After four hundred years, the descendants of Israel have been in brought out of the bondage in Egypt.

Now the process begins of bringing the nation into the Promised Land.

The journey in the wilderness begins.

It also includes a people coming to know what God's standards are like.

We now move into a section where some of the various laws are detailed out, to bring order in the nation.

This is kind of difficult, why doesn't God just abolish slavery outright?

If you bought a fellow Israeli as a slave, you could only keep him for six years, and on the seventh he would be free.

Slavery, at least among Israelis, was not meant to be permanent.

Then the master gets to keep the wife if the man wants to leave after six years.

Bummer!

And then the slave would wear a ring in the ear, to keep the wound open.

Women had the lowest place in society.

If a man buys a female slave, and marries her, if he doesn't like her, he can sell her, but he can't sell her to a foreigner.

This sounds tough, but it's a lot better than women had before the Law.

If the female slave marries the son, then she becomes a full daughter-in-law, not a slave anymore.

Keep in mind, polygamy was practiced, and the Law doesn't clearly outlaw it.

Here, if a man took another woman as a wife, he still had to give the first gal the same priveleges as before.

If the man didn't give the woman food, clothing, and children, then she could be free from her slavery.

Those that use the command "thou shalt not kill" to take away capital punishment ought to look at this.

In the culture of that day, if you killed a person, even accidentally, then the family of that person was bound by oath to hunt you down and kill you in revenge.

Yet God's law broke that cycle of "feud" killings, by setting up "cities of refuge", where a person guilty of manslaughter (not murder) could run to and hide, and would be protected from the "avenger of blood".

A person who accidentally kills another person could run to the altar of God and cling to it, pleading for mercy.

But a man who is planning on murdering another person can’t come to God’s altar and beg for mercy.

Kidnapping was worthy of the death penalty.

Wow!

If two guys are fighting, and one gets seriously hurt, but later recovers, the one with the tough fists ought to pay for the guy’s lost wages and his medical expenses, but that's all. Sorry, no million dollar settlements for "pain and suffering".

A slave owner was punished if the slave died, but not punished if the slave recovered.

The gal gets caught between two fighting men, and she goes into premature labor.

In other words, if the baby dies, or the mother dies…

Question: How does a Christian look at this in light of Jesus' words about an eye for an eye?

This isn't an Al Gore, but an ox gore …

This is quite a punishment for the owner, to lose his ox, and not even get any steaks out of it.

If the ox had a reputation for being dangerous, and the owner didn’t do anything to stop the ox or protect others, then not only would the ox be killed, but the owner as well.

In other words, the owner could pay a penalty instead of dying, but just in regard to a case like this.

We call this restitution.

We see this lived out in real life several times in the Bible, one of them with that famous "little" man, Zacchaeus:

If you kill the guy breaking into your house, you're not liable for his death, unless it happens in broad daylight, then you're guilty.

Now a days, if a thief is injured while breaking into your house, you might get sued by him!

If somebody lets their ox loose in your field, and the ox eats up all your best fruit.

Like when you loan your neighbor your lawnmower, and it gets stolen while it's at your neighbor's house.

If nobody was a witness to what happened to your stuff while it was at your neighbor's house, then your neighbor would swear an oath that he didn't steal it, and that would be the end of it.

If you brought your ox with you to help your neighbor plow his field, and your ox has a heart attack, you can't sue your neighbor for having tough ground and killing your ox, because you were with the ox.

When someone has sex with their girlfriend, and they're not engaged, the guy either has to marry the girl, in addition to paying a dowry, or else pay an extra dowry.

It's funny how tough some people are on others who have been through what they've been through.

We are to be a people of compassion.

The widow and the fatherless were the most vulnerable people in the world in those days.

They had no one to provide for them, no one to protect them.

God says that if you harm those who can't defend themselves, that He will pay attention to it!

If you loaned money to another Israeli, you were not to charge interest, but to give them an interest free loan.

Cool!

One way a loan was made was to secure some kind of collateral, in this case it would be a piece of clothing.

But for the poor person, when this is their only coat, you are to give it back to them at sundown, so they don't freeze to death! God sees!

The word "gods" is elohim, and might be translated one of three ways:

NIV - "Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats."

The point it that the "first fruits" belonged to God.

NIV - "Do not spread false reports"

Avoiding the "crowd mentality" - if everyone else is doing wrong, that's no excuse for you to do it.

Showing favoritism to a poor man, just because he's poor.

We think that favoritism against rich people is wrong, but favoritism to pervert justice in any case is wrong.

We're to do what's right, whether we like the person or not.

Don't be putting innocent people to death.

The idea is a "bribe".

When people give you things, if you're not careful, they can tend to want you to be obligated to them.

This is one reason why I don't like to know who gives how much in the church.

The sabbath year - letting the field rest.

One of the reasons for Israel's captivity, to allow the land to rest for it's missed sabbath's. (Lev.26:34-35)

Reason for sabbath year - to feed the needy.

A feast that was tied to the Passover.

Occurred Nisan (Abib) 14-21, roughly our March-April.

For us this year, Passover starts this Tuesday.

They were to celebrate at the beginning of the harvest.

Also called Feast of First Fruits, and also Pentecost, because it took place roughly 50 days (pente) after Passover. Also called the Feast of Weeks, taking place a week of weeks plus a day (7x7+1).

Sivan 6th, in our May-June

Also called the feast of Tabernacles or Booths.

Also used to celebrate the fact that the people lived in tents (tabernacles) in the wilderness.

Took place 15-22 of Tishri, our September-October.

These were three special feasts where all Jewish males were to come and worship God.

There was something built in here I believe.

The sacrifices were to be very specific, following God's instructions.

They were to teach us principles in worship.

Here, the idea is:

Here, the idea is:

Don’t boil a baby goat in it's mother's milk.

Some say this is the reason behind the Jewish law against mixing diary and meat products.

I believe this is Jesus Himself.

From here, we see the blessings of obedience.

God wasn't going to give them an overnight victory over their enemies, because they wouldn't be able to take care of all the land all at once.

Here we see what happens when we get too close to unbelievers, the idea of being "unequally yoked".

It's not the unbelievers who change.

It's the believers who backslide.

Concerning Face and Hands

Various Other Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances

Complaints and Lamentations

O my children, you are disobedient. For when I tell you what you must do, you argue and dispute hotly even to the littlest detail; and when I do not accede, you cry out, and hit and kick. Yes, and even sometime do you spit, and shout "stupid-head" and other blasphemies, and hit and kick the wall and the molding thereof when you are sent to the corner. And though the law teaches that no one shall be sent to the corner for more minutes than he has years of age, yet I would leave you there all day, so mighty am I in anger. But upon being sent to the corner you ask straight-away, "Can I come out?" and I reply, "No, you may not come out." And again you ask, and again I give the same reply. But when you ask again a third time, then you may come out. Hear me, O my children, for the bills they kill me. I pay and pay again, even to the twelfth time in a year, and yet again they mount higher than before. For our health, that we may be covered, I give six hundred and twenty talents twelve times in a year; but even this covers not the fifteen hundred deductible for each member of the family within a calendar year. And yet for ordinary visits we still are not covered, nor for many medicines, nor for the teeth within our mouths. Guess not at what rage is in my mind, for surely you cannot know. For I will come to you at the first of the month and at the fifteenth of the month with the bills and a great whining and moan. And when the month of taxes comes, I will decry the wrong and unfairness of it, and mourn with wine and ashtrays, and rend my receipts. And you shall remember that I am that I am: before, after, and until you are twenty-one. Hear me then, and avoid me in my wrath, O children of me.