2021 Week Seven — February 21 through 27

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Tanakh (Old Testament) Reading
Exodus 32 – 34
Exodus 35 – 37; Psalm 26
Exodus 38 – 40
Leviticus 1 – 3; Psalm 27
Leviticus 4 – 7

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B’rit Hadashah (New Covenant, or New Testament) Reading
Philippians 3
Philippians 4
Hebrews 1
Hebrews 2
Hebrews 3

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Thoughts about Exodus 32 through 40
Chapter 32. This is painful. While Moses is with God, receiving the Law, the former slaves get out of control and convince Aaron to make them a god they can see. Moses negotiates with God to spare the people, but when he gets down to see what’s going on, he destroys the stone tablets, and calls for help. His fellow tribesmen, the Levites, rally to him and kill three thousand Israelites. A very sad day.
What do you think about this tragic event?
Chapter 33: Moses spends more time with Adonai, and gets to see a portion of his glory.
Have you figured out what it means to see God?
Chapters 34 through 39. More laws, and the construction of everything related to Tabernacle worship. (I wonder how many years it took them.) Here’s the summary:
Exodus 39:42) The people of Isra’el did all the work just as Adonai had ordered Moshe. 43) Moshe saw all the work, and — there it was! — they had done it! Exactly as Adonai had ordered, they had done it. And Moshe blessed them.
Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to see all that had been accomplished while living in the desert? (It’s one of my most-desired time-travel destinations.)
Chapter 40 – The Grand Finale of Exodus. The priests are consecrated, and the Tabernacle and Courtyard are completed.
34) Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. 35) Moshe was unable to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud remained on it, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle.
(When I’m time-traveling, I’ll definitely want to stay there long enough to see the glory of Adonai filling the brand-new Tabernacle.)

Thoughts about Leviticus 1 through 7
On February 28, Pastor Andrew said, “The Book of Leviticus is where Bible-reading plans go to die.” (Or something like that.)
I have read this book enough times over the course of my life that I’m mostly comfortable with it.
I’ll repeat what I wrote last week to help you get through these chapters; these three things help me:
1) Everything in the Tanakh points to Jesus. Every detail in this passage is full of details is hinting at the coming Messiah. Look for those hints.
2) Get help visualizing the things in these chapters. It’s easy to find online images of all the things described. Or buy a book that shows the layout of the Tabernacle and courtyard; all the furnishings therein; the priests’ garments.
3) Listen to these chapters in an audio Bible instead of (or in addition to) reading the paper-and-ink version.

What questions do you have about these chapters? What insights do you have from reading and studying them?

Thoughts about Psalms 26 and 27
I would have preferred to see these Psalms incorporated into the life of David, since he wrote them.
What did you think about these psalms?

Thoughts about Philippians 3 and 4, and Hebrews 1 through 3
Philippians! More delicious, densely-packed wisdom from Paul. A sample from chapter 4:
4) Rejoice in union with the Lord always! I will say it again: rejoice! 5) Let everyone see how reasonable and gentle you are. The Lord is near! 6) Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. 7) Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua. 8) In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy. 9) Keep doing what you have learned and received from me, what you have heard and seen me doing; then the God who gives shalom will be with you.
What did you learn/enjoy/appreciate in these chapters?
Hebrews! Based on how the book ends (the finale of chapter 13), I believe Paul wrote or co-wrote it. The Tanakh-based theology of the first three chapters basically says:
• Jesus is superior to the prophets
• Jesus is superior to the angels
• Jesus is superior to Moses and Joshua
It’s amazing to see how much the author quoted from the Tanakh in just three chapters: Psalm 110, Psalm 2, 2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 7, Psalm 97, Psalm 104, Psalm 45, Psalm 102, Psalm 8, Psalm 22, Isaiah 8, Isaiah 41, Numbers 12, and Psalm 95.
What did you see?