The Ten Commandments hillbilly style (they still ring true)

Is God cruel? Exodus 31-32.

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." - Richard Dawkins

OK, I posted that to stimulate discussion - not because I believe it. But I have to confess I am having a lot of trouble with these last few daily readings from Exodus. There are lots of dire threats of death and lots of slaughter taking place and it is coming directly from God. In today's reading - Exodus 32 - Moses has climbed Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments. The Israelites are bored and doubting, so they create a golden calf god. God immediately wants to kill them all, but Moses intervenes begging God to reconsider, and He relents. Moses returns down the mountain, chastises his people for their idolatry and then God commands him: “Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.” And, about 3,000 people died. What's up with that?

I have searched for an answer and have come across several offerings. Some say that God's wrath was needed to prevent further and more serious affronts to His authority. Some say that we should be more amazed by God's mercy since He does not simply strike us dead immediately when we transgress (as most of us do every day!). Unfortunately, in a fallen, evil world (unlike the one that God created), there are seldom any really happy alternatives. I am sure that what God eventually condoned here as necessary is certainly not what He originally envisioned as ideal.

My friend, Margaret, suggested that perhaps all the threats and slaughter were no more than early Bible authors trying to demonstrate God's power and ultimate authority through hyperbole and exaggeration.

What do you think. Personally, I could use some answers.

I am looking forward to tomorrow's reading from Exodus 34 wherein the Lord proclaims

“The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

The ordination of Aaron and his sons: Exodus 29-30

I must admit I was a bit taken aback by the elaborate and expensive nature of the Lord's demands of Moses and his people in the ordination ceremony. A bull and two rams were to be sacrificed - and detailed instructions about just how the animals should be butchered is given. In addition to the ordination offerings, Moses was instructed to sacrifice two year-old lambs every day, along with bread and wine. Every day! I can only imagine the burden that put on shepherds and the community at large. I still have trouble accepting the literal nature of the Lord's demands, so I went to my buddy Matthew Henry for insight.

"A lamb was to be offered upon the altar every morning, and a lamb every evening. This typified the continual intercession which Christ ever lives to make for his church. Though he offered himself but once for all, that one offering thus becomes a continual offering. This also teaches us to offer to God the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise every day, morning and evening. Our daily devotions are the most needful of our daily works, and the most pleasant of our daily comforts. Prayer-time must be kept up as duly as meal-time. Those starve their own souls, who keep not up constant attendance on the throne of grace; constancy in religion brings in the comfort of it."

OK, I get the value of ritual and daily devotions, but I still am struggling with the pagan nature of this entire process. I understand this happened a LONG time ago - long before Jesus' time - and I guess Moses and his folk were trying to reconcile their former pagan practices with the Lord's new edicts. But still...

If we have ever had a passage that needs comment and insight, this is one. Please offer your thoughts in the comments.

Proportionate Share?

I was listening to an audio version of Exodus in the car this weekend.  I tend to listen in chunks instead of doing the smaller, daily readings, which is detrimental to in depth discernment, but that's nonetheless what I was doing.  So I'm not sure if we have officially reached this point in the scheduled reading or not, and I can't pinpoint chapter and verse.  But what I heard was the long recitation (twice) of all the rules and regulations of Hebrew life, and one of them had to do with every person giving a fractional portion of a piece of silver as part of an annual offering of atonement.  The instructions were very clear:  the same amount was due from every man; the rich could not be required to give more, nor were the poor entitled to give less.  I'm probably revealing an unacceptable socialist bent here, but it doesn't seem fair to me that the poor would be required to give such a significantly greater portion of their assets than the rich.  Or, looking at it another way, if great sacrifice was the aim of this measure, it doesn't seem fair that the wealthy would be deprived of the blessing of that spiritual discipline by restricting the amount of their offering.  Why not a percentage instead of a "flat tax?"

LB

Matthew 25:31-46: The Sheep and the Goats Parable.

Moses' workout

In the midst of the thunder, lightning and smoke of Exodus 19, there is a rather amusing side story. I love it when the Bible strikes my funny bone; God does display a great sense of humor from time to time.

In this scene, Moses has led the Israelites to Mt. Sinai, the place God had told Moses at the beginning of his adventure to come and meet up. Now, Mt. Sinai is no Mt. Everest, but it was still a good mile and a half hike to the top. The Israelites set up camp at the base of the mountain and 80 year old Moses started to climb. He was probably keeping his eye open for any burning bushes during his ascent, since that’s how God spoke to him the last time he was in the vicinity.

Moses “went up to God” (v.3) and sure enough, God had a message for Moses to take to the people. So, Moses “went back” (v.7) and delivered the message. Then Moses took the people’s answer “back up to the Lord” (v.8). God was pleased and gave Moses another message for the people. After Moses “had gone down” (v.14), it wasn’t long before God “called Moses to the top of the mountain, so Moses went up” (v.20). Are you picturing this?

Here’s the funny part. Moses had just made his third trek up Mt. Sinai and God’s first words to him were, “GO DOWN and bring Aaron up” (v.24). Up and down, up and down, up and down. Isn’t that just the way it feels sometimes? But Moses spoke not a disparaging word; instead the Scripture says, “So Moses went down” (v.25).

Aside from the fact that Moses must have been in pretty good shape for an 80 year old, what do you think was going through Moses’ mind as he went up and down that mountain three times? Think about it this week and post your comments!

Great men should not only study to be useful themselves, but contrive to make others useful. Exodus 18

Exodus 18:17 may mark the beginning of representative government as we know it today. Moses for some time had been mediating disputes and quarrels between members of his flock when his father-in-law, Jethro, saw that the burden of judgement was taking its toll on Moses. There was only a loose system of laws so I imagine disputes were numerous. Moses needed help and Jethro had the answer:

Exodus 18:19 "Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

And again Presbyterian minister Matthew Henry has some insight:

"Here is the great zeal and the toil of Moses as a magistrate. Having been employed to redeem Israel out of the house of bondage, he is a further type of Christ, that he is employed as a lawgiver and a judge among them. If the people were as quarrelsome one with another as they were with God, no doubt Moses had many causes brought before him. This business Moses was called to; it appears that he did it with great care and kindness. The meanest Israelite was welcome to bring his cause before him. Moses kept to his business from morning to night. Jethro thought it was too much for him to undertake alone; also it would make the administration of justice tiresome to the people. There may be over-doing even in well-doing. Wisdom is profitable to direct, that we may neither content ourselves with less than our duty, nor task ourselves beyond our strength. Jethro advised Moses to a better plan. Great men should not only study to be useful themselves, but contrive to make others useful. Care must be taken in the choice of the persons admitted into such a trust. They should be men of good sense, that understood business, and that would not be daunted by frowns or clamours, but abhorred the thought of a bribe. Men of piety and religion; such as fear God, who dare not to do a base thing, though they could do it secretly and securely. The fear of God will best fortify a man against temptations to injustice. Moses did not despise this advice. Those are not wise, who think themselves too wise to be counselled."