Today you get a double dose of thoughts and ponderings. No real reason other than the fact that I didn't have time to post yesterday. (I did do the reading and journaling yesterday. Still kept on top of that part.) And I'm going to combine my thoughts for the two days, because the sections really build on each other, especially the readings from Exodus.
Exodus 18:17-26
Jethro tells Moses how to delegate. Moses still has final say, and he makes the harder decisions, but he also chooses able people to be leaders and judges. It is a perfect example of the fact that no one can do ministry alone.
Exodus 20:5-6
As much as this seems like a cruel punishment, making children pay for the sins of their parents, I don't think that's really what it is. Consider the choices your parents made, and their parents, and how they affect you and your children. It is more of a habit and consequence than it is a punishment. I think that this was just God saying, "Watch what you do, because it will affect the generations that are going to come after you, for better or for worse."
Exodus 20:20
How is this a comfort for the people? Moses tells them that God just wanted to 'test you and put the fear of God in you so that you don't sin.' How is that a reassuring thought???!!!!
Exodus 21-22
These laws help to shape the society and views of the Israelites. They offer guidance and answers about what to do in difficult situations.
Exodus 23:29-30
God promises to drive out the people who live in the Promised Land, but it's not going to happen overnight. God will do it slowly and methodically, and because of this, God warns the Israelites not to interact with the peoples who are in the lands, so that they won't be influenced by them or start to worship their gods.
Exodus 28:3-5
The vestments for Aaron and the priests are to be made of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarn, and of fine linen. They are described in great detail.
Matthew 21:22
Whatever you as for in faith you will receive. It is not just that we will be given anything and everything, but that we will be given what is asked for through and with faith.
Matthew 21:28-32
Is it better to make the wrong decisions initially and then change your mind, or is it better to have initial good intentions, but then not follow through?
Matthew 22: 1-14
This story was very convicting to me. Even though the doors were opened to everyone, and all the people were invited to the wedding banquet, people still had to make the choice and put on the appropriate wedding clothes. They didn't need to change in order to be invited and welcomed into the house, but once you're in, there are certain expectations of how you will behave and what you'll wear, and they need to be followed.
Those good ole ponderings:
I have never before read this art of Exodus, at least not with any great attention paid to it. I knew that there were specific ways that the Israelites were to build the Ark, what it was supposed to look like, and how they were supposed to construct the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies. I just never really cared enough to read it before. Here are some things that I have learned:
1. Apparently Acacia wood is awesome, and worthy enough to be fashioned into the Ark of the Covenant, and for the makings of the temple.
2. Most of the parts of the Ark and items for the tabernacle were meant to be made out of one big piece of gold (when it was possible), melted and hammered and fashioned into the appropriate shape and size. I don't know anything about fashioning items out of gold, but I can't imagine that it's the easiest thing to do, especially when you consider the fact that these people are in the desert, without metal processing factories and modern day tools for working with gold. Who knows if they even had what would have been considered the most advanced tools for that time with them in the desert.
3. Gold is not the lightest substance in the world, and so making this Ark that is plated inside and out with Gold would mean that you've got a rather heavy item on your hands, not to mention the table that it's supposed to sit on.
4. I still don't really have a good understanding of what a cubit is. I've been told that it's about the length of a man's arm, but I'm still not really sure about that. (Research will be done)
I'm also wondering where they have come up with all these materials? I know that they plundered the Egyptians when they left, so that's probably where they got the gold, bronze, and silver that they needed to build all this stuff, but what about the wood and the yarn and everything.
I would also like to know how the Israelites felt about the fact that Moses went up on the mountain to talk with God for forty days and forty nights, and comes back down with not only a whole book of rules and regulations that they are supposed to follow in their daily lives (which, let's face it, they probably should have been following anyway), but with this master plan for a giant gold box with angels on top, a tabernacle to house all of it, and a design for priestly robes Aaron that would have put Lady Gaga and Elizabeth Taylor both to shame.
They had left Egypt, were camped out at the base of Mt Sinai, and now Moses wants them to spend all this time investing in gold hammering, carving, weaving, building, and sewing. Hello, crazy....
But given all of that, and the seeming ridiculousness of it all, there was a point. We look at this and might think that it resembles something from Mardi Gras with a bit of high church Roman Catholicism thrown in, but it was more than that.
God had told the Israelites that they were going to be delivered to the Promised Land. There were a whole mess of nations that already lived there, so God was going to remove them, drive them out, one by one, so that the Israelites could have the land that had been promised to their ancestors. But God wanted to make sure that the Israelites stayed separate, that they didn't intermingle, intermarry, or worship the gods of the other nations. God is a jealous God, no doubt about that, but with good reason. God created everything about this world, everything about humanity, and God had just delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians in some pretty spectacular ways. God wanted to make sure that they remembered that they were God's chosen people, and that through them, the world would be blessed.
And so even thought all of the Ark building and tabernacle construction and the making of the technicolor bejeweled robes for the priests seems a little over the top, it was for a purpose. It was to set the Israelites apart, to remind them that they were special, and because they were special, they were to observe certain laws and practices and ways of worshiping. They were to live their lives in a particular way, respecting each other and each others possessions, and above all, living lives that were pleasing to God.
As Christians, we are called to do the same thing. We are a part of the legacy of these Israelites, and we are in a world where we have to be intentional about setting ourselves apart, about being Christ's presence in the world. God said that the purpose of blessing the Israelites was so that the entire world could then be blessed by them. Eventually, everyone would be invited into the Kingdom of God, into the great wedding banquet.
But once we've chosen to come in, there are certain guidelines that we are expected to live by, particular ways that we are to act in order to be an example of Christ's love and saving grace in the world. When the wedding guest is kicked out into the streets because they are not wearing the proper attire, we may think that he is being treated unfairly. But there is an expectation there. When you go to a wedding, it is to celebrate with other people in their joy and have a good time. There are lots of benefits of attending a wedding banquet, particularly if you're invited from some random spot on the street where you're trying to figure out where your next meal if coming from. Sure, you might have to give a toast, or participate in the chicken dance or some other thing that you might not be too familiar with, but you also get a good meal, time to relax with other people, a couple slices of cake, and maybe even a few drinks. And you are expected to be presentable, to thank your hosts, and to not be disrespectful.
Something that is important to note, however, is that you don't have to do any of this in order to be invited to the wedding in the first place. You don't have to be presentable, or thankful, or respectful. And that's the incredible thing about the Kingdom of God and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We're all invited, no matter where we've come from, no matter who we're associated with or what we've done in the past. We're all invited. But there is the understanding that once we have made the choice to accept that invitation, we are expected to live the way that Christ wants us to live, just as the Israelites were expected to live by the statutes that God gave to them.
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