Week 5 Exodus 21-40
The second half of the book of Exodus is the first big block of demanding reading in my through-the-bible year.
I took some time to map out the whole book section-by-section to see what I had:
From Egypt to Mount Sinai (Exodus 1-19)
The Ten Commandments (20)
A list of laws (21-23)
Israel accepts the covenant (24)
Instructions for building the Tabernacle (25-31)
Israel worships an idol (32-34)
The Tabernacle gets built (35-40)
So I can see that the book is made up of two kinds of writing: Story-telling & Instructional lists. I decided to reorganize Exodus along those lines:
Story-telling…
• From Egypt to Mount Sinai (1-19)
• The Ten Commandments (20)
• Israel accepts the covenant (24)
• Israel worships an idol (32-34)
Instructional lists…
• A list of laws (21-23)
• Instructions for building the Tabernacle (25-31)
• The Tabernacle gets built (35-40)
The stories in chapters 1-20 are pretty interesting (and some of them are really interesting). Apart from the Golden Calf fiasco the story-telling in the second-half of the book tails-off quite a bit.
I wondered if it would help to read the Stories first and then batch the Instructional Section into a 16-chapter quick-read blitz (or vice versa). I think it’d work (for instance I looked at the transition from 25-31 to 35-40 and it was seamless – a jump straight from the building planning into the building project).
I guess I could try it sometime. Realistically I’m not sure how much difference it would make. One way or the other I have to read it all.