Day 24 – A Year in the Bible – Exodus 20-23
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EXODUS 20 – I AM THE LORD THY GOD
God gives His Law: He is Holy
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. – Exodus 20:18-21
God wants a face-to-face meeting with the Israelites to give them His law. When it is time for the meeting, they become afraid. An up-close encounter with God can be as troubling as it is comforting. God is a holy God, and Israel couldn’t see, feel, hear God, and not be acutely aware that He is altogether perfect and holy, and they were not.
I Am the LORD Thy God
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. – Exodus 20:2-17
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EXODUS 21 – EYE FOR EYE, TOOTH FOR TOOTH
He that Stealeth a Man and Selleth Him
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. – Exodus 21:16
Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake. – Exodus 21:23-27
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EXODUS 22 – IF THEY (WIDOWS AND ORPHANS) CRY AT ALL UNTO ME, I WILL SURELY HEAR
The price for hurting widows and orphans
Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. – Exodus 22:22-24
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EXODUS 23 – MINE ANGEL SHALL GO BEFORE THEE
Take No Gift
And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. – Exodus 23:8
Hearken – to hear and to give heed or attention to what is said; to listen
Listen – to give pay attention; heed; obey; to wait attentively for a sound
Attend – to take care of; minister to ; devote one’s services to; to wait upon; watch over; to be present at
Hearken to the voice of the angel
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 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. – Exodus 23:20-22
Many times we are unaware of what God has given us. He gives us His Word. He provides us Pastors and other ministers to guide and direct us. He gives us the Holy Ghost to teach us and comfort and be with us every step of the way. And He gives us angels. In Exodus, God told them that He had given them An Angel. They couldn’t see the angel, but they were to listen and obey his voice.
Of angels, Hebrews 1:14 says, they are ministering spirits sent to serve us (who will inherit salvation).
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
We are never alone. We have Holy Ghost who is always with us. And we have angels to do their assigned work on His behalf and for our good. In Exodus, we learn that the angel of God bears His Name. And so if the Israelites were to hear and heed the voice of His angel, so should we hearken if an angel speaks, and we should always, always hearken to what the Holy Ghost says because that is God Himself speaking.
I Will Send Hornets Before Thee
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. 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. 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. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. 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. And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 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. – Exodus 23:23-29
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