Tag: Psalms

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7/29 Reading (Exodus 19-21; Psalms 15-17)

Exodus 19: Moses and the people reach Sinai in this chapter. God tells Moses to tell the people that ā€œif you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoplesā€ (Ex. 19.5). God then tells Moses that he will come to him in the form of a dense cloud and he wants the people to witness it so they will continue to trust Moses. The people are told this will happen in three days, so they prepare. They are also told that they may not touch the mountain or they will be put to death. Moses also says ā€œPrepare for the third day; do not go near a womanā€ (Ex. 19.15). As in, sex is not allowed. According to the notes this causes impurity. Based on all the sex going on in Genesis, I was a little surprised by this command.

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7/22 Reading (Exodus 1-3; Psalms 10-14)

Exodus 1: This chapter quickly moves into the rising hatred the Egyptians have towards the Israelites. This happens when a new King of Egypt steps in who didnā€™t know Joseph. He wanted to fight them and destroy them. But, they kept reproducing even as more and more challenging tasks were imposed on them by the Egyptians. The Pharaoh then charged the Hebrew midwives to kill any newborn boys, but they didnā€™t because they feared God. They lied to the Pharaoh about why they didnā€™t do it, so God protected them. So, Pharaoh told his people to throw any newborn boy into the Nile.

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7/15 Reading (Genesis 34-36; Psalms 6-9)

Genesis 34: This chapter focused on the rape of Dinah, Jacobā€™s daughter. She was attacked by Shechem, the son of the prince of the region they were in. When Jacob found out, he waited for his sons and then talked with Shechem and his father, Prince Hamor. Shechem wanted to marry Dinah. They made an arrangement. If all the men of their region agreed to be circumcised, then they would agree to arranged marriages (i.e. Jacobā€™s sons daughters would be given to these men and their daughters would be given to them). My thought while reading this was ā€œwait, what?ā€ Iā€™d be beyond furious. However, after the all of the men went through the circumcision, Simeon and Levi, two of Dinahā€™s brothers, attacked and killed all of the men of the city because of the attack on Dinah. The other brothers plundered the city. Jacob got angry with his sons and was afraid they would be attacked by larger armies. I think their response was good: ā€œBut they said, ā€˜Should our sister be treated like a whore?ā€™ā€ (Gen. 34.31)

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7/8 Reading (Genesis 16-18; Psalms 1-5)

I noticed I had a lot to say on this reading. I think it’s because today’s reading included an introduction to the Psalms.

Genesis 16: Story of Sarai offering Hagar to Abraham since Sarai is barren. After Hagar gets pregnant, Sarai throws her out and Abraham lets Sarai do it because he says Hagar is her slave. Hagar is visited by an Angel, who she thinks is God. She calls him El-roi? Note indicates this means either God of seeing or God who sees. After reading the notes I was reminded that there was a time when women gave their slaves to their husbands and took the kid as their own.

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