Pointing to Jesus (Exodus 22)

Summary:

Exodus 22 continues the “Book of the Covenant” with detailed case laws that apply the principles of the Ten Commandments to everyday life. 

The chapter covers:

•  Property crimes (theft, grazing damage, fire damage, lost deposits) with penalties ranging from restitution to multiple-fold repayment.

•  Special protection for the socially vulnerable: widows, orphans, and the poor (God warns that He hears their cry and will act in judgment if they are oppressed).

•  Laws against charging interest to fellow Israelites, returning a poor man’s cloak before sunset, and reviling God or cursing rulers.

•  Firstborn animals and firstborn sons belong to the Lord.

•  Commands to be holy: no eating torn flesh, no spreading false reports, no perverting justice by following the crowd, and no oppressing foreigners (since Israel was once a foreigner in Egypt).

Pointing to Jesus:

The law requiring the immediate return of a poor man’s cloak before sunset (Exodus 22:26–27) strikingly foreshadows Christ’s compassion and substitutionary work. 

John Calvin comments on this verse:

“This law shows how tenderly God cares for the poor… He will be their surety and advocate… In this we see a figure of the grace which God has manifested toward us in the person of His only-begotten Son; for when we were poorer than all men and stripped of everything, He clothed us with His own righteousness, and took our nakedness upon Himself.” 

Thus, the cloak that must not be kept overnight points to Jesus, who does not merely return our garment—He becomes our garment, covering our shame forever.

Reflection:

Exodus 22 teaches that love for God is inseparable from concrete love and justice toward the weakest members of society. For the Christian, these laws are not a return to legalism but a portrait of the heart of Christ, who was moved with compassion for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner. The gospel frees us from having to earn righteousness by perfect law-keeping, yet it simultaneously transforms us so that we delight to protect the vulnerable, lend without expecting return, speak truth, and show mercy to strangers—because we ourselves were once aliens, clothed only by the mercy of Christ. Living this way displays the beauty of the new covenant: a people marked not by exploitation or indifference, but by generous, joyful justice that reflects the character of our Redeemer.