Today's Readings and Stuff-- Thursday, 04 February 2021

Doing some catch up stuff today.  More tomorrow.  We woke to a "nice toasty warm +11° of "catastrophic  global warming".  Sounds bad, and it is. but the weathercasters tell me that it will seem downright warm and cozy over the next 10 days or so.  Some people like this.  I'm not one of them.

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For whatever it may be worth, we are now in the second half of Winter.  Just in time for the coldest, nastiest weather of that dreadful period.  But Lent begins in just two weeks' time, directing our attention to Easter.  Hope.  Hope in the worst of times.  This, today, is not the worst of times, but we could very well be seeing some pretty awful stuff real real soon.  The life and the world that many of us allowed ourselves to think was "normal" is nothing of the sort, and the beliefs and behavior that kept that "normal" going are collapsing around us.  Yes, it may  well get real bad, real fast.  I believe in miracles, and the Lord knew all this long ago, so He is still in charge.  But it can get pretty bad.  Pray.  Lots.

Wife got well treated at her pulmonologist's appointment yesterday.  They were able to prescribe a "rescue" inhaler for her, something she's been out of which can get downright scary at times.  Better yet, they secured for her a trial voucher, providing one for her at no cost to us, an item whose "cash price" at the pharmacy is around $240 for a inhaler for a month, which is beyond our means.   So we'll give it a try.  I went to the Pharmacy today and got it, and we shall see.  That voucher is for one time only, but our insurance would cover at least some of it should we need more.  We shall see.

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EXODUS 34

New Stone Tablets

1The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.  2Be prepared by morning. Come up Mount Sinai in the morning and stand before Me on the mountaintop. 3No one may go up with you; in fact, no one must be seen anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.” 

4Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him.

5The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name Yahweh. 6Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:

Yahweh — Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth,  7maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin.  But He will not leave the guilty  unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

8Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9Then he said, “My Lord, if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Even though this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wrongdoing and sin, and accept us as Your own possession.” 

Covenant Obligations

10And the Lord responded: “Look, I am making a covenant. I will perform wonders in the presence of all your people  that have never been done  in all the earth or in any nation. All the people you live among will see the Lord’s work, for what I am doing with you is awe-inspiring.  11Observe what I command you today. I am going to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites,  and Jebusites. 12Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you.  13Instead, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, and chop down their Asherah poles.  14You are never to bow down to another god because Yahweh, being jealous  by nature,  is a jealous God.

15“Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.  16Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods. 

17“Do not make cast images  of gods for yourselves.

18“Observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib  as I commanded you. For you came out of Egypt in the month of Abib. 

19“The firstborn  male from every womb belongs to Me, including all your male   livestock, the firstborn of cattle or sheep. 20You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a sheep, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.  You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one is to appear before Me empty-handed.

21“You are to labor six days but you must rest  on the seventh day; you must even rest during plowing and harvesting times.

22“Observe the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering  at the turn of the agricultural year. 23Three times a year  all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24For I will drive out nations  before you and enlarge your territory.  No one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.

25“Do not present  the blood for My sacrifice with anything leavened. The sacrifice of the Passover Festival must not remain until morning. 

26“Bring the best firstfruits  of your land to the house of the Lord your God.

“You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

27The Lord also said to Moses, “Write  down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.”

28Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments,  the words of the covenant, on the tablets.

Moses’ Radiant Face

29As Moses descended from Mount Sinai — with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain — he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord.   30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone!  They were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them to do everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded,  35and the Israelites would see that Moses’ face  was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.

EXODUS 35

The Sabbath Command

1Moses assembled the entire Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do:  2For six days work is to be done, but on the seventh day you are to have a holy day, a Sabbath  of complete rest to the Lord. Anyone who does work on it must be executed. 3Do not light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath day.” 

Building the Tabernacle

4Then Moses said to the entire Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 5Take  up an offering among you for the Lord. Let everyone whose heart is willing bring this as the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair; 7ram skins dyed red and manatee skins;  acacia wood; 8oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 9and onyx with gemstones to mount on the ephod and breastpiece.

10“Let all the skilled craftsmen  among you come and make everything that the Lord has commanded:  11the tabernacle — its tent and covering, its clasps and planks, its crossbars, its posts and bases; 12the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil for the screen; 13the table with its poles, all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14the lampstand for light with its utensils and lamps as well as the oil for the light; 15the altar of incense with its poles; the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the entryway screen for the entrance to the tabernacle; 16the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; 17the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and bases, and the screen for the gate of the courtyard; 18the tent pegs for the tabernacle and the tent pegs for the courtyard, along with their ropes; 19and the specially woven  garments for ministering in the sanctuary — the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.” 

20Then the entire Israelite community left Moses’ presence. 21Everyone whose heart was moved and whose spirit prompted him came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its services, and for the holy garments.  22Both men and women came; all who had willing hearts brought brooches, earrings, rings, necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry — everyone who waved a presentation offering of gold to the Lord. 23Everyone who had in his possession blue, purple, or scarlet yarn,  fine linen or goat hair, ram skins dyed red or manatee skins,  brought them. 24Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as a contribution to the Lord. Everyone who possessed acacia wood useful for any task in the work brought it. 25Every skilled  woman  spun yarn with her hands and brought it: blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. 26And all the women whose hearts were moved spun the goat hair by virtue of their skill. 27The leaders  brought onyx and gemstones to mount on the ephod and breastpiece, 28as well as the spice  and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29So the Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, all the men and women whose hearts prompted them to bring something for all the work that the Lord, through Moses, had commanded to be done. 

Bezalel and Oholiab

30Moses  then said to the Israelites: “Look, the Lord has appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31He has filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every kind of craft 32to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, 33to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every kind of artistic craft. 34He has also given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35He has filled them with skill to do all the work  of a gem cutter; a designer; an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen; and a weaver. They can do every kind of craft and design artistic designs.

EXODUS 36

1Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled  people are to work based on everything the Lord has commanded. The Lord has given them wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work of constructing the sanctuary.” 

2So Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled  person in whose heart the Lord had placed wisdom, everyone whose heart moved him,  to come to the work and do it. 3They took from Moses’ presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.

4Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing 5and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed  for the construction of the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

6After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people stopped. 7The materials were sufficient for them to do all the work. There was more than enough.

Building the Tabernacle

8All  the skilled craftsmen  among those doing the work made the tabernacle with 10 curtains. Bezalel made them of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them. 9The length of each curtain was 42 feet,  and the width of each curtain six feet;  all the curtains had the same measurements. 10He joined five of the curtains to each other, and the other five curtains he joined to each other. 11He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the last curtain in the first set and did the same on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 12He made 50 loops on the one curtain and 50 loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set, so that the loops lined up with each other. 13He also made 50 gold clasps and joined the curtains to each other, so that the tabernacle became a single unit.

14He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made 11 of them. 15The length of each curtain was 45 feet,  and the width of each curtain six feet.  All 11 curtains had the same measurements. 16He joined five of the curtains together, and the other six together. 17He made 50 loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set and 50 loops on the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set. 18He made 50 bronze clasps to join the tent together as a single unit. 19He also made a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red and a covering of manatee skins  on top of it.

20He  made upright planks  of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21The length of each plank was 15 feet,  and the width of each was 27 inches.  22There were two tenons connected to each other for each plank. He did the same for all the planks of the tabernacle. 23He made planks for the tabernacle as follows: 20 for the south side, 24and he made 40 silver bases to put under the 20 planks, two bases under the first plank for its two tenons, and two bases under each of the following planks for their two tenons; 25for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made 20 planks, 26with their 40 silver bases, two bases under the first plank and two bases under each of the following ones; 27and for the west side of the tabernacle he made six planks. 28He also made two additional planks for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 29They were paired at the bottom and joined together  at the  top in a single ring. This is what he did with both of them for the two corners. 30So there were eight planks with their 16 silver bases, two bases under each one.

31He made five crossbars of acacia wood for the planks on one side of the tabernacle, 32five crossbars for the planks on the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for those at the back of the tabernacle on the west. 33He made the central crossbar run through the middle of the planks from one end to the other. 34He overlaid them with gold and made their rings out of gold as holders for the crossbars. He also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

35Then  he made the veil with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. He made it with a design of cherubim worked into it. 36He made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold. And he cast four silver bases for the posts.

37He made a screen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen for the entrance to the tent, 38together with its five posts and their hooks. He overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.

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MATTHEW 23

Religious Hypocrites Denounced

1Then  Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples:  2“The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses.   3Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do,  because they don’t practice what they teach.  4They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry  and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger  to move them.  5They do everything  to be observed by others: They enlarge their phylacteries   and lengthen their tassels.   6They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues,  7greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.

8“But as for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have one Teacher,  and you are all brothers.  9Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven.  10And do not be called masters either, because you have one Master,  the Messiah. 11The greatest among you will be your servant.  12Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 

13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in. 

14“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show.  This is why you will receive a harsher punishment. 

15“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte,  and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell  as you are!

16“Woe to you, blind guides,  who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the sanctuary, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath  by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by his oath.’  17Blind fools!  For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold? 18Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’  19Blind people!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  20Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it. 21The one who takes an oath by the sanctuary takes an oath by it and by Him who dwells  in it. 22And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne  and by Him who sits on it.