Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 22 before reading the devotional below.
Remember a few days ago when Moses’ father-in-law helped him avoid burnout? Moses was so busy helping people work through their disputes that he ended up having to appoint a whole team to help him manage the job. In today’s chapter we see that God is handing Moses divine wisdom for all kinds of disputes and problems. It may seem like a strange compilation, but God knew exactly the kinds of issues his people were having. They had no president or king, but rather they were in what is called a “theocracy.” God was the leader and Moses represented him to the people.
God has standards. He is revealing that about his character here as he lays out his laws. It is important to remember that God’s grace demonstrated through Jesus did not remove his standards. Rather, the work of salvation makes plain that we can never keep all of God’s laws. There are a lot of them! You will never meet God’s standards on your own. And the punishments for failing to follow God’s laws are not good.
Here’s your freedom for today: you don’t have to follow a bunch of rules to find God.
Here’s your freedom for today: you don’t have to follow a bunch of rules to find God. In the Old Testament, he set up all these complex legal systems as a way of clearly defining his standards and also allowing people to see their own failures. He just rescued his people from slavery, and he’s telling them exactly what to do to follow his ways. The inability of the people to follow God’s standards does not change his standards. Rather, it opens the door for God’s grace. God’s not mad at you, nor does he want to punish you. He wants to invite you into a better life. A rescued life. You can come or not, it’s up to you.