The Commandments Explained - Property
One of the biggest lessons I learned during my college years in Chicago had very little to do with classrooms or textbooks.
I came from a small-town Texas background, and moving to the center of Chicago was a culture shock in every way. One of the hardest adjustments was learning how to respond to homelessness. I wrestled with questions many of us have probably asked: Should I give money? Am I helping or hurting? How do I respond wisely?
Over time, I realized I had been asking the wrong question.
The real question was not, “Should I give this person something?”
The real question was, “Do I see the humanity in this person or not?”
That realization changed the way I read Exodus 22.
Seeing Humanity in the Law
At first glance, Exodus 22 can feel like a strange passage. It is filled with laws about stolen livestock, borrowed property, damaged crops, and restitution.
But underneath the specific rules is a powerful principle: God values people.
The laws were not just random regulations. They were ways of teaching Israel to treat one another with dignity, responsibility, and care.
Again and again, the law says:
If you wrong someone, make restitution.
If you damage what belongs to another, make it right.
If someone is vulnerable, do not take advantage of them.
In a world where many ancient cultures responded to wrongdoing with harsh punishment, God’s law often moved toward restoration and protection.
Why? Because God was forming a people who would reflect His character.
The Kingdom of Empire vs. the Kingdom of Shalom
Israel had just come out of Egypt, where they had been treated as less than human. Pharaoh’s kingdom was built on power, control, and dehumanization.
But God was building something different.
Through the law, God was teaching His people that every person matters because every person is made in His image.
That is the contrast we have been exploring in Clash of Kingdoms:
The kingdom of empire dehumanizes.
The kingdom of shalom humanizes.
The kingdom of empire values power.
The kingdom of shalom values people.
And this is not just an Old Testament principle.
God Humanized
The most powerful truth in this message is this:
When the world dehumanizes, God humanizes.
God did not stay distant from human brokenness. He entered into it.
Jesus became human.
He walked among people.
He touched the sick.
He spoke with the outcast.
He sat with sinners.
He died for us while we were still lost in our brokenness.
That means the gospel is not just about forgiveness.
It is also about restoration.
It is about dignity.
It is about seeing people the way God sees them.
What This Means for Us
If we follow Jesus, we cannot live by the world’s pattern of dehumanizing others.
We cannot reduce people to labels, politics, mistakes, or stereotypes.
Instead, we are called to:
Love our neighbors as ourselves.
See the image of God in every person.
Speak with grace instead of contempt.
Bring goodness into a world shaped by division.
Jesus summed up the law this way:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart… and love your neighbor as yourself.”
That is the heart of Exodus 22.
That is the heart of the gospel.
That is the heart of the kingdom of shalom.
A Final Reflection
As you go into this week, consider this question:
What does the goodness of God change about the way I see and treat other people?
God’s goodness is not just something we receive.
It is something we are called to reflect.
May we be people who humanize because God humanized.
May we love because He loved us first.
And may the world see the goodness of God through the way we treat one another.
“God, let us go into this world showing the world how good You are.”
