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Exodus Chapter Twenty-Two

(Outline continues from yesterday)

2. The remainder of the chapter contains a variety of other social laws, designed to provide stability to a society (Ex. 22:16-31).
   1. Premarital sex was punishable by marriage (Ex. 22:16).
      1. This marriage was subject to the father’s consent (Ex. 22:17).
      2. The dowry was payable regardless (Ex. 22:17).
      3. There was no permitted divorce for such marriages (Deut. 22:29).
   2. Sorcery was punishable by death (Ex. 22:18).
   3. Bestiality was punishable by death (Ex. 22:19).
   4. Worship of any false god was punishable by death (Ex. 22:20).
   5. Mistreatment of strangers, widows, and orphans was prohibited, and subject to Divine discipline for punishment (Ex. 22:21 24; 23:9).
   6. Personal loans were to be conducted on the basis of grace (Ex. 22:25-27).
      1. No loan was to have interest applied (v.25).
      2. Pledges could not result in personal injury (vv.26,27).
   7. Verbal abuse of God, or His delegated authorities is prohibited (Ex. 22:28).
   8. Procrastination with God’s offerings is not tolerated (Ex. 22:29,30).
   9. Personal holiness is to include every area of the believer’s life—including his diet (Ex. 22:31).

Exodus Chapter Twenty-Three

1. The various laws for society are continued (Ex. 23:1-9).
   1. False witness in court is prohibited (Ex. 23:1,7).
   2. Mob justice is prohibited (Ex. 23:2).
   3. Partiality for or against a poor man in court is prohibited (Ex. 23:3,6).
   4. Lost property is to be returned uninjured (Ex. 23:4,5).
   5. Bribery in court is prohibited (Ex. 23:8).
2. The principle of the Sabbath is amplified (Ex. 23:10-13).
   1. The land is to be provided with a sabbath year for its rest (Ex. 23:10,11).
   2. The weekly sabbath encompassed a man’s animals, slaves, and guests (Ex. 23:12).
   3. The weekly sabbath rest was for devotion to Yahweh, and not for any false god (Ex. 23:13).
3. Three annual feasts were described (Ex. 23:14-19).
   1. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, in conjunction with the Passover previously revealed (Ex. 23:15; 12:14-20).
   2. The Feast of the Harvest, for giving the first-fruits, was also called the Feast of Weeks (Ex. 23:16a; 34:22; Lev. 23:15-21).
   3. The Feast of the Ingathering, at the conclusion to the agricultural season, was also called the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths (Ex. 23:16b; Lev. 23:33-36).
   4. These were times for God’s people to appear before Him (Ex. 23:17).
4. The prohibition against cooking a young goat in its mothers milk is a warning against imitating the pagan practices of the Canaanites (Ex. 23:19b; 34:26; Deut. 14:21).
5. The remainder of the chapter dealt with Israel’s pending military conquest of the promised land (Ex. 23:20-33).
   1. Their journey and conquest will be accomplished under angelic escort (vv.20-23).
   2. This angel will proceed under Divine warrant by Yahweh, and is entitled to total obedience (v.21).
   3. Once in the land, Israel was warned against worshiping the false gods of Canaan, for it is these forces of evil that the Lord is destroying (Ex. 23:24,25,32).
   4. True devotion to the Lord will result in physical health and agricultural prosperity.
   5. Israel’s conquest will follow at the heels of Divine power (Ex. 23:27-31).
   6. The conquest is to be a complete and total territorial expulsion of the Canaanite people (Ex. 23:32,33).

Exodus Chapter Twenty-Four

1. The Lord invites Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel to approach closer than the people can get, but not as close as Moses can get (Ex. 24:1,2).
2. Moses descended, and related the Book of the Covenant to the nation of Israel, and supervised a national offering to the Lord (Ex. 24:3-8).
3. The invited party dined with the Lord Jesus Christ in a pre-incarnation Christophany (Ex. 24:9-11).
4. Moses is then instructed to return to the mountain top, and receive the remainder of the Law (Ex. 24:12-14).
   1. Joshua is permitted to go with Moses, as his personal assistant (v.13).
   2. Aaron and Hur were delegated to supervise Israel in Moses’ absence (v.14).
5. Moses entered within the cloud of God’s glory for forty days and forty nights (Ex. 24:15-18).
   1. The Israelites stood at a distance in fear (Ex. 24:17).
   2. To the Church, the consuming fire is the reminder that we owe Him reverence and awe, as we look to the Kingdom which cannot be shaken (Heb. 12:28,29).