This week we will cover chapters 23 and 24.

Read 23:1-9.
These laws sound familiar because our own laws are based on the Mosaic law. How nice it would be if everyone today followed them.

Read 23:10-19.
Once again the sabbath is taught, both for the people and for the land, underscoring its importance.

Read 23:20-33.
What do you know about the Angel that God sent?
Is this the Angel of the Lord?
What did God mean when He said He would send hornets in front of them to clear the way?
Why wouldn't God give them the land all at once?
Does that principle apply to us today? Does God give us all His blessings all at once? Why not?
What were the borders of the Promised Land to be?
How does Israel's border today compare to this?
Why do you think it's different?

I'll post questions for chapter 24 on Friday.

Redeemed

This week we will study Exodus chapters 21 and 22.

Read 21:1-11
What is the subject of these verses?
Does this surprise you?
How long was a Hebrew person allowed to serve as a slave?
Could he or she get out of it before then?
How?
What is the Year of Jubilee? (Read Leviticus 25:1-24)

Read 21:12-17
What are 4 crimes that required the death penalty?
Why do you think these particular crimes did?

Read 21:18-36
What do you think about the "eye-for-an-eye" philosophy? Was it humane?

Read chapter 22
What does it mean in verse 29 to offer the "first-born of your sons"?
Read Exodus 13:12-16 for clarification.

Does any of this ever apply to us as gentiles in the 21st century?
Remember that whatever God did for His people literally in the Old Testament, He does for us spiritually now.

Write a paragraph to tell what chapters 21 and 22 mean to you.

Spend the next few days reading over chapter 20 and answering the following questions:

Read verses 1-2. Why do you think verse 2 is placed here? Does it have any significance for what follows?

Read verse 3. What other gods might we have?

Read verse 4. Define idol. Does this include all sculpture? What about religious sculpture?

Read verse 5. Does God really punish people for their grandparents' or parents' sins? If not, what does this verse then mean?

Read verse 6. What constitutes mis-use of God's name? Do you ever do it?

Read verses 8-11. Define Sabbath. What day of the week should this be for us post-New Testament Christians? Notice the use of the word "day" as opposed to "hour". What are we supposed to do on that day? Not do?

Read verse 12. Define honor. Does this verse apply to grown-ups?

Read verse 13. Define murder.

Read verse 14. Define adultery.

Read verse 15. What sorts of things can be stolen?

Read verse 16. What constitutes false testimony or witness?

Read verse 17. This command goes to the heart of one word that describes a state of being. What is it? Does this describe you?

Read verses 18-21. Why would God have wanted to make the people afraid? What benefit could that have on their behavior? Do you have any level of fear of God? Is that healthy?

Read verses 22-26. Why did God give instructions for His altar to be so plain and unadorned and flat? What were the altars of false deities like?

Sunday Summary

Yesterday was a sensory lesson. We read Exodus 19:16-25 and then drew pictures of the cloud, the mountain, and the people at the foot of the mountain. We listened to a recording of a shofar (ram's horn trumpet) and I displayed two different types. We discussed the use of the trumpet call. Then we read 9 verses describing Jesus Christ in a cloud. After reading Revelation 1:12-18, we drew the vision John saw of the Risen Lord above the cloud on the mountain, signifying that it was He Who came down that day.

The goal for the lesson was to get a real sense of the awe and wonder of the events the day God came down on the mountain to speak to Moses while the people watched. This week, keep your picture where you can look at it (or if you prefer, just the written verses from Revelation 1).

Reflect on the holiness and magnitude of the Lord Jesus Christ as you read Chapter 20 this week.

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This week we will finish chapter 19. To prepare for Sunday's lesson, read 19:16-25.

Spend some time refreshing your memory of the first 15 verses by finding the words to the following songs and either singing them or reading the words:

• Days of Elijah
• Cover Me (the choir sings this song and if you have our CD, it's on there)
• Revelation Song
• Jesus Paid it All
• Holy Ground

If you were in worship at our church last Sunday, you'll recognize these as the songs we sang. Amazing that Brother Charles had no idea what our lesson was about last week.

Sunday Summary

Yesterday's worship service was such a perfect conclusion to our lesson. If it would not have made a scene, I would have fallen to my knees. I honestly don't know how we can be expected to stand under the glory of the Lord.

So far in chapter 19 we have studied what it means to camp before the Lord, staying long enough to allow Him to speak. We discovered the beautiful word picture of a mother eagle flying under her babies as they learn to fly.

The words of God to the people in verses 4-6 included "hear my voice" which means to obey, "keep" which carries the idea of tending a garden, "covenant" which is the a contract between God and His people, and "peculiar treasure" or "own possession". The last phrase indicates that God feels about you and me the same way He would a treasured art collection. We also learned the full meaning of being a priest and how because of Jesus' death on the cross we can be priests without the need for someone else to intercede for us.

In verses 9-10 we found out that the cloud descending on the mountain is really Jesus Christ and the trumpet is His voice. "Consecrate" or "sanctify" means to make clean and we learned how the Israelites would have done their laundry. The dirt had to be beat out of the clothes. Then we applied the image to sin in our lives.

Verse 11 told us God would come on the mountain "in the sight" of the people and we learned the meaning of the phrase as "a reflection". Like a fountain in the light.

In verses 12-13 the people were instructed not to touch the mountain. This included wanting to reach out to it and indicated the state of their hearts.

In the end, we made several conclusions:

• I want to be clean and ready for the trumpet to announce the return of Christ.
• This will mean I need to be saved and then confess any sins daily.
• I need to keep myself in a state of readiness to hear God speak. Camp out before Him. Stay long enough to let Him work on me. Do my part.
• Listen to the words of the Lord. Where will I find them? In the Bible. That means I need to read it every day.
• Rest in the knowledge that God loves me and treasures me like a valuable painting--His masterpiece.