God's Laws: No Mobs, Bribes, or False Conspiracies

Exodus Chapter 23

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

While you should not favor a poor man just because he is poor, as stated in verse 3, verse 5 states that you should not deny a poor man justice just because he is poor, either. A man is a man, whether rich or poor and all are equal in God's eyes. All sin is worthy of death (Romans 6:23). Jesus came that ALL could have life, not just those who were of one financial category.

If you know something to not be true, or to be conspiratorial in nature, you should not involve yourself in the spreading of the lie or the conspiracy. Know the facts. Live by what you know for a FACT. This will help you to stay honest. Oh, and always be willing to admit when you were ignorant in your knowledge of the facts, should you find out at a later date that what you thought was true was not true.

Finally, stay away from bribes. Don't let anyone make you offers that you can't refuse. You CAN refuse anything if it means maintaining your integrity. More than that, you SHOULD refuse it. God will step in and control the circumstances (he has done this for me so many times!) and you will always end up where HE wants you to be. That is all that matters. Proverbs 22:1 says: “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”

Furthermore, you don't take gifts when it comes to doing the right thing because you never want to put yourself in the position of having to owe someone, or to give anyone other than God the credit for where you are. Abraham understood this when he refused the gifts from the King of Sodom. (Genesis 14:22-23)

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.