God's Response To Your Prayers For Others

Finding Favor In God’s Sight 

Exodus 33:12-16: Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, Thou dost say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But Thou Thyself hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me. Moreover, Thou hast said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found favor in Thy sight, let me know Thy ways, that I may know Thee, so that I may find favor in Thy sight. Consider too, that this nation is Thy people.” And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Thy presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Thy sight, I and Thy people? Is it not by Thy going with us, so that we, I and Thy people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?”

We long to find favor in the sight of someone (a person we are devoted to) or we hope that circumstances will favor us (for a goal we are chasing). Having favor is a good thing. Some work to be the favorite son/daughter. Some work toward having the teacher’s favor or the the boss’s.  But throughout history, a few good men and women have chosen to desire the favor of God. And they weren’t losers. Contrary to what some people think, those with high IQs are just as likely to seek God’s favor as the rest of us.  Moses was one of those people.

In the preceding segment of our discussion, we learned that Moses was comfortable enough with God as he had the privilege of speaking with the Almighty ‘face to face’ figuratively speaking, as one friend speaks to another. With that kind of relationship that God and he had established, Moses was not afraid to challenge God lovingly, and he did, for good purpose – the saving of his people, the Israelites.

So Moses asks God to tell him who God intends to send with Moses and the people as he takes them to the promised land. “You want me to do this, God, but you won’t tell me who you are going to send with me, since you’re not coming.”  Wow.

And if that’s not enough, he continues: “God, You said You have known me by name; and that I found favor in Your sight. But if that’s the case, why are You not letting me know Your ways?” I think Moses was appealing to the fact that they had a good relationship, that they had spoken to each other as friends. And friends share their plans.

It is important to note here that because Moses has found favor in God’s sight, he expects to know the ways of God (to know what God was thinking or planning). But seeking that is not about having extra knowledge himself through which he could succeed in his own endeavors, but rather as the text says, he wants to know God’s ways in order that he may “know” God. Is that the end purpose for knowing God’s ways? Not really. Moses says, “I want to know Your ways so that I may know You and that will bring me right back to where I really want to be, in a place where I have found favor in Your sight.” You see, it is a circular process. We find favor in God through obedience; we learn His ways as He shares them with us; and in so doing we know Him better; and this in turn, gives us more favor with, or keeps us in the favor of, God. I think that any child of the Creator who follows that process sincerely and passionately, would be sending to God a sweet aroma of praise and adoration – music to His ears from His beloved child.

And then Moses keeps on going. “And look God, consider this. This is not just about You and me. This nation of the Israelites that I represent is your nation, your people. What about them?” Many of us who approach God find it so easy to ask things of Him on our own behalf. “God, I really need You to come through for me here. My little girl is hurting right now and I can’t bear it, Lord. I need this job Lord for my family. And so on.” We’re pretty good at doing that, even if it is with honorable requests as Moses had just asked of God – to know Your ways, in order to know You.

But what about entreating the Almighty strongly on behalf of many others? The extended family? The whole department at work? The entire class at school? The whole team you play with, including the opposing side? The body of believers you worship with? That’s a lot harder, isn’t it? And yet, I believe that God appreciates our sincere interest in others.

And how does God respond to Moses? Moses is concerned about his people and God’s people, and God responds to say His presence “shall go with you (singular) and I will give you (singular) rest.” It’s nice that Moses cares about the people, but God only promises to be with him and to give him peace and rest. What does that say to us? What does that say to us when we’re praying for the salvation of others? What does it say to us who may be praying for something with respect to our children – their family, their jobs, their health?

I think the message is clear: keep on praying for others and interceding on their behalf; that says a lot about us to God and He hears it; but what He promises in return is His presence with us and His peace and rest for us. Like the old Greyhound Bus Lines slogan, “Leave the Driving to Us”, we are to leave “the saving” or the “helping” to Him. And as far as whatever He does with respect to others, we can be certain of one thing that will help us with respect to His decisions – He will be present with us and give us rest and peace. I believe understanding that process of how we are to pray and react to God’s decisions on behalf of others is paramount to living a victorious Christian life.

But somehow Moses wasn’t there yet for he continues to push God. Instead of saying “thank you, God”, he comes back at the Almighty once more with the plural, avoiding the singular. “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.” Still more evidence to God that Moses really cares about his people and he’s not in it just for himself.  If God wasn’t to lead the people, then He should not make them go forward for without Him they would perish.

God does not interrupt him. And Moses goes on with his last argument. And in so doing, appeals to God this time on the ‘singular’ level of the conversation on which He was focusing and promising.  “God, how will others know that I have found favor in Your sight,” but then adds the plural aspect because to him it is also about the people, “I and Your people?”  This was a rhetorical question to God; Moses already knew the answer and he tells God.  “Why, the only way for people to know that is for You to go with us.”

Our testimony is based not on what we do, but on God being seen by others to “go with us”. Moses says, “God, that’s what distinguishes us from all the other people on earth.” Wow.  Can’t wait to see how God responds to that.

But get the picture here. Is God with you today? Are you living a life of distinction from others by having God readily event in your life by how you talk and act and work? I pray that each of us reconsider these questions as we study this remarkable relationship between God and his friend, Moses.

Sign up (on the right) to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Also, I’ve read some good books and make some great recommendations for you at http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20  which you can purchase right from there.  Finally, check us out at Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God Says You’re Traveling Alone For Now

Exodus 33:1-3: Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants, I will give it’: “And I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite – to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, lest I destroy you on the way.”

The Israelites were given instructions to move camp and head towards Canaan to the land that God reminds Moses He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  We are reminded again that He promised it to their “descendants” and not specifically even these generations. God was basically implying, “Look, I’ll keep My promise even though these people have sinned again me.”

Here’s the good news. God promises that He will send an angel before them for their physical protection.  He promised them that they will have no problems with those they meet on the way or in the land of Canaan and names all the various tribes He will drive out to facilitate their travels. The Israelites as a whole (but perhaps not individually) are guaranteed safe passage to the land of milk and honey.

Now here’s the bad news. God tells them that He will not go with them as before when in Exodus 13:21 we read, “The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” Now, I believe this was a really big deal for the Israelites. They had always counted on God’s accompaniment. Now they have to go it alone. Perhaps the best way to relay this feeling is to think of a young child who has been disobedient and their parents say, “Sorry, you’ve blown it. Now you have to do it alone.” We’ll see how the Children of Israel react in the next section of the chapter. Right now, we note God’s rationale for His decision.

In the last part of this text, God tells His People that He won’t go up with them to Canaan – He won’t be in their midst. First of all, we need to consider how much that decision hurt or caused sorrow to God Himself. I remember when our young children had defiantly disobeyed one of their parents and I had to spank them (yes, that was okay in my days and, in my books, still is). I would always end up saying, “Now this is going to hurt me more than it does you.” And I’d end up with just as many tears in my eyes. I’m sure God felt somewhat like that when He was sharing this news.

And His reason for taking such action is that they are an “obstinate” people. Try looking up some synonyms for that word. You get stubborn, pigheaded, inflexible, adamant, unmoved, persistent, and tenacious among other possible substitutes. Can you imagine feeling that way about your own children? God was so angry with them that He realized if He joined them on their journey, He may have come to the point of destroying them along the way.

We do not very often think of this but this passage indicates that God knows Himself well. It’s almost as if God has to fight His own emotions at times in order to stick with His promises. He withdraws temporarily to save His children and get them to their destination.

It hit me as I studied this that God also remains silent and at the sidelines of our lives today when we too are obstinate in one fashion or another. He certainly holds back His anger from us and He remains patient with us because He loves us to no end.

In this world of ours today, it is very difficult for many to imagine what I call a “real relationship with the one and only real God”.  And yet, for those of us who are believers, that’s exactly what you and I have – a “real” relationship with the “real” GOD. And it’s a love relationship – certainly on His part.  But that’s all the more reason why we can’t just keep on being obstinate – being lukewarm, being apathetic towards Him. We have a choice – call it quits or see it as the greatest investment for our eternity. My prayer is that you and I will find ourselves on the same side of the line having chosen to love Him back dearly.

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Also, I’ve read some good books and make some great recommendations for you at http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20  which you can purchase right from there.  Finally, check us out at Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

When Being On God's Side Means Breaking Bonds With Loved Ones

3,000 Israelites Killed – by Israelites!

Exodus 32:25-29: Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control – for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies – then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’” So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord – for every man has been against his son and against his brother – in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

There is no way to avoid this passage of Scripture even though I do not recall ever hearing a sermon on it; I am sure there have been many.  Either way you cut it, it’s a difficult passage to deal with. Let’s dissect it carefully.

The human author (Moses) sees the people out of control.  In fact, some versions of this text actually say “naked” rather than “out of control”. There are different opinions as to whether this referred to the fact that the people were indeed reveling in a way that was not controllable or descent, or they were in fact stripped of their clothes mimicking those non-Israelites who used to perform some of their religious rituals naked, or whether it meant they had been made ‘naked’ of their adornments (ear-rings and such) as they had given them to Aaron to make the golden calf. [I remember, humorously, the days of my youth when I always wanted my wife to wear earrings as I felt that a woman was never fully dressed without them – I never knew then that my subconscious thinking on the matter may have come from this verse.]

Aaron had let the people get out of control “to be a derision among their enemies”. The word derision can be translated as mockery or ridicule or victim of disrespect. Other versions translate this phrase as “shame, weakness, amusement, laughingstock”. Of course, Aaron did not have this outcome in mind, but the consequence of what he abetted certainly pointed to that kind of possible reaction from the Israelite enemies. We, too, often engage in, or lend our hand to, activities for which we do not in advance consider the consequences. How many times do we say to our children or other adults in our lives, “Did you ever stop to think of the implications of that action before you did it?”  And often the sheepish answer is “No, I did not.” I think that one of the marks of maturity both as simply a human being, but especially as a Christian, is that we take the time to stop and consider the implications of not only our actions, but our words. And admittedly, we cannot do that easily by ourselves and without practice and even correction from the Holy Spirit. Henry Kissinger in his 2015 book, World Order, refers to the fact that, in this age of technology we live in, we seem to be missing the wisdom in all the knowledge that we possess or have ready access to. As people of God, we need to realize and take advantage of the fact, that this true ‘wisdom’ that others lack, is available to us.

So Moses stood at the ‘gate’ of the camp. Some may wonder why the Israelites in the middle of a desert had a ‘gate’ to their camp.  Commentator Robert Jamieson answers that for us by indicating that the camp is supposed to have been protected by a rampart after the attack of the Amalekites who are mentioned in Numbers but relating to events prior to this one recorded here in Exodus 32.

If you are a leader and you have a declaration to make, then you have to go to a place where you will be heard – you have to get to the gateway of the community. Interestingly, the word ‘gate’ occurs 275 times in 220 verses in the New American Stand Bible (NASB). This makes for a most interesting study. Much of Biblical history takes place at the various city or camp gates. And Jesus Himself in the New Testament speaks metaphorically of His people entering His Kingdom and gaining our salvation by going through a “narrow gate”.

So at the gate of the Israelite camp, Moses instructs them to go towards him if they are truly for the Lord and to stay away from him if they are not. Can you picture the scene? Can you sense the feelings of the ringleaders? Perhaps it was anger. Can you imagine the shame of the those that were truly sorry for what they had done? Can you feel the confusion of those that were caught in the middle of the argument, not knowing now which way to move? This is indeed a position that many have found themselves in over the centuries – circumstances in which they have to choose between one leader and others, between one thing and another, between a friend and a brother, between a parent and sibling, and so on.  There are seldom any easy choices. The only thing we have going for us is to stick to the higher principles involved – to our beliefs about God and His characteristics which He etched into our hearts at creation.

And yet somehow, many manage to push those higher moral values aside at times like this, and opt for what is immediately more convenient, easier, safer, more socially acceptable. And so it was with the Israelites.  Of the twelve tribes in the camp, only the Levites gathered towards Moses. All the others kept their distance. It seems to be a common theme in life that only a minority get it right no matter what the issue is. Those who are indeed on the Lord’s side are almost always fewer in number.

[The thought occurred to me that had Moses asked, “Who is on my side?” instead of what he did ask, “Who is for the Lord?”, he may have had more people join him.  It is easier for people to gather around a human leader they can see and hear, than God who is Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit. So it is with political leaders today – people rush to vote for them because of how well they come across in their personality rather than the principles they stand for. This was the case of Dr. Ben Carson in the 2016 American Republican Nomination race – while his ideals for America were perhaps the godliest of the bunch, many people, while liking him as an individual, felt he did not have the personality to be president. Calling men (and women) to follow God is a most difficult task; one in which Christ Himself did not score one hundred percent as many rejected even His message.]

And now we come to where one can be greatly flummoxed by the text. Moses tells the Levites to go throughout the camp with swords at their sides and kill their brothers, friends, and neighbors – assumedly those that did not declare being for the Lord. Wow. It seems when God’s laws have indeed been violated, there is a time to take up the sword figuratively if not literally. One example of this is Franklin Graham’s speaking out boldly against the decision by the Charlotte, North Carolina council to push transgender washrooms in the city and indicating that the fight is not over yet. He called the ordinance ‘wicked and filthy’ – strong words for an evangelist these days, yet exactly what needed to be said.

Robert Jamieson suggests that in actual fact the non-Levites were separated into two divisions, and those who were the boldest and most obstinate in vindicating their idolatry were put to death, while the rest, who withdrew in shame or sorrow, were spared. The great number of Israelites that were in the wilderness gives some credence to this possibility. In support of this, commentator David Guzik adds, “It seems that the sin of Israel at the golden calf involved more than these 3,000 people. Yet these were undoubtedly those most flagrant in their idolatry and immorality, or these were the leaders of the sinful conduct.”

Nevertheless, as Jamieson points out the “zeal and courage of Moses was astonishing, considering he opposed an intoxicated mob”. Guzik says, “In this case, siding with the LORD meant siding against some people. Those who were more interested in siding with all people could never do what these Levites did.”

Moses chose to deal with the sin of his people publicly as a testimony against such sin. And as Matthew Henry believes, whenever the issue came up again with respect to the Israelite sin of worshipping a golden calf, at least they could say justice was executed on the evildoers. Henry also goes on to say that this difficult task of killing their neighbors and brothers was given to the Levites as a punishment to them as well for not stepping in earlier to prevent the sin. Guilty by association is sometimes indeed the case.

The question may arise as to the number that were actually killed that day – why only 3,000 when many more were likely involved in the ‘golden calf reveling’? Matthew Henry suggests that the key to that question is that Moses directed them to go “through the camp” implying up and down the streets of the camp, and not in the actual tents the Israelites were living in.  He posits that “it might be hoped that those who had retired into their tents were ashamed of what they had done, and were upon their knees, repenting.” The implication being that those who are marked for ruin and punishment are only those who persist in their sin and not ashamed. An interesting thought, but the fact is that we do not know for sure if that was the case or not.

The other thing we do not know and some may wonder is how did the Levites manage to pull this off against a crowd that may have been so enraged at the idea of their ‘golden calf idol’ being burned as it was by Moses? That is indeed a valid concern.  Why did they not fight back and why was there no record of Levites being killed in opposition? Again Henry theorizes that “a sense of guilt disheartened the delinquents, and a divine commission animated the executioners.” The Levites may have been charged up by Moses’ direction to “Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, that he may bestow a blessing upon you.” This Henry contends, intimates to them “they now stood fair for preferment and that, if they would but signalize themselves upon this occasion, it would be construed into such a consecration of themselves to God, and to his service, as would put upon their tribe a perpetual honor.” All they had to do was rise to the opportunity given them to claim it. And we remember too that the Levites were the ones who were to assist in the offering of sacrifice to God and now this included services of divine justice. Henry concludes, “Those that are to minister about holy things must be not only sincere and serious, but warm and zealous, bold and courageous, for God and godliness. Thus all Christians, but especially ministers, must forsake father and mother, and prefer the service of Christ and his interest far before their nearest and dearest relations; for if we love our relations better than Christ we are not worthy of him.”

There is no doubt that being a true servant and worshiper of the Almighty sometimes requires us to break bonds with those that are otherwise very close to us. We need to remember that God did not intend it that way nor does He rejoice in the need for this to happen. He would much prefer all mankind – including those brothers, friends, neighbors of yours and mine – to love and serve Him. But with our free will, mankind is free to choose to do so or not. And when others make the choice to be ‘contrary’ or ‘anti-God’, we as believers are required to be on the Lord’s side. All of us, at various points in our lives, and with varying degrees of intensity, will be required to set aside relationships and even perhaps take action against those that, in the absence of our godly responsibility, we would prefer not to oppose.

How does one prepare for that? The concluding part of the passage, provides the answer. We are to dedicate ourselves to the Lord. We are to be aware of our responsibility and service and loyalty to Him. We are to see such occurrence not so much as what it means for those who oppose God, but what it means for us and our own relationship to God. We are to see this is an opportunity to serve God; perhaps a test about our own faith and preparedness for greater service and in preparation of a greater blessing to be bestowed upon us. And at the same time, because we now live after the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, we are to take any such action with love towards those who do oppose Him. That’s a tall order, but it is doable.

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Also, I’ve read some good books and make some great recommendations for you at http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20  which you can purchase right from there.  Finally, check us out at Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

A Glimpse As To Why Ministry Is a 24/7 Calling

-->

Exodus 27: The Tabernacle’s Altar of Burnt Offering, The Court, & The Use of the Lamp

Exodus 27:1-21: In chapter 27 of Exodus, God gives detailed instructions for each of the items listed in our heading. Please read your preferred version of Scripture in parallel. Below we simply highlight some of the key features of the chapter for our study. 

In the first few verses (eight to be exact) of this chapter, God describes how He wants the altar to be constructed. I found verse 3 to be of significant interest. There we read, “And you shall make its pails for removing its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its fire pans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.” Now if we ever needed evidence that God cares for the details in our lives (beside the reminder elsewhere in Scripture and in song that ‘His eye is on the sparrow, how much more does He care for us’), this is it. Here is the Almighty God giving instructions to His people about building an altar and He bothers to mention all the ‘maintenance’ tools required for this altar to operate properly – tools to prepare sacrifices and offerings, as well tools for its cleaning. One would have thought that the children of Israel didn’t need to be told what was required to keep an altar going and clean.  So, yes indeed, I can safely say with a lot of assurance that He cares about all the details of our circumstances and lives.

In the next section of this chapter (verses 9 to 19) God describes the courtyard He would like the tabernacle to be set in and subsequently the “hangings” that are to go around the edge of the courtyard.  You will remember when we were studying the previous chapter (Chapter 26) we indicated there was some confusion as to ‘what was what’ especially with respect to “boards” vs. “curtains”.  Well, the plot thickens in this chapter, as it appears that God has given instructions that involve curtains and boards and ‘hangings’, the latter for the periphery of the courtyard.  If we stick with Him in this regard, we would then have to rethink our position on what the ‘boards’ were, or more precisely where they were used.  We will leave this to others to figure out.

The most important part of the chapter in my thinking is found in the last two verses, 20 and 21, which read:

“And you shall charge the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.  In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.”

These verses carry for us a most symbolic message as I see it. God charges us to offer Him clean lives as a continuous light to the world. It is interesting that NASB uses the term “beaten olives” in verse 20, as does the KJV, the ESV, and the RSV.  We note, however, that the NKJV, as well as the NIV and NLT have utilized the phrase “pressed olives” instead. Commentator David Guzik prefers the latter saying that believers are not beaten but we are – “hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed (2 Corinthias 4:8) - and God uses our times of pressing for His glory.”

Our pastors and priests and ministers are charged with a 24/7 responsibility to keep that light (the congregation or people that God has put in their charge) in good working order before the Lord, so they can be that light to the world. And part of that responsibility is that those who are appointed as official priests and pastors and ministers are to help us keep that command of God’s from generation to generation.

So there you have it. We can well ask ourselves several questions:

1.     Am I doing my part to see that this responsibility is indeed being met as God commanded?

2.     Is my church (and I as part of it) ‘burning continually’ as a light to the world?

3.     Do my spiritual leaders understand that their calling and job is a 24/7 one, not a 40-hour or even 60-hour week, fighting hard for their vacations and times off in lieu?

4.     Will the generation that comes after me keep this statute as God commanded?

If the answer to any of these questions is “No”, then we must ask ourselves “Why not?” and “What can/should we do about it?” Then we must pray for God’s discernment and direction to make things right.

-->

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Also, I’ve read some good books and make some great recommendations for you at http://astore.amazon.com/accorconsu-20  which you can purchase right from there.  Finally, check us out at Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

An Ultimate Mediation Assignment

The People Ratify the Covenant With God

Exodus 24:4-8: And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.  Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold, the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Just prior to this passage, we read that Moses had come down from the mountain and told the people “all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances”. Now in this passage, we read that Moses “wrote down all” that God had said and what he had repeated to the people. That must have taken him well into the night. Many of us forget much of what God has communicated to us because, while we hear it (maybe directly form God, or maybe from one of His servants who shares His message from a pulpit), we do not repeat it or discuss it ourselves afterwards, and we seldom write the message down or even take notes during its delivery.  Though I have the complete Bible available on my mobile phone, I never stopped carrying my hard copy of God’s Word to worship services. And I have always tried to have one with wide margins in it. I also bring along a fine point pen. Together, they allow me to take good notes on each passage that is being discussed for future study and use, alone or in company with others.

Early the next morning, he arose and built an altar, complete with twelve pillars, likely placed around the altar. This was no simple economy model. I would imagine it took time and planning to construct it. And that’s why he started “early in the morning”. I often wonder how much of either the messages God had for me or the work He had intended for me to do for Him, over the years, I have missed, because I never found it easy to get up early in the mornings.  Thankfully, in His infinite wisdom, He has seen to it that this comes easier with one’s considerable age. But I still regret what I may have missed.

Our text says he build an altar with twelve pillars, each one representing the twelve tribes of Israel that were in the wilderness. The altar in the middle represented God. Commentator Robert Jamieson points out the significance: These were the two parties (God and the twelve tribes of Israel) to the covenant that was about to be ratified. Jamieson says Moses was simply acting as the mediator. In my long career, there is no aspect of my work that gives me more joy and a feeling of being used by God than acting as a mediator between two parties.  I have often thought about my ultimate “mediation” assignment – solving some serious global crisis between two major powers.  But Moses here was given an even greater assignment – acting as a mediator between God and His people in this Old or First Covenant. And for this to have worked, can you imagine the trust that both parties had in him.  At the same time, Moses here was given the prototype role that Jesus Christ would fulfill in the New or Second Covenant. Moses was a passive mediator (he sacrificed basically his time and efforts) but Christ would be an active one (by actually becoming the sacrificial lamb and dying on the cross for the New Covenant to succeed).

In carrying out his mediatory responsibilities, Moses had the youth of Israel offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as what would now be called ‘peace offerings’ to God. This is the second reference to a peace offering in Scripture.  The first was four chapters back in Exodus 20:24 when God was dictating His laws and ordinances to Moses. Moses must have shared this requirement of God’s as well when he shared all of God’s words with the people and now he instructs them to actually carry the ‘peace offering’ out for the first time.

With the killing of the animals having taken place, Moses now sprinkles half of the blood that poured out from these animals on the altar and the other half he pours in basins. In order for the Covenant to be ratified, there had to be shedding of blood (that is, it had to be ‘signed’ with blood) and Moses distributes the blood symbolically between the two parties (on the altar representing God and in basins likely at the foot of each pillar representing Israel’s twelve tribes). Commentator Robert Jamieson suggests that this Covenant really did not have a chance because so much depended on what the people had to do and thus the world needed a New Covenant made possible through the sole work of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. In this passage, according to commentator Matthew Henry, we have the act of all “the people dedicating (pouring) themselves, their lives, and beings, to God, and to His honor.” Thus half of the blood was poured on the altar that represented God.  Later we will consider the significance of the blood poured in the basins.

Moses than took the Book of the Covenant that we can only assume was the actual written version of God’s Words and Ordinances that Moses had so carefully recorded the night before (see Exodus 24:4) and he read it again in their hearing. What we had here was a formal procedure (one could say a legal process in today’s terminology) and thus even though the Israelites had heard God’s Words before when Moses had related them to the people, now he reads them the ‘official’ version if you like, to make sure they knew what they were about to ratify. It is important for us, not only when we become Christians, but also throughout our Christian journey, to make sure we fully understand what we have signed up for. Many of us fail to do so.  We do not read the fine print and in the end we are dissatisfied with our deal.

In the case of the Israelites, having been told the words of the Lord once and agreed to them (Exodus 24:3), and now having them officially read to them again – they agree once more to all that would be required of them.  And this time, not only did they say that they would do all that God had spoken (24:3), but now add this emphatic response, “ . . .and we will be obedient!” (Exodus 24:7) It seems to me that they were very eager to be part of this Covenant. They did not want to take any chances of missing it. They must have really sensed a need for God to be with them, there in the wilderness.

That happens to us sometimes as well. When things get real tough for us; when our challenges are so many; when we have exhausted our own means of standing on our own two feet, we seek God and are willing to promise anything to get His help. As we will find out with the Israelites later on, we need to be very careful of what we promise God.

It is at this point, after the people promised God that they would give themselves to Him (through sprinkling half the blood of the sacrificed animals on the altar) and so definitely assuring Moses at least of their determination to be obedient, that Moses now completes the process by sprinkling the other half of the blood he had saved in basins on the people or their representatives. We do not know those actually involved but I would assume it would be the highest elders of each of the tribes.

This act Matthew Henry explains as Moses sprinkling it (the second half of the blood) “either upon the people themselves (v. 8) or upon the pillars that represented them, which signified God's graciously conferring His favor upon them and all the fruits of that favor, and His giving them all the gifts they could expect or desire from a God reconciled to them and in covenant with them by sacrifice.”

[An aside: This was the first reference to sprinkling in the Scriptures. Readers may be interested in doing some research as to the origin of sprinkling in religious rites through the ages.  Infant baptism sprinkling started after Christ’s life on earth. I would, however, point out that while people were ‘sprinkled’ in Scripture (as we saw here in Exodus 24), there is no direct link, to my knowledge, between that and the sprinkling of infants in lieu of adult baptism at the age where they could understand what is happening to them.]

Finally, Moses presents the people with the Covenant that God had made with them. I think that is our job today whether we are pastors or hold other forms of Christian leadership, or leaders of our families, or parents, or counselors, etc.  We are to present the Covenant that God has made (only now the New Covenant made through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ) to the people in our lives, having first fully accepted it ourselves.

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Thinking Twice Before Promising God Anything.

-->

Our Rash Promises to God

Exodus 24:3: Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!”

After God tells Moses what He wants Him to do next, Moses goes down the mountain and tells the Israelites all that God has said from Exodus 20:1 to 24:2. Then verse 3 tells us that ‘all the people’ answered with ‘one voice’ saying, “We will do all that God said.”

God had given them all His instructions, His laws, and His ordinances.  What we have here in verse 3 of this chapter is the people accepting the conditions for the promises. (Collectively and as one which is interesting in itself – did anyone have a differing opinion?)  In short, here we have a “Covenant between God and His People” that really needed as much thought put into accepting it as God had put into offering it.  Later in the chapter, we will see the preparations for a ratification of the Covenant celebration. Let us for the moment stick to this verse and the utterance of the people.

Commentator David Guzik suggests, “Israel here is perhaps guilty of tremendous over-confidence. The way they seemed to easily say to God, "we will keep Your law" seems to lack appreciation for how complete and searching God's law is.” But Guzik also goes on to explain why they may have been so.  He writes, “However, a nation that had been terrified by God's awesome presence at Sinai was in no state of mind to do anything but agree with God.”  I am not so sure. I believe had the “awesomeness” of God been met with humility by the Israelites, they may well have said, “God we want to obey your words and keep your Covenant but we need your help to do so.”

Matthew Henry adds some interesting insights. Henry points out Moses did not snow the Israelites but rather explained all that God had said in detail and then “fairly put it to them whether they were willing to submit to these laws or no.”  And he continues, “The people unanimously consented to the terms proposed, without reservation or exception.”

Back in Exodus 19:1-8 they had already consented to be under God’s government (to be His people and He would be their God), but now they needed to agree to His laws.  Henry says, “Many consent to the law, and yet do not live up to it; they have nothing to except against it, and yet will not persuade themselves to be ruled by it.” Yet in so doing, they had signed on the dotted line – if they observed His requirements, He would fulfill His promises. They just had to obey.

Chuck Smith on the other hand, is much harder on the Israelites. He says “The Children of Israel lied to God when they said that they would do all that God commanded them to do.”  I would challenge him on this.  When does a failure to comply become a lie? For example, if a man said to his beloved, “I love you with all my heart and always will”, did he lie at the point when he said that, or does that turn into a lie at the point when he leaves her for someone else? I think the latter but we’ll leave Smith alone for the moment as he was trying to make a point. And that being, that we too have often had our words become lies when we have not kept our promises to God.

He goes on to point out that God knew that we would be lying when we promise to keep His laws or make other promises we have broken. Sometimes we say we will “do” something and don’t.  Sometimes we promise “not to do” something again and do. We have a natural bent and history in behaving that way. So why do we make promises to God?

Unfortunately, it is often to make a deal with God. Smith would agree with us that the problem is not a lack of sincerity.  We mean it when we promise something to God and that is proven by the fact that we are often so very disappointed with ourselves when we “blow it again”. But Smith says there’s a bright side to this whole thing:

“God is never disappointed when you break your promise. He knew all the time that you could not keep it. You see, making a vow is to put trust in our flesh, and Paul said, I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwells no good thing.”

He suggests one possible answer to our failures to keep our promises to God is simply not to make them. Instead, we need to ask God to help us do what is right and to help us overcome the flesh. But we cannot do nothing. It is not okay to simply fail and leave things at that and just go on merrily being, or calling ourselves, Christians. If that were the case, Christianity would be no different than other religions. So, another provision was made for us.  Smith continues:

“Jesus not only taught the right way to live, He fully practiced what he preached. He made provisions for forgiveness for failure. He then promised to come and indwell your life to give you the power to live the way God wants us to live. He said, ‘You will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be witnesses of me. In that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.’”

Finally, Smith writes, “God has not changed His laws to accommodate our weakness. But He has taken residence within us to empower us to keep His ideal. Paul explains this in Romans 8.”

If we do nothing else about failures from here on in, may we think twice before we rush to promise God anything? But better still, may we realize that when we do fail, God does not want us to remain in the “failure” category in anything that we do. He has provided a way for us.

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God's Special Formula for Blessing Works

The Richness of God’s Promises

Exodus 23:25-26: “But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.”

God basically told the Israelites that He would protect them from their enemies and they would be part of the battle by their “utterly overthrowing” them and breaking their “sacred pillars”. And in the process or rather while doing so, they were also to serve the Lord.

What was God saying to them? What is He saying to us, in essence, in these verses? It appears like a complex formula for success – but it can really be boiled down to three simple things: dependence on God; doing our part; and serving Him. If we’re struggling in life, it’s not always because we have sinned or made bad decisions. It’s not always about Him teaching us more things and making us stronger, although that happens in the process almost always.  It just may be that we really, I mean really, have not come face-to-face with what it means to fully depend on Him, fully obey Him through our actions, and fully serve Him.

Full dependence on Him sometimes requires more patience than we have; sometimes more faith and trust; and sometimes it means giving up what we are pursuing because He does not considerate it to be good for us, at least at this time. Are we ready to do that?

Fully obeying by doing our part may sometimes mean taking actions that cost something – our job, our friends, our assets, our comfort, our reputation, you name it.  I am in the process of reading that classic book by A. B. Bruce, written in 1877, entitled The Training of the Twelve.  In it, he writes, “They (the disciples) were animated by a devotion to Jesus and to the divine kingdom which made them capable of any sacrifice.” (brackets and emphasis mine)  I often wonder how many of us living in the western world possess that drive today.

And fully serving Him would require a conscious effort to begin each day having dedicated each moment, each conversation, each action, to Him, ensuring that it is pleasing to Him and a help to those He has brought into our lives – our spouse, parents, children, friends, associates, and even strangers.

I don’t know about you, but I have a long way to go to be able to fully ‘expect’ the kind of blessings God promised the Israelites in this passage. For in it, He talks about things that really would make any life much more desired.

God says He will bless our bread. He will see to it that we do not die of starvation. And we will have enough water and not die from thirst or poisoned water.  Matthew Henry points out that God did not promise a “feast of fat things and wines on the lees”.  But our simple bread and water will be “more refreshing and nourishing” with His blessing than such a fatty feast without. The availability of food was important to the Israelites for their survival and this has not changed for us.

While we need food to stay alive and healthy, we also need health to be able to eat and to enjoy our food.  God promised the Israelites would have that as well. In fact, He would “remove sickness” from them.  Imagine no sickness to continue and no new sickness to come. No diseases in the land that would kill off many or desolate the land. It is interesting that this same promise is made to us in the book of Revelation where the Apostle John is describing heaven where there will be no sickness or death. That which God promised His children in the wilderness, we ourselves, may not see until we get to heaven.

But wait, it does not end there. God promises the Israelites that He will increase their wealth, assumedly through the multiplication of their cattle (Henry says the animals would not “cast their young”.) And the number of Israelites shall also grow as “no one will have a miscarriage or be barren” in the land. People shall live to their full life expectancy. We know, by that phrase, that this is not just about “heaven” as people do not die in heaven – it was for the Israelites, for them, right there and then, if they claimed it and obeyed God. The question we would ask is whether or not any of it applies to us today, and if so, how?

Simple observation of our own lives, those of our relatives and friends, and the world around us, would tell us that this part of the promise was strictly for the Israelites at that time and only a symbolic glimpse, of what is in store for us in eternity.  Clearly man’s sin and his own greed for authority and control of his life, have made such a promise of God’s to be difficult to fulfill as we often do not keep our side of the bargain – we do not fully depend on Him, we do not obey Him totally, and we do not serve Him thoroughly.

But it need not be like that. (I do not mean to imply by my next statement that I am anywhere near where I should be in any of these regards [I stated that above], but simply to share that I am inching my way closer.) What I have discovered is that as I draw closer to God, as I rely more on Him, as I obey Him more, and as I serve Him more willingly, my life is indeed better. No, neither I nor my family members and friends stop having challenges in life, our material wealth is not multiplied, and I know there is no guarantee any of us will live to our full life expectancy; some have not. But yet life is less stressful and more enjoyable, and I am more content than before.

So can this precise promise that applied to the Israelites apply to us? Certainly, its key principle and lesson can, and I believe you will find that it does.

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.