God's Law: Don't Follow the Crowd

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

Have you ever heard the term "circling the wagons"? It came from the experience early settlers had in the 1800s. They all travelled in "wagon trains". This was a long line of wagons, in which many settlers travelled together because there was safety in numbers. At night, they would park all of the wagons in a circle and sleep inside the circle in order to protect the settlers.

Today, when someone in a group gets into trouble, everyone else in the same group tends to come to their rescue. This is called "circling the wagons".

If a little old lady on your street gets into trouble, everyone on your street who knows her would be likely to unite together to help her out. This is human nature.

When you go out to eat with your family, and a member of the wait staff has a problem with one person at the table, whether or not it was warranted, the whole family will defend that one person against the establishment. That is something I learned during my time of service in food establishments.

However, what happens if the little old lady did something bad or underhanded? The fact that she is a little old lady that everyone loves does not give anyone permission to defend her for her transgressions. If she has sinned, she still needs to pay the consesquences for that sin.

And, just because someone is poor does not mean that he should be exempt from paying the consequences of his crime if it is costly!

God gives us all everything we have. He knows what we need and how much we can afford. If we trust Him, He will provide. The key is to trust Him. We are not trusting God if we feel sorry for a criminal because he is poor, or if we take the side of someone familiar just because it is painful to watch them suffer for their crimes.

Furthermore, just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you should follow them. My mother used to ask, "If everyone else jumped off the roof, would you?" Just because everyone else is doing something doesn't make it right or lawful.