Stay Sensitive To Pain And Loss

"You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." - Exodus 23:19b ESV

The does not say, 'Don't eat young goats.'

It also doesn't say, 'Don't use milk for cooking.'

This is a nuanced commandment that became oversimplified in tradition. It is talking about sensitivity to suffering and having a hard heart that just uses things and people indiscriminately. 

Our life is going to cause suffering in others. That is an inescapable reality we must face but we still want to minimize that suffering and deal compassionately in life instead of just gobbling things up indiscriminately because we have 'a good recipe'. The context is this... which I think is striking.

"You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." - Exodus 23:16-19 ESV

Interesting. In a way I think God is saying, 'I know doing these things is going to be inconvenient for you but do it anyway and be sensitive about what you do and who you hurt.'

The goat doesn't know or care but what you know and care about is what God is interested in.

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