The House You're Building

  Introduction :  All over the world, no matter what culture or time period, traditions are part of the human experience.  Anticipating a gathering of friends and family, with routines that we repeat annually when we gather is something hardwired into us. The God who created us implanted this desire into humanity and guided His people to memorialize His story of rescue within them.  As we continue our broad survey of Exodus, this week’s section of the book is as familiar as the plagues to most readers-the Passover and exit from Egypt as they miraculously cross the Red Sea.    Not only did God institute these rituals to remind His people in the past of His great power and holiness, He uses them as a symbol for us today.  The Passover commemorated the Israelite’s escape from death, as the blood on the door served as a vivid picture they were sin was covered, which would signal the angel to pass over their home.  As we read of the Feast of Unleaven...

This week I’m introducing a new series that we will be in for quite some time.  Last spring and summer I completed an epic study on Exodus and it has probably been my favorite study of all time! I’m so excited to write about it some of what I’ve gleaned and share it with you.  This post is to share some information about Exodus as a whole so the sections you read each week have more context.  In a broad sense, Exodus is God’s people leaving Egypt after 430 years of slavery.  To best understand it, you have to look at the larger storyline of books surrounding it.  Exodus is the 2 nd  book of the bible and included in the Pentateuch, five books of history that read like a series.  Genesis, which comes before, is the story of individuals, where Exodus covers the story of a nation.  The next three books, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, expand on Exodus by covering more covenant instructions, the journey toward the pr...