Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 23:8

8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

This verse continues with the laws that apply to the judges themselves, telling them how they should and should not perform their duties. Today we hear that God is aware of the danger of bribes and the judges shall “take no gift,” as that will lead them to blind their judgment and pervert their decisions.

Even judges who might receive their pay from the people should not see themselves as being subject to the people. They do not act as an agent of the plaintiff or the defendant, but as an agent of truth, an agent of God, Himself. To take a gift from a witness would be to make the witness the master, and that would frustrate the entire judicial enterprise. So, if there are to be gifts and rewards for a judge, let him receive them not from man, but from God, as the natural blessings that come to those who serve well.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 23:4-5

4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

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.

We have already seen laws establishing the penalty for stealing a neighbor’s livestock, or for losing them while they were on loan, but today we see the responsibility of actually being a good neighbor, of going out of one’s way to help another in his time of need. Even when it is a neighbor that isn’t particularly liked.

If a person saw his enemy’s animal wandering, lost from its master, he was obligated to bring it back. If he saw it having collapsed under too heavy of a burden, he was obligated to relieve it. Not just encouraged, but obligated under the law. In fact, the phrase “and wouldest forbear to help him” suggests that if the thought arises in the person’s mind that he would rather not help his neighbor, then he is especially compelled to do exactly that! This is a good metric to gauge when our relationships with other people has gone too far astray: do we actively wish to not help them? And it gives us a good solution to turn things back around: then help them regardless!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 23:1-3, 6-7

1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

We have had laws that the judges would enforce upon the general populace, but today’s laws now apply to the judges themselves, and the goings-on in their courtrooms. Thus we have rules not only of what to judge, but also of how to judge.

From verses 1 and 2 we learn that there is to be no false testimony. Every witness is to speak what is true, even if there is a large multitude that would pressure the witness to do otherwise. From this we see that the Truth itself is of higher status than personal or public interest. It does not matter what we want, or what the masses want, if it isn’t true it isn’t to be spoken.

Verses 3 and 6 make clear that every person is to be judged the same as every other. To “countenance a poor man” would mean to rule in his favor out of compassion, even though his case is weak, and that is forbidden. But neither are we to “wrest the judgment” against him out of disdain when his case is strong. The status of the person is not what matters, what matters is what is true and right in the case, with no regard for the status of the individuals being judged.

It could be that the poor man is impoverished due to no fault of his own, and is generally deserving of compassion. Or it could be that the poor man is impoverished because he lives a foolish and hedonistic lifestyle, and is generally deserving of consequence. And yes, a sense of compassion and a sense of justice are both virtues, but they are not higher virtues than the Truth. They do not justify us in coming near “to a false matter.” If anything is clear from today’s verses, it is that there is a hierarchy of virtues, and the Truth sits atop them all.