February 9 - Exodus 24:3

Moses came and told the people

all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances;

and all the people answered with one voice, and said,

"All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do."

Exodus 24:3

 

The ten commandments is a pretty comprehensive guide for directing individuals and society.

 

Then God added a few more chapters to enhance the functioning of Hebrew society. There were guidelines concerning religion, property, justice, and restitution. Famously, concerning violence, the people were told "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" (21:23-25). For us this sounds a little barbaric. For the ancients, it set helpful limits. If you (merely) insulted me, it kept me from butchering your whole family. It stopped the escalation.

 

Today, however, it’s not the laws that grabbed me. It was the response of the Israelites: "All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do."

 

Two questions:

1) How much better of a world would this be, if we all actually followed "all the words that the Lord has spoken"?!!!

2) What "words that the Lord has spoken" do you have most trouble keeping?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s very glad he’s reading, this year,

"all the words that the Lord has spoken"