Friday, May 17<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 19: The Book of Exodus, having treated of Israel\u2019s deliverance, now speaks of Israel\u2019s election and the Covenant. Over the next six chapters two sections will emerge as especially prominent\u2014the Decalogue (20:1-17) and the Book of the Covenant (20:22\u201423:19), the latter containing a detailed, practical application of the rules of the Covenant.<\/p>\n
The things narrated in these chapters are not naked events, but events that received theological and liturgical elaboration reflected in the narrative. It is arguable that Israel devoted more attention to these events than to any other in its history.<\/p>\n
The people have now arrived at Mount Sinai, where the rest of the Book of Exodus, and all of the Book of Leviticus, will take place. Indeed, the Israelites will not move from Sinai until Numbers 10:33.<\/p>\n
The stories begin with Moses\u2019 scaling of Mount Sinai (verse 3), still known among the local Arabs as Jebel Musa<\/i>. This peak, 7467 feet high, can be climbed in under two hours. When Moses ascends to speak with God, the people wait below at the base of the mountain, the plain of er-Raha<\/i> (verses 2,17).<\/p>\n
God\u2019s election of Israel (verses 5-6) is an invitation to become His chosen people, an invitation that marks Israel\u2019s history until the end of the world, because God will never reject the descendents of those with whom He made Covenant at Mount Sinai (cf. Romans 11:1). What God proposes, however, is only an invitation, requiring Israel\u2019s ratification of His choice and the resolve to abide by its conditions and strictures (verses 7-8). Moses mediates this Covenant (verses 9,25).<\/p>\n
The people of God are to be a \u201croyal priesthood, a holy nation\u201d (verse 6). Both the kingship and the priesthood of the Old Testament are prophetic preparations fulfilled in Jesus. Like Melchizedek of old, Jesus Christ is both king and priest (cf. Hebrews 7:1-3). Moreover, because of their awareness of sharing in the royal and priestly dignity and ministries of the risen Jesus, the early Christians were prompt to see this Exodus promise as fulfilled in the Church (cf. 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6).<\/p>\n
The subsequent terrifying scene on Mount Sinai (verses 9-25 and 20:18-20) is contrasted with the invitation to Christians to \u201cdraw near\u201d to God (Hebrews 12:18-24). The theme of a bold \u201cdrawing near to\u201d or \u201capproaching\u201d the divine presence is an important one in the Epistle to the Hebrews, serving as part of its sustained contrast of Christ with Moses (cf. Hebrews 4:16; 7:19; 10:1,22).<\/p>\n
Saturday, May 18<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 20: We come now to the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, a code the Bible contains in two forms: the one here and the other in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Unlike the earlier legal codes of ancient civilizations, the Decalogue uses the apodictic form, simply stating the laws, not explaining them. Thus, each component is treated as an absolute principle.<\/p>\n
Inasmuch as the latter part of the Decalogue contains elements from Natural Law (the right to life, the right to property, etc.), it is not surprising that these have their parallels in other ancient legal codes.<\/p>\n
Unlike the other commandments, this first commandment commences with God\u2019s self-identification; only then does there follow the immediate prohibition against idolatry. Three things must be said about the auto-identification of God in this commandment:<\/p>\n
First, it places the Ten Commandments firmly in the context of God\u2019s revelation. This fact needs to be asserted explicitly, because of a widespread idea that the Decalogue is simply an expression of Natural Law. It isn\u2019t. While it is true that there are a number of material equivalents between certain components of the Decalogue and certain dictates of Natural Law (those governing murder and theft, for instance), there is a formal difference between them. In the case of the Decalogue, each of the commandments is rooted in God\u2019s self-revelation within specific biblical history—Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments are essentially revelatory. They are all extensions of \u201cI am the Lord your God.\u201d This is why we call them the \u201cDecalogue,\u201d or \u201cten words\u201d (deka logoi<\/i>). This Septuagint usage corresponds exactly to the Hebrew expression \u2018aseret haddevarim<\/i>, which is common in the Old Testament (e.g., Deuteronomy 10:4).<\/p>\n
Second, God\u2019s self-identification places the Decalogue entirely in the context of unmerited grace. He is not simply \u201cthe Lord your God,\u201d but the One who \u201cbrought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.\u201d The observance of the commandments is man\u2019s grateful response to the God who \u201cfirst loved us\u201d (1 John 4:19). The Ten Commandments, almost any time the Bible speaks of them, were \u201cgiven\u201d to Moses on Mount Sinai. Holy Scripture regards them entirely as gifts<\/i>, component dimensions of God\u2019s redemptive grace and covenant.<\/p>\n
Third, God\u2019s self-identification makes idolatry necessarily the first sin: \u201cYou shall have no other gods in My stead.\u201d All other sins are material extensions of idolatry. When men exchange \u201cthe truth of God for a lie,\u201d all other sins follow, because idolatry is the root cause of \u201call unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,\u201d and so on (Romans 1:18-32). It is always the case that those who worship demons do \u201cnot repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts\u201d (Revelation 9:20-21).<\/p>\n
Sunday, May 19<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 21: The material in these next three chapters is often called \u201cthe book of the covenant,\u201d a term suggested by Exodus 24:7. In substance this code is largely identical with the core section of the Book of Deuteronomy (and hence the name of the latter, which means \u201csecond law\u201d).<\/p>\n
Whereas Chapter 20 enunciated universal legal principles, Chapter 21 commences a series of specific \u201cjudgments\u201d (mishpotim<\/i> \u2014 verse 1), or \u201ccase laws.\u201d The latter are particular applications of the earlier legal principles. Thus, the judgments in the present chapter are concrete applications of the established principle, \u201cYou shall not steal\u201d (20:15).<\/p>\n
The prescriptions in these chapters come under the heading of \u201ccase laws\u201d or casuistry, because they deal with the practical applications of laws to certain hypothetical cases. This is the legal style we find in our most ancient legal codes, such as the formulations of Ur-Nammu, composed in Sumerian about 2050 B.C. and named for the ruler of Ur in southern Mesopotamia (cf. Genesis 11:31).<\/p>\n
The accumulation of such case laws serves to indicate certain directions in which future ethical cases—not specifically covered by these laws—might be appropriately judged, by rational recourse to comparison and analogy. The study of such case laws is also intended to give a proper contour to our moral sentiment, a certain \u201cfeeling\u201d about moral situations that may arise. By the sustained examination of God\u2019s judgments (mishpotim<\/i>) in the various hypothetical situations described in these passages, the moral imagination is given a godly shape in order to make proper moral decisions in the future.<\/p>\n
The present chapter begins with slavery (verses 1-11), the state from which the Israelites have just been delivered. The functioning principle here, through all the hypothetical cases reviewed, is that no man may be enslaved against his own will beyond six years.<\/p>\n
In verses 22-36 we have what is the Bible\u2019s first and perhaps clearest enunciation of the legal principle of equity, quid pro quo<\/i>. Thus, \u201ceye for eye, tooth for tooth,\u201d and so on (cf. Leviticus 24:17-20; Deuteronomy 19:21). All such laws are founded on the perception of proportions. Justice, that is to say, has something to do with the principles of mathematics (symbolized in the scales that often appear in artistic representations of Justice), a proper conformity to correct measure. Moral truth is perceived like mathematics or any other truth, by the correct application of the properly reasoning mind.<\/p>\n
Monday, May 29<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 22: This chapter begins with some more applications of the commandment, \u201cThou shalt not steal.\u201d Whereas Chapter 21 presumed situations in which the harm inflicted was unintentional, and thus involved only commensurate restitution, the present chapter looks more closely at situations in which the harm inflicted is deliberate and intentional. In this chapter, then, we are dealing, not only with laws of compensation but also with punitive laws. The penalties in these latter, one will notice, are quite a bit harsher. They are obviously designed to discourage certain sorts of behavior!<\/p>\n
The Bible takes very seriously the concept of ownership, a fact that explains the serious penalties imposed for theft. These include a manifold restitution for stolen or damaged property, and the lack of a guaranteed protection for a thief taken in the act (verses 1-4).<\/p>\n
Whereas modern philosophy tends to distinguish public from private property, the Bible is more interested in what we may call family property—property as a family\u2019s substance of labor and inheritance. That is to say, in the Bible property is more closely associated with the experience of tradition, including respect for the labor of one\u2019s ancestors. Property is regarded as an extension of family; it is that component that binds the generations of a family together.<\/p>\n
For this reason there is a close alliance between \u201cHonor thy father and thy mother\u201d and \u201cThou shalt not steal.\u201d It is hardly surprising, then, that those who disregard the claims of tradition are more likely to be thieves. Of this latter phenomenon we have a good illustration in the case of Ahab and Jezebel in the instance of Naboth\u2019s vineyard (1 Kings 21).<\/p>\n
Family property, moreover, is a community concern, over which the newly appointed judges (18:13-26) have jurisdiction and the right of determination (verse 9).<\/p>\n
Community concern is also directed to another important dimension of social life: sexuality. In the present context, however, this concern pertains to the (consensual) defilement of a virgin (verses 16-17), a situation in which the offense directly affects the financial worth of the father of the girl. This is the reason for its inclusion in the present section of Exodus.<\/p>\n
This brief consideration of a sexual matter, however, prompts the inclusion of another sexual offense, bestiality (verse 19). Perhaps even this inclusion is prompted by the consideration of property, inasmuch as the animal must be slain.<\/p>\n
By an association difficult to follow, the subject of bestiality leads in turn to rules about sorcery and idolatry (verses 18,20). Perhaps the common element in all these rules is the prescription of the death penalty.<\/p>\n
There next follows a concern for sojourners and others deprived of a normal domestic life (verses 21-24)—those with whom the Israelites, remembering their own sojourn, are to commiserate (cf 23:9; Leviticus 19:33-34; Deuteronomy 1:16; 10:17-19; 14:28-29; 16:11-14; Jeremiah 7:6). Sins in violation of this concern are included in this section because of their social nature.<\/p>\n
Tuesday, May 21<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 23: Pursuant to the Decalogue\u2019s prohibition against false witness (20:16), the present chapter opens with directions about judicial proceedings (1-3,7-8).<\/p>\n
Because it appeared unlikely that a poor man (dal<\/i>), in ancient times, would be favored in court, some textual historians suspect that verse 3 has been corrupted in the transmission. They suggest a slight emendation (the supply of one letter in Hebrew), causing this verse to read, \u201cThou shalt not favor a great man (gadol<\/i>) in his cause.\u201d This appears to be a responsible emendation that renders the text more understandable in the historical context.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, in more recent times we have seen the rise of political ideologies that have tended in exactly the opposite direction, favoring the poorer, disadvantaged classes as a matter of principle, sometimes at the expense of specific determinations of justice. It is not unknown, in modern times, for the courts to be used in an activist way, to rectify general social inequities, instead of simply adjudicating individual cases on their just merits. It is not the business of the courts to rectify social ills, but to punish evildoers. This is the reason that Justice is portrayed as blindfolded.<\/p>\n
The sacred text moves on to treat of the effective charity a believer owes even to his enemies, out of an elementary sense of humane compassion (verses 4-5; Leviticus 19:17-19). This motive also prompts concern for the stranger and sojourner (verse 9), the same motive given earlier (22:21-24).<\/p>\n
In conformance with the stated solicitude for the poor and disadvantaged, attention is given to the \u201cSabbath rest\u201d of the cultivated fields, because this practice, too, serves a kind and humane purpose (verses 10-11, Leviticus 25:2-5; Deuteronomy 15:1-3; Nehemiah 10:31; 1 Maccabees 6:49,53).<\/p>\n
From this metaphorical application of the Sabbath rest, the text takes up the literal Sabbath rest, enunciated in the Decalogue (20:8-11). Once again the motive given here is more humane than theological (verse 12).<\/p>\n
Continuing the theme of consecrated time, Exodus goes on to treat the three annual feasts (verses 14-17), Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Each of these is here briefly explained, not in relation to its specific meaning in salvation history (deliverance, covenant, and desert journey), but with respect to its place in the annual agrarian cycle. Both aspects of these feast days remain in something of a tension throughout the Old Testament.<\/p>\n
Transferred to the Christian Church these three feasts became Easter, Pentecost, and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14).<\/p>\n
Wednesday, May 22<\/b><\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 6:1-11: When Paul started the mission in Corinth in the winter of 49\u201350, had just come from Athens, and his spirit was still trying to recover from his experience in that other city. In his final sermon to the philosophers on Mars Hill near the center of Athens, he had managed to preach for 10 verses without once mentioning the Cross or even the name of Jesus (17:22\u201331); very few had been converted by that effort (17:34). By the time he reached Corinth, Paul was deeply discouraged; perhaps he wondered if he had treated the gospel as a kind of philosophy. He determined that he would never again take a philosophical approach to the Gospel He would preach only the crucified Jesus.
\nConsequently, his ministry in Corinth was more fruitful.<\/p>\n
Some of his converts, however, came from rather shady backgrounds. Today\u2019s reading testifies that some of them, prior to Paul\u2019s arrival, were fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, and drunkards.<\/p>\n
Exodus 24: This narrative seems to be derived from two accounts of the event, joined, but not entirely reconciled, with respect to some details. For instance, it is not entirely clear which actions take place on the mountain and which on the plain. The ratification itself is marked by both a sacrificial meal and by the sprinkling of sacrificial blood (verses 8,11). We find references to this ratification in Zechariah 9:11 and Hebrews 9:18-20.<\/p>\n
Indeed, our earliest Christian reflection on verses 3-8 is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews 9:16-23, in a context emphasizing that the deep significance of the sacrificial blood in the Old Testament is its prophetic reference to the redeeming blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for the salvation of mankind. The blood of Jesus is called the \u201cblood of the covenant\u201d also in Hebrews 10:29 and Mark 14:24.<\/p>\n
Moses ascended the mountain with three men (verses 9-18), two of whom were brothers, and there was a six-day delay. Compare the remarkable parallel to both points in Mark 9:2. In the scene of the Lord\u2019s Transfiguration, He is joined by the two figures most clearly associated with revelations given on Mount Sinai\/Horeb: Moses and Elijah (cf. 1 Kings 19:8-18).<\/p>\n
Moses is again summoned to ascend the mountain in order to receive the stone tablets and certain liturgical regulations (verse 12). The engraving of laws on stone was characteristic of many ancient legal codes, all the way from the Decree of Hammurabi to the inscriptions on the walls of the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Law, that is to say, represents inheritance, binding one generation to the next. Hence, it is appropriate to write laws on stone, a substance that does not quickly pass away.<\/p>\n
Thursday, May 23<\/b><\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 6:12-20: There is a tendency among Christians to think of sexual sins as more serious than other forms of sin. According to today\u2019s reading, they have a point.<\/p>\n
Exodus 25: Here begin lengthy and detailed orders about the construction of the tabernacle, the instruments of worship, the ordination and vestments of the priests, and so forth (chapters 25-31). Meanwhile, as all this important instruction is taking place, Aaron and the Israelites do a bit of liturgical experimentation on their own (chapters 32-34)! The juxtaposition of these two scenes will constitute one of the great examples of narrative irony in the Bible. After the story of the golden calf, the narrative of Exodus will continue in chapters 35-40 with the enactment of the earlier prescriptions.<\/p>\n
Chapters 21\u201431 are composed of seven prescriptive oracles (\u201cthe Lord spoke unto Moses, say . . .\u201d), each with its own introduction (25:1; 30:11,17,22,34; 31:1,12). In some of these oracles we recognize points of correspondence with the different days of creation. Thus, the first oracle, which speaks of the candelabrum and of Aaron\u2019s custody of the sacred fire, corresponds to the creation of light on the first day. The third oracle (30:17-21), which describes the brazen sea in the tabernacle, corresponds to the third day\u2019s creation of the seas. The fourth, which prescribes the oil for the lamps (30:22-33), is parallel to the fourth day of creation, when the various lights were placed in the heavens. Thus, finally, this \u201csabbath\u201d of oracles ends with the Sabbath itself and appeals to God\u2019s own rest after the works of creation (31:12-17; cf. Psalms 89 [88]:21).<\/p>\n
Prior to describing all these matters in detail, the author outlines the subjects that will be treated in the ensuing chapters (verses 3-8). Then Moses is given a vision of the archetypal tabernacle (verse 9,40)—that tabernacle not made with hands—the everlasting holy place into which, in due course, the eternal high priest and one mediator between God and men will enter, having obtained eternal redemption for us (cf. Hebrews 8:1-5).<\/p>\n
Twelve loaves of fresh bread, representing the full assembly of Israel, are to be kept on the table in God\u2019s presence in the tabernacle (verses 23-30). This \u201choly bread\u201d (1 Samuel 21:4)—\u201cbread of the presence\u201d (21:6)—and \u201ccontinual bread\u201d (Numbers 4:7) was a type of the Holy Eucharist, the mystical bread of God\u2019s presence, contained in all the tabernacles of the Church throughout the world, until the end of time.<\/p>\n
Friday, May 24<\/b><\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 7:1-9: Here begins Paul\u2019s most extensive treatment of marriage and sexuality. One is struck by his completely practical tone; although he argues for the theoretical superiority of consecrated celibacy (verses 25-35), he does not propose celibacy as a moral ideal. Indeed, these opening verses suggest a measure of moral danger in treating celibacy as a moral ideal.<\/p>\n
Exodus 26: The construction of the Tabernacle is described in the first part (verses 1-14) of this chapter. It had four coverings, divided into workable sections. The first covering was made of linen, over which were coverings of goats\u2019 hair, rams\u2019 skins dyed red, and dugongs\u2019 skins. Two things are noteworthy about this last: First, the dugong, or sea cow, is a native of the Indian Ocean. The availability of this product indicates the extensive trade carried on through the Red Sea. One speculates that the sea-going power of Sheba was the medium by which this product reached Egypt. Second, the skin of the dugong, which sat uppermost over the Tabernacle, rendered it rainproof.<\/p>\n
Next are described the wooden side-frames of the Tabernacle (verses 15-30), indicating that this shrine stood about 14 feet high, was 62 feet long, and measured over 42 feet wide.<\/p>\n
Finally comes the internal division of the Tabernacle between the holy place and the Holy of Holies (31-37), the latter measuring about 14 feet square. It contained the Ark of the Covenant and the tablets of the Decalogue (cf. Hebrews 9:3-4).<\/p>\n
The division within the tabernacle was later duplicated and further developed within the Jerusalem temple. Indeed, the sense of separated space is intrinsic to the very notion of a \u201ctemple,\u201d a word derived from the Greek temno<\/i>, meaning \u201cto divide.\u201d A shrine of any kind is already a section of space devoted to the things of God, and divisions within a shrine are related to the ordered structure of the community that worships there. The building reflects the congregation\u2019s conception of itself. In the case of Israel and the Christian Church, the ordered structure of the worshipping community is \u201chierarchical,\u201d meaning that its organizational structure is holy and reflects a divinely appointed order.<\/p>\n
This hierarchical aspect of biblical worship, that is to say, is enacted even in architecture. (Indeed, if one looks closely, both \u201chierarchy<\/i>\u201d and \u201carch<\/i>itecture\u201d are formed of a common root, a Greek word meaning, roughly, \u201ca principle that gives structure and explanation to reality.\u201d)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Friday, May 17 Exodus 19: The Book of Exodus, having treated of Israel\u2019s deliverance, now speaks of Israel\u2019s election and the Covenant. Over the next six chapters two sections will emerge as especially prominent\u2014the Decalogue (20:1-17) and the Book of the Covenant (20:22\u201423:19), the latter containing a detailed, practical application of the rules of the … Continue reading May 17 – May 24, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1405"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1406,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405\/revisions\/1406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}