“because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will here, for I am compassionate.”
~ Exodus 22:27
Hi James and Ellen,
Has your dad and ma made for you house rules that they expect you to obey? What will happen to you if you break a house rule that your dad and ma have made for you that they expect you to obey? How do you feel about obeying rules? Rules are like laws. How do you feel about obeying laws? Do you know what will happen if a rule or law is not obeyed? A rule or law invariably has a punishment or consequence attached to it. How will your dad and/or ma punish you after you have broken a house rule – such as not doing all your homework before you begin playing computer games? For a punishment or consequence for having broken a house rule, will your dad and/or ma make you take a timeout by having you stand in a corner for a predetermined time or are you sent to your room to stay for the rest of the evening or . . . when a guy or gal breaks a law – such as going faster than what a speed limit sign says that a guy or gal can drive his or her vehicle on that particular stretch of road, do you know what the consequences are for that guy or gal? If guy or gal is clocked going faster than a sign’s speed limit, the consequence for that guy or gal will be having to pay a fine. Your grandpaa twice has had to pay a fine – one time in Texas and another time in South Dakota, for going faster than what speed limit signs said that your grandpaa could drive on particular stretches of road in those two states. Your grandpaa was not happy at all about having to pay fines for driving faster than what speed limit signs said that your grandpaa could drive on those stretches of roads but . . .
God through Moses gave His specially chosen guys and gals rules or laws to obey. Exodus 22 has a list of property rights rules or laws and a list of social rules, laws and obligations that God expected His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, to obey. The laws or rules that God gave through Moses to His specially chosen guys and gals to obey were specific and detailed. Every law, rule or obligation that God gave through Moses to His specially chosen guys and gals to obey had a consequence or punishment attached to it if the rule or law was not obeyed. A sheep thief – if he was caught after he had butchered the sheep, was to pay four sheep to the guy from whom he stole the sheep. An ox thief – if he was caught after he had butchered the ox, was to pay five head of cattle to the guy from whom he stole the ox. A thief – who was trying to break into a house in the dark of night, could be killed but if a thief was killed while trying to break into a house while it was still daylight; that was another thing. The consequence or punishment for a gal being a sorceress was for the gal to be killed. A guy or gal who sacrificed sacrifices to any other god but to the Living God was to be killed. Some of the rules or laws that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to obey were to your grandpaa strange. The rules or laws that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to obey had severe consequences or punishments attached to them if they were not kept or obeyed. Do you think that your dad and ma should have harsh rules for you to obey? Do you think that your dad and ma should harshly punish you if you do not obey one of the house rules that they make for you?
What do you think might happen if a guy or gal breaks a rule or law and nothing is done to the guy or gal who has broken the rule or law? When nothing happens to a guy or gal after he or she has broken a rule or law, the guy or gal will be more apt to repeat breaking rules and laws plus other guys and gals will be tempted to break rules and laws. There will always be guys and gals who want rules and laws obeyed. When guys and gals who want the rules and laws of the land obeyed realize that there is no guy around willing to enforce the rules and laws, these guys and gals will at times take the rules and laws of the land into their own hands to enforce them. Your grandpaa while watching TV about three weeks ago saw something that your grandpaa really wishes that he had not seen. Your grandpaa had read about a policeman the day before in a local newspapers who had after becoming really drunk, had shot to death with his gun a twenty-six year old gal. The next night was the night that your grandpaa saw on TV the policeman who had shot and killed a gal with his gun. It was already dark. The policeman was lying on the ground. A guy was shining a flashlight in the policeman’s face. The light from the flashlight was clearly showing that the policeman’s face was covered with blood. The policeman was trying to say something – probably to the guy who was taking a video with his camera of what was happening. As the policeman was trying to say something, the guy who was taking a video stepped back and everything got dark. A second or so later, a guy threw a match on gas that had been thrown on the policeman who after he had gotten drunk had shot a young gal to death. Even though your grandpaa tried to turn quickly to another channel, your grandpaa can still see the policeman writhing around in flames as the fire burned him to death. The guys and gals in the town where the policeman was from really thought that the policeman would never be punished enough for killing the young gal so they decided to burn the guy to death after first beating the guy’s face to a pulp. Your grandpaa knows that he is relating something really awful that took place here in Guatemala but . . . God’s punishment for His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, was really awful, too. Even though God’s punishment was really awful, God says in verse 27, “because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will here, for I am compassionate.” God utterly expects you to always keep the house rules that your dad and ma will make for you to keep but God also utterly expects your dad and ma to always be showing you compassion.
Exodus 22 (149)