Exodus 37:1-39:31 All the pieces necessary for worship in the tabernacle are completed: the ark of the covenant, altars, the lamp stand, table, washbasin, and courtyard. This work was done under the leadership of Bezalel and Oholiab. They were given skill (the same word translated wisdom elsewhere) to both build the tabernacle items and to teach others to help them. They had a two-part role of doi...  Read More

Exodus 35:1-36:38 Have you ever seen a display of radical generosity? An act of giving that astounded your mind? After the command of the Israelites to build the tabernacle came the necessary collection of supplies. The call went out to the Israelites to give. We are told those who were willing gave such an amount of money, Moses had to ask the people to stop bringing their offerings. They were so...  Read More

Exodus 32:1-34:35 What verses do you think are repeated most throughout the Old Testament? Hint, it is found in our reading today. The most repeated verses are Exodus 34:6-7. I think it is the most quoted passage because it speaks of the character of God. Perhaps the most important thing about us is what we think of when we think of God. Do we picture him as a tyrannical ruler, a pushover, or the ...  Read More

Exodus 29:1-31:18 Consecration has the idea of devoting something to God. It is to take an item (tabernacle articles) or a person (priests) and set it apart to be used by God in a special way. If this sounds like the same idea as holiness─it is. The same Hebrew word can be translated either to consecrate or to declare something holy. Since the priests were the only ones allowed to offer sacrifices...  Read More

Exodus 25:1-28:43 God is exacting about how someone approaches him. As we read through Exodus 25-28 today, we see the exact specifications for the place where the Israelites would meet with God (the tabernacle) and the dress of someone who would approach God (the priests). At different times in salvation history, the places where people met with God changed—from the garden, to altars, to the taber...  Read More

Exodus 22:16-24:18 As we think about God’s laws, we most likely think about his rules concerning food, sacrifices, sex, and treatment of the poor. But do you know that God had rules for celebrations? I think these laws tell us something significant about God. He is the God who is the source of all joy and, may we say, partying. God wanted Israel to stop at various moments during the year to celebr...  Read More

Exodus 20:1-22:15 When I was a kid, I used to collect baseball cards. I specifically collected cards of Tony Gwynn, my favorite player. Whenever I received one of his cards I put it in a special binder set apart from all the others. In Biblical terms, they were holy. Holiness is most often used to describe people and not things and is meant to be an accurate description of us. God calls Israel, an...  Read More

Exodus 16:1-19:25 Good teachers reiterate the same lessons multiple times. They recognize their students are quick to forget what they learned and therefore, teach through repetition. The same is true with the best teacher, God. From a few days after the Israelites left Egypt until months, years, and decades later, they continued to struggle with complaining and grumbling. To teach them, God imple...  Read More

Exodus 13:1-15:27 Even before children can talk, they become experts at whining. Sadly, this quickly acquired skill is never unlearned. We grow older, but our whining and complaining skills often only increase. After being freed from slavery, it is not long until the Israelites begin to whine and complain. They go so far as to ask God to allow them to go back to slavery in Egypt, rather than remai...  Read More

Exodus 10:1-12:51 God can work in the darkest of circumstances for the good of his people and for his glory. While Moses is dialoguing with stubborn Pharaoh, we are told God is hardening his heart so, "I may perform these signs among them that you may tell your children...and that you may know that I am the Lord" (Exodus 10:1-2). God has worked in a way that may confuse us but for the express purp...  Read More

Exodus 7:14-9:35 Life is often filled with difficult relationships. We may find this strain in our families, at work, in our neighborhoods, or even at the church. This strain is evident in the series of confrontations between Moses and Pharaoh. Ultimately, this conflict is emblematic of the greater confrontation between God and those who oppose him. These chapters are essentially the story of God ...  Read More

Exodus 4:18-7:13 God is a promise-maker and a promise-keeper. God promised the appropriately named Promised Land hundreds of years before Moses. He reminded the people again and again that he would bring them into a land of great blessing. When Moses and Aaron came to Egypt and reminded the people of God's promise, they grew excited and some of them probably began to pack with the expectation it w...  Read More