Exodus 23:10–12
“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 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. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.”
The magnificent thing about this passage is that it gives the purpose for these practices—and the purpose is rest and refreshment. The rules sound like they are designed to honor the week of creation. Yes, but the text details reasons that are based on compassion.
A pattern is forming that is quite the opposite of the popular perception of Old Testament law. The groups that were typically downtrodden at that time (e.g., women, slaves, the poor, even livestock) are blessed by the law.
The Old Testament was dozens of centuries ahead of its time. Those who argue it should have been even more modern need to consider the limitations of communication. Concepts can be so advanced they make no sense to the listener.
You can’t explain snow to a Bahamian and you can’t explain Heaven to anyone. The Bible has to be written at a level the reader can handle.
Most folks think that Jesus instituted a new covenant that reversed (or at least radically changed) a lot of the old covenant. But what Jesus really did was understand the covenant, fulfill it, and explain it to us (just like what He did to Cleopas on the road to Emmaus).
The Old Testament law is a treasure trove of wisdom.
Praise the LORD that we even have the Old Testament. Imagine how difficult it was to preserve scripture before Gutenberg’s invention of movable type. To the untrained eye, God’s word never looked far from extinction.
Of course, God had this all planned out, but it’s still a marvel to study. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a case in point. With all the fighting that has gone on in that region, their preservation is amazing.
Thank God for inspiring people to write His word down, and for giving us those dedicated saints who endured a lifetime of writer’s cramp to preserve that word.
Also, be challenged to be the kind of saint who could have that level of commitment. If that scares you, good. It scares me too.
If you really allow God to use you, all bets are off. You can’t know what’s going to happen next.
That’s pretty scary—and exciting.
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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays' by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community
The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, are here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
