As a preacher, I am painfully aware of this passage in Deuteronomy 25:4. Not because of oxen, though, but because Paul quotes it in 1 Corinthians 9:9 about paying those who labor in the gospel. If you work in spiritual things, Paul argues, you should also reap material things (1 Corinthians 9:11).
The image of an ox on the threshing floor is extremely vivid. An animal walks in circles for hours, using its enormous girth to stamp down the wheat. As it does, it may stop to eat a bit of what pops up. It can’t help it. It’s an animal.
If so, then why does Moses introduce a law that says to keep that from happening? Why would anyone really put a muzzle on an ox to keep him from eating the little scraps that happen to fly in the air as a result of his labor?
This passage fits beautifully in this section that overall talks about attitudes towards the poor. Previously, Moses has talked about gleanings (Deuteronomy 24:19-22), returning pledges (Deuteronomy 24:10-13), and not distorting justice to those who can’t afford a proper defense (Deuteronomy 24:14-15).
Moses keys in on that exact same concept when he talks about not muzzling the ox while he’s threshing. For a particular greedy person—someone who wants to make sure they get every little scrap of what’s theirs—they might put a muzzle on their beast to make sure they don’t eat any of it.
That’s not only rude, but it’s unjust. That animal is using their labor to produce a better end product for you. What right does that person have to deprive the animal of this?
Outside of greed, a farmer may insist on beating the animal who simply wants to stop and take a break while in the middle of their labor. After all, in the eyes of that person, a pause in labor means a pause in profits. We can’t have that, can we?
We don’t have to look too far back in our own (American) history to see violators of this practice in real time. Child labor laws, minimum wage, mandatory time off, regular lunch breaks—all of these ideas were introduced because companies were too focused on the bottom line and not on the person creating that bottom line for them.
That’s why Paul uses Deuteronomy 25:4 when discussing his own payment. He has labored intensively for their souls; should he not be paid an appropriate wage? Or does a group of Christians, who have had grace extended to them by Jesus’ sacrifice, insist on hoarding it all for themselves?
I’ll let you be the judge on that one.