Exodus 21-24 today... Exodus 25-27 tomorrow...

Ok, there is alot that I do not understand within these laws, and even more that made my eyes cross as I was reading them, so I am just going to generalize some things I see instead of try to explain things that I don't even understand enough to properly formulate questions about them...
It appears to me like most of chapter 21-23 are an expansion of the 10 Commandments... like God is clarifying the ten basic ideas by filling in some blanks about the "what ifs" on how they may be applied.
In Chapter 21, verse 23-25, you can also reference other Old Testaments scripture with similar statements (Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21), and Jesus's teaching in the New Testament in Matthew 5:38-42.
I can really see how important it is for someone to take the whole Bible in context and not just excerp verses, because there are so many of these laws, that if not clarified by the New Testament, or even if just used for personal desires, could (and have) really been used for evil (like the Salem Witch Hunts... see Exodus 21:18; or kidnapping people to make them slaves... see Exodus 21:20, but then, also see Exodus 21:16, 26-27; or "faith healing"... see Exodus 23:25-26; etc)... humans can really pervert things that God intends for good and has put in place to help us, or bring us closer to Him.
There are also places that seem to be predecessors for what Jesus's teachings clarify in the New Testament, like Exodus 22:21-27, goes right along with Matthew 7:12 ("Golden Rule")... and Exodus 23:2-5 goes along with Matthew 5:23-28 (love your enemy)
Any ideas on Exodus 22:29-31? What is meant by "give Me [God] the firstborn of your sons"?
Exodus 22:28 is one that we should probably remember today, even though it is especially hard, because Romans 13 reaffirms that governing authorities are put in place by God, so even if we don't like God's choice, we still need to trust God and honor Him by being respectful to the leaders He gives us.

Chapter 23: I liked learning about the 3 Festivals (verses 14-19).
I thought verse 20-23 were cool because I didn't know God actually sent His angels down to guide people, but it appears as if His angel is not like the cuddly cutesy ones I've seen dipicted in story books, since the angel punishes disobedience and is "terror" that goes ahead of them (verse 27) to send the Isrealites enemies running... I'm thinking the angels are more like warriors than beings who sit on fluffy white clouds... plus God put a cherubim (in Genesis 3:24) to guard the gate to Eden, which I am pretty sure a cherubim is a kind of angel... maybe different angels have different jobs, I don't know, but anyway, I thought this was interesting... also, the idea of God going before to prepare the way is comforting (and is seen again in the New Testament in John 14, when Jesus tells His disciples, and us, that He is going to prepare a place for us... this time, in Heaven.)
I liked verses 29-30, and the idea that we should remember that God sometimes does take a little extra time to do something (even if He has the power to do it instantly for us), but His reasoning behind delaying is for our benefit, maybe to prepare us or make us ready to experience the full extent of His blessing.... so, if we don't see God moving quickly, we need to trust in His sovereignty and know He loves us and is moving slowly for our own good... I'm so glad God sees the big picture, because I would surely rush ahead and be overcome by wild animals (so to speak).... it also makes me wonder about how much trouble I bring on myself because I don't wait for God to give me the "all clear". I think it is awfully compassionate of God to tell the Isrealites about this delay in advance, too, since He knew they were prone to drift from their faith when things got tough, He wanted to reassure them before they needed it, so they had that reassurance already in their minds the second they started to worry, wonder, or doubt.
I sort of think that maybe some of all these laws, although kind of weird seeming to us, may go back to the "don't worship other gods" thing... maybe some of the forbidden practices were things that were done in the pagan rituals, so if the Isrealites did them, then they might be mistaken as worshipping the pagan gods, or even get themselves confused and "contextualize" too much to the point of forgetting that they were supposed to be worshipping the one true God.... that makes me think about what I may "skimp" on when I worship God... what do I overlook, or "contextualize" too far, so that I lose focus on the worship I am supposed to be giving to God... this is a really important thing to be careful of, because if we give in even a little to just "accept it all", then we can be "taken over" before we know it (see verse 32-33 in Exodus 23)... love your enemies, but do not condone their actions... universalism is not ok.
The Study Notes suggest that yeast=sin, and blood sacrifice=forgiveness, or at least that is what they represent.

Chapter 24: Any clarification on the men seeing God in verses 9-11? Is this God, in the form of Jesus again (see John 1:14-18)?
verse 7... is this Book of the Covenant, the laws that Moses wrote down in verse 4?
verse 12... I always thought that the first time the people were given the laws was when Moses brought the 10 Commandments down from the mountain, but by reading these last few chapters, that's not the way it happened... God spoke the 10 Commandments first (in Exodus 20), then verbally clarified and added details to all the laws (Exodus 21-23), Moses wrote them all down and then reread them to the people (Exodus 24:3-4,7), and then God gave them a "hard copy" of these laws (all of them, not just the 10 commandments) (Exodus 24:12)... at this point, God is not giving them the laws, He is showing the permanence of His covenant with them... and they have verbally told God they were going to uphold it on their side... this makes me think back to Exodus 15:26...
Thinking ahead a little, I am feeling really sad for God... I mean, can't you just see Him and Moses going over all the details to how God is going to come back and live with the people again for the first time since the Garden of Eden... God has got to be so excited... like when we go to build a new house, only more excited... and then, the people go and turn their back on Him, even while He is happily planning their lives with Him... anyway, I know that is like going way ahead (starting with tomorrow's lesson and on), but it just is really sad, and makes me want to cry for God... He must have been so disappointed, yet He loves mankind so much that He even then gave them a second chance... it makes me think about spouses who are cheated on and their sadness but then finding the love to reconcile and give a second chance... I've never really experienced this, but it seems to correlate... anyway, sorry for the book today... Have a wonderful night!
God Bless,
sandJ