Grabbing Privates, Hurting Potential

So I'm just going to take a stab at this next passage in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 25:11–16 (ESV) “When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, 12 then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity. 13 “You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. 15 A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 16 For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.

There is a connection in this law concerning the wife who harms the genitals of a man attacking her husband and the previous law concerning levirate marriage. The aim of the previous law was to prolong the name of the deceased man who died before bearing a son. The cutoff family line would weaken the nation and hobble their sustained identity throughout the generations. 

Of course, we can surmise that this law was not practiced often, if at all. But the question is rightly asked, why is it necessary? The woman of the losing fighter may feel her husband's honor or dignity is at stake and therefore strikes out in vengeance. Perhaps her goal is to eliminate a generational disgrace by injuring the man's procreative ability. The punishment makes clear that God will have none of this. Temporary fights between men are not to determine or undermine the generational blessing of one's offspring. 

The deeper issue of the law is to restrain hurting one's long-term potential over a momentary act of passion. God's people may disagree and argue, but at the end of it, we are to hope for and encourage long-term success in each other's lives. Doing so only creates a stronger global body of believers. 

This might be the reason God addresses dishonest trade in the next passage. An honest economic system is the foundation for a just society. Without fair trade, people cannot have equal opportunity for production. The text seems to tie family lineage to economic potential once again. Could it be that we today break this law in a number of different ways?

Do we not sometimes see children as a hindrance to economic prosperity? Do we not often tie economic development to the benefit of a single generation instead of those long after us (consider the national debt's escalation)? Are not abortion rights typically tied to one's earning potential and freedom to choose when a child is wanted for one's own pleasure and not part of God's plan for a prosperous future? I see these issues closely related to what God is conveying through these laws. 

Economics and strong natural family are essential foundations to society. Destroy one and you end up losing the other. An unfair economic system causes some to forego child-raising or even casts doubts on one's ability to provide for them, thereby making abortion and or childlessness a "fair-minded" alternative. What a sham! At the same time, family breakdown can lead to economic malfunctions in society as we often see today. Consider the vast economic differences between cohabitating/unmarried couples and those in sustained healthy natural families. No data has ever suggested anything other than a long-term committed heterosexual marriage producing natural offspring is the absolute best option for a society's health and overall prosperity. 

So in our temporary moments of passion, fighting for our own "honor" or "dignity" where we may make fatal mistakes, the Lord is clear: short-term conflict must NOT undermine long-term stability among God's people. Bear the temporary shame of a swollen lip, it will pass. Don't let the little things disrupt God's bigger plan.