Chronological Reading Plan for Feb 6, Ex 22-24

Today's readings are Ex 22-24. Tomorrow's are Ex 25-27.

After delivering the ten commandments (the Law), the moral guidelines that reveal the character and nature of God, Moses receives the civil and ceremonial laws (the law). Notice the difference between the two. Many people believe we are no longer under the Law as if, somehow, Jesus thinks it's OK to worship other gods and murder each other. We are, indeed, no longer under many of the ceremonial laws and not all of the civil. But even the ceremonial and civil laws are a revelation of God's character and, in reality are the basis for many of the civil laws we observe today. Those start in Ex 21 with guidelines for, but not prohibition of, slavery. There are civil laws and rules in Ex 22 and the first half of Ex 23. God lays out the festivals in the second half of Ex 23, each of them symbolic of the deliverance of His children and of the promise of the future redemption and deliverance as well. 

Some of the laws seem obscure. All of them are far less a way to control His people than they are a revelation of who He is and how He functions. As you read through these laws, read them with this in mind; Jesus sums them all up in two beautifully simple statements,

Mark 12:29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

You can see this clearly in these chapters in Exodus. Each law is a detailed reflection of Jesus' summation. Believing we are no longer under the Law of God denies the very word of Christ. We are certainly no longer under the condemnation of the Law. We no longer suffer the consequences of disobeying the law, death. But, the Holy Spirit is conforming us to His image, using the moral code found in the Law.

God promises, again, to bring them safely to the Promised Land. Once they get there, they are to drive out the inhabitants "utterly". This will be a significant commandment that will impact them greatly as they move forward.

The covenant with God is reconfirmed. Moses goes up on the mountain for 40 days and nights. He's receiving the tablets! 

Then, things get interesting....