Exodus 23:10 - Meaning and Application

Here is the law about the sabbatical year, the seventh year when the land was to rest (Exodus 23:10, 11). They were not to plow or sow it at the start of that year, and so they could not expect a full harvest at the end. Whatever the ground produced on its own was to be eaten as needed, not stored up.

This command had several purposes. First, it showed how rich the land was that God was bringing them into. Such a large people could be supported from such a small country without foreign trade, and still have enough left over from every seventh year. Second, it reminded them that God was their great landlord, and that they were bound to use the land’s fruit as he directed.

It also tested their obedience in a matter that touched their own interests very closely. Later, their refusal to obey this command counted against them and helped bring loss of the promises (2 Chronicles 36:21). Third, it taught them to trust God’s care while they did their duty. Just as the manna gathered on the sixth day fed them for two days, so the crop of the sixth year would last into the seventh. In this way they were to learn not to worry about their life (Matthew 6:25). If we are wise and faithful in our work, we may trust God to give us daily bread at the right time.

The law about the weekly Sabbath is repeated here too (Exodus 23:12). Even in the year of rest, they were not to think that the Sabbath day was mixed in with the other days. It still had to be kept holy. Some people have tried to weaken the Sabbath by saying every day should be treated like a Sabbath day, but that does away with the special command God gave.

They were also strictly forbidden to have any respect for the gods of the nations around them (Exodus 23:13). Before these commands, a warning is given that applies to them all: “Be careful in everything I have said to you.” We can go wrong on either side, and if we do, we are in danger. A person may ruin himself through carelessness, but he cannot save himself without great caution.

This was especially important because idolatry was a sin they were strongly drawn toward and would face many temptations to commit. They were to erase the memory of the gods of the nations and stop using their superstitious sayings. They were never to mention them except with hatred. It would be good if Christian schools and colleges did this more faithfully, for it is vain to expect reform from the stage. The names and stories of the heathen gods, or demons rather, should not be used so freely and familiarly, even with signs of respect or forms of prayer. Surely we have not learned Christ that way.

Their regular worship at the place God would choose is also required here (Exodus 23:14-17). Three times a year, all the males were to gather in a holy meeting. This would help them know and love one another better, and keep up their life together as a distinct and honored people. They were to come before the Lord, meaning they were to appear in his presence and look toward the place where his honor dwelt. In doing so, they would pay him homage as their great Lord, from whom and under whom they held all they had.

They were also to feast before the Lord, eating and drinking together as a sign of joy in God and thankful delight in his goodness. A feast is made for joy (Ecclesiastes 10:19). What a good Master we serve, who makes rejoicing before him part of our duty, and who feeds his servants while they wait on him. Religion should never be called gloomy when its solemn services are also holy feasts.

They were not to appear before God empty-handed (Exodus 23:15). They had to bring some freewill offering as a sign of respect and gratitude to their great Benefactor. And just as they were not to come empty-handed, so we must not come to worship God with empty hearts. Our souls should be full of grace, holy desires, loving thoughts of him, and a true offering of ourselves to him, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

The Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles were the three times set for these gatherings, in spring, summer, and autumn. Not in winter, because travel would have been hard then. Not in the middle of harvest, because then they would have been occupied with their work. So they had no reason to say that God was making them serve him with burdensome offerings or wearisome incense.

Some directions are then given for these three feasts, though not as fully as later. At the Passover, they were not to offer it with leavened bread, because all leaven was to be put away from that feast. Also, the fat of the sacrifice was not to remain until morning, so it would not become offensive (Exodus 23:18).

At Pentecost, when they began their harvest, they were to bring the first of their firstfruits to God. By that pious act, the whole harvest was set apart to him and blessed (Exodus 23:19). At the Feast of Ingathering, they were to thank God for the harvest blessings they had already received and trust him for the next harvest. They were not to copy the foolish and superstitious practice of some Gentiles, who, it is said, would boil a kid in its mother’s milk and sprinkle that milk broth, in a magical way, on their gardens and fields to make them more fruitful the next year. Israel was to reject such customs completely.