EXODUS, CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

20:1-17, The Decalogue (The Ten Commandments) stated fundamental duties to both God and man.

20:18-23:19, Then some civil and ceremonial laws were given, and were recorded in The Book Of The Covenant.

23:1-9, In these first nine Verses there are illustrations to show an Israelite the various ways in which it was possible for him either to help or to hinder justice in the courts. This is the Law of Moses, but obedience to God and the right treatment of other people are fundamentals which are always binding, so these are good lessons for Christians.

23:1 THOU SHALT NOT RAISE A FALSE REPORT: PUT NOT THINE HAND WITH THE WICKED TO BE AN UNRIGHTEOUS WITNESS.

A.NOT RAISE (CIRCULATE, NKJ) A FALSE REPORT: Do not originate, receive, or spread harmful rumors. The one who helps circu-late a false report becomes guilty with the one who starts it. Be careful about any exaggeration or distortion of facts.

B.PUT NOT THINE HAND...: Do not help a criminal by giving false evidence which would prevent his conviction.

23:2 THOU SHALT NOT FOLLOW A MULTITUDE TO [DO] EVIL; NEITHER SHALT THOU SPEAK IN A CAUSE TO DECLINE AFTER MANY TO WREST [JUDGMENT]:

A.NOT FOLLOW A MULTITUDE: The first words of the Verse, applied generally, would remind us of Mt 7:13-14. The specific appli-cation (the context) is a court trial, so the idea would be, "Tell the truth in court, no matter what the majority does."

B.TO DECLINE AFTER...: "To follow the dishonest multitude whose effort is to twist the facts and therefore twist justice."

C.(NOR SHALL YOU TESTIFY IN A DISPUTE SO AS TO TURN ASIDE AFTER MANY TO PERVERT JUSTICE, NKJ).

23:3 NEITHER SHALT THOU COUNTENANCE (SHOW PARTIALITY TO, NKJ) A POOR MAN IN HIS CAUSE (DISPUTE, NKJ).

A.Do not favor a guilty man just because he is poor.

B.Compare Lev 19:15 ("Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judg-ment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: [but] in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.").

23:4 IF THOU MEET THINE ENEMY'S OX OR HIS ASS GOING ASTRAY, THOU SHALT SURELY BRING IT BACK TO HIM AGAIN.

A.Take it back where it belongs even if its owner is your enemy.

B.This comes close to anticipating the broad precept of Christ in Mt 5:44 ("Love your enemies"). And it clearly shows that the "hate thine enemies" of Mt 5:43 was not the teaching of the Law of Moses, but was a traditional conclusion which the Savior was correcting.

23:5 IF THOU SEE THE ASS OF HIM THAT HATETH THEE LYING UNDER HIS BURDEN, AND WOULDEST FORBEAR (WOULD REFRAIN, NKJ) TO HELP HIM, THOU SHALT SURELY HELP WITH HIM.

A.If your enemy's donkey is overloaded and falls down, you may not feel inclined to help him, but help him anyway.

B.This would bring the enemies into friendly contact, and surely would soften their feelings toward each other.

C."If a man wrongs us, it does not cancel that wrong to do him wrong in return." -- "Y" in PULPIT COMMENTARY.

23:6 THOU SHALT NOT WREST (PERVERT, NKJ) THE JUDGMENT OF THY POOR IN HIS CAUSE (DISPUTE, NKJ).

**Be sure that a poor person has equal justice in court.

23:7 KEEP THEE FAR FROM A FALSE MATTER; AND THE INNOCENT AND RIGHTEOUS SLAY THOU NOT: FOR I WILL NOT JUSTIFY THE WICKED.

A.FAR FROM A FALSE MATTER: Do not bring false charges against anyone under any circumstances; Hold yourself aloof from anything that would even suggest such; Have nothing to do with anything that is not right.

B.INNOCENT AND RIGHTEOUS SLAY THOU NOT: Do not sentence an innocent person to death.

C.NOT JUSTIFY THE WICKED: God would not overlook the guilt of a judge or anyone else who did not obey in these matters.

23:8 AND THOU SHALT TAKE NO GIFT (BRIBE, NKJ): FOR THE GIFT (BRIBE, NKJ) BLINDETH THE WISE, AND PERVERTETH THE WORDS OF THE RIGHTEOUS (DISCERNING, NKJ).

A.TAKE NO GIFT: Do not accept bribes.

B.BLINDETH THE WISE: A bribe can blind a judge and cause him to no longer be WISE.

C.PERVERTETH THE WORDS: One who would have handed down a just verdict will twist his words, and no longer be RIGHTEOUS.

23:9 ALSO THOU SHALT NOT OPPRESS A STRANGER: FOR YE KNOW THE HEART OF A STRANGER, SEEING YE WERE STRANGERS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT.

**You know what it means to be a sojourner in a foreign land, and to be oppressed there; Do not treat others that way.

23:10 AND SIX YEARS THOU SHALT SOW THY LAND, AND SHALT GATHER IN THE FRUITS THEREOF (ITS PRODUCE, NKJ):

23:11 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.

A.During the seventh year, while the land lay fallow, they were to allow the poor people and the beasts to harvest all they could from all the volunteer crops.

B.Connected with this order was God's promise of unusual fertil-ity in the sixth year, so much so that the entire Nation would be independent of a harvest in the seventh year, and continue to have plenty until the crops of the eighth year had matured to harvest - Lev 25:18-22 ("18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: 21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat [yet] of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat [of] the old [store]").

23:12 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.

**In addition to the Israelites, rest on the seventh day was to be given to animals, servants, and sojourners (foreigners).

23:13 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.

A.CIRCUMSPECT: Observant, watchful, cautious, safe. Thus to make certain they obeyed everything God had said.

B.NAME OF OTHER GODS: Only Yahweh (or Jehovah) was to be wor-shipped as the Almighty; They were not to pray to the pagan gods of the idolaters, or have anything to do with them.

23:14 THREE TIMES THOU SHALT KEEP A FEAST UNTO ME IN THE YEAR.

**Three festivals were to be celebrated by the Israelites each year in honor of Jehovah.

23:15 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:)

A.THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD: Often called THE PASSOVER -- The early spring festival, at the beginning of barley harvest; It commemorated the great national deliverance from Egypt.

B.This feast began with the Passover (which commemorated the passing over of the houses of the Israelites by the destroyer and their hasty flight out of Egypt), and continued for seven days following, with a gathering for worship on the first and last of the seven days - Lev 23:5-8.

C.Unleavened bread was eaten in commemoration of the hasty exodus from Egypt - Ex 12:34 ("And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders").

D.The use of unleavened bread was a call to spiritual purity, and is used as a symbol of purity in the N.T. - 1Co 5:8 ("Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.").

E.AS I HAVE COMMANDED THEE: See Ex 12:14-20.

F.IN THE TIME APPOINTED OF THE MONTH: On the fourteenth day of the month - Ex 12:18 ("In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.").

G.NONE SHALL APPEAR BEFORE ME EMPTY: Every male (Verse 17) was to bring the proper free-will offering to God.

23:16 AND THE FEAST OF HARVEST, THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THY LABORS, 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 LABORS OUT OF THE FIELD.

A.THE FEAST OF HARVEST: Also known as FEAST OF WEEKS, at the beginning of summer, when the wheat crop had been reaped; It was a recognition of God's providing the gift of the harvest, and it was a time of seeking His blessing upon their labors in the fields.

  1. Fifty days were to be numbered from the day of offering the barley sheaf, and on the fiftieth would be the Feast Of Har-vest; It was therefore called THE FEAST OF PENTECOST.
  2. This was the day chosen for the presentation to God of the first-fruits of His church - Ac 2.

B.THE FEAST OF INGATHERING: Later more commonly called THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES -- At the close of the final harvesting of crops and fruits before the autumn rains began; It commem-orated the sojourn in the wilderness, so during this seven days the people made booths and lived in them in remembrance of their dwelling in tents in the wilderness.

23:17 THREE TIMES IN THE YEAR ALL THY MALES SHALL APPEAR BEFORE THE LORD GOD.

A.This may seem a real problem to modern minds.

B.But Palestine was not large; This was a means of meeting friends and gathering news; And most important to the truly spiritual, it was the opportunity for them to grow stronger in unity and to enjoy worship together.

23:18 THOU SHALT NOT OFFER THE BLOOD OF MY SACRIFICE WITH LEAVENED BREAD; NEITHER SHALL THE FAT OF MY SACRIFICE REMAIN UNTIL THE MORNING.

A.Bread made with yeast could not be used in the sacrifice of an animal. The fat of the animal had to be burned the day the animal was sacrificed.

B.The use of blood was to keep them ever mindful that death is the penalty for sin.

23:19 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.

A.The best part of the first harvest was to be brought to the house of worship.

B.A young goat was not to be boiled in its mother's milk, appar-ently because it would be out of the order of nature for a mother to have part in the death of her offspring. This tenderness of feeling on the part of the people would be a protest against unnatural actions of any kind.

23:20-33, God's promise to protect them was conditioned on their keeping the Covenant with Him - vv20,23-24,27,32-33.

23:20 BEHOLD, I SEND AN ANGEL BEFORE THEE, TO KEEP THEE IN THE WAY, AND TO BRING THEE INTO THE PLACE WHICH I HAVE PREPARED.

A.AN ANGEL: This seems to be the Second Person, Whom we know as The Word, The Christ, our Redeemer.

B.TO KEEP THEE IN THE WAY: He would guide them through the wil-derness, and in the proper way of living.

C.This, and the promises following, were contingent on their obedience -- Note Verse 21.

23:21 BEWARE OF HIM, AND OBEY HIS VOICE, PROVOKE HIM NOT; FOR HE WILL NOT PARDON YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS: FOR MY NAME [IS] IN HIM.

A.The Cloud may have been with them all through the journey, with the Divine Leader in the Cloud; After a time it might become easy to get used to the Cloud, and not BEWARE.

B.OBEY HIS VOICE, PROVOKE HIM NOT: This Divine Leader was to be carefully obeyed, as He had the complete authority of God, and He would not tolerate rebellion.

C.MY NAME IS IN HIM: This is clear indication that the One Who was to guide them was (is) Deity.

D.That they did not fully obey is made clear by Paul in 1Co 10:5-12 ("5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as [were] some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall").

23:22 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.

A.OBEY HIS VOICE, AND DO ALL THAT I SPEAK: The change of person in the clauses shows that the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, so They speak the same.

B.ENEMY...ADVERSARY: He would be their Protector.

23:23 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.

A.AMORITES, ETC.: The nations of the Land of Canaan, who to this time had enjoyed the benefits of that land.

B.I WILL CUT THEM OFF: He was going to cut them down; Not neces-sarily annihilate or exterminate them, but destroy them from being nations. Some of them became proselytes and were faith-ful; For example, David had a Hittite on his staff of "mighty men" - 2Sa 23:39 (his name was Uriah).

23:24 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 (SACRED PILLARS, NKJ).

A.BOW...SERVE...DO AFTER THEIR WORKS: The idols were not to be worshipped, the idolaters were not to be served, and the cus-toms of the idolaters were not to be followed. Historians tell us the pagan worship involved human sacrifice and all kinds of shameful immorality.

B.UTTERLY OVERTHROW THEM: Instead of following their evil works, the Israelites were to conquer the pagans and destroy all their stone images. Everything that was hateful to God was to be ground to powder; Then it could not be worshipped, or even admired for its beauty.

23:25 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.

**If they would be faithful to Jehovah alone, then He would bless them with ample provisions and good health.

23:26 THERE SHALL NOTHING CAST THEIR YOUNG, NOR BE BARREN, IN THY LAND: THE NUMBER OF THY DAYS I WILL FULFILL.

**There would be no infertility, and no premature deaths -- the people would live long lives.

23:27 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.

A.God would cause the enemies to be confused and terrified, so that they would run in panic from the Israelites.

B.For instance, see Num 22:3 ("And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they [were] many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel"); and compare Jos 2:9-11 ("9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that [were] on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard [these things], our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he [is] God in heaven above, and in earth beneath").

C.Had the Israelites continued to obey completely, the power of the Canaanite nations would have been completely broken, and Israel would not have had to face the problems of being con-quered and having to serve, as related in the Book of Judges.

23:28 AND I WILL SEND HORNETS BEFORE THEE, WHICH SHALL DRIVE OUT THE HIVITE, THE CANAANITE, AND THE HITTITE, FROM BEFORE THEE.

A.In the history to follow there is no mention of a plague of literal hornets, so it is assumed this has reference to the troubles God sent the Canaanites as they endeavored to meet and defeat the Israelites. Much of their problem came from the Egyptians, who invaded and weakened them.

B.Apparently the three names in this Verse are randomly selected to stand for all seven of the nations.

23:29 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.

A.Note the difference between the haste of human action, and the patient wisdom of God.

B.This would not all be accomplished in the first year, because the land would be neglected and become poor, and the wild animals would become numerous and create a menace to the people. What God knew would happen did happen later when the Ten Tribes had been taken captive, and the Assyrians sent a few of their own people into the land - 2Kg 17:25 ("And [so] it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, [that] they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew [some] of them").

23:30 BY LITTLE AND LITTLE I WILL DRIVE THEM OUT FROM BEFORE THEE, UNTIL THOU BE INCREASED, AND INHERIT THE LAND.

**Instead of cleaning the enemy out immediately, God would allow time for the Nation of Israel to grow and fill the Land.

23:31 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.

A.SEA OF THE PHILISTINES: The Mediterranean Sea.

B.THE DESERT: The Arabian Desert.

C.THE RIVER: The Euphrates River.

D.The limits of this territory were reached 400 years later, in the time of David, only to be soon lost.

E.I WILL DELIVER THE INHABITANTS: This promise was fulfilled - Jos 21:44 ("And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand").

23:32 THOU SHALT MAKE NO COVENANT WITH THEM, NOR WITH THEIR GODS.

A.There must be no agreement, no treaty, with the idolaters.

B.Covenants and treaties of the time included words of praise for the gods of both nations in the covenant; Such covenants would in effect have been WITH THEIR GODS.

C.Any association with the idolaters would be full of peril.

23:33 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.

A.They were not to be allowed to stay in the Land after Israel was capable of taking all of it; If the mistake was made of allowing them to stay, Israel would be trapped into sinning.

B.The following history shows the need of this warning -- They allowed some of the Canaanites to live in the land, and lead them into idolatry - cf 2Kg 17:9-12 ("And the children of Israel did secretly [those] things that [were] not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: 11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as [did] the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: 12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing").

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