Could giftedness be one of the key ways to discern your calling? In this interview with the Theology of Work Project, Bill Hendricks discusses the significance of giftedness for vocation. Bill Hendricks is...
Text Suggestions Isaiah 55:6-9 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my...
Tom Nelson introduces key ideas about faith and work the run through both the Old and New Testaments.
Unless you’re living on a deserted island, you probably had a customer service transaction today. Did you look for God in that...
Let’s hold each other accountable to a higher level of discourse for the next few months, with these Ten Commandments of Talking...
She received an invitation for a wedding of the man who had hurt her many years ago. Should she attend? Jann Cobb wasn't sure, so she prayed for God to give her wisdom...
You can’t produce quality work at an eighty-hour a week pace.
This winter, after becoming aware of widespread human trafficking in the cocoa industry, Kelli decided to do something.
When we feel overwhelmed, trapped, or held back in our workplaces, we should—like Moses—call out to God and, once again, remind ourselves...
“and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills” Exodus 31:3 Introduction from Mark Roberts: Dr. Vincent Bacote has been...
The name Bezalel is not a name that first comes to our mind when we think of biblical characters.
When have you been impressed, perhaps even overwhelmed, by the awesomeness of God?
A few weeks ago my family moved, and we went online to reserve a moving truck. They were supposed to call us the day before our move to let us know where to...
Talk about no options! The Children of Israel were fleeing Egypt. Before them lay the Red Sea. On either side were vast deserts. Coming up from behind: the most powerful army on earth. Every...
Exodus 40 recounts the first time the Tabernacle was set up. The Lord told Moses what to do and in what order. Moses did exactly what God had told him to do (40:16)...
The bulk of Exodus 39 describes the making of the sacred garments for the High Priest. Aaron and his successors were to wear these vestments “while ministering in the Holy Place” (39:1). Remember...
I was in college when I first heard a preacher refer to Exodus 34:14, claiming that God was jealous. I must admit that I found this idea unsettling, even offensive. Jealousy, it seemed...
In Exodus 33, God communicated his extreme displeasure to Israel because of their idolatrous worship using the golden calf.
In Exodus 33, the Lord delivered the bad news to his people that he would not go with them to the Promised Land because they were “a stubborn and rebellious people” (33:3).
Today I finish several reflections on Exodus 32, the story of the golden calf. Last Friday, we watched as Moses confronted Aaron concerning his leadership of Israel’s idolatry and as Aaron shirked...
Exodus 32 reveals that the idea of making an image to represent the “gods” originated with the Israelites. But, thereafter, Aaron enthusiastically led this idolatrous effort. He summoned the people...
As the Israelites were worshiping before the golden calf, feasting, drinking, and reveling, the Lord revealed to Moses, who was high upon...
In the last several chapters of Exodus (chs. 25-31), the Lord had been revealing to Moses how Israel should worship. Exodus 32 interrupts this revelation with a shameful story of worship gone awry....
In previous chapters of Exodus, the Lord had revealed in great detail the design of the Tabernacle, its sacred implements, and the...
It’s easy for people today, even Christians who know their Bible, to have a mistaken view of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was God’s dwelling place among his people.
Are you living out your callings in your different roles in life?
Exodus 22:21 introduces God’s concern for those who were powerless in the ancient world.
In yesterday’s reflection, I examined the Lex Talionis in Exodus 21:24: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” I...
Exodus 21 contains one of the most familiar phrases in the whole Bible: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (21:24). Often called the Lex Talionis (Latin for “law of...
It is striking that eight out of ten of the Ten Commandments are phrased in the negative...
“You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or...
The basic meaning of the eighth commandment is clear. It forbids taking something that doesn’t belong to you without the owner’s permission...
Adultery plagues our society today. It seems that not a day goes by that we don’t hear of some government official caught...
When we read the sixth commandment in the New Living Translation, “You must not murder,” we wonder whatever happened to the “Thou...
Many cultures throughout the world train people to honor people of older generations, including parents, grandparents, and so on.
“You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse...
In the past, some Christians understood the second commandment as prohibiting visual art within a worship context, especially imaginative representations of God. These were “graven images” that...
Exodus 20:3 does not imply the existence of other genuine deities. The gods referred to here are, in the end, false gods...
Yesterday I began reflecting on Exodus 20:1-17, the Ten Commandments that constitute the core of Israel’s covenant obligation. Today I continue to...
As the Israelites left Egypt, they were pursued by the Egyptians. Fearful of the awesome power of Pharaoh’s army, the people of Israel were gripped with fear.
In last Friday’s reflection on Exodus 12, I noted how striking it is that God wove together both the experience of the Passover and the formation of traditions to foster remembrance of what...
One of the striking features of Exodus 12 is the interweaving of the actual events of the first Passover with the establishment of the annual feast of Passover. The Lord not only delivered the...
In yesterday’s reflection we saw how Pharaoh’s anger was part of the hardening of his heart that kept him from doing what was right as a leader.
I can certainly understand Pharaoh’s anger with Moses. By this point in the story, Pharaoh was surely sick and tired of Moses and everything he represented. Unfortunately for Pharaoh and the...
It is possible to get yourself into a lot of trouble very quickly with your blog. ...
I want us to think for a minute about the potential of the ordinary. And to realize with Moses the lesson of the burning bush—that you are in a holy place all day...
Exploring God's actions, commandments, and relationship with His people in Exodus give us insight for work today.
The book of Exodus opens and closes with Israel at work. At the onset, the Israelites are at work for the Egyptians. By the book’s end, they have finished the work of building...
Israel’s mistreatment by the Egyptians provides the background and impetus for their redemption. Pharaoh did not allow them to follow Moses into...
The work that the Egyptians forced on the Israelites was evil in motive and cruel in nature. The opening scene presents the...
In the midst of harsh treatment, the Israelites remained faithful to God’s command to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28). That entailed...
In the book of Exodus, God is the essential worker. The nature and intent of that divine work set the agenda for...
God began the first step—deliverance—by sending Moses and Aaron to tell Pharaoh “to let the Israelites go out of his land” (Exod...
The foundational expression of God’s work came to dramatic fruition when God decisively led his people through the Red Sea, releasing them...
While on the journey from Egypt to Sinai, Moses reconnected with his father-in-law Jethro. This former outsider to the Israelites offered much-needed...
At Mount Sinai, Moses received the Ten Commandments from the Lord. As the NIV Study Bible puts it, “The Ten Commandments are...
We begin by recognizing that Exodus is an integral part of the whole of Scripture, not a stand-alone legal statue. Christopher Wright...
It can be a challenge for a Christian to draw a point from a verse in the book of Exodus or especially...
Israel’s “Book of the Covenant” (Exod. 24:7) included the Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue (literally, the “words,” Exod. 20:1-17), and...
The Ten Commandments are the supreme expression of God’s will in the Old Testament and merit our close attention. They are to...
The first commandment reminds us that everything in the Torah flows from the love we have for God, which in turn is...
The second commandment raises the issue of idolatry. Idols are gods of our own creation, gods that have nothing to them that...
The third commandment literally prohibits God’s people from making “wrongful use” of the name of God. This...
The issue of the Sabbath is complex, not only in the book of Exodus and the Old...
There are many ways to honor—or dishonor—your father and mother. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees wanted to restrict this to speaking well...
Sadly, the sixth commandment has an all-too-practical application in the modern workplace, where 10 percent of all job-related fatalities (in the United...
The workplace is one of the most common settings for adultery, not necessarily because adultery occurs in the workplace itself, but because...
The eighth commandment is another that takes work as its primary subject. Stealing is a violation of proper work because it dispossesses...
The ninth commandment honors the right to one’s own reputation.[1] It finds pointed application in legal proceedings where what people say depicts...
Envy and acquisitiveness can arise anywhere in life, including at work where status, pay, and power are...
A collection of case laws follows, flowing from the Ten Commandments. Instead of developing detailed principles, it gives examples of how to...
Although God liberated the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, slavery is not universally prohibited in the Bible. Slavery was permissible in certain...
The casuistic laws spelled out penalties for offenses, including many relating directly to commerce, especially in the case of liability for loss...
God’s intent to provide opportunities for the poor is seen in the regulations benefiting aliens, widows, and...
Another set of case laws regulated money and collateral (Exod. 22:25-27). Two situations are in view. The first pertains to a needy...
The work of building the tabernacle may seem to lie outside the scope of the Theology of Work Project because of its...
In Exodus, we see God bring his people out of oppressive labor into the glorious freedom of the children of God. It is not a freedom from working, but a freedom to love...
One consequence of the woman's sin was greater pain in childbirth (Genesis 3:16). Enter midwives. Midwives have been part of human experience...
Caple is another writer who has thought a great deal about transitions, particularly as they relate to changing our career.[1] He suggests that we are in fact, continually undergoing a transition process –...
A lesson for kids about bringing God into all days of the week.
Biblical and practical tips on maintaining a rhythm between work and rest.
