◄  Previous

Exodus Chapter 23

Next  ►

¹ Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

² Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

³ Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

⁴ If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

⁵ If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

⁶ Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

⁷ Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

⁸ And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

⁹ Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

¹¹ But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.

¹² Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

¹³ And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

¹⁴ Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

¹⁵ Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

¹⁶ And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

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

¹⁸ Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

¹⁹ The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

²⁰ Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

²¹ Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

²² But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

²³ For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

²⁴ Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

²⁵ And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

²⁶ There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

²⁷ I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

²⁸ And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

²⁹ I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

³⁰ By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

³¹ And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

³² Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

³³ They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

◄  Previous

Next  ►

View All Exodus Chapter 23 Comments...

GiGi again's Exodus Chapter 23 comment on 7/06/2022, 8:27pm...

...continued

The first fruits are to be brought into the house of the LORD; and not to cook a goat in its mother's milk. (Don't know if this is part of the sacrifice or not).

Verses 20-33 Speaks of the Promises of God's Presence for those who are obedient to Him. The Angel (capitalized) will go before them. (Is this Jesus?) and lead them in the way they are to travel. God warns the Israelites to fear the Angel and obey His voice.

They were not to provoke the Angel for He will not pardon their sins, for God's name is IN Him.

If the Israelites are obedient God will uphold them and keep them from being overthrown by enemies. God names the peoples they will encounter in the land of promise. God says, do not worship their gods! But instead, completely overthrow these people (and their gods) breaking down their sacred pillars (Asherah poles). Eliminating the images by destroying them will lesson the temptation to bow to them in worship.

God promises to bless them with fruitfulness and increase of the womb; with daily bread and a steady supply of water, (which they cried out for before coming to Sinai; taking away their sicknesses and preserving their health as a whole group.

He will confuse the people who come against the Israelites and send pests to drive them away from His people.

However, God says He will take time to drive them out gradually, to avoid the wild beasts having an opportunity to take over the vacated land and multiply to become a threat the people and to allow for the Israelites to grow in number and strength do they can inherit the land promised to them. This gradual takeover will test the Israelites' obedience and dependence on God alone.

They are not to make a covenant with these people nor their gods, for they will cause the Israelites to sin against God and ensnare them.

These people had never been to the promised land yet. They only knew Egypt. Trusting God was a tall order, but God would be with them. In difficult times He is with us, too

GiGi's Exodus Chapter 23 comment on 7/06/2022, 8:00pm...

Exodus 23

,

This chapter has several sections. Verses 1-13 speaks about fairness in the judicial process and in personal interactions. Be truthful, do not be a false witness in court against another, do not show partiality in court, whether the accused is rich or poor, or the plaintiff is rich or poor, do not follow the crowd when the crowd is advocating and practicing evil, do not pervert justice by testifying in such a way that interferes with due justice.

It goes on to say that we are to keep away from any false matter, do not side with what you know is false or spread false info, respect life and do not kill those who are innocent and righteous , defend these people when in danger. God warns those in power to judge, legislate, or govern to not take any bribes as buying influence perverts justice.

God goes on to say that we are not to oppress anyone, even strangers or foreigners.

God sets aside the seventh day and seventh year as a time of rest. 7th day rest from work, 7th year rest from sowing fields. Doing so allows man and beasts to rest up and renew energy for the coming week. Doing so allows nature to produce food for the poor and for the wild and domesticated animals.

Verse 13 is a change-Be circumspect-think about it!-do not even mention the name of other gods, do not speak it. We are to give no acknowledgment of the existence of these false gods.

Verses 14-19 discuss the three feasts God institutes for the nation of Israel-Unleavened Bread-to remember their meal before the passing over the Israelites in the plague of the death of the firstborn and of their flight in the night from Egypt; the Harvest-where they bring in the first fruits; and the Ingathering-where they harvest all of the fruit of their labors at the end of the growing year. Also, males are to appear before the LORD three times a year (assemble before the LORD for these Feasts?) not the women.

Add your comment

∧ Top

◄  Previous

Next  ►

Viewing Mobile Version.
Switch to desktop version.