Day 47
Exodus 19:1-20:26
(19 | 20)
Exactly three months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites enter the Desert of Sinai, and set up camp in front of the mountain, Mount Sinai.
Moses goes up the mountain and meets with God who gives him a message to convey to the Israelites. That message is, essentially, obey the LORD, and uphold your end of the covenant with him, and God will treasure the nation of Israel above any other. The Israelites hear this and agree to do everything God commands.
Moses goes back to report everything the Israelites said to God. God tells him to consecrate the Israelites, to make them wash their clothes and to tell them to prepare for the third day, because that's the day on which the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai for all the Israelites to see. God also commands that a perimeter be established around the mountain so that none of the Israelites or their animals go up, or even so much as touch the mountain.
Moses conveys the message to the Israelites. On the third day, Moses leads the understandably terrified people from the camp to meet with God. God summons Moses further up the mountain, where he tells Moses to warn the Israelites to not try to force their way to see him. Moses reminds the LORD that the people can't due to the perimeter established around the edges of the mountain, but he issues the warning anyway.
God issues Moses with the Ten Commandments:
Moses's response to this fear is very important. He told them, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning" (20:20). This is crucial. The laws laid down were never intended to be a guilt-inducing check list for unattainable perfection. The only way to follow the law completely was to be in full relationship with God, and by having a very healthy fear of God. But the people couldn't have known that. All they knew was that the LORD was before them, and that they were terrified. They wanted to be obedient to him, but they were too afraid to approach him. They knew Moses would act as an intermediary, so they asked him to do so.
Mark 1:29-2:17
(1:29-45 | 2:1-17)
Jesus goes to Simon's (Peter's) mother-in-law and heals her of a fever. She then begins to wait on her. It's interesting that this is the only reference I can think of to Peter ever being married. Anyway, more of the village's sick and afflicted people are brought to Jesus, and he heals them.
The next day, Jesus goes off to a solitary place to pray. When his disciples find him, they head off to other villages, and Jesus preaches and drives out demons. Jesus heals a man with leprosy who runs off and tells everyone what happened.As a result, he can no longer enter the towns, and people still flock to him in remote, lonely places.
Back in Capernaum, Jesus is preaching in a house. Some men come and want to take their paralytic friend to Jesus, but they can't get close due to the huge crowd. So they climb up on the roof of the house, dig a hole in it, and lower their friend in on a mat. Jesus tells the man his sins are forgiven and heals him. Some teachers of the law take issue with this, thinking he's blaspheming - after all, only God can forgive sins! Jesus knows this, so asks them whether it is easier for him to forgive sins or tell a paralysed to get up and walk. To prove to them that he does indeed have the authority to forgive sins, he tells the paralysed man to get up, pick up his mat and go home - which he does.
Jesus calls on a tax collector name Levi to follow him, which he does. Jesus and his disciples go off and eat with Levi with a group of tax collectors and "sinners". The Pharisees question why he is doing this, and Jesus' response is this: "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (2:17). Similarly, it's the people who are far from the LORD who need Jesus' help, not those who are already believers.
Psalm 22:12-21
(22:12-21)
The psalmist describes a position of suffering (parts of which seem oddly similar to the suffering endured by Jesus). He also asks for God to come in a deliver him from the situation, to rescue him from the source of his suffering.
Exodus 19:1-20:26
(19 | 20)
Exactly three months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites enter the Desert of Sinai, and set up camp in front of the mountain, Mount Sinai.
Moses goes up the mountain and meets with God who gives him a message to convey to the Israelites. That message is, essentially, obey the LORD, and uphold your end of the covenant with him, and God will treasure the nation of Israel above any other. The Israelites hear this and agree to do everything God commands.
Moses goes back to report everything the Israelites said to God. God tells him to consecrate the Israelites, to make them wash their clothes and to tell them to prepare for the third day, because that's the day on which the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai for all the Israelites to see. God also commands that a perimeter be established around the mountain so that none of the Israelites or their animals go up, or even so much as touch the mountain.
Moses conveys the message to the Israelites. On the third day, Moses leads the understandably terrified people from the camp to meet with God. God summons Moses further up the mountain, where he tells Moses to warn the Israelites to not try to force their way to see him. Moses reminds the LORD that the people can't due to the perimeter established around the edges of the mountain, but he issues the warning anyway.
God issues Moses with the Ten Commandments:
- Have no other gods before me
- Do not make or worship idols
- Do not misuse the name of the LORD
- Keep the Sabbath holy
- Honour your father and mother
- Do not commit murder
- Do not commit adultery
- Do not steal
- Do not give false testimony
- Do not covet your neighbour's possessions
Moses's response to this fear is very important. He told them, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning" (20:20). This is crucial. The laws laid down were never intended to be a guilt-inducing check list for unattainable perfection. The only way to follow the law completely was to be in full relationship with God, and by having a very healthy fear of God. But the people couldn't have known that. All they knew was that the LORD was before them, and that they were terrified. They wanted to be obedient to him, but they were too afraid to approach him. They knew Moses would act as an intermediary, so they asked him to do so.
Mark 1:29-2:17
(1:29-45 | 2:1-17)
Jesus goes to Simon's (Peter's) mother-in-law and heals her of a fever. She then begins to wait on her. It's interesting that this is the only reference I can think of to Peter ever being married. Anyway, more of the village's sick and afflicted people are brought to Jesus, and he heals them.
The next day, Jesus goes off to a solitary place to pray. When his disciples find him, they head off to other villages, and Jesus preaches and drives out demons. Jesus heals a man with leprosy who runs off and tells everyone what happened.As a result, he can no longer enter the towns, and people still flock to him in remote, lonely places.
Back in Capernaum, Jesus is preaching in a house. Some men come and want to take their paralytic friend to Jesus, but they can't get close due to the huge crowd. So they climb up on the roof of the house, dig a hole in it, and lower their friend in on a mat. Jesus tells the man his sins are forgiven and heals him. Some teachers of the law take issue with this, thinking he's blaspheming - after all, only God can forgive sins! Jesus knows this, so asks them whether it is easier for him to forgive sins or tell a paralysed to get up and walk. To prove to them that he does indeed have the authority to forgive sins, he tells the paralysed man to get up, pick up his mat and go home - which he does.
Jesus calls on a tax collector name Levi to follow him, which he does. Jesus and his disciples go off and eat with Levi with a group of tax collectors and "sinners". The Pharisees question why he is doing this, and Jesus' response is this: "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (2:17). Similarly, it's the people who are far from the LORD who need Jesus' help, not those who are already believers.
Psalm 22:12-21
(22:12-21)
The psalmist describes a position of suffering (parts of which seem oddly similar to the suffering endured by Jesus). He also asks for God to come in a deliver him from the situation, to rescue him from the source of his suffering.
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