Tag Archive | Laws of justice

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 37

Feb6

Day 37. Reading  Exodus 22 – 24. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Exodus 22.

Liability and Social Justice – sounds like today’s courtrooms, except God’s laws are righteous.

  • Restitution for theft of an animal (a person’s livelihood) is four or five times the worth.
  • You’re cool if a thief breaks into your home at night, and you kill him. But … better just capture him during the daytime. 
  • If a fire breaks out, catches dry grass, and consumes stacked or standing grain or a field … HE WHO STARTED THE FIRE SHALL MAKE FULL RESTITUTION!  
  • Full restitution is required if you borrow anything from a neighbor and it’s broken, lost, (or dies).
  • Rape of a virgin means paying a bride price and marrying her.
  • No witch shall live.
  • Do not mistreat or take advantage of a foreigner, widow, or orphan. SERIOUS penalties follow!
  • Never take interest when loaning money to a friend or fellow believer.
  • Never curse God … OR a ruler of your people. (Oops!)
  • The first of EVERYTHING belongs to the LORD.

Exodus 23.

Laws of righteous justice.

  • Don’t spread false reports or be a malicious witness.
  • Don’t join groups to do evil (rioting?)
  • Don’t pervert justice against the poor.
  • Don’t take bribes.
  • Don’t oppress foreigners.
  • Observe the Sabbath year so your fields and workers may have rest, and so the poor can collect the crops of grain, grapes, or fruit that are produced naturally.
  • Keep these three feasts of remembrance and gratitude to the Lord every year:
  • 1) Passover/Unleavened Bread, 2) Feast of Firstfruits (Weeks, Pentecost), and 3) Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles/Booths).

And lest the people feel overwhelmed with all these regulations, God reminds them of the Promised Land. 

“If you carefully obey, then I will be an enemy to your enemies.”  “I will blot them out. You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them … but overthrow and break their pillars into pieces. YOU SHALL SERVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HE WILL BLESS YOUR BREAD AND YOUR WATER  … and take sickness away from you. None shall miscarry or be barren. You will live to your full age.”

Exodus 24.

Moses wrote all this down. He built an altar and made sacrifices to the Lord. He read these laws to the people, and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Then Moses sprinkled blood on the altar and the people to confirm what they said.

And God called Moses, Aaron, two of his sons, and seventy elders up onto the mountain (part way, only Moses went near God). 

And they “saw the God of Israel.”  WHAT???

WHAT DID THEY SEE, for God has said, even to Moses, that no one shall see Him and live?  Verse 10 mentions the clear-as-glass sapphire stone under His feet. That is all that was revealed, or … perhaps in the terror of awe, they dared not raise their eyes higher than the pavement where God’s feet rested.

They all ate and drank there. Then God called Moses and his assistant, Joshua, up into the mountain of God to give Moses the Tables of Stone (10 Commandments).  Moses told the elders and gave them Aaron and Hur to help with the people if there were disputes while he was gone.

Moses went up, and the cloud of God’s glory covered the Mountain for six days before God spoke. It appeared like a devouring fire to the people of Israel who waited below. Moses entered the cloud and was on the mountain for forty days and nights.

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(And what a glorious vision Moses had of a place of worship and God’s presence with His people!!)

 

 

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 37

Feb6

 Day 37—  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.

   Day 37 – Exodus 22-24  (Laws for right living, conquest promised, people’s response)

In these chapters, God is giving Moses basic laws for living together justly and happily. Remember there are 2 million or so people now all clustered together with all their animals, living in tents in the desert. “Be nice and fair!” are basically what these laws are saying. “And here are the penalties if you don’t.” (Chapter 22)

Chapter 23 continues with a few more rules, and then clarifies more on what the Sabbath Rest means for them, particularly when they get to the Promised Land. Three obligatory festivals are mentioned; Unleavened Bread (which they alredy know), Feast of Harvest (Pentacost, 50 days later) and finally in the fall, Feast of Ingathering.

God then reafirms His presence with them when they enter the Promised Land and in the conquering of Canaan. He also warns them to HAVE NO COVENANT WITH THE PAGAN PEOPLE TO WORSHIP THEIR GODS.

In Chapter 24 Moses tells all the words and rules of the LORD to the people and “with one voice” they affirm, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”  Moses writes down all the words of the LORD, then builds an alter of 12 stones (one for each tribe of Israel), sacrifices and again reads the words of God. The people (now the THIRD time) affirm, “We will be obedient.”

Then God calls Moses up to Mt Sinai to give him the “Tablets of Stone” (Israel’s constitution, so to speak). His assistant, Joshua goes part way up with him. And a cloud covers them and the firey glory of the Lord shines out.

This will be Israel’s first test of obedience. No one knows at this point that Moses will be gone for 40 days.