Skip to main content

January 22 + Daily readings and notes

DAY 22


It's a new day and a new people.  Life as freed people begins in today's readings.  They have much to learn about what it means to be God's people, but God will show them.  God still shows us!

DAILY READINGS

DAILY NOTES

Exodus 16:1
  • Jewish commentary suggests this is when they ran out of the cakes the left Egypt with.
Exodus 16:2
  • Another complaint
Exodus 16:4
  • The bread from heaven, in part, will be a test of the people's obedience.  I bet none of us can guess how that test is going to go.
Exodus 16:7
  • God had heard their cry.  Now, God has heard their complaining.
Exodus 16:8
  • So far, God hadn't said anything about meat.
Exodus 16:12
  • "Then you shall know" is odd if you consider what happened a little over a month prior to this.  How could they not already "know" that God was their God?  
Exodus 16:15
  • When they ask, "What is it?" they literally say "manna."  
Exodus 16:34
  • There's a covenant already?
Exodus 17:2
  • Complaining has turned into quarreling.  The escalation makes Moses fear the people stoning him (Verse 4).
Exodus 17:6
  • How will God be standing there?  We've seen a burning bush and pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire.  Does the cloud rest there?
Exodus 17:8-9
  • Their first battle is initiated by an outside group.  Perhaps their wandering is seen as a threat.
  • We're first introduced to Joshua.  His first task is battle.  
  • Once again, Moses' staff will be a sign of power for the people.  
Exodus 17:11-12
  • How long before they figured Moses was having an influence of the battle?
  • He had told Joshua he would stand on the top of the hill to watch.  So, the stone put under him probably allowed him to rest comfortably in an upright position.  Aaron and Hur take their supportive positions around him.   
  • Their work proves victorious. 
Exodus 18:2
  • Jewish commentary says that when Moses first met Aaron in the wilderness, when Moses was first returning to Egypt (Exodus 4:20, 27), Aaron told him not to allow his family to go to Egypt because it would only add to the number of people who were suffering.
  • Moses doesn't seem to greet his wife and children.  We're only told about him and Jethro.  
Exodus 18:7
  • Moses has great respect for his father-in-law.  Perhaps this is a continuation of the relationship they had before.  Perhaps Moses recognizes that everything that happened in Egypt began with Jethro's blessing.
Exodus 18:11
  • Israel's triumph over Egypt stands as a witness for all people to the power of God.
Exodus 18:17
  • Jethro has the respect of Moses.  Enough that Moses is willing to listen to what he has to say.  Jethro tells Moses that the way he is dealing with the people, taking all the responsibility himself, is "not good."  It is not something he can do alone for long without sacrificing his well being and the well being of the people.
Exodus 18:20
  • If you're a leader in the church, listen up!  Don't just lead people, teach them.  
Psalm 22
  • It is obvious the psalmist is in great distress.  Even so, his song of pain and suffering turns into a song of praise.  
  • The opening words of the psalm are words Jesus used on the cross.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

We recall that the main reason God delivered the Israelites was so that they could be free to worship God.  Now that they have been saved, they begin their journey.  Their first lessons were tests of obedience.  There will surely be other tests to come.  Unfortunately, not everyone listened.

What I find interesting is how the Sabbath in emphasized so early.  You would think that they needed to do what they could to hurry along and get where they needed to be.  That's just like us.  Look at our calendars and what fills our days and you see how much we are hurrying along.

But God's command to rest is one of the first that we learn in our new life.  To be sure, rest is not merely taking a nap, vegging out on the couch.  It's more than that.  Moses first called it "a day of solemn rest."  It is a holy rest.  That's why the people would later reorganize their lives in a way that freed (see what I did there?) them to observe that day.

Free people rest.  God's people are free.  So, God's people understand the importance of keeping, protecting their day of rest.  Moses told the people that God gave them the sabbath.  So, holy resting is a gift from God.  Chores can wait.  Paperwork will always be there.  You can't be the free child of God that God made you if you don't take a day of holy rest.

Stay blessed...john

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 24 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 83 The relationship between Saul and David worsens.  David is now Saul's enemy.   DAILY READINGS 1 Samuel 18-20 & Psalm 83 DAILY NOTES 1 Samuel 18 Saul's delight for David quickly turns.  Saul is jealous of David's success and the fact that everyone else seems to like David more than him. Of course, we have to think about what this evil spirit from the Lord might mean. Saul tries to kill David.  He even devises a plan to have him married into the royal family so that he can create a snare for him. What does it say about David that, even after Saul has tried to kill him, he still finds it an honor to be married to the family? David escapes Saul's traps.  So, from here on out, the text says that Saul considered David an enemy.  Think he knows what it means to love your enemies? 1 Samuel 19 Verse 5 reminds us of David's fight with Goliath.  At this point, David has fought other times.  What makes that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

May 14 + Daily readings & notes

DAY 134 We're reading another prophet today.  Here's t he Bible Project video that describes what the book is about. DAILY READINGS Jonah 1-4 & Psalm 129 DAILY NOTES Jonah 1 Notice the simple, direct message God gave Jonah.  There's no explanation for why Jonah doesn't follow through (yet).  As quickly as the word from God comes, he goes away. The mariners have their own god to cry out to for help.  They ask Jonah to cry out to his God.  Did you notice he never did?  He only told them that he worships the Lord.   The mariners feared the Lord after this.   Jonah 2 When he and the others were in trouble, Jonah didn't cry out to God.  Now that he's sitting inside a big fish, he offers a prayer to God.   And notice even the fish listens to God! Jonah 3 The word of God comes to Jonah again.  This time Jonah responds.  And the people of Nineveh respond with faith in God. Up to this p...
Post a Comment
Read more

June 19 + Daily notes & readings

DAY 170 DAILY READINGS Jeremiah 7-9 & Psalm 15 DAILY NOTES Jeremiah 7 Notice the emphasis of God's house having God's name.  It belongs to God, but the people, through their unrighteous actions, have made it theirs.  God's house has been turned into a "den of robbers" (vs. 11).  Remember when Jesus said that (Matthew 21:13)? According to Jesus, what was the Temple supposed to be called? Remember when the people tried to use the ark of the covenant as a weapon against the Philistines (1 Samuel 4)?  That was at Shiloh.  Jeremiah brings that event to our minds again as a sign (vs. 14).  God says that human sacrifice was not his command, nor did it come to his mind.  You'll have to do some wrestling with the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac (Genesis 22). Jeremiah 8 Jeremiah (God) says to unearth the kings' bones and lay them before the sun and moon and all the other gods they served and worshiped.  Ouch. Even animals ...
Post a Comment
Read more