Read Exodus 23 at Bible Gateway.
Exodus 22:25-23:19 encompasses the next Strong Theme in Scripture, and continues the initial explanation of what keeping the Ten Commandments means.
Exo 22:25-31 Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor, or to God
Exo 23:1-3 Do not bear false witness
Exo 23:6-19 Honor the Sabbath
And the beating heart of this explanation is found in its Chiastic Structure:
That beating heart? Not only, Love your neighbor, but Love your enemy. The New Testament, it turns out, isn’t New. Just true.
Why This Matters: The Torah’s commandments aren’t just a stern list from a detached tyrant, but a radiant portrait of God’s own holiness-drenched-in-mercy nature: “This? This is who I am.” When we said, “Yes, a thousand times yes!” to Yeshua’s offer of grace at the cross, He rewrote our family DNA. And now we also get to say, “This? This is who I am,” like a child who bears the spitting image of his Daddy.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Rom 5:6-8
22:25-23:19 {sx5+p} Strong theme: The purpose of the commandments is love from a pure heart.
The Hebrew paragraphs for this chapter:
23:1-3 {s} Not bearing false witness
23:4 {s} Return your enemy’s ox or donkey
23:5 {s} Relieve your enemy’s donkey’s burden
23:6-19 {p} Not perverting justice + oppressing strangers + Sabbath rest + not naming other gods + harvest feasts
23:20-25 {s} The Angel of YHVH will go before them in the way to Canaan
23:26-33 {p} What YHVH will do to bring them in
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