Friday, February 3, 2012

Bible Reading Challenge - Week 5 Day 5 Exodus 32-36

Our reading challenge for the day is Exodus 32-36. I'll hit a few highlights. You make comments too and fill in the gaps. What strikes you as specially significant?

Notice as we read today how there's a strong tension between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. The people flee from God's covenant. They are afraid to hear directly from God. And the Lord says that he cannot come among his people lest he should destroy them in their sin. In chapter 34, though God proclaims his character, that he is steadfast, loving, faithful. He does not abandon his people though they abandon him. God establishes his covenant with his people, promising to bring them into the land of promise. What do the people agree to? Only that they will strive to live a holy life so they do not depart from the blessing that God has given them. We then see the central features of the covenant life in the reception of the Sabbath, a day of rest, symbolic of resting from our sin and its consequences, then the construction of the tabernacle, a place where God is among his people, bringing them peace and rest.

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