Exodus II Sermon Week 8

Intro/Welcome

Welcome

We will be in Exodus 20:21-23:18 today

Go there in your Bibles.

My name is Justin

Good to be with you

Joining us online

Intro

We are living in a time of political upheaval.

We are a divided country and seemingly growing wider

How do we know which laws are the right laws?

How do we know which we should support?

Today we are going to be looking at some OT Law

Specifically what is called the Book of the Covenant.

We could call it Israel’s Civil law, or the Societal law

It deals with real life situations in their day.

Now immediately if you have read these laws you will ask:

What does this have to do with me?

Not exactly the most devotional parts of Scripture.

I think there is much to be gained from examining these laws, as I hope to show you today.

Last week we looked at the Ten Commandments and we said that:

God gave the ten commandments becuase he loves his people and wants them to live.

This week we look at what is called the book of the Covenant, these societal laws.

They are actually the applications of the Moral Law, the TC’s

Every law is connected in some way to the Moral Law

This is important to realize.

It means our sense of morality shapes the laws of the land.

Israel’s morality came from God himself.

God does not give these laws arbitrarily but for an intended purpose.

What is that purpose?

God gave the civil law because he cares about human flourishing.

God gives the societal laws to Isreal because it is his plan human flourishing.

You can open your Bibles to Exod 20:21-23:18

Let me pray for our time.

Pray

Praying

Preliminary Considerations

Before we jump into the details of the Law

there are a few considerations to keep in mind that will serve us.

Everything that is said here is in relation to the surrounding nations and their practices.

these laws are given as they are about to go into the promise land.

Israel is called to be a Holy Nation

Exodus 19:6 CSB 6 and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’

Exodus 22:31 CSB 31 “Be my holy people.

That is set apart to stand out, to do things differently

to look differently, live differently.

Deuteronomy 4:6–8 CSB 6 Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? 8 And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

And so some of these laws will come into focus once we understand the cultures of that time.

We must consider that their culture was very very different from our own.

This is some 2500 years ago.

It would be a grievous mistake to read back into their culture things from our own culture.

We can see this even in our own day.

For example in some countries to extend your right hand is quite offensive.

We need to take time to understand another culture before we cast judgment upon in.

BTW we need to even do this when examining our own culture from just a few decades ago, not to mention centuries.

What we have in the BOC is only a sampling of a much larger body of laws.

These laws were not exhaustive

The did not cover every situation.

They are a sampling of the Societal laws given in that day.

Each of these laws are in some shape of form an application of the ten commandments, the Moral law.

Therefore the TC’s are the foundation upon which the structures are supported

The roots upon which the fruits will be sustained.

Now then what can we gleam from these laws?

How do they promote human flourishing?

God’s Glory

Read from Bible

Exodus 20:22–21:1 CSB 22 Then the Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 Do not make gods of silver to rival me; do not make gods of gold for yourselves.

They have just experienced God’s GLORY at Sinai.

They said it is too much for us, let Moses be our mediator.

God’s purpose in this was to reveal his AWESOME POWER.

Exodus 20:20 CSB 20 Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear him and will not sin.”

God’s Glory is the basis for everything that will be said to Israel.

God is concerned most with his Glory

BEFORE God gave the societal laws he revealed his glory.

therefore we have to keep this in mind.

God then is glorified when his people keep his laws.

Or to put it another way

Human beings flourish when they glorify God in their lives.

It is all about God’s Glory

Exodus 20:23 CSB 23 Do not make gods of silver to rival me; do not make gods of gold for yourselves.

Basically he is reiterating the first two commandments

Have not God’s before me

Do not make idols, bow down to them or serve them.

Categories of Laws

Rather can go through each of these laws

I’d rather approach them from four categories that lead to human flourishing and God glorification.

Those categories are:

Four Categories of Laws

Worship, Order, Justice, Dignity

In other words, for human beings and thus human societies to flourish they need:

Proper Worship

Established Order

Enacted Justice

upheld human dignity

If we wanted our society, 21st century American Culture to flourish we would need these four things.

Proper Worship

Let’s begin where everything begins: Worship

You and I are made to worship.

We are always worshipping

We are never not worshipping.

The only question is who or what are we worshipping?

The BOC both begins and ends with worshipping. (Alters to Festivals)

In the BOC Worship Laws are intertwined with Social Responsibility

For them ONE in the SEMW

There was no division between the sacred and the secular

They were a Theocracy — their Political Leaders were their religious leaders.

But they also understood that what we worship cannot be separated from how we live.

This is true for us as well, btw

Laws — desired behaviors — values — what we find worthy — what we worship

All are doing this.

And that how they worshipped mattered

for again they were called to be a Holy Nation — set apart, distinct and different

Proper worship leads to human flourishing

Let’s look more closely at some of these laws.

Altars

Exodus 20:24–21:26 CSB 24 “Make an earthen altar for me, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your flocks and herds. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause my name to be remembered. 25 If you make a stone altar for me, do not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it. 26 Do not go up to my altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.

That is what this business about altars is.

altars are needing for sacrifice

and sacrifice is needed for proper worship.

they still are btw.

1st Jesus was the eternal sacrifice for sin (Heb ?)

2nd we are now called to present ourselves as ‘living sacrifices’ as our true worship (Rom 12:1)

Romans 12:1–2 CSB 1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Called to be set apart

Altars: What is this business about not ‘cutting stones’? to not chisel it?

Likely this is against how the canaanites would build their alters

God’s people are to be distinct, they are not to worship in the way other cultures do.

Nakedness: Furthermore this business about exposing your nakedness by going up stairs? What is that about?

Again it was known in that day that certain Canaanite Cultic practices included sexual rituals.

This is not the way God would have them worship. They must be distinct.

Sorcery, Sex & Sacrifices

We have another striking example right in the middle of the BOC:

Exodus 22:18–20 CSB 18 “Do not allow a sorceress to live. 19 “Whoever has sexual intercourse with an animal must be put to death. 20 “Whoever sacrifices to any gods, except the Lord alone, is to be set apart for destruction.

Ok these three together as improper worship.

Apparently, this offensive sexual act was prevalent among the Canaanites

The Hittite Laws 187–88, 199:16–18 proscribe this evil involving a sheep, cow, or pig with the threat of a sentence of death unless pardoned by the king, but 199:20–22 and 200:23–5 do not apply bestiality to sexual relations with a horse or mule, as the Bible does (Cassuto, 290–91; Hyatt, 241).

Sex is an act of Worship — Here cultic sexual rituals.

Israel was not to worship in the manner of the surrounding cultures.

Other Worship Laws:

Blasphemy (Commandment #3)

Exodus 22:28 CSB

28 “You must not blaspheme God or curse a leader among your people.

Do invoke names of other Gods

Exodus 23:13 CSB

13 “Pay strict attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

Celebrations

Exodus 23:14 CSB

14 “Celebrate a festival in my honor three times a year.

Festival of Unleavened Bread — Celebrate Passover

Festival of Harvest — First Fruits of Harvest — Pentecost

Festival of Ingathering — The Harvest

This was corporate Worship

A time to celebrate, remember and commemorate all that God has done and will do!

This means God wants us to throw good parties!

To honor and glorify Him

This whole section ends with this strange phrase

Exodus 23:19 CSB

19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. “You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

What does this mean?

It is generally agreed that the reference is to a fertility rite that entails boiling a kid in milk; referenced in an ancient broken Ugaritic text

The crux of the matter is simply, that the young dead kid is being cooked in the very milk that was its life-giving sustenance

In other words, the people didn’t have to perform cultic fertility rites for the harvest,

God was their provider

Furthermore the point that that which is meant to give life and nourish should not be used to kill.

That is what the Law is all about, it’s mean to give life, yet it will be used to kill.

Application

What does this mean for us?

We are not to worship in ways that are contrary to God’s revealed words.

This includes what we do with our bodies.

It includes who we have sex with.

It means that we don’t import foreign practices into our worship service

It means we don’t interject secular ideals into the gospel message

It means we don’t preach a false gospel.

It means we don’t exalt human works over God’s work!

If we want to flourish it means we have to worship God properly

Proper worship leads to human flourishing

In our context: Proper Worship is the freedom to worship

APP: What does this look like for you?

Are you worshipping the Lord with your life? with your actions?

are you flourishing?

An Ordered Society

That leads us to our next category for human flourishing:

An ordered society promotes human flourishing.

This is basically all the laws themselves.

Laws form the parameters for a functioning society.

Laws function to order society and retrain evil.

The first and obvious fact is that laws are needed becuase we live in a fallen world.

Laws that restrain evil are necessary becuase of sin.

For humans to flourish they need and order and restraint of evil.

This leads to the content of the laws which I argue administer justice and uphold dignity.

But before we get there there is something else we need to see.

Worship & Laws

These actually flow right from the first category of Worship.

Do you ever asks:

What forms the laws?

let’s think about in our own day.

Where do our laws come from?

Do they not come from desired behaviors?

Where do our desired behaviors come from?

Do they not come from our values?

Where do our values come from?

Ultimately from what we worship: what we ascribe worth too.

What we worship informs what we value which informs our desired behaviors which informs our Laws.

We cannot avoid this fact.

It is true whether you are a christian or not, atheist, buddhist, hindu or muslim.

your worldview inevitably shapes your policies.

So let’s not pretend that we this isn’t what everyone is doing.

whether secular or religious.

If you ask people enough questions you will arrive at what they truly worship.

Church and State

Good Thing

What it is and isn’t.

It doesn’t mean your religious views can’t influence your politics — this is impossible.

Sep of Church and State is meant to:

Keep the state from meddling in the doctrines or practices of any religion or promoting any one religion.

Keep any religion or church from controlling the state.

for example which religion would we choose?

Which particular denomination would we choose?

The 1st Amendment says “Congress shall make no laws respecting and establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise etherof.”

All that to say, what we worship influences our laws.

For Israel they were one and the same.

Justice & Dignity

The Content of the societal laws.

What is important here is not so much...

How do these apply to us in any way,

but rather what do they reveal about God?

In these laws I see two main things:

Justice and Dignity

God cares about Justice and Human Dignity

Therefore for humans to flourish we have to uphold justice and human dignity.

Justice and human dignity lead to human flourishing.

As we read through these we see:

Laws of Retribution & Restitution:

Proper treatment of Slaves/Servants/Workers/Employees (Exod 21:1-11)

Free after 6 six years

Exodus 21:2 CSB

2 “When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man without paying anything.

If injured and loses an eye he is set free

Exodus 21:26–27 CSB

26 “When a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his tooth.

Excursus on slavery — Not Chattel — see kidnaping prohibition (Exod 21:16)

Exodus 21:16 CSB

16 “Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession.

More akin to enlisting in military service.

Or as a punishment for theft.

Laws about Personal Injury (Exod 21:12-36)

Theft (Exod 22:1-4)

Exodus 22:1–3 CSB

1 “When a man steals an ox or a sheep and butchers it or sells it, he must repay five cattle for the ox or four sheep for the sheep. 2 If a thief is caught in the act of breaking in, and he is beaten to death, no one is guilty of bloodshed. 3 But if this happens after sunrise, the householder is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft.

Property rights (Exod 22:5-14)

If a fire gets out of control he who started must make full restitution

Exodus 22:6 CSB

6 “When a fire gets out of control, spreads to thornbushes, and consumes stacks of cut grain, standing grain, or a field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution for what was burned.

If you borrow an animal and it dies you must make restitution. (Exod 22:10-13)

Honoring Women (Exod 22:16-17)

Exodus 22:16–17 CSB

16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and he sleeps with her, he must certainly pay the bridal price for her to be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must pay an amount in silver equal to the bridal price for virgins.

Laws about caring for the poor

Sabbath 7th year - let land rest so poor & animals can eat from it (Exod 23:11)

Exodus 23:11 CSB

11 But during the seventh year you are to let it rest and leave it uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat from it and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Observe sabbath so people and animals can rest (Exod 23:12)

Care for widows and orphans (Exod 22:22)

Exodus 22:22–24 CSB

22 “You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

Rooted in the fact that they were ‘resident aliens’

Exodus 22:21 CSB

21 “You must not exploit a resident alien or oppress him, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

direct appeal that God will hear their cries

Do not exact interest on loans to fellow Israelites (Exod 22:25)

Exodus 22:25 CSB

25 “If you lend silver to my people, to the poor person among you, you must not be like a creditor to him; you must not charge him interest.

If cloak is put it up return it for night (often used as a blanket) to keep warm (Exo 22:26-27)

dignity even in debts owed

Justice

Favoritism

Exodus 23:3 CSB

3 Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.

Exodus 23:6 CSB

6 “You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit.

Don’t take bribes

Exodus 23:8 CSB

8 You must not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words of the righteous.

Death & Dignity

What struck me as I was studying these this week is how often the death penalty is invoked.

Exodus 21:12 CSB

12 “Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death.

Exodus 21:15 CSB

15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother must be put to death.

Exodus 21:16 CSB

16 “Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession.

Exodus 21:17 CSB

17 “Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death.

It seemed a bit excessive

until I realized the purpose.

It’s not that God values life to little, it is that he values it greatly.

God is basically upholding human dignity and the sacredness and value of every human life.

He is essentially abiding by Gen 9:6

Genesis 9:6 CSB 6 Whoever sheds human blood, by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image.

This is the new created world after the flood

And this is what God institutes to Noah.

Just notice what it says, the reason.

the reason is God made human beings in his image.

Because of this every human life has value, dignity and worth.

No matter how rich or poor, how disabled or gifted, young or old, born or unborn,

no matter what orientation, ethnicity, nationality or personality.

Every human life matters to God

therefore they need to be treated with dignity, value and respect.

It’s why these laws promote caring for the poor.

Exodus 22:22–24 CSB 22 “You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.

Notice how God connects to himself.

This is extremely important to the heart of God

caring for those who cannot care for themselves.

This is widows and orphans (James 1:27)

This is the poor and needy

This is unborn babies.

This is those who have been mistreated and discriminated against

God’s heart is for precisely these people

Compassion

Notice what God says in Exo 22:21

Exodus 22:21 CSB 21 “You must not exploit a resident alien or oppress him, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

He does so again in Exod 23:9

Exodus 23:9 CSB

9 You must not oppress a resident alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be a resident alien because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.

God roots it in compassion out of personal experience.

he says,

You were slaves, you were oppressed

But now you are free, now you know my love

now you know my glory

now you know my power

You know what it is the for us.

Worship Jesus

Are you a compassionate person?

Where do we get this kind of compassion?

Do you keep the law out of compassion or care for others?

or because of the consequences of retribution or restitution?

They were meant to keep the law because of God’s love for them.

but they forgot, they strayed, they were prone to wander.

So do we:

We are all law breakers as we saw last week.

Where do we get compassion?

Just as Israel was enslaved to Pharoah

You and I were enslaved to Sin

It is only in the experience of God’s grace that we can truly be compassionate people.

You and I were once condemned by the law

sentenced to death.

You and I still would be if not for Jesus Christ.

It is the very awareness of the depth of our sin that leads to compassion for others.

Do you find it hard to be compassionate?

Are you short with others? Irritable? Impatient?

Have you forgotten that all you have and all you are

are a gift from God.

If we are saved by grace, then we have no claim to where we are today.

It is an awareness of our Sin, but more so God’s incredible love towards us

that leads to compassion.

Jesus kept the law

You see Jesus kept the whole law for you

He took your death sentence upon himself so that you would never have to die.

never have to pay the price.

We cannot forget about the reality of sin.

Compassionate people then lead to a flourishing society.

There is not a whole lot of compassion in our political parties right now

Christians, you and I can be different.

not bound to a particular candidate

not bound to a particular party

but bound together for Christ.

Application

It’s starts with us.

We will be a people that:

Worship rightly, by worshipping the one True God

Promote and ordered society based on our right worship

Fight for Justice

Will we uphold human dignity?

We wee do so from compassionate hearts!

You see, just as Israel was called to be different from the surrounding cultures

You and I are called to live differently

so that what was said about them would be said about us

Deuteronomy 4:6–8 CSB 6 Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? 8 And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

Or as Jesus put it:’

John 13:34–35 CSB 34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

We are called to be a church for the City, Nations and Generations

That we would be a church for the down and out

the struggling and oppressed

the misunderstood and disadvantaged.

to care for the least of these

Next Steps

Racial Reconciliation/Diversity discussions

Thrive embrace grace

Serving the leasts of these our kids right here on Sunday

Values inform our votes

Seek justice, uphold human dignity, promote order and worship rightly

Let’s Pray