THE LAW(continued) 1- Hypocrisy and justice 1 - 3 2- Helping others and justice 4 - 6 3- Taking no bribe and justice 7 - 9 4- The Sabbath and the rights of others 10 - 13 5- The feasts 14 - 19 6- The divine presence 20 - 23 7- No mixing with foreign peoples 24 - 33 1- Hypocrisy and justice The Law cared for the sanctification of the congregation as a whole, and of each member individually. For the sake of the congregation as a whole, one should not accept or circulate a false report or should not partake of the oppression of a hypocrite. It is also for the sake of his own sanctifying, he should not follow a crowd to do evil (Exod. 23.2), and should not tell lies, so as not to kill the innocent and the righteous (Exod. 23.7). God also cares for the poor, lest they be oppressed by the rich, “You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute” (Exod. 23.6). He requests that, in our compassion for the poor, we do not become unjust toward the rich, “You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute” (Exod. 23.3). 2- Helping others and justice Helping others is not optional. It is a divine commitment that does not apply only to humans but it extends even to the donkey of an enemy, lying under its burden. If man -under the Law- is committed not to refrain from helping the donkey of his enemy, lying under its burden, what would be his responsibility, if he delays supporting his enemy or his brother, while in the time of grace? St. John Chrysostom says, “For if it was not right according to the law of the Jews to slight the beast of one's enemy; he who despises not the beast of burden nor yet the soul of an enemy perishing, but that of a friend, what pardon shall he obtain?” 1 3- Taking no bribes and justice The law warns against taking bribes, “For a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous” (Exod. 23.8). 4- The Sabbath and the rights of others We have heard of the Sabbath, at the gathering of manna (chapter 16), and the Ten Commandments (chapter 20), but here, speaking of the rights of others, the law deals with the Sabbath from another point of view. The Sabbath here, is not a sanctification of the life of man, when, in it, he remembers God who took rest in the seventh day, or a reminder of his going out of the land of Egypt, and the works of God with him, to bring him to rest. The Sabbath is mentioned here for the sake of the right of others: to give the land a Sabbath, “to let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of the people may eat, and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat” (Exod. 23.10). Besides, he gives rest, not just to himself and his family but “to his ox, his donkey, the son of his maidservant and the stranger” (Exod. 23.12). 5- The feasts 1 Chrys. In 1 Cor. Hom. 44:5. 173 The Book of Leviticus speaks in more details about the Jewish feasts and their rituals1. But here, the Book of Exodus concentrates on a particular concept, namely, their importance in social life; it dealt with three of these feasts from three aspects: A. They ate unleavened bread, not only in the feast of the unleavened bread, but also in the two other feasts. As we said in chapter 12, the unleavened bread refers to the new life, as though the feast is a chance for man to reconsider his inner accounts and his relationships with others, lest he have oppressed anyone or disregarded the right of the poor or the stranger. B. “…Nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning” (Exod. 23.18). He says here, “My sacrifice,” for, it is not the feast of man but that of God in which He rejoices in man. He probably meant by that commandment to tell man to distribute all what concern the feast on that day among the poor and not to keep any of it for himself or his family. C. Presenting the firstborn, which we dealt with before. The major feasts of the Jews are: the feast of the unleavened bread, which is inseparable from the Passover (Exod. 12 13; Lev. 23.5); the feast of the harvest, on the beginning of the harvest season, when they used to offer the first fruits of their produce (Lev. 23.15-22; Num. 28.26-31; Deut. 16.9-12); and the feast of Tabernacles at the end of the season (Num. 29.12; Lev. 23.34, 43; Deut. 16.13, 43). St. John Chrysostom comments on the commandment of the Law: “None shall appear before Me empty” (Exod. 23.15), saying, “That is, enter not into the temple without sacrifices. Now if it is not right to go into the house of God without sacrifices, much more ought we to enter the assembly accompanied by our brethren: for this sacrifice and offering is better than that, when thou bringest a soul with thee into the Church.” 2 6- The divine presence This is considered the farewell commandment, that “I will send an angel before you to keep you in the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared” (Exod. 23.20). Here He speaks of the presence of the Lord in their midst, to become as an angel to protect, to guide and to bring them into the divine promises. The word “angel” means a messenger, a carrier of a message. When God descends among us, it is as though He is bringing us a message from Himself (Exod. 33.15, 16). This is a reference to the incarnation of the Word of God and His descending to us, to guide us to the higher Jerusalem. As the Law ended its commandments by this promise, the Lord Christ ended His life on earth by the same promise saying, “I am with you always, even to the end of the ages” (Matt. 28.20). St. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa3, tells us that, by His angel, it means the Lord Himself. Moses, after a while begs the Lord to go in their midst (Exod. 33.15, 16), to which the Lord responded, “I will do the thing that you have spoken” (Exod. 33.17). 7- No mixing with other peoples This is not a separate commandment but an extension of the last one; for if from the positive view they accept God’s presence in their midst and His guidance of their life, from the negative view, they have to refrain from mixing with other nations as a sign of rejecting their gods, as the Jews could not discern between the sinner and sin or between pagan people and pagan life. 1 We will deal with this in detail, God willing, in the commentary on the Book of Leviticus. 2 Chrys. To Those who had not Attended the Assembly. 4. 3 Against Eunomius. 11:3.
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