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

The things I had looked up when the earlier passage talked about the Urim and Thummim being placed in the high priest’s breast piece led me to look closely at the description here of how the high priest’s breast piece and ephod was put together.  In particular I was looking to see if there was anything further about the breast piece being the “breast piece of decision”.  All I got on that was that the breast piece was a single cloth folded over.   So, as the instructions given earlier, the Urim and Thummim would be placed in the pocket thus created.  The other thing I thought seemed relevant, even if only for the symbolism, was the description that the breast piece would have twelve different gemstones mounted on it, with each stone having the name of a different one of Israel’s sons engraved on it.  The presence of those names engraved on the gemstones mounted on the shoulder pieces of the ephod indicate that the stones on the breast piece had more meaning than just a reminder to the high priest that he represented the twelve tribes before God.  I believe these 12 stones related to the usage of this breast piece, in conjunction with the Urim and Thummim which were kept within it, to divine God’s will on issues.

Today is an example of something that happens from time to time when I write my blog.  I started writing this as an exercise in pure curiosity because I saw no spiritual lessons in the passage as I read it.  However, when I finished writing the above I realized that just as the high priest needed to be reminded of the fact that the decisions he sought God’s guidance had an impact on all of the people of Israel, when we seek God’s guidance on decisions we need to make we should identify all of those who will be impacted by the decision we reach, doing so will help us understand God’s guidance.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 36-38.

Today’s passage provides a description of the process of putting together the Tabernacle.  If, like me, you do not get much out of descriptions of glorious building, this passage may seem redundant since the design for the Tabernacle has been described previously.  However, this passage contains a detailed description of what the artisans actually did to build the Tabernacle.  I also want to also highlight that the artisans had to ask Moses to tell the people to stop providing them with materials for building the Tabernacle because they had enough.  Reading between the lines, the reason the artisans went to Moses was because the people had given so much that the excess was starting to get in the way.  One take away I always get from these passages, and the ones later describing the building of Solomon’s Temple,  is that there is a time for us to expend resources to make a place designed to turn people’s focus to God.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 33-35.

I think it was last year that I first noticed that Moses started setting up a “tent of meeting” before he had the Israelites construct the Tabernacle (which then took over that function).   However, I had not noticed until today that this passage implies that anyone could go there to inquire of God, even when Moses was not there.  I am not entirely sure about how that connects with the fact that Joshua never left the pre-Tabernacle tent of meeting.  Did Joshua listen to those who came to inquire of God and perhaps help them determine God’s will?  Or, perhaps relay their requests to Moses?  In addition to that, we have Moses doing more interceding with God for the Israelites.  God told the Israelites that He would not travel with them as they made their way to the Promised Land because He might destroy them as a result of their stiff-necked ways.  In response, the Israelites stopped wearing any ornaments to show their contrition.  I am really not sure where I am going with this. I have been working on it off and on all day trying to put the sentences together which convey what this passage, in conjunction with yesterday’s, is saying to me.  Before asking God to accompany the Israelites in their travel, Moses said that God had told him “I know you by name and you have found favor with me.”  Then, after Moses asks God to accompany the Israelites, God said, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”  But I want to go back to the rest of what Moses said when he quoted God.  Moses said, “ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.”  I think a reason that the time sequence for several things in this passage, where the passage seems to say that people did things before God told them to and then that they did them because God told them to is to communicate the complicated message in that exchange between God and Moses.  God was pleased with Moses because Moses asked Him to teach him His ways, and Moses asked God to teach him His ways because God was pleased with him.  Even there I cannot quite make it come out right.  If we wish evidence that God is pleased with us, let us seek for Him to teach us His ways so that we may know Him.

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

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

I want to note that when the people asked Aaron to make them gods for them to worship it had been less than two months after they had said, “We will do what the Lord has said.”  And one of the things they were agreeing to was to make no gods out of gold or silver.  However, I want to focus on the fact that Moses intervened with God for the sake of sinners.  It reminds me of when Abraham negotiated with God on how many righteous  people it would take for God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.   I think both of these instances represent behavior we should follow.  We should pray for God to have mercy on those whom we know have done things which have terrible consequences.  The Israelites did not deserve God’s mercy, but then, neither do we.  Let us petition God to have mercy on those we know do not deserve it.

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

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

I have never been particularly interested in ceremonial garb.  As a result this passage tends to go “over my head”.  However, one thing which has always bothered me about this passage is the lack of detail concerning the Urim and Thummim, which were to be used by Aaron, and his successors to consult God in order to make a decision.  I did a little Internet research today and learned more than I had known before (I had previously looked for information and found nothing useful).  Thummim is believed to be derived from a Hebrew word which means “innocent”, while Urim may be derived from a word which means “cursed”.  This leads to the idea that they were two stones of identical size and shape with a marking on them to indicate which was which.  If this is correct, that would mean that questions for which they were used would need to be “yes” or “no” questions.  Of course, I also noticed something about this passage which I have never noticed before.  The breastpiece into which the Urim and Thummim were to be placed  was referred to as the “breastpeice of decision”  (or perhaps, “breastpiece of judgement”), which suggests that the breastpiece may have been used in some manner for more complicated decisions.  Nevertheless, the basic nature of the Urim and Thummim suggest that when we seek God’s guidance we should seek to break the decision we are seeking guidance on down into yes or no questions.  Which is really a good idea for any decision…and right after I wrote that I realized that we should be seeking God’s guidance on every decision we make, even if it is just “What should I eat for lunch?”

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

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

So, when God gave Moses the instructions for building the Tabernacle, the place for the Israelites to worship God, He told Moses to accept offerings from everyone whose heart prompted them to give any of the items needed to build it (which God then listed for Moses).  We learn from this that giving for our place of worship should be both voluntary and according to the way in which God’s Spirit prompts us.   Really, all of our giving to charity should be voluntary and according to the prompt of the Holy Spirit.  We do not satisfy God’s direction to give by paying taxes, not even if those taxes are used to aid the poor.

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

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

Once again we have the people of Israel grumbling because of some hardship they faced, complaining that they would have been better off if they had stayed in Egypt.  And once again, God provided their need.  Throughout Exodus we learn the lesson that we should trust God to meet our needs.  We should not fall into the temptation to complain about the hardships we face.  Instead, we should just pray to God for resolution of our problems.  When we face difficulties, God has a plan to reveal His glory through the way in which He removes them for us.  There is another lesson for us in this passage.  When the people gathered manna, they gathered what they needed.  Five days a week, they gathered only enough for that one day, and if they put any aside for the following day, it went bad.  But on the sixth day, they gathered twice as much and the extra was still good the following day.  Then on the seventh day, there was none to be gathered.  If we put our trust in God, He will provide for our needs, but may not provide more than we need.

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

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

When the Israelites left Egypt, it seems to me that they expected the Egyptians to pursue them.  The passage tells us that they left Egypt ready for battle and that they traveled both day and night.  Nevertheless, when Pharaoh’s army overtook them, they were terrified and angry with Moses.  They accused Moses of leading them into the desert to die.  They did this despite the great signs which God had done to get Pharaoh to allow them to leave in the first place.  Then after Pharaoh’s army was destroyed in the sea, the sea which they had crossed on dry land, they praised God for their rescue.  Yet a short time later when the springs at Marah were undrinkable, they grumbled about not having anything to drink.  This sets a pattern which they followed the entire time they were in the wilderness.  How often do we do something similar in our lives?  We cry out to God because of our troubles, He rescues us in ways we could never have foreseen, yet a short time later we are once again afraid that our troubles are too big for God to handle?

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

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

I started out today’s blog by writing a paragraph about the Plagues discussed in today’s passage, but when I got to the end of it I realized that it had not actually gone anywhere: nothing I had written in that paragraph said anything interesting.  So, I deleted that paragraph and decided to write just on my thoughts about what this passage says about the Passover.  My first thought on reading the instructions which Moses gave concerning the Passover is that some of them seem to be things he would have told them after they left Egypt.  I suspect that the instructions about celebrating Passover every year going forward was probably something Moses told the people while they were on their way, not something he told them when they were preparing for that first Passover.  I also want to write about where the passage mentions that many other people joined the Israelites when they left Egypt.  I wonder, did any of those non-Israelites who left Egypt with the Israelites follow Moses’ instructions regarding the Passover?  How many of these non-Israelites were choosing to join themselves with Israel to worship God vs how many were just taking advantage of this situation to escape bondage of one sort or another in Egypt?  Were any of those who joined with the Israelites Egyptians who wished to worship God who had performed these wondrous signs?  Personally, I think that there were some from all three groups among those who joined the Israelites when they departed Egypt and that some of them had prepared their houses according to Moses’ Passover instructions.  When Moses followed God’s commands in order to free the Israelites he inspired others to worship God as well.  In the same way, when we do God’s will today we may lead those who observe us to come to know the Lord.

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