He Is Jealous for Me

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He is Jealous for Me

The Imp of the Perverse is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe which discusses the narrator’s self-destructive impulses embodied in the metaphor of “the imp.” The narrator describes this spirit as the agent that tempts a person to do things “merely because we feel we should not.” Poe describes this spirit like this: We stand upon the brink of a precipice. We peer into the abyss—we grow sick and dizzy. Our first impulse is to shrink away from the danger. Unaccountably we remain... it is but a thought, although a fearful one, and one which chills the very marrow of our bones with the fierceness of the delight of its horror. It is merely the idea of what would be our sensations during the sweeping precipitancy of a fall from such a height... for this very cause do we now most vividly desire it. We, as a species, have a perverse spot in our hearts where we want to flagrantly disobey God and turn from Him. This is what Poe would call “The Imp of the Perverse.” In the short story, a thought entered the narrator’s mind which would surely condemn him if he spoke it, and yet, speak it he did. He tried walking quickly from it, then running, but it overtook him. He could no more constrain himself than a balloon could keep from bursting when over-filled. We are all prone to doing something which is self-destructive simply because it takes hold of us and impels us to do it. What Poe says well reflects the sinful nature we have.

The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 7:15-20: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer myself who does it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who does it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” We all carry within us the Imp or Sin that can tear us away from what we should most cherish – which is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But the Bible gives us a cure from being consumed by the Imp and the way for falling so in love with Jesus that we are unwilling to entertain any other “lovers.” The cure is to be as jealous and ruthless for our relationship with Jesus as He is for us. The cure is to daily hide God’s word in our hearts and to hold fast to it, remembering it, and reciting it. It is being on a first-name basis with the Lord, praying in His will and displaying the glory of God with our lives. It is to destroy and refuse to accept anything associated with idols. It is to be intolerable toward anything that challenges our exclusivity with Jesus and to be intolerant of anything that leads us away from God. If we do these things and not allow anything or anyone to get in the way, it will be the safety for our souls and our protection from eternal separation from God. That brings us to our big idea this morning which is that God desires His people to be ruthless for His glory and for their spiritual fidelity.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for another day that we have the freedom to gather and worship you in this place. You are an awesome God, and I ask that your Holy Spirit fill each heart and mind this morning so that we would be open to what you want us to hear and obey. Help us to put off all distractions and focus on you. For your honor and your glory, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is, What God Will Do, found in Exodus 34:10-11. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.”

Last week, Moses again went before the Lord on Mt. Sinai taking two new stone tablets with him. The Lord answered Moses’ prayer to show him His glory by passing by him and by proclaiming His Name in his presence. Once this self-revelation was made by the Lord, Moses again asked for the Lord to dwell with them, forgive their wickedness and sin and to take His people as His inheritance. And today we will see God’s answer. The Lord’s answer came pretty quick, and it was a “yes.” By saying, “I am making a covenant with you” the Lord was stating that, yes, He will dwell among them. “Yes”, He will forgive their wickedness and sin. And “yes” He will take them as His inheritance. After proclaiming His compassionate and gracious name to Moses, the Lord showed compassion and grace to His people by agreeing to renew His covenant with them. Notice that God alone is reinstituting the covenant. The word “making” means “to cut.” And God alone is the one “cutting” the covenant and this time He does not ask the people to agree to it. Also, when He says he is making a covenant “with you”, the “you” is Moses. The covenant relationship between the Lord and the Israelites will be renewed through the person of Moses, the covenant mediator. The Lord will be faithful to all He has promised.

What we see next is what God will do as he is ruthless for His glory and ruthless for getting rid of any temptation against the spiritual fidelity of His people. First, what He will do will be done “right in front of” or “in full view of” the Israelites. This is the same word used when David says in the 23rd Psalm that the Lord prepares a table in the presence of or “in full view” of his enemies. What God will do will be for their benefit and for His glory. Calling them “your people” meaning Moses, didn’t mean they weren’t His people, it meant that they were privileged to have Moses as their leader and mediator. God was reaffirming Moses’ position with the Israelites. The Lord states that He will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. This is saying something considering the plagues He brought against Egypt and Pharaoh, the parting of the Red Sea and the provision of water from a rock and the abundance of quail and manna while they have been in the wilderness.

The word “done” is translated as “create” showing that the Lord’s wonders to come will be something new; a new creation and something never done before. What God will do will be extraordinary and the only response of the Israelites and those surrounding them will be wonder and awe. The Lord would do these things so that the Israelites and surrounding nations would realize that Yahweh was the all-powerful Creator God. The Israelite’s faith would be strengthened and having seen God’s wonders done on their behalf would hold them more accountable in the future if they rebelled against Him. And the surrounding nations would know that Yahweh is the one true God, would know the awesome deeds that the Lord is doing for His people, and He would be glorified in their midst. ​​ 

The word awesome means “fright” or “terror” meaning that the Lord’s awesome work will bring terror and fright to the people. It will bring terror on the enemies of Israel as they are destroyed, and it will also bring terror to the Israelites as they will know what will happen to them if they break the covenant in the future. The Lord’s power, might, and majesty will be displayed to the world, and it will bring a fearful reverence for the Lord and His glory. The awesome thing I will do “for you” means that he will use Moses to cause the terror that God will bring. Next, we see two aspects of the covenant. First, the people are to obey what the Lord will command, meaning His commands in the latter part of this chapter. Two, the Lord promises to be ruthless for His glory by driving out all the nations before them in the Promised Land which will show his ruthlessness for any temptation to the spiritual fidelity of His people. By driving these nations out, it will cut down on their temptation to worship other gods and make idols. The length of the list of nations shows the vastness of the land they will inherit. It also shows the awesomeness of the work the Lord will do on their behalf. This will constitute one of the awesome wonders He just mentioned. 2 Samuel 7:23 says, “And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? This promise will also be the basis for the commands the people are to obey. It will be by the power of the Lord, not Israel’s, that these nations will be driven out of the Promised Land.

God was ruthless for His glory by making a covenant with them after they committed adultery with the golden calf. He promises to do wonders in their midst and the peoples they live among will see them and know He is God and will glorify Him. He was also ruthless for their spiritual fidelity. By driving the Canaanite nations out of the land with their wicked and perverse ways, it would cut down on the Israelites' temptation to worship other gods and make graven images, committing spiritual adultery against the Lord. As the people worship Yahweh and Yahweh alone it would bring glory to God as well. (Big Idea). The Lord also wants to do awesome wonders in our lives and in our church. He has cut a new covenant with us, He has promised many things to us in his Word and He demands obedience from us as His people. If we are going to be ruthless for the glory of God, we must be glorifying Him with everything we say, think and do. This shows what we believe about God and His glory, but it also shows the world whose we are and who gets the glory in our lives and in our church. Matthew 5:14-16 says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” That brings us to our first next step which is to Be ruthless for the glory of God by always shining my light before others.

That brings us to our second point, What Israel Must Do, found in Exodus 34:12-17. This is what God’s Word says, “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. “Do not make any idols.”

The Lord knew from previous experience that His people were prone to spiritual adultery. They were prone to worshipping idols and other gods. After the Lord kept His promise to wipe out the Canaanite nations from the Promised Land, the Israelites would need to do certain things to keep the temptation to worship other gods to a minimum. He begins with “be careful” which was an imperative. Moses and the people had to take literal action in order to keep themselves from idolatry. So what action were they to take when they entered the Promised Land? The were not to make treaties or covenants with the Canaanite people. God was driving these people out for very good reasons. First, they were wicked and evil and had been committing abominations against the Lord for centuries. Now it was God’s preordained time for their judgment. Second, the land was promised to Abraham and his descendants. The Lord had given the Canaanite people time to repent but they refused to follow God and now the land that they abused was forfeited to His chosen people. Third, if they made covenants with the Canaanites, the Canaanites and their gods would become snares to the Israelites. We need to remember that the Israelites were already in a covenant with God. If they made a covenant with the Canaanites it implied that they were in a covenant with their gods as well. This would be committing spiritual adultery against the Lord. Combining their faith in God with faith in false gods would undermine true faith in the one and only true God, Yahweh. This would be like a trap or snare they would unwittingly walk into and would become a path to their destruction.

They were to take three actions which would show the Lord that they were ruthless and jealous for their relationship with Him. They were to break down or destroy their altars. They were to smash or break their sacred stones or pillars. And they were to cut down their Asherah poles. The Lord had already commanded what type of altar they were to set up to worship Him. All other pagan altars were to be ruthlessly removed from the Promised Land. Next, they were to smash their sacred pillars. These were stone pillars that represented their gods, like the golden calf was to the Israelites. In ancient times it was the habit of the conquering nation to take the idols of the defeated nation and keep them as trophies, but the Israelites were not to do this. Interestingly, these gods could not save the defeated nation and so proved that they were false, but they could become a snare to the Israelites and their relationship with God, tempting them to look for something the idol couldn’t give them.

We see this exact thing happen in 2 Chronicles 25:14-15 to King Amaziah. “Now it was so, after Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Therefore, the anger of the Lord was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?” He and probably the people were worshipping gods that couldn’t even save the Edomites from slaughter. Kind of hard to fathom when the Lord had done so many mighty wonders and deeds for His chosen people. But honestly, don’t we do the same all the time when we rely on the gods of our day for whatever we are seeking? They were also to cut down their Asherah poles. These were wooden images based on the goddess of the same name found in Phoenicia, Assyria, Canaan, etc. This is the first time they are mentioned in scripture, but they will be mentioned numerous times in the OT as being worshipped by the Israelites. Just as God had warned them, these idols became snares for His chosen people.

The Lord then said, “Do not worship any other god” or better translated “for you shall not worship any other god.” This had to be explicitly commanded because the people had already worshipped another god all on their own. God knew they were prone to idol worship and so he commanded them to be ruthless in breaking, smashing and cutting down all symbols of Canaanite worship. They would serve no other purpose than to tempt them into idolatry and become a snare to them. God then tells them why there were not to worship any other god. It is because the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Of course, this is not the sin of jealousy that humans are prone to. This is not jealousy that comes from being envious of something someone else has that you want. God’s jealousy is the defense of His honor and glory. If God was not jealous of His own honor and glory it would mean our worship of idols and other gods wouldn’t matter to Him. And this would be contrary to His nature. God is adding to His self-revelation to Moses, in that “Jealous” is another component of the Lord’s name and character. The covenant between the Lord and the Israelites was akin to a marriage contract. When they commit spiritual adultery with other gods, the Lord’s righteous jealousy is brought to bear. He is jealous of being deprived of what He deserves as their covenant King. Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.” Matthew Henry states, “Those cannot worship God aright, who do not worship him only.” God is the only one who deserves our praise, honor, glory and worship.

Next, the Lord fleshes out some specifics of what would happen if they didn’t obey the Lord, made treaties with the Canaanites and didn’t break, smash and cut down the symbols of their false gods. It would be a case of “one thing leads to another” or “a slippery slope” to sin. Making a covenant with the Canaanites meant that they would be welcomed and would be protected within the land. By welcoming them and not destroying them the Israelites would be condoning their continuing harlotry or prostitution with their gods. And sooner or later being in that close proximity to the Canaanites and their false worship would lead to a strong temptation to commit spiritual adultery or worse, the sin itself. Covenant brothers would become brothers in worship. It would start with the Canaanites inviting the Israelites to eat of their sacrifices dedicated to their false gods. It seems like no big deal, eating a meal with someone, but when that meal is dedicated to false gods it drags you into their false worship. One of the sacrifices the Israelites were to make was the fellowship offering which symbolized peace, communion and fellowship with Yahweh. You can see what it may have meant for an Israelite to partake of a Canaanite sacrifice.

The next temptation to spiritual adultery on the slippery slope would come when the Israelites would choose Canaanite women to be wives of their sons. Why does God single out their daughters? In those times, when the son got married, he and his wife would become part of his family, living with them in the Israelite community. If an Israelite daughter got married to a Canaanite son, they would go and live with his family. There would not be the same influence on the family and community as when the Canaanite daughter came to live with the Israelite son. The wives would play the harlot or prostitute themselves to their false gods and with the wives wielding influence over their husbands it would be a great temptation for them to resist. This is why God was so ruthless for His glory and for the spiritual fidelity of His people (Big Idea). The Israelites were forever falling into sin because they could not resist this temptation. King Solomon is a famous example of intermarrying with pagan women and consorting with foreign concubines and leaving the worship of Yahweh for their gods.

We see the following in 1 Kings 11. “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.”

At the end of our passage God again warns the people against making cast idols. He explicitly commands against doing what they have already done. By referring to the “cast” idols which is what the golden calf was, God reminded them that He may have forgiven them for what they had done, but He had not forgotten and warned them to be ruthless against it happening again. The same is true for us today. 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 says, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” We know from 1 Peter 5:8 that Satan is prowling around like a lion looking to devour us and if we are not ruthless and jealous for our relationship with Jesus, we will fall. So let us be people who take God’s warning against spiritual adultery seriously. Let us be people who are intolerable toward anything that challenges our exclusivity with Jesus. Let’s be people who are intolerant of anything that leads us away from God. Let’s be people who are as jealous and ruthless for our relationship with Jesus as He is for us. That brings us our last next step: Be as jealous and ruthless for my relationship with Jesus as He is for me.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers come to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, you are a great God, the one true and living God. You are all-powerful and have already conquered the world, sin and the grave. Help us to obey your commands, and to worship you in the proper way that you have taught and commanded us to do. Help us to be ruthless for your glory. Help us to always be shining our light before others. And help us to Be as jealous and ruthless for my relationship with Jesus as He is for me

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On a First Name Basis

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On a First Name Basis

Have you ever wanted to see someone really, really, bad? In Philip Ryken’s commentary, he talks about a time in April 2003 when he and his son went to see Michael Jordan play professional basketball for the very last time. He says, “All we wanted to see was Michael. And we were not the only ones. From the moment Jordan entered Philadelphia’s First Union Center, every eye strained to see him. Whether he was shooting or stretching or even just sitting on the bench, everyone was looking at Michael.” Have you ever wanted to see someone that bad? Maybe it was a professional athlete or an actor or a singer or musician or a political or TV personality. I remember a time when Judy and I were in Orlando, Florida with friends and I heard that the band Petra was going to be in Winter Haven which was about an hour’s drive. I really wanted to see them and get one of their earlier CDs signed. So, we drove to the church where they were to perform and we hung around for a while but because the concert was delayed, we never did get to see them. I asked the wife of the pastor of the church if she would get them to sign the CD and mail it to me and she did.

Well, according to Exodus, there was someone Moses desperately wanted to see. That “someone” was the God of Israel, in all his glory. Moses and the Israelites had yearned for the Lord’s Presence to dwell in their midst. They had yearned to know the Lord more and so Moses set up a tent of meeting outside the camp where he could talk with God and the people could seek the Lord. Last week, we saw that Moses asked to know God’s ways and wanted a fuller revelation of His majesty. He yearned for a deeper understanding and experience of God’s Presence and attributes. In response, God told Moses there were limits to what he could see. Because Moses was a sinful man, he could not endure the direct sight of God’s glory. But he could survive a passing glance at God’s goodness. So, God told him He would hide Moses in a cleft in the rock, where God would cover him with his hand. Then God would pass by in all his goodness, and at the last possible moment he would let Moses catch a fleeting glimpse of the backside of his glory. Moses would see what he so desperately wanted to see, something no man had ever seen before.

In our scripture today, Exodus 34:1-9, that promise to Moses from God will become a reality. The Lord will come down in the cloud and stand beside Moses and will reveal His glory to Him by passing by him and by proclaiming His Name. Moses thought the glory of God was all about what he would see but it also included what Moses would hear as well. And what God would reveal to Moses through seeing and hearing would transform His life. The Lord wants to reveal His glory and name to every single person in the world hoping that either they will respond by accepting His son, Jesus Christ, as their Savior or they will respond the way Moses did by falling on his face in worship and in prayer. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires to reveal His name to His people. The Lord God of the universe wants to be on a first name basis with you.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we want to glorify you this morning with our praise, honor and worship. Help us to give you the awe and holy fear that you deserve. We pray that you would open your Word to us so that we can fall deeper in love with you, so that we can better serve and obey you and so that we can spread your Gospel in all the places each of us work, play and live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our first point is Preparation found in Exodus 34:1-4. Follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.” So, Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

Today’s passage comes on the heels of where last week’s passage ended. The Lord promised Moses to show him His glory, and that promise would now be kept. But before Moses could go up Mt. Sinai to meet with the Lord for the eighth and final time, there were some preparations he needed to make. The Lord commanded Moses to chisel or cut out two stone tablets that were like the first ones and God would write the words on them that were on the first tablets that Moses had broken. “The words” are the Ten Words or Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai earlier. This was monumental for Moses and the Israelites as God will again give them the law that they desperately needed so that they could be His chosen people, His special possession and a kingdom of priests. But more than that God was reestablishing the covenant that they had broken by committing idolatry with the golden calf. This was not a new covenant but a renewal of the prior covenant. The relationship between God and the Israelites had been restored but these new tablets would be a reminder of their sin. In fact, the broken set of stone tablets were to go into the Ark of the Covenant alongside the second set which would be a reminder for all generations. God was gracious towards His people, but He still wanted them to obey His law and keep His commands and to be holy as He is holy.

We need the law, God’s Word, as well. As Christians, knowing and obeying God’s Words in the Bible are not optional. It is essential if we are going to live the kind of lives God demands of His people. Why do we need to know and obey God’s Word? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Warren Wiersbe commenting on this passage says, “the Bible shows us what is right, what is wrong, how to get right, and how to stay right. We need God’s law so that we will live faithfully before him.”

Second, God commanded Moses to be ready in the morning to come up on Mount Sinai. In the NASB, the word “morning” is mentioned twice, probably to emphasize to Moses and the people that this renewal of the covenant was taking place at the same time, “in the morning” and on “the next day”, as both the original covenant and the worship of the golden calf. This would have been another reminder of the people’s sin and God’s gracious forgiveness. Also, in the Torah, there are many examples of God doing something amazing the “next day” and here the renewal of the covenant would be the amazing thing He would do. “To present himself” meant Moses was to meet God in the same place he had met with Him before and to come as one under the authority of the king.

Also, the prohibition, of no one coming up the mountain, that God set in place when Moses went up the first time, is still in effect. No one, not even Joshua, was to go up with Moses this time and no one is to be seen anywhere on the mountain. Also, their flocks and herds were not to graze in front of the mountain. This was probably to keep their animals from getting up the mountain and the Israelites trying to follow and bring them back. It is not explicit but because of the repetition of these instructions, it is implied that the penalty of death would again be in effect. Moses was the mediator the Israelites needed. The people because of their sin could not approach a just and holy God. If they were to approach God without a mediator the penalty would be death. It is the same for us today as well. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.”

We, as sinful human beings, can’t approach just a holy God without a mediator and so Jesus is the mediator we need. God desires to reveal His Name to His people so they will realize that what they need is Jesus (Big Idea). And once that realization comes then a couple of decisions must be made. If we are not saved, will we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord or not? And if we are saved, will we walk in obedience to the Lord and live as His inheritance or not? These are very important questions we must answer as we live in these last days. I like how Merida puts it, “Either Jesus received your judgment at the cross or you will face God’s just judgment on your own.” Jesus is the mediator we all need. Lastly, in this portion of our scripture, we see Moses obeying the Lord’s command. He cut two stone tablets like the former ones, got up early in the morning, which showed his eagerness to meet with God, and went up Mt. Sinai taking the two stone tablets in hand.

That brings us to our second point, Proclamation, found in Exodus 34:5-9. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped. “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”

Moses had obeyed the Lord and was ready to meet with God on Mt. Sinai at the predetermined spot. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with Moses as he called upon the name of the Lord. God came down, personally and physically, and stood in Moses’ presence. It wasn’t just a feeling that Moses had but a “theophany”, a visible manifestation of the Lord. This is probably not the top of Mt. Sinai since we are told that the Lord descended but it is the same cloud that has been with the Israelites since they left Egypt. This is the cloud of God’s glory that met with Moses at the tent of meeting. It’s the pre-incarnate Christ that came to stand with Moses. Imagine how awesome and terrifying it would be to have the Almighty and Holy God standing next to you. But this is what Moses yearned and asked for and because God knew his name and Moses had found favor with Him, the stage is set for God’s proclamation of His glory and Name. The Lord fulfilled his promise to Moses visually as the Lord passed by in front of Him. And then, I believe, Moses got more than he bargained for as the promise was also fulfilled in his hearing. Moses not only saw the glory of God, but he heard the glory of God and what he heard was far more important than what he saw.

God’s self-revelation to Moses was His Name. This is his attributes, His character, His nature and His way that expresses all He is and does. The first thing we notice is the two-fold acknowledgement of who God is, “The Lord, the Lord” or literally, “Yahweh, Yahweh.” It is repeated so Moses knew it was really the Lord standing there. This is the same name, “I Am Who I Am” that the Lord revealed to Moses at the burning bush. It speaks to God’s eternal self-existence and sufficiency. And then we get a full slate of the perfect attributes of God that speaks to how He will deal with His people. We see six of his attributes of mercy as well as one attribute of His justice. The Lord starts by proclaiming his merciful attributes. First, He is compassionate. God is sympathetic to what His people go through. Psalms 103:13 says, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” Second, He is also gracious. This is God’s undeserved favor towards His people. If God would give us what we deserve we would all receive eternal damnation but instead He gives what we don’t deserve: the free gift of His grace and salvation. We can’t earn God’s favor, so we need God to be gracious if we have any hope of forgiveness and eternal life.

Third, He is “slow to anger” or longsuffering which means He is patient with His people. He will display a righteous anger when He punishes evil and sin but will give every chance for repentance first. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” And when His holy wrath is displayed it is righteous and deliberate not just a case of losing His temper. Fourth, He is abounding in love and faithfulness. The Hebrew word for love can be translated “loving-kindness” and speaks to the commitment the Lord has made to His people through His covenant with them. This is connected to faithfulness or “truthfulness.” His love and truth are seen in His loyal and steadfast love for His people. He always keeps everyone of His promises. His love and faithfulness is abounding meaning it is without measure and beyond degree.

This verse is probably one of the most important verses in all the Bible. It is quoted or referred to dozens of times. King David in Psalms 103:8, prayed, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” The prophet Joel in Joel 2:13 says, “Rend your heart  ​​ ​​ ​​​​ and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” And in Jonah 4:2 it says, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” Fifth, He maintains His love to thousands which seems to point back to the Ten Commandments where in Exodus 20:6 it says God promises His love to “a thousand generations” of those who love Him. God maintains, protects and preserves His love from generation to generation. In Psalms 136 it repeats 26 times that “His love endures forever.”

Sixth, He forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin. The Hebrew word for forgiveness means “to lift or carry.” The picture is of God carrying away our sins and lifting the burden of our guilt off our shoulders. Psalms 103:12 says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” To show the scope of His forgiveness God mentions three things, signifying His willingness to forgive and carry away all of our sin. “Wickedness” is iniquity which means to turn away from doing righteousness and goodness. “Rebellion” is committing even more defiant acts against the Lord. Mackay says, it is a “willful violation of the terms of the covenant, involving not merely disobeying a rule or regulation, but betraying the relationship one has with the covenant King.” This is tantamount to treason against God. And “Sin” is the common name for any wrongdoing on our part.

Then we see one attribute of His justice proclaimed here. This defines how the Lord will deal with those who defy Him. He will not sweep unconfessed sin under the rug. First, He does not leave the guilty unpunished and in fact He punishes the children and their children to the third and fourth generations. Again, we are pointed back to the Ten Commandments where in Exodus 20:5 it says God punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him. We can understand this in a couple of ways. First, when we as parents persist in our sin without repentance, we pass that on to our children and if our children do not stop the cycle of sin and unrepentance it gets passed down to the third and fourth generations. Second, in biblical times it wasn’t uncommon for Jewish families to consist of three or four generations who were living together under one roof. This is why we are held accountable for our sin not only as individuals but as parents and influencers of our children and youth.

This was the God that Moses and the Israelites needed. They needed a God who was merciful and just. It was the only way God could move forward with His covenant people. He needed them to understand who He is and how He is. Now that they knew His Name they needed to act accordingly. God knew Moses by name and now Moses was on a first name basis with God as He had now fully revealed Himself to Moses and subsequently to the Israelites (Big Idea). This is the God we need as well. Stuart Chase comments, “God’s love, grace, and mercy only become meaningful when we realize we don’t deserve them, but that he freely lavishes these things undeservingly on us.” And C.S. Lewis said: “Mercy, detached from justice, grows unmerciful. That is the important paradox. As there are plants which will flourish only in mountain soil, so it appears that mercy will flower only when it grows in the crannies of the rock of justice.” The truth of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is the very definition of God. He is compassionate, gracious, patient, loving, faithful to us and just with us.

Once the Lord showed His glory and proclaimed His Name in the hearing of Moses, we see how Moses responded. He did two things: He “at once” or hurried to bow to the ground and he hurried to worship. He did the only rational thing he could do in the face of an Almighty and Holy God, a God of compassion and mercy and a God of justice. It says he hurried to do those things. We are not told here that God’s hand covered Moses and that may have been because He didn’t need to. In the face of God’s Presence, Moses hid his face and then he worshiped. This was the only possible response he could have. And this is the same response we need to have when we come face-to-face with the glory of God. God desires to reveal His Name to us so that we will worship Him and we need to worship the Lord whenever and wherever He reveals Himself to us. We need spiritual ears to hear and eyes to see God’s glory and His Name being proclaimed to us. I believe God is giving us glimpses and sounds of His glory all the time, even every day, we just need to be as spiritually tuned in as Moses was. Guzik states, “When we don’t have a compelling drive to worship God, it’s clear evidence we don’t really appreciate who He is.” Let’s be people who are on the lookout to see God’s glory in our lives and to worship Him.

Then Moses did something he had been doing ever since the people committed idolatry with the golden calf. He interceded again for the Israelites. Moses asked if he had found favor in the Lord’s sight would He please go along in their midst. Sound familiar? Moses again did not make excuses for what the people had done but admitted they were obstinate or stiff-necked. But now, Moses does something he hasn’t done so far and that was to include himself in the confession of their wrongdoing and sin. Notice “our” wrongdoing and “our” sin. He had identified himself with the people when it came to forgiving them or not, but this is the first time he identified himself with their sin. Lastly, he prayed that the Lord would forgive or “pardon” their wickedness and sin and take them as His own inheritance. Now that Moses knows that the Lord’s nature is to be compassionate and gracious he asked the Lord to give to His people and to Moses what he had in unlimited abundance. Israel was chosen by the Lord to be His special and treasured possession or inheritance. He didn't choose them for anything in themselves, or that they could offer Him but based on the faithfulness of Abraham and for His special purpose of bringing the Messiah into the world.

What was the difference between this intercession and all the others? This intercession came on the heels of the covenant being renewed and of God’s glory, name and gracious promises being revealed to Moses. After hearing the attributes of mercy and justice that showed God’s heart for his people and what He expected of them, a new intercession was needed to include that revelation. God desires to reveal His Name to us so that we can intercede for others based on His gracious promises and glorious name. So, how can we apply this passage to our lives? In conclusion, I have several next steps. First, when God reveals His name to us it should cause us to realize that we need Jesus, and we need Him as our Savior if we haven’t yet made that decision. This is the Gospel: Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. We are dead in our sins and deserve eternal separation from God. But Romans 5:8 says that God showed His love for us that while we were sinners Christ died for us. And Romans 10:9 says that anyone who declares with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they will be saved. And that is our first next step: Realize that I need Jesus and accept Him as my Savior and Lord.

Second, if we are already saved, when God reveals His name to us it should cause us to walk in obedience to Him and to live as His inheritance. Especially in light of His promises to be a graciously compassionate, faithfully loving, and patiently forgiving God. That brings us to our second next step: Realize that I need Jesus and walk in obedience to Him and live as His inheritance. Third, when God desires to reveal His Name to us it should cause us to fall down and worship Him whenever and wherever we are. This doesn’t always mean physically getting on your face before the Lord, but it could. But it does mean having a heart that is bowed before the Lord and when we are in that position, we must worship Him the way that He deserves. And that brings us to our third next step: Worship the Lord whenever and wherever He reveals Himself to me. Fourth, when God desires to reveal His Name to us it should cause us to intercede for others based on His gracious promises and glorious Name. We can better intercede when we know the promises of God that are found in His word and know and understand His perfect attributes of mercy and justice. That brings us to our last next step: Intercede for others based on God’s gracious promises and glorious Name.

As Gene and Roxey come to us in our final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: God of Heaven, in Jesus’ name, our perfect Savior and Mediator, we thank you for revealing your Name to us, this morning, in your Word. Help us to realize that we need Jesus and if someone here who has not accepted Him as their Savior and Lord, I pray that you would draw them to yourself. And, God, those who do know you help us to realize that we also need your Son so that we can walk in obedience and live as your inheritance. Help us to worship you, Lord, whenever and wherever you reveal yourself to us and help us to intercede for others based on Your gracious promises and glorious Name. Amen.

Opening: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 1038–1052.

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Spiritual Radar

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Spiritual Radar

Not​​ long-ago​​ great flocks of migratory birds overwhelmed airport radar systems at Des Moines, Iowa, Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri. The computerized radar systems were “knocked out” for hours after they tried to process information on thousands of transient geese. FAA radar systems are supposed to filter out the radar echoes that come from birds by tracking their speed, but often controllers will turn off primary radar (the one that reads echoes from objects in the sky) and rely upon transponder signals from aircraft. But on that fateful day the birds appeared so suddenly that FAA controllers had no time to act. The birds appeared in such vast numbers that the radar filtering system (which screens out echoes from birds) quickly failed. The Des Moines radar system can process seven hundred bona fide aircraft returns and three hundred non-aircraft returns simultaneously. But that day the system was overwhelmed with over nine hundred bird echoes within minutes.​​ Life is like that sometimes. The background noise of​​ this world​​ competes for our attention and overwhelms our ability to filter out the static. We lose sight of what’s​​ important​​ in life. Our spiritual radar gets overwhelmed, and we lose God in all the static. That’s when it’s time to turn off the television, turn off the radio, fold up the paper, close the magazines​​ and​​ put away​​ all the distractions. It is time simply to “be still”​​ in the presence of God. We see Moses in such a place in Exodus 33. When Moses requested to see God, God gave him just a glimpse of his “back.” Hiding in a crevice, Moses’ spiritual radar was tuned in, and all he could do was be still as God passed by.

Moses​​ has​​ not​​ been​​ overwhelmed with all that has been going on in these past couple of chapters. He’s​​ interceded for the Israelites as God’s chosen mediator asking God to relent from​​ the harm,​​ He​​ said He would do to them. He’s​​ interceded for them asking​​ God​​ to​​ forgive​​ their​​ sin​​ or​​ to​​ wipe Moses out of His book.​​ He has spoken face to face with the Lord,​​ just as a man speaks to His friend.​​ This morning,​​ we will be privy to one of those conversations as​​ Moses will again intercede​​ for the Israelites.​​ He​​ will ask for clarification of God’s presence with the people, ask to know God’s ways so he can know God​​ more​​ and find favor with Him, and will “strive” with God on the people’s behalf.​​ Moses will then​​ boldly​​ approach the Lord asking to see​​ His​​ glory​​ so he can get a deeper understanding and experience of​​ Him. Moses’ spiritual radar was​​ truly​​ tuned into​​ God. He had a hunger for God,​​ desperately wanting​​ to know God more​​ intimately,​​ and wanting to​​ fall deeper and deeper in love with​​ Him.​​ How is your spiritual radar? Is it on? Is it overwhelmed by the world’s noise?​​ Do you have a desire for God’s​​ real​​ presence in your life? Do you yearn to know God​​ and His ways? Do you hunger for God,​​ desperately wanting​​ to know​​ him​​ more​​ intimately​​ and​​ to​​ fall deeper and deeper in love with​​ Him?​​ These are questions we need to answer as we continue​​ to progress​​ on our​​ spiritual​​ journey.​​ That brings us to our big idea that​​ God desires His people​​ to​​ yearn for a deeper understanding and experience of​​ Himself.​​ After we pursue God’s presence and yearn to know Him more, the next step should be​​ to want​​ a deeper understanding and experience of the Lord.

Let’s pray:​​ Dear Heavenly Father, we​​ boldly​​ approach your throne this morning, humbly asking for your Holy Spirit to fill us as we look into your Word. Let your Word be a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our paths. Help us to put all other thoughts aside​​ in this moment and focus our hearts and minds on you. May all we think, say and do here be honoring and glorifying to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point is,​​ The Lord’s Presence, found in Exodus 33:12-17. Follow along as​​ I​​ read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these​​ people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

As we have studied chapter​​ 33,​​ we have seen how it​​ is set in between Exodus 32:34 and verse 35. It is​​ a more in-depth account of the Lord’s conversation with Moses that started in​​ verse​​ 34. In that verse God told Moses to go and lead the people to the Promised Land and an angel would go before them. The problem was because of their idolatry with the golden calf the tabernacle would not be built and so the Lord​​ could not dwell​​ in​​ their midst.​​ If​​ He​​ dwelled with them,​​ God’s​​ holiness would​​ destroy them.​​ The people​​ then​​ repented, stripped off their ornaments and​​ were​​ waiting for God to decide what to do with them.​​ As they waited,​​ Moses set up his tent as a tent of meeting outside the camp where God would meet with​​ him​​ and any of the people who chose​​ to seek​​ after​​ Him.​​ The​​ people continued to show their repentance by​​ giving​​ Moses the respect he deserved as God’s mediator and worshipping the Lord as he deserved.​​ Our passage this morning​​ continues​​ to be set in between Exodus 32:34 and verse 35​​ and this​​ will continue​​ until we come to Exodus 34:4.

Our passage continues the​​ conversation​​ as​​ the​​ Lord and Moses​​ are speaking​​ face to face as friends​​ in the tent of meeting.​​ Moses is still concerned about the Lord’s presence​​ being with them​​ even​​ though the Lord said He would send an angel before them who would drive out the Canaanite nations.​​ Moses​​ still​​ wanted clarification. We see the special relationship that Moses had with the Lord that​​ allowed him to​​ speak​​ freely​​ with Him. Moses was​​ God’s​​ mediator between the Lord and the people​​ and had​​ earned the right to humbly confront the Lord on these types of matters.​​ We may wonder why Moses keeps pressing the Lord on this. Didn’t​​ He​​ already​​ say twice that​​ an angel would go before them?​​ But​​ Moses doesn’t seem to be​​ satisfied with the Lord’s answer. The​​ pre-incarnate Christ in the pillar of fire and cloud​​ has been with them since they left Egypt and still seems to be the one who would go before them.​​ Moses knew the task would be impossible if the presence of the Lord was not with them.​​ So,​​ he​​ continues to plead with the Lord,​​ stating​​ that​​ the Lord had​​ said He​​ knew​​ Moses​​ by name and had found​​ favor with him.​​ Moses​​ was probably​​ referring to Exodus 3:4, when the Lord called Him by his name​​ at the burning bush​​ and commissioned him to go and tell Pharoah to let God’s people go. That God had found favor with Moses has​​ not been specifically mentioned in​​ scripture,​​ but​​ we have seen​​ many​​ times​​ that the​​ Lord​​ was pleased with​​ Moses,​​ and it was clear that​​ Moses was​​ favored as​​ God’s mediator.​​ 

Moses​​ continued to use that favored status​​ in​​ humility,​​ with​​ intensity​​ and​​ without ceasing. Moses asked​​ the Lord,​​ if​​ He​​ was truly pleased with him, to​​ teach​​ him His​​ ways.​​ Why would the Lord be pleased with Moses?​​ It was because Moses​​ had​​ conducted himself​​ well​​ so far in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt through the Red Sea and to Mt. Sinai.​​ What were God’s ways that Moses wanted to be taught?​​ His​​ ways​​ were​​ His​​ standards,​​ methods and benefits in dealing with the Israelites, according to his divine character and nature.​​ Moses was asking God to​​ show them what they needed to do for God to be with them on this journey and what He demanded of them as His people. And knowing God’s divine character and nature, His attributes,​​ would help Moses​​ on the journey.​​ To lead effectively Moses​​ needed to be in constant communication with​​ the Lord, as in the tent of meeting,​​ as opposed to God sending down orders from heaven. Moses​​ wanted to​​ serve​​ God and​​ His people more effectively so that​​ God​​ would​​ continue to find favor with​​ Moses.​​ Moses was boldly declaring that the proof that God knew Moses and had found favor in His sight​​ was for God’s personal presence to go with them.​​ ​​ Moses was not content just to seek God’s​​ presence but​​ truly yearned​​ for a deeper understanding and experience of​​ that​​ presence and​​ of God’s​​ attributes (Big Idea).

Moses​​ took his role as​​ God’s mediator​​ very seriously. He​​ interceded​​ for God​​ to​​ not​​ destroy the​​ people.​​ He asked​​ God to take them back as His people and if not to take his​​ own​​ life. Moses wanted​​ to be connected to the Israelites whether for good or bad. He truly loved the Lord’s people and was not afraid to fight and intercede for them before the Almighty, Sovereign and Holy God who created the universe. Moses then​​ again​​ reminds​​ the Lord​​ that the Israelites​​ are​​ His people. He​​ had​​ created them and called them out of all the nations of the world to be His treasured possession.​​ So, after Moses’ impassioned plea the Lord says His Presence will go with Moses and He will give Moses rest. Moses should be satisfied​​ now,​​ right? The Lord just confirmed that the pre-incarnate Jesus would go with Moses and the Lord would give Moses “rest” meaning the Promised Land. But Moses is not satisfied because the Lord​​ used singular pronouns and Moses caught​​ on to​​ it. The Lord​​ was​​ promising​​ to​​ only​​ go with Moses​​ and to​​ only​​ give him the rest of the Promised Land. The Lord is​​ again​​ testing Moses to​​ see if he would be a faithful mediator.​​ Moses could still take the Lord up on his offer to start over with​​ Moses​​ and make him into a great nation.​​ 

Moses​​ again​​ responds that if​​ God’s​​ Presence would not go with them, to just leave them where they are at. It would be better for them to stay at Mt. Sinai with the Lord’s Presence as it is now than to be in the Promised Land without​​ His​​ presence. Moses then shows that he has a passion for the glory of God. He​​ appealed to God’s glory by saying how would anyone know the Lord was pleased with him and His people unless His Presence was with them. Notice Moses​​ continues​​ to put “His people” before the Lord. He​​ is not giving up trying to get the Lord to forgive His people and renew His presence with them​​ in a special way.​​ He continues to tie his future to that of the Israelites for better or​​ for​​ worse.​​ Again, Moses​​ was​​ a faithful mediator fulfilling his role to the utmost.​​ How would this favoring of Moses and the people show God’s glory? It was the same argument Moses made against destroying the people. What would the nations say about God if his Presence was not with them?​​ Moses was appealing to the glory of God’s name. If God’s Presence were not​​ with​​ them,​​ it would malign His character and nature and would bring shame and disgrace to the name of the Lord. If God’s Presence​​ would​​ not go with them, they would be just like all the pagan peoples in Canaan​​ and the world. There would be nothing special about​​ them,​​ and this would diminish God glory among the nations.​​ 

This​​ really​​ brings us to the crux of the matter. The Presence of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Christ, had been with them and would continue to be with them.​​ But​​ this was not​​ Moses’ main​​ concern. What Moses​​ was​​ concerned about​​ and​​ why he continued to passionately plead with the Lord was because​​ he wanted​​ the Lord to agree to “dwell among His people.” ​​ God had​​ still not decided whether He would​​ dwell among His people or not. This would be the distinguishing factor between the Israelites and all other people on the face of the earth. This was the only way that the Israelites would continue to be the Lord’s special possession and allow them to become​​ kingdom of priests to the world. In​​ verse 17, we get the Lord’s answer. The Lord says he will do the very thing Moses has asked.​​ He will answer Moses’ prayer in the exact way he asked. The tabernacle would be built, the people​​ would​​ be able to make sacrifices for their sins and have them forgiven,​​ and the Lord would dwell in their midst. But we get a sense the reason for this is​​ not​​ based on​​ anything the​​ Israelites have​​ done.​​ The Lord will dwell with His people​​ because​​ of​​ His​​ goodness​​ and​​ because​​ He loves Moses, knows him by name​​ and​​ is pleased with​​ him.​​ 

The Lord​​ is pleased with​​ His favored and faithful​​ mediator​​ because he​​ has​​ a passion for​​ God’s glory. Moses knew​​ that if the Lord dwelled among His people, it would bring glory to God’s name.​​ Moses was also a fruitful mediator​​ because through God “knowing” Moses,​​ he​​ was the salvation of the Israelites. He fulfilled God’s plan for himself and for God’s people by being obedient and that obedience brought forth​​ the​​ fruit​​ of their salvation. Of course, Moses as a favored, faithful and fruitful mediator is ultimately a picture of Jesus as our​​ perfect​​ mediator.​​ Jesus is God’s favored mediator because he is His one and only son. He is God’s faithful mediator because​​ He interceded for the disciples and​​ intercedes​​ for​​ all believers ultimately for the glory of God.​​ And​​ He is God’s​​ fruitful mediator because He willingly went to the cross and the Father “knowing” Jesus in a unique way brought eternal salvation to all of God’s people.​​ John 17:4 says, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.”​​ 

We are saved today because God is pleased with our mediator, Jesus Christ. This is the true basis for our salvation​​ and​​ not anything we have done. Our salvation depends​​ on the love and favor God has for His son.​​ Matthew 3:17 says, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”​​ God expressed his pleasure with His son as our perfect​​ mediator​​ at His​​ baptism​​ and​​ He​​ confirmed it​​ by raising Jesus from​​ the​​ dead. How could God ever be pleased with us as sinful human beings? It is because of His son, Jesus, who willingly died on the cross for our sins and rose again. If we want God to be pleased with us and​​ appropriate​​ His free salvation, we must accept Jesus as our​​ perfect mediator and​​ Savior.​​ That brings us to our first next step which is to​​ Accept Jesus as my perfect​​ mediator, Lord and​​ Savior, and be​​ saved.​​ 

We now come to our second point,​​ The Lord’s Glory, found in Exodus 33:18-23. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.​​ But” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my​​ hand,​​ and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Moses is not done petitioning the Lord for more of His presence and to know Him more. Moses knew that if the Lord would tabernacle among His people, it would bring glory to His name. Now Moses​​ is requesting​​ to see God’s glory. This would be​​ taking their relationship to a whole different level.​​ It would be the closest anyone had come to​​ walking and talking with God as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.​​ Moses is bolding asking for​​ a deeper understanding and experience of God’s presence and attributes (Big Idea). We may ask why Moses​​ wanted​​ to be shown God’s glory?​​ First,​​ he was concerned for God’s help. Being shown God’s glory would be a sign to Moses that the Lord’s Presence​​ had​​ truly​​ been promised to him and the people.​​ Seeing the glory of God​​ would give him comfort and help him persevere in times of difficulty along the journey to the Promised Land.​​ Two, he was concerned for God’s honor.​​ We saw​​ this in verse 16 as Moses wanted​​ the​​ glory​​ of God's presence to be with him and Israel so that the​​ nations​​ would know that Yahweh was their God and He would be honored​​ and glorified.​​ One of the​​ reasons​​ we should want to know more of God and His glory is for His honor in the world​​ today.​​ Third, he was concerned for God Himself.​​ Moses simply wanted to know God because God is God. He wanted to better understand and experience God simply for who He is.​​ This brings us to our​​ second​​ next step which is to​​ Pray​​ for God to​​ reveal​​ His​​ glory​​ to me for my benefit and the benefit of those,​​ I come in contact with,​​ who need to​​ know​​ Him.

In verse 19 we see God’s​​ answer.​​ He​​ will display His sovereign grace by causing His “goodness” to pass in front of Moses and He will proclaim His name, Yahweh, in​​ his​​ presence.​​ What is God’s “goodness?”​​ It speaks of the loveliness, splendor and beauty of God.​​ What Moses will experience​​ as the Lord passes by is the merciful, gracious,​​ and​​ compassionate Creator in a way that he could endure.​​ God would also proclaim His name in Moses’ presence. This would reveal God’s character and nature to him.​​ Moses​​ would know​​ what God​​ is​​ like​​ and​​ what God expected His people to be like.​​ He​​ would be certain, reassured and encouraged that the Lord​​ would​​ dwell with them in their midst​​ as He promised.​​ The Lord​​ also​​ displayed His sovereign choice by letting Moses know that He would have mercy on whom He will have​​ mercy,​​ and​​ He would have compassion on whom He would have compassion. The point the Lord was making was​​ that His goodness​​ passed​​ by and the proclaiming of His name​​ was at his own initiative and under His sovereign control.​​ His judgments were righteous, and His ways are perfect. He was being gracious to Moses because​​ he​​ had​​ found​​ favor​​ in​​ God’s​​ eyes.​​ 

Next, we see God’s​​ saving grace.​​ God would not reveal​​ His face to him because no one could see His face and live. Not even​​ Moses whom the Lord spoke to face to face and as a friend would be able to withstand seeing the Lord’s face. Moses​​ was​​ still a sinful human being and as such if he​​ encountered​​ the pure and perfect holiness of God, he would be killed.​​ But because God knew Moses’ name and​​ he​​ had found favor with Him, the Lord​​ would make​​ it possible for Moses to see as much of His glory as possible and live.​​ Moses had already encountered the glory of God, to a point, at the burning bush, the plagues in Egypt and the miracles at the Red Sea and in the wilderness. He saw God’s glory in the pillar of cloud and fire, with the​​ seventy elders on the mountain, on the mountain for forty days with God and in the tent of meeting​​ speaking face to face​​ with​​ the Lord.​​ Moses was spiritually​​ aware,​​ and he knew there was more to know about the​​ Lord,​​ and he wanted to experience​​ a full revelation of​​ Him.​​ Moses had​​ gotten​​ a taste of the glory of God and​​ now yearned for​​ a more intimate relationship with Him. This would be​​ more of an experience of God’s glory than he had ever had, and it would give him the confidence he needed to continue to guide the people to the Promised​​ Land​​ knowing that the Lord would be dwelling among them.​​ 

How would​​ God​​ enable​​ Moses to see​​ His​​ glory and live.​​ There was a place near Him, meaning​​ on​​ Mt. Sinai,​​ where Moses could stand on​​ “the”​​ rock. When His glory would pass by​​ God would​​ put Moses in a cleft in the rock and cover him with His hand.​​ This is important because it is up to us to stand upon the​​ Rock​​ who is Christ,​​ but it is God who places us in​​ Him.​​ After passing by God would​​ remove His hand and Moses would​​ be able to see​​ His​​ back.​​ We don’t know exactly what Moses saw. It is possible that what​​ he​​ saw was the glory of Christ as He would come afterwards in human flesh, revealing the Father to us.​​ But whatever Moses saw God was faithful, gracious and merciful to give​​ Him​​ what he asked for and it would​​ transform him.​​ Lastly,​​ God​​ reiterates that His face must not be seen.​​ It would be important for Moses not to try to see more than what God would allow. We will see this​​ actual event taking​​ place​​ in​​ Exodus 34:5.​​ 

What God​​ is​​ going to do​​ for​​ Moses​​ will​​ show​​ His​​ grace and mercy and the​​ reality of the Gospel.​​ God would provide​​ how​​ Moses would be safe in​​ the cleft of the rock. He​​ would be​​ concealed and​​ protected by God from God.​​ He​​ would have a fuller revelation of God than he ever had and at the same time survive the encounter.​​ Of course this is a picture of Christ.​​ He is the Rock​​ of our salvation, our strength and​​ our​​ refuge.​​ If God were to deal with us as we deserve, we would not last a second but be destroyed immediately. But God made a way that we could be in His presence even as sinful people and not suffer His wrath. That way was through the death​​ of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the​​ dead. We are safe in Christ as He mediates for us before the Father.​​ We are saved by Christ as God hides us in the​​ cleft of the rock.​​ 

John and Betty Stamm​​ were​​ a missionary couple to China who were arrested and martyred within months of arriving on the​​ mission​​ field. When the authorities arrested them and wrote to their mission agency demanding ransom, John sent this letter:​​ Dear Brethren,​​ my​​ wife, baby, and myself are today in the hands of the Communists, in the city of Tsingteh.​​ Things happened so quickly this​​ morning.​​ We​​ were in the city just a few hours after the ever-present rumors really became alarming, so that we could not prepare to leave in time. We were just too late.​​ Their demand is twenty thousand dollars for our release. All our possessions and stores are in their hands, but we praise God for peace in our hearts and a meal tonight. God grant you wisdom in what you do, and us fortitude, courage, and peace of heart. He is​​ an​​ able and wonderful Friend in such a time.​​ The Lord​​ blesses​​ and guide you, and as for us, may God be glorified whether by life or by death.​​ Signed​​ John Stamm.​​ This man had been robbed by murderous thugs and imprisoned with his wife and baby daughter. But his concern was not for life or death, but only for the glory of God.

Do we desire to bring glory to God with our lives? Do we long for some personal, direct knowledge and experience of God? Do we desire to see more and more of the glory of​​ God,​​ or will we say we seen enough? Let us be people who desire to bring glory to God. Let us be people who desire to see the glory of God and then continue to seek more and more of His glory as we come to know Him better. Let us be people who​​ yearn for a deeper understanding and experience of God’s Presence and attributes.​​ (Big Idea).​​ That brings us to our last next step which is to​​ Yearn for a deeper understanding and experience of God’s Presence and attributes.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and​​ the​​ ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name. Thank you for this privileged opportunity to be in your house and in Your Presence in fellowship and worship with our brothers and sisters. Lord, if there are those here or online that do not know you as their Lord and Savior, I pray that you would draw them to yourself and that they would accept Jesus as​​ their​​ perfect mediator​​ and Savior​​ and be saved.​​ We pray that You would​​ reveal​​ your​​ glory to​​ us​​ for​​ our​​ benefits​​ and the benefits​​ of those,​​ we​​ come in contact​​ this week, who need to know​​ You.​​ Help us to​​ yearn for a deeper understanding and experience of​​ Your Presence and attributes.​​ Amen.

Opening: Glen S. Martin, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, ed. Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary (B&H Publishing Group, 2002), 140.

Closing: Doug Van Meter,​​ https://brackenhurstbaptist.co.za/a-weighty-knowledge/

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Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise

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Healthy, Wealthy & Wise

In his novel The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien tells how Bilbo Baggins and a dozen dwarves traveled to the Lonely Mountain, defeated a terrible dragon, and returned home with golden treasures. Their companion for the first part of their journey was Gandalf the Grey, a man of unusual wisdom and extraordinary power. Gandalf served as their guardian and guide, and sometimes their savior. But Gandalf could not always be with them. Midway through their journey, as the traveling party prepared to enter the forest of Mirkwood, they unexpectedly learned that Gandalf would not be going with them. This unhappy news was greeted with instant dismay: “The dwarves groaned and looked most distressed, and Bilbo wept. They had begun to think Gandalf was going to come all the way and would always be there to help them out of difficulties.... They begged him not to leave them. They offered him dragon-gold and silver and jewels, but he would not change his mind.” When traveling through dangerous and unfamiliar territory, it is good to have a guide, and it’s devastating to lose one.

This morning in our passage, Exodus 33:1-6, we are going to see another group of travelers whose Savior has been with them on their journey. He has saved them, guided them and guarded them. They will also learn unexpectedly that their Savior will not be going with them in the special way that had been planned. They are also distressed, crying out and mourning the loss of His presence even though they still have their treasures. As we study our scripture this morning, we will see our group of travelers strip off the symbols of separation from their Savior in repentance, in the hope that His presence will be restored. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people to yearn for His presence over His provision.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we pause and thank you for another opportunity to be in your house to worship and praise you with other like-minded people. Pour out your Holy Spirit on each of us, opening our hearts and minds to your Word, so we can be transformed by applying it to our lives. Help us to pass it on to others that need to know about you this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point, this morning is, the Declaration, found in Exodus 33:1-3. Follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

Last week we learned that the Levites killed three thousand Israelites, ringleaders of the worship of the golden calf and others who would not give up their idolatry. Because of their obedience, the Levites were “set apart” for the service of God. Then Moses went up to God hoping to make atonement for the people’s great sin. He asked God to forgive their sin and if he wouldn't cut himself off, meaning death for Moses or being cut off as one of God’s chosen people. God refuses Moses’ offer but tells him he can go ahead and continue leading the Israelites to the land he promised on oath. God will send an angel to go before them and will punish the people on His own timetable. And the last thing we read was that the Lord struck the people with a plague as a direct consequence for what the people did with the calf that Aaron made.

As we come to today’s scripture, most scholars believe that verses 1-6 are a more in-depth account of the Lord’s conversation with Moses that happens in the beginning of Exodus 32:34. It is not unusual in the Bible for the author to give a broad overview of what is happening and then go back and give more specifics of the same event. With that in mind, Exodus 32:34 says, “Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you.” When we studied this passage last week, we observed that God will still be true to His covenant and an angel will still go before them, but at the moment it is unsure whether the angel will be His personal Presence or not.

Notice that we begin with a familiar phrase, “Then the Lord said to Moses,” which signals the reader to pay attention because God is going to be making an important declaration or announcement. He reiterates his promises made in the Abrahamic covenant. We can learn a number of things from verses 1-3a. The first thing we can learn is that Moses and the Israelites who were brought up out of Egypt are to leave Mt. Sinai and go up to the land the Lord promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the promise of property that the Lord is to give them in Canaan. It seems that even though the Israelites have broken their covenant with the Lord by making and worshipping the golden calf, He will still keep His covenant that He made with the Patriarchs to give their descendants the Promised Land.

Second, we learn that the Lord will send an angel before them to drive out the present inhabitants of the Promised Land. The peoples mentioned are the sinful nations that God will wipe out of the Promised Land. He will use His chosen people the Israelites to conquer them and take over their land as their own inheritance. This is the promise of protection and power that will be displayed on their behalf. The angel will protect the people from hostile peoples along the way and then will powerfully drive the evil peoples from the land. Third, we learn that the Lord will prosper His people in the Promised Land. The Promised Land has been described a number of times as a “land flowing with milk and honey” implying richness and fertility. This was a repeated promise to prosper His people physically. There would be abundant pastureland and all sorts of fruit trees, herbs and flowers. But it was also a promise to prosper them spiritually. It was to be the land of those who followed God and His Words and the people through whom the “Word,” Jesus, would come from.  ​​​​ 

We can imagine that up to this point the people would be feeling pretty good about their situation. They had broken their covenant with Lord but the covenant God made with the Patriarchs was still in effect for them. This is good news, right? God is prospering them, making them healthy, wealthy and wise just as he promised and they really haven’t owned, confessed, or repented of their sin yet. This sounds good so far until we come to the end of verse 3 and God adds a challenge that will test the people to see where their loyalties really lie. He lets them know that His personal presence will not go with them. They will continue the journey to the Promised Land without Him. There are a number of things happening here that we need to understand to know what this means for the Israelites.

First, Moses and the Israelites should have noticed the signs that God was drawing farther away from them. The fact that a couple of times since the golden calf incident, God has called the Israelites, “Moses’ people” and not “His people” should have been a sign. The fact that God said Moses “brought the people up out of Egypt” instead of crediting himself with that mighty deed should have been another sign. The fact that the guiding presence with them has been “My angel” and now it will be “an angel” should have been a sign. The pre-incarnate Christ has been guiding and protecting them in the pillar of cloud and fire, but now a lesser heavenly being, will go before them and drive out the Canaanite nations from the land. All these signs were pointing to the fact that the Lord was distancing himself from the Israelites because of their great sin.

Second, what did it really mean that the Lord would not go with them? He is still sending an angel ahead of them to protect them and to powerfully wipe out the Canaanite nations. His covenant promises are still in effect. But we need to remember what God was showing Moses on the mountain before the golden calf incident. God was giving Moses the plans to build His house, the tabernacle, so that the Presence of the Lord could dwell “in the midst” of his people as they traveled to the Promised Land. The fact that God has just commanded Moses and the people to “leave this place” meaning Mt. Sinai and to “go up to the Promised Land” means the tabernacle is not going to be built and that he will not be dwelling “in their midst.” The construction project has been put on an indefinite hold.

Can you see the implications of this? One, they were to leave Mt. Sinai, where God’s presence has been with them, to travel without His presence. Once the tabernacle had been built, His presence would meet them in the tabernacle, and when it was time to leave Mt. Sinai, the Lord would travel with them. Two, if there is no tabernacle, there are no sacrifices and if there are no sacrifices there is no forgiveness of sins. Ryken states, “And without the tabernacle, there would be no altar for sacrifice, no laver for cleansing, no lampstand for light, no table for bread, no incense for prayer, no ark for atonement, and no glory in Israel.” The entire plan of salvation in the OT that was to lead Christ into the NT is dead in the water at the moment.

Third, we see the grace of God in not going with His people. Once the law was given and they were brought face to face with the reality of their sin and its consequences, they knew that the holiness of God was serious business, and that the Lord would expect them to be obedient and faithful to the covenant. Now that they had broken the covenant, he could not go with them because His holiness would demand that He destroy them if they sinned along the way. And because they were stiff-necked people, prone to sin, their destruction would be a foregone conclusion. God loved them and did not want to destroy them so in his grace and mercy and for their safety he withdrew his presence. This distance between God and the Israelites was for their benefit. But this was a problem because you can’t know God and it’s hard to have a personal relationship with Him if you are distant from Him. The greatest priority for any child of God is to walk with God at all times so that he or she does not grieve the Holy Spirit. Paul in Ephesians 4 says to “put off” your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; and to “put on” the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. If we are continually putting on the new self we will not grieve the Holy Spirit and are able to stay close to the Lord. We also see the grace of God in that by sending “an angel” in His place, His people would have another chance to have a future as His chosen people.

It is ironic that the very reason they wanted an idol built was because they craved a direct and obvious divine presence and wanted a God who would be right there in their midst. But because of their idolatry and breaking the covenant, his presence could not dwell in their midst and would have to be limited in the future. Our sin and idolatry always take us farther from the presence of God and our relationship with Him. When this happens, our tables are empty and not full. Fourth, we come to the test. The test was how would the people react to this news? Remember, they were still going to receive His protection and power and would still possess the Promised Land. They would just do it without the presence of the Lord with them. This kind of reminds us of the prosperity gospel where you are offered health and wealth and the presence of God is an afterthought. We are tempted by the world every day to choose peace, happiness, contentment, a better life now, and monetary benefits to the exclusion of a genuine relationship and the presence of the Lord. We are more concerned about the gifts than the giver. But isn’t this what a lot of people want? They want the blessings they can get from God, and they want to go to heaven but aren’t interested in having a personal relationship with Him. They believe it would cramp their style, or they may have to give up some friends, or they won’t be able to live the lifestyle they want, which could all be true.

We remember the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22 who came to Jesus with a question about how he could have eternal life. Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven and then said to follow him. The man went away sad, because he had great wealth. He would rather have held on to his wealth, his idol, instead of holding onto Jesus. How many of us do the same thing? Life is good. God has blessed me. We are healthy, wealthy and wise or at least that’s what we are hoping for, and things are good right now. We have food on the table, a roof over our heads, a job, and we believe when things get tough, then we will seek the Lord. Let us not be like the rich young ruler. Let us be people who realize that having the “milk and honey” of the Promised Land or having a good life and lots of possessions is of no value if you don’t truly know the one true and living God. Lloyd-Jones states, “To be given every other blessing is of no value if God is not with you.” That brings us to our first next step which is to Reject the idea of being healthy, wealthy and wise without having a genuine relationship with the Lord.

That brings us to our second point, Decision, found in Exodus 33:4-6. This is what God’s Word says, “When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn, and no one put on any ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.

Sometime after verse 3, Moses comes down the mountain and tells the people what the Lord had said. Notice the words in verse 5, “For the Lord had said to Moses” and the words in verse 4 “When the people heard these distressing words.” We will look at verse 5 first because it explains the people’s reaction in verse 4. Moses tells the Israelites exactly what the Lord had told him to say to them. One, they are stiff-necked people. This is the second time the Lord has called them that. “Stiff-necked” means “obstinate” and “stubborn” but it is more than that. It means they were obstinately and stubbornly resisting God. The Israelites would not submit to the yoke of God’s commandments and statutes. They behaved in an unacceptable and unreasonable manner; in spite of the consequences, they would face.”

Two, because they are stiff-necked people, the Lord knows that if he goes “in their midst” even for a moment, he might destroy them. This is not because God can’t control what he does but that their sinfulness would prompt his holiness to consume them. Habakkuk 1:13 says, “Your eyes are too pure to look at evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” God is holy and righteous, and his nature will not allow Him to abide sin much less have it in His presence. He would be forced to destroy them if he went with them in their midst. “Even for a moment” gives the sense of destruction coming suddenly as in a wink of the eye and emphasizes the fragile relationship that is between the Lord and the people because of their rebellion and idolatry.

Then the Lord tells them to do something. He commands them to take off their ornaments and he will decide what to do with them. What are these ornaments? These ornaments were part of the jewelry that they had plundered from the Egyptians as they left Egypt. These were the remaining pieces of gold that were not given to make the golden calf. These were the symbols of their idolatry and sin against the Lord. He is commanding them to take them off just like Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give to the poor. God wanted to know if the people were willing to give up their “ornaments” and to practically and passionately pursue His presence. Were they now willing to own their sin, confess their sin and repent of their sin.

When the Lord said, “I will decide what to do with you” or “so that I may know what to do with you”, He was testing the people. Just like the test God gave Moses when he told him to “leave me alone and my anger will burn against them,” the Lord wanted to know if they would be repentant and sorry for what they had done in breaking the covenant with him. If they were obedient to the Lord, it would possibly open up the door for their relationship to be close again and for them to be his people and for Him to be their God. We need to go back to verse four to see how the people responded to the Lord’s declaration. It says when they hear these distressing words, they begin to mourn, and no one put on their ornaments. These “distressing words” were that the Lord would not dwell in their midst as planned. They were disappointed, afraid, ashamed and rebuked. They are distressed because this is what they truly wanted. They wanted a personal God who would be close to them and their sin caused God to be farther away from them.

When they heard these distressing words, they did two things. First, they mourned. All of a sudden, they realize what they have lost because of their idolatry and sin. They realize that their greatest need was to know the one true God, Yahweh, and to be in a close relationship with Him. They showed genuine repentance inwardly, in their hearts and attitudes by mourning like they had lost a loved one. The word for “mourning” is the same word used when Jacob heard about the death of his son, Joseph. The second thing they did was to not put on any ornaments in obedience to the Lord’s command. They showed genuine repentance by their outward actions. In the ancient Near East, mourning involved not just a heart change, exhibited by a change in attitude, but it also involved an outward change that showed in their appearance. What one wore showed that they were in mourning. They would not wear fancy or cheerful clothing but made their appearance as plain as possible. This reminds us of wearing black at funerals today to show respect for the dead and that it is a solemn and somber time. ​​ 

Finally, we see in verse 6 that they went even further with their repentance. It says they stripped off their ornaments. If we looked at these verses in order, we may think there was a discrepancy. How could they strip off their ornaments in verse six if they didn’t put any on in verse four. What verse six is telling us is that the Israelites responded with eagerness to be repentant and not wear their ornaments in mourning the loss of the near presence of the Lord. This eagerness is indicated by doing more than what the Lord required. By “stripping off’ instead of just “taking off” they showed they were not worthy to enjoy the plunder that God gave them from Egypt. And they were sorry for using that gold to make the golden calf and committing idolatry. The last thing we notice is they stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb. “At Mount Horeb” is better translated as “from Mount Horeb.” ​​ This means that once they took off their ornaments in repentance, they did not put them back on again after leaving from there. This seems to have lasted until they arrived at the Promised Land. These actions taken in repentance proved that they were more concerned with having the Lord’s presence in their midst than His provision (Big Idea).

Hebrews 12:1 says to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” For the Israelites it was their ornaments that entangled them. They symbolized their love of the past in Egypt and their reliance on what they could see. But they repented and stripped them off. What are the ornaments we need to “strip off?” These are the things that we make idols in our lives and the things in our old nature that we try to remain connected to such as the love of money, sex, pornography, alcohol, friends who drag us back into sin, anger, and there are so much more. But whatever they are, the sins that hinder and entangle us must be removed and laid aside for God to do his work in our lives. There should be nothing that draws us back to the things of our old nature, instead we must be intentional about letting go of our ornaments and replacing them with a practical and passionate pursuit of God’s presence in our lives. This happens when we have given the Lord a permanent seat at our table and our relationship with Him is full. That brings us to our last next step which is to “Strip off” my ornaments and replace them with a practical and passionate pursuit of God’s presence.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, we give you honor, glory and praise for your Word. We thank you that we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from your mouth. Lord, help us to reject being healthy, wealthy and wise without having a genuine relationship with you. Help us to “strip off” our ornaments and replace them with a practical and passionate pursuit of your presence. Help us to yearn for your presence more than your provision, Amen.

Opening: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 1023–1027.

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InSINerating Our Idols

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InSINerating Our Idols

Philip Ryken tells this story: When I was a child, someone gave me a record album of Bible sounds. The album contained a series of audio riddles. As we listened, we would hear a sequence of sound effects, and then we would try to figure out which Bible story they told. For example, we would hear the sound of a crackling fire, followed by a rooster crowing three times, and then the sound of a man sobbing. That was an easy one: It was Peter’s denial of Christ. Most of the riddles were more difficult, but they opened up a whole new way of listening to the Bible. Consider some of the great sounds in Scripture. Think of the noise that Gideon and his soldiers made when they attacked the Midianites: blaring trumpets, smashing pots, and battle cries. Or think of the sound that David’s soldiers heard when they attacked the Philistines, the sound of God’s army marching in the treetops. Then there were the sounds that Elijah heard on God’s Mountain: wind, earthquake, fire, and the still small voice. There were all kinds of sounds in the Gospels too: animals blowing in the stable, water splashing into wine jars, wind storming on the lake, silver clinking in a bag, and bloody cries of anguish from the cross. But at the end of days, we will hear the happiest sounds ever: the trumpet of God, the last shout of victory, and the chorus of Heaven.

In our scripture this morning we hear one of the strangest sounds in the Bible. As Moses and Joshua were coming down off the mountain, they heard a strange sound coming from the camp. It was such a strange sound that at first Joshua thought it was one thing and Moses thought it was another. Moses was able to identify the sound, but he knew something was off. Their confusion indicated that there was something not quite right going on in the Israelite camp. And so, when Moses and Joshua finally get down to the foot of the mountain, the people are indulging in revelry. Now as I said before we aren’t totally sure what revelry refers to. It could have been partying without moral constraint or it could have been just an old-fashioned hoe-down kind of party. We can probably lean toward the former but whatever it was, we know that God was not happy as He wanted to destroy His people. And as we will see today, Moses is not happy, either, because they are not worshipping God but a golden calf. In today’s scripture, through the obedience of Moses, God will teach us how we should confront our idols or the idols around us and how we must own our sin, confess our sin, and repent of our sin. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people to destroy their idols and own their sin.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we pause and thank you for another opportunity to be in your house to worship and praise you with other like-minded people. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we hear your word and open our hearts and minds to what Your Spirit is saying to us. Let us take it deep into our hearts and souls and allow it to transform us. And then help us to pass it onto others that need to know about your salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We have two points this morning, the first is Anger, found in Exodus 32:15-20. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.” Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.” When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

Our scripture this morning shows us practical ways we must confront idolatry. The first way is with doctrine or scripture. We will notice some contrasts as we study our passage today. The first is Moses contrasted with the Israelites. Last week in verse 8 we saw that the people were “quick to turn away” from the Lord’s commands. Today, after Moses interceded for the people and God relented from destroying them, he “turned and went down the mountain.” After securing a reprieve for the people, Moses now obeys God’s command to “go down.” The people “turned away” in disobedience but Moses “turned” in obedience. We need to use scripture or doctrine to confront idolatry and we can do so with scripture in two ways. The first way is with the “sufficiency of scripture.” Moses is coming down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. These two tablets, that he received directly from the Lord, were inscribed on both sides, front and back. This means that the entire two tablets were fully written on so nothing could be added to them. God’s Word, the Bible, is still sufficient today and we are commanded not to add or subtract from it. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Our knowledge of God and how to live a godly life comes from His Word, and so we can use it to confront our idolatry, because it is sufficient to teach us how to live righteous and obedient lives.

The second way that scripture or doctrine confronts idolatry is through the “authority of scripture.” The two tablets were the work of God, the writing was the writing of God, and the writing was inscribed or engraved by God. This means that God himself was the author and the authority of what is written, which was the covenant law that the Israelites were to obey. God is still the author and the authority of the Bible, today. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Word of God comes right from the mouth of God. We can use it to confront our idolatry, because it has the authority to rebuke and correct us of our sin and teach and train us in the way we should go.

The second way we must confront our idols is with discernment. This goes for the idolatry in our lives, the idolatry in the lives of others and the idolatry in the church. We may have forgotten about Joshua. He accompanied Moses halfway up the mountain and stayed there for forty days and forty nights while Moses was on top of the mountain. We notice a contrast here between Joshua and the Israelites. After forty days and nights, the people build an idol because Moses has been gone “so long”, and they don’t know where he is or if he has abandoned them. And Joshua, after the same period of time, has been obediently waiting for Moses to return. He didn’t leave his post or try to follow Moses up the mountain; he just waited patiently for Moses to return.

Then we come to the scene I alluded to in the introduction. When Joshua hears the people “shouting” from the foot of the mountain, he believes there are the sounds of war in the camp. Now Joshua was a warrior, and you would think he would be able to recognize the sounds of war. But Moses, remember, has more information about what is happening than Joshua, and seems to contradict him. He says it is not the sound of victory or defeat but of “singing.” But they both knew that this singing sounded different. First, it was probably loud. When you get a lot of people at a party, it can get really loud. Second, they were worshipping an idol without moral constraint. So, it was probably raucous, indecent and obscene. Third, they were probably getting drunk and so there may have been some pushing, shoving and fighting going on. A party can get out of hand when you have huge numbers of people, loud noise, alcohol and loose morals. Singing in itself is not sinful but the “singing” sounds that Moses and Joshua heard were not the sounds of worshipping the one true God but the sounds of worshipping a dead idol.

So why is discernment important for us today? First, it can be hard to see something being or becoming an idol in our own lives, our family’s lives, our friends’ lives and in the life of our church. And we need to be discerning so we don’t worship creation but only the Creator. Idolatry can creep subtly in until it consumes us completely. Second, we need discerning friends, who like Moses, will keep us accountable. We need trusted Christian friends who we allow and who are willing to confront the idols in our lives and vice versa. We see this in 2 Samuel 12 as Nathan confronts David with his adultery with Bathsheba. David had allowed lust to become an idol and it wreaked havoc in his life. In verse 13, David owns his sin, confesses his sin and repents of his sin. We also see in James 5:16, in the context of praying for physical, emotional and spiritual healing, that we are to confess our sins to each other. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” We can be healed of our guilt and shame when we confess to others.

The third way we must confront idolatry is with disgust. When Moses saw the calf and the dancing, his “anger burned” and he was disgusted with what the people were doing. It was one thing to be told about their idolatry but clearly another thing for Moses to see it with his own two eyes. This is another reason to lean toward the people partying without moral constraint. In his disgust, Moses confronted the people’s idolatry in two ways. First, he was “indignant.” Indignation means expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting or base. Moses had a righteous anger and showed strong displeasure because what the people were doing was offensive and insulting to God. Remember, Moses was zealous for God’s glory, and what was happening was not glorifying God. We see a comparison here between the Lord and Moses. Last week, the Lord was angry with the people, and it says that literally “his nostrils flared.” And we see the same word attributed here to Moses. We also see a comparison with Jesus who with righteous anger cleansed the temple in Luke 19:46-47. “When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Next, Moses did something that may shock us. He threw the two tablets of the covenant law down, breaking them into pieces at the foot of the mountain. Moses was not out of control, he didn’t get so mad, that in his anger he threw the tablets down. This is not an “oops, I am sorry God.” This was a serious and symbolic action on Moses’ part. Cole says, “The breaking of the tablets [was] a significant ceremonial act, not a mere exhibition of anger.” What Moses was conveying to the people was that since they had broken their covenant with the Lord, the covenant the Lord had made with them was now broken, being rendered null and void. It was also significant and symbolic where Moses broke the two tablets. He broke them at the foot of the mountain at the place where the altar to the golden calf sat and where the altar to God should have been. The Israelites were covenant-breakers and that was a very precarious place to be. The Lord’s covenant relationship meant that they were His people, and He was their God. Within this relationship, the Lord promised to make them a great nation, to provide land, blessings, prosperity and protection. All that was required was their obedience.

Moses realized what breaking their covenant with the Lord meant. He knew that the Israelites were in major trouble, so he took four practical steps for the people to realize this, to confront and destroy their idols and own their sin (big idea). One, he took the golden calf the people had made and burned it in the fire. Second, he ground it into powder. Third, he scattered the powder into the Israelites drinking water supply. Fourth, he made the Israelites drink it. Moses showed his leadership here but more importantly he showed that he had a reverent “fear of the Lord” and did not fear man. We can imagine that at least some of the people would not have been happy with what Moses was doing. But he didn’t care. He was disgusted with what he saw and was convicted to do something about it. There is a clear lesson for us here. We must also have a reverent “fear of the Lord” and be zealous for God’s glory and honor. When we see blatant idolatry and sin in our lives, the lives of others and our church we must be disgusted and hopefully we are convicted by the Holy Spirit, follow Moses’ example, and do something about it.

Why did Moses take these particular steps to destroy the people’s idol? First, it would have tasted pretty bad, and he wanted them to know that idolatry was disgusting just like the water was. This would have been humiliating for them and so to drink the water the people would have had to humble themselves, own their sin, confess their sin and repent of their sin. In fact, it seems that the people who had been convicted of their idolatry and sin when confronted by Moses were the ones who drank the water. This would not have been a punishment for them, but a lesson learned. They needed to taste the consequences of their sin so that they would think twice about doing it again. Reminds me of parents saying, “I am going to wash your mouth out with soap.” After that happens once, we would hopefully be wary of committing the same sin again.

Second, Moses wanted the people to realize the folly of worshipping dead idols. If Moses could burn and ground up their god and make them drink their god, he obviously was not much of a god. They would consume it, and eventually it would come out as waste. It would be corrupted, defiled and ruined permanently, not being fit to be an idol. Their little god could not even survive a digestive system! Third, Moses wanted them to realize the cost of their idolatry. The cost of idolatry and sin can be expensive. The gold used to make the calf should have been ​​ given to construct the tabernacle and the items used for it. God had given it to them to be used for His service, and they had thrown it away like pearls to swine.

How does this apply to us today? When we fall into idolatry, we need to be disciplined so that we feel the consequences of our sin, are disgusted with it and will strive not to do it again. Hebrews 12 tells us that God disciplines those who are His children and He does it for our good so that we may share in His holiness. It will also produce righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. We need to realize that our puny idols today: security, meaning, ambition, sex, money, possessions, careers, sports, etc. are dead idols. They can’t satisfy us in any way, shape or form and they can be destroyed and inSINerated. Only God is the one true and living God. Any other things or person including ourselves, that we worship as an idol, fall desperately short.

Finally, the cost of our idolatry is expensive. It can cost us our families, our marriages and our children. It can cost us our reputation, our health, opportunities to serve the Lord and to lay up treasures in heaven. We need to experience God’s discipline so that we become disgusted with our idolatry, and through the Holy Spirit’s help resist future temptation. Like Moses, we must deal decisively with our sin and destroy our idols (big idea). Often, we as Christians, try to deal with our idols and sin by hiding them away in our closets or cupboards instead of taking them out with the trash and inSINerating them. We pretend our spiritual house is clean, but the next time we are tempted, we go right back to our pride, gossip, pornography, greed, alcohol, drugs, food, etc. The only way to not go back to dabbling with our idols is by destroying them. That brings us to our first next step which is to Stop dabbling with my idols and destroy them once and for all.

The second way Moses confronted the people’s idolatry was with impartiality. He did not play favorites. Moses showed no partiality with those who owned, confessed and repented of their sin by making them all drink the burned and ground up idol. Next, Moses showed no partiality to his brother, Aaron. That brings us to our second point, Absurdity, found in Exodus 32:21-24. This is what God’s Word says, “He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”  ​​​​ 

In our first point, we talked mainly about how to respond positively when confronted with our idolatry and sin. Now we are shown some negative responses. The lesson for us here is how not to respond when we are confronted with our idolatry and sin by the Lord or someone else. When Aaron was confronted by Moses, he responded in the negative. Even though Moses showed no partiality when confronting his brother, it does seem like he was trying to give Aaron the benefit of the doubt. He reasoned that the people must have twisted his arm pretty tightly behind his back to commit such a “great sin” with them. Aaron was the one in charge and so ultimately, he was responsible for the “great sin.” He was responsible for this serious breach of the covenant. We see how great a sin the Lord thought it was in Deuteronomy 9:20 which says, “And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.”

Instead of owning up to his sin, confessing his sin and repenting of his sin, Aaron’s response is defective, meaning it was inadequate, flawed and did not meet the standard set by God. Aaron responded in three negative and sinful ways. First, Aaron’s response was defensive and he blamed everyone else but himself. He even tries to make Moses look bad; like he’s the one out of control and needs to be calmed down. “Do not be angry, my lord” accuses Moses of being unrealistic, overreacting and needlessly upset. “My lord” may have been used in a truly submissive way or in a sarcastic manner. He then puts the blame on Moses. “You know how prone these people are to evil” meaning it was Moses’ fault for being gone so long in the first place. Aaron’s like, “What did you think was going to happen? You’re the one who put me in this position.”

Second, Aaron’s response was deflective. Again, he is blaming everyone but himself. Notice that he does tell the truth to a point. He even hints at being guilty but is still deflecting the majority of guilt from himself to others. He says the people are prone to evil. He said they told him to make a god that would go before them which they did. He said they spoke disrespectfully about Moses, which was true. He said that they said Moses brought them out of Egypt and that they didn’t know what had happened to him, which again was true. And he said that he did ask for the gold jewelry from the woman and children, which was true. Then Aaron puts the blame on “these people” who are evil. He believed he had done the best he could in the situation and culture, but he fell short. His motto was if you can’t beat them, join them, and he did. Aaron had no sense of the depravity of his sin and no conviction to repent. This should give us pause. Have we decided to “join” in with the culture around us as Aaron did? Do we also believe we are doing our best, but falling short, and that’s ok? At least we tried. We do not want to join in with our culture, but we can’t beat our culture unless we have the Holy Spirit’s power living inside of us. The only way we can confront the idolatry and sin of our culture is with the Holy Spirit’s help. We must use scripture as our sword, we must have discernment, we must hold each other accountable to holiness, we must be disgusted with the idolatry and sin of the world, and we must be willing to destroy all idols and own our sin (Big Idea). ​​ 

Third, Aaron’s response was defenseless. This is where Aaron deviated from the script, was grasping at straws and where his excuse becomes absurd. He is still not blaming himself. But instead of blaming another person, he blames an inanimate object, the fire. It was the fire’s fault; he threw the gold into the fire and this calf just magically popped out. The golden calf was a man-made idol fashioned by Aaron himself and now he wants Moses to believe that it spontaneously appeared. That, of course, doesn’t explain why and how they came to worship it, bowed down and sacrificed to it. His response reminds us of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Adam blamed Eve, his wife, and in doing so blamed God because He was the one who gave her to him. And then Eve blamed the serpent. Blaming anyone and anything other than ourselves for our sin goes back to the Garden of Eden.

How does this apply to us today? Well, I have some do’s and don’ts. Don’t be defensive when confronted with your sin. Don’t try to blame others for your sin. Don’t make others look bad in order to make yourself look good. Don’t downplay your sin. Don’t fear people more than God. Don’t be absurd when making excuses for your sin. But, do go on the offensive against your sin. Do be humble and truthful about your sin. Do allow the Holy Spirit to convict you to confession and repentance. Do have a reverent “fear of the Lord.” Unless you confess your sins, you cannot be saved. And until you admit the full extent of your sin, you cannot have the kind of spiritual growth that only comes when you see yourself as you really are, so that God can turn you into the person he wants you to become. Whether we admit our sin or not we remain accountable for it. Dunnam states that “Deliverance only comes when we own our sin” and I would add “when we confess it and repent of it.” That brings us to our second next step which is to Own my sins, confess my sins and repent of my sins.

We all can probably identify with Aaron in making absurd excuses for our sin. I will end with a story about a time when I made an absurd excuse to cover up my sin. I was in fourth grade and in my school, we received a “conduct” grade each quarter. One quarter I received a grade of “C.” First of all, I am not even sure how that happened. But this was unacceptable because my father was pretty strict when it came to my conduct in school. It was unacceptable to me because I knew I would be punished for it. So, I used to walk home from school, and I remember there was snow and slush on the ground, and somehow my report card fell in the snow. And when I got home, the conduct grade on my report card had somehow gotten smudged and the grade now resembled an “A.” I pretty much blamed the smudges and the grade change on the snow and of course, that excuse was absurd and it didn’t keep me from being disciplined. The moral of that story is don’t make excuses for your sin, just own it. Let’s be people who destroy and inSINerate our idols once and for all. Let’s be people who own our sins, confess our sins and repent of our sins.

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the usher prepares to collect the tithes and offering, let’s pray: Lord, God, in Jesus’ name, we thank you for your Holy Word. We thank you that you have written it so it is authoritative and sufficient for us to deal with our idols and our sin. Help us, Lord, to purposely destroy our idols once and for all. And give us the conviction to own our sins, confess our sins and repent of our sins. Amen.

Opening: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 996–1006.

 

 

 

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Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table

Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table

Louie Giglio, a Christian speaker and author, has written a book called “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” which is where the title of today’s message comes from. He says this in the first chapter: “The enemy wants to crush you. He wants to steal from you everything you value. He wants to kill everything in your life that’s good. He wants to destroy you. If he can claim victory over your mind, he can claim the victory over your life. But you don’t have to let him get a foothold. For you have been invited to an intimate relationship with the almighty. Your Good Shepherd has set a table before you... and the enemy has not been invited to join.” ​​ 

For about the last five months, I have been using the metaphor of a table to speak about our relationship with the Lord. We permanently give the Lord a seat at our table when we are obedient to his commands, trust in his plan for our lives, do what is right instead of what is popular or going along with the crowd, being thankful for what he has done for us, and use our gifts, talents and abilities for his glory. Along with those, our relationship should be grounded in God’s Word, in prayer, striving to be holy as he is holy, becoming more like Jesus daily.

This morning, we are going to look at a tragic event in the history of the Israelites. Moses has been on the mountain with the Lord for forty days and forty nights. God has given Moses the blueprints for the tabernacle and the Ten Commandments. Moses is about to come down from the mountain, start the building project and usher the people into a glorious relationship with the Lord where they will worship Him as His chosen people and with Him as their God. This is truly a mountaintop experience for Moses, but it is about to come to a screeching halt because all is not well at the foot of the mountain.

The Israelites are not being obedient to God’s commands, they are not trusting in His plan for their lives, they are doing what is popular and going along with the crowd instead of doing what is right, they are not thankful for what God has done for them, and they are not using their gifts, talents and abilities for his glory. This causes their worship of the Lord to be contaminated, their gifts to be corrupted, and their morality to be compromised. ​​ In a nutshell, the one true God who desires to be in relationship with them has been removed from their table, and they have given Satan, the enemy, a seat at their table. They needed to learn that they couldn’t serve God and Satan at the same time; it had to be one or the other. The same is true for us today. The Bible says you can’t serve two masters, and so we must also decide who will have the seat at our table, the Lord or Satan. Praise the Lord that we serve and worship a God, who desires to be in relationship with us. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires a permanent seat at our table.

Let’s pray: Lord, we thank you for the opportunity and privilege to be in your house this morning. We thank you for your desire to reveal your heart to us. Help us to be willing to bring our hearts and minds in alignment with yours. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we learn from your Word today. Open up our hearts and minds to what you want us to learn and share with those we meet this week. Amen.

There is one point this morning, Idolatry, found in Exodus 32:1-6. This is what God’s Word says, “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So, the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”

Paul in 1 Corinthians 10, warning us about Israel’s history, says that this event should be an example to us to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things and to not think we are standing firm but to be careful so that we do not fall. We fall when we sin, and instead of repenting, we compound our sin with more and more sin. In our scripture, this morning, we are going to notice that the Israelites succumb to several sins. By continuing to give into temptation, they gave the enemy a seat at their table. All these sins are still relevant for us today and we must fight the temptation to succumb to them, as well.

First, we give the enemy a seat at our table when we disobey God’s revealed will that comes from His Word and His Holy Spirit. The people realize that Moses has been gone “so long” and has not come down from the mountain. “So long” literally means “caused shame.” They felt that Moses had shamed them by not coming back in a timely manner. They believed that Moses and God should be on their timetable, and they are ready to get this show on the road. Moses’ absence has exposed the hearts of the people as they are impatient, disappointed, and frustrated that their expectations aren’t being met.

Moses has been gone for forty days and forty nights. The number forty in the Bible often symbolizes a time of testing or judgment. We remember the forty days of rain during the Great Flood, the forty years that the disobedient Israelites wandered in the wilderness and the forty days that Jesus was tempted by Satan. It is possible that these last forty days and nights have been a specific time of testing from the Lord not only for the people but for Aaron as well, as we will see later.

The people’s disappointment, frustration and impatience have caused them, first, to sin in their hearts and, second, to commit sin. Sin always starts in our hearts and if it is not checked we will succumb to it as well. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for it is the wellspring of life.” ​​ So, with this going on in their hearts they “gathered” around or literally “against” Aaron. They come as a hostile crowd making demands of him possibly seeing him as an obstacle to what they wanted to do. They demanded Aaron to “come.” “Come” means “get up” or “arise” and it was said violently to get him to do what they wanted. They may have thought that Aaron would be reluctant to their course of action and needed to motivate him by prodding him to act. Next, we see how the sin in their hearts manifested. They demanded that Aaron “make them gods who will go before them.” This was blatant disobedience to the will of God for His people. Ephrem the Syrian, wisely commented that the absence of Moses simply gave the Israelites the opportunity to “worship openly what they had been worshiping in their hearts.” Think about this: the people didn’t have an idol before this, they simply conjured one up out of the wickedness of their own hearts.

They had been freed from slavery in Egypt by the Lord but once again it was proving to be more difficult to get Egypt out of the Israelites than it was to get the Israelites out of Egypt. Remember, at the first sign of trouble in the wilderness, a food shortage, they wanted to run back to Pharaoh where they said, in Exodus 16:3, “we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Now they wanted to appropriate Pharaoh’s religion of idolatry. They wanted tangible gods that could be seen and touched. Again, we are no different today. We see the same pattern of sin in our own lives as we are always ready to go back to the Egypt of our sin and dabble in it for a little while.

There is some scholarly debate about which commandment or how many different ones they were violating. They were violating the second commandment to make no graven images of the Lord “in the form of anything in the heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Some think that they also violated the first commandment to have no other gods before the Lord. The word “gods” is Elohim and can be either singular or plural. When we look at the NASB, which is the closest translation to the original, we see “make us a god who will go before us.” Then some also believe that they violated the third commandment to not misuse the name of the Lord their God when Aaron later calls the golden calf “Lord.” But it doesn’t matter which commandment or how many they violated; one was enough.

The people wanted a god “who will go before them.” “To go before” is used of God’s Presence in the pillar of cloud and fire that has led them since they left Egypt. Moses is not there, God is not there, and they are worried and anxious about who is going to lead them to the Promised Land. All they had to do was look up at the top of the mountain and see the fire which meant God’s presence was still with them. They had seen the fire descend on top of the mountain before and had seen Moses go up to it and come down from it many times. There was no reason to think that Moses or God had abandoned them. But that is how Satan works. He whispers half-truth and lies that make us question God’s presence, provision and protection, which causes us to be disobedient to the Lord.

The other way the Israelites disobeyed the Lord was by blatantly breaking the vows they made to Him. No less than three times had the Israelites promised to obey the Lord. In Exodus 24:3, they said, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” And then in Exodus 24:7-8, they made their vow with blood. “Then he (Moses) took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

The second way we give the enemy a seat at our table is by distrusting the Lord’s plans and promises. The Israelites didn’t trust the Lord enough to wait on Him to reveal His will to them. And they set off to work things out on their own and in their own way. How does distrust happen? It happens when we forget what God has done for us. It causes us to turn back to our wicked ways and our comfortable lives that we had before. The Israelites had spiritual amnesia. Psalm 106:21-22 says, “They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.” They witnessed the plagues with which the one true and living God defeated the Egyptian gods. They walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. They had seen the glory of God in the pillar and when He descended on Mt. Sinai. And they had seen His miraculous provision and protection and yet they did not trust Him.

Of course, again, we did the same thing today. We distrust the Lord when something doesn’t go our way, or our prayers don’t get answered the way we want them to. We also distrust when we don’t believe God is moving fast enough for us in one area or another or we forget what He has done for us in the past and His promises for our future. When these things happen to us, we can distrust the Lord’s love, care and concern for us and the next thing we know we have given the enemy a seat at our table. That brings us to our first next step which is to Trust in the goodness of God, wait on His timing and continually praise the Lord for what He has done for me. When we consistently do these things, we give the Lord a permanent seat at our table (Big Idea).

They also showed their distrust for Moses, God’s mediator, when they said they did not know what had become of “this Moses” who brought them up from the land of Egypt. In their minds he was delayed causing them to think the worst: Moses has abandoned us, or he’s been killed in the fire on the mountain. They used three tactics in confronting Aaron with their demands. First, they used evasive language and half-truths. Again, all they had to do was look to the top of the mountain and see the fire to find out where Moses was. Second, they disparaged and disrespected Moses who had already gone to bat for them with God numerous times. Third, they downplayed the Lord’s role in their salvation from slavery in Egypt and his presence, provision and protection so far in the wilderness. In fact, they ignored the Lord altogether not even mentioning his name. It is easy for Satan to undermine the truth when we keep God out of the picture.

Third, we give the enemy a seat at our table when we do what is popular or go along with the crowd instead of doing what is right. We see this as Aaron gives in when he is confronted by the angry mob. The language seems to indicate that they had been hounding Aaron until he gave in. His words “take off” or better translated “tear off” seem to be as violent as the people’s demand to “come, make us a god.” He demanded that they bring him the gold earrings that were in the ears of their wives, sons and daughters. He may have demanded these items because they were readily available. He may have also thought they would refuse to “tear off” their earrings, so he wouldn’t have to give in to their demands. This may be true, but Aaron should have said “NO” and called on Hur, who Moses left in co-charge with him, and the seventy elders to stand up against the people’s demands.

But he didn’t stand up to them and he found out that he was wrong. ​​ It says, “all the people”, meaning the majority, tore off their earrings and gave them to Aaron. Again, the wording seems to indicate they “tore” the earrings from their ears showing their commitment to their idolatry and willingness to pay the cost of having a “god” made to lead them. Also, there were probably some Israelites who were just going along with the crowd here as well. Again, today, we are guilty of following the crowd. We let others pressure us to do what is wrong and we do what is popular in our culture instead of what is right. We must take a stand and do what is right in the Lord’s eyes not men.

Fourth, we give the enemy a seat at our table when we distort our worship of the Lord. The first thing they did to distort their worship was to corrupt their God-given gifts, talents and abilities. The people corrupted their God-given “plunder” that they had received from the Egyptians as they left Egypt. God had provided gold and other resources for His people to make the tabernacle, His house, where he would meet with them and they would worship Him. Aaron used that same gold to make an idol in the likeness of a “molten” or golden calf as we have come to call it. Aaron also corrupted his God-given talents and abilities by fashioning or etching the idol to resemble a “bull” using a “graving tool” which would have been used by an engraver. This would have taken skill on his part and instead of using that skill for the glory of God he used it for his own glory and the glory of Satan.

Even if Aaron was not making an idol this was not the role that God had for him. He was called to be the High Priest of Israel and help the people to worship the Lord in the proper way. The Lord had chosen Bezalel to construct the tabernacle and all its parts. In Exodus 31, God told Moses he had “filled him (Bezalel) with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” This shows how easy it is for our God-given gifts, talents and abilities to be distorted by sin. This is a warning for us today to not abuse the many kinds of gifts God has given to us.

There seem to be two different thoughts about how the molten calf was made. The reason for the different thoughts is because the wording in the Hebrew is not clear. The first thought is that it was a solid gold idol that was cast in the shape of a calf. The second thought is that the shape of the calf was made from a wooden frame overlaid with gold. This second thought coincides with how God commanded Moses to make the ark, the table of shewbread, and the frames for the tabernacle. They were to be made with acacia wood and overlaid with gold. This does make sense as later, Moses, in Exodus 32:20, “burned the golden calf with fire and ground it to powder,” but we are just not sure.

The second thing they did to distort their worship was to contaminate their worship of God. Why did Aaron fashion a calf? It was probably an image of a full-grown bull that would have been worshipped not only in Egypt, where they worshipped live bulls, but also in Canaan. An idol of a bull was associated with the strength and power of the deity. To use any image as a symbol for God is idolatry but to use a bull would have been considered blasphemy and as Moses calls it, “a great sin.” After Aaron had fashioned the molten calf or bull, “they said, this is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” “They said” is representative of a response from the people. The people contaminated their worship of the Lord by attributing what God had done for them to this dead idol. They also used the same words as the Lord when He introduced the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:2: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” The covenant was ratified between the Lord and the people because He had brought them out of slavery in Egypt. Now they were saying that it wasn’t the one true God who had saved them but this graven image.

Aaron also contaminated his worship of the Lord as he did two things. First, when he saw what they were saying, he built an altar before the golden calf. This was not a casual event. He wasn’t content in just substituting this idol for Yahweh, he chose to build an altar to it, even when he didn’t have to. Aaron may have built the altar in the way that God had mandated, with earth and undressed stones. And he seems to try to cover up the wickedness and cover his bases for later under the umbrella of proper worship.

Notice where Aaron builds this altar. It was directly in front of the god he had fashioned. This was an element of pagan worship done so the god could see the offerings made to it and the people would know that their sacrifices had been accepted. Do you remember where God’s altar was to be placed in respect to His throne? The altar was outside the tabernacle and God’s throne was in the Holy of Holies behind the veil. There was no direct line of sight. The Israelites had to be obedient to perform the sacrifices the Lord demanded and to have faith that He would see and accept them. But they wanted a tangible god that they could see and manipulate for their own purposes.

The second thing Aaron did was make a proclamation that “tomorrow, shall be a feast to the Lord.” Aaron set up an idol and then dignified and sanctified it by saying they were worshipping the Lord. The reason Moses gave Pharoah to let them go was so they could hold a festival to the Lord. Maybe Aaron wanted to associate this feast with that event, again, so he could say he was doing what the Lord ultimately wanted. The appropriate feasts and festivals would be originated by the Lord such as the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Aaron seems to be doing all he could to make this idolatrous worship close to looking like proper worship of the Lord.

By saying they were worshipping the Lord with this idol, they were creating another religion, opening the door to abandon the true worship of God. The worship of the golden calf was open apostasy, it was idolatrous, immoral, and insulting to God. Sproul comments: “The cow gave no law and demanded no obedience. It had no wrath or justice or holiness to be feared. It was deaf, dumb, and impotent. But at least it could not intrude on their fun and call them to judgment. This was a religion designed by men, practiced by men, and ultimately useless for men.” We give the enemy a seat at our table when we distort our worship of the one true God. We can do this today when we use God’s name to push our own agenda, when we say all religions lead to Heaven and when we endorse syncretism, meaning we combine many religions into one and worship it.

The third thing they did to distort their worship of God was to compromise their morals. The next day they “rose early” meaning they were eager to engage in worshipping the golden calf. This is contrasted with Moses getting up early to seal the covenant in Exodus 24:4, which says, “He (Moses) got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.” Next, they offered burnt and fellowship offerings and sat down to eat and drink. Again, this sounds a lot like how God had instructed Moses in the worship of the Lord but notice they did not include sin offerings. It may have looked like “proper” worship on the outside buy inwardly it was contrary to the will of God and attaching His name to it didn’t change that.

What they did next is not totally clear again because of the translation of the Hebrew word. The NIV says they “indulged in revelry.” The King James and the NASB say, “rose up to play” and the Amplified Bible says, “got up to play (shamefully – without moral restraint). The Hebrew word for “revelry” can have sexual overtones or can just mean “having innocent fun.” This could have been a drunken orgy or singing and dancing with abandon as David did before the Lord. But no matter what they were doing as they worshipped before the golden calf it was still idolatry, they were still distorting their worship of the one true God.

We must be careful not to fall into the same trap. In our church culture today, we hear of churches not even preaching the Word of God. They are saying that God is love and there is no Hell, and everyone will end up in heaven sooner or later. Some are preaching “feel good” messages never mentioning the word sin or the need to be saved from their sin. They may even disregard what the Bible calls sin, so they don’t upset anyone. Some churches may even focus on themselves getting the glory instead of God. People don’t want a holy God who speaks and confronts them. We must also be careful because we can do things “in the name of the Lord” but still not worship the Lord. And we can still have some orthodox acts of worship (they had a feast and made offerings) but worship unacceptably. When we distort our worship of God we give the enemy a seat at our table. That brings us to our second next step which is to Worship God the way He demands and requires giving Him all the glory and honor He deserves. When we consistently do these things, we give the Lord a permanent seat at our table (Big Idea).

Tony Merida tells this story in “Exalting Jesus in Exodus.” A few of our pastors and interns took a trip to Boston recently (written in 2014) to explore the idea of sending a church planting team to New England. The need for churches in the Northeast is great. One Christian leader there calls the area north of Boston “the desert.” Some estimate that it is currently one percent evangelical at best. As our friends described their culture to us, they pointed out that people worship in the Northeast. Some people worship the Red Sox. Others, in the world of academia and research, are slaves to ambition. In Salem, Massachusetts, they statistically have more witches than Christians. The Northeast is no different from anywhere else in the world. Left to ourselves, we will worship something other than the living God. To paraphrase John Calvin, “The human heart is an idol factory.”

In “No God but God,” Os Guiness and John Seel comment on how important this topic is: “Idolatry is the most discussed problem in the Bible. . .. There can be no believing communities without an unswerving eye to the detection and destruction of idols.” Idolatry is putting something or someone in the place of God. Anything you seek to give you what only Christ can give you (joy, security, peace, meaning, identity, and/or salvation) becomes an idol. Common idols today include money, sex, a person, approval of people, competence and skill, secure and comfortable circumstances, beauty, brains, success and/or ambition.

Idolatry has everything to do with each of us because it centers on the human heart. We need to replace our idolatrous attachments with genuine affection for the Triune God. As A. W. Pink has written: “Man must have an object, and when he turns from the true God, he at once craves a false one.” But this statement can also be reversed. The way to reduce our craving for false gods is for our minds and hearts to be intoxicated with the Spirit of the one true God. That brings us to our final next step which is to Have genuine affection for the one true God and for my mind and heart to be intoxicated with His Spirit. When we consistently do these things, we give the Lord a permanent seat at our table (Big Idea).

As Gene & Roxey come to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Heaven Father, in Jesus’ name, you are a great God, the one true and living God. You are all-powerful and have already conquered the world, sin and the grave. Help us to obey your commands, to trust in you alone, to do what is right, and to worship you in the proper way that you have taught and commanded us to do. Help us to remember your goodness, wait on your timing and praise you always for who you are and what you have done for us. Give us genuine affection for you and help our mind and heart to be intoxicated with your Spirit. Amen.

 

Opening: Giglio, Louie. Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at your table

Conclusion: Merida, Tony. Exalting Jesus in Exodus (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Book 2) (p. 191). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Holy Spirit and Time

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Holy Space and Time

A well-known example of using the Lord’s Day for witness comes from the life of Eric Liddell, the famous Scottish Olympian who later became a missionary to China. Liddell’s story is told in the film Chariots of Fire. His best race was the 200 meters, and he was expected to win the gold. However, one of the qualifying heats was scheduled for Sunday. As a devout Presbyterian, Liddell was adamant in his refusal to run, much to the consternation of Britain’s racing officials. In the end, Liddell ended up competing in an entirely different event, the 400-meter race. “When I was about to run in the finals,” he later wrote, “the trainer handed me a little note. I opened it and read the words, ‘Them that honour me will I honour.’ ” By keeping the Lord’s Day holy, Liddell honored God and gave a living testimony of his faith in Jesus Christ. As it turned out, God honored Liddell by giving him the strength to win the gold medal at 400 meters. But Liddell’s obedience to the fourth commandment made him a champion for Christ even before he approached the starting blocks.

The fact that you all are here this morning is a good thing because today’s passage is about honoring the Lord by observing His sabbath and keeping it holy. Now that the instructions for building the tabernacle were complete, the Lord ties the tabernacle to His command for a sabbath rest. Why is the Sabbath mentioned at this particular time? It’s because the tabernacle was a place of worship and observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy involved their worship of the Lord. If the Sabbath was not observed as the Lord commanded, proper worship would not take place and so the tabernacle would not be used properly. The whole reason for the tabernacle in the first place would not be realized. Also, it comes now in our narrative because the tabernacle was God’s home on earth which was fashioned after God’s home in heaven. Just like Eden was the place where Adam met with God, the tabernacle would be the place where the Israelite people would meet with the Lord. By tying the idea of sabbath rest to the tabernacle, God’s dwelling among His people anticipates the restoration of the new Eden, the new heaven and new earth at the end of the age, where God would again walk and talk with those who believe in Him.

Whereas the tabernacle was to be a “holy space” where God would meet with his people, the Sabbath day was to be a “holy time” where they were to rest in the Lord and come to a deeper knowledge and understanding of who He was. This was the way the Lord mandated that His people would come to know Him better, which was why we will see that the penalty for any disobedience of the Sabbath law was so harsh. These penalties are not as physically harsh for us today but spiritually speaking, the penalty for disobedience to God’s sabbath laws still have harsh repercussions. That brings us to our big idea that God desires His people to observe His Sabbath rest.

Let’s pray: Our Father who is in heaven, pour out your Holy Spirit on your people gathered in your presence together this morning. Fill us, so that our hearts and minds may be opened to what you have to say to us, and so that our lives may be transformed and conformed to your will. May Your Spirit guide our thoughts, words and actions, so that they will reflect Your love and truth. We want your message to take root in our hearts and bear fruit in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen

To better understand God’s instructions on the sabbath here in Exodus 31, we need to look at the history of the sabbath in God’s Word. First, we need to go all the way back to creation. Genesis 2:1-3 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

After God had finished creating the world in six days, He rested on the seventh. Now God didn’t need to rest but he wanted to establish a rhythm of life for His people so they would be able to enjoy and work in God’s completed creation and walk and talk with Him. But once sin entered the world, mankind was not able to enjoy that type of fellowship with the Lord anymore and their work became wearisome and difficult. More than ever before human beings would need that rhythm of rest every seven days. Ever since, God’s redemptive plan has been to bring mankind back into the enjoyment of His presence and provision.

To that end, God took Abraham’s descendants as His chosen people and in Exodus 16:23 gifted a “sabbath rest” to them. “He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’” In the wilderness, when the people complained of being hungry, the Lord sent manna to them to eat. They were to collect enough manna each day for that one day and then on the sixth day, they were to gather enough for the seventh day as well. Then on the seventh day they were to have a day of sabbath rest which was holy to the Lord.

The sabbath day of rest was to remind them that the Lord had saved them from slavery and from Pharaoh as a harsh taskmaster. Every sabbath day they would be reminded of not only God’s creative work in making the world but His redemptive work of saving them from the physical hardship they endured in Egypt. It would also renew their strength from their work in the present day. The seventh day was also to be a day of spiritual rest as it was to be a “holy sabbath” set apart to the Lord. As they rested physically, they were to rest in Him spiritually and strengthen their relationship with him.

Then in Exodus 20:8, as part of the Ten Commandments, we see these words, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” The seventh day was not just a day to do whatever they wanted to do. It was to be dedicated to the Lord for his worship and service. The seventh day was to be sanctified and set apart for sacred use. He didn’t want the Israelites to work seven days a week thinking that it was their efforts that were supplying their needs. God wanted them to rely on Him to provide what they needed when they needed it.

Next, in Exodus 23, we see God reiterating the sabbath for a third time with His people. This time he repeated that his sabbath rest was for their work animals, any slaves born in their households and the foreigners living among them. He also instituted the sabbath year in which they were not to plow their land so the poor in their community would have enough to eat. The Sabbath rest is tied to God’s compassion for all people and animals here. And that brings us to our present scripture this morning.

Our first point is, Sabbath, found in Exodus 31:12-17. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

Just like in chapter 30 and so far in chapter 31, the first thing we notice is the phrase, “Then the Lord said to Moses.” As we have seen numerous times this means that Moses is to listen up because what follows is divinely commanded, making it of the utmost importance. Moses is to tell the Israelites that the Lord commands them to observe “his” Sabbaths. They were to keep the Sabbath days because they were literally his. He instituted it, He modeled it at creation, and he commanded it as their covenant King. The sabbath was a “covenant sign” between him and the Israelites meaning it was to be a reminder of what the Lord had done for them in the past and what He had promised to do for them in the future. And it was for the generations to come, meaning it was a perpetual sign, that as it was observed week in and week out, it would be faithfully passed down to each generation.

This was not the first covenant sign that God had instituted. The rainbow was part of His covenant with Noah; and circumcision was part of the Abrahamic covenant. Also, at the Passover, the blood on the doorposts was a sign for the angel of death to pass over the house of those faithful to the Lord. These physical signs themselves were not significant, but they became significant because God’s promises had been attached to them. These were all signs of the redemption that God wanted for his people in order to bring them back into his presence like in the Garden of Eden. We see signs of redemption in the new covenant today: baptism, the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s Day.

By placing the Sabbath law immediately after His instructions for building the tabernacle, he showed that the Sabbath was to take precedence over the tabernacle. The Israelites could not use their “work” as an excuse to not observe the Sabbath. The Sabbath was to be one day in seven where the people would cease their work and reflect on God and His character. It was a holy time to refocus their lives every week on their purpose for living which was to “know that Yahweh was Lord” and by coming to “know” this they would become more like Him. It was also a holy time to refocus on the purpose of the covenant which was to make them holy. The covenant relationship was a sanctifying relationship, and the Sabbath was part of that process.

Yahweh was their Lord and He was the one who would make them holy. They could never become holy on their own. Only through the help of the Lord and through their obedience to His laws, statutes and commands could they become holy as He was holy. They would also come to a better understanding of who He is and what He had done for them, and it would set them apart as His holy people among the other nations in the land. The command is then repeated showing them how important it was they observe the Sabbath. It was important not only because the Lord would make them holy but the sabbath would be “holiness” to them meaning that through their obedience they would become more like Him in words and actions. Proof of their growth in knowing the Lord and becoming holy would be observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy.

We also see the importance of the Israelites observing the Sabbath by the penalty attached to it. Because the seventh day was a holy Sabbath to the Lord to desecrate it meant death for the law breaker. To desecrate the Sabbath meant to treat God’s holy day as an ordinary day. Because it was the Lord who had instituted it as a special sign, to disregard it and treat it like any other day was rebellion against Him. This was more than just mere disobedience. It was a person saying that they didn’t accept the Lord’s authority, and they didn’t respect and revere Him as their covenant king. It also said that they didn’t want to “know” the Lord, didn’t want to be set apart as holy to the Lord and wanted no part of the covenant with the Lord. And because God had created them and saved them, He had the prerogative to have them put to death for their disobedience to His commands.

The Lord then reiterated the fourth commandment clearly making it a requirement as if there was any question of it. They were to work for six days and then the seventh day was to be a “Sabbath of rest.” A “sabbath of rest” is literally “a Sabbath of Sabbatism” meaning that the entire day was to be devoted to rest and no work was to be done. By tying the Sabbath to His work of creation, to keep the Sabbath meant the people were proclaiming that they didn’t create the world, God did. And that they were not self-sufficient, that they were relying on Him to provide for them and that they were putting their lives completely in His hands. The sabbath law also pointed to their obligation to work. The Sabbath law not only mandated one day off a week for physical and spiritual rest, but it also mandated that His people were to work the other six days a week.

The Lord then repeated the penalty for breaking the Sabbath law. Anyone who did any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. If we read verse 14 and thought there was one punishment for the desecration of the Sabbath and another for doing work on the Sabbath, verse 15 seems to put that to rest. Violators of the Sabbath law were intentionally severing their ties with God and the terms of His covenant. The law breaker was in effect saying that they wanted all seven days for themselves and begrudged God His holy day. Rejection of the fourth commandment was a rejection of God. We see this sentence being carried out in Numbers 15:32-36. “While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” So, the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Enns comments, “This penalty seems harsh, but not when we realize what the Sabbath was intended to do. By not keeping the Sabbath, the Israelite was showing that he or she was not interested in knowing [God].” We need to remember that any disobedience that undermined the integrity of the Israelite community was dealt with harshly by the Lord. By not remembering the Sabbath and by not keeping it holy the community was undermined just as much as disobeying the fifth commandment of honoring your father and mother. Ryken says, “The way to destroy a nation is to destroy the family, and the way children can destroy the family is by disobeying their parents.” And I believe by not observing the Sabbath and keeping it holy is a way to destroy people’s relationship with the Lord. If the church is a holy space and the Sabbath is a holy time where we as a congregation come together to worship the Lord, come to know Him more and become more like Him, then if we stop observing the Sabbath and are teaching our children by our example to not observe the Sabbath, then we can destroy our church and our nation in the same way as not honoring our fathers and mothers. In this way, spiritually speaking, the penalty for disobedience to God’s sabbath laws can have harsh repercussions. I think we are seeing the consequences of this in our society today.

 

So what does this mean for us today? Observing our Sabbath day, Sunday, the Lord’s Day, should still be important to us. Gathering together as Christians this one day a week is the way that God has ordained us to get to know Him. Gathering this morning at Idaville Church is a way to holiness. The way God wants to make us holy is in community not necessarily individually in isolation. Sure, we can come to know God and strive for holiness individually but that is not the primary way God wants to develop holiness in us. We were made to worship the Lord and as we worship the Lord, he equips us to walk worthily with Him and as we walk with Him we desire to work for Him. Worshipping, walking and working for the Lord should be done in community together and not alone.

 

By choosing to observe the Sabbath with other believers we testify to the world around us that we are the Lord’s people and are connected to His church. And vice versa, by not choosing to observe the Sabbath tells the world that we are not committed to being the Lord’s people and are not connected to His church. God uses the Sabbath to sanctify us and as we keep the Sabbath holy it has a way of keeping us from sin and close to God. When we sanctify God’s holy day, God uses it to sanctify us. I like this quote by Ryken, “We stop working and instead rest in God’s peace. We stop producing and rest in God’s provision. We stop accomplishing and rest in our identity in Christ. We stop acquiring and rest in God’s care. We stop worrying and rest in God’s sovereignty.” The Lord’s Day should be a vacation for our souls.

A few questions for us today: Do you want to know God? Do you want to grow in your relationship with Him? Do you want to become holy as He is holy? Do you want to truly worship the Lord, walk worthily with Him and desire to work for Him? Then according to His holy scriptures and commands, we must observe the Sabbath and keep it holy which for us today means being in church on the Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord together, walking together with the Lord and working together for the Lord. That brings to our first next step which is to Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy so that I can know the Lord more and He can develop holiness in me.

Remembering the Sabbath is clearly important to God as he mentions it no less than five times in the book of Exodus. Reiterating it again would have heightened the Sabbath command in the eyes and hearts of the people. The Sabbath was central to his plan of redemption for his people. They were to observe the Sabbath and “celebrate it for the generations to come. “Celebrating” the Sabbath meant that the Sabbath was not to be a burden on the people. It was to be one day out of seven for the physical and spiritual rest of God’s people and a weekly occasion for, as Mackay says, “joyful and grateful remembrance of all that the Lord had done for them.”

The Lord then reiterates that the Sabbath would be a sign forever that the Lord created the heavens and the earth in six days and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed. The God who had redeemed the Israelites from Pharaoh and was fashioning them into a royal priesthood and His holy people was the same God who created them and was determined to bring them back into harmony with himself. “Rested” is translated “Abstained from work” meaning that God didn’t stop the work of creation because he was tired, but because he had finished his work of creation. “Refreshed” means that the Lord stopped creating to “catch his breath.” This is a picture of God being satisfied with His completed work of creation and calling it “very good.” The repetitions found at the end of our first point stressed the foreverness of observing the Sabbath and impressed upon the people that failure to obey this covenant sign was a serious breach of the covenant relationship between the Lord and His people.

That brings us to our second point, Stone Tablets, found in Exodus 31:18. This is what God’s Word says, “When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.”

After forty days and forty nights, the Lord has finished speaking to Moses. He has spoken to Moses about the blueprints for the tabernacle and the entire Book of the Covenant Law. And now we come to the moment we have anticipated since Exodus 24:12, which says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” God gives Moses the two tablets of the covenant law which was the Ten Words or Commandments that God spoke to the people back in chapter 20.

These two tablets probably contained the same Ten Words on each tablet. In ancient times two copies were written, one for the covenant king and one for his subjects. Each copy would be kept in their respective god’s temple. They would be read periodically so each party would know and remember what the terms of the covenant were that they had agreed to. In this case, both tablets would be put in the Ark of the Covenant since God’s temple on earth and that of the Israelites were the same place. These tablets were made of stone meaning that the covenant written on them was fixed, unchanging and permanently binding. The two stone tablets were probably modestly sized because they would have to fit in the ark which was approximately 4 ft. x 2 ft. x 2 ft. and also included a jar of manna and Aaron’s budded rod. Also, Moses would have to be able to carry them down the mountain.

The two tablets were inscribed by the finger of God. They were supernaturally written by the Lord meaning their source was God, their authority came from God, and they had his stamp of approval. The finger of God would have conveyed His power as it was the finger of God that brought the plague of gnats upon Pharoah.

As we have learned this morning, God’s Sabbath rest is connected to creation, connected to His provision, connected to His covenant law, connected to His compassion and connected to the tabernacle. God’s Word connects His “Sabbath rest” to events in redemptive history. There is one more event in redemptive history that the Sabbath rest points to. The weekly Sabbath is a reminder of our divine eternal rest which is the joy of heaven together with God. It is the promise of a Sabbath rest when we have finished the work that God has commissioned us to do on this earth. After a life devoted to pursuing, growing and multiplying disciples, we are promised an eternal rest with the Lord.

God “resting” on the seventh day anticipated the eternal rest which is the consequence of the finished work of Christ on the cross. The reality of an eternal rest in heaven requires salvation in Christ and obedience to Him and His commands. By faith the believer is one who has ceased from trying to work for or earn their salvation and enters into a saving relationship with God that will usher them into that eternal rest. Coates says, “The Sabbath speaks of things being brought to completion, so that there is no more work to be done; all is finished, and there is holy rest for God and His people” That brings us to our second next step on the back of your communication card which is to Live like Jesus has already completed His work of salvation and am ready to enter into the Lord’s eternal rest.

This eternal rest is anticipated in Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” As I close out the study of our scripture, I want to recite a Jewish prayer: “Come, let us welcome the Sabbath in joy and peace! Like a bride, radiant and joyous, comes the Sabbath. It brings blessings to our hearts; workday thoughts and cares are put aside. The brightness of the Sabbath light shines forth to tell that the divine spirit of love abides within our home. In that light all our blessings are enriched, all our griefs and trials are softened.” Who would not welcome such a day?

I finally want to end with some humorous Mother’s Day illustrations: The children of Family Circus were once discussing babies. One of the young experts announced: "Storks don't bring babies. They come UPS." Some of the other children had different ideas, but the best was saved for last. "Babies," said one, "are connected to their mothers by a biblical cord." This was spotted on a church sign "If evolution is true, how come mothers still have only two hands?" A mother was putting her son to bed on the eve of his fifth birthday. She was trying to communicate that birthday idea to him. "Kevin," she said, "this is the last night of your fourth year. Do you understand that?" Kevin was ready to communicate with his hands. For a full year, he had shown people four fingers for his four years, and now he was ready to add a thumb. Seeing his four fingers, his mother nodded and said: "When you go to sleep tonight, you'll still be 4-years-old. But do you know how old you'll be in the morning, when you wake up?" Kevin nodded enthusiastically, added his thumb to his four little fingers and said, "Tomorrow, I'll be a handful!"

Not sure if this is a Mother’s Day illustration but I thought it was funny. A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the service, his mother asked him, "Son, do you know how many women a man is allowed to marry?" "Sixteen," the boy responded. His mother was shocked. "What do you mean, 16?!" "It's easy," the little boy said. "All you have to do is add it up, like the pastor said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer."

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and as the praise team comes to lead us in a final song, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, we thank you for bringing us to this holy space so that we can spend this holy time worshipping You this morning. May we continue to walk with You this week and help us to faithfully work for You as we live in this world. Help us by your Holy Spirit to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy so that we can know You more and so that You can develop holiness in us. Also, help us to live like Your Son, Jesus, has already completed His work of salvation on the cross and let us be ready to enter into Your eternal rest. May Your peace fill our hearts as we depart, and may we carry Your love and light into the world. Amen.

Opening: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 968.

Conclusion: Andy Cook is the former pastor of Shirley Hills Baptist Church in Warner Robins, Georgia.  ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

/by

Bob (Bezalel) The Builder

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Bob (Bezalel), the Builder

In his book “The Fall of Fortress”, Elmer Bendiner describes one bombing run over the city of Kassel:

Our B-17 (the Tondelayo) was barraged by flak from Nazi​​ anti-aircraft​​ guns. That was not unusual, but on this​​ occasion​​ our gas tanks were hit. Later, as I reflected on the miracle of a twenty-millimeter shell piercing the fuel tank without touching off an explosion, our pilot, Bohn Fawkes, told me it was not quite that simple. On the morning following the raid, Bohn had gone down to ask our crew chief for that shell as a souvenir of unbelievable luck. The crew chief told Bohn that not just one shell but eleven had been found in the gas tanks—eleven unexploded shells where only one was sufficient to blast us out of the sky. It was as if the sea had been parted​​ by​​ us. Even after thirty-five years, such an awesome event leaves me shaken, especially after I heard the rest of the story from Bohn. He was told that the shells had been sent to the armorers to be defused. The armorers told him that Intelligence had picked them up. They could not say why at the time, but Bohn eventually sought out the answer.

Apparently when the armorers opened each of those shells, they found no explosive charge. They were as clean as a whistle and just as harmless. Empty? Not all of them. One contained a carefully rolled piece of paper. On it was a scrawl in Czech. The Intelligence people scoured our base for a man who could read Czech. Eventually, they found one to decipher the note. It set us marveling. Translated, the note read: “This is all we can do for you now.”​​ What an incredible story of sacrifice and service! “That’s all we can do; we wish we could do more.” These are the people God will bless, people who will do whatever they can with whatever they have to serve God and others. The Israelites were those people. The funds for the Tabernacle were raised​​ through willing hearts.

The priests served God and the people with willing hearts and the tabernacle was built by willing servants. God continues to search for Spirit-filled workmen and women today who are willing to submit to His call on their lives. And who will serve Him and others for His glory alone and not their own. God desires willing servants who have willing hearts and are motivated by His love for them.

The instructions for the Lord’s “tent” that would dwell​​ amid​​ his people, that was started back in Exodus 25, is now coming to completion. God has given Moses detailed instructions for how his “house,” the tabernacle and the courtyard, is supposed to look when finished and has given detailed instructions about the materials that are to be used to construct it. The same is true for the Ark of the Covenant, the Table of Shewbread, the Lampstand, the Altar of Burnt Offering, the Altar of Incense and all the accessories, implements, etc. that go along with them. God also gave detailed instructions on the clothing that the High Priest and “assistant priests” were to wear as they ministered before the Lord and exactly what materials were to be used to make them.

Now, as we turn the page to Exodus 31, the Lord will specifically appoint and equip two workmen to oversee all the construction and manufacturing of everything discussed in the last six chapters. The Lord will also equip those who have not been specifically called but will have very important parts to play in making his “tent” according to everything the Lord commanded. Why is the first part of this chapter important to us today? It’s because “we,” everyone in this place this morning, are the Lord’s workmen and women. We have all been called and given gifts, abilities and talents by the Lord and His Holy Spirit to “build up” his house and kingdom in the place He has put us, which is here at Idaville Church. And we are to use those gifts, abilities and talents to serve Him​​ and others. So don’t be mistaken, dismayed or discouraged; we all have God-given abilities that we have had from birth, and we all have God-given gifts that we have had since our conversion. God is pleased to give us all distinct gifts and abilities to be used for His glory, praise and honor. Now, we may think our contribution is insignificant but that’s not true. Everyone’s work and service are significant and important. What God desires is willing and obedient servants who will submit to His call on their lives. And who He can then lead and guide in the task He has set before them, which is to Pursue, Grow and Multiply Disciples! That brings us to our big idea this morning that God is communicating to us through this passage:​​ God desires to call and fill His people with His Spirit so they can serve Him and others for His glory.​​ Now I am not talking about being filled with the Spirit at conversion but a daily filling of the Spirit to accomplish the calling God has placed on our lives.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we want to glorify you this morning with our praise, honor and worship. Help us through your Holy Spirit give you the awe and holy fear that you deserve. We pray that you would open up your Word to us so that we can fall deeper in love with you, so that we can better serve and obey you and so that we can spread you Gospel in all the places each of us work, play and live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

We have two points this morning. The first is,​​ Skilled Craftsmen, found in Exodus 31:1-6. This is what God’s Word says, “Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the​​ tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you.”

God has finished showing Moses the specs for His “tent” where He will dwell among His people, and for all its furnishings, etc. God has been giving Moses very specific instructions using words and pictures. Nothing has been left to​​ chance,​​ and He expects his instructions to be followed to the letter. The Lord then tells Moses who will build this magnificent structure and again God will be very specific, and nothing will be left to chance. As we studied chapter 30, we noticed that four times it stated, “Then the Lord said to Moses.” And after each time, the Lord showed Moses another important part of the tabernacle and its purpose. And we see it again in the beginning of chapter 31. We know it’s significant because it is its own verse. God is about to say something important again and he needs Moses and us to take notice and to pay attention, so we miss it. The word “see” emphasizes this same point. Moses is to notice who the Lord is putting in charge of the building project.

It may have come as a shock to Moses that he would not be building God’s “tent.” But he would be the consultant, so to speak, for the entire project as he was the one who received the instructions directly from God. And this will be important as we continue our study: Moses had not been chosen and equipped to build God’s tent. He was not gifted with those abilities. Moses had been chosen and equipped to lead God’s people just as Aaron had been chosen and equipped to be the high priest of the Lord’s chosen people. God chose and equipped His willing servant, Bezalel, to build the tabernacle. Bezalel was the son of Uri, who was the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah.​​ So,​​ who was Bezalel? He wasn’t a priest. He doesn’t seem to be an elder of the Israelites. He seems to be an ordinary Israelite that God has specifically chosen for a certain task. “Chosen” literally means “called” by God. God personally​​ knew this individual and specially chose him for a specific purpose. I just want to remind you all that if you are a Christ-follower this morning, God knows you personally and has specially called you for a specific purpose, as well.

Like we have seen other times in the Bible, names matter, and here is no exception. The name, Bezalel, means “in the shadow of God” or “in the protection of God.” Then we get a short genealogy of Bezalel. His father was Uri, whose name means “light” or “light of Jehovah.” And then his grandfather is Hur, whose name means “free” or “at liberty.” Hur is probably the same person who was an elder of the Israelites and helped Aaron hold up Moses’ arms as Joseph and the Israelites fought the Amalekites back in Exodus 17. Hur is also mentioned as being left in co-charge with Aaron when God called Moses to come up the mountain. And as we continue back in Bezalel’s lineage, we have his great-grandfather, Caleb, g-g grandfather, Hezron, 3rd​​ g-grandfather, Perez, and finally his 4th​​ g-grandfather Judah the son of Jacob. This is important because Bezalel is the seventh in the line from Judah. Seven is the number of​​ perfections​​ in the Bible meaning that Bezalel was God’s perfect choice to be in charge of building his “tent.”

Now, we know that the tabernacle and all its furnishings and purposes point us to Christ and so do the names mentioned here. “In the shadow or protection of God” is familiar to us from Psalms 17:8 which says, “Hide me in the shadow of your wings” and Psalms 57:1 which says, “And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by” and Psalms 63:7, “Because you are my help, I sing or rejoice in the shadow of your wings.” The “shadow of your wings” speaks of a place of intimacy, of protection, and of fellowship with the Lord. And this point us to Christ because Jesus is the one who occupies the closest relationship with the Father. John 1:18 says, “The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father.” Next, “the light of Jehovah” is​​ familiar as Jesus calls Himself “the light of the world” in John 8:12 and in 1 John 1:5 it says, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” Finally, “free” or “at liberty” tells us of Christ always doing the will of His Father and voluntarily going to the cross to save us from our sins. Hebrews 10:9 says, “Then he said (Jesus), ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will” and John 10:17 says, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.” Finally, Judah means “praise” and Jesus was the praise of His Father and was always praising His Father. We​​ saw​​ this in Luke 10:21.

Next, we see God equipping his servant, Bezalel. God filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God meaning that God was the source of his gifts, abilities, talents and skills. And they were also under the control of the Spirit, enabling Bezalel to design, construct and oversee the building of the tabernacle, etc. and to do it according to God’s perfect will and instructions. Now, this was not a NT being “filled with the Holy Spirit” at conversion. This was God endowing His Spirit onto a person so His purposes could be fulfilled. This is the first time in the Bible that anyone has been filled with the Spirit of God. And it wasn’t Adam, Abel, any of the Patriarchs, Moses or Aaron but an ordinary Israelite that God chose to do His work by His Spirit.

What did the Spirit fill Bezalel with? According to the NASB, the Spirit filled him with wisdom, understanding and knowledge. Bezalel was born with innate talents and abilities given to him by God at birth which probably had to do with overseeing, construction, designing, etc. Now he was being supernaturally filled and empowered by the Spirit of God to perfectly complete the purposes of God. According to Ryken’s commentary, “wisdom, is the gift to understand what is needed to fulfill Yahweh’s instructions; discernment, is the talent for solving the inevitable problems involved in the creation of so complex a series of objects and materials; and skill, is the experienced hand needed to guide​​ and accomplish the labor itself.” Again, these three giftings point us to Jesus Christ. Isaiah 11:1-2 says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on​​ him,​​ the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the​​ Lord.

Bezalel was also gifted with “all kinds of craftsmanship.” He would be able to make artistic designs for working in gold, silver, bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and any other craftsmanship that would be needed to accomplish his task. Bezalel, by the Spirit of God, became an expert in all the ways needed to build the tabernacle. As we have stated before, even the metals used in constructing the tabernacle points us to Christ. Gold speaks of the “divinity of Jesus” and “glorifying the Father” seen in John 10:30 which says, “I and the Father are one” and in John 17:4, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” Silver speaks of “redemption” and of course Jesus was the only one through whom our redemption could come. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

Bronze speaks of “divine judgment” and of course Jesus was the only one who could carry the weight and judgment of our sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” To “cut and set stones” also points us to Christ. The stones refer to the two stones which would be on the shoulders of the high priest’s ephod symbolizing the twelve tribes being carried on his shoulders into the presence of God as he interceded on their behalf. Jesus Christ is the one who now intercedes on our behalf before God. It also speaks to the twelve stones on the breast piece of the high priest. This symbolized that the high priest loved the​​ people of God and had their best interest at heart. This is true of Jesus as well.

Next, God, specifically mentions another person who would play a major role in the building of the tabernacle. The word, “behold,” is like the word “see” earlier in that what follows is important. God appoints Oholiab, son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan to assist Bezalel. Again, names are important. The name Oholiab means “the tent of the Father.” Isn’t that amazing? Oholiab’s name looked forward to him one day helping to construct the “tent” of the Lord in which He would dwell in among his people as they traveled through the wilderness. This name also points us to Christ as John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling (Greek, tented) among us.” And now today the Holy Spirit dwells inside of every Christ-follower. This was all foreshadowed by the person God appointed to assist Bezalel. Oholiab’s father’s name is also interesting. The name Ahisamach means “brother of support” which would refer to the fact that Oholiab was a fellow-helper to Bezalel in the work of the tabernacle.

We see the sovereignty of God in His choices of these two men. Oholiab was from the tribe of Dan, the smallest of the Israelite tribes and when Jacob blessed him, he called him a “snake by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.” This refers to the tribe of Dan being involved in apostasy and idolatrous worship. Judah was arguably the most influential tribe in that Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. Also, when the Israelites marched out at God’s command, the tribe of Judah led Israel, and the tribe of Dan brought up the rear. This signifies that all of Israel was represented in the work of building God’s “tent” and that God can use anyone and everyone He chooses and who submits to His calling on their lives. We see this truth in verse 6. These two men were not the only ones who worked and served to build the tabernacle and its furnishings, etc. There are others​​ who were not mentioned specifically but notice that God also gave them ability and skill to make everything He had commanded. They were divinely​​ empowered,​​ which was more than simply given skills. God put wisdom into those who already had wise minds meaning they were in tune with God’s desires and would make the right decisions and choices.

This is all true for us as well. God has given us abilities and talents at birth. As Christ-followers, we have been gifted by the Holy Spirit with certain gifts that are to be used to serve the Lord and His people in the church. Also, God can use anyone and everyone he chooses but we must be willing to submit to Him and His calling on our lives. And He gives wisdom to those of us who are wise and in tune with His desires so we can make the right decisions and choices in furthering His kingdom on earth. (Big Idea) That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is​​ Submit to God’s​​ will​​ and​​ calling​​ on my life in order to​​ accomplish​​ the task He has for me.

That brings us to our second point,​​ Special Assignment, found in Exodus 31:7-11. This is what God’s Word says, “the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent—the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand—and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you.”

After the Lord informed Moses about the skilled craftsmen who would build the tabernacle, he reinformed Moses of the special assignment He called them to. This special assignment was to build His house, His “tent,” that the Lord would dwell in among His people. Talk about​​ honor​​ and a privilege. He is the one, true and living God and he deigned to come down from Heaven and dwell with His sinful creation. The building of this beautiful and magnificent structure was the most special of assignments. The Lord then listed the items again that were to be built, constructed, designed, etc. I am not going to go over them again, but I don’t want us to forget that everything listed points us back to Christ. The tabernacle points us to the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. The Ark of the Covenant points us to His throne in Heaven. The mercy seat points us to His grace. The lampstand points to Him being the “light of the world.” The table of the shewbread points to His provision. The bronze laver points us to His power to wash our sin away. The altar of burnt offering points us to His forgiveness and the altar of incense points us to His intercession for us before the Father.

An interesting thing that came up in the commentaries I wanted to pass on is in verse 10 that states, “and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests.” In the Hebrew these seem to be three separate phrases, and the first phrase may be speaking about the coverings for the different furnishings that were put on when traveling in the wilderness. These garments have not been mentioned yet in our narrative, but they seem to be alluded to here. Also, this section is framed by the words “Make as I have commanded you.” Everything to do with the tabernacle was divinely appointed beforehand. They were to exactly replicate God’s instructions to Moses. But most commentators believe there was a form and a function to the building of the tabernacle. God gave specific instructions about what He wanted but he also gave wisdom and discernment to the craftsmen and women doing the work.

If you remember, God did not give any dimensions for the bronze laver that the priests were to wash in before serving the Lord in the tabernacle and courtyard. I am sure that God gave Moses words and pictures to​​ guide him, but the craftsmen and women had freedom to take the materials, colors, shapes and sizes and create something beautiful, true, good and worthy of being the Lord’s “tent” and the items that went in it. In God’s sovereign control, everything was done exactly how God instructed. We can see this truth in the writing of God’s Word as well. 2 Timothy 3:16 says “all scripture is God-breathed” and 2 Peter 1:21 says that “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” God inspired men to write His desired​​ product, the Bible, but He clearly used the personalities and grammatical inclinations of the men who wrote. The same is true for the tabernacle.

But God had high standards. What they created had to be good and not idolatrous. What they created had to communicate the truth of God Himself. What they created had to be beautiful and artistic because they were made in the image of God. He is the epitome of perfect goodness, truth and beauty. Lastly, Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the craftsmen and women were obedient to the will of God. They did everything just as God commanded them to. This is seen in Exodus 39-40 where eighteen times it says they did “as the Lord commanded Moses.” Exodus 39:42-43 says, “The Israelites had done all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded.​​ So,​​ Moses blessed them.” And we know all this true because when the tabernacle was done and set up the Lord took up residence in it. Exodus 40:34 says, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” This would not have happened if they didn’t do everything “as the Lord commanded.”

I want to conclude by asking you this question. As we are all workmen and servants of God, given the task to Pursue, Grow and Multiply Disciple – which is the Great Commission, are you using your God-given gifts and abilities for His glory or your own? Listen to these two​​ contrasting illustrations from Ryken. First, when Henri Matisse completed his masterful paintings in the Chapel of the Rosary at Venice, he stepped back and proclaimed, “I did it for myself.” One of the Catholic sisters overheard him and immediately objected, “But you told me you were doing it for God.” “Yes,” Matisse replied, “but I am God.”

Second, Johann Sebastian Bach is famous for signing his works with the letters “sDg,” meaning soli Deo gloria—to God alone be the glory. This was a pious act. However, the important thing was not the letters Bach added to his music, but the notes themselves, which were a testimony to his faith in God. In the same way, every workman and woman whose gifts, abilities and talents are under the lordship of Jesus Christ will use them for God’s glory (Big Idea). Also, there is a warning coming for us in chapter 32, about who we are using our God-given gifts, abilities and talents for. In the next chapter, we will see how the Israelites, Aaron included, used their gifts to make a golden calf for idol worship. So again, will you use your gifts for God’s glory or for your own or Satan’s glory; will you use them for your own gratification or in service to the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength? That brings us to our second and last next step which is to​​ Use my God-given​​ gifts,​​ abilities​​ and​​ talents​​ for God’s glory and not my own.

As the praise team comes to lead in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let pray, Our Lord and our God, our Savior and King, we thank you for the privilege to read and study Your Word. Help us to obey its words and commands and trust in its promises so that we can serve you and others better as we live our lives in the world. Thank you for choosing and calling us into your service. Help us to daily submit to your will and rely on your Holy Spirit to accomplish the task you have for us. Thank you for the gifts, abilities and talents you’ve given to us, and help us to use them for your glory and not our own. We pray all this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: Glen S. Martin, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, ed. Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary (B&H Publishing Group, 2002), 132–133.

Closing: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 970.

 

 

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The Power to Change Your Life

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The Power to Change Your Life

 

Again,​​ Christ is Risen!​​ Hallelujah!​​ Welcome to the most wonderful celebration of the year. Today we celebrate together the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. More than two thousand years ago, God’s plan of redemption altered the world forever. The power of sin and death was broken through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ that first Easter. Death was defeated​​ and true life, God’s life triumphed. Today’s sermon is titled, “The Power to Change​​ Your​​ Life” and maybe you are thinking, “I don’t know if I have the power to change.” “I don’t know if I have the power to change my attitude or my outlook on life.” Or, “I don’t know if I have the strength to continue on in this marriage​​ or this job.” Or, “I don’t know if I have the ability to break this addiction.” Or, “I don’t know if I can truly forgive this person who has hurt me.” Or, “I don’t have the power to love my enemies.” “I don’t know if I have the power to live the life Jesus is calling me to live; I don’t know if I have the power to change my life.”​​ 

 

The good news today is that you don’t have the power to change and transform your life, to become a new creation, to live the life Jesus is calling you to live. That’s why we need a Savior! And that’s the good news of Easter! You may be wondering, “How is that good news?” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth in the flesh to live among us, to show us how to live. He then took our sins upon Himself and died for them on a cross, defeating the power that sin, and death had over us by raising from the dead three days later! And as a result of the resurrection, every person who has received Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior now has the power of God within them, not only to change their life but to live a victorious, abundant life.​​ That brings us to our big​​ idea this morning​​ that​​ God desires His people to live a victorious and abundant life.

 

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, a man who​​ persecuted​​ Christians and then experienced a radical life change through an encounter with Jesus, knew that his life depended on Jesus and the power of the​​ resurrection. Philippians 3:10​​ says,​​ “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection.” That was the goal of Paul’s life—to know Jesus and to know the power of His resurrection in his everyday life. Paul’s ability to get through every day was dependent on Jesus and His power living through him. And Paul wanted the same thing so badly for his friends as well. Ephesians 1:19–20​​ says, “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.”​​ 

 

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.”​​ Think about this! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead and now gives Him the ability and authority to rule over the universe is available to you and me. The Greek word for “power” is the word​​ dunamis​​ which is where we get the word for​​ dynamite. To have the power of​​ resurrection​​ in your life is to have dynamite power. And the Apostle Paul said, “I want to know it! Give me a piece of that! It’s my goal in life to know Christ and to know the power of His resurrection.” And he prayed that we would know it as well. The good news of Easter is that Jesus Christ not only died for your sins and offers you forgiveness today, but that same power that raised Him from the dead two thousand years ago is available to change your life right now.

 

So, what Is Resurrection Power?​​ It’s the Power to Cancel Out Your Past, Present, and Future Sins.​​ So many people walk through life carrying around the weight and burden of their past failures, their past mistakes, and their past sins. They become overwhelmed by regret over the past. When I​​ say,​​ “cancel out your past,” I’m not talking about denying it or saying it never happened.​​ Cancel​​ means to eliminate,​​ “to remove, or to delete.”​​ Have you ever gotten halfway through a project and thought, “Man, I wish I could start over; this is​​ not turning out the way that I had planned”? A lot of people feel that way about life. “I just wish that I could start over. I’ve made so many mistakes. There are so many failures, problems, and bad decisions, I​​ just wish I could hit the delete button and start over.”​​ 

 

Some people can’t seem to let go of their past, and as a result they let their past control their present and dictate their future. They live in a constant state of regret. They continually second-guess themselves because they’re tortured by painful memories. God says, “That’s unnecessary. You don’t have to walk around with a heavy load of guilt, old hurts, and painful memories.” You might be asking, “How can that be?” Paul says​​ in​​ Colossians 2:13–14, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.”​​ Let me say that again: Christ has done away with the record of charges against you by nailing it to the cross.​​ 

 

This verse says, “He forgave all our sins.” What is sin? Sin is an archery term.​​ It​​ doesn’t just mean to shoot and miss the target with our lives; it means to turn our backs and shoot in every direction​​ but at the​​ target. We completely ignore the true target of pleasing God with our lives, and​​ we set our sights on seductive targets that don’t save us or satisfy us; they​​ make​​ us feel miserable and empty. Here’s the good news: God offers complete forgiveness. He says that He cancels every record of the charges against​​ us,​​ and He forgives them all. The words that God uses in the Bible to describe how He forgives us are words like “blot out,” “wipe out,” “washed away,”​​ and​​ “canceled.”​​ 

 

That means our sins are not only forgiven,​​ but they are also​​ forgotten. That doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t know the sins that you’ve committed. It just means He didn’t come to rub them in; He came to rub them out. He didn’t come to condemn you; He came to change you by saving you from your sins. John 3:17​​ says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”​​ Do you remember the​​ toy,​​ Etch A Sketch,​​ growing up. You drew something with the knobs, and when you messed up, what did you do? You flipped it over and shook it to wipe the slate clean, and then you started over. The Bible says that God has the ability—because of the sacrifice of Jesus, His death and resurrection—to take​​ all​​ the messes and sins and regrets in your life and wipe them clean. That happens​​ now​​ we​​ trust​​ Him alone to be our Savior.​​ 

 

But it gets even better than that. In​​ Jeremiah 31:34 it says, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” That​​ must​​ be one of the most amazing verses in the whole Bible. God, who made the whole world and everything in it, chooses to forget your wrongs, your mistakes, your past failures, and your sins, and when you come to Him, confess your sins, and ask Him to forgive you, He cancels your past. For those of you who are here today and have received Christ at some point in your past but are limping through life in sin, the same thing applies. When you come back to Him and confess your sins and​​ ask Him to forgive you, He receives you, forgives you, wipes the slate clean, and cancels those sins off your record. How can God do this? What is the basis for this kind of forgiveness?​​ Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, one of the last​​ things​​ He said from the cross was, “It is finished.” In the Greek, those three words are actually one word. It literally means “paid in full.” Canceled! God says that’s what Jesus did on the cross—He paid for every sin you’ve ever committed. He stamps “paid in full” across each one. That’s why there is​​ now​​ no condemnation for you​​ because​​ He canceled our past sins,​​ failures and mistakes.​​ 

 

Resurrection Power is also the​​ Power to Give You a New Identity.​​ What’s an identity? An identity is something that defines you. In our culture, we define ourselves by our race, our religion, our political party affiliation, our sexual orientation, our gender. We find our identity in our occupation, our hobbies, or maybe where we went to school, or even in our looks, our clothes, or whom we are dating or married to. Sometimes people have a hidden identity that shapes their lives and their decisions—an addiction; a weight issue; a health issue; living with the label “adopted,” “divorced,” or “poor”; or maybe they don’t feel very​​ smart,​​ or they feel unwanted or unloved.​​ How we identify ourselves​​ is​​ so much about what we do or what we’ve done, our successes and failures,​​ or​​ what others have done to us.​​ 

 

The resurrection brought with it the power to change all of that! Because Jesus conquered sin and death, we don’t have to be defined any longer by our sinful failures, our past mistakes, or even what others think about us. Our identities can now be shaped by God’s success in conquering our sinful failures and His ability to give us new life. When we come to God​​ and put our faith in Jesus Christ alone as our personal​​ Lord and​​ Savior and receive His gift of salvation, God​​ calls us a​​ friend of God, blessed, loved, new creation, saint, disciple . . . and​​ a child of God.​​ John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”​​ We are children of God! Out of His grace, He has adopted us into His family and says, “You are My child;​​ Call Me Father! That’s your new identity.”​​ We are His, and He is ours!​​ 

 

You may be thinking, “How do I know that this is true?”​​ 2 Corinthians 1:22 says, “And he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees​​ everything,​​ he has promised us.” What this means is that you can let go of any image of yourself that is not from God. You can stop accepting what others have said about you, how others have labeled you, how you have labeled yourself, and how others have defined you. And you can start believing what God says about you—that​​ you are His​​ child,​​ and He is your Father. That’s how He defines you! When you are a child of God, you are not defined by your feelings. You’re not defined by the opinions of others or by your circumstances. You’re not defined by your successes and failures. You’re not defined by the car you drive, the money you make, or the house you own. You are defined by God and God alone—and He identifies you as His own! The thing is, if you don’t know who you are, you’re vulnerable to other people telling you who you are.​​ But here’s the truth:​​ “You are who God says you are, and no else gets to have a say in the matter.” Tim Keller​​ says,​​ “The only person in the universe whose opinion counts looks at me and He finds me more valuable than all the jewels in creation.”​​ Because of the power of the resurrection, you are now identified with​​ Christ,​​ and you have the power of the Holy Spirit within you. He has given you a new identity.​​ 

Next,​​ Resurrection Power​​ is​​ the Power to Fill You with Strength to Face the Challenges of Each Day.​​ Here’s one of the most powerful truths you will ever hear about Jesus: We are not only saved by His death, but we are also saved by His life. That means that​​ the​​ risen Jesus lives inside of us by His Holy Spirit. His divinity inhabits your humanity! That means you can face each day in the strength of​​ the​​ risen Savior. Regardless of what happens to you, whatever difficulties you might face, whatever curveball life may throw at you, you have the power to stand in there and face it. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Think of the prospect of having​​ the​​ risen Jesus living His life out through your life. The possibilities are endless!​​ 

 

Life is​​ unpredictable. One minute you feel like you’re sailing along and everything is going fine, and the next moment you’re dealing with a crisis. Life is full of stress, heartache, disappointments, setbacks, trials, and tragedies. How in the world can we face these twists and turns, these roadblocks, or even these life-altering dead ends? It’s the power of​​ the​​ risen Christ in our lives sustaining us through His Holy Spirit and carrying us with His grace and power.​​ Romans 8:11​​ says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”​​ That means the Holy Spirit of God, the One who was involved in creation, the One who came upon the disciples at Pentecost like a mighty rushing wind, the One who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, has been given to you for daily life!​​ 

In “Miracles of Courage,”​​ Monica Dickens,​​ tells the story of David, a​​ 2-year-old​​ with leukemia,​​ who​​ was taken by his​​ mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to see Dr. John Truman. Dr. Truman​​ specializes in treating children with cancer and various blood​​ diseases​​ and his​​ prognosis​​ of a 50-50 chance​​ was devastating.​​ The countless clinic visits, the blood tests, the intravenous drugs, the fear and pain​​ were almost too much to bear. And the mother's ordeal can be almost as bad as the child's because she must stand by, unable to bear the pain herself. ​​ 

 

When he was three, David had to have a spinal tap--a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to him that, because he was sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. "If it hurts, remember it's because he loves you," Deborah said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still, while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped, "Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting."​​ Imagine that was your child, going through cancer at age 2,​​ with​​ all the testing, treatments, etc. How could you endure? How could David or your child be able to thank the doctors even though they were hurting him? You would have the power to go from suffering to victory because Jesus Christ conquered the grave and​​ His​​ “sustaining grace” power​​ would be there to carry you and your family through whatever life throws at you. It would be there to carry you​​ through every​​ twist and turn​​ and​​ would​​ continue to​​ be there in the future.

 

Here’s a great promise: The Bible tells us that we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. And that nothing—not trouble or hardship or danger—will be able to separate you from that love of Jesus! Romans 8:38–39 says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”​​ How can that be?​​ It’s because we serve a resurrected Savior who still operates in​​ resurrection power! And He promises to fill you with that same power to give you strength to face the challenges of each day.​​ 

 

So what does the resurrection mean to you today? For some people, it’s just an ancient event.​​ For others they’ve​​ been to the tomb, and nobody’s home. He’s not there. Christ is alive! Many of you are desperate to make a change in your life. Because He is alive, He gives you the power to change. He will give you the power to get started, and He’ll give you the power to keep going. But here’s the truth: You can’t do it in your own strength. You don’t have the power to do it on your own. You were made to depend on Jesus!​​ Some of you​​ may feel you can’t​​ let go of your past failures and mistakes​​ and for you​​ Jesus Christ offers forgiveness. He promises to cancel your sins and wipe them off your record. He offers you a chance to start over!​​ 

 

Some of you​​ may feel like a failure, a loser, or a has-been. Maybe your identity is wrapped up in what you have done or what has been done to you. God offers you the chance to have a new identity. He wants to bring you into His family and give you a new title—accepted, forgiven,​​ a​​ beloved child of God. Some of you​​ may​​ feel powerless over the challenges you are facing right now. What if you had the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, giving you peace, giving you strength, giving you the power to face those issues head-on—the power to change your situation? The resurrection means that no situation is too hopeless! No problem is too big for Jesus! He’s still in the resurrection business—and He has the power to change your life!​​ 

 

Today, if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, this could be the day of your salvation. If you are feeling prompted by God, this morning, knowing you need to make a change in your life. You’ve been​​ trying to live this life without Jesus and it’s not working. You can accept Him as your Lord and Savior by admitting you are a sinner, believing that Jesus came to earth, died on the cross for your sins and was buried and raised again, and by confessing Jesus as Lord of your life. If you take this next step, Romans 10:9 says, “you will be saved.”

That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to​​ Admit I am sinner, believe that Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again and confess Jesus as Lord of my life.

 

If you are already a born-again Christ-follower, maybe you​​ still​​ struggle with your identity and letting​​ go of your past failures and mistakes.​​ Today can be the day you accept the fact that you are a child of God and start to live in the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you. That brings us to the​​ other​​ next step, this morning, which is to​​ Accept my identity as a child of God and live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray:​​ Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name,​​ we worship you today for your love for us that sent your one and only Son to earth to live as we do, and then to die on a cross for our sins and be raised after three days. We worship you for giving us a new identity as your children.​​ Lord, help us to live in the gladness and grace​​ of Easter Sunday, every day.​​ Give us​​ hearts of thankfulness​​ for your sacrifice.​​ Let us have eyes that look upon​​ Your grace and rejoice in our salvation.​​ Help us to walk in that mighty grace​​ and tell your good news to the world.​​ All for your​​ honor, praise and​​ glory. Amen.

 

​​ Used by permission West Ridge Church, Dallas, Georgia

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Sniff Test

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Sniff Test

William Wilberforce was a member of British parliament in the late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth century. He was a devout, Bible-believing Christian who also fought vigorously against slavery. He was friends with William Pitt, who was the prime minister at the time, who was, at best, a nominal Christian, which means he was a Christian in name only. One of Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ favorite stories to tell was about one time when William Wilberforce brought his friend William Pitt to hear the preaching of the eminent evangelical preacher, Richard Cecil. Lloyd-Jones tells the story of their different responses to Cecil’s preaching of the gospel. Lloyd-Jones says, “Richard Cecil preached and expounded the glories of the kingdom of God and the relationship of the child of God to the Father, and Wilberforce was in ecstasy, rejoicing, reveling in this glorious truth, and he was wondering what was happening to Pitt.” At the end of the service, they walked out, and we can imagine what Wilberforce was wondering: “What an amazing sermon. I wonder what the Lord is doing in William Pitt’s life. I hope he is listening.” And so, Wilberforce was longing to hear the report and he did not have long to wait. Lloyd-Jones says, “Just as they got outside the vestibule, Pitt turned to Wilberforce—who had been so ravished by the exposition of the truth of God—and said, ‘I didn’t understand a word of what that man was talking about, what was it?’”

In preaching the gospel, Richard Cecil set forth the aroma of Christ. And this aroma was the fragrance of life to William Wilberforce. And yet that same word was the smell of death to William Pitt. The same is true today. There are some who hear the Word of God and the name of Jesus Christ and cherish it, appreciate it and apply it to their lives. To them it is the fragrance of life. Then there are others who hear the Word of God and the name of Jesus Christ and remain indifferent to it. They remain dead in their transgressions and sins. They may even revile it, mock it and reject it. To them it is the fragrance of death.

This morning, we are in Exodus 30:22-38, and it’s all about smells. We will study the aroma of holiness and what that smells like and then we will study the aroma of prayer and what that smells like. These smells are the fragrances of life. But the opposite is true too. If we are indifferent or opposed to striving for holiness and indifferent or opposed to prayer then those smells will be the fragrance of death. In 2 Corinthians 2, the apostle Paul uses a metaphor for the procession, the celebration, that would take place in the streets of Rome after a major military victory over a foreign foe. In the procession, the conquering general would bring up the rear and before him priests would swing their censers with sweet-smelling incense burning in them and the savor would permeate the street. The aroma would be a welcoming fragrance for the returning victorious soldiers. But for the wretched, defeated captives, many of whom were being led to their own execution, that same aroma would be the smell of death.

The question, this morning, is “how do you smell?” Do you smell like the fragrance of life? Do you smell like Jesus? Or do you smell like the fragrance of death. This morning, we want to take a “sniff test” of ourselves as it pertains to holiness and prayer in our lives. God wants us to smell like Jesus. He wants us to strive for holiness and he wants us to come into His presence with the appropriate prayer life. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires His people to be the aroma of Christ.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity and privilege to be in your house this morning. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we learn from your Word today. We thank you for your desire to reveal your heart and your Word to us. We humbly ask that you give us insight and wisdom, to heed the warnings, to claim your promises and to follow the principles in it. Help us to be willing to align our hearts with yours and to be obedient. Help us to grow in our faith and in our love for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point is the Aroma of Holiness, found in Exodus 30:22-33. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus, 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law, the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy. “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. Do not pour it on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from their people.’”

Just like last week, we start out with the phrase, “Then the Lord said to Moses.” Again, it is its own verse and is significant because God is finishing something in order to start something new. He wants us to take notice and to pay attention to what He is about to say, because He doesn’t want us to miss it. We notice that the instructions for the anointing oil are broken down in three parts. First, instructions are given for making the oil. Second, instructions are given for the authorized uses for the oil. And third, there are warnings given for the unauthorized use of the oil. In order to make the oil, Moses is to take four specific spices and olive oil and make it into a sacred anointing oil through the work of a perfumer. Now this doesn’t mean that Moses is going to make the sacred oil, but he is to supervise the making of it. We will learn in chapter 31 that God has chosen Bezalel and filled him with the Spirit of God and given him skill, ability and knowledge to make everything God commanded Moses to make. And He has appointed Oholiab and other craftsmen, whom He has given skill to help Bezalel. Moses will supervise to make sure the work is done to God’s exact specifications.

We are given the exact spices and the exact weight of each spice that is to be used to make the anointing oil. It consisted of five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant cinnamon, two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant calamus or cane and five hundred shekels of cassia. These ingredients were then mixed with a hin of olive oil. Five hundred shekels amounted to approximately 13 pounds and a hin, a measure of volume, amounted to approximately a gallon. When we add up the dry ingredients, we come up with approximately 39 pounds that would have been mixed with a gallon of olive oil.

These spices are described as “fine” meaning they were of the best quality. Nothing but the best was good enough for God’s sacred anointing oil. Liquid myrrh was a resin that came from the bark of a southern Arabian tree. The cinnamon was a very rare and highly prized fragrance that came from the bark of small trees imported from Ceylon and India. The fragrant calamus or cane also came from India but was grown in Arabia and Syria. Cassia was a coarser kind of cinnamon that also came from the bark of a tree. All thirty-nine pounds of these spices would be blended together by a professional perfumer to make the sacred anointing oil. The perfumer would have taken these dry ingredients and steeped them in the olive oil, possibly by heating them, so the spices were absorbed into the oil. The oil was then pressed out of the mixture, retaining the aroma of the spices. The relatively small amount of oil became the sacred anointing oil.

The oil was sacred and holy because it was set apart by God for His special use. It would be used to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils and the basin with its stand. A few drops would have been sprinkled on the surface of each item, consecrating them and making them most holy and set apart for God’s use. “Most holy” refers to anything that has been consecrated for the purpose of worship in the Lord’s presence. Once these items were consecrated, the NIV says, “that whatever touched them would be holy.” Now holiness is not contagious. For instance, Aaron, once consecrated and set apart as holy, wouldn’t be able to pass his holiness onto his sons. They needed to be consecrated themselves to be holy. What this phrase means is that now that these items were consecrated and made holy, only holy people and other holy things, who had been consecrated and set apart, could touch them. ​​ 

Next, Moses was to anoint Aaron and his sons using the sacred anointing oil, so they could serve the Lord as priests. Once they were anointed, they were holy and allowed to enter the Tabernacle and use the holy things in the worship of the Lord. Moses was to tell the Israelites that this sacred blend of anointing oil was God’s for the generations to come, meaning it was specially dedicated for use only in the Lord’s house, and that could not be altered for as long as God said it was so. And because the oil was the Lord’s, there were restrictions placed on it. First, it was not to be poured on men’s bodies, meaning it could not be used on ordinary people. It could only be used on those who would be consecrated as priests. Second, the people were not to make any oil with the same formula. Now this didn’t mean that the people couldn’t make oil with the same exact ingredients, it meant that they couldn’t make oil with the same exact ingredients and same exact measurements. They were to respect the sacred anointing oil and the things that God had set apart as holy.

This oil would be the sweetest smelling stuff because it was God’s sacred oil made with his special blend. Because of how sweet it smelled; we can understand why others would want to copy it for themselves. But this was prohibited and could only be used for His purposes. It would have been a serious affront to God to make this sacred oil for personal use, so he warned them that anyone who duplicated it and or put it on anyone other than a priest would suffer the consequences. The consequences were severe because of the lack of proper respect for the commands and Presence of the Lord. The consequences for that person were to be “cut off from his people.” The punishment was up to the Lord’s discretion and could have meant excommunication or even death.

The incense was symbolic of holiness as it was used to set apart the Tabernacle, all its furnishings and their accessories, etc. and Aaron and his sons. We have also been consecrated as holy because of the righteousness of Christ and set apart to be the Lord’s royal priesthood. Being set apart by God should cause us to strive for holiness and living holy lives. So, the question is, when it comes to holiness, do you smell like Jesus? Do you have the aroma of Christ permeating from you? Here is the “sniff test.” First, holiness is expensive. Just like the sacred anointing oil was expensive to make, living holy lives is costly. It means treasuring Christ more than anything else in our lives and surrendering our lives completely to him. It means taking up our cross, dying to self and offering our lives as living sacrifices. And when we as a body of believers all strive for holiness together, the expense is shared among us all, as we exhort and encourage each other in the pursuit of holiness.

Second, holiness is extensive. When the tabernacle and all its furnishings and accessories were anointed, the smell would have permeated the entire place and even outside in the courtyard. The aroma was intentional and was symbolic of the pleasantness that worship was to the Lord. When we all are striving for holiness together, our worship is pleasing to God. And we show the world how beautiful and sweet smelling the aroma of Christ is. And the hope is they want the aroma of Christ in their lives as well. Third, holiness is exclusive. No imitations were allowed and His sacred oil was to be used exclusively for the Tabernacle and the priests officiating there. Anyone who sought to duplicate it and or use it for themselves in any way would be “cut off” from his people. God was and is serious about His holiness and ours as well. When we are living holy lives, our worship of the Lord will be authentic, our worship will be focused on God alone and our worship will be done in Spirit and in truth.

When that happens in our body here at Idaville Church, our fellowship and worship together will be special, we will be humble before the Lord and will have the aroma of Christ permeating from us. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 says, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” So, do you pass the holiness ‘sniff’ test? Are you daily taking up your cross and following Jesus and treasuring Christ above all else? Are you doing your part in this body of believers to make sure that the aroma of Christ permeates every square inch of our worship and service? Are you serious about authentic worship and prayer? These are heart and attitude issues that must reflect the mind and heart of Christ. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Strive for a holiness that is expensive, extensive and exclusive before the Lord.

That brings us to our second point, The Aroma of Prayer, found in Exodus 30:34-38. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the Lord. Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from their people.”

Again, we see the phrase, “Then the Lord said to Moses.” This time it is not its own verse, and in the Hebrew, it is a little different from verse 22. The difference is that this section on incense is a continuation of the section on anointing oil. They are connected and we are, again, to listen up because God has something else important to say. Again, Moses is to take another four specific spices and make a fragrant blend of incense through the work of a perfumer. Moses will again supervise Bezalel, Oholiab and the other craftsmen as they prepare the incense, and he will make sure the work is done to God’s exact specifications.

Again, we see the same pattern as the oil. First, there are the preparations to make the incense. Second, the authorized uses for it. And third, the warnings for unauthorized use of it. The four spices, gum resin, onycha, galbanum and pure frankincense were to be blended into a fragrant blend of incense using the same amounts of each spice. It was then to be salted and pure and sacred. We aren’t told how much of each spice was to be used only that the amounts were to be equal. Gum resin or “stacte” refers to resin droplets from a shrub. Onycha was part of a shellfish which gave off a pungent odor when burned. Galbanum is an aromatic gum resin made from several Asian plants. Its own odor is not very pleasant but when mixed with other spices, it enhances their fragrance. Pure frankincense is a fragrant, milky resin made from several related varieties of tree found in southern Arabia.

The use of salt could have been for a couple of reasons. It could have been used as a preservative when making large quantities of incense. It may have been used to make the incense burn quicker and brighter. It could also have been symbolic of the binding and permanent covenant between the Lord and His people. Leviticus 2:13 says, “Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.” Or the reason for the salt could be for all of the above. Once the batch of incense was prepared, a portion of it would be very finely ground and placed in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where God would meet with Moses. The Testimony refers to the Ark of the Testimony or Covenant that sat behind the curtain in the Holy of Holies. If you remember a couple of weeks ago, we studied the altar of incense which was in the Holy Place. In 30:6, we are told that the “altar was in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony – before the atonement cover that is over the Testimony.” Most scholars agree that this is saying that the very finely ground incense was then put on the altar of incense, probably in a censer on top of it, where it would be burned by the priest, before the Lord.

This incense was to be considered most holy to the Israelites. Interestingly, the anointing oil is only called sacred, even though the Tent of Meeting, the furnishings and their accessories will be “most holy” once they are consecrated. This difference is probably due to the incense itself being closer to the Lord as he dwelt in the Holy of Holies. No one was allowed to make incense using the same formula because it was holy to the Lord and set apart to be used for His purposes alone. Again, we see pretty much the same warning attached to the incense as to the anointing oil. Whoever made incense like the Lord’s must be “cut off from his people.” They weren’t allowed to make this fragrance in order to enjoy it for themselves. ​​ Again, the consequences of being “cut off” was subject to the discretion of the Lord, either excommunication or death. When we studied the altar of incense, we learned that it was the place of prayer. It was where Aaron would go to speak and meet with God and bring the intercessions of God’s people before Him. The incense was symbolic of the sweet-smelling prayers of God’s people as the smoke of the incense rose to heaven. So, the question is, when it comes to your prayer life, do you smell like Jesus? Do you have the aroma of Christ permeating from you? Here is the prayer “sniff test.”

First, our prayers should be pleasurable to the Lord. Are our prayers selfish and self-centered? Or are our prayers saturated with Christ? If they are, they will have a pleasing aroma to the Lord as they rise to heaven, just like the incense burnt on the altar in the Holy Place. We must also pray in Jesus’ name and according to the passion of the Lord. What is the passion of the Lord? The passion of the Lord is that His name will be glorified to all nations. Second, are our prayers costly to us? Again, the incense was expensive and not easily acquired. It is interesting that the place where the incense was burnt, and intercession was made is called an altar. For our prayers to be acceptable to God, sacrifice needs to be made, and a cost needs to be paid. Our acceptable prayers should be a sacrifice. We have already talked about, without Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we could not come into the presence of God in prayer. But we also must sacrifice our time, our desires and our plans for our prayers to be acceptable to the Lord. We must pray according to the will of God, not our own will. We must pray for the desires of God’s heart, not for the desires of our own hearts. And we must spend much time in prayer and pray without ceasing. Our prayer life should have the proper attitude and lifestyle of prayer. Third, our prayers should prioritize God. The priority of our prayers should be for and to God alone. Our prayers must not draw attention to ourselves, and they must be sincere.

So do you pass the prayer “sniff” test? Are your prayers pleasurable to the Lord? Are your prayers acceptable to God through your sacrifice and their costliness? Are your prayers prioritizing God and His glory? That brings us to our second next step on the back of your communication card which is to Strive for my prayers to be pleasurable to the Lord, a costly sacrifice for me and prioritized to and for God alone.

John Currid illustrates the aroma of Christ in an exchange from the life of the famous British general Charles George Gordon, who put down the rebellion at Taiping. As Currid explains, “The government wanted to reward him with money and titles, but he refused all those honors. He was finally persuaded to accept a medal inscribed with his various military engagements. After his death, this medal could not be found. He had had it melted down and the proceeds given to the poor children of Manchester during a particularly severe famine. He wrote in his diary the following words, “The last and only thing I have in this world that I value I have given over to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

What do you have that is of any value? You have your time and talents, you have your money and possessions, your labor and leisure. You have your pursuit of holiness and your prayer life. Whatever you have belongs to Jesus—who bought you by his blood—and it should be consecrated for his use and service. Will you take the last and only things you have in this world and use them for his glory? Will you strive to be holy as God is holy? Will you strive to pray like Jesus prayed? If you will, then you will smell like Jesus and the aroma of Christ will permeate your life. If every one of us in this place this morning will strive for the holiness of God and strive to pray as Jesus prayed, our church will smell like Jesus and the aroma of Christ will permeate this place and our community around us. I hope and pray that it will be so. ​​ 

As Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and as the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Our Lord and our God, in Jesus’s name, we thank you for being with us this morning as we have gathered to worship you. We give you all honor, glory and praise for who you are and for what you have done for us. Holy Spirit, we ask that you would help us to have the aroma of Christ permeate our lives and spread to those we come in contact with. Help us to strive for a holiness that is expensive, extensive and exclusive before you Lord. And help our prayer life to be pleasurable to you, a costly sacrifice for us and prioritized to and for you alone. We give you all glory, honor and praise. Amen.

Opening: https://gracevalley.org/sermon/the-aroma-of-christ/

Closing: Ryken’s Commentary on Exodus

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