applications of God's laws

a.  Exodus 21-23 provides some specific, case-by-case applications of God's laws.  The punishments listed are the maximum penalty and are not absolutely automatic.  Some people have mistakenly concluded that the statements in these chapters are in opposition to the loving nature of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Demonstrate how these case studies represent God's mercy as well as His justice by selecting five of the following examples and writing a short paragraph on each.  Your paragraphs should explain how the underlying purpose of the laws given to Moses was to prepare the children of Israel to receive God's higher laws and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Exodus 21:22-25
  
  If a man rapes a woman and makes it so that she can't bear children anymore but doesn't hurt her other than that, the husband can punish him according to what he and the judges of Israel determine is just.  If the man does hurt her more, then punishment is an eye for an eye; the husband can take equal punishment against the man.
  
  
• Exodus 21:26-27
  
  If a master severely injures his/her servant, the servant is no longer obligated to be that person's servant.  The servant is now free.
  
  
• Exodus 21:28-32
  
  If a man's ox kills someone with its horns, the ox should be stoned and then owner is considered innocent.  If the ox has a tendency to ram people/things with its horns, people have told the owner, and then the ox kills someone because the owner doesn't keep it locked up, the ox should be stoned and the owner should be killed also.  The owner of the ox should also give a ransom of money to help the family of the person the ox rammed, the amount depending on the person who died.
  
  
• Exodus 21:33-34
  
  If someone digs a pit and some one's animal falls in because the pit wasn't covered, the digger of the pit should give the owner of the animal money, and then the animal belongs to the digger of the pit.
  
  
• Exodus 22:7-13
  
  If you steal, you should pay it back double.  If someone leaves some money or some of their stuff at their neighbor's house, it's stolen from the neighbor's house, and the thief isn't found, then the neighbor will be taken before the judges to see if they were the one who stole it.  For any claim of ownership of something, both parties will come before a judge.  Whoever the judge declares to be the rightful owner will be paid double the amount of the money/property.
  
  
• Exodus 22:22-24
  
  If anyone afflicts someone who is husband or fatherless, they will be destroyed.
  
  
• Exodus 23:4-7
  
  Help others with their burdens, help them get their property back, and don't judge them.  If you do the opposite, the same thing you did to them will happen to you.
  
  

The Lord punishes us, not to be mean or anything, but to teach us.  He has our best interest at heart.  It's like when our parent(s) punished us for breaking the rules when we were younger.  They wanted us to grow up to become good people, knowing that certain behaviors weren't going to help us get there.  While not all punishments are immediate, I think that the sooner a bad behavior is nipped in the butt, so to speak, the less likely we are to turn that behavior into a bad habit.  Once something is a habit, it's harder to break.

I think the Lord gave the children of Israel the law He expected them to follow and outlined the punishments early on so that they would be in a place to develop better habits.  Once you master smaller things, you can start working on bigger things, i.e. first you learn to crawl, then you walk, and then you can run.  The Lord doesn't expect us to start off running.  I think the underlying purpose of the law of Moses was to teach the people of Israel to walk.  Once they had a good handle on walking, or in this case obeying the law of Moses, the Lord could teach them to run with the higher laws and gospel of Christ.

b.  Write one or two sentences describing how JST, Galatians 3:24 applies to these chapters of Exodus.

Galatians 3:24 says, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."  I think this relates to Exodus 21-23 because those chapters were setting up laws and punishments.  When we obey the law and especially the law of God, we are able to learn about and become closer to Him.  We are blessed for keeping the law as incentive for continuing to keep it.  The law is there to teach us.  Obeying the law brings us closer to Christ because that is what He did.

Murmuring in the Wilderness--Exodus 15:23-27; 16-17

What did the children of Israel murmur about?  Identify all the examples you can find.

The children of Israel always found something to whine and complain about.  In Exodus 15:23-27, the people had been wandering in the wilderness for a few days.  They came to this one part of the wilderness that had a lot of water.  They started complaining that the water they found was bitter and therefore undrinkable.  They then called the land Marah, which I'm assuming had some meaning to do with the water they couldn't drink.  It seems to me like naming the land Marah to remind themselves that they couldn't drink the water there was an excuse to complain every time they mentioned the name...such a downer.  Every time I think of something that's not very good, it makes it hard for me to be in a good mood.  I've never wandered in the wilderness with nothing to drink, but I think that by reminding themselves about their bad situation, they were only making themselves that much more unhappy.  It seems like the more unhappy I am the easier it is to complain, which is I think what the children of Israel did to themselves in these verses.

In Exodus 16, the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness some more, and then they started complaining that they didn't have food to eat.  They complained saying that they wished they had stayed in Egypt because at least they were fed well.

In Exodus 17, the people, yet again, complained that they didn't have any water to drink.

How did the Lord respond to their murmuring?

In Exodus 15:23-27, the Lord responded to the murmuring of the children of Israel by giving Moses some sort of a vision.  The Lord showed him a tree, which touched the bitter water and made it sweet.  I think the Lord was trying to teach the people that as long as they are faithful and righteous, He will provide for them.  They need to have faith and keep enduring in righteousness.  The Lord then had Moses lead the people to a land with an abundance of good, clean water.

In Exodus 16, the people murmured and complained that they didn't have any food to eat.  Moses prayed, and the Lord said that He would send quails for meat and He would make it rain bread.  The Lord gave the specific commandment that they should gather food for six days so that on the seventh, the Sabbath, day, they could rest.  If they left any food out to collect on the Sabbath, it would be rotten and gross.  As long as they kept the commandments, they would be well fed with good food.  The Lord promised to send twice as much food on the sixth day so that they could stay home on the seventh.

In Exodus 17 when the children of Israel complained that they didn't have water again, Moses prayed to the Lord as to what to do.  The Lord told him to take the stick he used to part the Red Sea and go to this one rock in Horeb.  The Lord told Moses to smite the rock and water would come out of it.

For a people who complained all the time, the Lord was really patient with them.  Even though they kept tempting Him and murmuring against His commandments, He still blessed them when they were righteous.

Why do you think people murmur against God and those He has chosen as His leaders?  (See 1 Nephi 16:1-3.)

I think that people murmur against God and those He has chosen to be His leaders because of pride.  I think they know they're doing something wrong, and they're embarrassed that someone called them on it.  I also think that doing the right thing isn't always the easy thing.  By listening to the Lord and His leaders, we have to use our '"spiritual muscles" sometimes, and I think some people want a free ride through life.

What does murmuring usually lead to?

It seems like murmuring only leads to more contention.  I've noticed that when I am in a bad mood or even just complaining, the people around me become kind of irritated with me.  They let their frustrations with me be known, which gets me in a worse mood and I only complain more, and it just keeps going down hill from there.  We usually end up in some sort of fight or argument, which, of course, drives away the Spirit.


Read 2 Nephi 27:35.  Describe in writing what Nephi suggested as an antidote for murmuring.

In 2 Nephi 27:35, it seems like Nephi is suggesting that we really sit down and understand what we are being taught by the scriptures.  It seems like he is suggesting that we really learn the doctrine of the gospel.  I think that if we do, we won't have room to complain because we will know that we really need to listen and obey what we are told to do because God has only our best interests at heart.

What counsel would you give to a friend or a family member who murmurs against the commandments of God?

If a friend of family member of mine was murmuring against the commandments, I think I would first try to understand why they're really murmuring.  I might assume that it's because of one thing, but it might be because of a whole other issue.  I would ask them questions to see what their murmuring really boils down to.  I think that a lot of times, it's pride.  Whether they don't think it should apply to them or the specific commandment in question has called them on something they didn't want to admit to themselves or whatever it is, they probably think that doing something else would be a better use of their time.

I asked a few of my friends what they thought, and one brought up a good point.  He said that it depends on both your and their personalities.  If they're the type of person who would flip out, react badly, or in some way make the situation worse, it might be better not to say anything at all.  He said it also depends on how badly, if at all, it offends you.  If it does offend you, you can either say something to the person (nicely) or leave the room until they're done complaining.

Another friend brought up that it depends on if they're faithful.  Whether they are or not, you can definitely ask them to respect what you believe and not make comments like that around you.  If they're a true friend, they'll respect you and your request.  If they're faithful to God and His commandments, then you can try to figure out what's really upsetting them and help them past it and try to guide them back in the right direction.  Maybe they just misunderstood the commandment and that's what they're murmuring about.