THROUGH THE BIBLE - Exodus 2..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Exodus Chapter 21 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free.

Then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door of the doorpost. and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl and he shall be his slave forever. When a man sells his daughter as a slave she shall not go out as the male slaves do if she does not please her master who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people since he has broken faith with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.

If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing without payment of money. Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if he did not die, sorry, but if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hands, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar that he may die.

Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death. Whoever steals a man and sells him and anyone found in possession of him shall be put to death. Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death. when men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed and then if the man rises again walks outdoors with his staff he struck him shall be clear only he shall pay for the loss of his time and shall have him thoroughly healed When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod, and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.

When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth. When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.

But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to the same rule. If an ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. when a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restoration, he shall give money to the owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

When one man's ox butts another so that he dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past and its owner has not kept it in he shall repay an ox for an ox and a dead beast shall be his amen this is the word of the lord now we've been working our way through this book This wonderful book in the book of Exodus and Our Brother has taken us through the last two chapters, chapter 19 and chapter 20, which are very integral for us to understand the rest of the book and indeed to understand what comes next in the narrative for the people of Israel. Because these people have been released, they have been freed from the bondage that they experienced for over 400 years in Egypt. And now they're on their way. They're on their way to be a self-sustained nation under God and to the land flowing with milk and honey. But they are not to be like the pagan Egyptians.

No, Yahweh is their God and they will be his people. And as their God and their sovereign, we read and our brother told us last week that he enters into covenant with his people through the giving of his law. And that law, beloved, is a non-negotiable law. It must be obeyed. It is mandatory that it is to be obeyed.

We must take special attention of the big if in chapter 19. Because in chapter 19 we have the if that the people have to obey what the Lord God has given them in the way of His law, and if they don't obey, then all their promises that he had given and the blessings of the covenant will be taken away. The prosperity, the protection, the land possession were all contingent on the people's full continued obedience to God. That's why it's important that we understand the big if. This is the old covenant.

And beloved, we as Christians live in the new covenant, the covenant for which Jesus, our Lord, has fully obeyed the law of God, and we live in Christ as the redeemed people. Now these people have known only the Egyptian way of life. Them, their ancestors, their children, their children's children, and so forth, because they've been there for over 400 years. So the law of the land in Egypt was well known to them. They knew Pharaoh and his precepts.

They would have known him as a dictator. He did what he wants and when he wants, and no one really questioned him. And that's why this is so wonderful. What we have before us and what we'll see in the next few chapters is that we'll see that our God, Yahweh, is a God who is concerned with equality, is concerned for His people, is concerned for the dignity of His people. And so He gives them laws to show His love and His concern for them.

And we should be able to see these things in the text that is before us. So Moses was commanded by God. He was commanded by God not only to verbally give the law to these people, but to write it down. And that's the beauty. Because there are judges in these days, and they will be able to have a written code to go to.

It's not every man and his own law. but they would go to a universal law, the one that Yahweh has given. And in fact, later on in history, as the kings start to come up, every time a king comes into power, he is commanded to write with his own hand the law of God, so that he's well acquainted with the law and that he would be able to deal and govern God's people according to that law. This is not Egypt. The people are not to be mistreated as they were in Egypt.

Yahweh is their God and indeed He is good and they are to see His goodness through His precepts. Now we can't possibly, in the few minutes that we have together, go through all the details in the chapter before us. Indeed, as we read the chapter, there may have been a lot of questions that have come to our minds and we cannot address those in the mere few minutes that we have before us. But we can summarize in three categories. Three categories, from verses 1 through 11, we have the treatment of slaves.

That's the emphasis there, and we'll finish on that point. Verses 12 to 27, we have the crimes that are fitting capital punishment. And from 28 through to chapter, well into chapter 22, which we'll address next week, by the grace of God, we have that which pertains to the responsibility or the responsibilities to the individual people, the covenant people, towards one another in their everyday life. So from 12 to 27, this section demonstrates that before God there are crimes that people are or can commit that are worthy of capital punishment, worthy of them being stoned or put to death. So what we have before us, we have the crimes such as violence or cursing of one's father and mother that is a violation of the fifth commandment and God is very concerned that the people understand the stature of authority that he's put in place, and they are to honor their parents, because he has placed them in their care.

Premeditated murder is another one, whereby if someone is premeditated in his dealings with another to murder, then that is punishable by death. Physical violence ending in a fatality, or the beating of a slave that results in death. punishable by death. However, if the death, we're told, is accidental, if it's not premeditated, the person wasn't dealing in cunning, Then the Lord has given an opening, has given grace, and we know this. He says they'll flee to a place of His choice.

And as we read through the Pentateuch, we realize that that is the city of refuge that He speaks of, so that the family of the deceased, of the victim, wouldn't seek retribution and revenge or avenge the death of their loved one. But life is valuable in God's eyes, and therefore it must be valuable in their eyes, His people's eyes also. So I want us to realize something that's really important in this passage. Verses 22 through 25, they make so clear for us that a child, a child in his mother's womb, has the very same rights as any human being outside the mother's womb. The very same penalties apply to the crime, to the life in the womb, as that outside of the womb.

The baby is a life and we know life begins from conception and therefore they have the same value as one who's walking around among them. And beloved, that means to kill or to abort a child in the womb is murder in God's eyes. This was a capital crime. So what is the essence of what God is saying here for us in these verses from 12 to 27? Really is summarized in this.

It says that the law ought to be seen as an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Not so much in the literal sense. We're not to take that in the literal sense. If someone breaks a tooth, you break their tooth. But more so, it needs to be seen as the penalty needs to be fitting of the crime.

Now it won't take these people too long, these people who have already agreed on doing all that the Lord has commanded, it won't take them long to understand their presumption. It won't take them long to understand that the thing they agreed on, obedience to God's law, is not a possibility in and of themselves. Because God's righteous standard is a perfection. And they will not be in and of themselves able to meet that righteous standard before the Lord. And this shows them that Yahweh is indeed a God who is a fair God, and His consent and His concern for His people.

And it shows them also that they're not to be like the neighbors, not to be like the nations around them, not to be like those who think that fairness is when someone steals a loaf of bread because they're hungry, that they cut their hand off. That's abhorrent in God's eyes. That's abominable in God's eyes. He's a fair God, and he seeks his people to apply that fairness and that equity. We can say so much more about that, but we'll move on.

Verse 28 on tells us that basically the essence of the responsibility of the people towards one another in their everyday life. And I believe the heart of this section is to love your neighbor as yourself. In their daily activities, we see so many areas here where you can see the way a man deals with his own oxen, his neighbor, his neighbor's health, his neighbor's property, that he's to deal with these things as though they're his own. that he needs to deal with his neighbors as though he's dealing with his own family in love, in consideration, and in care. This is the essence of what God is saying to his people, that you are not to be a selfish people.

You have to have that outlook towards others. And we need to be clear here. Physical Israel was not the church, but it is a type of the church. And so God's standards does not change. His standards for His people, His righteousness, His holiness is still the same.

And so we see this in the New Testament church. We see the Apostle Paul makes it very clear for us in Philippians chapter 2 when he says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. In other words, don't do anything from self-love. love for self but rather he says in humility count others more significant than yourself and of course he goes on to speak about the one who has been the epitome of humility and love towards others Jesus Christ who laid down his life for his people he says you too be that example you we all as his people ought to be doing likewise So God really wants his people here and his covenant towards his people and the stipulations that we read before us in the essence are that they would deal with one another in love and that would deal with one another in a way where they love their neighbor as themselves. Now let's go back to the first section and we'll end there.

It begins on the topic of slaves, and Israel was all too familiar with the harsh treatment that they received across the Red Sea. I mean, they've been slaves for many years, and they understand what it is to be slaves. But you realize in this text that the slavery in and of itself is not rebuked. You see, the problem is not in the slavery. The problem is in the evil masters.

And that's what the text is really about here. You see, many nowadays are horrified that the Bible doesn't clearly condemn slavery. They say this is horrendous. How is it that Christ doesn't do it in the New Testament and that God doesn't do it in the Old? But see, beloved, what we have to realize is slavery in the Bible is different to what we may have read in the history books in the Americas.

Now what we've seen with the African or the native Africans who were stolen from their land against their will and brought to the Americas and were dealt with in a way that is abhorrent is is horrendous to us all and before the Lord. But that's not what's going on here. Because if we realize in verse 16, if that was happening in Israel, everyone who is involved would have been stoned. Everyone. Kidnapping was an offense.

Stoning by death. So that would have been the case. But what we have before us is not that at all. Here what we have before us is we have a master who is a master according to God's instruction, a master who cares for his people, a master who loves and takes care and considers this is what the laws are about here for slaves, that there needs to be fairness given to slaves, equity given to slaves, that the people, the slaves, ought to be treated with respect and dignity. And God has put his laws down that make sure that these people have seen nothing but horrendous treatments at the hand of masters in Egypt.

Here, he says, this is not going to be how my people are going to deal amongst themselves. This is not going to be how I will accept for my people who are called by my name. You will love one another, and you will treat one another with love and with respect. And beyond this, There was no such thing as a slave who was compelled against his will to be a slave forever. There was no such thing.

You see, after a slave had reached six years of servitude, he was released on the seventh. Released from his service. And not just released, but the responsibility of the master was to give him a pretty substantial gift as well. Let's open our Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 15. Deuteronomy chapter 15, we'll read from verses 11 through 15.

From 11. For they will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, Yahweh speaking through Moses, you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and the poor in your land. verse 12 if your brother a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you he shall serve six years and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you now just in case verse 7 in exodus chapter 21 just in case we thought that the women aren't freed after six years this is pretty clear that they are free even the women are freed after six years now verse 13 and when you let him go free from you. You shall not let him go empty-handed.

You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, out of your wine press. This is a slave. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. And the Lord your God redeemed you.

Therefore, I command you this day, This is incredible. Beloved, there was no other nation around Israel, not even close, that would deal with their slaves in that way, giving them that sort of respect and integrity and that sort of care. What is this God? He's incredible. And His dealings with His people was so that the nations that are surrounding to see and know that their laws are great and their God is great.

Now, I want you to keep your fingers in Deuteronomy chapter 15. And just roll our eyes back to our text in Exodus chapter 21. We're going to read from verses 4 through 6. Just keep your finger in Deuteronomy chapter 15. Exodus 21, 4 through 6.

If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him to God. and shall bring him to the door or the doorpost and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl and he shall be his slave forever now I want you to think about these verses I want you to think about these verses and what's going through the readers at this time how is it that these who had just been freed from centuries of being slaves would hear these words And one of them would say, if there is an unfortunate situation where he needs to give himself or herself into servitude, into slavery, then after that six years, instead of thinking, whoa, it's over, I'm free at last, he's saying here that there will be situations where you'll actually look at your master and say, I want to stay. I don't want to go anywhere.

Now you might ask the question, is it because he seeks to stay because his wife is there and his children are there and they've captured his heart and they've apprehended his passions? Is that a possibility? That is a possibility. But that's why our finger is in Deuteronomy chapter 15. If we open back there and go through to verse 16, and that's what we got to in our reading previously.

So Deuteronomy chapter 15, verse 16. But if, still speaking of the slave, but if, He says to you, I will not go out from you. Remember, he's just said, if he does go out, you send him out with all these gifts and all the blessings that the Lord has blessed you. Remember Egypt. And he says, but what if he says, I will not go out from you because he loves you and he loves your household.

Since he is well off with you, then you shall take an all. It's like a pin stamp, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever, and to your female slave you shall do the same. Now beloved, it may be that the wife and children are implicit in the text, but they're not explicitly there. There's no mention of a wife or children in this text. But there is an explicit mention of the love towards the master.

You see, even when freedom is in view for this slave, and one would think that that would be the ultimate goal for any slave. Their greatest desire would be to be set free, right? But even then, when faced with the opportunity to be freed from the master, they're going to say, there are some that will say, no, I want to stay. I love you. I want to stay.

Because they're convinced It's better to be a slave in their master's home, who they love and in whom they are loved, than a freed man elsewhere. It's better to be here. Being free means they can go out and they can choose where they live and with whom they live. And with all those multiple opportunities that are available, they've been in their master's home and they decide this is, there's no other place. There's no other place.

I would rather be to serve my master. It's a joy, it's not a burden. The obedience to his rules and his precepts are not a burden, they are a joy. And to be a slave in his house forever is better than freedom. Why?

Why would he say this? It's because the master loves him. He cares for him. He provides all his every need. Why else, or where else, would this person want to go?

Beloved, this is really a reminder of our Lord and our Master, Jesus Christ. But how much more is the love of our Lord, our Master, because He didn't pay for us with silver and gold as the masters in these days, but He paid for us with His precious blood, with His own blood. And as the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7, you were bought with a price. you are bond servants, or literally you are slaves of Christ. Beloved, is that not where our heart is?

Is there a better place to be? Do we desire to be anywhere else? Is this not true freedom to be with Christ and to serve Him? If you had all the unlimited opportunities and you take away the stigma of society and our culture, is there anywhere else that you would rather be than to be in Christ serving him forevermore. Beloved, I hope and I pray, that is all of us, and then we're told in the text in Exodus, and it's the same of Christ, and if that's the case, then as Christ will take us before God as the servant does, as the master, my apology, does in Exodus 21, and then he puts his stamp on him.

It's in the ear here, but the Lord puts his stamp. And you know what he does before God? He looks at that person and says, that one is mine. That one is mine. My stamp is on him and no one will ever take him away.

I pray that Christ has said that of us. And I pray that we would find it a joy and our greatest desire to serve him. Amen. Let's pray.