God's Laws: Give God the First of Everything

Exodus Chapter 22

29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

The first of all you create, make or produce belongs to God. After all, had He not given you the means with which to obtain it, you would not have it. Therefore, you honor God by offering it back to him.

As a taxi driver/courier, I struggled with how I am supposed to do this. What do I produce? And, the only thing I can come up with is money.

Therefore, the very first trip I make from here on out goes into my "God account" to be invested until such time as the Good Lord tells me I need it to help someone in need that He calls me to give to.

For you, it might be the first meal you serve, the first tip you make, the first hour of pay you receive for the week...

This verse clearly states that the first of it belongs to the Lord.

God's Laws: Don't Curse Other Gods Or Your Rulers

Exodus 22:28

“Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.”

The definition of revile is criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner.

The definition of curse is an offensive word or phrase used to express anger or annoyance. It could also, in this case, mean a prayer or invocation for harm or injury to come upon one.

This verse has two parts that you must pay attention to: A) treatment of other gods (with a little "g" - which means other people's belief in them, since they are not God), and B) treatment of your political leaders.

Think about this: if we walked up to someone who was a buddhist and started uttering offensive language and ridiculing the belief he has for Buddha, do you think they would be receptive to us when we told them that our God was better because He loved them? No. We lead by example. We show them love, and when they compliment our love, we tell them WHY we love so well. You cannot teach about a God of love while practicing hatred.

The second part of this is a little harder for some of us. (I'll admit, I'm guilty).

The reason some people hate the Bible is because it standardizes behavior. It lays the law down in black and white, and when we learn the law, we become "not innocent" any more -- guilty; or, for lack of a better word, convicted. Here, it clearly states that we must not curse our rulers.

What this means to us, here in the United States, is that we are not supposed to post memes on Facebook that call Joe Biden an idiot. We are not to tell the world what we wish would happen to him. We are not to pray to God to punish him in any way.

What this does NOT mean, however, is that we cannot still ask hard questions, or that we cannot still say that we don't believe as he does and why. It doesn't mean that we cannot form alliances or vote against him. It doesn't mean we cannot disagree with him or what he is doing. It doesn't mean that we don't post the facts and educate others to the err of his ways. What it means is that we still have to treat him with love and pray that God leads him onto a righteous path, for all of our sake.

Yes, I'll admit: I, like many of you, am guilty of breaking this law. And, now, having seen the law, I am convicted and will henceforth endeavor to change my ways.

God's Laws: Lending Money

Exodus Chapter 22

25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
26 If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

When you loan money to someone, it is because they are in need. It should always be considered a charity.

You should never loan money that you expect to get back. You are not a bank. You should not take usury (interest payment) for the loan, and you should never accept collateral that is needed by the lender in order to survive and make a living.

God protects the poor and needy as well as He blesses the well-off. You only have because God gave it to you. Remember that.

God will not stand by and watch as His children are taken advantage of or used for profit. A man's worth is not his money, in God's eyes.

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...