ZackF
Puritan Board Professor
Our pastor has been preaching through Exodus. Today's passage:
“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow [a]the masses in doing evil, nor shall you [b]testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after [c]a multitude in order to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you [d]be partial to a poor man in his dispute.
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.
6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.
8 “You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and [e]subverts the cause of the just.
9 “You shall not oppress a [f]stranger, since you yourselves know the [g]feelings of a [h]stranger, for you also were [i]strangers in the land of Egypt.
It would be hard to find another nine verses in a row that run so counter to our current cultural moment. I think social media (I know, I know it's my hobby horse) has given so many more people opportunities to violate verse 2.
“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow [a]the masses in doing evil, nor shall you [b]testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after [c]a multitude in order to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you [d]be partial to a poor man in his dispute.
4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.
6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.
8 “You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and [e]subverts the cause of the just.
9 “You shall not oppress a [f]stranger, since you yourselves know the [g]feelings of a [h]stranger, for you also were [i]strangers in the land of Egypt.
It would be hard to find another nine verses in a row that run so counter to our current cultural moment. I think social media (I know, I know it's my hobby horse) has given so many more people opportunities to violate verse 2.