Exodus 28-29

Now keep in mind, as we are reading today, that the construction of the tabernacle has not taken place yet. The Father is still giving His detailed instructions to Moses.

🌿Exodus 28:3 begins with a miracle that most overlook. 

You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill…. 

Did you catch that? Where these skills came from? The Hebrew translates to spirit of wisdom, specifically Ruach chokmah. Where did these men get their skill from? The text says that it was a gift given supernaturally from the Father. 

🌿The Father is further dividing and separating His people today. We see the priesthood being set up and instructions given. Seriously, it is impossible for anyone to read the words of YHWH and, being honest with themselves, not see that details are important to the Father.

We go on to see a very specific design for the priestly garments, highly symbolic and with great attention to detail. Our Father is a God of details and every detail is important. 

Below is a diagram of what the priestly garments would have looked like according to Scripture. 

Special thanks to https://www.timewarpwife.com for allowing me to use this illustration.

🌿Exodus 28:30 The Urim and the Thummim will be mentioned several times in the text. This is one of the great mysteries we do not know nearly as much about as we’d like but we are able to speculate, based on what knowledge is given to us. I always remind myself that that Father has placed ample wisdom before me to study in order that I can follow Him and live according to His Word. But, in His wisdom, according to His good purpose, there are many things which He has chosen not to reveal. These are things I may enjoy thinking about, following rabbit trails, and speculating on as they are not salvation issues, but at the end of the day we just can’t know the answers to everything right now and so I keep the bulk of my energy on learning the things before me that I have a responsibility to know. Goodness knows, that will take the remainder of this life and then some! 

Deuteronomy 29:29 states “The secret things belong to YHWH our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

🌿Exodus 28:36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to YHWH.’

We see in our reading that the Father has a specific definition of what He considers Holy – and when He is making something Holy until Him it must be holy according to His specifications. We live in a time where man declares things holy coming and going, both from a religious standpoint and from a personal standpoint. To some, football is holy. To others, a statue is holy. We have set up our own holy places, practices, days, and even people. However, there is a tremendous difference in what we consider holy and what He considers Holy. Sadly, many of our “holy” things stand in contrast to His. 

YHWH has already told us what is Holy to Him, what His standard of Holiness is, and so attempts to supersede that with our own ideas and declarations are destined to be fruitless. 

🌿Exodus 29:9 has an interesting verse. Now, keep in mind that this is YHWH Himself speaking here when He says “And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever.” 

The Father uses the word “Forever” and the phrase “throughout your generations” a lot in this portion of the Bible. But most of my life I was taught that these things were no more. That they had been done away with. Worse still, some teach that Messiah contradicted His Father’s teachings (We will see the opposite is true when we read Messiah’s words). As a child, in order to believe this I had to conclude that either the Father doesn’t mean what He says when He says “forever” or that He didn’t really know what that word meant. I’m not a child anymore and His word is the source of truth. 

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 1 Corinthians 13:11

It is our responsibility to know this Word for ourselves. Not only that, but we have to know it to the point of confidence so that we do not feel too timid to question anything that seeks to undermine the authority of YHWH. 

🌿We continue in chapter 29 of Exodus with descriptions of burnt offerings. It is worth nothing that when someone brought an animal to be sacrificed, they would place their hand on that animal to signify the transference of their transgressions. It was an acknowledgment that this animal was dying because of their sin. They were paying the price for them. This is an act of Grace because something else was paying the price for our sins. This is also  the model set into place for future atonement through Messiah.

🌿What is this with fragrant aromas that pleased the Father? Exodus 28:18 Exodus 29:25 Exodus 28:41

Have you ever spent a great deal of time teaching your child right from wrong and then happened upon them in a group of kids where the group was going sideways but your child was remaining steadfast, doing the right thing? That feeling in your heart, knowing they have chosen to walk in your instructions, to be the person you intended them to be. 

With all of these details regarding the sacrifices, I can only imagine the Father’s heart at seeing His children listen to Him, heed His instructions. Do you know what I think that aroma smelled like to Him? 

Obedience. 

We will go on to see that obedience is the Father’s love language. 

As Messiah said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15

Nowadays people say that it is too hard to keep His commandments, but this, too, contradicts both the words of the Father and of the Messiah. The Father says:

🌿Deuteronomy 30:11-15 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. 

And Messiah further states this with “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” Matthew 11:30 

So it really just depends on whose word we are trusting in. 

May we learn to place our trust in Him. 

Test everything, hold tight to what is good. 

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word! 

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Today’s Recipe: Apple Orchard Snack Cake 

Fellowship Members:

Visit the Faith Homepage  • Read my statement of Faith • Print the November Readings • Begin at the beginning with our Genesis notes

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GOOD MORNING!

I’m excited about seeing some of you at the Fellowship Picnic today! I’ll share pictures later and also the date of our Fellowship Reunion Weekend for next year.

Today’s readings are Exodus 25-27.

I have to start with how thrilled and encouraged I was by all of the people who took part in my challenge the other day, to write out the complete Ten Commandments by hand. So many people posted pictures in the group discussion and talked about how much they learned and things they had never really realized before taking part in this challenge. If you missed out on it, check out my notes from Exodus 19-21 here. It is NEVER too late to take part in this challenge. In fact, I encourage you to do this at least once per year, more often as needed.

Today, the Father begins giving Moses instructions for His tabernacle to be built! Just when you think the Bible can’t get more exciting, it goes and does just that!

🌿Exodus 25:2 I love how this begins “From every man whose heart moves him…”
This is how the Father shows Moses who to gather the contributions from. We all know that these are people whose heart is seeking the Father, therefore they allow Him to direct their hearts. We will see that not everyone among Israel fits this description. There are always rams among the sheep, but the shepherd will prevail.

🌿We are about to begin building the wilderness tabernacle. This will be the first dwelling structure of the Father and He has very specific instructions for its design. Over the next few days we will read about the construction of that and fascinating miracles will take place that often go unnoticed by many reading these passages – so I’ll point them out because the hand of YHWH should never go unnoticed!

🌿The Ark of the Covenant – We are told the measurements in cubits and most of the time we just read right past those because we don’t relate to cubits. So, I want to share that in our measurements the ark is 3.75 feet long, 2.25 feet wide, and 2.25 feet high. I’ve tried to dig into the estimates of the weight of it but without knowing the thickness of the gold, size of cherubim, etc, we just can’t arrive at anywhere close to a decent speculation on that. However, it was designed to be carried on the shoulders of at least four men. 

🌿Mercy seat? In the original text, there is no mention of a mercy seat. Instead, the word used is kapporeth (transliterated) which more accurately translates to cover or covering. However, Biblehub interlinear lists this as mercy seat as well, even though neither of the the Hebrew words for mercy or seat appear in the text. I have one bible that translates this as cover and one that adds in “cover or covering” in the footnotes. The actual word used is similar to what is used for the word for Atonement, which is a covering for your sins. This is not a hill worth dying on, just something I wanted to point out.

🌿Remember, this word used for Ark is not the same word used for the structure that Noah built or the basket that baby Moses was placed in.

🌿 Exodus 25:31 The Golden Lampstand – Here we see the Father give very specific instructions for a very special lamp stand that is to light His dwelling place. Pay attention to these design instructions and see if you can imagine it in your mind. Then, mosey on over to Biblehub and check out the interlinear to see how the original Hebrew word for this was pronounced. The good news is that it is easy for us to pronounce this one because we’ve likely seen them around hither and yon most of our lives but had no idea it was something that the Father designed. The Hebrew word is Menorah 😉 Test it here: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4501.htm

Photo by my friend, Margaret King

This is just another one of those things that we’ve been taught are “Jewish”, when we can clearly read ourselves that YHWH designed it HIMself. Yet we’ve inherited this “truth” and hold to it even though it contradicts the word. Why do/did we do that? Because we haven’t read the Word of YHWH for ourselves. This hits me with a sadness and a disappointment – along with a determination to follow His word as truth going forward. 

Once we know better, we do better. 
I cannot look at a Menorah now and not pause and consider who designed it. Our Father designed this to light His personal dwelling place. Wow! There is simply no substitute for reading the Word firsthand and allowing the Father’s words to have the highest authority in our lives.

Why settle for someone telling you the Word says when you can read it for yourself? 
You won’t recognize a counterfeit if you don’t know the original. We’re discarding counterfeit information coming and going!

Note: A Menorah has 7 branches. What we often see called a menorah, but has 9 branches, is actually a Hanukkiah. Our Jewish brethren use this instead because they feel the Menorah is too holy and they want to respect that.

Reminder: His word is the straight edge to which all else must line up, not the other way around. Test everything according to His word. If it contradicts the Father, it’s got to go. – 1 Thessalonians 5:21

I am grateful for each and every one of you and it is such a joy and honor to read through our Father’s Word with this group!
May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!

Today’s recipe: Caramel Apple Dump Cake

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Fellowship Members:

Visit the Faith Homepage  • Read my statement of Faith • Print the November Readings • Begin at the beginning with our Genesis notes

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GOOD AFTERNOON! 
Saturday’s readings are Exodus 22-24

Rabbit Trails

• It is important to remember as we are reading these words spoken to Moses, that this is the voice of God (YHWH) speaking. I have a Bible that I don’t use much* except to remind me of important things like this because it has all of the words of God in red. Sometimes when I’m starting on a new book in Scripture, I will open it up and look at it there first, just to make sure I realize the weight and gravity of what I am reading.
• Because this is the voice of YHWH, we are obliged to pay attention and take heed of His words. Sometimes it may feel as if they don’t apply to us, sometimes they may not actually apply to us directly, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Father is speaking and we, His children, are to give Him our attention.
• When we discard His words, when we shrug them off or say that there is no need to read them, it is akin to the Father standing up at the dinner table to speak and us getting up and leaving the room.

He is YHWH. If He speaks, it is important.

We may not understand fully why until later, but our depth of understanding at any given point does not make His Words any less important. ❤️

• On the flip side of this, just this year I realized that there are large numbers of believers who do not feel the Father or Messiah’s words should be given any special weight in the Bible. If you feel this way, I strongly disagree with you but I still love you and am grateful or this opportunity to study His word together. We are of one accord in many things and we are all works in progress.
• It is also important to remember that He is not just speaking unilaterally to the world at large, but to His chosen people which He Himself has set apart. These are His instructions to His children.
  In essence, what we are reading here and throughout the Bible, is an expounding of the Ten Commandments. If you’d like to read more about that, click here to read how the Ten Commandments are simply an outline of all other commandments.

I liken this to a parent telling a sibling to leave another one alone. Supposed you told your son to leave his sister alone. But he persisted and so you had to come back and lay it all out: Don’t look at her. Don’t poke her. Don’t touch her. Don’t call her names…

The Father, in his great compassion, grace, and kindness to us, makes sure we have very specific instructions so that there is never a moment where we have to go forward without His guidance – IF we study and know His Word.

Am I likening His people to children? If only we were that teachable and had that much faith!

🌿Some of the things we will read about in the Word are hard to even think about and they may even seem out of place in a Holy book. But keep in mind that God is addressing a sinful and flawed society – and His instruction will bring righteousness into their/our lives.
He has to teach us to turn from our own ways, no matter what our ways may be – and to turn to His ways – through clear instructions that don’t mince words or leave room for negotiating our way out.

Imagine humanity is in a darkened room for a period of time and YHWH walks in and flips the switch on. This is what we are seeing.

“But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible” ~Ephesians 5:13

🌿Despite some of the verses that may appear harsh to us (He is God, we are not, and our understanding is limited), there is a great deal of compassion in today’s readings as well. I am particularly drawn to the verses about how to treat sojourners. ❤️It was these very verses that paved the way for Gentiles (most of us here) to become part of God’s chosen people and take part in His covenants.

🌿Exodus 22:21 calls out the treatment of sojourners. We will see time and again that in YHWH’s eyes, anyone who determines to follow Him and walk in His statutes is to be treated as a full right citizen among His chosen people. This is just one of many verses regarding that. As sojourners, this should make our hearts smile at the love and compassion. He has always made a way for us to join Him.

🌿We see more compassion from our Father in Exodus 22:26-27 “And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”

🌿Exodus 23:1-3 warns us to be careful in the company we keep, as bad company will surely corrupt. We are also not to spread a false report (lie, gossip), or join in with others doing such. I think we overlook the fact that it is a sin to gossip about others. In fact, out of the sins the Father detests, many of them have to do with just this passage.  

( Proverbs 6:16-19 )  I love the Father! I want to make Him happy. I sure don’t want to do things He detests! 

🌿Exodus 23:9 mentions sojourners yet again. Y’all are gonna see a lot of this. The Father is very intentional in including the sojourners among His chosen people.

🌿We move on to laws about the Sabbaths and the Biblical feasts commanded up until this point and the Father offers very specific instructions on those as well. If you took part in my challenge for Friday’s readings you may already have a better understanding of these.

I would just like to point out that He never once refers to these as “Jewish” feasts. In fact, anyone reading at this point is probably shaking their head at the very thought because the tribe of Judah isn’t even dominant now. Instead, He refers to them as “my” feasts. Continuing on in our reading we will see the Father reference these as “My” feasts or “Feasts unto YHWH” and paired with such words as “forever” and “throughout your generations”. To read a little more about the Biblical feasts, click here.

🌿 Have you ever read that verse “Don’t boil a young goat in its mother’s milk” and wondered what that was about? Maybe you didn’t question that verse because you were always told it had to do with some ancient pagan ritual. Well, today we are going to put that verse back into context and look at another possibility entirely. I have a LOT I want to say about this and it ended up being so long that I made it into a separate post. I came across a theory that I’ve only seen in one place but which I feel is far more plausible – and possible – than either of the two commonly accepted theories today. Click here to read that post. I think you’ll have some questions answered if you do.

Thank you for being here today. I hope you have a most blessed weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at our Fellowship picnic on Sunday!

Test EVERYTHING, hold tight to what is good – and HE is the source of good!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word

Today’s recipe: Crunchy Blackened Chicken <- Visiting my recipes is a great help to me so thank you! 

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Visit the Faith Homepage  • Read my statement of Faith • Print the November Readings • Begin at the beginning with our Genesis notes

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