Daily Lesson for February 6, 2020

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 23 verses 1 through 9:

You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.
4 When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back.
5 When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.
6 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

In the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation the heading for this section of Scripture is “Justice for All”. So the Judeo-Christian system of law is meant for the good of all, without preconceived bias for or against anyone. The rights of all are safeguarded; and these rights cannot be subject to personal animus, political favoritism, prejudice, and/or bribery.  And even the rights of an enemy must be vouchsafed by his or her neighbor, irrespective of the neighbor’s personal feelings or prerogatives. It is a system of justice for all, whereby no one is either above the demands of the Law or beneath its protections.

Let those with ears to hear listen and act . . .

NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible together this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson comes from Exodus chapters 25-27.