Exodus 23:20-21 – The Lord Jesus is with us in the journey

In Exodus 23:20 God promised His people that He would send them an angel to guard them along the way and to bring them into the Promised land. They were told to pay attention to the guidance of the angel and were given the reason why they should do so. They were even told not to rebel against the angel for there would be dire consequences if they did. The first question that confronts us is: “Who is this angel?” There have been many suggestions regarding who this angel was. Some proposed that it’s the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire that led them by night. While the cloud could direct and guide, it, unlike a person, could not speak. So, we can quite easily dismiss the idea that God was referring to the cloud.

One other suggestion is that this angel is a human being. The reason they gave for this conclusion is the word ‘messenger’, used to describe an angel. There were some who thought that God was referring to Moses. But this is quickly debunked because we know that Moses never entered the promised land. So God is certainly not talking about Moses. To support that the angel is a human being, some went even further to suggest that Joshua, who took the people into the promised land, was being referred to. Besides, the name Joshua means, Jehovah saves. Is not this exactly what we are told in verse 21 when God said, “My name is in him”?

Of course, we can also see it as God referring to just an angel. But from the context, we know that He was talking about more than just an angel because he was so closely associated with God. This “unique angel” had the power to forgive sin and punish rebelliousness. And He also bore God’s name. Since this “angel” is not God yet share the same divine authority and attributes, lead us to conclude that He is none other than the pre-incarnate appearance of Christ Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Accept it or not, this certainly points us to Christ. The promises Christ Himself had made also helped us to come to this conclusion.

The Lord Jesus Himself promises to be with us on our journey. Before His ascension, He said He would personally be with His believers. His words were, “Lo, I am with you to the very end of the age.” Today, His presence can be felt through the attendance of the Holy Spirit in our life until we reach our promised land. Now, like the angel in Exodus 23:20, Jesus makes God known to us. He is God’s final message to us and everything that is true of God is also true of the Lord Jesus. He is our saviour, friend, guide, teacher and Lord. He is with us to see us through our spiritual journey. Our victory in the journey is ensured because Jesus walks and talks with us, and shows us the way to God. What a great privilege!

Exodus 23:18-19 – We must offer to God our best worship

God had stipulated that they must come before Him annually for three times. They were expected to leave everything and come before the Lord three times a year. Perhaps three times a year was just an arbitrary figure. What God wanted to tell them was that they ought to leave everything frequently and come before Him repeatedly and continually. In stating the number of times, God was helping to cultivate the discipline and habit in His people to come to Him continually. Human tends to be bored with repetitions, yet God knows that it is with repetition and continuity that we grow to enjoy Him. When we appreciate and love God deeply, we will want to come to Him repeatedly and frequently. 

Secondly, the Lord told them that their blood sacrifice must be offered without unleavened bread. In the Bible, yeast is always a symbol of sin. To offer sacrifice with yeast-free bread was by way of saying that God demands we come before Him righteously. Psalm 15:1-2 assert that we must approach God with integrity, with clean hands and pure hearts. The exact words are: “O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart.” God wants us to come before Him but when we do so, we must come to Him undefiled by sin. We must come with an attitude and consecration where sin has been set aside.

What about the fat that must not be left overnight? It is God’s way of saying that they must give themselves to Him wholeheartedly. Until today, fat was considered the choicest part of the animal, especially in those days. People would be tempted to leave some on the altar and come back for it the next day. So, God knows the human heart. He wants our offering to be wholehearted. We must give to Hm even the choicest part of our life. Isn’t this true for us too many times? We want to make an offering to God but at the same time, we also want to hold back something for ourselves. How often would people come to God motivated by what they could get from God than what they could give to God? People are willing to serve God but they also want to keep something for themselves. It is great to come to God and worship Him on Sunday, but what about the rest of the week? Would we also offer the same commitment and love, and live our life to honour Him? God wants not only our Sundays but each and every day of our life. This is the third way we must come before God.

Fourthly, we must give God our best. Verse 19 says we must “…bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.” God deserves the best. We must never give God our leftovers but our best. That’s the reason coming to Him first thing in the day before our life becomes a burden with all the activities of life, makes perfect sense. He deserves the best part of the day when our minds are fresh and our thoughts are clear. Let us give our best to the Master!

Exodus 23:16-17 – Life is free, full and fulfilling life In Jesus

The second feast that the Israelites were instructed to celebrate was called the Feast of the Harvest or the Feast of the First-fruits. This took place when the grains were ready to be harvested. According to Leviticus 23:10-11, the people were told “...when you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.”  It was to be their way of recognizing and admitting that the whole harvest came from the Lord. After that Sabbath when they waved the sheaf, seven full weeks were allowed to pass. On the fiftieth day, they would bring an offering to God. That’s the reason this feast is also known as the Feast of Weeks. Along with this offering of leavened bread, they were also required to make sacrifices described in some details in Leviticus 13:17-21 and Numbers 28:26-31. It was a time they joyfully celebrated and rested from their works. It was a way of praising and thanking God for His provision and meeting their bread.  

In the second half of verse 16, we see the third feast that they were told to celebrate. This is the Feast of the Ingathering, also better known as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of the Tabernacle. It was to be celebrated at the end of the year usually around the months of September-October or the seventh month of their calendar. During this week the Israelites would live in makeshift booths made out of leaves and branches. This event was for them to look back at the time God saved them from Egypt, when they had to live in tents during their wandering in the wilderness. In reliving their past experiences, they would then be assured of their salvation.

So, we see the three feasts as a timely reminder of the grace of the Almighty God. The Feast of the Unleavened Bread speaks of their salvation. Connected to the Passover, this feast points us to Jesus Christ our Passover Lamb. The Unleavened bread was a time when the people partook of yeast-free bread. It signifies the call to live a sanctified life and the removal of sin in one’s life. The Feats of the Harvest points to the Resurrection of Christ. At least this was how the Apostle Paul puts it in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 15 and verse 20. He said, “But Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” This helps us to look forward to our own ultimate resurrection. The culmination of the Feast of the Harvest was on the 50th day after they had first waved their first sheaf to the Lord. In the New Testament, Pentecost took place 50 days after Jesus became the Passover Lamb that was the sacrifice. In the Book of Acts, we are told that on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came bringing great rejoicing to the early believers. The Feast of the Ingathering or Tabernacle was referred to in the Gospel of John in chapter 7. Here Jesus called Himself the water of life, signifying that He is the source of our spiritual fulfilment.

So, the three feasts God instructed the Israelites to celebrate point us to Jesus Christ. He is the Passover Lamb who was slain for our salvation. In the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, we are called to live a sanctified life rid of sin. In the Feast of the Harvest, we are pointed to Pentecost, where God poured out His Spirit, who came alongside believers to empower and enable them to live a full and joyful life. And the Feast of the Ingathering points us to Jesus the ultimate sacrifice, who now has become our ever-flowing spring and source of living water. Let us gratefully live for Him!      

Exodus 23:14-15 - Living a life rid of sin

The Israelites celebrate three annual feasts stipulated by God. They are the Feast of the Unleavened Bread; the Feast of Harvest; and the Feast of Ingathering. Three times a year all the males of Israel would gather in Jerusalem to celebrate these feasts. Let us go through them, reflecting on them one at a time. We begin with the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. What’s important is the significance of this feast. Exodus 23:15 briefly describes this feast, saying, “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.”  

 

This feast is always celebrated in conjunction with the Feast of the Passover. The Passover commemorates the night God caused Pharaoh of Egypt to drive the people of Israel out of Egypt. There they were slaves for a long time until God broke through, killing every firstborn of the Egyptians. Prior to that God told them to take the blood of a slaughtered unblemished lamb and smear on the doorposts of their houses so that the angel of death would bypass those houses. That night they were made to leave Egypt in such a hurry that their bread didn’t even had time to rise.

 

This was immediately followed by the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. For seven days they were told to eat bread without yeast. This feast was given to help them to recall their salvation. It helped them to look back on the exodus when God delivered them from their bondage in Egypt. God gave them this feast to remember that dramatic night. Every year they took time to remind themselves of God’s mighty deliverance. It was one of God’s greatest saving works in history. It points forward to the greatest deliverance at Mount Calvary where Christ Jesus died for sinful humanity.

 

Today, much like the Israelites then, we need to take time to commemorate the mighty deliverance of God. He gave Jesus His Son, the unblemished Lamb of God who shed His blood on Calvary. When we apply His blood over the doorposts of our heart, we are delivered from the guilt of sin and death. So on every Good Friday, we commemorate that historic day when Jesus died for us to set us free. On this day, we recall how deeply God loves us. We were not redeemed with perishable things such as silver or gold. So valuable are we to God that it took the life of His only begotten Son to effect our redemption. As we think of what Jesus had done, we must consider the last part of verse 15 that says, “none shall appear empty handed” before God. We must come to God with a gift. The best gift according to Romans 12:1 is the giving of ourselves to Him as an act of spiritual worship. He wants us to yield ourselves totally to Him. It is not just a logical thing to do but a reasonable act of worship because Christ gave Himself so totally to us. Like the Israelites, we must also remove the yeast, which is a type of sin, from our life. God desires that we live a yeast free life. So we must!

Exodus 23:10-13 – Showing mercy in life

The fourth commandment given by God is a call to guard the Sabbath and to keep it holy. The Book of the Covenant in Exodus 23:10-12 expanded on this commandment. More than just about rest and worship, it is a call to show mercy. In verses 10-11, God began by describing the Sabbath year. The Lord stipulated it, saying, “You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year, you shall let it rest and lie fallow so that the needy of your people may eat, and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.” It meant that when they entered the promised land, every seventh year the ground should be left untilled and unharvested. This practice allowed the land to rest and rejuvenate itself. More than that, this regulation gave an opportunity for the people and animals who depended on the land for food to freely feed on what the land produced that year. This was God’s way of providing for the poor, to collect whatever they needed from the field.  

Exodus 23:12, like the Sabbath year, had the intention to bless the poor and hungry. This regulation allowed an owner’s animals and slaves who were made to toil for six days to be given a day of rest. Both animals and workers must be given Sabbath rest to be refreshed. What can we do practically? On the Sabbath day, we should learn to live in a less elaborate way. Here is one example. On that day, after returning from worship service in the church, we may deliberately allow the people who prepare our meals to cook a simple meal. This will give them the opportunity to cease from needless labour which will deprive them of their needed rest.  

The Book of the Covenant deals with many issues. It was given to regulate their lifestyle. Almost all aspects of life would be regulated whether it be work, slaves, money, land, property, poverty, injury, compensation, justice and even sex and pure living. To top it all, God gave this instruction that they should be obeyed. His people were asked to be careful to do everything they were told to do. God here was demanding our total obedience. Anything less than a hundred percent commitment to what He had stipulated would not do. Being the Sovereign Lord, He would not share His control with any other gods. And His people must not rely and call upon any and every false god. We only have one life to live, and we must live it to glorify that One true and Sovereign God. We must resolve to obey God perfectly. No one has the right to choose to obey some and not to obey others. Let us depend on the Holy Spirit, whom God had sent alongside us, to guide us to act and live simply for Him. In so doing, God not only instructs us on how we must live, but He also enables us to live what He had instructed. So, we do it joyfully for His glory, so as to live for the praise of His glory forever!

Exodus 23:4-5 – Showing kindness to our enemies

It is one thing to relate with people we can get along with but it is quite another with people whom we don’t particularly like. Worst still with people whom we are at loggerheads. The natural tendency is to hurt people we intensely dislike. We consider this category of people our enemies. We may find it easy, and even okay, to hurt them. But in verses 4-5 of Exodus 23, God said that we should show grace to them. Instead of seeking to hurt them, God wants us to help them when there’s an opportunity. These two verses state, “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.”

Here we see two examples. The first is when a man comes across his enemies’ animal that had strayed away. The temptation, of course, is to do nothing about it and allow that animal to get lost on its merry way. One could easily have reasoned saying "it’s not mine why should I care?" And anyway, no one will ever know. But The right thing to do, of course, is to apprehend the animal and then return it to one’s enemy. The second example that is given shows what one ought to do when he sees his enemy struggling with his donkey. It is easy to be just a spectator and watch nonchalantly, gloating over the misfortune of one’s enemies. Here the Lord gives the instruction that instead of revelling and rejoicing over our enemies’ misfortune, we must seek to help him. To put it bluntly, we are called to show courtesy even to our enemies and to treat them as we would our friends. God would rather that we become friends than foes. It is certainly hard to go on hating someone when he shows kindness that we don’t deserve. Compassion is a great way to disarm any hostility.

The greatest example of one who loves his enemies is the Lord Jesus Christ. While we were His enemies and were hostile toward Him, yet He went to the cross and died in our place. He has laid down an example for us to emulate. Yes, we are to love even those whom we dislike and regard as our enemies. When we sow love and grace instead of hatred and revenge, we can sleep sounder and live happier. Just imagine if everyone makes it his or her business to sow love we will have a community of happy people. The words of the Lord Jesus to us in Matthew 5:43-45 say, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” We must seek to make this an objective in life!

Exodus 23:1-3, 6-9 – Living graciously and justly

When we show justice, we reflect the character of our God who is true and just. Psalm 106:3 says that people who practise justice are blessed. The precise words of this verse are, “How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times!” A quick review of the nature of fallen humanity tells us that justice and truth are not always the norm. The tendency of this sinful nature is to exploit and take advantage of others. Man would resort to lying to ensure self-preservation, to take advantage of others or to protect a friend. It was true in the day of Moses, so also it is true in our day. We can understand why God had to give the call to His people not to bear false witness. Exodus 23:1-9 God expanded on the ninth commandment with the objective to get us to act truthfully, righteously and justly. 

In verse 1, the instruction is clear. We are not to bear false witness. And we must not team up with a wicked person and spread malicious lies. When we are called to be a witness to affirm a situation, we must always tell the truth. Conspiring with a mischief maker is strongly prohibited. God would not allow us to be a malicious witness and help a wicked person get scotch free. Justice must not be marred and perverted. We must always speak the truth and not indulge in giving a false report. Bear in mind that what we hear is always only one side of the story. People will never give an account that will disadvantage themselves or their friends. Accounts are often told to fit only one side of the narrative, leaving out details that don’t fit the true situation. This verse ensures that we always speak the truth.

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us to be truthful to let our yes be yes and no, no. Nothing more is required. We need to know that untruths and conjectures are harmful to harmonious living. How often has a family, partnership or friendship been broken up because of untruths? How often have people been wrongly punished because of misinformation? We must resolve to speak the truth wisely and in love. This will save us untold sorrows and a great deal of trouble. We can prevent this by refusing to listen to unfounded rumours. Don’t give ear to something that has nothing to do with us in the first place. When we have to bear testimony, always be sure that our story is accurate and factual. Don’t add fuel to a person who already has an axe to grind with someone. Let us speak only to advance the Kingdom of God.  

Another temptation in life is to speak in a way, even if it borders on untruth, just to convince our listeners. People usually adjust their narrative just to get into someone else’s good book. So, truths could be stretched and story adjusted to fit into what listeners want to hear. Verses 2-3 explicitly say, “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute.” God does not want His people to play to the gallery and pander to the crowd.

In verses 6-7, if we are in a position to adjudicate a situation, God expects us to presume a person blameless until he is proven guilty. We must not conclude based on hear-says and unproven truths. God is fair and just and He expects us to deal with all equally, regardless of a person’s wealth or status. The poor must not be presumed wrong just because he is poor and the rich must not be presumed right just because he is rich. God expects justice to be applied equally to both the rich and poor. Never take sides and allow the poor to be taken advantage of, and the rich be encouraged to exploit the poor. But do bear in mind that the poor could also be the guilty and manipulative ones. While God sympathizes with the poor, he would not condone their wrongs. The poor are not always right, neither are the rich always wrong. He expects justice to be dispensed rightly based on the truth. Equality must be considered in administering justice.

For justice to be rightly served, God gave instruction concerning bribery in verse 8. When a judge accepts a bribe, justice can never be rightly served. Justice should never be bought because bribery always corrupts justice. A judge must not be blind to the truth by accepting a gift. Verse 9 deals with justice for foreigners. People in another land could be taken advantage of. God would not allow that. He protects them. He reminded the Israelites of their past position. They knew how it was like to be oppressed and mistreated. Hence, they must not mistreat foreigners. To live justly and graciously Micah 6:8 comes to mind. It says “Act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Tug this verse somewhere in our heart as we seek to practise truthfulness, righteousness and justice. We will be truly blessed!

Exodus 22:28-31 – Render to God what belongs to Him

It is clearly evident that God is caring and compassionate. He installed all the regulations so that the needy and the poor would be cared for. He made sure that the less fortunate would be dealt with kindly and none should be mistreated. That’s the degree of God’s compassion. As obedient people, we should take this admonition to heart. To show love is a clear reflection of the God of love. This is how the Apostle Paul puts it in Roman 13:8, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law.” Having established how we ought to care for the needy in our community, God then turned to talk about what He wanted from the people. Here He delineates for us the duties that we, His people, owe to Him. The issue in these few verses of Exodus 22 is: How ought we to respond to God’s gracious kindness in our life?

Firstly, God expects us not to speak ill of Him and neither should we speak ill of our rulers whom He had installed to govern our nation. The word curse is better translated as blaspheme. It carries the connotation that we do not take Him lightly. For to disparage God is to dishonour Him. It is failing to acknowledge His sovereignty. Anyone who shows disrespect for God has violated the third commandment. It tantamount to taking the Lord’s name in vain. Notice in verse 28, speaking ill of God and a ruler of the land is put in the same category. It shows us that divine and human authority are closely connected. This verse suggests that to speak against a ruler is as good as attacking God. Why so? A ruler is God’s representative to ensure law and order in a society. In Romans 13:1-2 we see this very clearly. These two verses say, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” This principle on respecting leadership must also be applied to leadership in the church. God has ordained pastoral leadership in the church and we must pray for them and not show disrespect for them. When we respect our leaders, we are showing honour to God who has ordained and placed them in position.    

Verse 29 tells us that secondly, God expects us to honour Him with our gifts and tithes. The Israelites were expected to give their first and the best of the grains to God, their livestock and their children. Concerning giving of our gift, a good way to see this is to see it in the context of our tithes and offering to God. By tithing and offering, we show that we honour God for the blessings He has granted us in life. He deserves our very best and anything short of the best is not good enough an offering to a glorious God.  Not only did God expect the best of Israel’s harvest, but He also expected them to offer to Him all the firstborn of their sons and their livestock. God’s ownership over all that we have must be acknowledged. For us, our children and whatever we earn come from Him, and the best way to handle what we have is to place them before Him with an open hand. Bear in mind that we are only stewards of the gifts of God and everything we have are not ours but His. He has granted them to us so that we may better serve His purpose. 

Finally, in verse 31 we see God expecting holiness from His people. His exact words were: “You shall be holy men to Me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.” Not eating the flesh of an animal that was not properly killed was forbidden by God. Why? To demonstrate the importance of living a life of consecration. God made a distinction between the clean and unclean. An animal killed and torn apart by wild beasts would become unclean. To partake of its flesh would make one ceremonially unclean. This instruction was not only for priests but also for the ordinary folks. God wants us to live a holy and consecrated life unto Him. As God is holy, we who worship and serve Him must seek to live a life consecrated unto Him.    

Exodus 22:25-27 – Do not exploit the poor

In Exodus 22:21-24, we see the compassion of God towards strangers, widows and orphans. He instructed the people to be kind and compassionate toward them. In Exodus 22:25-27 he gave instruction on how the poor should be cared for. He would not allow anyone to take advantage of someone else’s misfortune. A poor person sometimes had to resort to borrowing money to live. The creditor usually would do two things. He would levy interest and also take something as collateral in case the lender could not discharge his debt. God would not allow such a practice. He would not allow the poor to be exploited and money to be made from the poor. More so when they are a fellow member from the community of believers. The reason God did that was that he did not want the poor to carry the burden of debt.

Verses 26-27 stipulate what one must do when he had taken the cloak of a person as surety when providing the loan. The cloak must be returned to him at dusk. This is the outer coat that he would use to sleep on the ground at night. God’s caring heart is clearly demonstrated here. He was ensuring that the poorest person would also have a good night’s rest. Regarding this, Jesus went even further calling on us to be more compassionate. He expects us to lend even to our enemy without expecting them to pay back. That’s the degree of His love and compassion. He gave so freely to us. He wants us to emulate Him by caring for the poor friends or foes. Giving instead of lending frees us from the feeling that we have been cheated when the lender fails to discharge his debt.  

One thing must not happen. No matter how needy we may be, we must never develop a victim’s mentality. A stranger, a widow, an orphan and a poor person may all have something in common. They are in need of help and when none is given, they can become inward looking and pity themselves, and cultivate the mindset of a victim. Some may even demand that help should be given and could become hostile when none seems to be forthcoming. Here the Lord teaches us that we could always cry out to Him. Prayer is an instrument God has given to all, rich or poor, to release His resources of heaven. He will hear our prayers and meet our needs. So, let’s not forget that we have a heavenly Father. He will give us our daily bread. He is the source that we should turn to in times of need. Finally, for us who have the capacity to help, we must avail ourselves to be God’s resources to the poor and needy. We owe it to God for all that He has blessed us with. Remember that we are blessed to be a blessing.  

Exodus 22:21-24 – Let’s be a caring people

The Lord Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments into two calls: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as we would ourselves. These instructions tell us how compassionate and loving God truly is. So, in Exodus 22:21-27 God shows us how we can express His compassion and love towards others. He wants us to do well in life but he will not allow us to take advantage of the disadvantaged. Every human being, except for the sin nature inherited from Adam’s fall, bears the image of God. He or she should be treated with dignity as such. In these verses, we are instructed to show regard for the less fortunate.  

In verses 21-22, God’s instruction is not to mistreat strangers, widows and orphan. By strangers, God was referring to foreigners. They are people who may not speak our language and would be clueless concerning our mannerism and culture. Most likely they would also have little or no connection at all to help them. God’s people are not to take advantage of the outsiders. God appealed to them based on their own experience as aliens in Egypt. They, of all people, should know how it felt to be ill-treated in a foreign land. So, God was calling on them (and us) not to treat and oppress others the way they were oppressed by Pharaoh and his cruel taskmasters. As God’s people, we belong to a welcoming community. We reflect the magnanimity of God when we show care and acceptance. Every week in church we come across people whom we do not know or have not met. All of us probably have people we know but do not share the same interest in life. The issue is this: do we take an interest in them, to want them to experience the very best of God. Are we prepared to invest our resources to help others become a cherished member of the community? Let us draw everyone by the warmth of our love and care that they feel welcomed in our church.   

Widow and orphans are the next disadvantaged groups of people. Widows and orphans have one thing in common. They have lost someone whom they could depend on. One would be deprived of a husband and the other deprived of parents. Hence, they would have no one to look after them. God would not allow them to be disrespected. The Bible tells us that God is a defender of the widow and a father to the fatherless. He Himself would be their provider and protector. So here He reminded us not to mistreat them. With a stern warning, God said that He would hear the cry of the widows and orphans in their oppression. Those who oppressed them would have to bear the grave consequence of retribution. 

Claiming to love God is well and good, only when we demonstrate care for the less fortunate. This is how 1 John 3:17 frames it for us: “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” If we cannot practically love others whom our eyes can see, how can we claim to love God whom our eyes cannot see? The best demonstration of care and love is to show it in action. Let us show our love not only in words but also by our deeds and acts of love. That’s the love of God demonstrated through us!

Exodus 22:18-20 – The call to sanctified living

God, as we have said, is pure. And He demands purity in our conduct and action. He is the only One whom we can trust absolutely. He alone has our best interest at heart. It is foolishness not to give Him our total allegiance. When our vertical relationship with Him is aligned, our horizontal relationship will be aligned. The Ten Commandments, when rightly viewed and observed, help us in our moral living. After giving the moral laws, God took each one and showed His people how to apply them in their everyday living. Exodus 22:18-20 give us three odious and abhorrent actions that are revolting to the Lord. So repulsive were they to God that He demanded the death penalty for those who practised them. Each of these disgusting actions violates the purity of worship.  

The first had to do with witchcraft. Though in verse 19, God only mentions sorceress, elsewhere in the Bible He also condemns a sorcerer. Whether one who practises witchcraft is a male or female, God has no tolerance for him or her. In Leviticus 20:27 He told His people, “Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” A sorcerer or a sorceress is a person who would resort to demonic influence to gain spiritual power. They used the power of the dark to cast spells and gain control of others. Such practises included fortune telling, communicate with the dead and occultic rituals. People who indulge in such practises would become tools of the devil to deceive and mislead. Using such means to seek to know God’s will for one’s life is an attack on His sovereignty. Any form of sorcery is a sin. It is seeking to manipulate God and is a clear indication of a lack of trust in Him.   

The next practice is commonly known as bestiality. This is a human being having sexual intercourse with animals. It is disgusting even to think of it. Yet there are those who would engage in such a flagrant perversion. Such a practise degrades the dignity of a human being created in the image of God. It was also an act that was part of pagan worship. Pagan worshippers would seek physical union with their gods by having sexual relations with animals that depict their gods. Baal was depicted as having sex with a cow by the Canaanites. Bestiality is a heinous act that truly violates all human decency. To God, the seriousness of such an act warranted a death penalty.

The third practise that God condemns is idolatry. Any sacrifice made to any false god other than the LORD alone constitutes idolatry. To offer a sacrifice to any god other than to God alone constitutes a rebellion. A person who does that has installed something or someone to a position that God alone deserves. It is installing something infinitely lesser than God and make it equal to Him. How ludicrous can it be! God would not share His glory with other gods. This is a serious misjudgement and had to be dealt with severely.  

The appalling fact is that in the world today, these three practises are not uncommon. People are still fascinated by witchcraft. There are scores of thousands who still consult a medium, fortune teller and spiritist, seeking to know their future. Then there are those lowdown perverts who still indulge in bestiality. Idolatry is also a common phenomenon among people in the world today. The idols Christians venerate may not be a pagan deity. They can be in the form of a career, a hobby, money, a car and etc. All these three acts are scandalous because they oppose the very nature and character of God. No one should equate the power of darkness to the sovereignty of God. No one should violate the sanctity of the God-image in him 0r her by behaving like an animal. No one should offer worship to any other gods except the one true God. Though we in our 21st-century civil society, the death sentence is not applied to these practises, what we see in these verses tells us how odious such acts are to God. Therefore, seeking to stay connected to God and faithfully respond to His initiatives in our life, is a great way that can keep these practices out of our life.  Let us seek to embrace His purpose and allow it to shape our path in life. He alone is worthy of our worship!

Exodus 22:16-17 – The call to sexual purity

Like all hard truths, the law and the book containing rules and regulation are also hard to stomach. Yet it is needful for us to get acquainted with them. The Law and the Book of the Covenant are intended to regulate and instil moral living for individuals and peaceful living in a community. The no-nonsense and blatant condemnation of wrong hit a guilty person hard. As difficult to read as they may seem, we should not skip knowing them. For through them God’s character is reflected. We get to see how just and fair He is. We are shown how concerned He is for the plight of the victim. As serious followers of the Lord, it will do us well to consider them seriously. We can see that God is an expert on human relationships. The law and the rules He had laid down, when rightly observed, help us to live morally, uprightly and peacefully with each other. The Book of the Covenant covers a wide range of subjects.

Exodus 22:16-17 deal with pre-marital sex. Take note that these two verses talk about the sexual relationship between two consensual adults. It is not referring to a case of rape where a rapist would be stoned to death. These two verses refer to sexual misconduct between two persons. The implication we get here is that sex should not be a casual thing. It must only be engaged by two people who had pledged their life to each other in the covenant of marriage. In the case described in verses 16-17, the man is said to have seduced the girl and she responded to his seduction. When that happened, the man must pay dowry for her to be his wife. This would prevent men from going around seeking sexual pleasure and not wanting to be responsible for that relationship. This regulation given by God ensures that men cannot go around, seduce a girl, sleep with her and then refuse to marry her. The right thing to do for a man who had sexual relations with a girl is to marry her. The dowry payment suggests that. The dowry is not an indication that the girl is like goods to be bought and sold.

The dowry was just one part of the equation. The consent of the father had to be sought even if the man could afford the dowry. In most cases, the father would consent to the marriage to save the reputation of his daughter. However, there could be a situation where a father could see that the man was unsuitable for the daughter, and marry her to him would spell disaster for her. He could then refuse to grant consent for the marriage. Even when the father had refused to consent the marriage the man had to pay the dowry. This was probably to ensure that the girl would have some support since her prospects of marrying had been minimized. The whole purpose was to ensure that a man who truly loved the girl would behave himself and ensured that they had sex only after the marriage. If he thought that he could force the father to marry the daughter to him, he must think twice. If the father refuses to grant his blessing, he might not have the girl at all even though they already had premarital sex.

Sex is a pleasure made only for marriage. It is a subject that we cannot be casual about. This whole issue of pre-marital sex must be carefully considered because we live in a culture where pre-marital sex is so prevalent. Here in just two verses, we can sense God promoting a pattern for godly courtship, marriage and sex. A godly man who has fallen in love with a girl must not only preserve his own chastity but protect the purity of the girl he loves. God holds him accountable for the sexual purity in the courtship. The world may see this as old fashioned but it best reflects that we have a God who is holy and pure.   

Exodus 22:7-15 – Don’t take others for granted

In the first six verses of Exodus 22, theft and negligence were considered. Verses 7-15 provided regulation in what to do with an irresponsible person who had been entrusted to look after another person’s belonging. When a person is going away, he normally could not take all his belongings with him. He would seek the assistance of his neighbour to look after them. The neighbour who had accepted the responsibility was expected to be dependable and accountable. When that person had returned home from his travel and the belonging were intact, then everything would be well and good. However, here in verses 7-15, God gave some law to cover situations where property entrusted to a neighbour’s care was lost or stolen.

In the scenario of verse 7, “If a man gives his neighbour money or goods to keep for him and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he shall pay double.” Dealing with such a case would be quite straightforward. The thief who was caught had to pay double. The problem would become tricky when the thief was not caught. The case would be brought before a judge who would mediate the case. If the neighbour was found guilty to have taken what belonged to the owner who had entrusted the belonging to his care, he would have to make restitution. He had to pay double to the owner. But if he had told the truth and truly the belonging was stolen, he would not be required to make good what was stolen.  

Verses 10-11 show us that the same regulation applied concerning livestock entrusted to the neighbour’s care. “If a man gives his neighbour a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is hurt or is driven away while no one is looking, an oath before the Lord shall be made by the two of them that he has not laid hands on his neighbour’s property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.” The owner had to take the neighbour at his word and just accept the situation. The latter was not required to make restitution. But if a neighbour entrusted to do the safekeeping was found to be negligent, he would be required to make restitution.

The law given here may seem harsh, but they are set to ensure peaceful existence within a community. What God laid down here was to prevent misunderstanding between neighbours. People living together should look out and help each other out. The lesson from these verses: we must learn to be responsible friends and neighbours. We don’t take each other for granted. When we take on a responsibility to help a friend or neighbour, we must do our best. Friendship could be jeopardized when we become careless and irresponsible, taking others for granted.  

Exodus 22:5-6 – Be thoughtful, consider others around us

God expects us to be people who are responsible. While He knows that we need to take care of our own belongings and well-being, our actions must not incur any loss to our neighbours. Restitution must be made when one did not act responsibly and his careless action had resulted in one’s neighbour having to suffer some loss. Verses 5-6 give examples of two scenes.

The first scene described in verse 5 was when a man let his animal free to graze his field or vineyard and it strayed into his neighbour’s field and grazed what belonged to the neighbour. He would be responsible because he did not ensure that his animal just stayed on his side of the fence. Thus, he must make restitution for his neighbour’s loss by allowing his neighbour’s livestock to graze in his field or the best of his vineyard.  

Verse 6 gives us the second scenario. This happened when “…fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes so that stacked grain or the standing grain or the field itself is consumed, he who started the fire shall surely make restitution.” It was common for farmers to clear their field by using fire. When a farmer did that, there was always the danger of the fire spreading to his neighbour’s field. He was expected to ensure that his neighbour’s field was not affected. If the fire he had started went wild because of a gust of unexpected wind and destroyed part of his neighbour’s vineyard, he was liable to make good what his neighbour had lost.

These two scenarios constitute a call for us to live life responsibly. It is perfectly alright to meet our needs in life, but what we must ensure is that what we do will not adversely affect others. God expects us to be considerate and sensitive to those around us. What we do must not result in others being severely disadvantaged. When what we do carelessness results in someone else’s loss, we must be man enough to make good our careless mistake. These two verses teach us to plan and act carefully. We must be conscious that our actions may affect the people around us. Hence, we must be considerate and not conduct life in a way that will disadvantage others. This is best reflected in our Lord’s call to love our neighbour as ourselves. Being considerate helps us to be careful not to hurt others. Let’s bear that in mind and be good and considerate neighbours.         

    

Exodus 22:1-4 – Dealing with theft and stealing

In the Book of Covenant, the Lord took the moral law given in the Ten Commandments and then built the civil laws. The eighth commandment was given to discourage theft. It says, “Thou shall not steal.” This is a moral law. How can this be applied within a community? In Exodus 22, God shows them how to apply this law so that God’s people  could live respectfully in the community. This law was given to curb the greed of man. When someone is caught stealing, what could be done? Is putting the thief in custody all that could be done? What about the victim’s loss? Shouldn’t he be compensated? Certainly! That is what Exodus 22:1-4 tell us. God gave instructions on how restitution could be made for victims of theft. This instruction when rightly enforced could be a powerful deterrent for theft.  

Once again, the fairness and justice of our God are being demonstrated in dealing with the loss of one’s possession. He was making sure that justice would be served when people are ripped off. We may think that losing ox, sheep or donkey may seem irrelevant in our day, but we can learn from them how to deal with people who scheme to cheat and steal the belonging of others. Exodus 22 teaches us how to deal with people who resort to stealing. The first four verses deal with a situation where outright theft had taken place and what should be done.

These verses protect a person’s belonging. A person has a right to protect his God-given belongings. Of course, we all must acknowledge that everything we have comes from God and should be used for His glory. It is wrong for someone else to eye the belonging of another person and steal it from that person. So, what happens when a person is caught with stealing another person’s belonging?  It all depends on what was stolen and what happens to what was stolen. What is described in verse 1 tells us that when a person had stolen an ox he had to pay back five oxen and if he had stolen a sheep he had to return four sheep. Why the disparity? It’s because the ox is a person’s valuable tool for living. The owner had taken time to train his ox to work efficiently and effectively. So, to take away his tool would rob him of his earnings. So, the compensation would be five-fold. For stealing a sheep, the thief would have to pay back to the owner just four-fold. Here we see a proper sense of proportion in judgement. A greater compensation must be given when a greater disadvantage had been experienced.

However, the compensation was different should the animal be found in the thieves’ possession alive. The thief only needed to pay back double. This is logical because the owner would have gotten his animal back and wouldn’t need to find a replacement. So, the thief needed only to compensate the owner with another ox or sheep. As we have said, God honours the sanctity of life. A person had the right to protect his property, but he had no right to take away life. If a thief was killed accidentally in the cover of darkness, the owner who killed the thief would not be guilty of murder. But if the thief broke in during the day, he could not be killed outright. He could be made to make restitution. In God’s reckoning even a thief has the right to live. Life is precious!

Exodus 21:28-36 – The call to responsible living

In Exodus 21:18-27, the Book of the Covenant show how to deal with acts of violence that resulted in bodily hurt. In Exodus 21:28-36, God went on to deal with bodily harm due to negligence. People do get hurt or killed when others live carelessly and inconsiderately. In such negligence, innocent people often had to bear the grave consequence of their carelessness. God, who takes a serious view of life, would not allow His people to be insensitive and thoughtless. So here He laid down conditions to deal with people who show negligence.

Most negligence dealt with here in these verses have to do mainly with animals because they are hard to predict. An animal could act up without warning. Sometimes they act up because they were provoked. And at other times they could go on a rampage without warning, even when not provoked. Therefore, the responsibility rests on an owner to ensure that when they act up others would not be hurt or killed. Failure to do so made an owner culpable of committing a criminal offence. God here set some guidelines on how to resolve such an incident should it occur. In verse 28 we are told, “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished.” This is pretty straightforward. When an animal takes the life of someone, it had to die and the owner would not be punished if he was not aware of his animal’s violent habit.

However, if an owner was aware that the animal has a history of being violent and did not take precaution to restrain it, he would be held responsible. If he failed to ensure that his animal was restrained, he would be liable, even when he was not the one who had caused the hurt or the death. God was making clear that the owners must exercise responsibility for being owners of their animals. If any of an owner’s animal killed or caused any injury to others, he would be held responsible. Being also a merciful God, the law prescribed in these verses allow the family of a victim to show mercy. Rather than demanding death, the family could allow the owner to make restitution by receiving a ransom.

In Exodus 21:33-36, we can see a great principle. God said, “If a man opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his. If one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its price equally; and also they shall divide the dead ox. Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.” In essence, these verses show us that we are not only responsible for what we do but that we are also responsible for what we fail to do. God expects one to bear the cost of one’s carelessness. The whole idea is for us to live mindfully and considerately in a society. When we become irresponsible and careless, and other members of the community are injured by our passivity, we will have to bear the consequences. God wants us to be responsible people and when we do so, we exist harmoniously with each other.  

Exodus 21:18-27 – Punishment and offence committed must be proportionate

Being just, God ensured in the Book of the Covenant that punishment meted out to offenders must be proportionate to the offence committed. In Exodus 21:11-17, we see the stipulation of a death sentence for three capital offences. The three offences are premeditated murder, kidnapping another person and sold them into slavery and striking or cursing one’s parents. However, God knew that some aggressive acts committed by a person might not lead to death. So, He went on in verses 18-27 to deal with punishment for acts of aggression where bodily injuries had been sustained. It is not possible for God to deal with this category exhaustively in just a few ten verses. Though brief, these ten verses deal with how to punish acts of violence that had hurt someone bodily. God wanted to ensure that the aggrieved person should receive some form of compensation by the aggressor for the hurt he had inflicted on the victim. The perpetrator must make restitution for the offence he had committed. Since the compensation would come out from the aggressor’s own pocket, it was deemed to be a punishment.

In the case where a person had been struck with something in a quarrel and he did not die, the assailant or antagonist must pay for the act he had committed. If the victim died, the punishment for capital offence applied. If the victim survived but was injured, the assailant would be responsible to support him. He would be supported until he was able to help himself. Besides, his medical bill would be taken care of by the assailant as well. This stipulation had the objective of ensuring that one should not resort to aggression. In any argument, tension would escalate but restraint must be exercised. It is always better to walk away and deal with a matter when one has cooled down than to stay and end up in a fistfight. There will always be consequences if we choose to hurt another person. 

In verses 20-21, God ensures that slaves were not cruelly treated by their master. Though the master had bought a slave and he would be deemed to be his property, he could punish the slaves but he had no right to inflict bodily harm on him. If the punishment led to the death of the slave, the master would be punished. Though not stipulated, it must be presumed that to kill someone is a capital offence and punishable by death. If the slave was hurt and after a day or two recovered, then no vengeance would be required of the master. Verses 26-27 tell us that when administering the punishment, if the master had caused the slave to lose so much as an eye or a tooth, he must let the slave go free. In the prescription of such punishments, God was ensuring that His people would never resort to physical abuse.  

In Exodus 21: 22-25, God also took an interest in innocent bystanders who were inadvertently hurt by scuffles of others. If the victim was a pregnant woman, verse 22 states that “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide.” In other words, if the lives of both the mother and the unborn baby stayed intact, the person who had caused the injury should be appropriately dealt with. Though he must compensate the injured woman based on what the husband would demand, the amount to be paid must be approved by the court. This was to prevent an unscrupulous husband from profiting from his wife’s misfortune.

Our biggest struggle in understanding these ten verses would be in verses 24-25. Here we are told, “eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” How do we make sense out of this prescription? What is being described here is known as the law of retaliation. We must understand the intention of this law so that we will not misunderstand what Jesus said when he referred to them in Matthew 5:38-39. This law was meant for the elders of Israel, who were God-ordained judges, as guidelines to administer justice. They were prescribed to prevent the people from taking matters into their own hand. Only divinely appointed judges were empowered to administer this justice. People who were hurt would want to exact punishment that would be disproportionate to what they had received. This law of retaliation was to prevent the disproportionate administering of justice. It was not to be taken literally. 

What we see in these verses is God holding us responsible for the action we do in life, even when the actions are unintentional. We have the responsibility to right any mishap we have created as a result of our action. The implication is for us to be careful about what we do. It will do us well to consider how others, who are innocent, could be hurt by our rash actions. This is a call for us to act circumspectly and responsibly in life.  

Exodus 21:12-17 – The sanctity of human life

Justice is a matter that is very hard to administer. Simply because we are people with diverse opinions. This, plus the fact that we do not have the full scope of every event to fully comprehend the whole matter. The only one who can perfectly administer justice is God. Not only is He just and perfect, but He is also all knowing and has perfect knowledge and understanding of every situation. Every given situation has many variations and angles which we can look at. It is often made harder because the person making the judgment call has to depend on the facts given to him. Facts could be distorted to protect the accused or fabricated to get the victim. The judge who was not at the scene of the crime would have a hard time processing all the facts given by the witnesses. He also will have to decipher the intentionality of a defendant or suspect. There are many aspects to consider. God knows how flawed we can be because we all come to every given situation with a certain bias.

The issue that confronts any wrong is: how do we begin to administer justice? And to administer it fairly? God’s primary concern is to ensure that any punishment dispensed fits the crime or wrong committed. He does not want undue punishment imposed because of personal preferences or prejudice. There must always be a sense of proportion between the crime committed and punishment meted out. Here in Exodus 21:12-36, God gave instructions on how to deal with three kinds of crime. Verses 12-17 deal with capital crimes; verses 18-27 deal with scuffles where injuries were inflicted; and verses 28-36 are instructions dealing with criminal negligence.  

God appreciates the sanctity of life. So, in verses 12-17 He prescribes punishment for crime where life had been taken wrongfully and death penalty warranted. Three crimes are mentioned based on the different aspects of the Ten Commandments. Verse 12 dealt with murder. It straightforwardly says, “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.” Strict justice must be administered. A person who takes another person out in cold blood no longer deserves to live. That murderer must be put to death in an act of public justice. The instruction of God here does not violate the sixth commandment that says, “Thou shall not kill.” The better translation of the sixth commandment is, “Thou shall not commit murder.” God does not permit homicide. But He permits death as a form of execution for taking away the life of another wilfully. The death sentence is appropriate when one wilfully takes away the life of another. Right from the onset, God requires that we seriously account for the life of fellow men. In Genesis 9:5-6 God said, “…And from every man, from every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. ‘Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.’” To attack another man is an attack against God because man is made in the image of God.

God is aware that sometimes accidents do happen. Sometimes, in the heat of an argument, someone may accidentally take the life of another. In such a time when a person is killed unintentionally, in an unpremeditated situation, God provided a way of escape. He would eventually appoint refuge cities where a person could go to seek shelter until his case could be heard. But the cities of refuge could not shield anyone who had committed a murder intentionally. If he is deemed to have willfully committed a murder, that person would still face a death sentence.  

God wants parents to be honoured so He gave the fifth commandment in Exodus 20:12. He said, “Honour your father and your mother….” Hence anyone who “strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” God would not even allow parents to be cursed by their children. Verse 17 clearly states, “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” This shows us how much God is for respecting parental authority. Hence parents’ authority ought not to be ignored and renounced. Thus, it behoves us to treat our parents kindly and rightly.

And the third capital offence, punishable by death sentence, was kidnapping. God wanted to ensure that His people do not exploit each other for personal gain. It states that “He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.” God would not allow free men to be sold into slavery against their will. This was demeaning to Him. Hence it was a crime punishable by death. The bottom line is this: God has a high view of life. It is He who has made every life and He wants us to uphold the sanctity of life. Praise God!