The Bible in a Year Weekly Summary
Week 5: Exodus 19-40
Exodus 19) Three months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites arrive at Mt. Sinai (a.k.a. Horeb). Verses 5-6
describe the people of God as a treasured possession, a king, priests, and a holy nation. See also 1 Peter
2:5. The people promise to do all that the LORD commands. God appears and his presence brings
smoke, thunder, earthquakes and clouds. These images will appear throughout the Bible, all the way into
Revelation, as symbols of God’s presence. 20) The 10 Commandments. Here they are just listed as “these
words.” And the first of “these words” is “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” In other words, the Law that follows flows from Gospel. They
receive laws about altars. 21) They receive laws about slaves, including the command to release them in
the 7th year. Notice the language of redemption and ransom: commercial terms that will serve as beautiful
Gospel images. The emphasis throughout is on limiting retaliation to crimes, in order that there might be a
just punishment that fits the crime. 22) Laws about restitution for wrongs. The people are reminded that
they too were sojourners and slaves. God promises to hear the cries of the oppressed, and he requires that
his people be consecrated/holy before him. 23) More laws about justice and keeping the Sabbath. The
three primary festivals are the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of
Ingathering. God once again promises the conquest of the Land. It will be slow, but sure (however, vss.
32-33 foreshadows the problems they will have). 24) We meet some more of the main characters: Moses,
Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, the 70 elders, and Joshua. Twice more the people promise to obey all that God has
commanded them. 24:10 gives us some images that will show up in Revelation. In the midst of the
clouds, the Glory of the LORD dwelt on Sinai. 25) Moses receives instructions on building the Ark of the
Covenant, the Mercy Seat, the Bread of the Presence, and the Lampstands. God promises to dwell and
meet with the people. 26) The details instructions regarding the Tabernacle remind us of the holiness and
separateness of a pure God, as compared with a sinful people. 27) Instructions for assembling the Bronze
Altar, the Court of the Tabernacle, and the Oil for the Lamp. 28) The priests are directed to wear special
garments to set them apart for special service. There is an important distinction between things used for
sacred and secular purposes. 29) The priests are to be consecrated, set apart, and made holy for service to
the LORD. This includes washing with water, special clothes, being anointed with oil, and making
sacrifices. 30) Moses is directed on the construction of the Altar of Incense, the Bronze Altar, and the
Oil/Incense to be used. Also, there is a census tax dealing with ransoming life. 31) Oholiab and Bezalel
are set apart as skilled craftsmen to help with the construction. Moses receives two tables of stone,
written on by the finger of God. 32) The people of God got tired of waiting for Moses, so they had Aaron
make for them a golden calf to worship. God offers to strike them down and start over with Moses, but
Moses intercedes on their behalf, based on God’s promises. The Levites kill the traitors. 33) God tells
them to leave Sinai without his presence, so they mourn. Moses intercedes, and pleads not to send them
without His presence. Moses asks to see God’s glory, but he cannot handle the full glory of God. 34) God
replaces the tablets Moses broke in his anger. Moses pleads for pardon for the people. The 10 Words are
given, and Moses’ face shines with God’s glory. 35) More rules about the Sabbath (but see Col. 2:16-17);
and they pass the plate to build the Tabernacle. 36) The people are told to stop giving so much in the
offering plate. 37) They build the Ark, the Table, the Lampstand, and the Altar. 38) Construction
continues. 39) Priestly garments described in detail. 40) The Tabernacle, God’s place of presence, is built.
The Glory of the LORD fills the Tabernacle and He dwells with His people.
Readings for the coming week: Monday-Lev.1-9 Tuesday-Lev.10-15 Wednesday-Lev.16-19
Thursday-Lev.20-25 Friday-Lev.26-Num.3 Saturday-Num.4-8
The Bible in a Year Weekly Summary
How Christians Should Regard Moses
By Martin Luther
This distinction should be noticed, grasped, and taken to heart by those preachers who would
teach others; indeed by all Christians, for everything depends entirely upon it. If the peasants had
understood it this way, they would have salvaged much and would not have been so pitifully
misled and ruined. And where we understand it differently, there we make sects and factions,
slavering among the rabble and into the raving and uncomprehending people without any
distinction, saying, “God’s word, God’s word.” But my dear fellow, the question is whether it
was said to you. God indeed speaks also to angels, wood, fish, birds, animals, and all creatures,
but this does not make it pertain to me. I should pay attention to that which applies to me, that
which is said to me, in which God admonishes, drives, and requires something of me.
Here is an illustration. Suppose a housefather had a wife, a daughter, a son, a maid, and a
hired man. Now he speaks to the hired man and orders him to hitch up the horses and bring in a
load of wood, or drive over to the field, or do some other job. And suppose he tells the maid to
milk the cows, churn some butter, and so on. And suppose he tells his wife to take care of the
kitchen and his daughter to do some spinning and make the beds. All this would be the words of
one master, one housefather. Suppose now the maid decided she wanted to drive the horses and
fetch the wood, the hired man sat down and began milking the cows, the daughter wanted to
drive the wagon or plow the field, the wife took a notion to make the beds or spin and so forgot
all about the kitchen; and then they all said, “The master has commanded this, these are the
housefather’s orders!” Then what? Then the housefather would grab a club and knock them all in
a heap, and say, “Although it is my command, yet I have not commanded it of you; I gave each
of you your instructions, you should have stuck to them.”
It is like this with the word of God. Suppose I take up something that God ordered someone
else to do, and then I declare, “But you said to do it.” God would answer, “Let the devil thank
you; I did not tell you to do it.” One must distinguish well whether the word pertains to only one
or to everybody.1
1
Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther's
Works, Vol. 35 : Word and Sacrament I. Philadelphia : Fortress Press, 1999, c1960 (Luther's Works 35), S. 35:171