 “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2 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, 3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.
4 “If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him.5 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 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.8 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 shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals10 “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. 12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed. 13 “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips. 14 “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. 16 You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God. 18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. 19 “The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. Conquest of Canaan Promised20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,24 you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. 25 You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. 26 None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31 And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” Meditation God’s grace invites us to trust Divine design socially, personally, and for our future. God’s grace is the ground on which we stand to trust Him in all of life. Divine direction socially seeks justice (1-9). Redemptive relationship is the foundation for God’s people in caring for the poor, seeking justice, and serving the sojourner (9). God redeemed His people from slavery… they were to show His character and love to people in need too. Divine direction personally is revealed for work, rest, celebration, worship, and generosity (10-19). God provides! His people were to return the “best of the first fruits” (19) in offering of worship to Him. Divine direction for the future is founded on the faithfulness of God. God has gone before His people (20, 23). God leads us to the places He has prepared. God will make a way to the promise land. God will fulfill His covenant promises. God’s people are to respond with fidelity of heart and faithfulness of life. God’s grace invites us to trust Divine design in all of life- in community, personally, and moving forward into the future. Jesus is the fullness of God’s covenant promises and His love is the basis of our love for one another (1 John 4:19). The Spirit Jesus sends is the source of our fruitfulness, the strength to obey Him in our work, rest, celebration, worship, and generosity. The sovereignty of the Father is our hope for the future- He knows the plans He has for us. Richly Dwelling -Where do you have the deepest difficulty in trusting God’s design- in community, personally, or with your future? -Why do you not trust God’s design? Be specific. -How does the ground of God’s grace give you strength to stand and trust God’s design, knowing God has been faithful, is faithful, and will be faithful? Key Verse 20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Comments are closed.
|