Now where was I? It's been too long, what with school starting up, showers and weddings, and trying to pack to move, etc...sorry. Since I'm still keeping up with the reading plan I'm ahead of Exodus now, but I will try to play catch up here when I can and remember what all I wanted to say. Oh yes, Ch. 13...well, scratch that, my notes don't really pick back up until Ch. 22. I like how it talks about being able to work out a dispute or issue by coming before God, who is actually physically there with them, and God tells them what to do, as in actually speaks to them. It's like the "that was easy" button. It sometimes is hard to believe these people still had issues with following the Lord and being faithful when they are actually His chosen people that He actually travels with. He is so present with them at this point. They had God first hand. That had to be awe inspiring, terrifying, and wonderful all at the same time.
Ch. 24 is when it seems to start referring to God's words and laws as "the book of the covenant" I believe. Then the following chapters seem to go into great detail about the building of the tabernacle and tabernacle accessories. Ch. 30:15 I highlighted, "When this offering is given to the Lord to purify your lives, making you right with him, the rich much not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less". IDK why but I had to read this several times and had to think on it. I wonder why this was the plan set in place. To me it seems that this means the poor are the ones really making a sacrifice. So, is the offering equal? I just found it somewhat thought provoking. Ch.32 is the whole golden calf fiasco. It truly is a sign of God's grace that He stays with His people, for it's not because of their impressiveness or faithfulness by any means.
Ch. 33's wow moment comes in verse 11, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend..." How freaking cool. For the most part though, even though God is very present with them and intervened on their behalf, at this point in time before Jesus, there is still a barrier between humanity and God. I mean, there's even a whole curtain thing separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and anyone besides a priest that went in would die, and even the priest only went in on the day of atonement once a year (Yom Kippur). Later on in Matthew and Hebrews we see the curtain tearing in two at Jesus' crucifixion symbolizing what Christ had accomplished (the break down of the separation between God and humanity) but we will read that when we get there. What a priest was able to do only once a year on the day of atonement, Christ did once and for all and now all of us, not just a purified priest can be in the "Most Holy Place" and, I guess it seems to say, we don't really need a middle man. Now I'm just filled with more thoughts! At the beginning of this I was thinking the Israelites experienced God more closely than anyone. He was actually helping them run things and know what to do and giving rules through Moses...and saving their butts every time you turned around, despite the fact that they sometimes acted like ungrateful children. But, now I wonder if it is possible that we, today, are able to closely experience the Lord in a way never imagined? Even though it doesn't always seem like it, because we aren't constantly seeing His miraculous works as they did, is it possible to obtain a closeness with the Lord that these Israelites could only dream of? After Jesus, and now that we have the Holy Spirit, and the barriers between us and God are broken...idk, I think too much...and write to much. Well, that's Exodus.
