Obedience in worship.

This Moses did; according to all that the LORD commanded him, so he did. In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.

Exodus 40:16-17

The bane of twenty-first century worship is the consumeristic self. We tend to approach a worship service with what we want to get out of it. “I want a challenging, short, and pithy message by an entertaining communicator.” “I want the kind of music I like.” “I want drama.” “I want video.” “I want to dance.” “I want free donuts and really good coffee.” “I want the service to address everybody at once, from 9 to 90 with perfect applications and family challenges.” “I want all of that in less than an hour.”

But we ought to be worshiping God. And that means that maybe, just maybe, we ought to approach worship with what He wants and not what we want. This is the lesson we learn from Moses and the children of Israel as they built the tabernacle. God made it very clear what the tent of worship was to look like. And He asked for Israel to obey. And they did. The call was to obedience, not personal preference. And that was the heart of worship. I believe it still is.

The result of the worship of God in obedience for Israel was profound: God visibly made His presence known in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35). In fact, God was so powerfully known that no one, not even Moses, was able to enter the tabernacle for a while because God’s glory was so pervasive. Think about that. Moses had communed with God on the mountain to get the Law. He had asked God to show him His glory, and God let him glimpse the backside of His glory while covering Moses with His hand. Yet when the work of Israel’s hands was complete and the tabernacle was set up, God brought so much glory to that obedience that Moses dared not enter!

God blesses obedience in our worship. If we really want to see our worship services blessed by God, it will not come by a new musician, by better lighting, by moodier music, by really well roasted coffee and donuts or by a more dynamic speaker. It will come by our obedience to what God asks us to do in His word.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Obedience,Worship

Finishing to blessing.

According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.

Exodus 39:42-43

There is a modern proverb: “Hard work is its own reward”. That is not necessarily the case. Many people work hard throughout the world with nothing but pain to show for it. I watched a report on 60 Minutes Sunday night that showed the hardships “recyclers” pay in China. They live in filthy slums on the recycling plant. Harsh toxic chemicals from the computer CRT screens that get sent there to be recycled pollute their homes and drinking and bathing water. They are covered in sores from chemical burns received at the plant as they breakdown TV monitors and computer equipment. They work hard. Their children suffer in the slums they live in. And they receive enough pay to buy a little rice and that’s about it. The US and European companies that send the technology to China to recycle taut it as saving the planet. It is killing people. So much for green jobs.

But hard work for the glory of God is a different matter. It is blessed by God. In this passage Moses saw all the detailed final product of the work to build the tabernacle and its furnishing. And Israel obeyed God to the last detail of the construction. It was pleasing to God. It was hard work, but it was blessed. They obeyed and God was pleased through their leader.

Blessing in ministry is important. Many times churches ask people to work hard behind the scenes. It takes a lot of that kind of work to make the kingdom of God what it is in this world. The metaphor of the New Testament is that the church is God’s building built of many stones. Some are elaborate pillars readily seen. Others are foundation stones buried under the floor that hold it up. But every stone is needed, and is to be celebrated because we are “living stones”. I am so thankful for the scores of people who serve the Lord in my church! They make the ministry such a joy and blessing. May God bless His Church through all the efforts each of us makes in service to the kingdom. One day we will all stand before Him in the glory of His presence. And we want to finish well. We want the joy of His simple blessing to us: “Well done, my good and faithful servants.”

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Sacrifice,Service

More than music.

These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

Exodus 38:21

Current evangelical culture tends to see Sunday morning church service worship more like a Las Vegas show than anything else. Some churches have a band of professional musicians, an orchestra, professional vocalists, lighting, fog machines, perfectly quaffed pastoral staff in the latest styles, and full-blown video graphics that rival a television network production studio. Some churches even have dancers. Really. All that for an hour a week. When I ask most people what constitutes worship, they say something along the lines of “music”. Big battles get waged over musical style, preference and volume. It never ends.

But taking a look at the construction of the tabernacle shows a different story. It shows common people who worshiped God by giving what they had to contribute. And they were so willing to give that they eventually had to be told to stop because more than enough material was given. That’s worship. And a group of skilled craftsmen (see the complete list in Exodus 38:22-23) gave their skills to the construction of the tabernacle to the exact specifications God gave to Moses. That’s worship. Funds were collected from the nation as well (see Exodus 38:24-29) in the form of gold, silver, and bronze. That’s worship. A team of administrators faithfully recorded the gifts and the materials and the construction of the tabernacle. That’s worship. And not one single service has yet to be performed in the tabernacle. The picture of true worship emerges from this text. It is about everyday action, not special convocation.

I worship God when I honor Him and submit to Him at my computer keyboard. I worship God when I honor and submit to Him behind the wheel of my car. I worship God when I honor and submit to Him in my conversations throughout the day. I worship God when I honor and submit to Him by serving the people God has put in my life on the job, in ministry, in my day-to-day business, or in my family. Worship is really what happens outside of a sanctuary on Sunday. That is where real worship begins.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Worship

Mercy Seat

The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

Exodus 37:9

Mercy needed:

born a sinner

and choosing to rebel

living with the damage

of what hurt when Adam fell

I need mercy.

Mercy provided:

God reached out to sinners

who did not have a prayer

and those who could not be holy

at the cross found forgiveness there

God gave mercy.

Mercy received:

by one such pardoned soul

mercy is forever my miracle -- life obtained

through Jesus’ death born anew forever

God’s mercy is how I am sustained

I found mercy.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Mercy

Outgiving the need: some questions for me.

So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, "Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary." So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

Exodus 36:6-7

This is a rare occurrence (unfortunately), but a definite high-water mark in the health of Israel’s spiritual journey. As the craftsmen and materials came together for the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness, a problem came early one. The builders had received too much to work with! They were oversupplied by the people. Imagine that! God’s people had given a surplus. All that stuff was just starting to get in the way of moving forward with construction. Moses had to issue an order to STOP giving.

The eagerness with which Israel approached this project must be put into perspective. This was the very first such project in the nation’s very brief history. They were ready nationally to do it as a result. Secondly, they had just been spiritually through a LOW point. They had been judged for idolatry and purged of the most flagrant of idolaters. After the execution of 3000 idolaters followed by a disease in the camp, those left were left with a fresh fear of the Lord. They were ready spiritually. This is also the generation that had known slavery and had nothing until the Exodus. Then God made the Egyptians so ready to let them out of the country that the Egyptians showered them with wealth on their way out. It was Egyptian gold and precious materials that build the tabernacle. The country was ready to sacrifice materially, and they had opportunity because of God’s provision through Egypt.

Am I ready to give in this way? The questions are clear for me: 1) In what ways has my culture prepared me to give to God’s work? 2) In what ways has God spiritually prepared me? Finally, 3) what do I have that is clearly not my own that can be given in service to the Lord?

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Giving

Freely given.

All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the LORD had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the LORD.

Exodus 35:29

Israel now proved their love for God through this exceptional period of sacrifice and giving. They gave materials for the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness. And they gave it to the LORD. This was voluntary and it was meaningful. It crossed family boundaries. It crossed gender boundaries. It was a freewill offering.

And the very fact that Moses issued the command to give and to build at this time was evidence of God’s grace. God had at one point in response to Israel’s idolatry been ready to wipe out the entire nation and start over with Moses. But now, in response to Moses’ intercession, mercy came to the nation. And God graciously gave them this opportunity to respond to Him in commitment. And they did so with zeal and fervor.

Grace freely given to us by God should lead us to freely offer what we have back in return. There should be no strings attached. Offering our goods and our service to Him is a natural response of worship. God’s overwhelmingly generous mercy frees us to be generous people. And that is the way I should approach my gifts to God’s work… even in an economic downturn that has hit home.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Giving

Mature Marks of Spiritual Leadership.

And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.
And he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."

Exodus 34:8-9

There are three marks of a mature spiritual leader exhibited by Moses in these two verses. They are worth consideration. First, Moses possessed a heart that was sensitive to the worship of the Lord. When he ascended the mountain to again have God write upon stone tablets, he went up expecting to worship God. As soon as God pronounced His own name, Moses fell down and worshiped. Leaders need to be sensitive to the presence of God and the response should be humble worship above all else. Spiritual leaders are really lead worshipers. This is true in a Sunday worship service. This is true in a small group meeting. This is true in a leadership forum. This is true in private time with God.

The second clear mark of maturity was that Moses knew the people that he was leading. He did not kid himself into thinking they were so great because he was their leader. He had just had to reprimand them for idolatry. God had brought consequences into the camp for Israel’s sin. Moses knew he was leading an idolatrous nation. And he did not fool himself. Honestly before God he confessed the sin of the people and asked for God’s pardon. The story of the leadership of Moses would be one of God working with a stiff-necked and disobedient people. Leaders who know their people know their task. And when they know and admit the sin, they are open to the grace and mercy of God to mark all that they do. It takes humility to worship God and it takes humility to work with sinful people. Moses had it in both categories.

A third mark of mature leadership goes with knowledge of the people. Moses knew what God’s heart was and His request shows that. He knew that God wanted to use Israel for His glory. He knew that He wanted to make of the nation His inheritance. And after begging for forgiveness, Moses asks God for what God wants. Mature spiritual leaders know what God wants. They are close enough to God to align their own hearts with the desires of God. They not only desire to worship God, but they begin to desire the things that God desires in their leadership. This is where Moses really shines. He began his journey being an impulsive, emotional, self-driven man who murdered to get what he wanted. Now, he is a humble (though still flawed) leader who wants above all else what God wants for His people. That is what God does in a person to develop mature leadership.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Leadership

Show me Your glory.

Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

Exodus 33:18-19

Is Moses being presumptuous with this request? After all, hadn’t God been manifesting His presence constantly since Israel left Egypt? A pillar of fire and cloud had been with the nation since God had freed them. That in and of itself had to be awe-inspiring. I know it is not what I see in church visibly every day. But Moses knew there was more. The cloud and the fire were manifestations, but not the entire picture. Moses longed for more of God.

God grants the bold request of Moses. Even after all of Israel’s struggles, Moses is faithful. And God is faithful to Him. God answers the desire on His own terms. Moses would see the good glory of God, but God would hide him in the crack of a rock face, cover the leader with His hand, and only allow the back of God’s glory to pass before Him. That would suffice. God was allowing this because He chose to be gracious and merciful to Moses. Moses did not somehow deserve this. God was being gracious in allowing Moses to live through this experience.

At the heart of Moses’ request is a desire for intimacy with God. He did not seek to gain from the experience. It wasn’t so that he could manipulate Israel with it. He longed to be closer to God. He met with God in the tent of meeting. He received God’s revelation on the mountain. He saw God lead through fire and cloud. And all that revelation left him wanting more! That is the way it is with the heart that longs after God. It always needs more.

I must continue to commit to regularly looking to God’s Word. It is when I see His glory in its pages that my heart is pulled toward Him. It is when I know Him leading me in that way that I long for more. All too many times I am content with just a couple of minutes in my morning. God wants to graciously give me more. And my heart needs to be burned with the desire for more. The passion of Moses for the glory of God should become my desire as well.

Lord,

Burn me up with the strong fire of wanting You! May I look and long for Your glory until it is all that I want in my life!

Amen

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Relationship with God

Consequences

And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

Exodus 32:19-20

This is the more unsavory part of the Exodus story. Moses has just spent forty days on the mountain with God. He comes down from Sinai with the law of God, represented in the tablets of stone, in His hand. And he comes down to find Israel in complete pagan idolatry. We know from Paul’s New Testament commentary that sexual idolatry was taking place. Israel was ruining the precious relationship with God even as Moses had just spend forty days establishing the terms of the covenant that would make that relationship unique.

Moses’ response was one of anger (he was a hothead after all). He stormed into camp, reduced the calf idol to powder and humiliated their New Age spirituality by forcing the people to consume the gold dust that had been their “god”. The remnants of calf worship literally ended up in the latrines of the Israeli camp. This was not just symbolic. It made the point of the pointlessness of idolatry. Then Moses rallied the troops and the Levites sided to him. They were commissioned to take down the worst of the idolaters, and 3000 men died by the edge of sword for their sin.

Then Moses confronted Aaron… the priest of Israel. He sheepishly acted as if he had played only a passive role in this sin. He mixed paganism with the worship of God (Exodus 32:4-5). And he was going to pay the price. Moses quickly returned to God on the mountain to intercede with the people. God withheld immediate punishment, but did not relent from “visiting” this sin on them in the future, which came immediately with a plague of sickness on the camp. (Exodus 32:34-35)

Sin has its consequences. Even if it is playful sin. Just ask Israel who sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Sin has consequences, even if it is partial sin. Just ask Aaron who mixed a little bit of paganism with a little bit of truth. Sin has sin, even if it is personal choice. Just ask the three thousand families who lost their fathers to a commitment to idolatry. Sin has consequences, even after you have turned from it. Just ask the Israelites who got sick from the plague of judgment that fell on their idolatry. Sin has consequences. Say it. Believe it. Know it. Fear it. Turn from it.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Sin,Consequences

God’s Craftsmen

See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.

Exodus 31:2-5

God chose Bezalel and Oholiab (Exodus 31:6) to be the main artisans in charge of building the tabernacle and its furnishings according to God’s blueprint given to Moses. They were gifted by Him specifically for this purpose. They were filled with God’s Spirit for the task. Beyond that, there where certain natural gifts that come into play: ability, knowledge, intelligence. artistic design, metallurgic skill, wood-carving, jewelry, and general craftsmanship. These were hard-working men with skills that God called and used.

How many times have we really considered that God needs these kinds of skills for His worship and work? We tend to focus on theological training, personal charisma, or business acumen. But God needs good-hearted people who will work hard. He needs people He can fill with His Spirit and use for His purposes. And that is really it.

God called Moses to lead the people. But Moses could not build the tabernacle. For that task He wanted Bezalel and Oholiab. They were the men that God could use. They were the men who would build the tabernacle where Israel would sacrifice to God. And the result would be a place where God’s presence would visibly rest in the camp. It took more than Moses and Aaron to bring the worship of God to the tabernacle. It took hard-working craftsmen and builders. God wants calloused hands to worship Him.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Ministry,Service

Consecrated

You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.

Exodus 30:30

Serving God is a holy task,

Consuming fire around His throne.

No selfish concern could I ask

to beg off His service for my own.

When priests in the wilderness were called

holy oil on their heads and robes

showed Whom they served enthralled

in commitment pure of soul.

And consecrated now are those

who follow Christ into their days

with gospel orders pure and bold

anointed by the Spirit in all His ways

Technorati Tags: Exodus,ministry

God’s Holy Tent

I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

Exodus 29:44-46

This summary from God at the conclusion of a lengthy description of sacrifices and consecrating ceremonies for Aaron and his sons is full of intent and meaning. God was going to make holy the work of human hands and lives of the men called into His service in the tabernacle in the wilderness. Humans would do the work and the volunteering. God would do the sanctifying. Both needed to happen for a satisfying relationship with God.

The results of such service were profound. The tent of meeting and the altar of sacrifice would be holy places because God’s presence dwelt there. The Aaronic priesthood would be set apart to unique service, called holy by God. Israel would gain access to God through the Levitical sacrifices. And the knowledge of God would be readily available at the tent of meeting. Israel would know God.

The self-disclosure of God to Israel in these ordinances is really quite amazing. We tend to focus on the detail of the Law and miss the big picture: a fire and a cloud covered the tabernacle and it was the holy locus of the presence of God. That was something entirely new on the face of the earth. And God was choosing to make Himself known this powerfully to an imperfect nation of people who would slip easily into sin throughout their history. Yet He had chosen Israel as a light to the world, and would use them to reach the world.

God has also powerfully chosen to display Himself today. Not in a tent, or in an altar, or in an elaborately garbed priesthood. He has chosen, through His Holy Spirit, to indwell each individual believer. Christians are each a place where God has pitched His tent. And though we are made of fallen clay, and we occasionally sin against Him, we are still all a peculiar people, a chosen priesthood to proclaim the uniqueness and glory of Christ to a world that God wants to change similarly one life at a time. This is a great, glorious calling!

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Tabernacle

Set apart to serve

For Aaron's sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.

Exodus 28:40-41

This entire chapter in Exodus goes into great detail about the attire for the high priest and the priests who would serve under him. There was a huge symbolism to what the high priest wore. Some of the symbols were meant to draw attention to God, others were to draw attention to the people of Israel. This dual symbolism visually defined the role of the priest as mediator between God and Man.

What I notice from these two verses has to do with what God expected. He expected Moses and the nation to set these mean apart through three things: anointing them, ordaining them, and consecrating them. Each has a slightly different meaning. The way they were anointed with oil symbolism God’s calling and power upon them. They received as a special call and designation from God that was being recognized in the ceremonial anointing with oil. They were ordained which really emphasizes the calling of God upon them. This let the nation know that God had a special, unique purpose for the priests and the work of the tabernacle. Not everyone was to do it, but only those specifically called by Him and ordained by the people. And finally they were to be consecrated. The hugely detailed levitical laws would ensure that the priests would be set apart with a different lifestyle. They were uniquely priests to God. They were consecrated to His work and worship alone.

And all these three means of setting apart the priests emphasized their task: to serve God. There would always be a place among the Israelites were God was being worshiped, served, and exalted as Holy as Israel humbled themselves before Him. Sin would be atoned. Grace would be extended. All of this came about because God called a select group, and the nation responded with recognition and provision for that call, so that those set apart to serve God could do so to the joy and delight of God and man.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Aaronic Priesthood,Ministry

Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning

"You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

Exodus 27:20-21

In the midst of a long list of supplies and an elaborate blueprint for the construction of the tabernacle, Israel is instructed to donate the simplest and most common of household resources for the worship of the Lord. An oil lamp would be built, and kept burning before the Lord’s presence. And Israel would provide the olive oil to fill its reservoir. This was a contribution any Israelite could make to the worship of the Lord.

God delights in both the common sacrifice, and the wildly generous gift. Gold and silver are nice. Exotic skins for the tabernacle tent and highly crafted textiles for the curtains were only one part of the supply list. Other materials were readily available in the home of any family among the camp. And the olive oil was the simplest and most available for ready supply (though perhaps only through trade at the time of the desert wanderings).

I like the thought that individual families could all donate some olive oil, and that this was kept in a common supply. Did the oily gifts of all the different families mingle into one common supply jar, or did individuals drop off a daily ration so that it was always fresh? Either way, each family could have contributed their own part of what became the flame the burned before the Lord. There are no insignificant gifts. Poor families might think, “Maybe I have no gold, but I do have cooking oil. I can give that!” And God will be worshiped with that.

In a time of economic thrift, Joni and I have begun to feel huge sacrifices with our increasingly smaller gifts. There was a time in my life (about a decade ago) when we could routinely give away nearly a quarter of our income and not feel challenged by it. But the kids have grown into really hungry teenagers, inflation has grown, cost of living increases (it never decreases),  and unanticipated medical expenses have shown up as we have aged, even as salary has shrunk. And now to give even the simplest of gifts to the work of the Lord is felt. To give over and above a simple amount feels impossible (even though I know it is what we should do if God has asked it of us).

The lesson of the olive oil is that there are no small gifts. And I take comfort in that. In the past we have easily been able to provide much larger gifts. But for whatever reasons, God has placed us in the olive oil category for now. I know that we can provide those sort of things, and as we sacrifice further, we can find God helping us to be generous in many small ways with what we have been blessed to share. And that is really the whole point of the matter. It humbles my pride. If all I have left is olive oil, will I see it as an item with which I have been blessed in order to share in ministry and worship God? The choice is mine. I can see the present circumstances as an economic downtown and lock away my chances to serve God with what we do have. Or I can see it as a challenge to find new ways to be generous in my worship of the Lord. I really believe God is asking me to grow during this time to practice the “olive oil” alternative.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Stewardship,Giving,Worship

The Veil

And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.

Exodus 26:33

From the earliest dictates of corporate worship, God insisted that the place where He would locate the manifestation of His presence be kept distinct from all other areas of public worship. That is why the “Most Holy Place” existed in the tabernacle, and then again in the permanent temple, as the locus of the Holy Presence of God. In it was placed the ark of the testimony. And the High Priest only entered there ceremonially once per year on the Day of Atonement.

But when Jesus died, it was this veil, and the concepts it represented that were ripped away. With redemption complete and justification and forgiveness found in Jesus, the need for the veil disappeared. God’s presence, through the sanctifying offering of the Son of God, would now make the hearts of believers His temple, His Holy Place. The Holy Spirit now indwells those who come to faith in Christ. There is no more curtain or distinction.

This is significant fact. God has changed the way He will be worshipped and the way He will be known. Instead of being approached behind a veil, He is now openly approachable in our own lives, at the very center of them, with our bodies as His temple.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Tabernacle

Voluntary giving is worship.

The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me.”

Exodus 25:1-2

It can get lost in the excruciating details of God’s design for the tabernacle, but the project of building a portable sanctuary for the worship of Yahweh happened because people chose to give the materials for the tabernacle. The remarkable phrase is “from every man whose heart moves him”. This was voluntary generosity. The Lord wanted people to want to give.

Why? Isn’t it true that Moses could have come down from the mountain with a fully built ark of the covenant, as well as all the furnishings for the worship of God? God had a design in mind, so it is evident that God knew what was needed. But God wanted to worship from His people. And that can only be given voluntarily. And it was His desire to receive personal, willing worship. Material provisions were part of that worship.

This is still God’s desire. He wants people to willingly worship Him through praise, prayer, heeding His word, and giving to His kingdom’s advance. This giving comes in various forms, but it is most noticeable in terms of personal financial commitment and sacrifice, as will be seen when Israel generously provides so much for the tabernacle that Moses eventually has to command them to stop!

So when the plate makes its rounds on Sunday, or when a personal sacrifice is made to travel on a missions trip, or needs are presented for a ministry opportunity, it is all worship. It is sincere, real, visible worship and its most personal and meaningful, and we should not be shy of it just because some hucksters of the gospel have abused it in the past. They will suffer for their fraud. But God is real, and giving is real worship.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Giving,Generosity,Worship

a fire & a cloud & forgetful hearts

 

The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Exodus 24:16-18

The repeated description of the glory of God as it is displayed among Israel is that of a fire and of a cloud. We get an even more interesting description of an encounter with God in this chapter in Exodus 24:9-11 where 74 men from among Israel, including Moses and Aaron, get a special audience with God. There the description is not of God at all, but rather of the “pavement” of clear sapphire-like stone under His feet. This description leads me to think that they just saw the feet of God upon the mountain, and that was awesome enough!

The nation saw the glory of God on the mountain. As Moses ascends the mountain to commune with God and receive the intense revelation of the Law of God, the people are amazed at the sight of the mountain. It has been transformed to a fuming, burning, fire-topped furnace at the approach of God’s glory. And this lasted the entire 40 days that Moses was up with God on the mountain. They had to be impressed, and we know from later accounts, both fearful and worried for Moses.

I saw a new insight from this chapter as well. It had never sunk in to me that ALL of the elders of Israel got to see God “up close” before Moses went all the way to the top of Sinai to receive the Law. This makes Israel’s lapse into idolatry in chapter 33 as Moses descends with the law all the more tragic. They could not hold on to a vision of God for 5 weeks! It faded in their minds so quickly.Their leaders failed to keep a vision of God and His commands before them. And human nature is the same stuff today. I can encounter God vividly in His word in the morning, only to feel and act like a miserable sinner by day’s end! And if I ever find myself in a visionless ministry… it is my fault as a leader because I did not point people to the glory of God. Oh how I need to look carefully at how Israel saw the glory of God in the desert. The lesson is for me.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Leadership

Why Social Justice is a Christian Issue.

You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

Exodus 22:21-24

God’s heart for the poorest and least powerful is intense. He has strong words for Israel as He reminds them that they must do no wrong to the weakest members of their society: the fatherless and the widowed. This is not some liberal pablum for the disenfranchised. This is divine justice concerned for all people made in the image of God. God does not bless one group of people at the expense of another. His design is that the blessed group help those in need, so that the blessed people might grow closer to God in character, and the blessed people might rejoice in grace.

I believe that is why God has such harsh words for Israel for the mistreatment of widows and orphans. To do so was to forget their own history where they suffered under the mistreatment of the Egyptian system for so long. They had been the lowest of the poor. They had been dispossessed of land and property. They had been at the mercy of the government system that exploited them. But God heard their cries and rescued them. He does the same for those in suffering today, and He wants to use His people for the work.

Yesterday I toured the Urban Scholastic Center in Kansas City, Kansas. There, literally in the community I grew up in, I saw how the church is making a difference in the urban core among the neediest people. The inner-city culture is dying. Families are a novelty (at least in the sense of husband/wife/children) and education is being abandoned as an option. It is hardly being offered in the public schools. Spiritual death is all around with drugs, gangs, murder, abortion, and crime being all too common in the lives of most people.

But God has raised up a group of people who will not be deaf to the cry for help. And I think I just became one of them. I hope to help by offering counseling training, discipleship training, educational assistance, all as a volunteer. I want to see Christ take back the urban core. I want to see the gospel make a huge impact in the lives of these people. I do not idealize the situation. I grew up in the inner city and I know firsthand the life that has to be lived there. But God can change people and redeem the culture through the gospel. If I first really hear the cries. And I do.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Social Justice,The Poor

lex talionis

But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Exodus 21:23-25

Moses was instituting a mediating principle for Israel where the previous experience of the nation lacked fundamental societal laws. This was meant to be a PRINCIPLE that mitigated excess violence. How strange that today it might be used to justify violence. The following two paragraphs condensed from an article at bible.org, shed light on WHY God would bring this principle out to Israel in the desert of Sinai.

Blood revenge had been the previous experience of the patriarchs to this point. Imagine  for a moment a situation where you lived in a place with no police force, no courts, no local, state, or federal government – no king or other authority ruling over you or the people around you. There is no authority to report any crime to – to seek justice. If someone you cared about was hurt or killed, vengeful feelings would have no legal restriction. You would probably want to take the matter into your own hands and seek retribution, maybe even to the point of blood revenge. Perhaps you would try to impose the same type of injury on the attacker that he imposed. Maybe you would even want to punish him in greater degree than his offense. After you take revenge, the attacker’s family may feel that they have been mistreated and may want to respond, setting up a cycle of retaliation and revenge between you and them – blood feuds were common in the Old Testament. Genesis 34 records an actual incident like this between Jacob’s family and the family of Shechem. After Jacob’s daughter Dinah is abused, Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, seek revenge by first deceiving Shechem’s family into getting men circumcised, and then they take the retaliatory action of killing all the males. Of course, it is clear from later in Genesis 49:5-7 that God did not approve of this action.

So the institution of the lex talionis (an eye for an eye) into the Mosaic law for Israel and the ruling authorities was actually quite an advancement for justice designed to prevent arbitrary retaliation and revenge. The injured person or relative of the injured person could go to the governing judicial authority in Israel to seek justice. These verses were to instruct the judge in a matter of this kind with guidance for handling a verdict on the matter. The punishment must fit the crime to the tee: no more than the crime but also no less. It was strict yet fair. It was also designed to prevent and deter such crimes. It successfully removed punitive actions for crimes from the hands of the victim and his family and put them into the hands of the governing judicial system, which was supposed to be a fair third party. This was proportional justice that appropriately punished the offender.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Lex Talionis

To fear or not to fear.

Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin."

Exodus 20:20

What is Moses saying here? It sounds like he is speaking self- negating advice: “Don’t fear for God wants you to fear.” The situation was unique. This passage (there is more detail to come further in the text) is a summary of how Israel received their first ever revelation from God for the entire nation. The Law was delivered on Sinai, and Moses brought back the initial message that was received with fear. Why? Well, the people saw Moses walk up a mountain that shook, smoked, and was covered in sheer darkness. It looked like a natural disaster up there. And they had just witnessed what God could do with darkness, storms, plagues, and death in Egypt. Hadn’t they just been grumbling against Moses? Yikes. I think they thought they were in trouble.

But the fear they needed was just exactly what Moses was advising them to have. It was a fear of God that would be faithful to obey His commands. God was testing their resolve with the display of His might, and He would test and approve their character as a nation by obedience to the law. The goal: that the nation might emerge as His holy people. Moses put it this way: “that you may not sin”.

So fear of God is a good thing. Being afraid of God is another issue. Fearing God meant knowing that God could judge sin. That is a good thing. Being afraid of God as a force of judgment was one thing, being mindful to respect Him and obey Him was another. Moses is calling people to see the fear of the Lord as a good experience because it inclined them to follow and obey Him. He reminded them that this listen would serve them well. If they kept this experience of being in awe of a mighty, fearful power of God, they could more easily heed and obey the word of God, and that would benefit them all. God would be pleased with His people, and the nation would not sin.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Fear of God