Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 32:15-24.  Let’s go!

Exodus 32:15-16 (NIV)
15  Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
16  The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

On verses 15-16:  Moses returns from the mountain carrying in his hands the most precious thing given to humanity up until that time: two tablets containing the writing of God.  What did God write on those tablets?  It was “the Testimony”, that is (most likely) the Ten Commandments.  Some scholars believe that these two tablets, which had writing on both the front and back, were identical to one another and were two copies of the same thing, one for God and one for the people, consistent with ancient Near East covenant making practices at that time. 

There was nothing more valuable on the earth at this time that these two tablets.  God wrote His law on tablets of stone.  Later He choose another method of delivering His Word to His people: instead of writing it on breakable tablets of stone, God would choose to write it on breakable human hearts (see 2 Corinthians 3:3).  For when a stone tablet breaks, whatever was written of it can’t be seen anymore.  But when a heart breaks, whatever was written on it will be seen more clearly than ever.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 32:25-35.  Let’s go!

Exodus 32:25 (NIV)
25  Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

On verse 25:   The great news of the gospel is that although our sins separated us from God’s presence (see Exodus 32:33), although God could easily have edited us out of His book, instead in love God sent Jesus Christ to receive all the punishment for our sins. By dying on the cross, Jesus paid for all our sins (past, present and future) and restored us to God’s presence.  That indeed is the best news ever.  But remember this: when we sin, especially in public ways, we still affect two types of people.

First, when we sin in public, we become a stumbling block to other believers.  Verse 25 says that because of Aaron and the Israelites’ sin, God’s people were “running wild” and “out of control” (v25).  Whenever we sin in public ways, we confuse other Christians, discourage their faith, and tempt them to sin in the same ways.   So let’s be careful.  Like Paul said to Timothy, let’s “set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 32:1-14.  Let’s go!

Exodus 32:1-4 (NIV)
1  When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
2  Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”
3  So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
4  He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

On verses 1-4:  The Israelites were probably eager to get going and were tired of waiting for Moses to come down from his 40 day meeting with God on Mount Sinai.  So the Israelites ask Aaron to make them new gods.  Aaron responds by collecting gold earrings from the Israelites and fashions them into a calf-shaped idol, saying that these are the gods who brought them out of Egypt.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 31:1-18.  Let’s go!

Exodus 31:1-11 (NIV)
1  Then the LORD said to Moses,
2  “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
3  and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts–
4  to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,
5  to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship……..

On verses 1-11:  Could God have created the artistic designs and done all the work himself for the tabernacle?  Of course He could have.  God could have spoken these things into existence in an instant.  Yet He chose to involve Moses, Bezalel, Oholiab and a bunch of unnamed craftsmen in the designing and making of the items that would form the tabernacle.  Why?  It’s because God delights in involving His children in His work in the world.  God didn’t make us only to be spectators to God’s work but participants too.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 30:17-38.  Let’s go!

Exodus 30:17-21 (NIV)
17  Then the LORD said to Moses,
18  “Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
19  Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it.
20  Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire,
21  they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

On verses 17-21:  Here the LORD instructs Moses to make a bronze basin for washing Aaron’s hands and feet and to place it in the courtyard between the altar and the Tent of Meeting.  The purpose of washing was “so that they will not die” (v20).   That is, on one level, the washing was to protect the physical health of Aaron and his sons as they regularly dealt with the blood of animals.  On another level, the washing with water symbolized the priests’ own need to be cleansed of their sins.

What can we learn from this?  (1) God cares about your physical health and thus we ought to take good care of our own physical health, in part by washing our bodies often; and (2) Jesus has washed away our sins in the water of His Word and His blood, as represented through water baptism.  As 1 Corinthians 6:11 says, “…But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”