The covenant ratified (vs. 1-8)—There is a brief interlude in the explanation of the law to once again demonstrate the glory of the Lord. Jehovah calls Moses, Aaron, the latter’s two sons Nadab and Abihu, and 70 elders of Israel (the perfect spiritual number) up to the mountain to “worship from afar” (v. 1). Only Moses may approach Him (v. 2). Before they do this, Moses informs the people of “all the words of the Lord and the judgments.” The people agree to obey Jehovah (v. 3). Moses writes down everything Jehovah has told him so far, then builds an altar and twelve pillars “according to the twelve tribes of Israel” (v. 4). “Young men” are sent to offer burnt offerings (v. 5); the Levitical priesthood has yet to be established. Moses then takes the blood of the offerings, puts half of it “in basins” and half of it he sprinkles on the altar and on the people (vs. 6-8). The people once again declare their loyalty to the Lord. The blood sprinkled on them ratifies that covenant, and Moses let them know it: “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words" (v. 8). The people have made a commitment to God, just as He had made a promise to them. He certainly will fulfill His end of the deal; they will not.
The glory of the Lord (vs. 9-18)—The Law of Moses was a very sacred thing, of course, and the reverence the Israelites were to have for it is emphasized by the Lord’s appearance on the mount again. After ratifying the covenant, Moses takes Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the 70 elders up the mountain (v. 9); we learn subsequently that Joshua went, too (v. 13). They all “saw the God of Israel”—only in a manifestation which He allowed, of course—but it was certainly an impressive sight: “And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity” (v. 10). And that was only what was under His feet! Verse 11 is not easy of explanation. The Lord did not lay his hand on any of those who came upon the mountain, and “they ate and drank” (v. 11). Perhaps He wanted them not to be afraid, though reverence and respect were certainly demanded. Again, only Moses was allowed to approach Jehovah, and He would give Moses more of the law which He had written (v. 12). Interestingly, Joshua was with Moses (v. 13), but we don’t know exactly how far he went, for the text says “Moses went up to the mountain of God” (v. 13). Before he left, Moses told the elders to wait for “us” until they returned. Aaron and Hur (Miriam’s husband) were to serve as judges in Moses’ staid until he returned (v. 14). As Moses ascended the mountain, “a cloud covered the mountain” (v. 15), representing “the glory of the Lord” (v. 16). This cloud covered the mountain six days (v. 16). On the seventh day, the Lord called to Moses “out of the midst of the cloud,” where the latter remained forty days and nights (v. 18). “The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel” (v. 17). It was an awesome, intimidating sight, no doubt, and it was intended to be. Jehovah was hoping to inspire obedience in the people with this mighty show of His glory, but how soon people forget. Indeed, it will be during this forty day period that they will build the golden calf. More on that in a subsequent chapter.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Exodus 23
Honesty and justice (vs. 1-9)—Several laws dealing with honest behavior:
--v. 1—No rumor-mongering or false witnessing;
--v. 2—don’t follow the evil multitudes, nor testify in a way that perverts justice;
--v. 3—just as they were not supposed to show partiality to the rich, don’t do it to the poor, either; justice is justice;
--vs. 4-5—“love your enemy”; if there is a way you can help him (the example of restoring and aiding his animal is used) then do it;
--v. 6—is the opposite of verse 3; don’t pervert the judgment of the poor;
--v. 7—stay “far” away from any false matter; “do not kill the innocent and righteous” may be in regard to judicial matters, given the context;
--v. 8—don’t take a bribe; that leads to a perversion of justice;
--v. 9—don’t cheat a non-Israelite; JUSTICE IS JUSTICE.
The Sabbath rests (vs. 10-13)—The people were to work the land for six years, and to let it lie fallow the seventh (vs. 10-11). This is not bad agricultural practice, which the Lord certainly knew, and the Israelites might have known as well. There are indications later in the Scripture that the people didn’t do this. Part of the rationale for this was to help the poor (v. 11). Israel had no governmental welfare system, a scheme which has nearly always been abused in history. Benevolence is not virtuous unless done voluntarily, and that is what the Lord expected of Israel (and us). The command to not labor on the Sabbath is repeated here again, no doubt for emphasis (v. 12). Don’t even speak of other gods (v. 13).
The three major feasts (vs. 14-19)—The Passover has already been detailed for the people at length, but is mentioned here again, as well as the two other major feasts the children of Israel were to celebrate. Three times a year all males were to go to Jerusalem for these feasts. The Passover was to be celebrated in the month of Abib, the first month of the year (v. 15). It’s also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread (v. 15). Fifty days later, they were to celebrate the Feast of Harvest (Pentecost), “the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field” (v. 16), and then “at the end of the year,” they were to observe the Feast of Ingathering, or Feast of Tabernacles as it was more popularly called. Again, only the males were required to attend, but by Jesus’ time, females usually went as well. Leavened bread was not to be offered with any sacrifice, and the fat of the sacrifice was to be disposed of before the next morning. There will be more details of all this later in the Law. The section closes with the interesting admonition: “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk” (v. 19). Apparently this was a practice of the pagan peoples around them that the Lord did not want imitated.
Led by an angel (vs. 20-33)—The Lord once again encourages the people to be obedient. If they do, they will be blessed and their enemies will fall before them. An angel will lead them “into the place which I have prepared” (v. 20). Obey Him (v. 21), for, in effect, he speaks for the Lord. If they do obey him, the Lord would be “an enemy to your enemies” (v. 22). The wicked people of the land would be “cut…off” (v. 23). Part of the obedience demanded was not to bow down to the pagan gods, but to “utterly overthrow them” (v. 24). Serve the Lord and He would provide them food, protect them from illness, and make them fertile (vs. 25-26). He would confuse their enemies and drive them out (vs. 27-28). It’s a little difficult to believe that the “hornets” of verse 28 is literal; God a horde of stinging Israelites would plague the Canaanites. Verse 29 is significant. The Lord told them that He would not drive the Canaanites out of the land all in one year; somebody needed to work the land until Israel could apportion it among the tribes. So the pagan nations would be removed “little by little” (v. 30). The boundaries of the land are once again stated, as is the command not to make a covenant with the people of Canaan, nor serve their gods (vs. 32-33). “For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you" (v. 33). Jehovah repeats this no doubt because of its importance, and for emphasis. The Israelites were almost assuredly still a polytheistic people, and the Lord wanted that feature to be cleaned out of them. There is only one God, and they needed to learn that and serve only Him.
--v. 1—No rumor-mongering or false witnessing;
--v. 2—don’t follow the evil multitudes, nor testify in a way that perverts justice;
--v. 3—just as they were not supposed to show partiality to the rich, don’t do it to the poor, either; justice is justice;
--vs. 4-5—“love your enemy”; if there is a way you can help him (the example of restoring and aiding his animal is used) then do it;
--v. 6—is the opposite of verse 3; don’t pervert the judgment of the poor;
--v. 7—stay “far” away from any false matter; “do not kill the innocent and righteous” may be in regard to judicial matters, given the context;
--v. 8—don’t take a bribe; that leads to a perversion of justice;
--v. 9—don’t cheat a non-Israelite; JUSTICE IS JUSTICE.
The Sabbath rests (vs. 10-13)—The people were to work the land for six years, and to let it lie fallow the seventh (vs. 10-11). This is not bad agricultural practice, which the Lord certainly knew, and the Israelites might have known as well. There are indications later in the Scripture that the people didn’t do this. Part of the rationale for this was to help the poor (v. 11). Israel had no governmental welfare system, a scheme which has nearly always been abused in history. Benevolence is not virtuous unless done voluntarily, and that is what the Lord expected of Israel (and us). The command to not labor on the Sabbath is repeated here again, no doubt for emphasis (v. 12). Don’t even speak of other gods (v. 13).
The three major feasts (vs. 14-19)—The Passover has already been detailed for the people at length, but is mentioned here again, as well as the two other major feasts the children of Israel were to celebrate. Three times a year all males were to go to Jerusalem for these feasts. The Passover was to be celebrated in the month of Abib, the first month of the year (v. 15). It’s also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread (v. 15). Fifty days later, they were to celebrate the Feast of Harvest (Pentecost), “the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field” (v. 16), and then “at the end of the year,” they were to observe the Feast of Ingathering, or Feast of Tabernacles as it was more popularly called. Again, only the males were required to attend, but by Jesus’ time, females usually went as well. Leavened bread was not to be offered with any sacrifice, and the fat of the sacrifice was to be disposed of before the next morning. There will be more details of all this later in the Law. The section closes with the interesting admonition: “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk” (v. 19). Apparently this was a practice of the pagan peoples around them that the Lord did not want imitated.
Led by an angel (vs. 20-33)—The Lord once again encourages the people to be obedient. If they do, they will be blessed and their enemies will fall before them. An angel will lead them “into the place which I have prepared” (v. 20). Obey Him (v. 21), for, in effect, he speaks for the Lord. If they do obey him, the Lord would be “an enemy to your enemies” (v. 22). The wicked people of the land would be “cut…off” (v. 23). Part of the obedience demanded was not to bow down to the pagan gods, but to “utterly overthrow them” (v. 24). Serve the Lord and He would provide them food, protect them from illness, and make them fertile (vs. 25-26). He would confuse their enemies and drive them out (vs. 27-28). It’s a little difficult to believe that the “hornets” of verse 28 is literal; God a horde of stinging Israelites would plague the Canaanites. Verse 29 is significant. The Lord told them that He would not drive the Canaanites out of the land all in one year; somebody needed to work the land until Israel could apportion it among the tribes. So the pagan nations would be removed “little by little” (v. 30). The boundaries of the land are once again stated, as is the command not to make a covenant with the people of Canaan, nor serve their gods (vs. 32-33). “For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you" (v. 33). Jehovah repeats this no doubt because of its importance, and for emphasis. The Israelites were almost assuredly still a polytheistic people, and the Lord wanted that feature to be cleaned out of them. There is only one God, and they needed to learn that and serve only Him.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Exodus 22
Laws of restitution (vs. 1-15)—These laws are simple, fair, and just. Again, keep in mind that the Lord is dealing with a primitive people here, and bringing them out of a civil darkness that is unknown in most of the modern world (largely due to God’s laws in the Old and New Testament). There are laws that seem harsh to us, but they were necessary to instruct and control this semi-barbaric people.
A quick rundown of the laws:
--if a man steals and ox or sheep, if he slaughters or sells it, he must pay back five oxen or four sheep (v. 1);
--if a thief is killed breaking and entering, there is no punishment for his killer (v. 2);
--if the thief is caught with the goods, he must make full restitution; if he didn’t have anything, he was to be sold into slavery (v. 3); an ox or donkey was to be restored double (v. 4);
--if a man’s animal is caught grazing in somebody else’s field, then he must give the best of his own field to the other owner (v. 5);
--an arsonist must make restitution (v. 6), though the amount is not stated;
--if a man asks another to safe-keep some goods, if those goods are stolen, the thief (if found), had to pay double (v. 7); if the thief wasn’t found, then the issue was to be decided in court (v. 8);
--if there is a dispute between two men over ownership of certain goods, that was to be decided by the judges, too; the loser paid double (v. 9);
--if man A safe-keeps some livestock for man B, and the animal is lost somehow (“no one seeing it”), then man A can take “an oath of the Lord” and not have to pay for the lost animal (vs. 10-11); but if the animal is stolen, he has to make restitution—it was in his safe-keeping (v. 12). If the animal was killed by a beast, he is not held guilty of that. Such things happened all the time (v. 13).
--if man A borrows from man B, and the thing borrowed becomes destroyed somehow, man A must pay for it (v. 14), unless the owner was present (v. 15).
These are the basic laws of restitution. They are wise and proper.
Sundry other laws (vs. 16-31)—We don’t like some of these, but again, God is dealing with a different people here who needed to learn some valuable lessons, especially about purity and service to Him. So some of the penalties are strict.
Here is a brief summary of each:
--if a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, he must marry her. If her father utterly refuses to give him to her, then the father must pay money to keep his daughter (vs. 16-17). The idea here is to protect the woman, of course. If a man seduces a woman, he better be prepared to marry her. This law is not for rape; it’s for deception. A man who deceived a young woman paid for it by having to marry her. Or, the father might release him by paying the dowry;
--a sorceress (witch) was to be put to death (v. 18). She lured men away from God. This is an Old Testament law, not a New Testament command, but some ignorants over the last 2,000 years have used it judicially to kill suspected witches;
--bestiality was a capital crime (v. 19), as was sacrificing to any god but Jehovah (v. 20);
--widows and orphans (the helpless) must not be mistreated; oppression of the needy made God very angry (vs. 22-24);
--the poor were not to be exploited; moneylenders could not charge them interest; if his cloak was taken as collateral, it was to be returned before sundown so that he could be protected from the cold night (vs. 25-27). The “poor” aren’t defined here, but it was expected that the people would be able to recognize them or judge properly. Human relations were (are) very important to God, and it was expected that mercy be shown to the less fortunate. After all, He had been merciful to all of Israel, rich and poor;
--verse 28 is a bit ambiguous. The NKJV has “God,” the ASV and KJV has “gods.” The latter is probably correct, given the rest of the verse; “gods” here means “magistrates,” not foreign deities. Authority was to be respected, in religion, the home, and government;
--of their farm produce and sons, they were to give God the first, the best, and without delay (v. 29). It would be nice if God’s people honored that principle today;
--the same principle was true of animals, though the babe was allowed seven days with its mother (v. 30); this was perhaps for the health of the mother, or the full development of the young one. The Romans didn’t consider a lamb pure or clean before the eighth day, nor a calf before the thirtieth;
--and holiness meant not eating any animal killed by another; that was to be fed to scavengers (v. 31). Again, purity is no doubt the goal here.
A quick rundown of the laws:
--if a man steals and ox or sheep, if he slaughters or sells it, he must pay back five oxen or four sheep (v. 1);
--if a thief is killed breaking and entering, there is no punishment for his killer (v. 2);
--if the thief is caught with the goods, he must make full restitution; if he didn’t have anything, he was to be sold into slavery (v. 3); an ox or donkey was to be restored double (v. 4);
--if a man’s animal is caught grazing in somebody else’s field, then he must give the best of his own field to the other owner (v. 5);
--an arsonist must make restitution (v. 6), though the amount is not stated;
--if a man asks another to safe-keep some goods, if those goods are stolen, the thief (if found), had to pay double (v. 7); if the thief wasn’t found, then the issue was to be decided in court (v. 8);
--if there is a dispute between two men over ownership of certain goods, that was to be decided by the judges, too; the loser paid double (v. 9);
--if man A safe-keeps some livestock for man B, and the animal is lost somehow (“no one seeing it”), then man A can take “an oath of the Lord” and not have to pay for the lost animal (vs. 10-11); but if the animal is stolen, he has to make restitution—it was in his safe-keeping (v. 12). If the animal was killed by a beast, he is not held guilty of that. Such things happened all the time (v. 13).
--if man A borrows from man B, and the thing borrowed becomes destroyed somehow, man A must pay for it (v. 14), unless the owner was present (v. 15).
These are the basic laws of restitution. They are wise and proper.
Sundry other laws (vs. 16-31)—We don’t like some of these, but again, God is dealing with a different people here who needed to learn some valuable lessons, especially about purity and service to Him. So some of the penalties are strict.
Here is a brief summary of each:
--if a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, he must marry her. If her father utterly refuses to give him to her, then the father must pay money to keep his daughter (vs. 16-17). The idea here is to protect the woman, of course. If a man seduces a woman, he better be prepared to marry her. This law is not for rape; it’s for deception. A man who deceived a young woman paid for it by having to marry her. Or, the father might release him by paying the dowry;
--a sorceress (witch) was to be put to death (v. 18). She lured men away from God. This is an Old Testament law, not a New Testament command, but some ignorants over the last 2,000 years have used it judicially to kill suspected witches;
--bestiality was a capital crime (v. 19), as was sacrificing to any god but Jehovah (v. 20);
--widows and orphans (the helpless) must not be mistreated; oppression of the needy made God very angry (vs. 22-24);
--the poor were not to be exploited; moneylenders could not charge them interest; if his cloak was taken as collateral, it was to be returned before sundown so that he could be protected from the cold night (vs. 25-27). The “poor” aren’t defined here, but it was expected that the people would be able to recognize them or judge properly. Human relations were (are) very important to God, and it was expected that mercy be shown to the less fortunate. After all, He had been merciful to all of Israel, rich and poor;
--verse 28 is a bit ambiguous. The NKJV has “God,” the ASV and KJV has “gods.” The latter is probably correct, given the rest of the verse; “gods” here means “magistrates,” not foreign deities. Authority was to be respected, in religion, the home, and government;
--of their farm produce and sons, they were to give God the first, the best, and without delay (v. 29). It would be nice if God’s people honored that principle today;
--the same principle was true of animals, though the babe was allowed seven days with its mother (v. 30); this was perhaps for the health of the mother, or the full development of the young one. The Romans didn’t consider a lamb pure or clean before the eighth day, nor a calf before the thirtieth;
--and holiness meant not eating any animal killed by another; that was to be fed to scavengers (v. 31). Again, purity is no doubt the goal here.
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