Digging in Deeper: Exodus 20:3

“Do not have other gods besides me.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When the apostle Paul was talking about marriage with the Ephesian church, he described it as being a reflection of the relationship we have with Jesus. The thing about being in a marriage is that as much as our culture today would like to pretend otherwise, it is a definitionally exclusive relationship. When you are married to someone, you are married to just them and no one else. If you try to expand beyond that, you may have something else, but you don’t have a marriage anymore. Trying to continue calling whatever else you have now marriage will just dilute the definition and ultimately cause issues for you and the people who are in your direct sphere of influence. There’s a reason, then, the first commandment of God’s big ten puts a major limitation on Israel’s ability to relate to other gods. Let’s talk about it.

Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Exodus 12:43, 48-49

“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner may eat it. . .If an alien resides among you and wants to observe the Lord’s Passover, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may participate; he will become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it. The same law will apply to both the native and the alien who resides among you.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the criticisms often leveled against Christianity today is that it is very exclusive. In a world in which being inclusive is one of our highest virtues (unless you are deemed insufficiently inclusive, in which case you are excluded with prejudice), this charge carries a lot of weight with some folks. It can be an apologetically difficult question to answer. Well, as we are going to see in the next part of our story here, this charge is not completely without merit. The people of God is an exclusive group. But it is exclusive in the most inclusive way possible. Let’s talk about it through the lens of God’s instructions about who could and could not participate in the Passover festival.

Read the chapter