Like God, Be Detail-Oriented in Your Work

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 26:1-37.  Today we’re looking at the making of the tabernacle.  So to give you a picture of what the tabernacle looks like, check out this video showing a life-size replica of the tabernacle described in Exodus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mFGsLEpKKk

Exodus 26:1-37 (NIV)
1  “Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman.
2  All the curtains are to be the same size–twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide.
3  Join five of the curtains together, and do the same with the other five.
4  Make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and do the same with the end curtain in the other set.
5  Make fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other…….

On verses 1-37:  Here God goes into great detail when He instructs Moses on how to build the tabernacle.  God didn’t just give Moses a general idea. He gave Moses specifics on everything from measurements to colours to the types of materials to be used and how each part of the tabernacle connected to all the others.  Like a skilled craftsman, God was paying attention to details that most of us would not notice.

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Keep Your Worship Fresh

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 25:23-40.  Let’s go!

Exodus 25:23-30 (NIV)
23  “Make a table of acacia wood–two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.
24  Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it.
25  Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.
26  Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are.
27  The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table.
28  Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them.
29  And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings.
30  Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.

In Exodus 25:23-40 God continues to instruct Moses on how to furnish the tabernacle.  After describing the most important piece of “furniture”, which is the ark of the covenant (v10-22), the LORD describes the table on which the priests are to place the “bread of the Presence” (v30).  What is the bread of the Presence?

The bread of the Presence, also known as the ceremonial bread or the “show bread”, was 12 loaves of fresh bread that were placed in the tabernacle as an offering to God.  Why 12 loaves?  It’s because the 12 loaves represented the 12 tribes of Israel.  Also, 12 is often the number used in the Bible to symbolize wholeness and completeness.

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The Tabernacle, The Ark and The Presence of God

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 25:1-22.  Let’s go!

Exodus 25:1-22 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to Moses,
2  “Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.
3  These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze;
4  blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair;
5  ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood;…..

We may suppose that when Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and abode there so long, where the holy angels attended the shechinah, or divine Majesty, he saw and heard very glorious things relating to the upper world, but they were things which it was not lawful nor possible to utter; and therefore, in the records he kept of the transactions there, he says nothing to satisfy the curiosity of those who would intrude into the things which they have not seen, but writes that only which he was to speak to the children of Israel. For the scripture is designed to direct us in our duty, not to fill our heads with speculations, nor to please our fancies.

In these verses God tells Moses his intention in general, that the children of Israel should build him a sanctuary, for he designed to dwell among them (v. 8); and some think that, though there were altars and groves used for religious worship before this, yet there never was any house, or temple, built for sacred uses in any nation before this tabernacle was erected by Moses, and that all the temples which were afterwards so much celebrated among the heathen took rise from this and pattern by it.

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A Fire from Afar, A Cloud Up Close

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 24:1-18.  Get ready for some powerful lessons here.  Let’s go!

Exodus 24:1-11 (NIV)
1  Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance,
2  but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”
3  When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.”……

On verses 1-11:  Moses has just finished receiving all these words and laws from the LORD for the Israelites on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:22 to the end of Exodus 23).  Now in Exodus 24 Moses is going to communicate these words and laws to the Israelites and have them enter into a covenant (a formal love-based agreement) with the LORD.  Under this covenant, the Israelites would agree to obey all the words and laws the LORD had given to them through Moses, and the LORD would agree to go before them, lead them and watch over them (Exodus 23:22-33).

Ancient historians tell us that in Moses’ time when two parties would enter into a covenant, they would do two things to make the covenant formal and binding:  (1) they would kill an animal, cut it symmetrically in half, put one half of the animal’s corpse on their left and the other half on their right, and then the two parties would together walk through the halves to signify that their agreement has been sealed with the animal’s blood; (2) they would eat a meal together.  

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Go for “Little By Little” Success

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 23:20-33.  Let’s go!

Exodus 23:20 (NIV)
20  “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.

On verse 20:  Just as the LORD would send an angel to go before the Israelites to guard them and lead them to the place He prepared for them, repeatedly the Bible says that God goes before you (Psalm 139:5; Isaiah 45:2; Isaiah 52:12) to guard you and to lead the way for you.

Exodus 23:21-23 (NIV)
21  Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.
22  If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.
23  My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.

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Give Yourself and Others a Break

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 23:10-19.  Let’s go!

Exodus 23:10-12 (NIV)
10  “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops,
11  but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12  “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.

On verses 10-12:  The LORD tells the Israelites to give their fields a Sabbath rest every seventh year (v10-11) and to rest from their work on every seventh day (v12).  Earlier when the LORD commanded the Israelites to rest on the Sabbath, He said that this Sabbath was “to the LORD your God”, i.e. as a way to worship and honour God.  But notice whose benefit the LORD has in mind when talking about the need to rest: it’s the poor (v11) and wild animals (v11), that they would have a year with extra food to eat, and for the Israelites’ livestock, servants and foreigners (v12), that they “may be refreshed”.  

What can we learn from this?  When we rest from our work, we’re not the only ones who benefit.  We give those around us a break as well.  When you’re a workaholic and don’t know how to rest, not only do you risk running yourself to the ground, but you run the risk of exhausting the people you work with.  For the sake of their refreshment and yours, follow the LORD’s command to schedule regular rest.

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Standing Up for What’s Right

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 23:1-9.  Let’s go!

Exodus 23:1 (NIV)
1  “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.

On verse 1:  Don’t gossip.  Don’t fuel the rumour mill.  Don’t say false things about others.

Exodus 23:2 (NIV)
2  “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,

On verse 2:  Avoid negative peer pressure and stand up for what is right.

Exodus 23:3 (NIV)
3  and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

On verse 3:  God tells judges not to favour a poor person in a lawsuit just because that person is poor.  In verse 6 God will give the counterbalancing command, which is to make sure that the poor are not denied justice.   Put verse 3 and 6 together and what you get is the notion that judges are to be fair and impartial, not showing favoritism to anyone simply because of their economic or social background.

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Because You Are Precious To God

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 22:1-15.  Let’s go!

Exodus 22:1-15 (NIV)
1  “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.
2  “If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed;
3  but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed. “A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft.
4  “If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession–whether ox or donkey or sheep–he must pay back double.
5  “If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in another man’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard…….

On verses 1-15:  Over and over the word “restitution” comes up.  Restitution is a legal term that means restoring to someone something that has been taken away from them. It’s about making a person whole again after they have lost something. That’s what these regulations in verses 1 to 15 are talking about.

How can we apply these regulations from the Law of Moses?  First, if we scan the New Testament, we’ll see that the New Testament does not specifically mention these regulations.

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The God Who Restores You

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 22:1-15.  Let’s go!

Exodus 22:1-15 (NIV)
1  “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.
2  “If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed;
3  but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed. “A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft.
4  “If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession–whether ox or donkey or sheep–he must pay back double.
5  “If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in another man’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard…….

On verses 1-15:  Over and over the word “restitution” comes up.  Restitution is a legal term that means restoring to someone something that has been taken away from them. It’s about making a person whole again after they have lost something. That’s what these regulations in verses 1 to 15 are talking about.

How can we apply these regulations from the Law of Moses?  First, if we scan the New Testament, we’ll see that the New Testament does not specifically mention these regulations.

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The Raging Bull

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 21:26-36.  Let’s go!

Exodus 21:26-36 (NIV)
26  “If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye.
27  And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth.
28  “If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.
29  If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death…….

Verses 28 – 32 concerns various scenarios involving an ox. First, If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. Here was a situation where an animal (specifically an ox) kills (gores) a person (man or woman). As judgment, only the ox is killed, but the owner is not punished. The owner is not considered liable for the deed of his animal. However, once the animal is proven to be dangerous to human life, that animal must be killed, in order to prevent additional damage to humans.

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