Exodus 23 — Sketch

Angelic Guide

Big Idea:

• God gives more laws to Israel…

• Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.

• Be helpful.

• Do not deny justice.

• Do not accept bribes.

• Do not oppress foreigners.

• Allow the poor to glean from your crops.

• Do not call on other gods.

• And observe three yearly celebrations: The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering.

• Then God sends an angel ahead of Israel to guard them and bring them to the Promised Land.

• God promises to be an enemy to Israel’s enemies and to drive their enemies out of the Promised Land over time.

Jesus in This Chapter:

• Many people think that Old Testament references to the “Angel of the Lord” are references to Christophanies, appearances of Jesus outside the four Gospels. And the fact that God says, "My Name is in him," further supports this idea. Like the pillar of cloud and fire, this angel reminds me of John 14:5-7. The disciples ask Jesus to show them the way. Jesus answered: “I am the way.” We are to follow Jesus just as the Israelites followed this angel.

• God gave more than 600 laws to Israel. These laws — the civil laws — kept order within Israel as a political nation. Ritual laws instructed the priestly sacrificial system. And moral laws direct us in living as God’s people. Because we are not a part of the political nation of Israel, the civil laws aren’t relevant to us. And because Jesus is our ultimate sacrifice, neither are the ritual laws. But the moral laws — the Ten Commandments and the Greatest Commandments — still apply to us because Jesus reinstated them. By putting our faith in Jesus, we are made innocent of breaking ANY of these laws — civil, ritual, or moral — because Jesus fulfills them all for us.

(Originally drawn October 6, 2010)