June 20, 2018 - Day 73 - Exodus 23
I am writing from my hotel room in Salt Lake City, UT.
Exodus 23:
A few more laws..
Don't lie.
Don't help guilty people.
Don't side with the crowd if they are in the wrong.
If you come across a lost or fallen ox or donkey that belongs to your enemy, help that animal anyway.
Don't deny justice to poor people.
Don't execute an innocent person.
Don't accept a bribe.
And another reminder about foreigners:
"Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt."
This must be important.
For six years you can sow and harvest, but you have to leave it alone during the seventh year. Why? So the poor among you can eat.
Work for six days but rest on the seventh so your slave can rest too.
Don't invoke the names of other gods. Remember that gods aren't necessarily beings, they can be anything that consumes us. Under that lens, this warning about other gods make a bit more sense.
There's three festivals you're supposed to have each year celebrating God, with some interesting caveats. Basically no unleavened bread; and whatever you do, don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
God then says that an angel will be sent to prepare the way. We are not told what this means, or what an angel is. God says to pay attention to this angel, listen to him, and not to rebel against him because he won't be forgiving. God continues by saying that if they do whatever this angel says, then God will continue to have their back, being against their enemies. God says they will be brought to the land of six different -ites, and that God will wipe them out. These seems pretty opposite to the earlier part of this chapter. Hmm.
God says that little by little they will be forced out, until that the Israelites can take possession of the land. God says borders will be established from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and then from the desert to the Euphrates. This is a big ass area; encompassing all of present day Israel, Palestine, Jordan, some of Egypt, and a lot of Syria and Iraq.
I think the beginning of this chapter contains a lot of truth. I think the end contains an oppressed people group trying to look intimidating, which is certainly understandable.
Exodus 23:
A few more laws..
Don't lie.
Don't help guilty people.
Don't side with the crowd if they are in the wrong.
If you come across a lost or fallen ox or donkey that belongs to your enemy, help that animal anyway.
Don't deny justice to poor people.
Don't execute an innocent person.
Don't accept a bribe.
And another reminder about foreigners:
"Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt."
This must be important.
For six years you can sow and harvest, but you have to leave it alone during the seventh year. Why? So the poor among you can eat.
Work for six days but rest on the seventh so your slave can rest too.
Don't invoke the names of other gods. Remember that gods aren't necessarily beings, they can be anything that consumes us. Under that lens, this warning about other gods make a bit more sense.
There's three festivals you're supposed to have each year celebrating God, with some interesting caveats. Basically no unleavened bread; and whatever you do, don't cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
God then says that an angel will be sent to prepare the way. We are not told what this means, or what an angel is. God says to pay attention to this angel, listen to him, and not to rebel against him because he won't be forgiving. God continues by saying that if they do whatever this angel says, then God will continue to have their back, being against their enemies. God says they will be brought to the land of six different -ites, and that God will wipe them out. These seems pretty opposite to the earlier part of this chapter. Hmm.
God says that little by little they will be forced out, until that the Israelites can take possession of the land. God says borders will be established from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and then from the desert to the Euphrates. This is a big ass area; encompassing all of present day Israel, Palestine, Jordan, some of Egypt, and a lot of Syria and Iraq.
I think the beginning of this chapter contains a lot of truth. I think the end contains an oppressed people group trying to look intimidating, which is certainly understandable.
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