Tag Archive | Exodus

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 43

Feb12
Day 43.  Reading Exodus 39 – 40. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Exodus 39.

While craftsmen worked on making the Tabernacle, its furniture, and the outer courtyard, those skilled in sewing, embroidery, lace making (vs. 21), and working with jewels and gems made the holy garments for use in the Holy Place, as the LORD commanded Moses.

The most detailed and intricate garments and accruements were for Aaron (and any high priest who followed him).  They must have been heavy with gold chains, settings, and rings and fourteen engraved precious stones. They must also have been very stunning. They were indeed “holy” (set apart) from anything the people had seen.

Finally, everything was completed, and they brought it ALL to Moses “for inspection.”  “And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.”

Exodus 40.

On the first day of the first month (Aviv), one year after leaving Egypt, Moses oversaw the assembling of the Tabernacle in the center of the camp. 

  • First, the Tabernacle tent was erected, from the bases to the animal skin covering on the top.
  • Next, he put the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments inside the Ark of the Covenant (Testimony) and placed the Mercy Seat on top, and the carrying poles through the rings. He placed this in the Holy of Holies inside the tent.
  • The “screen” or veil was hung to seclude the Most Holy Place.
  • In the Holy Place, Moses up the Table with the bread on the north side, the Golden Lampstand with oil on the South side, and the Alter with its holy Incense on the west side next to the veil. He burned incense to the Lord and set up the screen for the door of the Tabernacle 
  • Outside, Moses set up the massive bronze Altar of Burnt Offering with its utensils. 
  • Between that and the tent, Moses set up the bronze Basin (or Laver).  
  • Lastly, Moses set up the courtyard all around and the gate at the entrance to the court.
  • Then Moses took the special anointing oil and consecrated the tent and its furniture that it might be holy to the LORD.  He also anointed and consecrated the Alter of Burnt Offering and Basin as holy to the LORD. 
  • Next Moses brought Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tabernacle and wash them from the Basin, then clothe them with the holy garments.  He also  anointed and consecrated them.  “Their anointing shall admit them to a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations,” proclaimed the LORD.

And so the Tabernacle was erected. Moses finished the work.

THEN, the cloud covered the Tabernacle and the GLORY OF THE LORD filled it. 

Moses was not able to enter it because the cloud settled upon it and filled it.  Throughout all the journeys of the people of Israel, whenever the cloud rose up, they moved forward. Whenever it rested on the Tent, they camped and stayed.

The Cloud of God’s presence was on the Tabernacle by day and the Fire of God’s presence was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys. 

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End of Exodus.

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 30

Jan30

Day 30. Reading in Exodus 1 – 3. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and meditate on it. What do you learn about God?

Exodus 1.

.And … the eleven sons of Jacob-Israel are named again (Joseph already has been in Egypt). They and all that generation die. And the children of Israel greatly increase, multiply, and grow strong so that the land is FILLED with them. 100 years after, the number of men, women and children had grown to TWO MILLION. They had become a nation, just as God had told Abraham.

Several Pharaohs had reigned since the one who elevated Joseph. The current king was ruthless and evil. He looked at the mass of strong Israelites, and fear gripped his heart. “If” war broke out, these “foreigners” might join the enemy army. So he gradually turned them into slaves with taskmasters to build store cities for him. When that didn’t slow the population growth, he worked them harder in the fields and in making bricks.

Then, this diabolical king (probably Thutmose 1) told the midwives to kill all boys being born to the Israelite women.  They refused and lied to him, so he made it a “national” law that everyone, seeing a Jewish baby boy, was to grab him and throw him into the Nile River to drown or to be food for the crocodiles.

How many were killed, we don’t know, but before we judge this wicked man, think of the hundreds of thousands of abortions our country has allowed (promoted) over the years.

Exodus 2.

During these atrocities, two descendants of Levi (Amram and Jochebed) marry and begin a family. They have a daughter (Miriam), then a son, a beautiful, healthy baby.  The mother keeps him as long as she can, but his cries will soon bring vengeful neighbors to take him to the Nile.  So, she does it herself, except her baby is wrapped up and placed into a watertight basket before going into the river. A gentle push and the baby’s amazing voyage begins. He is carefully watched by his older sister.

The baby floats into the reeds near the pool where Pharaoh’s daughter (and her ladies-in-waiting) are bathing. THEN it starts to cry. The ladies bring her the basket, and immediately, her heart goes out to the beautiful infant. She smiles and perhaps tickles the little one until it stops crying, then she takes it into her arms and cuddles it close. She opens the blankets and discovers that the baby is a boy … an Israelite boy. (He is circumcised.) But she already wants him for her own. 

Right then, Miriam steps up, bowing, and offers a wet nurse to feed the baby. Pharaoh’s daughter is not fooled, but she wants the boy and sees the practicality of having “his mother” feed him.  She promises to pay this “wet nurse” and expects the boy to be brought to her as soon as he is weaned. And so, for three to four years, Amram and Jochebed sing and speak the stories of their God and His promises to the little boy.

“God has chosen them. God is with them. God has promised to rescue them and bring them to their own land. God always keeps His promises.”  A lullaby and alphabet lesson of faith.

The time comes. and Jochebed presents her son to Pharaoh’s daughter. She’s done all she can to instill in the boy his Hebrew heritage. Now, she entrusts him to God. 

Your name is Moses (drawn out) because I drew you out of the water. “And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.” (Acts 7:21)

At forty, Moses was a man of stature, education, and importance. Raised an Egyptian, he nevertheless remembered that “his people” were Israel.  One day, as he watched how they were being treated, he saw a taskmaster mercilessly beating a Hebrew. Fury rose in him, and he struck the Egyptian down dead. Quickly, he buried him in the sand. (not a ‘smart’ move, as the wind would soon uncover the body).  

Moses felt good (if a bit scared) about his actions.  Surely, his people would recognize him as “their savior.”

NOT SO!  The next day, when he tried to break up a fight between two Hebrews, they reminded him of what he’d done to the Egyptian. “Who made you PRINCE and judge over us?”

Ah-oh!

Suddenly, Moses was afraid. Pharaoh would kill him if the stern man learned he’d murdered an Egyptian. So Moses ran.  He ran and ran, all the way across the desert he would one day lead God’s people.  He ran to Midian. (Midian was a descendant of Abraham by his second wife, Keturah.) 

At a well (where it seems all Hebrew men meet their wives), Moses met seven daughters of a priest of Midian.  When the man learned that a handsome, strong Egyptian had helped his daughters, he invited Moses to dinner.  The rest is history. Moses married Zipporah and they had a couple sons.

And he became a shepherd of sheep.  (This began the second 40-year phase of his education.  How do you lead, feed, run after, and care for a bunch of unruly, dumb sheep? Or people.)

Meanwhile, Pharaoh died. The slavery of Israel got tougher.  They groaned and cried out for help.  God heard the groaning and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (For 400 years they’d serve another nation, then He’d bring them back to the land.)

“God saw the people of Israel, and God knew.”

Exodus 3.

One day, the 80-year old-shepherd Moses, was out with his sheep on the west side of the desert near Horeb (Sinai), the “mountain of God.” He was watching the white wooly backs serenely, when suddenly the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush, that didn’t itself burn. 

“Whoa. What’s going on here?”

“Moses, Moses!”

“What?  Here I am.”

“Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.”

And Moses quickly untied and took off his sandals.

“I AM the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look AT GOD.

“I have SEEN the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have HEARD their cry because of their taskmasters. I KNOW their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them up to that good and broad land, flowing with milk and honey.

“Come,  I will send YOU to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

“WHAT??? I can’t do that!! Who am I to deliver Israel out of Egypt???”

“I will be with you, and this is a sign for you, that I’ve sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God ON THIS VERY MOUNTAIN.”

“Who shall I tell the people sent me? (A bush?)

“I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel. The LORD the God of your fathers… has send me. This is His name forever. Go, Moses, gather the elders of Israel and say that the LORD, the God of their fathers has appeared to you and promised to bring them up out of affliction.

Then, go to the king and ask that the people go a three-day journey into the desert to sacrifice to their God. He won’t let you go, so I will strike Egypt with plagues, and then he WILL let you go. And when you ask them, all the Egyptians will give you silver and gold jewelry, and clothing. AND YOU WILL PLUNDER THE EGYPTIANS!

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Tomorrow, we will see Moses’ response.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 58

Feb27

    Day 58 —  We are still in the second month, but we’ve begun a new book! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.

   Day 58 – Numbers 8 – 10 (Levites,, Passover, the Cloud, Bye-bye Sinai)

In chapter 8, Another ceremony is instigated of setting apart of the whole tribe of Levi, as the representatives of God’s “first born.” God also sets the age of retirement for priests at 50 years old. They may still guard the Tabernacle, but no long serve in it.

In chapter 9, the whole of Israel celebrates Passover the first time since the original one the night of their escape from Egypt. Some people were worried, that if they had become unclean from, say touching a dead body, they weren’t able to celebrate on that day. God gave lenience and said they, and whoever might be on a long journey, could celebrate it a month later. (How kind is our God!)

Directions were made clear also about the “cloud” or visible presence of God with Israel. When it rested, covering the Tabernacle, they were to remain in that encampment.  However, if it lifted, they were to pack up and follow wherever it led. Whether it rested in one spot two days, a month, or even longer, Israel was not to move, but to always to look to God for their direction.

Numbers 10. Also, because they were to be traveling, God told Moses to tell them about a series of trumpet blasts, as a sort of message, especially to those camped at a distance.  Different trumpets and blasts would be used to summon the people together (say for an important meeting), and at other times, the blasts would signal the breaking of camp. And also, the different blasts would signal how each of the four encampments would set out – decently and in order, as aways.

And finally, just after Passover (as in the first time) the now “nation” of Israel (complete with spiritual leaders and army) was to set out in stages from Mt. Sinai towards the Promised Land. Judah, with Issachar and Zebulun set out first,  Next the Gershonites and Merarites, two of the Levite clans, would leave with the Tabernacle structure . After them, Reuben with Simeon and Gad left, followed by the Kohathites caring the Holy furnishings of the Tabernacle. (Except the Ark of the Covenant, which would lead everything.) Next Ephraim with Manasseh and Benjamin would follow, and finally Dan with Asher and Naphtali would march out, as Israel’s rear guard.

And so they set out on a three-day journey. I can imagine the great joy and excitement they felt, as the newly consecrated and organized people of God, with His laws and ordinances firmly set in their minds, finally realized they were now heading toward their destiny, the Land that God had promised to Abraham so many years before.  It was happening at last!  What could go wrong?

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 42 & 43

Feb12

   Day 42 & 43 —  We are in the second month of 2024! Praise God! I hope that reading God’s Word has become a GOOD habit that will continue. (Note: SUNDAY’s readings are combined with MONDAY’s)

   Day 42 – Exodus 36-38  (Tabernacle construction)

After Israel sinned so grossly, and the LORD judged them, and then graciously renewed His covenant with them, it seems they are repentant and eager to obey.

They have a project. The construction of the beautiful place where God’s presence will dwell with them. (They’d been frightened that He would send them to the Promised Land….but not go with them!)

Chapter 36. Bezalel and Oholiab (whom God had chosen and empowered with skills and knowledge) stood ready. The people so generously donated to the work that these men had to tell Moses to make them stop. They had enough to do all the work and more.

Chapter 37. And so the work on the curtains and coverings, frames and bases, veil and screen, and utensils was begun and was accomplished by those God had skilled to do it. Then the gold covered, solid gold, or bronze furniture inside and out of the Tabernacle Tent, and finally the huge courtyard hangings, pillars, bases and pegs were all made.

Chapter 38. All was constructed, carved, embroidered, and covered in gold just as God had told Moses. And the Levites kept a record of all the materials used. (READ 38:24-31 carefully. It is jaw-dropping!)

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    Day 43 – Exodus 39-40 (Priests garments, erection of the Tabernacle, the glory of the LORD)  T

Chapter 39. The last of the instructions that God gave to Moses was about the holy garments that were to be worn by the priests in the LORD’s service. Bezalel and his skilled workers took on this task as well, completing it in all the magnificent and precise details.  And when Moses saw that all the work had been done just as the LORD had commanded, he blessed them.

Chapter 40. And so, exactly to the day, one year after leaving Egypt, the Tabernacle was erected and all it’s furniture put into place. Moses consecrated it all to God by anointing each item with the holy oil, including Aaron and his sons (after washing them).

Moses took the tablets of the law and put them into the Ark of the Covenant. He put the poles into the rings and the mercy seat on top and took it into the Most Holy Place. He erected the veil between it and the Holy Place. He then placed the Table of Showbread, the Lampstand, and the Alter of Incense, burning some of the sacred incense before the LORD.  Then he hung the outer curtain and went out of the Tabernacle. (Remember, Moses was a Levite as well.)

Next he set up the Bronze alter and offered burnt (animal) and grain offerings. He set up the basin for washing and filled it with water.  He supervised the erection of the outer court around the Tabernacle, and the gate of the court.  And it was finished.

Then the cloud of the Shekinah Glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle, a visual manifestation of the presence of God with Israel.

And Exodus ends.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 41

Feb10

    Day 41 —  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.

   Day 41 – Exodus 33 – 35  (Intimate intercession, Covenant renewed, generous donations.)

Chapter 32 left us with broken laws, idolatry, and retribution.  And Moses beginning to intercede for the people and for his brother, Aaron.

Now in chapter 33 he pleads for God to continue His presence WITH them. And he asks God an impossible favor – to SEE God’s face. But God is Spirit, so no person can see His face, nor can they see His glory without vaporizing! However, God allows his friend Moses to see a bit of His fading glory (His goodness) after he passes by. Moses is safe in a cleft of rock with God’s “hand” covering the entrance.

In chapter 34, God “passes before Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and faithfulness, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but…. Who will by no means clear the guilty…”  And Moses falls on his face and worships God, and once more pleads that HE will pardon the sin of the people and take them for His inheritance.

God promises (covenants) to be their God, only they are to have NO OTHER GODS BEFORE HIM (for He is a jealous God) nor to MAKE FOR THEMSELVES ANY GODS OF CAST METAL. (These are the first two of the TEN commandments, and the ones that the people had already broken with that golden calf.)

God also reminds Moses that they must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover – to remember and celebrate how He freed them from Egypt – and to obey the laws of the Sabbath. He re-wrote the Ten Words on the stone tablets and sent Moses back down the mountain.

And Moses’ face glowed so brightly from the presence of God that the people were terrified. After he spoke to them all that God had told him, Moses veiled his face. (After that. he set up a special tent outside the camp where he would go and meet the LORD. This wasn’t the Tabernacle which was to be set up in the middle of the camp.)

In chapter 35, Moses tells the people about building the Tabernacle, a place where their God would dwell among them and make His presence known to them. He told them all that was required for the tent, the furniture, and all the priests clothing. “Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution.”

And the people, both men and women, began to generously give their freewill offerings of jewelry and gold, silver, bronze, and linen and yarns. And both men and women volunteered their skills to help in the construction, led by Bezalel ben Hur and Oholiab ben Ahisamach.

And so it seems a catastrophe was averted by a man’s intercession before a Most Holy God. Oh, that WE would pray like this!.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 40

Feb9

    Day 40 —  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.

   Day 40 – Exodus 30 – 32  (Alters, Workers, the golden calf)

Moses is still on Mt. Sinai – how glorious to be in the presence of Almighty God for weeks at a time – no food or water, just GOD!

Now that the special clothing of the priests has be laid out, God shows Moses how the priest will approach God in chapter 30. The Incense Alter set next to the veil in the Holy Place is where he will offer sweet smelling incense to God. In Revelation, incense is pictured as “the prayers of God’s people.”  Morning & evening Aaron is to offer it on this alter.

God even tells Moses how anointing oil should be made – the finest spices, liquid myrrh, cinnamon, aromatic cane, cassia, and olive oil, and also the incense – sweet spices, pure frankincense, and salt to burn before the Holy of Holies. A head tax would be levied on every person in Israel, 20 years old. There were to pay a half-shekel. Rich and poor would give the same to the Lord’s offering. This would help pay for the needed items to serve in the Tabernacle.

Also a Bronze Basin (Laver) would be made and placed between the great alter of sacrifice in the courtyard and the entrance into the tent of meeting. Here the priest would wash hands and feet before entering the Holy Place.

In Chapter 31, God picks the two men who will oversee all this construction of the Tabernacle etc. Bezalel ben Hur of Judah, and Oholiab ben Ahisamach of the tribe Dan. These men God had “filled with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood, to work in EVERY craft.” 

And to ALL ABLE MEN, God gave ability to make everything He’d commanded, the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony with the mercy seat, all the furnishings of the tent, the table & utensils, the lampstand, the alter of incense, the alter of burnt offerings, and the basin and stand. Also, they would be skilled to make the finely-worked garments for Aaron and his sons, and the oil and the incense.

WOW!  And yet today God has also given to His church, men of special ability to lead well, and He’s given to the congregation other abilities (gifts) to minister and serve.  God is so good!

God now again stresses the importance of the SABBATH-keeping to His people. It was a sign, a covenant, between God and the people that they could KNOW him and be SANCTIFIED by Him.  It was a sign for them…forever.

Then God gave Moses the tablets of stone on which were engraved “by the finger of God” the Ten Words.

Chapter 32 takes us down the mountain, and WAY DOWN into degradation.  Impatient or fearful about Moses being away almost six weeks (was he dead?), the people asked Aaron to make “a god” to lead them.  They had God Almighty, Lord and creator of Heaven and Earth, and they wanted an idol made with human hands.  Sheesh!!

So Aaron called for them to donate gold earrings (which should have been given for the articles of the Tabernacle).  He fashioned it with a “graving tool” and made a golden calf (a famous god of Egypt).  Seriously???  Wasn’t Aaron present with the LORD did all those miracles through Moses before Pharaoh? Didn’t he KNOW the true God?

He also proclaimed a “Feast to the LORD.”   With a graven image of a COW???  Didn’t he remember the FIRST TWO commandments of the Ten, that they all had agreed to? The LORD first, and NO graven images??

The people “sat down to eat the feast, then rose up to play.”  This wasn’t charades or Scrabble.  “Play” here meant a wild, uncontrolled sex-orgy. This is how PAGANS worshiped idols, not the people of God the Most Holy LORD.

God was so angry he told Moses He would kill them all and make a “new nation” from his descendants. But Moses fell on his face and pleaded FOR GOD’S SAKE, not to destroy Israel, His children. Moses did not want God’s name or power to be denigrated in the eyes of the surrounding nations.  God, of course, was testing Moses, and Moses passed.

Then Moses & Joshua descended Sinai to see that revelry.  He was so angry & distraught he hurled the stone tablets at them. And the stone was broken, just as the laws on it had been.

“Aaron, what did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin on them?” asked Moses.

“You know these people, they are set on evil. They gave me gold. I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

WHATTTT????  Is he saying “the people made me do it?” Or is he trying to show that the miracles they performed before Pharaoh, were still working in him?   Either way, Moses destroyed the image, ground it to dust and mixed it in water, and made the people drink it.

Then Moses drew a line in the sand. WHO IS ON THE LORD’S SIDE?  The Levites (Moses’ own tribe) stepped over it and stood with him. Then he sent them on a violent, bloody mission of mercy for Israel. They killed the 3000 false worshippers with their swords.  And Moses ordained THEM, the Levites, for the service of the LORD.

And Moses returned to the mountain of God to intercede for the nation … and for his brother.  Moses even offered HIS OWN LIFE in place of the sinning nation (shadows of the work of Christ).

God forgave.  But there are also always consequences to sin. The LORD sent a plague on the people because of the calf THAT AARON MADE.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 39

Feb8

    Day 39 —  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.

   Day 39 – Exodus 28 – 29  (Levitical priests, clothes & consecration)

Moses is still up on the smoking mountain. He’s received instructions on building the Tabernacle and some of the furniture in it. In Chapter 28, God will tell him WHO will be ministering in the Tabernacle, and how he is to dress and act.

Moses is to set apart his brother Aaron and Aaron’s four sons (and later descendants) to be Israel’s priests continually. (Remember, Moses also is a Levite.)

The wondrous garments that are to be made for them to wear when ministering to the LORD are breath-taking, both in “glory and beauty.” Pure white linen, with red, blue, purple, & gold threads embroidered in portions. Precious stones to represent the 12 tribes of Israel… when the priest went before God.

I don’t know what some of those stones look like, but the topaz, emerald, sapphire, diamond, & amethyst are ones I’ve seen and they are gorgeous. So colorful! (An interesting study would be to see which tribe name would be placed on which stone on the High Priest’s breastplate!)

Gold chains, rings and clasps, woven pomegranates and golden bells all decorate the clothing for glory and for beauty. Inside (a pocket?) of the breastplate is the Urim and Thummin. What they are we don’t know, but they were used to sometimes determine the will of God. And since HE said to put them there, He must have approved.  A golden medalion with “Holy to the LORD” carved on it would be at the front of the priest’s turbon as he enters God’s presence.

God describes to Moses the making of coats, sashes, caps, and even undershorts for the Priest and his sons.

In chapter 29, Moses is told how to consecrate Aaron (his sons and any priests to follow) before the Most Holy God. Sacrifices, blood sprinkling on the alter, blood touching the outermost places of the exposed sin of the men after being robed in the holy garments (ear lobes, thumb tips, big toe tips). Unblemished bulls, rams, lambs, as well as oil and grain, bread and cakes are offerings and sacrifices — all pointing to the absolute HOLINESS of God and the absolute SINFULNESS of mankind.  (A lesson I need to deeply learn myself.)

All this (and more) in order that God would… “dwell among the people of Israel and be their God. And they shall know that I AM the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt THAT I might dwell among them. I AM the LORD their God.” (29:45-46)

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Hebrews 9:18-22 also speaks of the sprinkling of blood, in particular Jesus’ blood.  “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” This act of redemption by Jesus Christ was set up and foreshadowed in the Old Testament, from the first clothing of skins God made to cover the sin of Adam and Eve, to the High Priest’s daily and annual sacrifices and sprinkling of blood begun at Mt. Sinai.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 38

Feb7

    Day 38—  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.

   Day 38 – Exodus 25 – 27  (Blueprints for the Tabernacle & it’s contents)

Moses has ascended Mt. Sinai, the “Mountain of God,” and will be gone 40 days and 40 nights. It will be glorious for him, a time of waiting for Joshua, and a time of testing for Israel.

We begin to see in detail the plans to build a “dwelling place” for Israel’s God among His people in Chapter 25. The materials – gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, scarlet yarns, fine twisted linen, goats’ hair, tanned ram’s skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil, spices, onyx and other precious stones – are to be GIVEN BY THE PEOPLE…. willingly.

Huh?  And where would two million slaves get all those things?  Remember in 12:35-36, “The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they PLUNDERED THE EGYPTIANS.”  Now… these things would be freely given to build a sanctuary for God.

This chapter also outlines building some the Tabernacle furniture; the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat, the Table for Bread, the Golden Lampstand, and the Bronze Alter in the outer court. Beautiful in detail and meaning. (The Alter of Insense and the Bronze Basin are described in chapter 30.)

Chapters 26 – 27 cover the literal construction of the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting with its outer court or “fence” – wood, material and skin coverings, clasps, posts, pegs, all either plain or beautifully embroidered.

For a picturesque you-tube video that shows how the Tabernacle and it’s furniture might have been constructed, check out this video –   The Tabernacle of Moses

     (Tomorrow we will see the details God shows Moses for the Levitical Priesthood)

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 37

Feb6

 Day 37—  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.

   Day 37 – Exodus 22-24  (Laws for right living, conquest promised, people’s response)

In these chapters, God is giving Moses basic laws for living together justly and happily. Remember there are 2 million or so people now all clustered together with all their animals, living in tents in the desert. “Be nice and fair!” are basically what these laws are saying. “And here are the penalties if you don’t.” (Chapter 22)

Chapter 23 continues with a few more rules, and then clarifies more on what the Sabbath Rest means for them, particularly when they get to the Promised Land. Three obligatory festivals are mentioned; Unleavened Bread (which they alredy know), Feast of Harvest (Pentacost, 50 days later) and finally in the fall, Feast of Ingathering.

God then reafirms His presence with them when they enter the Promised Land and in the conquering of Canaan. He also warns them to HAVE NO COVENANT WITH THE PAGAN PEOPLE TO WORSHIP THEIR GODS.

In Chapter 24 Moses tells all the words and rules of the LORD to the people and “with one voice” they affirm, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”  Moses writes down all the words of the LORD, then builds an alter of 12 stones (one for each tribe of Israel), sacrifices and again reads the words of God. The people (now the THIRD time) affirm, “We will be obedient.”

Then God calls Moses up to Mt Sinai to give him the “Tablets of Stone” (Israel’s constitution, so to speak). His assistant, Joshua goes part way up with him. And a cloud covers them and the firey glory of the Lord shines out.

This will be Israel’s first test of obedience. No one knows at this point that Moses will be gone for 40 days.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 35 & 36

Feb5

   Day 35 & 36 —  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue. (SUNDAY’s reading is combned with MONDAY’s)

   Day 35 – Exodus 16-18  (Manna, Rest, Water/Rock, War!)

In chapter 16, Israel leaves the oasis of Elim and treks on through the Wilderness (heading to Sinai). The ex-slaves get tired and hungry…and they grumble against Moses (which is actually grumbling against God.)

“O, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full… You’ve brought us out here to kill us all with hunger!”

God tells Moses He has heard their grumbling. “At twilight you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. THEN you shall KNOW that I AM the LORD your God.” And God did just as He said. Quail covered the camp in the evening and when the dew lifted in the morning, a “fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost” covered the ground.

“Ma-nah?” they asked. “What is it?”

“It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat,” Moses explained. Then he told them how to collect it and “cook” it.  Every morning they were to collect an omer (about a cup full) for each person in their tent. That was enough “flour” to make bread for an adult for the day. They could bake or boil it. It was “like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey”.) They were to collect their “daily bread” each morning for six days. On the 6th day, they would collect double. No “manna” would appear on the seventh (or Sabboth) day. This was a day of rest for Israel.

Of course there were those who collected more, and it rotted overnight, and some that failed to collect double on the sixth and went hungry while they rested. (Sigh!)  But soon the regimen was established. It would continue more than 40 years, right up until the day they waited to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. What faithfulness of God!

They moved on in the wilderness to Rephidim, where their oasis water ran out. (Chapter 17). Again with the grumbling. “Give us water to drink!” them demanded. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us with thirst?”  Moses cried to the LORD, “What am I do to with this people?”

“Moses, take your staff and some elders. Go to a rock I’ll show you and STRIKE THE ROCK in their presence.  He obeyed, and a GUSH OF WATER flowed out from the rock. And all the people drank. (Remember this scene!)

Then out of the blue, an Amalek army came to fight against the ex-slaves. (Amalekites were descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau.)  Moses sent Joshua to gather a rag-tag bunch of men to fight them (with what?). He did, and Moses stood on a hill over looking the battle, his arms (with the staff) raised. The Israelites started to win, but when he got tired and his arms sagged, they started to lose. Aaron and Hur (Caleb’s son) sat him down and held up his arms. And so Joshua and Israel WON THE WAR!!

And God Almighty cursed the Amalekites forever. (They were almost wiped out in Saul & David’s time, but it was Esther who made the final “coup de gras” when she instigated the death of the wicked Haman, the last descendant.)

Chapter 18 briefly tells how Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, brings him his wife and two sons, and gives his son-in-law some good advice. “What you are doing is not good.” You are going to wear out, Moshe, my son. Look for able men to bear the workload with you. Make sure they are able men who fear God, are trustworthy and hate bribes, and let them set up higher and lower courts to judge on the issues of this great people. You just take the tough cases.   Hey, it sounded good to Moses, and he did just that.”

Jethro praised and sacrificed to the LORD who had delivered them all out of the hands of the Egyptians. Then he went back home to Midian.

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     Day 36 – Exodus 19-21  (Mt. Sinai, 10 Commandments, Laws )

Chapter 19. Three months after escaping Egypt, the mass of Hebrew ex-slaves arrive at Mt.Sinai (Horeb), the place where God met Moses in the burning bush and promised to see them there again.  It’s a scary place – the mountain is tall and craggy, and when God descends on it, it’s aflame, with billowing black smoke clouds, a continuous loud trumpet-blast sound, and earthquakes. WHOA!

God warns that the people (even their animals) cannot touch the mountain without dying. After ritually cleansing themselves (body & soul) they can approach NEAR, and God speaks. (What a message!!) He tells this rag-tag crew of Jacob’s descendants that they are His “treasured possession among all the peoples,” and that they will be a kingdom of priests and holy, so they can mediate between Him and all the other nations on the earth. Only, they must “obey My voice and keep My covenant.”

YES! they cry. “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!”

(Isn’t this OUR heart’s desire too with our God? If only we COULD do it. But, we, like they, are born sinners and prone to disobey.)

And while the consecrated people stood at a distance the rumbling, shaking, smoking, firey scene escalated. God warns the people again to stay back, then calls Moses up into the mountain.

Chapter 20 gives the familiar TEN COMMANDMENTS (or Words), the summary of how the people of God should act towards Him and others. These ten are summarized further for Israel, by the Lord Jesus in the TWO GREATEST COMMANDS.  1) Love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (covers the first four of “the ten”).  2) Love your neighbor as yourself (covers the next six of “the ten”). (Matthew 22:37-39)

Jesus added to this in the Sermon on the Mount by telling them to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)  And he further amplified #2 to His disciples, saying that they were to “Love one another as I have loved you.) meaning that self-sacrifice is involved in this kind of love. (John 15:12)

Chapter 21 lists some more detailed rules Moses was to set before the people concerning; slaves, murder/manslaughter, how “an eye for an eye” was to be used as a standard, and the beginning list of laws about restitution.

(Israel was to become the holy People of God.  We will see how that works out.)

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