18-20 Can you imagine listening to God as he speaks to us from heaven? I know that I am not worthy, but I know that is does speak to me in a quiet voice in my heart. I would also be scared if I heard the loud trumpets and thunder from the heavens above.
I didn't know that God spoke to the Moses and the people when he gave his commandments. I was taught that God gave it to Moses who passed on to the people to next generations. I am learning everyday during my reading. Go figure, if you read you will learn...
Good Night,
Sandj
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Chapter 18: verse 1 called Moses's father-in-law, Jethro, a priest... this made me wonder if He was a priest of God, too, and if so, why wasn't He part of the Isrealites group... probably a lineage thing, but did people other than the Isrealites worship God back then, and if so, did they go to Heaven, too? Was everyone not with the Isrealites pagans? Just curious... at least we know that now we are ALL part of God's holy priesthood (1 Peter 2, Romans 3:21-31).
ReplyDeleteverse 17-26... "you will only wear yourselves out... you cannot handle it alone"... I am so NOT good at this... I need to remember that even if God calls us to lead, He doesn't intend for us to do it ALL, and especially not all alone... part of leading is being able to delegate... to teach others and raise them up to be leaders... you can oversee them while they oversee the rest, and raise up even more people to be leaders... it is one of the basic elements we have been learning about in disciple-making... making disciples who go out and make disciples... but it is also a wise way to do any type of leading... Sometimes we need the advice of others from the "outside" so we can be more effective in doing all God wants us to, because we may be too "involved" in our lives to see the things that need improved ourselves... by delegating, Moses was not being lazy, he was instead freeing himself us to focus on the most important things, as well providing other people with the opportunity to learn and draw closer to God, too... sometimes I think if I don't do it all, I am failing, so I am going to try to remember Jethro's advice to Moses and see how I can apply it to my life, too.
Chapter 19: verse 1... it surprised me that it was only 3 months... that was a jam-packed 3 months! :)
ReplyDeleteverse 4: I like the idea of the "eagle's wings"... I once heard someone say that a mother eagle will carry her baby up on her wings, and then drop the baby from the heights... just before the baby eagle hits the ground, the mother will swoop down and save it... she will repeat this several times... this gives the baby the confidence and trust in its mother to know she will be there, so that as it learns to fly, it knows that it's mother will never let it fall too far.... I like that idea when applied to how our lives are in God.
verse 5... I like the idea of being God's "treasured possession" :)
verse 15 (and others)... the idea of the "third day" was to make themselves ready/consecrate themselves and prepare themselves for worship... do we take this time before we worship God, or do we just go and "do it"... I know that some Sunday mornings I am not in a "consecrated" mood when I come before God... and other days of the week are not any better... I need to make a more concerted effort to "prepare" myself before I go to God, not out of necessity, but out of honor, love and reverence for who God is.
Just a side note... is this where the Christian band Third Day got there name, and if so, what is the symbolism behind it for them? Just curious.
verse 19... made me think about whether I really believe that when I speak to God He will always answer me.
The study notes made some scriptural comparisons between the barrier the people had in this chapter with talking to God, and the barriers Jesus broke down (see Hebrews 10:19 and on, and 1 Peter 2:9)
Chapter 20: the 10 Commandments can also be found in Deuteronomy 5, and Jesus provides some further clarification of these in Matthew 5, too.
ReplyDeleteI think that many of these laws can be traced back to stories that illustrate the way not to do, whatever the commandment is about, also, maybe these are so Moses can delegate easier (see Exodus 19), because if they have written laws or a list of common laws then all the leaders can judge according to the same standards... as for the story examples: verse 3-6... God made this obvious that there was no need to have other gods because of what He did in Egypt (for additional clarification, also see Deuteronomy 4:15-19)
verse 8-11... Like manna lesson in the desert (Exodus 16)
verse 12... goes along with covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob... also, another thought on this one, we are to be an example of this for our children (see Proverbs 3:1), we are to love and obey God, just as we want our kids to do this to us, so we can model this for our kids.
verse 13... like Cain and Able
verse 14... like Sodom and Gomorrah (see also Matthew 5:27-28)
verse 15... like Rachel stealing the gods from her dad's house
verse 17... like Joseph's brothers
The Study Notes make a correlation between verse 1-11, that they are towards God, and verses 12-31 are against man, but we have already learned that all sins we do against man is still against God, though.... the Notes also suggest restating the 10 commandments as the 10 freedoms, for example, what other gods has the one true God freed you from to serve Him only (like objects, goals, people, etc)...
and one comment on verse 7... the notes suggest that "misuse" of God's name is not just for the name itself, but also misuse of God's character... Do we ever misrepresent who God is or what He can do? This would fall under this commandment too.
verse 18-21... What does it take for us to fear God? Is that a "respect" fear or a "scared" fear? Why? What is the difference?
verse 24..."alter of earth"... interesting that God does not ask for a great big fancy temple (like other gods have built for them)... why? well, maybe because the temple can become a god in and of itself... a fancy alter would take the focus off God and put it on the shiny/prettiness of the alter, not the One who the alter is for...this made me think about how we build our churches nowadays... should our churches be so fancy? Do we build them that way for God or for ourselves? And if for ourselves, are they glorifying to God? I'm sure this could be answered in multiple ways, but I think it is something we should each look at our own hearts about and see what God is saying to us... do we let the "building" distract us from our focus on God, the real reason we are in the place to worship.
verse 26... real meaning of "nakedness" or insight about this? Why is nakedness wrong here, but not a problem in Eden (until sin entered... see Genesis 3:10-11)... does "nakedness" symbolize something else?
God Bless,
sandJ