Exodus 22 is a whole lot more rules for people to live by. What it really points out is the need for personal accountability. There is punishment listed for a number of things that can happen between people. God is not about ignoring wrongs or allowing things to go unpunished. When people make mistakes, there is a price to pay. Today though, culture wants us to believe that someone other than ourselves is responsible for those choices. There is a desire to push it off on another. God’s laws don’t read that way in my Bible. It doesn’t say things like “if someone else made you do it you are off the hook”. These chapters on God’s laws are filled with a whole lot of “if – then” statements. If we do this then the punishment will be that. Obedience is not without consequences when we choose not to live that way. God can’t just look the other way and ignore what He has given to us as direction and commands. We have to get our act together and walk with Him. That is the only choice that He desires.
This chapter is very clear that even then there was a sacred place for marriage and sex. God has some strong rules here about how there was a price “if a man seduces a virgin”. Sex is God’s design and He has some pretty straight rules around it. It is a vital component of a healthy marriage, yet too often people think it can be expanded in a whole lot of ways that never were God’s intent. God pays attention to how we treat it. That includes pornography, bad movies, magazines – and I am speaking primarily to men here but not exclusively – God will hold us accountable for how we address this part of our lives. Too many of us think we can cross the line because it doesn’t hurt anyone. Right? Pictures and videos really don’t matter. Not what God says. Not how God feels. The message from Exodus is that sin has a price. Disobedience comes with a cost. God holds sex and marriage sacred. Don’t mess around with it. There is a price to pay and one that will cost you a lot more than you imagine!
