Exodus 23: Laws Against Participating in Acts of Perverted Justice
1 You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
"The ninth commandment is here expanded and developed.” (Pulpit Commentary) "Sometimes we cannot avoid hearing a false report, but we must not receive it, we must not hear it with pleasure, nor easily give credit to it.” (Benson) "Thou shalt not raise a false report, forbids the origination of a calumny; the other clause prohibits the joining with others in spreading one. Both clauses have a special reference to bearing witness in a court, but neither would seem to be confined to it.” (Pulpit Commentary) It includes: "private slanders, whispers, backbiting and tale bearing, by innuendos, detracting from [a man’s]… good name and credit, suggesting things false and wicked concerning him...” (Gill’s Exposition)
Examples of transgression of the ninth commandment abound in both testaments. See 1 Kings 21:10; Acts 6:11 for the cases of Naboth and Stephen, even the case of our Lord in Mark 14:55-59.
2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.
“It is perhaps true that the offence especially condemned is joining with a majority in an unrighteous judgment; but the words of the precept extend much further than this, and forbid our being carried away by numbers or popularity in any case. Vox populi vox Dei (voice of the people) is a favourite maxim with many, but Scripture nowhere sanctions it. Job boasts that he did not fear a great multitude (Job 31:34). David says that the 'ten thousands of the people set themselves against him round about' (Psalm 3:6). The prophets had always the multitude against them. 'Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,' said our blessed Lord, 'which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.' But ‘wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in therein' Matthew 7:13-14). We must be prepared to face unpopularity if we would walk in accordance with the Law of God.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)
3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.
"After the many precepts in favour of the poor, this injunction produces a sort of shock.” (Pulpit Commentary) "We must not 'pervert judgment' either in favour of the rich or of the poor. Justice must hold her scales even, and be proof equally against a paltry fear of the rich and a weak compassion for the indigent. The cause alone is to be considered, not the persons. (Comp. Leviticus 19:15.)" (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)
"Neither parties, friends, witnesses, nor common opinions, must move us to lessen great faults, to aggravate small ones, excuse offenders, accuse the innocent, or misrepresent any thing.” (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
Exodus 23 Law of Acts of Love for Your Enemies
4 If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.
"It is remarkable that the law should have so far anticipated Christianity as to have laid it down that men have duties of friendliness even towards their enemies, and are bound under certain circumstances to render them a service. 'Ye have heard that it hath been said: Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.’ (Matthew 5:43) was no injunction of the Mosaic law, but a conclusion which Rabbinical teachers unwarrantably drew from it.
Christianity, however, goes… [to the heart of] Mosaism in laying down the broad precept - [but says Jesus] 'Love your enemies.’” (Pulpit Commentary)
"So far was the spirit of the law from encouraging personal revenge that it would not allow a man to neglect an opportunity of saving his enemy from loss.” (Barnes Notes) “Thou wilt at least procure peace to thyself, and an honour to religion.” (Benson Commentary)… and perhaps the winning of converts. See Acts 16:25-34 for the case of the Philippian jailer.
5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.
"The sense is clear... If a man sees his enemy’s ass prostrate under its burden, he is to help to raise it up. In this case he owes a double duty—(1) to his enemy, and (2) to the suffering animal. Geddes’ emendation of ’azar for ’azab, in all the three places where the verb occurs, is the simplest and best of those suggested. The passage would then run: 'If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burthen, and wouldest forbear to help it, thou shalt surely help with him'—i.e., the owner.” (Ellicott's Commentary)
"These two injunctions breathe a spirit.. in the OT. (cf., however, Leviticus 19:17-18), and reminding one of Matthew 5:44. They are repeated in Deuteronomy 22:1-4, in an expanded form…” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) "Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith..." (1 Timothy 1:5)
Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ (rabbis )But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)
Note: This is a law requiring acts of kindness for personal enemies. It is difficult to reconcile these passages with the wars and instructions to destroy other nations or people that are also found in the Pentateuch. For hardened enemies of Yahweh bent on the destruction of His people, it WAS another matter. They were often destroyed as a warning to those who would live ungodly lives. Suffice it to say that in the Christian era, those days have passed away. Love is now the command- the theme of our song.
http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/r/e/redeemed.htm
... With the turning to allow the striking of the other cheek.
Exodus 23 Law of Justice for All
6 You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. 7 Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.
You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. "As in verse 3 men were warned not to favour the poor unduly in courts of justice out of compassion for them, so here there is a warning against the opposite, and far more usual error, of leaning against the poor man in our evidence or in our decisions. The scales of justice are to be held even; strict right is to be done; our feelings are not be allowed to influence us, much less our class prejudices.” (Pulpit Commentary)
Keep yourself far from a false matter — "From assisting or abetting all ill thing. Yea, keep thee far from it, dread it as a dangerous snare. I will not justify the wicked — That is, I will condemn him that unjustly condemns others.” (Benson)
Do not kill the innocent and righteous. "If an innocent and righteous man is convicted and suffers the death penalty on account of the testimony of a lying witness, that witness is guilty of his death.” (Whedon) Calvin notes that "the false witness rather kills him with his tongue than the executioner with his sword.”
For I will not justify the wicked… or, in other words, I will condemn them at the end of this age, unless they repent and do righteousness.
“'Justice must be impartial, equal, and blind to ALL such distinctions as race, social excellence, wealth, poverty, or anything else. That is why the sculptor has depicted Justice as a seated figure holding the balances, and blind-folded."(Coffman Commentary)
"Causes are to be heard, and not persons: the Athenian judges passed sentence in the dark.” (Trapp)
"Observe here, False accusation is forbidden: not only by perjury [in court], but, in the secondary sense, by every scandal propagated in common conversation. Note; To speak evil of any man behind his back, or to hear it without vindicating the injured and the absent, is to be guilty of a great act of injustice, as well as uncharitableness.” (Coke's Commentary)
8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.
"A strong ordinance against selling justice, which has been the disgrace and ruin of every state where it has been practiced." (Adam Clarke Commentary)
"So giving is kind, and taking is courteous, yet the mixing of them makes the smooth paths of justice foul and uneven.” (Trapp)
"There is no indication whatever that Israel, to any great extent, heeded this law. Eli's sons ‘turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice' (1 Samuel 7:3). In David's time, men's hands 'were full of bribes' (Psalms 26:10). King Solomon complained of wicked men 'taking gifts out of their bosoms to pervert the ways of judgment' (Proverbs 17:23). Isaiah spoke of the princes of his day, 'who love gifts and follow after rewards' (Isaiah 1:23), and he mentioned those who 'justify the wicked for reward, and turn away the righteousness of the righteous from him' (Isaiah 5:23). Micah condemned the heads of the house of Jacob, 'who abhor judgment and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward' (Micah 3:9-11); Zephaniah spoke of Israel's bribe-hungry judges as 'evening wolves who leave nothing till the morrow' (Zephaniah 3:3). This was a fatal failure of Israel. It was the gold of the Pharisees that shut mouths of the soldiers who witnessed the resurrection, and brought together the mob that clamored for the crucifixion of the Son of God.” (Coffman Commentary)
"The law of the twelve tables [foundation of Roman law- known for it's justice for all] made the transgressors in this instance guilty of death; 'the judge, who shall be convicted of receiving money in any cause, shall be punished with death.’” (Coke's Commentary) And thus it shall be in Yahweh’s end-time judgment that the wicked will suffer that eternal death.
9 Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
"This law must be understood as vital to the history of mankind. Concerning this, Esses said: 'The alien is to be protected, not because he is a member of one's family, one's clan, or one's religious community, but because he is a HUMAN BEING…’” (Coffman) Keep this law, because "you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt."
"The poor, is emphatic; and designed to enforce the observation of this law, which enjoins the impartial administration of justice to the poor, as well as to the rich; to the stranger, as well as to the native Israelite, Exodus 23:9. See Deuteronomy 16:18-19; 24:17-18; 27:19.” (Coke's Commentary)
Morning Repost: Exodus 23: Law of Sabbaths
10 Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
13 And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.
"Six years thou shall sow thy land, the land of Canaan, given to their ancestors and to them, and which they were now going to inherit; and when they came into it they were to plant it with vines and olives; or rather, these being ready planted, they were to prune and dress them; and they were to till their land, and plough it, and sow it with various sorts of grain, for six years running, from the time of their possession of it: and shall gather in the fruits thereof; corn and wine, and oil, into their own garners, treasuries, and cellars, as their own property, to dispose of as they pleased for their own use and profit.” (Gill’s Exposition)
"The law of the Sabbatical Year. This was unique in the world, and associated only with Israel." (Thomas) "This is the first mention of the Sabbatical year; ... Both the Sabbatical year and the weekly Sabbath are here spoken of exclusively in their relation to the poor, as bearing testimony to the equality of the people in their covenant with Yahweh. In the first of these institutions, the proprietor of the soil gave up his rights for the year to the whole community of living creatures, not excepting the beasts: in the latter, the master gave up his claim for the day to the services of his servants and cattle.” (Barnes Notes)
"There was somewhat of a social welfare system inherent in the purpose of this legislation. All indentured servants were also intended to be free of duties in such years...” (Coffman) "Here the wise man’s counsel would be remembered, Laudato ingentia rura, exiguum colito. To be called a good husbandman, was of old a high praise.” (Trapp)
"The people were to observe the sabbatical year (cf. Leviticus 25:2-7; Deuteronomy 15:1-3). The Israelites' failure to observe 70 sabbatical years resulted in God removing Israel from the Promised Land to Babylon for 70 years to give the land its rest (2 Chronicles 36:20-21).” (Thomas Constable)
The weekly Sabbath. "Again it is insisted that they were to work for six days only and rest the seventh day, -- Saturday, - and this rest included their servants and their animals (v.12). This was a gracious provision of God for their own benefit, not by any means a law that would oppress them. Yet obedience would show respect for God's authority, a matter insisted on in verse 13. They were not even to speak the names of idols, for such easy speaking may lead to an easy recognition of these things (v.13).” (L. M. Grant)
"At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, 'Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!' But He said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ [Hosea 6:6] you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.'" (Matt 12:1-18)
Compare: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11).
The Sabbath is a memorial of creation. And Jesus is the Creator- The Lord of the Sabbath. Make no mention of other gods besides Him. — "Hast thou worshipped God in spirit and in truth? Hast thou made him the end of all thy actions? Hast thou sought for any happiness in preference to the knowledge and love of God? Dost thou experimentally know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent? Dost thou love God? Dost thou love him with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, so as to love nothing else but in that manner and degree which tends to increase thy love of him? Hast thou found happiness in God? Is he the desire of thine eyes, the joy of thy heart? If not, thou hast other gods before him.” (Benson Commentary)
Evening Repost: Exodus 23: Law of Festivals
14 Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); 16 and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Yahweh God.
"The first great festival—the Passover festival—had been already instituted (Exodus 12:3-20; Exodus 13:3-10.) It pleased the Divine Legislator at this time to add to that festival two others, and to make all three equally obligatory.” (Ellicott's Commentary) "Even as the [spring feasts of] Passover, the wave-sheaf offering, and Pentecost were fulfilled in the first coming of Christ, so also the [Fall Feasts:] the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles [Booths] prophesy of events surrounding the second coming of Christ." (Dr. Steven E. Jones)
Only Israelites could eat the Passover meal. (Exod 12:43-49) And the males had to be circumcised in the flesh. They ate unleavened bread for seven days (Exodus 12:15) prior to this meal. It was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Likewise, our hearts must be circumcised by the truth of the Word of God-- the unleavened bread. We must internalize it. Bad doctrine- unbiblical ideas, like salvation by works- clouds our minds from God's salvation.
"Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth." (1 Cor 5:6-8)
"Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year - The three feasts here referred to were,
1) The feast of the Passover;
2) The feast of Pentecost;
3) The feast of Tabernacles.
The feast of the Passover was celebrated to keep in remembrance the wonderful deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. [First Coming)
The feast of Pentecost, called also the feast of harvest and the feast of weeks, Exodus 34:22, was celebrated fifty days after the Passover to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, which took place fifty days after, and hence called by the Greeks Pentecost. [Giving of the Spirit]
The feast of Tabernacles, called also the feast of the ingathering, was celebrated about the 15th of the month Tisri to commemorate the Israelites' dwelling in tents for forty years, during their stay in the wilderness... [the time of our sojourn on this earth before the Second Coming-- the final redemption and salvation of our souls.]
'God, out of his great wisdom,' says Calmet, 'appointed several festivals among the Jews for many reasons:
1) To perpetuate the memory of those great events, and the wonders he had wrought for the people; for example, the Sabbath brought to remembrance the creation of the world; the Passover, the departure out of Egypt; the Pentecost, the giving of the law; the feast of Tabernacles, the sojourning of their fathers in the wilderness, etc.
2) To keep them faithful to their religion by appropriate ceremonies, and the splendor of Divine service.
3) To procure them lawful pleasures, and necessary rest.
4) To give them instruction; for in their religious assemblies the law of God was always read and explained.
5) To consolidate their social union, by renewing the acquaintance of their tribes and families; for on these occasions they come together from different parts of the land to the holy city.'" (Adam Clarke Commentary)
So the men came as instructed, but they often brought their women and children to learn of the God of our salvation.
"‘The Feast of Harvest,’ or the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, stood at the beginning of harvest, and was meant to awaken gratitude for earth’s wealth then breaking forth upon them, ‘The Feast of Ingathering’—or Tabernacles—at the end of the harvest. It was the Harvest Thanksgiving of the entire nation… Hence the great law common to each of these thanksgiving festivals:—‘None shall appear before Me empty.’ Review these facts, and see what pains the Lord took to train His people in the habit of remembrance, thanksgiving, and thank offering..’”(James Nisbet)
"In every life, also, there should be perpetual memory of Calvary, the Resurrection and Pentecost-the three feasts of the soul!” (F.B. Meyer)… and an great anticipatory delight at the thought of the Great End-time Harvest of souls, when the redeemed shall ever sing songs of praise.
18 You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning.
"That the Paschal lamb is here intended by 'my sacrifice,' seems to be certain, since the two injunctions to put away leavened bread, and to allow none of the victim's flesh to remain till the morning (see Exodus 12:10), are combined in the Paschal sacrifice only.” (Pulpit Commentary)
19 The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
"It was a custom of the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid and boil it in the milk of its dam; and then, in a magical way, to go about and besprinkle with it all their trees and fields, gardens and orchards; thinking by these means to make them fruitful, that they might bring forth more abundantly in the following year." - Cudworth
Wesley agreed and added: "But Israel must abhor such foolish customs. Is not this rather forbidden, as having some appearance of cruelty?”
Exodus 23: The Promises of God for Israel
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. 21 Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.
"Behold, I send an angel before thee,.... Not a created angel, but the uncreated one, the Angel of God's presence, that was with the Israelites at Sinai, and in the wilderness; who saved, redeemed, bore, and carried them all the days of old, whom they rebelled against and tempted in the wilderness." (Gill's Exposition) "Some have thought that this was Moses, others Joshua, because the word מלאך malach signifies an angel or messenger; but as it is said, Exodus 23:21, My name is in him, (בקרבו bekirbo, intimately, essentially in him), it is more likely that the great Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, is meant, in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We have had already much reason to believe that this glorious personage often appeared in a human form to the patriarchs, etc.; and of him Joshua was a type... " (Adam Clark)
"Christ is the Angel of Jehovah; this is plainly taught by St. Paul, 1Co 10:9." (Matthew Henry) "My name is in Him: Of course, the name Yahweh is in Jesus. His name is literally Yah-shua." (David Guzik)
22 But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. 24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.
25 So you shall serve Yahweh your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. 26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.
We must obey the voice of Jesus.
"The Book of the Covenant terminates, very appropriately, with a series of [conditional] promises. God is 'the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb 11:6)” (Ellicott) "God stressed the importance of obedience in these verses." (Constable) "It is here promised that they should be guided and kept in their way through the wilderness to the land of promise... They should have a comfortable settlement in the land of Canaan. How reasonable are the conditions of this promise; that they should serve the only true God; not the gods of the nations, which are no gods at all. How rich are the particulars of this promise! The comfort of their food, the continuance of their health, the increase of their wealth, the prolonging their lives to old age. Thus hath godliness the promise of the life that now is. It is promised that they should subdue their enemies. Hosts of hornets made way for the hosts of Israel; such mean creatures can God use for chastising his people's enemies." (Matthew Henry)
29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.
"'Little by little' does the work of God proceed through the individual soul. 'Little by little' do the conquests of the Cross win over the world. 'Little by little' is the unfolding purpose of Redemption made manifest to men and angels." ( F. B. Meyer) "In real kindness to the church, its enemies are subdued by little and little; thus we are kept on our guard, and in continual dependence on God.” (Matthew Henry)
31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River.[Hebrew Nahar, the Euphrates] For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
Jesus will give you your lot of the inheritance of Land, if you obey His voice.
"The precept with this promise is, that they should not make... [covenants] with idolaters [or their gods]. Those that would keep from bad courses, must keep from bad company. It is dangerous to live in a bad neighbourhood; others' sins will be our snares. Our greatest danger is from those who would make us sin against God." (Matthew Henry)
Covenant with other believers only. But don’t let appearance stop you from obeying the law and ministering to the poor among you, and the fatherless and the widows... and building relations to enable you to share the Gospel with whosoever will come to Him.