Situational Ethics as taught by the Bible

I have often heard it said by Christians that ethics are not situational, but rather absolute. It is my intention to illustrate the fact that not only is situational ethics an acceptable thing, but that it is in fact supported Biblically. In order to do so, I will run through the Ten Commandments, and give an example from the Bible--for as many as I can--of someone breaking that Commandment and either being blessed for breaking that Commandment, or being clearly right in breaking that Commandment due to context.

1. Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

This is a pretty straightforward one. The Bible contains plenty of people who do not follow this Commandment, but I can't think of anyone who was said to be in the right for not doing so. As the First Commandment, this may be a principle that cannot be superseded by a higher one.

2. Exodus 20:4-6 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

In 2 Kings, a man named Naaman comes to the prophet Elisha to be cleaned from leprosy. After his skin is healed, he makes a request: 2 Kings 5:17-19 "And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD. In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing. And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way." So for whatever reason (I don't see that it's given here) Naaman is given permission to bow down to idols, and still be a faithful follower of the God of Israel.

3. Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The Third Commandment is an odd one, as I don't know of a single instance of it being broken in the Bible. Moving on...

4. Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

This is an interesting one, as Jesus repeatedly breaks the sabbath and talks about instances in which a person might break the sabbath and be excused. Matthew 12 has some good examples, including the opening story: Matthew 12:1-2 "At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day." Not only is Jesus breaking the sabbath (and I am going to make the assumption that if Jesus does something, it's not wrong to do so), but he gives the Pharisees a short lesson on situational ethics using David as an example.

5. Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Later in Matthew 12, Jesus' mother shows up. Matthew 12:46-49 "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!" I would argue that Jesus is dishonoring his mother here; I don't know why, but I'm willing to accept that since it was Jesus, it was the right thing to do, and he had a good reason to do so.

6. Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Where to begin? The whole Old Testament is filled with justified killing, and instead of picking a particular passage, I'll choose as my example the entire book of Joshua, which tells the story of not just justified killing but repeated outright genocides of entire nations. Now I know that a lot has been written about the justification of the actions of the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua (I've written on it myself in my other blog) but the fact remains that this is killing, justified by the situation that Joshua and his people were in.

7. Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Who can forget Genesis chapter 38? Here's the highlight that shows even adultery can be right due to situational ethics: Genesis 38:24-26 "And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more." Here is an example of a woman who was judged righteous for engaging in prostitution! Why? Because the situation of her being a childless widow demanded her to be given a son. She gives birth to twins, and ends up being the descendent of King David and her name is mentioned in Jesus' genealogy  in the New Testament.

8. Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.

The wording in various versions of the Bible may make this one a bit tricky to understand. Exodus 12:35-36 "And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians." This is not "borrowed", as there is never going to be a time that this is given back. The Israelites are taking riches that belong to the Egyptians, and keeping them; why? It's reparations for slavery; they're trying to get 400 years of back wages. 

9. Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

In the beginning of the book of Exodus, Pharaoh tells a pair of Hebrew midwives to kill male children that they deliver. They don't, which is following the Sixth Commandment, but then they break the Ninth Commandment: Exodus 1:18-20 "And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty." This in the past has always been my go-to verse for situational ethics. The midwives are clearly breaking the Ninth Commandment, yet God blesses them for doing so, I assume because the lying saved lives. 

10. Exodus 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

The Tenth Commandment, in my opinion, is a strange one, because it's the only Commandment that is broken entirely in secret. There are very few instances of this Commandment being broken in the Bible, but like the first, I don't know of any instances where someone was blessed for coveting.

But still, I think I have examples here for seven out of ten, and while someone may have an explanation as to why I'm misinterpreting one or two of these, I really don't think all seven can be denied (and if the example for number six can be dismissed on a technicality, I'm sure I could find another example that's better). My conclusion is that situational ethics is entirely Biblical.