Well Being Instead of Welfare- Exodus 21:12-36

God provides laws that carry punishment based on damages incurred by victims. If one person kills another intentionally, that person is to be killed. If it is unintentional, there is a way for that person to remain alive but be sentenced to a form of exile. Striking or cursing parents, an adult abusing his parents, was punishable by death. Children in the womb were protected as life is outside the womb. If people abused their slaves, the law states that they must set their slaves free. If a master killed his slave, that master was to be punished. If people kept dangerous animals and so endangered society, they were held responsible for the actions of those animals. People were also responsible to pay financial restitution if they caused the financial loss of another. Look at the kinds of laws these are as you read. Every single law in this passage offers protections for people and are necessary for a just society to thrive. Without laws that safeguard the property and well-being of people, society regresses into chaos, entitlement, and welfare—a culture in which no one is held responsible for his or her action or inaction. Well-being is more important than welfare. In these biblical laws, no one is entitled to anything. It was required that people work for what they had and treated others fairly. They were to be held accountable when they caused damages, either physical or financial. God has given these laws so that Israel may prosper and live long in the land of Canaan. I think we can learn much from the principle, here—especially as it comes to law and order in our own day. Do we create laws that protect citizens from injustices, or do we create laws that further our own political agendas? The Mosaic Law did not make the rich and powerful richer and more powerful. Instead, it protected citizens of all classes and trades by holding all people responsible for their own actions and inactions within society.