Exodus 23:1-19 - Justice, Rest, and Celebration

Exodus 23:1-19

Justice for All

1 “You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. 3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.

4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.

6 “You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. 7 Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked. 8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.

9 “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Law of Sabbaths

10 “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

13 “And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.

Three Annual Feasts (Exodus 34:18–26; Deuteronomy 16:1–17)

14 “Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); 16 and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

17 “Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

18 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning. 19 The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

God instructed His people to live justly, to rest in Him and His work for them, and to celebrate His goodness and grace to them together.   As to justice, they were commanded to tell the truth and not go along with or involve themselves in the lies and actions of the mob.  They should be honest and support truth and righteousness instead of gossiping or using misinformation to pervert justice or show prejudicial treatment to the less fortunate of society.  This is the way of the fallen world and should not be imitated by those of the kingdom of God then or now.  Living this way also means we should be helping those in need as the example here of finding lost property and making the effort to return it to the rightful owner, even if that owner is someone who dislikes you very much.  Help is not earned for it is an exp of grace; do we suppose that we have to earn the grace shown us by God in Christ?  Does he only help those who live perfectly before Him, or does He show mercy enough to die for us (Romans 5:8, 10) even when we were His enemies?  We then are also to follow the intent of these old commandments to not pervert judgment for the poor nor involve ourselves to aid those who harm those who are innocent just because others do so.  Taking bribes or kickbacks to gain worldly gain only leads to perverting the truth and character of others and justifies the evil person, something the LORD would never do.  If we are truly His, we will not do so either.  This means just because someone is a foreigner we should never oppress them, knowing we, like Israel, are also strangers and exiles in this world of woe and need mercy with compassion for them.  This means we do not pervert the justice of the laws of the land to require lawful immigration and citizenship of the foreigners among us by shielding them from the law, bit that we show them compassion and understanding in dealing with them.  Similar to justice, we build our relationship with God by resting in His work (Hebrews 4:9-10) and not attempting to earn grace in doing good as is our duty (Luke 17:10) as citizens of the kingdom of God in Christ and put nothing in place of worship to Him alone.  This means we do not worship and serve man over God, whether in politics, activism, or any other religion or philosophical practice that contradicts the word and will of God.  Finally, we are to see the example here to celebrate with God’s people.  We have different feasts to keep now, but the focus on them all is fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ together as the family of God and are to remember His redemptive work in us as we participate in the Lord’s Supper and baptism of fellow believers that unity in Christ Jesus and sharing in His body and lifeblood sacrificed for us all who are under this great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) who ministers grace to us all.  We remember Micah 6:8 that tells us, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”