Book of Exodus

The first interpretation is that this laughter is idolatry.

And Rashi says, go to Exodus chapter 32 when the Jewish people did the golden calf.

The verse says, they got up in the morning, there was some sort of laughter that was idolatry.

And that's maybe what she saw in Ishmael.

Many of them still existed in variant forms.

There were a couple of different what we might call editions of the Book of Exodus or the Book of Jeremiah, which existed both in long form and short form together in the same cave.

The Psalms appeared in completely different orders and forms and scopes.

So lots of things changed, but lots of things changed mostly for specialists in these materials, right? We know that the world of early Judaism was really varied, was very vibrant and creative.

And on that piece of cloth were set 12 stones that were engraved with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.

And the scripture tells us about this in Exodus chapter 28.

It says Aaron, who was the first high priest, shall bear their names, the names of the people, before the Lord on his two shoulders and on his heart when he goes into the holy place to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord.

Remember we said that was a role of the Old Testament priest to offer prayers on behalf of the people.

And this lamb of the Passover was offered according to God's instruction to Moses.

And you find this in Exodus chapter 12.

Now, when you read in Exodus chapter 12, this lamb of the Passover was chosen when it was 12 months old or one year.

And it had to be without a blemish, without a stain, nothing.

It had to be pure, clean, not one single stain on it.

Many of them still existed in variant forms.

There were a couple of different what we might call editions of the Book of Exodus or the Book of Jeremiah, which existed both in long form and short form together in the same cave.

The Psalms appeared in completely different orders and forms and scopes.

So lots of things changed, but lots of things changed mostly for specialists in these materials, right? We know that the world of early Judaism was really varied, was very vibrant and creative.

And elders here refers to that first office of spiritual leadership in the church.

As we probe that a little bit, though, we might ask, okay, that's interesting, elders, New Testament, but where does that idea come from? Where does the idea of spiritual leaders in the church called elders, where does that come from? Well, actually, I'm glad you asked, in the Old Testament, this idea of elders is from the very beginning, at least from the book of Exodus.

It's got a long, long history.

Way back, even in Exodus 24 verse 1, Moses invites Aaron and the elders up to worship Yahweh on Mount Sinai.

And they're these leaders that are given a special place of witnessing the revelations of God and also providing leadership to the people of Israel.

And interestingly, we actually see these elders at work throughout the Old Testament.

It's the promise of the son of the woman who would be bruised by the serpent and then would crush the serpent's head.

Or you could turn over to Exodus, and you would see about the sufferings of Jesus there.

You would see that deliverance comes through the offering of a lamb.

Or you could flip over to Leviticus and there you'd see the scripture telling you that atonement can only be made through the offering of perfect sacrificial blood or numbers.

So turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 13.

So it goes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus.

Then you hit Numbers, go to chapter 13 of Numbers, beginning in verse 17.

We're gonna read a big passage of scripture here, but the story is so interesting, I have to read the whole thing to you.

Many of them still existed in variant forms.

There were a couple of different what we might call editions of the Book of Exodus or the Book of Jeremiah, which existed both in long form and short form together in the same cave.

The Psalms appeared in completely different orders and forms and scopes.

So lots of things changed, but lots of things changed mostly for specialists in these materials, right? We know that the world of early Judaism was really varied, was very vibrant and creative.