Exodus 40

And the story of the Exodus from Egypt draws to a close with the assembly of the Tabernacle. I am excited to see where the next book goes, as I'm not sure I've ever read much in Leviticus. The last thing I noted in this section of scripture was that God's presence now rested on the Tabernacle, but was manifest in the same way as the pillar of cloud/fire that initially led them out of Egypt. I sometimes wonder how large a fire and cloud this is talking about; I mean, it must have been pretty sizable if the Israelites could see it from a distance, but it also must have been small enough to effectively sit atop of the tent of meeting. How awesome it would be to have seen that! I wonder if there will be slide shows in Heaven... ;)

Exodus 39

After all their previous failings and departure from God's instructions, when it came time to make stuff the Israelites were apparently spot-on. That is quite refreshing, after the earlier parts of Exodus where they continually questioned Moses and God. I suppose that a couple of lessons could be drawn from this: 1) when God has a work to do in your life, if you do it wholeheartedly He will ensure that it is completed according to His wishes; 2) obedience to the Lord brings blessings (see the last verse).

Exodus 38

You may have noticed that yesterday's post was a little late in coming. It was done last night, but our internet connection was down so it didn't get posted till I got home from work today.

Today's reading was more of the same - descriptions of the way parts of the Tabernacle were made. It seems to be over, though, and the tally at the end of how much gold, silver and bronze were used is kind of cool to see. It might be fun to translate the weights into current-day values to see what the metals would cost to recreate this today (not counting all the linen and hides, of course).

Exodus 37

It looks like the final touches are being made in terms of the tabernacle and its accessories. The making of the ark in particular is covered in this chapter, which leads to a question I've wondered about. We will see later on that the ark is so sacred that even touching it brings instant death (hence the polls to carry it with). I wonder, though, when that starts: obviously it did not kill anyone working on the construction of it. I suspect that edict will go into effect when God's presence comes and settles on the ark, but I guess the Scriptures might say more when we get to that section.

Exodus 36

I know this sounds horrible, but the tedium of repetition in the last few chapters is getting to me. We've gotten at least two descriptions of how the Tabernacle was made, and two recaps of the major laws handed down by God to the Israelites. I'm sure the extra accounts are for emphasis or some other important reason, but I'm afraid it is lost on me at present.

I will note, though, that the fact that the needs of the Tabernacle were met and the Israelites were still giving is pretty cool. Maybe after everything they had been through the people finally felt like giving back to God for all He had done for them.

Exodus 35

The neatest thing about the gathering of goods God arranged for His tabernacle is that it was all voluntary: the text repeats in many places that only those who felt it appropriate gave donations, and that was what Moses relayed as God's instructions. How many other ancient religions do you suppose made giving to their gods optional? Even today, groups and cults like Scientology basically require giving of their members - but every church I've gone to portrays tithing as optional. Mind you, in that case God does command it (both in the old and new testaments); the difference, though, is that no one but you and God know how much or how little you give in church. You won't get kicked out of any real Christian church for not giving, though you may find that God will bless you tenfold for donations that come from the heart.

Exodus 34

Today's passage covers the re-making of the tablets containing the ten commandments. Moses broke the originals when he saw the Israelites worshiping the golden calf a few chapters back, and now God is providing replacements. What I find very cool about this is that God Himself is the one writing on the tablets. Moses lived such an amazing life: seeing God, hearing God, and carrying the very literal words of God on the tablets! He was so close to God when they spoke that Moses' face actually glowed. I suppose the lesson here is that as Christians we should be striving to be so close to the Lord that our lives shine in a way that others around us - both fellow believers and the world - can see Him through us.

Exodus 33

One of the things I've noticed over the past few chapters is that Joshua has been present, if not a major player, ever since Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. I had not remembered him being mentioned this early on - I know he will play a larger part when they arrive at the Promised Land, and then again after they wander in the desert... but it is neat to see where he got his start. His work under Moses and being so close to the Lord with him probably was a big part of his personal faith and strength later in life.

Exodus 32

It hasn't even been forty days since the Israelites heard God's voice and promised to serve Him and obey His commands - and already they have turned to idolatry. I always shake my head when reading this chapter, as it seems so absurd that people would fall away so quickly... but today I am reminded that I can be speaking to God in prayer one minute and sinning the next. I suppose that makes me no better than those people were; after all, we are all fallen humans.

The lessons here I think are really that God's grace is infinite, and that we need someone interceding on our behalf before Him. For the Israelites that was Moses, for us today it is Jesus. Just because we have a God who is ever-forgiving, though, does not mean that we have carte-blanche to go on sinning intentionally. In the same way that the Levites obeyed Moses and killed over 3,000 of their brethren in the aftermath of this incident, so we too must cut out the parts of ourselves that continually bring us back to wickedness.

Exodus 31

Oops - looks like I accidentally read ahead yesterday when I posted! God specifying craftsmen to head up the Tabernacle project is here in chapter 31, so I apologize for any confusion from those who read my last post.

The other main topic of today's reading is the Sabbath, which has been mentioned before as well. I've often struggled with this myself: does this still apply today? I know many Christians who won't do much at all on Sundays, taking that to be the modern Sabbath, but I myself find it hard to avoid any kind of work for a whole day. Don't get me wrong - I'd love to be lazy, I just have so much going on that I cannot imagine go 24 hours without getting anything done.

There is a phrase here that pertains to this question, though: verse 16 says "The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant" (NET). That only speaks to the Israelites, and while Christians are sort of the spiritual descendants of Abraham we are not (or at least many of us are not) directly related to them by blood. Does that mean that a modern Messianic Jew would need to observe the Sabbath, but the rest of us do not? I suspect I'll have to wait till I get to the New Testament to answer this in more depth.

Exodus 30

I think we are drawing near the end of God's instructions to Moses. The things I find interesting and cool about the chapter today are that God provides very specific ingredients for the incense and anointing oil - finally some instructions I would stand a decent chance of following, given their simplicity - and He calls out the names of two craftsmen that He endowed with the skill needed to make all of the things for the Tabernacle. How cool to have God Himself describe your abilities like that, and acknowledge that He gave them to you!

Exodus 29

As with the preceding chapters, I am not getting much out of this. The idea of a real blood sacrifice being in any way necessary for worship of God is pretty far removed from our modern culture, and the requirements of what to do with various bits of the animals is especially confusing to me. Why do some parts need to be burned on the altar, some eaten, and some burned outside the camp? What does it all represent? I had always assumed it was the sacrificing of a live creature, especially one that had a monetary value in society, that was important - but there seems to be a lot more to it than that.

Exodus 28

The things I noticed in this chapter were the repetition of the colors for use in priestly garments and the use of gemstones in connection or as representations of the twelve tribes of Israel. I wonder if there were specific meanings behind the colors and the particular stones for each of the tribes, but the text does very little to illuminate any reasons other than that this was God's will. If any readers out there have thoughts or know of resources on this topic, please leave a comment.

Exodus 27

I'm sorry I don't have much to say about the chapters I've been reading, but we are in a section that consists largely of instructions on the making of things that are no longer used (either by the Israelites of today, or by Christians). I suppose there are probably things that can be drawn from the text, but with all the talk of sizes, colors and materials I must be missing them. My mind sort of goes blank when reading this stuff, and I need to work on that.

Exodus 25

Not much to say about today's reading. I might have more thoughts if I had the knowledge of carpentry and design to understand how everything described would come together and look when built - but alas I don't. I will say, though, that the descriptions seem quite thorough and specific. I sometimes wonder why God would be so particular about such a place, but His tie to that physical place (and the temple, later on) must have been a lot stronger than to the various churches and places of worship we use today.

Exodus 25

Today's reading, and likely the next few chapters, is about the things God told to Moses while up on the mountain. In particular, we get the specifications for building the Ark of the Testimony (or Covenant) - the same one that is referred to the Indiana Jones movie.

I'm sure I will read a lot more about this item as I make my way through the Old Testament, so I may come back to this subject again, but the topic of the current whereabouts of the Ark has always interested me. Some think it is hidden away somewhere here on Earth, as the movies tend to depict, and some religious groups even claim to know the location. But I've also heard that many think God has taken it to heaven; it does appear there in the book of Revelation, so perhaps it is already waiting there. If any readers of this blog have ideas or personal theories I would be curious to hear them :)

Exodus 24

During this early part of the history of Israel, there are a lot of accounts of God revealing himself to His people - and this chapter has one of the most vivid descriptions of that yet. Seventy of their leaders, along with Moses, Aaron, and his sons, "saw the God of Israel" (verse 10, NET) and all of the people saw God's presence "like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view" (verse 17). I think I mentioned this a few posts ago, but I cannot wait to get such a glimpse of the Lord; it is a great comfort and joy to know that is awaiting me someday.

Exodus 23

This chapter has some additional laws, along with guidance for observing the Sabbath and annual feasts. Toward the end there is also a description of how God will deliver the promised land to the Israelites, and it is a pretty amazing account. It is too bad that the Israelites didn't stick to the plan, or they would have had a fantastic existence: no miscarriage, full lifespans, no sickness, and enemies that would flee before them. Unfortunately they did not follow through with God's commands, as we will see in the coming chapters and books.

Exodus 22

More laws today, this time covering possessions and various moral issues. It is interesting how many of these things carry a death penalty, and how squeamish modern society has become about such punishment. I'd really like to hear what folks reading this think about that issue, as it is a heavily debated topic in many political and social circles.

Exodus 21

This isn't the most enjoyable chapter to read, as it is basically a list of laws God gave to the Israelites, but it certainly is an interesting section. Here are things I gleaned, in short form:

- Possible evidence against abortion in verses 22-25

- Apparently the life of a slave was not worth the same thing as that of a free-man; this is especially interesting as God could have simply forbade slavery entirely, but He did not, and He most definitely limits their rights here

- An action or result itself is not the only thing considered when a crime or accident happens: any fore-knowledge is also taken into account. This is seen in the difference between manslaughter and pre-meditated murder (verses 12-14) as well as in the punishment for attacking a slave (20-21) and injury caused by an animal (28-30)