Tag: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 31:18

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“When he finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

In one of the funnier scenes from Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part 1, Moses (played by Brooks himself) comes down the mountain with the holy tablet of the Law. Except, unlike in the Exodus story, he is carrying three tablets instead of two. He announces that he has brought the people these fifteen commandments from the Lord. Then he drops and breaks one of the three tablets. Thinking on his feet, he quickly corrects himself to announce that he has brought the people these ten commandments from the Lord. Everybody knows about the law tablets that Moses brought with him down the mountain. Here is where we first learn about them. Let’s talk about what’s going on here.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 7:15

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“For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As a parent, you quickly learn that every different age your kids go through has its challenges, but also its joys. They’re adorable when they’re babies, but you don’t get any sleep. Toddlers are great comic relief, but the tantrums get pretty old. When they’re in the no man’s land of early- to middle-elementary school they’re the most fun because of how much they are drawn to just play, but that’s also when they can start to become little punks. Well, I’ve got two right now that are teenagers. (Now there’s a sentence that makes you start feeling old…) Teenagers have attitudes. And emotions. In spades. But they are also reaching the point that they are starting to be able to meaningfully process the world around them in ways that reflect real critical thinking. You can start having an actual conversation with a teenager in ways other stages don’t quite allow. They also ask good questions that desire real answers. Today’s post is the result of one of those good questions. Maybe you’ve asked this one before. Here are some of my thoughts.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 31:12-17

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“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites: You must observe my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, so that you will know that I am the Lord who consecrates you. Observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it must be put to death. If anyone does work on it, that person must be cut off from his people. Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord. Anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites must observe the Sabbath, celebrating it throughout their generations as a permanent covenant. It is a sign forever between me and the Israelites, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever gotten so focused on doing something that you forgot why you were doing it in the first place? I am a pretty task-oriented person. When I take on a project, the only thing I want to do is to finish that project and to finish it well. I can easily lose sight of just about everything else except the project resulting in no small amount of completely understandable frustration for the people around me. God had finished giving Moses all the instructions Israel needed to build the tabernacle. It was time for them to get to work on it. Before they got started on it, though, He took a second to remind Moses not to let the people lose sight of what mattered most. Keep that in mind as we walk through this challenging passage.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 30:11-16

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“The Lord spoke to Moses: ‘When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must may a ransom for his life to the Lord as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered. Everyone who is registered must pay half a shekel according to the sanctuary shekel (twenty gerahs to the shekel). This half shekel is a contribution to the Lord. Each man who is registered, twenty years old or more, must give this contribution to the Lord. The wealthy may not give more and the poor may not give less than half a shekel when giving the contribution to the Lord to atone for your lives. Take the atonement price from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will serve as a reminder for the Israelites before the Lord to atone for your lives.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the most awkward things for many preachers to talk about is money. The reason for this is not simply because of a fear of stepping on their people’s toes. The reason is that it is hard to address the subject without its feeling or seeming very self-serving. After all, the preacher’s salary comes from the church. His telling the people to give can come across like little more than his reminding them to pay him. No one wants that. The next part of the tabernacle cycle here is the description of an annual financial offering the people were to give. Let’s talk through what we see here and how we should see it through a new covenant lens.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 29:22-28

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“Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination); take one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord; and put all of them in the hands of Aaron and his sons and present them as a presentation offering before the Lord. Take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offerings; as a pleasing aroma before the Lord; it is a food offering to the Lord. Take the breast from the ram of Aaron’s ordination and present it as a presentation offering before the Lord; it is to be your portion. Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the presentation offering that is presented and the thigh of the contribution that is lifted up from the ram of ordination. This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is a contribution. It will be the Israelites contribution from their fellowship sacrifices, their contribution to the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things that is so vital to understand about the Old Testament is that all of it points to Jesus. That’s its real value. That’s its real purpose. It doesn’t tell us how to live our lives. It doesn’t tell us what we should or shouldn’t be doing. It helps us see and understand the way God worked through history in order to bring about the means of our salvation in Christ. If we understand it through any other lens, it’s not going to make the kind of sense it should. WIth this lens in mind, let’s take a look at the next part of the priestly ordination ceremony, and talk about the kind of commitment God wants us to make with Him as well as what He offers us when we do.

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