Exodus 23

Exodus 23 (NKJV) 1 “You shall not circulate a false report (bear false witness). 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 (intention) to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.

God forbid his people to make up false reports, agreeing with people to carry out injustice.

To use your mouth to cause harm rather than give life.

False report or a false testimony would ruin a person, their family, effect the community, not only that it would devalue the justice system.

The opposite is true too.

Justice is to be fair even for the person in need,

God’s community is to be centered on truth and righteousness, committed to justice.

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.

Luke 6:35–36 “35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

Doing right was not predicated on the current status of your relationship with another person.

God called Israel to obedience to his commands,

they were first and foremost to do this because God commanded them to,

6 “You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament 21:1-23:19: The Book of the Covenant

Because most cultures of the ancient Near East were class conscious, the poor were not always treated with the same equity as the rich and powerful.

justice would usually side with the rich.

God calls his people to be impartial.

We need his wisdom and help to discern this at times.

We can’t let what others have said influence what we think about a person,

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.

the continuation of the book of the covenant,

with case studies illustrating how Israel is to judge themselves.

Its fitting that it conclude on these prohibitions against false judgments, bribes, partiality.

God’s people are called to holiness and there is no room for human wisdom to lead, but heavenly wisdom.

in contrast to cruel treatment towards those who are strangers among them,

they are to be generous,

10 “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.

this is the law of the seventh year, Sabbath

It coincides with the release of slaves in the seventh year,

It is done to provide for those in need, as well as the wild animals to eat.

12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

The Sabbath rest is reiterated. Who is emphasized here?

those connected with the israelite, their work animals, their hired servants.

13 “And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.

No other God’s before me,

Psalm 16:4 “4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips.”

How David expresses his loyalty to God.

The National Agricultural Feasts and the Sacrifices presented.

14 “Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year:

15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty);

16 and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread, follows the observing of the Passover. (March - April)

The feast at the beginning of the year for the Jews.

the time the barley would be harvested

Each feast included its offerings to the Lord, none were to come to worship empty handed,

they were to bring grain and animal offerings.

They were to be working so they had something to offer.

fifty days later is the, Feat of the Harvest or the Feast of Weeks (7 weeks/50 days), in the spring, the beginning of the wheat harvest.

the first fruits of the harvest are brought to the Lord

This feast is called pentecost in the NT (50th)

and at the end of the harvest season, in September - October, was the Feast of the Ingathering, it marked the end of the agricultural year, It was also known as the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles.

17 “Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

Three times a year Israel observed these feast and remembered God’s provisions for them.

18 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning.

19 The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Possibly a Canaanite custom tied to idol worship.

It could also have meaning that the thing that was to bring life, milk, for a young goat, wasn’t to be used for death…

The modern kosher laws don’t allow for milk and meat to be mixed together. This prohibition may be the basis for such laws.

coming to the end of the book of the covenant, is a promise from YHWH to lead his people and to protect them if they follow his ways, giving them victory over the idolatrous nations who inhabit the land he was giving them. the promise that brought comfort and courage also came with warning of curses for disobedience.

The NET Bible First Edition Notes Notes for 23:20

God promises to send his angel to prepare the way before his obedient servants (20–23); God promises blessing for his loyal servants (24–33). So in the section one learns that God promises his protection (victory) and blessing (through his angel) for his obedient and loyal worshipers.

20 “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

God leads his people by sending them a messenger.

so much of what we’ve just read concerns Israel when they enter the land.

they are being prepared for life as YHWH’s kingdom of priests.

and He will guide them into the land as they receive what he has promised.

I see such a correlation to what we’ve been studying in John, as Jesus prepares to leave the disciples to continue His mission,

He does not leave them without a leader or helper, the Holy Spirit.

The church as a community but also as individuals become a witness to the world,

even Peter calls us a holy priesthood

1 Peter 2:5 “5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

This all tells me that Jesus is finishing His work through his people,

The remnant of Israel who has receive the Messiah, and those of us Gentiles who have believed in the Messiah are who he has chosen to represent him in the world,

Now the Angel, which is the word for ‘messenger, or angel’ is sent to lead Israel and is to be treated with the same fear and respect that YHWH is to be given.

What we are most likely seeing here is an manifestation of YHWH in some manner or a preincarnate appearance of Jesus.

Main point God is leading them into the land He promised them. Look at the terms…

21 Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions (pesha’); for My name is in Him.

pesha’ is used elsewhere to indicate a violation of the covenant.

The covenant is the terms of God’s relationship with his people, if they break the covenant, show disregard for the covenant, there is no forgiveness.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 23

my name In OT theology, using the “name” (shem) of God referred to the person of God Himself (e.g.,

22 But if you indeed obey (listen attentively) His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

we’re back to the if/then statements found in the covenant.

if they listen to obey they can expect YHWH to protect them.

What was it that they were to be obedient to? God’s ordinances to how they were to conduct themselves,

in other words, they were to be obedient to a particular way of life.

23 For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off.

God goes before them to remove the inhabitants of the land.

24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.

This is explanation of what was meant to have no other gods before YHWH,

bow down - worship

serve - do things so that the god will bless you, or that the people will accept them

do their works - follow their way of life,

Psalm 1:1–2 “1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

The NET Bible First Edition Notes Notes for 23:24

(matsevotehem, “their standing stones”); these

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 23

Destroying idols and sacred objects also underscores their powerlessness, especially when it comes to their ability to protect.

We as God’s people are called to live in the world but not to be of it.

This isn’t always easy, especially if our lifestyle is very different from everyone else.

What people should see is that obeying God take the precedence over everything.

We live in light of what God’s word says and not what society says.

25 “So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.

26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

The blessing of serving God is his protection from those living in the land and the their own well being,

blessed bread and water —

Fruitfulness in multiplication — no one will die prematurely

With both these statements, were getting a glimpse of a restored eden like place, a reversal of the curse… If Israel will listen to obey…

27 “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

Rahab mentions this in Joshua about the people fearing Israel because of what they heard God do for them.

28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.

This reminds me of the plagues,

29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.

God sovereignly is overseeing the timing, preparing/keeping the land for them as they are prepared for the land.

Jesus has gone away to prepare a place fore us, while at the same time he is preparing us for the place.

31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River (Euphrates). For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament 23:20-33: Bringing Israel to the Land

borders of the land. The limits of the Promised Land are set at the Red Sea (Gulf of Aqaba) or the border of Egypt to the southwest, the coast of the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and the Euphrates River and Mesopotamia on the east.

32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

Their covenant is with God alone.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 23

You will not make a covenant Any covenant made between people in the ancient Near East required the parties involved to recognize the ability of the other person’s god(s) to enforce the stipulations, blessings, and curses of such a binding agreement. In so doing, one placed oneself at the discretion and mercy of those other gods.

33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

as this book of the covenant is coming to a close, in this chapter the command is repeated.

when it began, God commanded that Israel have no other gods before Him,

here the gods are connected to the people and no compromise is to be allowed,

The NET Bible First Edition Notes Notes for 23:33

The idea of the “snare” is to lure them to judgment; God is apparently warning about contact with the Canaanites, either in worship or in business.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 23

lest they cause you to sin against me