Bible Reading Challenge Blog

I hope you are holding on as we make our way through Leviticus.  The building project is done with the tabernacle, all the things are in place and everything has been finished and is ready now for us.  But now it is time to get the people who are going to be administrating the actions that take place in the tabernacle ready.  If you haven’t noticed already Aaron and his sons have been set apart to take the role of the priests.  They are now in these Scriptures, and for all future Scriptures, identified as the priestly class.  They have the responsibilities of carrying out all of the priestly duties in  relationship to the tabernacle and later to the temple.

They have to be taught what types of sacrifices are acceptable to the Lord and how are they to logistically administer those sacrifices.  Earlier someone had commented about those offering the sacrifices and if they were allowed to have some of what was sacrificed.  These verses give us those answers.  Yes, they were, but depending on the type of sacrifice.  So each of the chapters describes the sacrifices, how to perform them, and the details involved.  In chapter 8 you have the ordination of Aaron and his sons, their being set apart for this work.  This is similar to what we did last Sunday in church as we ordained installed our elders and our deacons and our trustees for their duties and responsibilities.

In Hebrews we have some of the most powerful memory verses in Scripture.  Granted, Scripture has a lot of really powerful memory verses, but let’s listen to some of them here.  Chapter 4 has a couple of them, look at vs. 12-13.  The Word of God is called a two edged sword able to judge the thoughts of the heart.  We then also see in chapter 4 vs.15 the fact that we repeat over and over again that Jesus understands us and knows us and has suffered and undergone the same things that we have, and faced every temptation that we have, but without sin.  This is powerful.  If you can memorize these verses it will be to your benefit.  Just meditate on them night and day.

So we get into the part of the Bible that often if people are reading straight through it they would get bogged down here and give up the challenge.  Leviticus is a difficult book to make it all the way through simply because it is filled with these laws and sacrifices and antiquated rules that we simply cannot relate to because we do not take part in them anymore.  I am grateful that this challenge has us read Hebrews, because the two do go together.  Let’s look at Leviticus and then how Hebrews complements this book of the Bible.

So the traveling tabernacle is built and now God gives Moses the directions on what the people are supposed to do when they bring an offering to the Lord.  The first chapter covers an offering from livestock and the second chapter covers an offering from grain.  The third chapter covers an offering that is presented out of thanksgiving, or well-being.  The final chapter we read this morning is for an offering for sin that takes place without the individual or the community knowing that it was a sin when it was committed.  So if there is unintentional sin then this is also covered.  We now move to Hebrews.

The primary theme of Hebrews is that Jesus is our high priest.  Not only is he the high priest, but we shall see later as well, he is the offering himself that is presented once and for all for our sins.  As Leviticus presents the Hebrew people with the how to in order to present sacrifices correctly, Hebrews describes to us Jesus who is the final, once and for all sacrifice that when he was presented covered all of our sins, past, present, and future.  

Look at vs.10 and following where we read that God made Jesus the “pioneer” of our salvation and perfect through sufferings.  Look at vs.17 and following and take it under consideration: Jesus had to become like us in every respect sot hat he might be a merciful and faithful Savior in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people (remember Leviticus).  Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.  Take comfort in these words.

Peter once again self-identifies but this time as Simon Peter, which is a name that is more familiar to us than just Peter for this disciple.  He again appeals to those who believe in Jesus Christ, that’s us, to live our lives as worthy of our calling.  He lifts up the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration (you can find that story in Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, and Luke 9:35) when Peter, James and John went together and Peter made a fool of himself:  Lord, let us make three dwelling places so that Moses and you and Elijah can stay her for eternity.  The answer from God was basically, be quiet, this is my son with whom I am well pleased, and then the kicker, Listen to Him!

Those last three words are crucial for any of us.  We must ensure that our lives are a reflection of listening to him.  The second chapter is a warning against false teachers and how they will take people who are unsuspecting and make them into followers of destruction.  I can’t help but think that with the blending of this heresy called Christian nationalism, some of this is taking place.  People are being led to believe that God is calling a certain political way of thinking to take precedent over how Christ calls us to live.  

The final chapter brings us to an expectation that we all ought to have knowing that Jesus is coming back.  So much time has passed by now that the sense of urgency which the 1st century Christians felt, has somewhat dissipated.  When Peter is writing he is experiencing a very present and real expectation that Jesus could come back any day.  We ought to have that same feeling, but with the passing of time, it seems like that expectation has become less acute.  But nevertheless we must follow what Peter tells us to do in vs.17 and 18: …be on your guard…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

What a relief it is to make our way out of Exodus and the description of what they made so that Moses and Aaron and his sons would be outfitted appropriately.  Again, this Scripture describes them fulfilling exactly what God had commanded previously and so we are ready for the presence of the Lord to fill the tabernacle and to be the  presence of God in the midst of the people.  That happens at the end of this chapter, the cloud descends and resides in the tabernacle.  The people stay put on their journey to the promised land until the cloud lifts.  I would say mission accomplished, at least in regards to the tabernacle.

I love being able to read entire books of the Bible in one sitting.  Normally we would read a few verses, or maybe a chapter or two, but this morning we have an entire book of the Bible.  I Peter talks to those in the diaspora.  So, in 70 AD the temple would have been destroyed and all the Jews in Jerusalem and in that region would  have been dispersed because the Romans were blaming the Jews under Nero of uprisings against the Roman state.  The diaspora is simply the scattered Jews who left Jerusalem and settled elsewhere.  Since that time there has been no region ascribed to the people of Israel until after WWII and the creation of the nation of Israel, hard to believe.

So Peter’s primary emphasis is to ensure that those who are scattered abroad who are disciples of Jesus Christ act in a way that distinguishes them from the rest of the culture around them.  Not only were they not to sacrifice to idols, that is an obvious one, but they are to act in  way that they would not be identified as troublemakers and as people who were set against society and culture and so as a result would have to be constantly reprimanded for that.  Basically, Peter was saying, fit in without compromising your faith in Jesus Christ.  

Do not be brought before the authorities for doing something wrong, that is a bad mark against Jesus.  But if you are brought before the authorities because of your faith in Jesus, well, that can’t be helped, wear that as a badge of honor.  We are given lists of moral imperatives that we ought to follow.  It is a good reminder that in our society and culture, even today, we ought not to make anything more important than our following our Savior.  If anything within our life becomes more important than what Jesus teaches us, well, then we have moved the goal posts and maybe, just maybe, we are no longer worthy to be called his disciples.

Most of these chapters may seem like a repeat to you of the chapters before these that described what had to be done in order to make the tabernacle the way that God wanted it.  So the description has now switched to praxis and Bezalel and Oholiab put the commands of the Lord to work and created the tabernacle as it was commanded.  A few other things that we should lift up here in these chapters as well.

In 33 we find God commanding Moses to enter the promised land but tells him that as he makes his way through the hostile nations God will not be by his side, but feel free to go up anyway.  As you can imagine Moses was not a big fan of going solo without God by his side so he beseeches God to change his mind and accompany the people and Moses as they made their way through the hostile lands towards the promised land.  Moses is able to be in the real presence of God in a way that no other person is able to do.  

In 34 we find Moses being given the tables with the 10 commandments again.  A curious thing about this chapter is that we see Moses’ face shining when he comes down from the mountain and after every appearance that he has with God.  In art history, and in Hebrew, the word “shining” can also mean “horns” so there was a tradition that Moses had horns after he encountered God and so as a result put a veil over his face to cover his horns.  You will find below one of the more famous depictions of this which is in the Vatican today and was done by none other Michelangelo himself.  The youth and adult going on the Italy Mission Trip will be able to see this in person!

What a rollercoaster of a reading.  We begin with the first six chapters in this reading of a detailed accounting not only of the tabernacle and how it ought to be adorned, but also of the priests who are serving the people and how they ought to be adorned.  Keep in mind that the Israelites are still a nomadic people at this time, they have not arrived and settled in the promised land, so all that is described has to be picked up and carried from place to place.  All that they have to make in order to have a proper worship has to be carried from one location to the other.

Notice also how the priests are set apart.  This is part of the reason why currently at the traditional service I wear a robe.  There is certainly precedent!  I decided to skip the ephod and the breastpiece, a bit too cumbersome.  But there is certainly a sense that the Aaronic priests were set apart for their work with the Lord and the sacrifices that were demanded in order to set them apart are somewhat involved.  

The irony of this reading is that after six chapters of describing the detail that has to go into the structure where they are going to worship and the preparation of the people who are leading into worship, we find ourselves in chapter 32 with a very clear indication that the people are woefully inadequate to carry out the commandments that God gives to Moses on Mount Sinai.  

The making of the golden calf by Aaron for the people of Israel is a classic Bible story which comes about because the people become inordinately bored with their time while Moses is away.  Moses descends from the mountain not only with the commandments in his hands, but also with his head filled with details on what they have to do next to make the tabernacle, the place of worship, and to prepare the people to worship God in a correct way.  The creation and then the subsequent worship of a calf is not the first step in this process.  In fact, it almost completely derails the project all together.

Notice how Moses pleads for the people on their behalf that God would not destroy them, and then when he gets into the camp and sees how bad things are, that the people have run wild, he gathers up an army and does what God had planned to do in the first place, clean house.  He asks God to take his own life as a penance for the sin of the people, but God says no worries, carry on, I’ll find a time to punish them for their sin.  

The people of Israel are fully entrenched in their departure from Egypt and are making their way to the promised land, the land of Canaan.  Along the way God give them commandments to follow which we find in the chapters that we read today.  Chapter 22 speaks of protection of property and social responsibility.  Chapter 23 gives us the laws of justice and mercy along with the Sabbath laws and then an explanation of an angel that goes before the Israelites to prepare the way for them.  In 24 we have the covenant confirmed and it ends with Moses going up the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.  That should sound somewhat familiar with the Noah and the ark and his family and animals as they were subjected to rain for 40 days and nights.

We finally see the construction of the tabernacle and the ark and the table and the lampstand all of which was used to worship God and to carry the covenant tablets.  How can you not think of Raiders of the lost Ark when you read this Scripture?  The details that God gives us extraordinary and the ability of the Israelites to make these pieces in the details that are explained is equally extraordinary.  

We then move on to our two psalms, each of which is unique.  The first would be called a lament as the author asks God not to punish him any longer.  “My soul is in anguish, how long, O Lord, how long?”  Then at the end of this psalm, like in almost every psalm of lament, we see God answer the author so that he is able to say: “The Lord has heard my cry for mercy, the Lord accepts my prayer.”  Something changed which allowed him to write this in confidence.

Psalm 146 is a typical psalm of praise, which is to be distinguished from a psalm of lament, they are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  The word praise is used many times to mark the current understanding of the author in regards to his approach to God.  It has to be all about praise.

We find ourselves in the midst of God giving His people the law both in our Old Testament and in our New Testament readings.  Moses in chapter 19 hears God’s word and prepares the people for the reception of the commandments which then come in chapter 20.  Every year for the pre-K class in our preschool I teach the children to learn the 10 Commandments by heart.  We use a much shortened version than what is here, for example: there is only one God, no idols, say nice things, obey the Sabbath, love your mom and dad etc.  Every year they are able to memorize it and they get a prize for it.  

Chapter 21 is an extension of even more commandments.  Did you know that by the time that Jesus was walking on the earth in the first century there were hundreds of laws that had to be followed which were contained in what was called the Mishnah.  These laws were interpretations of the Scriptural laws and covered absolutely everything.  It was the attempt of the religious people to ensure that there was nothing grey, but rather that every little thing would be covered by a law of God.

This is why in Matthew Jesus says that he has not come to tear down the law but to fulfill it because so many other laws had been added to God’s law that people felt absolutely in prison as they lived their lives.  Jesus beatitudes in Matthew 5-7 really encapsulate the way of life according to Jesus’ perspective.  It ought to be followed completely.  But if you really want to know the entirety of the law you can find it very simply in Matthew 22:36-40 where Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandments and he replies: “Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.  All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.  Those are Jesus’ words.  We should follow them

We now get to one of the more memorable parts of the Exodus story, and that is the parting of the Red Sea.  Again, there are details to this story that potentially we did not see previously.  Did you know that the Egyptians had already caught up to them and they were in a bit of a stalemate before the Israelites crossed over to the other side.  The cloud, or as the Scripture states, the angel of the Lord, left its position in front of the caravan and moved to the back and plunged the Egyptians into darkness so that they could not overcome the Israelites.  Once they Israelites started moving across the dry land of the sea, then the Egyptians pursued them once again.

The death of the army of Pharaoh is classic and you would think that it would be enough to convince the people on this journey that maybe, just maybe, after 10 plagues, the parting of the sea, and other factors that seem to be obvious, God is in control and we are going to make it.  But repeatedly throughout these verses they complain about water, about food, about the desert and almost pine for the glory days when we had it good back in Egypt.  They seemed to have forgotten that they were slaves and here God is present in a visible, tangible way.

We end these chapters with Moses’ father in law setting up a circuit of judges who would decide minor matters and so thereby relieving Moses the pressure of having to decide everything by himself.  A pretty good idea which we have used in our government to make decisions.  We find ourselves at the doorstep of Mt. Sinai where Moses will meet God face to face.

Psalm 90 is a powerful Psalm which reminds us of the sin that we have committed and the forgiveness that comes when we confess our sin and recognize our shortcomings before the Lord.  

I love the order of this reading in that today we are able to see the entire story of the plagues and the escape from Egypt.  There is more to the escape, but at least we get to see all of the plagues.  Here is something that you may not be aware of.  The part of this story that is often forgotten is that Moses was only asking Pharaoh for permission to take the people of Israel out of Egypt for three hours so that they could worship their God and then return again.  It was like Gilligan’s Island where all Moses wanted was a three hour tour.  Now, we know that he would not have returned, but that was the request.  He didn’t request that he take the people of Israel away forever, even if that is what ended up happening.

An aspect of this story that is disturbing to some folks is why does God harden Pharaoh’s heart and is it really fair to Pharaoh if his heart was hardened how can anyone blame him for not wanting the people to leave?  Let’s be clear about this.  God is the potter, and we are the clay.  I say this not to discourage questions or wondering, but rather to remind us that we don’t really have that answer.  Is it fair?  Certainly not in our book it isn’t.  Is it fair that we deserve damnation for our sin and that Jesus died so that we would be washed clean?  No, it isn’t fair at all, but thanks be to God, God doesn’t deal with us according to our sin but rather to the grace and the love of Jesus.  I’m grateful that God treats us unfairly and gives us the grace we do not deserve.  I’ll take an unfair God any day.

This reading begins with the first plague and takes us all the way to the plague of the passover of the angel of death.  We have seen chapter 12 a little more closely in our Bible Study a week ago or so.  We saw the similarity between the sacrificed lamb whose blood was spread over the door posts, and Jesus as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  

This reading doesn’t have the crossing of the red sea yet.  But we do see God leading the Israelites with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  How much of a relief would it be to have God’s presence in a visible and tangible way leading us day after day.  I could get used to that!