Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 7-9.

When Aaron’s staff turned into a snake, the Pharaoh’s magicians were able to do the same thing, and Pharaoh was not impressed.  I suspect that some of the magicians took the fact that Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs as a bad omen.  Then when Aaron and Moses turned the water in the Nile to blood, Pharaoh’s magicians turned some water into blood.  I have long assumed that Pharaoh’s magicians accomplished this using something that Penn & Teller would do, some kind of trick.  However, when Aaron and Moses summoned frogs and then gnats, Pharaoh’s magicians recognized that something was going on that they could not duplicate, but Pharaoh refused to listen to them.  By this point, Pharaoh had become committed to his position and was unwilling to admit that he had been wrong and his people were willing to stand with him on that.  However, when Egyptian livestock suffered, but Israelite livestock did not followed by Egyptians breaking out with boils, but Israelites did not, the minds of the Egyptian people began to change.  Such that when Moses predicted that hail would soon fall killing every animal and every person who remained outside, many of the Egyptian nobles believed him and took action to protect their possessions.   We see in the account of the Plagues a lesson in how God deals with humanity.  The Egyptians, in the form of the Pharaoh, were doing wrong.  God warned them in small ways at first, but in steadily increasing disasters.  Pharaoh could have, at any point along the way, chosen to do the right thing, but he did not.  When we do wrong, God acts similarly.  He puts minor problems into our lives to call us to change our ways.  Those problems will get ever worse, but at any point we can turn to God, away from our sin, and things will stop getting worse, but if we do not change our ways we will experience calamity.

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

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

In yesterday’s passage it mentions that Moses discovered an Egyptian beating an Israelite and Moses killed the Egyptian.  This resulted in Moses needing to flee Egypt.  It has struck me for some time that Moses killed the Egyptian because he was feeling God’s calling to help his people, but it was not God’s timing.  On two occasions in today’s passage Moses objects to God sending him to speak to Pharaoh because he is not well-spoken.  The first time Moses used his lack of eloquence as his last excuse in an attempt to convince God that he was the wrong man for the job.  God replied that since He had made people able to speak in the first place, He would be able to give Moses the ability to say the right thing at the right time: Moses only needed to put his faith in God.  The second time Moses used his inability to speak eloquently was after Pharaoh had rejected his initial request and the Israelites blamed Moses for Pharaoh’s reaction.  Moses had tried to do God’s will and had failed (as people would look at things).  At this point, Moses had “failed” twice to help the Israelites, once as a young man and now a second time as a mature adult.  He would “fail” nine more times before God would give him success.  These first two failures both made Moses want to give up, but God had other plans for him.  I want to highlight that even though from a human perspective Moses failed eleven times before he accomplished what he set out to do only the first of those failures was a actually a failure.  The first time Moses attempted to help his fellow Israelites, he acted on his own.  The other times he acted according to God’s command, and his “failure” was not a failure.  It was part of God’s plan.  So, if God has given you a mission and things do not go as you think they should do not be convinced that you have failed.  Continue to do God’s will, even when it doesn’t “work”, because success in God’s eyes is often not the same as success in our eyes.

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

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

As I read this my first thought is about something I came across a few days ago when I was trying to determine about when Joseph would have lived.  I found a website which claimed that there was archeological evidence of a settlement in what would have been the region of Egypt Genesis says that Jacob’s family settled in of a group of people connected to Canaan living there.  Further, they claimed there was evidence of a period of time where that group had an extraordinary increase in infant mortality, especially for male babies.  I am unsure how reliable this source was, but it’s links to supporting documentation seemed to indicate there was at least some basis to their claims.  However, the archeology of this passage is only incidental to what struck home to me today.

No what interested me was that when God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, Moses asked God who he should tell the Israelites had sent him.  The more I read this passage the more it seems that Moses was asking God, “Which on of the many gods I know about is the god of our fathers, is the god of the Hebrews?”  God’s reply was a rejection of the idea that He was one of many different gods, just the one who had taken the Hebrews under his wing.  This exchange reads to me like there were stories passed down among the descendants of Jacob, stories which we now have as the Book of Genesis, which spoke of a god who did all of those things and was the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Further, it reads like perhaps the Hebrews in Egypt debated which one of the gods of Egypt, and elsewhere , that god was.  Here God is telling Moses that the reason none of those stories identify Him with one of those other gods is because He is not like any of them.  We have a record of various civilizations throughout history making connections between gods in their pantheon and the gods of other pantheons.  Sometimes it was one civilization saying that this god in their pantheon matched up to that god in their pantheon (for example the Romans said that Jupiter and Zeus were the same god).  Sometimes it was one civilization saying that yes, the gods of other civilizations are valid gods, but they are subordinate in the hierarchy  to our gods (or perhaps only subordinate to our chief god.  I cannot at the moment think of an example, but I know I have seen such references).  But here God was saying that He had no connections to those other pantheons.  God was, and is, and is to come, the Beginning and the End.

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

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.

The other day I wrote that I was not sure when the Tabernacle replaced the tent that Moses had been using as the “Tent of Meeting”, well in today’s passage you can see that I have never before noticed the existence of a “Tent of Meeting” before the Tabernacle because it tells us that the Tabernacle became the Tent of Meeting when it was first set up.  Now I find the initial setting up of the Tabernacle interesting.  The passage tells us that Moses set up the Tabernacle, but we know that he had to have help to do so (there is no way that one person set up the Tabernacle by themselves as described).  What makes that interesting is that a little later we have detailed descriptions of how the people who set up the various parts of the Tabernacle each time it was moved needed to be consecrated.  Yet, at this point, no one had been consecrated, except Moses (who was a special case).  Of course, at this point, the Tabernacle and its furnishings had not yet been consecrated either.  The point being that everyone needs to start their journey to righteousness from where they are now, not from where someone thinks they ought to be.

I did not expect this to go in this direction when I began writing this today.  Sometimes I find it kind of interesting to see where I end up when I write these.

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 36-38.

I have said this a few times over the last couple of days, but my eyes start to glaze over when I read these detailed descriptions of the design and building of the Tabernacle.  I want to take a moment to say that I know people who react differently to these passages, people who read this description and are awestruck by the splendor of what is being described.  I admire those who have that reaction.  Having said the above, there is something even I can get out of this passage.  The people of Israel gave so much towards the building of the Tabernacle that Moses had to order them to stop donating.  Think about that, a people who had only a short time before had left a land where their ancestors had lived for over 200 years while being chased by an army, donated so much that they had to be told to stop donating.  But, there’s more to it than that, those who were working on the Tabernacle could have kept taking what they gave and used it for their own uses.  They could have even justified it as recompense for the work they were doing on behalf of the rest of the people.  They didn’t.  They went to Moses and asked him to tell people to stop giving.

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 33-35.

We generally use the terms “Tent of Meeting” and “Tabernacle” interchangeably.  Yet, in this passage, the Tent of Meeting is described as existing before the Tabernacle was built.  However, we also know that later the Tabernacle was often referred to as the Tent of Meeting.  To the best of my knowledge it is never made clear when the Tabernacle replaced the tent which Moses initially used as the Tent of Meeting.  The change may have taken place as soon as the Tabernacle was consecrated, but I suspect that it happened after Moses began delegating the bulk of the task of judging disputes to others.

Whenever Moses spoke with God it caused his face to become radiant for some time period afterwards.  In fact, the radiance caused the people to be afraid to come near him.  As a result, Moses wore a veil over his face except when he went in to speak with God and while he was telling the people what God had told him.  I see a lesson here which I am striving to figure out how to express.  When we discuss what we perceive to be God’s message to people, we should do so face to face, with no disguises and nothing hidden.  However, when we find ourselves among those whose lifestyles we disapprove, we should not be constantly expressing our disapproval.  I really wish I could express that better.

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.