Today’s passage: Exodus 29

Helpful thoughts:

• Instructions for the consecration of the priests is given in today’s chapter.
  • Every sacrifice instructed up to verse 28 is part of the initial consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests.
  • Verses 29-37 speak of the passing of the roles from Aaron to his sons and was to be followed thereafter in future generations of Aaron’s descendants.
  • Verse 38 and after are sacrifices which were to go on perpetually.
• Elements of these offerings and practices speak to many aspects of the priests relationship with God and their ability to minister on behalf of the people.

Questions to consider:

1. What pictures do we see in these sacrifices in how they prepared the priests for their service?  What needed to be done to equip them and set them apart?
2. What part of these sacrifices surprised you?  Was intriguing?  And why?
3. How is Jesus’ role as our High Priest different?  Why didn’t He need to be consecrated by the blood of another sacrifice?

Today’s passage: Exodus 28

Helpful thoughts:

• Aaron and his sons are chosen by God to serve as priests.  Instructions are given concerning their official clothing/garments.
• Aaron’s garments were designed by God to symbolize the role of the priest, to bring the people before the Lord and for the Lord to watch over His people.
• It is not entirely clear what the Urim and Thummim were.  But they were used at times through the Old Covenant to seek out the Lord’s choice or decision on certain issues (Numbers 27:21, 1 Samuel 28:6).

Questions to consider:

1. What things can we be learning about God as we read through the details of His commands for Israel as they set up worship in the Tabernacle?  Was there purpose behind the things He commanded?  What purposes could we find?
2. What kind of work did God want done on these items (e.g. verse 3 and 15)?  If they were thrown together, would they have been obediently and worshipfully done?  How does God command us to love Him and glorify Him (Mark 12:30-31, 1 Corinthians 10:31)?  How can these principles feed our desire to pursue excellence in what we do?
3. The priests were to be dressed this way to perform an incredibly important task, to intercede on behalf of the people in making sacrifice for sin.  What was the true “garment” that Christ needed to be our priest and our sacrifice…and then clothe us so that we could be in the presence of God (Isaiah 61:10)?

Today’s passage: Exodus 27

Helpful thoughts:

• Three more elements of the Tabernacle are commanded and explained in today’s chapter:
  • The Bronze Altar
    • This was the altar for burnt sacrifices.
    • When we read in other passages about grabbing the horns of the altar or worshiping at the horns of the altar, this is what the passages are referring to (1 Kings 1:50, Psalm 118:27).
  • The Court
    • This court was an area which enclosed the Tabernacle.
    • Entrance and exit of the court and Tabernacle was always to be to the East.
      • This was true of the Garden of Eden as well (Genesis 3:24).
    • The metals used for each element were less valuable the further away from the Most Holy Place they were.
  • Oil for the Lamp
    • The people were to bring oil for the lamps continually, so that they would never go out.

Questions to consider:

1. What should the command to continually bring oil for the lamps have resulted in?  What would the people have to do to keep those lamps burning?  Is our worship a once-in-a-while occasion?
2. How might Zechariah 14:4 further expound on the importance of entering the Tabernacle from the east?  How is God continuing to undo the consequence of sin which caused man to be removed from fellowship with Him through the eastern gate?

Today’s passage: Exodus 26

Helpful thoughts:

• In this chapter, the Lord gives instruction for the creation and raising of the tent for the Tabernacle.
• According to the ESV Study Bible, the tent’s exterior dimensions would have been 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 15 feet high.  It was surrounded by a courtyard sectioned off.  The interior of the tent contained the two rooms, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.
  • The Most Holy place was a 15 foot cube.
• The Most Holy Place contained the Ark of the Covenant.  The Holy Place contained the Golden Lampstand, the Table for the Bread of the Presence and the Altar of Incense.  These rooms were separated by a veil (Matthew 27:51).

Questions to consider:

1. In giving Israel the instructions and command to build the Tabernacle, what was God giving to Israel?  What would He be providing for them under the Old Covenant (And in the exodus) through the Tabernacle?
2. What structure or statue is not in the Most Holy Place?  Though these items would have been beautiful to look at, what didn’t they represent? (Exodus 20:4-5)
3. Why did the veil tear in two when Christ died for our sin?  What serves as our covering before our Holy Just God?  (Colossians 3:3)

Today’s passage: Exodus 25

Helpful thoughts:

• The Lord gives instruction to collect contributions from the nation to raise up the tabernacle.
  • The people were to give as “every man whose heart moves him.”
• Specifications were also given for the Ark of the Covenant, the Table for the Bread of the Presence, and the Golden Lampstand.
  • The Ark of the Covenant served as a “throne” of God, or the Mercy Seat.
  • The Table for the Bread of the Presence was always to have 12 loaves of bread on it to represent the 12 tribes of Israel.
  • The Golden Lampstand was to be kept lit at all times.  It was a picture of the Tree of Life.
• The Ark of the Covenant was the only “furniture” placed in the Most Holy Place (Or the Holy of Holies) in the Tabernacle.  The Table for the Bread of the Presence and the Golden Lampstand were in the room just outside the Most Holy Place, the room referred to as the Holy Place.

Questions to consider:

1. What appears to be portrayed in these elements of the Tabernacle?  What was God reminding His people of through these symbols?
2. As we begin to read about the Tabernacle, keep in mind Hebrews 8:1-7.  Toward what was the Tabernacle designed to point Israel and us?  What is the Heavenly reality?

Today’s passage: Exodus 24

Helpful thoughts:

• Three events take place to confirm the covenant between the Lord and Israel.
  • An altar is built and sacrifice is made.  The blood is offered and also placed on the people (The blood of the Old Covenant).
  • Moses, Aaron and the other leaders of Israel are allowed to see a manifestation of the presence of God!  The fact that they could only describe what was under His feet probably implies they didn’t get to see all of Him (Exodus 33:20).
  • Moses is invited up into the mountain, where the glory of God had rendered a covering over the top of the mountain.  The purpose of this invitation was to produce the first copy of the written word of God.
• The confirmation of the covenant included sacrifice/blood, fellowship and the written word.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way might this varied level of access to the Lord be a precursor to the Tabernacle/Temple?
2. In what way(s) might the different aspects of confirmation of the covenant point forward to the New Covenant?  Whose blood was poured out for our confirmation in the New Covenant?
3. What is the significance of the written word?  What did it provide for Israel in that context?  What purpose did it serve after having audibly heard the words of God?  How can this help us to rightly treasure and meditate on the written word we have available to us today?

Today’s passage: Exodus 23:10-33

Helpful thoughts:

• God gave Israel further definition to sabbath rest (The seventh day and the seventh year).
• It is thought that boiling a goat in it’s mother’s milk was a pagan practice, making this command a continuation of the command not to give any attention or worship to false gods.  Obviously, a mother’s milk should be life giving to the kid, not the means of death or cooking.
• The Lord required all the males to come to the feasts.  This was not because He thought less of women.  The head of the household has a responsibility to lead his family to the Lord.  If the men will be faithful and spiritually mature, everyone benefits.
• God instructs Israel on how they are to take the Promised Land, how He would go before them, how they were to conduct themselves and their worship.
  • Israel did not succeed in obeying all the Lord’s commands and it is apparent they never saw how much blessing God had offered to them.

Questions to consider:

1. For whom did God give Sabbath rest?  Is it only for the individual?  How does verse 12 expand our view on this principle of rest?
2. How does this principle of obedience going farther than the individual (Benefiting more than the individual) get rightly applied to all the males appearing before the Lord in verse 17?  Why is it right for men to pursue the Lord and be leaders in their homes intentionally?  What does the carelessness and/or passivity of a husband/father lead to in the home?  What does a godly man foster in the home?
3. What is the sad irony of Israel’s failure to worship God alone?  If the other gods of the land were supposed to offer rain, harvest, fertility, etc. – What had God promised to Israel?  What could He alone truly provide?  What did they miss out on because they went to other gods for the same provisions?  Are the commands of the Lord burdensome or are they for our benefit?

Today’s passage: Genesis 22:16-23:9

Helpful thoughts:

• Sex is not a pass-time or sport.  It matters.  God takes it very seriously.  The man and woman who join together in it have been joined together.
• God is compassionate and has His eyes on the poor.  These laws do not require money be held by the government and given to the poor (Nor would these laws forbid that), but they do prevent those in better conditions from taking advantage of or disregarding the poor.
• It is a perversion of justice when people take bribes, use their positions to oppress the poor, or “side with the many” in order to preserve their reputations in society.  These truths are still just as true today as ever.

Questions to consider:

1. Which laws stuck out to you the most?  Were any surprising?  If so, which ones and why?
2. In what ways did God provide protection for those who could be taken advantage of in these laws?  How do we see His compassion and intent to defend the righteous and oppressed?
3. What sins does God see as capital offenses in these verses?  How does this point to the importance of sexual purity and then primarily, not having any other gods before Him (Even if that “god” is a community of people)?

Today’s passage: Exodus 21:1-22:15

Helpful thoughts:

• As the giving of the Law continues, today’s passage will primarily cover laws concerning slaves and restitution.
  • These laws should be understood much like the laws of a country.  In a very real sense, what we are reading is the laws of the nation of Israel which were to have been enforced from their introduction in the wilderness until Christ came and inaugurated the New Covenant.
• Many of the laws concerning things like slaves, what to do if there are multiple wives and divorce are not God’s endorsement or approval of them. When speaking of divorce in the law, Jesus reminded the Pharisees that these things were listed and restricted in the law, “because of the hardness of your hearts.” (Matthew 19:3-9)
  • When God gave these laws, He restricted the people from mistreating or dehumanizing the people who were involved in what were common practices at the time.

Questions to consider:

1. Though we are no longer bound to the Old Covenant, in what way is reading the Law a benefit for people today?  How can it reveal the heart of God to us in very practical ways?  How could we apply these truths/principles to our modern day systems, culture and economy?
2. Does God value the life of the unborn?  Does God ever endorse capital punishment?  Why wouldn’t it be inconsistent to be pro-life (Concerning abortion) and pro-death penalty (Concerning capital crimes)?  What is the major difference between the unborn and the convicted criminal?  Now that we are under the New Covenant, and since we do not live in Old Covenant Israel, who has the right to decide if a country carries out capital punishment?
3. How does the knowledge that the Israel which exists today is not the same as the Israel who were to be governed under the Old Covenant impact the way we see and understand it as a country?  What do they need to believe?  In whom must they place their faith (Just like the rest of the world)?