Chronological Reading Plan for Feb 5, Ex 19-21

Today's readings are Ex 19-21. Tomorrow's are Ex 22-24.

Ex 19 finds the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. God gives His people the Law. Every facet of the Law rises up out of the character and nature of God and reflects His attributes. He is the one true God. His people, therefore, should worship no other. He is unfathomable. Any effort to depict Him will fall short and is actually the means of man defining God instead of God defining man. He is the creator of life; only He has the right to take it away. He is truth; any distortion of the truth is a distortion of Him. There is rest at the end of the work God does. This rest will extend to His people once they have done what He calls them to do. Then they will enter into His presence eternally. They are directed to observe a Sabbath as a reminder of that promise. He gives life to the family, forming sons and daughters in the womb. To dishonor mother or father is to dishonor His handiwork. All things belong to Him and He is the giver of all things. Any effort or desire to rearrange the way He has distributed to His children is a denial of His wisdom and authority. The 10 commandments are reflective of the character and nature of God. As such, they will become the measure of how His people are being conformed into His image. The rest of the laws, which amount to civil law, are extensions of each of the commandments.

As the details of the events on Sinai are familiar, let's look at the big picture of the story of the Bible so far.

God creates...everything, including a man, Adam. He puts Adam in a beautiful garden and gives him a simple rule to obey. This rule sets the parameters for how Adam will relate to God. If it is not observed, the relationship will be broken. Adam fails. 

Even in Adam's failure, God, instead of destroying Adam, provides a promise of redemption (Gen 3:15). Adam and Eve are thrown out of the garden. Daily, intimate fellowship with God is broken. But God continues to bless them, although hardship has now entered the picture because of Adam's failure to obey.

As Adam's offspring multiply, the earth begins to populate but most of the people are like Adam, prone to disobedience. Things get worse. Man's totally corrupt nature is revealed. God sends a flood, washing away nearly the entire population of the world. This is a sign that God will not tolerate sin but will cleanse it. God graciously preserves Noah and his family. Noah, like Adam, is an instrument of redemption. Through him, mankind is preserved instead of destroyed. They both are imperfect but point toward an ultimate and perfect Redeemer. 

Noah's family repopulates the world. Even after the flood, man remains corrupt and living apart from God. Still, God has a plan to redeem man and bring him back into a right relationship with Himself. 

From among the people, God chooses Abraham, a simple man with no distinguishing characteristics to set him apart. As of yet, there are no formal groups calling themselves Hebrew or Jewish people. Abraham will be the leader of a chosen race that will bear the word of God and the message of His redemption for all mankind to the entire world. 

Abraham has his own struggles. He has a hard time obeying as well. Yet, God is gracious. Abraham's family grows. God gives them Canaan, the Promised Land. They take it, but are easily influenced by the people living there and begin to become corrupt. One of Abraham's sons, Joseph, has been cruelly treated by his 11 brothers. There are 12 brothers in all. This pattern of 12 leaders will repeat itself throughout Scripture. 

Joseph, incredibly, ends up as a highly influential slave in Egypt. Joseph will become another symbol of redemption for God's people as God supernaturally moves His people from Canaan to Egypt, providing for them every step of the way, through Joseph, in spite of their disobedience. 

God's people prosper in Egypt but eventually become slaves there. Life gets tough but God raises up Moses, another symbol of redemption. Moses leads God's people out of Egypt, according to God's promise. Even though they are obstinate and rebellious, God miraculously provides for them on their journey back to the Promised Land. God now supernaturally moves His people along to their next step. 

That next step is Mount Sinai, itself symbolic in that it is the primary mountain that dominates the Old Testament. It becomes one of the two main symbols of how God communicates with His children, the first (Sinai) through the law and the second (Mt Zion, in the NT) through grace. 

At Sinai, God, once again, gives His children the rules by which they are to live. God is showing them, in more detail this time, that their relationship with Him will have narrow parameters and is not subject to re-interpretation or alteration, just as it was in the garden. 

Everything we've seen, so far, is headed in the direction of redemption for God's people. God is rolling out His plan, step by step, man by man, for redeeming His chosen people once and for all through the ultimate and perfect redeemer, Jesus Christ. He is teaching them His ways, revealing His character and nature, showing them how He does things, demonstrating His infinite grace and patience...all so that men will have no excuse for missing Him once the Redeemer arrives.