Exodus - Strange laws and slavery

Aug 02, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Set Apart: Holiness as Identity, Not Restriction

The Old Testament laws were never about arbitrary restrictions but about defining Israel’s sacred calling. Holiness meant being visibly distinct from neighboring cultures, a people marked by God’s character. This separation wasn’t about superiority but purpose: to reflect divine purity in a broken world. Just as Israel’s laws guarded against assimilation, Christians today are called to embody Christ’s countercultural love. Holiness isn’t a burden—it’s the freedom to live as God’s redeemed. [02:27]

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
(1 Peter 2:9, NIV)

Reflection: Where does your life blend into the world’s patterns instead of reflecting God’s distinct love? What practical step could mark your choices as “set apart” this week?

Day 2: Threads of Separation: When Clothing Speaks of Holiness

The prohibition against mixed fabrics seems baffling until its purpose is clear: every thread symbolized Israel’s call to resist compromise. Pagan rituals often mixed materials, so God’s people were to reject even subtle idolatry. Holiness requires intentional separation from practices that dilute devotion. For believers today, this means examining what “mixes” with our worship—habits, values, or priorities that quietly undermine faithfulness. [11:52]

“Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.”
(Deuteronomy 22:11, NIV)

Reflection: What seemingly harmless habits or cultural norms might be “mixing” with your faith? How can you cultivate intentional purity in one area of daily life?

Day 3: From Bondage to Freedom: Redefining Servanthood

Old Testament slavery laws regulated a broken system but pointed to a greater redemption. Christ’s sacrifice shattered chains, making us servants of grace rather than slaves to sin or societal injustice. While the Bible regulated ancient slavery, Jesus redefined power: using freedom to liberate others. Modern believers must confront all forms of bondage, remembering we were ransomed to be agents of deliverance. [14:19]

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(Mark 10:45, NIV)

Reflection: Where do you see systems of oppression today, and how can your actions reflect Christ’s heart for liberation? In what ways has Jesus’ ransom reshaped your view of personal “freedom”?

Day 4: In the World, Not Of It: The Mark of a Transformed Life

Holiness isn’t isolation but infiltration—engaging culture without mirroring it. The early church thrived not by retreating but by radiating goodness that confused pagans. When coworkers gossip or friends compromise, believers reveal an alternative kingdom. Joy in hardship, integrity under pressure, and love for enemies become the “holy peculiarity” that sparks curiosity about Christ. [23:36]

“Live such good lives among the pagans that… they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
(1 Peter 2:12, NIV)

Reflection: What aspect of your daily interactions feels most “of the world”? How could your choices this week provoke someone to ask, “Why are you different?”

Day 5: Revival’s First Spark: Becoming a Holy People

Revival begins not with crowds converting but with Christians consecrating. A church indistinguishable from culture cannot ignite transformation. Holiness is the kindling—surrendered hearts, purged sin, and radical obedience. When God’s people live as a “holy nation,” their collective light pierces darkness, drawing others to the Source. Revival starts here: in the quiet choices to honor Christ over comfort. [24:14]

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven… and heal their land.”
(2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV)

Reflection: What compromise in your life might be dousing revival’s spark? How can you partner with other believers to cultivate holiness in your community?

Sermon Summary

The question of Exodus, strange laws, and slavery starts with the purpose of the Old Testament law. The Old Testament laws were given to distinguish Israel from the pagan nations around them and to make Israel a holy nation. Holiness means being set apart, being pure, belonging to God as his chosen people. The ceremonial laws dealt with sacrifices and festivals, and Jesus has now become the final sacrifice, so nobody needs to wheel in a cow, catch a chicken, or bring grain and wine offerings to church. The moral law, especially seen in the Ten Commandments, still carries through as part of the way God’s people understand right and wrong. The civil laws governed Israel as a nation, and those are often the laws that feel difficult when read with twenty first century eyes.

The laws about stoning for adultery and blasphemy show just how seriously evil was treated in Israel. God wanted his people to be holy and pure, and those crimes were not small things in that setting. The severity of the punishment may feel extreme now, but the law was known, and the nation understood that wrongdoing carried real consequence. The law has not carried through into the church today in that form, and Christians are not encouraged to practise those punishments now.

The strange law about not mixing wool and linen seems baffling at first. The ban likely worked as a symbol, keeping Israel from imitating pagan practices and reminding them that purity and separateness touched even ordinary life. God wanted his people to be visibly different, not indistinguishable from the world around them.

Slavery in the Old Testament is complicated and contentious. Exodus 21 regulated a practice that already existed in the ancient world, especially where there was no welfare state and no safety net for debt and poverty. The Bible does not command slavery, but it does place limits around it, such as the release of a Hebrew servant in the seventh year. The regulation was not perfect, and slavery today has no place in society; Christians should be leading the fight against modern slavery.

Jesus comes as the mediator of a new covenant and sets people free from slavery to sin. Hebrews says Christ died as a ransom, and 1 Peter says God’s people are now a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. The call to holiness has not disappeared; it has shifted from Israel as a nation to God’s people living in the world but not of the world. Revival starts inside the church, with transformed people who are no longer beige, no longer blending in, but visibly set apart for God.

Key Takeaways

1. Holiness means being set apart [02:40] Holiness is not mainly about religious performance or looking impressive. Holiness means belonging to God in a way that makes a people distinct, pure, and not simply absorbed into the culture around them. The Old Testament picture of Israel as a holy nation still presses on the church today, though the shape has changed through Christ. [02:40]
2. Old laws require ancient eyes [05:09] The difficulty of Old Testament law often comes from reading ancient Israel as though it were modern Britain. The civil laws belonged to a different time, culture, and national arrangement, and that matters when trying to understand them honestly. Careful reading does not pretend the hard questions are easy, but it also refuses to flatten the Bible into a twenty first century court case. [05:09]
3. Slavery was regulated, not commanded [15:00] The Bible does not command slavery as a good thing to pursue. The Old Testament laws worked within a broken ancient system and placed limits around practices that already existed. That distinction matters, because it keeps the text from being used either as a weapon against Scripture or as an excuse for injustice. [15:00]
4. Christ sets slaves to sin free [21:10] Jesus does more than improve human behaviour from the outside. Christ comes as the ransom who breaks the deeper slavery, the bondage of sin under the first covenant. Freedom in Christ is not vague positivity; it is release from the power that once owned and mastered the human heart. [21:10]
5. Revival begins with transformed people [24:14] Revival is not first a crowd outside the church coming in. Revival begins when God’s people become holy, different, and changed in a way that cannot be faked. A transformed person is not beige, not blended into the world, but marked by a peace, purity, and courage that makes others ask why.

## [24:14]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:26] - Exodus, Strange Laws, and Slavery
[02:10] - The Purpose of Old Testament Law
[03:09] - Ceremonial, Moral, and Civil Laws
[05:52] - Stoning, Evil, and Punishment
[10:44] - Wool, Linen, and Holy Difference
[13:47] - The Challenge of Slavery
[16:13] - Debt, Poverty, and Ancient Servitude
[20:34] - Modern Slavery Has No Place
[21:10] - Christ the Mediator Who Sets Free
[22:15] - A Chosen People and Holy Nation
[24:14] - Revival Starts Within the Church
[26:09] - Guarding Against Blending In
[28:05] - Prayer for Transformed People

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

1 Peter 2:9-11
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” [21:53]

Hebrews 9:15
“Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” [21:10]

Exodus 21:2
“When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.” [14:50]

Observation questions

In 1 Peter 2:9-11, what words and phrases describe the identity of God’s people, and how are they told to live in response? [22:15]
What three kinds of Old Testament law are identified, and which one is said to continue most clearly into Christian life today? [03:15]
In Exodus 21:2, what limit is placed on the service of a Hebrew slave, and what happens in the seventh year? [17:42]
What reasons are given for laws that seem strange, such as not mixing wool and linen, and what did those laws communicate about Israel? [12:17]

Interpretation questions

If holiness means being set apart, pure, and belonging to God, how does that help explain why so many Old Testament laws focused on making Israel visibly different from the nations around them? [02:40]
Hebrews 9:15 says Christ is the mediator of a new covenant. How does that help explain why Christians do not keep the ceremonial and civil laws of Israel in the same way today? [21:10]
Exodus 21:2 regulates slavery rather than commanding it. How does that distinction help when thinking about difficult Old Testament laws in a broken ancient world? [15:00]
1 Peter calls the church a holy nation while also calling believers sojourners and exiles. What does that suggest about how Christians should relate to the culture around them now? [23:19]

Application questions

God’s people are called to be in the world but not of the world. Where is it hardest right now to live as someone visibly set apart—at work, with friends, at home, or online? [24:03]
A holy life is often seen in ordinary choices: speech, honesty, purity, and self-control. What is one everyday habit that may be causing someone to blend in rather than stand out as belonging to Christ? [23:47]
Jesus came to set people free from slavery to sin. Where is freedom still needed right now—in anger, lust, bitterness, fear, gossip, or something else? [21:32]
Revival begins with transformed people, not just bigger crowds. What might real transformation look like in one person’s week so that others could genuinely notice a difference? [24:32]
Christians should not be beige or indistinguishable from the world. In what settings is the temptation strongest to stay quiet, go along, or laugh with what should be resisted? [26:09]
Modern slavery has no place in society. How might a small group grow in awareness, prayer, or practical concern for people who are exploited or trapped today? [20:34]
God’s people are called a chosen people and a holy nation. How can someone hold onto that identity without becoming proud, withdrawn, or harsh toward people who do not yet know Christ? [21:53]

Sermon Clips

73s

#RevivalStartsWithin

“``we've we've spoken a bit about revival in this in this church over the last year. And what has become apparent abundantly clear to me, and I hope to to the leadership as we've we've gone about looking at things is that revival starts within the church. It doesn't necessarily start outside the church. When we think of revival, we think of of thousands of people coming to know Jesus, which is what we want. But actually, revival starts here. It starts about us becoming a holy people, about being different to the world. People should wanna ask you why are you different? Why do you have a peace that passes understanding? Why even when trouble happens, you are you have a persona of of joy, not of laughter, not of happiness, but that that inner joy that comes from knowing Jesus.”

71s

#InWorldNotOfIt

“We don't have our own Christian one like Israel nation where all the Christians gather. We are in the world. But we must be different from the world. And my challenge to you this morning where I want us to to spend a few minutes as we wrap up is that are you different to your friends, to your colleagues at work? Could somebody look at you and say, why are you different? That is what we say here that they may see your good deeds. Do you go to work and gossip with everybody else? you lie? Do can you be seen as being separate, different to people? We've gotta be in the world, but not of the world. That is the biggest challenge that we face.”

45s

#HoldToScripture

“danger for us. And this is the biggest danger. And we can see this if we if we're honest, if we look at some denominations out there, that there is nothing that distinguishes us as disciples, as followers of Jesus from the fallen world. That we tolerate that we tolerate things that would offend God, and that we are no longer a holy people. We need to guard against that. We need to hold to scripture.”

35s

#StandForGod

“Lord, we do not want to be beige. We do not want to blend in with this world. We wanna stand for what you stand in our workplaces, in our families, in our friendship groups, Lord. Lord, we wanna see ourselves transform, then we wanna see our communities transform, and then we wanna see our nations transform. And we wanna be there to be holy places.”

34s

#FromIsraelToAll

“Here is the crux of it. Three thousand years ago or so, when we were looking at those old testament where those old testament verses were written, it was about Israel being God's chosen people, becoming a holy nation, becoming separate. Now that has changed with the arrival of Jesus and the fact that the Gentiles, that's you and I, can enter the kingdom of God, can become part of his family.”

73s

#EndModernSlavery

“The problem is we still haven't managed to do it properly. There is still slavery in countries around the world. Some of it people sell themselves into slavery. Some of it is forced slavery. We still need to be fighting the fight. We have had people at this church, at least one who has been a form of a modern day slave. It is horrendous situation, and we need to be leading the fight to stop that as Christians. The bible does not want slavery. No. It it doesn't condemn it. That's I can't argue that it does. It looks to regulate it back then, and today's slavery has no part in our society, but it is still around.”

31s

#TransformedLives

“We need to be different. We need to be separate from the world. That's what revival looks like. When we become a holy gathering of people, then we will see people will come into this church, and their lives will be transformed. And that is what we wanna see. We wanna see transformed people. Transformed people are changed people. You cannot be transformed if you are not changed. And”

40s

#OTInContext

“But we do have to remember that we are looking back in history to a different time, to a different culture. And the problem that we often have with so much of looking back into the Old Testament is that we are looking back with twenty first century eyes rather than with eyes of what a Jewish person would be looking through and what the world was like then. And so we struggle put the two together.”

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