Exodus 23
“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.
2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3 and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.
4 “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
6 “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
8 “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.
9 “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
Sabbath Laws
10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.
13 “Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.
The Three Annual Festivals
14 “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.
“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.
“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.
17 “Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.
18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.
“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.
19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
God’s Angel to Prepare the Way
20 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
27 “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 28 I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
31 “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea[a] to the Mediterranean Sea,[b] and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. 32 Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 23:31 Or the Sea of Reeds
- Exodus 23:31 Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines
Laws of Integrity
Exodus 23:1-9
“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.
“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.
“If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.
“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”
As I read these verses, I thought, “All of these tell us that God wants us to be people of integrity, of justice, of generosity.” We’re not to look to our own good but to the good of others. We’re to help our enemies. We’re to bravely proclaim the truth. We’re not to take the side of the underdog just because they’re the underdog, nor are we to favor the strong and popular just because they’re strong and popular.
Do you see the principles of the New Testament here? It’s the same God who gave the Israelites these laws as gives us the values we should live out as followers of Jesus.
How to Keep the Sabbath Today
Exodus 23:10-12
“For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.”
How would it be if farmers took a break once every seven years? How would it be if other workers took a break every seven years? It would be an exercise in faith, wouldn’t it? It would require being wise in planning. It would be restful. It would be good.
What if people worked for six days instead of five? Would it be tiring? At first, but we would get used to it. It would also prosper us and focus us. It would force us to not spend as much time on things that don’t matter. It would be good.
Don’t Come Empty-Handed
Exodus 23:14-19
“Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed. Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. “Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord. “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. “The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning. “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
The Israelites were to celebrate three festivals: one to remember the Exodus, one at the time of firstfruits, one at the time of the full harvest. They were also to bring sacrifices during those times as offerings to the Lord. Why did God command those specific festivals, and why did He command offerings to be brought?
It’s all about expressing gratitude to the Lord. The Israelites were to show thankfulness for what God had done for them in the past and acknowledge He’s the one who supplies their needs now.
That’s part of why we give our offerings to the Lord – to show our gratitude to Him for supplying us work, an income, funds to live on, etc. Everything ultimately comes from Him. So, here’s the question: How can you express your gratitude to the Lord more fully this week?
God Cares About the Animals
Exodus 23:19
“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
The Bible focuses on God’s relationship to humans. But it’s not silent on God’s relationship with and concern for the animals. God created the animals. They are His, and in the beginning, God did not allow humans to eat animals. After the Flood, He did give permission but only temporarily. On the New Earth, we will no longer eat animals, nor will they prey on each other.
I asked some friends about this verse regarding not cooking a young goat in its mother’s milk, and they agreed that it would be cruel and perverse to take the mother’s milk – meant to nourish and give life – and use it for death instead.
Here are a couple of other verses to ponder.
Genesis 1:29-30 - Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Genesis 9:3 - “Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”
Isaiah 11:6-9 - The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
Isaiah 65:25 - “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
Jonah 4:11 - “Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
What Happens When God’s People Follow His Commands?
Exodus 23:20-30
“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”
Is this still a valid promise today? If God’s people were united together and faithful in keeping the Lord’s commands, would He send our enemies scattering? If we refused to let sinful practices stand, would He bless us?
As I read Christian history, I see the early Christians boldly standing up to the Roman Emperors who were persecuting them, and then what happened? One of those Emperors converted, and Christianity soon became the official religion of the Roman Empire and all of Europe for a thousand years. Could a turnaround like that happen again?
Christian Isolation?
Exodus 23:31-33
“I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.”
How far should Christians go in not associating with non-Christians?
The Israelites were supposed to not let non-believers live in their land. Christians are told to carry on the practice of not marrying non-Christians (1 Corinthians 7, for example.) We’re also told not to yoke ourselves to, or partner with, unbelievers.
2 Corinthians 6:14-16 - Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.
How far does this non-yoking go? Should we not work with or do business with non-believers? Should we not buy from non-Christian companies and sellers?
These are hard questions because as Christians, we’re told to reach out to others and share the Good News of Jesus with them. But we need to be careful that we’re reaching out, not letting others reach in – “because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.”
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