Exodus 21-24

Exodus 20:2-3
 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”


GOD GIVES MOSES THE CIVIL LAW FOR ISRAEL (Exodus 21-23)

The civil law is also called, “the Book of the Covenant” (Exodus 24:7).

God has chosen the Israelites as His people, forming a covenant with this people. He therefore has set them aside to live as how His people should live, to set an example for the rest of the world. How would the Israelites know how to live as God’s people should live? By the Book of the Covenant.

God holds us accountable to live by His Word
When we do not fulfill our task, we will be evaluated by God, we will have to answer to God. This may sounds like a lot of pressure, but we should keep the following in mind:

1. God doesn’t compare our accomplishments with other people’s accomplishments. He knows how many talents He has given to each one of us, and He expects us to do the best we can do from it (Matthew 25:14-30).

2. God will never give us more than what we can handle.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Therefore, when we are called by God, we have every confidence that we will succeed. The process is never easy, but God has given us enough to succeed, and He expects nothing but the best from us. This is why God’s people should be more accountable than others – Because we answer to a God who has given us everything to succeed!

God’s laws teach us how to live in civil harmony

God protects those who cannot protect themselves (servants & women) (Exodus 21:1-11)
God protects against violence (Exodus 21:12-27)
God protects against abuse of animals (Exodus 21:28-36)
God protects against malicious sabotage against a person’s property (Exodus 22:1-15)

When we know we have done something wrong, we should always make it right – even if the person isn’t aware that we did something wrong to him. We should never think that just because we can get away with it, we can pretend nothing happened and move on. Why? We answer to an all-knowing, all-seeing God. We may be able to pull a “quick one” over other people, but there is no hiding from God. When we stand in front of God, we will each be held accountable for our own actions – The only way we can stand with our heads held up high is if we are honest with ourselves and if we live honestly by God’s Word.

God protects social responsibilities (Exodus 22:16-31)
- Do not take advantage of women, especially young virgins
- No sexual relations with animals
- No worshiping of false gods
- No mistreating strangers
- Do not take advantage the weak, including the widows, the children, and the poor.
- Do not curse our leaders
- Offer God our first fruits

God instructs us to live with justice (Exodus 23:1-9)
- Do not lie to pervert justice
- Do not follow evil
- Do not show partiality based on how people look – That is, everyone, rich or poor, deserves true justice
- Always do the right thing, even if no one is watching, even for our enemies – Even our enemies deserve true justice!
- Do not take bribes to pervert justice
- Do not take advantage of strangers

God instructs us to keep His Sabbaths (Exodus 23:10-13)
The point of keeping the Sabbath isn’t to turn it into a ritual but that we should always remember to keep our hearts on God.

The following feasts of Israel speak of Jesus (Exodus 23:14-19)
1. Feast of Unleavened Bread – Jesus is sinless, and His blood washed us of our sins.
2. Feast of the First Fruits – Jesus is risen. He is our First Fruits, as the first of us to be risen to eternity.
3. Feast of Tabernacle – Jesus is our bridegroom. We will one day be joined to Him and enjoy a great meal, the marriage supper of the Lamb!

God promises to bring Israel to victory

Exodus 23:22-23
I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. 

Exodus 23:25
And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.

Exodus 23:28, 30
And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you… Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.

Exodus 23:31
And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River.

Israel needs to remain faithful to God

Exodus 23: 22
But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

Exodus 23:24
You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.

Exodus 23:25
So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. 

Exodus 23:32-33
You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me.


ISRAEL COMMITS TO THEIR CONVENANT WITH GOD (Exodus 24)

As the only mediator of the Old Covenant, Moses alone could approach God directly. Why? Because our sin keeps us apart from God. In our sinful state, if we were to stand in the presence of God, we would immediately burn away in judgment because God’s perfect being burns through all sin. This was why before Jesus, only the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies to communicate with God – And they could only enter AFTER they had followed the ceremonial preparations and washings dictated by God. If the whole process was not done to God’s standards, the High Priest would be immediately struck dead.

Jesus’ blood changed all this. Because Jesus is the only perfect man, only His blood could once and for all wash us clean of our sins. When we accept Jesus as our savior, we can now stand in God’s presence, because instead of seeing our sin, God now sees the blood of Jesus, who has perfectly atoned us of our sin! Hence, with Jesus’ coming, He has become the mediator of the New Covenant. He is the only way to God, because only Jesus’ blood can completely wash away our sins, because only Jesus can be the perfect sacrificial Lamb.

Matthew 26:28
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

We were redeemed with the blood of Christ, the perfect man, our God! To know that we are redeemed by God Himself, we ought to have a lot of confidence in God’s love for us and our relationship with Him.