Day 49
Exodus 23:1-24:18
(23 | 24)
More laws are revealed to Moses. The first set of laws are to do with justice; specifically they're to do with corruption and avoiding injustice. The next set of laws are headlined as the Sabbath laws, probably because they both follow the same theme - six on, one off. The first law says that you should sow and work a field for six years, and leave it for the seventh to allow the poor somewhere to sow and harvest. In the same way, you're only to work six days and take the seventh off. This is to allow your animals and workforce time off to refresh themselves and recover.
God also establishes three festivals:
Moses goes to the people and tells them what God said. The unanimous response as that they will do everything God has told them to, and Moses writes down everything the LORD said. So the next day, Moses erects an altar and twelve pillars, each representing a tribe of Israel. Moses then sends young men to make burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as offerings. Moses takes half the blood from the sacrifices and sprinkles it on the altar. ('Sprinkle' is a bit of an odd verb to use I think, but it's the one used in the Bible, and everything else sounds a bit morbid.) Anyway, he puts the other half in bowls. He reads the Book of the Covenant (where he wrote down everything God said) to the people, and they again agree to do everything the LORD said. So Moses sprinkles the rest of the blood on the people declaring that it is the "blood of the covenant the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words" (24:8).
This might seem a bit grim out of context, but at the time covenants, or agreements, were sealed with blood. The people of Israel had just made a new covenant with God; they would listen to him, obey his laws, and worship no other gods. In return, he would get them to the promised land safe and sound, he would protect them and defeat their enemies, and he would drive out the peoples currently inhabiting the promised land.
Mark 3:31-4:29
(3:31-34 | 4:1-29)
Jesus tells a gathered crowd that whoever does his Father's will is his brother or sister or mother. He then goes on to tell several parables. The first is the Parable of the Sower, which explains why the message isn't always received, and why people who do receive the message can sometimes fall away. It's important that we don't get down when people don't receive the message, as it's just the way things are. It's also important that we help nurture the message in people who are struggling.
The second is actually more of a riddle than a parable, but I'm going with it anyway. Jesus speaks about putting lamps on a stand instead of underneath something. If a lamp is on a stand, it can spread light. If it's hidden away, the light is still there, but no one can get its full benefit. The same is true of the message. Once we have it, it's on us to spread it. We cannot and must not keep it to ourselves!
The final parable is the Parable of the Growing Seed. The seed here represents the message. All we can really do is spread the seed. If the seed lands on good soil, it will grow. There's nothing we can do to help the process. Once the seed is sown, God will grow it. Then it's up to us to harvest what has been sown. By that I don't mean taking a sickle to new Christians. I mean taking them into community, discipling them, and helping them grow as Christians.
Psalm 22:22-31
(22:22-31)
The psalmist is inciting (I'm not sure that's the right verb either...) praise for God. The reason, of course, is that the LORD has not ignored the voice of an "afflicted one" and has, in fact, answered the prayer for help. It's unclear whether the psalmist and this "afflicted one" are the same people, but the psalmist is choosing to praise God anyway, and claims that the praise will be continued in generations to come.
Exodus 23:1-24:18
(23 | 24)
More laws are revealed to Moses. The first set of laws are to do with justice; specifically they're to do with corruption and avoiding injustice. The next set of laws are headlined as the Sabbath laws, probably because they both follow the same theme - six on, one off. The first law says that you should sow and work a field for six years, and leave it for the seventh to allow the poor somewhere to sow and harvest. In the same way, you're only to work six days and take the seventh off. This is to allow your animals and workforce time off to refresh themselves and recover.
God also establishes three festivals:
- The Feast of Unleavened Bread where the people are to eat only unleavened bread for seven days to celebrate and remember the time God brought the Israelites out of Egypt
- The Feast of Harvest where the people are to celebrate with the first fruits of the harvest
- The Feast of Ingathering where the people are to celebrate the gathering of the crops from the fields at the end of the year
Moses goes to the people and tells them what God said. The unanimous response as that they will do everything God has told them to, and Moses writes down everything the LORD said. So the next day, Moses erects an altar and twelve pillars, each representing a tribe of Israel. Moses then sends young men to make burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as offerings. Moses takes half the blood from the sacrifices and sprinkles it on the altar. ('Sprinkle' is a bit of an odd verb to use I think, but it's the one used in the Bible, and everything else sounds a bit morbid.) Anyway, he puts the other half in bowls. He reads the Book of the Covenant (where he wrote down everything God said) to the people, and they again agree to do everything the LORD said. So Moses sprinkles the rest of the blood on the people declaring that it is the "blood of the covenant the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words" (24:8).
This might seem a bit grim out of context, but at the time covenants, or agreements, were sealed with blood. The people of Israel had just made a new covenant with God; they would listen to him, obey his laws, and worship no other gods. In return, he would get them to the promised land safe and sound, he would protect them and defeat their enemies, and he would drive out the peoples currently inhabiting the promised land.
Mark 3:31-4:29
(3:31-34 | 4:1-29)
Jesus tells a gathered crowd that whoever does his Father's will is his brother or sister or mother. He then goes on to tell several parables. The first is the Parable of the Sower, which explains why the message isn't always received, and why people who do receive the message can sometimes fall away. It's important that we don't get down when people don't receive the message, as it's just the way things are. It's also important that we help nurture the message in people who are struggling.
The second is actually more of a riddle than a parable, but I'm going with it anyway. Jesus speaks about putting lamps on a stand instead of underneath something. If a lamp is on a stand, it can spread light. If it's hidden away, the light is still there, but no one can get its full benefit. The same is true of the message. Once we have it, it's on us to spread it. We cannot and must not keep it to ourselves!
The final parable is the Parable of the Growing Seed. The seed here represents the message. All we can really do is spread the seed. If the seed lands on good soil, it will grow. There's nothing we can do to help the process. Once the seed is sown, God will grow it. Then it's up to us to harvest what has been sown. By that I don't mean taking a sickle to new Christians. I mean taking them into community, discipling them, and helping them grow as Christians.
Psalm 22:22-31
(22:22-31)
The psalmist is inciting (I'm not sure that's the right verb either...) praise for God. The reason, of course, is that the LORD has not ignored the voice of an "afflicted one" and has, in fact, answered the prayer for help. It's unclear whether the psalmist and this "afflicted one" are the same people, but the psalmist is choosing to praise God anyway, and claims that the praise will be continued in generations to come.
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