22:1-4
Exodus 23:4,5 has similar commands, but relates them explicitly to “your enemies” livestock. Thus being an example of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about loving your enemies being nothing new, but rather being founded on the Old Testament. So why is a similar command given here, but this time with the emphasis on “your fellow Israelite”? Maybe it is because in the wilderness they were a more tight knit community, and the temptation would be to ignore the animal if it belonged to someone you didn’t like. In the Promised Land they would be a more dispersed community, a bit like cities being more anonymous. So the temptation would be to think that a lost or injured animal was none of their business, and it was far better not to get involved. Even in a large community, we are to care for each other, whether we know them or not. The rules also applied to goods as well as animals.
The rule is extended to animals that are injured or fallen on the road If the owner needed help in recovering the animal, then help was to be given.
22:5
Women and men are not to wear each other’s clothing. To do this is detestable to the Lord. So now that transvestism is increasingly popular these days, even with transvestite story time in schools and other settings, we need to be reminded of this command. Transvestism is not good in the eyes of the Lord, for He detests it. There is a general feeling against mixture in many of the commands in the Law. God has created the world with clear distinctions, and these should be maintained.
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