Seder 61: Exodus 22-23---Further Applications of the Decalogue

 The "covenant code" continues in Exodus 22-23, with more applications of the Decalogue.  Each one can serve as the basis for a thoughtful discussion.  I will highlight a few of them here.  

Exodus 22:25-27 forbids charging interest on a loan to a poor Israelite, or engaging in any other practice that would leave someone trapped in a cycle of indebtedness and thus enslaved.  Such behavior constitutes a kind of theft.  

Exodus 22:28 teaches respect for those who are in authority.  Paul quotes this provision in Acts 23:5 when he discovers that the man he has been publicly rebuking before the Sanhedrin is actually the high priest. (That awkward moment is soon forgotten, however, when Paul raises the subject of resurrection, starting an argument among council members.)

Exodus 23:4-5 gives the important "love your enemies" principle.  Jewish tradition teaches that this is a way to heal relationships and turn enemies into friends.  This is another case where God's character is a model for us (Matt 5:43-48).  

Exodus 23:1-3, 6-8 are related to the commandment against bearing false witness.  The commandments against being a malicious witness and taking bribes reminds us of the incident of Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21).  The teaching against "siding with the many, so as to pervert justice" reminds us of the wickedness that is carried out by mobs---in lynchings, for example.  

The second half of Exodus 23:19 has long been a puzzler:  "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." One possibility is that there was a pagan fertility practice of this type, in which such a ritual was supposed to make a flock more fertile.  (However, we as yet have no record of such a practice.)

It has also been proposed that the word for "milk" should instead be translated "fat", using different vowels.  In that case, this becomes a prohibition of sacrificing mother and baby animals at the same time.  

The covenant code is presented to the Israelites while they are at Mt Sinai, although many of the provisions apply to their future life in the Promised Land.  Why are these provisions presented so early?  

One answer is that it isn't necessarily all that early.  God could take the Israelites to the Promised Land within a month at any time that he wanted to do so.  

Another answer is that at any time, the provisions of the covenant code reveal principles that can be applied in any setting, whether or not the nation is in the Promised Land.  Rob Wilson proposed this second answer in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on June 26, 2021.