01.30.2016 Old Testament: Exo 23.1–3

To read the Bible in a year, read Exodus 22–24 on January 30, In the year of our Lord 2016

By Don Ruhl

We might sit back and expect the government to carry out justice properly, but the Lord told the Israelites that every person had a responsibility,

“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute” (Exodus 23.1–3). 

They, and we, had to be fair in all matters. Therefore:

They could not pass on false reports

They could not bear false witness

They could not follow a crowd to do evil

They could not testify to pervert justice

They could not favor a poor man in a dispute simply because he was poor

Should not followers of Jesus Christ also avoid those things? We should be people of fairness and equity.