Tag Archives: Exodus 19:16-21:21

February 4, 2015 Bible Study

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 7:1-5

    The proverb writer continues his focus on the importance of staying out of relationships with immoral people. He tells us that if we make wisdom and insight members of our family they will protect us from the immoral.

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Psalm 28:1-9

    Do we feel as the psalmist, that if God is silent, we may as well give up and die? God is not silent, although we may have to be in order to hear His voice. Let us remember that while part of prayer is taking our concerns, fears, and needs to God, an even bigger part is listening to what He has to say to us. The wicked do not take time to listen to God because they do not care about what He has done. If we listen carefully to God, He will tell us how to make it through whatever troubles we face.

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Matthew 23:13-39

    Jesus condemns hypocrites in this passage. He describes the various ways in which people set themselves up as being better than others, without actually holding themselves to a morally superior standard. Jesus gives examples of people focusing on the details of righteous behavior while overlooking the bigger picture. While it is valuable to sacrifice in little things, such as tithing on our vegetable garden, but it is worthless if we allow ourselves to operate selfishly and greedily in the bigger things, such as our business dealings.

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Exodus 19:16-21:21

    When the Israelites camped at the foot of Mt Sinai, God came down upon the top of the mountain. Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God. He had the trumpeters (not the right word, but we don’t really have a word for this) blow on the ram’s horns in a loud call to the people. Moses spoke and God answered. There is a back and forth between God and Moses with the people included in the conversation, but the people were afraid. They stood back and asked Moses to speak for God. They requested that God not speak directly to them.
    This is an all too human tendency. We seek someone to place between us and God. We are afraid to talk to God directly.

February 4, 2014 Bible Study — Outwardly You Look Like Righteous People, But…

     I am trying something different. Previously, I have always placed my comments on the passage in the order Old Testament passage, New Testament passage, Psalm, Proverb. For the near future I am going to post them in the order in which I prepare the comments. This is likely to be the reverse of how I was doing it, but I foresee changing it up depending on what strikes me first. Please let me know what you think of this change.
     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Proverbs 7:1-5

     Wisdom and insight will keep one from falling under the spell of the immoral and promiscuous. Seek them as others seek lovers and you will find life.

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Psalm 28:1-9

     The psalmist gives a pretty good way to summarize who the evil are, “They care nothing for what the Lord has done or for what his hands have made.” Then he goes on to call on us to praise the Lord because He has heard his cry for mercy. I love verse 7:

The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him with all my heart.
He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.
I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

The Lord is my rock and my protector. He has heard my cry and had mercy on me.

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Matthew 23:13-39

     Jesus condemns the Pharisees for their hypocrisy in this passage. He talks about how they split hairs in their various interpretations of the Law of Moses in order to determine that action A was OK, while action B was against the Law. The most important part for understanding how it applies to us is in verse 23. There he accuses them of being scrupulous about tithing every little thing while overlooking the important parts of the Law. Jesus makes it clear that tithing is a good thing but makes it clear that we should put a stronger emphasis on justice, mercy and faithfulness than whether someone gives the right amount to God. It is more important to love our neighbors and care for their hurts than it is to get the minor details of God’s commands correct. Jesus tells us that it is more important to be righteous on the inside, in our thoughts and attitude, in what we think about others, than it is to appear righteous on the outside, for others to think that we are righteous. Let us do what is right because it is right, not because it makes us look good in front of others.

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Exodus 19:16-21:21

     I could do this about the Ten Commandments and what they each mean. Or perhaps what just a few of them mean. However, what inspires me today is how God gave the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel and how they reacted to that presentation. God spoke directly to the people of Israel from the mountain. The passage tells us that a dense cloud came down on to the top of the mountain, thunder roared and lightning flashed. God gave the commandments in thunder and lightning from the cloud of smoke billowing on the top of the mountain. The people of Israel were afraid and asked Moses to intercede. They asked that Moses speak to them for they were afraid of God speaking directly to them. Moses told them that God had done this so that their fear of Him would keep them from sinning.
     Do we have sufficient fear of the Lord to keep from sinning? The people of Israel did not have metaphorical fear of God, they had “hide under the bed” fear of God. Before we can truly appreciate God’s love and His grace, we need to learn to fear Him as the people of Israel feared Him here.

February 4, 2013 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

Starting A Fire In The Fire Pit
Starting A Fire In The Fire Pit

Exodus 19:16-21:21

     On the third day, God descended onto the mountain top and called Moses up to Him. God then sent Moses back down to warn the people not to cross the boundaries around the mountain and to bring Aaron back up with him. Moses went down the mountain and gave the people the message God had given him. While Moses was at the base of the mountain, God gave the people the Ten Commandments (at least that is how I read the passage, there is some ambiguity in the passage). The people’s reaction to this was fear. They asked Moses to speak to God for them and pass God’s words onto them. They asked that God not speak to them directly. This is a human tendency. We are constantly trying to place someone as an intermediary between ourselves and God.
     The passage goes on to describe the rules God gave the people for how they would treat their slaves and in cases of personal injury. Seen from the light of the way we treat people today, these rules often seem horrendous. Yet when seen in light of the way slaves were treated by the societies around them (and even in many societies today) one sees a very different picture. Perhaps at some point I will do a study of slavery as implemented by Old Testament law. I am sure that many have done a more thorough and comprehensive study than I would do. However, it is a subject that, every now and again, I get curious about and think about doing a detailed study (and if I write it as a blog post, I am more likely to actually do it at some point).

Variegated Amaryllis
Variegated Amaryllis

Matthew 23:13-39

     Jesus follows up His previous teaching by expounding on the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He points out how they create rules of behavior that they insist must be followed but that focus on superficial good behaviors while excusing more significant bad behaviors. Jesus condemns them for creating rules that give the appearance of righteousness without actually leading one to behave righteously. Jesus tells us that it is more important to behave righteously than to appear to behave righteously.

Wood waiting to be stacked
Wood waiting to be stacked

Psalm 28:1-9

     The psalmist cries out to the Lord, requesting to be heard. However, he asks more than just to be heard, he asks for God to speak. How often do I listen when I pray? When I pray do I spend time silent waiting for God to reply? Do I expect God to reply? At the end of today’s psalm the psalmist praises God because He has heard him. How would the psalmist know that God has heard him unless he has heard God’s reply? Perhaps the reason we so often feel that God does not listen to our prayers is because we do not pause to listen to His answers.

Red Amaryllis Begins to Bloom
Red Amaryllis Begins to Bloom

Proverbs 7:1-5

     I had never noticed before how much space the writer of Proverbs dedicates to advising against sexual immorality. Once again today’s passage is about the value of wisdom and insight in keeping one from sexually immoral behavior. If the writer of Proverbs spent so much time advising on keeping proper sexual morals, perhaps we would do well to spend more time teaching on the issue.