Living Under the Law

Chapters 21-24

For these chapters, we get to see a bunch of various rules/laws that God wants His people to live by. Here are some random thoughts on these laws:

• 21:17 - Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. If this was enforced in America, there would only be about 3 people left in our country.


• It's just amazing how issues of negligence and social responsibility are all found here.


• 22:28 - Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people. The 2nd part of this verse should get our attention.


• 23:2 - Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. Most of us aren't going to be giving testimony in a lawsuit anytime soon - however, I think this applies to gossipy conversations around the water cooler at work where someone is getting trashed.


• 23:9 - Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt. This line appears twice in the span of 19 verses - there's a Bible study principle that says "the more God says it, the more He wants us to get this."


• It's also interesting how many of these rules/laws have to do with looking out for the poor. Again, if God mentions a concept a bunch, He's trying to make sure we don't miss it.


• I also think it's interesting that God commands His people to have 3 festivals a year. For those who see God as mean or cold or as a killjoy, this really challenges that view of Him. What kind of God tells his people to party?