If you’re interested, my previous entries in this series are listed under Word in 365.
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I am really enjoying reading my Bible every day, often many times a day. Sometimes all I get is a quick few minutes to read part of a chapter. But I just keep reading. It’s awesome to be submersed in the Word in this way, with it almost always near the front of my thoughts.
Exodus started out pretty easy, still very story-like, and toward the end of the week got into more details for the offerings and Tabernacle. It feels different while reading it, but still very interesting.
Jan 31 Reading: Exodus 4-6
I always remember the staff-turning-into-a-snake ‘sign’ that the Lord gave Moses. I don’t think I ever remember the sign of the leprous hand. That would be pretty impressive, too, I think…
I probably would have been afraid to return to Egypt if I was Moses. Having Aaron meet him on the way would have been an encouraging thing I think. Moses then had someone to come back WITH.
And for the record, Pharaoh is just a turkey….
Feb 1 Reading: Exodus 7-9
I need to study more and find out if it’s really the way that Disney’s “Prince of Egypt” portrays it, with Pharaoh being familiar with Moses, perhaps even knowing him well. In any case, the interactions between Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron are interesting.
My sweetie did a sermon series on the plagues once, and I was fascinated about how the Lord addressed important Egyptian gods with EACH of plagues. And as Pharaoh’s advisors and magicians match the first plagues ‘tit-for-tat’, it feels a bit like they are thumbing their noses as the Lord and saying “nyah nyah nyah nyaaah nyah”. I’m glad that God shows them who’s really boss!
I simply can not imagine how GROSS it would be to have frogs and gnats and flies/gnats everywhere (not all at once) but literally EVERYWHERE – in your bed, in your food, in your hair, in your ears…. blech. It would be annoying at the very least, and definitely get the Egyptians attention. As an average Egyptian I would have been really ticked at Pharaoh for not just letting the Hebrews go. Gimme a break already!
Feb 2 Reading: Exodus 10-12
Gnats are bad enough, but locusts are disgusting. They sorta ‘look’ at you with their big bug eyes and they are just creepy. And very destructive. If the bugs didn’t get it all the hail certainly would have. I’ve seen hailstorms level a field of grain in a manner of minutes. The combination of these two plagues would have been devastating in both the short-term and the long-term for Egypt.
When it comes to the Passover, I was struck with the idea that the Spirit of the Lord would not have needed the blood on the door frames to know which houses the Hebrews were in. The whole Passover is for the Hebrews to participate in what the Lord is doing. The other thing that I’ve just newly encountered has to do with how we often describe Jesus as the Passover lamb, and I always understood that to be a sin offering for us. Technically speaking, as far as offerings go, Passover is not a SIN offering, but a FELLOWSHIP offering. That was a huge and very cool new understanding for me. Jesus absolutely IS a fellowship offering as much as a sin offering.
Feb 3 Reading: Exodus 13-15
“Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’” Not JUST Pharaoh…. I bet the Israelites would have been thinking that a bit themselves. There were hundreds of thousands of them just following what Moses told them to do. They wouldn’t have had a clue as to WHY they were turning here or there.
I just can’t imagine what it must have been like to walk between walls of the sea. The wind blowing would have been important in the PHYSICAL world of the sea floor, needing SOME way to dry out the saturated ground where the sea had been. Otherwise, they could have been walking across in knee-deep mud and much. It says they walked on SOLID ground. I’ve recently seen mapping of the Red Sea floor, and the route that the Israelites took lead them to the perfect spot for the crossing – the shallowest and one of the narrowest parts of the sea. Also, some of that mapping with sonar has provided new archaeological evidence for the Red Sea crossing – finding chariot wheels on the floor of the sea. Wonder how they got there!? LOL!
I also thought about the angel of the Lord going BEFORE the Israelites at first, and then moving BEHIND them. How many times have I seen something that looked like the favor of the Lord was no longer in front of me, and maybe He was just repositioning things for me….?
Feb 4 Reading: Exodus 16-18
I didn’t see where Moses sent Zipporah away, but maybe since she wasn’t technically a Hebrew that it would have been wise to send her away when bad things were happening to non-Hebrews.
We’ve eaten quail before – either they were BIG quail or it took a good amount of work to gather enough to feed your family every day. There just isn’t a lot of meat on a quail. It’s good meat, though probably not for 40 years…… haha.
Jethro was a very wise man. Oh for fathers-in-law to be speak into the lives of their sons-in-law in such positive ways. It seems that Jethro was obviously looking out for Moses’ welfare. His advice on appointing judges was very helpful, and ended up being a system that stayed in effect for a very long time.
Feb 5 Reading: Exodus 19-21
The Lord gave some pretty specific guidelines (after the Ten Commandments) for how people ought to treat each other and what should be considered fair. Most of them make lots of sense. I wish some of them were still unquestionably instituted these days, especially in regards to kidnappers, and injuries to pregnant women. Others are kinda weird… but it’s OK to be WEIRD! LOL!
Feb 6 Reading: Exodus 22-24
More of the same from the previous reading.
But I know that the Jews celebrate lots more than 3 festivals to the Lord, so I wonder where they came in, since this passage outlines only 3.
I also found it interesting that the Lord first says, “I will send my angel ahead of you,” and then says, “I will send my terror ahead of you.” In other places, almost EVERY time an angel is encountered, the angel has to say, “Fear not!” They must be terrifying beings, indeed.
When the covenant was confirmed, I never noticed that Joshua went up the mountain WITH Moses. WOW, to be Moses’ aide for that! Pick me, pick me!
Well, it’s been an interesting week in Exodus. It’s only going to get better I think! 😉
