Category: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 24:1-2

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“Then he said to Moses, ‘Go up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders, and bow in worship at a distance. Moses alone is to approach the Lord, but the others are not to approach, and the people are not to go up with him.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Everything has to start somewhere. The nation of Israel as we know it throughout the rest of the Old Testament period and to at least some extent on through to today started with the events of this chapter. What we will look at over the next few posts is the covenant ceremony in which God made things official with the people. It’s an interesting affair, to say the least. Right here at the start, though, something caught my attention that doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of the chapter. As we prepare to talk about God’s officially bringing the people of Israel into a new covenant relationship with Him, let’s talk for just a minute about human leadership and failure.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 23:32-33

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“You must not make a covenant with them or their gods. They must not remain in your land, or else they will make you sin against me. If you serve their gods, it will be a snare for you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the best and most memorable ideas about friendship I’ve ever heard is that our friends determine the direction and quality of our lives. If we spend all our time with people who discourage us and point us in the wrong direction, our lives will soon show the evidence of this and it won’t be good. Thankfully, the opposite is true as well. As God was preparing the people for the journey that lay ahead of them, He wanted them to know that this same basic idea applied to them too. Let’s talk about what’s going on here and what we should make of it.

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Morning Musing: 1 Corinthians 12:12

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“For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body – so also is Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I love cartoons. Near as I can remember, I always have. Animation brings a world of storytelling possibilities to life that live action films and series simply can’t touch. CGI and Ai are a modern marvel in terms of what they allow us to put on the screen that looks so real you almost can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s not, but what are those two except tools of animation? The kind of cartoons I’ve always been most drawn to are the ones with good stories. I’m a sucker for well-developed characters and a gripping plot. And, of course, cartoons about superheroes have always been my favorite. Growing up, one of the absolute best on television was X-Men. When news came out a few months ago that Marvel was going to pick back up the classic series that ended its run almost 30 years ago (I can’t tell you how much it pains me to write that), I was thrilled. They did not disappoint. X-Men 97′ wrapped up its first season this week and it was even better than I had hoped it would be. And, as is so often the case, the Gospel made an appearance in the story. Let’s talk about another Marvel classic and why we just can’t escape the Gospel.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 23:23-28

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“For my angel will go before you and bring you to the land of the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow in worship to their gods, and do not serve them. Do not imitate their practices. Instead, demolish them and smash their sacred pillars to pieces. Serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water. I will remove illnesses from you. No woman will miscarry or be childless in your land. I will give you the full number of your days. I will clauses the people ahead of you to feel terror and will throw into confusion all the nations you come to. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in retreat. I will send hornets in front of you, and they will drive the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hethites away from you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the books on the shelves in my office wrestles with the question of God’s character. The title makes the question pretty plain: Is God a Moral Monster? It tackles several of the most challenging stories in the Old Testament that are often presented as evidence for God’s being just that. One of the subjects the author, Paul Copan, spends a lot of time on is the Israelite entrance into the land of Canaan which came at the expense of the peoples already living there. The Exodus narrative doesn’t cover that particular journey, but God does give the people a bit of a preview of coming attractions. So, let’s wrestle a bit with it.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 23:18-19

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“You must not offer the blood of my sacrifices with anything leavened. The fat of my festival offering must not remain until morning. Bring the best of the firstfruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself tasked with having to get the sound working for an outdoor movie event. I had all of the supplies I needed, but I wasn’t sure how to connect them all in a way that made the audio come out where I wanted it to. I needed instructions. Anytime we do something new, we need instructions. Just about everything you buy from the store comes with instructions. When we understand the instructions, we’ll know how to do whatever it is we are trying to do. God was creating a people who were being called to follow Him. The trouble was, that kind of thing hadn’t ever existed before. They needed instructions. Thus the law. Sometimes, though, just like instructions can be hard to understand, so can the laws God gave to Israel. Here’s a classic example. Let’s see what we can do with it.

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