This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.

Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.

Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:

Bruce McGee,Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418

Bro. Bruce's commentary for the book of Genesis is
now available for $7.50.

EXODUS
CHAPTER 23
1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 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. 4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. 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. 9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

These laws concern personal relationships and actions. Remember, obedience
is a key trait to Christians. It is NOT a way of obtaining salvation; but
it is a way of demonstrating salvation. AND, it is a way of keeping our
relationship with God in good standing. Christians ARE His children and if we are
disobedient we should expect Him to correct us.
Verse 1 - Any report that is not produced with established FACTS is false. To
produce a report that cannot be proven is to align ourselves with the
"wicked."
Verse 2 - Have you ever heard or perhaps made the statement, "Everyone is doing it?"
Well, here's God's answer to that. Before you do anything, test it with God and His
Word. Don't let a crowd pressure you to do anything. And don't let a crowd pressure
you to pervert good judgment. Listen to God and godly counselors.
Verse 3 - Just because a person is poor, it doesn't mean you should change the truth.
(See Deut. 1:16-17) If a poor man is a wrong man and has done wrong, he deserves
punishment not to be reduced by compassion or favoritism.
Verses 4-5 - It is crucial to the understanding of these verses that we know what the
word "enemy" means. Men are all enemies of God because of sin (Philippians 3:18).
A Christian shouldn't avow himself to be any man's enemy (Romans 12:18, Hebrews 14:14).
However, some people are enemies because they make themselves enemies, and seek
to do harm to others. THIS is how the word enemy is used here. Now the Christian is
to HELP those enemies! We are to help them physically and spiritually (Matthew 5:44,
Romans 12:20).
Verse 6 - This is a correlary to verse 3. One should not disfavor a person just
because he is a poor person. These two laws usually find a basis in a statement that
most of us are familiar with: "JUSTICE IS BLIND." Justice should be equitable for all,
favorable to none, always examining the cause.
Verse 7 - A falsehood might destroy or cause irreparable harm to innocent and righteous
people. Therefore, we should not have any part of falsehood. God is pictured here as
One Who will destroy the "wicked" who use falsehoods to get gain and harm others.
If a Christian is aligned with such, he may be brought down with the wicked. Be careful
what clubs, organizations, and companies you join!
Verse 8 - Bribery will result in blindness even to those who have been wise.
Bribery is a corruption that detours our train of thought; taking our desire away from
rightness and causing us to focus on the "gift" instead. Bribery causes the receiver
to pervert truth.
Verse 9 - Exodus 22:21 also spoke about this. Paul says (Ephesians 2:12-13) that we were
ALL strangers to God until He revealed Himself to us. But God did extend His mercy
to us through Jesus. God's mercy was extended to these Jews, in the Old Testament.
And He wanted them to accept strangers who came in and tell them about the love and
salvation of God. God wants the same from Christians today.

10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: 11 But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.

A good farmer will take care of his ground. With today's technology, fertilizers and other
things can be added to the ground to help production. But ground still needs a rest.
Whatever crops came up voluntarily were to be given to the poor, or let the animals eat it.

12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. 13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

We are to budget our time and give God that seventh day. It is for our benefit to REST
in God one day a week.
Christians, like the Jews of the Old Testament, are not to be "caught up in" the things of the world.

14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. 15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) 16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. 17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Men need "vacations" and "happy days." God provides them. Fellowship is NECESSARY in the hearts of
Christians today. We NEED to be involved in "happy times" with other Christians, and in devotioin to
our Lord. He came to give us "life more abundantly" (John 10:10).

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. 19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

These were idolatrous practices of those present residents of Canaan. God was giving the land to
the Israelites, and He did not want His worship "diluted" with these abominable practices. These
ritualistic practices were based on superstition, and not TRUST in Jehovah.
Our worship of God should be based on His WORD, not on certain practices that men have believed
due to superstition.

20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

This "angel," or messenger, as the word means literally, is none other than Jesus Himself.
We can know this for sure because of the way the setences are constructed.
FIRST - beware of Him, or awake unto Him.
SECOND - Obey His voice, do as He says.
THIRD - God says "My NAME is in Him." The name of Jesus is LIFE: in Him is life.
FOURTH - God says disobedience will result in Him not pardoning transgressions.
That means He will "visit your iniquities" or will chastise.
JESUS SAVES: JESUS JUDGES!

23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. 24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. 25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. 27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

Obedience to the "Messenger" of the Lord assured these things:
1) victory over foes, 2) a show of victory over false gods, 3) an abundance of food,
4) relative freedom from disease, 5) fruitfulness in cattle and families, and
6) such fear in the enemy that they would RUN.
Walking in obedience to Christ assures the Christian of God's PROVISION and PROTECTION.

28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

God promises to even use natural sources against Israel's enemies (hornets). Also
God tells them He will only drive out the inhabitants a little at a time, because
Israel isn't yet large enough to take the whole land. This is an answer to the
question some might have of why Israel had to fight so long to conquer Canaan. They
needed time to GROW in numbers for full possession. Also they needed time to GROW
in attitude toward God. God sometimes delays grace because we aren't prepared.

31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. 32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

God set the general boundaries of the new nation. In this description of the area,
it is as if God is drawing a giant "X."
The "X" goes from SE to NW (from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean).
The "X" goes from NE to SW (from the Euphrates to the desert between Egypt and Canaan).
The conditions for full and untimed possession of the land are important.
They are: 1) drive out the idol worshippers, 2) never agree in treaty with any of
them, 3) never worship their gods.
Israel broke ALL of these. And they eventually LOST the land.
The reason for God's warning is that the idols of the land which people
worshipped would "surely be a snare unto thee." And that is exactly what
happened in Israel.
God gives Christians instructions to live pure in a world of impurity. He wants us
to live focused upon Him and not worldly things. When we fail to do that, the things
of the world become a "snare" to our Christianity, and we LOSE our ability to be
the "conquerors" God wants us to be in life.

Please continue to follow along in Bible study with us.