Exodus 22-24

Laws of Restitution

Exodus 22:1 When someone steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, the thief shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. The thief shall make restitution, but if unable to do so, shall be sold for the theft.

2 If a thief is found breaking in, and is beaten to death, no bloodguilt is incurred; 3 but if it happens after sunrise, bloodguilt is incurred. 4 When the animal, whether ox or donkey or sheep, is found alive in the thief’s possession, the thief shall pay double.

5 When someone causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets livestock loose to graze in someone else’s field, restitution shall be made from the best in the owner’s field or vineyard.

6 When fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, the one who started the fire shall make full restitution.

7 When someone delivers to a neighbor money or goods for safekeeping, and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, then the thief, if caught, shall pay double. 8 If the thief is not caught, the owner of the house shall be brought before God, to determine whether or not the owner had laid hands on the neighbor’s goods.

9 In any case of disputed ownership involving ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any other loss, of which one party says, “This is mine,” the case of both parties shall come before God; the one whom God condemns shall pay double to the other.

10 When someone delivers to another a donkey, ox, sheep, or any other animal for safekeeping, and it dies or is injured or is carried off, without anyone seeing it, 11 an oath before the Lord shall decide between the two of them that the one has not laid hands on the property of the other; the owner shall accept the oath, and no restitution shall be made. 12 But if it was stolen, restitution shall be made to its owner. 13 If it was mangled by beasts, let it be brought as evidence; restitution shall not be made for the mangled remains.

14 When someone borrows an animal from another and it is injured or dies, the owner not being present, full restitution shall be made. 15 If the owner was present, there shall be no restitution; if it was hired, only the hiring fee is due.

Social and Religious Laws

16 When a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to be married, and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife. 17 But if her father refuses to give her to him, he shall pay an amount equal to the bride-price for virgins.

18 You shall not permit a female sorcerer to live.

So what was a female sorcerer? In the Hebrew the word is m'khashepah, Strong’s 3784. This was a woman who practiced sorcery, using spoken spells to cause others harm, death or loss of property.

19 Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

20 Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.

21 You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. 23 If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; 24 my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.

25 If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. 26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; 27 for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.

28 You shall not revile God, or curse a leader of your people.

29 You shall not delay to make offerings from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses.

The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. 30 You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall remain with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

31 You shall be people consecrated to me; therefore you shall not eat any meat that is mangled by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

Justice for All

Exodus 23:1 You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice;

Can you reconcile your conscience to these verses? I immediately think of our mayor who presently resides in the cross hairs of public scrutiny. Not only do we have the problem of possible sex with a minor, but what about the person who was blasted and ridiculed for being a whistle blower? Neither mercy nor justice divide or discern the situation objectively. The fact that we have a controversy at all indicates the frog has been in the pan for a long time. I agree with Dallas Willard who I heard say that America has lost touch with morality. Morality has become an unsafe word in the mouths of the too easily excited. Is morality supposed to divide us or help us get along? If we fear having a conversation about morality then we should expect to have more and more controversies regarding any decision making process. What can we expect of our future relationships with one another if the question of right and wrong is trumped by personality, politics, religion or life style?

3 nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.

4 When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back.

5 When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.

6 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty. Do you think this is why more people do not read the Bible? Society determines the norm. As long as you are a functioning member of society who does not upset the tables of the money changers you are normal, a regular and good person. The Bible holds us to a higher standard. Verse 7 says, “… for I will not acquit the guilty.” The previous verses tell us who the guilty are. 8 You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Sabbatical Year and Sabbath

10 For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

12 Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your homeborn slave and the resident alien may be refreshed. 13 Be attentive to all that I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.

The Annual Festivals (Ex 34.18—26; Deut 16.1—17)

14 Three times in the year you shall hold a festival for me. 15 You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread; as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt.

No one shall appear before me empty-handed.

16 You shall observe the festival of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall observe the festival of ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

18 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my festival remain until the morning.

19 The choicest of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.
You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

The Conquest of Canaan Promised

20 I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.

22 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

23 When my angel goes in front of you, and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24 you shall not bow down to their gods, or worship them, or follow their practices, but you shall utterly demolish them and break their pillars in pieces. 25 You shall worship the Lord your God, and I will bless your bread and your water; and I will take sickness away from among you. 26 No one shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will send my terror in front of you, and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send the pestilence in front of you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, or the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31 I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates; for I will hand over to you the inhabitants of the land, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33 They shall not live in your land, or they will make you sin against me; for if you worship their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.

The Blood of the Covenant

Exodus 24:1 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship at a distance. 2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord; but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

The blood of the covenant ... are you covered in the blood of the covenant, am I? Are we covered in the blood of Jesus Christ? Do we live as though our existence was ours or God's? To live in Christ is to die to ourselves and understand it is Christ who lives within me.

On the Mountain with God

9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 God did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; also they beheld God, and they ate and drank.

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”

15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Devotionals, Videos and more ...

American Minute
by Bill Federer

Born in Massachusetts, Adoniram Judson was educated at Brown University. On this day, February 19, 1812, being 23 years old, Adoniram and his wife Ann, who was 22, sailed from New England to Calcutta. They were America’s first foreign missionaries. They settled in the strange land of Rangoon and began to preach and write in Burmese. Enduring many hardships, Adoniram was imprisoned during the Burmese War. He later gained the respect from the Burmese and British officials. His translation of the Bible and English-Burmese Dictionary have been acclaimed as significant literary works.

Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.

Proverbs
by D.H. Stern

Proverbs 18:23-24

The poor man speaks beseechingly,
the rich man’s answer is blunt.

Some “friends” pretend to be friends,
but a true friend sticks closer than a brother.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

My Utmost For The Highest
by Oswald Chambers

The initiative against drudgery

Arise, shine. --- Isaiah 60:1. .

We have to take the first step as though there were no God. It is no use to wait for God to help us, He will not; but immediately we arise we find He is there. Whenever God inspires, the initiative is a moral one. We must do the thing and not lie like a log. If we will arise and shine, drudgery becomes divinely transfigured.

Drudgery is one of the finest touchstones of character there is. Drudgery is work that is very far removed from anything to do with the ideal—the utterly mean, grubby things; and when we come in contact with them we know instantly whether or not we are spiritually real. Read John 13; we see there the Incarnate God doing the most desperate piece of drudgery, washing fishermen’s feet, and He says—“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” It requires the inspiration of God to go through drudgery with the light of God upon it. Some people do a certain thing, and the way in which they do it hallows that thing for ever afterwards. It may be the most commonplace thing, but after we have seen them do it, it becomes different. When the Lord does a thing through us, He always transfigures it. Our Lord took on Him our human flesh and transfigured it, and it has become for every saint the temple of the Holy Ghost.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

The Other
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas

     The Other

There are nights that are so still
that I can hear the small owl
     calling
far off and a fox barking
miles away. It is then that I lie
in the lean hours awake listening
to the swell born somewhere in
     the Atlantic
rising and falling, rising and
     falling
wave on wave on the long shore
by the village that is without
     light
and companionless. And the
thought comes
of that other being who is
     awake, too,
letting our prayers break on him,
not like this for a few hours,
but for days, years, for eternity.

R.S. Thomas R.S. Thomas: Selected Poems .

Swimming in the sea of the Talmud:
From Kohen to Rabbi

     In order to understand the Talmud, we need to understand the key figures who created Israelite religion and the Judaism that grew from it. Solomon built the Temple in the tenth century B.C.E. While the Temple stood in Jerusalem the essence of Israelite religion, according to the Bible, was its sacrificial cult. For example, the Torah speaks in great detail about the lamb that was to be sacrificed on Pesaḥ. The Torah says that “you shall explain [the exodus from Egypt] to your son on that day” (Exodus 13:8), but there is no mention in the Bible of families getting together for a Seder with the youngest child asking the Four Questions. Similarly, the Bible says nothing about praying all day on Yom Kippur and listening to the cantor chant Kol Nidrei. Rather, it explains about the two goats that were brought to the Temple, and how the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, was to offer one as a sacrifice and send the other off into the desert. Consequently, the most important religious figure was the kohen, a descendant of Moses’ brother Aaron, who was responsible for offering the prescribed sacrifices of the people to God.

     By the end of the biblical period, there were other important leaders in addition to the kohen: shofet (judge), melekh (king), and navi (prophet). Their roles varied over time and place (Israel in the north, and Judea in the south) and were often multifaceted. There were tensions between, for example, kohen and navi, since each served broad social and administrative functions. Few Israelites could aspire to any of these roles, since they were, by and large, nondemocratic. One could not study or work to become a prophet (in the classical sense), and one became a king (with a few exceptions) through heredity.

     By the close of the biblical period, with the development of “wisdom literature” (those biblical books like Proverbs and Ecclesiastes that offer the reader wise advice), another model of leadership had become an archetype: the ḥakham, or sage. This was a role that any Israelite (that is, any male Israelite) could aspire to and grow into. One could become a sage even without lineage, and it did not require a “calling” from God. While there was a degree of personal involvement on the prophet’s part, the ḥakham developed largely because of his own efforts. Learning wisdom by means of intellect, he could serve as the student of another wise master and grow even more. Over time, the role of sage became that of rabbi.

     By the time the final books of the Bible were being canonized (accepted as both sacred and authoritative), the Sages were already playing a key role. The later Rabbis of the Talmud claimed that an institution called K’nesset ha-Gedolah, the “Great Assembly,” had served as a legislative body during this time (approximately the fifth to the third centuries B.C.E.) and had been responsible for the canonization of several books of the Bible and major parts of the liturgy. While we are unsure if this institution ever existed, it is clear that the later Rabbis of the talmudic age saw the power of knowledge and learning as having begun much earlier.

     By the next two centuries (from 200 B.C.E. until approximately 20 C.E.), knowledge and authority were focused in what later generations called the zugot, or pairs. Two men in each generation were considered by tradition to be the leaders of the Sanhedrin, the great judicial body. Hillel and Shammai are the last and the most famous of these pairs.

     The first century C.E. in Israel was among the most tumultuous and trying times in all of Jewish history. Roman occupation and persecution reached its zenith. The Jewish community was divided into many factions. (The historian Josephus writes of four sects: The Pharisees, who were to become the spiritual progenitors of talmudic Judaism; the Sadducees, a conservative group with strong ties to the Temple cult; the Essenes, a pietistic group that went off to create utopian communities in the desert, and which is associated by many with the Dead Sea Scrolls; and the Zealots, a group of ultranationalists who strove for Jewish independence and who made a famous last stand at Masada. It is likely that these constituted only a small percentage of the Jews in Judea.) In addition, the claim that Jesus was the Messiah attracted some in the Jewish community. And most significantly, in the year 70 C.E., in the course of putting down a revolt of the Jews, the Romans destroyed the Temple. The destruction of the Temple meant the end of the Israelite religion based on the sacrificial cult. The Jewish people faced their single greatest crisis: Their political independence was gone; the center of their religious life lay in ruins; countless Jews were slaughtered; and other religions (such as the nascent Christian church) were there to attract away the survivors.

     It was at this critical moment that a new kind of leader stepped into the breach to pick up the pieces and recreate the Jewish religion. This leader was so unique that a new title was created: “Rabbi.”

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving . Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

Take Heart
by Diana Wallis

Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.… So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. --- Mark 15:43, 46

     The time had come when he must boldly act as Christ’s disciple.

     I do not suppose that he fully understood the design of our Lord’s death. He had some knowledge of it but not such a knowledge as we have now that the Spirit of God has appeared in all his fullness and taught us the meaning of the Cross.

     Oh, listen, you that are not on his side openly, you who have never worn his livery nor manifestly entered his service. He died for you! Those wounds were all for you. That bloody sweat, of which you still may see the marks on the countenance of the Crucified, was all for you; for you the thirst and fever, for you the bowing of the head and breathing his last. Can you be ashamed to own him? Will you not endure rebuke and scorn for his dear sake who bore all this for you? Now speak from your soul and say, “He loved me and gave himself for me.” If you cannot say that, you cannot be happy. But if you can, then what follows? Must you not love him and give yourself for him?

     The Cross is a wondrous magnet, drawing to Jesus everyone of the true metal. It is as a banner lifted on high to which all who are loyal must rally. This fiery Cross, carried through all lands, will rouse the valiant and speed them to the field. Can you see your Lord suffering to the death for you—and then turn your back? If the Cross does not bring a person out, what will? If the spectacle of dying love does not quicken us into courageous affection for him, what can?      --- C. H. Spurgeon

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers (27). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

Teacher's Commentary by L.O. Richards
Ten Commandments

     Exodus 20 contains the 10 basic moral laws God revealed to Moses for Israel. The laws on the first tablet of the Law focus on human relationship with God. The laws on the second tablet focus on our relationships with each other. We can glance through them, and see the purpose in each.

     Each of these deserves comment, for they lay the moral foundation for a holy community and help us grasp the importance of personal relationships in biblical thought.

     1. No other gods (Ex. 20:3). God has exclusive claim to our allegiance. No rival is to exist for the believer.

     2. No idols (Ex. 20:4–6). We are to respond to the Word and Spirit of an invisible God (cf. Deut. 5:8–10; Isa. 40:18–20).

     3. Do not take name in vain (Ex. 20:7). Yahweh means the One Who Is Ever Present. To take His “name in vain” means to consider the name empty or meaningless: to deny or doubt His presence and power.

     4. Keep Sabbath holy (Ex. 20:8–11). The day of rest honors God (cf. 16:23) and is to benefit God’s Old Testament people (v. 29). To keep the Sabbath involved remembering God. This is the only commandment not repeated in the New Testament.

     5. Honor father and mother (Ex 20:12). Respect of parents leads to knowing God. Is this a big reason why so many who claim to know God show by their actions they don't?. As for those who take advantage of and cheat their parents they break two commandments. To think their sin will not catch up with them is foolishness.

     6. Do not murder (Ex. 20:13). The right of every person to life is protected. Any act which might rob another of life is included in the prohibition.

     7. Do not commit adultery (Ex. 20:14). The value of faithfulness in personal commitments is stressed. Sex is not an “animal function,” but an expression of deep, personal commitment between one man and one woman.

     8. Do not steal (Ex. 20:15). Respect for persons extends to their property. We do not “use” people for gain.

     9. Do not give false testimony (Ex. 20:16). An individual’s reputation is to be guarded with his life and property.

     10. Do not covet (Ex. 20:17). We are to care for persons, not property. God’s value system is to be our own.

     Someone has suggested that we might visualize the Ten Commandments in terms of protection: protection of health in man’s relationship with God, and the protection of health in man’s relationship with other men.

     How do the Ten Commandments protect relationships with God? First, we’re taught that He alone is to be recognized as God, and that He is to be worshiped in ways that are appropriate to His nature as Spirit. What’s more, we are to forever affirm the meaningfulness of Yahweh’s name as the One Who Is Always Present, never taking it as an empty symbol. Finally, we are to build into our lives a weekly reminder of God: a day of rest on which God’s works of Creation, rest, and redemption can be recalled.

     “Protection” is also a theme of the commands dealing with interpersonal relationships. The parents’ role, the sanctity of life, the institution of marriage, the right of property, and to expect fair treatment from others, all provide protection for man in society. The final commandment, however, goes beyond all comparable law codes, and implies protection of the individual from himself! The prohibition against coveting strikes at the root of what motivates us to violate the rights of others. It warns us to look within, and deal immediately with stirring motives which might lead us to sin.

     As for external standards, then, the Ten Commandments excellently perform the function for which they were designed. Looking to this Law, an Israelite could come to know more about his God, and see in the words of the Law the divine heart of love. For God has expressed in the Law His concern for the rights and the integrity of each individual.

     At the same time an Israelite could receive immediate feedback on himself. He could know, from the first stirrings within to their expression in action, any thought or behavior which was wrong.

     For Israel, the fear of the Lord and the commands of the Lord truly were vital as a beginning to obedience.

Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary (323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

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