Tag: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 17:5-7

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“The Lord answered Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.’ Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Think for a minute about a really positive experience you had a long time ago. I’m talking about one in which you learned a good and important lesson that has stuck with you over generations. Those are good things both to have and to remember. But not all of the experiences we have that stick with us are good. Sometimes it is something bad we did that has shaped our outlook for the rest of our lives. That’s what happened to Israel here. This may not seem like such a big deal, but it shows back up at both the halfway point and near the end of the Scriptures to remind us not to do it. Let’s talk about what they did, how God responded, and what it might mean for us.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 17:1-4

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“The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So the people complained to Moses, ‘Give us water to drink.’ ‘Why are you complaining to me?’ Moses replied to them. ‘Why are you testing the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses. They said, ‘Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I remember going to music stores when I was in high school that were absolutely filled with CDs, the latest technology. There were rows and rows and stacks and stacks of them. It was glorious. Now, in an ironic time jump, records outsell CDs, and it’s not close. I haven’t bought a record from this generation yet, but I listened to plenty of them from their first go-round. I’m not sure if they still break like they used to, but in the past, records would occasionally get a snag in them that would cause them to stick in one spot and repeat the same phrase over and over again. That’s where we get the phrase, “like a broken record.” I say all of that to ask this: Have you ever been around someone who was like a broken record? Israel was. Let’s talk about how, why, and why perhaps we’re not so different.

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Digging in Deeper: 1 John 3:16

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“This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I finally watched it, and now it’s time to talk about it. The finale of Loki season 2 dropped last week. Marvel has been going through a bit of a rough spell lately. Their content isn’t getting as many viewers as it once did. Their newest film, The Marvels, a Captain Marvel sequel, came out last week and scored the worst box office opening of any Marvel movie to date. More and more people are talking about superhero fatigue after 15 years. Loki season 2 proved to me they’ve still got what it takes. Let’s talk about what made this story so good.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 16:21-23

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“They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He told them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning.”‘” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some traditions and phrases whose origin nobody knows anymore. One is the existence of “Blue Laws.” We know what these are, of course. They are laws designed to restrict the things people can do on Sundays. Why exactly they are called “Blue Laws,” though, nobody seems to know. We have some guesses, but none of them are very confident. The reason they exist, though, is because followers of Jesus from our nation’s colonial past wanted to encourage (that is, force) people to honor the Sabbath as they understood it should be honored. Speaking of the Sabbath, while we know where that came from, there is lots of debate about what exactly it is and what we should do about it today. We’ll be spending a lot more time talking about it in the weeks ahead of us, but let’s get started on that conversation today.

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Digging in Deeper: Genesis 2:18

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“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I have been eagerly watching the latest season of Disney’s Loki series. The latest installment of the misadventures of the fan-favorite villain-turned-hero has, in my opinion, been even better than the last season. Reportedly, its viewership is down some from last season, but Disney viewership in general is down because the company keeps doing things and producing media to trumpet their woke bonafides which just keeps pushing more and more people away. That’s a conversation for another time. So is a full review of the latest (and, honestly, probably last) Loki season as I haven’t yet watched the finale. But a bit of dialogue in the penultimate episode did reveal what has been driving Loki and point to what will probably be the big theme of the season, and possibly Loki’s entire character arc. He’s trying to save the world because he’s lonely. That seems pretty basic as far as motivations go, but it struck me as a whole lot more significant than people might think. Let’s talk about why.

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