law. It is the Sabbath pattern. Six and one. In this instance, six years of service and then rest. This has beenestablished in the Fourth Commandment and from God’s weekly pattern of creation. The rest of this case law deals with the specifics of what happened under certain conditions with these Hebrew servants.
Exodus 21:12-14 reads, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. 13And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. 14But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die." This case law comes under the Sixth Commandment. It is straightforward. If a man kills another with forethought (premeditation and deceitfully), then the penalty prescribed is the death penalty i.e. crushing the head of serpent.
Another example is found in Numbers 35:16-21, "And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 17And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 18Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 19The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. 20But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die; 21Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him." When a weapon is generally in use, the offender intends to kill his opponent. He is using something that can easily produce death such as iron, stone, wood, or fists. In our days, it would be knives, guns, baseball bat etc. With all murder, there is an element of hatred involved. The murder may use the element of surprise to make the murder easier.
Conclusion
Whether we like it or not, all things in life are basically judicially determined. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" We as Christians should be trained in casuistry. We should have the ability to judge all matters that pertain to this life. This requires being trained to think biblically and judicially. If we do not do it, the humanists have and will continue to do it for us.
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