Latest / The Bible Study Podcast / #982- Exodus 23 – Justice, Mercy, and Sabbath Laws

Transcript

#982- Exodus 23 – Justice, Mercy, and Sabbath Laws · The Bible Study Podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Life Audio The Bible Study Podcast, Episode nine and eighty two. Today,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: The Bible Study Podcast continues the study of the Book
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of Exodus with chapter twenty three. Welcome to the Bible
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Study Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Kristensen. We're going to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: get to the fourth of the four sections of the
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: law here in the middle of Exodus, not counting the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: ten Commandments, so maybe it's the fifth. But first a
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: word from this sponsor. Today, we have laws of justice
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: and mercy to start with. Do not spread false reports.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong when you
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: give testimony in a lawsuit. Do not pervert justice by
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: siding with the crowd. And do not show favoritism to
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: a poor person in a lawsuit. If you come across
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: your enemy's aca or donkey wandering off, be sure to
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: return it. If you see the donkey of someone else
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: who hates you fall down under its load, do not
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: leave it there. Be sure you help them with it.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Have nothing to do with a false charge. And do
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: not put an innocent or honest person to death. For
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: I will not acquit the guilty. Do not accept a bribe,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: for bribe binds those who see and twist the words
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: of the innocent. Do not oppress a foreigner. You yourself
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: know how it feels to be foreigners, because you are
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: foreigners in Egypt. Again, this is a section of the
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: law that's almost a little preview here of Leviticus, here
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: in the midst of Exodus. I'm not sure why just
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: these show up in Exodus and the rest of them
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: show up in the book of Leviticus, but these are
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: laws that were important to God for the people of Israel.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: And a lot of this here is just let your
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: justice be just right. Though the measure of justice is
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: is something the law. Then it's the law for the
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: people I hate as well as the people I love.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: It's the law for people who hate me as well
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: as the people who love me. I'm not taking bribes
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: if I'm the judge, or if I'm a witness, or
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: if I'm doing anything regarding this case. The truth is
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the truth, because God does care about truth. It starts here.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Do not spread false reports. And that's not just in court,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: but that can be online as well. And again it
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean you have to even know it's false. If
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: you're being so lazy as not to look up to
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: see if it's false before you spread it, you're spreading
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: a malicious witness. Don't lie about what you see. Malicious
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: means your intent is not good. Don't follow the crowd
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: and doing wrong again. Let your justice be justice. Do
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: not give testimony a lawsuit. Do not pervert your justice
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: by siding with the crowd. So don't go along with
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: the crowd when you know the crowd is wrong. And
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: that's why I thought was interesting. Don't show favoritism to
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: a poor person in a lawsuit. Now, there are other
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: places that don't show favoritism to a rich person, especially
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: don't take a bribe. But you might be tempted just
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: a side with a person who doesn't have the money
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: against the rich corporations these days, or against the rich
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: person in those days, and says no, the truth is
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: the truth, the justice is justice. You can't show favoritism.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: And then I thought it was interesting. If you come
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: across somebody's ox wandering off, you be sure to return it.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: That's just nice. It's a good neighbor, even if it's
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: someone who hates you and you see it falling down,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: do not leave it there. So this is a beginning
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: of those verses that get so uncomfortable in the New Testament,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: with love your neighbor, love those who hate you sort
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: of things. It's treat those who hate you well also,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: and don't you and I justice to poor people in
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: their lawsuits, so that's the opposite of what we saw before.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Have nothing to do with a false charge, and really
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: really don't put an innocent person to death, for I
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: will not acquit the guilty, because you will be found guilty, basically,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: and do not accept a bribe, and so many times
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: in the scripture it talks about bribes. Corruption is a
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: perversion of justice. Corruption is a perversion of justice. Bribery
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: or taking money or siding with people because they're your
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: friends is a perversion of justice, and God hates it.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: And then that last verse that is somewhat problematic for
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: some of us. Do not oppress a foreigner, for you yourself
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: to know how it feels to be foreigners, because you
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: were foreigners in Egypt. They were told not to treat
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: foreigners differently. God cared for the foreigner, the powerless, the widow,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the orphan, And you should toobath laws. For six years
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: you were to sow your fields and harvest the crops.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: But during the seventh year, let the land lie unplowed
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: and unused. Then the poor among your people may get
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: food from it, and the wild animals may eat what
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: olive growth. Six days do your work, but on the
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: seventh do no work, so that your ox and your
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: donkey mare rest, and so that the slave born in
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Be careful to do everything that I have said to you.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Do not invoke the names of other gods. Do not
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: let them be heard on your lips. It's interesting that
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: that verse gets lumped into the Sabbath laws, but of
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: course the Sabbath law is relating to our relationship with God,
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: and it's talking here not just about resting on the
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: seventh day, but letting your fields rest also, which is
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: good agricultural practice. Basically, let your fields be fallows so
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: that they will be refreshed. It doesn't talk about crop rotation,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: but that's another way to let your fields be replenished
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: the three annual festivals. Three times a year, you were
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: to celebrate a festival to me. Celebrate the feast of
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: unloven bread. For seven days, eat bread made without yeast,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: as I commanded you do this at the appointed time
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: in the moon of Aviv, for that is the month
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: you came out of Egypt. No one is to peer
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: before me empty handed. Celebrate the feast of harvest with
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: the first fruits of the crops you sew in your field.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Celebrate the festival of in gathering at the end of
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: the year. When you gather in your crops from the field.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Three times a year, all men are to appear before
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord. Do not offer the blood of a
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. The fat
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: to the house of the Lord your God. Do not
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: cook a young goat in its mother's milk. I'm not
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: sure why the young goat one happens there, but it's
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: one of those that is the reason that do not
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: cook a calf at its mother's milk. Which is a
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: different version of this as the reason why if you're
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Kosher Jewish you can't have a cheeseburger to this day,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: you're not supposed to mix milk products and beef, milk
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: products and meat. And it comes back to this verset
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: and other ones like it again, that is, if you're
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Kosher and Jewish. And remember at the beginning of this
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: section we talked about how do these laws to apply
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: to us as Christians? And that's a little more complicated.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Go back four episodes if you didn't listen to that one,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: and I'll talk about that, and we'll talk about it
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: more as we get into Leviticus. But basically three big festivals,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: the unloven bread, which is remembering coming out of Egypt,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: and then the beginning of the harvest and the end
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: of the harvest. And these are because God saved you
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: out of Egypt. He gave you this land, and the
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: land bears fruit. God's angel to prepare the way. See,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: you along the way and to bring you to the
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: to what he says. Do not rebel against him. He
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: will not forgive your rebellion, since MY name is in him.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: If you listen carefully to what he says and do
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: all that I say, I will be an enemy to
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: angel will go ahead of you and bring you into
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: the land the Amorites, Hittides, Peserites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebisites,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: before their gods, or worship them, or follow their practices.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Worship the Lord, your God, and his blessings will be
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: on your food and water. I will take away sickness
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: in your land. I will give you a full lifespan.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: I will send my terror ahead of you and throw
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: and Hittites out of your way. But I will not
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: drive them out in a single year, because the land
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: Little by little, I will drive them out before you,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: I will give into your hands the people who live
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: in the land, and you will drive them out before you.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Do not let them live in your land, or they
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: will cause you to sin against me, because the worship
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: of their gods will certainly be a snare to you. Now,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: these are all interesting things, and keep these in mind
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: as we go forward in this book, because we're just
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: here with God. We're just getting the covenants. We just
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: got the Ten Commandments, some other commandments, and the real
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: big one here now is basically no other gods, and
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: don't get hooked into the gods of your neighbors, right,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: that is really a number one, and that God is
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: going to do all these great things for you if
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: you will keep this 's really this one rule above
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: all others, which is no foreign gods. Now, we're not
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: very many chapters away from where that gets screwed up,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: so stay tuned. And with that, we're going to end
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: this episode of the Bible Study Podcast. If you have
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: any questions, send an email to Chris two xat gmail
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: dot com, or, better yet, leave a comment on this
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: episode at the Bible Study podcast dot com. And as always,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: thanks so much for listening. I want to take just
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: a second to thank the team at Life Audio for
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: their partnership with us on this podcast. If you go
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: to lifeaudio dot com, you'll find dozens of other faith
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: centered podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Bible study, parenting, and more.