Exodus 23:1  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Exo 23:2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
Exo 23:3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
Exo 23:4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
Exo 23:5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Exo 23:6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
Exo 23:7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
Exo 23:8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Exo 23:9  Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Truth is important. God says we should never spread lies about others. We should not team up with others and support a lie. It is very common for people to team up with trouble makers. There was a crowd that cried out “crucify Him, crucify Him”. The chief priests instigated the lie. The people, like sheep, just fell in line. There was no one that stood with Jesus at that time. Jesus did not need anyone on His side. He was doing the will of His Father. The point is that that crowd chose to be in a place that was bad. There was no benefit to being in that crowd. Even if there had been someone to speak truth at that moment, it would not have helped.
Today, most people lack discernment. They pick a side based on emotional attachment, not based on truth. In verse 2 God commanded that the children of Israel were not to follow a multitude to do evil. God was speaking to Moses here. Moses was to relay this message to the children of Israel. God knew that there would be children of Israel who would make evil reports and would support those who made evil reports.
Aaron and Miriam chose to speak out against Moses at one point. Miriam was struck by God with leprosy in a moment of time. Aaron quickly turned to Moses for help. Aaron and Miram’s enemy instantly became the man they looked to for help. Moses immediately turned to God and sought His mercy in this event. God showed them and the nation that rising up against His man without cause, was extremely dangerous.
In another example, we know that Korah was one who raised an evil report and that others chose to join him in his rebellion. God dealt very severely with that rebellion. That rebellion led to the death of a number of people. God wanted the people to understand that slander was not the right approach to disagreement. The people needed to respect God’s chosen vessel. There were many others who chose to sympathize with that rebellion, rather than humble themselves before the LORD in repentance.
Having noted that, we need to guard against the false teaching today that seeks to protect false teachers. It is important to be saved first of all. It is important to examine what a person says in the light of the Truth. God’s Word is Truth. We have a responsibility to judge one another based on God’s Word. Be sure you know what you are talking about before you speak. If you believe you need to say something, you need to be sure you have your facts right. Jesus often exposed the false teaching of the Pharisees. The apostle Paul named names of false teachers. The reason for doing so was not to slander people. It was to warn the false teacher, but also to warn the listeners. God does not want people to perish. In spite of what most professing Christians want to claim, God has given us the TRUTH. He has preserved His Word. The reason people take such great offence to the Truth is because it convicts them of sin. They are trying hard to justify their sin and do not want to change. They want others to accept their sin.
God gave this law to the people here. He gave them the tools they needed to realize the importance of listening to the truth, and not being rebellious. God told them not to protect a poor person just because he was poor. If the poor person was guilty of raising a false report or of joining in with others who were supporting a false report, they were not to be protected just because they were poor.
In verse 4 we have further commandments regarding honesty. Notice here that this was regarding an enemy not a friend. An enemy needs to be treated in a respectful manner. Sometimes an enemy can be broken by kindness. The Bible is clear that vengeance belongs to God, not to man. We can overreact to a problem. God knows how to deal with the problem. That is why He gave clear commands on this matter. We need to follow His commands when we deal with others.
In verse 5 we see how we should respond to a person that hates us. In this case, the person’s ass had collapsed under the burden it has been carrying. If someone saw that and in their mind they wanted to just leave the hater with his problem., God says the person needed to stop and help the person. Again we see the need to show kindness, rather than retaliation. God will deal with that hater through our merciful response toward them.
Jesus healed the ear of the high priest’s servant. He did not leave him without that ear and bleeding. He showed that Peter’s actions were not warranted. Jesus’ time to be arrested had come. There was no point in putting up resistance at that time. Peter needed to learn to understand the times. In the book of Acts we see a different Peter.
In verse 6 God commanded that a person should not wrest or pervert or stretch out the judgment of the poor in his cause. Judgment needs to be done in fairness.
In verse 7 God commanded the people to stay far away from a false matter. Some people love a ‘juicy’ story. God did not want His people to encourage tension. They should also not go after the innocent and the righteous. God values innocence and righteousness. That is a rare commodity among people. We need more innocent and righteous people. We can see the effects of a more corrupt society as we observe our current times. God will not justify the wicked. God does not protect the wicked. They may get away with certain things now, but their end is coming and it is not good.
In verse 8 God warned against taking a bribe. If a person can be bought off, they will certainly not be fair in their judgment. If someone wants to give a bribe, refuse it. Leaders need to be unbiased. Leaders need to be fair and thus not play favourites.
In verse 9 we see further instruction regarding the stranger. The children of Israel knew what it was like to be a stranger. They had been strangers in Egypt. They were not well treated as strangers. The stranger needed to have the opportunity to prove himself. If the stranger wanted to be a trouble-maker, that was different. However, the stranger needed to have the opportunity to learn the fear of the Lord. God taught how the stranger could become part of the nation of Israel. God also showed the importance of not allowing the stranger to change His laws. God gave His laws to govern the nation. Anyone wanting to come into that nation, needed to be taught God’s laws and they also needed to learn to obey God’s laws.
There are practical lessons that all people can learn and benefit from what God gave the nation of Israel. There are certain aspects of the laws that God gave Israel that are particular to them. The things that He taught in our text today, have application to all people. Israel was to be the light to show other nations the importance of knowing the true God. God wanted all people to know Him. That is still His will today.

II Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Pastor Bartel