Week 7 Day 1 Written in Stone

Exodus 23-24

I am going to be honest. To Me, these are some of the tough chapters to read. A lot of detailed rules and regulations, laws and commands. And then all of these feasts (okay, three today :) are mentioned. And I find my eyes starting to cross. This is like legalese to me.

But I did read it.

The first part of this reading involved those rules and regulations. There were a lot of people hanging out in the desert together. They needed some guidance. Otherwise, all willy nilly breaks loose.

Rules about courts. A lot about courts.

Another mention about not mistreating the foreigner. Planting guidelines. Wandering ox and donkeys.

Then God brings up the feasts. 3 feasts. The Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Shelters.

Then God announces that an angle will be going with the people as they travel. God will always be with them. He will help fight those they fight against. And they will persevere.

Something I had never noticed was that God had a reason for the Israelites to not go in and just win the battles instantly. They could have. God was there. There is nothing He can't do. But at this point in time, He told them that He would not force all of the people out in only one year. It would happen gradually.

After more chatting with God, Moses returned to the people and talked to them about what God had said. They all agreed that they would follow what God commanded. Moses wrote down God's words. Then he read God's words again. And the people again said, "We will obey."

God asks Moses to return to the mountain. This time He is going to give Moses two stone tablets. On the tablets, He will have written all of the commands and teachings to instruct the people.

Now I have seen the Charlton Heston Moses movie. We all have that vision of Moses walking down the mountain with two tablets, five commandments on each.

But after reading this, I am a bit confused. Was this just the 10 commandments? Or were all of these rules and regulations He just laid out on there?

I don't know the answer, just wondering aloud. :)

The other thought here is that "Written in stone" comes to mind. "It is written in stone." I wonder if that originated from this verse?

The end of the passage is Moses actually meeting with God. What an experience that would have been!

One day. One day.

Reba
PS Tomorrow's reading: Exodus 25-27