Daily Passages From
Scripture
Week 17
The Books Of Exodus
And Leviticus
Week 17: Monday
The people had received a code of law, from God
Himself. Thus their legal system was a divine one, not a
human one. Once it was a divine legal system there was
no fault in it. Observance of this divine legal system on
the other hand, was very poor. What must have Moses
felt inwardly seeing the huge difference between the
divinity of God Himself and the sin executed by man?
The intimacy he had undoubtedly enjoyed with God up
on the mountain, away from it all, led him to fly into a
rage at the sight of the golden calf. For him it was
idolatry. Nothing else. What a difference from God
Himself to a munching animal!
Week 17: Tuesday
Moses apparently wanted to continue sustaining his
experience of intimacy with God. The best possible
manner he could conceive of was creating a Tent of
Meeting. This was set up outside the camp. Anyone who
wanted to meet God, could leave the camp and go to
the Tent of Meeting. This Sacred Tent still exists
today but in a way that far surpasses that of the Old
Testament. It can be found in any tabernacle in any
church, in any chapel of adoration. Monasteries are
another highly exclusive example of this Tent of
Meeting with God. Instead of spending just a short
while with God in a chapel, you can live all the time in
God’s Presence under your roof by living in a
Monastery.
Week 17: Wednesday
Moses’ intimacy with God is reflected even on his face.
This intimacy at times is particular gift God may grant
to chosen souls, whether living in the world or in
consecrated life. Yet in every human being, of
whatever religion, there is that seed of eternal life,
which begins to germinate on this earth. How we live
depends a lot on us. Whether we gain eternal life in
heaven or not depends on us too. And these three
factors can show us what quality of intimacy we have
with God.
Week 17: Thursday
Exodus describes in a lot of detail how the Tabernacle
was built. Today’s reading is just the start of these
many details. For us they may seem absurd. Yet they
were the governing principles of the Jewish community
in the post-slavery era. More important is the symbol
of the cloud the author uses to show God’s continual
presence among His people. It was He who was
responsible for their welfare and their existence,
whether they camped or not. And this was something
that all pagan nations heard of.
Week 17: Friday
Leviticus takes over from Exodus. The theme of
today’s reading is the principle feast days the Jewish
nation was to observe according to God’s commands.
They may seem too many and not worth bothering to
read. Yet they do give those interested in culture and
history a lot of hindsight and opportunity for research
into sources outside the Bible. Regards the divine
aspect of the writing, they are the days God wanted
His people to rest and enjoy His company.
Week 17: Saturday
The legal system is being presented in greater detail.
One may really wonder what the Jews in the first few
years after Egyptian slavery thought of all these laws,
until they got used to them, if they ever did. Prophetic
writings don’t seem show that the nation ever really
bothered too much about law observance. As two
English expressions unfortunately say: laws are there
to be broken and history simply repeats itself. So
those points are already in themselves points for
meditation.