Decking the Halls

The Christmas reading for yesterday was Exodus 25. In this chapter, God gives detailed instructions for decorating the Tabernacle that would be the Lord's dwelling place. As the additional reading points out, all of those details must have had a purpose. They may have been symbolic, they may have been designed to remind the people of God's promises.

How do we decorate for the holidays? Or, more to the point, why do we decorate? Is it simply so that it will "feel like the holidays" around our homes? I have to admit that yes, that is definitely part of why I like to decorate immediately after Thanksgiving.

This year, obviously, we could not do much decorating since we are in the process of moving. In fact, we just took down what little decorations we had up and put them in boxes. But as soon as we get to the new house, you can bet those decorations will go right back up. My favorite thing that we put up is our Nativity. It looks so pretty and fancy, but really, we got all of the pieces individually at the dollar store. I love how Ophelia likes to point out Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.

We used to relegate the Nativity to a table or a back room. Now that we have (and will have at the new house) a mantle above the fireplace, it is the perfect place to display the representation of what this Season is truly about. We've been reading books to Ophelia about Christmas - how it is Jesus' birthday, and Jesus is God's gift to us. In the coming years, I hope to be more thoughtful with our Christmas decorations, and use them not only to get in the "holiday spirit," but also to celebrate the blessing that God gave to us through Jesus.

The Law

Having finally graduated law school and PASSED THE BAR EXAM, I am surprised that I am still interested in anything having to do with the law. As I was reading Exodus 21-23, I was struck by the similarity of God's laws, as handed down through Moses, to our current criminal laws. I probably shouldn't have been surprised. Where else did we get the ideas for punishment for crimes but from God? But it is really very interesting to a criminal law nut like myself.

Exod. 21:14 But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.

Hello, first degree murder! From a purely historical standpoint, it is fascinating that our society, and most societies around the world, probably, have followed this law since the time of Moses. Capital Punishment is always a hot-button issue. There are those that are die-hard pro death penalty (hello, Texas). And there are those that see it as a murder on its own. I suppose I fall somewhat in the middle - that is, I am wishy-washy. I think that I believe that capital punishment is okay, but I don't know that, were I to be on a jury, I could actually impose it. At this rate, I won't be making the jury in a capital case any time soon. They want you to be decisive on this issue.

As I read the Bible cover to cover, I wonder how my views on capital punishment will change, or if I will still be indecisive on the issue. I know a lot of people tend to split up God as "the God of the Old Testament" and "the God of the New Testament." I am not sure how I feel about that. My gut reaction is God would not have left us the Old Testament if it weren't important. But I guess the question becomes, why is it important? Are we to diligently follow its laws? Or are we to look at how God was before he sent his Son and be grateful? I am not sure yet. I hope that reading and praying will give me some interesting insight.

In other legal news, God said this:

Exod. 23:9 Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt. 

Ha! Early immigration law is what that is! That is what Nathan and I have always talked about. How can we not welcome immigrants to this country, when that is all any of us are? I am definitely an advocate for legal immigration, but I definitely think the process should be less time consuming and cumbersome. It takes some people literally a decade or more to move here legally just to be with their families. It is no wonder we have such an illegal immigrant problem.

God Remembers

So, oops! I had to restart my "start date" on my 90 day reading plan! I missed an entire week of reading, which is bad. I am still a little bit behind, but I hope I can catch up over the weekend. Thank goodness that God is better at remembering stuff than I am.

Gen. 9:16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

Exod. 6:5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 


I have always heard that a rainbow is a sign of God's promise to us. But it is actually a sign of his covenant, which I think is stronger than just a promise. We make and break promises all the time, to ourselves, to each other. But a covenant is serious. God made a covenant with Noah after he covered the earth in water. He made another covenant with the Israelites to bring them out of Egypt. He got them out of Egypt by drowning the Egyptians in the Red Sea. God does not just make his promises lightly. In the Old Testament, he killed off a bunch of evildoers when he made a covenant with his people. I am interested to keep reading and see under what other circumstances God makes a covenant with man. He certainly doesn't take these "promises" lightly.