Day 16: Exodus 29-33, Matthew 23-24

Exodus 29:13-14
Why are they commanded to do the particular things with the particular parts of the animals bodies? Why are the fat, kidneys, and liver special?

Exodus 29:19-20
Blood on the earlobes and on the big toes of the right feet? WHY????!!!! What does this symbolize?

Exodus 31:2-11
God appoints artists and fills them with the divine spirit, the spirit of God, fills them with ability, intelligence, and the knowledge to make the tabernacle, the temple, the ark, the vestments, and everything else that is useful and needed for worship, and to make them beautiful. Bezalel and Oholiab, the first artists commissioned by God.

Exodus 32:20
Moses comes down from te mountain, sees the gold calf that the Israelites had made and gets monumentally angry. He takes the calf, burns it, grinds it into powder, throws it into the water, and then makes the Israelites drink it. Gross. And potentially harmful. Which I guess was sort of the whole point.

Exodus 32:27-29
Why would Moses have commanded the sons of Levi to kill so many people? What was the benefit of that? And why we're they then blessed and ordained for the service of God?

Matthew 24;10-14
(also known as Today's Ponderings)

I don't know what I really believe about the 'end times', what they will look like, or what will happen, and when, or if, Jesus will return in some recognizable form. But I do believe that what Jesus said will happen, will happen. I believe that some of it has already happened, like the persecution and the betrayal, the hatred and the falling away, the lawlessness and the lack of love throughout the world.

But I also believe that the only way to overcome all of that, to bring about the desires and fulfillments of Christ's prophecies, is to continue to spread the love and message of the Gospel of Christ to every corner of the world.

We have no way of knowing if the things that Jesus spoke of were literal or metaphoric, or some combination, or if they were something that we just can't even fathom in our tiny human imaginations. But we do know that no one ones, for sure, when Christ will return, when the judgment day will happen, when we will be held accountable for our choices.

We must always be faithful. We must always be ready. We must always be watchful. And not because we are afraid, or trying to make sure that we aren't punished, but because we want to do everything possible to share the love, grace, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ with the entire world.

Once we have heard and accepted that Good News, why would we want to do anything but share it with everyone we know, in every single way possible, and in every moment of our lives? What is the alternative?