Reflections from February 21, 2011

Much of the Mosaic Law is given in our reading today, regarding personal property, the treatment of others, and the worship of the Lord. In Exodus 22:28 we're told,
"You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people."

God wants those He puts into positions of authority to be successful, and we should not do anything to subvert their success, for that could cause damages to our society as a whole. We read last year in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." Not cursing our rulers, such as those in the House of Representatives, the Senate, or the White House, will help us lead a life of peace and quiet. This does not mean that we are to remain silent when we see injustice done by them, but we are not to curse them.

God tells Israel that He will protect them with an Angel to guide them to the Promised Land and says in Exodus 23:20,
"Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared." But, there's a catch, and this is still applicable to us today, where we read in Exodus 23:25,
"So you shall serve the Lord you God, and He will bless your bread and your water."

So, is the benefit what God does for us by offering the protection, or is the benefit serving the Lord? To me, the best is that God allows us to serve Him, and worship Him. For its by engaging in this act of obedience, we can love Him, and be obedient to Him at the same time. In return, He promises to have His Angel to protect us, to be an "enemy of our enemies, and an adversary of our adversaries." Glory to God.

After God gave these laws to Moses, he told them to all of Israel and they responded in Exodus 24:4, "All the words which the Lord has said we will do." Following this, Moses built an alter, placed sacrificial offerings on it, sprinkled it with blood from these sacrifices, and then we read in Exodus 23:7.
"Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, 'All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.'"

This served as the commitment by Israel to accept the "contractual" obligation to God; even more, it was the binding of the Covenant. By saying to God, we will be obedient, they vowed to worship only Him, and do what He says. If they had only remembered that vow.

We make vows in our lives today, sometimes under duress, sometimes emotionally charged, sometimes after full and careful thought. When we make a covenant, we will do well to remember Israel's plight in the wilderness and their lack of thought on making this vow to God, and then not keeping it.

God's thought and grace in providing all these laws to Israel is summed up well by the words of David in Psalms 109:30-31,
"I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth, Yes I will praise Him among the multitude. For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, To save him from those who condemn him."

Blessings to all