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 22. If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.

If a thief is found breaking in and struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood guilt for him. But if the sun has risen on him, there shall be blood guilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double.

If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over or let his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and in his own vineyard. If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that it's stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution. If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for donkey, for sheep, or a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing of which one says, this is it, the case of both parties shall come before God.

The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. If a man comes to his neighbor or donkey or an ox or a keep safe, and he does not, and he dies, or is injured, or is driven away without anyone seeing it, an oath by the Lord shall be between them both, to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence.

He shall not make restitution for what has been torn. If a man borrows anything of his neighbor and it's injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution. It was hired and came for its hired fee. If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife.

If the father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for the virgins. You shall not permit a sorcerer to live. Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death. Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord alone shall be devoted to destruction. You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. If you lend money to any of my people, with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body. In what else shall he sleep?

And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. You shall not revile God or curse a ruler of your people. You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your son you shall give to me. You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep.

Seven days you shall be with mother. On the eighth day you shall give it to me. You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore, you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field. You shall throw it to the dogs.

Amen. This is the word of the Lord. Well, by way of reminder, we're probably all familiar so far because we've been working through the book of Exodus now for many, many weeks, but we are talking or this text here in the context is towards a people who has already been of Egypt, freed from their bondage. And in chapter 19, my apologies, we know that these people have already given their promise, their approval to obey all that the Lord has spoken. In chapter 20, we hear that the 10 commandments that the Lord had spoken to the people and to obedient to all these things.

There are many blessings promised by God in this covenant, but this covenant is very much predicated upon obedience. The people are to obey what the Lord God has said. Otherwise, his blessings are withdrawn and curses will come. So for them to understand, because the Ten Commandments are quite broad in principle, they need to understand how these work out in everyday life. And as an agrarian culture, what the examples we're given here really do make a lot of sense about the equity of God and the fairness of God and His concern for His people.

So we began last week to examine some of these together from chapter 21, and now of course we're in chapter 22. And as we examine these rules, these precepts, these laws that have been given to these people, how they ought to conduct themselves among one another, we also see the consequences of disobedience. Consequences and punishments for lawbreakers. Brothers and sisters, you may remember from last week I said that in essence, obedience to these rules requires a heart that loves their neighbor as oneself. If you love your neighbor, you would not wrong your neighbor.

But that's so much easier said than done, because there is a nature problem. There's a sin nature problem. And for us New Testament Christians, we cannot read this text without knowing what the consequences were for these very people who disobeyed in many of the things that we see before us. You see, the problem is that it's not natural for a son or a daughter of Adam to love one's neighbor. It's natural to love themselves.

This is the problem. And therein lies the biggest problem. It's a nature problem. And these are good laws that the Lord has given. They reflect His care and His concern and His equity towards His covenant people.

But we also see in the punishments or the retributions offered that the people they're given to have a bent, a propensity to do the opposite of what is spoken. So let's have a look at a few of these together. The text begins and it's dealing with the concept of theft. really addressing the eighth commandment. If someone wants to take something that doesn't belong to him, if it's an ox or a donkey or a sheep, and it's found in that person's possession, then that person needs to give double as restitution to the owner.

If he can't afford to give anything back, then he needs to be sold into slavery. We saw last year, last week, that a slave would only give six years of service and then he's freed. So, this is what the Lord says. He needs to be fair. They need to be vigilant of how they live their life.

And they ought to be living their life in a way that is consistent with love for neighbor. And as I said before, if you love your neighbor, you don't wrong your neighbor. If he sells the animal, we're told, or kills the animal, then if it's an ox, he's to pay five times. So the restitution is five times that which he took. Now, we ask the question, why is that the case?

Well, this person has sold with an interest of gaining from that sale. and that ought not to be him taking something that belongs to someone else in order to gain, that should never be. But also an ox is worth far more than just simple value of an ox to a farmer or to the owner, because it takes time to teach and train that ox, to plough the ground and to do the things that that owner needs to do. So this is punishable, this is retribution, restitution, my apology, that is necessary. It is a deterrent for the people to do what is wrong.

In essence, what he's saying is, don't take what doesn't belong to you. It's a violation. It's a violation of the Eighth Commandment. And there's a risk of life as well, because if this robber, if this thief goes in at night with the interest of taking what doesn't belong to him, as we read in the first few verses, and the owner of the home then uses excessive force possibly to kill that person, then there's no blood guilt on the owner's hands, because he's not to know. He's not to know why he's on that property.

He cannot see. As far as he's concerned, that person is a threat to the life of his family. So there's that as well. But on the context of taking what doesn't belong to you, we need to read verse 16 in light of that as well. And that is that a man is not to take away the purity of a virgin, even if she considers dealing with rape, because that's dealt with in the book of Deuteronomy.

But here, it seems like she consents. But not only is this a violation before God for how he's ordained a man and a woman to have relations only within the covenant of a marriage, but in this instance, it's theft also. Because this man is taking what doesn't belong to him. She's still under the headship of her father. And so if the father refuses to give his daughter to this man, this man is to pay restitution to the father as though it was his own bride.

So the penalty in all these things is to be fair as well as a great deterrent. But here's the crux of the matter. If one has love for neighbor, then all these violations will be completely avoided. The goal is not fear of retribution, but to love neighbor as yourself. Because if you do, your neighbor's property and their well-being is just as much a concern to you as your own.

You have to remember that God sees all things. Verse 9 reminds us of that. And ultimately, God is the ultimate judge over all things. One ought to live their life in light of that reality. So the principle stands.

And he goes on, the text tells us if someone hires something from their neighbor, whether it's a donkey or an ox or whatever, look after it as if it's your own. Bring it back to him in good condition. If you start a fire on your property, make sure that that fire's not gonna catch and go and destroy your neighbor's property. If you have an animal, make sure your animal doesn't go over and cause property damage towards your neighbor. If your neighbor gives you something for safekeeping, treat that as your own.

If you're giving a loan to someone poor among you, in particular in this context, if there are poor and there was many, then you're giving from the excess of what you had. You've obviously been blessed by God. Then help and share with the needy. And if you take a cloak as a pledge, or if you take it as a collateral to a loan that you've given, then you need to make sure you return that plug to the poor person before the sun goes down, because that's his covering. That's his quilt, essentially.

And you don't give that back. That person may freeze. The fact of the matter is, yes, you have a right to be concerned with security of your loan. That's okay. But you should have a greater concern for your neighbour than your security or the security of the loan.

Especially he tells us here to look after the needy, the impoverished, the widows, the orphans. Show compassion as God himself is a compassionate God, verse 27. And this compassion should be reflected even to strangers in the land. Don't dare treat the strangers wrongfully, God says. He says, remember Egypt.

Remember, you too were strangers in Egypt. You were mistreated in Egypt. That sort of cruelty doesn't belong with the people of God or the covenant people of God. And God is watching. You are God's people and you will reflect God's love and concern for your fellow human being.

Don't be like the Egyptians. See, I've said this on earlier occasions. The physical Israel is not the church, but she is a type of the church. And therefore, the principles that we have here, the ethics and the morality that is behind these laws given to Israel, do indeed resemble the ethics of the Christian life. But beloved, as helpful as these are to study and work out, I don't believe this is written in scripture for us to primarily contemplate morality Because although at the heart level they do reflect the fairness and the righteousness of God, and they do reflect what he demands of his people, righteousness.

One can study these principles, one can memorize these principles, but still be left with the great dilemma that faced the original recipients of these laws. No power to obey. no power to obey. Because we know that Israel covenanted with God, but they broke covenant with God, because they were unable to obey his laws, his rules, his precepts. They were disobedient in many ways, but scripture tells us specifically that they were disobedient even in this, that they did not love their neighbor as themselves.

In only a little while, they will attempt to stone Moses and Aaron and Joshua and Caleb. That's not love for neighbor. Why did they fail to love their neighbor? Because they violated the greatest command. You shall have no other gods before me.

And you see the last verse of this section before us gives us a summary of how that command looks like from the human point of view. Because there it says you shall be consecrated to me. That word, consecrate, means you shall be exclusively devoted to Me. All that you are is ought to be devoted to all that I am, Yahweh is saying. Everything that you are, all your allegiance, all your love, ought to be directed at Me.

It's very similar to what Jesus says in Matthew 22. And it's very similar to what Moses says in Deuteronomy 30. It requires a circumcised heart, a heart that is given over to God, a heart that loves him with all the soul, the strength, all the mind. And you see, Israel didn't give God the preeminence that he deserved. even though there are clues in the passage of the importance of giving him this preeminence and giving him the rightful place in their lives.

In most of the violations, we will know, as we will noted, that throughout this chapter, the restitution is payment of goods. It could be double, or it could be four times, or it could be five times the oxen, the sheep, the donkeys, and so forth. But in verses 18 through 20, something interesting takes place. Because what we have in 18-20, the stakes are much, much higher there. In fact, if there are three offenses listed for us, and if the Israelites were to be guilty of either one of these, it would require the greatest cost.

Their own lives. You see, Yahweh begins by saying, you shall not permit a sorceress to live. Think about it. Whatever services a sorceress offers, it undermines the very sovereignty, the providence, and the power of God. And Israel is not to live like their evil pagan neighbors will live, because they will enlist sorceress.

But that's because they don't know Yahweh, the only true God. This is a crime punishable by death. In verse 20, we're told whoever sacrifices to any other God, or any other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction. Again, their neighbors will do the same. They will worship many false deities.

Because sacrifice is worship. Worship of anything or anyone else than the only true God is blasphemous and it's punishable by death. And in verse 19, which is the one in the middle, whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death. Bestiality, physical relationships with animals is dealt with in Leviticus chapter 18 in the holiness code with other sexual sins. However, it is nestled here between the forbidding of sorcerers in the land as well as the sacrifices, those who sacrifice to other gods being worthy of death.

It's nestled in between these two, because bestiality was also very much a part of the fertility worship practiced by their soon-to-be evil pagan neighbors. In all these things, their neighbors would practice them. But Israel, you are to be consecrated. You are to be holy. You want to know who Yahweh is and know that he is a jealous God and he is jealous for his own name.

And so the death penalty is a reflection. It's a reflection of the seriousness of these offenses before him. Israel, don't look over the fence and cover what your neighbors are doing. They're fakes. All they have is fake.

It's not the real deal. You have the only true God and he has given you his name, Yahweh. Treasure Him in your hearts. Or as verse 31 says, consecrate yourself to God. But for the most part, they didn't.

Not here in the wilderness, also many perished in the wilderness, and also not in the promised land. They broke covenant with God and they forfeited the blessings that were predicated upon covenant obedience. But we as New Testament believers, we know why that is. And it's not going to do, or it doesn't have anything to do with their ethnicity, but their humanity. As I said earlier, love for neighbor is just not natural.

Love for self is. And with the same selfish nature, one does not seek after God. No, not one, Romans 3. Therein lies the dilemma of the old covenant. On the one hand, you have a righteous God who demands perfect righteousness, and that is to love him with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

And on the other hand, you have selfish human beings who desire to do neither, and here it is, are incapable of doing either in the new covenant. the new and the glorious covenant, we find amazing, amazing grace. Because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, we are not only by faith united to the one who has perfectly done both, love God with all heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love neighbor as himself, but he's also paid the debt of death, deserving the people who have broken both. And in this glorious exchange, he has given a new heart, and a new nature and an empowering spirit that seeks to genuinely love God and love neighbor. God's righteous standards beloved haven't changed.

He's still the same God and he's just as righteous as he was back then as he is today. Humanity's helplessness has not changed. But there is incredible grace in the new covenant in Jesus Christ. as he shed his blood for wretched, weak, helpless sinners to be forgiven and to be called his people. Physical Israel was but a shadow of the bride of Christ, the church of Jesus Christ.

And even those who believed back then, their salvation was predicated and depended upon the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ also. Amen. Let's pray.