For every breach of trust,

whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing,

or for any lost thing about which one says, “This is it,”

the case of both parties shall come before the judges;

he whom the judges condemn

shall pay double to his neighbor.

Exodus 22:9

It has always amazed me when people say that they cannot understand the Bible.

Yes, there are things that it contains that are a mystery… many of those things will remain a mystery until the day our Creator chooses to reveal them to us in His glorious light and perfect time. However we should not claim to be unable to understand the entire book simply because there are parts we fon’t understand.

We should never reject the entire Book simply because we have a few unsolved mysteries.

How insane would it be to dismiss and discredit the entire police force because they have files of unsolved mysteries? It would be crazy to do so. What about doctors? Do you we dismiss and discredit the entire medical field because there are times that the cause of a person’s symptoms remains a mystery?

No the police force and the medical field both place the mystery in the “I don’t understand… yet” file and focus on what they do understand and then they keep coming back to the mystery and digging, looking for new insight, and hoping for new answers.

Our pursuit of the Book, of the Word of God, should be just the same.

As we read let us hold on to the things that we see clearly and when we come to a mystery, file it in the “I don’t understand… yet” drawer and move forward.

As you keep going forward in His Word… God will teach you things that just might help you solve some of those unsolved mysteries in that file. If you will just keep seeking Him and His truth, He will reveal Himself to you. One day He will reveal and unravel all His mysteries… until then hold on to what you do understand and enjoy the search into the things that remain a mystery.

As we read through these next few chapters in the book of Exodus I hope you are able to see how clear the Word of God is as He breaks down His expectations for His people. Take notice of how He takes into account our sinful nature as He delivers His precepts. God is not shocked by the sin of His people. He just asks us to do with it what He says to do with it.

As I began reading through Exodus 22, I got to verse 9, and I stopped when I read, “For every breach of trust…”

Trust is huge with our God.

We live in a day when trust is lacking. We don’t trust our President. We don’t trust our company. We don’t trust our family. We don’t trust our friends. We don’t trust the church. We don’t trust our spouse. We don’t trust men. We don’t trust women. We don’t trust God.

There has been a huge breach of trust in our day. From today start paying attention to how many times you say or think, “I don’t trust them”.

In the early days of the nation of Israel the people lost trust. Eli had not done a very good job leading his own sons, much less all the sons of Israel. So God raised up Samuel. Then Samuel in his duty and calling as priest and judge of the children of Israel also neglected to lead his own sons in righteousness. We do not know the behind the scene details of the how’s and why’s, we just know that the people of Israel did not trust them to lead the nation after Samuel.

This was a pivotal moment in the life of Israel. Take special note of the Lord’s assessment of their decision. “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them [1 Samuel 8:7].”

In effect, the Lord said, “You are determined to go down this path—one that will certainly cause you sorrow—and I will not stop you. You have rejected My way for your own. Therefore, you will lie in the bed you have made.”

~ Swindoll

The children of Israel had forgotten that it was not Samuel or his sons that were leading them… it was God. Deep down it was not that they did not trust Samuel’s sons to lead them… they no longer trusted God to lead them. They decided they wanted to be in control of who ruled them. They wanted a king they could elect and overthrow when they didn’t like him.

The children equated the failures of men with the failure of God. If they couldn’t trust the man then they couldn’t trust God. When in fact they should have been remembering that when they couldn’t trust the man, they could always trust God.

God wants His people to men and women of their word, of The WORD. He wants us to be people that are trustworthy. However, He knows we are but flesh, He knows we will fail, so He gave us these statutes in Exodus 22:7-17. If we fail at keeping a trust, when we make restitution for this it shows that person that we are truly sorry for that failure. It also helps to keep us from making a habit of this behavior.

I believe we have such a lack of trust in our current day because we have chosen to not demand restitution when there has been a breach of trust. We give a slap on the wrist, a polite reprimand, a pay-off to keep silent, a hollow threat… or we laugh it off as them being a con-man or a “used car salesman”.

We equate preachers and politicians in this joke and we think it’s funny. It’s not. These are the two positions of power that lead our nation. They are supposed to be sitting over the people directly under the authority of God… by making a joke of these positions of authority we have made a joke of our God and His authority.

Instead of demanding integrity from these positions we have slapped them on the writst when they failed in their character… and now we live in a nation that reaping the consequences. No one trusts no one and only a very few demonstrate actual real trust in our God.

When John penned his gospel account he concluded with, “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.” (John 21:24) Can you conclude your own words, your own testimony, with these words, recorded for all eternity to be reviewed by generations to come, and they be found true?

Oh Father,

Help me to be a woman of my word. Forgive me, for my own failures in this area. Forgive me for not demanding trust in others. When I fail and there is a breach of trust because of me, may I be willing to go to this person and offer restitution for my sin. I represent You. I carry Your name. My word should be as Your Word, fully trustworthy. When I fail because of the weakness of this human flesh, may I always in the strength of Your Spirit, make it right.

My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen