June 16, 2018 - Day 69 - Exodus 19
I am writing from my hotel room in Anchorage, AK.
Exodus 19:
The Israelites have now been on their journey for two months. At the beginning of the third month, they arrive at the desert of Sinai; and set up camp in front of the mountain.
God tells Moses to tell the Israelites that they will be the favorites if they decide to obey God and keep covenants. Have you ever heard a good explanation for why God "wants" to be obeyed? Me neither. God continues by saying that even though all of the earth belongs to God, the Israelites gets to be a holy nation.
We're nearly seventy chapters into the Bible, and this choosing of the descendants of Israel has been completely arbitrary.
Moses tells the Israelites what God said, and they are cool with it. Next, God will appear in a dense cloud so they will hear God and Moses talking, and then they will trust Moses. A dense cloud?
God tells Moses to consecrate (which means to make to declare sacred) the people and then have them wash their clothes so they are ready on the third day. On that day, God will come down on Mount Sinai and appear to the people. This should be interesting.
There's a small caveat: The people must not come near the mountain or touch the foot of it, or they'll be put to death. The execution will be with arrows or stones, as hands may not touch that person. They can only approach the mountain when "the ram's horn sounds a long blast." Anyone else reading this? Just me?
Moses also tells them to abstain from sex during this three day waiting period. We are not told why Moses said this, and it appears to have not come from God. These rules are very bizarre.
On the morning of this third day, there was a thunderstorm, a thick cloud over the mountain, and a loud trumpet blast. Everyone was scared. I certainly hope no one confused the trumpet with the ram's horn!
Moses led the people to the foot of the mountain. I'll quote the next part:
"Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him."
This definitely sounds like high fantasy. God calls Moses to the top of the mountain, where Moses is again reminded to tell the people not to approach God. Aaron can come up though.
This is such a strange story. Stay tuned.
Exodus 19:
The Israelites have now been on their journey for two months. At the beginning of the third month, they arrive at the desert of Sinai; and set up camp in front of the mountain.
God tells Moses to tell the Israelites that they will be the favorites if they decide to obey God and keep covenants. Have you ever heard a good explanation for why God "wants" to be obeyed? Me neither. God continues by saying that even though all of the earth belongs to God, the Israelites gets to be a holy nation.
We're nearly seventy chapters into the Bible, and this choosing of the descendants of Israel has been completely arbitrary.
Moses tells the Israelites what God said, and they are cool with it. Next, God will appear in a dense cloud so they will hear God and Moses talking, and then they will trust Moses. A dense cloud?
God tells Moses to consecrate (which means to make to declare sacred) the people and then have them wash their clothes so they are ready on the third day. On that day, God will come down on Mount Sinai and appear to the people. This should be interesting.
There's a small caveat: The people must not come near the mountain or touch the foot of it, or they'll be put to death. The execution will be with arrows or stones, as hands may not touch that person. They can only approach the mountain when "the ram's horn sounds a long blast." Anyone else reading this? Just me?
Moses also tells them to abstain from sex during this three day waiting period. We are not told why Moses said this, and it appears to have not come from God. These rules are very bizarre.
On the morning of this third day, there was a thunderstorm, a thick cloud over the mountain, and a loud trumpet blast. Everyone was scared. I certainly hope no one confused the trumpet with the ram's horn!
Moses led the people to the foot of the mountain. I'll quote the next part:
"Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him."
This definitely sounds like high fantasy. God calls Moses to the top of the mountain, where Moses is again reminded to tell the people not to approach God. Aaron can come up though.
This is such a strange story. Stay tuned.
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