Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 29 January 2021

 Another brief and late.  

Not sure of our activity level over the next week.  Wife's nephew was told this morning that he's tested positive for the COVID  "Wuhan flu" thing.  We haven't been near him for  a couple weeks, so we shouldn't have been exposed.  But his wife is several weeks into the radiation treatments for an aggressive form of breast cancer.  Next door niece and husband have been "watching " their kids while mom is at treatments and dad had been sleeping after a 12 hour nightshift.  So is next-door niece at risk from exposure to those kids, and are those kids at risk?  They're under quarantine as a result, and we may be precluded from helping out.  LOTS of what I call "splash effect" on this.

And I'm not going to be getting real close to people myself.  But we shall see.

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EXODUS 19

Israel at Sinai

1In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai. 2After they departed from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain. 

3Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called  to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob, and explain to the Israelites: 4‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me.  5Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant,  you will be My own possession  out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, 6and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’  These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

7After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.”  So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.

9The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud,  so that the people will hear when I speak  with you and will always believe you.” Then Moses reported the people’s words to the Lord. 10And the Lord told Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes  11and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.  12Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain will be put to death.  13No hand may touch him; instead he will be stoned or shot with arrows. No animal or man will live. When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain.”

14Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15He said to the people, “Be prepared by the third day. Do not have sexual relations with women.”

16On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a loud trumpet sound, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. 17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire.  Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace,  and the whole mountain shook violently.  19As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder. 

20The Lord came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. 21The Lord directed Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will die.  22Even the priests who come near the Lord must purify themselves or the Lord will break out in anger against them.” 

23But Moses responded to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since You warned us: Put a boundary around the mountain and consider it holy.” 24And the Lord replied to him, “Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break out in anger against them.” 25So Moses went down to the people and told them.

EXODUS 20

The Ten Commandments

1Then God spoke all these words:

2I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 

3Do not have other gods besides Me. 

4Do not make an idol  for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,  punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations  of those who hate Me, 6but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands. 

7Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name. 

8Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:  9You are to labor six days and do all your work,  10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates.  11For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

12Honor your father and your mother  so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13Do not murder. 

14Do not commit adultery. 

15Do not steal. 

16Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. 

17Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 

The People’s Reaction

18All the people witnessed  the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it  they trembled and stood at a distance.  19“You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.” 

20Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear Him and will not  sin.”  21And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. 

Moses Receives Additional Laws

22Then the Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.  23You must not make gods of silver to rival Me; you must not make gods of gold for yourselves.  

24“You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered.  25If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.  26You must not go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.

EXODUS 21

1“These are the ordinances that you must set before them:

Laws about Slaves

2“When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man  without paying anything.  3If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with  a wife, his wife is to leave with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.

5“But if the slave declares: ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’  6his master is to bring him to the judges  and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master must pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.

7“When a man sells his daughter as a slave,  she is not to leave as the male slaves do.  8If she is displeasing to her master, who chose her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners because he has acted treacherously toward her. 9Or if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her according to the customary treatment of daughters. 10If he takes an additional wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.  11And if he does not do these three things for her, she may leave free of charge, without any exchange of money. 

Laws about Personal Injury

12“Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death.  13But if he didn’t intend any harm,  and yet God caused it to happen by his hand, I will appoint a place for you where he may flee.  14If a person schemes and willfully  acts against his neighbor to murder him, you must take him from My altar to be put to death. 

15“Whoever strikes his father or his mother must be put to death.

16“Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession. 

17“Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death. 

18“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or his fist, and the injured man does not die but is confined to bed, 19if he can later get up and walk around outside leaning on his staff, then the one who struck him will be exempt from punishment. Nevertheless, he must pay for his lost work time  and provide for his complete recovery.

20“When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his abuse,  the owner must be punished.  21However, if the slave can stand up after a day or two, the owner should not be punished  because he is his owner’s property.  

22“When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely  but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands  from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment. 23If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth,  hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.

26“When a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his eye. 27If he knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his tooth.

28“When an ox  gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned,  and its meat may not be eaten, but the ox’s owner is innocent. 29However, if the ox was in the habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned, and its owner must also be put to death. 30If instead a ransom  is demanded of him, he can pay a redemption price for his life in the full amount demanded from him. 31If it gores a son or a daughter, he is to be dealt with according to this same law. 32If the ox gores a male or female slave, he must give 30 shekels  of silver  to the slave’s master, and the ox must be stoned.

33“When a man uncovers a pit or digs a pit, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34the owner of the pit must give compensation; he must pay money to its owner, but the dead animal will become his.

35“When a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they must sell the live ox and divide its proceeds; they must also divide the dead animal. 36If, however, it is known that the ox was in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not restrained it, he must compensate fully, ox for ox; the dead animal will become his.

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MATTHEW 20

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers

1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  2After agreeing with the workers on one denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine in the morning,  he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4To those men he said, ‘You also go to my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. 5About noon and at three,  he went out again and did the same thing. 6Then about five  he went and found others standing around,  and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing? ’

7“ ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.

“ ‘You also go to my vineyard,’ he told them.  8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay,  starting with the last and ending with the first.’ 

9“When those who were hired about five  came, they each received one denarius. 10So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. 11When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: 12‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat! ’ 

13“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius?  14Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my business?  Are you jealous  because I’m generous? ’  

16“So the last will be first, and the first last.”  

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 28 January 2021

 Well, we seem to be fully in the grip of the Ice Giants who seem to exercise rule over this part of the world.  A pox upon them all.  But we're into the 20°F range, and had a fair amount of snow falling earlier.  Horrible stuff!  But we're making a bit of headway:  if I read the charts correctly, by Saturday, just a few days hence, we'll be up to 10 whole hours of "day", certainly some improvement.  And, in just over three weeks from thence, we are expected to be at the 11 hour "day" point.  Official "spring" in less than two months from now.  We'll still have wretched weather and snow as well (had snow last year around the 9th of May!) but it's progress.  Makes a person envy the bears who can hibernate through the season.  

Our world is in uproar and trouble.  Nothing new about that, pretty much been the case since the Fall.  I have to believe that the Lord foresaw all of this before He made the worlds, and He's wiser than I.  So there is a purpose and direction to it all, even if we can't see it.  Just have to trust Him.

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EXODUS 16

Manna and Quail Provided

1The entire Israelite community departed from Elim and came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt.  2The entire Israelite community grumbled  against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger! ” 

4Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow My instructions.  5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” 

6So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt;  7in the morning you will see the Lord’s glory because He has heard your complaints about Him. For who are we that you complain about us? ”  8Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and more than enough bread in the morning, for He has heard the complaints that you are raising against Him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.” 

9Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” 10As Aaron was speaking to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there in a cloud the Lord’s glory appeared. 

11The Lord spoke to Moses, 12“I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God.”

13So at evening quail  came and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. 14When the layer of dew evaporated, there were fine flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground. 15When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it? ” because they didn’t know what it was.

Moses told them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.  16This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts  per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’ ”

17So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. 18When they measured it by quarts,  the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat.  19Moses said to them, “No one is to let any of it remain until morning.” 20But they didn’t listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and smelled. Therefore Moses was angry with them.

21They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. 22On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts  apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23He told them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath  to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning.’ ”

24So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn’t smell or have any maggots in it. 25“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find any in the field. 26For six days you may gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

27Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any. 28Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you  refuse to keep My commands  and instructions? 29Understand that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He will give you two days’ worth of bread. Each of you stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.” 30So the people rested on the seventh day.

31The house of Israel named the substance manna.   It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Two quarts  of it are to be preserved throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”

33Moses told Aaron, “Take a container and put two quarts  of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be preserved throughout your generations.” 34As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron placed it before the testimony  to be preserved.

35The Israelites ate manna for 40 years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan.  36(Two quarts are  a tenth of an ephah.)

EXODUS 17

Water from the Rock

1The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  2So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.”

“Why are you complaining to me? ” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing  the Lord? ”

3But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? ” 

4Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me! ” 

5The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. 6I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water  will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He named the place Massah  and Meribah   because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not? ”

The Amalekites Attack

8At Rephidim, Amalek   came and fought against Israel. 9Moses said to Joshua,  “Select some men for us and go fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with God’s staff in my hand.”

10Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11While Moses held up his hand,  Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand  down, Amalek prevailed.  12When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. 13So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army  with the sword.

14The Lord then said to Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua: I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.” 

15And Moses built an altar  and named it, “The Lord Is My Banner.”  16He said, “Indeed, my hand is lifted up toward  the Lord’s throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

EXODUS 18

Jethro’s Visit

1Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian,  heard about everything that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken in Zipporah,  Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3along with her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom (because Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land”)   4and the other Eliezer (because he had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword”). 

5Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the wilderness where he was camped at the mountain of God.  6He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down,  and then kissed him. They asked each other how they had been  and went into the tent. 8Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that confronted them on the way, and how the Lord delivered them. 

9Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the Lord had done for Israel when He rescued them from the power of the Egyptians. 10“Praise the Lord,”  Jethro exclaimed, “who rescued you from Pharaoh and the power of the Egyptians and snatched the people from the power of the Egyptians. 11Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods, because He did wonders when the Egyptians acted arrogantly against Israel.”  

12Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in God’s presence.

13The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around Moses from morning until evening. 14When Moses’ father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, “What is this thing you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening? ”

15Moses replied to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16Whenever they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I make a decision between one man and another. I teach them God’s statutes and laws.” 

17“What you’re doing is not good,” Moses’ father-in-law said to him. 18“You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can’t do it alone.  19Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to Him. 20Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do.  21But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating bribes.  Place them over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.  22They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every important case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load,  and they will bear it with you.  23If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.” 

24Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 26They judged the people at all times; they would bring the hard cases to Moses, but they would judge every minor case themselves.

27Then Moses said good-bye to his father-in-law, and he journeyed to his own land. 

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MATTHEW 19

The Rich Young Ruler

16Just then someone came up and asked Him,  “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life? ” 

17“Why do you ask Me about what is good? ”  He said to him. “There is only One who is good.  If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 

18“Which ones? ” he asked Him. Jesus answered:

Do not murder;

do not commit adultery;

do not steal;

do not bear false witness; 

19honor your father and your mother;

and love your neighbor as yourself.  

20“I have kept all these,”  the young man told Him. “What do I still lack? ”

21“If you want to be perfect,”  Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor,  and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

22When the young man heard that command, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

Possessions and the Kingdom

23Then Jesus said to His disciples, “I assure you: It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!  24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 

25When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved? ”

26But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 

27Then Peter responded to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You. So what will there be for us? ”

28Jesus said to them, “I assure you: In the Messianic Age,   when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne,  you who have followed Me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother,  children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life.  30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.