Year 7, Day 102: Leviticus 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Reading through Leviticus 13 makes me very glad to be a part of a modern culture.  We don’t deal much with leprosy and other highly contagious communal diseases.  We don’t even worry about things like smallpox any more.  Those of us in a modern culture typically have to worry about the occasional cold or flu and that’s all.  Chapters like this do make me appreciate what we’ve been able to do in the modern world.

Another thing that we can learn from this chapter is the value of health in a community.  Sickness spreads easily among human beings because we are social by nature.  We pass along germs and diseases readily.  If you don’t believe me, go talk to an elementary teacher.  All it takes is one kid to get sick and usually within two to three weeks every other child will get sick, too.

This is really important from both a health and a spiritual dynamic.  Just like human beings are susceptible to catching disease and sickness from each other, human beings are susceptible to catching spiritual sickness, too.  Sin often breeds more sin – often even escalating worse sin!  We are quick to respond to sin in even more sinful ways.  Our sinfulness is not just harmful to ourselves; it can be a detriment to the other people around us as well.

Finally, let’s look at the role of the priest.  The priest was not just the spiritual leader of the people, they were also the diagnosticians, too.  The priests diagnosed areas of uncleanliness.  As with the discussion above about disease, we can apply this concept to the spiritual realm.  As priests of God’s kingdom, we are to be the diagnosticians of spirituality!  We are to be on the lookout for unhealthy patterns in life.  We are to be looking out for our fellow mankind and warning them of potential downfall, injury, or consequence.  It’s what it means to live with a sacrificial mindset.

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Year 7, Day 101: Leviticus 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This is a great chapter to step back and reflect the value of women.  I’ll come at this comment from several different angles.

First of all, understand that this chapter is spoken solely to women.  Only women give birth, so these laws would apply just to the women.  Fundamentally speaking, this chapter goes to show us the value of women with respect to the continuation of humanity.  Women give nearly a year of their life to carrying the young while they develop and grow.  There is a certain fundamental sacrifice to being a woman; a sacrifice that most women give in a welcoming fashion.  This is certainly a sacrifice that this chapter of the Bible lifts up and acknowledges.

Second, there is the argument for genetics gained through extending this first thought.  The reality is that a population will have a much greater change at survival if it has 1,000 women and 10 men than if it has 10 women and 1,000 men.  The first population may well continue to exist into the thousands for generations to come.  The second population will be down to a few dozen people when the current generation grows old and dies.

Third, I think there is more to this chapter lifting up the significance of women than just in the birth process and the numerical analysis of population survival.  I think this argument is the far superior argument to the earlier ones.  Do you notice that a woman who gives birth to a girl is unclean for twice the amount of time than when a man is born?  So often we read these words and assume that the Bible is punishing a woman for giving birth to a girl.  However, I believe that the opposite approach is actually true. 

In the Bible – and even in our culture – what gets the larger punishment: something that affects us casually or something that affects us deeply and personally?  What carries the greater punishment, a lie or stealing?  We care about personal property more than we care about words that cannot be proven!  What carries the greater punishment, stealing or murder?  Certainly we care more about the sanctity of life than our material possessions!

The reality is that greater punishments usually come as the crime grows more personal.  Greater punishments come as the value of the crime increases.  The fact that the woman is unclean for longer when the baby is a girl than when it is a boy shows us that God understands the deep value of women to society.  We should not understand this chapter as a chapter of punishment and male chauvinism.  Instead, this is a chapter that lifts up the sacrificial nature of women in the child-rearing process as well as celebrates the value of a young girl to a community.

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Year 7, Day 100: Leviticus 11

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The words “you shall be holy, for I am holy” should rise above all else in this chapter.  If we lose sight of these words, we fall into the trap of turning this chapter into a study of God and meat related diseases.  If we forget the holiness of God, we see these laws simply as God’s means of protecting His people from things like trichinosis and other diseases and worms.  While that is a nice side benefit, I don’t think that is primarily God’s concern as these words are penned.

God is holy.  Holy is a word that means different.  God is different in nature, and He calls us to be different in our nature as well.  When God tells His people to not eat certain meats – such as the pig – He is separating the people from the world.  He is creating a visible reminder that they are not like the rest of the world. 

I don’t think it has much to do with the pig itself – or any other animal on the list.  After all, these are a people who were regularly killing herd animals.  They were eating cattle, goats, and sheep with consistency.  What’s the difference between killing a pig and eating it versus killing a cow and eating it?

Furthermore, remember that in Acts, Jesus tells Peter that He has made all things clean.  Jesus tells Peter to go ahead and eat the things that used to be off limits.  This tells us that God doesn’t really have an issue with these animals.  God is doing something different.  God is setting the people apart.  God is giving them dynamic places in their life that reminds them that they are not like the people in the rest of the world.

In Christ, we have something bigger to remind us that we are different than the food that we eat.  We have a sacrificial mindset.  We have a life that looks first to serving others while the rest of the world looks to serve itself first.  The point of this chapter – and the point of relationship with God in the first place – is simple: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  Drawing close to God fundamentally changes who we are.

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Year 7, Day 99: Leviticus 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Leviticus 10 is a chapter that reminds me to be grateful for the grace of Jesus.  In Leviticus 10, we see two people – sons of Aaron, even – consumed by fire simply because they were careless about the distinction between holy and mundane.  Let’s talk about this for a second.

On first pass, it looks like these two sons are burned up because they aren’t listening.  While that may be part of the problem, remember just how many times God rants second chances to those who don’t listen.  Not listening to God may cause Him to get angry or frustrated, but it seldom leads to a direct death by a consuming fire.

What actually happens here is that these sons of Aaron bring unauthorized incense and fire and mix it with the fire of the Lord.  In other words, they mix that which looks like the Lord, but is really of the world, with that which is of the presence of the Lord.  I think that it is this mixing of the holy and the mundane that makes God angry.

By God’s very nature, He is holy.  Holy is a word that means different.  God’s very nature is different than us.  While He did create the world, He is different from it.  He is holy, the world is mundane.  When we take things of the world and equate them to God, we are cheapening God.  In fact, isn’t this one of the roots of idolatry?  When we make something with our own hands – literally or figuratively – and then equate it to God by worshiping it, is this not idolatry?

I think that this shows us why God gets so angry here.  What these sons of Aaron are doing is equating the mundane with a pure and holy God.  What I find scary is that they are doing this because of a casual approach to religion.  I don’t think that they intended to make God angry.  I think they did it because they weren’t really paying attention to God.  They were going through the motions of life and simply doing what they thought was right.

I think that this is a message that can speak to us.  God doesn’t call us to do what we think is right.  God doesn’t call us to go through life casually.  God calls us to obey Him.  God does want us to think, but He wants us to come before Him seeking His truth, not seeking our own truth and doing our own thing.

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Year 7, Day 98: Leviticus 9

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Once more we see a great model for ministry in Leviticus.  No, I’m not talking about the sacrifices.  Jesus is the only sacrifice that we will need.  I’m talking about the order in which the activities here are done.

The first thing that we see here is that Aaron offers up his sacrifice.  Aaron takes care of himself, first.  This isn’t done in a self-serving manner.  Aaron isn’t thinking about himself more than he thinks of the others.  Instead, Aaron realizes something true.  In order for him to be in a position of helping other people, he needs to position himself in a place where he can help other people!

Jesus Himself talks about this in his ministry.  He asks what help a blind man is to another blind man.  If a blind man leads another blind man, will they not both fall into a pit?  Jesus teaches what we see Aaron practicing here in this passage.  In order to help other people, we must be in a real position to be able to help them.  We need to be in a genuine relationship with God before we can help anyone else find a genuine relationship with God, too.

Furthermore, we should be a people who lead by example.  We need to be living out our example, not just talking a good line.  Our lives need to be a model of why the spiritual life within us works.  Our lives should be a demonstration of what relationship with God looks like.

That is exactly what happens here.  Aaron makes his sacrifice.  Then he tells the people to go and get theirs ready.  Aaron is not above the people; he is modelling life for them.  That’s what good spiritual leadership looks like.

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Year 7, Day 97: Leviticus 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Leviticus 8 is a very honest chapter from my perspective.  First of all, note how many times we are told that Moses, Aaron, and his sons do exactly as the Lord commanded.  As we expect, especially in the book of Leviticus, the people follow the commands of the Lord.  The leaders of the Hebrew people can be obedient.  This is inspiring, because it shows us that we as human beings are capable of listening to God and following in His ways.

However, let’s not forget the greater picture of this chapter.  While human beings are capable of obedience, the reality is that we do not obey all the time.  There is a reason that a sacrifice had to be made over Aaron and his sons.  They had sin in their life; their needed to be atonement for their sin before they could participate in the sacrifices for the atonement of others.  They are capable of obeying, but they don’t always do so.

This is why I find this chapter to be very honest.  In the short term, human beings are capable of great feats of obedience to the Lord.  But when we zoom out and look at the grand scope of life, each of us have sin within our life that God must deal with.  We can’t possibly be perfect, but God deals with us anyways.

God wants us to be His priests.  He wants us to participate in His plan.  He wants us to help put His grace on display for the world around us to see.  He deals with our grand sinfulness.  He longs for those moments where we can be obedient and follow His guidance.

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Year 7, Day 96: Leviticus 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In Leviticus 7 we hear god reinforce the idea that a priest was allowed to claim the portion of the sacrifice that was allotted to him.  Because the priests were focused on sacrifices and the sin of the people, they didn’t have time to do things like farm, hunt, or even buy and sell in the marketplace.  Therefore, when they were serving in the temple they were allotted their portion of the sacrifices.  This is how their families survived when the priest was doing a task that was not related to supporting the survival of the family.

Naturally, priests that did more sacrifices got more share.  Priests that did little work got little share.  There was certainly a need to take turns and make sure that opportunity as spread around.  However, there certainly was a time and a place for working hard and reaping the benefits of one’s work, too.

This is a concept that I can be reminded to bring into modern ministry.  While we may not be making animal sacrifices anymore, that doesn’t mean that we should ignore this passage.  After all, isn’t part of the teaching of the New Testament that we are all priests to serve our God?  If we are priests, then passages like this absolutely apply to us.

What can we learn from them?  Do we not all make sacrifices?  When I sacrifice portions of my time in prayer, I can expect to reap the benefit of that time as my relationship with God grows.  When I sacrifice time contemplating the truth of God’s Word, my relationship with God grows.  When I sacrifice time serving other people, my relationship with God grows.  How many times do we go into some kind of ministry opportunity thinking that we will be giving only to realize that we are also receiving?

We often reap what we so.  Why would a person who doesn’t spend time in the Word of God, who never spends time in prayer, and who never speaks words of mission or discipleship think that they would reap benefits of a spiritual life?  On the other hand, is it any surprise that those who spend hours of their life in prayer, contemplation of God’s Word, and serving others reap benefit after benefit of being in relationship with God?  As priests, we have every opportunity to reap from our share of the sacrifice.  But we have to be willing to get in and do our part.  We have to be willing to participate.

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Year 7, Day 95: Leviticus 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I think we would be wise to spend a considerable amount of time processing the opening few verses of Leviticus 6.  These verses go a long way in countering the human desire to rationalize his own sinfulness away.

Notice that the sin being spoken about in these opening verses are sins committed in community.  God is talking about deceiving a neighbor, or robbing another person, or oppression another person, or lying, or swearing falsely.  Many of these examples hearken back to the Ten Commandments.  All of these are examples of things that human beings do against one another.

Notice the words that this chapter uses to set up this list: “commits a breach of faith against the Lord.”  Leviticus 6:2 is awfully clear about the sin being committed here.  These are certainly sins that are done to one another.  These are certainly sins that affect our relationships with each other.  But they are classified as breaches of faith against the Lord.

I believe most human beings who believe in God try to set up two categories of sinfulness.  We like to think that there is a large list of sins that we do against one another.  We also like to think that there is a small list of really awful things that we would never do because it is against God directly.  So long as we don’t do any of these really horrible acts directly against God, we feel pretty good about ourselves.

This simply is a fallacy, however.  All sin is a breach against the Lord.  When we lie to another human, we sin against God.  When we steal or even covet what our neighbor has, we sin against God.  When we cheat, we sin against God.  There are no two categories of sin.  There is simply living in God’s ways and living in sin.  If we are not living in righteousness, we are sinning.  If we are sinning – sin of any kind – God is taking our action seriously.

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Year 7, Day 94: Leviticus 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

When I read Leviticus 5, I read a passage that has mercy at its core.  No, I’m not talking about God’s mercy in forgiving our sin in the first place – although that absolutely is mercy.  I’m talking about God recognizing human hierarchy and having mercy upon those who get no mercy from other human beings.

Jesus Himself recognizes this reality when He comes to the earth to minister.  I believe that this is why Jesus reaches so much on the outcast, the leper, the women, and the little children.  Jesus will teach anyone and He will invite anyone into his presence.  But when Jesus reaches out to people, it is quite often people who are on the poorer side of the spectrum.  In fact, Jesus even teaches His own disciples that we will “always have the poor with you.”  Jesus knows that human beings don’t have the capacity to share equally.  We will always have the haves and the have-nots.

Leviticus is very sensitive to this fact.  If there is a poor family who cannot bring a bull, ram, or goat, they can instead bring a pigeon.  If they can’t bring a pigeon, they can bring grain.  This is a profound chapter of mercy, especially in a part of the book that is supposed to be all about Law.

It is a great chapter to have immediately following chapter 4, where we saw that sin is more about relationship than anything else.  In Leviticus 5, we again see that God is more concerned about relationship than with the actual sacrifice, even.  God wants even the destitute to know that relationship with their God is not outside their grasp!  What an incredible sign of grace – if we learn to read it that way.

God doesn’t care about our station in life.  He doesn’t care about the size of our bank account or our amassed material treasure hoard.  He cares about our relationship with Him.  Whether we have much and are a part of the lucky few or we have a little ad are a part of the greater masses, there is a God who desires to be in relationship with us.

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Year 7, Day 93: Leviticus 4

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This chapter deals with people who sin.  It’s interesting to note that we don’t get a breakdown of sinfulness based upon the type of sin but rather by the doer of sin.  We don’t hear about little sins, big sins, sins that hurt nobody, sins that hurt everyone.  We hear about when the whole community sins, when a leader sins, and when an individual sins.

This is a sin that from God’s perspective sin is more about the breaking of relationship than anything else.  When we sin, we are breaking relationship with God.  When we have sin in our life we are damaging – if not breaking entirely – relationship with the people around us.  All sin breaks relationship.  Big sins don’t break it more and little sins don’t break it less.  All sin breaks relationship with God.  The type doesn’t matter nearly as much as we would like it to matter.

We would prefer to think that the little lie is far less harmless than the adultery of another.  We would prefer to think that our envy over others is a far better option than stealing.  We would prefer to think that our internal anger is a far better choice than outright murder.  In human terms, we absolutely like to think that.

For the record, Jesus specifically equates the last two examples in His teaching in the New Testament.  He equates them; He doesn’t prioritize them.

From God’s perspective, all sin is dangerous.  All sin breaks relationship.  All sin is troublesome and in need of being dealt with properly.  It is a flat out lie to talk about little sins and sins that don’t hurt anyone but me.  All sin breaks relationship.

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Year 7, Day 92: Leviticus 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I’ve always found it odd that this chapter is called the Peace Offering chapter.  After all, I doubt that the sacrificed animal felt very peaceful about being sacrificed.  But then again, that is my very modern lens coming through.  It is a lens through which I am allowed to see animals more as pets and less as a means of survival.  Our modernity often gets in the way of understanding God because we so readily rely upon our human inventions for survival and not God’s provision.

It is important that we understand that this chapter is properly titled, though.  This is the peace offering.  This is not the mandatory offering for atonement.  This isn’t an offering given to God to make up for something done wrong.  This is an offering made to God because we would simply like to give something to God.

In a sense, this is an offering of gratitude.  This is an offering made to recognize that we are even able to be at peace with God in the first place!  This is an offering that is made to remember that we are participants in a relationship in which we have no business belonging.  We are at peace with God because He brings peace to us, not because we do anything of an importance to deserve it.

In those days, I don’t think this was an easy thing to forget.  I think that it was hard to look past how human beings cannot attain God’s righteousness on their own.  In today’s age, however, I think we have made it all too easy to look past the human inability to be righteous.  We like to say that “God loves me the way that I am.” 

I think this is wrong.  If God was okay with me the way that I am, then there was no need to send Jesus to die for anything.  God loves me in spite of who I am.  God loves me because of who He is.

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Year 7, Day 91: Leviticus 2

Theological Commentary: Click Here

So today we learn a great lesson.  God truly hates French Bread.

Okay.  Maybe a jest a little bit.  I’m reasonably sure that God can overlook my sense of humor.  Of course God doesn’t hate French Bread.  But it does allow us to ask the question: what does God have against leavening.

First, let’s look back.  We remember that bread made with a lack of yeast is meant to remind the Hebrew people of the Exodus.  Bread without yeast is meant to remind the Hebrew people of the time when God had to save His people from oppression.

Next, we can look forward.  By the time Jesus comes around, leaven is always a symbol of something that can change who we are.  Most often, leaven is a bad thing.  Jesus refers to sin as leaven and warns us to not have leaven like that of the Pharisees. 

In offering up sacrifices free from leaven we are reminded of the oppression that can exist in the sinfulness of the humanity around us.  We are reminded of the oppression that can exist within ourselves in our own sinfulness.

What I think is neat is that as we move through the passage and hear about what we should avoid, we also pick up on something that we should add.  We are to add salt.  This shouldn’t surprise us, because salt is a popular symbol of faith.  What does salt do?  Salt preserves.  Salt prevents the growth of harmful contaminants.  Salt is the replacement of leaven in sacrificial terms.

What is the point of all of this?  Faith – salt, that is – is the greatest counter for sin – leaven.  Relationship with God is the greatest counter for oppression.

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Year 7, Day 90: Leviticus 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The bloody sacrifices.  I’ll let you determine for yourself if I mean “bloody” with respect to the fact that it involves blood or in a more British sense of the word.

One thing that I will talk about with respect to this first chapter is that there are specific directions.  In fact, in all the cases but the bird, the directions are extraordinarily similar.  This causes me to wonder something significant.  Is it the death of the animal that matters or the manner in which it is treated?

In truth, I don’t think either is correct.  While I do believe that the sacrifices are meaningful to God, I do believe that this ritual practices are all about ingraining into the Hebrew culture how there can be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.  In other words, I believe these chapters are all about laying generations of cultural expectations so that when Christ comes and dies for our sin, there are people who understand what Christ has done.  Therefore, I don’t think that the death nor the manner of death is really what is important.  What is important is the general understanding of the precedent being sent.

Why is this important?  Well, God does want us to pay attention to the details.  There are right ways about going about God’s plan.  He wants to be obeyed because He knows what is truly best for us.

Think about this in respect to Christ.  When He came, Jesus didn’t just live any old way that He desired and die any way that He desired.  He lived underneath the direction of the Father.  He kept the Law blamelessly.  He fulfilled the Law.  He fulfilled the words of the Prophets.  There is importance in the details because in paying attention to the details we learn the true identity of Christ.

This is even true in the death of Christ.  Jesus died obediently.  He died on a cross as the Father desired.  He died rejected by His own people.  He spent three days and then conquered death as the Father desired.  I could list other examples, but I hope my point is correct.

These chapters are about pointing us to Christ.  There was an order about His death.  There was a process about His ultimate sacrifice.  These sacrifices are not done willy-nilly as anyone sees fit.  Neither was Christ’s sacrifice for us done casually.

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Year 7, Day 89: Exodus 40

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I think the lesson for today is just as simple as the lessons for the past few days.  Yes, we can reflect some more on obedience.  We can reflect on our consecration before the Lord.  For today, though, I’d like to talk about something new.

The glory of the Lord descends upon the tabernacle.  Obedience to God leads us towards the presence of God.  When we are willing to listen and obey, God will draw near to us. 

There is something to remember here, though.  God doesn’t draw near to us because of our obedience.  Instead, our obedience is a sign to God that we are receptive to His desire to come near to us.  Our obedience never earns us anything.  How can we earn what God desires to graciously give us for free?  No, our obedience opens us to a God who already desires to draw near.  That was God’s plan in the desert so many years ago; it is still His plan for us now.

We don’t just get His presence, mind you.  God abides with us.  He comes and dwells among us.  We gain the benefit of His wisdom.  We gain the benefit of His protection.  We gain the benefit of His planning.  We gain the benefit of His direction.  It isn’t just about being close to God, it is about becoming a part of what God is doing in the world.

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Year 7, Day 88: Exodus 39

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Today’s blog post is going to be short and to the point.  The chapter is all about finishing up the work of the Lord.  I find it interesting that immediately following the rebellion of the golden calf we have what is perhaps the greatest moment of obedience in this generation.  God can use our circumstances to bring about change and good things.

That’s not what I want to address today, though.  Do you notice that on this last day we focus on the priestly outfit?  Do you see what is central to this outfit?  The priests are to always remember and serve with their mind on the people of God.  Ministry and mission is about bringing people into relationship with God and then helping them stay there.

In my heart, this strikes a deep chord.  I am all about discipleship.  I am all about helping people find a relationship with God and then helping that relationship grow and stay strong.  That is in essence what the priesthood is all about in its core.  It is good to find such a discipleship centered message this far back in the Old Testament.

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Year 7, Day 87: Exodus 38

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I’m not feeling like repeating myself again today, although I could certainly do a blog post on obedience and the movement of the tabernacle again.  Instead, I’d like to take the opportunity to go down a rabbit trail.  I’ll be extrapolating on small side topics within the greater framework of the tabernacle construction.

Do you notice what metals we hear being used?  Primarily, we hear about the tabernacle implements being covered in bronze and gold.  We also hear about an occasional use of silver.  I stopped and asked myself about it today.  What is so special about gold, bronze, and silver?

I think part of the answer lies in the sheer value of the elements and alloys.  Gold and silver were valuable.  Bronze was less valuable, but it was still a very useful technology.  Certainly part of the point is to look at the value.

However, I think there is far more at work here than simple value.  Gold is highly resistant to tarnish and being dissolved by acids.  Things made out of gold tend to stay the way they are across the centuries.

Silver, by the way, has much of the same rationale as gold, so I’ll not repeat it.

Bronze is quite similar.  Bronze does patina, developing a layer of copper oxide or copper carbonate.  These are the green colorations that develop on bronze.  Once this layer develops, the bronze underneath is perfectly preserved.  Furthermore, Bronze is highly resistant to metal fatigue.  This means that bronze can be work and used frequently without risking damage from breaking or fracturing the metal.  Bronze makes sense to use in a tabernacle that is going to see repeated continuous use.

What can we glean from all of this?  As the tabernacle is being built, the framework is made of wood.  However, these metals are overlaid across the wood in order to help preserve them and allow them to be used without risking damage.  There are some neat symbolic things that we can learn.  When we are coming to worship God, we do not need to fear breaking things or destroying their structure.  When we are going out and doing mission, we can have assurance that whatever God is a part of will absolutely last the test of time. God calls us to lifelong mission, developing routines, patterns, thoughts, teachings, and other things that will last and be with us.

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Year 7, Day 86: Exodus 37

Theological Commentary: Click Here

As we read through this chapter, we are easily reminded of three lessons in our not so distant past.  First of all, this chapter continues to be full of obedience.  The items for worship are made as God desires.  They aren’t improved upon.  They aren’t casually made.  They are made to God’s standard with precision and accuracy.  There is joy in this kind of obedience.

Second, you will notice that the implements that are made are all made with rings and poles.  They are made for movement.  God mission is a mobile mission.  We are to follow God wherever he goes. 

Third, notice that the poles are overlaid with gold.  They are overlaid with gold to help keep them intact and unaffected by the weather and time.  Not only is God’s mission on the move, but it is always on the move.  It is always moving and shifting to wherever there is a heart and a place that is open to Him.  God wants us to be prepared to join Him now, tomorrow, and deep into the future.  Our commitment to Him is lifelong, even generational.  God’s work will continue long after the death of the workmen who fashioned these things and the people who donated the material resources.

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Year 7, Day 85: Exodus 36

Theological Commentary: Click Here

As I say in my commentary from a number of years ago to which I link above, this chapter and the next few chapters to come feel a bit light in content.  We are going to get much of the same story day after day.  We are going to hear how the workers did the work of the Lord as the Lord described.

On one hand, you wonder why these stories are necessary in a book like the Bible.  What wisdom of God do we gain in these verses?  It’s easy to feel this way, isn’t it?

However, so long as chapters like these don’t dominate the landscape, which they don’t, they do provide us with a very important perspective that would otherwise be lost.  God doesn’t just give directives, people follow them.  There are plenty of people before us who were obedient to the calling of their God.  They followed directions to the best of their ability.  They are an example to us.

Furthermore, notice that there was no scramble for the needed supplies.  When we are genuinely doing the work of the Lord, He will provide.  Moses actually had to cut the people off.  I think this is something that we lose in today’s culture.  How many times do we ear spiritual leaders or those under them begging and pleading for money?  The reality is that if God’s will is for something to happen, God will put the resources within His people to accomplish it.  Yes, things need to be advertised.  Moses had to tell the people what was needed.  But Moses didn’t have to beg and plead and exhort.

I wonder how many times we have a human agenda that we assert as God’s will.  We put the label of “God’s Work” upon it.  Yet it struggles to find support.  We get angry and say that the people aren’t listening or they are tight with their money.  Perhaps it is the leaders or the people who are behind the movement who aren’t listening to God.  God has the ability to resource and supply those things that are His will.

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Year 7, Day 84: Exodus 35

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The Hebrew people reach into their supplies and give to their Lord so that the tabernacle may be built as desired by the Lord.  There are many people who look into these verses and see a predecessor to the tithe.  In fact, I count myself among them.  There is good precedent in these verses for us to give to the work of the Lord.

However, I want to take a step further back from the concept of the tithe.  I found it incredibly interesting to hear how the Bible talks about the response of the people.  First of all, it was a willing offering.  Second, the Bible says that everyone went home and found what they had.  As I read that, I thought that it was worded rather interesting.  Wouldn’t they know what they had?

I don’t know about you, but I typically know what I have.  This is even more true about wealth and valued possession.  But this passage reads as thought the people went home to explore what they had and then to give it to the Lord.

Naturally, I realized the reason for my gut feelings.  Remember that the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt.  They had nothing.  The wealth that they gained was taken from the Egyptians as they fled Egypt and followed God.  The wealth that they had gained was not earned and accumulated slowly over a lifetime but amassed all at once!  Some people had this.  Other people had that.  They needed to hear what was needed and then go home and investigate what they could offer.

I think that this really takes the passage to a deeper level of giving than just that of the tithe.  The wealth out of which these people give is only in their hands because God put it there in the first place!  When we give, we give back to God what He has placed into our possession.  We aren’t giving to God what we have earned in our own righteousness.  We give back to God what He deemed to put into our hands.

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Year 7, Day 83: Exodus 34

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Moses goes up the mountain and gets the stone tablets v 2.0.  Once more Moses gets to hear God expound upon his Law.  Maybe the extra run through was good for Moses.  Maybe Moses’ anger was proof that he really needed to hear the Law again himself.  Either way, it gives us some time to recap as well.

As I read through this passage today, I was reminded about the early commandments.  God is our God.  We are to have no other.  He wants to be our primary focus, our only true source of power.  He is a jealous God, seeking to take His rightful place at the pinnacle of our existence.

In this context, we also hear about God driving out the native people of the Promised Land.  Mind you, it doesn’t say that God will eradicate them – at least not in this passage.  They will simply be driven out before the Hebrew people.  The land is a part of the covenant for the Hebrew people.

What I love about this particular passage and how it talks about the native residents of the land.  God doesn’t reject them because of who they are.  God rejects them because they are a danger to godly people.  They are capable of tempting God’s people away from Him into idolatry.  Their nature isn’t any different than the Hebrew people.  Their nature is corrupt and sinful, just like the Hebrew people.  But the Hebrew people are willing to repent. The Hebrew people are willing to see their mistakes and humble themselves and accept correction.  The native people of the Promised Land are a danger to corrupt God’s people.  Therefore, God will drive them out.

I think that it is very important to see this point.  The Hebrew people aren’t more righteous.  They aren’t genetically superior.  They are simply the people with whom God chose to work.  The Canaanites aren’t an inferior people; they are simply a people who are likely to tempt God’s people away fro Him.

As we will see while reading through the Old Testament, any person of any genealogy can be grafted into God’s people.  It isn’t about race or color or heritage.  It is about one’s heart and its inclination towards God.

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Year 7, Day 82: Exodus 33

Theological Commentary: Click Here

This chapter is a favorite chapter for the people who consistently argue that human beings can change God’s mind.  I’m not saying that I disagree with them here.  However, I tend to argue that this chapter, like so many others in the Bible, has a bit of a deeper meaning below the surface.  This chapter is about so much more than Moses’ ability to change God’s mind.  Let’s probe into it, shall we?

What Moses is doing in this chapter is being a mediator.  Please note that this is actually a skill that God desires of Moses.  God appointed Moses to be their leader.  God wants Moses to be their representative for them in His presence.  Therefore, the first thing that we can learn about this chapter is that Moses is being obedient to God.

Furthermore, when Moses stands up for the people and argues for them, he is demonstrating his love for them.  Moses is doing more than being obedient to God; Moses is demonstrating God’s character to the people.  Moses is showing love for a people when the easier path would be to let God do what he has planned.

What Moses teaches us is more than just being able to alter the mind and will of God.  Moses teaches us what it means to be a leader.  A leader advocates for the mercy of those who are under them because he loves them.  A leader balances this with obedience to God.  Put this way, what Moses is doing here is giving us a foretaste of the greatest spiritual leader of all time.  Moses is foretelling Christ.

Think about it.  Doesn’t Christ argue for His enemies when He says, “Forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing?”    Doesn’t Christ look to the Father and ask to have this cup lifted from Him yet submit to the ultimate will of the Father?  This chapter is not as much about Moses’ attempt to change God’s mind as it is about laying down an example of great spiritual leadership, the kind like we will ultimately see in Jesus Christ.

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Year 7, Day 81: Exodus 32

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Exodus 32 is a real head-shaker of a chapter.  While it is not nearly as popular of a story as the burning bush or the ten plagues or even the crossing of the Red Sea, it is still certainly well known.  What makes it a head-shaker is the horrible way that human beings act in this chapter.

First of all, we can easily talk about impulsiveness.  Moses is gone for a reasonably short while.  While he is gone, there is all kinds of storms and lightning and reason to realize that Moses is up on the mountain with God.  But what do the people say?  “We don’t know what happened to that guy who brought us out of Egypt.”  In other words, we want leadership here and now, and if you can’t be here in the moment then we’re moving on to something else.  Doesn’t that sound rather modern?  Perhaps modern impulsiveness isn’t such a modern concept at all.

Next, of course, there is the blame game.  The people blame Moses for being away.  Aaron blames the people for making him create the golden calf.  Moses comes back before God and blames the people for making him angry.  I’m not sure that anyone takes any responsibility for anything that they do in this chapter at all.

Naturally, this leads us to anger.  Moses is so enraged by the behavior of the people that he smashes the work of the Lord.  The Law of the Lord, which God had literally just inscribed, Moses smashes in his rage.  Remember that Moses has had other anger issues in the past, by the way.

We shouldn’t also forget the human propensity to whitewash sinful behavior.  When asked about the golden calf, Aaron essentially says, “We took some gold, threw it in a fire, and out popped the calf!” This makes it sound so innocent, unplanned, benign.

Given all of this, let’s look at God’s behavior.  God’s wrath burns.  He wants to destroy the people in their rebellion.  That’s how bad the sinfulness was!  However, in His wrath He is forgiving.  There are consequences, of course.  Yet, the people live.  God deals with them in their sin, through a plague, even!  But God still forgives.  He imparts grace upon them and gives them an additional chance.  We may shake our heads at humanity, but we must acknowledge the sovereignty of God’s love.

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Year 7, Day 80: Exodus 31

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Bezalel and Oholiab.  Whenever I read these two names I always get a sense of foreboding, as if something bad is about to come.  But in reality this chapter is just the opposite.  Bezalel and Oholiab aren’t bad things, they are good people!

These are two craftsmen that God has filled with His Spirit.  They have been given the skill to construct everything as God has directed to Moses.  They have been given the desire within themselves to do the best job possible.  They have been given the ability to be creative and enjoy their trade.

However, there is more to it than simple artistry.  God tells Moses that He has given them wisdom and understanding and knowledge.  In fact, notice that these attributes are listed first, even!  Their artistic skill is nestled within their greater understanding and wisdom.

What does this wisdom do for them?  This wisdom gives them the ability to see their work in the community.  This wisdom and understanding allows them to not just follow directions but see the greater vision that God is creating within the people.  They can see their role and how they are going to play a part in God’s work.

So often we are a people who focus on skill.  We want to do things well.  However, how often do we take the time to stop and examine our skill within the community?  How often do we look to our greater role in what God is doing through us and in the community around us?  How often do we ask ourselves not just whether or not we are doing our job well but whether the job we are doing is actually a greater part of the community around us?  That’s a very important question that I often fail to ask, especially when I am in a place in my life where things are going well.

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Year 7, Day 79: Exodus 30

Theological Commentary: Click Here

As I read over this chapter, I was drawn to the fact that there are certain elements that we are not to duplicate.  In other words, there are certain things that are a part of worship that belong in the context of worship.  We are not to cheapen them by removing them and using them elsewhere.  In the chapter, we see the examples of the incense and perfume.  Whoever duplicates these will be cut off from the people.

At first, I found these assertions as though they made sense.  After all, doesn’t it make sense that there are certain things that are sacred when we come into the presence of the Lord?  Shouldn’t there be some things that we reserve for the worship of God?

On the other hand, there is a part of me that is always quick to assert that Jesus has made all things new.  He has made all things acceptable.  We hear this much when Jesus comes to Peter atop Cornelius’ house.

There doesn’t need to be tension between these ideas.  When we say that Jesus has made all things clean, it doesn’t mean that He is saying that He has made all things mundane.  He has made all things clean.  We are not to be concerned about our ritual purity because Jesus has consecrated us in a way that the sacrifices of oxen and sheep could not.

In this I actually find challenge.  The challenge is to live in the world in a way that continues to honor the sacred.  How do I remember that I am a priest as I go about my daily life?  How do I remember that I am supposed to be living with a sacred purpose yet living and serving among the people of the world?  This is the challenge of God.  We have been redeemed.  We have been purified.  All things can be ours.  But we don’t need to make everything mundane in doing so.  We are to be sacred, and help make the world around us sacred, too.

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