We’ve seen so far that the civic laws focused on making sure that people did not unduly take advantage of the disadvantaged. And now when it comes to resolving disputes, we find that God doesn’t allow for His people to separate the ruling of the judges from Himself.
Read Exodus 22:28
Excursus on being “gods”
The word for God in this verse is elohim, which is a plural form that often acted as a singular. So, “When does elohim mean ‘God’ and when does elohim mean ‘gods’”?
Our English translations all prefer the meaning of elohim in Exodus 22:28 to mean “God.” However, the Septuagint, the first translation of the Old Testament (into Greek) understood this passage to mean “gods.” All of a sudden, it becomes more complex.
So, which is it? If the meaning was “God,” then God was making the point that cursing the rulers who adjudicated complex civil grievances was like cursing Him because they were representing Him in their judicial pronouncements. If the meaning was “gods,” then God was calling his rulers “gods,” making the link between Him and them even stronger. They didn’t just represent Him in their adjudicating duties but He was, instead, was working through them! The meaning of “gods” was more incarnational and less abstract.
Here is how Exodus 22:28 looks under deeper examination:
- Hebrew: You [singular] do not curse elohim and curse the leader [singular] of your people.
- Greek: You [singular] do not speak evil against gods and speak badly against the rulers [plural] of your people.
Now, this would not even be a debating point if Jesus didn’t understand elohim, at times, to mean “gods” when referring to people. In John 10:34-36, Jesus quoted Psalm 82:6:
Jesus answered [Jews who were ready to stone Him on the Feast of the Dedication], “Isn’t it written in your scripture, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken), what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”
In Psalm 82:6, God speaks words to His people. He said:
- Hebrew: I say, “You [plural] are elohim and sons of the Most High.”
- Greek: I say, “You [plural] are gods and sons of the Most High.”
Psalm 82:6 called God’s people “gods.” Now, they were not “gods” in their being or substance (that would be idolatry) but “gods” in a secondary sense as they were doing what God had given them to do. In other words, God works through His people. In that sense, they are “gods.” In that sense, you are a “god.” You get your “godness” from God.
We’ll cover this more in-depth when we study the Gospel of John.
Read Exodus 22:29-30
– Verses 29-30 belong together. How does verse 30 help let us know to whom such offerings were to be made?
Consecration of the Firstborn
This was also covered in Exodus 13:1-2, 11-13. Through His command to consecrate the firstborn, Yahweh was imprinting on the mind of His people several things.
- The firstborn belonged to the Lord because He spared their lives in the tenth plague.
- This consecrating (or setting apart of the firstborn for sacred service) reminded the Israelites of God’s grace to His people in Egypt. Earlier in Exodus, we saw that the firstborn collectively represented all of Israel (Exodus 4:22-23). In the Old Covenant, God set Israel apart for sacred service as a nation, where Israel then collectively represented the entire world.
- The consecration of the firstborn foreshadowed another Firstborn who would be set apart to save the people. And because the Messiah would come through the people whom God had consecrated as His own, and Israel collectively represented the rest of mankind, the Messiah to come would be for the salvation of all.
Moses does not say much about what this consecration entails. However, Moses included others details in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
The firstborn sons of the Israelites (the word for “firstborn” in the Hebrew is in the masculine gender) belonged to Yahweh. To figure out what the nature of their consecration entailed, we have to look at other passages that Moses wrote. It’s then that we find out that they were consecrated for sacred service. For instance, in Numbers 3:12 and 8:14-18, God chose the Levites to serve as substitutes for every first-born son dedicated to the Lord. God told the Levites to perform the liturgical rites in the sanctuary. Because of that, we know that the first-born sons had originally served in that role during the Old-Covenant Divine Service. We can trace this change in spiritual leadership to the golden-calf incident at Sinai, where the tribe of Levi remained faithful to Yahweh when the rest of Israel did not (Exodus 32:29). We’ll explore this later.
The firstborn of clean animals (those acceptable for food and sacrifice according to the Mosaic Law) were to “belong to the LORD” to serve as sacrifices (Exodus 13:15, 22:30, and 34:19; Numbers 18:17). Here also, this pointed forward to the Messianic Firstborn, who would become the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
Read Exodus 22:31
Leviticus 17:11: Yahweh said, “I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people, for the life of every living thing is in the blood.”
– Eating the flesh of an animal killed by another animal prevented what from taking place?
– Why then did God forbid the Israelites to each such flesh?
– When did Jesus fulfill and supersede this ruling? Why?
Read Exodus 23:1-3
– What kind of courage does God demand when it comes to upholding justice? (vs. 2)
Read Exodus 23:4-5
– What is specifically mentioned about doing something for an “enemy” or “one who hates you”?
– Put this is today’s context and setting?
– Why isn’t doing the same for a friend mentioned? What does this imply?
Click here to go to Lesson 18.
