God's plan for redemption

I meant for this post to be on the Read the Bible in 90 days. It was early. Sorry.

God intends for Isreal to be his treasured possession. he says, "Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." He gives the 10 Commandments and then elaborates upon them with the specific laws concerning alters, servants, injuries, property, social responsibility, justice, mercy, and Sabbath laws. He also tells them about the three festivals they are to have each year. Most of these laws seem like common sense to us, but that is because they have been in effect for so long, and they are the laws that have permeated much of Western Civilization. I don't think The Egyptians would have thought about helping the poor or the widow or the foreigner. It will be interesting to see what happens when Israel does gain power. Are they a compassionate people at that point? A kingdom of priests and a holy nation?

I also don't think they got days off in the Egyptian culture, but I'm not sure. Toward the end of the Roman civilization nobody was working which is one reason why it came to an end.

I like the idea of three festivals a year. Today I'm going to get out my calendar and plan a couple of breaks a year, and I'm going to work at making Christmas a truly stress free holiday. I'd better start now on the latter.