Verses 1-3 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.
The above verses are self explanatory. The ninth commandment to not bear false witness is further elaborated upon in verse one. Verse two prohibits a person from trying to pervert a judgment against someone and verse three prohibits partiality against the poor. All of these things have to do with the words a person speaks and the extent of the honesty of the person and whether false words are spoken to bring about a desired outcome favorable to the person speaking and not favorable to the person being spoken about.
Verses 4-5 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.
The Hebrew word used for “hate” is “sane” and it really means to hate. The emotion listed here is not simply a dislike or a disregard, but a true, hateful attitude. God’s people were to assist the animals that may be in danger or at risk even if they belonged to someone who was filled with hatred. The animal was not to blame for the owner’s attitude and the act of kindness could possibly be a positive witness to the hater as God’s kindness was displayed through his people.
Verses 6-8 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.
God feels so strongly about perverting justice that He repeated in verse 6 what was commanded in verses 2 and 3 above. When judging, taking a gift or a bribe perverts righteous judgement. Bribes are not to be accepted by God’s people for any reason.
Application: Unfortunately, in today’s judicial system the rich and famous often do not receive the judgement they deserve by the court system. As Pastor David Meyer used to say, the justice system is the “just us” system, and if a person is not rich, he most likely will not prevail with any legal action in a court setting. So when possible, believers should settle disputes without involving the so called legal system and trust the LORD to work it all out.
Verse 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.
The generation of Hebrew people that Moses was giving these statutes to were the ones who had experienced the hardships of Egypt as strangers in the land, and unfortunately, as these people died off and the following generations came along, the experience of being a stranger was not known and the Hebrew people found it easy to oppress those that were strangers in their land. This appears to be the way mankind operates in most things. By the time the third generation comes along, past experiences by previous generations are just stories and not reality that can be related to. This is one reason why people groups never seem to learn from history and then tend to repeat it.
Verses 10-11 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.
This writer took this verse seriously and let sections of the fields and garden lie fallow each year. The fields that were not hayed were allowed to seed and they produced more hay the next year. The garden areas that were not worked tended to have more beneficial critters in the soil and this also allowed for weed removal during the year of rest. But God had a deeper purpose of commanding the land to be treated in this manner. This was God’s welfare program. During the seventh year, the poor and the animals were able to glean what was produced naturally and therefore were fed. Everyone’s fields would be resting at different times, so there would always be a place where the poor and the animals could find food. The difference between God’s welfare system and modern welfare systems is that the poor had to work for what they got. Nothing was just handed to them. Psalms 128:2 states, “For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.” 2 Thessolonians 3:10 states, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” This practice would also remind the people of the creative power of God who rested on the seventh day of the very first work week to ever exist.
Verse 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.
God repeated the fourth commandment. Remember that this rest period was for health reasons so that both man and beast would have a time to recover from the week’s toil. However, it also was a reminder to all generations that God created all things in six days and then rested on the seventh.
Verse 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.
This is a repeat of the first and second commandments.
Application: Why did God repeat the commandments in a different way from the way they were presented to the people in Exodus chapter 20? Through the study of learning and of learning styles, it has been proven that most people don’t capture and retain information when it is first given to them. A good lecturer or teacher will repeat the same information differently and retention of that information is much higher as a result of this teaching technique. God was way ahead of modern educational knowledge and chose to repeat His commandments frequently so that the people would remember them better.
Verses 14-17 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.
There were many other holy days in the Hebrew and Jewish calendar, but these three were holy days ordered by God and they were not negotiable. All the men of the community had to travel to a specific site and appear before the LORD.
Verse 18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
Leaven is representative of sin in the Scripture. Sin doesn’t just happen. It takes time to develop and to become an action. It is first composed in a person’s mind and then, if the sinful thought is not dealt with properly, it becomes an action. Leaven takes time to develop and spread throughout bread dough and it is a picture of how sin spreads in individuals and in societies.
Verse 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.
God has given mankind the best of all that He created and He expects to receive the first and the best that mankind produces, which in the agricultural society of the Hebrew people, translated into animals, fruits, vegetables and grains.
Application: Did God need the food or animals of the Hebrew people? No, of course not. God is a spirit and has no need of the physical stuff of this world. God was training the hearts of the Hebrew people to not be selfish and to learn to share. In this way, the items brought into the temple sustained the priests and Levites that served in the temple and provided sustenance for the poor and needy. Today, God expects believers to bring something into their churches to allow the ministry of the churches to continue and to provide for the poor and needy in that church’s community. Malachi 3:10 states, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Verses 20-23 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. 23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
The word use here for Angel is “malak” and it means messenger or representative. In the King James Bible it is capitalized to show deity. This Angel is Jesus Christ who manifested in Old Testament times before coming to Earth as the Messiah.
Application: The ministry of Jesus was the same to the Old Testament people as it is today. He is the One who keeps believers “in the way” or on the right path and who by the shedding of His blood at Calvary, has provided a way to bring each believer “into the place which I have prepared.” John 14:2 give the words of Jesus. “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
Verses 24-26 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.
Commandments one and two are once again repeated. Why? Because it aided learning as stated before, but also if these commandments were not adhered to, the people would quickly adopt pagan gods and worship practices and bring judgements upon themselves and their children. They would not be a righteous people with a righteous God but would become just like all the pagan nations around them. Remember that these pagan nations engaged in human sacrifice as well as all other kinds of sinful behaviors. Only if the LORD was served with the whole heart would God’s blessings as listed above be showered upon the Hebrew people. Only a nation serving the LORD with a pure heart could be an example to the rest of the nations around them.
Verses 27-30 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. 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.
This was the plan the LORD had for the Hebrew people to take possession of the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were to take the land gradually and the LORD would be their protector and help them drive out the pagan people.
Application: The believer today is in a battle, not with pagan nations, but with the flesh in which they live, with the world in which they live, and with the Devil who is the god of this world. The believer’s life is often one of trials, temptations and testing all of which are leading to the promised land which is Heaven and eternal life. Just like the Hebrew people who were to conquer the land in increments, the believer today has to conquer the flesh, the world and the Devil in increments until reaching and attaining the land of promise which is spiritual in nature and is composed of Heaven and the very presence of the LORD Jesus Christ. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Verse 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.
God set bounds upon the amount of land the Hebrew people would inherit. This boundary is better described during the days of Solomon and will be dealt with when studying that portion of the Scripture. However, it will be stated here that the Zionist plan of today to establish a greater Israel is not contained within the boundary set up by God, and therefore it stands to reason that the plans for a greater Israel is not of God but of man. I have been told that the two lines on the modern day Israeli flag represent the Nile River and the Euphrates River. It this is indeed true, then this land mass between these two rivers that includes countries like modern day Egypt and Iraq is not within the boundary the Hebrew people inherited from God.
Verse 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.
The Hebrew people were not to make alliances with other nations that did not share their moral and religious values and they were to not allow foreigners to live in their land unless the foreigners adopted the ways of the Hebrew people as outlined in the commandments and statutes given by God. In other words, they were not to be unequally yoked with pagan people. 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” Think about this concept and about the nation alliances that have been made throughout history with nations of differing beliefs, practices, and morals that have led to the suffering of millions of innocent people.