Exodus 21:28-Exodus 23:9
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Exodus 21:28-Exodus 23:9
Exodus 21:28-Exodus 23:9
Good morning church. There are portions of scripture that I don’t like to explain. Last week were some of the verses that frustrate me. Like I said last week, people point to Exodus 21 saying that God is for slavery, and against women, and it’s not true. God knew that Israel was filled with people. That was His problem. This week, we’re going to get a broader understanding of those verses, as well as some clarification too.
Last week, Moses went up the mountain into the smoke, thunderings, and darkness because the people of Israel wee afraid of God. They said:
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
God wanted the people to recognize Moses was the man to speak with Him, because the people couldn’t handle it. Now that Moses was alone with God, He started giving Moses the law concerning people’s interactions. Specifically the dumb things the Israelites will do. He said: “If they do this, then here’s how you handle it.” Over and over again...and people don’t understand this is how our laws today came about.
We have general guidelines that follow the 10 commandments...but then we, as humans, do things that defy logic, and we look at each other and say, how do we handle this, because we can’t kill everyone for every dumb thing they do. Right? I akin it to the person who tried to use the hair dryer in the shower that warranted the tag being put on every single hair dryer that says “DON’T USE IN THE SHOWER.”
God lays out how we should handle people who work for us. We should treat them well. He said that we need to set a limit on how long they can serve to pay off a debt, 6 years right? Then they go free.
Then, if a man sells his daughter. Women of the time were property. God says, IF this happens, she must be treated well. If she becomes a wife to him, or one of his sons, she must now be treated as a full daughter. And, since men are selfish, if we take another, we now have to pay double, not take what we have and split it. The Lord is serious, if we mistreat women, we’ll have to pay.
Then, He addresses violence. He says that if we fight and kill someone, a life will be required. If it’s accidental, the people can stay in a city of refuge, which has not been established yet, BUT, if it’s pre-meditated, you can come get the man from the Altar and claim his life. God also addresses the fact that the unborn children are important to Him as well.
Finally, an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, etc. If you hurt your servant, they go free, so take care of them, or you’ll have to do the work for yourself.
God isn’t approving of these activities. He’s setting up a hierarchy of punishment if people do the things He doesn’t want them to do. He knows we’re human, He knows we’re big failures...but He loves us. We’re His favorite.
Please understand, I’m not saying these are bad instructions. I’m just saying they get misconstrued in our culture today. The heart behind them is that the Lord loves us all, and we are fallen people. God knows we’re going to do dumb things. He’s got contingencies. Today, we’ll see how He feels about many of those subjects from last week.
We’re continuing this week with the case law that the Lord knows Moses will have to deal with. We’re starting with laws regarding animals, then a refining of the 10 commandments, most common things that will happen. God, here, is setting forth the caselaw that the judges of Israel would see so they could judge rightly.
Let’s get started today:
28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. 29 But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him. 31 Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. 32 If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Ok, why is God getting involved in issues with livestock? Is this a big issue? It must be for them! God wants the Israelites to take care of their possessions, especially their livestock. It’s a responsibility issue. I tell my kids all the time, whether you intended to hurt someone or not, it’s important that you take responsibility for it. If an ox is known to attack. Just like dogs, or other pets. If you know it has the proclivity to attack or bite, you must be ready to accept the responsibility, whether it means the life of that pet of yours, or that a penalty is imposed upon you too.
God goes on:
33 “And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.
Cisterns are what these pits were. This would be similar to the pit that Joseph was put into, when his brothers were eating and plotting what to do with him. These cisterns were to collect water. They were to be covered in a way that would make it easy to accept the water, but keep livestock away. If someone’s livestock fell into your pit, you would pay for it, and it’s now yours. You’d want to get it out of there soon, too, because that’s water you need.
35 “If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide. 36 Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.
Skip Heitzig said, “This is the Law of the Lord, and behind the Law of the Lord is the Lord of the Law.” The laws exhibited here, and the ones from last week, are to point a fallen people back to the Lord. Remember, last week, as I was stumbling thru, God’s message there, love God, love people. God is addressing a fallen people to restore them, and training the judges of Israel how to point people back to Him. When people are far off, you need to course correct them to get them back on track. My dad always said, as a disciple, it’s not always our job to get people from a -10 to a +10, where -10 is an atheist, and a +10 is Jesus. Sometimes, it’s your job to take them from -10 to -9.9. That one step is the start of a snowball.
God sets these rules first to say, these are the most common things you’re going to deal with, Moses, get ready for them. Direct my people so they will return to me.
1 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. 2 If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. 3 If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4 If the theft is certainly found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall restore double.
Here, the 6th and 8th Commandments are addressed. If you fool around, you’re going to find out, right? If you’re caught stealing and you profit from it, you’ll pay back much more than it was worth.
And, if you’re caught in the act of a crime and it’s at night, there aren’t security cameras around there...or light switches. The homeowner doesn’t know what you’re there doing, you could be coming to cause harm. If that’s the case, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
If you catch someone stealing from you in the light of day, however, you can’t protect your property with violence. But the thief should make restitution, or become a bondservant until the debt is paid. The restitution must be a deterrent to the crime, or the punishment is useless in doing what it’s intended to do. It’s supposed to deter us from doing what is wrong. We should weigh the consequences.
5 “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed, and lets loose his animal, and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard. 6 “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
Again, take responsibility, and when you get the chance to make it up to someone, give the best. In my family, we always say if you borrow something from someone, give it back better than you got it. Romans 12:18
18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
God wants His people to get along. Actually, it’s all over the New Testament. Heb 12, Mark 9, 1 Thes 5, 2 Cor 13, 1 Pet 3, Matt 5, Rom 14, James 3. God wants us to take care of each other. Our love for one another is how people will recognize who is on the throne of your life. Spiritually mature people know when they’re in the middle of a spiritual battle. When they have conflict with another person, they fight different. The problem is, too many people like to wrestle with pigs...myself included sometimes. Don’t take the bait. You have the right to be offended...and that right will destroy the relationship. Restore those relationships.
You should want the best for everyone. I was a contest winning sheep shearer a decade ago. I won the Junior shearing contest, but never the National. I made it to 3rd place my best year. However, I helped train 3 other national shearers. Making people better has always been something I was good at. As much as I wanted to win those contests, I was even more happy for the people I supported. Seeing them fight and win was so special. Especially knowing that I had a hand in their success.
It’s like roller derby. Any of you know what roller derby is? If you don’t know, I won’t bore you. It was, how would you say it, pro wrestling on roller skates? In a word, it is awesome, fun, fantastic, dangerous, crazy. And that’s just one word! But you have a handfull of skaters on the rink at once, and there are blockers, big beefy skaters. The pivot, kind of like the captain on the team, and the jammer, who would get whipped around and is a great skater, jumping over people. He’s the scorer of the team. That’s how it’s like roller derby, you’re slingshotting people past you and you watch them go and do amazing things. You win as they win.
Just a side-note, there is a rapid city roller derby team. You can look it up. It’s fun to watch. Coming from a football and rugby player, it’s fun. We have a rugby team too, I played a season with them, broke a rib, it was awesome.
We should also be trustworthy, verse 7
7 “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. 8 If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods.
Be trustworthy, right? Be someone who people feel safe with and feel protected by. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon to have to go on a trip and leave valuables behind, or be sent to battle and leave an empty house. When you return, you should get your stuff back. If it’s not there, there’s questions, right?
If it wasn’t stolen, you were brought to court, and the judges of Israel would examine you. I’ve been in court myself, it’s not pleasant. My wife does it all the time, she’s a rock star. People are intimidated by her...Me, I look like a big pushover. But, again, God wants his people to be trustworthy. Do not lie, do not steal, it’s a commandment!
9 “For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. 10 If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, 11 then an oath of the Lord shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. 12 But if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it.
Trespass is also translated as crime. For any kind of crime, the people would come before the judge, then take an oath to the Lord. They would swear to God and then the Judges would hear the case. We do this today, we swear to God, with our hand on the Bible. Recently, there have been oaths of office that have been taken on other religious books, and that further points out to me that an oath back then doesn’t mean what it does now to most people.
Some people are serious when they take it. My wife is on the stand a lot. She swears that what she’s about to say is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help her God. She swears that oath to the same God that Moses was told to use in court proceedings. That’s because our God is the same yesterday, today, and will be tomorrow. Any other god is false.
We need to recognize that the Israelites were forbidden from worshipping to any other gods because Yahweh is a jealous God. He wants all of us, He paid for ALL OF US with His own blood. Anything less is blasphemy. You watch these guys take oaths on other religious books, and most that take them on the Bible only do it to get the job. They don’t mean what they’re saying.
Now, back to these animals for a minute, livestock were the most important and expensive things in the lives of the Israelites at the time.
13 If it is torn to pieces by a beast, then he shall bring it as evidence, and he shall not make good what was torn. 14 “And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good. 15 If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.
If the injury to the animal wasn’t the fault of the borrower, then there should be proof of it. And it turns out, rental car rules were developed by God as well. Today, we still keep a lot of these principles. If you lend something to someone and it breaks down outside, the renter shouldn’t be responsible for that. If it’s damaged by the renter, however, the renter should take care of his rental.
The next set of verses go even further than the first few in Exodus 20 and 21 and get specific about how to pursue holiness, and it starts with the treatment of women.
16 “If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. 17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins.
Women of the culture were seen more as property, mainly in the Egyptian and Caananite cultures that the Israelites were familiar with. God resets his bounds and makes sure people understand now, It’s our job as men to protect and honor the women in our lives. If you defile them, there should be a high price for it.
The bride price was to be paid to the family by the husband-to-be. He was removing a homemaker from the house and would be providing for her. It’s his way to prove he can provide. HOWEVER, if any of you have ever seen Fiddler on the Roof, you understand, the father is responsible for whom their daughter marries and who they don’t. If he’s not consulted, he reserves the right to reject the bride price, but it’s still required to be paid.
God takes this kind of action between a man and a woman so seriously, because that’s the design for men and women. In the beginning, that was the marriage. Our society today has sensualized everything between men and women. Guard your hearts brothers and sisters.
Matthew 6:22-23
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
How great is that darkness? Brothers, sisters, how great? You know. How far do we go? The first look is not the sin, it’s the second. It’s the seek, it’s the google search, it’s the long. Brothers, get in front of it NOW. Verse 24 says:
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
My suggestion, hate your sin, love your God. You are encouraging trafficking and extortion with every click and every swipe. Man up, get among brothers you can be real with, and FIGHT THIS SIN. It ruins families, it defiles marriages, and it ruins your soul. Like Job said, covenant with your eyes, keep them holy.
18 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live. 19 “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death. 20 “He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
Capital crimes are listed here. These are all crimes against God.
First, Sorcery makes a mockery of God. People who practiced it would try to use nature to manipulate people. Another use of the term in the Bible is the word “Poisoner.”
2nd, laying with an animal was also against God’s divine order. Man was to master animal kind, not mate with it. It’s not normal, it’s not ok. The Bible is clear about it. I would go as far to say that if you dress up like an animal, you’re encouraging that kind of behavior. Don’t do it.
3rd, idolotry. If you sacrifice to idols, like other cultures do, you’re not to just be killed, but utterly destroyed. It means to exterminate. That person was not to just be killed, but, for all intents and purposes, erased.
God is serious about these laws in particular. These are direct challenges to God, and the penalty is high to deter people from even thinking about doing them.
God is also a protector of people.
21 “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
God reminds the Israelites, you remember what it was like to be oppressed, don’t treat strangers the way you were treated in Egypt.
22 “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
Being a foster/adoptive parent, this warms my heart. Listen to the heart of our Lord. If you afflict them, AND they cry at all to ME, I will surely hear their cry. God comforts the brokenhearted. James, the brother of Jesus says this:
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Have a heart for those who need a positive influence in their lives. You should be that influence. You are all able to be that influence. Take up the mantle. All thruout the Bible, God talks about how he will handle people who hurt widows and children. It’s always terribly bad. He’s clear here, HE will avenge. I don’t want that kind of trouble in my life, do you?
God also has a soft spot for the poor too:
25 “If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest. 26 If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. 27 For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
It’s OK to lend to people, but to those who are poor, don’t charge them extra. Also, don’t take the things they need to survive as collateral. Find another way to help them pay off their debt. In protecting them, you reflect the love of the Lord.
28 “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
Uh, let’s skip this one, right? Why shouldn’t we curse God, that’s a no-brainer. You’ll hear me say it all the time, “It’s one thing to shrug your shoulders at God, it’s something totally different to shake your fist at Him.”
Why shouldn’t we curse our rulers? Paul said in Romans 13 that rulers are appointed by God to teach us a lesson and to do God’s will. He also says right after that, pay your taxes too. If we show respect to authority, you will be blessed.
That means, also, we should obey God too:
29 “You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. 30 Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me. 31 “And you shall be holy men to Me: you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
7 in Hebrew numerology means Holiness, completeness. 8 means what? Redemption. Circumcision on the 8th day symbolized redemption. Easter Sunday was the 8th day. Give the best, the first, to the Lord, and He will bless you.
The final few verses here remind us Yahweh is a God of Justice.
1 “You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. 3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.
6 “You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. 7 Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked. 8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.
9 “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 22:21-Exodus 23:9 bookends with a reminder that the Israelites were once strangers in a strange land, and oppressed for the benefit of another. God is setting the Israelites in the fact that they should even treat their enemies with respect and love. They should not wish ill will on anyone, and should treat their enemies just as special as anyone else.
These laws were to make the Israelites equitable. Today, we mistake equality with equity. Equitable treatment is fair treatment, just, warranted. Men are not women, women are not men. It’s scientific fact. Men have bigger hearts, lungs, muscle density, bone density, skull density. That one is true, we’ve got thick skulls.
Men, we were designed to take punishment. We were designed to work hard. Why? Because we are to protect our families. Physically, we are to protect. Ladies, you are designed to sustain life. I’ve said it before, ladies, find a man worth living for, and brothers, find a wife worth dying for. We aren’t equal, but if we act as God designed us, together, we are one half of a whole.
We all have different gifts, we aren’t equal, but we can treat each other equally. That equal treatment is equity. It’s justice.
God wants His people to be different, set apart, and not the same as the rest of the world. He wants to instruct us to be perfect. Good bosses, good friends, good enemies, protectors of virtue. Do we act like God’s people?
You are the church, right? Our kids should know these rules. I’m sure you taught them to treat others how we treat ourselves. The Golden Rule.
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Thru these laws, and how specific they are, prove to us that God is a God of the little things too. Like I mentioned last week, these laws were given to help God’s people return to Him. For centuries now, the people haven’t known God. They knew the stories of Him, but they couldn’t know Him because they were slaves.
Now, they have the chance to be free, and up until this point, God will keep reminding them, you were once slaves yourselves, don’t think you have the right to treat people the same way you have been treated over the years. You must unlearn what you have learned over the years.
Worship Team
God has to set the people up with case law to handle each other. To continue to prove to the people, the Law only proves you are guilty. God will end up giving Moses roughly 613 laws to follow, and it’s impossible to follow them all.
These verses today remind us, we must take responsibility for our actions. We’re not mindless lemmings. When we know something bad could happen, we should always err on the side protecting people. Until we look at the people outside these walls as important to the lord, we will not be true reflections of Christ.
Taking responsibility starts with one word: Repent. When you repent, you recognize that you have sinned against another, and, as the word repent means, you turn from that sin and seek to restore the relationship. You admit what you’ve done is wrong. That’s the only way we receive Grace from God.
Many of these laws required death as well. In our Open My Eyes Bible reading this week, those of us who are studying thru will be entering Leviticus, where we start learning about the sacrifices. The ways that our sins, especially those which required death, could be forgiven. I know most people don’t like Leviticus and Deuteronomy because of how mundane the reading can be, but if you read the scriptures in light of them pointing to Christ, it makes everything make sense.
We learn thru being in God’s word that EVERYTHING in the Old Testament points us to Christ. He’s preparing His people to recognize Jesus when He comes. He’s reminding us: “Watch for me, I’m coming.” Just like today, he’s reminding us all, watch for Him. Christs’ return has got to be coming quickly. I don’t know if any of you have been following what’s been happening in Davos, but I’ve started following some of it...it’s wild what is being said and prepared.
This Book is living and active. It will change you, if you let it. The Laws weren’t set up so we could follow them, they were set up to show us that it’s by Grace thru Faith that we are saved, not of works. As you spiritually mature, you won’t become sinless, but you will find yourself sinning less. If you want to jump into the reading again, I printed out this week’s reading plan. It’s a lot of reading each day. Carve that time out, put your oxygen mask on before you start your day, and read the scripture and ask yourself: How does this help me see Jesus more clearly.
Let God’s Word lead you back home. Amen.
What did God want the Israelites to remember about their time in Egypt?
What do you think God wants us to learn from the laws given to the Israelites?
Why do you think it was important for God to set up rules for how people should treat each other?
How does knowing that God cares for widows and orphans change the way we treat others?
What do you think it means to take responsibility for our actions like God instructed?
Can you think of a time when you had to apologize for something you did wrong?
Why is it important to treat everyone with respect, even those we don’t know?
What does it mean to be a good friend according to God’s teachings?
What are some good choices you can make to help others this week?
How can we show love to people who might not treat us well?
What steps can you take to make things right if you hurt someone’s feelings?
12 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. 13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
