Laws On Servitude (Exodus 21:1-11) Series

Laws on "servitude" (Exodus 21:1-11)

The past five weeks, we've explored five different rabbit trails connected to Exodus, one way or another. We talked about burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings. Then, we talked about three keys, of sorts, that help us understand how to read OT law (put in outline).

(1) The first key, is to understand that the OT law imperfectly reveals God's will. God works with what He has. And what He has, more often than not, are a people who have hard-hearts, who aren't truly, fully committed to loving God and others. God, understanding that, set up Israelite society in a way that helped soften/mitigate this flaw. People are going to get angry with each other, and want to fight each other, and murder each other. They will do this, regardless of whether or not God tells them that's wrong. People will get divorced, regardless of whether or not God is okay with this. Since people are going to sin, God set up the laws in a way that mitigates the harmful effects of sin.

(2) The second key, has to do with Jesus "fulfilling" the law. It's not that Jesus fulfilled the law, so that you don't have to. It's that Jesus explained what God actually wanted. The kingdom community God established in the NT, under the kingship of Jesus, doesn't leave in the allowances for human sin that Moses did. Jesus tells us what God actually wants. Jesus raised the bar.

(3) The third key, has to do with the way WE "fulfill" the law. When we live a life led by the Spirit, sowing to please the Spirit, we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law (Romans 8:1-17). That's the reason there is no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1 needs to be read as one thought, first running through verse 4).

So as I read the OT laws, those are the sorts of things I keep in mind. I think about what the laws teach us about loving God and people. I wonder if the laws imperfectly reflect what God actually wants, because of the hardness of human hearts. And I think about what it means that Jesus raised the bar, in explaining what God actually wants.

I'm hoping this rabbit trail was helpful for you, in lots of different ways. And I was apparently burnt out on Exodus, and needed a little break. But I'm guessing that when I took this break, that we sort of forgot where we were in Exodus. I'm already a little fuzzy on things I can't be, for Exodus to make sense.

So let's reread Exodus 19:1-8:

(1) In the third month of the sons of Israel going out from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the wilderness of Sinai,

(2) and they set out from Rephidim,

and they came to the wilderness of Sinai,

and they camped in the wilderness,

and Israel camped there before the mountain,

(3) while Moses went up to the God/Elohim,

and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying,

"Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and you shall declare to the sons of Israel:

(4) You have seen what I did to Egypt ,

and I lifted/carried you upon the wings of eagles,

and I brought you to myself,

(5) and so then, if you actually heed my voice, and you keep my covenant, you shall be to me a prized treasure out of all the peoples.

Although mine, all the earth [is], (6) you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy/consecrated nation.

These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel,"

(7) and Moses went,

and he called to the elders of the people,

and he set before them all these words that Yahweh commanded him,

(8) and all the people answered together,

"All that Yahweh has spoken, we will do," ["all that Yahweh... "is focused in Hebrew].

and Moses reported the words of the people to Yahweh,

So what God is offering, at this point in Exodus, is a special covenant relationship with Israel. God has proven his love, and his power, to his people. He's shown what He can do. And if Israel wants to have an ongoing relationship with God, they need to respond, in verse 5, by "heeding" God's voice, and "keeping" his covenant. In this relationship, God has expectations for how his people will live. There's a give and take to this relationship-- it's not a one-way street. But God is a good God, and it's a privilege to serve him.

The people respond, in verse 8, by saying that they will obey everything that God has spoken.

At this point, God then unpacks what He wants from his people, in some detail. Then, after hearing all that God expects, the people will have another chance to decide if a covenant relationship with God is something they want, or not. It's up to them (Exodus 24:1-7).