If you're reading through the bible in a year you've made it two months today...way to go!!
Numbers 4:34 - 6:27
I freely confess I don't get the whole piece in Numbers 5:11 -29.
I do understand the ritualistic punishment of the woman but you would think there would be something in there about the male adulterer too. I suppose culturally there must have been something about the position of women that made it easier for them to "fall prey" and harder to find the man responsible...but still...seems like the guys are off the hook.
The Nazarite vow thing is cool...that knowledge will come in handy when we read about Samson later...especially given that he breaks his vow. I knew the hair growing was symbolic as was the shaving...I'm looking forward to reading his story to see what is going on when his head DOES get shaved.
The poetic blessing at the end of chapter 6 is one of my favorite passages. I've used it a number of times when doing baptisms:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace
...and may He do all that as you enter the third month of reading.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Moving the Tabernacle
Numbers 4:34 - 6:27
The book of Numbers is one of those seemingly repetitive bits that are tough to read through if you don't try to pay some attention with your imagination.
If you add up all of the metal pieces used in the tabernacle the weight of those alone is, if I recall correctly, something just under 8 or 9 tons. The curtains and wood would not be light either so there is a LOT of weight to haul around here.
What struck me reading through this though is the seriousness with which the process was to be undertaken. People not following the orders correctly weren't just reprimanded...they died.
Death was a very real option if you didn't observe the correct 'ritual' in the tear down, moving, and setting up of the tabernacle.
Now, I know we're no longer under the law, and I know that this is old versus new testament stuff, but it did strike me as an almost comical comparison when reading through these regulations...what would one of these Levite clansman think today if they were to walk into one of our church services and see us passing around a basket full of little plastic, double lidded containers that had a styro-foam wafer under the first lid and a bit of overly sweetened purple water under the second?
I know God reads the heart...maybe mine needs a little more ritualistic respect on Sundays...even if the goodies being passed don't warrant it.
The book of Numbers is one of those seemingly repetitive bits that are tough to read through if you don't try to pay some attention with your imagination.
If you add up all of the metal pieces used in the tabernacle the weight of those alone is, if I recall correctly, something just under 8 or 9 tons. The curtains and wood would not be light either so there is a LOT of weight to haul around here.
What struck me reading through this though is the seriousness with which the process was to be undertaken. People not following the orders correctly weren't just reprimanded...they died.
Death was a very real option if you didn't observe the correct 'ritual' in the tear down, moving, and setting up of the tabernacle.
Now, I know we're no longer under the law, and I know that this is old versus new testament stuff, but it did strike me as an almost comical comparison when reading through these regulations...what would one of these Levite clansman think today if they were to walk into one of our church services and see us passing around a basket full of little plastic, double lidded containers that had a styro-foam wafer under the first lid and a bit of overly sweetened purple water under the second?
I know God reads the heart...maybe mine needs a little more ritualistic respect on Sundays...even if the goodies being passed don't warrant it.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Out of Leviticus and into the Numbers...
Leviticus 26:1 - 27:34
Numbers 1:1 - 2:34
The close of Leviticus is interesting. For those of us who have moved and grooved in Christian circles for any amount of time we're aware of folks who have an image of God as a vending machine: do the right thing and God will reward you, much like dropping the right coin in to the slot.
It is easy to see how someone could get this perception from reading this last bit of Leviticus:
Lev 26:3-6
If you follow My decrees and are careful to follow my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country....
Makes is all sound pretty straight forward...but experience tells us that it isn't that simple.
So does that mean that:
A. This doesn't apply beyond a promise to the nation of Israel? (meaning no application to us today.)
B. This promise somehow changed over the years based on the coming of Jesus?
C. It was always going to be impossible to follow all the decrees and commands so the result was/is always in question?
D. This only applies to those under the law?
E. God really DOES work like a vending machine and if we're not blessed it IS because we're missing something?
I think I'll be musing over that one all day...
Then we start off in Numbers and it is easy to see where the book gets its name.
A couple of things caught my eye, as it were, at the start of the book.
One is the text note that says Numbers starts two years after Israel left Egypt.
I think I always had the impression that Moses went up on Sinai, met with God, got the stone tablets, broke the first set, went up and got a second, and they left.
I always wondered how God got ALL the rules and regs on those two tablets unless He was writing REALLY small.
It's apparent to me now that Moses has become quite the mountain climber as the people have been there for two years. There were not just the two but perhaps many many trips up the mountain for Moses.
The other little detail I thought was interesting from all the "numbers" is that Judah, the tribe from which kings will come, is by far the largest of the twelve. Even if you combine the tribes of Joseph's two sons Judah is larger. Interesting that the military strength and the mantle of leadership come to the same tribe...coincidence? I don't think so.
You have to love the way God covers the little details.
Numbers 1:1 - 2:34
The close of Leviticus is interesting. For those of us who have moved and grooved in Christian circles for any amount of time we're aware of folks who have an image of God as a vending machine: do the right thing and God will reward you, much like dropping the right coin in to the slot.
It is easy to see how someone could get this perception from reading this last bit of Leviticus:
Lev 26:3-6
If you follow My decrees and are careful to follow my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country....
Makes is all sound pretty straight forward...but experience tells us that it isn't that simple.
So does that mean that:
A. This doesn't apply beyond a promise to the nation of Israel? (meaning no application to us today.)
B. This promise somehow changed over the years based on the coming of Jesus?
C. It was always going to be impossible to follow all the decrees and commands so the result was/is always in question?
D. This only applies to those under the law?
E. God really DOES work like a vending machine and if we're not blessed it IS because we're missing something?
I think I'll be musing over that one all day...
Then we start off in Numbers and it is easy to see where the book gets its name.
A couple of things caught my eye, as it were, at the start of the book.
One is the text note that says Numbers starts two years after Israel left Egypt.
I think I always had the impression that Moses went up on Sinai, met with God, got the stone tablets, broke the first set, went up and got a second, and they left.
I always wondered how God got ALL the rules and regs on those two tablets unless He was writing REALLY small.
It's apparent to me now that Moses has become quite the mountain climber as the people have been there for two years. There were not just the two but perhaps many many trips up the mountain for Moses.
The other little detail I thought was interesting from all the "numbers" is that Judah, the tribe from which kings will come, is by far the largest of the twelve. Even if you combine the tribes of Joseph's two sons Judah is larger. Interesting that the military strength and the mantle of leadership come to the same tribe...coincidence? I don't think so.
You have to love the way God covers the little details.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
More and even MORE Regulations
Leviticus 16:1 - 25:55
Tough reading here? Sure..sounds a bit tedious and even repetitive doesn't it?
I think there are several things going on through these regulations:
1. God is setting Himself and His people apart. Making distinctions in behavior between them and the surrounding nations.
2. God is setting the priesthood apart as a symbol of that which is holy, 'set apart', vs that which is not. Hence all of the regulations around what they are to wear, how they are to wash, what they are to eat, etc.
3. God is setting up a 'calendar of remembrance' so that the various festivals recall what he has done for His people in a way of reminding them for generations to come what God did in the lives of their ancestors.
4. God is reinforcing the truth that the land is His and the people are His...and are His tenants. Hence the regulations around sabbath and the year of jubilee.
Read these chapters with those themes in mind.
Read them with an understanding too of just how complex the requirements of living under the law really are...not because God made them up arbitrarily but because they signify something intentional about our relationship to Him.
When we begin to understand just how complex it would be to live under the law, undertsnad how many details are required of us just to meet the minimum standard...then Jesus work on the cross starts to take on an even deeper/richer meaning.
He fulfilled ALL of that on our behalf.
We're set free in more ways than we even can imagine.
Tough reading here? Sure..sounds a bit tedious and even repetitive doesn't it?
I think there are several things going on through these regulations:
1. God is setting Himself and His people apart. Making distinctions in behavior between them and the surrounding nations.
2. God is setting the priesthood apart as a symbol of that which is holy, 'set apart', vs that which is not. Hence all of the regulations around what they are to wear, how they are to wash, what they are to eat, etc.
3. God is setting up a 'calendar of remembrance' so that the various festivals recall what he has done for His people in a way of reminding them for generations to come what God did in the lives of their ancestors.
4. God is reinforcing the truth that the land is His and the people are His...and are His tenants. Hence the regulations around sabbath and the year of jubilee.
Read these chapters with those themes in mind.
Read them with an understanding too of just how complex the requirements of living under the law really are...not because God made them up arbitrarily but because they signify something intentional about our relationship to Him.
When we begin to understand just how complex it would be to live under the law, undertsnad how many details are required of us just to meet the minimum standard...then Jesus work on the cross starts to take on an even deeper/richer meaning.
He fulfilled ALL of that on our behalf.
We're set free in more ways than we even can imagine.
Friday, February 20, 2009
All these regulations...
Leviticus 8:1 - 15:33
I had a couple people ask about the blog this past week wondering what had happened. Most all of them wondering what the heck I was going to write about given what we'd been reading!!
The interesting bits to me are:
Lev 10:1-3
Aaron's sons experience Raiders of the Lost Ark like wrath of God stuff and get fried for offering unauthorized fire before the Lord. All I can think here is that God has ordained how that was supposed to work and they didn't follow orders. Remember this is the official grand opening of the tabernacle so God was no doubt going to be strict out of the gate. (We'll read more on this tomorrow.)
As to the stuff that follows think in the context of a 1,000,000+ person camping trip. How do we keep the people healthy, on their feet, and on the march...
Clean and unclean animals? Health regulations really. God trying to point out what is going to keep His people on their feet.
Skin diseases? For thos of us who have seen pverty in the developing world we know how easily disease can spread and we know how often e see folks, who have no medical resources available, just live day to day with bad, often contagious infections. These regulations in Leviticus are designed to keep disease from spreading. Notice how the folks deemed to be infected have to identify themselves by how they dress, they have to cover their lower face (mouth) and they have to live outside the camp. All steps that keep disease from spreading. (Interesting to note too that some of the symptoms described are the early stages of leprosy.)
Mildew? Same thing, regulations to keep folks healthy.
It starts to cross over into respect for the Lord as we see what is required to "come back" from being unclean and, although it is tedious to read, I love the picture of intimacy it paints in that the Lord wants to be intimately involved at a very detailed level when someone comes back into fellowship.
I had a couple people ask about the blog this past week wondering what had happened. Most all of them wondering what the heck I was going to write about given what we'd been reading!!
The interesting bits to me are:
Lev 10:1-3
Aaron's sons experience Raiders of the Lost Ark like wrath of God stuff and get fried for offering unauthorized fire before the Lord. All I can think here is that God has ordained how that was supposed to work and they didn't follow orders. Remember this is the official grand opening of the tabernacle so God was no doubt going to be strict out of the gate. (We'll read more on this tomorrow.)
As to the stuff that follows think in the context of a 1,000,000+ person camping trip. How do we keep the people healthy, on their feet, and on the march...
Clean and unclean animals? Health regulations really. God trying to point out what is going to keep His people on their feet.
Skin diseases? For thos of us who have seen pverty in the developing world we know how easily disease can spread and we know how often e see folks, who have no medical resources available, just live day to day with bad, often contagious infections. These regulations in Leviticus are designed to keep disease from spreading. Notice how the folks deemed to be infected have to identify themselves by how they dress, they have to cover their lower face (mouth) and they have to live outside the camp. All steps that keep disease from spreading. (Interesting to note too that some of the symptoms described are the early stages of leprosy.)
Mildew? Same thing, regulations to keep folks healthy.
It starts to cross over into respect for the Lord as we see what is required to "come back" from being unclean and, although it is tedious to read, I love the picture of intimacy it paints in that the Lord wants to be intimately involved at a very detailed level when someone comes back into fellowship.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Regulations regarding offerings
Leviticus 1:1 - 7:38
Admittedly this is another of those sections that starts to get to be tedious reading.
A couple of things become evident though:
1. Worship under the law was a fairly serious and complicated business...this speaks to a level of mystery that is lost on most of us today. These aren't regulations for regulations sake, there is deeper meaning in the detail that is worthy of consideration (though not here) if only for the sake of understanding the gravity of who God is and how we relate to Him.
2. There is also some serious consideration for hygiene/health in these sections. Practical instruction on how and when certain foods are to be eaten for very practical health reasons.
3. The Levites are already seeing the results of Jacob's parting words in Genesis:
(Gen 49:7)"I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel."
This is why they receive food from portions of the sacrifices. We'll find out later too that they get no inheritance in the land...only towns and fields.
Imagine too what this traveling horde of folks must have looked like spread out across the landscape. More than 600,000 men...probably at LEAST another 3-400,000 women (If we want to be really conservative, based on modern numbers the women may have outnumbered the men.)...who knows how many children...AND, based on what we're reading here about the expectancy that most of them have flocks to choose from for sacrificial animals, most likely literally millions of animals!!!
No wonder Moses gets frustrated so often...this would be a logistical NIGHTMARE!!!
Admittedly this is another of those sections that starts to get to be tedious reading.
A couple of things become evident though:
1. Worship under the law was a fairly serious and complicated business...this speaks to a level of mystery that is lost on most of us today. These aren't regulations for regulations sake, there is deeper meaning in the detail that is worthy of consideration (though not here) if only for the sake of understanding the gravity of who God is and how we relate to Him.
2. There is also some serious consideration for hygiene/health in these sections. Practical instruction on how and when certain foods are to be eaten for very practical health reasons.
3. The Levites are already seeing the results of Jacob's parting words in Genesis:
(Gen 49:7)"I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel."
This is why they receive food from portions of the sacrifices. We'll find out later too that they get no inheritance in the land...only towns and fields.
Imagine too what this traveling horde of folks must have looked like spread out across the landscape. More than 600,000 men...probably at LEAST another 3-400,000 women (If we want to be really conservative, based on modern numbers the women may have outnumbered the men.)...who knows how many children...AND, based on what we're reading here about the expectancy that most of them have flocks to choose from for sacrificial animals, most likely literally millions of animals!!!
No wonder Moses gets frustrated so often...this would be a logistical NIGHTMARE!!!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Getting things sorted
Exodus 36:8 - 40:38
(For those following along in the one year bible this is Feb 14 and 15)
You really have to admit that these are some of the harder passages to get through when you're trying to stay on top of reading through the bible in a year. First because they are fairly detailed in terms of what is being built, crafted, assembled etc... but also because it feels like you just read all of it a couple chapters back!!
Chapters 36-40 can almost be easily summed up by simply saying..."And they did everything just as the Lord had commanded". Talk about saving on papyrus!!! Come on man where was their green thinking?
Now to be fair, I did NOT go back and compare the 'what they did' in these chapters to the 'what they were told to do' a few chapters back but I think if the reports were at odds that would have been pointed out.
There were a couple of bits I found interesting though:
At the end of chapter 38 we're told the weight of the metals used in creating the tabernacle:
A little more than a ton of gold
Three and three quarters tons of silver
About 2 and a half tons of bronze
Now granted all of this was in cast or beaten pieces, many quite small...but imagine having to move all that every time you set out from one place to the next...the total weight of the tabernacle gear that had to be moved must have come close to weighing ten tons!! Then you had set up and tear down, a whole bunch of special requirements for handling the sacred goods...These guys were the ULTIMATE roadies.
The other piece that struck me was in the last four verses of chapter 40.
They assembled all of the tabernacle as God has instructed...notice that the Holy of Holies is set up too and that no one dies from touching the sacred bits. None of it is considered sacred because of what it is in itself...but the sacred bits ALL become sacred when..."the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."
(Ex 40:34-35)
No matter how many instructions we follow, no matter what work we do, even following God's law to the letter, we are not holy, not set apart, until the Spirit of God enters in...it is at that moment that everything is changed. We're still expected to obey on our end, to do the work, but God is the one who completes it.
I just thought that was cool illustration.
(For those following along in the one year bible this is Feb 14 and 15)
You really have to admit that these are some of the harder passages to get through when you're trying to stay on top of reading through the bible in a year. First because they are fairly detailed in terms of what is being built, crafted, assembled etc... but also because it feels like you just read all of it a couple chapters back!!
Chapters 36-40 can almost be easily summed up by simply saying..."And they did everything just as the Lord had commanded". Talk about saving on papyrus!!! Come on man where was their green thinking?
Now to be fair, I did NOT go back and compare the 'what they did' in these chapters to the 'what they were told to do' a few chapters back but I think if the reports were at odds that would have been pointed out.
There were a couple of bits I found interesting though:
At the end of chapter 38 we're told the weight of the metals used in creating the tabernacle:
A little more than a ton of gold
Three and three quarters tons of silver
About 2 and a half tons of bronze
Now granted all of this was in cast or beaten pieces, many quite small...but imagine having to move all that every time you set out from one place to the next...the total weight of the tabernacle gear that had to be moved must have come close to weighing ten tons!! Then you had set up and tear down, a whole bunch of special requirements for handling the sacred goods...These guys were the ULTIMATE roadies.
The other piece that struck me was in the last four verses of chapter 40.
They assembled all of the tabernacle as God has instructed...notice that the Holy of Holies is set up too and that no one dies from touching the sacred bits. None of it is considered sacred because of what it is in itself...but the sacred bits ALL become sacred when..."the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."
(Ex 40:34-35)
No matter how many instructions we follow, no matter what work we do, even following God's law to the letter, we are not holy, not set apart, until the Spirit of God enters in...it is at that moment that everything is changed. We're still expected to obey on our end, to do the work, but God is the one who completes it.
I just thought that was cool illustration.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Moses, the friend of God
I know I am a few days behind here but I like the stuff from Feb 13th so much that I think it deserves its own post so...
Exodus 33:7 - 36:7
I love this last half of Exodus chapter 33.
"Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp..."
This is the place he went to meet with God so he called it the "tent of meeting"...obviously Moses is not a marketing guy. It was a pretty big deal when Moses went out to the tent because everyone would stand at their doors to watch him pass AND the pillar of cloud...which they're still following remember, would "stand at the entrance" to the tent. And then we get this:
(Ex 33:11)
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.
HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?!?!?!
Of course the skeptics and pseudo-scholars in the crowd rise up in arms at this point because you don't get more than a few lines down the page and you read:
(Ex 33:20)
"...you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live"
(Ex 33:23)
"Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back;but my face must not be seen."
First of all take the context of the conversation.
Remember back in chapter 32 God was TICKED about the golden calf incident and said that He would send an angel to lead the people, He was NOT going to go Himself because he might kill them out of anger along the way.
Here in chapter 33, as Moses and the Lord are chatting in the tent, Moses says "you have not let me know who you will send with me...If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. "
Whoa, what would our days be like if we had THAT conversation with God every morning?
(Ex 33:14)
The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
Moses in essence says, "Yes, please"
(Ex 33:17)
And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
Moses has successfully negotiated God coming with them when just a few verses earlier God was so angry He was sending an angel instead! And he has done this in the context of what can only be described as a very intimate conversation among close friends!!!
I think it is a sign of the intimacy of this conversation that leads Moses to make his next request:
(Ex33:18)
Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory"
Emboldened by the sweet conversation he is having with the Lord Moses asks God to show him "what He really looks like"
Moses loves what he is getting and wants more.
THAT is the point at which God says, in effect, "that would kill you, but I will give you a peek."
What a contrast between the stiff-necked people whom God says He will punish and Moses who speaks to God face to face as a man speaks to a friend.
I think God wants that level of intimacy with every one of us. Are we bold enough and humble enough at the same time to seek it and He is seeking us, ask for it as He is asking us to join Him, pursue it as He pursues us?
Exodus 33:7 - 36:7
I love this last half of Exodus chapter 33.
"Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp..."
This is the place he went to meet with God so he called it the "tent of meeting"...obviously Moses is not a marketing guy. It was a pretty big deal when Moses went out to the tent because everyone would stand at their doors to watch him pass AND the pillar of cloud...which they're still following remember, would "stand at the entrance" to the tent. And then we get this:
(Ex 33:11)
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.
HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?!?!?!
Of course the skeptics and pseudo-scholars in the crowd rise up in arms at this point because you don't get more than a few lines down the page and you read:
(Ex 33:20)
"...you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live"
(Ex 33:23)
"Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back;but my face must not be seen."
First of all take the context of the conversation.
Remember back in chapter 32 God was TICKED about the golden calf incident and said that He would send an angel to lead the people, He was NOT going to go Himself because he might kill them out of anger along the way.
Here in chapter 33, as Moses and the Lord are chatting in the tent, Moses says "you have not let me know who you will send with me...If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. "
Whoa, what would our days be like if we had THAT conversation with God every morning?
(Ex 33:14)
The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
Moses in essence says, "Yes, please"
(Ex 33:17)
And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
Moses has successfully negotiated God coming with them when just a few verses earlier God was so angry He was sending an angel instead! And he has done this in the context of what can only be described as a very intimate conversation among close friends!!!
I think it is a sign of the intimacy of this conversation that leads Moses to make his next request:
(Ex33:18)
Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory"
Emboldened by the sweet conversation he is having with the Lord Moses asks God to show him "what He really looks like"
Moses loves what he is getting and wants more.
THAT is the point at which God says, in effect, "that would kill you, but I will give you a peek."
What a contrast between the stiff-necked people whom God says He will punish and Moses who speaks to God face to face as a man speaks to a friend.
I think God wants that level of intimacy with every one of us. Are we bold enough and humble enough at the same time to seek it and He is seeking us, ask for it as He is asking us to join Him, pursue it as He pursues us?
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Movin on out
Exodus 16:1 - 33:6
Ok so I missed a few days in there. Time to get back in the groove.
If you've been reading along through the stories of Genesis and Exodus you know that this bit we've been in for the last week or so is a tough bit to read...a LOT of rules and regulations.
What has really struck me through all of it is a consistent theme of establishing a nation.
Remember when Jacob (Israel) went down to Egypt the whole "nation" was really just a single large extended family. Now some 400 years later as the Israelites are leaving Egypt they have 600,000 men plus women and children. They may have had a good set of moral standards and rules as a family but what has 400 years of living under Egyptian laws and religious influences done to those rules and standards?
It is easy for us to think, looking backwards, that the established laws we read in the odl testament were in effect but they really had nothing.
SO what do we see?
In chapters 16 and 17 we see the people grumbling about food and water...as though the God who sent the plagues and split the Red Sea was slacking off on the job. Their first complaint comes after a little more than the first month...45 days and they've forgotten!!
We see God bring them into battle where they must trust him for victory and Joshua begin to emerge as a military leader. (Ex 17:10)
In chapter 18 Jethro comes along and helps Moses establish a system for dealing disputes. (Ex 18:17)
God shows up in chapters 19 and 20 and gives the 10 Commandments..and people are afraid of his coming. (Ex 20:19)
Chapters 21 - 24 are the beginnings of a civil code...laws concerning people and property. They wouldn't have had ANY of this of their own before now. This is the basis of a system of laws that any society needs...not just a set of religious observances. The people promise to obey. (Ex 24:3)
Chapters 24 - 30 are the beginnings of the religious regulations, God establishing an understanding of how He is to be worshiped. Remember all the odd superstitious stuff in Genesis? This is now being superseded by specific instructions.
But the people are impatient...
Chapter 31 feels like God wrapping up some closing details.
Chapter 32 is the story of the golden calf.
It has been something like 3-4 months since they walked through the Red Sea on dry land.
It has been just over a month since Moses went up onto the mountain in a fiery display of thunder and lightning.
(Ex 32:1)
"Come make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."
It's almost like mass ADHD!!!
What strikes me though is that to some degree this isn't as surprising as it first seems.
Remember Adam "walked with God" physically.
Abraham had God show up, physically.
Jacob wrestled with God, physically.
And then for 400 years the Israelites were surrounded by Egyptians who worshipped physical idols.
Since bringing them out of Egypt God has shown himself in much more dramatic ways but without that same style of physicality...
You have got to LOVE Aaron's excuse when Moses comes down and confronts him with what he has allowed to happen:
(Ex 32:23 - 24)
"They said to me, 'Make us god who will go before us...'...So I told them, 'Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!!!"
"Dude, it was the graziest thing you've ever seen!! Well, after the snake stick and the frogs and the gnats and the locusts and the pillar of fire and the red sea and the mana...."
Maybe Aaron figured Moses would buy it.
Chapter 32 ends with Moses representing an early picture of Christ mediating with God on behalf of the people asking God to forgive them of their sin.
Chapter 33 contains a significant but subtle change in God's relationship to His people:
(Ex 33:2-3)
"I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff necked people and I might destroy you on the way."
We tend to think of their greatest failure as being the story of the 12 spies. But it is at THIS point where God, who was apparently going to lead them all the way Himself, sends a angel in His place.
I wonder what the trip to the promised land would have been like had the people not rebelled here and been lead by God himself.
Ok so I missed a few days in there. Time to get back in the groove.
If you've been reading along through the stories of Genesis and Exodus you know that this bit we've been in for the last week or so is a tough bit to read...a LOT of rules and regulations.
What has really struck me through all of it is a consistent theme of establishing a nation.
Remember when Jacob (Israel) went down to Egypt the whole "nation" was really just a single large extended family. Now some 400 years later as the Israelites are leaving Egypt they have 600,000 men plus women and children. They may have had a good set of moral standards and rules as a family but what has 400 years of living under Egyptian laws and religious influences done to those rules and standards?
It is easy for us to think, looking backwards, that the established laws we read in the odl testament were in effect but they really had nothing.
SO what do we see?
In chapters 16 and 17 we see the people grumbling about food and water...as though the God who sent the plagues and split the Red Sea was slacking off on the job. Their first complaint comes after a little more than the first month...45 days and they've forgotten!!
We see God bring them into battle where they must trust him for victory and Joshua begin to emerge as a military leader. (Ex 17:10)
In chapter 18 Jethro comes along and helps Moses establish a system for dealing disputes. (Ex 18:17)
God shows up in chapters 19 and 20 and gives the 10 Commandments..and people are afraid of his coming. (Ex 20:19)
Chapters 21 - 24 are the beginnings of a civil code...laws concerning people and property. They wouldn't have had ANY of this of their own before now. This is the basis of a system of laws that any society needs...not just a set of religious observances. The people promise to obey. (Ex 24:3)
Chapters 24 - 30 are the beginnings of the religious regulations, God establishing an understanding of how He is to be worshiped. Remember all the odd superstitious stuff in Genesis? This is now being superseded by specific instructions.
But the people are impatient...
Chapter 31 feels like God wrapping up some closing details.
Chapter 32 is the story of the golden calf.
It has been something like 3-4 months since they walked through the Red Sea on dry land.
It has been just over a month since Moses went up onto the mountain in a fiery display of thunder and lightning.
(Ex 32:1)
"Come make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."
It's almost like mass ADHD!!!
What strikes me though is that to some degree this isn't as surprising as it first seems.
Remember Adam "walked with God" physically.
Abraham had God show up, physically.
Jacob wrestled with God, physically.
And then for 400 years the Israelites were surrounded by Egyptians who worshipped physical idols.
Since bringing them out of Egypt God has shown himself in much more dramatic ways but without that same style of physicality...
You have got to LOVE Aaron's excuse when Moses comes down and confronts him with what he has allowed to happen:
(Ex 32:23 - 24)
"They said to me, 'Make us god who will go before us...'...So I told them, 'Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!!!"
"Dude, it was the graziest thing you've ever seen!! Well, after the snake stick and the frogs and the gnats and the locusts and the pillar of fire and the red sea and the mana...."
Maybe Aaron figured Moses would buy it.
Chapter 32 ends with Moses representing an early picture of Christ mediating with God on behalf of the people asking God to forgive them of their sin.
Chapter 33 contains a significant but subtle change in God's relationship to His people:
(Ex 33:2-3)
"I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff necked people and I might destroy you on the way."
We tend to think of their greatest failure as being the story of the 12 spies. But it is at THIS point where God, who was apparently going to lead them all the way Himself, sends a angel in His place.
I wonder what the trip to the promised land would have been like had the people not rebelled here and been lead by God himself.
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Red Sea
Exodus 13:1 - 15:27
The Israelites finally get to march out of Egypt..."armed for battle" (Ex 13:18)
It has started to strike me that there was something going on in their "bondage" that was different than what we think of as typical slavery. I can't picture Civil War era slaves picking up and marching out 'armed for battle'...and having to have waited for permission to do so.
Although they ARE armed for battle God doesn't lead them through Philistine territory because God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." (Ex:13:17)
Instaed He takes them on a route designed both to protect and to lure Pharaoh to chase them.
(Ex14:2)
"Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. Pharaoh will think,'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.'"
As they're back up against the sea and they see the Egyptian army coming the Israelites cried out:
"Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Ex14:11 - 12)
Now THIS bit leads me to believe that their bondage was not complete depraved oppression. Apparently the evidence of the ten plagues is a distant memory, the huge pillar of smoke/fire that has been leading them isn't proof enough, they're willing to go back to slavery. ( It also serves as evidence that God was going to use the Red Sea incident to prove himself further. The plagues proved He could defeat the Egyptian 'gods' and now He is going to prove he can beat them on the human plane as well.)
Exodus 14:15 - 16 cracks me up:
The the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the ater so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground."
Sheesh...come on Moses...get a move on!!!
So at this point does Moses smack his forehead?
"Doh!! Of course..I forgot the magic water splitting dry ground making stick!!!
The next bit we know...the Israelites make it across on dry ground, wall of water on either side, and the Egyptians get drowned. I wonder if Moses felt any sense of remorse when he stretched out his staff over the sea and drowned all of Pharaoh's army?
In any case the Israelites whoop it up. The celebratory song in Ex 15 has a bit of a neener neener neener tone to it. And THIS bit seems to be evidence that their bondage WAS oppressive.
Whichever is true the people now seem ready to trust God, and Moses leadership.
At least for the moment...
The Israelites finally get to march out of Egypt..."armed for battle" (Ex 13:18)
It has started to strike me that there was something going on in their "bondage" that was different than what we think of as typical slavery. I can't picture Civil War era slaves picking up and marching out 'armed for battle'...and having to have waited for permission to do so.
Although they ARE armed for battle God doesn't lead them through Philistine territory because God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." (Ex:13:17)
Instaed He takes them on a route designed both to protect and to lure Pharaoh to chase them.
(Ex14:2)
"Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. Pharaoh will think,'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.'"
As they're back up against the sea and they see the Egyptian army coming the Israelites cried out:
"Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Ex14:11 - 12)
Now THIS bit leads me to believe that their bondage was not complete depraved oppression. Apparently the evidence of the ten plagues is a distant memory, the huge pillar of smoke/fire that has been leading them isn't proof enough, they're willing to go back to slavery. ( It also serves as evidence that God was going to use the Red Sea incident to prove himself further. The plagues proved He could defeat the Egyptian 'gods' and now He is going to prove he can beat them on the human plane as well.)
Exodus 14:15 - 16 cracks me up:
The the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the ater so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground."
Sheesh...come on Moses...get a move on!!!
So at this point does Moses smack his forehead?
"Doh!! Of course..I forgot the magic water splitting dry ground making stick!!!
The next bit we know...the Israelites make it across on dry ground, wall of water on either side, and the Egyptians get drowned. I wonder if Moses felt any sense of remorse when he stretched out his staff over the sea and drowned all of Pharaoh's army?
In any case the Israelites whoop it up. The celebratory song in Ex 15 has a bit of a neener neener neener tone to it. And THIS bit seems to be evidence that their bondage WAS oppressive.
Whichever is true the people now seem ready to trust God, and Moses leadership.
At least for the moment...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Passover
Exodus 10:1 - 12:51
I used to think it was somehow unfair of God to harden Pharaoh's heart and thus force Egypt to go through ALL of the plagues. I reconciled that by understanding God's sovereignty certainly but I couldn't quite get it.
What struck me this morning is that what I think God was really up to in all of the plagues was showing HIS people who He was.
The Israelite people have been in Egypt for 400 plus years, probably with little more than Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and perhaps some Joseph stories handed down. When God shows up and communicates through Moses He comes in with a rather significant display.
If you look closely too and do even a tiny bit of research you find out that each of the plagues goes right in the face of one of the gods in the Egyptian pantheon, Seth, Imhotep, Ra...they all take a hit when they're powerless against the God of Israelites.
Now imagine these folks who have been living in slavery in Egypt for 400 years surrounded by the Egyptian religious infrastructure...some of them HAD to have been influenced in their beliefs.
So God hears their cry, shows up, and quite clearly demonstrates His superiority before He ever leads them out the door. Proving who he is AND proving His power over the so called gods of the Egyptians.
All the while somehow managing to make the Egyptian people favorably disposed towards the Israelites...they must have been TICKED with Pharaoh who just wouldn't give it up.
In the end it seems even Pharaoh has an inkling as to who is in charge:
Exodus 12:31
During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take you flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me"
As cool as the stuff that is coming is...the pillar of fire, the parting of the Red Sea, it had to have been awesome to live in Goshen and see God's display of power in the plagues.
I used to think it was somehow unfair of God to harden Pharaoh's heart and thus force Egypt to go through ALL of the plagues. I reconciled that by understanding God's sovereignty certainly but I couldn't quite get it.
What struck me this morning is that what I think God was really up to in all of the plagues was showing HIS people who He was.
The Israelite people have been in Egypt for 400 plus years, probably with little more than Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and perhaps some Joseph stories handed down. When God shows up and communicates through Moses He comes in with a rather significant display.
If you look closely too and do even a tiny bit of research you find out that each of the plagues goes right in the face of one of the gods in the Egyptian pantheon, Seth, Imhotep, Ra...they all take a hit when they're powerless against the God of Israelites.
Now imagine these folks who have been living in slavery in Egypt for 400 years surrounded by the Egyptian religious infrastructure...some of them HAD to have been influenced in their beliefs.
So God hears their cry, shows up, and quite clearly demonstrates His superiority before He ever leads them out the door. Proving who he is AND proving His power over the so called gods of the Egyptians.
All the while somehow managing to make the Egyptian people favorably disposed towards the Israelites...they must have been TICKED with Pharaoh who just wouldn't give it up.
In the end it seems even Pharaoh has an inkling as to who is in charge:
Exodus 12:31
During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take you flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me"
As cool as the stuff that is coming is...the pillar of fire, the parting of the Red Sea, it had to have been awesome to live in Goshen and see God's display of power in the plagues.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Moses and Pharaoh
Exodus 4:18 - 9:35
After all of his attempts to get out of going before Pharaoh Moses goes and asks his father-in-law for permission to go to Egypt. God tells him right up front, "Look you're going to go tell Pharaoh to let the people go and he is going to say no. Just perform the signs and ride it out...he'll keep saying no." On the one hand not very encouraging but on the other I would think Moses would have to at least have some small sense of comfort in knowing that God had a plan...since he obviously knew what would happen in this first bit. In fact in 4:22-23 God foreshadows the eventual outcome:
"Then say to Pharaoh, This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, 'Let my son go, so he may worship me'. But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son." God is already informing Moses that the signs won't work, that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, that he won't let the people go and that in the end he'll have to kill the firstborn of Egypt!
The next bit is a little odd...God shows up while Moses is on his way back to Egypt...and apparently wants to kill Moses. (Ex 4:24) I'm almost wondering if Moses was being disobedient in regards to circumcising his son and so he downplays this episode when he writes the story.
All turns out well when Zipporah whips out the flint knife and performs a field circumcision.
It is also interesting that when Moses and Aaron first show up Pharaoh treats them like a nuisance...(Ex5:4)"Moses and Aaron why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!"
He's the king for crying out loud!
But he chooses to play the political manipulation card rather than dealing directly with these two...(Ex5:7)
You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota.
From there things unfold pretty much like God said they would:
the signs won't work, that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, he won't let the people go and in the end he'll have to kill the firstborn of Egypt!
I wonder if Moses secretly kept a checklist?
After all of his attempts to get out of going before Pharaoh Moses goes and asks his father-in-law for permission to go to Egypt. God tells him right up front, "Look you're going to go tell Pharaoh to let the people go and he is going to say no. Just perform the signs and ride it out...he'll keep saying no." On the one hand not very encouraging but on the other I would think Moses would have to at least have some small sense of comfort in knowing that God had a plan...since he obviously knew what would happen in this first bit. In fact in 4:22-23 God foreshadows the eventual outcome:
"Then say to Pharaoh, This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, 'Let my son go, so he may worship me'. But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son." God is already informing Moses that the signs won't work, that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, that he won't let the people go and that in the end he'll have to kill the firstborn of Egypt!
The next bit is a little odd...God shows up while Moses is on his way back to Egypt...and apparently wants to kill Moses. (Ex 4:24) I'm almost wondering if Moses was being disobedient in regards to circumcising his son and so he downplays this episode when he writes the story.
All turns out well when Zipporah whips out the flint knife and performs a field circumcision.
It is also interesting that when Moses and Aaron first show up Pharaoh treats them like a nuisance...(Ex5:4)"Moses and Aaron why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!"
He's the king for crying out loud!
But he chooses to play the political manipulation card rather than dealing directly with these two...(Ex5:7)
You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota.
From there things unfold pretty much like God said they would:
the signs won't work, that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, he won't let the people go and in the end he'll have to kill the firstborn of Egypt!
I wonder if Moses secretly kept a checklist?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Enter Moses
Exodus 1:1 - 4:17
Our story begins with Israel in bondage in Egypt. It has been some 400 or so years since Joseph and the Egyptians are beginning to fear that the Hebrews are becoming too numerous.
I think it is cool that God sheltered His people within Egypt so that the fledgling nation could grow to formidable size without need to sort out how to govern itself or fend off outside enemies. It would be easy to look at it as a negative that they cry out to God in misery and slavery but it seems that a strong and numerous people has grown up under those conditions.
I guess I never caught it before that Moses was from the priestly tribe of Levi. Well, yes, I know it Aaron was of Levi AND was Moses' brother it should have been a no-brainer but I just never caught it...that he was from the clan of the priests.
It is interesting to ponder how much of his family history Moses was aware of at the point where he runs away. If we're to believe the Charlton Heston version he knew of it but didn't know it intimately.
In any case he comes across the burning bush and has his chat with God. Which would freak me out something fierce but he seems to be fine with it.
You do have to love Moses' excuses though:
Who/why me?
Who should I say sent me again?
What if they don't believe me?
I don't talk so good!
Send someone else!!
God doesn't buy any of it...
"Pick up your stick and get with it!"
Our story begins with Israel in bondage in Egypt. It has been some 400 or so years since Joseph and the Egyptians are beginning to fear that the Hebrews are becoming too numerous.
I think it is cool that God sheltered His people within Egypt so that the fledgling nation could grow to formidable size without need to sort out how to govern itself or fend off outside enemies. It would be easy to look at it as a negative that they cry out to God in misery and slavery but it seems that a strong and numerous people has grown up under those conditions.
I guess I never caught it before that Moses was from the priestly tribe of Levi. Well, yes, I know it Aaron was of Levi AND was Moses' brother it should have been a no-brainer but I just never caught it...that he was from the clan of the priests.
It is interesting to ponder how much of his family history Moses was aware of at the point where he runs away. If we're to believe the Charlton Heston version he knew of it but didn't know it intimately.
In any case he comes across the burning bush and has his chat with God. Which would freak me out something fierce but he seems to be fine with it.
You do have to love Moses' excuses though:
Who/why me?
Who should I say sent me again?
What if they don't believe me?
I don't talk so good!
Send someone else!!
God doesn't buy any of it...
"Pick up your stick and get with it!"
The End of an Era
Genesis 46:9 - 50:26
Starting in Genesis 45 we get the end of the Joseph story and the end of the tale of the Patriarchs.
I love God's comment to Jacob (Israel) in 46:3-4
"Don't not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close you eyes."
The juxtaposition here is cool..."I will make you into a great nation" takes 400 some odd years while "...Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." is 17 years later. This seems like one more example of God sharing His plan without explicitly sharing His time-line.
I think it might be worth studying further the blessing that Jacob gives to Joseph's sons.
He crisscrosses his hands and gives the blessing of the first born to the second born son.
So we get Ishmael and Isaac where the second son is blessed with the greater promises.
Jacob and Esau where it happens again..granted via different means.
And now Ephraim and Manasseh.
The rest of Jacob's blessings on his sons are interesting too.
Reuben is "removed" from his prestigious position as first born because he slept with his father's concubine.( Gen 35:22)
Simeon and Levi fail to inherit the firstborn blessing because of their desecration of Shechem.
(Gen 34:25)
Judah, though referred to as the strongest and the leader and he from whom kings will descend also seems to have had some skeletons in his closet.
The blessing due the firstborn actually goes to Joseph's sons...the firstborn of the first choice wife or something.
I also find it interesting that while it appears the Jacob could not control his sons worth a lick they seem to think that Joseph's wrath was only kept in check by their father being alive. (Gen 50:15)
So, all in all...weird details in the midst of the story, a LOT of superstitious and devious activity, but seems like a happy ending...almost reminds me of my college years.
DOH!
Starting in Genesis 45 we get the end of the Joseph story and the end of the tale of the Patriarchs.
I love God's comment to Jacob (Israel) in 46:3-4
"Don't not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close you eyes."
The juxtaposition here is cool..."I will make you into a great nation" takes 400 some odd years while "...Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." is 17 years later. This seems like one more example of God sharing His plan without explicitly sharing His time-line.
I think it might be worth studying further the blessing that Jacob gives to Joseph's sons.
He crisscrosses his hands and gives the blessing of the first born to the second born son.
So we get Ishmael and Isaac where the second son is blessed with the greater promises.
Jacob and Esau where it happens again..granted via different means.
And now Ephraim and Manasseh.
The rest of Jacob's blessings on his sons are interesting too.
Reuben is "removed" from his prestigious position as first born because he slept with his father's concubine.( Gen 35:22)
Simeon and Levi fail to inherit the firstborn blessing because of their desecration of Shechem.
(Gen 34:25)
Judah, though referred to as the strongest and the leader and he from whom kings will descend also seems to have had some skeletons in his closet.
The blessing due the firstborn actually goes to Joseph's sons...the firstborn of the first choice wife or something.
I also find it interesting that while it appears the Jacob could not control his sons worth a lick they seem to think that Joseph's wrath was only kept in check by their father being alive. (Gen 50:15)
So, all in all...weird details in the midst of the story, a LOT of superstitious and devious activity, but seems like a happy ending...almost reminds me of my college years.
DOH!
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