Exodus 22 is all about property and social responsibility — two concepts that seem irrelevant in a culture where most of us don’t own animals or pay a bride price. You might even think, “I’ll just skip this chapter.” But Exodus 22:3 foreshadows a major theme throughout the Bible: “Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft.”

As people born full of sin, we are the thieves Moses writes about in Exodus 22. Our nature is to steal what isn’t ours — the gift of sex before we’re married, the tithe that God asks us to bring to the church. And as thieves, we have nothing with which to make restitution for our sins. Without Jesus, our only option is to “be sold to pay for [our] theft.”

To make restitution is to restore things to how they should be. We could never restore what we’ve stolen. We are not rich enough or powerful enough to make things right on our own. But Jesus, who is both divine and human, can. Jesus came to pay our debt, to restore what we have stolen, while only asking that we turn to Him, love Him, and steal no more.

Reflect:

• What’s one thing your sin has stolen from you? How have you seen Jesus restore what was lost?
• In John 5:46, Jesus says, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.”  What are one or two ways you’ve seen the book of Exodus point to Jesus either directly or indirectly?
• Is this the first time you’ve heard that Jesus paid a debt for you? Would you like to know more about it? Visit www.newspring.cc/salvation or email us at hello@newspring.cc.