With Exodus 31, we reach the conclusion of God’s instructions for the tabernacle that He gave to Moses. These instructions began in chapter 25 and, in the context of Exodus, took place over a span of forty days and forty nights upon the summit of Mount Sinai. As we have said before, the reason that …
Chapters 20-23 of Exodus form a section called in 24:7 the Book of the Covenant. In 21:1-22:15, Yahweh gave Israel laws relating to how they were to treat their slaves and how they were to make restitution for physical harm done to others or the damage of someone else's property. 22:16-23:9 then provided a number …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5fRKheenNLypPHRmgEFgp7?si=rzN_2dO8Q6qBgsR6bRvnKw The Ten Commandments are often divided into two tables, one pertaining to the love of God and the other describing how we are to love our neighbor. The most traditional division is between the Fourth and Fifth Commandments. The Fourth Commandment, after all, requires the remembering and keeping of the Sabbath day holy, while the Fifth Commandment demands honor to be given to …
Continue reading How the Sabbath Calls Us to Love God and Our Neighbor
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6mMNiP0Q0YUak1UUrfbG6l?si=o9oGeIMWS0Sfw2-5Jp9Ytw The two commandments before us are unique among the Ten. Only the Fourth and Fifth Commandments are not prohibitions. God prohibits idolatry, blaspheme, adultery, theft, and the others because He knows that we will commit such sins when given the opportunity. Likewise, He commands us to rest and to honor our father and mother …
Continue reading Question 10: What Does God Require in the Fourth and Fifth Commandments?
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away …
One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he …
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, …
As I turned my computer on this morning, I was greeted with an image of some beautiful Alaskan mountains, curtesy of Bing, that said, “What to get away from it all?” My heart’s answer was yes. Yes, it would be great to escape the pressures of everyday life, to behold firsthand the breath-taking wonders of …
As human beings, we are creatures of thoughts and questions, in constant search for meaning and purpose underlying our existence. Almost inevitably, these ponderings will lead to the nature of our species’ beginning. Were we created differently than all of the other creatures on earth, or were we merely the only animal to evolve a …
Finally, the notion of sloth does not merely apply to idleness but also to busyness. Before discussing busyness, we should note that idleness is a sinful counterfeit of God-glorifying rest. Rest is worship; idleness is not. Rest is found in coming to Christ; idleness is found in self-gratifying pursuits. The same is also true of …
B. C. Newton 