The Clergy, Coronavirus, and You -- what we need to remember.

The Preparation of the High Priest

Leviticus 16:1-5

Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. ² The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³ Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. ⁵ He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 

Thoughts on the Passage

Today, I am in my fourth day of a 14-day self-quarantine (at the request of our government) after having returned from the U.S. recently. I understand that YouTube has been inundated with churches scrambling to stream their services live since it is now forbidden for them to hold meetings of large numbers. In some states, they are limited to no more than ten people meeting together. Many clergy, pastors or priests, were neither prepared nor trained, for such a delivery. When the scare of Covid-19, the virus that originated in Wuhan, China late last year is all over, I wonder what the collateral damage to churches will be from the gap in live services they have had to undergo during this time. We’ll find out, I’m sure.

Leviticus 16 tells us how God prepared His priests in the Old Testament for their duties.  There is a stark difference between His approach and what we do today.

We note first that these instructions came after Aaron’s two sons had died trying to approach “the presence of the Lord” without proper invitation, instruction, and preparation. That’s important. No one should be choosing the priesthood – God should be choosing them, instructing them, and preparing them. What such a person should be doing is willing to be chosen, agreeing to being chosen, following the instructions, and applying themselves to the preparation.

Being a priest, clergy, pastor or minister of God is not a “career-option” that you can pick from a slew of choices. It is a true “calling”.  And yes, you better hear it, know it in your head, feel it in your heart, and revere it with every bone of your body. Especially once you commit to it. Woe to you if you get it wrong.

In this passage, God has clearly chosen Aaron to be the High Priest for the Israelites. But He tells Moses to warn him not to enter the “holy place” until God appears in the cloud over the mercy seat (verse 2).

And when he does enter at the appropriate time, he needs to be well equipped with two animal sacrifices (vs. 3). He needs to be properly attired and be properly bathed or washed – he needs to be clean (vs. 4).  All this, before he varies out the sacrifices (his role).

So, pastor, priest, clergy, minister, are you truly called? Are you equipped? Are you properly attired with the armor of God? Are you clean?

And lest we get to think the rest of us who are not so called to this kind of service for God, we need to remember that elsewhere in Scripture we are told we have all been made priests (Revelation 1:6 and 5:10).  So those same questions apply to us.

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

Training One Another For God's Service

Exodus 35:30-35:

³⁰ Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³¹ And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all ^[a]craftsmanship; 

^32 [b]to make designs for working in gold and in silver and in ^[c]bronze,

³³ and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work.

³⁴ He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

³⁵ He has filled them with ^[d]skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in ^[e]blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs.

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 35:31 Or work
2. Exodus 35:32 Lit devise devices
3. Exodus 35:32 Or copper
4. Exodus 35:35 Lit wisdom of heart
5. Exodus 35:35 Or violet

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Thoughts on the Passage

What we have here is an excellent example of how God works with man and then brother works with brother to accomplish the work of the Lord.

First, Moses shares with Israel the encouraging news that God called Bezalel to design the gold, silver, and bronze aspects of the Tabernacle.  God called him by name. He filled him with His Own Spirit.  He gave him the necessary wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and the skills he needed in his craftsmanship. That’s complete work on God’s part. Everything Bezalel needed was provided by God. We can be assured that when God calls us, especially by name, He will provide us with everything we need to do the job He intends for us to do.

To me, this passage reinforces the thinking that a) skill in secular employment is God’s gift and comes from above (as Matthew Henry points out), and b) secular skills can be used in God’s work.

Second, God gave Bezalel one more thing – his heart’s desire to teach others what he knows, so they can help in the work or continue the work after he is gone. In so doing, God’s Tabernacle was to be completed. Similarly, today, as we teach those that God has given us what He has taught us, the work of His Kingdom and can continue, and one day, be completed.

If Moses were to be the General Contractor for this project, because of the importance of all the work in precious metals, the stonework, and the wood carvings involved, Bezalel could well be thought of us the Senior Foreman or perhaps the tradesperson with the highest journeyman’s ticket.

Bezalel was indeed appointed by God to be a Working Foreman – that is, not only did he plan the work and designs, and teach others, but in verse 33 we are told he did this so he too could perform in these areas. If we are to lead God’s workers, we are to get our hands dirty and share in the labor involved.

Everyone working on the Tabernacle had been stirred by God to approach the work with a willing heart. That made the work easier. The positive attitudes of all contributed to a more jovial atmosphere on the work site. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our workplaces were all filled with men and women who had been stirred by God to do their work with a willing heart? More specifically, would it not be great if all our church or mission staff actually satisfied this description of the desired workplace?

Matthew Henry points out that when God makes these appointments, it minimizes the strife that normally occurs, and it increases the support given by others to the individual appointed.

So, what has God called you to, by name? Is He stirring your heart to do it? How are you responding? Are you prepared to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty? Will you teach others what God has blessed you with?

If this short blog has made you think about something differently today, will you share that with me? I'd love to hear about it. Or if you disagree with my thoughts, please share yours. 

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

Valuable Advice . . . Taken With Discernment

-->

Invent Your Future: Starting With Your Calling

Paul David Walker, Highpoint Executive Publishing, New York, USA, 2015

Valuable Advice . . . Taken With Discernment

Always looking for more material for a workshop I lead intended to help people of faith find their unique “significance” in service, I agreed to review this book.  To that end, I found it served a most worthwhile purpose but I could not swallow all the advice hook, line, and sinker.

Author Paul David Walker has tons of experience in helping professionals succeed. And the material for this book flows out of his strong ability to integrate a process he very much believes in with testimonies from some of his highly successful clients.

Much of what he recommends each of us aim for is most necessary for success (and significance). As clearly stated in the Foreword by John King, author of Tribal Leadership, Walker is also trying to address, “in the background . . . the spiritual quality of leadership in the individual.”  For example, we do need to Know Ourselves. We need to realize that the greatest strength of a hurricane comes from its eye – the very element that is the most still in the entire phenomenon; and thus we must remain calm in our reactions and decision-making, operating from strength.

While he does not call it a formula for “Inventing Your Future”, he does give us five critical steps – Know Yourself (about ‘becoming your calling’ and discovering your gifts and passion), Find the Answer (about mastering the present, embracing wisdom, and using intuition), Paint Compelling Pictures (about conceiving the future and creating high-impact statements), Building Commitment (about inspiring everyone, seeing and feeling possibility, and tapping into imagination and intention), and Responding to Reality (about responding to present reality, cultivating intention and purpose, and gathering the courage to act). A sixth step is really one that is fundamental to all the others and is undertaken simultaneously and throughout the process, namely Mastering Inner Stillness (about achieving ‘command presence’ and getting into the zone).

While most of the book’s other reviewers couldn’t say enough nice things about it (as I tried to), I felt to be true to myself (something Walker himself insists we do), I had to make some different comments.  For example, I found his section on ‘wisdom’ and the need for it very long and not that helpful.  Wisdom is very important and great if you have it, but my experiences tell me you can’t just go out and get it as he suggests.  That is, it’s not a commodity, as knowledge is.  Many people do find their calling without a lot of it, since wisdom is a gift, not a product one just decides to order up a healthy serving of.  Walker seems to require wisdom and its creation, along with wealth and wellbeing as what must be priorities for all who “invent their future”.  I think these criteria may fit many a capitalist today, but they are no longer the majority in our society.  I would have preferred he kept more with the idea of ‘getting knowledge’, which he refers to, rather than expecting all readers to become ‘wise’.  Wisdom is something that would provide us with a definite edge providing it comes from its true source, God Himself, something that the book’s Foreword writer possibly alludes to when he speaks of the ‘spiritual quality of leadership’.

Secondly he spends time talking about working on our consciousness and connecting with our ‘genius’ that Roman mythology defines as our “guardian deity or spirit that watched over each person from birth”.  Walker redefines it as follows: “collaboration with the natural flow that extends from the present, and from the knowledge, intention, and consciousness of an individual or group.  It is achieved through Integrative Presence, which enables you to integrate all the realities of the flow of the moment while simultaneously combining them with the intention of your genius.” It sounds very ethereal to me, at least, and readers that are not into mysticism may find some of it a little hard to swallow.

The section on ‘knowing ourselves’ has some interesting and very true quotes, not the least of which are two by Tony LoRe, Founder, Youth Mentoring Connection, which state, “A person’s gift is just behind their wounds” and “I don’t believe I can burn out if I am always in my purpose.” Walker does a great job of expanding on these thoughts.

Walker also provides us with one of the best discussions on ‘using intuition’ I have read in a long time.  He quotes Don Ross, Chairman and CEO, New York Life, as saying, “Whenever I have gone against my intuition, I have regretted it.” Walker gives us lots of good examples in this regard.

The book is full of very insightful snippets for those of us who want to be better at our purpose and life in general. And for those who are prepared to follow exercises and other recommendations the author suggests at the end of each chapter, there is no doubt one can well improve their chances of ‘inventing their (own) future’ by reading this book.

    -- Ken B. Godevenos, Accord Resolution Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario. 15/10/30  

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 Seeks To Kill Moses -- Exodus 4:24-26

Now it came about at the lodging-place on the way that the Lord met him and sought to put him to death.  Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me.”  So He let him alone.  At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” – because of the circumcision.

One cannot read the text above without wondering what on earth is going on.  God had just finished giving Moses an incredible assignment that required him to return to Egypt and now on the journey, God meets him (possibly, as Matthew Henry suggests, via a sword-wielding angel) and seeks to put him to death.  Well, let us see what we can make of it.

Clearly, the overwhelming opinion of almost all who write on this subject is that God was angry with Moses because he had not circumcised his son.  As this was a major instruction as part of the covenant God had made with His people, there was no way God would use Moses as long as this was the case.  Some think he did circumcise his first-born in keeping with God’s commands, but his wife, Zipporah, was so appalled at the blood-filled rite that she out rightly refused to allow Moses to have their second son go through the same experience.  So, when God attacked Moses, it was Zipporah who knew what it was all about and put a stop to it by doing what she did.

But let me go out on a limb here and suggest something very different, only as a possibility. 

The first thing that comes to our attention is that this happened “at a lodging-place” on the way to Egypt.  This phrase may suggest that this account happened during the night, while Moses was sleeping, and that it was all a dream.  We cannot be adamant about that, but the prospect exists.  We also note that the action changes very quickly, without notice or normal transition, from the Lord seeking to put him to death to his wife circumcising his son and yelling at Moses.  [Some would argue that the author of Exodus, Moses himself, did not want to give us all the details but I am not so sure, based on his usual writing style elsewhere, that he would have spared us as many details as he seems to.] All of this leads me to accept the dream hypothesis as a very plausible one.  There is lots of action, with no strong evident connecting points.  It makes even more sense when we consider that Moses was weary from his travels and had much on his mind as he considered the future.

Of course, one could also take the ‘literal’ approach.  But here are the implications -- God in the form of an angel, commences to attack Moses.  Did Zipporah actually see the actual Lord in order to put a stop to the fighting as the text may suggest?  Again, I do not think so.  Moses’ wife, Zipporah, ‘surprises’ God by, rather than coming to Moses’ defense, she actually blames her husband for what is going on.  She expresses her strong feelings by circumcising her son right there and then (could she really do this successfully especially given the fact she thought it so abhorrent? Perhaps) and throwing the foreskin at Moses’ feet (further proof of her anger) while calling him a “bridegroom of blood” which the text says refers to the fact that Moses had tried to introduce circumcision to her family but she had resisted and Moses never insisted on doing so.  As a result of her actions, God stops His attack on Moses, or otherwise, we can surmise, He would have killed him.  For all the above, I tend to think that the account here cannot easily be taken literally.

There is yet another school of thought that makes a lot of sense.  It suggests that Moses was fully aware of his sin and during the night, while examining his relationship with God, he realized its presence.  This may have driven him temporarily mad or to become mentally undone because of his failure to please God, especially as he knew he was going to lead the people of Israel for God.  This in turn may have resulted in a fever or a seizure, causing Zipporah to be greatly alarmed.  Or, this realization of Moses was followed by a one of those husband-wife discussions that turns into an argument, in this case over the matter of the circumcision of their son.  Worried about her husband as well as possibly her own future, she goes out and circumcises her son, not willing to fight it any longer.  (She uses a piece of flint rock readily available in the dessert there – evidence of which I have seen myself in a visit to Israel.)

We will not know the answer to the question of what really took place in the physical world until we can ask our Lord.  But as always, we should try to see what this account given in scripture might have to say to us.  What can we learn from it?

Whether the action portrayed here literally happened or whether it was a direction given to Moses in a dream, does not change the ‘content’ of what God was trying to convey to him, and perhaps to us.  The fact that God is willing to use you and me to accomplish His plan for mankind does not mean that He is willing to accept sin in our lives.  Sometimes He expects us to get rid of it ourselves; other times He’ll see to it that it is eliminated.  Either way, the sin has to go before He fully engages us in executing the plan He wants us to carry out.

Maybe the sin standing in your way is not as obvious as the one Moses committed by failing to carry out a key commandment of God’s.  Maybe it is just an attitude or a desire or a stubbornness based on false premises.  Maybe it is a sin of commission, but it could also be a sin of omission.  Whatever it is, we must identify it, confess it, and end it.

The implication in our passage is that Moses had his sin dealt with – either by Zipporah at the time God was fighting with him, or by his own action afterwards, if this were a dream.  We know that for God, as later verses and chapters tell us, allowed him to live and to carry out the purpose for which He had selected him.  It is my prayer that this be true in our lives as well.  I pray we can all be ready to do whatever it takes to eliminate any sin in our lives preventing God from using us in the way He wants to.

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

Moses’ Fourth Objection To His Calling -- Exodus 4:10-12

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”  And the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth?  Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”
 

It is easy to look at Moses and say, “What on earth are you thinking man?  Give your head a shake.”  How could he possibly give God objection after objection (this is number four and there’s one more to go after this) to God’s call on his life?  But all we need to do is consider our own hesitancy to follow God’s plan for us, sometimes to the point of it becoming an actual act of disobedience when we flatly refuse to follow His call for us.  So, let’s not be that hard on Moses.

In this particular objection, Moses turns to his physical limitations and basically tells God that he was given a speech impediment, perhaps what today we would refer to as stuttering.  And he says to God, “Look, this has been an issue for a while even before you reached me and tapped me on the shoulder for this job.”  And further adding to what God already knew, Moses says, “I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

I don’t know about you, but if I were God, I would be getting pretty steamed at this point.  Not only was this objection number four, but also this mere human was telling God what God already knew.  And perhaps there was even an element of, “Hey God, you made me this way; you can’t expect me to carry out this task for which you didn’t properly equip me.”  That would be enough for me to have blown my stack.

Some commentators believe that Moses was not like this from birth and use the reference in Acts 7:22 in the New Testament that speaks of Moses being “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians”, and that he “was mighty in words and in deeds” to make their point.  It was after killing the Egyptian who was beating up on a Hebrew, that he fled into the wilderness, and there started to be depressed, which brought on his stuttering.  I personally do not believe that the verse excludes the possibility of his being a stutterer from birth for one could be “mighty in words” without the ability to speak well.

Nevertheless, what does God do when Moses issues this objection?  He answers him with a series of questions more like a loving Father and less like an angry parent.  God basically asks Moses to think it through.  “Who made man’s mouth?” and implying his mouth in particular.  “Who makes a person dumb, or deaf, or blind, Moses?  I do, don’t I?”  The inference is clear – “Moses, don’t worry about that.  I’m fully aware of it and I’ll take care of it.”

We need to stop here for a moment because this introduces a very difficult concept for many to accept.  Why would a loving God make children that cannot hear, speak, or see?  I mean it does say that, does it not?  But why is that?  Well, first of all, we agree that God says it.  From there, for me at least, if God said, I accept it.  I am not prepared to challenge Him on what He does or does not do or say.  I believe He has His reasons that I do not understand.  If I understood everything that God did or said, I would not need any “faith” – it would all be logical, rather than supernatural, to me and I would not need even the faith of a muster seed.  Everything would be rational or obvious and thus acceptable.  Finally, is it not also possible that God here, in His anger, is really saying, “Moses, who allows a child to be born deaf, dumb, or blind?” while still taking responsibility for doing that?  I think so.  David Guzik suggests that this declaration is all about, and should be understood from the perspective of, the “sovereignty of God”.  He writes, “ . . . the point here is not to analyze the origin of evil, but to show that God is so mighty that He can even call the mute, the deaf, and the blind to do His work.  Moses' perceived inadequacies don't matter at all.”  Amen.

And then when God finishes setting Moses straight with respect to his fourth objection, He once again issues His call and now His command to him.  “Moses, just go now, and I, the Almighty, will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”  God did not get angry.  He provided answers to Moses’ objection through rhetorical questions that Moses could easily answer for himself even though he might not like the answer.  And then God adds this wonderful reassurance that He Himself would be with “Moses’ mouth” and would “teach” him what to say.  Wow – what more could anyone ask for.  Not only does God promise to be with us, but also He is willing, if we let Him, to give us the words to utter in a difficult circumstance.  I do not know if you have ever been in that kind of situation where you need that kind of help, but I have, and to know that God will and does give us the right words is one of the greatest gifts that God gives to His children who seek to do His bidding.

And yet, Moses still has some doubts, and is about to issue his last and fifth objection, as we shall soon see.

What however, is the lesson for us so far?  I believe it is twofold.  First, I think that sometimes when we are looking for a message from God, we often miss it because the messenger He has chosen is not an eloquent speaker.  That really is a tragedy.  Oftentimes, one remembers the eloquence of the speaker or pastor or preacher much longer than the message he or she brings from God.  I can name more than one such speaker of years gone by in our city.   On the other hand, we tend to remember the message given to us, when the Spirit of God, lays it on our hearts, regardless of the lack of eloquence of the messenger He may use.  Extra-blessed is the man or woman who carries the message of God, and can also deliver it eloquently, but that is not a requirement to qualify as a messenger of His.

The second lesson for us is equally as important.  I think that oftentimes many Christians seek out the will of God but miss it because they are looking for a “perfect fit”.  We want something that we are absolutely confident we can handle and that we will enjoy.  Maybe something we have done before in our ‘secular’ work.  If we got that kind of an assignment, the question arises as to whether or not we would need God to be with us in performing it.  Whether we would move ahead on our own confidence or be reliant on Him?  Whether or not in the end we would take some or all of the glory and perhaps only give Him some honorable mentions or none at all?

What kind of calling from God are you looking for?  If you have been looking for a long time and still have not done anything, may I humbly suggest, you’re looking for a “perfect fit” when God wants to give you something that will build up your reliance on Him.  If any of us are there now, we need to prayerfully reconsider His existing, and still unanswered call, on our life.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact 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.