May 7, 2018: Day 23 – Exodus 23

I was struck by the statement in vs. 3  that “you shall not be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.”  Now, I always thought that we were supposed to be partial to the poor, but keep in mind that this deals specifically with lawsuits and the law.  I guess the concept was that if a poor person did something illegal, you do not deal less severely with them strictly because they are poor.  I still believe that Jesus has a preference for the poor.  Remember he said: blessed are the poor.  We never hear him say: blessed are the rich.  

But the laws and the mandates go on.  Be nice to the livestock of your enemies.  Don’t take bribes.  Observe the Sabbath.  Celebrate three holy days: Festival of unleavened bread, Festival of the harvest, Festival of the ingathering.  All of this is for thee purpose of giving thanks for the grace and the protection of our God.  This is crucial for us as well, that we do not forget to celebrate and give thanks for the presence of our Lord.

Finally he tells the people that they will take over the land of Canaan.  Did you notice that he says that it is not going to happen all at once.  It will happen gradually, because if you take over the land all at once, you don’t have the people to populate the land and wild animals will run a muck.  That is a conquest theory that I have not heard before.  Don’t annihilate all of your enemies at once out of fear that wild animals will take over the territories where they once lived.

His primary focus on the conquest of these lands is that the people of Israel would never worship the gods of the lands that they conquer.  Always focus your worship and your praise on the God of Abraham, the one and only true God.