Equal Justice For All
July 20, 2019
Commentary
In this passage another law of the Israelites is given:
IV. Things involving Legal Justice:
1. To be a true witness and not side in with the unrighteous in legal cases (v. 1).
2. Not to pervert justice by being influenced by the crowd (v. 2).
3. Not to show favoritism to the poor (v. 3).
4. To be kind, even to the animals of a person you have a legal dispute with (vv. 4-5).
5. Never to deny justice to the poor because of their social status (v. 6).
6. Not to give a false testimony in court that might result in their death (v. 7)
7. Accept no bribes for favoritism in court (v. 8).
8. Never take advantage of a stranger (v. 9).
As a young person it is certainly easy to get in with the wrong crowd and be influenced by it in the wrong way (vv. 1-2). We are not to let our prejudice for or against the poor influence our thinking and that justice will prevail concerning them (v. 3). In a practical way, (v. 4-5) are the carrying of the precept “Love thy neighbor as thyself….” (Lev. 19:18). The taking of a bribe and the oppression of a stranger are also forbidden (vv. 6-9).
Application
I am never to take advantage of others when it is in my power to do so. I am in this world to be a servant and not a person of power.
Exodus 23:1– 9 (NET)
1 “You must not give a false report. Do not make common cause with the wicked to be a malicious witness.
2 “You must not follow a crowd in doing evil things; in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, 3 and you must not show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.
4 “If you encounter your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, but be sure to help him with it.
6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Keep your distance from a false charge —do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.
8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.
9 “You must not oppress a resident foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.