Nineteenth-century commentator Adam Clarke said of Exodus 21, “There is so much good sense, feeling, humanity, equity, and justice in the following laws, that they cannot but be admired by every intelligent reader; and they are so very plain as to require very little comment.” The Torah is not difficult for God’s beloved to understand and follow. These next few chapters show us many examples of laws and precepts which carried over directly into the British Common Law as well as American jurisprudence. What do we learn about God through these judgments?
Tag: Exodus
Following in Israel’s footsteps, we have arrived at Sinai. Pretend you are listening to the 10 Commandments for the first time. It’s a challenge to hear them anew. Find a new way to make them a part of your life—to bring yourself even closer to Yeshua than you have ever been before.
The Exodus 18 is out of sequence. God has a reason for placing Jethro’s counsel at this point in the narrative, even though Jethro’s arrival was well after God gave Moses the 10 commandments and the people’s rebellions with the Golden Calf. In Exodus 19, Israel arrives at Mount Sinai and prepares to receive the 10.
What we see in this story are the actions of God, not the actions of the people. We can learn a lot about God if we just read the story carefully. In this passage, rocks play an important role and are important symbols of God at work. First was the rock Moshe sits on raising his arms during the daylong battle with Amalek. Second was the rock from which “living water” came to quench the thirst of Israel.
We need to make our own personal connection to the Exodus and the events leading up to Sinai. These events are not only for those who have an ethnic Jewish heritage. This history belongs to all who are called by God our Father to take hold of Yeshua as our elder brother and kinsmen redeemer. At this point in the Exodus, God gives them manna to eat but also gives them very specific instructions of how, when and what to do with the manna after they gather it. The people violated those instructions and incurred different punishments for their folly.
The people of Israel had cried out from the burden of overwork but they didn’t want God to remove them from Goshen forever. Yet, that’s what God did in a miraculous way. As we have reached the fifth week leading up to Sinai, the people are becoming very homesick for Egypt as they are traveling further and further from Egypt. God brings the people of Israel to the wilderness of Sin where they murmur against God for the second time. God responds by making a surprising provision and another test of their willingness to listen and obey God.
Moses takes the time to sing God’s praises after they all went through the Red Sea in safety. They also faced their first test at Marah: Would Israel trust God completely or be bitter toward Him?