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Exodus 23:20-33: The One Relationship You Must Never Neglect

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Moses stands upon Mount Sinai, having received many case laws to apply the ten commandments. Before he goes back down to the people, however, Moses must hear one last thing, an epilogue to the case laws.

Observation of Exodus 23:20-33

Most repeated words: land (5 times), not (5x), out (5), drive (4), all (3), enemy (3), gods (3), make (3), send (3), serve (3)

  • This section has mostly to do with what will happen when the people enter their new land.
  • The case laws now look forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise to settle them in the land promised to Abraham.

Verse 20 makes a sudden shift from what the people ought to do (case laws) to what God is doing (“I send an angel before you…”).

  • This section includes instructions for the people:
    • Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice – Ex 23:21
    • Carefully obey his voice and do all that I say – Ex 23:21
    • You shall not bow down – Ex 23:24
    • You shall serve Yahweh – Ex 23:25
    • You shall make no covenant – Ex 23:32
  • But it gives even more space to what God will do if they obey
    • I will be an enemy to your enemies – Ex 23:22
    • I blot them out – Ex 23:23
    • He will bless your bread and water – Ex 23:25
    • I will take sickness away – Ex 23:25
      • And 9 more actions in Ex 23:26-31

Though the passage begins with God’s angel (Ex 23:20), and mentions the angel again in Ex 23:23, there is an awkward alternation of pronouns between “he” (Ex 23:21, 22, 25) and “I” (Ex 23:23, 25, 26, etc.).

  • A prime example of the awkward alternation is right in verse 25: “You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.”
  • Another example is verse 22: “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say…”

Clearly all the actions of God in Ex 23:25-31 hinge on the obedience of the people to the angel of God (Ex 23:22).

Barbara Skinner (2012), Creative Commons

Interpretation of Exodus 23:20-33

Some possible questions:

  1. Who is this angel sent by Yahweh?
  2. Why is the activity of God in the land dependent on the people’s obedience to the angel?
  3. Why do the case laws end with this epilogue?

My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):

  1. There is much overlap in identity between the angel and God himself. “My name is in him” (Ex 23:21). This angel has authority to pardon transgression (Ex 23:21). Obeying the angel’s voice (Ex 23:22) is practically the same as serving Yahweh (Ex 23:25). So this angel is simultaneously distinct from God (because God “sends” him) and the same as God (“obey his voice and do all that I say”). This angel plays a critical role as a manifestation of God’s presence among the people.
  2. The argument of the passage goes like this: “If you obey my angel, you obey me. And if you obey me, I will give you prosperity and success in the land of Canaan.” Great blessings come with obedience to God’s appointed representative. The way you treat God’s angel (the manifestation of his own presence) determines how God will treat you.
  3. This section deeply personalizes the body of instruction in Exodus 20-23. The point is not so much about following a set of principles, or about trying to keep God happy by doing the right things. The point of the laws is to bring the people of Israel closer to a person, the angel of Yahweh. The laws are meant to guide and shepherd the people into a closer relationship with God himself. Those who are close with God experience unspeakable blessing. Here is life: Life comes not from your performance or activity, but as a result of your steadfast trust in the one God sent to give you life.

Train of thought: See answer to question 2.

Main point: How you trust God’s angel determines how God treats you.

Connection to Christ: I have no problem saying this angel is Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. But, because the original audience had no concept of “the second person of the Trinity,” it might be more precise to say that this angel shows them exactly the role Jesus Christ would eventually have to play. He is the messenger sent by God, pardoning our transgression. How God treats us hinges on whether we give Jesus our allegiance. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son does not have life (1 John 5:12).

My Application of Exodus 23:20-33

The path of blessing will never come through obedience to a code of ethics or body of rules; it comes only through fiery allegiance to the one God has sent to pardon transgression. This truth should more deeply penetrate my leadership and parenting.

If I live according to this truth, I won’t merely multiply rules for my children; I will draw them close in relationship to Jesus Christ (and thus to me). I won’t be so disappointed when my will is crossed. I won’t be so quick to scold when expectations go unmet.

And, even when we study God’s law together, my church and small group ought not come away with only a list of things to do better (though this is not a bad thing). We will come away with inflamed passion and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one sent by God to take away the sin of the world. We never grow out of our need to work on this one relationship.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

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Your Turn to Study Exodus

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For many weeks, I’ve let you in on my study of Exodus. Last week, I got to the end of the specific case laws in Exodus 21-23; but there remains an epilogue, which gives the people a vision for entering the land of promise.

Since I’m on vacation this week and don’t have time to write, it’s your turn. Why don’t you try to study Exodus 23:20-33 on your own?

For help with your study, you can refer to the Basic Bible Study Skills booklet on the resources page.

  • Just observe the words, grammar, structure, genre, and mood.
  • Ask some interpretive questions, and answer them from the text.
  • Determine the author’s main point and connect it to Christ. See what you can come up with before you look at any study notes or commentaries.
  • Then apply it to yourself, your family, and your positions of influence with others.

I’d love to hear what you come up with. Comment below with your guess at the main point of Exodus 23:20-33, and I’d love to interact with you!

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Exodus 23:1-19: Doing Good Through Truth and Justice

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God has applied the Ten Commandments through a series of case laws that address basic human rights, private property, and social justice. Now he turns to essential matters of truth and justice.

Observation of Exodus 23:1-19

Most repeated words: not (9 times), feast (5x), keep (5), year (5) day (3), donkey (3), eat (3), field (3), lawsuit (3), let (3), nor (3), poor (3), rest (3), sojourner (3), time (3)

  • If we include common stop words, this passage continues the case-law trend of frequently using “you,” “shall,” “of,” “your,” “with,” and “for.”
  • A shift to the sabbath commandment is apparent from “feast,” “keep,” “year,” “day,” “rest,” and “time.”
  • Another theme seems to be oppression or justice (lawsuit, poor, sojourner).

The structure clearly divides into two sections, with a noteworthy conclusion:

  • 10 instructions about truth and justice (applying “don’t bear false witness”)
    • 4 instructions about wicked partiality – Ex 23:1-3
      • Don’t ever join testimony about someone without evidence, even if it will help people in need.
    • 2 instructions about being true to your enemies – Ex 23:4-5
      • Don’t pretend you weren’t aware of their needs.
    • 3 instructions about perverting justice in legal proceedings – Ex 23:6-8
      • Don’t act like the wicked, who are not able to see things clearly.
    • 1 instruction about being true to sojourners – Ex 23:9
      • Don’t feign ignorance of what it’s like to be a sojourner.
  • 6 instructions about work and rest (applying “remember the sabbath”)
    • 2 instructions about working hard so you can rest and provide for others – Ex 23:10-12
    • 1 instruction about crediting the right god (Ex 23:13) – this might be an application of “don’t take Yahweh’s name in vain”
    • 1 instruction, with 3 instances, about keeping Yahweh’s appointed feasts – Ex 23:14-17
    • 2 instructions about authorized offerings – Ex 23:18-19a
  • 1 concluding instruction about how to boil a young goat – Ex 23:19b
    • This final instruction stands apart, as it’s not really about work and rest (goats would not be boiled, but roasted, during an offering at a feast)

In addition, the next verse (Ex 23:20) takes us in a new direction. The rest of chapter 23 doesn’t have any case laws, but more of a vision for obeying the case laws. So the instruction about boiling a young goat takes a prominent place as the last instruction.

Holly Occhipinti (2013), Creative Commons

 

Interpretation of Exodus 23:1-19

Some possible questions:

  1. Why does God give so many instructions about truthful justice?
  2. What does the Lord want to communicate about the purpose of the sabbath?
  3. Why are the culinary habits of young-goat chefs so prominent? What is significant about boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk? Why is this the last case law?

My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):

  1. Clearly, we all are prone to one form of bias or another, so the Lord warns against it from all sides. Watch out for peer pressure (Ex 23:1), social pressure (Ex 23:2), and victimization (Ex 23:3). Don’t let your negative feelings toward someone prevent you from treating them humanely (Ex 23:4-5). Watch out for power-mongering (Ex 23:6), reversing God’s standards (Ex 23:7), and profiting personally from legal outcomes (Ex 23:8). Don’t ever forget what it’s like to be one of the little guys (Ex 23:9). Our sinful hearts will seek any direction away from truth and toward self-preservation. Be on your guard!
  2. The sabbath is not merely about going to church on Sunday, nor about dutiful religious activity. It requires hard work (Ex 23:10). For the Israelites, it’s not just one day per week, but also three weeks out of every year, and one year out of every seven. The purpose is not primarily for you, or even for God, but for others. The sabbath year is so “that the poor of your people may eat” (Ex 23:11). The sabbath day is so “that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed” (Ex 23:12). Here in the Old Testament, we learn why Jesus had little patience for people who refused to do good on the sabbath. When Jesus himself did so, he was never breaking the sabbath command, but actually obeying it.
  3. A mother’s milk was created by God to give life to her young. Boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk would be taking what was meant for life and using it as an implement for death. Perhaps this instruction is the last case law, to serve as a metaphor for the entire code of Ex 21-23. This body of instruction is meant to give you life, by showing you how God’s character works itself out in your community. Don’t use it (the law) to kill or destroy. In other words, don’t use it to try to earn God’s favor, which you already have (Ex 20:2). Don’t use it to bludgeon people into submission (as the Pharisees tried to do with Jesus and his disciples). Don’t use it to lay burdens on people without lifting a finger to help them carry those burdens. Instead, use the law to help improve the quality of life for God’s people in God’s world.

Train of thought:

  • Blind justice preserves extreme truthfulness.
  • Hard work promotes true rest.
  • Implements of life must never be twisted into agents for death.

Main point: God’s people diligently employ truth and rest to do good for others.

Connection to Christ: Jesus not only spoke the truth but was himself the embodiment of Truth (John 14:6). And Jesus’ work was never for himself but always for the good of others (Acts 10:38). He died, according to the will of his Father, so self-interested liars like us could have life.

My Application of Exodus 23:1-19

I usually focus on personal/inward application, but this text provokes me to focus more outwardly and culturally. We must apply these truths as a people before God, and God has called me to help influence the world for him.

So as a part of this community, I must fight to prevent channels of life from becoming instruments of death. Truth and justice matter, for the good of others. There is a time and a place for death (such as the field of battle, the hospice, and the execution chamber). But schools are not for shooting. Hospitals are not for euthanizing. Medical clinics are not for aborting. Homes are not for fighting or yelling. Conversations are not for tearing down. Sabbaths are not for coercing. And Bibles are not for thumping or berating.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

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The Real Reason We Don’t Read Our Bibles

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I’ve heard many reasons why people struggle to read their Bibles. My co-blogger Ryan has written about many of them:

Of course, in our most lucid moments, we’ll acknowledge these reasons are lame. But they continue to ensnare us on almost a daily basis.

So I appreciated Brandon Smith’s recent article, “The Real Reason We Don’t Read Our Bibles.” Smith suggests that the underlying excuse behind all the other excuses is that we forget that God’s word is living and active. That the living God is still speaking to us today and meeting with us in the pages of his word.

Want to know what God thinks? Not just what he thought, but what he thinks? Open your Bible. The Spirit lives within you to help you understand God’s will and character, to help you taste and see something fresh and new that you’ve never seen before. A passage you read five years ago might speak to you differently today, because the living God speaks to you through his living Word, right here and right now.

If only this truth would get under our skin, the rest of our excuses might evaporate into the vaporous void of nothingness they are.

Smith gets this just right. Check it out!

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Exodus 22:16-31: Social Justice Done God’s Way

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Having established basic human rights, even for society’s least, and basic property rights, to promote peace between one person and another, the Lord’s body of case laws moves on to bigger issues of social justice that will affect the entire community.

Observation of Exodus 22:16-31

Most repeated words: shall (21 times), you (20x), not (9), your (9), for (6), if (6), me (5), any (4), give (4), I (4), cry (3)

  • On this section’s list of repeated words, I’ve included some of the common “stop words” that I normally exclude. Usually, words like shall, you, your, for, me, and I aren’t terribly significant compared to other vocabulary used. But in this section, they take pre-eminence.
  • In particular, we see often in this passage the reasons (“for”) why “you” “shall” “not” do certain things.
    • And those reasons usually have to deal with what is true about “I” and “me” (Yahweh God).

This section is filled with reasons for the case laws—something lacking in the first two sections of instruction

  • We’ve seen the English word “for” before this, but only as a preposition (“it came for its hiring fee,” Ex 22:15), not a conjunction (“for you were sojourners,” Ex 22:21).
  • Ex 22:21: Don’t wrong a sojourner, for you were sojourners in Egypt.
  • Ex 22:23-24: If you mistreat widow and orphans, I (God) will hear their cry and make your wives widows and your children orphans (i.e. I will kill you).
  • Ex 22:27: Don’t take a poor person’s cloak as collateral, for that is his only covering.
  • Ex 22:27: If he cries out, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
  • Ex 22:31: Don’t eat roadkill, for you are consecrated (special) to me.

This section begins with a case of sexual impurity (Ex 23:16), and it ends with a case of dietary impurity (Ex 23:31).

  • In between, we have many cases dealing with broad societal issues, such as who may (not) live in the community (Ex 23:18-20), how the community treats aliens and the weak (Ex 23:21-27), and how the community treats God and its leadership (Ex 23:28-30).
  • All throughout, there are references to fathers, daughters, widows, wives, children, firstborn and sons. Lots of familial terminology.

Structure:

  1. 5 cases dealing with impurity in the community (Ex 23:16-20)
  2. 4 cases dealing with oppressive treatment of society’s weakest (Ex 23:21-27
  3. 4 cases dealing with insubordinate treatment of society’s leadership (Ex 23:28-30)
  4. 1 case demonstrating the implications of being a special people for God (Ex 23:31)

    Chris Potter (2012), Creative Commons

Interpretation of Exodus 22:16-31

Some possible questions:

  1. Which of the Ten Commandments are being applied here?
  2. Does God require a woman to marry her rapist (Ex 22:16, also Deut 22:28-29)?
  3. Why does this passage suddenly give so many reasons and purpose statements?

My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):

  1. Some of the cases are clear applications of “do not commit adultery” (Ex 22:16-17, 19). Ex 22:20 seems to apply “no other gods.” Ex 22:28 seems to apply “don’t take God’s name in vain.” But what do we do with the case of the sorceress (Ex 22:18)? Or moneylending (Ex 22:25-27)—is that about “do not steal”? The cases in Ex 22:16-31 are not as clear as the earlier sections were. But because of all the familial language, the rooting of many of these cases in the character and relationship of God with his people, and the fact that adultery has to do with much more than extramarital human sexual relations (e.g. see Hosea 1:2, 2:2, etc.)—for those three reasons, I’m inclined to see all of Ex 22:16-31 as applying the command “don’t commit adultery.” These cases deal with sexual ethics, as well as the purity of the community as the Bride of God. I wouldn’t fight too hard for this conclusion, but it’s where I’ve come to at this point.
  2. This interpretive question is not critical to understanding the whole passage, but I mention it because I think it’s a common question for those who accuse the Bible’s ethics of being barbaric or inhumane. In Ex 22:16, the sexual activity appears to be consensual and not rape, but I could be wrong; and anyway, Deut 22:28-29 clearly addresses the case of rape. And the focus of the text is not so much to require the victim to marry her attacker, as it is for the attacker to take on the responsibility of providing for his victim for the rest of her life. In ancient Israelite culture, a woman so violated would have been utterly forsaken and destitute for the rest of her life. The requirement for the rapist to marry her was a provision for her well-being. In today’s culture, we would probably apply the principle differently: requiring the attacker to pay lifelong “alimony” to his victim.
  3. This third question moves us much farther in interpretation. When God broadens his instructions out from detailed person-to-person dealings, and into the purity of the community, he makes sure to root the community’s sense of justice in his own love for these people. He is a father to these people. He is a vengeful husband to the oppressed. Nobody messes with his bride and gets away with it. We learn much about God’s compassion and ferocious commitment to those who have no other built-in social protection.

Train of thought:

  1. The community must maintain purity as the status quo.
  2. The community must care for the least.
  3. The community must do these things in submission to the Lord their God.

Main point: Social justice is rooted in God’s just character, and it flows from maintaining purity before him.

Connection to Christ: Jesus shows us the fulness of the character of God. He came to bring justice to the oppressed and declare freedom to captives. He did that by laying down his life to win for himself a true bride, whom he will one day present pure and spotless.

My Application of Exodus 22:16-31

Social justice begins in my home and my church, and it moves out from there to society. If we compromise purity before God, our attempts at justice get nowhere. If we don’t move out to bring justice, our attempts at purity before God are self-serving and ultimately unconvincing. As a husband, father, and church elder, I must persevere in protecting our purity and in persuading folks to keep looking outward to minister Christ’s justice to the nations. Our compassionate God expects it of us.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

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Exodus 21:33-22:15: Private Property and Restitution

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From the start, God’s case laws show that his kingdom is not like the kingdoms of the world, because even the lowest in society have basic human rights. These rights affect the way we treat even one another’s property.

Observation of Exodus 21:33-22:15

Most repeated words: if (17 times), ox (11x), man (10), not (9), make (8), owner (8), beast (7), restitution (7), neighbor (6), sheep (6)

  • The shift from slavery and violence (Ex 20:22-21:32) to non-human property is clear even from the repeated words

As with the previous section, the main unit of grammar remains the sentence, but sentences are grouped into paragraphs that give alternative situations.

The theme of this entire section is restitution: paying someone back for what was lost, broken, or stolen.

  • Owners can be held liable for both active (Ex 21:35) and passive (Ex 21:33) negligence. It doesn’t matter whether they cause damage or simply fail to prevent it.
  • The basic penalty for theft is to repay double (Ex 22:4).
    • But high-handed profiteering from theft (killing or selling stolen beasts) requires much higher restitution, based on the profitability of the stolen goods.
  • Allowing something in your care to steal from another is still a form of theft (Ex 22:5). Owners and managers cannot make the argument that they’re not responsible for the theft that occurred under their leadership.
  • The issue of restitution can get complicated as it involves a “breach of trust” between one person and another (Ex 22:9).
  • Borrowers are responsible to care for possessions in their care, but lenders assume a level of risk they cannot control (Ex 22:7-15).
  • Sometimes there is not enough evidence to assign blame. In such cases, both parties must trust each other’s word and then God with the outcome (Ex 22:11).

Structure:

  • 3 cases of restoring damage from negligence (Ex 21:33-36)
  • 7 cases of restoring damage from theft (Ex 22:1-6)
  • 7 cases of restoring damage to borrowed property (Ex 22:7-15)

Interpretation of Exodus 21:33-22:15

Some possible questions:

  1. Why is it so important to hold people responsible for property damage? Why not just expect people to be generous and to share freely, overlooking any damage to their stuff?
  2. Why must thieves repay double what they stole?
  3. Why are there so many cases dealing with borrowed property?
  4. What are the implications for laws today about negligence or theft?

My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):

  1. From this text, I’m not sure there’s a complete answer, other than the fact that God cares about it. These case laws clearly apply the command “do not steal,” and thus highlight that command’s assumption of the right to hold private property. Of course God is generous, and he calls his people to be always generous and ready to share (1 Tim 6:18). But generosity is not at odds with the expectation that your neighbor will pay for the repairs if he backs his car into the side of your house.
  2. I can only guess at what the text implies, which is that the penalty for theft is to bring on you what you tried to bring on another. If you steal one sheep, you must pay back two sheep—which makes YOU the one who ends up down one sheep.
  3. Since the commands are applying “do not steal,” we might assume “stealing” means causing only intentional property damage. But the concept applies to many other areas, even when our negligence or failure to protect causes damage. God’s people don’t demand that others be generous with them; instead they pay what they owe and return borrowed items in the same or better condition. In fact, God’s standards for restitution involve a generous repayment not only for damaged property but also for lost time and trust.
  4. I’ll leave this question to the legislators, but it does make me wonder whether we’d better disincentivize fraud and theft if we followed these principles. Instead of flat fines, arbitrary fines, or even jail time, the threat of double restitution might cause more citizens and corporations to better count the cost of their negligent or fraudulent actions.

Antony Majanlahti (2005), Creative Commons

Train of thought: 

  • Pay back what you accidentally damage.
  • Pay back what you intentionally damage.
  • Pay back damage that occurs on your watch.

Main point: It is good and God-like to pay restitution for damage done to others’ property.

Connection to Christ: Jesus had everything taken from him (Luke 9:58, Matt 27:35), yet he never demanded payment (Luke 23:34). Jesus repays not double, but a hundredfold to those who suffer damages in his service (Mark 10:29-30).

My Application of Exodus 21:33-22:15

This may sound incredibly mundane, but this passage demands it: I must return the things I have borrowed from others, or pay to replace things damaged under my care. It is so easy for me to presume on the kindness of my friends and forget that I’ve borrowed their property. Eventually, borrowed items just become part of my collection once I forget who loaned them to me, but this is not okay.

Loving my neighbor as myself means I treat other people’s stuff as if it were my own. And I teach my children to do the same.

Yet at the same time, I truly can be graciously generous if others don’t do the same. Jesus is well able to repay whatever I lose in his name and for his service.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

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