1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,160 Hey teachers, Ben Jennings here and we are in the study that we're doing in the book 2 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:18,920 of Exodus and this is session 8 and it's in Exodus 21-27 and actually this is our first 3 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,120 because the study is in Exodus and Leviticus. 4 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,040 So this is our first time actually going into Leviticus. 5 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,660 It covers 19, 9 and 10. 6 00:00:27,660 --> 00:00:35,440 This particular lesson is done on what's nationally known as the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday 7 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:45,240 and so the writers of our curriculum as they've come up with a scope and sequence have picked 8 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,960 scriptures out of Exodus and Leviticus that deal with issues that connected this right 9 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:58,780 to life and dealing with sanctity of human life and treating people with as what they 10 00:00:58,780 --> 00:01:06,220 are and that is that we're made in the image of God and God loves us and God has a heart 11 00:01:06,220 --> 00:01:14,220 for people and so today's subject really is about vulnerable people and relating to vulnerable 12 00:01:14,220 --> 00:01:20,300 people and God's will in relating to vulnerable people. 13 00:01:20,300 --> 00:01:25,300 God had a plan for that and so we're going to see that in this particular lesson and 14 00:01:25,300 --> 00:01:28,380 I hope that this particular video will help you. 15 00:01:28,380 --> 00:01:33,660 So here's the objective sentence like if you're going to put the whole lesson in a sentence 16 00:01:33,660 --> 00:01:38,020 it's this, we should be careful about how we relate to the most vulnerable in our lives 17 00:01:38,020 --> 00:01:42,860 because of three of God's commands to the children of Israel given in Exodus and then 18 00:01:42,860 --> 00:01:45,900 of course we're going to see them in Leviticus. 19 00:01:45,900 --> 00:01:51,660 The first idea here is this idea of exploitation and number one that believers must not exploit 20 00:01:51,660 --> 00:02:02,580 anyway anyone God's plan, God's will that's demonstrated here deals with exploitation 21 00:02:02,580 --> 00:02:04,500 and not doing that. 22 00:02:04,500 --> 00:02:08,340 Let's read verse 21 to 24 it says this, 23 00:02:08,340 --> 00:02:14,380 Now shot neither vex a stranger nor oppress him for you are strangers in the land of 24 00:02:14,380 --> 00:02:15,380 Egypt. 25 00:02:15,380 --> 00:02:21,580 So the first group of people that he says that we should not oppress is the stranger. 26 00:02:21,580 --> 00:02:26,540 This idea of stranger he's specifically talking about people who are not Jews, people who 27 00:02:26,540 --> 00:02:35,900 are foreign, people who are not a part of your native born, you know, for the Jews that 28 00:02:35,900 --> 00:02:40,020 have been other Jews, he's saying this is what we don't want you to do and he gives 29 00:02:40,020 --> 00:02:43,220 them the reason why you are strangers in the land of Egypt. 30 00:02:43,220 --> 00:02:48,500 So he's essentially saying if you were going to, if you treat them how you were just treated 31 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:50,420 that would be very hypocritical. 32 00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:56,740 You were just treated and exploited as slaves in Egypt don't do that to other people. 33 00:02:56,740 --> 00:03:00,420 So he's calling to them in that particular area. 34 00:03:00,420 --> 00:03:05,380 You know, people who are strangers or foreigners, there is a vulnerability there because they 35 00:03:05,380 --> 00:03:06,380 don't know the language. 36 00:03:06,380 --> 00:03:09,340 They don't know the culture. 37 00:03:09,340 --> 00:03:11,300 That's true in our day. 38 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:18,620 I think that this is a particularly hot topic right now because of immigration and what's 39 00:03:18,620 --> 00:03:23,620 happened with unhindered illegal immigration in our country. 40 00:03:23,620 --> 00:03:26,220 And we can, this is just my opinion. 41 00:03:26,220 --> 00:03:28,620 I think you can walk and chew gum at the same time. 42 00:03:28,620 --> 00:03:35,700 I believe that you can have an opinion, a political opinion. 43 00:03:35,700 --> 00:03:36,860 Now we're getting to politics, right? 44 00:03:36,860 --> 00:03:42,620 You can have a political opinion about what a country's policy ought to be towards immigration 45 00:03:42,620 --> 00:03:45,220 and it's right to have its own borders. 46 00:03:45,220 --> 00:03:47,660 It's right to have its own sovereignty. 47 00:03:47,660 --> 00:03:54,100 And at the same time, knowing that that's not exactly, you know, what you would have 48 00:03:54,100 --> 00:04:00,620 it be, you still don't have a right for people, even if they are coming across a border illegally 49 00:04:00,620 --> 00:04:08,060 or even if they're in your land and it's not good because of the circumstances of the political 50 00:04:08,060 --> 00:04:11,460 nature of it or the legal status of it. 51 00:04:11,460 --> 00:04:17,940 It still is wrong for people to exploit or to oppress people who are foreigners. 52 00:04:17,940 --> 00:04:19,940 God's very, very clear. 53 00:04:19,940 --> 00:04:21,660 You can hold to both of those positions. 54 00:04:21,660 --> 00:04:28,180 And as a church, like when we have people that are coming that are not from America, 55 00:04:28,180 --> 00:04:32,340 they're there no matter what the situation is, they're there and they need Jesus Christ, 56 00:04:32,340 --> 00:04:33,340 right? 57 00:04:33,340 --> 00:04:37,860 And so that ought to be the way we think about it. 58 00:04:37,860 --> 00:04:44,300 So he goes on to talk about Beyond Strangers in verse 22. 59 00:04:44,300 --> 00:04:46,020 He talks about two more groups. 60 00:04:46,020 --> 00:04:50,380 You should not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 61 00:04:50,380 --> 00:04:55,180 So now there's, we've gone from strangers, you know, to now widows. 62 00:04:55,180 --> 00:04:58,820 These are, we all know what a widow is. 63 00:04:58,820 --> 00:05:02,060 What makes them particularly vulnerable is that, especially in that culture, it was a 64 00:05:02,060 --> 00:05:06,740 very family oriented culture, especially in the wilderness and then off into the Promised 65 00:05:06,740 --> 00:05:11,380 Land, there is no big government social safety nets, none of that kind of thing. 66 00:05:11,380 --> 00:05:19,020 And so the wives were pretty dependent on their husbands for protection, for provision. 67 00:05:19,020 --> 00:05:24,580 Same thing, kids were dependent on their husbands for again, provision, protection. 68 00:05:24,580 --> 00:05:28,900 So people that don't have a husband, people that didn't have a father in that patriarchal 69 00:05:28,900 --> 00:05:31,580 system were particularly vulnerable. 70 00:05:31,580 --> 00:05:33,300 And that's still the case today. 71 00:05:33,300 --> 00:05:36,940 And he's saying these particular people are not people to exploit. 72 00:05:36,940 --> 00:05:42,060 Verse 23, if thou afflict them in any wise and they cry it all unto me, I will surely 73 00:05:42,060 --> 00:05:43,500 hear their cry. 74 00:05:43,500 --> 00:05:48,540 Verse 24, and my wrath shall wax out, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wife 75 00:05:48,540 --> 00:05:51,620 shall be widows and your children fatherless. 76 00:05:51,620 --> 00:05:54,820 I think this is particularly interesting because a couple of things. 77 00:05:54,820 --> 00:06:01,420 Number one, it's pretty obvious that God cares about vulnerable people and he hates people 78 00:06:01,420 --> 00:06:06,260 exploiting people who are either innocent or helpless. 79 00:06:06,260 --> 00:06:07,940 And so God is a just God. 80 00:06:07,940 --> 00:06:09,300 He is a fair God. 81 00:06:09,300 --> 00:06:11,560 And this is a particular problem. 82 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:17,180 He also says that he is open to hearing the cry of those people who are oppressed. 83 00:06:17,180 --> 00:06:18,900 And so that's a big part of it. 84 00:06:18,900 --> 00:06:21,900 And then he says in verse 24, you have a couple of things. 85 00:06:21,900 --> 00:06:25,020 One, he's going to judge if that's a problem. 86 00:06:25,020 --> 00:06:29,600 He literally says, my wrath shall wax hot and I will kill you with the sword. 87 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,980 So there's judgment that's coming there. 88 00:06:31,980 --> 00:06:37,140 And then he says, and by the way, if you do this, your wife will be a widow and your kids 89 00:06:37,140 --> 00:06:38,980 will be fatherless. 90 00:06:38,980 --> 00:06:41,900 So it's kind of interesting. 91 00:06:41,900 --> 00:06:47,540 There is a equitable distribution of justice. 92 00:06:47,540 --> 00:06:52,060 He says like, basically, if you mess with widows and fatherless, I'll make your wives 93 00:06:52,060 --> 00:06:54,260 widows and your kids fatherless. 94 00:06:54,260 --> 00:06:58,100 The idea is that like the punishment fits the crime. 95 00:06:58,100 --> 00:07:04,700 And so I think it's pretty clear here that God is saying, don't exploit people and I 96 00:07:04,700 --> 00:07:07,900 care about people who are vulnerable. 97 00:07:07,900 --> 00:07:11,780 You see that pretty, pretty specifically here. 98 00:07:11,780 --> 00:07:17,780 The second area kind of deals with, and actually the second and third point, both deal with 99 00:07:17,780 --> 00:07:20,860 a vulnerability in and around people who are poor. 100 00:07:20,860 --> 00:07:24,900 You'll see number two, believers must treat the poor with dignity. 101 00:07:24,900 --> 00:07:30,100 He says in verse 25, if they'll lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, 102 00:07:30,100 --> 00:07:32,660 thou shalt not be to him as a user. 103 00:07:32,660 --> 00:07:35,940 Neither shall they lay upon him usury. 104 00:07:35,940 --> 00:07:45,820 So this is somebody who is exploiting people's dire situation for gain, getting rich off 105 00:07:45,820 --> 00:08:00,180 of people through ungodly and unfair lending practices to enrich themselves. 106 00:08:00,180 --> 00:08:01,180 It's a kind of oppression. 107 00:08:01,180 --> 00:08:05,220 And he says it's wrong. 108 00:08:05,220 --> 00:08:09,900 He says in verse 26, if thou shalt take thy neighbor's arraignment to pledge, thou shalt 109 00:08:09,900 --> 00:08:13,460 deliver it unto him by that the sun goes down. 110 00:08:13,460 --> 00:08:19,460 Basically saying, if you're going for the most basic necessity, for instance, literally 111 00:08:19,460 --> 00:08:24,220 his cloak that's going to keep him warm at night as a poor person, because he says in 112 00:08:24,220 --> 00:08:26,660 verse 27, for that is his covering only. 113 00:08:26,660 --> 00:08:30,260 It is his arraignment for the skin wherein he shall he sleep. 114 00:08:30,260 --> 00:08:34,140 He's saying, don't do something that's going to kill somebody. 115 00:08:34,140 --> 00:08:38,580 Even if they agree to do it, don't do something that's going to really harm somebody. 116 00:08:38,580 --> 00:08:39,740 It might kill them. 117 00:08:39,740 --> 00:08:44,620 That might put them in a place because they're in a dire situation where they need the money. 118 00:08:44,620 --> 00:08:46,300 We're not even going to consider that. 119 00:08:46,300 --> 00:08:51,860 He essentially is commending that they give rather than loan for people who are in dire 120 00:08:51,860 --> 00:08:52,860 straits. 121 00:08:52,860 --> 00:08:59,180 Verse 27 continues, and it shall come to pass when he cryeth unto me, that I will hear for 122 00:08:59,180 --> 00:09:01,020 I am gracious. 123 00:09:01,020 --> 00:09:08,820 And so this is clear that God cares about poor people and that he says, you're not going 124 00:09:08,820 --> 00:09:10,060 to exploit them. 125 00:09:10,060 --> 00:09:15,260 You're not going to use them to enrich yourselves. 126 00:09:15,260 --> 00:09:21,260 And that line seems to be that if you're going to make an agreement with them, these are 127 00:09:21,260 --> 00:09:24,580 the boundaries of the agreement that they're not going to agree to do something that's 128 00:09:24,580 --> 00:09:28,500 ultimately going to fundamentally harm them. 129 00:09:28,500 --> 00:09:30,260 That's unjust. 130 00:09:30,260 --> 00:09:31,940 And so that's the second one. 131 00:09:31,940 --> 00:09:32,940 Here's the third one. 132 00:09:32,940 --> 00:09:37,900 Last one, believers must work to provide for those who cannot. 133 00:09:37,900 --> 00:09:40,540 I think it's really interesting. 134 00:09:40,540 --> 00:09:43,780 This is now in Leviticus chapter 19, verses nine and 10. 135 00:09:43,780 --> 00:09:48,300 And when you reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of 136 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:49,300 thy field. 137 00:09:49,300 --> 00:09:52,580 Neither shall thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest. 138 00:09:52,580 --> 00:10:00,900 And so he's saying here that when you go to harvest time, that there's part of the harvest 139 00:10:00,900 --> 00:10:03,020 that you are going to leave. 140 00:10:03,020 --> 00:10:05,820 He talks about the gleaning. 141 00:10:05,820 --> 00:10:11,020 In the study that I looked at that, that's the stuff that gets dropped in the harvest. 142 00:10:11,020 --> 00:10:12,020 Still good. 143 00:10:12,020 --> 00:10:13,020 Don't go pick it up. 144 00:10:13,020 --> 00:10:17,860 That's kind of like the overflow of what's going on with the farming. 145 00:10:17,860 --> 00:10:22,020 And then he says, talks about the corners, leaving the corners of your field. 146 00:10:22,020 --> 00:10:29,180 And he says, 10, and thou shalt not glean the vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every 147 00:10:29,180 --> 00:10:30,580 grape of the vineyard. 148 00:10:30,580 --> 00:10:33,580 Thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger. 149 00:10:33,580 --> 00:10:38,900 So now we're talking about those other two of the groups that he's already talked about, 150 00:10:38,900 --> 00:10:41,860 the poor and the stranger, the foreigner. 151 00:10:41,860 --> 00:10:44,020 Again, people who are vulnerable. 152 00:10:44,020 --> 00:10:48,980 Thou shalt leave them for the poor, stranger, I and the Lord your God. 153 00:10:48,980 --> 00:10:54,420 And so interesting to get to the harvest, what did they have to do? 154 00:10:54,420 --> 00:10:55,620 They had to plow the field. 155 00:10:55,620 --> 00:10:57,180 They had to gather the seed. 156 00:10:57,180 --> 00:10:58,340 They had to plant the seed. 157 00:10:58,340 --> 00:11:00,700 They had to steward the conditions. 158 00:11:00,700 --> 00:11:06,820 They had to do all the things that it takes to have this harvest. 159 00:11:06,820 --> 00:11:11,980 And he says, now what you're going to do is the poor that need to survive, that didn't 160 00:11:11,980 --> 00:11:16,700 have all the resources that you had to do the field, you need to be generous to them. 161 00:11:16,700 --> 00:11:18,060 And this is how we're going to do that. 162 00:11:18,060 --> 00:11:20,180 This is the safety that we're going to provide. 163 00:11:20,180 --> 00:11:26,740 We're going to allow them to pick up of the overflow of the harvest that you have. 164 00:11:26,740 --> 00:11:30,300 You're going to leave some on the edges for them to take that. 165 00:11:30,300 --> 00:11:33,900 And so I think that's a really interesting thing. 166 00:11:33,900 --> 00:11:37,180 It's obviously God cares about the poor. 167 00:11:37,180 --> 00:11:38,420 He cares about their survival. 168 00:11:38,420 --> 00:11:43,020 He cares about the hearts of the people who have to be generous. 169 00:11:43,020 --> 00:11:53,420 I think it struck me as I read this that the poor have a responsibility in surviving that 170 00:11:53,420 --> 00:11:54,860 they do what they can do. 171 00:11:54,860 --> 00:12:00,980 So if they're going to eat from the field, they had to go actually harvest it. 172 00:12:00,980 --> 00:12:04,700 They didn't have to plant it and do all the other stuff, but they could at least go pick 173 00:12:04,700 --> 00:12:05,700 it up. 174 00:12:05,700 --> 00:12:10,180 They could at least go get the grain, get the grapes from the corners of the field. 175 00:12:10,180 --> 00:12:11,980 So they did what they could do. 176 00:12:11,980 --> 00:12:13,100 They weren't just handed things. 177 00:12:13,100 --> 00:12:16,180 They still had to do their part too. 178 00:12:16,180 --> 00:12:19,180 And so that seems to be the system that was set up. 179 00:12:19,180 --> 00:12:26,300 So they wouldn't get rich on this kind of a system, but they would be able to survive 180 00:12:26,300 --> 00:12:32,620 because of the obedience and the generous heart of the people that did work. 181 00:12:32,620 --> 00:12:40,980 So I think the application here is that greed comes when we think that everything we have 182 00:12:40,980 --> 00:12:42,540 is for us. 183 00:12:42,540 --> 00:12:45,620 We ought to give to the Lord. 184 00:12:45,620 --> 00:12:47,220 We have to give in our local church. 185 00:12:47,220 --> 00:12:51,900 We ought to be supporting missions around the world. 186 00:12:51,900 --> 00:12:58,100 And we ought to be quick to help those in our way, our neighbors, those who are within 187 00:12:58,100 --> 00:13:01,340 our influence and the ability to help. 188 00:13:01,340 --> 00:13:03,740 We ought to look for ways to help them. 189 00:13:03,740 --> 00:13:06,940 And that's what we ought to do. 190 00:13:06,940 --> 00:13:11,780 Every church that I know of that would be a part of watching these has benevolence, 191 00:13:11,780 --> 00:13:13,900 ministries. 192 00:13:13,900 --> 00:13:18,940 I had conversations even in the last week with people who are saying, hey, I know of 193 00:13:18,940 --> 00:13:20,180 a particular need. 194 00:13:20,180 --> 00:13:26,500 I have the ability to meet that need of a brother or sister in our church body, and I want to 195 00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:27,500 know how to do that. 196 00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:28,780 How can I help with that? 197 00:13:28,780 --> 00:13:32,340 And I think that's our right way of doing this. 198 00:13:32,340 --> 00:13:33,340 So that's the application. 199 00:13:33,340 --> 00:13:35,980 Is there someone in your life? 200 00:13:35,980 --> 00:13:37,700 Is there someone in the life of your class? 201 00:13:37,700 --> 00:13:43,260 Is there someone in the life of the people in your class that has particular needs that 202 00:13:43,260 --> 00:13:46,100 the church can help with? 203 00:13:46,100 --> 00:13:51,540 And I say church, not necessarily as an institution in terms of it can only happen from the office 204 00:13:51,540 --> 00:13:56,820 or from the church account, but literally among the people that are in the body of Christ 205 00:13:56,820 --> 00:14:03,100 helping each other, this is the kind of thing that ought to happen among God's people. 206 00:14:03,100 --> 00:14:10,380 I think the other thing, clear relationship here with the day is Sanctity of Human Life 207 00:14:10,380 --> 00:14:11,380 Sunday. 208 00:14:11,380 --> 00:14:18,420 And I think that some of the most vulnerable people in the world are people in the womb. 209 00:14:18,420 --> 00:14:23,740 And so I think it's okay for us to say that God's heart towards people who can't help 210 00:14:23,740 --> 00:14:32,140 themselves is he has a heart of compassion, a heart of love, and he wants us to protect 211 00:14:32,140 --> 00:14:33,540 them. 212 00:14:33,540 --> 00:14:42,900 And so on this Sunday, I think that's a good thing to talk about and to encourage the people 213 00:14:42,900 --> 00:14:51,180 in your class to do what they can to take care of people who are the most vulnerable. 214 00:14:51,180 --> 00:14:58,180 I'm really glad that God saw my need and sent his son to give. 215 00:14:58,180 --> 00:15:04,540 He gave so that we could have everlasting life and so we're following the Lord God and 216 00:15:04,540 --> 00:15:08,060 his character and his mindset when we do that. 217 00:15:08,060 --> 00:15:12,660 I hope this helped you think through the lesson and I hope this is something that you can 218 00:15:12,660 --> 00:15:17,740 use to apply to your own life first and then to the life of the people in your class. 219 00:15:17,740 --> 00:15:28,300 Have a great week.