18 “You shall not allow a sorceress to live.
19 “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.
20 “He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the Lord alone, shall be utterly destroyed.
21 “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; 24 and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
25 “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest. 26 If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets, 27 for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious.
28 “You shall not curse God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
29 “You shall not delay the offering from your harvest and your vintage. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. 30 You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.
31 “You shall be holy men to Me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Some of these might come across as cruel and heartless, but God was speaking only to the Israelites at this time. And at any time, any of the Israelites could have decided to simply walk away and live somewhere else. But why focus on JUST the "negative"? I've heard people ask, "If there is a loving God, why is there evil?" Well... because He loves us so much He gave all of us a free will, because He is never going to force Himself on anyone. Then the same people will typically ask, "If there is a loving God, why would He punish anyone?" Well... which do you want? And how do you expect God to take care of evil without doing anything about it?
The actual point is that the Lord loves us and cares about us! If we see the positive, we will see and understand that Jesus wants all to come to know Him and have a personal relationship with Him! He wants to save us, and help us! And He wants us to get along with others. This is love!!! And just like a loving parent, He guides us in how we should behave, disciplining us as we go so as not to mislead or hurt ourselves and others.
Although these laws and punishments don't apply to us today, I can see the template of God's church described throughout these verses:
- God should be placed first in our lives
- if anyone visits, welcome them with lovingkindness
- if anyone causes distractions, disruptions or divisions,
they need to be removed (kindly and gently)
- members (Christians) should be striving to live in God's will:
- worshipping the Lord regularly and faithfully
- giving our tithes and offerings faithfully
- dedicating our children to the Lord
- teaching our children about the Lord
- serving the Lord and others
- helping our brothers and sisters in Christ graciously
- being living examples to others around us
- respecting God and our leaders
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