I just read Isaiah 11-12 and Exodus 25-27.
I believe Isaiah chapter 11 is a reference to the 2nd coming of Christ. The world will be at peace and the power of evil will be defeated once and for all. Christ will come with a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of God (11:2), all of which are attributes that we ourselves should strive for. Verse 11:4 (ESV) also says…
…but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equality for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Whenever I’m reading the Bible, I’m always looking for verses that refute many of the common reasons that I know for people rejecting Christianity. It’s hard to play any part in changing someone’s mind about faith if you don’t have any material to contradict their false notions. This is one of the many reasons why it’s so important to study God’s word and commit it to memory. Anyway, one of the major reasons that people reject Christianity (and religious belief in general) is because of the violence that has been carried out in the name of religion throughout history. For Christianity the Crusades is the most commonly cited event. I think the best (and only) answer we can give to anyone who is hung up on this is that any events like this were not carried out according to anything that Christ taught. The people responsible were wrong and sinning by their actions, plain and simple. This verse says that Christ will come (and already came once) using his words as his weapons. It is evident throughout the gospels and the New Testament that Christ never condoned violence as a means by which to spread his teachings. The fact that so many people reject Christianity for the events of the Crusades is evidence of why it is so important that we consider our actions according to what Christ taught us. While as believers we all know that we are forgiven for our screw-ups, an individual not familiar with his teachings does not know this and will not be even remotely as forgiving as God is of us. People will almost always judge a religion first by the actions of those who profess it, rather than by taking the time to study the principles on which it truly rests upon. One of my favorite quotes is by Mahatma Gandhi because of the challenge it provides to me personally from someone who as far as I know did not ever come to believe in Christ…
I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
I don’t have a terrible amount to say about Exodus 25-27. Most all of the material in these chapters pertains to God’s instructions to Moses for the construction of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle…which sounds like the hardest tent to put up in the history of man. It is actually really cool to read this stuff to see the origins of the teachings and stories of the rest of the Bible. For instance, the veil mentioned in 26:33 is the first iteration of the Temple veil that was torn when Christ died on the cross. I may just be a nerd for liking history so much.
Verses 25:1-2 (ESV) did jump out at me…
The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose HEART moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.”
I think sometimes there is a notion that God will condemn us for not giving to the Church. Even way back in the day God asked his people to give as they felt led. He does not smite us for not giving. This verse shows that we aren’t alone when we find ourselves struggling to be generous with our blessings. Don’t get me wrong, tithing is a good thing and I’m not trying to provide reasons not to tithe. I think our willingness to be generous with what God has given us is another outward sign of Christ’s spirit within us. I also believe that a church led by individuals who are sold out for Christ is the greatest power for reaching out to those in need that exists in this world.