Exodus 24:12-18 Moses on Mount Sinai

"The LORD said to Moses,

'Come up to me on the mountain and stay here,

and I will give you the tablets of stone,

with the laws and commands I have written for their instruction.'

 

Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide,

and Moses went up on the mountain of God.

He said to the elders, 'Wait here for us until we come back to you.

Aaron and Hur are with you,

and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.'

 

When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,

and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai.

For six days the cloud covered the mountain,

and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud.

To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire

on top of the mountain.

 

Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain.

And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights."

 

Exodus 24:12-18 (NIV)

 

_________________________________________________

 

The LORD called to Moses to join him on the mountain so that He could give Moses stone tablets on which were written the laws and commands He had written.  Leaving the elders behind, Moses went up the mountain with his aide Joshua.  Any disputes which might arise during his absence were to be settled by Aaron and Hur.  The elders were to wait there until Moses and Joshua returned.

 

The glory of the LORD had settled upon Mount Sinai, and a cloud shielded onlookers from seeing the full glory of God.  To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain.  Moses entered the cloud as he ascended the mountain.  Presumable Joshua remained a short distance away, ready to be of service if Moses needed him.

 

Moses remained on the mountain in the presence of the LORD for forty days and nights.

I wonder what Joshua did during that time.  Could he see anything which was going on during the meeting between God and Moses? Or did he just have to wait patiently for his master's return?  Perhaps this time of waiting was further training for Joshua, who would one day lead the people of Israel after Moses' death.

Exodus 24:9-11 Meeting With God

"Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,

and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel.

Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire,

clear as the sky itself.

But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites;

they saw God, and they ate and drank.

Exodus 24:9-11 (NIV)

________________________

 

 We have to just take a moment to appreciate what is going on here.  Moses and Aaron, along with Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu and seventy elders of Israel ascended the mountain and met with the God of Israel.  They had a personal encounter with the Creator of the universe.

 

Under God's feet stretched a pavement of sapphire, clear as the sky.  In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel there is an account of when the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of four creatures which stood near God's presence.  After describing these beings, Ezekiel notes:

 

"Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads

as they stood with lowered wings.

Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire,

and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.

 

I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal,

as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire;

and brilliant light surrounded him.

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day,

so was the radiance around him.

 

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.  When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking."

 

Ezekiel 1:25-28 (NIV)

 

 

I included that account from Ezekiel just to give you somewhat of an idea of the majesty of the situation which Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the seventy elders encountered.  There was a belief that if one saw God one would die, for who could stand before God's great holiness and power and live?  However, our passage states that God did not raise his hand against these people; rather, they saw God and ate and drank.  This seems to indicate a covenant meal, celebrated because of the agreement which the Israelites had made with their God.

 

This does not mean that they can just carelessly appear before God's presence in the future any time they wished.  In fact, later Nadab and Abihu will suffer severe consequences for their careless disregard of their position as priests before the LORD.  However, at this moment it is a time of joy and celebration as the covenant between God and Israel is again confirmed.

Exodus 24:1-8 Covenant Meeting

"Then he said to Moses,

 

'Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,

and seventy of the elders of Israel.

You are to worship at a distance,

but Moses alone is to approach the LORD;

the others must not come near.

And the people may not come up with him.'

 

When Moses went and told the people all the LORD's words and laws,

they responded with one voice,

'Everything the LORD has said we will do.'

 

Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.

 

He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain

and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings

and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD.

 

Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls,

and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people.

They responded,

'We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.'

 

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said,

'This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you

in accordance with all these words.'

 

Exodus 24:1-8 (NIV)

___________________________________________

 

This passage is actually a continuation from Exodus 19:25, where God had called Moses and the people of Israel to meet with Him at Mount Sinai.  The story of that meeting had been interrupted by Moses' account of the Book of the Covenant, which begins in Exodus 20:1 and ends at Exodus 23:33.  The people and the elders of Israel were gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai with Moses.  Now Moses and his brother Aaron, and Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu (the sons of Aaron), along with seventy of the elders of Israel are about to meet with God.

 

God warned that Moses alone was to draw near to God; Aaron and his sons and the seventy elders were to worship at a distance, and the people were strictly warned to remain at the foot of the mountain.  After a three day period of consecration, Moses led the people to the foot of Mount Sinai.  (Exodus 19:9-17)

 

The atmosphere must have been absolutely electric.  We are given some sense of this by the description of that morning recorded in Exodus 19:16-19:

 

"On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning,

with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.

Everyone in the camp trembled.

Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God,

and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

 

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke,

because the LORD descended on it in fire.

The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace,

the whole mountain trembled violently,

and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

 

Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him."

 

 

Moses built an altar and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.  Burnt offerings and fellowship offerings were presented to the LORD.  Moses took half of the blood from these sacrifices and put it in bowls.  The other half of the blood was sprinkled on the altar.

 

Moses read to the people the Book of the Covenant, and they indicated their willingness to do everything which the LORD had said.  Moses then sprinkled the people with the other half of the blood from the sacrifices.  The NIV Study Bible note on Exodus 24:6 (page 123) had this to say about the blood from the sacrifice:

 

"The division of the blood points to the twofold aspect
of the "blood of the covenant" (v.8):
 

The blood on the altar symbolizes God's forgiveness
and his acceptance of the offering;
 

the blood on the people points to an oath
that binds them in obedience (see vv. 3,7)"
 





 After the people had agreed to the covenant by promising their obedience, Moses had sprinkled the people with the other half of the blood from the sacrifice, signifying that the covenant was in effect.  Of course God had already made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants (see Genesis 17), but this particular group of Israelites had not been born at that time, so perhaps it was important that they themselves make such a covenant, particularly since the LORD had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt and they are now heading towards the Promised Land.

Exodus 23:27-33 Terror and Snares

"I will send my terror ahead of you

and throw into confusion every nation you encounter.

I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.

I will send the hornet ahead of you

to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

But I will not drive them out in a single year,

because the land would become desolate

and the wild animals too numerous for you.

Little by little I will drive them out before you,

until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.

 

I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines,

and from the desert to the River.

I will hand over to you the people who live in the land

and you will drive them out before you.

Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods.

Do not let them live in your land,

or they will cause you to sin against me,

because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you."

 

Exodus 23:27-33 (NIV)

_________________________________________________________

 

This passage is actually a continuation of the matters which were spoken of in the previous passage (Exodus 23:20-26).  I would have put the whole discussion of Exodus 23:20-33 into one post, but it was just getting too long so I had decided to split it.  Besides, we were already discussing many significant issues:  the identity of the angel of the LORD, the Israelites' dealings with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan who worshipped other 'gods', God's blessings upon those who would obey Him, etc.

 

These further verses (v.27-33) are also going to raise some issues.  In this section, God gives more details about how He will remove Israel's enemies from the promised land.  He would send His terror ahead of the Israelites and cause their enemies to react in confusion.  Note:  This happens in other places in Scripture, where, despite the fact that the enemies of Israel are more numerous than the Israelites, God does something to throw them into confusion and the tide of the battle is turned in the Israelites' favor.

 

Here are some examples:

 

I Chronicles 14:8-17  David becomes king and the Philistines seek to defeat him in battle.  He defeats them and credits God with the victory and claims that God had broken out against David's enemies.  Note that the Philistines abandon their gods which they had apparently brought with them into this battle and David gives orders to have these idols burned with fire.  A second battle with the Philistines is also mentioned in this passage.  In this one, David is instructed to wait until he hears the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, which indicates that God has gone out ahead of them against their enemies.  This battle is also successful, and the surrounding nations fear David because they know that God fights for him.

 

Exodus 15 In the song of Moses and Miriam, as they sang to the LORD after He had delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh's hand in Egypt, verses 14-16 are full of phrases which indicate that the enemies of the LORD were incapacitated:   They tremble, are gripped with anguish, are terrified, melt away, terror and dread fall upon them, they are still as a stone.  This example is current to our passage, and it is clear that God is fighting in behalf of His people. 

 

Other examples which you may look up are II Chronicles 14:9-14, II Chronicles 17:10 and II Chronicles 20:1-30.  The last one is particularly detailed as to the attitude of the Israelites and the reality of the LORD's efforts on their behalf.]

 

Interestingly, God tells the Israelites in Exodus 23:29 that He will drive their enemies out of the promised land gradually.  Otherwise, God notes, the land would become desolate and overrun with wild animals.  Instead, God would drive their enemies out little by little, until they had increased in number and were able to take possession of the land in an effective manner.

 

God says that He "...will establish your [Israel's] borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River." (Exodus 23:31)  In other words, their land would be from the Red Sea (the modern Gulf of Aqaba) to the Mediterranean Sea and from the desert (northern Sinai) to the Euphrates River.  

 

He warns them that they must drive the current inhabitants out of the land, or else the worship of their 'gods' would become a snare to the Israelites.  In Scripture, a snare is a symbol of destruction, not just something which will trip you up a bit.  You can picture an animal caught in a snare:  It is not just inconvenienced, it is most likely dead or at least headed that way.  In the same way, worship of other gods "will certainly be a snare to you."  (Exodus 23:33 NIV)  The Israelites were not to make a covenant with these peoples and allow them to live in the land.  God says that if they did, it would cause the Israelites to sin against God (v.33)  Note that He does not say it "might" cause them to sin, but rather, it "would" cause them to sin...and the worship of other gods would "certainly" (not "possibly") become a snare to them.

 

Exodus 23:20-26 Promises and Warnings

"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you

to guard you along the way

and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

Pay attention to him and listen to what he says.

Do not rebel against him;

he will not forgive your rebellion, since My Name is in him.

 

If you listen carefully to what he says and do all I say,

I will be an enemy to your enemies

and will oppose those who oppose you.

 

My angel will go ahead of you and bring you

into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,

Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites,

and I will wipe them out.

Do not bow down before their gods or

worship them or follow their practices.

You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.

Worship the LORD your God,

and his blessing will be on your food and water.

I will take away sickness from among you,

and none will miscarry or be barren in your land.

I will give you a full life span."

Exodus 23:20-26 (NIV)

_________________________________________________

I think that one of the most striking aspects of this passage is that God sent someone to go ahead of the Israelites to guard them and bring them to the place which He had prepared for them.  We have seen this figure recently, in Exodus 14:19 :

 

   "Then the angel of God,

who had been traveling in front of Israel's army,

withdrew and went behind them." 

 

That time, the angel of God had moved behind Israel's column in order to protect them from the approaching Egyptian army.  Previously, this angel of the LORD had appeared to Hagar, Abraham's Egyptian maidservant and the mother of his son Ishmael.  You can read more about that encounter here.  As that article details, this same angel of the LORD meets Hagar in the desert as she flees from her mistress Sarah.  Hagar marvels that she has seen God and lived to tell about it.  Also, this 'angel' speaks in the first person tense ["I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count." (Genesis 16:10) ] as He makes claims that only God could accomplish.

 

The conclusion which I have reached is that this angel of the LORD is Jesus Christ, in what some call a 'preincarnate' [i.e., before He came to earth in human form to die on the cross for the sins of the world] state of being.  Now I don't expect skeptics to just agree with this conclusion because I said so, but the evidence for this is very gradually revealed throughout the Old and New Testament -- some call this 'progressive revelation' -- so I will have to ask you to be patient because I am trying to not get side-tracked out of my intent to proceed through the whole Scriptures and investigate what they say.  'Side-tracked' is actually not the best way to express this, for I believe that all of Scripture reveals something about God and His plan for the salvation of the world, so every portion of God's Word is important.  However, at this point I have not yet written summary articles listing the evidence for the deity of Jesus Christ or the reliability of Scripture or several other topics which would be useful.  I intend to, but in the meantime, I wanted to just keep moving ahead and noting the evidence which turns up along the way.

 

At any rate, the Israelites are told three things regarding this angel of the LORD:

• Pay attention to him.
• Listen to him.
• Do not rebel against him.

Let's think about these things for a moment.

 

Pay attention to him.  There were a lot of things competing for the Israelites' attention at that point.  After all, they were on a journey (along with a large number of people) through a desert on their way to the land which God had promised to Abraham about four hundred years previously.  [I know that there were an incredible amount of pronouns in that sentence -- ten, I think -- but it just came out that way.  If anyone can diagram that sentence, I think that they should get a prize of some sort.]  None of these particular Israelites had ever been there before.  There were enemies along the way, and when they arrived, the people of the land might not take kindly to these newcomers, even though these Israelites' ancestors had lived there previously.  However, God is telling them to pay attention to this angel [the word can also mean 'messenger'] whom He has sent.  "Pay attention" seems to call for a lot more than just casual listening, doesn't it?  It implies that what is going to be said is of crucial importance.

 

Listen to him.   Although this seems very similar to the "Pay attention" command above, it must be implying something different, or at least repeating for emphasis.  I think that there is a difference in that "Pay attention" seems like sitting up and taking careful notice of what is being said, while "Listen to him" seems to imply that they should actually do what He is telling them to do.

 

Do not rebel against him. While the above commands urged attention and obedience, this one, I think, urges the Israelites to avoid taking actions which would be counter to what He said.  In other words, they should avoid any disobedience against what He will command them to do.  There are additional instructions with this command.  God explains that they should not rebel against this messenger because such rebellion would not be forgiven.  Why? "...since My Name is in him."  What does that mean?  Well, I have read that in those times, a person's name meant a whole lot more than just a simple handle to identify someone.  Instead, it implied their whole character and attributes...their very being.  In the light of our discussion above about just who this angel of the LORD was, it is very interesting that God says that His own Name is within this messenger.  Now I suppose that you could just say that God had simply given this one His own authority to act in this situation, but even that is significant, like, 'Here, you can function as Me, -- God --  in this situation.', which would be rather disturbing in itself if that person wasn't God.  Just saying.  At any rate, it is clear that for their own good, they had better listen and obey what this messenger with the authority of God will tell them to do.

 

In fact, this passage goes on to say that if they will listen carefully to what this messenger says and do all that God says, He will protect them from all their enemies.  Actually, it says more than that.  If they obey, God will be "an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you."  To me, that says that God would take an active part in dealing with those who oppose Israel.

[Of course, at that point I could not help but think of Israel's situation today.  God is still in an ongoing covenant relationship with Israel.  Scripture also says that He does not change.  What does that mean when Israel's enemies threaten her today?  You can draw your own conclusions.  Let's just say that I would not want to be one of those enemies who threaten to annihilate Israel or push Israel into the sea.]

 

This same angel of the LORD would go before them, bring them into the land which God had promised to Abraham and his descendants, and wipe out all the inhabitants of the land who oppposed them.  Some of the peoples who were residing in the land were the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites.  It is worth repeating that the ancestors of these peoples had been given an opportunity to know and serve the true God during the days of Abraham [and probably additional times previously].  In fact, one of the reasons which God had told Jacob (Abraham's grandson) for why the Israelites would be living in the land of Egypt for the next four hundred years [right before Jacob was leaving for Egypt to join his son Joseph during a severe famine] was because the iniquity [sins] of the people of the land had not yet reached the point of no return.  God was giving the people of the promised land additional time to repent of their sins and turn to Him.  Apparently, they hadn't done so as a nation, although perhaps certain individuals within those nations may have come to know the true God.  Now, four hundred years later, things were at the point where God knew it was time to deal with those nations which continued to worship false 'gods'.  As promised, Israel was returning to the land which God had given their ancestors.  The inhabitants of the land would have to deal with the consequences of their own rebellion.

 

The ironic thing about today is that some insist that Israel has no place in the promised land, or that it belonged to other peoples.  I wonder what they would think about the fact that part of the reason God took Jacob and his descendants away for a while was to give those other nations more time to come to repentance?  The nations or people groups who oppose Israel today are likewise being given a chance to acknowledge the God of Israel.  I certainly believe that God continues to keep His covenant with Israel and preserve them as a nation.

 

God warns the Israelitess to avoid participation in idol worship and to get rid of any traces of idol worship which remain in the land.   Instead, they were to worship the LORD, and then His blessing would be upon every area of their lives.  God would bless their food and water, and remove sickness, miscarriages and barrenness from them.  They would enjoy a full lifespan.

I might add that God also disciplines the Israelites.  We haven't yet arrived at the place in Scripture where we will discuss how God, after many years of warning the Israelites to stop worshipping other 'gods', sent them back out of the promised land and into captivity and allowed other nations (Assyria, Babylon) to take over the promised land or to take his people into captivity.  There, too, God was not just being capricious, but was disciplining Israel with the purpose that she would return to the worship of the true God.

God is always righteous in the way He does things, even though there are many aspects of His judgments which we do not understand.  There are some tough questions which can be asked about why the innocent suffer during these wars and times of discipline, but God can be counted upon to do what is right, even if we do not totally understand His reasons for doing it.  His character assures us of this, and He also explicitly states that His ways and thoughts are not always going to be what we might expect:

 

" 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD.

'As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.' "

 

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) 

Hurricane Sandy

We have had some wild times in the NY/Metropolitan area of the East Coast of the United States.  My mom had some surgery scheduled for Monday, the day of the storm, but it went well and we were able to get her back home hours before there was any trouble.  Thankfully, our family was spared a great deal of the devastation.  Our power remained on the whole time, and we did not get the rain we had been expecting, so there was no water damage.

We had several large tree limbs fall onto our property, but they fell in such a way that the worst damage was to our fence, and even that was nothing to speak of when we see on TV the way the storm hit the nearby New York City area.  That wind was the strongest which I have personally seen.  I watched tree trunks that I can't even reach around dancing in the wind like someone doing the twist.  Last night when the storm was over, I ventured out to get some more supplies from the supermarket.  The metal structure where they park the carts had been lifted by the winds and deposited in a heap about 30 feet away.  Ironically, another similar cart shelter stood ten feet away, untouched.  I also had to detour around a huge tree which had fallen across a road.  Near our home another large tree had been uprooted and lay against a factory wall, its roots and the surrounding earth still attached.  Needless to say, I didn't stay out too long.

The supermarket was pretty empty.  My daughter works in another supermarket, and we had been snickering earlier about how every white bread product had been cleared out, but that the more nutritious, wheat-type bread was still there.  Well, at this store, all the bread -- white, wheat, bagels, rolls -- was gone.  Most of the other shelves were empty except for a few scattered products, and it gave everything an eerie disaster-movie type of atmosphere.  Fortunately we had stocked up beforehand -- I mostly needed phone cards for our phones and some other things -- but it did make me wonder if most people even knew how to make their own bread anymore, because the flour/baking supplies aisle was still fairly full.

 Speaking of bread, I have to go make some so that it can be ready for my husband when he gets home.

Please continue to pray for those who have suffered the loss of relatives and friends, businesses and property during this storm.

Exodus 23:14-19 Three Feasts

"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

Celebrate the Feast 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 Abib,

for in that month you came out of Egypt.

No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

 

Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.

 

Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year,

when you gather in your crops from the field.

 

Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

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.

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.

Exodus 23:14-19 (NIV)

___________________________________________

These are instruction regarding three annual festivals

which were to be celebrated by the Israelite community:

The Feast of Unleavened Bread,

The Feast of Harvest, and

The Feast of Ingathering.

There were other feasts and sacred days, but we will cover those later, as they come up in the text.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

During this feast, the Israelites were to eat unleavened bread (bread made without yeast) for seven days.  [When hastily departing from Egypt, the Israelites had no time to put leaven in their bread and let it rise.]  The time appointed for this feast was in the month of Abib, which Exodus 23:15 states was the month in which the Israelites had been delivered from Egypt.  Abib corresponds to mid-March to Mid-April, and was considered the first month of the year.  This feast began with the Passover meal and continued for seven days.  Exodus chapter 12 explains the Passover and this Feast of Unleavened Bread quite thoroughly.

Here is just one of the significant verses in that chapter:

"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread,

because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt.

Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come."

Exodus 12:17 (NIV)

  

This feast commemorated the deliverance which God had provided during the Exodus from Egypt.  There were sacred assemblies on the first and seventh day of this feast, and no regular work was to be done on those days.

Feast of Harvest 

The Feast of the Harvest [also known as the Feast of Weeks because it  was held seven weeks after the Feast of Unleavened Bread -- usually about mid-May to Mid-June] was to be celebrated by giving to the LORD the firstfruits of the barley crop.  The first sheaf is given to the LORD.  This was an act of faith as well as worship, for the Israelites were saying that they believed that God had provided these foodstuffs and would continue to provide more as this crop and others continued to mature.

This feast had Messianic implications.  In New Testament times a group called the Gnostics was promoting the idea that Jesus had not actually physically risen from the dead.  They rejected the idea of a future physical resurrection of the body and believed that only the soul was immortal.

The apostle Paul soon made short work of this theory.  If the dead were not raised, he reasoned, then Christ would not have been raised, and thus believers ought then "to be pitied more than all men." (I Corinthians 15:19)  For if Jesus had not risen, then Paul had lied to them, and their sins remained unforgiven.  Also, their loved ones who had died already would have perished without hope.  Not to mention that some believers had been persecuted and even martyred for their faith.  All this would be in vain if Christ was not risen.

What does all this have to do with the barley harvest and firstfruits?

I'm getting there, really.

Paul continues:

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,

the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a man,

the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

For as in Adam all die,

so in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own turn:

Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." 

 

I Corinthians 15:20-23 (NIV) 



The Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Unleavened Bread points ahead to Jesus Christ, the One who would be the first to be resurrected, never to die again.  [Others had been raised from the dead, like Lazarus, and Jairus' daughter, but they eventually died again at the end of their lifespans.]  Just as God's acceptance of the firstfruits of the grain harvest of the Israelites was a promise that the rest of the harvest would occur, the fact that God had raised Jesus from the dead assured believers that God had accepted Jesus' death as payment for their sins and that they, too, would eventually be raised to eternal life.

The Gnostics' rejection of an actual physical resurrection was an error.  Instead, Paul insisted that

"...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." (I Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV) 

Paul gives a list of people who had seen the risen Christ.  Most were still alive, so doubters could go check with them in person, if they wanted to do so.  Although we do not have that same privilege, it is worth noting for our own consideration of these matters that many of these witnesses -- and all of the apostles, except John -- later died for their faith, a fact which would seem unlikely if Jesus' resurrection had not occurred.

The Feast of Ingathering

The Feast of Ingathering was celebrated at the end of the agricultural year [about mid-September to mid-October] when crops were gathered from the fields.  It was also sometimes called the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths because the Israelites had lived in temporary shelters during their journey out of Egypt.  This Feast commemorated the desert wanderings after the exodus from Egypt.  As the Israelites gathered their crops, they would probably think back upon how God had provided for them during their wandering, and rejoice in His continued provision.

Three time a year all the men were to appear before the Lord.  If they offered a sacrifice, its blood was not to be offered with anything containing yeast.  Yeast was often used in the Bible as a symbol for sin.  These feasts often contained certain aspects which pointed ahead to the greatest sacrifice, when the Messiah Jesus Christ offered Himself as the propitiation for the sins of the world.  In order for him to be able to do so, He had to be sinless, and thus it would be necessary for any symbol of this sacrifice also to be free of any taint of sin.

The best of the Israelites' firstfruits were to be offered to the LORD.  For me, this recalls the sacrifices offered by Cain and Abel:  Abel offered the best from his flocks, while Cain offered "some" of the produce which he had grown (Genesis 4:1-5).  Abel's offering was accepted, while Cain's was rejected. 

A young goat was not to be cooked in its mother's milk.  This may have been forbidden because doing so was similar to some ritual among the nations surrounding Israel in their worship of other 'gods'.  Avoiding such a practice could guard against syncretism (combining elements from several belief systems into one). Or there may be an inherent repugnance regarding this because it seems to violate the idea of what the mother-child relationship should be -- one of safety, provision, comfort, and protection.           

 

I am sure that there is much more to be said regarding these feasts and their significance.  Future posts will include what I am continuing to learn.



Exodus 23:10-13 Remembering the Sabbath and Honoring God

"For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops,

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 they leave.

Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work,

so that your ox and your donkey may rest

and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.

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."

Exodus 23:10-13 (NIV)

_____________________________________________

First I thought that this section was about several different things:  farming practices, concern for the poor, keeping the Sabbath and honoring God alone as God.  However, it is actually more about one thing:  honoring God.  These diverse ideas all come together for the Israelites in this passage.

Farming practices  Although it may have seemed strange to the Israelites to have to let their fields lie fallow in the seventh year, God knew what He was doing.  Allowing the land to lie unplowed and unused would prevent the soil from being depleted of its nutrients.

Social Concerns  Leaving the fields unplowed allowed the poor to be provided with sustenance.  They could gather any food which grew in the fallow fields, while still retaining some dignity in the process.  Even wild animals could benefit from the leftovers.

Sabbath Rest  The Israelites were required to keep the seventh day as a Sabbath day.  This day was set aside to remind the Israelites that God was their Creator, and that He was the One who provided them with life and everything which they needed.  This was also a day of rest for man and beast alike.

Honor God Alone God was constantly reminding the Israelites that He was the only true God.  They were to carefully follow the laws which He had given them.  The names of other so-called 'gods' were not even to be spoken.  I suppose that this is because God has already told them that He is the only God, so the idea of other 'gods' was blasphemy.  He will not share His glory with them.  (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11)  Also, if the names of these other gods were to come up in everyday conversations, perhaps it would lead others astray, for they might want to know more about these other 'gods' which the people around them worshiped.

Taken as a whole, this passage reveals that every aspect in the life of a believer in God comes together around Him.  If the Israelites followed the ways which God commanded, their fields would be productive, their poor provided for with dignity, wild animals sustained, and everyone (except the wild animals) would remain conscious of the fact that it was only by God's provision that they obtained their food.  The Sabbath would allow for rest for man and beast alike, and people would have a weekly time to reflect upon their Creator as the only true God.  Other 'gods' would not be consulted or even spoken about, lest God be blasphemed or anyone led astray.

That is the amazing thing about our God.  He is all-powerful and all-knowing, and able to lead us through the delicately interconnected aspects of our world in a way that not only brings glory to Him, but also is the best way for us to live a full, productive life.  No wonder Paul cried out in the New Testament letter of  Romans:

"Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

Who has known the mind of the LORD?

Or who has been his counselor?

Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen."

Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)

Exodus 23:1-9 Laws Involving Our Treatment of Others

"Do not spread false reports.

Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.

Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.

When you give testimony in a lawsuit,

do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,

and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off,

be sure to take it back to him.

If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load,

do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.

Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

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.

Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see

and twists the words of the righteous.

Do not oppress an alien;

you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens,

because you were aliens in Egypt."

Exodus 23:1-9 (NIV)

________________________________

These statements are fairly clear without any explanation.  However, as I read further in the commentaries and thought about other verses which I knew regarding the same subjects, I realized that one could easily write a whole post (or more) about each area covered in this section of verses.  Instead, I'll just write some things about each section.  I know that these concepts will come up again and again, in both the Old and New Testament, and each time they do, we get a clearer idea of what it looks like to live as a follower of God.

Do Not Spread False Reports 

This seemed obvious, because lying is forbidden.  However, one verse which the commentaries recommended led me to another aspect of why this this spreading of false reports is forbidden.  It is Leviticus 19:16 (NIV) and it says this:

"Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life.

I am the LORD."

I thought that this was interesting because although many of the instructions in Exodus 23:1-9 above seem to be about keeping the ninth commandment found in Exodus 20:16 ("You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."), this verse brought out the fact that such slanderous reports can take on a life of their own and even end up endangering someone's life.  The 'do not go about' part of this verse in Leviticus brought to my mind an image of someone eagerly running around spreading the latest gossip about someone else.  Whether in the context of a lawsuit, or in the company of friends, it is tempting to 'share' the latest news, even at others' expense.  However, out attitude is to be that we would not do anything which might endanger a neighbor's life.

Some Scriptural examples of how this might occur are found in Deuteronomy 22:1-4, where a woman is falsely accused of something which might cost her her life, and in I Kings 21:10-13, where Queen Jezebel slanders Naboth so that he will be put to death and her husband, King Ahab, can then obtain Naboth's property.  I might add that in both cases, a false report could lead to the accuser's death.  In fact, in Ahab and Jezebel's case, it eventually lead to both of their deaths.  So don't be mislead into thinking that gossip or slander is just a little matter with no real consequences.

Do Not Be a Malicious Witness
I guess that both of the Scriptural examples above could serve equally well in this matter.  This behavior seems to be happening in a legal case, where one could be tempted to testify against someone else.  Either because of a bribe, or a friendship, or some type of obligation, we might be tempted to help a guilty person win their case against an innocent person.  However, God sees the truth in each case and will not let the guilty go unpunished.

Do Not Follow the Crowd
We are not to just blindly follow the crowd, especially when they are intent upon doing evil.  When giving testimony in a lawsuit, we are not to give false testimony just to fit in with what everyone else is saying.  This would be a perversion of justice.  In addition, we are not to adjust our testimony to give a poor person a break.  Of course we are to be concerned for the needs of the poor, but this does not include exchanging the truth for a lie, even if our intent is to help a poor person.  Real justice requires us to tell the truth, without favoritism of any kind.

Do Unto Others...
...as you would like them to do towards you.  In this case it includes caring for the property of others, even if you would consider them an enemy.  A wandering animal was to be returned to its owner -- even if you do not particularly like that person.  In an even more in-your-face act of kindness, if we see an enemy struggling (in this case with an overloaded animal), we are to directly assist them.  We are not to turn away or pretend we do not see what is happening.  Although this may be awkward, and we may fear that he/she will just rebuke us for our efforts to help, you can not deny that this act of kindness would make a huge impression upon an 'enemy' and perhaps even make him/her begin to want to know more about this God whom you serve.

Justice
Four items are mentioned here:

• Don't deny justice to someone just because they are poor.
• Have nothing to do with a false charge.
• Don't put an innocent or honest person to death.
• God will not acquit the guilty.  He sees and knows the truth about everything.  Even if you can fool everyone else, you can't fool God.

No Bribes

We are not to accept a bribe, because this is wrong and has several effects according to this verse:

• It blinds those who see.  In other words, it causes a person who clearly sees the truth to pretend to be blind to it.
• It twists the words of the righteous.  It changes our perception of a righteous person's testimony from a clear presentation to something twisted and evil.  In order to accept a bribe, we would have to be willing to mangle an otherwise straightforward testimony and change it into something else.

Don't Oppress Aliens

This ought to be easy for the Israelites to understand.  Oppression was evil and they had already experienced it in Egypt.  Although such an alien might be powerless to resist oppression, God saw it and would be displeased if His people participated in such actions, particularly since He had delivered them from their oppression in Egypt.

________________________________________

As I read all these laws, I was struck by the fact that every aspect of our lives provides the opportunity to glorify God.  Even simple acts of kindness can have a huge impact upon others' lives.

Exodus 22:28-31

"Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.

You must give me the firstborn of your sons.

Do the same with your cattle and your sheep.

Let them stay with their mothers for seven days,

but give them to me on the eighth day.

You are to be my holy people.

So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts;

throw it to the dogs."

Exodus 22:28-31 (NIV)

____________________________________________________

While again these laws may seem to be a collection of unrelated topics, they all have to do with the fact that the Israelites are people in a covenant relationship with God.  Therefore their actions in each of these areas of life are supposed to reflect that relationship:

Authority

God is their King, and must be treated with proper reverence.  They are not to blaspheme God.  [Blasphemy (as defined by the Oxford American Dictionary) meant talking about God or about sacred things in a contemptuous or irreverent way.]  Nor were they to curse their ruler, for he was considered to be a representative of God's authority.

Possessions
It was always a temptation to wait to fulfill the obligations they had to bring tithes of their income.  Like us, the Israelites probably thought, "Next week/month I'll be able to give more, but right now, things are a bit tight."  I understand that thinking, but it is not a good way to go.  God expects obedience, and then blessing follows, not the other way around.  Christians are not under the obligations of the law in these matters in the same way that the Israelites were obligated.  In our own family, we decided upon a certain percentage of our income which we give to the LORD.  It is still a struggle sometimes to stick to that commitment, but we have found that it is a good discipline, and the LORD has always provided for our needs.  Someone wrote once that "You can't out-give God" and he is right.


Firstborn
The firstborn sons and animals were to be presented to the LORD.  Of course, the humans were not to be sacrificed (!), but they were the LORD's as a reminder of how He had delivered the Israelites from Egypt, while the firstborn sons of the Egyptians had died in the tenth and final plague.  Here are some Scriptures regarding this:

Exodus 13:2  "Consecrate to me every firstborn male.  The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal." 

Exodus 13:11-13  "After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb.  All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.  Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.  Redeem every firstborn among your sons."

[Note that the above passage makes it clear that the Israelites were always to redeem their firstborn sons, never sacrifice them.  They were to be redeemed, which meant that they were to be released by means of a payment. Also, in case you were wondering, as I was, why the donkeys were singled out in that passage to be either redeemed or have their necks broken, it is because they were considered an 'unclean' animal that was not supposed to be sacrificed to the LORD.]

Exodus 13:14-16   "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal.  This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.'  And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand."

This passage spells out in greater detail the reason for the consecration of the firstborn to the LORD.  It is interesting to me that the animals were also included, as they had been included in the plague on Egypt's firstborn.  Perhaps it is because they were considered the wealth of their owner, sort of a portable bank account in a day without public banks.  By including them, it is as if the LORD is saying that He had redeemed their lives and possessions from Egypt, and that He continued to be the source of their lives and wealth...indeed, of everything which they had.

A Priestly People 
The Israelites were to avoid eating the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts.  Instead, they were to give such meat to their dogs.  The NIV Study Bible commentary noted that this was because such an animal would not have had the opportunity to have been drained of its blood, which the Israelites were forbidden to consume. 

[Not to mention that this would be a great way to avoid diseases.  God knows what He is doing, even when we don't.]

Interestingly, this verse was a law which was later specified for the members of the Aaronic priesthood.
God had already proclaimed to the Israelites that:  "...Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation..." (Exodus 19:5-6 NIV)  In the same way that the priests were consecrated to the LORD for His service, every part of the Israelites' lives were to be consecrated to the LORD for His service.  [And yes, that concept is as convicting to me as it is to you.  No doubt each of us has areas of life which could be better given over to God for His use.]

Exodus 22:16-27 Behavior Matters: Rules Regarding Treatment of Others

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Exodus 22:10-15 Restitution and Responsiblilty

"If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal

 to his neighbor for safekeeping
and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking,

the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before the LORD
that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person's property.
The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required.

But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor,
he must make restitution to the owner.
If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal,
he shall bring in the remains as evidence
and he will not be required to pay for the torn animal.

If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor
and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present,
he must make restitution.
But if the owner is with the animal,
the borrower will not have to pay.
If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss.

Exodus 22:10-15 (NIV)
________________________________________________________

This passage continues the themes of responsibility and restitution which began in earlier verses of this chapter.  In some cases, it is difficult to determine exactly what has happened in a situation involving a loss of property.  Rather than allow continued suspicion to exist between neighbors, the situation was resolved by the taking of an oath before the LORD that the one under suspicion had not stolen his neighbor's property.  No restitution was required in this case.  The owner would accept this because he knew that no one would lightly take an oath before the LORD.  Perhaps more significantly, he knew that the LORD would not take this oath lightly, and would punish the offender if he had lied.

However, if an animal was stolen while in the care of another, that person was responsible for making restitution for it.  If a wild animal had killed it, the remains were to be brought in as evidence that the animal had not been eaten by himself.  No payment was required in this case.

  

A borrowed animal which was injured or died while in the care of another required restitution.  If the owner had remained with the animal, the borrower was not responsible for reparations.  [I suppose it was assumed that the owner should have been watching over his own animal.]  If the animal had been hired, the money paid for the hire covered the loss.  [This last provision troubled me, for what if a person hired an ox worth $500 for $100 for one day of plowing his fields?  If the ox is injured or dies, the owner would have lost out on $400 worth of property!  So I assume that this is still talking about a situation where the owner is still with the hired animal as it is working.  In that case, I could see that the actual owner would be responsible for the animal's well-being.]     

Exodus 22:1-9 Property Protection

"If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it,

he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox

and four sheep for the sheep.

If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies,

the defender is not guilty of bloodshed;

but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed.

A thief must certainly make restitution,

but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft.

If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession

-- whether ox or donkey or sheep --

he must pay back double.

If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard

and lets them stray and they graze in another man's field,

he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard.

If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes
so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field,
the one who started the fire must make restitution.

If a man gives his neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping
and they are stolen from the neighbor's house,
the thief, if he is caught, must pay back double.
But if the thief is not found,
the owner of the house must appear before the judges
to determine whether he has laid his hands on the other man's property.
In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment,
or any other lost property about which somebody says, 'This is mine,'
both parties are to bring their cases before the judges.
The one whom the judges declare guilty must pay back double to his neighbor."

Exodus 22:1-9 (NIV)
_____________________________________________

Some observations:

• Someone who steals one ox must pay five head of cattle, while someone who steals a sheep must pay four sheep.  Obviously the point is to discourage stealing, since the price was so steep.
• If a thief breaks in at night, and is killed by the property owner, the defender was not considered guilty.  However, if the break-in occurs after sunrise, the thief could not be killed.  [I guess the thinking was that if a thief attacked at night, the intruder may be intending to kill under cover of darkness, and thus may be killed himself.  However, a thief discovered in daylight might be identified and punished with a punishment which is more appropriate for the crime of thievery.  Where there is some question about motives -- was the intruder intent on thievery or murder? -- better to err on the side of giving the intruder the benefit of the doubt, rather than take a life for thievery.] 
• Restitution is seen as so important that the thief is even sold to repay his debt if he has no resources of his own.  Apparently poverty is no excuse for stealing.
• If a stolen animal is recovered, the thief is still supposed to pay back double, even though the person's original animal is returned to him.
• Grazing animals may stray, but if they graze in another man's field, the animal's owner must repay the loss.  Otherwise it might become too convenient to just let your animals graze in another man's field!  Not only that, but the offender is expected to give his best products, not just a token restitution.
• Someone who starts a fire must take responsibility for the losses incurred by it.
• Property which has been entrusted to another person might possibly be stolen, but if it is, the thief must pay back double.  In cases where the thief is not found, judges must determine whether the person who had been entrusted with the items had stolen them.
• Any property which is disputed must be brought before the judges to determine the true owner.  The guilty person must repay double.

 

Exodus 21:28-36 Injuries Involving Animals

"If a bull gores a man or woman to death,

the bull must be stoned to death,

and its meat must not be eaten.

But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.

If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring,

and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up

and it kills a man or a woman,

the bull must be stoned and the owner must also be put to death.

However, if payment is demanded of him,

he may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.

This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter.

If the bull gores a male or female slave,

the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave,

and the bull must be stoned.

If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it

and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

the owner of the pit must pay for the loss;

he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.

If a man's bull injures the bull of another and it dies,

they are to sell the live one
and divide both the money and the dead animal equally.

However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring,

yet the owner did not keep it penned up,

the owner must pay, animal for animal,

and the dead animal will be his.

Exodus 21:28-36 (NIV)

_____________________________________

Some observations:

• If a bull gored someone to death, it was to be stoned, and its meat was not to be eaten.  Why? Was this because the rage of the bull triggered some hormonal reaction which might taint the meat and make it harmful in some way, or was it just so that no one could hope to profit in any way from such a tragedy?
• I note that the owner was not to be held responsible in the first case, for the goring was accidental, and unexpected.  However, if the bull had a habit of goring and the owner did not take precautions, the bull and the owner were both put to death, unless the injured party's relatives were willing to accept a ransom for the owner's life.
• If someone uncovered or dug a pit, they must cover it to prevent accidents from occurring.  If an ox or donkey fell into it and was killed, the pit's owner must pay for the loss of the animal, and the dead animal became his property.
• If one man's bull injured another man's bull and it dies, the live one must be sold and the two divide the money and the dead animal between them.  Again, if the owner knew of his bull's habit of goring, yet did not take precautions, he had to replace the other man's animal and the dead one would become his.
• As far as consequences are concerned, a clear distinction is made between the death of an animal and the death of a man.  This says something about man's status [made in the image of God].  Man is not just some other kind of animal.

Exodus 21:18-27 Consequences of Fighting

"If men quarrel and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist

 and he does not die but is confined to bed,

the one who struck the blow will not be held responsible

if the other gets up and walks around outside with his staff;

however, he must pay the injured man for the loss of his time

and see that he is completely healed.

If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod

and the slave dies as a direct result,

he must be punished,

but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two,

since the slave is his property.

If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman

and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury,

the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands
and the court allows.

But if there is serious injury,

you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,

hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it,

he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye.

And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, 

he must let the servant go to compensate for the tooth."

Exodus 21:18-27

_____________________________________________

In the previous post we dealt with personal injuries resulting in death.  In the present post we are dealing with reparations for injuries caused by fighting.

The first paragraph (v. 18-19) is fairly straightforward:  If injuries result from fighting, the one who struck the blow is responsible for the injured person's medical treatment and loss of time from work.

The next section gets tricky for me.  If someone beats his slave with a rod, and the slave dies, the person is to be punished (for manslaughter, I presume).  If the slave is able to recover, the master is not punished.  However, the part I stumble over is what follows, for the text says (v.21): "but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property."  Yikes.  The only thing I can think of is that these rules are dealing with the realities of the day, in which slavery was a common aspect of everyday life, and slaves were considered the property of their owners.  I believe that these regulations were to ensure fair treatment and also (as we will see in the following verses) to limit the extent of retaliation for injuries.

Here is where things get even more complicated.  A note on that verse (v.21) in the NIV Study Bible referred me to this passage in Leviticus:

"If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you

and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave.

He is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary resident among you;

he is to work for you until the year of Jubilee.

Then he and his children are to be released,

and he will go back to his own clan and to the property of his forefathers.

Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,

they  must not be sold as slaves.

Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.

Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you;

from them you may buy slaves.

You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you

and members of their clans born in your country,

 and they will become your property.

You can will them to your children as inherited property

and can make them slaves for life,

but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly."

Leviticus 25:39-46 (NIV)

So, it seems that the Israelites may sell themselves as servants to a fellow Israelite, but are not to be treated as slaves.  Also, they must be released in the year of Jubilee, for God did not want his people, whom He had redeemed from Egypt, to be slaves.  However, Israelites could buy slaves from other nations, who could be considered property and enslaved for life, and even willed to their children as inherited property.

This made me wonder what could be the purpose behind such distinction between the Israelites and the other nations.  I knew that the Israelites were God's covenant people, yet it troubled me that in this passage in Leviticus, people from other nations could be treated like property.  Then I began to imagine what a slave in an Israelite household might be thinking.  Hopefully such slaves would be treated humanely, for the Israelites knew what it felt like to be worked ruthlessly.  God even referred to this fact at several points:  Deuteronomy 5:12-15; 15:12-15; 16:10-12; 24:17-22.

Also, I began to think that such a slave might wish that he was an Israelite, exempt from such slavery.  Then I thought about how this might lead such a slave to consider becoming a follower of Israel's God.  I do not know the details about the process of how such a conversion might come about, but I imagine it was possible and that such a slave would eventually have more of a servant status than a slave status.  So could the distinction between the treatment of people from other nations and the treatment of an Israelite who had sold himself into service become a factor which could lead these people from other nations to come to know the true God?  This is the only redeeming aspect which I can imagine in such circumstances.  For Israel was given laws which set them apart from other peoples, with the intent of showing that they were the people of God -- not for any display of pride or nationalism, but for the end purpose of revealing God to the nations.

Another fascinating aspect of this passage is the part which is found in Exodus 21:22-23.  Here we see that if a pregnant woman is injured accidentally because men are fighting, and she gives birth prematurely, the offender can be fined whatever the woman's husband demands (within the limits of the law).  However, the text goes on to say that if there is serious injury, retaliation can be taken to same extent as the injury:  life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.  This is important for two reasons:

• 1)  It limits the retaliation so that the punishment fits the crime.  It is not that a person has to retaliate in kind, as much as it limits the extent of possible retaliation. 

• 2)  It gives both the mother and the unborn child protection.  Thus the child, though unborn, is considered a person worthy of protection.

Verses 26 and 27 of this passage speak of some practical outworking of these ideas.  A manservant or maidservant whose eye is destroyed must be set free to compensate for such a loss.  Interestingly, the same goes for the loss of a tooth.  At first I found it strange that the servant could be set free for the loss of 'just a tooth'.  Then I began to think about how these days there is the recognition that dental health can have all kinds of repercussions for our health in general.  So I think that this is just another example of the Bible being correct about something years before society is willing or able to recognize it.  This makes me want to read God's Word all the more carefully.