Hammurabi the Hammer

I was studying with J.J. for his Social Studies test last night and we reviewed Hammurabi’s Code. For those of you who have been out of 6th grade for a while, Hammurabi was the leader of the Babylonian Empire and his written system of laws and rules is the earliest we have ever discovered.

Hammurabi was an “eye for an eye” kind of guy – with an interesting exception. Punishment did indeed match the crime, but the importance of the victim also influenced the severity of the consequence. In other words, if an ancient surgeon failed to cure a person of the higher class, his hands were cut off.

As we studied, J.J. mentioned how so many of the places mentioned in his lesson were found in the Old Testament of the Bible – we learned that Ninevah had a large and impressive library (remember Jonah trying to avoid his trip and being swallowed by a fish?), we learned about the Assyrian warriors and we talked about the Mesopotamian calendar being based on the flooding of the Nile River.

The more I learned about Hammurabi, and thought about the people who lived under his code, I began to see why the way of Christ is so hard to believe. We as people just cannot imagine that sort of grace, can we?

Think upon it – the UNMERITED favor of God…the forgiveness of sin without eternal penalty...regardless of who you are.

It’s still true, I believe. Even a casual glance at politics, law enforcement and even global relations can move us farther and farther away from the way of Christ and it gets harder and harder to get a taste of Jesus while we are being swallowed by it all.

Let’s allow God to challenge our limited perspective. Can we see the severity of the world for what it is and live under a different code? The way of Christ is the way of amazing grace - without exception.

Give and receive a taste of it today. Cut off the rest.