Archive for the ‘Exodus’ Category

Day 133: Luke 22:14-20 — The Last Supper

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

DaVinci's The Last Supper

The Last Supper has come to represent an image in a recent movie of a conspiracy of the church to hide Jesus’ wife and children. It has resulted in arguments between churches over how often you take it. I have often heard discussions about the mundane repetition that is not entertaining…in other words, it is boring. I am always surprised by these points of view. The Lord’s Supper is a historical fact that has been an integral part of worship since the early church. In today’s world of entertaining worship, it would be sacrilege not to have a praise team perform. However, to follow Jesus’ command to eat the bread and drink the cup of the new covenant is boring. How things have been turned upside down and our forms of worship ignores a command of Jesus to replace it with our worship desires. To ignore the Last Supper is to refuse to stand in the presence of mystery and wonder. It is disdain on the body of Christ. Have we forgotten its foundational message of what God has done to correct our broken relationship with Him and our neighbor?

The act of eating together paved the way for Jesus’ fellowship with his disciples, the crowds, and the outcasts in Galilee on various occasions and Luke emphasizes the meal scenes of Jesus’ ministry. Instituted at the time of the Passover meal, the Lord’s Supper also embraces and fulfills the celebration of God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we declare that the Lord whom we worship is also the God committed to the deliverance of His people today. In the early church, the Lord’s Supper was observed in connection with a fellowship meal. The risen Lord becomes known to the early disciples in the breaking of bread (Luke 24:30-31). The early Christians broke bread at home (Acts 2:46), they gathered on the first day of the week to break bread (Acts 20:7), and problems arose when the meal did not express the oneness and fellowship of the church (1 Cor. 11:17-22). The supper, therefore, relates the community of believers physically and spiritually to the Lord, who laid down his life that we might live. It is a commemoration of the life and death of Jesus, a celebration of his real and spiritual presence now, and an affirmation of the hope that we shall eat and drink with him in the kingdom of God. I look forward to this Sunday, the next Sunday, and the next Sunday to take the Lord’s Supper and remember my Lord’s death until He comes again. I do not find this mundane, nor do I find the banquet in heaven something that I choose not to participate in. Each opportunity to take the bread and drink the cup is an opportunity to live the gospel and experience the grace of God that invites me to salvation.

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Day 107: Judges Chapter 5 — The Rest of the Story

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

Welcome to the ramblings of a guest blogger, or ballad-eer. Ever listen to a ballad, a song that tells a story? As a fourth generation Church of Christ family member, I have verses one, two and four of most church songs memorized. Even before I could read music or understand what soprano, alto, tenor and bass parts were, I could sing these verses from memory because ‘that’s the way we always did it.’

I was shocked when a guest song leader added a verse in “To Canaan’s Land I’m on My Way,” only to find out the verse was actually written in the song book. While singing the many verses of “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” I realized most hymns tell a story, and singing all the verses was important to understanding that story. I was disappointed as a twenty-something song leader when I learned the number of verses sung was usually determined by the amount of time left in the worship service. Adding or dropping verses in the songs was the best way to ensure the worship service ended at the right time. Timing is everything, and verse selection had little to do with telling or singing the story.

As I read Judges, Chapter 5, I realized Deborah and Barak were singing praises to God after a victory for Israel. This song tells the story of how the Lord delivered Israel during Deborah’s time as a judge. All of the verses are important, giving credit for the victory to the Lord. So, don’t be surprised the next time I lead singing if the service is a little long as we sing all of the verses.

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Day 44: Exodus 39:2-40:33 — Attention to detail

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Israelite high priest's garmentsAttention to detail. Whenever I hear that phrase, it takes me back to my military days. One good progress report certainly couldn’t advance one’s career, but a single bad report would likely be all it took to send an airman job-hunting. Since everyone had good progress reports, in the small percentage of cases where bad ones were warranted, they really stood out. Attention to detail was one of the things that was often mentioned in an Airman Performance Report (APR), and at one time was required to mention.

The Israelites certainly had reason to be concerned about attention to detail. There were after all, 613 commandments given in the law. What we read about in today’s reading were instructions to Moses rather than commandments for the community, but they were certainly details Moses had to be concerned about.

“Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen.”

That’s just the ephod. There were laws on how to live, how to relate, how to eat, how to worship. Compared with the “old law”, the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ” (Rom 8:2) is conspicuously silent on many matters. And isn’t that what bothers us so much?

We’re comfortable with boundaries, and the “do it right, dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s” in us just feels more at ease when we know we can cross off this one and check that one.

The same God who gave the Israelites all those rules also told us that “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1). It’s easy to want to interpret this as “freedom to,” but He’s really talking about “freedom from.” In Christ, we are freed from slavery to the law and are instead “slaves to righteousness” (Rom 6:15-23).

Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that since under Christ there are less rules on that checklist, God is thus is implying we needn’t be concerned about what pleases Him. This is the same God that brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, and He still very much desires a close relationship with His children (Col 3, for a start). Attention to detail is important — not because it’s a law chiseled in stone and because we have to obey or else, but because we want to do those things that are pleasing to the Father and which bring us closer to Him.

If you want to strengthen your relationship with your husband, you will learn as much as possible about what pleases him, then do those things. If you want to be closer to your wife, you will engage in conversation with her — tell her what’s on your heart, and listen when she talks to you.

Question: What are you doing to strengthen your relationship with your Heavenly Father?

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Day 40: Exodus 30:17-32:35 — What is your golden calf?

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Golden CalfExodus 32:1 reads, “When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain…”. I didn’t get far into chapter 32 before my mind ran away with thoughts. This is the narrative of Moses up on the mountain receiving the law from God. Man can’t stand to wait so they get Aaron together to build an idol. Why can’t we wait for the living God? There is thunder on the mountain – a theophany (look it up). Why can’t we wait? Why is man in so much of a hurry? Why do we build a golden calf to fill in the time?

impatient manIn 1976, I stood in line in San Diego, California. I was at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot and my drill instructor took 80 of us to a secluded area of the base and put us at attention and left us there. For 6 hours, we tried to stand at attention. We wondered if there had been a mistake. Had we been forgotten? Did something happen to our drill instructor? Boredom set in but there was nothing we could do. I learned to think. I learned discipline. I learned to use my mind and be creative. Others broke rank and ended up in trouble because they could not fight off the boredom. However, many of us stood there and waited and we were rewarded for a job well done.

Do you ever get bored? It seems in my experience that when we get bored, sin is right around the corner. What is our golden calf? What triggers your boredom and creates a search for a golden calf?

May we wait for the Lord. It is always worth the wait.

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Day 39: Ex. 27:1-28:43 & Matt. 23:1-12 — Beautiful, intricate, masterfully planned

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Our Old Testaments readings for several chapters might capture the attention of anthropologists, those who study the sacrificial system, and building engineers, and costume designers. Our New Testament reading for today may raise the eyebrows of those who wonder who the real Pharisees are. Oddly enough, both of these readings meld together beautifully.

The design of God for the tabernacle, the traveling temple — focal point for the presence and cult of the LORD — portrays majesty, beauty, complexity, intricacy, purposeful direction, and provided a physical expression of the greatness, power, presence, and loyalty commanded of the God of this wandering desert people. The vestments of the priests had to be impressive, that of the high priest, breathtaking. The design and composition, all came from the Divine genius of the Creator. Those chosen to serve God must be very important, look how He dresses them.

Meanwhile, Jesus informs the people of the covenant His day, that what the Creator, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has deemed desired and necessary in the life and worship offered by the community is perfect, and cannot be augmented, expanded, or derived by those humans who unlawfully elevate themselves above their brethren.

So what do we have? A kingdom of priests, Exodus 19:3-4, 1 Peter 2:9, a beautiful, holy people, all peers, under Master Jesus, and under the discernible earthly leadership of our elders. No Christian more important, more holy, more precious than the other. All of us, every one of us beautiful stones built into a dwelling place for the Holy One, 1 Peter 2:5, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. All of us as priests ministering before God, clothed in the wondrous robes of the Righteous Son of God, Galatians 3:27. This is how He sees us, the reality of what He has made of us. His workmanship in us demands that we each recognize the plan and will of the Creator in each of us individually and as He has placed us together in that building we are now, the church, Ephesians 2:10, 19-22. We comprise the part of this world among mankind rejoined to the rule and blessing of God. How great and precious that life, how wonderful the promises. How compelling is His will in our lives. Be brave and courageous in this present world, serve Him with confidence and loyalty,  and one day His true design and work in us will be seen, and His glory inescapably revealed to the universe, 1 John 3:1-3, 2 Thessalonians 1:10.

Question: What do you see when you look in the mirror? When you look at the church and the people there? What does God see? How can you see with the eyes of God?

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Day 36: Exodus 22:16-24:18 — Blood Covenant

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Our covenant was sealed with the blood of Christ.In Genesis 15:10, we learn that God makes a specific kind of covenant, which is the blood covenant. Here we see the first blood-sacrifice covenant. A blood sacrifice is needed to establish a covenant. The covenant parties would pass between the halves indicating that they were irrevocably bound together in blood. The cutting in halves of the sacrifice spoke of the end of existing lives for the sake of establishing a new covenant. The sacred nature of this covenant was attested to by the shedding of lifeblood. In this instance, only God passed between the pieces, indicating that it was His covenant and He would assume responsibility for its administration.

In Leviticus 17:11 we learn of the power of the blood. Scripture clearly points out, “It is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins (John 1:29). The truth that God is a covenant-maker who restores us to a right relationship with Him through the blood of the covenant. The Bible teaches that man and God can only come together through the blood of the covenant, which culminates in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—the blood of the Lamb.

In chapter 24 of Exodus, Moses and others are invited to “come up to the Lord…and worship from afar.” Then Moses would go farther up the mountain and to be near God. What an image of worship. The people would not be allowed to go near but they would wait and watch from a distance (Exodus 24:1-2). Before Moses went up the mountain, he told the people all the words of the Lord and they all agreed with one voice that they would obey God’s word (Exodus 24:3) and a covenant or agreement between God and the people was put in place. Moses took some sacrificial blood and threw it on the people and I am sure some were upset that they got their “Sunday go to meeting” clothes stained. Moses, said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Jesus uses these words in Matthew 26:28 and Mark 14:24. So, we see that our Christian roots are tied to a blood covenant. This worship continues as Moses goes to the top of the mountain and is told to wait (Exodus 24:12) while God gives him their law and commandments for their instruction.

May we worship by God’s instruction and through the blood of Christ!

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Day 35: Exodus 20:22-22:45 — Worship

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

worship

It seems like every day I receive mail that tells me how to have a great worship experience. From banners with scriptures on them, worship bulletin templates to catch the eye, to church furniture that looks great, there are robes I can wear to make me look spiritual, there are fancy new communion trays lined with gold, and you can even buy some valentine worship hearts to please the romantics at church. I think Israel must have had some exciting worship experiences with their motionless gods that they sang and danced around and felt good about. God says, don’t do it. Do not make gods out of gold and silver and put them alongside of me (Exodus 20:23).

Have we lost the true meaning of worship? It is not a panacea of great experiences that make me feel good. Isn’t worship about developing a relationship with a holy God (the creator). He says don’t worship things or bring those other gods near me. This is so foreign to us because we may have forgotten that our sin is appalling to God. We no longer see a Sovereign. We no longer tremble in the presence of the Almighty. We no longer appreciate or remember that our God is about commitment, covenant, sacrifice, and loyalty. I guess, we need to tell God to get a chill pill because we live under grace now and He doesn’t need to bark out a bunch of commands. He tells them to use natural stones that have not been worked on with a tool (Exodus 20:25). Come on God, don’t you want some of that polished stone that looks pretty to us and will make our worship go easier? Come on God, we have talented stone carvers that are not being able to use their gifts. How can the stone carvers worship if they can’t modify your altar?

I bet Moses got a lot of mail too and everyone was just dying to set up the multimedia system around the golden calf. Have we forgotten what grace is? Isn’t grace what is happening here with the Israelites? God draws near to them and instructs them how they can draw near to Him. Isn’t that the story of Jesus? God draws near to us by paying the cost for our sins. It was not a gold plated cross that Jesus died on. It was a cross of suffering and shame. If we really want to worship, maybe we should drop on our knees and be quiet and listen to the Most Holy One. “Do not make any gods to be alongside me…” (Exodus 20:23).

By the way, I worshipped God today and it felt awful. I came before the most Holy Throne and like Isaiah said, “Woe to me!” I cried, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty (Isaiah 6:5).

Woe to me! I deserve death and Jesus came over and touched me with His blood. Whew! Worship is exhausting.

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Day 34: Exodus 18:1-20:21 — “The 10 Words”

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

There is no commentary today, just an exhortation to read the 10 Words/Commandments. Read these famous words afresh. Contemplate them. Reflect on them. I think the impact should be self-evident on our lives, families, church, country, and world. Make a comment on the observations you have. May God bless the reading of his word.

“And God spoke all these words, saying,

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 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.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. ” (Exodus 20:1-21, ESV)

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Day 32: Ex. 13:17-15:27; Matt. 19:23-20:16 — We have left all…what now?

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Free, at last! Free! and now what? Pharaoh’s coming, the sea locks us into his grip! We left everything we had! We should have stayed in Egypt!

Married, ah, that blissful state. Now comes real life. Can a man divorce for any reason?

I have been good ALL my life. Surely God will open up the pearly gates big and wide just to let me through.

We have left everything to follow you. What now?

“Fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the LORD which He will work for you today.” Exodus 14:13. With this, Israel will receive the blessing of deliverance. Yahweh transformed what would have been their grave into the the means of their salvation. “And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground.” Exodus 14:22. “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea…the floods (deeps, NASB) covered them.” Exodus 15:4-5. A term rich in meaning tells us where Pharaoh went, TEHOM,  rendered by the ESV as floods,  NASB as deeps, odd English, good Hebrew, good theology. TEHOM describes the universe before light of creation, a place of darkness and chaos. Genesis 1:2. To this existence, realm, chaos, destruction, end was Pharaoh taken. Our love and commitment to the Creator becomes blessed as we follow through the hard, impossible times, when nothing appears as it should. When He says, “Press on, be determined, trust Me.” 1 John 4:18 — Perfect love casts out fear. Life dedicated  to the Great Liberator does have questions, and we have some times of doubt, but complete confidence, going through the sea, results in goodness now and promises which will be fulfilled. Committed, leave all and follow Him, you will find Life. Do-it-my-way life without Him? The Deep.

She cooks so badly, inedible horrors! She squawks so loudly, all the neighbors hear her! WHAT have I gotten myself into?!! Thus the Israelite could get the writ of divorce and get of that mess! Hold on, hold on, now. What mess? WHO created the mess? Jesus assures that crowd of nay-sayers-and-how-will-you-get-out-of-this-one that if there is any mess, any problem with marriage, mankind brings it on himself, “the hardness of your heart.” Are there extraordinary circumstances? Yes. Are there horrible conundrums? Yes. But is there a design of the Creator giving us the best place from which to start and finish? YES! To the world, marriage now, as then, becomes a cloudy state of whatever I think it should be. It’s for ME isn’t it? With whomever, however, and whatever I want. Whom am I hurting? — the world says. What about the purposes of the One Who created us? What of the design? Marriage is about what God creates in us, using us as wonderful streams of blessing for ourselves and others. Marriage must seek the design and will of God first, the will of God in me, for Him, and then directed to and for that spouse, for Him.

We have left all and followed You. What now? We are ridiculed. The job does not pay much. Looks bleak even for a rich man. In Deuteronomy 30 and Romans 10, the Holy Spirit speaks in Moses and Paul: Is the will and design of God so outlandish that no one can do it? Are His purposes so impossible that we have to go to the farthest reaches of time and space to figure it out? By ourselves, under our own wind, that answer is yes. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26.

Commitment goes to God first, on His terms, in His way. Never to me first on my terms, no matter how much I don’t like to say that, human that I am. Then the seas divide, the way becomes clear, life takes on its true meaning, and, yes, that far dream we dare to dream, life forever with the One Who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

“My stubborn will at last hath yielded. I would be Thine, and Thine alone.”

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Day 26: Genesis 50:16 – Exodus 2:25 — Thank You God

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

In our reading today, we move from Genesis to Exodus. In short, whether from pure ignorance to downright sin and doing it on purpose, man has tried to thwart God’s plan for His creation. Yet, God’s promises to Abraham are being fulfilled. As I read Exodus 1:7, I was struck that throughout all of the patriarchal shenanigans, God’s promises continue to occur despite mankind. I get tickled at our arrogance today in thinking that we have control over the environment. Have we forgotten that God is in control? We like to blame God for natural disasters but we don’t want to give Him any credit for being the Creator and in control of His creation. In Genesis 1:28, we see that the creation flourished under God. In Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 17:1-8, we see that God makes a covenant with Abraham and He fulfills that promise. We see it being fulfilled with Jacob (Genesis 35:11), and with the story of Joseph. In Exodus 1:7, we see it continuing to be fulfilled. If we continue to read the Bible, we will be amazed at how He continues to keep and fulfill His promises. I doubt all of our technology, science, and even bad environmental behaviors will stop God. Thank you God for keeping your promises and for the ultimate fulfillment of your promises through Jesus Christ. When are we going to learn that You are God and You know what You are doing? Let’s put our trust in Him!

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