Exodus 23:15-25

15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib, for in it thou didst come out from Egypt; and none shall appear before me empty),

16 And the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field, and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my lamb remain until the morning.

19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother’s milk.

20 Behold, I send the Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

21 Keep thyself before him and hear his voice, grieve him not; for he will not pardon your rebellion, for my name is in him.

22 But if thou shalt indeed hear his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies and an adversary unto those that afflict thee.

23 For my Angel shall go before thee and bring thee in unto the land of the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite the Hivite and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off.

24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them and completely break down their images.

25 But ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread and thy water; and I will take all sickness away from the midst of thee.

Exodus 23:15-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 23

This chapter contains several laws, chiefly judicial, relating to the civil polity of Israel, as concerning witness borne and judgment made of cases in courts of judicature, without any respect to poor or rich, and without the influence of a bribe, Ex 23:1-3,6-8, concerning doing good to an enemy in case any of his cattle go astray, or fall under their burden, Ex 23:4,5, and of the oppression of a stranger, Ex 23:9, and then follow others concerning the sabbath of the seventh year, and of the seventh day, with a caution against the use of the names of idols, Ex 23:10-13, next are laws concerning the appearance of all their males at the three feasts, Ex 23:14-17, and concerning the slaying of the sacrifice of the passover, and bringing the first of the firstfruits of the land, Ex 23:18,19 and then a promise is made of sending an angel to them to bring them into the land of Canaan, where they should carefully avoid all idolatry, and show a just indignation against it, and serve the Lord, and then it would be well with them, Ex 23:20-26, and particularly it is promised, that the Lord would send his fear, and his hornets, before them, to destroy the inhabitants of the land, and drive out the rest by little and little, until they should possess the utmost borders of it, which are fixed, Ex 23:27-31, and the chapter is concluded with a direction not to make a covenant with these people, or their gods, nor suffer them to dwell among them, lest they should be a snare unto them, Ex 23:32,33.