God's Laws are Higher, God's Gospel Reaches Farther


Exodus 22:26–27 (ESV) If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Exodus 23:4 (ESV) “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him.

When you read through the list of moral precepts in Exodus 22-23 you become convinced of the Holy Spirit inspiration of these words. Consider the two laws mentioned here. Returning a cloak before dark and returning your enemy's ox/donkey who has strayed? There is not a legal system that would prosecute a soul for disobeying these laws. The human courts can only go so far in restraining evil. God calls His people to a far more generous and positive way of life toward our communities.

One may wonder, why should Israel care for things such as these? Why should their moral code be so high as to abide by these stunning precepts? It is because they are the people of God and He has formed them to represent Himself. The original promise to Abraham, "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3. The promise that God would bring blessing through the people of Israel was fulfilled in laws such as these. For every nation on Earth could learn to love their neighbors and care for those who are in need even when they are in our debt. 

Imagine a group of people where you find such compassion! That would change the world! Is this not what Jesus reiterated in the Sermon on the Mount?

Matthew 5:44–45 (ESV) But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

These selfless stipulations that God gave Israel are reinterpreted for the people of God in Christ. We are to love those who do not love us. Why? Because we have been loved by a God we did not love! Only Gospel-driven people can follow such guidelines. We have to realize that we were the enemies. We were those in debt to God who could not survive without His mercy! We were the ones who lost our way and God in mercy found us missing and brought us back! 

Yes, the Gospel is preached even in these pages of obscure moral instruction for ancient Israel. We see the heart of God here. He even says of the man with no cloak: "If he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate." 

The God who calls us to love the unlovely is the God who loved us when we were unlovely. His compassion reached TO us and must also come THROUGH us. 


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