God's Laws: Treatment of Widows and Orphans

Exodus Chapter 22

22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”

So many people try to take advantage of needy situations. A widow may be feeling her loneliness, thus making it easier for a sexual predator to move at her. She may not have the know how to take care of the business her late spouse did, thus making it easier for fraud to occur against her.

Orphans, and children of single parents are susceptible to a myriad of influences, and some of them may not be in their best interest, or the best interest of their future.

Chilren who are neglected are sometimes kidnapped and used and abused in horrific ways.

God has a special place in His heart for widows and orphaned children. Causing them harm, in any way, would cause God's wrath to come down on you in ways that you couldn't even imagine. Your life would never be peaceful. All that you do to them would come back on you as punishment.

Many, in the "new age" world, would call that "karma". I call it God enacting justice.

God's Laws: Do not be prejudiced.

Exodus Chapter 22

21 “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

Jesus said, "Do unto other as you would have them do unto you."

The Israeli people lived in Egypt for 400 years. They were not the original inhabitants of the land. They were immigrants, who came to Egypt for asylum from the drought that threatened them. Of course, Joseph being who he was greatly influenced their decision to stay.

The Egyptians thought it was an abomination to socialize with them because of their choice of occupation - herdsmen. Today, that would be like, for instance, a yuppie in our society thinking that all rednecks are dirty. Or, a white-collar worker looking down his nose at the McDonald's employee he just ordered his Big Mac from.

Of course, we could also expand that to the prejudice between blacks and whites in our society today. People tend to be offended by people who are "different", no matter what the societal nature is.

In this verse, God is telling us to treat immigrants with respect. This does not mean to allow them passage if they are not following the rules. This means only that you should treat righteous immigrants with respect and as a true neighbor and friend. After all, it wasn't that long ago that Israel was enduring such prejudice, and they didn't like it. Therefore, they shouldn't treat others in ways that offended them when they were being treated that way.

It is always wrong to discriminate, or to act on prejudice.

God's Laws: Don't Sacrifice to Other Gods

Exodus Chapter 22

20 “He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.”

What does the word "sacrifice" mean?

According to the dictionary, it is to burn something in honor of a god.

Bing also describes it thus: to give up (something important or valued) for the sake of other considerations. "working hard doesn't mean sacrificing your social life"

When your mother decides to give up her day off in order to give you a birthday party, that is a sacrifice.

When you give up going to church in order to watch the superbowl, that is a sacrifice.

When you make sacrifices, you are telling God what is most important to you. When you decide that something is more important than He is, then you are worshipping "other gods".

The New Testament calls for us all to be "living sacrifices" to God. That means all we do should be to glorify God, every minute of every day of our lives.

Romans 12:1

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

God's Laws: Beastialitality

Exodus Chapter 22

19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

Okay, this one is self-explanatory. All those stories of men having sex with sheep and all that, yuck. And, according to the Lord, it is not Godly at all!

I did some research on this and found out that sex with animals is legal in 13 states. Just because it is legal doesn't make it Godly.

Mooving on...