Exodus 34:18-28
It is good to be with you again, thanks for being there, and thanks for listening to Hope for Today. Our title today is “Details are Important” and it is taken from Exodus 34. As I was thinking about this title and looking at Exodus 34, I thought about a question I have heard many times over the years.
Before I worked at Heralds of Hope I taught school in a small Christian school here in our city. I enjoy teaching and still have the privilege of teaching, although now I teach part-time instead of full-time. The question I have heard many times goes like this, or some variation of this. “Are we supposed to obey the commandments God gave in the Old Testament?”
This is a good question and there are good explanations to this question. I like taking them to the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews is known as the book of better things. In chapter 8 we are told about the new covenant and in verse 13 it says, “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete.” This is not the only place the New Testament teaches the new covenant but here it is very clear, and I like how it is taught in Hebrews.
This is not to say the Old Testament doesn’t matter, it does matter, but we are not expected to practice every law that God gave the children of Israel. We remind ourselves this law is not for us; it was for the children of Israel. God has given us a new covenant and Jesus is our high priest. He wants us to follow Jesus and put His teaching into practice. Many times, Jesus said, “You have heard it said, but I say unto you,” and He’s calling us to a new and better way.
Then why do we even have the Old Testament? This is usually the next question that comes. Galatians 3:24 has a great answer to this question. It says, “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The Old Testament is not useless, it shows us our need for Jesus and how we are justified by faith. We don’t earn our salvation by doing good deeds to cancel out our wrongs. I also like to show them how we can learn so much about God’s character by looking at the laws He gave His people.
This is a big subject, and we could spend a lot of time discussing it. I mention because our title today is “Details are Important” and it’s true they are, but we don’t believe God is asking you to worship by keeping all these instructions as he gave them to Moses.
With that in mind, here is Bible teacher J Mark with the rest of today’s lesson.
In my study of various religions, I have concluded that any religion that asks nothing of its followers is worth nothing. Of course, that does not mean that the religion which asks the most is worth the most.
Israel’s religion was an asking religion according to the Bible. God claimed their loyalty in every detail. He left nothing untouched. There were instructions regulating every detail of every area of life. These instructions were meant for their blessing and encouragement.
Little things made a difference in Israel’s life. They make a difference in your life. For example, if you happen to get a thorn or splinter in your thumb it bothers you, doesn’t it? It is just a small thing, not bad, but it bothers you. Another example is the letters of the alphabet are small details. It is very important to put them in the right order to make the right word.
The fact that DETAILS ARE IMPORTANT is affirmed in Exodus 34: 18-28.
18. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib, thou camest out from Egypt.
19. All that opens the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
20. But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
21. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
22. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
23. Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the LORD GOD, the God of Israel.
24. For I will cast out the nations before thee and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
25. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left unto the morning.
26. The first of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
27. And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
28. And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights: he neither ate bread, nor drank water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
As God outlined the conduct of life for Israel, He spoke of the several AREAS where details are important.
The First AREA had to do with
The First Born
This instruction was given to Moses when God spoke with him on Mt. Sinai as the children of Israel were on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. God reminded Moses that the feast of unleavened bread was to be kept in the month of the Passover, Abib. That was the month when they came out of Egypt. That was the month when God said He would pass over all those houses where the blood was on the door posts because God was going to kill all the first-born.
The detail of the blood on the door posts was so serious, you see, because this detail made the difference between life and death for the first born. The blood of the Passover lamb delivered all the first born. They belonged to the LORD. God said all of them were His. This should teach us the sacredness of life and the importance of detail. God didn’t leave anything to chance. He worked it all out carefully with the people of Israel and helped them to understand how much He loved and cared for them.
The Second AREA had to do with
The First Fruits
I am impressed how the LORD brought into focus the work week. He said, “Six days you shall labor and the seventh day you shall rest.” It doesn’t make any difference what season of the year it is, whether you are plowing for the crops or whether you are harvesting the crops, nothing is more important than to keep that seventh day sacred and holy unto the LORD. It was to be a day of rest.
I wonder what would happen if the people of the world today would observe one day of rest in seven as the children of Israel were expected to do. I’m sure a great blessing would result.
Then He said there were three times in the year when every male was to present himself before the LORD. There were three annual feasts that God had prescribed for the children of Israel. It was first the Feast of Weeks, then the Feast of First Fruits of the wheat harvest followed by the Feast of the Ingathering at the year’s end. On those three occasions they were to go to Jerusalem to worship and present themselves before the LORD: a careful observance the LORD gave them in detail.
They were also given instructions on how to offer the sacrifice. They were not to offer the sacrifice of blood with leavened bread, and they were to avoid boiling a kid in his mother’s milk. God was specific in this and careful to point out to them exactly how to do it. Details were important as to the sacrifice.
This should teach us that all of life must come under the judgment of divine sanctification whether it has to do with our work week or our worship. The LORD through these instructions teaches us that details are important. Blessing follows our understanding of this.
The Third AREA had to do with
The First Law
When God gave the law to Moses this was the first time that He had given a law like this to any person or nation of people. This was a law of revelation. God gave this law to Moses. God told him to write it down, to make a record of this covenant that He had made with them. A record was made so the people would not forget. Many times, when people are told something, over time they forget. So, God commanded Moses to write down the words of the law and helped Moses do it. God gave Moses forty days and forty nights of complete seclusion, perfect quietness, alone with the LORD on the Mount which gave him time to write. It was a permanent record. He wrote upon the tablets of stone the words of the covenant: The Ten Commandments.
Thank the LORD that this was all kept, preserved through the centuries for us. This should teach us how God wants His people to do His will. This first law, Moses was instructed to write down. Here was to be a permanent record. Thus, they would never have any doubt or question regarding what His will is. Surely this should teach us how God wants His people to do His will.
Details are important as we see from these words of the LORD spoken to Israel about these three particular firsts. The first-born male of man and beast belonged to the LORD. At the Feast of First Fruits every male in Israel was to present himself before the LORD in Jerusalem. Moses wrote down the first law so that it would be a permanent record for all peoples of all times.
All of this tells us we are important to God for He outlined these details so carefully. It tells us that we are obligated to Him to obey His commands. If we are important enough for God to set forth these details, then we certainly ought to pay attention to Him.
Thanks, J Mark for sharing this lesson with us. It was interesting to hear the lesson divided into three sections with the “firsts” being the focus of each section. Thank YOU for being with us. As I am sure you noticed we are coming to the end of Exodus. We have been in Exodus just over a year and now we have two more lessons left. After Exodus, we plan to go through the New Testament book of II Corinthians. We look forward to this change and hope you will join us for this study.
However, if you have questions about today’s lesson, or if you’d like a copy of this teaching, or to contact us for any reason. Here is how you can. Our email is [email protected]. If you don’t have an email, send us a letter, our address is Hope for Today, Box 3 Breezewood, Pennsylvania 15533. Or you can connect with us on our website. Our website is heraldsofhope.org. On our website, please look around and check out our other programs and resources. Again, our website is heraldsofhope.org.
Thanks again for joining us this week. Lord willing, we will be together again next week, till then Go with God and pay attention to the details because as we learned details are important.
*This episode is an exposition by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.