Exodus 23:1-33

God is preparing His people for something great.  He wants them to become a great nation for His glory.  He wants them to stand out as a contrast to the other nations of the world and be a nation that reflects His character to the world this is what God wants from His people.  He wants us to be a contrast in the world through which His character, power strength and mercy can shine.

THE PRIORITY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: No matter what situation in which we find ourselves, God wants us to be righteous.  It does not matter if the truth hurts a poor person or if the truth helps our enemy, we are called to always speak the truth and defend what it right.  Our love and mercy for people who are in need or danger is not to be conditional upon our past relationships with them.  When we see people that need assistance we are to give it to them even if they have been dishonest or cruel to us.  Those who do evil to us should receive good from us.

THE PROVISON OF REST: God has provided for rest for His people.  He established a principle that the land should rest from producing crops once every seven years and that people should rest from their labors once every seven days.  He establishes this principle because it reflects His character, requires that we trust Him and enables us to set aside time to focus on Him.  He knows that the land will produce better if it is given time to rest.  He knows that we function better if we have regular extended times where we can relax and worship Him.  When we work all the time we demonstrate that we only trust in ourselves.  When we set aside time from our work for worship we demonstrate that we trust Him to provide for us.  Rest is a demonstration of our dependence on Him and our faith in Him.

THE PRINCIPLE OF REMEMBRANCE: Three times a year the children of Israel were required to have special remembrances relating to God’s provisions in their lives.  The year was to begin with remembrance and a commitment to holiness.  The people were to remember God as they completed the process of planting their crops as they recognized that He was their only hope for provision.  They were to remember God at harvest and be grateful for His bountiful blessings.  It is easy for us to become self focused and self consumed.  God wants us to be attentive to Him and recognize that He is key to every aspect and time of our lives.  It is easy for us to forget His blessings of the past and become proud of our own accomplishments.  This is why it is important to set aside multiple times throughout the year to remember God and express our gratitude and allegiance to Him.

THE PROMISE OF RESTORATION: God has determined that the children of Israel will be restored to the land that was promised to Abraham.  He promises to go before them and drive the people out as they take possession of the land and make the land more and more productive.  This will not be a quick victory but God does promise to go before them and methodically provide for their victory along each step of the way.  Israel was not to make peace with the enemy or try to live in harmony with the idolatrous people that were in the land.  God insists upon having a pure and holy people who are dedicated to worshiping Him alone.  God wants us to take the same view of sin in our own lives.  He is in the process of sanctifying us and driving sin out of our lives.  It is a long process and a slow one at many times.  However, at no point along the way are we to be accustomed to or tolerant of sin in our lives.  He has promised to set us free from sin so we must not hinder His process of sanctification by making peace with sin in our lives, it must be driving out so that we might enjoy the blessings of lives dedicated to His glory.