I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 30-32.

There are some interesting points about the account of the golden calf and its aftermath.  First, Aaron and the people referred to it in the plural, even though there was only one calf.  Some scholars have suggested that the reference to the calf in the plural was a later addition to make sure people connected this incident with the calves which Jeroboam had made when he rebelled against King Rehoboam.  Personally I believe that they referred to it in the plural because they wanted to have a pantheon like the nations around them rather than just one God.

Second, the account tells us that Moses ground up the statue, mixed it with water, and made the people drink it before he calls the Levites to kill those who were committing idolatry.  There are several other aspects of the story which do not quite fit together.  To me it reads like the account was compiled from what several different people remembered.  The different people did not know where what they remembered fit in with what the others remembered.  So, the author of this stitched their stories together as best he could.  The camp would have been very large, so it would make sense that people only remembered portions of  what happened and did not know how they tied together with things which happened in other parts of the camp.  Another explanation for the way the account is constructed is possible. This also works logically because the camp was very large and people in one part would not have been fully aware of what was going on elsewhere.  This explanation goes like this: Moses ground up the calf and made those who had been celebrating and worshiping it near it drink it.  However, elsewhere in the camp were those celebrating and worshiping the calf who were unaware of what was going on there.  Moses sent the Levites to settle things down and they killed those who refused to give up their new “gods”.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 28-29.

Today’s passage is another one of those which cause my eyes to glaze over.  I know people who make sermons from the description of the priestly garments, and I admire them for that.  One problem with the fact that my eyes glaze over as I read this detailed description is that I miss things.  Today was the first time I realized that the breast piece which Aaron was to wear whenever he entered the Most Holy Place was the “breast piece for making decisions.”  That fact, for me, changes the significance of the twelve names of Jacob’s sons being on it.  When God was being consulted for a decision, those seeking God’s guidance were reminded that they represented the entire nation as they made decisions.  In the same way when we seek God’s guidance in making a decision we need to remember that others are effected by what we decide.  When we make a decision we must remember to seek what is best for all who are impacted by that decision, not just what is best for ourselves.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 25-27.

The detailed description of the Tabernacle and its furnishings contained in today’s passage carries little meaning for me.  However, there are a few things in this passage I want to highlight.  We will see if I get to them all.

First, I want to highlight that the donations for the building of the Tabernacle were purely voluntary.  People donated whatever their heart prompted them to give.  Second, and completely unrelated, Moses was shown a pattern for building the Tabernacle in addition to being given specific instructions.  I have always wondered if that pattern was an image of what the Tabernacle should look like, or something more like a blueprint (or a modern clothing pattern).

The final thing I want to look at is the description of the Tabernacle lamp stand, also known as a menorah.  Now, despite knowing that the description here referred to it as a lamp stand, I have always pictured it as a candelabra.  This is partly because every modern reproduction I have seen is a candelabra and not a lamp stand.  However, realizing that it is a lamp stand lends more significance to the command to set the lamps up to light the area in front of the menorah.  Candles give out light in all directions, but lamps, depending on the design, may give out more light in some directions than another.  I have no idea if there is any significance to this, other than that Moses was instructed to make sure the lamps were placed to light the area in front of the menorah, but it feels like there is.  It feels like the idea that the backside of the menorah was in shadow is significant.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 22-24.

Every year when I read this I search for what I want to write.   Unlike some passages it is not that I have trouble finding meaning in the passage.  Instead. I find that the commands given here do not easily get summed up in the few words I write in my blog each day.    After going over it a couple of times I had decided where I was going to start, but as I went back over the passage to find the exact verses I wanted to comment on I came across something someone had made a passing comment on that I found interesting.

In verse 22:18 it says, “Do not allow a sorceress to live.”  A few weeks ago someone told me that the Hebrew word translated there as sorceress would be better translated as “poisoner”, and that such a translation would make more sense.  I do not know Hebrew, so I did a little Internet searching this morning to see if that was true.  I found two separate lines of commentary related to that.  One set of sources supported that idea by comparing the Hebrew word to similar words in other ancient languages which are related to Hebrew.  This line of reasoning concluded that the word could be translated as “herbalist”, but with connotations which implied evil in a way which would be consistent with “poisoner”.  The other set of sources claimed the Hebrew word meant “mutterer of charms”.  They supported this by showing how it related to other Hebrew words used in the Bible.  Considering that I have never seen the passage translated as anything other than as “sorceress” or a word synonymous with sorceress, I believe the second line of reasoning is correct.  More importantly, the second line of reasoning connected this instance of the word, where the Hebrew word is feminine, with instances of a masculine form of the word (which have similar levels of condemnation for those who fall into this category).

I meant to write about the above and then go on to something else, but that took longer to flesh out than I expected.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 16-18.

I want us to think about this passage a bit and how we do similar things.  The people of Israel left Elim, which was a rather pleasant place, but would not support their numbers for very long, especially not with their flocks.  As they travelled in the desert, they complained about the lack of food.  So, God provided them with manna.  Now, let’s think about how this worked.  Those who needed a lot because they had a lot of mouths to feed, found that they had enough.  Those who needed less found that they only had what they needed.  Those who put some aside for the next day found that it spoiled by the next day, but there was more to be gathered the next day…except on the sixth day, when there was two days’ worth and it did not spoil over night.  Get that: five days a week there was enough manna for one days’ meals and if you tried to put some aside for the next day it spoiled. On the sixth day, there was two days worth of manna, and it did not spoil if you kept it for the next day.  Finally, on the seventh day there was no manna to collect.  This continued until they entered the Promised Land.

Despite receiving this daily and weekly reminder of God’s miraculous providence, when they came to a place without water they complained that they were going to die of thirst.  They had complained that they were going to die of hunger, and God provided.  They were still experiencing that provision in a way which should have reminded them daily, or at least weekly, of God’s great power.  Yet, now they were complaining about the lack of water.  How often do we do something similar?  All too often, instead of recognizing how God has provided for our needs, we fail to have faith that He will do so again.  We worry, fret, and complain.  Let us strive to trust that God will provide for us, as He has done in the past (and is likely doing in other aspects while we are complaining about a new problem).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 13-15.

I am not sure where I am going to go with today’s blog.  The first thing which struck me was toward the end of the passage when God told the people of Israel, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, …, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians,…”  In the context one could easily conclude that the diseases mentioned are those from among the ten plagues.  However, I do not believe that is the case.  When one looks at the history of disease one quickly sees that when people begin to gather in cities disease becomes much more common place than when people live a more rural existence.  Interestingly, while population density plays a role in the spread of many of those diseases, most of them also spread as a result of human behavior.  So, if we do what is right in God’s eyes, we will be less likely to experience disease…and if we all, as a society, do what is right in God’s eyes, we will not experience those diseases at all.  This applies to all types of social ills,  The higher the percentage of people in a society who do what is right in God’s eyes, the fewer social ills the people of that society will experience.  The best part about this is that if we, individually, do what is right in God’s eyes, we ourselves will be less likely to experience the negative impact of many social ills.

NOTE: My title today is an oversimplification

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 10-12.

Every time I read this passage it feels like someone, perhaps the original writer, added some of the later descriptions of the instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread on to the instructions which Moses gave the Children of Israel before the first Passover.  I am not saying Moses did not give these instructions at that time, just that it feels like the instructions would have been more bare-boned, with the explanatory parts about celebrating in memory of this event left out.  It feels that way because the description of when they actually left indicates that it was sudden and urgent.  The meal they would have eaten needed to be one which could be prepared and eaten quickly and easily without using anything they would want to take with them.  My real point here is that we can easily miss the fear and urgency which the Israelites must have felt as they prepared to leave Egypt.  Something momentous was about to happen and they did not truly understand what was going on.   Moses had assured them that if they followed his instructions all would be well, but how could they be sure.  There will be times in our lives where we feel a little bit of what they were feeling that night.  I pray that you never feel more than a little of that feeling.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 4-6.

There are two main points in this passage which I want to highlight today.  First, Moses did not want to go back to Egypt.  He was content with his life as a shepherd of Midian.  Each of his objections was just an excuse.  He raised issues which had validity, but once God had addressed them, Moses begged God to send someone else.  Yet, when God insisted, Moses went.  Second, when Moses confronted Pharaoh, things got worse for the Israelites, not better.  We need to remember that this is often the case when God begins to act.  Generally, God does not begin to make things better until the situation is such that no one can take credit for the change.  So that we know things got better through God’s action, not because of ours.  Really, these two points are related.  God chose Moses to rescue the Israelites because Moses knew that he did not have the skills to accomplish it on his own.  And God allowed Pharaoh to make things worse so that everyone would see that the Israelites were released through God’s power, not Pharaoh’s good will.

I initially said there were only two points I wanted to touch on.  However, as I re-read to write the above I was struck by the fact that Moses had not circumcised his sons until he was returning to Egypt.  Further, it is interesting that it was his Midianite wife who did so when she perceived that God was angry with Moses.  The reason this is significant is that the Midianites were also descended from Abraham (by way of Midian, who was born to Keturah who Abraham married after the death of Sarah).  Further, Moses’ father-in-law was a priest of God.  Did Moses not circumcise his sons because the Midianites did not circumcise their sons?  But if that was the reason, how did his wife know to do so in this situation?  Just some food for thought.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 1-3.

When I first started to actually pay attention to history, I “learned” that the Exodus has to be a myth because none of the Egyptian (or other archeological records) support the idea that the events in Exodus happened.  Then I learned about the Hyksos “invasion” and rule over Egypt.  My mind immediately thought that a Hyksos ruler becoming Pharaoh would perfectly explain the line in today’s passage where it says, “a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.”  However, I was told that would not work because the Exodus happened long after the Hyksos were driven from Egypt.  As I learned more, I discovered that despite historical scholars dating the Exodus to the 13th Century BC (1300-1200 BC), Biblical dates put the Exodus at 1446 BC.  While I question the logic of arriving at such precise dates from Biblical sources (all other written records from the time period when the Old Testament was written were not concerned with precise dates), it fits with the date of the transformation in character of an Egyptian Pharaoh (before 1446 BC Pharaoh Amenhotep II was portrayed as arrogant and bombastic, after 1446 he was portrayed as thoughtful and wise).  And 1446 BC would have been about 100 years after the Hyksos were driven from Egypt.  Which allows time for what happened in verses 1-15 to happen.  Relative to my questioning of using the Bible for precisely identifying a year, there are debates about the chronology of Egypt.  One set of scholars has Amenhotep II ascending to the throne in 1454 BC and another saying that happened in 1427 BC.

While there are many spiritual lessons for us in this passage, this year I am going to spend a little more time on the “history” of the passage (although I hope, as always, that you read the passage for yourself).  One of those points is Moses’ name.  If the Exodus happened in 1446 BC, the Pharaoh when he was a child would have been Thutmoses III.  Note the similarity in names.  This is especially important when you realize that the first part of Thutmoses was a variation of the name of the Egyptian god Thoth, and that the name meant “born of Thoth.”  Similarly, other Pharaohs had names which ended in “moses” or “mses” and started with the name of an Egyptian god.  Now, the Israelites did not speak the name of God, as a general rule.  So, Moses being raised by a daughter of Pharaoh, who knew he was a Hebrew (an Israelite), may have named him “__Moses”, meaning “born of __” where “__” was the unspoken name of God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 39-40.

Today’s passage describes the making of the outfits worn by the priests in detail.  Once again, earlier we saw the description of the design God had given Moses for these, now we have the description of how they were actually made.  Sometimes I wish I had enough knowledge of sewing to see if I could duplicate these (without the carved gemstones).  Additionally, I would like to see two completely different people attempt to duplicate these from these instructions to see how different (or not different) they turned out.  Once the writer is done describing how the Tabernacle and the priestly garments were made, he describes the process of setting up the Tabernacle for the first time.  A casual reading of the passage would lead one to believe that Moses put the pieces of the Tabernacle together by himself.  However, several of the items would have been extremely difficult for one person to do and a few seem impossible.  

Having written all of that, this passage conveys the value of ritual and careful attention to detail in worship.  They are not always necessary, but they sometimes help us get into the right frame of mind to worship God properly.