The Lord promises blessing in the land as we take the land in His name.
Exodus 23:
1 "You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
2 You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice,
3 nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.
4 "If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him.
5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
6 "You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit.
7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.
8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
9 "You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals
10 "For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield,
11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
12 "Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
13 "Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.
14 "Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me.
15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed.
16 You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.
17 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD.
18 "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.
19 "The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God."You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
Conquest of Canaan Promised
20 "Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.
21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.
22 "But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 "When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,
24 you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
25 You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.
26 None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
27 I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.
29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.
31 And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.
Exodus 24: The Covenant Confirmed
1 Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.
2 Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him."
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do."
4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.
6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient."
8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up,
10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.
11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction."
13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
14 And he said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them."
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
16 The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.
18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Things to think about…
Ex 23:1-9 lays out laws against others – lying, stealing and disregarding the poor. The Lord’s identity is reflected through His people. Note that “works” do not save anyone. Only by the “grace” of Christ can anyone keep the law perfectly. This alone makes us blameless before the Father. But our works should affirm our identity and status as those who are forgiven by our Lord’s grace.
Sabbath rests and festivals, Ex 23:10-19 were to reflect the God who gives rest and abundance even without our works. Farmers in Israel still carry out the seventh year of Sabbath rest for the land. Pray that Israel would fully see that the land can only have true rest and peace through an understanding that sees Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath rest and peace over the land.
The Lord promises to bring the Israelites into the land and conquer the nations and to bless Israel if they listen and obey the angel of the Lord that goes before them, Ex 23:20-33. Israel has never fully possessed this land even though in Joshua it says all the promises were fulfilled, Josh 21:43-45, we know there were areas that were not conquered because the inhabitants had iron chariots or were too strong in other ways. What do we do when life gets tough and it seems the promises of God are lacking and our children do not seem to be blessed or our marriages struggle or we become unemployed? Remember all of these things should be consumed by the light of our eternal inheritance and destiny. Jesus loves you and you will dwell with Him for eternity without sin, Rev 21:4. Does it get any better than that? Rejoice!
How fickle we are. God calls Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy elders to worship and to confirm the covenant. We know that they all affirm the covenant with the Lord and they all say that they will obey the Lord’s voice, Ex 24:7. We of course know what Nadab and Abihu do. They go on to offer strange fire to the Lord and hence break the covenant a very short while after this point, as do some of the other families of Israel. The old adage ‘words are cheap’ comes to mind. In our day we are very quick to offer ourselves to the Lord and His service and yet we back off when it comes to fulfilling what we agreed to. Let’s let our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ as we serve God and man.
The Lord calls Moses after 6 days of being in the cloud of the Lord’s presence, Ex 24:16. Moses then ascends Mt Sinia where the Lord was like a devouring firs, Ex 24:17. Hebrews quotes this verse Heb 12:29. He doesn’t change. Moses enters His presence for 40 days. In that time we see Moses being blessing and the children of Israel go astray, sadly led by a leader or knew better.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Cell groups are encouraged to come to church on Wednesday night 6:30pm at church. Be encouraged and join us for a time of teaching, fun and food.
Prayer Points
1. Please pray for Steve Hawkins and Glenys Zawada – Steve as he recovers from stents operation and Glenys as she recovers from a stroke.
The conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. Praise for the peace of Jesus to reign.
2. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Monday afternoons. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
3. That those who are new to the church are encouraged and settle in well into the church.
4. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
5. Pray for our Carols program, Sun 17th Dec.
6. Pray for Rosie and the teachers at Kids@church, pray for continued growth of this ministry.
7. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for and new life at Chuwar Baptist. Rejoice that Charlotte gave her life to Christ after the service.
2. Praise God for new folk, pray they can settle into the church.
3. Continue to pray for our Wed mid-week meeting.
4. Good ministry after the service. Continue to pray for this blessing to increase.
5. Some encouraging signs of those wanting to consider who Jesus was. People asking about baptism.
6. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Mid week topical teaching every Wednesday night – 6:30pm at church.
2. Annual general meeting – this Sunday morning - 26th Nov after the service.
3. Carols starting in the afternoon from 4pm Sunday 17th Dec.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for November...
Q. 14. Where do you learn how to love and obey God? A. In the Bible.
