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...

God's Laws: Those who manipulate

Exodus Chapter 22

18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Witchcraft is simply using manipulation of any kind to get what you want. A woman who uses her sexual wiles to manipulate a man to do something he knows is not right or doesn't initially want to do is using witchcraft. It doesn't stop there...bribery is witchcraft. It does the same thing. Placing objects in strategic places to make someone question the motives or loyalty of someone is using manipulative tactics - witchcraft. There is more, but I think you get the picture.

In other words, doing anything to make something happen outside of it's natural course is witchcraft.

Anyone suffering from a sins such as envy or anger is subject to be tempted to use witchcraft. This is why God teaches us to be in control of our emotions such as anger and resentment, and to be content with what He gives us.

God's Laws: Seducing Women

Exodus Chapter 22

16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

Men, Men, Men...

You cannot entice a woman to leave a bar with you unless you intend on marrying her. Unless, of course, you are simply being a gentleman and taking her to her home -- to drop her off.

If you have sex with a woman, you must marry her. Simple as that.

Why do you think there used to be shot gun weddings back in the day?

And fathers, if a man is interested in your daughter, it is best to go ahead and give her to him to wife. Two people in love will find a way to be with each other, married or not.

If you don't give her to him, then you owe him her dowry, anyway.

God's Laws: Injury to Animals

Exodus Chapter 22

10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:
11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.
12 And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
13 If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.
14 And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.
15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.

Let's pretend that I need to go out of town for a couple of weeks. Obviously, I can't take my dogs with me because it is a business trip. So, you agree to keep my dogs for me.

While I was away, and while you had my dogs, they got sick and died. If you swear an oath that you did everything like I told you to, and had nothing to do with their being sick and dying, then there is nothing you need to do to repay me for my loss.

But, if someone came and stole my dogs from you while they were in your care, you would owe me restitution (twice the worth of my dogs).

If another dog attacked and killed my dogs, and you showed me satisfactory proof of it, then you would not owe me.

If you came to me and asked me if you could "borrow" my dogs so they could play with your niece and nephew who were visiting and had never seen a dog before, and if I let you take them, and if while they were with you they run out in front of a car and get killed, then you owe me restitution.

But, if I was there with you when the dogs got loose and ran in front of a car and got killed, then you don't owe me anything.