Fear the Lord

Ex 20:13-23

“Do not be afraid, for God has come only to test you and put the fear of him upon you so you do not sin.” Moses said.

It is a middle way, this fear of the Lord.

The writer of Hebrews said, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.” But the psalmist says that the “fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.

It is a call for reverence; respect and honor for this other.

Sometimes people speculate; the contest between good and evil and who will prevail. But in reality, this contest is no contest. The evil one cannot defeat the goodness of God. The created cannot overcome the active creator.

God is love.

A surfer falls off his board and is mercilessly crushed by the wave. Nothing he can do will change the wave. The wave is fearful. If he survives, he’ll go back out and try again.

God is love.

Nothing can stop creative love. Be at odds with it and it will crush you mercilessly. This love can be fearful. But love is the only worthy thing. You will go out and love again.

Commandments

Ex 19:24-20:12

The idea of commandments is perhaps intuitively a bit foreign to the average American. No one is really supposed to tell anyone else how they should live. It rubs the wrong way. It constrains my liberty.

If life were an aimless, purposeless and meaningless endeavor, commandments would certainly seem to be an arbitrary imposition.

One of the most fundamental of all Christian beliefs is life is anything but arbitrary. Life is intrinsically meaningful and therefore, purposeful. In order to meet the challenge of living in a world of meaning and purpose, we have to be free.

And freedom comes with a price. It is a developed capacity. It is formed in you as a capability to achieve – whatever you have been called to do – whatever gifts you have been given to share.

The formation starts here. The freedom starts with: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

The Holy

Ex 19:12-23

A demonstration of the Holy.

Holy – it means set apart for God. I associate the idea of holy with the sacred spaces I have known. The sanctuary, the altar, the chalice.

These are God’s things. They aren’t to be used for any other purpose.

It’s all elegance. Works of art in gold and silver.  Safe.  Attractive.

Holy.

God describes Himself as Holy.

Set apart for Himself? How do I make sense of this? He is clearly not a passive, elegant, work of art fashioned by a man.

Holy. Singularly focused for one purpose.

Holy. A consuming fire that needs no fuel but that which destroys anything foreign or opposed to its purpose.

What seems like a menace is nothing more than the singularly focused power of God’s intent.

Holy – God in manifest power.

“Be holy, because I am holy” 1Peter 1:16

Consecrate Yourself

Ex 19:1-11

The ancient sense of the royal demanded sanctification. Joseph could not go from the prison to the throne room without washing and shaving. The throne of Pharaoh wasn’t a common place, but an extraordinary place. It demanded deference. It required your best. Your outward reflected your inward. To show up at the throne unprepared was disrespect – a great offense. It could cost you your life.

We understand God on His throne. High and lifted up. Absolute purity. Absolute love. No taint. No blemish. No imperfection. Nothing unseemly. The power behind every kind of power.

And yet, God can take your filthy rags. Slow to anger and filled with mercy. He’s not offended. He sees you differently than you can see yourself.

You show up at the throne in your nastiness and He sees beyond your nastiness.

But will you be able to follow suit?

There isn’t much shame in the marketplace. When I compare myself to my neighbor, maybe I don’t feel so bad. But like when the priest shows up and everyone changes the subject of conversation… the shame is lurking.

Your nastiness keeps you from God, not God from you. Take a bath. Confess your sins. Repent. Get some freedom and enjoy the presence of the Lord our God.

Bad Process

Ex 18:17-27

Jethro observed the Moses’ process was unsustainable. He couldn’t, as one person, judge every dispute for 600,000 men and their families.

Have you ever had someone come to your house, express admiration for what you’ve accomplished and then proceed to tell you what you’re doing wrong?

Enter Jethro.

The thing is, sometimes it takes an outsider to help us see the obvious. Moses process was unsustainable. It wasn’t good for him or for the people. He had to own that and make an adjustment.

Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light”.

We all will have hard days. But if the days have all seemed hard for awhile, check your approach. If it seems like you’re carrying more than any human being could possibly be asked to carry, then check the way you’re carrying.

If pride is a part of the burden, let’s start by putting that down.

Jethro’s Observation

Ex 18:8-16

Jethro had received Moses many years before as an exiled “Egyptian” forced to flee from his homeland. Moses did not know the Lord God when he arrived at Jethro’s camp and married one of his daughters.

Jethro was a witness to the transformation of Moses, who had resigned himself to a quiet life as a shepherd under Jethro’s authority, into a representative of God and the leader of a nation.

Jethro came to believe in God and worshipped Him because of what he saw in visiting the nation and from hearing Moses’ testimony.

He was the first.

It wasn’t Moses’ goal to persuade Jethro. He was just reporting his experience. God’s goodness to Israel was compelling.

It still is.

So, “go out and proclaim the gospel to all the nations. When necessary, use words.”

Amalekites

Ex 17:10-18:7

The challenges of wondering around in a dessert. One wonders who the Amalekites could be and what were their intentions in attacking? Though Israel had no longer history of military exploit, they were still 600,000 men.

Looking to God for salvation. Appealing to God for strength and protection. Lifting up hands in praise and blessing. Even if others have to do some of the lifting for you, lifting up hands to praise and honor God is a key to personal victory.

Freedom from the attackers who won’t, perhaps, destroy me but who will plague with pernicious attacks that distract and discourage. I know where I am weak. Amalek hits me there.

But God has your back. In Christ alone, may you trust.

“Pray lifting up holy hands”1 Tim 2:8

Massah and Meribah

Ex 17:1-9

The great challenge is developing the freedom to see God’s hand in the ordinary things.

How many times do I have to tell my children how to put bowls in the dishwasher so they get clean? And they still don’t do it right.

They think it doesn’t matter. I’m tempted to think they are trying to provoke me through deliberate disobedience.  God’s working all things together for good.

God’s sovereign plan worked out in particular detail is designed to bring each of us to a place where we encounter Him; that we can see through our honest relationships with others an opportunity to encounter Christ as another person. Not a principle. Not a myth. A person.

His sovereign hand extended through to my circumstances creates the possibility of relationship. This is the main possibility he has given everything to achieve.

Irritants create the pearl. It’s cliché. So if the cliché irritates you, tell Him about it.

Sabbath Manna

Ex 16:24-36

A slave is always at work. It’s 24/7. The sons of Israel were slaves. Although they were given liberty from their oppressors, they still thought like slaves. They didn’t rest. They didn’t not answer the call. They always met the challenge – no matter what was demanded of them. They looked for ways to outwork each other – to be the most important slave. To be the most powerful slave.

It’s not that work is bad. Work is good. Very good. We were made to creatively form value. Our potential couldn’t be fully realized without the opportunity of work.

But it’s interesting to see how people who have this slavish mentality to work respond to the possibility of rest. It’s almost like they can’t stand it. If they’re aren’t working, they don’t feel right. (I don’t feel right)

“It’s the Sabbath. We collected a double portion yesterday – we don’t need food. So what should we do with this morning? I know, let’s go out and collect some more.”

Rest. Rest in God. The Sabbath is for the man.

My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Bread from Heaven

Ex 16:13-23

The manna came as bread from heaven. Every morning, it was a promise from God.

It’s so easy for me to think, “How fortunate to receive such a blessing. No worries. Free food.”

Living in the present requires freedom from anxiety. Of course, nothing brings out anxiety like food.

Like the moments of our life, we try desperately to hold onto the good ones. With equal desperation, we try to escape the unpleasant as soon as possible. But the command is, “gather one omer per day per person” and “throw away the leftovers”.

THROW AWAY THE LEFTWOVERS?

Food. Moments in Time. It’s all so perishable. Must hold on.

Always the tendency to live in the past or the future. This is man’s first temptation. We succumb and only later do we realize that we’ve missed our life.

I do this no matter that God has always been faithful.

Stay in the moment. Stay in the moment.

“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”   “Now is the time of God’s favor. Now is the day of salvation.”