Self-controlled

DEVOTION

EXODUS

SELF-CONTROLLED

Ex 22:16-24

16 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins. 18 "Do not allow a sorceress to live. 19 "Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must be put to death. 20 "Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed.   21 "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt. 22 "Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. 23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.

NIV

More restrictions upon the people and we are not done yet. But it appears the point here is the baseness of the heart of man. Why else would God have to enumerate all these laws unless the heart of man was capable of these acts? Certainly there is some of this that deals with the relationship of families, but also God continues this aspect of sacrifices to any other god then the LORD. He also sticks in this point about having sexual relations with an animal. It has been determined this was a practice of the Egyptians and some historians and travelers of past years indicate this was still practiced, at least in the late 1800’s. Nothing is said about present day, but the point in the Israelites were surely exposed to such deviant behavior and God wanted to make sure it was not to be part of their behaviors. Would these people actually do such a thing? He also adds this penalty for being a sorceress. Again, Egypt was full of sorcerers and the Israelites would have seen them in action. The black arts have always been and most likely still are seductive to many people who are looking for the supernatural without any connection to God. Even in the time of Jesus there were still sorcerers and sorceresses among the people. Why they were not struck dead is still a mystery.  But what is our lesson in this portion of the law? There are several aspects we could focus on, but what is the major idea here? It comes down to self-control. Taking a virgin without being engaged to her. Being enticed by the black arts. Having sex with animals. Worshipping other gods. Mistreating other people that are not like them. Taking advantage of those who are alone. These acts or behaviors come from an uncontrolled self or heart. We face all sorts of temptations throughout our time on earth and when we yield to them it is due to the lack of self-control. This is one of the fruit of the Spirit. Some would say the only fruit is love and all the others are aspects of love. This is certainly true in the sense that if we are to love the lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves, then any acts against our neighbor, like the virgin, the alien, the widow and the orphan would be a result of love rather than out of self-satisfaction. Yet at the same time we are told to be self-controlled.

Titus 2:11-14

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled , upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

NIV   

It is clear that Satan would attempt to get us to not be controlled in our thinking and our behavior, but to let loose and give in to the temptations of this life.

1 Peter 5:8-9

8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

NIV

At least eleven times in the New Testament we are admonished to be self-controlled. It is not so much that we might yield to the enumerated sins outlined in this passage, although we could in some sense in our relationship with others. Do we treat aliens the same as brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we treat unbelievers the same as we treat believers. Do we have a certain contempt for those who disagree with us about our faith? Do we allow our self-righteousness to affect how we behave toward both other believers and the unbelievers? If our hearts are deceitfully wicked then they certainly need be under control. Yes, we need the Spirit, we need the fruit of love, we need his help to control our hearts and minds, but we are still a part of that process. It is still up to us to be self-controlled.