APPEAR BEFORE THE SOVEREIGN LORD

Passage: Exodus 23:1-19

Key verse: 17

NIV

Laws of Justice and Mercy

23 “Do not spread false reports.(A) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.(B)

2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice(C) by siding with the crowd,(D) 3 and do not show favoritism(E) to a poor person in a lawsuit.

4 “If you come across your enemy’s(F) ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.(G) 5 If you see the donkey(H) of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.

6 “Do not deny justice(I) to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge(J) and do not put an innocent(K) or honest person to death,(L) for I will not acquit the guilty.(M)

8 “Do not accept a bribe,(N) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

9 “Do not oppress a foreigner;(O) you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Sabbath Laws

10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused.(P) Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “Six days do your work,(Q) but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.(R)

13 “Be careful(S) to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods;(T) do not let them be heard on your lips.(U)

The Three Annual Festivals

14 “Three times(V) a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

15 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread;(W) for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv,(X) for in that month you came out of Egypt.

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.(Y)

16 “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest(Z) with the firstfruits(AA) of the crops you sow in your field.

“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering(AB) at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.(AC)

17 “Three times(AD) a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.

18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast.(AE)

“The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.(AF)

19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits(AG) of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.(AH)

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ESV

23 (A)“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a (B)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 (C)nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4 (D)“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 (E)“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. 7 (F)Keep far from a false charge, and (G)do not kill the innocent and righteous, for (H)I will not acquit the wicked. 8 (I)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 (J)“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 Festivals

10 (K)“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 (L)“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 (M)“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 (N)“Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15 (O)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 (P)Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. (Q)None shall appear before me empty-handed. 16 You shall keep (R)the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the (S)Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 (T)Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.

18 (U)“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 (V)firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

(W)“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1. Justice and mindfulness (1-13)

God's people are to reflect God's character in society. Here God focuses on justice. Justice should not be perverted based on personal or majority preference, economic or social position, bribes, or immigration status. Instead, truth is the standard of justice. God gave the Sabbath in keeping with holiness. But verses 1

-13 focus on mindfulness. Religious observance must not neglect the poor, the foreigner, slaves, and even animals.

2. Celebrate a festival to me (14-19)

God's people were given three festivals to celebrate God: The Festival of Unleavened Bread commemorates the Passover. The Middle East has two harvest seasons: Firstfruits in the spring, and the ingathering of all the crops in the fall. By keeping these festivals, God's people remember God's grace and sovereignty. Giving thanks to God in an appropriate way is to appear before God, preparing the best gift to give to him.

Prayer: Father, thank you that you are just and mindful, and pour out your blessings yearly. Help me remember your sovereign grace.

One Word: Remember God's grace in Jesus