Tag: old testament
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
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…
-
On Men and Women: Considering Mosaic Law
We have now seen manhood and womanhood from Genesis 1-3. The principles we saw in the narrative drive the distinctions we see between men and women in the remainder of Scripture. The most basic truth we have received is that men are the direct picture of God in relationship to His creation. Women are the…
-
Daily Devotional: Exodus 7:14-25
Blood represents life and death, and so does the Nile for all of Egypt. At some point in their history, Egyptians associated the Nile with their gods—Hapi, Sobek, and Osiris—and relied on them to bring fertility to the soil for farming through the natural cycle of the Nile River. Without the Nile, Egyptians would die.…
-
Daily Devotional: Genesis 49:1-33
Jacob gives his final blessings to his children, telling them what will come of them. His words are prophecy. Reuben, the firstborn, will not have preeminence. Again, the forsaken firstborn motif presents. This motif typifies the incarnation of Christ. Adam, the firstborn man and federal head of creation was unable to be righteous and bring…