Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 36 verses 1 through 7:
Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful one to whom the Lord has given skill and understanding to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.
2 Moses then called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful one to whom the Lord had given skill, everyone whose heart was stirred to come to do the work; 3 and they received from Moses all the freewill offerings that the Israelites had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, 4 so that all the artisans who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task being performed, 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” 6 So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing; 7 for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.
The work of building the Temple does not belong to just one person. It is the labor of myriads of people, and even generations. The people come with their offerings. Some among the people are endowed by the LORD to then take those offerings and use them for the building of the edifice. Sometimes the laborers are less than what the people imagine. Expectations must be managed and someone must have the wisdom to say, “Enough.” In the end, it shall be a Temple on earth, but not the Temple of Heaven.
Last week the theologian James Leo Garrett, Jr. passed away. He wrote the history of the first 100 years of Broadway Baptist Church. It is titled, “Living Stones”, a metaphor for a building that Paul used to compare it to the building of the church body and which is referenced on the Foundation Stone of the Church. I quote Dr. Garrett’s Preface, as it is an apt reflection on the building of Broadway Church in the same tradition of the chronicler of the building of the Temple in the book of Exodus.
From the Preface to”Living Stones: The Centennial History of Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas, 1882-1982:
“The history of Broadway Baptist Church is not a triumphalist story that moves from one triumph to another without trauma or reversal. It is a story of faith, commitment, loyalty, struggle, and service on the part of a host of persons — the “living stones”, many of whose names do not appear in this lengthy volume. It is a succession of seventeen regular pastorates, and numerous deacons, staff members, teachers, committee members, musicians, and the like. For its first eight decades its people statistics revealed a pattern of increase, whereas during the last decades those statistics have manifested a pattern of decrease. But throughout the century the blessings of God have been evident.”
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible this year. tomorrow’s Daily Lesson will be from Exodus chapters 39-40.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Monday, February 10, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 10, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 32 verses 1 through 14:
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” 6 They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
7 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10 Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
It was my former professor, friend, and strong Jewish community leader Howard Curzer who pointed out to me the peculiarity in this story that God waited to send Moses down the mountain until exactly the time the Israelites were demanding Aaron make idols before them. Up till then God had kept Moses busy for 40 days laying out all the exact plans for the Temple’s length, width, height, and exacting decor — proof, a friend says, that God really does care what color should be used for the chancel steps. Then, just as the Israelites grow too anxious to mollify and Aaron too weak to stand up to them, the LORD tells Moses to go down.
On first reading, it’s a test of God’s faithfulness. Will he or won’t he be with them, even though they are such a stiff-necked and forgetful people. But given the peculiarity of timing, Prof. Curzer says it’s actually a test of Moses. God lays out a test, “Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” It’s an alluring invitation. God will make something of Moses all alone. But it’s an invitation he must refuse. Moses was called to deliver his people, not just hisself.
Our church or synagogue or country may well be very stiff-necked, and everyone around us may be bowing down to false idols. But these are our people. And we need leaders right now who will decide they must stay with the community — come what may — and not give into the temptation that deliverance would be better all by ourselves.
And who knows, perhaps as in the story the disaster that may well befall the people because of their idolatry May be averted because one leader decided not to give up on the people.
NOTE: Tomorrow’s Lesson will be from Exodus chapters 36 through 38.
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” 6 They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
7 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10 Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
It was my former professor, friend, and strong Jewish community leader Howard Curzer who pointed out to me the peculiarity in this story that God waited to send Moses down the mountain until exactly the time the Israelites were demanding Aaron make idols before them. Up till then God had kept Moses busy for 40 days laying out all the exact plans for the Temple’s length, width, height, and exacting decor — proof, a friend says, that God really does care what color should be used for the chancel steps. Then, just as the Israelites grow too anxious to mollify and Aaron too weak to stand up to them, the LORD tells Moses to go down.
On first reading, it’s a test of God’s faithfulness. Will he or won’t he be with them, even though they are such a stiff-necked and forgetful people. But given the peculiarity of timing, Prof. Curzer says it’s actually a test of Moses. God lays out a test, “Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” It’s an alluring invitation. God will make something of Moses all alone. But it’s an invitation he must refuse. Moses was called to deliver his people, not just hisself.
Our church or synagogue or country may well be very stiff-necked, and everyone around us may be bowing down to false idols. But these are our people. And we need leaders right now who will decide they must stay with the community — come what may — and not give into the temptation that deliverance would be better all by ourselves.
And who knows, perhaps as in the story the disaster that may well befall the people because of their idolatry May be averted because one leader decided not to give up on the people.
NOTE: Tomorrow’s Lesson will be from Exodus chapters 36 through 38.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 7, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 27 verses 20 through 21:
20 You shall further command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, so that a lamp may be set up to burn regularly. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual ordinance to be observed throughout their generations by the Israelites.
We tend the light, even in the midnight hours. When all the rest of the world is asleep, or for fear simply pretending to be, there is still someone up, in the tent of meeting, watching over the light, and keeping its vigil.
It is dark out there, and we have a long time before the first rays of dawn will be seen. We have just begun the fourth watch, and sunrise is still a long ways off. But with the lamp of the soul and the oil of God’s Spirit, we will make it through the night; and the light will shine in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it . . .
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible this year. Monday’s Lesson will come from Exodus chapters 28 through 35.
20 You shall further command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, so that a lamp may be set up to burn regularly. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual ordinance to be observed throughout their generations by the Israelites.
We tend the light, even in the midnight hours. When all the rest of the world is asleep, or for fear simply pretending to be, there is still someone up, in the tent of meeting, watching over the light, and keeping its vigil.
It is dark out there, and we have a long time before the first rays of dawn will be seen. We have just begun the fourth watch, and sunrise is still a long ways off. But with the lamp of the soul and the oil of God’s Spirit, we will make it through the night; and the light will shine in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it . . .
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible this year. Monday’s Lesson will come from Exodus chapters 28 through 35.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 6, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 23 verses 1 through 9:
You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.
4 When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back.
5 When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.
6 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
In the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation the heading for this section of Scripture is “Justice for All”. So the Judeo-Christian system of law is meant for the good of all, without preconceived bias for or against anyone. The rights of all are safeguarded; and these rights cannot be subject to personal animus, political favoritism, prejudice, and/or bribery. And even the rights of an enemy must be vouchsafed by his or her neighbor, irrespective of the neighbor’s personal feelings or prerogatives. It is a system of justice for all, whereby no one is either above the demands of the Law or beneath its protections.
Let those with ears to hear listen and act . . .
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible together this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson comes from Exodus chapters 25-27.
You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit.
4 When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back.
5 When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.
6 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
In the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation the heading for this section of Scripture is “Justice for All”. So the Judeo-Christian system of law is meant for the good of all, without preconceived bias for or against anyone. The rights of all are safeguarded; and these rights cannot be subject to personal animus, political favoritism, prejudice, and/or bribery. And even the rights of an enemy must be vouchsafed by his or her neighbor, irrespective of the neighbor’s personal feelings or prerogatives. It is a system of justice for all, whereby no one is either above the demands of the Law or beneath its protections.
Let those with ears to hear listen and act . . .
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible together this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson comes from Exodus chapters 25-27.
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 5, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 through 17. The Ten Commandments or Promises for a People Living in a Promised Land:
20 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.
(There will be complete religious freedom in this land. They won’t have to worship Pharaoh anymore.)
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
(No more being forced to make sphinxes in the Promised Land. You are free now. The LORD delivered you. Worship the LORD.)
7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
(Using God’s name to justify destructive and life-destroying purposes will not be tolerated.)
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
(In Pharaoh’s economy all you were were workers. In the Promised Land you will be human beings made in God’s image. God rested; you deserve to rest also.)
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
(In Egypt people were only valued for their production capability. So they were chewed up and spit out and then replaced. In the Promised Land the old who cannot produce will still be valued and treated with dignity.)
13 You shall not murder.
(Pharaoh’s whole system was based on the threat of murder.)
14 You shall not commit adultery.
(The marriage bed is respected and fidelity is expected.)
15 You shall not steal.
(An economy based on theft is chaotic and ends up ruled by thugs. In the Promised Land there will be law and order and the little person’s rights will be respected.)
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
(That means in the Courts and on Twitter.)
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
(Your neighbors’ family and things are not there for the taking. That’s the way it was in Egypt, not so in the Promised Land.)
NOTE: Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Exodus chapters 22 through 25.
20 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.
(There will be complete religious freedom in this land. They won’t have to worship Pharaoh anymore.)
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
(No more being forced to make sphinxes in the Promised Land. You are free now. The LORD delivered you. Worship the LORD.)
7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
(Using God’s name to justify destructive and life-destroying purposes will not be tolerated.)
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
(In Pharaoh’s economy all you were were workers. In the Promised Land you will be human beings made in God’s image. God rested; you deserve to rest also.)
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
(In Egypt people were only valued for their production capability. So they were chewed up and spit out and then replaced. In the Promised Land the old who cannot produce will still be valued and treated with dignity.)
13 You shall not murder.
(Pharaoh’s whole system was based on the threat of murder.)
14 You shall not commit adultery.
(The marriage bed is respected and fidelity is expected.)
15 You shall not steal.
(An economy based on theft is chaotic and ends up ruled by thugs. In the Promised Land there will be law and order and the little person’s rights will be respected.)
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
(That means in the Courts and on Twitter.)
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
(Your neighbors’ family and things are not there for the taking. That’s the way it was in Egypt, not so in the Promised Land.)
NOTE: Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Exodus chapters 22 through 25.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 4, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 17 verses 1 through 7:
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
The people wander and their spirits waiver. Fear sets in and so do anger and frustration. They blame Moses. They look up with indignation at God.
But then the LORD tells them to look not up, but down, and also in. Buried deep within is the water they will need to survive. It’s been there all along, in the depths of the earth, buried for a billion years, waiting on the Israelites to come and open the cascade within.
It is there, inside, this cataract of spiritual resource welled within us all; but it always takes desperation to find it.
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible together this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Exodus chapters 19 through 21.
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
The people wander and their spirits waiver. Fear sets in and so do anger and frustration. They blame Moses. They look up with indignation at God.
But then the LORD tells them to look not up, but down, and also in. Buried deep within is the water they will need to survive. It’s been there all along, in the depths of the earth, buried for a billion years, waiting on the Israelites to come and open the cascade within.
It is there, inside, this cataract of spiritual resource welled within us all; but it always takes desperation to find it.
NOTE: We’re reading the whole Bible together this year. Tomorrow’s Lesson will come from Exodus chapters 19 through 21.
Monday, February 3, 2020
Daily Lesson for February 3, 2020
Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Exodus chapter 9 verses 9 and 10:
9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
St. Augustine had a brilliant commentary on the Scripture in which he reflected on the sun and noted how it melts wax but hardens clay. The sun is the same; but it does different things to different substances depending on their properties.
The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart like clay. Though the LORD gave Pharaoh every opportunity, the substance of Pharaoh’s heart could not be melted. It wasn’t in him to soften.
So then ultimately there would be no changing Pharaoh. His heart was hard; and the presence of the LORD’s light would only make it harder.
For Pharaoh there will simply be no bargaining, no wilting, and no change. And the sooner Moses and Aaron and the people realize that the better.
Let those with ears to hear let them listen . . .
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible together this year. Tomorrow’s Daily Lesson will come from Exodus chapters 16 through 18.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
St. Augustine had a brilliant commentary on the Scripture in which he reflected on the sun and noted how it melts wax but hardens clay. The sun is the same; but it does different things to different substances depending on their properties.
The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart like clay. Though the LORD gave Pharaoh every opportunity, the substance of Pharaoh’s heart could not be melted. It wasn’t in him to soften.
So then ultimately there would be no changing Pharaoh. His heart was hard; and the presence of the LORD’s light would only make it harder.
For Pharaoh there will simply be no bargaining, no wilting, and no change. And the sooner Moses and Aaron and the people realize that the better.
Let those with ears to hear let them listen . . .
NOTE: We are reading the whole Bible together this year. Tomorrow’s Daily Lesson will come from Exodus chapters 16 through 18.
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