UNROLL
Terraced hillsides at evening with three harvests side by side: a strip of ripe grain, a row of vines heavy with grapes and old olive trees, all small in the lower part of the frame under a clear sky.

The Book of

Exodus 23

Fair courts, an enemy’s donkey, a field left for the poor, three feasts a year, and a promise: God will go before His people.

33 verses≈ 6 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–6Slaves in EgyptOppression and a deliverer
  2. 7–13The plaguesThe LORD against Pharaoh
  3. 14–18Through the seaRescued and led
  4. 19–24At SinaiThe covenant and the lawChapter 23
  5. 25–31A place to dwellThe tabernacle planned
  6. 32–40Broken and renewedThe calf, mercy, the glory

Justice and Mercy

On a stony hill track a gray donkey has fallen under a heavy load of sacks; a man in a wool cloak stoops to untie the load while its owner hurries back toward them.

The law

Justice for everyone

  1. In court

    No false report

    “You shall not spread a false report.

  2. No malicious witness

    Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

  3. Not with the crowd in wrong

    You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

  4. No favoritism, even to the poor

    And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

  5. Your enemy

    Return your enemy’s stray ox

    If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.

  6. Help your enemy’s fallen donkey

    If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

  7. In court

    Justice for the poor

    You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

  8. Stay far from false charges

    Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

  9. No bribes

    Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

  10. The foreigner

    Do not oppress the foreigner

    Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous

Exodus 23:8

Reflect

Your enemy’s donkey

God did not say, ‘Help your friend’s donkey.’ He said, “If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there.” Kindness in His law reaches the people we would rather pass by. Who is hard for you to love right now? Write down one ordinary, practical way you could help them this week.

Sabbath Laws

For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.

Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips.

Pray

Rest for the weary

God gave a day off to the ox, the donkey, “the son of your maidservant” and “the foreign resident”: the ones who never got to stop. Thank Him for the rest He gives you. Then pray for someone who gets none: a worn-out parent, a worker with no day off, a refugee far from home. Ask Him to show you how to bring them a little of His rest.

The Three Feasts of Pilgrimage

Three feasts

Three times ayeara feast to the LORD(23:14)UnleavenedBreadspring: out ofEgyptHarvestthe firstfruitsIngatheringthe end of theyearChrist ourPassover1 Corinthians 5:7Pentecostthe Spirit given(Acts 2)Boothsliving water(John 7)

Whiteboard

“Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.” In spring, Unleavened Bread remembered “the month you came out of Egypt.” In early summer, Harvest brought “the firstfruits” of the wheat; later it was called the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. In autumn, Ingathering closed the year; later it was called the Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths. In the New Testament, Christ is sacrificed as our Passover lamb, the Spirit comes at Pentecost, and at the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus offers living water.

God

The law

Bringing the offerings

  1. No leaven with the blood

    You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.

  2. The best of the firstfruits

    Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.

  3. Not in its mother’s milk

    You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

God’s Angel to Lead

Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

Exodus 23:20

Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

Seen from far behind, a long column of travelers, flocks and laden donkeys crosses a wide wilderness plain at dawn toward a tall column of cloud standing ahead of them over the way.

But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

0:18

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run. I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

Mount SinaiRed SeaCanaanMediterranean SeaEuphrates

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

From the Red Sea to the Euphrates

God promised borders “from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates”: south to the Red Sea, west to the Mediterranean coast where the Philistines would live, east to the desert, north to the great river. It is the land God promised Abraham in Genesis 15. Only under David and Solomon did Israel’s rule reach that far. Mount Sinai, where God spoke these words, is shown at its traditional site in the south of the peninsula (site uncertain).

And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Question

Quick question

God gave Israel three feasts a year. One of them looked back to a particular month.

Which feast remembered the month Israel came out of Egypt?

You’ve experienced

Exodus 23

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A verse to carry with you

Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

Exodus 23:20

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