February 12th One Year Bible Readings

Exodus 34:1-35:9 ~ Matthew 27:15-31 ~ Psalm 33:12-22 ~ Proverbs 9:1-6
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Old Testament - Exodus chapter 34 verses 6 & 7 are beautiful and we will hear these words repeated again later in the Old Testament a few times: ""I am the LORD, I am the LORD, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness. I show this unfailing love to many thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion."  How do these words resonate with you?  Do you believe God is merciful and gracious?  Slow to anger?  And rich in unfailing love and faithfulness?  Have you asked God for forgiveness for your sins and rebellion?

Verses 33 through 35 in today's readings tell us: "When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he removed the veil until he came out again. Then he would give the people whatever instructions the LORD had given him, and the people would see his face aglow. Afterward he would put the veil on again until he returned to speak with the LORD."   

And today's guest commentary on these preceding verses is from none other than Paul!  This is the Bible giving commentary on the Bible. Here is Paul in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians chapter 3 verses 7 - 18 (read this carefully... read this twice... this is good....) - "That old system of law etched in stone led to death, yet it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses' face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn't we expect far greater glory when the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old covenant, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new covenant, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new covenant. So if the old covenant, which has been set aside, was full of glory, then the new covenant, which remains forever, has far greater glory. Since this new covenant gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory fading away. But the people's minds were hardened, and even to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, a veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses' writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, then the veil is taken away. Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom.  And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more."   Not a bad commentary, eh?

Below is an image for verses 29 & 30: "When Moses came down the mountain carrying the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn't aware that his face glowed because he had spoken to the LORD face to face. And when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses' face, they were afraid to come near him."

Bible.org's commentary on Exodus chapter 34 titled "A New Beginning" is at this link.

New Testament - The Passion readings today are always tough...  they bring home the reality of what Jesus did for each of us.  Tomorrow's readings are tougher.  An image of Pilate asking the crowd in verse 22: ""But if I release Barabbas," Pilate asked them, "what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?"

I read an interesting commentary on verse 24 today: "Pilate saw that he wasn't getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this man. The responsibility is yours!"  Tyndale's commentary said that even though Pilate verbally said the "responsibility is yours" and even though he washed his hands - his responsibility remained.  He was essentially afraid about losing his job, because there was the threat to report him to Caesar (John 19:12).  Pilate was the Roman governor from AD 26-36 for Judea and Samaria.  One of his main duties was to simply "keep the peace" in this outlying area of the Roman Empire - and to do "whatever was necessary" to maintain the "peace"...  Below is a painting by Mattia Preti from 1663 of Pilate trying to wash his hands of guilt...  Pilate seems to be looking at the viewer in this painting with a "Who are you looking at?" expression...  Who are we looking at here?

Psalms - Psalm 33 verse 12 today is awesome: "In him our hearts rejoice, for we are trusting in his holy name." Does your heart literally rejoice when you think about God?  Do you trust in God's holy name?

Proverbs - Proverbs chapter 9 verses 5 & 6 are a reminder that not only does Temptation call us (as we've read earlier in Proverbs this year), but Wisdom calls out to us as well!  "Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your foolish ways behind, and begin to live; learn how to be wise."  Which voice are you listening to these days?  Whose invitation are you accepting?  Temptation's?  Or Wisdom's?  Whose call will you answer?

Worship God:  Reflecting on the old covenant and the New Covenant in the Old Testament today reminded me of the incredible song by MercyMe called "Emmanuel (God with Us)."  Here's a video to this great song:

Do you know that God is with us?  Click here to meet Emmanuel!

Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 NIV

Comments from you & Question of the Day - I love all of our Proverbs readings about wisdom these days.  And obviously I think most of us would agree that we are finding wisdom in the Bible.  My question for today is this - can we find wisdom outside of the Bible?  For example, I read Jim Collins famous business book "Good to Great" a few years ago, and I believe I found some business wisdom in this book.  I listen to Dennis Prager's radio show and think that I gain some wisdom from his comments on occasion.   I read the Wall Street Journal and think that gives me some wisdom periodically.  I think the difference though between these 3 modern day sources and the Bible is that Good to Great, Dennis Prager, and the Wall Street journal are not 100% wisdom 100% of the time.  Whereas the Bible I believe is 100% wisdom 100% of the time.  How about you?  Do you think you get wisdom in places outside of the Bible today?  Where are those places?  Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

Comments

[Pat]

THE DIFFERENCE IN THE STONES ON WHICH THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WERE WRITTEN: The words of the Ten Commandments are the same, but notice the difference in the first and second set of stones. When the first set was written, Moses had Joshua with him on the mountain to carry the stones. This time Moses was told to come alone. When the first set was written, God Himself carved the words on the stone (Exodus 32:13-16). When Moses came down from the mountain, in anger he took those “Sacred Stones” on which God had written and threw them and broke them (Exodus 32:19). Now we see God again giving Moses the Ten Commandments but this time God makes Moses carry the load and chisel the words into the stones himself (Exodus 34:27-28). I think there may be a lesson here for all of us. God is the same never-changing loving and faithful God. However, when we do something (especially in anger) to harm what God has given us, we will have to do the work to repair the damage we have caused. God is still with us but He will require us to make a conscientious effort to renew our relationship with Him!

God Bless,
Pat

[Elizabeth]

Hello Everyone,

Pat--I never noticed that Moses wrote the second set of stones. Interesting to think about. I was also impressed (and have been in the past too) by Moses' fiery temper. Did you notice that he ground that golden calf up and had them drink the dust? There are little bits about Moses throughout Exodus that get me thinking.

Of course, Moses had good reason to be angry with the Israelites and I empathize with his personality and struggles on many levels. Still, as you mention, our actions have consequences (which of course gets me thinking later about him striking that rock and not getting to enter the promised land).

Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts--they are good to chew on.

Yesterday I spent much of the day dwelling upon the impatience of the Israelites--their unwillingness to wait things out. Waiting is difficult. God uses this "inactivity" in profound ways--we are prone to think movement of any sort is better than stillness. But, humility and self-control grows out of seasons where we wait....

Today, I like this verse from Exodus:

"And he [God] said, "Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you." -Exodus 34:10

I love that last phrase..."for it is an AWESOME thing that I will do with you." What an understatement, huh? It is humbling and glorious for me to think that the Lord chooses to take ordinary sinful people and do awesome things with us. Praise Him! : )

[Arielle]

Hey Pat and Elizabeth,

I was reading your observations of the passage. The scriptures say Moses carved out the two stones in the shape of the first one. But GOD wrote the commandments again, correct?

Look below (first line of second para;):

"1 Then the Lord told Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones.

I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets you smashed."

[Paul]

Arielle,

Even though at the beginning of chapter 34, God said to Moses that He is going to write the 10 commandments,In verses 27-28,we can see that it was Moses who wrote the 10 commandments.

I would love to hear few comments on this,

[Elizabeth]

Hello Again,

I was looking at this passage with regard to Moses writing the ten commandments:

"And the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."
So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. -Exodus 34:27-28

Am I thinking right about this? Do let me know your thoughts--it's good to think through it with others : )

[Arielle]

Hey all

I think I'm still researching it more, I'm still confused. Look at he below two versions for Ex34:27-28:

In KJV (Ex34:27-28)says:
27And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

28And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

and in NLV it says:
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel.”

28 Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water.

And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.

[Elizabeth]

Hmmmmm...interesting comparison Arielle. I'm not sure what to make of it either.

Anyone have insights?