numbers 14-36

--old testament understanding--

this will be an overview of chapters 14-36. one of my favorite verses in numbers is found in this fourteenth chapter, v 18, "the Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression...." the second half of the verse speaks of His justice as well as His lovingkindness..."He will by no means clear the guilty...." and this chapter gives account of the israelites' consequences as a result of their grumbling...that they (meaning that generation) would not be permitted to enter the promised land. chapter 15 records laws given for their entrance into canaan, laws for the "sojourner," or the one who is traveling through...and then, there is a record of a man who broke the sabbath and was stoned. at the conclusion of this chapter, we see the practice of sewing a blue tassel on the corners of their robes as a reminder "so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God" (v 40). in the next chapter, chap 16, three of the levites challenged the leadership of moses and aaron (foolishly)...and this is the account of the earth swallowing these men and all that they had. when the people grumbled about this...still distrusting moses and aaron, there was a plague in which thousands lost their lives. in chapter 17, we read how God responded to the people's questioning and grumblings...He initiated a test to display whom God had chosen as leader. rods were collected from each of the 12 tribes, and aaron's rod (representing the levites) became miraculously distinguished among them...as buds and blossoms had grown up out of it. chapters 18-20 record duties of the levites, offering of the first fruits, and the inheritance of the levites...the ordinance of the red heifer and other laws (chap 19)...and then, the record of miriam's death, the account of water from meribah (water from a rock!), and the record of aaron's death at the end of chapter 20. the Lord helped the israelites conquer the armies of arad that had come against them...He delivered them...recorded in chap 21. and then, (this phrase baffles me...), "the people spoke against God and moses...." (after all they had seen/all they had experienced...they would dare to speak against God and against moses...crazy....) the discipline/justice of God was accomplished this time through a plague of serpents. many died when bitten by these serpents. moses interceded once again for the people and was instructed to craft a bronze serpent that would provide remedy. (see john 3:14-15!!!! Jesus...our ultimate remedy!....) then, God delivered the people again against the amorites and heshbon.

chapter 22 provides the account of balak and balaam. i love balaam's resolve, "i could not do anything either small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God." (v 18)...(i want this kind of obedience in my life!)...and we see his obedience later in the chapter in the midst of the very cool account of the talking donkey!...when he realized there had been an angel standing in his way, he said, "now then, if it is displeasing to you, i will turn back" (v 34). and in chapters 23 and 24, balaam prophecies according to the blessing of the Lord for israel. another quotable proclamation of balaam, "whatever the Lord speaks, that i must do..." (i just want to have this commitment to obedience...and i think it's great that we have this example of balaam's steadfastness.)

this is getting lengthy...but we are covering two-thirds of this book....:) i will try to be brief but hit the highlights...

in chapter 25, we see the sin of the israelites as they "joined themselves to baal" by playing the harlot with the daughters of moab. so, moses and the judges of israel were grieving about this, and one of the israelites brought a midianite woman (representing this culture of sin) to his relatives in their sight. one of those weeping at the tent of meeting (phineas, aaron's grandson) acted in justice against this, putting to death this man and the woman...and God was pleased that "he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of israel" (v 13). chapter 26 records a census taken...601,730 sons of israel + 23,000 levites. chapter 27 records the law of inheritance and the commissioning of joshua. chapters 28-30 record the laws for offerings, offerings of the seventh month, and the law of vows (this emphasis really made me think about my commitments/vows made/carefulness with this). we read about the defeat of midian in chap 31. chapter 32 records a decision made for reuben and gad to settle in gilead (outside of canaan) because of their large numbers of livestock...with the provision that they would fight for their brothers before settling down. chapter 33 gives an overview and summary of the journey from egypt to jordan, giving account of the israelites' movement/where they camped/etc....34 records instructions for apportioning canaan. chapter 35 is an account of cities set aside for the levites and cities of refuge. and...chapter 36 records instructions of inheritance/including instructions for daughters to "marry within the family of the tribe of their father."

--personal thoughts--

as i have been writing, seated at scott's computer this morning, my children have been in and out of my bedroom...with questions...good mornings. aiden spent a good 20 min with his head on my lap...and...i took a break from writing to address a question of my oldest son, tsion. they (he and his eight-yr-old brother) have been grounded from movies/entertainment with any kind/any measure of violence (because of behaviors that needed to be addressed). so, tsion was attempting to negotiate this punishment this morning. and we talked. we talked about God and the israelites. we talked about the justice of God. and...how God did not excuse sin. i am so thankful (how do i express this gratitude?) for the bible. for His Word to us and for us. and i love that we saw often how God responded to moses' intercession for the israelites...He often withheld His hand when He saw how hearts had been changed. as far as discipine is concerned...i just want to have a heart after God's heart. Lord, i ask for discernment to know when the punishment has been effective/or needs to be curbed/when mercy needs to be shown.... i want this reverence in me to remain...and Your Word/Your character in these pages to be written on my heart as i make decisions for my children.

praying today that God is speaking to your hearts and giving discernment about the concerns of your days...through His Word...as we move into deuteronomy. :)

numbers...to the end. :)

revision to my plans for numbers...our trip north this week was extended a bit longer than i had originally planned...so i am ready to post for chapters 14-27 but am packing again for another trip this weekend...i hope it's okay to wait once again til sunday to post thoughts about numbers. it'll be good timing 'cause through chapter 36 will keep us on track through the weekend and conclude this book. (i also will be posting some additional info about leviticus at some point in the near future. :)....)

let me share quickly, though, some scriptures we read at my gma's funeral...my uncle (who spoke at the service) used portions of the bible that were special to my grandmother/each of her 7 grandchildren read one of the following psgs: john 11:20-27. psalm 23. i corinthians 15:51-58. psalm 103:8-18. i thess. 4:13-18. ecc. 3:1-8. rev. 21:1-5. i know this is random, but i just wanted to share a smidgen of my sweet experience this week with you.... :) my scripture was the john psg...key verses-26-26 (Jesus' words) "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die...." what a wonderful, hopeful, faith-sustaining promise. i am sooooo thankful for His Word that was shared in the hearing of my friends and family....testifying to the fact that we believe grandma coleson is in heaven...because she believed in Jesus and was intimately connected to Him as a result of her faith. as i read numbers, my faith is increasing...and increasing and increasing. our God was faithful to the israelites...contending with their murmuring/not excusing it (He is just.)...but always remaining faithful to His covenant.

i hope your weekend is wonderful, friends.

numbers 14 and following....

hi, friends...wanted to drop a quick note in to let you know i will be lumping chapters 14-27 together to be posted on wednesday when i return from a quick trip to michigan. i think i'm going to take a quick break and spend some time in the NT and texts about heaven (as my grandmother has just had her eyes and heart wide-opened to what we can only dream about til it's our turn.... :) ) bless you all as you read His Word....

numbers 11-13

--personal thoughts--
when i saw the subtitle in my bible "the people complain," i really dreaded reading chapter 11. but i read it.... :) stomached it/haha...no pun intended regarding their complaints about food. :) but i've just been praying as i read....for conviction...for His voice in my heart and mind through His Word. and He is close as i think about this and pray.

--old testament understanding--
we see in chapter 11 that the people were tired (and greedy!). and they remembered times when they had other choices. and...moses was tired as we see in verses 10-15. we see that moses was provided seventy elders to assist him. and we see in chapter 11 that God responded to the people's complaints with meat...LOTS of it.

these passages are telling of God's just character and judgment. not only did God provide quail until it became "loathsome" to them (v 20)...but He struck them with a plague. and His justice was evident once again in chapter 12 as He interacted with miriam and aaron and responded to their words against moses...and miriam ended up with leprosy.

chapter 13 is important as it records the spies' obedience to "check out" the land that they would be going into.... moses' instruction was to see what it was like/what the people were like/what the cities were like/what the fruit was like. and they reported back...that the land was wonderful (they brought back enormous fruit as instructed)...and they said it "certainly does flow with milk and honey"...but that the people were strong and the cities well-fortified. caleb spoke out, however, and said that they should take possession of it (he wasn't afraid of the challenge).

--personal thoughts--
quick thoughts as we wrap up this reading...
i am comforted in God's justice. i think we would've scratched our heads and wondered why God allowed the people to get away with greed if He hadn't punished them. of course we would have. His character is just.

i am also comforted in His mercy. miriam's leprosy healed as moses pleaded (12:13)....

i am also filled with hope in caleb's courage. it is possible to be like caleb (and joshua) and not like the other fearful ten. it is possible to be like moses...very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth (12:3) and not like those filled with discontent and greed.

thank You, Father, for comfort and hope today. please move me to contentment and courage.

numbers 8-10

--old testament understanding--
chapter 8 begins with intro about the lampstands...then addresses the role of the levites and their sanctification for their tasks/assignments from the Lord. the levites were separate/called apart. v. 14 says, "'thus you shall separate the levites from among the sons of israel, and the levites shall be Mine." the tasks assigned to this tribe were so significant and special that God set the levites apart for their duties.

chapter 9 addresses the passover and special conditions of its observance if at all hindered (as with the specific case mentioned regarding uncleanliness because of a dead person). then, we read about the direction of God and His presence in the cloud. v. 23, "at the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out."

instructions regarding the use of trumpets for alerting the people of gathering times and of war are included in chapter 10...along with a narrative of the movement of the people as the cloud moved them from the wilderness of sinai.

--personal thoughts--
i just love how the israelites were led by the cloud. i love the visual of that. i listened to a sermon tonight with another visual of the Lord's leading...as our Shepherd whom the sheep (His people) hear/recognizing His voice (from john 10)....

thank You, Lord, for leading us...thank You that we don't need to worry about direction or when or where/or what lies ahead...we just need to follow You...our cloud by day...our Shepherd....

numbers 7

--personal thoughts--

so, did anyone else think of the twelve days of Christmas as they were reading this chapter?

on the first day of the offering, nahshon presented...

on the second day of the offering, nethaniel presented...

totals at the end of the chapter...twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve gold pans, etc. etc. lol...not to make light of this very reverent offering presentation spanning 12 special days. :)

i am just blown away by the magnitude of their presentation. enormous gifts. enormous presentations. i'm imagining the procession of just one of these leaders of israel with his silver dish and bowl and gold pan...the bull, the ram, the lamb, the goat, two oxen, five additional rams, five additional male goats, and five additional male lambs....

just...so beautiful and reverent. their worship was none like any that any of us have ever witnessed or experienced.

numbers 5-6

--old testament understanding--

chapter 5 opens with instruction/important instruction about lepers and others that are unclean to protect the camp...v 3..."you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell in their midst." we see in this brief section more of God's protection. and in the section following...instructions for restitution for when a man has confessed sin. and... regarding the rest of chapter 5, i can honestly say, i do not remember ever having read this! or ever having knowledge of this "adultery test" as my bible subtitles it. i definitely do not remember ever having heard a sermon or lesson with any reference to this/it is interesting that God had provided a way for truth to be exposed in this way. He is a just God.

in chapter 6, we are introduced to the specifics of the nazirite vow-taker...what a special vow/a significant season of life for the nazirite...to be set apart for the Lord.

and then, we read a blessing given through moses/through aaron and his sons to the sons of israel...is it okay if i call this a random blessing? beautiful. just a beautiful blessing randomly between the specifics of the law...i just took the time to see where this blessing fits within the pages of the law. between exodus 20/the 10 commandments...and this blessing, there are 53 chapters and from this blessing to the end of deuteronomy, there are 64 chapters...just wanted to see how close to the middle of these words/pages of the law it happened to fall. and genesis/exodus 1-20 are technically part of the torah as well...just wanted to see how it fell in the midst of these instructional law passages...interesting. interesting to read this random and wonderful reminder of His love and blessing in the midst of the seriousness and gravity and importance and reverence of the law. --personal thoughts-----> :) this makes me think of lecture times with my children when i feel this urgency just to hug them all and remind them even though i'm about rules and keeping them...for their good...i just LOVE them and want to hug them and kiss them and sing to them and bless them....

numbers 6:24-27...

the Lord bless you, and keep you, the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.

bless you, this monday, friends....

intro to numbers and chapters 1-4

--old testament understanding--

according to my textbook, "numbers...is a complex story of unfaithfulness, rebellion, apostasy, and frustration, set against the background of God's faithfulness, presence, provision, and forbearance." the book is divided into three main sections, sort of in three different geographical settings "to mark the main stages of the wilderness march." these sections are as follows: sinai, kadesh, and moab. so, starting in this first section, (and specifically chapters 1-4)...we encounter preparations for departure from the wilderness. there is a first census of the people taken in chapter 1 (the levites being exempted). arrangement of the camps is recorded in chapter 2 and instructions for the duties of the priesthood (the levites) in chapters 3 and 4.

originally, the book of numbers was untitled. numbers was adopted by later translators because of its census lists. according to my reference text, "an obvious purpose of the book is to record the period from the encounter with God at sinai to the preparations in moab to enter the promised land. however, far more than this is involved...." it goes on to indicate that the journey from sinai to kadesh-barnea on their route would normally have only taken eleven days, but that their voyage was a thirty-eight year period which was a consequence for their lack of faith..."none of the unbelieving generation was allowed to enter the land."

--personal thoughts--

my prayer in this quiet hour as i write...Lord, increase my faith in Your character...in Your FAITHFULNESS. i feel sad for the israelites' lack of faith...i want to know You and Your closeness/Your character...and not just so that i won't miss something wonderful in my life/future (as the israelites did/not being permitted to enter canaan)...but so that i won't miss YOU, Father. You are faithful...thank You. thank You for Your faithfulness to the israelites, and thank You for Your consistent, never-ending, never-failing, perfect faithfulness to me, Lord. i love You....

overview of leviticus

--personal thoughts--

i really have felt inspired as i have read through leviticus. i have just kept thinking that God truly does speak to us through His Word...all of His Word...even the texts about the laws given to the israelites that can seem tedious. reading through...i have just had a very real sense of His presence and lovingkindness in all of the law and have had an overwhelming thanksgiving in me somehow for His care for His people...establishing all of this for their well-being, their protection...and of course, their covenant with Him.

--old testament understanding--

i want to walk through leviticus kind of chapter by chapter as i did for exodus as well as providing some historical facts and background for this book...to be posted tomorrow. hoping for a restful weekend for each of you....

.....continued.......................................................................................

in chapters 1-7, laws about the offerings are outlined, including the law of burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, the law of sin offerings and guilt offerings....note that throughout chapter 4, the idea of atonement and forgiveness is repeated. when the priest made atonement, the law said that they would be forgiven. (i am so thankful for the once-and-for-all atonement of Christ for our sins and the forgiveness that is ours following confession....) chapter 8 records the consecration of aaron and his sons for service, and chapter 9 illustrates aaron's offering of the sacrifices followed by the picture of the fire of the Lord which came out of heaven...consuming the burnt offering. from verses 23 and 24: "when they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces." wow.... then, chapter 10 records the death of nadab and abihu, aaron's sons who did not follow the instructions of the Lord, offering "strange fire"...and lost their lives. this is sobering and i'm sure much much more than that for aaron and the people. in chapter 11, we learn of God's law for the use of animals for food and in chapter 12, His laws about motherhood (including infant circumcision on the eighth day). in these sections of text, we are reminded again of God's protection and care for His people. there were health reasons for these statutes.... seen again in chapters 13 through 15 concerning the test for leprosy, cleansing of the leper and his home, and cleansing of other unhealthiness. i think the picture of the scapegoat is beautiful as explained in chapter 16...a visual of the iniquities being kind of carried far away from them. significant and notable in chapter 17 is the idea that blood represents life...verse 11: "for the life of the flesh is in the blood...for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement." and in verse 14: "for as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life...for the life of all flesh is its blood." this idea makes the whole concept of the need for the shedding of blood for the atonement make sense! it is needed because it represents life. chapters 18-22 record necessary laws on immoral relations, on idolatry, laws concerning many other aspects of life and relations between men and between God and men/also regulations concerning priests. note chapter 20, verse 26, "thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine." chapter 23 outlines laws for religious festivals to be observed and the day of atonement. i love the idea of the feast of booths...such a cool remembrance...they actually lived in booths for seven days to physically remember their time in the desert and how they were brought out of the land of egypt. i love how they were instructed to take the foliage of beautiful trees and to rejoice before the Lord in this way. this just seems glorious to me...i've never waved branches and boughs of leafy trees before the Lord in worship (except maybe as a kid in a staged palm sunday service?)...this is beautiful! then, chapters 24-25 record instructions about the lamp and the bread of the sanctuary...other laws and practices (here we see the "eye for an eye" mandate)...instructions about the sabbatic year and the 50th celebration year/the year of jubilee...very cool! also, we see the laws of redemption for the poor.... chapter 26 gives a very clear outline of the blessings of obedience and penalties of disobedience of these laws set forth. He is to be their God...He is the Lord. and chapter 27 records rules concerning valuations....and the chapter (and the book of leviticus) ends with verse 34, stating, "these are the commandments which the Lord commanded moses for the sons of israel at mount sinai."

--personal thoughts--

as i have been studying leviticus, there is really more regarding history and background...um...chapter divisions and themes/the message of this book...than i am able to cover in this post. i want to come back to it, though it is a diversion from my plan for the weekend.... :) i am going to be able to begin posting daily along with the daily reading as i had hoped, but will come back to leviticus as well...because there's more to write. ;)....

history/overview of exodus

--old testament understanding--

the patriarchal age (as mentioned in the postings about the pentateuch) began around 2000 b.c., and extended to around 1200 b.c. when the israelites had settled in palestine. egypt was a great power and, according to my textbook, "palestine lay within the bounds of its sovereignty." i won't go into too much detail about the government and politics of egypt throughout this period, but you get an idea of the enormous influence of egyptian culture when reading the end of genesis and the book of exodus...and the power of the pharoah when reading about his interactions with moses and aaron.

the word, exodus, is derived from the word exodos, meaning "departure." this is a properly descriptive title for this book narrating the details of israel's departure from egypt. my text refers to the exodus as the central event of israel's history. timing of the exodus by many conservative scholars has been concluded to be between 1300 and 1250 b.c./this period having the majority of evidence to support it. if this estimation is accurate, the pharaohs of the oppression would have been seti I (1305-1290) and rameses II (1290-1213)/rameses II having been the pharaoh during the exodus. the route of the israelites' travel was not the normal route from egypt to canaan (known as "the way of the philistines"). in order to avoid egyptian forts and supply stations on that route, they went the "way of the wilderness."

the book of exodus contains so much insight into the history of the israelites...and God's covenant relationship with them. this is illustrated beautifully during moses' interaction with Him at the burning bush. here, God reveals His name in response to moses' questioning. i want to quote my textbook here, which has a wonderful explanation of this: "to grasp the force of moses' question, we must understand that a name in ancient times was bound closely with that person's essence. it expressed one's character. to learn a person's name was to have access to a person's very character. moses is really asking, 'what is God's relationship to the people?' He has been the 'God of the ancestors. who is He now?'" the explanation continues as follows: "'I am who I am' reflects a hebrew idiom in which something is defined in terms of itself...'I am who I am' means 'I am indeed he who is.'...'I am he who is there (for you)--really and truly present, ready to help and to act.'"...and moses was able to see God help and act on behalf of His people through the exodus.

catching it all up. i'm excited!

--schedule for blog through the weekend--

tomorrow (thursday)-completion of thoughts on the pentateuch and genesis.

friday and/or saturday-overview/history notes on exodus.

saturday-overview of leviticus. wow, this book was a fast read! :)

sunday-intro to numbers/numbers 1-4.

this is really exciting to me! i haven't gotten behind because of any lack of enthusiasm, friends...only time management issues...i LOVE this. i looooove studying the bible with friends. if you have fallen a bit behind, let's catch up together. if you have been patiently waiting for me, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your patience. i absolutely LOVE doing this study....

my hope is by monday blogs will accompany daily readings. :)

huge huge love to you....

protection

--personal thoughts--

i've been thinking quite a bit about facebook. blogspot. pinterest. actually, my pinterest account and a dream actually got me thinking.... the dream first? ok...this may sound ambiguous but i prefer leaving the detail lacking to the supply of too much information (and i actually can't remember a lot of the detail now). it was one of those dreams that doesn't really fit in the category of nightmare, but may cause a stirring of discomfort and an awakening with feelings of being disturbed. somehow, in my dream, something that we consider wrong and damaging and harmful had been encountered at a location outside of our home/community but was somehow (whether invited or not) edging it's way toward our home/community. yeah...that is the dream-summation. so...in trying to make sense of the dream, i was thinking about the prevention of this unhealthiness...and the protection of our home/community. and i started thinking about the internet. link to link to link...wrong and damaging and harmful things can be happened upon...accidentally. i got to thinking about this with my pinterest account. every pin has a link to a site, and i have to say that i'm new to pinterest and have realized that so far i have pinned a lot of pictures/ideas but haven't even checked out the link that i posted from that pic that is now on my pinboard.

so, i want to be careful. i read an amaaaazing blog post from a friend of a friend that touched my heart to the core, and i immediately clicked to share it cause i wanted to be an encouragement to others.... but then...i thoughtfully made the decision to delete the shared post because though this article was wonderful, i hadn't read the other dozens of posts from this friend of a friend that my link would link to/wanted to be careful. (i don't know...still thinking on this....)

all of that to say...i have trust issues with the internet. (i even put a disclaimer on my pinterest account profile about this. :) ) i have to be careful. for myself and my family. with youtube. with social networks. with blog sites.... even with pinterest (though honestly, most of it really is all innocent...home ideas/recipes. but then you do have the workout ideas/fitness-type stuff with their plentiful scantily-clothed perfect females). and...please don't misunderstand. i know that other people who link to links from my facebook wall or my pinboard can make their own decisions about what is right and what is wrong. but i know that there are all kinds of people/all kinds of different people...of all ages and generations and levels of maturity...and understanding and carefulness for their own eyes or the eyes of their people (some little people) looking over their shoulders at their computer screens...that may link from a link to something wrong or damaging or harmful.... and not just pictures or videos but printed thoughts.

and...all of that to say...my motive is not fear of the wrong/damaging/harmful but caution and alertness. i peter 5: 8-9a says, "be of sober spirit. be on the alert. your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. but resist him, firm in your faith...." (italics mine). psalm 101:3 says, "i will set no worthless thing before my eyes." this reminds me of the old song, "be careful, little eyes, what you see. be careful, little eyes, what you see...for the Father up above is looking down in love...so be careful, little eyes, what you see...." His concern is for our safety. our protection.

when i read His law, i think of this. the law was for the provision and protection of God's people. as i look at His law and read through leviticus and numbers and deuteronomy, i want to consider His motive and His character and His heart for His people. He wanted them to be protected from the deception of idolatry and of the devastation of turning toward other gods/all an illusion of satan. He wanted them to be protected from the evil actions of men...setting forth laws to be observed as consequences for intentional harm. His law was for them. to protect them.

looking to His care and His protection over my days/my home/my computer.... praying the same for you, friends....

the second half of exodus/chapters 21-40

--personal thoughts--

i want to start this blog with a prayer...Father, in our studying, we want to KNOW YOU. much of the law is very detailed and can seem tedious, but we don't want to miss anything by skimming over things too quickly or wanting to hurry through the tedious parts. please remind our hearts to ask You when we sit down to read...to speak to us through Your word....

--old testament understanding--

ordinances necessary for the culture of the israelites were set forth by God in the law. chapters 21 and 22 contain ordinances about the keeping/treatment of slaves, consequences/punishment of injury-related crimes and stealing...and other punishable actions and their consequences. chapter 23 continues to outline laws including ordinances concerning the land and observance of the sabbath. feasts that the people were to observe were given in this chapter as well, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of the harvest, and the feast of the ingathering. also, this chapter gives instruction about their movement into the land which God had promised them. verse 20 reads, "...I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared." in chapter 24, it is recorded that moses recounted to the people all of these laws/ordinances, and the people responded (verse 3)..."'all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!'" moses went up on mount sinai and stayed for forty days and nights. scripture says, (v 17), "and to the eyes of the sons of israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top." chapters 25-31 record instructions for the design and construction of the tabernacle, the garments of the priests who would serve there, and the ark of the covenant.... as i read these passages, i noted phrases that referred to the purposes of all of this. "for glory and for beauty" (28:2b)-in reference to the holy garments. "for a memorial before the Lord continually" (28: 29b)-in reference to the breastpiece that aaron wore containing the names of the sons of israel. (etc.!) then...chapter 32, of course, is disturbing. in my notes, i wrote, "on the same open pgs in my bible, God is giving instruction about anointing aaron and his sons...then aaron is making them a golden calf/giving it credit for bringing them out of egypt!!" the sons of levi brought war upon the people who had rejected God, as moses instructed.... chapter 33 moves in to instructions for the journey...(v 3) "go up to a land flowing with milk and honey...." He was faithful to continue to guide them on their journey/and to keep His promises to them though they had forgotten Him... we do read about His reference to them as "an obstinate people" (v 3, v 5). and we read about how moses interceded for them. i LOVE 33:15, "...if Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here." but more than that, God's words that moses was responding to, (33:14), "and He said, 'My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.'" *they were blessed.* oh and chapter 34 is amazing...i love how God wrote on the tablets again (bc moses had broken the others). i feel like this is illustrative of His patience...His giving a second chance to moses and the people.... from 34:6 note: "the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives...." i love that blogspot didn't red-underline that word lovingkindness. i LOVE this word that is so perfectly descriptive of His character. (i just have to say that blogspot does red-underline blogspot. hilarious....:) ) quickly wrapping up chapters 35-40...emphasis on the sabbath is significant in chapter 35. also recorded in this chapter is the account of how blessed the tabernacle project was...:) skilled craftsmen's gifts of their time and talents/contributions brought to the tabernacle/in the next chapter, we read that they had to tell people to stop giving!...(36:6b, "the people were restrained from bringing any more.") chapters 37-39 record details of the construction of the tabernacle and its court/and its completion.... 39:32: "thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed; and the sons of israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded moses." the last chapter of exodus records the anointing of the tabernacle and the priests, and we read in 40:35b, "the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle."

soon to be blogging lots....

stay tuned:)...for completion of unfinished post about pentateuch/genesis, summation of chapters 21-40 in exodus (history/commentary), overview thoughts on the book of exodus, and a happy start to our study of leviticus (even though we're already 4 days in...). love to all....