### Summary

In today's discussion, we delved into the intricate laws given to the Israelites in the book of Exodus. These laws, which may seem peculiar or outdated to us, were essential for a newly freed people who had no prior experience in self-governance. God provided these laws to shape the Israelites into a unique, set-apart nation that would reflect His character to the surrounding nations. The Ten Commandments served as the foundational constitution, under which all other laws were categorized. These laws covered various aspects of life, including personal injuries, property protection, social responsibilities, and justice and mercy.

We also explored the deeper purposes behind these laws. They were not just rules to follow but were designed to reveal our need for a Savior, protect the vulnerable, and ultimately lead us to Jesus Christ. The laws were given from the heart of a loving God who desired the best for His people. Even when the laws are hard to understand, they are rooted in God's wisdom and love. The psalmist in Psalm 119 and the Apostle Peter both acknowledged the complexity of God's laws but also recognized their immense value and the blessings that come from obedience.

Finally, we looked forward to the next part of our series, where we will explore the construction of the tabernacle and its rich symbolism, pointing us to the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

### Key Takeaways

1. **God's Laws as a Foundation for Society**: The Ten Commandments and subsequent laws provided a foundational structure for the Israelites, who were emerging from centuries of slavery. These laws were essential for establishing a just and orderly society that reflected God's character. They served as a constitution, ensuring that all other laws aligned with God's unchanging principles. [01:33]

2. **The Purpose of the Law**: One of the primary purposes of God's law was to reveal our need for a Savior. No one could keep the law perfectly, highlighting the necessity of grace and redemption. This understanding points us to Jesus, who fulfilled the law and offers us salvation through His sacrifice. [02:46]

3. **Cultural Context and Understanding**: Many of God's laws may seem odd or irrelevant to us today, but they were given in a specific cultural and historical context. Understanding this context helps us see the wisdom and care behind these laws. They addressed real issues and needs of the time, guiding the Israelites in their unique situation. [10:37]

4. **God's Heart for the Vulnerable**: God's laws included specific provisions to protect the most vulnerable members of society, such as servants, the poor, and those in debt. This reflects God's compassionate nature and His desire for justice and mercy. Even today, we are called to uphold these values in our interactions with others. [17:10]

5. **The Law as a Guardian Leading to Christ**: The law served as a guardian until the coming of Christ, who fulfilled its requirements and established a new covenant through His blood. This new covenant offers us a more profound and complete covering for our sins, emphasizing faith and grace over legalistic adherence. [20:52]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[01:33] - Purpose of the Laws
[02:46] - Revealing Our Need for a Savior
[04:01] - Examples of Modern Laws
[06:35] - Categories of Laws in Exodus
[07:57] - Personal Injury Laws
[09:18] - Protection of Property
[10:37] - Social Responsibility and Justice
[11:52] - Psalm 119 and the Value of God's Law
[13:24] - Peter on the Complexity of Scripture
[14:34] - God's Laws from a Loving Heart
[16:03] - Protecting the Vulnerable
[17:10] - Cultural Context of the Laws
[18:23] - Leading to Jesus
[20:52] - The New Covenant
[21:46] - Upcoming Sermon on the Tabernacle
[22:25] - Announcements and Events
[24:57] - Closing Remarks

### Bible Reading
1. **Exodus 21:1-6** - Laws concerning servants
2. **Psalm 119:97-104** - The value of God's law
3. **Galatians 3:23-26** - The law as a guardian leading to Christ

### Observation Questions
1. What are some of the specific categories of laws given in Exodus 21? ([06:35])
2. According to Psalm 119, what benefits does the psalmist find in meditating on God's law? ([11:52])
3. How does Galatians 3 describe the role of the law before the coming of faith in Christ? ([20:52])
4. What were some of the odd laws mentioned in the sermon, and how do they relate to the cultural context of God's laws? ([04:01])

### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think God provided such detailed laws for the Israelites, especially considering their recent history of slavery? ([01:33])
2. How does understanding the cultural and historical context of God's laws help us appreciate their wisdom and care? ([10:37])
3. In what ways do the laws in Exodus reflect God's heart for justice and mercy? ([09:18])
4. How does the concept of the law as a guardian in Galatians 3 help us understand the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant? ([20:52])

### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you found it difficult to understand a specific command or teaching in the Bible. How did you handle it, and what did you learn from that experience? ([10:37])
2. God's laws were designed to protect the vulnerable. How can you apply this principle in your daily interactions with others, especially those who are marginalized or in need? ([17:10])
3. The psalmist in Psalm 119 speaks of the blessings that come from obeying God's law. Can you identify a specific area in your life where obedience to God's word has brought you blessings? ([11:52])
4. The sermon mentioned that God's laws reveal our need for a Savior. How has this understanding deepened your appreciation for Jesus' sacrifice? ([02:46])
5. Considering the cultural context of the laws in Exodus, how can you approach seemingly outdated or difficult passages in the Bible with a mindset of seeking deeper understanding? ([10:37])
6. The law served as a guardian until Christ came. How does this concept influence your view of the Old Testament laws and their relevance to your faith today? ([20:52])
7. Think of a specific way you can show justice and mercy in your community this week. What steps will you take to make this happen? ([09:18])

Day 1: God's Laws as a Foundation for Society
The laws given to the Israelites in the book of Exodus were not arbitrary rules but a foundational structure for a newly freed people. Emerging from centuries of slavery, the Israelites had no experience in self-governance. The Ten Commandments served as their constitution, under which all other laws were categorized. These laws covered various aspects of life, including personal injuries, property protection, social responsibilities, and justice and mercy. They were essential for establishing a just and orderly society that reflected God's character. By adhering to these laws, the Israelites would become a unique, set-apart nation that would reflect God's wisdom and love to the surrounding nations. [01:33]

Exodus 19:5-6 (ESV): "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."

Reflection: Think about the rules and guidelines you follow in your daily life. How do they reflect your values and beliefs? What changes can you make to ensure that your actions and decisions reflect God's character and wisdom?


Day 2: The Purpose of the Law
One of the primary purposes of God's law was to reveal our need for a Savior. The laws were designed to show that no one could keep them perfectly, highlighting the necessity of grace and redemption. This understanding points us to Jesus, who fulfilled the law and offers us salvation through His sacrifice. The laws were not just rules to follow but were given from the heart of a loving God who desired the best for His people. Even when the laws are hard to understand, they are rooted in God's wisdom and love. [02:46]

Galatians 3:24-25 (ESV): "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian."

Reflection: Reflect on a time when you felt you couldn't measure up to a standard or expectation. How did that experience make you aware of your need for grace? How can you embrace God's grace in your life today?


Day 3: Cultural Context and Understanding
Many of God's laws may seem odd or irrelevant to us today, but they were given in a specific cultural and historical context. Understanding this context helps us see the wisdom and care behind these laws. They addressed real issues and needs of the time, guiding the Israelites in their unique situation. By studying the cultural context, we can better appreciate the relevance and application of these laws in our own lives. God's wisdom transcends time and culture, and His principles remain applicable even today. [10:37]

Deuteronomy 4:6-8 (ESV): "Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?"

Reflection: Consider a law or rule that you find difficult to understand or accept. How might understanding its historical and cultural context change your perspective? What steps can you take to seek wisdom and understanding in this area?


Day 4: God's Heart for the Vulnerable
God's laws included specific provisions to protect the most vulnerable members of society, such as servants, the poor, and those in debt. This reflects God's compassionate nature and His desire for justice and mercy. Even today, we are called to uphold these values in our interactions with others. By caring for the vulnerable, we demonstrate God's love and compassion to the world. This aspect of the law reminds us of our responsibility to advocate for and support those who are marginalized and in need. [17:10]

Isaiah 1:17 (ESV): "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."

Reflection: Identify someone in your community who is vulnerable or in need. How can you show God's love and compassion to them today? What practical steps can you take to advocate for justice and support those who are marginalized?


Day 5: The Law as a Guardian Leading to Christ
The law served as a guardian until the coming of Christ, who fulfilled its requirements and established a new covenant through His blood. This new covenant offers us a more profound and complete covering for our sins, emphasizing faith and grace over legalistic adherence. The laws were a temporary measure to guide the Israelites until the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Through His sacrifice, we are offered salvation and a relationship with God that is based on grace and faith rather than strict adherence to the law. [20:52]

Hebrews 8:6-7 (ESV): "But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second."

Reflection: Reflect on the difference between living under the law and living under grace. How does understanding the new covenant in Christ change your approach to faith and obedience? What steps can you take to deepen your relationship with God through faith and grace?

1. "He wanted the Israelites to reveal the one true God to the nations around them by the way that they lived and what they taught, what they practiced to be a set-apart, different people. But we have to remember, they were coming out of hundreds of years of slavery and bondage. And so when they were freed, they really didn't have a good idea or concept of how to set up their society, what laws would be important, how should they do things in the best possible way." [01:33] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "One of those purposes was to reveal to us our need for a Savior, because none of us has kept the law perfect. We're going to talk about some of those today that we talked about Sunday. And that was part of the point that God was making to Israel and to the nations around them and to all of us even today." [02:46] (14 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "God is a God of justice and mercy, and he balances those two things together. They're not mutually exclusive. They go together when handled properly. And God spends a lot of time in his word showing the balance between justice and mercy. That he extends to us, but that he also wants us to extend to each other." [10:37] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "When we're reading God's law, we need to understand that there are some things there that in our time, in our culture, from our point of view, they may not on the surface make good sense. But when we dig a little deeper, if we'll take the time and make the effort to dig deeper, we'll see why these things were a big deal, why they mattered to God and what He was doing with the laws that He was giving them." [11:52] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "When you know God's love for you, you understand the character of God, his, his honesty, his truthfulness, his desire for what's best for you. Then it's easier to be willing to submit to the teachings of God's law. And the new covenant in second Timothy three, Paul wrote to Timothy, all scripture is God breathe. So that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." [16:03] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "God's laws were also intended to protect the vulnerable. God's always had a heart for those that might be taken advantage of by people with evil intent. And so he puts within his law protections there for those who would be the most vulnerable. And, and that culture and society, oftentimes it was, um, the way the nations around them treated people in certain classes, right?" [17:10] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "We know that ultimately God's laws are designed to lead us to Jesus. That was the most important thing about the law. In Exodus 24, 7 and 8, it says this. Moses does this. Now, you can't judge the heart of everybody how sincere they were when they said that. Most of them probably were sincerely thinking, yes, that's what we're going to do. We're going to obey everything God's telling us." [18:23] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "We needed a covering for our sin that was more adequate than the repeating the blood sacrifices over and over again. And the new covenant was established through the blood of the lamb that is the perfect sacrifice who pays in full the debt of our sin. And that's Jesus." [20:52] (16 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

Welcome to the Lakeshore Christian Church Midweek Podcast. I'm Pastor Randy Cordell.

We're coming to you live from our studio and our Antioch campus here in Nashville, Tennessee. We come to you live at noon on Wednesdays, but once it's posted, you can listen to it anytime after that. If you haven't already done so, we'd love for you to subscribe to the podcast and invite others to subscribe as well.

Each week, we spend some time talking about the message series that we're in here at Lakeshore. Right now, we're going through a series in the book of Exodus, just going straight through the book of Exodus. I've loved teaching this series. It's been a lot of fun for me. I've taught lessons out of Exodus throughout all of my ministry, but I've never just gone straight through the book. It's been really informative for me.

It's caused me to have to dig and study so many details there, especially in the section that we're in now, talking about the laws that God gave the Israelites after He freed them from Egypt, and He's taking them on that journey to the land that He's promised to give them. On the way, He's preparing them to be the people that He wants them to be, that set-apart, unique people for Him that will point people to Him and the nations around them.

He wanted the Israelites to reveal the one true God to the nations around them by the way that they lived and what they taught, what they practiced to be a set-apart, different people. But we have to remember, they were coming out of hundreds of years of slavery and bondage. And so when they were freed, they really didn't have a good idea or concept of how to set up their society, what laws would be important, how should they do things in the best possible way.

And so God begins to teach them by giving them first the Ten Commandments. We talked about that a couple of weeks ago, where that's like the constitution, the foundation for the rest of the law that God was going to give them. It established those principles of God that can never be violated, even with the other laws that He was giving. So God would not contradict Himself. All of these laws would come under the umbrella of that constitution of the Ten Commandments.

And the law serves a lot of purposes. The Ten Commandments and the rest of the law serve a lot of purposes. We're going to talk about some of those today that we talked about Sunday. But one of those purposes was to reveal to us our need for a Savior, because none of us has kept the law perfectly. We're going to talk about some of those today that we talked about Sunday.

And that was part of the point that God was making to Israel and to the nations around them and to all of us even today. But in talking about laws, I introduced the message last week, this past Sunday, talking about some of the crazy laws that we have on the books or have had on the books here in the United States.

And I just want to remind us of a few of those, because some of God's laws are going to seem a little bit odd to us sometimes, too, as you read through them in detail. But in Arkansas, on the books, it says it's illegal to mispronounce the state's name in Arkansas. Evidently, that was a real problem at one time. Some legislator decided we better make it a law here to make sure people are saying the name of our state correctly.

In Connecticut, I'm not sure what's behind this one. A pickle cannot be sold unless it bounces. I don't know if the bouncing of a pickle has something to do with its freshness or quality, but for some reason that was important. In Indiana, this is kind of a superstitious law. Black cats are required to wear bells around their necks on Friday the 13th. I'm not sure who got that one passed or how it passed in their legislature, but that was a big deal to some people.

In Maryland, it's illegal to swear while driving. Now, I know that was a tough one for people caught in traffic. As traffic's getting worse here in Nashville, I'm sure that's a tough one if we had that one on the books here, if it were to be enforced. In Oklahoma, it's illegal to wrestle a bear. Now, I kind of got an idea about how that might have got started. There were, for a while, these traveling shows that would have a bear in the show that some guy would come out and actually wrestle.

And I'm sure that as people saw that happening, they saw two things: the danger and sometimes how the bear might not be treated appropriately, you know, cared for like it needed to be. And so they brought this law onto the books there. In Rhode Island, it's illegal to impersonate an auctioneer. I guess somehow some people maybe hired an auctioneer that were just faking it. They weren't really auctioneers, and they ended up passing that law.

In Gainesville, Georgia, I can relate to this one. Now, I'm a Georgia boy originally. In Gainesville, Georgia, it's illegal to eat fried chicken with a knife and fork. You got to use your hands if you're going to eat fried chicken in Gainesville, Georgia. Now, of course, a lot of these laws seem silly. They probably aren't enforced. Maybe they weren't even enforced when they were passed, some of them. But for some reason, they felt it was important to get them on the books.

There's a section of Boulder College in Colorado, where it's illegal to put upholstered furniture on your porch. And in Wisconsin, you know, the dairy state, if you were to sell cheese and butter, it's required to be highly pleasing. That's the way it's written in the law. It's got to be good, top-quality stuff if you're going to sell that from Wisconsin.

And this was one of my favorites, just because of the humor of it today. I don't know if this is still on the books. I'm sure it's obviously not enforced. But in Memphis, Tennessee, women couldn't drive a car unless there was a man walking in front of the car waving a red flag to warn the other people on the road that she was coming down the road. Obviously, I know some men that need something like that, too, with the way some men drive.

And some people might think I need that sometimes in the way I drive. It was just to hopefully they had the idea. It's a little bit insulting to women, right? Because women drivers can be fantastic drivers as well.

We need to know that when we read through God's laws, and we think that doesn't make sense, or that seems kind of silly, or I don't know why they would even have that law, obviously, there were reasons for it at the time. There was something that God knew, some detail that God was wanting to make sure He covered, because the laws that He gives get very, very specific in a lot of ways.

And in Exodus 21, we see the beginning of a section of several chapters where God gives them laws to follow. He does it through Moses, the spokesperson that He has for them, who has led them out of Egypt and is now leading them to that land of promise.

And if your Bible translation is like mine, I use an NIV translation that I preach from and teach from usually. And it breaks these sections down, the sections of the law into different categories. So maybe if you've got time today or throughout the week, as you're doing some Bible reading, go look at these chapters beginning in 21 and verse 1. Mine has these headings or these categories for these different sections of the law.

And yours may word it differently, but you're going to see something similar to this in most translations. Mine breaks it down this way: the first section is laws concerning servants. And then you have laws that deal with personal injuries. Now, servants would be, again, for the protection of the people who would have servants, and also for the servants.

They're not just servants themselves. Personal injuries, in our culture today, that's a very prominent thing. Personal injury attorneys. You see commercials all the time. You see ads all the time for personal injury attorneys. Have you been injured in an accident? Call this attorney's office. We'll take care of you.

And sometimes, you know, it's kind of in a joking way, they're seen as the term maybe ambulance chasers or something like that. But there was a good reason for personal injury law, because there are people that, through negligence or even through evil intent, will take advantage of other people and be careless or sometimes cause harm or injury to someone.

We actually have a personal injury attorney here at Lakeshore who works with a firm that recently was involved with a case that was really for the protection of people and babies in particular, with a product that was being produced for babies for food for them that included an ingredient that they have discovered was harmful and dangerous for the babies.

And so they went...and the company would not, on their own, voluntarily take care of it, and so they had to go to court and fight for the babies for their protection. And so the protection for personal injury is a big deal. When it's done right, when it's done with the right intent, it's a very good protection for people.

And then there was the protection of property. We all know that if you have property of any kind, if someone else tears it up or is not respectful of it, then you're going to be in a lot of trouble. And so there's a lot of it and causes something that devalues your property or something like that, that's something that can hurt you.

And so God is making sure He includes in the law some provisions there for the protection of your personal property. And then there are the social responsibility laws. That's a section that God deals with. And again, that's very prevalent in our culture today. We have social responsibility and our interactions with each other.

And then the laws of justice and mercy. And God has always been a God where justice and mercy are important to Him. And He's revealed that from the very beginning of creation all the way through scripture, all the way into the new covenant laws that we have, instructions and teachings that we have.

God is a God of justice and mercy, and He balances those two things together. They're not mutually exclusive. They go together when handled properly. And God spends a lot of time in His word showing the balance between justice and mercy that He extends to us, but that He also wants us to extend to each other.

So I want you to take some time in your Bible reading to look through these laws, and some of them are going to be hard. One of the first points I made Sunday was God's laws are often not easy to understand because we don't always know the cultural setting. We have a hard time putting ourselves in their place and their time with what they're dealing with.

And not only in their place, but also in their own culture because they're just freed from slavery. They haven't had laws of their own. And so they're kind of starting from scratch with their own laws, but also because of the nations around them. They just came out of Egypt that had a very pagan society. All of the people groups around them have their own laws and values and morals that they were practicing and living by.

And so they would be influenced by all of that. And so they had to respond to that. And God is going to give them in the law instructions to help them know how to respond in the right way in their cultural setting. Our cultural setting is different in some ways. It's very similar in some ways. Some of the major things are the same always for all people, but there are specifics within certain cultures that are more difficult for us to grasp because our culture doesn't function that way.

And so when we're reading God's law, we need to understand that there are some things there that in our time, in our culture, from our point of view, they may not on the surface make good sense. But when we dig a little deeper, if we'll take the time and make the effort to dig deeper, we'll see why these things were a big deal, why they mattered to God and what He was doing with the laws that He was giving them.

I love the psalmist in Psalm 119, his words about the law, beginning in verse 97. He says, "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long." And what the psalmist is saying is he's gotten to that place in his life where he values God's law because of the blessing that it brings to his life and the advantage that it gives him to know that law and meditate on it and actually obey it as God is instructing him to do.

And he recognizes that when you obey it, it brings blessings to your life. And so even those that are hard to understand, the psalmist is willing to get to this place where he trusts God and the character of God enough, even when he doesn't fully understand everything about why these laws would be the way they are, he still recognizes the value of being obedient and submissive to God's law.

In 2 Peter 3, we find that Peter talks about how some of God's teachings in scripture, especially in this case through the apostle Paul, are sometimes hard to understand. He said, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you in the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters."

And here's what Peter says. "His letters contain some things that are hard to understand." So Peter's admitting some of the way Paul writes and words these things and instructions from God, the way he delivers those in his letters can be sometimes hard to understand. And he goes on to say, that's a problem because you have to be on your guard.

And he goes on to say, that's a problem because you have to be on your guard. And that you, you don't misled by how people will abuse these scriptures and use them. So he says, they're hard to understand which ignorant and unstable people distort as they do other scriptures to their own destruction. So he warns them to be on their guard.

So they're not carried away by somebody that's taking scripture and twisting it around and trying to make it say something that God wasn't really saying in those verses. And we know that still happens today very much with God's word where people will twist it or, you know, they'll say, I don't know, I don't take it out of context and try to make it say some things.

And sometimes it's for their own purpose, their own profit, or to control or manipulate people the way they want to. And so you have to be on your guard. And one of the best things to do to be on your guard is to really have a good knowledge of what God says yourself so that you're not misled or misinformed by other people.

The second thing we talked about, the second principle when we're thinking about God's law is they're really from the heart of God. When God gives these laws, it's not to punish, it's not to restrict or keep us from something good. God loves His people. He loved the Israelites as a people and He wanted the best life for them.

And so He's promised them to deliver them, to provide for them. He's promised that He's going to take care and do mighty acts on their behalf and keep His covenant that He made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. So He's going to be a God who fulfills all of His promises. And the law is a part of His plan, the plan God has for the good of His people.

And so we know they come from the heart of a God who loves us. When you know God's love for you, you understand the character of God, His honesty, His truthfulness, His desire for what's best for you. Then it's easier to be willing to submit to the teachings of God's law.

And the new covenant in 2 Timothy 3, Paul wrote to Timothy, "All scripture is God-breathed, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." There's a plan and a purpose behind the teachings of scripture. When we understand that, when we know that purpose is a good one for us, then it's easier to be submissive to the teaching that comes there.

The rebuking even, it's hard to be rebuked, but when we know it's coming from the heart of a God who loves you, then you understand why God loves you. And so He's going to be willing to submit to the teachings of God's law. And that's why you might need to be corrected and trained in righteousness, because we can get off track and go down the wrong path.

And a God who loves us wants to bring us back to where we need to be. And His teachings are intended to do that. God's laws were also intended to protect the vulnerable. God's always had a heart for those that might be taken advantage of by people with evil intent.

And so He puts within His law protections there for those who would be the most vulnerable. And in that culture and society, oftentimes it was the way the nations around them treated people in certain classes, right? They had classes kind of like what we do now, the rich, the poor, the powerful, the influential, and those who are not as powerful and more influential.

We have, even though we don't officially label them and make sure people stay in those classes in that culture, many of them were born into a class and they didn't have much opportunity to ever rise above it. If they were born into a lower class, they had very little opportunity to ever rise above it.

And so, you know, I've been in the same situation where I was born into the lower class. So, the class, I had very little opportunity to be protected from those that were in what would be considered maybe the more powerful upper classes at that time. And so God in His law puts in some protections there for those who would be the most vulnerable.

And that culture oftentimes it would be women, it would be the poor, many times like what we've had today. It would be people who were born into slavery and servitude, and maybe people then who would end up in servitude because of debt issues, slavery, they couldn't pay and things like that.

So God put some protections there in His law specifically to help people get out of that and get to a better place and a better position. And some of these are hard for us to understand because of the cultural setting that they're in, but they're there because God wants to protect the vulnerable.

And even today in the new covenant God has for us, He puts in there these teachings for Christ followers where we are to treat everyone with dignity and respect. We are to show the same willingness to forgive that God shows us. We are to show patience with people and understanding.

So we've got all of those things there to help protect those who would be vulnerable under the society that we might be living in, the cultural setting that we might be in. And we know that ultimately God's laws are designed to lead us to Jesus. That was the most important thing about the law.

In Exodus 24, 7 and 8, it says this. Moses does this. Now, you can't judge the heart of everybody how sincere they were when they said that. Most of them probably were sincerely thinking, yes, that's what we're going to do. We're going to obey everything God's telling us. I mean, God has done amazing things for them and they're responding with, yes, we want to be obedient to what God's calling us to.

But the truth is, they weren't going to be able to do this perfectly. Just like the scripture tells us, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But then in verse 8, it says, "Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, 'This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.'"

I love that visual that is given there, that this is the blood of the covenant God is making. Because if you fast forward to the new covenant, as Jesus is instituting that new covenant through the supper, the last supper, it's all about the new covenant.

So, if you fast forward to the last supper, it was what the Lord was calling you to do. So visual, this is the saved and He came back. He took the bread, He gave it to them and said, "This is my body, which I've given for you." And then He took the blood. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant that I'm making with you."

So, we have that symbolism already from the old covenant where blood was, the blood of the sacrifice, animals was given as a part of the covenant where they would be protected from the sin that they had committed and forgiven for the sin that they had committed and allowed to continue in that covenant relationship with God through the shedding of blood.

Now, today, we have that ultimate sacrifice through Jesus. In Galatians 3, 23, it says this, "Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we're no longer under a guardian."

So in Christ Jesus, you're all children of God through faith for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. We needed a covering for our sin that was more adequate than the repeating the blood sacrifices over and over again.

And the new covenant was established through the blood of the lamb that is the perfect sacrifice who pays in full the debt of our sin. And that's Jesus.

Well, next week, we're going to be looking at Exodus chapter 25. We're going to start there with an exciting part to me. I just love this part of the Exodus narrative where we see God instructing them about the building of the tabernacle and all of the symbolism in the tabernacle.

It's just so amazing how it foreshadows everything that God was doing and was leading to and sending Jesus to be our savior. So we see the nature of God being revealed in the tabernacle itself, the holiness of God and the mercy of God and the work of God to restore all of His creation that was broken by sin and how He's bringing the healing back to all of His creation through Jesus.

So I hope you can join us next week. We have services here at the Antioch campus at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. We have service at our Smyrna campus at 10 a.m. every Sunday morning, and we live stream our services every Sunday morning at nine.

We'd love for you to be with us in person. But if you can't join us in person, join us online there. And once it's live streamed and then it gets posted, you can listen to it any time after that.

Before we go today, I want to remind you of a few things we've got coming up this coming Sunday. We have a welcome lunch at both of our campuses. This is designed for people that are new to Lakeshore. It's a great way for you to find out more about the church, ask any questions you might have, and meet some of our staff.

We provide lunch for you for free. We have childcare available, but we really need you to register in advance. In fact, I'd love for you to go ahead and do that today because we're making plans right now for how many are going to be there.

So go ahead and you can register online at lakeshorechristian.com. Just click on that welcome lunch graphic and you can sign up right there.

We also have coming up, if you've got kids that are interested in being baptized, we've got a class for ages nine through fifth grade. It's going to be on Saturday, September the 14th at our Antioch campus. It'll be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day. Lunch will be provided for them, and you need to register your children in advance for that.

Ladies, as a result of that, we're going to have a class for you. We have a retreat coming up at White Mills Christian Camp, September the 20th and 21st. We want you to sign up in advance for that as well.

We have that link on our website for the baptism class for the kids and for the ladies retreat. Just click on those graphics and go to those registration pages and fill those out so that you are registered in advance for those things.

We also are excited. This is our 50th year as a church. We've been talking about that some on our podcast and on Sundays. We have a special celebration for that 50th anniversary coming up on the weekend of November the 16th and 17th.

The 16th is a Saturday. That Saturday evening at six o'clock, we're going to have a time of praise and remembrance of our 50th anniversary. We're going to be looking back into the past, some for our church, some of the history there, and then celebrating and singing praises together for all the good things God has done.

And then on Sunday, the 17th at all of our services, we're going to be celebrating the anniversary of the incorporation of the church back in 1974. So we hope you can plan to put that on your calendars and plan to be with us if possible on those dates.

Also, as a part of the celebration, we've started something that we love that we're doing here at Lakeshore. We've partnered with Point University to offer what is called the Gap Scholarship Program, which allows us to send up to seven people each year through school online at Point University tuition-free.

Thanks to the generous donations of some families here, we were able to set that up and get it started. We've got seven people starting this fall, already getting started right now with this fall semester for completing their degree at Point University.

So we want to fund that moving forward and that special offering will be taken to help us fund that every year for those students to be able to complete their degrees. So we hope you can contribute to that as well.

And we thank you in advance for your generosity there. We'll have more details that we'll be talking about as we get closer to that time, but put that on your calendar and join us for that.

We're glad that you joined us today for our podcast, and we hope to see you soon here at Lakeshore as we continue to connect, grow, and serve.