Exodus 20:22-21:36

Reading a bunch of laws that actually don't have a direct application to you can be kind of tedious, am I right?  Here begins a litany of laws the Lord made among the Israelites, and they can be a bit monotonous.  "Whoever does this, shall be put to death," "Ye shall do this, but ye shan't do that."  Yes, I've heard people's "baritone" impressions of the law reading.  I may have done one or two myself. 

But these laws are important, and yes, important for us.  First, they help us to understand God's standards.  They help us to understand how high and impossible it is to attain righteousness through our own deeds (Romans, anyone?).  They help us to understand how a motley crew of escaped slaves formed themselves into a nation and brought order among them.  What kind of land would American have been if the Founding Fathers had not set down to make laws and a governmental structure.  The structure of Israel's government was to be a theocracy: ruled by God alone, with the priesthood acting as the administration.  Therefore, God's laws weren't only religious statues, but ethical, political, and even health/dietary laws (Leviticus); don't think the government should regulate the dietary laws?  Um, Food and Drug Administration?

One thing about these laws that really sticks out to me, this time around, is actually at the end of Chapter 20.  Where God says that if they build an altar of stone, they should not fashion it or use a tool on it in any way, otherwise they would profane it.  Ever wonder why that is?  I don't know what Bible scholars know about this (and I'm deliberately not looking it up until I finish this post), but it struck me as this: if they don't use a tool on it in any way, then they cannot say they have made it or fashion it for themselves.  It struck me as a bit of a parallel to when the Israelites fashion a god for themselves, oh, say, the Golden Calf.  They even say to themselves, "Let us make for ourselves a god" (paraphrase there).  They know they are making it for themselves and that they are deeming it their god.  Don't we often have a tendency to elevate things we make?  We hold them as precious.  Would it be possible that the Israelites might eventually look at this altar, and say, "Hey, look at this altar we have built.  Let's bow down and worship it!"  I don't think it's as far-fetched as it seems, seeing as they were quite willing with the Golden Calf.  If you look throughout God's Laws and His commands, many of them (if not all of them) are intended to prevent His followers from harm.  You'll see that as we get into Leviticus.  Could it not be that this seemingly obscure and obtuse command would do the same?

Tomorrow's Reading: Exodus 22:1-23:9