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| This is the New King James text of the passages. |
Exodus 22-24
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Some property-loss laws in Israel (Exodus 22:1-15)
1 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
2 If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.
3 If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
4 If the theft is certainly found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall restore double.
5 ¶ “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed, and lets loose his animal, and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
6 ¶ “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
7 ¶ “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double.
8 If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods.
9 ¶ “For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.
10 If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it,
11 then an oath of the LORD shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good.
12 But if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it.
13 If it is torn to pieces by a beast, then he shall bring it as evidence, and he shall not make good what was torn.
14 ¶ “And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good.
15 If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.
As we mentioned before, the Ten Commandments created categories of the law. The Jews through the centuries have numbered the individual commandments contained in the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy) at 613. These laws put meat on the skeleton (to use metaphor). When you analyze the first four of the Ten Commandments, you see that they deal with Israel's relationship with God himself. The last six deal with man's relationship with others. Again, the ten commandments are categories, and all of these individual laws fill in the blanks (so to speak). You'll notice that some of these laws deal with criminal trespasses, while others deal with civil issues. Incidentally, this session of the giving of the Law to Moses by God began in Exodus 20:18 (see notes), following the preceding session where God issued the Ten Commandments.
Notice the role of judges in the execution of these laws. Recall that back in Exodus 18 (see notes) Moses' father-in-law gave him some pointers on organizational restructuring which Moses adopted. This provided for the judges which we see executing judgment in these matters of law.
In verses 1-4 we see the punishment for a thief. If the thief loses his life in the process of the break in, no one is held accountable for the loss of life. If he manages to live through the ordeal, he cannot be executed, but he must make double restitution. If he doesn't have it, he may be sold into slavery as a means of repayment.
Grazing your cattle in a neighbor's field is treated as stealing and the offended party is permitted to receive the best of the offender's field as repayment (verse 5). The arsonists (intentional or otherwise) is responsible for restitution in verse 6. Some civil issues are dealt with in verses 7-15 dealing with restitution after property loss.
Some life issues (Exodus 22:16-24)
16 ¶ “If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife.
17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins.
18 ¶ “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
19 ¶ “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.
20 ¶ “He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
21 ¶ “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22 ¶ “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.
23 If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry;
24 and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
Verses 16-17 present an interesting situation: "If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins." I suppose if she has a handsome sum of money to offer a prospective husband, she might be able to marry in the future because she is wealthy - not a virgin.
You can't help but recognize that an individual's motivation (i.e. was it on purpose or accidental) is taken into consideration throughout the law, but with some glaring exceptions - specifically, issues of worship and abominable sexual practices; such is the case in the following three verses:
18 You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
19 Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.
20 He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
There are some things for which God had no tolerance regardless of what your motivations may have been.
Those who lack plentiful resources are protected by the Law in verses 21-24, including the foreigner to Israel. As a matter of fact, the penalty for abuse of others in verse 24 is quite harsh. God frequently spoke through his prophets condemnations against Israel and Judah for such wide-spread infractions.
Laws regulating lending (Exodus 22:25-27)
25 ¶ “If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.
26 If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down.
27 For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
Interest on loans could only be charged to foreigners (Deuteronomy 23:20, see notes), not fellow Hebrews - also specified in Leviticus 25:37 (see notes).
Laws showing respect for the covenants between God and Israel (Exodus 22:28-31)
28 ¶ “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
29 ¶ “You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.
30 Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.
31 ¶ “And you shall be holy men to Me: you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
In the KJV, Exodus 22:28 says, "Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people." Worded as such, that verse in the KJV may create the impression that one is to give some reverence to the gods of other nations. Actually, the Hebrew word used for "gods" there is the exact same word used for "God" (Hebrew: Elohim) in other places of scripture. The word "Elohim" is in the plural form in the Hebrew, but that's the form translated singularly for "God" in nearly all occurrences within our English Bibles. Therefore, this verse is to be understood as it is rendered in the NKJV, "You shall not revile God." It is not an admonition to show any respect to the fake gods of the heathen nations. The Apostle Paul actually makes reference to this verse in his defense before the Sanhedrin in Acts 23:5 (see notes).
The Hebrews were to offer the first fruits of everything to God. With regard to the offering of first-born sons to serve as priests, these were formally replaced by the men of the Tribe of Levi in Numbers 3 (see notes).
Laws governing interaction with others (Exodus 23:1-9)
1 “You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
2 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.
3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
4 ¶ “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.
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.
6 ¶ “You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.
7 Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.
8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.
9 ¶ “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Here are some legislated acts of consideration toward others, including non-Hebrew strangers. There's also a warning against being a false witness in legal matters. No punishment is specified here. Apparently restitution for such was determined by the judges. We also see in verses 3 and 6 that it was a big no no to side with a poor man simply because he was poor.
Hey! Give it a rest! (Exodus 23:10-19)
10 ¶ “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,
11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
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.
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.
14 ¶ “Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year:
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; none shall appear before Me empty);
16 and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.
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 leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning.
19 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.
The Old Testament Law was exhaustive in its regulation of daily Hebrew life. The laws contained in these verses were no less important that any other portion of the Old Testament Mosaic Law. There are Believers who teach observance of selective laws at the exclusion of others...like the ones listed in these verses.
For a complete list of Jewish festivals, click here. Only three of the festivals are mentioned in this passage: Unleavened Bread (begins the day following Passover), Harvest (aka Firstfruits aka Pentecost) and Ingathering (aka Booths aka Tabernacles).
Let's face it. Those who think Christians are bound to keeping the Old Testament law have never really spent much time studying the Old Testament law. How do you suppose they systematically decide which ones they'll keep and which ones they'll deem irrelevant? There is no question that the Law was given to regulate every aspect of living as a nation. The Law was the constitution of the Hebrew nation. These are the guidelines by which the leadership of Israel judged all the people living within. Moses insisted that they embrace the whole system of laws, excluding nothing.
It is simply fascinating that many Bible teachers today have parsed out of the list of 613 laws the ones they think we should obey as a standard of Christian righteousness while dismissing most of the list as irrelevant to Christians today. Then, with a partial list of the Law of Moses in hand, they will proclaim that they obey the Law. I'm reminded of the statement James makes in James 2:10 (see notes), "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." As for me, I'm very thankful that my righteousness is based upon my reception (by faith) of the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. I'm righteous today before God because of His righteousness, not my own. II Corinthians 5:21 (see notes) says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Now that's a better plan. If you're still not convinced, consider this: The question of what should be expected of the new Gentile converts with respect to the Mosaic Law was the central focus at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 (see notes). At the conclusion of the Council, it was determined that Gentile Believers should not be required to keep the Mosaic Law.
Verse 19 has an interesting provision, "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk." There is no expansion of this law found in scripture, although it is mentioned again in Exodus 34:26 (see notes) and Deuteronomy 14:21 (see notes). There it is found in the context of clean/unclean foods. Observant Jews through the centuries have expanded on this law themselves by declaring that it is not lawful to prepare meat with milk products at all. That practice does seem to extend beyond that which is specifically stated, both here and in Deuteronomy 14:21.
Hang on folks, we're goin' home! (Exodus 23:20-33)
20 ¶ “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.
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.
24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.
25 ¶ “So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.
26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 ¶ “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.
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.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.
31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 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.”
God promises the conquest of Canaan. He even outlines in these verses a systematic way of moving in:
It's obvious that this is the deal the Hebrews should have stuck with. It's too bad that they will listen to the evil report of the ten spies later on and not take advantage of this great offer of miraculous victorious pursuit. But notice Exodus 23:22, "But if you indeed obey His voice, and do all that I speak..." After the golden-calf incident of Exodus 32 (see notes), God withdraws the first provision of the angel preceding them into the land in Exodus 33:2-3 (see notes). Moses manages to convince God to precede them into the land once again in Exodus 33:14. However, they really complicate the proposition with their rebellion of Numbers 14 (see notes) when these Hebrews would again not obey His voice and literally miss the deal of a lifetime.
Let's confirm that covenant with God (Exodus 24:1-11)
1 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.
2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”
3 ¶ So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has said we will do.”
4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.”
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.”
9 ¶ Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
10 and they saw the God of Israel. 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.
11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.
Actually, things seem to be going quite well for Israel so far. Moses conducts a service with the Israelites, and all the people proclaim, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." Exodus 24:8, "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.'" There it is; the covenant between God and Israel is publicly ratified. Well, I must say, the prospects for Israel couldn't look better at this point. Here's the big question: Will they stay united in their resolve to follow God and Moses' leadership? Of course, we already know that they did not maintain that resolve and subsequently get enlisted for extended training - 38 years of extended training (Numbers 14:26-38, see notes).
Then we find Moses, Aaron, Aaron's two sons and seventy of the elders of Israel catching a glimpse of God. The only visible, tangible body that God ever had was that of the incarnation of Jesus. John 1:1 (see notes) says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:14 goes on to say, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Any physical manifestation of God is Jesus. Verse 10 describes this manifestation of God as more than just seeing a man. The "sapphire" component leads us to believe that it was quite an awesome manifestation to these folks.
God calls Moses up to the mountain (Exodus 24:12-18)
12 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”
13 ¶ So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.
14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.”
15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.
16 ¶ Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17 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.
18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
God calls upon Moses to ascend the mountain; Moses appoints Aaron and Hur to manage the people while he's up there. I hope they do a good job, don't you? We see in verse 18 that Moses will be gone for forty days. We learn from Deuteronomy 9:9 (see notes) that Moses fasted for those forty days. Well, just to give a little preview, by the time we get to Exodus 32 (see notes), the Hebrews are getting a little antsy about the long absence of Moses. It would appear that the Hebrews were not informed regarding his anticipated length of stay. We see in Exodus 24:13 that Joshua accompanied Moses up the mountain. We are not told what Joshua saw or even if he was separated from Moses during their stay there. We do see in Exodus 32:17 that Joshua was with Moses when they both heard the calf celebration going on in the camp as they descended the mountain together. By the way, it was seven days after their arrival on the mountain before God spoke to Moses (verse 16).