Hi everyone,Here is the latest installment of our journey through the Bible.
1) The people start to grumble... I'll never forget telling some group at church that the people of God in all ages always seem to be the most blessed in terms of spiritual blessings bestowed.. and yet, for whatever reason, they are always so prone to grumbling and complaining! But here again, we see that God continues to provide his people with gifts for their survival, and yet the complain that it's not enough. They even wish they had been back in Egypt rather than wandering around in the desert to die!
So God sends them quail to eat at night and manna during the day. You may be asking "What is manna?" Well, funny you should say that, because that's what manna means: "What is it?!" It is interesting that the word used is of Arabic origin, meaning "plant lice," which could also refer to the modern scholarly theory that manna is actually "honeydew" produced when insects eat certain vegetation. There are some other theories about this, but whatever the case, God provides these people with food that looks like a coriander seed and tastes like honey wafers.
2) All is well, but now the people are thirsty... "Give us water!" Moses says, "Why are you complaining to me? Why do you put God to the test?" Then he calls to God ask for help, asking, essentially, "Why did you stick me with these people? They're about ready to stone me!" If you're a pastor, or you've spent enough time working in/with a church, this scene should make you chuckle because of its sheer familiarity.
3) The scene with Moses' arms raised... that makes me chuckle. When they got tired, they propped a stone underneath his arms. haha... it's the original "Touchdown Moses."
4) The Jethro scene... this is an interesting story about how Moses was overworked as the mediator between God and humans. So Jethro suggests that Moses teach the people the laws, and that he appoint judges to be mediators for the people. It is a lesson to me about making sure that I divide up the work of God among other capable people, so that their gifts may be best used to glorify Him and that His people might be edified.
5) The Lord is coming... down among the people to consecrate them as His people, that is. He has come to make them a "royal priesthood, a holy nation" through their observance of His covenant. The purpose here is crucial to understand: if Israel will obey the Lord's commands and observe His covenant, they will be a light to the nations. They will be a holy priesthood, through whom the whole world will have access again to God. In essence, what we Christians believe Jesus did for us in gaining access to the Father, is exactly what God wanted Israel to be for the nations. Although they often failed at living up to this, God finally fulfilled it through Jesus Christ, their descendent, who is declared to be the Son of David and the Son of God.
6) So they must prepare themselves for the occasion - do the laundry, etc. What's funny is that Moses adds something (or so it seems) to the list of things to abstain from: "sexual relations" (or "going near a woman"). I find it interesting that this is the case, as sex between a married couple would not be something I (or many other Christians) consider dirty. I'm still not saying it is - but it is interesting that this passage would have us believe that it would prevent us from entering God's presence with a clear conscience.
7) Also, it's interesting to me that the period of consecration is three days... God seems to like the number three a lot. When God does appear, notice how he shows up... A great cloud, thunder and lightning, the trumpet blast, a ton of smoke, and the Lord descended with fire. This is really quite an image of the power and majesty of God. We don't often think of God in this way, but as much as God is loving and relational, God is also a powerful God who rides on the winds of the storm (Nahum 1:3). It's also important to note what the Book of Hebrews says about this image (Hebrews 12:18 and following), contrasting it with the new reality is that is in Christ. So I believe that God is to be revered and worshipped, but is not someone of whom we who have been called should be "afraid." God is powerful, but God is loving, and in Christ, we have been saved from His wrath so as to stand in the majesty of His presence without fear, but with reverence, respect, and filled with awe.
8) The point of the Ten Commandments and the laws ... I don't know if I believe that these laws were ever meant to be Israel's salvation. I tend to believe heavily that the laws of God were meant to reveal what God's righteous character looked like, to reveal to Israel their dependence upon God for their salvation, to rightly order their lives as a covenant community and nation, and finally that these are guidelines for a proper relationship with God. All of these ten sum up the whole law: the first four are about our relationship with God, the last six are about our relationships with others. In the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition, our confessions will take each of these commandments and expands them, helping us see what they forbid and giving us a positive way of living in light of them. I at times disagree with the writers in the past assumed were sins forbidden based on these commands (i.e. the treatment of music and art based on the second commandment, the regulative principle of worship, etc.)
9) Then God sends the fire and thunder and lightning again... and the people are scared. They ask Moses to stop God from speaking to them. Moses says, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." I really need to ponder the point of all this - why are the people so afraid of God and Moses is calm, cool and collected?
10) Then God starts to declare to the people his laws... and notice how many things result in death! These are most definitely the civil implications for the nation, and not punishments that would carry over to this day. For instance, "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." But Jesus will contrast this in Matthew 5:38-40, where He says, "But I tell you, do not resist and evil person. If he strikes you on the cheek, turn to him your other also." I remain convicted that God calls us to refrain from violence against one another based on Jesus' saying in the Gospel. Again, these laws seem very harsh at times, but as Christians, we must focus on the general principles we see displayed here. As we will see in time, not all of these laws carry over into the New Testament based on what the NT writers and Jesus say to us about them. And as Christians, we see the Old Testament (in terms of application) through the eyes of the New Testament. But we will turn to this in time...
Well, that's all for today. Hope it is a good one!
In Christ,
Pastor Nathan
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