10-6-15. A Society God Builds Is So Refreshing-my devotional

Exodus 23:1-19                                                                                         Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 23:14                                                                                      10-6-15

                             “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.”

God covers all of the angles in providing laws to govern society’s needs. He knows the deepest needs of people. This reminds me that a nation that protects the rights of its entire people, while upholding unity, celebrating God’s grace together, will be a blessed nation. Their hearts will be refreshed to live in Gods’ justice, rest, provision and continual celebration of God’s grace.

Part 1: A Society Infused With God’s Justice Is So Refreshing (1-9)

God’s word reminds us that we are responsible for making our society just and fair for all people. A just society is refreshing to all who live in it. Look at verses 1-9, “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. 2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3 and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. 4 “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it. 6 “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent. 9 “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (NIV)

Again, as we did in the previous chapter, let us take a 30,000 foot fly over of the laws…

Verse 1. This deals tithe the ninth commandment that we can not bear false witness. Making up or spreading false reports were strictly forbidden by God. Gossip, slander and false witnessing broke apart families, strained neighborhood relations and made a mockery of the justice system. Even if you do not start a lie, you become responsible if you pass it along, rather than squelching them.

Verses 2-3. Justice is perverted in favor of the rich.  But here the people are warned against twisting justice in favor of the poor. Justice must be impartial, treating rich and poor the same. Giving special privileges to either the rich or the poor only makes justice unlikely.

Verses 4-5, The thought of being kind to enemies was revolutionary in a world where revenge was the common. God not only introduced this idea of not inflicting revenge, but he enshrined it in law. This is the wisdom of God. If a man found a lost animal owned by his enemy, he was to return it at once, even if his enemy might use it to harm him. Jesus taught us to reach out to all people in need. Luke 10:30-37, even our enemies. Living by this principle will make a person a great witness for God.

Verses 6-8. Often we are influenced by the world and become very selfish. Some people deliberately pervert justice because of greed, or a grudge or because they think the poor are there to be take advantage of. The poor are not to be maltreated simply because they are poor. The same thing goes for the weak, or the immigrant.

Verse 9.  The whole basis for God’s law is based on the grace of God. We must remember God’s grace in delivering us from a lonely life in an unfriendly fallen world, by making us his own children. Keep verse 9, always before you, “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”

I really appreciate verses 1-9. How refreshing is to have honest court systems where malicious witnesses and accusers are punished instead of being protected and rewarded. These laws encourage people to stand up and tell the truth and speak the truth so that Justice prevails.

God is so much different than people. We try to lie about someone. We try to steal someone else’s property. We gloat over their losses. We take bribes and turn a blind eye to the poor. But God is not like this. He is so generous, he protects peoples’ rights. He enshrines justice in the land. Jesus gave of himself. He subjected himself to injustice so we could receive God’s merciful justice. He became like a root out of dry ground for us. God’s people must reflect God’s character.

As God’s people we must integrate God’s justice into our lives. We are responsible for helping the weak, for righting wrongs as we see them, for seeing that weaker people get a fair chance. Praise the Lord for his justice.

Part 2: How Refreshing Is God-Centered Community Celebration (10-19)

There had been no time for worship or rest during the years of slave life. But God did not want his covenant people in the Promised Land to be stressed out. The laws recorded in 23:10-19 look forward to life in the Promised Land. Such a life of celebrating God’s grace is so refreshing to the soul. Verses 10-19 read, “10 For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. 13 “Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips. 14 “Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. 15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. “No one is to appear before me empty-handed. 16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. “Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field. 17 “Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord. 18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. “The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning. 19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” (NIV)

In any society the rich and the poor dwell together. They work together to build up a just community, The rights of the rich must be concerned about the lives of the poor around them. The poor must create a society where the rich can operate in stability and security, building a strong economy and infrastructure. All will benefit.

God’s mercy to everyone. In God there is mercy to the poor, the property owners and the wild animals. Farmers must not just glean every square inch of land neglecting the local people, not providing enough soil to grow food on their on. I have heard of such things happening on coffee plantations in Central America. The Jewish poor people would be able to harvest good food like grains and olives and grapes. They were able to provide for their families.

God wanted times of rest for his people. The Hebrews were not to work their animals to the point of collapse. They were to allow the slaves and indentured servants to rest. They could rest and interact with their families and most of all worship the Lord. It is beneficial, for the owners to give them rest. It is proven fact that people do more work on six days than they do in seven. They are happier, they are more productive. The God of the Bible is merciful. Other ancient gods would not be so merciful. In fact they would be downright cruel. That is why God did not even want to invoke their names. (13)

God cares about his people and even the needs of the animals. His love extends to all. And we should extend the love of God to others. Uphold the rights of the all people. Do not exploit. Do not squeeze the resources even if you can. Do not overwork those who are under your care. Do not avoid responsibility ignoring the God of the Bible.

God told his people that they must worship some religious festivals. Let’s get a flyover of the commands for rest and the festivals…    

These 7 feasts were conducted three times a year, April, May And October.

Verse 11. The seventh year was to be a sabbatical year, when no crops are to be planted and the land is left fallow.

Verse 12. Israel was to remember the Sabbath.

Verse 15. This feast took place in time of the barley harvest. This would be in April. During the seven day period three feasts were observed, the Passover feast, and the feasts of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. Some have said that these typified Christ’s Crucifixion, perfect life, redemption.

Verse 16. This was the Feast of Pentecost, which took place 50 days after the Passover. This is in May. These typified Christ as the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit.

Verse 16b, This was the feast of Tabernacles. It took place at the time of the first fruits, in October. There were three feasts at this time, the feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. The entire time spent was 15 days.

The land needs rest; the poor need an opportunity; God’s people need to come to God for refreshment of body and soul. God’s people need training in thanksgiving. So God ordained 3 annual festivals.

What a contrast between the peoples’ daily lives of toil. God adds rest. He adds celebration. He adds joy. He promotes relationships in the community. He opens up busy schedules so that people may remember his grace and worship him. In God is life! God’s people should be joyful.

The people must come together and worship God with a joyful festival three times each year, taking time out to enjoy God. God promotes corporate worship. The rich needed to celebrate with the poor, the weak and the vulnerable. They were all one people. They were all one in the Lord, called to be God’s people.

I like the fact that God made so many feasts. God knows the hearts of people. If people were not told to take a vacation, then they would never take one. God knows our need. We need regular festivals. We need especially regular religious festivals. I look forward to DeKalb’s Cornfest. I also look forward to all of the religious holidays we celebrate in America.

God wants us to commemorate important events in his history. It is so we can remember God’s grace and mercy and celebrate these things, together as a community of believers, coming together in corporate worship. Keep God in mind at the beginning of the harvest and at the end of it. V. 18 Keep the worship pure. Verse 19. Be ready to offer to the Provider of the abundant harvest, an offering. V. 20. Don’t eat cheeseburgers. (lol) Keep the festivals. Mark your calendars. Plan to take some vacation days.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for helping us as a people. We would never know how to rest, celebrate or be just. You make it happen. You bring color and quality to life.

One Word: God is so refreshing.