Exodus Sermons (written)

Exodus 24:1-8
This is the Blood of the Covenant

Many times people have asked me, “Which book of the Bible should I start with.” Others have asked me, “Which book of the Bible should I read next.” Questions like that come up often. My friend Sergio asked me for advice in a Bible study he was doing with his friend in Israel.

He is a Jewish guy, living in the land, and Sergio was helping him through the book of Romans. After that he asked, “What next?” I told him “Galatians.” The reason for this is that the guy was a young Jewish Christian and he was also in Israel. I can’t think of a more difficult place to be in regards to encountering legalism and the reinsertion of the law. Galatians would see him through this.

Paul explains very clearly what reinserting the law, which has been fulfilled in Christ, means. One becomes a debtor to the whole law. It is setting aside the grace of Christ and saying, “I can do it better.” After doing the study, Sergio agreed that it was the perfect book to go through.

For those who know the law, especially Jews, and even more especially observant Jews, my answer would be either “Read Matthew” or “Read Hebrews.” Matthew shows Christ as the King of Israel and is written from a Jewish perspective.

Hebrews explains Christ as “Better Than.” He is better than the angels, He is better than Moses, He is better than Aaron, He is better than the law, He is better than anything and everything that the Old Testament put forward.

All of the Old only pointed to our Better Than; our Jesus. In today’s eight verses, we will see the cutting of the covenant between Lord and the people of Israel. It is a covenant which can only lead to failure. Not because the laws aren’t holy, but because they are holy.

Man can never be obedient to such marvelous laws. And so it was a good thing that the Lord later gave them the Day of Atonement to keep them from disaster. And it is a marvelous thing that He later stepped out of His eternal realm and took that same holy law upon Himself.

Text Verse: “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ¹⁵ And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Hebrews 9:11-15

The words “the Lord” meaning the name Yehovah, are mentioned eight times in today’s eight verses. The word elohim, or God, is never mentioned. It is abundantly clear that Yehovah is God, but it is how He reveals Himself, meaning as Yehovah, that he deals with Israel concerning this covenant.

Many look at this covenant as one of works, or at best “grace plus works.” But there is no such thing as “grace plus works.” It is either grace or it is works. The two are mutually exclusive. We’ll see a picture of salvation by grace in today’s verses.

It is the same picture we saw with Abraham and it is the same thing we find in Christ. God doesn’t change how He saves. However, He does change how He deals with us through dispensations in order to show us our need for Christ in an incremental way.

On the trip to Chicago, I found this second chiasm which follows directly after the one we looked at in last week’s verses…

 

The law is a giant step in the dispensational model. We’ll see the dispensation of the law further realized and refined in our verses today. It’s all to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Who Shall Ascend the Hill of the Lord? (verses 1 & 2)

¹ Now He said to Moses,

Scholars are often perplexed at the sequence of what is going on and the seeming want of order in the surrounding verses. What we would normally expect at the beginning of a new passage are the words, “Now God said to Moses,” or “Now the Lord said to Moses…” This is excluded and it gives us a clue as to the order of where we are.

The words “Now He said to Moses…” put the emphasis on Moses in what is a continued stream of thought from an earlier part of the Exodus narrative. This emphasis on him also implies that the Lord had been speaking to more than just Moses just before this verse.

At no place, however, is anyone else addressed and so some scholars think that a part of the narrative has been lost. That would be a rather incompetently compiled word of God, wouldn’t it! Instead of taking such an easy-to-dismiss approach at the seeming confusion, we need to go back and look at what has just transpired.

The Book of the Covenant was just given to Moses. This included everything from verse 20:22 until 23:19 for the giving of the rules which regulate judicial conduct. Then from verse 23:20 until 23:33 came the promises associated with obedience to those rules. Thus all of Exodus 20:21 until 23:33 merely insert of the Book of the Covenant. The account now picks up where it left off in Exodus 20:21. Therefore, let’s read that verse –

“So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.” Exodus 20:21

From there, the words of Exodus 24:1 can be seamlessly added onto that verse – So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. Now He said to Moses…”

In other words, and as I’ve already said, the account encompasses the giving of the Book of the Covenant. This is actually logical and orderly. One thing is given at a time and in a way which is intended to reveal to us the mind of God in written form. The importance of recording the Book of the Covenant in the middle of these verses is to show what is preeminently on His mind.

As we saw in those many verses, Christ was meticulously recorded time and time again in them. The earthen altar! The Hebrew slave! And so on. Each portion of the Book was revealing to us our need for Christ. That is why the order is as it is. We now return to just before the giving of the book. This will continue until verse 3.

^1 (con’t) “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,

It is implied that the Lord spoke these words to a group of people before Moses received the Book of the Covenant. It explains the emphasis on Moses in the first part of verse 1 which those thoughtless scholars ascribed to a missing portion of God’s word.

Instead of God sloppily and carelessly losing a portion of His word, or even laying that at the careless feet of Moses, it shows us that nothing is missing and that God’s word is complete. It may be confusing until you search out what is going on, but it is not a book of missing information or sloppy preparation.

In this clause, Moses is told to ascend to Yehovah and bring along with him Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu. Aaron is Moses’ older brother by three years, and Nadab and Abihu are Aaron’s two oldest sons. These three, along with Aaron’s two younger sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, will be set apart as priests to the Lord in Exodus 28.

Unfortunately for Nadab and Abihu, they will be destroyed by fire when they present unauthorized incense before the Lord in Leviticus 10:1. For now though, they are given the honor of ascending the mountain with Moses as well as some others…

^1 (con’t) and seventy of the elders of Israel,

The total number to ascend the mountain will be 74 – Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders. These 70 elders, along with Nadab and Abihu, would then make 72 people to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. This logically divides into six people from each tribe, but this is unstated and only speculation.

The seventy elders would be those who were first mentioned in Exodus 3 when Moses stood at the burning bush and heard this –

“Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; ¹⁷ and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.'” Exodus 3:16, 17

It is not stated why all of these people were to ascend with Moses, but it is probably for at least three reasons. The first is that they could then prove to the people that Moses actually received the words from the Lord and made nothing up on his own. In essence, they would be witnesses to the matter, just as the disciples were witnesses of the ministry of the Lord.

The second reason is tied into this. When the words were presented to the people, it would add in a greater weight to the ratification process. It would be much easier to dismiss the words if Moses stood there alone and told them what was expected. But with these witnesses, they would more readily accept what was received and honor it for what it was – the word of God revealed to them.

The third gives a picture for us. God is their King – it is a theocratic rule. Moses is the prophet, Aaron is to be the priest, and the 72 represent Israel; the kingdom. It is a picture of Christ and His church – the Prophet, Priest, and King among his people.

^1 (con’t) and worship from afar.

In Exodus 20, the people said to Moses “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” After that, it said, “So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.”

From this verse now, we can see that there are three different classifications and groupings. The first is the people of Israel who are at the base of the mountain, and in fact they are on their way back to their own tents.

Next, there are Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders who have ascended the mountain but remain somewhere on its declivity. They will maintain a middle position between the people below and Moses and the Lord who will be above them.

Finally, there is Moses the prophet who alone will ascend to where Yehovah is. He has been set apart as most holy in this awesome matter of receiving the Book of the Covenant. It should be a sufficient warning to the people, especially the elders, that they are not set apart in the same way as those the Lord chooses to designate for whatever reason.

But it quickly became, and continued to be, a constant problem among the people of Israel to blur these lines of distinction which were set by the Lord. In a short time from now, a man named Korah will rebel and assume that he and the whole congregation of the Lord are holy. The penalties for this rebellion will be memorable. First, for Korah we will see this –

“Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. ³³ So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.” Numbers 16:31-33

For the two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation who rebelled with him, we read of their demise –

“And a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.” Numbers 16:35

Even as late as the time of King Uzziah, the Lord still demanded a distinction between his people for set purposes. The priest’s job was not to be accomplished by the king. However, King Uzziah rejected this notion and went to offer incense to the Lord on his own. The penalty for his arrogance was swift –

“Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar. ²⁰ And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there, on his forehead, he was leprous; so they thrust him out of that place. Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.” 2 Chronicles 26:19, 20

Because of his disobedience, the Bible goes on to say that he remained a leper until the day of his death, that he lived in an isolated house, and that he remained cut off from the house of the Lord. The Lord hasn’t changed today.

Though we are brought near to God because of Christ, we still need to remember that He is God and we are His creatures. The judgment seat of Christ will reveal much about how we conducted ourselves in this life in regards to this matter.

² And Moses alone shall come near the Lord,

Some scholars go in the opposite direction with what they believe is going on and they insert these verses between 24:8 & 9. This is also incorrect as those verses carry us into new and uncharted waters. But on the surface they seem to fit there, unless you are looking at the natural progression of what is occurring.

As you can see, there is nothing really easy about discerning what is going on. Each section requires real consideration to grasp. Even some of the finest biblical scholars of all time get confused here. Because of this, there is no shame in any of us being confused.

However, to study them and then misrepresent the progression of what is going on can only lead to incorrect conclusions about later concepts which arise in the Bible. It is for this reason that instead of telling you about how good next week will be for you, I want to explain to you the details of this magnificent word.

It opens up treasures of wisdom and knowledge if you are willing to mentally challenge yourself to explore not just the surface, but the reasons behind the difficult finer points. It is so easy to simply read over them and say, “I’ll look at this more closely… next time.” Maybe next time won’t come.

For now, and still prior to the giving of the Book of the Covenant, Moses leaves behind the rest. He is told that he alone would come to the peak where the Lord was.

^2 (con’t) but they shall not come near;

This is speaking of Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy. They have been given a high honor in being allowed to come to the mountain and to partially ascend it, but their honor has a point of termination. The psalms speak of ascending to the Lord in several places. One of the notable passages is found in the 24th Psalm –

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah Psalm 24:3-6

In the case of receiving the Book of the Covenant, the question is, “Who may stand in His holy place?” The answer is “Moses alone may ascend. Even the elders of Israel may not.”

^2 (con’t) nor shall the people go up with him.”

Again we have words which confirm that this was spoken just before Exodus 20:21. This is referring to the rest of the people of Israel who had asked that the Lord not speak to them any longer. When the Lord called Moses up, he designated a certain group of people to come and no others. It is here that we can insert the words of Deuteronomy 5 where the Lord said this to Moses –

Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” Deuteronomy 5:30

To ensure that the people would not attempt to follow Moses and the elders up the mountain, they were told to return to their tents.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?
Who may stand in His holy place?
The answer is slowly revealed in His precious word
Those who will someday gaze upon His face

It is those who have been cleansed by the blood
It is those who have called out to receive Jesus
Purified by Him, under the cleansing flood
This is what God has through Him done for us

Those who have from Him received such favor
Will surely receive an eternal blessing from the Lord
In His marvelous paradise each moment we shall savor
This is the promise found in His holy word

II. We will Obey, and We will Hear (verses 3-8)

³ So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments.

From this point on the narrative now starts anew. Moses and those with him had ascended the mountain. At a set point, Moses alone went up to the Lord the rest of the way. There he received the words of the Book of the Covenant. And now it will be presented to the people.

What is implied, but unstated, is that Moses heard the words, descended to those awaiting him on the mountainside, and then they together went down to present the words to the people. However, the word used to describe his transmitting the covenant to the people is saphar. It means “to recount.”

Although it is not an unusual word in and of itself, it is a word which is rather special. Instead of simply saying that “He told them what the Lord said,” or “He gave them the gist of what was spoken,” it says that he “recounted” the words of the Lord to them.

This word, saphar, is used just four times in Exodus and this is the last of those four times. In recounting, Moses is carefully speaking out the words to the people. It is as if he counted each word and carefully catalogued it in order to recount what he had counted.

In essence, “I heard these words and I am now recounting them to you as I heard them.” He is speaking the very words of God to them in a faithful manner. “These are all the words of the Lord and all the judgments as I received them.” Why is this important to understand?

The answer is that we cannot add something to the word of God, or fail to include something in the word of God, and still have the word of God. Either it is His word, or it is His word twisted with man’s word, or it is man’s word alone.

This is especially important for us because these words, which form the covenant made between God and the people, make a foreshadowing of the future covenant of grace which God made with us through the blood of Christ.

In Chapter 20, they said, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Well, God is still speaking to them, just through a mediator. Proof that it is God’s word and not his is that Aaron, his sons, and the elders went with him. They can substantiate the truth of the matter. And so the words are recounted and an answer to them is expected…

^{3 (con’t)} And all the people answered with one voice and said,

v’yaan qal ha’am qol echad – “And answered all the people voice one.” The word echad, or one, is used because although there were many voices, there was one unified message in the voices. A cluster of grapes is one, but it is made of many grapes. Echad allows a plurality within the singular.

^{3 (con’t)} “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.”

This is now the third time that the people have voluntarily committed themselves to the words they are given. The first was in verse 19:8. They did it again in 20:19. Now they say, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.”

They have faithfully confirmed what they had committed to. The words were spoken and the words were accepted. However, there is the truth that a crowd will often agree to something in an animated fashion which the individuals in the crowd may either later shun, or that they may disagree upon concerning what was said. And so Moses will now go one step further…

⁴ And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord.

Again, this clause confirms the order of sequence as I laid it out. The words were received from the Lord on Mount Sinai, but only now, after speaking them to the people, are they written down. Each step is logical and orderly. And all of it fits together harmoniously when looked at properly. This is all confirmed by the chiasm we looked at when we started. (chiasm importance)

Note the order: The glory of the Lord was seen coming down on Sinai in chapter 19. In Chapter 20, the Ten Commandments were given. After that, the people were so overwhelmed that they asked for Moses to speak to them and they would agree to hear.

Moses went up the mountain with a selected contingent of people. He left them and continued up to the Lord where he received the Book of the Covenant. After that, he came back down and recounted what he was told. The people agreed to do what they have heard. Only now are the words written down.

Concerning the writing down of the words, it again points to the importance of the word saphar, or “recount.” The words that are written are the words which were spoken. If they were just the substance of what the Lord said, then they weren’t what the Lord actually said. However, the importance of the words is entirely tied up in the coming covenant with the people.

Now that the words are written down, they cannot be contested any longer. Instead, they are the written word of God based on the spoken word of God. They are the continued recording of the Holy Bible which began in earnest in Exodus 17:14 when Moses was first told to write something as a record for future generations.

It is this set of words known as the Book of the Covenant, which will now be the basis of the most remarkable of dealings of God with man since time had begun.

^4 (con’t) And he rose early in the morning,

Nothing is without significance in the Bible, even a clause such as this. To rise early signifies diligence and preparedness. It signifies a willingness on the Lord’s behalf to impart His graces upon us. The Lord didn’t rise late on Resurrection Day, as if He needed the rest. Instead He rose early.

This then is a pictorial idiom as much as anything else. And it will be used exactly as an idiom later in Scripture. In fact, numerous times in Jeremiah alone, it is used to show the Lord’s diligence and willingness to instruct the people. One example is –

“And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.” Jeremiah 32:33

^4 (con’t) and built an altar at the foot of the mountain,

This would have been the very first earthen altar ever constructed according to the Book of the Covenant. The instructions for it were given in verses 20:23-26. In verse 24, we read this –

“An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.”

Thus this altar is where the Lord would come to bless His people. If you didn’t sleep through those verses, you know that this altar forms a picture of Christ. Thus, it signifies the first party in the covenant – God in Christ.

^4 (con’t) and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

These twelve matstsebah, or pillars, are explicitly stated to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. They would have been stone which was stood up in an erect manner. These would have been more than just memorial stones. Each would indicate the placement of the tribe in relation to the covenant. Thus they represent the second party in the covenant.

Moses would have walked between the altar and the stones as a mediator between the two. The standing up of the stones would be a picture of the permanence of these twelve tribes. For as long as the covenant remained, so each tribe of Israel would remain standing.

Eventually a New Covenant would be made and it would again be with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. The implication is that Israel will stand forever. God would forever remain faithful to them based on His covenants with them.

⁵ Then he sent young men of the children of Israel,

There is much speculation as to why young men are specifically mentioned here. It is not the elders, nor is it any other specific group who is selected. Instead, it only says that “he sent young men of the children of Israel.”

No priesthood had yet been established and thus the priestly duties fall on Moses alone for the ritual. These young men have been selected to be servants of Moses. It is possible, though unstated, that they were selected from each tribe to represent their tribe, but even this only speculation.

All that we are given is that young men were selected. The word to describe them is na’ar and in this context, it generally denotes a person from a very small child to one around the age of puberty. It has other significations, but in this context, it seems to imply children of a youthful age, not yet adults

The reason why this is important is that in just about a year from this point, the people will leave Sinai on their way to Canaan. On the way, spies will be sent to search out the land. When they return, a bad report will be spread throughout the community and the people will complain against the Lord. In their complaining, the judgment against them will be severe. Numbers 14 says this –

“The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.” Numbers 14:29

What this verse now seems to imply is that these young men will not be punished in the wilderness. The Lord, knowing what will occur, has selected youth from Israel for this task who will be young enough at that time to be exempt from the curse, and who will thus be allowed to enter the Land of Promise.

What is surprising in this is that even Moses himself will be barred from entering Canaan because of his own misdeeds. If these young men are allowed to pass over Jordan and into Canaan, it is for a good reason. They will be able to recount the day that they stood at the base of Sinai and participated in the reception and confirmation of this sacred covenant.

In this verse is a foreshadowing of Christ’s selection of the twelve apostles on another mountain 1500 years later.

^5 (con’t) who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.

The burnt offering, or olah, is given in gratitude to the Lord, and as a means of seeking his favor and receiving propitiation from Him. Noah made an olah after coming out of the ark. He sought the favor of the Lord and he sought a restored relationship with mankind through it as well. These burnt offerings would normally be completely burned up on the altar as an offering to God.

The shelem, or “peace offerings” comes from the word shalam, which means “to make amends.” The peace offering then is one intended to satisfy the Lord and to bring about a sense of alliance or friendship. For this reason, some translations call them “fellowship offerings.”

Unlike the burnt offerings, these peace offerings would normally have a portion burnt up on the altar. At the same time, the portion which was not burnt up would be eaten by the participants. Thus the idea of a “fellowship” offering conveys the thought quite well.

The young men of Israel are those who were chosen for this task. In looking at their age based on what I mentioned concerning the punishment on those twenty and above, we can see that the Lord regards them as in more of a state of innocence than those who are older, and thus another possible reason for their selection.

⁶ And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins,

It is of singular note that Moses takes half of the blood and uses it for one purpose and the other half for another. It is all the same blood, but the division has purpose and intent. He takes one half of it and put it in basins.

This basin is a new and unusual word found in the Bible. It is aggan, and it is only seen three times – once here, once in the Song of Solomon, and finally once in Isaiah. It is not a priestly word that is later used for such things. Rather it is a common type of basin. It would have had handles as we see from this verse in Isaiah –

“They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers.” Isaiah 22:24

As Isaiah notes, they can be hung, thus implying handles. Surprisingly, the only other time this word is used, which is in the Song of Solomon, it is speaking of the navel of Solomon’s beautiful bride –

Your navel is a rounded goblet;
It lacks no blended beverage.
Your waist is a heap of wheat. Song of Solomon 7:2

Are we to learn from Isaiah’s explanation of this verse that Solomon’s beauty had love handles? All fun aside, one half of the blood is set aside for one purpose; the other half is now explained.

^6 (con’t) and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

The word here for “sprinkle” is zaraq. It means “to scatter.” The only other two times it was used was during the plague of boils when Moses scattered the dust of the furnace towards the sky. Now it is first used in connection with sacrifices. However, in this verse, it is more appropriately translated as “splashed.”

The amount of blood would be considerable and it would be poured out or splashed on the altar. According to the Bible, the life is in the blood. The blood being poured out signifies the death of the innocent animals in place of sinful man. They died in order to confirm the covenant.

The blood of the sacrificial animals, standing in place of the people, is symbolic of a complete surrender of the people to God. It is as if it is they have died and their life was being poured out in acceptance of what would then be read. And yes, the words have not yet been read to the people.

In this, John Lange most wisely notes, “…surrender in general, in accordance with the conditions of grace, must precede obedience in particular, according to the law.” In other words, yielding comes before obedience. It is a picture realized in Ephesians 2:8, 9 –

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Even the Old Testament shows that one comes to God with empty hands. It is not by deeds that one is saved. Rather, it is by grace and through faith. The people have done nothing yet to merit God’s grace except to assume that the blood of the covenant is sufficient to enact the covenant. Abraham discovered this –

“And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

It is the seal of his righteousness. It is also the evangelical seal of our righteousness. And guess what, it is also sealed upon the Law of Moses itself. Even the Ten Commandments are introduced with this language – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Exodus 20:1

God redeems. We have no part in our salvation except to believe and receive. This is what Paul precisely states in Ephesians 1 –

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Moses, acting as their mediator, splashes the blood of the animal on the earthen altar, thus signifying their yielding to God. All of it is picturing the future work of Christ for us – the altar, the blood, the grace through faith. Only after the blood is splashed on the altar are the words of the covenant read aloud…

⁷ Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people.

Only after yielding to God through the sacrifice does Moses now read the written word to the people. It says, v’yiqra b’azene ha’am – “And proclaimed in the ears of the people.” It is more graphic in the Hebrew than when translated. It is the very words that they had heard and agreed to, but now they are set in writing. He is repeating the Book to them now so that they know that it is what the Lord is also agreeing to with this covenant.

^7 (con’t) And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.”

These words qol asher dibber Yehovah na’aseh v’nishma, are almost exclusively translated in this way. “We will do and be obedient.” In fact, only one of the twenty Bibles I read, the Jubilee Bible, says, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and we will hear.” This.is.correct.

The word shema means to hear, but hearing is often associated with obedience, such as “I want you to hear me,” which means “I want you to do as I say.” However, one cannot be obedient unless they first hear. In the final portion of the Book of the Covenant, which is the section concerning the promises, it says –

“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ²¹ Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. ²² But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.”

In other words, more words of instruction are coming from the Lord to which the people must be attentive. This is why they have added on to their statement of verse 3 the words, “…and we will hear.” They have committed to doing even before hearing.

Note: it doesn’t say that we will hear and then we will obey. It says that we will do, and we will hear. The Book of the Covenant is not the entire body of the Law. It is what the entire body of the law is based on. And so, only after this commitment does the Lord accept the people’s offerings through Moses’ mediation…

*⁸ And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

If the splashing of the blood on the altar denoted the surrender of the people to the will of God, then the sprinkling of the people with the blood is the acceptance of the people by God who proposed the covenant to them. The same word zaraq, is used, but Keil notes that the form it is in indicates sprinkling rather than splashing.

The poured out blood symbolized their death; the sprinkled blood denotes the renewal of life and thus the people’s transposition into the kingdom of God. The sins of the people are symbolically carried away and they are sanctified as the people of God.

All of this only looks forward to the greater work of Christ. The half of the blood splashed on the altar looked forward to the satisfaction of God’s anger at our sin through the shed blood of Christ. The half sprinkled on the people looked forward to the purification of us through His blood (Hebrews 10:22) and the sanctification of the Spirit (1 Peter 1:2).

Today’s eight verses have been literally filled with information; certainly more than we will be able to remember. But remembering the details isn’t the point. Understanding the overall premises is. If you can remember that you are saved by grace through faith apart from works, then you have understood the overall message.

As we continue through the law, you’ll also learn that good works aren’t going to keep you saved. This is why God gave Israel a Day of Atonement. If you trust in your good works, then you’re probably not a saved person. What you need to do is to trust in God’s continued mercy, despite your many failings.

If you have good works for the Lord, that’s a good thing, but they can never replace your wholehearted dependence on Christ. As the Bible says, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” And if you have never trusted in the grace of Christ to save you from the pit of hell, today would be a good day to get that settled. Here’s what you need to know…

Closing Verse: “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. ¹⁷ For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. ¹⁹ For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.'” Hebrews 9:17-20

Next Week: Exodus 24:9-18 What will Moses find there? A bubbling fountain? (Come up to Me on the Mountain) (65th Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Blood of the Covenant

Now He said to Moses, He did tell
“Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu
And seventy of the elders of Israel
And worship from afar, as I am instructing you

And Moses alone shall come near the Lord
But they shall not come near
Nor shall the people go up with him, hear my word
Only Moses shall come up here

So Moses came and told the people
All the words of the Lord; the judgments through and through
And all the people answered with one voice and said
“All the words which the Lord has said we will do

And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord
And he rose early in the morning as well
And built an altar at the foot of the mountain
And twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel

Then he sent young men of the children of Israel
Who offered burnt offerings
And sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord
These were the people’s profferings

And Moses took half the blood
And put it in basins, for the covenant rite
And half the blood he sprinkled on the altar
The sacrificial blood, crimson and bright

Then he took the Book of the Covenant
And read in the hearing of the people too
And they said, “All that the Lord has said
We will do, and be obedient; this our word to you

And Moses took the blood
Sprinkled it on the people, and said to them too
“This is the blood of the covenant
Which the Lord has made according to all these words with you

The covenant was sealed in blood before the Lord
The people agreed to its words as one
And it came into effect that day
With the sprinkling of the blood the sealing was done

A New Covenant came many years later
Christ offered to the house of Israel and the house of Judah too
And it was sealed in His blood for them
But the Gentiles have been offered it too

All who come to Christ through faith
Will be received as children of God
It is a promise for all times, thus the Lord saith
That through Christ for eternity heavenly streets we will trod

What a marvelous thing to understand
To know what God has done for the world in Christ Jesus
Thank You, O God, for promises so grand
Thank You for all You have done for us

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Exodus 23:20-33
Covenant Promises and Expectations

From simple logic of what God must be like, we learn that in Him there is no change. We don’t need the Bible to discern this, but the Bible bears it out. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. However, we cannot use that as a principle which then means that the law which He gave to Israel is eternally binding on us.

Some people follow that line of reasoning, but it is flawed. Rather, God has progressively revealed His intentions to the people of the world. When the law was fulfilled in Christ, He annulled it through the New Covenant in His blood. And yet, there are many precepts which are constant.

One of them is that when we are obedient to Him in the manner He has revealed to us, things will go well. When we aren’t, things won’t. Some of the precepts in today’s verses reflect that. Though the law is set aside in Christ, following some of its precepts will inevitably lead to a good end.

This doesn’t mean we’re obligated to them, but if we follow through with them, things will naturally go better than if we don’t. Further, there is the truth that whatever God has thus far revealed is to be adhered to. At this time, we are living in the Dispensation of Grace. We are expected to receive Jesus Christ by faith and trust in His works alone for our salvation.

When we fail to do this and instead trust in our own works, we will not be right with Him. And even though we are under grace, we are not given license to sin. Should we ignore the precepts of the New Testament, we will suffer. At all times, God is calling us to continually return to Him and to cling to Him.

Text Verse: “For I am the Lord, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
⁷ Yet from the days of your fathers
You have gone away from My ordinances
And have not kept them.
Return to Me, and I will return to you,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“But you said,
‘In what way shall we return?’” Malachi 3:6-7

The way we are to return to the Lord is by following the precepts that He lays down for us at any given time in redemptive history. Christ is our Savior and though we may receive Him, we may walk away from Him. In so doing, we will only injure ourselves.

However, if we remain obedient, our expectation is that of many rewards when we stand before Him. God does not force Himself upon us. Instead He grants us the free will to choose. Adam didn’t choose so wisely. Israel didn’t choose so wisely. The church has continuously divided because many fail to choose wisely.

In our sermon verses today is another chiasm for us to ponder. I needed something to do on my trip to Chicago last week and so I went through these verses with the intent of seeing if one was there. Sure enough, one is. The lesson for you… use your time wisely. If you have a few hours, pull our your Bible and study!

Following God’s laws has never been hard, but our human nature says, “I can do it better my own way.” God tells us time and time again that this is not true. He made us and He knows what is best for us. For Israel at the giving of the law, He told them what was best in order for things to go well. These truths are to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. My Angel will go Before You (verses 20-26)

The words of today’s verses close out the initial giving of the law to the people. These words are “the Book of the Covenant.” After this, Moses will go down the mountain and present them to Israel. They have already vowed to accept the words of the Lord and to be obedient to them on two separate occasions.

The first was in Chapter 19. After arriving at Sinai, Moses went up and was given an initial set of words to repeat to Israel. After receiving the word, he came back down and this was recorded –

“So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. ⁸ Then all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do.'” Exodus 19:7, 8

After that, the Ten Commandments were thundered out in the hearing of the people. In their horror and dread, they told Moses –

“You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Exodus 20:19

After that, Moses ascended the mountain once again and was given the words of Exodus 20:22 – 23:33. Each of these was carefully laid out in sets of tens and which harmoniously developed a theme of God’s expected standards for His people. These words now close out those decades of verses with the expected promises for adherence to them. The first promise is a great one indeed…

²⁰ “Behold, I send an Angel before you

hinneh anoki sholeakh malakh l’phanekha – “Behold, I send Angel before your face.” It is a wonderful promise to Moses. It is one of comfort and assurance that he will not be alone in leading the people of Israel to where they are to go.

It is highly debated who this Angel is. Scholars, both Jewish and Christian alike, have debated this and proposed numerous possibilities. Is it Moses? Is it Joshua? Is it an angel? Is it the Lord? It certainly isn’t Moses because the pronoun is in the singular. The address is to him alone.

Many translations capitalize the word to signify their trust that it is in fact the Lord. This is correct. One must let Scripture interpret Scripture. The pillar of cloud which was first seen in Exodus 13:21, and which was explicitly mentioned last in Exodus 14:24, has continued to be with Israel. It will continue to be noted later in Exodus 33, in Numbers 14, and as late as Deuteronomy 31:15.

In Exodus 33:3, there will be a time when the Lord tests Moses with these words –

“Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Also, Paul explicitly ties incidents of the wilderness wanderings to the Presence of Christ among them in 1 Corinthians 10. In verse 10:9, he says that in their conduct, they tempted Christ. Therefore, the Angel who is promised to go before them is, in fact, the Lord.

The pillar of cloud obscures His glory. Within that veil is Christ, “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3). This promise of the presence of the Angel will not be without cost to the people. We will see this in the verses, chapters, and books which lie ahead.

^{20 (con’t)} …to keep you in the way

lishmarekha ba’derek – These words certainly have a triple signification. The first is that Israel will be guided in the proper course to take as they travel towards Canaan. The Lord is directing them according to a set plan, and each stop is where He wants them physically to ensure that they arrive when He wants and where He wants. In this route, they will be safely conducted by Him.

The second reason is as an instruction for the people. To “keep you in the way” isn’t speaking of just a physical way, but it is also speaking on the lines of morality and obedience. The last time the word “way” or derek was used, it was in exactly this manner –

“And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.” Exodus 18:20

And finally, each stop is recorded as a pictorial lesson for us today. It is to show us Christ. We have seen that numerous times already, and that will continue to be the case with each stop and each thing that occurs at each stop. Christ is being revealed to us!

^{20 (con’t)} and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

The place He is speaking of is obviously Canaan. The promise was made to the patriarchs that the land would be theirs. Abraham was told this and it was passed down to each generation since then –

“Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” Genesis 15:13-16

In those words, we see the reason why the Lord delayed the promise. It was because “the iniquity of the Amorites” was not yet complete. The Lord was patient with the inhabitants of the land. Until their iniquity had reached its full measure, He granted them the right to continue in the land.

However, the time was drawing near for that to end. Their wickedness was so great that, like those before the flood, the only remedy was their destruction. Instead of a flood of water, they would be destroyed by the flood of the Lord’s army, Israel.

Despite this being the case, these words are given as a picture of the future granting of a place for the redeemed of the Lord, that of heaven. It is what the land of Canaan only anticipated –

“‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.’
⁵ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’
⁶ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'” John 14:1-6

Just as the Lord had prepared Canaan for Israel, the same Lord who came to live among us has given us an even greater promise. We have a home reserved for us, eternal in the heavens.

²¹ Beware of Him and obey His voice;

When taken together with the rest of Scripture, in this verse we have a picture of the Trinity. First, Moses is told to “beware of Him and obey His voice.” This is speaking of the Angel who is being sent before them. The author of Hebrews ascribes the words to obey His voice at this time to the Holy Spirit –

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
‘Today, if you will hear His voice,
⁸ Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
⁹ Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.'” Hebrews 3:7-9

In Exodus 20:1 the Ten Commandments began with the words, “Then God spoke…” Immediately after that in verse 2, came the words, “I am the Lord your God.” In Hebrews, the admonition to obey is said to have been spoken by the Holy Spirit. Thus, so far, both the Father and the Holy Spirit are specifically noted. At the end of this verse, the Son’s role will be noted as well.

^{21 (con’t)} do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions;

It is the Son to whom judgment has been granted. It is He who pardons and it is He who finds guilt. All authority is granted to Him on earth and in heaven. This is seen even in the Old Testament with the following words…

^{21 (con’t)} for My name is in Him.

We are being shown a picture of the Trinity here. As the Lord God, or Yehovah Elohim, says that His name is in Him, then as Adam Clarke notes, “…the Jehovah dwells in Him.” He is spoken of as a separate Person, and yet in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Charles Ellicott notes that –

“God and His Name are in Scripture almost convertible terms. He is never said to set His Name in a man.” Charles Ellicott

The word translated as “in Him” is b’qirbow. It means, “In His inward parts.” In other words, it is united to Him. If the essence of Yehovah dwells in Him, then this is speaking of the third member of the Trinity – the divine Logos – the word of God; Jesus the Christ. Therefore, these words return us, once again, to John 14 –

“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” John 14:11

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

This is a fascinating verse to consider. In the first clause, there is a change from the third person to the first person. It says, “…if you obey His voice.” It then says, “…and do all that I speak.” This is known as a perikhoresis. It’s a Greek term which is derived from two separate words, peri, which means “around,” and khorein, which in this context means “to go forward.”

It is a tenet which is seen throughout Scripture, but which is often highlighted and magnified by the words of Jesus, particularly in the Gospel of John. It gives the idea of “indwelling” which then conveys and realizes fellowship between the members of the Godhead. This is seen, for example, in John 15:26 –

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”

Even in the Old Testament, multiple clues as to the nature of the Godhead are given. This is a beautiful example of one of them.

Next, this is a conditional verse. It is based on obedience. In it there are four individual thoughts containing three repetitions. The first thought, which is also a repetition is an emphasis in the command – ki im shamoa tishma b’qolow – “but if listening you shall listen to His voice.”

The second thought is based on their listening. It is the application of it – v’asita kol asher a’dabber – “and do all that I speak.” One can’t do unless one first hears and heeds. If one hears, it doesn’t mean they will heed. But if they do, then they will apply what they heard and turn it into action. This then is the obedience of the law.

If these two conditions are met, then there will be rewards, both of which are repetitions based on contrast. The first is v’ayavti eth oyevekha – “then I will be an enemy to your enemies.” The second is v’sarti eth sorerekha – “and an adversary to your adversaries.”

In this, two very similar verbs are used. The first is tsuwr which is used for the first time in Scripture. It comes from a primitive root meaning to cramp. From it, one gets the sense of binding up an enemy or afflicting them by besieging them.

The second word is tsarar. It carries the same meaning as tsuwr and it was first used in Exodus 12:34 when it said that the Israelites had their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. Now it is being used for the first time in the sense of one’s enemies.

Third, the words can’t be only limited to the time before entering Canaan. We have already seen that heeding the voice of the Lord is used by the author of Hebrews to speak of our relationship with Christ. But he was quoting the 95th Psalm there in Hebrews. The psalmist spoke of “Today” just as the author of Hebrews did.

Therefore, this is speaking of how God deals with His covenant people. “Today if you hear His voice…” The promise began at Sinai and it continues to be recalled to God’s people since then. And finally, what is implied, but as yet unstated, is that if they don’t obey, there will be consequences. The opposite of what He promises here is explicitly noted in Leviticus 26 –

“And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.” Leviticus 26:25

Before we go on, I should ask, after considering the words of this verse, do you think the Lord works any differently today? It is to our benefit to follow the advice here – “Listening you shall listen to His voice and do all that He speaks.” We are under the New Covenant and in the Dispensation of Grace, but we still have many commands and admonitions which have been given to us to heed.

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.

In verse 20 it said “I will send an Angel.” Now it says malaki or “My Angel.” There is nothing here to preclude it being Christ. Rather, Malachi 3:1 uses the same word, malak, to describe first John the Baptist and then Christ Jesus –

“‘Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,’
Says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:1

It is Christ who will go before Israel, taking them into the Land of Promise. And the Lord promises to “cut them off.” In this, it means as collective people groups. Not all were cut off. Some were eventually assimilated into Israel. One of David’s leading military men was Uriah the Hittite who was the husband of Bathsheba.

David was also noted as having bought the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite who dwelt among them. Even in Jesus’ time, a person is identified as being a woman of Canaan in Matthew.

²⁴ You shall not bow down to their gods,

lo tishtakhaveh l’elohehem – As most of us already know, bowing down to a god is considered a way of honoring them and paying reverence to them. In so doing, it is an implicit act of trust that they can meet one’s needs. It can also imply that one expects return benefits from them. This was utterly forbidden for them to do.

This is something that is not only common in the RCC today, it is the standard daily ritual, particularly statues of Mary and the saints, as well as supposed relics of dead folk.

^{24 (con’t)} nor serve them,

v’lo ta’abedem – To serve an idol is more than bowing down to them. It can be placing food before them, burning incense to them, singing to them, praying to them, or praising them. Again, this is SOP in the RCC. All of these are done daily at the Vatican and in most subordinate locations.

Within the RCC, they attempt to make a distinction between what is offered to idols: dulia, hyperdulia, and latria. Dulia is supposedly honor and recognition accorded to idols. Hyper-dulia is “lots and lots of dulia.” This is accorded to Mary. Then there is latria which is worship of God.

These distinctions are seen in word, not in practice, and they are exactly what comprise the closing words of John’s first epistle –

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:21

^{24 (con’t)} nor do according to their works;

v’lo taaseh kemaasehem – This is speaking of the cultic practices of those who followed these false gods. Some were sexual in nature, some included human sacrifice, self flagellation, etc. These were utterly forbidden. They were to keep from the idols and they were to keep from practicing the rites involved with the idols. In 1 Kings 11, Solomon is noted for having completely blown it in these three ways –

“For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸ And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.”

^{24 (con’t)} but you shall utterly overthrow them

ki hares taharesem – “in overthrowing, you shall overthrow them.” This is speaking of the false gods. They were to be proven exactly that; false. Their altars were to be destroyed and their temples were to be torn down. There was to be nothing left of them. Even their foundations were to be destroyed.

^{24 (con’t)} and completely break down their sacred pillars.

v’shaber t’shaber matsevotehem – “…in breaking, you shall break their pillars.” The false gods are identified with the images which represent them. They were to be utterly broken down. They were to be crushed, burned, and left as nothing more than refuse.

It was the practice of conquering forces to take the idols of the vanquished nations and keep them as trophies of victory. However, this was not to be condoned in Israel. They were false, they couldn’t save their own people, and they could only entice Israel to eventually look to them for what they could never provide. Unfortunately, King Amaziah failed in all respects concerning this 24th verse of Exodus 23 –

“Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them.” 2 Chronicles 25:14

How hopeless we are as a species! We reject what is good and right and honorable and give our allegiance to the passing wind.

²⁵ “So you shall serve the Lord your God,

In contrast to serving the false gods of Canaan, they are instructed to serve Yehovah Elohekem, or “Yehovah your God.” He alone is Israel’s God and He alone was to be served by them. In return for this, they could expect His divine favor…

^{25 (con’t)} and He will bless your bread and your water.

This doesn’t just mean that their food will be healthy, but that it will be abundant. They will not lack food or water when they are in a right relationship with the Lord. What is implicit here is that if they fail to serve Him, bread and water would be lacking in both quantity and quality.

^{25 (con’t)} And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.

Ellicott notes that, “Half the sicknesses from which men suffer are directly caused by sin, and would disappear if men led godly, righteous, and sober lives. Others, as plague and pestilence, are scourges sent by God to punish those who have offended Him.”

If they served the Lord, they would be blessed with health and vitality. This verse follows directly on the last use of the word translated as sickness, makhaleh, which was in Exodus 15:26 –

“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

Again, what is implied is that the opposite will certainly be true for a failure to adhere to the Book of the Covenant.

²⁶ No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land;

This is probably speaking of both people and animals. When people are well fed and live in clean conditions, which the law will later give instructions for, then those in the land would naturally not face these types of problems.

This probably is not intended as anything more than a general pronouncement. Godly women such as Hannah and Elizabeth were both barren for extended periods. However, the Lord eventually favored them both.

^{26 (con’t)} I will fulfill the number of your days.

Again, when one follows the guidelines given in the law, they can expect to live long, normal lives. The Bible gives us guidelines for right and healthy living because it is written by the One who fashioned us. He knows what is right and best for us. By following His words and seeking after Him, we will naturally be better off.

When we depart from His way, of course we can expect early death through disease because of things like sexual sins, or through trauma because of things like a bullet in our noggin. Look at the world today. The words of the Bible are normally borne out in how we conduct our lives. For the wicked, the psalms give a good general picture of life –

“But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction;
Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;
But I will trust in You.” Psalm 55:3

I will send My Messenger before you, He will lead the way
He is the Head of the army of the Lord
He is the King of My People, and to you I say
He will go before you always, He – My spoken Word

Have no fear of your enemies, they are already defeated
I have sent My fear before you, to break open a way
Even the enemy of death has been unseated
Over him My Son prevailed at the dawning of the day

My Name is in Him and so have no fear
It is your enemies to whom my fear has gone out
So in the exalted name of Jesus, send out a hearty cheer
Yes, in His name shall you give a resounding shout

I. I Will Send My Fear Before You (verses 27-33

²⁷ “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come,

These promises are conditional. The first two were literally fulfilled, using the same word. The “fear” or emah certainly came to the people of Canaan prior to Israel’s arrival. Rahab the harlot, using the same word emah, told this to the spies who visited her-

“I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.” Joshua 2:9, 10

The confusion or hamam was first seen in the Bible in Exodus 14 when the Lord confused the Egyptians as they pursued Israel through the Red Sea. In Joshua 10:10, the same word is used again to describe the Lord confusing Joshua’s enemies in battle.

^27 (cont) and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

The opposite of the final promise is actually what is seen in Scripture. In Joshua 7, it is Israel, not their enemies who turned their oreph, or necks in battle. One of the congregation violated the law concerning the destruction of Jericho. Because of this, in their next battle, they were routed, turned their necks, and ran.

The conditional nature of these promises is highlighted through the use of the selected words as they are later used in the book of Joshua. The Lord is asking us to look at them and see how it is we who are either obedient to the Lord and flourish, or who turn from Him and falter. If so, we turn out to be our own worst enemies.

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

This verse introduces the tsirah, or hornet, into the Bible. It is the first of just three times that they are mentioned. The word comes from tsara which means to be leprous. Also, there is an article in front of “hornet.” It is “the hornet.” The language here is to be taken metaphorically.

First, similar terminology is used concerning bees in Deuteronomy 1:44 and Psalm 118:12. There, they are equated with one’s enemies. Secondly, Joshua says that this was fulfilled in the case of the Amorites in Joshua 24:12 –

“I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow.”

There it said it was the hornet that drove out the two kings of the Amorites. And yet, Moses, speaking of the same battle, shows that it was, in fact, Israel who defeated them –

“And at that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were on this side of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon…” Deuteronomy 3:8

This is repeated in Deuteronomy 4:47 and it is referring to the kings Sihon and Og. What I speculate this is referring to is that there is a connection between the hornet and its associated word meaning leprosy.

The Lord promised health and long life to Israel if they held to His laws. As they were going in to a land defiled by those things which are opposed to a healthy lifestyle, the enemy had been afflicted with disease to the point where they were incapable of standing up to Israel’s armies.

Thus, “the hornet” is a metaphor for God’s judgment of sickness upon them, preparing them for destruction by Israel. This is only speculation, but the Bible records that Israel actually faced these foes in battle. Thus it is a reasonable explanation for the term “the hornet” which is said to have gone before them.

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.

There is a bit tied up in this verse. First, it is a certainty that the inhabitants are to be driven out. However, there is an incremental process which is to take place. We look at the Lord’s plans as if He is slacking, but this is not the case. It is only from our short life spans that we decide things should move more quickly.

But the Lord is looking at the long-term. If all of the inhabitants were taken out at once, the land would become desolate. The word shemamah, or desolation is introduced into Scripture here. The land was inhabited, and there were fields, crops, fruit trees, wells, houses, etc. everywhere.

If all the people were taken out at once, there would have been an insufficient number of people to take them over. The productivity would have been lost. Further, these nations were collectively destroyed, but not all individuals were. Some of them came into the people of Israel and actually lead even to Christ Himself – Rahab and Bathsheba are but two known for sure.

Further, it is later stated that some of the inhabitants were left in order to test Israel and see if they would keep the way of the Lord or not. This is seen in Judges 2:21-23. And finally, it was because the beasts of the field would become too numerous. This actually occurred after the exile of the ten tribes. In 2 Kings, we read this –

“And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.” 2 Kings 17:25

It was noted after the Franco-German war that many districts in France had an explosion of wolves. These wouldn’t just be physically harmful to people, but they would be devastating to flocks and they would bring diseases with them as well. The Lord knew these things would occur and so he determined to methodically take care of the occupation of Canaan…

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

meat meat agareshenu mippanekha – “little little I will drive them out from before your face.” The idea here is the completed explanation from the previous verse. It implies that Israel will be fruitful and multiply. They will increase in numbers and as they do they will be able to assume the responsibility for the land.

It is, in picture, somewhat like what Adam could have done in the Garden of Eden. If he was obedient, then he would have increased there, but in his disobedience, he was cast out to the east. In a similar way, Israel was given this wonderful land of Promise and they were told to increase there, being obedient to the Lord.

Instead of this, they were eventually driven out and sent east to Babylon. The pattern repeated itself. From abundance to want, from a land of delight to a land of captivity, and from the west to the east – both Adam and Israel failed to keep the good things they had been given. The Lord had done all the work; all they needed to do was exercise faith, trust, and obedience. Both failed.

³¹ And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River.

The boundaries of the land are defined here and they cause those who deny predictive prophecy no end of stress. It wasn’t until the time of Solomon that this prophecy was actually realized, and yet the Lord told them that this would be the land they received.

The Red Sea is the southern extremity, the sea Philistia, or the Mediterranean was to be the western border. The desert, meaning where they are now in Sinai, was to be the land border on the south, and the River, meaning the Euphrates, was to be their border to the north and east.

The term for “the river,” which is ha’nahar, cannot be taken as meaning the Jordan. It is later explicitly described as the Euphrates twice in Deuteronomy and once in Joshua. This immense expanse of land is what was promised to Israel after it having first been promised to their forefather Abraham in Genesis 15:18.

^{31 (con’t)} For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.

This verse here clearly explains the previous conundrum concerning the term “the hornet.” The Lord says He will deliver the inhabitants of the land into the hands of Israel. When He does, they are to respond by driving the people out. Thus, the term “the hornet” must be taken metaphorically. The Lord prepared the people for being driven out and Israel accomplished the matter.

³² You shall make no covenant with them,

Interestingly, the Book of the Covenant, which begins in Exodus 20:22, began with a warning against idolatry. It now closes with the same theme. It is an exceptional warning to the people that they were to take heed and not participate in any idolatrous worship. They were admonished to keep far from it.

In these words, the people are warned to not cut any covenant with the people. This was violated almost immediately after they entered the Land of Promise. Joshua failed to check with the Lord concerning a covenant with the Gibeonites and he, in fact, made a covenant with them. This wasn’t the only such infraction either, in Judges 2:2, 3 we read –

“And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? ³ Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

What is important to understand is that such a covenant was normally not only with the people. There was more to it than a simple treaty…

^{32 (con’t)} nor with their gods.

In making a covenant with a people group, it was the custom to acknowledge the god or gods of that people group. Sometimes it was implicit, at other times it was explicit. Sacrifices would be made and then acknowledgement of the god’s ability to protect and to keep secure the covenant was involved.

Thus, by cutting such a covenant, it was acknowledging the belief system of the other group. This is, unfortunately, now what has happened between many Christian sects and Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc. There is either an implicit or an explicit acknowledgment of the power of the false gods, or of the incorrect faith in the true God, of these other religions.

This shows the epitome of contempt for the One true God when it occurs. Like Israel of old, many will face the same sad end because of their failure to hold to the Lord alone.

³³ They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me.

Allowing pagans to remain in the land will inevitably result in turning from the Lord. This is seen time and time again in the Bible. If a person became a part of the covenant people, they had to give up on their religion and turn to the Lord.

Ruth, for example, was one who was famous for having clung to the Lord God of Israel. But for those who didn’t cling to Him, only trouble could result. This is the story of America today. Little by little, false religions have crept in and the collective heart of the people has turned from Him.

There is no longer a fear of the Lord, and the land has devolved into utter wickedness because of it. This was the final warning to Israel. Like them, we failed to take heed…

*^33 (fin) For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Making alliances with those who worship other gods will inevitably result in a weakening of the true faith. It is as a snare by which one is caught. This is the first time that the word moqesh, or snare is used in this way concerning the true faith.

It is as if one is walking along, and without even seeing it lying there, they step in it and are set on a path to destruction. This is the end for all who mingle the true faith with that which is false. Unfortunately, Israel failed to heed, and unfortunately, we have failed to heed as well.

The gospel has gone out, it has been well received by the world, and now it is on a path of apostasy from which it will probably not recover. The Lord will take action and He will destroy Mystery Babylon from the face of the earth. All who are a part of her will be destroyed with her.

But before that day comes, there is still a chance to get right with the Lord. There is time to call on Christ and be saved from the inevitable. You see, the book is written and the judgments are already laid out. All we can do is endure until He calls us home to be with Him.

After that occurs, the world will be cast into a time of global destruction. It is all because we have failed to simply receive the word and stand fast on it. Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Call on Jesus and be reconciled to God through Him. Let me tell you how to you can, even right now…

Closing Verse: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:21

Next Week: Exodus 24:1-8 Israel agreed to the word He sent… (This is the Blood of the Covenant) (65th Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Covenant Promises and Expectations

Behold, I send an Angel before you
To keep you in the way
And to bring you into the place
Which I have prepared; it is waiting you there today

Beware of Him and obey His voice
Him do not provoke
For He will not pardon your transgressions
For My name is in Him; do as I spoke

But if you indeed obey His voice
And do all that I speak: you my word with you do carry
Then I will be an enemy to your enemies
And to your adversaries an adversary

For My Angel will go before you
And bring you in to the Amorites
And the Hittites and the Perizzites too
And the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites
And I will cut them off, this I will do

You shall not bow down to their gods
Nor serve them, nor do according to the works they make
But you shall utterly overthrow them
And their sacred pillars down you shall completely break

So you shall serve the Lord your God
And He will bless your bread and your water too
And I will take sickness away
From the midst of you

No one shall suffer miscarriage
Or be barren in your land
I will fulfill the number of your days
Pay heed to this word; please understand

I will send My fear before you
I will cause confusion, it is true
Among all the people to whom you come
And will make all your enemies turn their backs to you

And I will send hornets before you
Which shall drive out the Hivite
The Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you too

I will not drive them out from before you in one year
Lest becomes desolate the land
And the beasts of the field that cause fear
Become too numerous for you, lest they get out of hand

Little by little I will drive them out
From before you until you have increased
And you inherit the land
And any terror from them will have ceased

And I will set your bounds
From the Red Sea to Philistia’s sea
And from the desert to the River
All this, your territory shall be

For I will deliver the inhabitants
Of the land into your hand
And you shall drive them out before you
This I proclaim for you to understand

You shall make no covenant with them
Nor with their gods, I tell you now plainly
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
And so I admonish you now
This thing you shall not do

Help us Lord to follow in Your way
Help us to live rightly according to Your word
Let our lives be dedicated to you, renewed each day
And let our deeds be for the sake of our Lord

Great are You, O God, and worthy of our praise
Your word is perfect and Your ways are just and true
And so we shall follow You with obedient hearts always
Unto the ages of ages we will praise and glorify You

Hallelujah and Amen…

Exodus 23:10-19
Set Times and Feasts for Israel

Since Exodus 20 and the Ten Commandments, we have gone through nine sermons, including this one. There is a pattern which runs through those chapters which is quite remarkable. Yes, there are parallelisms and at least one chiasm, probably more. But there are also sets of tens within the major subjects we have looked at.

Bible scholar Ernest Bertheau discovered the patterns. These sets of tens continue right through to the end of Exodus 23. I haven’t followed these patterns for the sermons because there are other aspects of the passages that I’ve been focused on, but I’d like to read you the main subject categories as he has laid them out.

Understand that each of these divides beautifully into ten individual points. It is really rather remarkable to see.

1. Right of Personal Freedom – Exodus 21:1-11
2. On Murder and Bodily Injuries. Sins against the Life of one’s Neighbor – Exodus 21:12-27
3. Injuries resulting from Relations of Property. Through Property and of Property. Acts of Carelessness and Theft – Exodus 21:28-22:6
4. Things Entrusted and Things Lost – Exodus 22:7-17
5. Unnatural Crimes. Religious and Inhumane Abominations – Exodus 22:18-22:31
6. Judicial Proceedings – Exodus 23:1-9
7. Rules for Holidays and Festivals – Exodus 23:10-19
8. The Promises – Exodus 23:20-33

Today we will look at Exodus 23:10-19 and I will use his breakdown of it into ten separate ordinances so that you can see the pattern revealed. Some people love patterns, some couldn’t care, but they should at least be important to us for a significant reason.

If there are all of these patterns – parallelisms, chiasms, decades, and on and on in here, then either Moses was the most intelligent writer in human history, or these truly are the very words of God. It is beyond comprehension to think that one man could develop themes like this and also pack in all of the information that is both pictorial and prophetic that we keep discovering week after week.

What a priceless gem we have here! Let us ever appreciate it for what it truly is – God’s precious word.

Text Verse: So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Colossians 2:16, 17

Today we will look at the ordinances for holidays and festivals. Each of these was given to Israel to show us pictures of Jesus. The nation lived out these pictures without even realizing it. And we are the blessed ones who can now see what was hidden from them.

These holidays and festivals are fulfilled in Christ and thus they are set aside. Paul tells us this. But we can still learn much from them. And so let’s do just that! It’s all to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Times of Sabbath Rest (verses 10-13)

The placement and structure of these verses is beautiful. The last set of verses, 1-9, dealt with justice towards others, and they had a strong focus on the poor. These verses deal with holidays, religious festivals, and set times of life, but even though they do, the first ones are named specifically in regards to the poor. Thus they make a transition between the two sets of tens laid out.

All of the verses are laid down intricately and with purpose. We have seen a chiasm which flows through them and we have seen how chapters 20-23 are developed based on patterns of tens as well. In addition, the patterns of tens overlap with a gradual melting together of each set of tens.

The Ten Commandments were laid out in Chapter 20 and then 8 sets of tens are laid out between Chapters 21-23. There is immense wisdom in the structure of these laws which have been given.

¹⁰ “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,

The first ordinance. Verses 10 and 11 comprise the first ordinance. It is divided into two sections, just as the week is. There is the prescription that work is to be done for the first six years – “You shall sow your land and gather in its produce.”

This is a positive mandate to actively work the land, sowing and reaping, as it produces its harvest. This includes anything which the land produces, whether it is grains, fruits, or vegetables. The people were to work towards their rest.

It is, like the week leading to the Sabbath, a picture of man working six thousand years towards his rest during the millennium. It was to be a time of productivity and diligence while waiting for a time of change in what is to be done. The land was given to them and it was to be used as they pleased and with the intent of producing wealth and prosperity.

¹¹ but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow,

The Hebrew verb for “let it rest” is shamat. This is the first of just 9 times that it will be used. It means “to let go” or “to drop down.” The idea is that as one opens their hand and lets something fall out of it, so the people were to let the labors of the field drop out of their hands.

This word is associated with the noun shemittah which means “remission.” That is used only 5 times, and only in Deuteronomy. As a noun, it signifies the year of release. The verb in this verse is the action of letting it be released.

During the seventh year, the cycle of sowing and reaping, or even just plucking what comes up without care, such as fruits on the tree, was to be completely disregarded. All was to remain lying fallow. And the reason for it is given…

^{11 (con’t)} that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat.

The poor here in Hebrew is evyon. It means “needy,” and this is the second time it is seen. The first was in verse 6 last week. This admonition follows directly and naturally after the verses of justice from last week, many of which dealt with the poor. Those who had no land or were destitute were given all the rights to whatever popped up from the fields during this seventh year.

Further, the beasts of the field could come in and eat anything which grew. The land was given over entirely to these two categories and no profit was to be made off of it for the owners of the land. Again, it is a marvelous picture of what we see in the six thousand years of man working towards the millennium.

Each of the redeemed has his own responsibility of sharing Christ. The care of the person and the field they minister in will reap according to their efforts. But, in the millennium – meaning the last thousand-year period where Christ reigns, there will be no need to minister as in times past. Isaiah describes what it will be like –

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
³ Many people shall come and say,
‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:2-4

^{11 (con’t)} In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.

This is the second use of zayit or olive in the Bible. It hasn’t been mentioned since Genesis 8:11 when the dove that Noah released returned with an olive branch in its mouth. Now it is reintroduced here. The offering of peace with man from the Lord is now expected to be an offering of peace to one’s poor and needy fellow man. Thus it was honoring of the Lord who is the Prince of peace.

The vineyards and the olive groves would continue to put forth their fruits at a normal rate and so this would be an enormous blessing for the poor. In fact, with what they could harvest in this seventh year, if they were industrious, they could work their way entirely out of poverty.

Again, it is emblematic of the millennium where all will be able to receive the full benefits of what God offers as Christ rules from Jerusalem. This law of the year of rest is further defined in Leviticus 25:3-7 –

“Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. ⁵ What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. ⁶ And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, ⁷ for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.”

This seventh year where everything was to lie fallow was unique in all the world. It may have seemed contrary to what seems profitable, and in fact it may seem that it would be harmful to the society to follow this mandate, but the Lord promised them that such would not be the case. Leviticus 25:20-22 shows this –

“And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?’ ²¹ Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. ²² And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.”

Instead of focusing on the earthly, this year was to be different. They were given a command for a different focus, a spiritual one, for the seventh year. This is detailed in Deuteronomy –

“And Moses commanded them, saying: ‘At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹² Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, ¹³ and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.'” Deuteronomy 31:10-13

This law of the sabbatical year was given to show that the Lord was the Landowner and the people of Israel were His tenants. They were thus expected to conform to His laws and believe in His promises. During this seventh year, it is not said that they cannot work, only that they were not to work in harvesting.

If they wished, they could keep as productive as they wanted and earn as they saw fit, but they were not to violate the edict of letting the land lie fallow and not harvesting what came up on its own. The Lord was so adamant about this that in Leviticus 26, it is included among the curses of the people for disobedience –

“I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you;
your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land;
then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.
³⁵ As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.” Leviticus 26:33-35

And because the people failed to obey, the Lord kept his promise for their disobedience. This is recorded in 2 Chronicles –

“And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹ to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.” 2 Chronicles 36:20, 21

If seventy years of exile equates to seventy violations of the observance of the sabbatical years, then they violated this law more than they kept it prior to their exile – for at least 490 of those years. It is a sad commentary on Israel that they failed to trust His promises and they failed to obey His precepts.

It is noted by later historians that after the exile observing this year became regular within Israel. Tacitus records the observance and Josephus notes that Julius Caesar permitted the custom and excused the Jews from paying tribute in the sabbatical year.

However, with their rejection of Christ, following the law could never save them. They first disobeyed the law and were exiled, and then they rejected the grace of the Lord and were again exiled. They are well suited to be the poor of the land who so desperately need what the millennial reign of Christ will freely offer to them.

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 second ordinance. The Sabbath which was mandated in the Ten Commandments is readdressed here to show that there is a system with purpose and intent. There is the weekly Sabbath, there is the sabbatical year, there will be a year of Jubilee which is an ending of seven periods of sabbatical years, and then there is the millennial time-frame of six thousand years leading to the last thousand years.

Within these occurrences are countless other dates which revolve around these set times. There is immense order and harmony in how God has laid out the redemptive workings of Scripture in the stream of time in which we live.

The word for “work” here is not the same as the word for “work” when the fourth command was given. Both are general terms, but this one is probably different in order to demonstrate that there was no exemption from the Sabbath week during a Sabbath year.

Also, there are two words translated as “rest” in this verse. The first is shabbath and the second is nuakh. The second gives the positive idea of resting and so to get the mental idea of what is being said, I will paraphrase this, “…and on the seventh day you shall observe the Sabbath so that your ox and your donkey may rest and be rested.”

And after that a third word is used for “refreshed.” It is naphash. This is a verb used for the first of only four times in the Bible. It is from a primitive root meaning to breathe; or passively, to be breathed upon. In this we could say, “…and the son of your female servant and the stranger may catch their breath.” This unusual word again points us to the millennium of Christ. Peter says this to the people of Israel in Acts 3 –

“But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ¹⁹ Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:18-21

The Greek words Peter used, kairoi anapsyxeōs, means exactly the same thing as Moses’ words here; “times of recovering of breath, a refreshing.” Each line continuously points us towards Christ and His work. The times of refreshing Peter speaks of is the kingdom age; the millennial reign of Jesus. Concerning this mandate in comparison to the Fourth Command, Charles Ellicott notes –

“Nothing is added to the requirements of the fourth commandment; but the merciful intention of the Sabbath day is more fully brought out—it is to be kept in order that the cattle may rest, and the slave and stranger may be refreshed.” Charles Ellicott

His words are correct, and again, they perfectly match what is expected during the millennial reign. It is a time of mercy on the world. What is stated here for the Sabbath is reflective of the millennium as Isaiah describes it –

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
⁹ They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
¹⁰ “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:6-10

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.

This precept seems out of place considering what is supposed to be a ten-fold list of holidays and festivals, but it is not. It is to the Lord that these holidays and festivals were to be observed.

By prohibiting the speaking of the names of other gods, they were signifying that there is but one God who is to be acknowledged – Yehovah. However, there is the modern Jewish practice of killing the Lord’s name by silence. They do not speak His name, but rather refer to Him as Adonai, or “my Lord.”

But the active speaking of His name and the refusal to speak the name of any other god is perfectly fulfilled in the millennial picture we have been developing. Throughout the world there are supposedly “many gods.” But the words of Zechariah show us the fulfillment of this verse in Exodus 23 –

“And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.
In that day it shall be—
‘The Lord is one,’
And His name one.” Zechariah 14:9

Each verse has pointed to this marvelous time on earth which is surely coming soon to a millennial reign near you.

A time of rest, it is what we hope for
A time when our labors will cease
And in Jesus, we have passed through the door
In Him is found our rest and our eternal peace

For those at the end of the ages
When the tribulation ends and wars finally cease
The realization of the rest promised in the Bible’s pages
Will come upon them; they will behold the Prince of peace

He shall rule from Zion among Israel
And from Him the law will go out; disputing will cease
In that day, it shall all be well
As the world is granted its blessed time of peace

II. The Pilgrim Feasts (verses 14-19)

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

The third ordinance. It is the mandating of three feasts to the Lord each year. Although the Passover and Unleavened Bread have already been mandated, this is the first mention of the three annual feasts in the Bible. The word “times” here is regalim, the plural of regel, or foot. Thus it means “foot beats.”

Just as foot beats fall in regular succession, so these feasts were to be just as regular for the people. The word for “feast” is khagag which indicates a pilgrim feast. They were to travel to a set location for the feast. In this there is a vivid mental picture of “the foot beats of the pilgrim feast.” Men would regularly travel to meet with the Lord.

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;

The fourth ordinance – ha’matsowt, or “the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” It is the first of the three mandated pilgrim feasts. The feast follows immediately after the Passover and lasted for seven days. The first day and the last day of the feast were holy convocations, and for all seven days unleavened bread was to be eaten.

As noted when we looked at that feast when it was first mandated, it is a picture of our time in Christ. He died for us as our Passover Lamb. When we accept what He did, we enter into Christ and are thus deemed sinless before God.

We are, as Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 5, “truly unleavened.” We were brought out of bondage to sin and the devil, pictured by Egypt, and now are the redeemed of the Lord, considered as sinless, pictured by the unleavened bread – meaning without yeast. The Lord is showing a picture of the redemption of His people through the mandated observance of this feast.

^{15 (con’t)} none shall appear before Me empty);

The word “empty” is reqam – empty-handed or vain. The last time the word was used was in Exodus 3:21 when the Lord promised that Israel would not come out of Egypt empty-handed –

“So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. ²¹ And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.” Exodus 3:20, 21

It seems that the use is intentional here. “Just as I brought you out of Egypt with hands that were not empty, so you shall come before me with hands that are not empty. To do so would be a vain thing.” This seems certain because later in Deuteronomy, this mandate will apply to all three pilgrim feasts, but it is only noted as such with this feast now –

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. ¹⁷ Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.” Deuteronomy 16:16, 17

For now, He is teaching them that what He has done for them is to involve like-return to Him when they appear before Him. This feast was to be held immediately after the Passover, from the evening of the 14th day of the month of Abib until the evening of the 21st day of the same month as is noted in Exodus 12:18.

¹⁶ and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field;

The fifth ordinance – ha’qatsiyr, or “the harvest.” This is the second of the three pilgrim feasts. It will also be called Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks because it was celebrated seven weeks after another feast which will be mandated in Leviticus. It is held on the fiftieth day after that feast which corresponds to the fiftieth day after the first Passover when the law was received at Sinai.

In Greek, it is called Pentecost and thus it pictures the sealing of believers with the Holy Spirit upon belief in the work of Christ. There is the giving of the law at Sinai which is replaced by the giving of the New Covenant Holy Spirit. It is the indwelling of God in man.

The word for “firstfruits” is bikkurim. This is the first of 18 times it will be used in the Old Testament. It comes from a verb, bakar, which means “to bear new fruit, to constitute as first-born.” This is referring to the wheat harvest which comes after the barley harvest.

The wheat was considered the more valuable grain and it is the grain which is used to refer to the redeemed of the Lord. Thus, this feast is a picture of those in Christ during the church age and who will be taken at the rapture. Paul speaks of this in Romans –

“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” Romans 8:22, 23

Interestingly, what they were to bring when they appeared before the Lord is later mandated in Leviticus 23. There it says –

“You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord.” Leviticus 23:17

In one of only two times in all of the law, yeast, or leaven, was to be presented to the Lord. In this case, two loaves of bread baked with leaven. The loaves are a picture of all of the redeemed of the Lord, two loaves representing Jew and Gentile. This feast initiates the wheat harvest which continues on until the next feast.

The Lord was to receive them, even with leaven, just as the Lord has received us, both Jew and Gentile, even with sin in our lives. We are consecrated as holy and counted as sinless because of the work of Christ. The author of Hebrews also reveals the status of those in Christ as the consecrated firstborn –

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24

What Israel was asked to do at these feasts only pictures the greater work of Christ in redemptive history. Their regular lives as directed by the Lord, what they did, when they did it, and how they conducted themselves, was all given to show us so very much more concerning ourselves and our own life in Christ.

^{16 (con’t)} 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 sixth ordinance – ha’asiph, or “the ingathering.” This word, asiph, is used only here and in Exodus 34:22. When the feast is mentioned elsewhere, it is called Sukkoth, or Tabernacles. It is referring to the ending of the harvest season when the labors of the people are gathered in from the field.

The dating for this feast will later be fixed as the 15th day of the seventh month and it will last for seven days. This corresponds to around October on our calendar. There are various crops that grow in Israel throughout the summer months and by this time, they are almost all harvested.

Generally, the last crops to be gathered in are the grapes, figs, pomegranates, almonds, and olives. At the time when these harvests are accomplished, the people were to celebrate this feast as their labors for the year had come to an end. At the end of the instructions for the Feasts of the Lord in Leviticus 23, this addendum is noted

“Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. ⁴⁰ And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³ that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 23:39-43

The Feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled in Christ, He having put on a tent of flesh and dwelt among us. This pilgrim feast then is the fulfillment of the prophetic plan for man. After all of the harvests, all the redeemed who have been brought out of spiritual Egypt, the bondage of sin, will be gathered together to dwell with the Lord in the millennium.

There is an order to these three feasts. The Passover initiates the process – Christ’s death for His people. The first feast is our position in Christ because of His work; we are counted as sinless. The second is the granting of the Holy Spirit because of that declaration of being counted sinless. And the third is the harvesting of the redeemed; the ingathering of the people of the Lord.

As this feast says, it is “at the end of the year.” It is when the cycle is complete and the redemption of God’s people is to be finally realized in its fullness. Although two of these feasts will be given different names later, they are given as a wide brushstroke here of what the Lord is doing throughout redemptive history.

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

The seventh ordinance. Although this is similar to verse 14, it does have differences. The word for “times” is different. In verse 14, it was regalim, or “foot beats.” Here it is paam, or “strokes.” The word is elsewhere translated as “anvil.” We get the idea of a regular stroke. Three times, or strokes, a year this was to occur as the times were set. The mental image we can make is that the foot beats of the people are to occur at the times when the anvil strikes.

Unlike verse 14, it identifies that it is the males who are to appear. This doesn’t mean that women and children couldn’t go, and the Bible records that they did, but it was obligatory for the males. In Deuteronomy 16, it presupposes that the entire family would go. It also identifies there what the term, “the end of the year” means for the feast of Ingathering –

“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. ¹⁴ And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. ¹⁵ Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.” Deuteronomy 16:13-15

The end of the year means the end of the harvest cycle. Also, unlike verse 14 which said “a feast to Me,” here it says they shall appear “before the Lord God.” They were to recognize that it was to Yehovah, who is the God of Israel, to whom they were to appear. They were thus times of intimate meetings with Him.

One might think this wouldn’t be a prudent thing to do. By all of the males observing these feasts, the land would be left defenseless. However, that involved faith in the word of the Lord, just as observing the sabbatical year did. In the explanation of these feasts in Exodus 34, this promise is included –

“Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.” Exodus 34:23, 24

From here, the following three verses seem out of place and hardly in line with the holiday and festival requirements, but they are, in fact, logical and orderly. They reflect a portion of these feasts.

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

The eighth ordinance. There is dispute as to what this verse means. Does it mean any sacrifice, or only the Passover. It is repeated in Exodus 34 with only a few differences. There it says –

“You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.” Exodus 34:25

In these two verses, the blood is the object of what is offered instead of the sacrifice – “You shall not offer the blood.” As the Bible says that the life is in the blood, and because grain offerings were considered separate offerings than sacrifices, it is referring only to the Passover, which is a type of Christ’s cross. Thus it is called, “My sacrifice.”

Leaven was to be completely purged from the home prior to the slaughtering of the Passover. Thus it is a picture of the sinless Christ who shed His blood for us. There was no sin to be found in Him, just as there was no leaven to be found in the homes of those who partook of the Passover.

The second half of this verse is incorrectly translated. The word translated here as “sacrifice” is khag. It is a completely different word than in the first half, zebakh. This word, khag means “feast,” not “sacrifice.” Thus the KJV and the NKJV get a demerit in their translations.

The lamb is “My sacrifice,” and the Passover is “My feast.” It is a feast to the Lord, and there was to be nothing left of the lamb by morning time. That was explained in Exodus 12 –

“You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.” Exodus 12:10

This verse then corresponds to the first of the three pilgrim feasts. The Passover is tied directly into the Feast of Unleavened bread. Again, each verse has been used to direct us to Christ. He is the object and fulfillment of every precept we have looked at today.

¹⁹ The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

The ninth ordinance. The word “first” is translated a few ways – the first, the best, the beginning, etc. The word is reshith. It means the first, either in place, time, order, or rank. What it is referring to is the first to mature. Before any grain was harvested for self, the first harvested was to be offered to the Lord without delay.

The offering is that which was specified for the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost mentioned above. It was the first of the harvest which was to be brought to the Lord in the form of two loaves made with yeast. Interestingly, in the New Testament, there are two mentions by Paul of the firstfruits of those from Achaia. The first is mentioned in Romans 16:5 –

“Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.”

The second is in 1 Corinthians 16:15 –

“I urge you, brethren—you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia…”

Epaenetus is believed to be a Jew. The name is the same as the Hebrew “Judah” or “praise.” And so it is believed he used his Hebrew name among the Hebrews and his Greek name among the Greeks as often happened in those days. Stephanas was a Gentile.

More interestingly, the name Achaia where they were both from has the same general meaning as the Hebrew name of Egypt. Egypt or mitsrayim is a plural word which means “double distress.” Achaia means “grief.” These are called the Firstfruits of Grief. They are a picture of the first redeemed out of the world of grief, just as Israel was redeemed out of Egypt, or double distress.

These then show the fulfillment of the two loaves of bread with yeast being presented to the Lord at this feast, Jew and Gentile. Returning the firstfruits to the Lord is a picture of the firstfruits of the redeemed being noted as such in the New Testament. This verse then corresponds to the second of the three pilgrim feasts. The offering of the firstfruits is tied directly into the Feast of Harvest.

*^19 (fin) You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

The tenth ordinance. As the previous two precepts were tied into the first two pilgrim feasts, then it is logical that this is tied into the final pilgrim feast, that of ingathering. This verse is one of cleanliness and what is acceptable for holiness to God.

We know this because all of verse 19 is repeated verbatim in Exodus 34:26, but the second half of it, meaning this portion about boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk is also repeated verbatim in Deuteronomy 14:21. That section of Deuteronomy is dealing specifically with clean and unclean meat.

It is true that this verse is one of mercy and respect rather than contempt of God’s creatures, but there is much more to it than that. It is accepted that this command refers to an ancient superstitious practice which came at the close of the harvest season.

The people would boil a kid in its mother’s milk. After that, along with magic rights, the milk was used to sprinkle plantations, fields, and gardens in hopes of them being more productive the next year. This then reflects those at the end of the age who refuse to give up magic practices. This is seen in these words from Revelation 9 –

“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Revelation 9:20, 21 (NIV)

As the Feast of Ingathering deals with the final gathering in of all people after the tribulation period, then it is an admonition for those who are to be considered cleansed and acceptable for entering into the millennium. We know this is after the tribulation, because this feast comes after the grape harvest, the harvest of wrath. But this is what it says after that terrible time on earth –

“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6

Those who missed the rapture and enter the tribulation need to reject the mark of the beast in order to be saved. Instead of following the unholy practices which this rite pictures, they will become holy because of their faithful witness, even to death.

As you can see, the entire passage today pictures redemptive history from the time of Christ’s cross at the Passover, right up until the time of the millennial reign of Christ. What Israel observed in picture, Christ fulfilled in Person. And we are the benefactors of all of the good which is promised.

By a mere act of faith in the finished work of Christ, our names are written on heaven’s scroll. We will be saved out of the terrible time to come upon the earth and we will reign with Christ forever. Now is the time of God’s favor, today is the day of salvation. If you have never made a commitment to this wonderful Lord who has done everything necessary to secure you a place in heaven, let me tell you how you can, even right now…

Closing Verse: “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.” Psalm 84:5-7

Next Week: Exodus 23:20-33 How to maintain with the Lord sound relations… (Covenant Promises and Expectations) (64th Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Pictures of Redemptive History

Six years you shall sow your land
And gather in its produce as is normal to do
But the seventh year, please now understand
You shall let it rest and lie fallow as I so instruct you

That the poor of your people may eat, as to you I now tell
And what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat as well

In like manner you shall do
With your vineyard and your olive grove too

Six days you shall do your work in which you are blessed
And on the seventh day you shall rest
That may rest your ox and your donkey
And the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed

And in all that I have said to you
Be circumspect and make no mention
Of the name of other gods, this you shall not do
Nor let it be heard from your mouth, be sure to pay attention

Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year
To Me you shall come; to Me drawing near

You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread
You shall eat unleavened bread seven days
As I commanded you; yes as I have said
At the time appointed in the month of Abib, following in My ways

For in it you came out of Egypt, you see
None shall appear before Me empty

And the Feast of Harvest, of your crop’s yield
The firstfruits of your labors
Which you have sown in the field

And the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year
At the time when the ground does yield
When you have gathered in what does appear
The fruit of your labors from the field

Three times in the year all your males shall appear
Before the Lord God, to me they shall draw near

You shall not offer the blood
Of My sacrifice with leavened bread
Nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning
You shall do this according to all that I have said

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
Do follow my instructions as if with them you had been shod

Wonderful pictures of Christ and His work for us
Are revealed in these set times and feasts of Israel
Every word shows us more hints of Jesus
And of His marvelous works each does tell

Thank You, O God, for such a wonderful word
Thank You for the mysteries which are hidden there
Each that we pull out speaks of Jesus our Lord
Thank you that in His goodness we too can share

For all eternity we shall sing to You our praise
Yes, from this time forth and for eternal days

Hallelujah and Amen…

Exodus 23:1-9
Justice, Justice You Shall Do

In the Gentile-led New Testament church, the words of Paul are our marching orders. They are where we are to get our doctrine and they are what we need to know in order to live rightly in this dispensation of time; the dispensation of grace.

The utter confusion of people concerning simple precepts like salvation by grace through faith without adding in works, eternal salvation, and the law being set aside in Christ are almost foreign to the multitudes who sit in churches around the world.

By understanding that Paul is where our doctrine comes from, we can then rightly know how to conduct ourselves at the point we are at now in redemptive history. Having said that, this doesn’t mean that we can’t learn anything from the law. Rather, the law shows us many wonderful precepts that we probably should follow.

Being in Christ means that we won’t be judged for not doing these things. Yes, the law is set aside in Christ. But they are still things which hold value for society and for our interactions with others. Today’s verses are literally filled with common sense items which, if adhered to, would alleviate many of the problems of our society.

Unfortunately, these precepts are all but ignored, especially by the people who need them most. The land is full of folks who either practice those things that they shouldn’t, or who fail to practice those things that they should.

These are matters of social and societal justice that we should do simply because they are the right thing to do. It is as if we have a debt to pay when confronted with them. So let’s pay what we owe for the sake of love…

Text Verse: “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8

As we go through these nine verses today, just ask yourself, “Is doing this thing that the people are being asked to do, or not to do, loving?” If it is, then do it – not for the sake of meriting God’s favor through deeds of the law, but for the sake of simply being the loving person Christ has called you to be.

This is the kind of common sense approach to the Bible that we need to hold fast to. If we say, “The law says” and then insist that everyone either does this “or else,” we’re being legalistic about a matter which has already been settled in Christ.

But if we say to ourselves, “This really is the right thing to do” and then we don’t do it, who are we hurting? The answer is pretty much everyone who is involved in the matter, including ourselves and our relationship with the Lord.

Let us act responsibly in our dealing with others. From time to time repeat the words “Justice, Justice you shall do.” I’ve been doing it for years and I’ve found that when I come to a situation that is tempting to me to do wrong in, those words pop right into my head and it prevents me from going any further.

God is the God of justice; being just is His very nature. And so let’s always attempt to imitate our glorious Creator by acting like Him. To define what it means to be just, we need to read His word where His justice is on prominent display. Yes, it’s all to be found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Refrain from Evil (verses 1-3)

As I showed last week, and as I’ll remind you now, a chiasm spans the verses from 22:28-23:13. In chapter 22, Charles Ellicott stated –

“The remainder of the chapter contains laws which it is impossible to bring under any general head or heads, and which can, therefore, only be regarded as miscellaneous. Moses may have recorded them in the order in which they were delivered to him; or have committed them to writing as they afterwards occurred to his memory.” Charles Ellicott

At the beginning of his notes for Chapter 23, he continues with this same type of thinking –

“From Exodus 23:1 to Exodus 23:9 no kind of sequence in the laws can be traced; from Exodus 23:10 to the first clause of Exodus 23:19 there is, on the contrary, a certain connection, since the laws enunciated are concerned with ceremonial observance.” Charles Ellicott

This isn’t meant as a personal slam on Ellicott, but it does show that as God’s word is studied and built upon by scholars throughout the ages, we continuously get a better and clearer picture of the perfection of God’s word. Rather than being miscellaneous and with no sequence which can be traced, the chiasm shows beauty and harmony within these verses. They also show definite intent.

Exodus 22:28-23:13 – Help your enemy if his donkey/ox is in trouble
“Love your neighbor as yourself” (01/30/13)

a 22:28 shall not revile God
b 22:30 oxen and your sheep shall be with its mother seven days
c 22:31 “you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field”
d 23:1 “You shall not circulate a false report.”
e 23:3 not to show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
x 23:4 enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, help him
x 23:5 donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, help him
e 23:6 not to pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.
d 23:7 “Keep yourself far from a false matter;”
c 23:11 “and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat.”
b 23:12 rest on seventh day, so ox and donkey may rest
a 23:13 no mention of the name of other gods

And so understanding that these words are purposeful and even marvelously arranged, we begin Chapter 23 at verse 1 –

“You shall not circulate a false report.

In these words is found an expansion of the ninth commandment –

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

The words here are lo tissa shema shav – no spread a report false. The word tissa means “to lift up.” And so this would literally be translated as “not take up.” In essence, we get the mental picture of picking up a false report and putting it in our mouth.

The Greek translation of this passage says “You shall not receive a false report.” Thus it indicates the incoming action rather than an outgoing one. In all, this one word seems to be a favorite of translators to take the opportunity for inventing a new way of explaining it. Of the translations I referred to, the following words were selected –

“spread,” “pass along,” “raise,” “bear,” “give,” “utter,” “admit,” “publish,” “take up,” “receive,” “accept,” and “lift up.”

This shows the difficulty of deciding if the intent is to receive a false report or to put one out. However, Adam Clarke notes that –

“…the inventor and receiver of false and slanderous reports are almost equally criminal. The word seems to refer to either, and our translators have very properly retained both senses, putting raise in the text, and receive in the margin.” Adam Clarke

In other words, translators understand this word to indicate both receiving and putting out and so, the NKJV ingeniously uses the word “circulate” to show that it can be something coming in as well as going out. If one thinks of a mail processing machine, it receives in and it sends out. This seems to be the full intent of what is prohibited concerning the false report.

The word for “false,” or shav, here is used for just the third time in the Bible. The first two were in the giving of the third commandment. There it said –

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” Exodus 20:7

We are not to hold the name of the Lord our God in vain, and we are not to vainly or falsely receive and disseminate a false report. This word, shav, comes from another word which carries the sense of desolating. And this is exactly what results from allowing false reports to continue.

Doing so can result in the most miserable of circumstances for the one who is falsely reported. When King Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard, his wife Jezebel had two scoundrels falsely charge him with blasphemy. In doing so, he was taken out and stoned to death.

Adam Clarke gives a good summary of what it would be like if people didn’t carry on with such false reports –

“Were there no publishers of slander and calumny, there would be no receivers; and were there none to receive them, there would be none to raise them; and were there no raisers, receivers, nor propagators of calumny, lies, etc., society would be in peace.” Adam Clarke

But in the world we live in, this is one of the most common of offenses. This is especially so today in the world with internet. People find every reason to pass on lies, knowing they are lies, for the simple purpose of destroying others. Internet trolls spend all of their time destroying others for no good reason at all.

But the Bible forbids this. Not only are we not to make up falsities, but we are to refrain from allowing them to pass through us. This idea of truthfulness in this manner is expanded on in Leviticus –

“You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:16

Penalties for such behavior are found in Scripture. One of particular note is given to protect the rights and the name of a woman who has been so maligned –

“If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, ¹⁴ and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ ¹⁵ then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. ¹⁶ And the young woman’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. ¹⁷ Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, “I found your daughter was not a virgin,” and yet these are the evidences of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. ¹⁸ Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him; ¹⁹ and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.” Deuteronomy 22:13-19

In agreement with this first clause in verse 1 are the continued words found in its second clause –

^1 (con’t) Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

Both clauses complement each other in intent. To put one’s hand with means “to join hands with.” In other words, it’s like making a pact where a person puts out his hand and the others put theirs together with him in agreement, like in a football huddle.

Some translations say “cooperate” or “join forces with.” Israel was told to not make such alliances with the wicked who would be untruthful in their testimony. Obviously what occurred in poor Naboth’s case shows the severity of this. He lost his life simply because two people falsely accused him.

The proverbs deal with this issue as well. There it shows that by making such an alliance, punishment is what will be expected –

“Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished;
But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.” Proverbs 11:21

As the Lord is the ultimate judge of all such things, even if a false witness isn’t caught in this life, he will receive his just punishment in the next. For the Christian who acts in this way, there will certainly be a loss of rewards at the bema seat of Christ.

In both clauses of this first verse of the chapter, the ninth commandment goes from the key point of the law to practical applications of it. Thus the Lord is further defining the intent of those majestic words lo taaneh bere-akha ed shaqer – You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

² You shall not follow a crowd to do evil;

This clause of verse 2 can be taken in one of two ways. Both are sound and both apply as much today in principle as they did when they were penned. To “follow a crowd to do evil” means to join in with a crowd who is bent on evil because their popular voice.

The Latin phrase vox populi vox Dei, or the voice of the people is the voice of God, is often held to as being a reasonable way of handling disputed matters. However, it is a wholly inappropriate way of evaluating moral issues.

This concept translates into the modern thinking of “where morals come from.” Apart from the truth, which is that morals are derived from God, some believe that they are based on government standards. This is where we are today with the progressive democrat movement. To them, government sets morality.

Some say they should stem from personal mores. This would reflect the views of humanists who have decided that personal feelings dictate morals. Some say that morals come from social convention, and thus each society develops its morals as they grow and develop.

Others hold steadfastly to morals being derived from herd instinct. This would be those in the Baltimore and Ferguson riots and in the Occupy movement. They believe that the herd is the proper moral initiator and the one to continue refining their morals.

This is the idea of this verse. According to this law, where the crowd goes, if it is bent on evil, it is not to be followed. There are examples of the faithful in Scripture who refused to follow the herd. Job said –

“Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses, so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?” Job 31:34 (NLT)

Jesus taught specifically on this precept when He said these words for us to consider –

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14

Joseph Benson most eloquently states his view on this –

“We must inquire what we ought to do, not what the most do; because we must be judged by our Master, not our fellow-servants; and it is too great a compliment to be willing to go to hell for company.” Joseph Benson

What we are looking at in this verse is perfectly seen in the modern church and the homosexual movement. The crowd has gone down this unholy and immoral path and the multitudes of sheeple have followed along it as well. They have failed to realize that what is legal is not necessarily moral. They have followed the crowd and are headed to destruction.

As I said though, there is another view of these words which is equally proper. Instead of saying, “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil,” some scholars translate the word rabbim as “great men” instead of “crowd.” It can mean either, and this is a most common thing for people to do.

We see political leaders, rich people, or famous folks who are bent on pursuing evil. Our current president is the epitome of this, and yet people put in their hand with him to do evil possibly beyond anything that even Hitler or Stalin could have even imagined.

We are asked to not follow Arnold Schwarzenegger into the global warming debate just because he is wealthy and popular. We are to refrain from acting in agreement with the devil and his followers simply because they are supposedly great because of their position, possessions, or prominence. Job understood this –

“Great men are not always wise,
Nor do the aged always understand justice.” Job 32:9

^2 (con’t) nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

Again, the word rabbim is used in these words and so it can mean either turning aside after many, or it can mean turning aside after great men. Either way, the idea is that justice is to be given by each of us in a dispute. Justice, justice you shall do.

We are not to turn from the truth whether it is the popular thing to do, or whether it will benefit us because a great man has already falsely testified and we could curry his favor or be saved from the power of his wrath.

The Pulpit Commentary even aligns these words with a panel of judges by saying, “…if thou art one of the judges, though shalt not simply go with the majority if it is bent on injustice, but form thine own opinion and adhere to it.”

Unfortunately, the judgment of judges has increasingly been found lacking in this precept. The reason for it is, of course the declining morals of our leaders. The left has done everything possible to destroy the moral underpinnings of our society even unto the point where the words of Job 9 ring true –

When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds its judges. Job 9:24 (NIV)

The lessons of justice found within the law are given for the good of society and for the benefit of all within it. This goes from the greatest to the poorest of the land, and all in between…

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

This verse might be a bit of a shock to us considering the deference the Bible shows to the poor and needy as well as to the widow and orphan. However, what is right is right and justice is to be blind to the status of the individual. A poor man is never to be given a favorable, but unrighteous decision simply because he is poor.

As a brain squiggle for you, the word “poor” here is the adjective dal. It is the first time it is seen in Scripture. It comes from the verb dalal which means to dangle. By implication then a poor person dangles – he is lean, needy, and weak. Hebrew is vibrant and active in how it portrays such things.

Secondly, the word for “partiality” is hadar. This is the first of only seven times it will be used in the Bible. It essentially means “honor.” It is mostly used in man’s relation with man, as it is in this verse. In a comparable passage, we read this using the same word –

“You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.” Leviticus 19:15

Unfortunately, our nation has diverted from this sound precept. We began to defer in this exact manner when laws started to be passed simply because of the color of one’s skin, their sex, or their economic status. Each of these carries the same idea as the simple precept of showing partiality to a poor man.

Justice is to be blind in its decisions and no judgment is to be considered for any other reason than the matter at hand. Some European countries provide greater benefits for illegal immigrants than they do for their own citizens. Such unjust laws can only further degrade the morals of a society. They can in no way make things better.

The Bible lays a framework for man to consider and to learn from. However, we as a species would rather cast the proper way off from our shoulder and carry around the heavy burden of disobedience through injustice and all the ills that result from it.

In each of these first three precepts, we have been asked to refrain from evil. God wants justice served and His people to be free from the harms that come from engaging in that which is unjust. Justice, justice you shall do.

Treat others as you would have them treat you
This is the rule to you that I speak
Give to them when they are needy, this you shall do
And strengthen them when you see that they are weak

If one is lacking bread, would you hold back from them food?
If they are cold, give them a coat; show them compassion
Don’t withhold being polite and to them act so rude
Don’t hand out your help as if it is by ration

If you do these things, you will be living right
I will see what you have done and reward you
Nothing you do is hidden from My sight
And so justice, justice, yes justice shall you do

II. The Law of the Donkey (verses 4 & 5)

⁴ “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.

This verse and its application meet with a wide range of interpretations. However, if taken at face value it is rather clear. The word oyev or “enemy” isn’t further specified. This word is used to simply mean any enemy. The Pulpit Commentary unnecessarily finds a distinction here in who the “enemy” being referred to is. They say –

“A private enemy is here spoken of, not a public one, as in Deuteronomy 23:6.” Pulpit Commentary

The passage in Deuteronomy 23 says this –

“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever, ⁴ because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵ Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. ⁶ You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.” Deuteronomy 23:3-6

It could be that the Pulpit commentators were making their decision concerning public and private enemies based on the comparable passage to this verse from Deuteronomy 22 –

“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. ² And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. ³ You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself.” Deuteronomy 22:1-3

In these verses, it speaks of the “brother’s ox.” Thus even if the “brother,” meaning a fellow Israelite, is an enemy, you are to make sure that he gets his animal back. However, if it belongs to a Moabite or an Ammonite, they weren’t under any obligation to return it. Other scholars have come to this exact conclusion.

However, it should be noted that no distinction between a public and a private enemy is given here, and eventually both Ammonites and Moabites entered into the people of Israel. Jesus descends from both people groups.

All that is noted concerning the wayward beast is that if a person sees it going astray, and even if it is belongs to an enemy – ha’shev tishivenu – “returning, you shall surely return it” to that person. This verse then is a germ of wisdom for us to understand Jesus’ words of Matthew 5 –

““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48

If you notice, Jesus’ words say, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'” The law never says this. It only says, “You shall love your neighbor.” Nowhere in the law does it say to hate one’s enemy.

Rabbinic tradition concluded that if one was instructed to love their neighbors, then obviously they were then to hate their enemies. However, this conclusion is not “obvious.” Rather, it is contradictory to the words of the verse we’re looking at.

The person may, in fact, be your enemy, but you weren’t to hate him enough to deprive him of his ox or donkey. Instead, you were to return it to him. Active kindness to one’s enemy may have been repugnant to the interpreter’s of the law, but it is the only possible explanation for this verse as context demands.

The spirit and intent of the law was so far removed from urging personal revenge or harm to one’s enemies that it wouldn’t even allow neglecting a wayward beast which would then cause that person to suffer personal loss. The Geneva Bible succinctly states –

“If we are bound to do good to our enemies beast, how much more to our enemy himself.” Geneva

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.

The sense of this verse is plain and clear, regardless of the difficult nature of the Hebrew words and how they are ultimately translated. The reason I say this is that the word translated as “help” here is azav and it is used three times in this verse. It means “leave” or “forsake.”

Because of this, it takes thought to understand what is being said. But fortunately, there is also a comparable passage in Deuteronomy which helps explain what is being ordered –

“You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again.” Deuteronomy 22:4

Again, like before, the verse in Deuteronomy is referring to “your brother’s donkey” instead of the donkey of an enemy, but the principle remains the same. However, because an enemy is being referred to Keil explains the odd usage of the Hebrew –

“The peculiar turn given to the expression, “thou shalt cease from leaving,” is chosen because the ordinary course, which the natural man adopts, is to leave an enemy to take care of his own affairs, without troubling about either him or his difficulties. Such conduct as this the Israelite was to give up, if he ever found his enemy in need of help.” Keil and Delitzsch

For this reason, the word azav is first translated as “leave” in the sense of not leaving it in a helpless condition. Immediately after that, it then says azov ta’azov – “leaving you shall leave it,” but in the sense of removing it from its burden.

It is a sort of pun on the word to get the reader to understand that even though the conduct may seem contrary to normal reason, the Lord sees nothing contrary in the principle. The reason why this is important is because it is not the animal that is being focused on, but the relationship. Paul says this in the New Testament –

“For it is written in the law of Moses, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.’ Is it oxen God is concerned about? ¹⁰ Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? ¹² If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?” 1 Corinthians 9:9-12

Paul says that the law’s concrete example of muzzling an ox is given as a spiritual picture of physical care for the pastor who does the hard work, laboring in his spiritual duties. Therefore, the precept of helping with an enemy’s donkey which is under a burden must carry a similar New Testament connotation of helping the enemy himself. Jesus uses a simple parable to show this truth –

“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. ³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'” Luke 10:30-35

The Law said to help an enemy whose animal lay under a burden. Jesus explained that not only should we directly help our enemies, but he included the words, “he set him on his own animal.” It is not just that we are to relieve the burdens of our enemy’s animal, but we are to accept the burden of our wounded enemy upon our own animal, and then go beyond that as well with whatever help is needed. Justice, justice you shall do.

Again, the Geneva Bible gives a short clear comment –

“If God commands us to help our enemy’s donkey under his burden, will he suffer us to cast down our brethren with heavy burdens?” Geneva

Be kind to someone that I don’t like?
Why would I do such a thing?
Last year that guy stole my bike
And gave my own girlfriend a wedding ring!

Should I be nice to the person who always berates me?
Should I be the one to always turn the other cheek?
Look at my bruises, count all you can see!
People beat me up for being gentle and meek

Oh but if I can win some to the Lord
Through a calm and gentle attitude
It is better than them dying by His sword
And being cast into the fiery infinitude

Help me in this Lord; it’s contrary to all I know
But I can do it with Your Spirit; surely this is so

III. I Will Not Justify the Wicked (verses 6-9)

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

Again, this is a clear and concise statement. However, for a fuller understanding of what is being said, it is important to note that a different word is used here for “poor” than in verse 3. There it was the word dal; here it is the word evyon. This is the first time it is used in the Bible. It means “needy.”

Verse 3 focused on not showing favoritism to the poor. Being poor can be a relative thing. We have poor in America that have cars, cell phones, cable TV, and the like. We also have the needy in America. They are lacking those things, and they are lacking the basics too.

To pervert the judgment of the needy seems like a minor thing, but it is truly kicking one when they are down. It is both cruel and inhumane. The law forbade this. Unfortunately, Israel failed to conduct themselves in the manner prescribed here. One example is found in Jeremiah 5 –

“They have grown fat, they are sleek;
Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked;
They do not plead the cause,
The cause of the fatherless;
Yet they prosper,
And the right of the needy they do not defend.” Jeremiah 5:28

⁷ Keep yourself far from a false matter;

This verse appears similar to verse 1, but that was dealing with receiving and passing on false testimony as a witness. This verse is dealing with receiving false testimony for judgment. The judge is to never pervert justice by receiving a false matter. If he does, it could mean life or death…

^7 (con’t) do not kill the innocent and righteous.

When false testimony is received and knowingly acted upon, it may result in the death of the innocent and righteous. If this were to happen, it would be a case of judicial murder. As the judge is the law of the land, then their judgment will be handled elsewhere…

^7 (con’t) For I will not justify the wicked.

These words are interpreted in two ways. The first is that the Lord promises that He will not justify the judge himself who has been commanded to not act in this contrary manner, and yet has done so by rendering a false sentence against the innocent.

As terrible as this crime is to be considered, it is not one which has been ignored in history. Far too often judges are willing to overlook the value of human life for whatever gain they believe they will obtain. But the Lord has promised to not overlook their offenses.

The second way this is viewed is that it means, “To be cautious of inflicting capital punishment on one whose guilt was not clearly proved. A doubtful case was rather to be left to God Himself, who would ‘not justify the wicked….'” (Barnes)

Although this is a minority view, it is possible because the judge had the option of going to the priests to determine guilt. Such a case is found in 1 Samuel 14 in a dispute about who was guilty of violating an oath. King Saul was determined to have the offender killed and consulted the lots to determine who it was.

⁸ And you shall take no bribe,  for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.

The shokhad, or “bribe” is mentioned for the first two times here in the Bible in this verse. It can mean a gift or a reward, but it implies a bribe or a means of obtaining a favor. The Old Testament is rife with examples of bribes being used to pervert justice, and it is one of the singular reasons for the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people –

“Now hear this,
You heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice
And pervert all equity,
¹⁰ Who build up Zion with bloodshed
And Jerusalem with iniquity:
¹¹ Her heads judge for a bribe,
Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No harm can come upon us.”
¹² Therefore because of you
Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
And the mountain of the temple
Like the bare hills of the forest.” Micah 3:9-12

Sadly, if the Lord is to look upon our nation and judge us in equal measure, there will be little left when He is done. Our political leaders have gotten fat off of bribes, either directly or through campaign money, and have completely perverted the justice of the people.

Uncontrolled power, wonton avarice, and ever more ill-gotten money are the very foundation of our political system. With the introduction the false global-warming agenda, it has now moved into a united effort by the leaders of the world to corrupt justice for the masses. It will only continue to get worse as the world moves closer and closer to the tribulation period.

⁹ “Also you shall not oppress a stranger,

This verse is very similar to Exodus 22:21 –

“You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 22:21

The word for oppress is lakhats, which means to distress. It comes from a word which signifies pressure. Because this section is speaking of justice and judicial righteousness, it is referring less to physical abuse than to societal abuses on foreigners, especially in legal matters. This seems evident from our final words of the day…

*^9 (fin) for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

“For you know the heart of a stranger.” The people of Israel were physically mistreated, but that was only a part of their oppression. They were also stripped of their justice; something that would have struck them not on their backs, but in their hearts.

Their time in Egypt was to be used as a point of reference for their conduct towards the strangers among them. Denying the stranger, meaning the foreigner among them, was so much on the mind of the Lord that He had it included in the verbal pronouncements of the curses against the people in Deuteronomy 27.

To deny the stranger justice was, and therefore still is, something that is on the Lord’s mind. To take advantage of a foreigner because they are a foreigner is to incur the wrath of God. This does not mean that foreigners are to be exempt from the laws which have been set up in a land. Rather, this is speaking of their treatment and their rights within those laws.

And in a comparable spiritual manner, we can look at Paul’s words in the book of Ephesians to see that we have a dual duty in this regard. Yes, we are to treat the non-citizen strangers among us rightly, but how much more should we treat the spiritual strangers properly as well.

Paul says that before coming to Christ, we Gentiles were also strangers, but now we are citizens –

“Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— ¹² that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:11-13

It is now incumbent on us to render the same level of justice to those who are still strangers from the covenant of promise. The law, in its entirety, is given to show us deeper spiritual truths. As we walk among those who are not in Christ, let us remember to be ready to accept them into these great covenant promises that we now enjoy. Justice, justice you shall do.

Let us not deprive them of the justice that God has handed out to the nations through the giving of His Son. Let me give you some verses to think on and remember so that when you come across a foreigner to the faith, you will know how to tell them about their ticket to heavenly citizenship…

Closing Verse: “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. ² For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, ³ and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” ⁴ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:1-4

Next Week: Exodus 23:10-19 Wonderful pictures of Christ these verses tell (Set Times and Feasts for Israel) (63rd Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Justice, Justice You Shall Do

You shall not circulate a false report
Do not put in with the wicked your hand
To be an unrighteous witness either in or out of court
This is what to you I do command

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
No, to another justice you shall not dilute

You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute
As if his name were considered of less repute

If you meet your enemy’s oxOr his donkey going astray
You shall surely bring it back to him again
I am showing you the good and honest way

If you see the donkey of one who you he does disdain
Lying under its burden, this to you I submit
And if you would from helping it refrain
You shall surely help him with it

You shall not pervert the judgment, such as in a lawsuit
|Of your poor in his dispute

Keep yourself far from a false matter
Do not kill the righteous and innocent
For I will not justify the wicked
Never in such a contrary incident

And you shall take no bribe
For a bribe blinds the discerning
And perverts the words of the righteous
For justice you shall always be yearning

Also you shall not oppress a stranger
For you know the heart of a stranger, this is so
Because you were strangers in the land of Egypt
Their oppression from you I will not accept, you now know

Justice, justice we shall do
For this is how God would have us so act
To be like Him, merciful and true
To never state what is false, but only speak what is fact

In this we will be pleasing in His sight
And follow the path of our Lord Jesus
Who never strayed from what is right
And who though His death has justified us

For this we praise You, our King of glory
For You have written our names in Your gospel story

Hallelujah and Amen…