28:3 - Creativity and artistry are gifts from God. I think they are part of our reflection of the image of God. Think about the creativity and artistry God used to shape the universe. No matter how incredible the human artist becomes in their craft...they offer only an imperfect two-dimensional knock-off of what God has formed to perfection.
28:30 - Urim and Thummim - what? Thanks for all the explanation Exodus writer! Scholars think that part of the reason that the writer gives such a lame explanation of what these things are, is that he probably never saw them. These were for the priests and the priests alone, and he may have never gotten a glimpse of what the Urim and Thummim were. They must have been relatively small and flat if they fit comfortably in the breastplate the priest wore, so it is possible they were special pieces of wood or bone. It has become popular among biblical scholars to translate Urim and Thummim as "cursed" and "faultless," which would make sense because they are generally used to tell whether someone is guilty or innocent...is the person cursed or faultless. Luckily for us we know a few things: none of us are faultless...God knows absolutely everything we have done and is a righteous judge...God loved us so much He paid the price for our sins forgoing the judgement we were due.
30:10 - Sin offerings were done once a year. So what happened when they were leaving the tabernacle after making the sin offering and they had a jealous thought or lusted? Well, they were toast...instantly they became unclean. This shows the flaws of the system where humans have to try to cleanse themselves through sacrifices and rituals...it doesn't work. God wanted the people to fully understand that they could not save themselves, so that they would be ready to offer themselves completely to His grace and mercy which were offered through the cross.
30:32 - I am always trying to get my hands on some biblically accurate anointing oil, because that would be cool. Well, after reading this passage, I am done with that search! Scary!
3 comments:
I had kind of a hard time reading this passage.. it's hard for me to find the application in stuff like "anoint them with incense and oil and proceed to the acacia wood...ext ext."
But it did make me think about how much reverence they had for the Lord. They had to have their mind pure before walking into the Temples and when approaching the alter inside of the Holy Place.
It made me realize how nonchalant I am when I'm talking to God, and how irreverent I can be sometimes...I don't stop to think about how I am talking to the God of the universe, who has the power to stop my very fingers from typing at any second and strike me dead!
I want to have a changed view on how I approach the great I AM ,think about the great I AM and especially how seriously I take my service to Him.
Moses and Aaron weren't playing around... God wasn't just someone that they thought about once a day, or talked to before meals. It was every second of every day being aware of how small they were and how HUGE God is. I want to be like them.
That's great application Bekah - thanks.
-Brandon
Poor Aaron had to do everything, ha ha!! But i admire how hard they worked to get every detail of God's instructions right. And also, I really like the part in chapter 28 when it keeps saying ..."Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Isrealites over his heart before the Lord." Like, Aaron is to put the people completely before himself when he is in the presence of God. I don't know about y'all, but when I come near to God I don't always remember to put others fist. I should lift others up in my prayers first. Give all my decision making to God first, everytime I'm near Him. But wait, He's inside me now. So that should always be happening. Ha, this is something I should work on.
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