Category: Exodus
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Giving- Exodus 25:1-9
God instructs Israel to donate materials to build a tabernacle according to His specifications. He gives His people a list of materials: gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, onyx stones, and setting stones.Instead of requiring a tax on the…
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Love the Law and Celebrate Good Things
God has given Israel some laws that will prosper them as a society and promote justice within their borders. The people agree to keep these laws. There is a ceremony to consecrate the people of Israel and make the laws official for them—a sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood as if to say, “If we…
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Idol Worship and Snares- Exodus 23:20-33
In the context of this Law, which was given for the good of Israel—that the people would live long and prosper—God promises to drive out the people groups that do not worship Him from the land. Their ways are bad for people. But, God’s Law will effectively prevent sickness, miscarriages, barrenness, and premature death. God’s…
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Celebration- Exodus 23:14-19
God writes into His Law that Israel is to celebrate three national feasts each year—the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of the Harvest (Weeks or Booths), and the Feast of Ingathering (Pentecost). The fact that these are feasts, insinuates that the people not only sacrificed to the Lord, but ate of the sacrifices.…
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Bearing False Witness and Loving Justice- Exodus 23:1-9
This set of laws promotes truth in society. The people were not to bear false witness, neither favoring the poor nor rich nor taking bribes. They were not to make false charges against others or misrepresent them. What is God’s goal? He desires to teach His people what it means to be just. We treat…
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Well Being Instead of Welfare- Exodus 21:12-36
God provides laws that carry punishment based on damages incurred by victims. If one person kills another intentionally, that person is to be killed. If it is unintentional, there is a way for that person to remain alive but be sentenced to a form of exile. Striking or cursing parents, an adult abusing his parents,…
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Initial Statements About Slaves- Exodus 21:1-11
God instructs Israel concerning slavery and the appropriate times to free slaves. I always found it difficult to recognize that God gave instruction concerning slaves. Like we just saw in Chapter 20, the Law is not the standard for ethics. The Law is meant to bring longevity and prosperity for Israel. Thus, some laws were…
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The Insufficiency of the Law- Exodus 20:18-21
All the people perceive the signs of God, see the manifestation of God, from the bottom of the mountain—including the trumpet sounds. They are afraid. Surely to see any manifestation of the holy, almighty God is terrifying. Because they are afraid, they ask Moses to speak to them. They feel if God speaks to them,…
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Basic Rules for Just and Prosperous Societies- Exodus 20:13-17
Verses 13-17, the last five commandments in the decalogue, carry the same spirit as the first five. Why does God instruct a society not to permit murder within its borders? A society where people are permitted to kill one another without just cause cannot survive or prosper. Instead, for any society to live long and…
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Honor Your Mother and Father- Exodus 20:12
God instructs the Israelites to honor their fathers and mothers. This command does not always mean that parents must be agreed with or obeyed if what they are asking is immoral. It does mean they are to be heavy on the minds of their children, respected by them. Children are not to be entitled brats…