Exodus 26-28

Reading through the instructions for building the Tabernacle, with all its pieces and parts, materials and associated accessories, one can easily get distracted by (or perhaps mired in) all the details: curtains of just such a size, so many supporting poles separated by just so many cubits, clasps of gold, clasps of bronze, positioned just so, and on it goes. In all those details, we might lose sight of an important theme: holiness.

To be holy is to be set apart, to be marked as separate and distinct, exceptional. God Himself, of course, is holy. As the Creator, He is the ultimate “Other,” the one and only uncreated Being, and so He is clearly set apart from all else. He wants to communicate this “otherness” to Israel, and He does so throughout the Tabernacle.

Just look at the overall design. First there is the outer wall of curtains surrounding the courtyard with the altar, clearly “set apart” from the common world outside. Within that is the main tent, divided into two sections, the “Holy Place” and the “Most Holy Place” (or the “Holy of Holies”), where the Ark of the Covenant is to be placed. Only the priests may enter the Holy Place, and only the High Priest may enter the Most Holy Place (and then only once a year).

Alongside the overall structure of the Tabernacle we have all those pesky detailed instructions, specifying the materials to use, how to put all the pieces together, placement of items within the Tabernacle, etc. All these details similarly point to holiness. This is not a common tent, not something you can just go buy at your local camping store. It is special. It is unique. It represents the dwelling place of the LORD God. He is not to be taken lightly. He is not cheap or common or profane. He is, in a word, holy.

We would all do well to meditate on God’s holiness, to think long and hard about His “otherness.” And then ponder how utterly mind-boggling it is that this holy God would call us into relationship — and not just any relationship, but that He would call us His children.

Exodus 22:16-25:40

The LORD speaks the Ten Commandments to the entire congregation of Israel, and the experience is so terrifying that the people beg Moses to act as an intermediary (Ex. 20:18-21). The LORD accommodates them and conveys the rest of the Law to the people indirectly through Moses. And there is quite a bit of Law, as we shall see. There are civil case laws and ceremonial laws, instructions for the Tabernacle and instructions for travel, rules for diet and rules for disease control.

As we go through all these different laws, let’s remember that this is all new territory for the people of Israel. They are newly released from centuries of slavery. They may identify with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — or they may not! Yes, they just saw the LORD at work in the plagues and in crossing the Red Sea, but before that they all grew up under Egypt’s gods. So the LORD needs to pry them away from all they have known. He needs to instruct them in His ways. He needs to form them into a nation, even a culture. And the Law is a tool for doing that.

Generally speaking, these laws do not apply to us, but we can still learn from them, and we can still let them shape us. What principles should drive our interactions with one another? How is justice to be applied? For that matter, what is justice, anyway? What attitudes do I have that don’t square with these laws? Do I need to do things differently?

Exodus 19-22:15

Today God declares The Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. We often think of these Ten Commandments as the essential core of the Law, even as the bedrock of our own current legal code. They shape what we think of as right and wrong. They are, in fact, good for us, showing us how life really works.

Yet we can’t manage to keep them. Indeed, our culture has thoroughly cast off the first four commandments (no other gods, no graven images, not using the LORD’s name in vain, keeping the Sabbath), pays very little heed to the fifth commandment (honoring parents), murders babies, and is engaged in all sorts of sexual immorality. The entire advertising industry is founded upon covetousness, and I would not be at all surprised to find that every one of us has stolen something and then lied about it somewhere along the line.

That doesn’t mean the Commandments are not worthwhile. We should indeed honor the Ten Commandments and strive to keep them. They are good for us. But that is not where our hope lies. We simply can’t live up to the standard.

Before declaring the Ten Commandments, the LORD reveals His intentions for the people of Israel:

You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Exodus 19:4b-6a

The people of Israel, however, cannot manage to keep the commandments any better than we can. We all need a Savior, a Source of righteousness outside ourselves. That Savior is Jesus Christ. This is what Saint Peter says to those who believe in Jesus:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

I Peter 2:9-10

That is to say that, in Jesus, we inherit the roles originally given to Israel to proclaim the excellencies of God. Part of that proclamation is to uphold the Ten Commandments as best we can, not as some kind of legalistic attempt to establish our own righteousness all over again, but to enjoy the good life of righteousness that God gives us in Christ — to let the world know what it’s missing out on. In other words, in Christ, the Ten Commandments should not be seen as rules, but as promises.

Exodus 16-18

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

Exodus 16:4-5

The LORD’s sending of manna, the bread from heaven, is simultaneously at least three things:

• Provision for the Israelites’ physical needs
• A response to the Israelites’ grumbling
• A test of the Israelites’ obedience

The people of Israel have just left Egypt, and they are on the move. They have livestock with them, but they have no stores of grain and no ongoing agricultural pursuits (obviously), so food is an understandable concern. But do the people contentedly trust that the LORD will provide? No, they grumble against Moses and Aaron — not the first time, and not the last. Their grumbling against Moses is really misdirected; they are really grumbling against the LORD and putting Him to the test.

The LORD, of course, needs no testing. He is faithful. He knows their need and meets it by giving them manna to eat, a fresh provision every day. He gives exactly enough each day, with a double portion on the day before the Sabbath (i.e., on Friday), so that the people can rest on the Sabbath (i.e., on Saturday).

This daily distribution then becomes a test of obedience for the people. There are two basic rules:

• Except on Friday, don’t try to save any manna for the next day (out of fear that the next day’s portion won’t come); instead, eat your fill and be satisfied (even on Friday)
• On the Sabbath, rest; don’t try to gather any manna then

Naturally, the Israelites fail on both counts: they try to keep back a little extra manna “just in case,” which then just rots; and they just can’t seem to rest on the Sabbath. Do the Israelites learn to follow these simple rules after just the first week or two? Perhaps. It doesn’t clearly say. But I doubt it…

Before we all start snickering at the Israelites for failing to follow the simplest of rules for the manna, let me ask just one question: How truly restful is your Sabbath Day each week?

The key factor for obedience in handling the manna is faith. And faith is the key factor for us as well. Do I truly believe that the LORD will do what He says and provide for me daily? Not just today, but tomorrow, too? Do I trust that His provision is sufficient that I can take one day a week off, without worrying about “getting it all done”? And in trusting Him, do I then enjoy his provision, returning thanks to Him for all He gives?

Exodus 12:37-15:27

The LORD said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

Exodus 13:1-2

Having just passed over all the firstborn of Israel, both of man and of beast, the LORD now lays claim to those same firstborn as His own. In the immediate, all the firstborn very literally owe their lives to the LORD. For subsequent generations, the consecration (or “setting apart”) of the firstborn then stands as an ongoing reminder of the Passover. (Ex. 13:11-16)

In truth, we all belong to the LORD. He is the Creator and so has a legitimate claim on absolutely everyone and everything. Yet we often act as though we are our own and owe Him nothing. How wrong we are! What can you do today to remind yourself that you are not your own, for you were bought with a price? (I Cor. 6:19b,20a)

Exodus 10-12:36

In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:11-13

The significance of the Passover cannot be overstated. It is perhaps the defining event for the Israelites, celebrated to this day, and it foreshadows the Cross of Christ.

I cannot possibly do more than barely scratch the surface of what the LORD does here, but let me just mention three things:

• Readiness
  • The LORD instructs each Israelite family to bring a lamb into their home a few days before the night of Passover. The lamb is not snatched from the flock moments before the slaughter. Instead it lives within the household. The lamb becomes a family pet.
  • Everyone is to be ready to go — belt and shoes on, staff in hand — and the meal is to be eaten in haste.
• Judgment
  • All the plagues, but especially this tenth and final one, constitute judgments on the gods of Egypt.
• Mercy
  • The LORD shows mercy to those who — following His instructions, strange as they may seem — place the blood of the lambs on their doorposts and lintels.
  • The LORD sees the blood and passes over.

In our own lives God calls us to welcome Christ into our lives as the Lamb of God, and He calls us to get ready. He warns of judgment on false gods, anything that would draw us away from Him. And He shows us mercy, seeing the Blood of the Cross, and passing over us, that we might have life. Of course, just as with the Israelites in the first Passover, receiving that mercy requires our cooperation.

Exodus 7-9

But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you My power, so that My Name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Exodus 9:16

Egypt stands here as the most powerful nation on earth, and Pharaoh rules it as a god. But with the plagues the LORD is systematically demonstrating His supremacy. Pharaoh and all Egypt’s gods beside him are powerless before the LORD, and yet Pharaoh resists.

As you read these stories, do you ever try to envision yourself “on scene”? If so, where are you in the room? Are you Moses? Aaron? An average Israelite? How about just a fly on the wall? (There are plenty of those!) Most of us probably imagine ourselves as “one of the good guys,” not necessarily Moses himself, but right there with him, rooting for him against the nasty Pharaoh. But we should at least occasionally break out of that self-congratulatory perspective and imagine things from a different point of view.

I am pretty sure none of us now occupies the position of head of the world’s most powerful nation. Nor do the people around us bow down to any of us as a god. So perhaps it is difficult to put ourselves in Pharaoh’s place — except for one thing: we all resist the LORD in one way or another. Perhaps our story is not as dramatic as the plagues of Egypt, but God’s message to us is the same as it was to Pharaoh: But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you My power, so that My Name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Perhaps it is time for us all to admit that God is in control, and we are not.

Exodus 4:18-6:30

Let’s review just a bit. Genesis finishes with Jacob’s family all living in Egypt. Exodus opens about 280 years later, with a greatly expanded populace of Israelites now enslaved by the Egyptians. We are introduced to Moses as a baby, rescued from Pharaoh’s edict of infanticide, and drawn from the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses grows up in Pharaoh’s household, but flees to the land of Midian after killing an Egyptian. There he becomes a shepherd and eventually sees a curious sight, a bush that is on fire but is not consumed. Turning aside to investigate, he encounters the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. When Moses asks God’s name, God reveals Himself as “I AM WHO I AM.” (Ex. 3:14; By convention in most modern English translations, this Name generally appears as the “LORD” — all caps — throughout the Old Testament.) The LORD calls Moses to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage. Moses does not want the job, but God “insists,” and Moses reluctantly agrees.

Moses now returns to Egypt, meeting his brother, Aaron, along the way in a divinely appointed rendezvous. Together, they meet with the elders of the people of Israel, show them signs, and explain the plan of deliverance.

And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Exodus 4:31

That moment of faith and worship marks a high point, but then things immediately go south. Moses and Aaron gain an audience with Pharaoh and ask him to let the people go, but Pharaoh refuses and instead demands that they find their own straw for making bricks — without reducing their quota for brick production. So the people, now more burdened than ever, come back to Moses and Aaron:

[A]nd they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”

Exodus 5:21-23

The Israelites readily go from a high point of joyful worship to a valley of complaint. But Pharaoh’s actions are no surprise to God.

But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

Exodus 6:1

God has a plan, and in His plan, Pharaoh will not only let the people of Israel go, he will, in fact, drive them out of his land.

Sometimes we hear God’s message of deliverance for us and we respond with faith and worship. We are delighted to know that we are headed to eternal joy in His presence. But we are not so happy about the short-term challenges we may face here and now, so much so that we lose sight of that glorious destination and the God Who promises it. We look at our burdens, the sufferings that we do not expect, and we doubt the goodness of our God.

What are the “unforeseen” obstacles in your path today? What challenges are you facing that don’t seem to make sense? (I know for sure that some of us are currently facing some truly difficult and painful circumstances…) Has God revealed every detail of His plan for you? (Probably not.) But can you trust Him anyway?

Exodus 1-4:17

Picture, in your mind’s eye, Moses before Pharaoh.

What do you see? My guess is that for most of us, it’s Charlton Heston and Yul Brenner. Congratulations to Cecil B. DeMille, the Hollywood machine, and decades of reruns of The Ten Commandments. Thanks to such movies we know the story — or we think we know. But let’s remind ourselves that we’re interested in the Word of God, not Hollywood fiction — or even Sunday School fiction. That is, we need to be very cognizant of where the ideas in our heads come from and sort out fact from fiction. Is this idea I have really in Scripture? Or is it from DeMille? Or is it from some forgotten Sunday School teacher, whose orthodoxy might be questionable? Feel free to watch The Ten Commandments (again) and enjoy it for what it is. But as we read through the Bible, listen to what it actually says and break free of any fictions you might be carrying around in your head.

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Who made you a prince and a judge over us?

Exodus 2:14

Thus an Israelite rejects Moses as an authority figure with what sounds like a very democratic perspective, one to which we Americans might readily subscribe. Moses is, after all, a fellow Israelite whose only qualification for Egyptian privilege is having been pulled out of the water by Pharaoh’s daughter. So why pay Moses any particular heed? That has “democracy” written all over it, but that doesn’t mean it’s heading in the right direction. This may be the first time an Israelite questions Moses’ authority, but as we shall see over the coming weeks, it isn’t the last.

Genesis 47-50

If you have ever wondered why the name “Joseph” is not generally listed as one of the “Twelve Tribes of Israel,” your answer is here in Genesis 48, where Jacob/Israel adopts Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own (Gen. 48:5), in effect giving Joseph a double portion of the inheritance. (And given that without Joseph, they would all be dead, I guess that is only fair…) So these two grandsons of Jacob are treated as sons and become the heads of tribes for the ongoing generations (with Joseph standing in the background). Of course, that means we now have thirteen tribes of Israel. We’ll see how we get back down to twelve when we get to the book of Numbers…

Interestingly, when Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons, he deliberately places his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger of the two, giving him the greater blessing. Clearly, this runs contrary to Joseph’s expectation, but it is not unprecedented in the history we’ve covered so far:

• Abel is favored over Cain
• Isaac is favored over Ishmael
• Jacob is favored over Esau
• Now Ephraim is favored over Manasseh

God’s plan just does not always fit human expectations or traditions.

In Genesis 49 Jacob prophecies over each of his sons. These are not idle words, emotional sentiments of an aged father about to die. These are pronouncements shaping the future of generations to come. I expect that whole dissertations have been written on each verse in turn. Luckily for you, I will make no such attempt, but here are a few highlights:

• Reuben
  • Remember Genesis 35:22? Jacob apparently remembers well enough!
• Simeon and Levi
  • Remember Genesis 34? Jacob does.
• Judah
  • The scepter shall not depart from Judah. (Gen. 49:10) Indeed.
• Joseph
  • He still sounds like Jacob’s favorite.

After blessing his sons, Jacob dies at the age of 147. He is embalmed, carried back to Canaan, and buried in the family tomb.

It is now 39 years since the brothers sold Joseph into slavery and 17 years since being reunited with him. They still feel the guilt, and they fear reprisal, so they finally ask forgiveness. Joseph replies very much as he had 17 years earlier:

“Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:19-21

Sometimes good news is hard to believe. Sometimes it takes time to sink in. In this case that slowness amounts to 17 extra years of guilt.

Just as we need to forgive and let resentments go, so must we accept forgiveness when it is given and not continue to wallow around in guilt. So what guilt might we be carrying unnecessarily? What are the things others have forgiven that we still lug around? In particular, what has God forgiven that we need to release?