The One Year Chronological Bible - Week 7 Reflection Questions

Week 7 (Feb 9-15): Exodus 25:1-40:38 & Numbers 7:1-9:14

As you read through these passages of the Bible, reflect upon these questions individually, through journaling, in pairs, or in small groups...

1. As God called on Moses to prepare a tabernacle for God to dwell in, God instructed Moses to accept offerings from everyone whose heart prompted them to give.  This giving was not an obligation as much as it was an internal prompting from God, and Moses was receiving instructions to accept these gifts.  Why might God have seen the need to instruct Moses in this way?
2. God gave instructions to build the tabernacle and what it should look like so that God would dwell among the people.  How might this vision of the tabernacle differ from David's later vision for a temple for God?
3. God declared that God's presence will be between the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant.  God also instructed there to be "bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times." Could there be a  parallel here between this loaf of bread and Jesus' use of bread in the institution of the Lord's Supper during Passover?  If so, what connections do you see?
4. Along with instructions about the tabernacle came instructions about garments for the priests.  These served as memorials to the sons of Israel, to give the priests dignity and honor, and to protect them from guilt.  In the midst of this are instructions about anointing and ordaining the priests.  How is this similar and different to our modern experience of ordination?  What does it mean today for one to be ordained?
5. Included here are instructions about the Sabbath... "You must observe my Sabbaths.  This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy." While we do at times reflect on the importance of keeping the Sabbath, have you considered it to be a sign between you and the LORD or as a way of reminding us that it is the LORD who makes us holy?  How does this reaffirm or shift your understanding of the Sabbath and its purpose?
6. While Moses was up on the mountain with God, the people came to Aaron and asked him to make them gods.  They expressed their anxiety about not knowing what had happened to Moses and placed their anxiety on Aaron who caved to it.  The anxiety was real, but the method of dealing with it was not the most healthy.  When have you experienced anxiety that you have placed on others rather than handling it in more healthy ways?  How could you have handled things differently?
7. We read of the conversation between God and Moses after Aaron made the golden calf.  The Lord said to Moses, "Go down, because YOUR people, whom YOU brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt." (emphasis mine) But Moses replied, "LORD, why should your anger burn against YOUR people, whom YOU brought out of Egypt..." (emphasis mine)  God's choice to call them Moses' people is reminiscent of the parent who says to the other parent, "Look what YOUR child did."  Moses  gently reminded God of whose people these were and of the bigger picture of the perspective of outsiders like the Egyptians.  What do we learn of the character of God from this interchange?  Are there times in which we are called to the role of Moses interceding for others who have sinned?
8.  God relented after Moses stood in the gap, but when Moses got to the bottom of the mountain, he too became angry.  He broke the stone tablets with the law and he made the Israelites drink water with gold dust from the golden calf in it.  Then he had the Levites kill 3,000 people before going before the LORD to intercede on their behalf sacrificially offering himself as well.  What are we to make of stories in scripture such as these?  What are the lessons we are to take away from them?
9. When Moses went out to the tent of meeting, the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.  The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.  What would it be like to have this type of relationship with God?  How is God calling you to grow deeper in your relationship with God?
10. The Lord promised that his presence would go with Moses as he led the people and even promised to give him rest.  God even honored Moses request to show him God's glory, but he said that Moses could not see God's face, "for no one may see me and live."  What would it mean for us to see the glory of God?  How would that affect your faith?
11. When Moses went back up the mountain to receive a second set of the commandments, we read that he was "there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water."  While many of us have felt the call to fast, it is probably fair to say that none of us have fasted that strictly for that long.  What are the ways/methods that you are called to prayer?  If you have fasted, what has that been like for you?

 May the Lord bless and shape us through our individual reading and corporate study of His word this year.