The Economics of Everything: Don't Muzzle the Ox Text: Deuteronomy 25:4
Introduction: God's Micromanagement
We live in an age that wants to keep God out of the details. Modern man is quite content to grant God a ceremonial role, perhaps as the grand architect of the cosmos in some distant, deistic past. He can be in charge of the big, spiritual things, like stained glass and personal feelings. But when it comes to the nitty gritty of life, when it comes to the threshing floor, the marketplace, the office, and the payroll department, God is politely asked to remain outside. Our world has erected a large "No Trespassing" sign, and it is addressed to the Almighty.
But the God of Scripture is not a God who stays at a respectable distance. He is a God who gets into everything, because He made everything and He owns everything. He has an opinion about interest rates, just weights and measures, property lines, and yes, how you treat your livestock. The Bible is not a collection of abstract spiritual principles. It is a book about how to live, from the chancel to the checkout line. It reveals the grammar of reality, and that grammar applies to every last syllable of our existence.
This brings us to a seemingly small, almost quaint, little law tucked away in Deuteronomy. It is one of those case laws that modern Christians, in their sophisticated ignorance, are often tempted to skip over. It seems agrarian, specific, and perhaps a little random. But in this one little verse, we find a profound principle of economic justice that echoes from the Mosaic covenant, through the letters of the Apostle Paul, and right down to our paychecks and offering plates today. This is not just a law about animal husbandry; it is a law about the way the world is supposed to work. It is a small window that opens onto a very large landscape, the landscape of God's perfect justice.
The Text
"You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing."
(Deuteronomy 25:4 LSB)
The Plain Sense on the Threshing Floor (v. 4)
Let us begin with the verse as it stands. The command is straightforward.
"You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing." (Deuteronomy 25:4)
In the ancient world, after the grain was harvested, it was spread on a hard, flat surface called a threshing floor. A large animal, like an ox, would then be led around in circles over the grain. Its heavy hooves, sometimes aided by a threshing sledge, would separate the edible grain from the stalk and husk. It was hard, repetitive, dusty work for the animal. And as the ox is doing this work, it is surrounded by the very fruit of its labor. The grain is right there, under its nose.
The temptation for a stingy farmer would be to tie a muzzle, a sort of feedbag, around the ox's mouth. This would prevent the ox from snacking while it worked. The farmer might reason that he was paying for the ox's labor, not for it to get fat on the profits. But God says, "No." You shall not do that. Let the creature that is producing the wealth partake of that wealth. This is basic, fundamental justice.
On the most immediate level, this is a law about kindness to animals. A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast (Proverbs 12:10). God is not indifferent to the suffering or the well being of His creatures. But we must not stop there. The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, makes it clear that this law was not written with a primary concern for the bovine digestive system. The principle here is much broader.
The Apostolic Application: Paying the Preacher
Twice in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul quotes this very verse, and he applies it directly to the financial support of gospel ministers. The first instance is in his letter to the Corinthian church.
"For it is written in the Law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.' Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Or does He say it altogether for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop." (1 Corinthians 9:9-10 LSB)
Paul's logic here is what we call an argument "a minore ad maius," from the lesser to the greater. He asks a rhetorical question: "Is it for oxen that God is concerned?" The answer is not that God doesn't care about oxen. The answer is that if God cares enough to legislate for the fair treatment of a dumb animal, how much more does He care about the fair treatment of men made in His image, and specifically, men He has called to proclaim His glorious gospel?
The minister of the gospel is the ox on the threshing floor. He labors in the Word and doctrine, separating the wheat of God's truth from the chaff of error. He is treading out the spiritual grain that feeds the souls of the congregation. Paul's point is that it is a gross injustice for a church to expect to be fed spiritually by a man whom they refuse to feed physically. The laborer is worthy of his wages. The one who sows spiritual things has a right to reap material things.
He makes the same point, even more directly, in his letter to Timothy, his apostolic delegate in Ephesus. He links our verse from Deuteronomy with a saying of the Lord Jesus Himself.
"Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing,' and, 'The laborer is worthy of his wages.'" (1 Timothy 5:17-18 LSB)
Here, the principle is applied to the compensation of elders. Those who labor in the Word are to be given "double honor," which in the context clearly includes financial remuneration. Paul places a command from the Law of Moses right alongside a quote from the Lord Jesus (Luke 10:7) and calls them both "Scripture." This is a high view of inspiration, and the application is inescapable. A church that starves its pastor is a church that is muzzling the ox. It is an act of disobedience to a clear scriptural command, a command rooted in the very justice of God.
The General Equity: God's Economic Blueprint
But the principle does not stop with pastors. This is what the old theologians called the "general equity" of the law. The specific circumstance might be an ox in ancient Israel, but the underlying principle of justice is universal and timeless because it is rooted in the character of God. The principle is this: it is right for a laborer to partake in the fruit of his labor.
This is God's blueprint for all just economic relationships. It applies to every employer and every employee. An employer who extracts labor from his workers while paying them a wage that does not allow them to live and thrive is muzzling the ox. Businesses that see their employees as mere cogs in a machine, as expenses to be minimized, rather than as image bearers of God who are helping to create the wealth of that business, are violating this principle. They are muzzling the very people who are treading out the grain.
This also applies in the other direction. An employee who does the bare minimum, who steals time, who produces shoddy work while expecting a full paycheck, is also attempting to muzzle the ox. He wants to eat the grain without doing the work of treading it out. This is theft.
This principle is the foundation of a free and productive society. It repudiates the envy and theft of socialism, which seeks to muzzle the productive and redistribute the grain to those who did not tread it. And it repudiates the greed and exploitation of crony capitalism, which seeks to consolidate the grain in the hands of a few while muzzling the many who labored to produce it. God's economic way is one of honest labor, just compensation, and widespread ownership.
Conclusion: The Unmuzzled Ox of the Gospel
Like all of God's laws, this one ultimately points us to Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Ox of God. He labored mightily on the threshing floor of this world. He was not just treading out grain; He was treading the winepress of the wrath of God Almighty (Revelation 19:15). In His labor, He produced the bread of life for us to eat and the wine of the new covenant for us to drink.
And what was His reward? He was muzzled. He was denied the fruit of His labor. He who was rich, for our sakes became poor. He who owned the cattle on a thousand hills had nowhere to lay His head. On the cross, He who was the source of all life was given vinegar to drink. He was muzzled so that we, who deserved nothing, could be unmuzzled and invited to feast at His table forever.
Because of His work, we are now called to be unmuzzled oxen ourselves. We are called to labor in His kingdom, whether as pastors, plumbers, mothers, or magistrates. And as we labor, we are to do so in the joyful hope of sharing in the crop. We are to work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord we will receive the inheritance as our reward (Colossians 3:23-24).
And we are to be a people who refuse to muzzle others. We should be known for our radical fairness, our prompt payment of debts, our generous compensation, and our cheerful support of the ministry of the Word. In this way, even in our economic dealings, we proclaim the justice and the generosity of our great God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach. Let us be a people who take God's Word seriously, right down to the last ox, and in so doing, show the world the goodness of the one who provides all grain.