Exodus 22:21-23:9 Introduction This morning, we come in the Book of the Covenant to Exodus 22:21, where God says to Israel: Exodus 22:21 You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. If we skip ahead nineteen verses to Exodus 23:9 (right before the beginning of an obviously brand new section) we find a verse that s almost identical. Exodus 23:9 You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. People explain this repetition in different ways. I believe what it signals is that we ve come to another sandwich. (See page 9) So, with this idea in mind, let s begin with the first slice of bread. Bread (1 st slice) I. Exodus 22:21 You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. The first thing we need to ask is this: To whom is God speaking? Notice the singular followed by the plurals: You [singular] shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you [plural] were sojourners in the land of Egypt. What this helps us see is that when God speaks to you (singular) He s speaking to the group (singular) and so what He has in mind is the life and conduct of all His people specifically within the context of the group. The point isn t that God doesn t care about people outside of the group. The point is that God s priority is what goes on inside the covenant community. It s what happens inside the covenant community that should then be a light and an attraction to the surrounding nations so they will want to come and be instructed in all the laws and all the righteous judgments of Yahweh. What happens inside the covenant community ultimately blesses others when they come themselves to be incorporated into the group. So what s a sojourner? A sojourner is someone who, either alone or with his family, leaves his village and tribe, because of war (2 S 4:3), famine (Ru 1:1), pestilence etc. and seeks shelter and sojourn elsewhere, where [he no longer has the right] to own land, to marry, and to participate in the administration of justice [etc.]. (Holladay) Sojourners were exposed and vulnerable; and so it s in light of how easy it would be to wrong a sojourner or oppress him that God specifically gives this command: You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him. * But then notice the reason God gives for this command: For you were sojourners in the land of * Notice that the sojourner is still a sojourner. God doesn t command his people to give to the sojourner all the equal benefits and legal rights of citizenship or membership in the Covenant community. God simply forbids His people to wrong or oppress the sojourner. 1
Egypt. In other words, You know what it feels like to be vulnerable and defenseless in someone else s land, and then taken advantage of and exploited and oppressed. (cf. Gen. 15:13; Exod. 3:9) But what does this have to do with what s right and wrong? If we started deciding what s right or wrong based on how we feel, we might end up with a very different Book of the Covenant than the one we have here. We might eliminate the death penalty for things like adultery or cursing one s parents because we can imagine how it feels. Or we might eliminate corporal punishment with the rod because we can imagine how it feels. You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. They were, but they are no longer! So why is it that the Israelites are oppressed and afflicted sojourners no more? The answer is emphasized over, and over again in Exodus: Exodus 2:23 25 The people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning God saw the people of Israel and God knew. Exodus 3:7 10 (cf. 3:16; 4:31; 6:5) Then the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians The cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Why is Israel s personal experience as sojourners in the land of Egypt such a powerful argument and warning against treating other sojourners in the same way? Because Israel s experience in Egypt has proved God s own deep concern for the sojourner as someone who s especially vulnerable to injustice and oppression. Look what God did when He heard Israel s groaning and cries for help! Look what God did when He saw the helpless being wronged and oppressed. Look what God did because He knew! He Himself came down to deliver the sojourners and rescue them, and to judge the people who exploited them and took advantage of them. (cf. Gen. 15:14) Israel s experience as oppressed sojourners should enable them to identify wholeheartedly with God s own concern and compassion for those who are treated unjustly just because they re vulnerable. Israel s experience as sojourners should enable them to be wholehearted imitators of the God who heard their groaning and saw their affliction, and who came down to save them. Why is Israel to avoid wronging or oppressing the sojourner? Because this isn t what their covenant God is like, and they are to be imitators of Him. II. Exodus 22:22 24 You [plural] shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you [singular] 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 [plural] with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. Notice, again, the plurals and the singular; so, the context, here, is clearly the covenant community (it s the group). Notice, also, that these widows and orphans are specifically those who cry out to Yahweh as their own covenant God ( if they cry out to me ). What we re talking about here is specifically the treatment of widows and orphans within the covenant community. What happens inside the covenant community is meant to be an attraction and a light so that others will want to come and be a part, and share in its blessings. 2
Just like sojourners in Israel, widows and orphans were also easy targets for oppression. So, it s especially in light of how easy it would be to mistreat a widow or a fatherless child that God gives this specific command: You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. Why? Because 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. The point here isn t just that if you do what I said not to do, I ll be angry with you and punish you. The point here isn t just rules and obeying those rules. Can t we see that it s so much more than that? If you mistreat them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn. The point here is what God Himself is like, and that His people are not ever to contradict by their lives any part of who He is or what He is like. To the contrary, their lives are to be lived in imitation of Him. They are to be copies of his own character and ways. So we go on to read in verses 25-27: III. Exodus 22:25 27a 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 Notice again that we re moving inside the world of the covenant community: If you lend money to any of My people with you who is poor These poor are specifically those who cry out to Yahweh as their own covenant God ( if he cries to me ). Once again, it s what happens inside the covenant community that s ultimately meant to be an attraction and a light so that others will want to come and be a part of it and share in its blessings. So what do the sojourner, and the widow and the fatherless child, and the poor all have in common? They re all the most vulnerable and defenseless within the covenant community. Even more importantly, what these all have in common is that if and when they cry out to Israel s covenant God (to Yahweh) He will hear their cry. The point here isn t that God wants the poor to no longer be poor. Neither is the point that God expects His people to give free handouts to the poor, or show favoritism to the poor. The point is simply that God expects His people to treat the poor who are in their midst justly and righteously and that means with true kindness, and compassion, and love never, ever taking unfair advantage of those who are most vulnerable. It s not wrong to lend money to the poor expecting repayment when they re able to repay, but it is wrong to collect interest from those who have borrowed only so they can sustain their lives and meet their daily needs. It s not wrong to accept some form of collateral from the poor as a sign of their good faith intention to pay the loan, but it is wrong to keep as collateral any item that the poor will eventually need to meet his basic needs. 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 It s also wrong not to lend to the poor just because you know you can t charge interest. (cf. Deut. 15:7-8) 3
sleep? Once again, isn t it obvious here that the point isn t just rules and obeying those rules? Can t we see that it s so much more than that? What does God Himself say? For that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? What God is revealing here is Himself, His own nature and character, what He is like; and so the ultimate point is that His people are never, ever to contradict by their lives any part of who He is or what He is like. To the contrary, their lives are to be lived in imitation of Him. Their lives are to be exact copies of His own nature and character. And so the first slice of bread in our sandwich concludes with words that cut right to the very heart of all seven of these verses: IV. Exodus 22:27b If [you oppress a poor person among my covenant people and] he cries to me, I will hear, for I AM compassionate. God s law, God s rules, are all rooted every single one of them in His own character and nature. And so when God calls you and me to obey, He s not ultimately calling us to conform to an isolated set of rules, but rather to have reproduced in us His own likeness the very nature and character of God. It s not just about learning what He wants, and doing it, it s about learning who He is and being like Him. So now keeping all this in the front of our thinking, let s skip ahead to the second slice of bread in our sandwich, after which we ll come back to the filling. Bread (2nd slice) V. Exodus 23:1 3, 6 9 1-3 You shall not spread a FALSE REPORT. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a MALICIOUS WITNESS. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. Verses 4-5 6-9 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a FALSE CHARGE And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. We re still moving entirely within the world of the covenant community. Except for the last verse, the you s are all singulars. When we come to verse nine, the singulars give way to plurals: You [singular] shall not oppress a sojourner. You [plural] know the heart of a sojourner, for you [plural] were sojourners in the land of Egypt. The point is that God is still speaking to the individuals only as members of the group and therefore only in light of their relationships with others living inside of that group. So we read in verse six: You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Does this mean God doesn t care about the poor anywhere else? Certainly not! Once again, it s what happens inside the covenant community that s ultimately meant to be an attraction and a light so that others will want to come and be a part of that community worshiping the God of the covenant and sharing in His blessings. 4
Notice that this second slice of bread is itself a mini-sandwich. The message of the two bookends is clear: Under no circumstance, and in no conceivable situation is any judge or any witness to show favoritism to any one person over another within the covenant community. One must never be swayed by the majority. One must never be blinded by a bribe. One must never favor the poor man because he s poor. One must never discriminate against the poor man because he s poor. One must never spread a false report, but rather keep far [away] from any false charge. There must be zero favoritism there must be absolute impartiality in the administering of justice within the covenant community. But why is this? Why is this such a massively big deal? We read in verse seven (which I left out until now): VI. Exodus 23:7 And [you] do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not make the wicked righteous. Just like verse twenty-seven in the first slice of bread, so this verse, too, cuts to the heart of everything. We could paraphrase it like this: And you do not condemn the innocent because I will not justify the guilty ; which also then assumes the reverse: And you do not justify the wicked because I will not condemn the innocent. Can you see, again, how this is so much more than just a rule to be followed? In all of these verses, God is still doing the same thing He s always been doing He s revealing Himself, His own nature and character, what He is like. And so the ultimate point is this: His people are never, ever, to contradict by their lives any part of who He is or what He is like. To the contrary, their lives are to be lived in imitation of Him. Their lives are to be exact copies and replicas of His own nature and character. When God calls us to obey, He s not ultimately calling us to conform to an isolated set of rules, but rather to have reproduced in us His very own image and likeness. So what are we to make of the filling in this mini-sandwich? VII. Exodus 23:4 5 If you meet your enemy s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him. What better way to help something be remembered than by saying it once, then saying something else, and then saying the same thing all over again, but from a slightly different angle? I guess the only better way to make something memorable might be to put it right in the middle of another topic with which it apparently has no connection! In this case, the topic might be unrelated, but we re still meant to assume the same underlying truth that we ve been seeing everywhere else. If God commands us to go out of our way to bless our enemy and to help the one who hates us, then what must this be telling us about His own character and nature? He Himself actively, purposefully causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends His rain on the just and on the unjust. (cf. Matt. 5:45) He Himself will send His own Son to suffer and die and bring salvation to those who are His enemies. (cf. Rom. 5:10) Consequently, when God commands His people to go out of their way to bless those within the covenant community who are their enemies and to actively help those in the covenant community who hate them, He s not merely 5
giving them some radical, ultra-spiritual rule. Once again, He s calling them to be imitators of Himself to become like Him. So far, in all that we ve been looking at (even in both the bread and the filling of our mini sandwich ), there s been an emphasis on the horizontal relationships within the covenant community. As we come now to the filling in our big sandwich we see that inserted between these two slices of bread with the horizontal focus is a section that focuses entirely on the vertical on the responsibilities of the covenant community to their covenant God. As we ll see in a moment, this is very important. Filling VIII. Exodus 22:28 You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. Did you notice, again, that we re still moving in the world of the covenant community? You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. What we re talking about is the leaders and rulers of the group of God s own specially chosen people (so this isn t about our elected state officials; cf. Acts 23:5; Rom. 13:1-2). The point is that to curse and speak evil of any leader inside the covenant community is the same thing as to curse and speak evil of the covenant God that this leader represents. You shall not curse a ruler of your people because this would be to revile God. And, You shall not revile God because God is your supreme ruler and leader your sovereign and rightful King. Therefore, because He is the supreme leader and sovereign ruler, the King requires of all His covenant people: IX. Exodus 22:29 30 You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me. We re to give to God not from the very first, or from the very best; no, we re to give to God the very first and the very best of all that we have. There s a difference. And we re to give to God the very first and the very best only because He has sovereign rights to ALL that we have and absolute claims on ALL that we are. Are the sovereign rights and claims of our covenant Lord fully acknowledged in our bank statements, in our time, and ultimately in ALL that we ARE? So, now, we re ready. We re ready for the heart and soul of this entire sandwich, which is found, not surprisingly, at the climax of its center. After twice hearing the words, you shall give to Me you shall give it to Me, we read in verse thirty-one: X. Exodus 22:31 You shall be people of holiness to me. Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs. See the sermon notes on Exod. 13:1-2, 11-16 6
There is a logic to these instructions about not eating any animal that was killed by wild beasts, but the actual logic is less important to us right now. The point is that this command, like all the others, is rooted in the calling of the people to be wholly consecrated to God. (cf. ESV) We notice, again, for the last time, that we re still moving completely in the world of the covenant community. After all singulars so far in the filling, in verse thirty-one God suddenly changes to plurals: You [plural] shall be people [plural] people of holiness to Me. We should really read this phrase almost as one long word: people-of-holiness-to-me. ** What does this people-of-holiness-to-me look like? It s not just staying away from something; and neither is it just following the rules. It s the offering up of our lives to Him (there s the filling in our sandwich) in order to have His very image and likeness wholly reproduced in us (there s the two slices of bread in our sandwich). Is this our mindset our goal and our desire from day to day? But now we have to be explicit and clear just as God s Word is explicit and clear. To be a people-of-holiness-to-god is to offer up our lives to Him uniquely and especially in the context of the group in order to have His image and likeness wholly reproduced in us [plural], living together in the covenant community. You see, there s no such thing as holiness in isolation from each other. True holiness only, ever exists in the context of the covenant community and our relationships with one another. So the monks who pursued holiness through solitude and isolation were pursuing something that doesn t exist. True holiness is social justice, but not the social justice being promoted by many churches today. In the context of the Bible, the word social must refer to what society? It must refer to the society of the covenant community the society of all who through repentance and faith have been born again into the kingdom of God! True, biblical, social justice is what happens right here in our midst, right here in these relationships from day to day, and from week to week. And the point of all this is to be reproducing in the context of these relationships the very image and likeness of God Himself that we might be people-of-holiness-to-the-lord. In order to understand biblical social justice, we have to think in terms of a distinction between the covenant community and the world community and also a distinction between the covenant community and the secular state. Does God care about social justice in the world community? Yes! He does! (Gal. 6:10) But it s ultimately only in the society of the covenant community that social justice can ever be truly and fully practiced. When James says that religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction (James 1:27), he s referring to the orphans and widows of the covenant community. Listen, again, to James in chapter two, and then also to John: James 2:15 17 (cf. Acts 4:32-37; 6:1-3; Luke 18:29-30) If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Literally, men ** Or, we could read it as two shorter words : people-of-holiness, holiness-to-me 7
1 John 3:16 18 (cf. 2 Cor. 8, 9; Rom. 15:26; Gal. 2:10; 1 Cor. 16:1-4) By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. In 1 Corinthians chapter six, Paul even speaks of how all disputes between brothers are to be righteously judged and settled inside the group within the context of the covenant community. (cf. 1 Cor. 6:1-8) These are the most elementary examples of social justice; but if you want to know what social justice looks like in its purest, most powerful form in the New Covenant community, all you have to do is read Paul s letter to the Ephesian Christians: Ephesians 4:21 5:2 You have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Can you see, now, how social justice is holiness. Can you see how it s in the context of our relationships with one another that we are to be not simply obeying rules, but rather having the very likeness and image of God Himself reproduced in us? Is that what s happening here at Living Word Bible Church? Does God care about social justice in the world community? Yes! He does! (Gal. 6:10) But remember, it s what happens inside the covenant community that s ultimately meant to be an attraction and a light so that others will want to come and be a part of that community through repentance and faith worshiping the God of the covenant and sharing in the blessings of His holiness reproduced in His people. Is this what s happening here at Living Word Bible Church? John 13:34 35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. 1 Peter 2:9 10 You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 8
Exodus 22:21-23:9 21 You [Singular] shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you [Plural] were sojourners [P] in the land of Egypt. HORIZONTAL 22-24 You [P] shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you [S] 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 [P] with the sword, and your [P] wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. 25-27 [All S] 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. VERTICAL 28 [All S] You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. 29-30 [All S] You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give TO ME. You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it TO ME. 31 YOU [P] SHALL BE CONSECRATED [PEOPLE OF HOLINESS] TO ME. Therefore you [P] shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you [P] shall throw it to the dogs. HORIZONTAL 1-3 [All S] You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. 4-5 [All S] If you meet your enemy s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him. 6-8 [All S] You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, FOR I WILL NOT ACQUIT THE WICKED [MAKE THE WICKED RIGHTEOUS]. And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. 9 You [S] shall not oppress a sojourner. You [P] know the heart of a sojourner, for you [P] were sojourners [P] in the land of Egypt. 9