Sunday, May 06, 2007

Exodus 23

Exodus 23 - Conclusion of the "Book of the Covenant" (the Mishpatim)


Justice: People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9). - www.bible.org/netbible/exo23_notes.htm#231


(1)“You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.


   So, gossip, slander and false testimony in a courtroom are put in the same category by God.


(2) “You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice.


Psalm 1:1: Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.


(3) And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor.


Leviticus 19:1 : “Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.


   The symbol of "justice" in this country and in imperial Rome is the same - a blindfolded woman. She held a sword in one hand and scales in the other.


(4) “If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner.


(5) If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help


   If you see your neighbor's donkey, and it's just sort of collapsed under the burden, and you just walk by, that's not right. God wants you to be kind towards the animal. You're to help it even if the neighbor hates you; and you've got a big feud going with him, that animal hasn't got a feud going with you. You should be merciful towards the animal. God wants us to be merciful towards animals. - www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/chuck_smith_c2000/Exd/Exd023.html


(6) “In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor.


(7) “Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent.


(8) “Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.


(9) “You must not oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be a foreigner, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.


Sabbaths and Feasts: This section concerns religious duties of the people of God as they worship by giving thanks to God for their blessings. The principles here are: God requires his people to allow the poor to share in their bounty (10-11); God requires his people to provide times of rest and refreshment for those who labor for them (12); God requires allegiance to himself (13); God requires his people to come before him in gratitude and share their bounty (14-17); God requires that his people safeguard proper worship forms (18-19). - www.bible.org/netbible/exo23_notes.htm#231


   Are we required to keep the feasts as laid down in this chapter? And again the answer is clear. We do not keep the feasts because we do not possess the land. We owe no ‘rent’. We do not offer the sacrifices because they have been superseded in the one Sacrifice made for all for all time. But we should and do give thanks for our harvests and bring to Him of our produce in gratitude for all His goodness. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


   The spring holidays of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits are a portrait of the death and resurrection of Jesus. He sacrificed Himself on Passover, was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected on Firstfruits. The Feast of Weeks (Shavuot or Pentecost) was the day the Holy Sprit fell on believers. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are held in immediate sequence. The lamb was slain on the fourteenth and the Feast of Unleavened bread began on the fifteenth day of the first month. And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the LORD. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten (Num. 28:16-17). This passage might account for why Jesus began His Passover seder on the fourteenth. These are distinctly different holidays falling on different days; however, due to their closeness they are usually treated as one festival. (The scriptures seem to teach that these are two names for the same festival. See Exodus 13:3-8.) As you study the Spring Festivals, you will see the plan of God fulfilled in such dramatic detail that you cannot help but be stricken by the awesomeness of our Eternal King. The spring festivals clearly prophesy the first coming of Messiah and the fall festivals are prophetic of His second coming. - biblicalholidays.com/spring_holidays.htm


   Three agriculture-related pilgrimage festivals are mandated in Exodus 23:14-17: a seven-day springtime festival of Unleavened Bread, around the barley harvest; an early summer festival of Harvest, when the wheat ripens; and an autumn festival of Ingathering, when olives, grapes, and other fruits are harvested. (cf. Exod 34:18-23).
The book of Leviticus gives regulations for feast days that are to be celebrated "with a sacred assembly," including the weekly sabbath (Lev 23:1-4) and seven annual feast days: Passover (7 days, incl. unleavened bread), First fruits, Pentecost or Weeks, the New Year, the Day of Atonement, the first day of Booths, and the eighth day of Booths (Lev 23:5-44)
.These festivals are later transformed and combined with commemorations of historical/religious events; originally the people could bring their offerings to any major sanctuary, but later they are required to go to the Jerusalem temple, esp. for three main pilgrimage festivals (see Deut 16:1-17).


(10) “Plant and harvest your crops for six years,


(11) but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves.


   Obviously, this looks forward to the day when they are settled in the Promised Land, and anticipates that they'll be arriving their very soon. But, their disobedience and fear of the inhabitants and lack of faith prevented their entry for forty years.


   Failure of Israel to give the land its Sabbaths determined the certainty and duration of the Babylonian exile (Leviticus 26:32-35, 2 Chronicles 36:21).


2 Chronicles 36:21: So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.


(12) “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working. This gives your ox and your donkey a chance to rest. It also allows your slaves and the foreigners living among you to be refreshed.


Exodus 34:21: “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.


Deuteronomy 5:14-15: but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.


   This is a repetition of the fourth commandment. But here the stress is twofold. Firstly on the benefit to beasts and servants, and secondly on its provision as a means of meditating on God. It is stressed that those who have no say in the matter should be able to rest, the oxen and the asses who bore the burden of the work and the sons of handmaids (either sons of concubines or sons of servants) and resident aliens who would have no land and would therefore be laborers. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


   Of the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20:1-17, only nine of them were reinstituted by in the New Testament. (Six in Matthew 19:18, murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; Romans 13:9, coveting. Worshiping God properly covers the first three commandments) The one that was not reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus said that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8).


(13) “Pay close attention to all my instructions. You must not call on the name of any other gods. Do not even speak their names.


(14) “Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor.


   As they heard these regulations read out, it assured them that, although the going was tough now, in the not too distant future there would be harvests, there would be ingatherings, they would have fields to leave fallow, for this is what the regulations guaranteed. It was worth struggling through the wilderness for. It was worth going on for, it was worth fighting for. And later the outline would be filled in as they neared their final goal. (Moses was not expecting it to take forty years. That would be due to disobedience). - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


1. The feast of the Passover was celebrated to keep in remembrance the wonderful deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt.

2. The feast of Pentecost, called also the feast of harvest and the feast of weeks, Exodus 34:22, was celebrated fifty days after the Passover to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, which took place fifty days after, and hence called by the Greeks Pentecost.

3. The feast of Tabernacles, called also the feast of the ingathering, was celebrated about the 15th of the month Tisri to commemorate the Israelites' dwelling in tents for forty years, during their stay in the wilderness." (Clarke)


NOTE: Next time, we'll study these feasts in more detail in our Leviticus 23 blog: leviticus-study.blogspot.com/2007/04/leviticus-23_6949.html
. It wouldn't do justice to them to make them a small part of this study!


(15) First, celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib*, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. No one may appear before me without an offering.


*Abib: This first month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of March and April.


   This first feast was closely connected with the Passover and has already been outlined in chapters 12 and 13. It was the time when the harvesting began (Deuteronomy 16:9). It would ever remind them of their deliverance from Egypt when they had to eat unleavened bread because of the haste in which they came out. It would include the waving of the sheaf before Yahweh (Leviticus 23:11). - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


   Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are held in immediate sequence. These are distinctly different holidays falling on different days; however, due to their closeness they are usually treated as one festival.


(16) “Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest*, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest “Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest** at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields.


*Festival of Harvest: Or Festival of Ingathering. In Exodus, this is called the Feast of Weeks. It was held 7 weeks (49 days) after the Passover. This was later called the Festival of Shelters (or Booths) or Festival of Tabernacles (see Leviticus 23:33-36). It is celebrated today as Sukkot (or Succoth). This was called in the New Testament the Festival of Pentecost (see Acts 2:1). It is celebrated today as Shavuat (or Shabuoth). Compare 34:22 where it is the Feast of Sevens. This feast would be held seven sevens plus one day after the feast of unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26-31; Deuteronomy 16:9-12), and would celebrate the wheat harvest. It would include the waving of two wave loaves of fine flour baked with leaven as firstfruits to Yahweh, and celebrated the firstfruits of their labors (34:22 has ‘the firstfruits of the wheat harvest’). It was later called the Feast of Sevens (weeks), and Pentecost. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


50 days after the barley sheaf was offered (v25). It was called the Feast of Weeks being seven weeks later


The older "Wheat-Harvest" festival was later mandated to be held 7 weeks (=50 days in Hebrew counting) after the Passover (Lev 23:15-21; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-12; 34:22).
Later it also became a commemoration of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai (Exod 19-20).
In the NT it is called "Pentecost" since it is held "50 days" after Passover (cf. Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor 16:8).
In modern Judaism, the Book of Ruth is read in the synagogue services during the Feast of Shavuot.


**Festival of the Final Harvest: This was celebrated in the seventh month and was later called the feast of tabernacles. This was the final celebration of the whole harvest including the grapes and olives, the vintage was gathered in and the threshing was over for another year (Leviticus 23.33-44; Numbers 29.12-38; Deuteronomy 16.13-15). - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html.


The third feast was the Feast of Ingathering or the "Feast of Tabernacles."


The older "Ingathering" or "Fruit-Harvest" festival became a commemoration of the 40 years that the Hebrew wandered in the desert, living in temporary shelters like tents or "booths" (Lev 23:33-36, 39-43; Deut 16:13-15).
In the Second-Temple period, it was an 8-day festival involving the imagery of water and light; water was brought daily from the Pool of Siloam (cf. John 9:1) up to the Temple and poured over the altar; light was provided by large lamps that were lit nightly in the temple courtyards.
The eighth day of Sukkoth, considered the last and greatest day of the feast, included an assembly of all the people (Lev 23:36).

In modern Judaism, the Book of Qoheleth is read during the feast of Sukkoth.




(17) At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord.


(18) “You must not offer the blood of my sacrificial offerings together with any baked goods containing yeast. And do not leave the fat from the festival offerings until the next morning.


(19) “As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house* of the Lord your God**. “You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk**.


* house of the Lord: Wherever God revealed Himself could be called ‘the house of God’ (Genesis 28:17 - Jacob's ladder), for it meant a dwelling-place, where God had revealed Himself. Here it therefore meant the place where God was approached, the Tent of Meeting and later the Tabernacle (34:26).


**Lord your God: Yahweh Elohim.


***mother’s milk: Now from this little scripture the Jews have created the whole interpretation of not eating dairy products with meat products at any meal. Because the law said, "You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk." So they refuse to eat any meat and dairy products together because of this little scripture. Now what is the scripture actually prohibiting? If you kill a little goat to eat it, you're not to boil it in its own mother's milk. That's what the law has prohibited. But they say that if you eat a shish kabob, and you're also eating cheese at the same meal, you don't know but what that cheese was made from the mother's milk. And that in your stomach the churning and boiling, the meat of the kid is being seethed in its mother's milk in your stomach.


   That's what Jesus was talking about when He said to the Pharisees, "Hey you strain at a gnat, and you swallow a camel"(Matthew 23:24). Now why would they strain at a gnat? Because you're not to eat anything that hasn't been thoroughly bled. So if you're jogging along and a gnat gets in your mouth and gets stuck in your throat, you see these guys putting their finger down their throat, and trying to heave, and do everything coughing and carrying on horribly, trying to get that gnat out. Because man, if you eat that gnat that hasn't been bled thoroughly, you've violated the law. There's no way they're gonna swallow that gnat. You see them really coughing and heaving, and doing this big thing and Jesus said, "Hey you're straining at a gnat, but you swallow a camel". You know, they in other areas just gloss things, change things, misinterpreted things to where they could get by with horrible things, and yet on the little, little issues, oh, did they get so picky on the little insignificant issues. But the major issues of justice, and mercy, and that, you know they just interpreted right around those. So Christ was after them on these things. - www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/chuck_smith_c2000/Exd/Exd023.html


   The probable reason would seem to be that it was seen as unseemly that a calf should be boiled in what should rather have been seen as maintaining its life, that is, that it was seen as a contradiction in Creation that was unacceptable. It made the mother destroy her kid rather than sustaining it. It was an attack on the conception of motherhood that could not be allowed. If we cannot see that to seethe a kid in its mother’s milk could be seen as unseemly then there is little to be said for us. It would demonstrate a lack of appreciation of motherhood, and a lack of the sensitivity that all God’s people should have, that could only condemn us. For this example stresses proper consideration of relationships, and that all distortions of motherhood are an abomination to God.

- www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


   According to various Bible commentaries, the pagans of that era and of that area had a fertility rite, which involved boiling a kid in its mother's milk and sprinkling the broth as a magic charm on their gardens and fields. They did this in the hope of increasing the yield of their crops.


The Angel of the Presence: This passage has some of the most interesting and perplexing expressions and constructions in the book. It is largely promise, but it is part of the Law and so demands compliance by faith. Its points are: God promises to send his angel to prepare the way before his obedient servants (20-23); God promises blessing for his loyal servants (24-33). So in the section one learns that God promises his protection (victory) and blessing (through his angel) for his obedient and loyal worshipers.
- www.bible.org/netbible/exo23_notes.htm#231.


   This Angel of the Lord is found in Genesis 16:7-13 where He speaks to Hagar and in Genesis 22:11-14 where He tells Abraham not to kill Isaac.



   This Angel of God was generally regarded by the early church Fathers as the Logos or Word of God (John 1:1), the one who declared God and whose glory we have beheld (John 1:14,18; cf John 12:45; 14:9; II Corinthians 4:4-6; Colossians 1:15; 2:9; Hebrews 1:3). Below is a list of verses where this Angel/Logos appears:



  • Genesis 16:7-14; 21:17-19; 22:1-2,11-18; 31:11-13 with 28:13 & 35:1,3,7,15; 48:15-16
  • Exodus 3:1-6; 13:21-22 w/ 14:19 & Numbers 20:16; 23:20-23. Cf Acts 7:30-38

  • Numbers 22:21-35. Cf 22:9,20; 23:3-5,15-16; 24:2,4,16

  • Judges 2:1-5; 6:11-24; 13:2-23

  • Isaiah 63:8-9

  • Hosea 12:3-5. Cf Genesis 32:24-30

  • Zechariah 1:7-12: 2:3-5,8-11; 3:1-10; 12:8

  • Malachi 3:1 (messenger of the Covenant = angel of the covenant)


   This Angel/Logos is primarily called the Angel of Jehovah (Malak Yahweh), but is also referred to as the Angel of God (Elohim), the Angel, my Angel and an Angel. Sometimes, however, these expressions are used of other figures (Exodus 32:34-33:4; Ecclesiastes 5:6; Malachi 2:7; 3:1 ‘my messenger’), and sometimes it is uncertain whether the Logos or a normal angel is intended (Genesis 24:7,40; Judges 5:23; II Samuel 24:16-17; I Kings 19:5-7; II Kings 1:3,15; 19:35; I Chronicles 21:11-30; II Chronicles 32:21; Psalm 34:7; 35:5-6; Isaiah 37:36; Daniel 6:22).


The logos also appeared in the Old Testament in various human forms (Genesis 18:1-19:22; 21:1 with 18:10; 32:24-30; Joshua 5:13-6:2; Ezekiel 1:25-2:4; 8:1-4; Daniel 3:25,28; 8:15-16; 10:5-9,16-11:1; 12:6-9; Zechariah 11:4-17; 13:7). The man who wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32:24-30) is specifically called "the Angel ... even Jehovah" in Hosea 12:3-5, the commander of the Lord's army (Joshua 5:14) is almost certainly the angel of Exodus 23:20-23 & Numbers 22:21-35, and probably all of the other figures are likewise to be equated with the Angel of the Lord. - answering-islam.org/Who/angel_of_the_lord.html



(20) “See, I am sending an angel* before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.


*angel: Who is this angel? Is it Jesus or is it Michael? Some say that since it is Elohim speaking, it can't be the incarnate Christ. Others say it was Michael. However, Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:4 says and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.


Exodus 14:19-20: Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night.


   You remember when Joshua was going out looking over the city of Jericho, he saw the captain of the Lord's host, and he said, "Are you for us or against us?" The angel answered, "As the captain of the Lord's host have I come"(Joshua 5:13-14). The Lord's host, the angel of the Lord going before them to lead them in. Many Bible scholars accept this as one of the appearances of Christ, Theophany, the appearance of God in the Old Testament, actually in the person of Christ. - www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/chuck_smith_c2000/Exd/Exd023.html


   The same principle is true of our life with Jesus today. Not only is it true that Jesus goes before us to prepare a place for us in heaven (John 14:2-3), but the place we walk in today was prepared by God, and where we will walk tomorrow is prepared by Him also.


(21) Pay close attention to him, and obey his instructions. Do not rebel against him, for he is my representative*, and he will not forgive your rebellion.


*he is my representative: Literally, My name is in Him.


   The Old Testament reveals Yahweh in three ways, under His Own name, as the Angel of Yahweh (Yahweh in personal, close revelation) and as the Spirit of Yahweh, (the invisible Yahweh seen in powerful and visible action). But each is Yahweh and reveals His nature and being. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


(22) But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you.


(23) For my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, so you may live there. And I will destroy them completely.


   Now in this we find the principles of God's victory and the way He brings forth victory in our lives. For these Jebusites, and Hivites, and so forth, are a type of the giants in our flesh; coming into the promised land is coming into the life of the Spirit, and the victory of the Spirit. The overcoming life, coming out of the wilderness, out of the yo-yo Christian experience, where you're up and down, and up and down, into a beautiful, victorious overcoming life in Christ Jesus. A life of victory, a life after the Spirit, not after the flesh. These enemies that were in the land represent those aspects of our flesh, where it so often has defeated us and conquered us. But God is promising victory over anger, over anxiety, over fears, over temper, over any area of the flesh where you are in bondage to your own flesh. God is promising you the victory, but it comes one area at a time. "Little by little, I won't drive them out in one year." God doesn't just give you instant perfection. But we're growing in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So the processes of God's victory are reiterated for us here. "Until we inherit the land." - www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/chuck_smith_c2000/Exd/Exd023.html


(24) You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.


   This is where Solomon fell short and his failure destroyed the nation.


(25) “You must serve only the Lord your God. If you do, I* will bless you with food and water, and I will protect you from illness.


*I: Hebrew reads he.


(26) There will be no miscarriages or infertility in your land, and I will give you long, full lives.


   Yahweh Himself will provide for all their needs of food, water, fertility and long life. The gods of rain and storm and the fertility gods were a regular feature of Canaanite life and religion. But they will be irrelevant. For what Yahweh will do will be far better than anything that the Canaanites claim for their gods. He can ensure that they have food and water in abundance, that all their women are fertile and that they live long lives. This was a picture of a new Eden but it would fail in its fulfillment because of the disobedience of the people. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


(27) “I will send my terror ahead of you and create panic among all the people whose lands you invade. I will make all your enemies turn and run.


(28) I will send terror ahead of you to drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites.


(29) But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply and threaten you.


(30) I will drive them out a little at a time until your population has increased enough to take possession of the land.


(31) And I will fix your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the eastern wilderness to the Euphrates River. I will hand over to you the people now living in the land, and you will drive them out ahead of you.


    The southern borders will be the "Red Sea", that is, Egypt, and the desert. The western border will be the Mediterranean. The northern border will be the Euphrates ("the river" in Hebrew). While no explicit eastern border is given, the Jordan River is probably what was intended (Joshua chapter 3). The reference to the Red Sea may be a reference to the Gulf of Aqabah, as we discussed before. Israel never achieved occupying this entire area, not even under Solomon.


Genesis 15:18: So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River


    Of course the ideal was never achieved. Israel failed to enter the land and conquer it as they should have (Numbers 14), and when they did enter and multiply they did not wholly rid the land of its inhabitants (Judges 1.27-33). Because of their unbelief the great vision never came to fruition. Even the successes of David and Solomon could not hide this (1 Kings 4.21). While they were glorious they did not fulfil the conditions or the promises. They never entered into the new Eden. They never became the kingdom of priests in the fullest sense. - www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus4.html


    But it was partially fulfilled, for the later history in Joshua and Judges does partially follow this picture. While their first triumphant entry into the hill country was rapid and widespread, pictured as a great series of victories (as indeed they were) so that they were established in the land (Joshua 11:23 - but that this was partial in terms of the full picture comes out in the previous verse), it was also seen as partial and leaving much to be done. The land was divided up, but its full possession was another thing (Joshua 13:1-14). This would occur gradually until the claim in 1 Kings 4:21 could be made: Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River in the north to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south. But they would still only be second best. The result would not a be ‘holy’ people totally dedicated to Yahweh.


(32) “Make no treaties* with them or their gods.


*treaties: Joshua Made the mistake of making a treaty with the Gibeonites.


(33) They must not live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. If you serve their gods, you will be caught in the trap of idolatry.”


   The worshipping of other gods was why Israel was sent into exile.


   And doesn’t that speak to us today of how human relationships can still be a snare to the people of God? A young Christian woman falling in love with a pagan; she loves him, he loves her. They serve different Gods. She consigns herself to a life of misery. He is a snare to her because she made a covenant with someone who did not love the Lord, her God. And we could repeat that story in 5,000 variations.



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