Reading for August 27th

 Israel prepares for the covenant with the Lord. This chapter begins a major new section within the book of Exodus, 19.1-24.18. God initiates a formal relationship or covenant agreement for Israel. This Covenant includes lists of obligations for Israel in the form of the Ten Commandments (20.1-17) and the laws in the Book of the Covenant (20.22-23.19). Israel will remain encamped in this area at Sinai until Num 10.11-12.

Read Exodus 19.1-25. In verse 1: The wilderness of Sinai in the Sinai Peninsula east of Egypt contains many mountains. The exact location of Mount Sinai is not known. The mountain is traditionally located in the south-central area of the Sinai Peninsula. In verse 4: the image of God leading Israel out of Egypt like an eagle is expanded in Deut 32.11. In verse 6: Israel as a priestly kingdom and a holy nation implies that God has set Israel aside apart from other nations. Israel has a higher standard of holiness and mission to  mediate between God and other nations. In verses 12-13: The mountain is holy because of God's presence. Holiness and ritual impurity cannot mix. Unless a person is properly prepared, any human contact with the realm of God's holiness leads to death (vv. 21-24.). In verse 15: Sexual relations rendered a person ritually unclean for a day (1 Sam 21.4). In verse 16: Ancient Israel and its neighboring cultures often portray the appearance of the deity with an accompanying storm of thunder, lightening, and thick cloud (Ps 29; 68). In verses 21-24: On the danger of crossing the boundary of holiness, see comment on vv. 12-13. Comments or Questions...

Reading for August 26th

 Jethro gives administrative advice. In 18.1-27: Alternate versions of this story in which Jethro is not involved occur in Num11.10-30 and Deut 1.9-19.

Read Exodus 18.1-27. In verse 1: The name of Moses' father -in-law is Jethro here, but the name varies in other biblical traditions. His name is sometimes Reuel (2.18) or Hobab (Num 10.29, Judg 4.11). In verse 2; Moses' Midianite wife wife Zipporah (2.21-22) went with Moses from Midian to Egypt (4.20). At some point, Moses had sent away his wife. Now Jethro brings her and the two sons back to join Moses (vv. 5-6). In verse 3: On Gershom, see comment on 2.22. In verse 4: The name Eliezer means "my God is help." In verse 5l The mountain of God is Mount Horeb, otherwise known as Mount Sinai (3.1). In verse 21: these numbered divisions of the population most often appear in military contexts (2 Sam 18.1). Comments or Questions...

Reading for August 25th

 Read Exodus 17.8-16.In 17.8-16: Amalek attacks Israel, but Israel defeats them. In verse 8: Amalek is a desert tribe from the nation of Edom (Gen 36.12) that lives in the wilderness around Kadesh (Num 13.29). In verse 9: This is the first mention of Joshua. Joshua is Moses' young assistant (24.13; 33.11) and Israel's military commander. Joshua becomes leader of all Israel after Moses' death (Num 27.12-23; Joshua (1.1-11). In verse 10: Hur is a leader in the Israelite tribe of Judah (24.14; 31.2) In verses 11-12: Moses' raised hands are a sign of divine power that aids the Israelites in their battle against Amalek. In verse 14: Write ... in a book or scroll. 1 Chronicles 4.41-43 recounts the final defeat of Amalek during the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah. In verse15: The word banner ('nas") puns on the verb "test" ("Nasah," v. 7). In verse 16: War with Amalek continues for many generations (1 Sam 15.1-9; 30.1-20). Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 24th

 Read Exodus 16.9-17.7. In verse 15: The phrase What is it? ("man hu") is a pun on the name of the food "manna" (v. 31). In verse 16: An omer is a unit of dry measure, less that a gallon . See v. 36 where the omer is defined as one-tenth of an "ephah." An ""ephah is about 20 liters. In verse 34: The covenant refers to the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. The tablets were carried in the ornate container called the "ark" or ark of the covenant" (25.16). Aaron placed the jar of manna into the same ark. In verse 35: The transition from manna to the produce of Canaan occurs in Josh 5.12. In 17.7: Massah means "test," and meribah means "Quarrel. Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 23rd

 Israel Complains and God responds. In 15.22-17.7: God provides water and food in response to the legitimate complaints of Israel as they enter in the dry desert of the Sinai Peninsula. Similar complaints about food and water (see Num 11.1-9; 31-35; 20.1-13) provoke God's anger and punishment.

Read Exodus 15.22-16.8. In verse 23: The place name Marah means "Bitterness," a wordplay on the bitter water there, In verse 25: Traditional cultures believed that certain kinds of wood or trees had the ability to "heal" poisonous water and make it sweet or drinkable. In 16.1: The Wilderness of Sin is in the Sinai peninsula just west of Egypt. In verse 5: They will gather twice as much on the sixth day in order they may rest on the seventh day. The seventh day is the day of sabbath when no work is to be done (vv. 22-30; see the commandment in 20.8-11). Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 22nd.

 Moses and Miriam sing songs of victory. In 15.1-21: These songs of Moses and Miriam represent some of the earliest traditions of the Bible. The elevated language of Hebrew poetry in the songs contains many examples of parallelism, or doubling of thoughts and images in consecutive lines. A recurring image in the poem is fear like a lead stone (vv. 5, 10, 16) in contrast to the eternal security of God's stone mountain sanctuary (vv. 17-18). The Song of Moses ((vv. 1-18) retells the story of ch 14 with some differences in the details. For example, Israel's crossing the sea on dry land (14.22) is not described in the song.  

Read Exodus 15.1-21. In verse 3: The Lord is a warrior; see comment on 14.14. In verse 4: On the Red Sea, see comment on 13.18. In verse 11: Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? This question assumes that the Lord is the one superior God above a number of lesser gods gathered in a heavenly council. This theme occurs in other ancient biblical poems (Ps 86; 89.6-8) In verse 13: the poem turns from victory against the Egyptians and describes God leading Israel to the land of Canaan. In verses 14-16: Philistia (v. 14), Edom, Moab, and Canaan (v. 15) are nations in and around the promised land of Canaan who Israel will encounter on the way there. In verse 17: The mountain maybe a reference to the much later establishment of the Lord's temple on mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem (Ps 48.1-3) or to the hill country of Canaan in general (Ps 78.54). In verses 20-21: The prophet of Miriam may have been the original bard or singer in an earlier version of the tradition. it was a women who typically sang victory songs after military victories in ancient Israel (Judg 11.34, 1 Sam 18.6-7). Comments or Questions..

Reading for August 21st

 Read Exodus 14.15-31. In verse 17: On the hardening of the heart, see comment on 4.21. In verse 19: The angel is an alternative way of describing the presence of the Lord (v. 24). Comments or Questions..