...in honor of Christ...

Chapter 22

“18 You shall not permit a female sorcerer to live.

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: for 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.

Chapter 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; 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 or those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty. 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” Exodus 22:18-31; 23:1-9.

We are once again reviewing the Covenant Codes necessary to lead a city of Israelites across the desert for 40 years, nearly two to three generations of time. Over the centuries this portion of the code, or even sub-portions of this portion, has been seen by scholars as a remnant of the original, independently composed codes to which materials were eventually added to form the current code. These particular laws pay special attention to crimes that should receive the death penalty (22:18–20), expressed by three capital punishment laws, laws forbidding the abuse of one's neighbor (22:21–27), laws that call attention to the importance of preserving God's holy honor (22:28–31), and a series of laws impressing on Israel the need for honesty in all relationships (23:1–8). Remember in ancient Israel's society, laws and history were reflections of a mainly oral society, where writing and reading were less common than today, and so groupings together laws made memorization and recall easier and served an important, user-friendly purpose.

The necessity of such laws were a necessity for social justice reasons if the people are to remain Yahweh's people and not be decimated and discarded by Him. The covenant curses cited in v. 24, “my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans”, are intended to function as examples, not as a complete list of the miseries that would come upon Israel as punishment for exploitation. Laws requiring obedience and respect for what rightfully belongs to God or rightfully exalts His holiness in all areas of life so that God's character, nature, claims, and possessions are never to be challenged nor neglected.

Respect for God's holiness also implies keeping basic rules such as the tithe and the firstborn offering because these are things that he rightfully owns and are thus due him automatically. 

Respect for God's holiness also implies keeping basic rules such as the tithe and the firstborn offering (vss. 29-30) because these are things that God rightfully owns and so are due to Him automatically. Laws  on honesty, justice, and fair treatment reminded the Israelites that God is an enforcer (23:1–9). These laws also addressed the kind of attitude toward others in the community and basic moral behavior that should characterize God's covenant people even when no legal requirement is at issue. The goals of these laws were to keep people from their natural human tendency to befriend those most like them and discriminate against those thought to be somehow different.

Over the centuries until today, laws were gradually split away from religious institutions, although not all, and given to civil leaders to define and enforce.

But the goals remain the same: to keep us away from living life based on our natural human tendencies, and instead, but to live life in order to follow Christ. Today in our prayer we should all try to pray that the Holy spirit will fill us with tendencies that please God, not fellow human beings. Pray that all of us may live with tendencies that are a blessing to Almighty God.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.