exodus 23 |
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==exodus 23:1:
Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
==exodus 23:2-3:
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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. |
New International version translates this: "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit."
After the many precepts in favour of the poor, this injunction produces a sort of shock. But it is to be understood as simply forbidding any undue favouring of the poor because they are poor, and so as equivalent to the precept in Leviticus 19:15, "Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor." In courts of justice, strict justice is to be rendered, without any leaning either towards the rich, or towards the poor. To lean either way is to pervert judgment. The word דל dal, which we translate poor man, is probably put here in opposition to רבים rabbim, the great, or noble men, in the preceding verse: if so, the meaning is, Thou shalt neither be influenced by the great to make an unrighteous decision, nor by the poverty or distress of the poor to give thy voice against the dictates of justice and truth. Hence the ancient maxim, Fiat Justitia, Ruat Coelum. "Let justice be done, though the heavens should be dissolved." Bensons Commentary: Thus we are properly cautioned against an opposite error which we may be also in danger of falling into, that of respecting the poor man’s cause, out of pity and compassion, when the cause of the richer man is more just. For however great the compassion of God may be for the poor, and how much soever he may recommend them to our care and protection, he would not have our tenderness for them carry us to countenance them unjustly, or give a wrong judgment for their sakes. The meaning of this and the former verse is, that there must be no respect of persons, whether rich or poor, but an impartial consideration of the cause. |
==exodus 23:4-5:
If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
==exodus 23:6:
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“You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.
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As the poor man was not to be favoured when his cause was bad through an affected pity for him as a poor man, so his judgment was not to be wrested or perverted, when his cause was good, because of his poverty; which is too often the case, through the power of rich men, and the prevalence of their gifts and bribes, and to curry favour with them: the phrase, "thy poor", is very emphatic, and intended to engage judges to regard them, as being of the same flesh and blood with them, of the same nation and religion; and who were particularly committed to their care and protection under God, who is the Judge and protector of the poor, of the widow and the fatherless. --John Gill's Commentary
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==exodus 23:7-8:
Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
==exodus 23:9:
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Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
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 Cheryl Mann Bacon
Christians’ response to immigration — more specifically to immigrants — grows out of the biblical injunction to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, protect the oppressed. Prospects of a wall, a deportation mandate and more never-ending debates on Capitol Hill don’t change that obligation, regardless of politics or preferences. Those are decisions to be made by the government for the benefit of the governed, not by Christ followers for the benefit of the kingdom. Moses and the prophets commanded Israel to treat foreigners among them fairly, generously and with compassion. “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt” (Exodus 23:9). --Cheryl Mann Bacon; Christian Courier; Editorial: Serving immigrants in the name of Jesus 1/23/25
“Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Colossians 3:11). “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:17-18). |
==exodus 23:10-11:
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Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,
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. |
Agriculturally this would allow the land to rest so that it could recover its vitality. It was a practise observed also in other nations. But here it was made an offering to the poor. During the six years the farmer could gather in and store his grain ready for the seventh year, and he would cater for his bondmen, but the poor who worked for others, as they could, would have no grain on the seventh year for there would be no work. This thus catered for their need. And each seventh year would be dedicated to God in recognition of His gift of the land to His people. This is made specific in Leviticus 25:4 but it is clearly its intent here as is evident from its connection with the weekly sabbath in the following verse. Both are sabbaths to Yahweh their God (Exodus 20:10) --Peter Petts Commentary
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==exodus 23:12-13:
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
==exodus 23:14:
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“Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.”
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Also, 23:17 and 34:23) It will be objected by some that these three feasts are described as “holy” convocations (Le 23:4) and are thus clearly essentially worship. But it is a serious error to associate holiness with worship; worship in itself is not holy and can be blasphemy; holiness does not refer to worship but to God in all His ways and in all His being. Thus, all godly activity, whether it be in the home, field, court, church, or school, is holy activity. Holiness has reference primarily and essentially to God, and secondarily, to all things done in His name, according to His word, and to His glory. All things were created by God were good, and therefore holy, separated and dedicated to Him. Men, by their fall, have become profane. The goal of redemption is the restoration of the universe to holiness.
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==exodus 23:14-28:
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God.
18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
==exodus 23:29-30:
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29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. |
January 26, 2024: At Bold Journey Rachael Adams said: While we wish we could snap our fingers or wave a magic wand to complete the tasks before us or solve our problems, life doesn’t work that way. So often we feel the pressure to “build Rome in a day,” but even God didn’t create the world in a day. He created the universe little by little. He could have created everything he wanted to in a moment, but he chose to create it in six days and rest on the seventh (Genesis 1). Good things take time and happen little by little. God’s little-by-little approach applies not only to creation but also to how he often solves problems. Obviously, God has the power to fix anything instantly, but sometimes his answers come in small increments. In the book of Exodus, God told the Israelites he would destroy their enemies, but not all at once. He said, “I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you until you have increased enough to take possession of the land” (23:29-30). Through these examples we can see not all of God’s solutions are instantaneous, but his purposeful delay does not justify our inaction. In the case of the Israelites, God’s plan required constant cooperation and persistence. Their success towards the Promised Land occurred step by step. God could miraculously and instantaneously change our lives. But as demonstrated in Scripture, it is evident he chooses to help gradually, teaching us one lesson at a time to sanctify and sharpen us. We can trust God to make up the difference between where we want to be and where we are now. And, when we look back on it all, we will see a miraculous transformation that transpired little by little. |