This year I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”. I have now done this long enough to say that I am glad I made the change. I am firmly convinced that the One Year Bible Online is a great way to read through the Bible in a year. It breaks the parts of the Bible which can be a struggle to read into manageable portions. However, I think that the Daily Bible Reading Schedule I am using now is a better format for doing a daily Bible study.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 19-21.

    Reading about how God had the children of Israel prepare for Him to speak with them gives us an idea about what it means to fear the Lord. They were to spend three days consecrating themselves for His arrival. As a side note, I find the parallel with Jesus’ three days in the grave interesting. I am not sure there is any connection between the two, but I want to give it some thought. During this period of consecration none of the people or their animals were to touch the mountain (as defined by a boundary marked by Moses) on pain of death. When God arrived on the third day, He reminded the people that none were to attempt to cross the boundary out of a desire to see God. Even after three days of consecration they were to purify themselves further, even the priests who regularly approached God to offer sacrifices (another interesting note: this takes place BEFORE God had Moses set up Aaron and his sons as priests. Who were the priests at this time?).

    When the preparations were completed, God spoke to the children of Israel. He gave them what we call the Ten Commandments and the Jews call the Ten Sayings or Ten Words. The first four commandments have to do with our relationship with God. The final six have to do with our relationships with our fellow man. The first two establish that God is the only god and we should worship only Him. The third tells us not to abrogate God’s authority for our own, that we are not to use God’s name for our own purposes. The fourth tells us that we have six days a week to take care of our worldly needs, but we should dedicate the seventh day to worshiping and communing with God. The fifth tells us to honor our parents, that doing so is the path to a long, full life. The remaining five, as Jesus tells us, can be summed up by, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” I will note that loving and worshiping God results in us loving ourselves. If we do not love ourselves, we will not love and worship God.