Feb 6: Exodus 22-24

Feb 6, Exodus 22-24

Exodus 22. Before we start. I wanted to make a note about something. For those of you who don't know. The books of the Bible, were separate books, as we have them today. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, but none of them had chapters, nor did they have numbers of verses. We have added them in to make things more easily to find where things are and man has done his best splitting them up into chapters. And in Hebrew language, there is no punctuation, so when it is translated, that is added in as well to the best of there ability. So keep that in mind. Anyhow. God continues to set up parameters for the Israelites on how God wants them to live. This is for their benefit and ultimately His glory. It is all good stuff for us to know about too and be reminded of because this is the heart of God and we can see what He thinks if right and wrong. Which is a moral guide for all of us who claim Christ and we need to pay attention to these things, that we still need to know today… But the great forefathers divided them into 3 groups. The 1st, is the Moral Law. This law we still have to do today, like don't murder and don't cheat. Then there is the 2nd, which is the Civil Law. This law set the Israelites apart from other people groups, and had them looking obviously not like the other pagan citizens around them. Things like not cutting the sides of their beards, and wearing tassels on their garments. Then there is the 3rd, which is the Ceremonial Law. This law had anything and everything to do with the Temple and how to worship God. This involved things like sacrifices and keeping the camp clean, as well as we will learn in a minute, giving God your firstborn son. But for now, we will focus on the ones that this Chapter talks about and I will make sure to let you know what I think about which laws are for what. For the moment we have the Moral Law, which are still upheld for us to do today. Practical things, starting in verse 1. Things like: Don't steal. If you damage something, fix it or pay for it. If you borrow something, return it or pay for the damages if you ruined it. What if you get an unmarried woman to sleep with you? Well, you have to pay the bride-price for her and marry her, or pay the bride-price to her Dad if the Dad refuses to let the marriage stand. Here God also tells about what He thinks about witchcraft, bestiality, and those sacrificing to anything other than God, as they deserved the death penalty; this should give us an idea how God feels about witchcraft,sorcery, and sexual perversion -and that we should have nothing to do with it…). Since you have been a traveler, be kind to those that travel through your home town. Take care of widows and orphans - if you do not, God will have retribution against you. If you give money to someone who is hard up financially, don't charge them interest. And then give God your first 10% as it is all from Him. This is the first law that refers to the Ceremonial Law, as it is idea that God gets your firstborn son, and later we will learn that the son could be given to work in the Temple of the Lord, or you can 'buy him back.' WHich means you give like an extra $150 to the Lord, for having your first born son, as a gift to the Lord for His gift to you of children. (Today, we don't have to do this one, as it is number 3 law, the Ceremonial Law) Then there is a law about if you find a dead animal in the field, leave it for the wild animals and don't eat it. Again this is a Ceremonial Law, because we know from verse 31 that God states, 'You shall be consecrated." Which falls in line with keeping the camp clean and the people clean, this would have set them apart from other communities who would have eaten these animals found dead. But here God is guiding them to live 'clean' for them. Although we are to be morally clean. When Jesus Christ came, he abolished Law 2 and 3. The Ceremonial Law was abolished as Jesus changed the worship laws. And the Civil Law was changed, as gentiles (a word for saying non-Jew) came into the family of God and are not held to the laws of the Israelites. But as for the Moral Law, we are called as Christians to uphold it. We are called to live a life that is set apart for God and reflects Him in your actions.

Exodus 23. God wants the Israelites (and us) to be people of integrity. Be a people of justice and honesty. Here God starts out with telling us that we should not gossip or lie. This is a Moral Law that we need to uphold. Then there is this interesting scenario that God sets up, in verse 4-5. God says if you see your enemies lost things, it isn't 'finders keepers.' Instead it's 'finders no keepers' as you have to bring their stuff back. Interesting isn't it. If you find something, find the owner and give it back. That kind of goes against what we teach our children with that little catchy phrase, isn't it? Anyhow, then God goes on to tell us to not sue people, or take advantage of the poor, and take no bribes. And that we should not treat badly those that are the minority or those traveling through. Now we get into the Ceremonial Law. And although we don't have to uphold it, we get a glimpse of how great God is and how particular He is about things. We can also be thankful that we are free and don't have to abide by all these rules. I would like to add that the Jews today, still abide to these laws, as they worship the God of the Bible like we do. We are to love the Jews as they are our spiritual brothers. Anyhow, God is instructing the Sabbath day (have a day set apart from the other 6 days) and sabbatical year (rest the land after 6 years). By resting on the Sabbath day, people and animals get a break, same goes for the land. Even though this is the Ceremonial Law, are we seeing Gods importance of order and holiness for His people? And just when you think that you don't have to obey these laws, God throws in one for us, a Moral Law, just in case we weren't paying attention. And then God says this, “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.” Are we getting it yet? God wants us to serve only Him, and He does not want to share - he wants us to love and serve only Him.  Then God gets back to the Ceremonial Law and sets up 3 annual feasts/festivals to be upheld as reminders for them and honoring to God. Don’t cook a goat in its mothers milk - If your confused with this, that's ok. Here is a Civil Law as this was because of the neighboring countries did this as a sacrifice to their pagan gods hoping for fertility. God is making sure these neighboring towns aren't influencing the Hebrews in how they do things. God is in control of that and wants His people to not be like the neighbors (same goes for us). Then God tells them that an angel will guide them and protect them. How cool is that. The Lord is so good to His people. And then He reminds them again to not serve the gods of the other surrounding nations. This seems to be a constant warning to them and to us. But God makes a promise to them, to take care of them if they stay away from all other gods. God also gives them a promise to give them their land, slowly by slowly, but they have to make sure that they aren't fooled into falling for the gods of those around them. 

Exodus 24 - God confirms the covenant. He wants Moses, Aaron, and the 70 elders to come to the mountain. Only Moses is allowed to come to God though. Moses told all the Israelites what God wanted from them and they all agreed to do whatever God said. Moses built an altar and made a sacrifice to God. Then Moses takes the blood of the sacrifice and throws it on the people. I don't know about you, but I am so thankful that I am in the New Covenant with Jesus, because this just seems wrong:) But remember blood was a big deal, as blood sealed the covenant between God and the people. We don't realize how important the blood of Jesus is to us. But hopefully, reading this, will make you realize how important Jesus' blood sacrifice was to us. Then Moses and his men, including Joshua saw the glory of the Lord dwelt in a cloud on the mountain. This is important as they saw God and lived, can you imagine that? Then Moses went up the mountain alone, and was up there for 40 days and 40 nights. 

To sum it all up:

•Remember the types of Laws. This will be majority important as we move along in this book. Here is a summery.

               

                 Civil Law - A Law that set the Israelites (and later the Jews) apart from other nations. In appearance and action. 

                 Moral Law - A Law that Christians have to uphold today, and is a guide to our morality, so what we know is right and wrong.

                 Ceremonial Law - A Law that told the Israelites (and later the Jews) how to worship God. In sacrifice, worship, anything that had to do with the Temple and being clean verses unclean. 

        • God wants us to have nothing to do with witchcraft. This is a serious problem in our modern day and age, especially in media. Movies like Lord of the Rings and books like Harry Potter - Christians should have no part in these.