“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. 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 him from it.” Exodus 23:4-5
Many times, what lies under the surface can be quite unexpected. Being a big car guy, I know that it is possible to have what looks to be a normal car on the outside, but if you were to look under the hood you would find a motor that could produce over 700 horsepower, a veritable “sleeper” racecar that looks like a daily driver. I also know that sometimes things can be made to look real but only after removing the cover or case can you discover that it is fake. There is a plethora of fake luxury watches in Mexico and they all look very authentic on the exterior. But if you were to take off the watch's case back you would quickly discover that the automatic mechanism is not Swiss made, but one much cheaper from China. And folks, many times the Word of God parallels these examples with the truth lying delicately just below the surface of something that looks much different. And in order to get to that truth, a little effort is required.
Exodus chapter 20 is famous for holding God’s delivery of the ten commandments. But the next three chapters that follow it are by and large forgotten or dismissed. And for many, understandably so as they deal with many seemingly obscure topics such as what to do with your neighbor’s lost donkey or how to adequately pay back someone if you lost their shovel. So, are these seemingly obscure laws and principles lost to time? I would argue not. For just below the surface of these laws lie the basis of God simply explaining the basics of how to do right, how to do good, and how to be fair.
Therein lies a lot of the problem with how people interact with the Bible, God's Word. People pick it up, read something about their neighbor’s donkey and then immediately put it down and forever claim that it is only meant to apply to some distant ignorant agricultural generation, not the much more technologically advanced one they inhabit. A funny fact though is that if I ask someone in Mexico if they want to study the Bible with me, the lion’s share will offer an enthusiastic yes. You see, inherently people are drawn to God’s Word, they want to know what it says. God created us and He created His Words and all of God’s creation is meant to exist in His perfect harmony…together as one. As a result, we are naturally and instinctually drawn to the designer’s instructions on how to assemble a life full of joy, freedom, purpose, and love. But here comes that bad ol’ sin nature again, and for all of us that sin nature sees us at war with the Word of God. And that means we all want, just as sheep, to each go our own more preferred way. (Isaiah 53:6)
So as I look closer at the seemingly outdated laws of Exodus chapters 21, 22, and 23, what I see below the surface of the odd laws and rules, is the basis of human conduct done right. Below the surface lies what God desires in the base behavior of all of His creatures. Within it we see God simply doing what He always does, explaining what it means for us to simply do right. And in our study verse above, if you peel back the outer onion skins of the donkey and ox, you will see a major Godly principle lying just below…how you feel about someone does not determine right and wrong behavior towards them.
We live in a world today that is way too “feely.” It’s all about us and how we feel about the situation. It’s about what someone did to us and however it made us feel directs our reaction to them. It’s about how some political or social event played out and we react to it by letting our feelings guide our behavior and words. It’s about what someone said about us online and our feelings compel our hasty response. It’s about how our boss supposedly mistreats us, and our feelings lead us to lash out and repay with the identical behavior. Folks, God’s Word tells us clearly that above all, we cannot trust our sin-nature induced feelings. (Jeremiah 17:9) And thus lies possibly one of the biggest golden nuggets of Godly wisdom to ever be found in a verse about donkeys and oxen. Do the right thing to the people in your life no matter how you feel about them or the situation.
And just what is the right thing according to God? Well, if you were to boil down the entire Bible into 2 simple commandments for living this life, what would you say? If you know your Bible you won’t have to go much farther than the passage found in Matthew 22 where the evil-intending religious leaders were attempting to trip up Jesus in His own Words.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40
Folks, we don’t serve a God that is asking us for rocket science and theoretical trigonometry to find Him and the ways He desires for us to live, act, and speak to others. He tells us very simply and very clearly in His own Words. And He set those Words in plain black and white print and placed them in the best-selling book the world has ever witnessed. The question is, will you open that best-selling book, study it every day, and then will you do exactly what it tells you to do? You see, you can live God’s way, or you can live your way, it’s your choice. The only difference is the outcome. You can live a life in harmony with your Maker experiencing peace, purpose, joy, and freedom or you can continue to pursue you own way, following your sin nature and seeing where that leads you. And as I can personally attest to my life before Jesus Christ saved this sinner, it was a selfish life that only saw me looking to satisfy self, resulting in a life of pride, ego, and eventually much disappointment, woe, and alienation.
Friends, God is ever so careful and deliberate to explain what is right in His Word. And the backbone of that is how to treat others the way you long to be treated. I pray today you are loving the Lord and loving others like there is no tomorrow. I pray that you are searching the scriptures and not only content to know them…but to do them. For it is in the doing that lives change.
If you are reading this, you are being prayed for ~ Dan
“But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 NLT
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