Tuesday, October 18, 2016

The Relevancy of the Old Testament Law

“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.

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

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

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

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

“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 23:1-9 NIV)

As I was doing my daily reading of the Scriptures yesterday, I found myself in Exodus where God gives Moses the law.  As I was reading, this particular section struck me as to its relevancy to our culture’s current state of affairs.  Often people assume the Old Testament laws are anachronistic, with little application to modern life.  I think these laws, for instance, prove otherwise.

“Do not spread false reports.”  How many of us see some story shared on Facebook and share it without first checking to see if it is factual? Social media is often a giant rumor mill spreading falsehoods, which only add fuel to the many burning cultural fires.

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.”  In the past several years we have witnessed peaceful protests turning violent and riotous.  Why? Because what would ordinarily be considered wrong becomes acceptable because many are doing it.  A significant number of students get caught up in binge drinking because “everybody’s doing it.”

“If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.”  Sounds like Jesus, doesn’t it?  There is a lot of hate out there pointed toward Christians.  How many of us are willing to ignore it and to help our enemies, to be kind to them, when we see them in need?

“Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.”  People are often quick to believe what they first hear without knowing all the facts.  Often this results in dire consequences for an innocent person.  Just as with false rumors, we need to be slow to accept charges against people until we have the facts.

“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.”  Money and power clearly can be corrupting influences.  We need to be on our guard against their influence. Corruption is corrosive to any culture.

“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”  Immigration has been a political “hot button” for many years now.  What often gets lost in the heat of the battle is the humanness of the foreigners and the fact each of them has also been created by God.  There are legitimate arguments on both sides of this issue, but what we cannot afford to lose is the recognition that God loves the foreigners as much as He loves each of us.

As Paul says in II Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”   Today, may this passage from the Scriptures accomplish that very thing.

© Jim Musser 2016

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