Leviticus 17:1-19:37 We are all prone to walling off areas of our life and not allowing God to speak into them. The same was true for the Israelites. In many areas they sought to live according to their own desires rather than conforming to God's commands. This led to the necessity for God to instruct his people regarding sex. We have already seen the destruction that can occur through not heeding...

Leviticus 14:33-16:34 Entering the presence of God is not to be done lightly. In fact, only one person, one time a year was able to enter God's presence as represented by the Most Holy Place. For this individual (the high priest) to do so, they had to offer a bull, then a goat, wear the proper clothing, light a censer, prepare incense, and sprinkle blood on various parts of the tabernacle. What an...

Leviticus 12:1-14 Leviticus 10:10 defines two types of conditions, holy and common. Holy was God and everything set apart for him. Common was the normal everyday state of affairs. However, common was divided into clean and unclean; not clean and sinful. In today’s passage, unclean was a ceremonial or religious quarantine due to an issue of blood, multiple skin diseases, and mildew. The unclean wer...

Leviticus 9:1-11:47 Ready, set, go. These instructions are given at the beginning of a race, but occasionally, you see a runner who barely gets off the starting blocks. It may be due to a pulled muscle, a lack of concentration, or broken blocks, but though they were in the race, they never got going. The ministry of the priesthood begins in this way. In Leviticus 9 the priests begin their work and...

Leviticus 7:1-8:36 As we read through a series of offerings, which thankfully we do not have to continue to make, one of the most interesting offerings is the fellowship offering. All the other offerings were commanded while the fellowship offering was given freely. When the people sinned, they had to make an offering, they did not have a choice. On specific days (Passover, etc.) the people were c...

Leviticus 4:1-6:30 Whoops. When we make a mistake, we often try to excuse it, rationalize it, or deal with it in a way that keeps us from feeling guilty. There is no actual guilt when it is a spilled glass of milk or a careless accident, but when it comes to areas of morality, the consequence is guilt. The only way of forgiveness is confession. When Israel unintentionally sinned, then became aware...

Numbers 8:1-9:14; Leviticus 1:1-3:17 Valentine's Day was a couple days ago. Some of you may have received some extravagant gifts, while others may feel disappointed in what you were given. One way, but not the only way, we show the degree of love we have for someone is in the quality of the gifts that we give. Today's reading begins with a description of the offerings which Israel was to bring to ...

Numbers 7:1-89 The last time you attended a graduation ceremony you were probably sitting there waiting for one name to be called. The event may have seemed to drag on until that moment. At that second, the hours of wait and tedium all drifted away upon the name being announced. Our reading today may seem like the monotony of a graduation ceremony. The same description of gifts is repeated twelve ...

Exodus 39:32-40:38; Numbers 9:15-23 Upon the completion of the tabernacle, God manifested his presence among Israel in a visible, tangible way. God's glory dwelt among the people and the proof of this was a cloud. God has lived with his people throughout salvation history, but he revealed his presence in different ways, at different times. We see him in a burning bush, a pillar of fire, and here i...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...