Communal Responsibility
Leviticus 4:13 If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt, [We can sin as a group.]
Numbers 15 — The entire chapter is about how the foreigner should be treated in exactly the same way as the native born. If they want to present an offering before God, they can. And it should be done in exactly the same way that the Israelite would present an offering. There is no higher bar set for the outsider. Nor is their offering discounted. It should be the same. And for the Israelite or foreigner that disobeys the law, their punishment is likewise to be the same — neither greater nor lesser than the other. Numbers 15:16 And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, because the whole population was involved in the mistake.
Deuteronomy 22:1-4 You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother. And if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it. Then you shall restore it to him. And you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment, or with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not ignore it. You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.
Deuteronomy 23:24-25 If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain.
2 Samuel 21:3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord? [Saul had killed many Gibeonites, though the people of Israel had sworn to spare them. It wasn’t David’s sin in particular, but as leader, it was still his place to repent of the sin and seek atonement/restitution for it.]
Nehemiah 1:4-11 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Zephaniah 2:15-3:5 This is the city of revelry that lived in safety. She said to herself, “I am the one! And there is none besides me.” What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts All who pass by her scoff and shake their fists. Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are unprincipled; they are treacherous people. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. The Lord within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.
Communal Reward
1 Samuel 30:24-25 Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
“Essential to the meaning of the image in Genesis 1 is the dynamic power or agency that God grants humans at creation (signified in the terms rule and subdue). Although it is not explicitly stated in Genesis 1, it is reasonable to think that this power is to be exercised responsibly, with God’s own exercise of power in creation perhaps as the model…. With privilege comes responsibility. There is a call inherent in every gift. The imago Dei is thus inextricably linked to the gift and responsibility (delegated to humanity at creation) of exercising stewardship over the earth.” – J. Richard Middleton, The Liberating Image: The imago Dei in Genesis 1. (p. 204)
“… all human beings, male and female, are created as God’s royal stewards in the world, entrusted with the privileged task of ruling on God’s behalf (1:26-28). … In the Genesis vision, it is ordinary humans (and not some elite class) who are understood to be significant historical actors in the arena of earthly life. It is significant, in this connection, that while humans are granted rule over the earth and the animals, there is no mandate in Genesis 1 for humans to rule each other. The democratization of the image in this text thus suggests an egalitarian conception of the exercise of power. Human beings are called to a fundamental mutuality in a shared task, ‘a cooperative sharing in dominion,’ as H. D. Preuss puts it.” – J. Richard Middleton, The Liberating Image: The imago Dei in Genesis 1. (p. 204-205)
“We can’t all live selfish lives and expect the social fabric to remain intact.” – Tim Keller, God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life, page 7.