Session plan 90 min
- Opening 10 min
- Genesis 1:20–23 — Day 5 15 min
- Exodus 29 — The Three Offerings 25 min
- The Tamid, the Altar, and God’s Thesis 25 min
- Closing 15 min
Where We Are
| Week | Episode | Day | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 325 | Day 1 — Light & Darkness | Ark, Table & Menorah · Testimonies, bread, lamp |
| 2 | 326 | Day 2 — Separation of Waters | Curtains & Coverings · The door |
| 3 | 327 | Day 3 — Land & Vegetation | Altar & Courtyard · Community |
| 4 | 328 | Day 4 — Luminaries | Priestly Garments · Orientation |
| 5 | 329 | Day 5 — Birds & Sea Creatures | Ordination & Offerings · Presence |
| 6 | 330 | Day 6 — Humanity | Incense, Oil & Basin · Image & likeness |
| 7 | 331 | Day 7 — Sabbath | Sabbath Commands · Rest |
Last week: Stars help you know where and when you are. The priest holds the whole community on the shoulders and each name over the heart. Holiness travels toward people, not away from them.
This week: Day 5 brings the first blessing in creation. Birds are creatures of the sky — but their blessing is on the earth. The priests are birds: they can enter holy places, but their calling is at the doorway. God’s thesis for the whole Exodus: “I brought them out so that I might dwell among them.”
Opening 10 min
Opening Question: When have you received care from someone who had clearly “landed” — who was at home in elevated or privileged space but chose to be near you? What did that landing feel like?
Genesis 1:20–23 — Day 5 15 min
Read Genesis 1:20–23 aloud.
Q1: Day 5 brings birds who can reach the sky — but their blessing from God is to be fruitful “on the earth,” not in the sky.1 Josh’s application: people with elevated callings are only blessed when they land near the people they serve. Elevated space is not a place to settle. Where are you currently circling — staying in the sky — rather than landing near people who need you on the ground?
Exodus 29 — The Three Offerings 25 min
Read Exodus 29:1, 10–22 aloud.
Q2: The ordination moves through three offerings: the sin offering (preventive humility — the priest acknowledges before starting that they will make mistakes); the burnt offering (transformation — the only one with no atonement and nobody eats it; pure worship); and the peace/ordination offering (celebration — the priest shares in the meal).2 These are not a sequence to get past. They are a rhythm to inhabit — like morning and evening. Where are you currently living — in the sin offering, the burnt offering, or the peace offering? What would it take to hold all three simultaneously?
Q3: Blood is placed on the priests’ right earlobe, right thumb, and right big toe — in that order.3 First what you hear. Then what you do. Then where you go. Not the other way around. In a situation you are currently navigating, are you waiting to “be in the right place” before acting? What would it look like to start with the ear (what am I hearing?) and the thumb (what am I doing with my hands right now?)?
The Tamid, the Altar, and God’s Thesis 25 min
Q4: Optional The tamid — the burnt offering burning morning and evening, every day — is always already on the altar when you arrive.4 You don’t have to bring your own. Repentance is a standing invitation, not a gate you must open. How does the image of an offering already burning — already waiting for you — change how you approach repentance?
Q5: Exodus 29:46 — “I brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell (shakan) among them.”5 The word shakan shares its root with mishkan. Every week of this series exists for this: not so God can be worshipped from a distance, but so God can be with the people. Not “so that they could serve me” — but “so that I might dwell among them.” What does it mean to receive the whole tabernacle as God’s desire for proximity rather than God’s demand for performance?
Closing 15 min
“Day 5 fills Day 2’s space with birds and sea creatures — the first blessed things, the first living things. Birds can reach the sky, but they are blessed on the earth. The offerings move from humility to transformation to celebration. The altar is always already burning. And underneath everything, God’s purpose is simple: ‘so that I might dwell among you.’”
Closing Question: One sentence —
“The place I most need to land — rather than circle — is ___.”
Looking Ahead — Week 6: Day 6 and the Anointing Oil
Ep. 330 — Sanctuary: Traversing the Mishkan (1:58:10)
Day 6 pairs with Exodus 30’s golden altar of incense, the census half-shekel, the bronze basin, anointing oil, and sacred incense. The central distinction: tselem (image) is given and cannot be counterfeited; demut (likeness) is worked out over time. The anointing oil = tselem (God’s image, covering everything, already present); the incense = demut (God’s likeness, kept holy for God, not our brand). The half-shekel: you hold only half. No single person carries the full image of God. The bronze basin: are you willing to be washed by raw community?
Before Week 6: What is one quality of God that you see most clearly not in yourself but in another person — someone whose half-shekel completes yours?
References
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Ep. 329 notes. Genesis 1:20–23; birds blessed on the earth; the priests as birds. ↩
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Ep. 329 notes. Exodus 29:10–28. Three offering types as a rhythm: sin, burnt, peace. ↩
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Ep. 329 notes. Exodus 29:20; Exodus 21:5–6 (servant’s pierced ear as background). ↩
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Ep. 329 notes. Exodus 29:38–42. The tamid as standing invitation. ↩
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Ep. 329 notes. Exodus 29:46. God’s thesis statement for the entire Exodus. ↩
This discussion guide was developed using these notes and is aligned with the content and approach of the BEMA Discipleship Podcast (opens in a new tab) by Marty Solomon and Brent Billings.