God's Commands Don't Change (W.o.W. Rewind)

 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.'"

Exodus 8:20

This is the same command God has been giving to Pharaoh since chapter five. Over and over again God has sent Moses to Pharaoh and had him say essentially the same thing. “Let my people go so they may worship me.” This is the fourth time now that Pharaoh has been given this command, and he will receive it several more times still.

This tells us something about God. His commands don’t change because of our disobedience. Even when you disobey, God keeps commanding obedience. It doesn’t matter how long you have been disobeying Him either. You may have been living with your girlfriend or boyfriend for years, you may have been abusing alcohol for decades, you may be fully addicted to pornography. That won't change God's command. Over and over again, each day God confronts you with the very same commands He has always given you. Keep the marriage bed pure (Hebrews 13:4). Don’t be drunk with wine (Ephesians 5:18). Don’t look lustfully at someone you aren’t married to (that's a paraphrase of Matthew 5:28). 

In the same way that God confronts Pharaoh with a familiar command in this passage, God is confronting some of you in your heart right now with a command He has given you many times before. What command of God are you ignoring? Which of His commands haunt you and meet you every morning when you get out of bed? You’ve felt convicted about it for a long time but until now you haven’t obeyed. It’s time. Don't bargain with God or negotiate. Don't try to wriggle out of it. God's commands don't change. Do what Pharaoh never did. Humble yourself under God's command and offer full and whole-hearted obedience. If you don’t, trouble will follow you.

Giving Up Our Mirrors (W.o.W. Rewind)

They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Exodus 38:8

This isn't a passage of Scripture that you are likely to be very familiar with. It's buried well into a sixteen-chapter section of Exodus that deals almost exclusively with the minutia of the tabernacle including lengthy discussions on the dimensions and details of the tent, its posts, its coverings, and all its furnishings and their utensils. In fact, the only reason you would likely come across this passage is if you were working through a Bible reading plan that requires you to read the entire Bible. Yet, I always find that the Holy Spirit mines treasures out of the depths of Scripture when I really dig into it. And that proves true here. 

In keeping with the Lord's command, the Israelites had taken up a love offering to gather all the materials needed to construct their place of worship. In this section of Scripture, we find out how much gold they collected, how much silver, how much bronze, and how much of all the other necessary materials as well. But no other individual or group is specifically credited for their gift like these women are. Why? What made their gift worthy of special mention?

First, it was costly. A mirror would have been a prized possession for women living in a desert. It's not like there were pools of water around that they could see their reflection in! It is also entirely possible that the only valuables these women owned were their jewelry and these mirrors. Without the ability to work and make money, this was a financially costly gift as well. And assuming that these women didn't own multiple mirrors, this meant that they would be considerably less able to manage and check their appearance. Can you imagine the possibility of living completely without mirrors for the rest of your life? So, it cost them something to give away this comfort and this control. 

Second, it was a wise gift. Many of the pagan religions of the day encouraged their worshipers to engage in sexual acts with temple prostitutes as an expression of worship to their false gods. In that cultural context it isn't difficult to imagine how people could get the wrong idea about these women who were standing at the entrance to the tabernacle, especially if they were beautifully dressed and attractively groomed. By giving their mirrors to the Lord, these women were committing to avoid allowing their presence at the tabernacle to turn into something unholy.

For you and I these women provide an example to follow. When was the last time you gave an offering to the Lord that was costly? When was the last time you gave until it hurt? Consider making a love offering to the Lord. Consider giving something or fasting from something that will help safeguard you from falling into some sin or excess in your life.

This Changes Everything

This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 

Exodus 12:2-3

For the Hebrew slaves, this first Passover changed everything! It changed their future, it changed their identity, and it even changed their calendar!

Let’s start with their future. Imagine that you are one of these Hebrew slaves. All your life, all you have known is forced labor. You have scars from the whip on your back and callouses on your hands from making bricks. Your clothes are torn. Your house and belongings are meagre. On the night of Passover as you lay your head down on your pillow, you’re a slave, but by morning you will walk out of Egypt a free man or woman headed for the Promised Land. Talk about an overnight sensation! Can you imagine? Everything about their situation and their future prospects changed in a single night.

So the Passover changed their future, but it also changed their identity. This is the night the nation of Israel was born. Don’t forget that when Israel went down to Egypt they were a family of only about 70 people. While they were in Egypt they were just slaves identified by their common ethnicity. But on the night of Passover they went from being a bunch of slaves to being a nation… a people… God’s people, purchased and redeemed by Him. The family that entered Egypt with seventy people, walked out of Egypt armed for battle like a nation of probably about 2 million people.

So Passover changed their future and it changed their identity, but it also changed their calendar. God tells them that this moment is so significant that even the way they reckon time should be reoriented around it. From now on this will be the first month of the year for Israel, and He commands them to begin making preparations to celebrate Passover on the 10th day of the month. Why? I suppose because this was the tenth plague. The Passover itself would be celebrated on the 14th day of the month and it would begin a seven day feast called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was their new year. Every year began with a reminder of who they were and what God had done for them. 

This is instructive for us because as Christians we have also experienced a life-altering event. You see the Exodus is a picture of Christian salvation. Just as Israel was enslaved in wicked Egypt, every single one of us was enslaved in this wicked world. They were enslaved to Egyptians, we were enslaved to sin and our own fleshly desires. But a Deliverer came for Israel and a Deliverer has come for us as well. 

And what was the means of their ultimate redemption? It was the blood of a lamb. A lamb died in their place and its blood was applied on the doorpost as a covering over their families. It is the same with us. We deserve death and judgment, every single one of us, and the only way that we can be spared this fate is by the blood of the lamb being applied to our lives. Jesus became the Passover lamb, without spot or blemish (without sin), slain in the midst of Passover week. But His blood must be applied to your life personally. The Israelites had to take the blood and apply it to their doorposts, you have to apply it to your heart. They did it with a bunch of hyssop and a basin. You must do it through belief and prayer. When a person does this, when they place their faith in Jesus and His blood is applied to their lives… it changes everything. 

Our future is changed. Israel was headed for a promised land and so are we. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. Not only our future but our identity has been changed as well. When you got saved you went from being an enemy of God to being a son or daughter of God. Your salvation was your entrance into a new nation, a new kingdom, a new people, God’s people. And all of this, whether you realize it or not, reoriented your calendar as well. The Israelites shifted their annual calendar in response to Passover. Christians shift our weekly calendar to reflect what Jesus has done. Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Sabbath on Saturday. That’s the day they would have gone to the synagogue. Why do we meet on Sunday mornings? Because it was early on the first day of the week, that Jesus was raised from the dead. It was on a Sunday morning that Jesus won the victory over the Enemy, and beat the power of death and opened up a way of salvation for us. So we reorient our weekly calendar around that monumental event, and our whole lives ought to be reoriented around it as well.

God's Commands Don't Change

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.'"

Exodus 8:20

This is the same command God has been giving to Pharaoh since chapter five. Over and over again God has sent Moses to Pharaoh and had him say essentially the same thing. “Let my people go so they may worship me.” This is the fourth time now that Pharaoh has been given this command, and he will receive it several more times still.

This tells us something about God. His commands don’t change because of our disobedience. Even when you disobey, God keeps commanding obedience. It doesn’t matter how long you have been disobeying Him either. You may have been living with your girlfriend or boyfriend for years, you may have been abusing alcohol for decades, you may be fully addicted to pornography. It doesn’t matter. Over and over again, each day God confronts you again with the very same command He has always given you. Keep the marriage bed pure (Heb. 13:4). Don’t be drunk with wine (Eph. 5:18). Don’t look lustfully at someone you aren’t married to (that's a paraphrase of Matt. 5:28). 

In the same way that God confronts Pharaoh with a familiar command in this passage, God is confronting some of you in your heart right now with a command He has given you many times before. What command of God are you ignoring? Which of His commands haunt you and meet you every morning when you get out of bed? You’ve felt convicted about it for a long time but until now you haven’t obeyed. It’s time. Don't bargain with God or negotiate. Don't try to wriggle out of it. God's commands don't change. Do what Pharaoh never did. Humble yourself under God's command and offer full and whole-hearted obedience. If you don’t, trouble will follow you.

Spiritual Amnesia

Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Exodus 6:6-7

In these verses God tells Moses that His purpose for the plagues is so that Israel may know that He is the LORD. After more than 400 years in slavery Israel has spiritual amnesia. They have forgotten who God is. Either they have stopped telling the stories of His mighty deeds that He performed on behalf of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or else they have become only stories to them and they have forgotten that a real God of power stands behind them. So, through the ten plagues God is going to remind His people who He is.

The ten plagues, the exodus, all of it is designed to be a special revelation of who God is for His people. His actions in the Exodus will prove that He is the LORD. In the plagues He reveals His love, His power, His wisdom, His provision, His faithfulness and so much more to this people who have forgotten who He is. 

I’m convinced that just like Israel we are all prone to spiritual amnesia. We are prone to forget who God really is! Over time our human brains grow weary of straining to comprehend a God who is beyond comprehension. So they shrink Him down to a more manageable size and we forget who God really is. We forget the mighty deeds He has performed in the past. We forget what He has revealed to us about Himself. And as we forget these things we slowly drift away from Him. This is the human condition, the spiritual amnesia, that plagues us all as humans. 

But just like He did for Israel, God battles our spiritual amnesia by revealing Himself to us. I am convinced that God reveals Himself to you every day. He reveals His power and beauty and creativity every day, morning and evening in the sunrise and the sunset. His wisdom and order are displayed in the intricacies of the natural world. His power is revealed by wind and storm and sea. His goodness is made known by all the pleasures He makes available to us in our world. He reveals all this and more about Himself every day so that you might know that He is the LORD. 

Yet, sadly, for the most part, you are blind and deaf to all of this revelation of who God is. You rush from one place to the next consumed by the things of this world and you miss this amazing revelation of who God is. Open your eyes! Pay attention to what God is doing in our day and know who He is. Open your Bible and read what He has done in days gone by and know who He is. Open your ears and hear the birds singing, the crickets chirping, the cattle lowing, and the dogs barking as they all sing His praise. He has done all this so you might know Him. Open your eyes and remember who your God is!

Be Someone's Aaron

The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

Exodus 4:27-28

God told Aaron to go meet Moses in the desert and where should they happen to meet but at the very mountain of God where God had recently appeared to Moses in a burning bush. And there Moses told Aaron what he had presumably told no one else. Scripture doesn’t record that Moses told his wife or sons or his father-in-law or anyone else why he was heading back to Egypt. But Scripture does tell us that now he told Aaron. He told Aaron that God had spoken to him out of a burning bush on this mountain, and he told Aaron that God had heard the cries of His people in Egypt, that He had seen their affliction and that He himself was coming down to rescue Israel from the hand of the Egyptians. God was sending Moses and Aaron to tell Pharaoh to let His people go.

Moses told all of this to Aaron, and from that time on, with a few notable exceptions, Moses and Aaron were one. They were a team, each one supporting the other and helping out where the other was weak. As they walked into Egypt and told the elders of the Israelites what God had planned, they were one. When they stood before Pharaoh and delivered God’s message to him, they were one. As they unleashed God’s plagues on Egypt, they were one. Together they bore the weight of leading probably 2 million people out of Egypt and through the dessert, providing food and water for them. These people grumbled against them and repeatedly threatened to rebel and return to Egypt; and through all of this, for nearly forty years (Numbers 33:38), they were one. Aaron was always by Moses’ side.

Be someone’s Aaron. We weren’t meant to do life or ministry alone. We need someone to be with us, to help us, to encourage us when we are discouraged, to correct us when we are wrong, to intercede for us and pray for us, to work alongside us. We find this principle all throughout Scripture. Jesus sent the Disciples out by twos. Paul didn’t go on his missionary journeys alone. He took Barnabas, or Silas, or Timothy with him. Even after Aaron died, Moses had Joshua.

So we all need at least one person in our life who will walk with us as we follow Jesus. We need someone with whom we can share the callings God has placed on our hearts. Be that for someone. Find someone that you can help accomplish what God has called them to do. Sunday School teachers need an Aaron. Deacons need an Aaron. College and high school students need an Aaron. Mothers and fathers need an Aaron. Be someone’s Aaron!

God is the I am

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14

How interesting that God chooses to reveal Himself to us as the "I am." He knows that one of our greatest struggles will be doubts over whether He exists, so He reveals Himself to us as the great I am: the God who is, who was and who will always be. 

Make no mistake God exists not to satisfy your doubts but by necessity. God must exist. And Hebrews 11:6 tells us that if we are to please Him, we must believe He exists. 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

But believing in God is sometimes difficult... even for the believer. Many days I find myself living as though God were not real, or at least as though He had no meaningful impact on my reality. It is so very easy to let the things of this world, the things we can see and touch, take up all our time and attention. We need to be reminded, even as believers, that God is real. 

So today let's start with a firm conviction that God is real. Lift your eyes off the demands of this world and cast them on Him. God is big enough for your doubts and questions. He sees them coming, and He has the answers ready. But you must believe that He is the I am and seek Him in order to find Him.

Now You'll See What God Will Do

Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

Exodus 5:22-6:1

In Exodus chapter five God walks right up to the biggest bully on Israel's block and picks a fight with him. At least that's how I read the story. God's people had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years serving one cruel Pharaoh after another. When God calls 80 year old Moses (a washed up, old, nobody in Egypt's eyes) to go to Pharaoh and say, "let My people go." Not only is Pharaoh not impressed by Moses or his miracles, he is not at all afraid of this God of the slaves either. In Exodus 5:2 he says, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go."

"I've never heard of God, so how famous can He be?" he reasons. "If this God's people are all slaves serving me then doesn't that prove that my Egyptian gods are more powerful than He is?" To Pharaoh it did. He was insulted that Moses and this unknown god would dare approach him in this manner, so he added to the Israelites burden. He stopped providing them the straw they needed to make bricks, but he still required them to make the same quota of bricks each day. Of course, the Israelites failed to meet the quota, the Israelite foremen were beaten, and Pharaoh refused to relent. He renewed his demanded that they find a way to meet his impossible expectation.

When God stepped in to save them it actually made their situation worse. But here's the thing, when things got worse, God was just getting started. In the first verse of chapter six God tells Moses, "Now you will see what I will do..." What a powerful verse! Can you imagine hearing that come out of God's mouth?! 

So often when things get worse in our lives we see it as the end. We run to God to complain that things are worse now than before. But so very often when things get worse in our lives it's because God is just getting started on a new and amazing work. How does the old saying go? You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Sometimes the beginning of a great work looks messy and destructive. Trust God anyway because it's in those moments that you are best positioned to see what He will do.

Giving Up Our Mirrors

They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Exodus 38:8

This isn't a passage of Scripture that you are likely to read. It's buried well into a sixteen-chapter section of Exodus that deals almost exclusively with the minutia of the tabernacle including lengthy discussions on the dimensions and details of the tent, its posts, its coverings, and all its furnishings and their utensils. In fact, the only reason you would likely come across is if you are working through a Bible reading plan that requires you to read the entire Bible. Yet, I always find that the Spirit mines treasures out of the depths of Scripture when I really dig into it. And that proves true here. 

The Israelites had taken up a love offering to gather all the materials they would need to construct their place of worship in keeping with the Lord's command. In this section of Scripture, we find how much gold they collected, how much silver, how much bronze, and all the other necessary materials as well. But no other individual or group is specifically credited for their gift like these women are. Why? What made their gift worthy of special mention?

First, it was a costly gift. A mirror would have been a prized possession for women living in a desert. It's not like there was a lot of pools of water around that they could see their reflection in! Assuming that they didn't have multiple mirrors, it meant that they would be considerably less able to manage and check their appearance. Can you imagine the possibility of living completely without mirrors for the rest of your life? So, it cost them something to give away this comfort and this control. It is also entirely possible that the only valuables these women owned were their jewelry and these mirrors. Without the ability to work and make money, this was a financially costly gift as well. 

Second, it was a wise gift. Many of the pagan religions of the day encouraged worshipers to engage in sexual acts with temple prostitutes as an expression of worship for these false gods. It isn't hard to imagine how people could get the wrong idea about these women who were standing at the entrance to the tabernacle, especially if they were beautifully dressed and attractively groomed. By giving their mirrors to the Lord, these women were committing to avoid allowing their presence at the tabernacle turn into something unholy. 

For you and I this should be a powerful reminder that requires expression. When we love someone, we do big and difficult things to express that love to them. And somehow by the act we remind ourselves again of just how much we do love them. When was the last time you gave an offering to the Lord that was actually costly for you to give? When was the last time you gave until it hurt? Maybe it's time for you to give a love offering to the Lord. If so, consider giving something or fasting from something that would also serve to safeguard you from some sin or excess in your life.

Cry Out & Be Silent (W.o.W. Rewind)

As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Exodus 14:10-14 (NASB)

A person's first response often isn't their best. When we get surprised with bad news or feel attacked it's easy to lash out in anger by blaming others. This is why pausing before we respond to the situation at hand can be so helpful. It gives us the chance to talk ourselves off the ledge before we dive headfirst into the rant we really want to deliver. 

But sometimes a problem comes at us so fast that pausing doesn't seem like an option. I can only imagine that is how the people of Israel felt. God has just miraculously delivered them from 400 years in slavery. They leave Egypt and head off into the dessert, but before long they turn to see the Egyptian army bearing down on them. With their backs against the Red Sea, there is nowhere for them to run. 

But the children of Israel are learning because their first response was actually good. Instinctually, they cry out to the Lord for help. It's their second response that needs work. They blame Moses and give full vent to their anger which is obviously rooted in their lack of faith.

Moses' answer to the people is instructive and beautiful. God will fight for His people! Now it's worth noting that this is the biblical understanding of "holy war." Some in the Muslim world say that jihad or holy war consists of people fighting on God's behalf. That's not the Christian understanding. Throughout the Bible, we find God fighting for His people. He is a mighty warrior who comes to our rescue. He works mighty miracles to deliver us from the enemy. 

While it is true that He sometimes calls us to action (David did sling the stone that killed Goliath), often our role is to keep silent. As Moses says, "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." God fights the enemy. God fixes the problem. Our job is to keep silent. Cry out to the Lord for help, Christian, then keep silent. Wait and see what He will do.

I don't know what problems you're facing today, but I know that they're no match for God. I can't promise you that He will fix them all right away, but I can guarantee you that you can't fix them without His help. So cry out to God today. Then wait! Keep silent and see what He will do.  

Unveiled Faces (W.o.W. Rewind)

Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out...the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining.

Exodus 34:34-35

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

Christians have a unique privilege in this world. Once we were blinded by sin like everyone else, but now, by the power of God's Spirit, our eyes have been opened to see who God really is. We are ushered into God's very presence by the power of the blood of Christ. We not only contemplate God through the Scriptures, but we have His very Spirit dwelling in us. This Spirit helps us to understand the Bible and it gives us an unprecedented closeness and relationship with God. 

We behold the glory of the Lord like few, if any, did prior to Christ's coming. And as we gaze intently at God's glory and contemplate His goodness, miracle of miracles, we are changed! God's Spirit works within us to transform us into the image of the very God that it reveals to us. 

Christians are meant to reflect who God is. The longer we walk with Him the more like Him we ought to be. We shouldn't hide this transformation. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount,

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)

This leads all Christians to several pertinent questions:

• Am I being transformed into the image of God from one degree of glory to another?
• Am I taking time to behold God's glory, to enter His presence and gaze at Him?
• Am I letting the light of God's transforming work in me shine for all to see so that He may receive the glory?

Face-to-Face

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And [God] said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you... But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 

Exodus 33:18-20

Can you imagine how glorious it must have been to get a glimpse of God? How amazing to have all of God's goodness pass before you. How is that even possible? God's goodness is without measure. How long did that take for all of His goodness to pass in front of Moses? What did it look like? What was Moses feeling? Did he get goosebumps? Because I do just thinking about it!

How unimaginably blessed Moses was, but I have something even better to tell you if you can dare to believe it. One day, believer, you will see more of God than Moses did on that day. Even Moses, wasn't allowed to see God's face and live. He only got a glimpse. But Scripture says that every believer will get not just a glimpse of God, but that we will stare long and hard into the very face of God (Revelation 22:4). In heaven you will see God face-to-face. 

This is what Heaven is all about. It isn't about clouds or harps or anything you've seen in a child's cartoon. It is God and man, living with one another without barriers. What a privilege. What a joy. What a thing to look forward to. God wants you to be close to Him. He wants you to know Him. He promises that one day the knowledge of Him will cover this earth like water covers the sea (Isaiah 11:9). That is what heaven is.

Even now, as we look forward to and long for that day, God gives us glimpses too. His Word reveals His character to us. If we will spend time gazing into the truth of the Bible we will know Him better. And His Spirit meets us in our times of prayer so that we may at least feel His glory until that day when we can finally see it. Don't take these gifts for granted. Stare deeply at God's revelation of Himself today and drink deeply of His spiritual presence. The Word and the Spirit will cause His goodness to pass before you and you will be blessed because of it.     

The Great Veggie War of 2016

In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. When the layer of dew evaporated, there were fine flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” because they didn’t know what it was...The house of Israel named the substance manna. It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers made with honey... The Israelites ate manna for 40 years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan. 

Exodus 16:13b-15, 31 & 35

Over the last few weeks my wife and I have been fighting The Great Veggie War of 2016. We've been knee deep in concocting ways to coax our three year old to choke down asparagus, bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas. We tried punishing her when she didn't eat her veggies. That only made us feel like terrible parents. We tried convincing her that the veggies were yummy. She saw right through that one. Didn't even come close! We tried adding cheese to any and every veggie that crossed her plate. That one helped a little. But most days she cried and fussed like we were force-feeding her radioactive waste.

Don't laugh though. The truth is that most of us aren't any better as adults. How well do you do at eating things you don't like? Most of us aren't too good at it. (Side note- this is a good place to start when considering why our diets always fail.)

Well just imagine eating the same thing for forty years. That's what the Israelites did while wandering in the desert. Every meal, every day consisted of manna and water. Sure, you may get some quail every now and then, but for the most part for forty years your only food is bread and water. Never mind that these were provided miraculously by God for millions of people in the middle of the desert. Many of us would quickly lose sight of that. Bread and water is prison food. In fact, we feed our prisoners better than that these days!

Would you grumble? Do you grumble about what God provides for you?

Let's circle back to that. Let's ask this question first: What does this teach us about God? There is no denying that God is much more interested in accomplishing His purposes in your life and through your life than He is interested in changing His plans to meet your wants and needs. Notice, God's ultimate plan for His people was a land flowing with milk and honey. His plan would lead them to abundant blessing, but there wasn't abundant blessing all along the way. First they had to learn to trust Him. They even went three days without finding water once (Exodus 15:22-27). Talk about trusting the Lord! 

Also, it should not escape our attention that it was the Israel's sin that prevented them from receiving God's desired blessing for them (the Promised Land) sooner. They wouldn't have suffered in the desert for forty years if they had obeyed God and trusted Him.

So again I ask, do you grumble about what God has given you? Are you ungrateful? Do you compare it to what God has given someone else, or to what you used to have? Are you like a small child whining and crying about what God is making you do? Even if we never do it out loud, even if it is only in our hearts, many of us are this way. When you feel this way, remember that just like my wife and I with my daughter; God's plan is ultimately for your good even if you can't see it. God has abundant blessing planned for all those who believe on Jesus. Trust Him. Obey Him. And do so with a grateful heart for such a loving Father.

Cry Out and Be Silent

As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Exodus 14:10-14 (NASB)

A person's first response often isn't their best. When we get surprised with bad news or feel attacked it's easy to lash out in anger by blaming others. This is why pausing before we respond to the situation at hand can be so helpful. It gives us the chance to talk ourselves off the ledge before we dive headfirst into the rant we really want to deliver. 

But sometimes a problem comes at us so fast that pausing doesn't seem like an option. I can only imagine that is how the people of Israel felt. God has just miraculously delivered them from 400 years in slavery. They leave Egypt and head off into the dessert, but before long they turn to see the Egyptian army bearing down on them. With their backs against the Red Sea, there is nowhere for them to run. 

But the children of Israel are learning because their first response was actually good. Instinctually, they cry out to the Lord for help. It's their second response that needs work. They blame Moses and give full vent to their anger which is obviously rooted in their lack of faith.

Moses' answer to the people is instructive and beautiful. God will fight for His people! Now it's worth noting that this is the biblical understanding of "holy war." Some in the Muslim world say that jihad or holy war consists of people fighting on God's behalf. That's not the Christian understanding. Throughout the Bible, we find God fighting for His people. He is a mighty warrior who comes to our rescue. He works mighty miracles to deliver us from the enemy. 

While it is true that He sometimes calls us to action (David did sling the stone that killed Goliath), often our role is to keep silent. As Moses says, "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." God fights the enemy. God fixes the problem. Our job is to keep silent. Cry out to the Lord for help, Christian, then keep silent. Wait and see what He will do.

I don't know what problems you're facing today, but I know that they're no match for God. I can't promise you that He will fix them all right away, but I can guarantee you that you can't fix them without His help. So cry out to God today. Then wait! Keep silent and see what He will do.  

Do you know what a stick is?

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

[Context note: This conversation took place when God appeared in a burning bush to commission Moses to return to Egypt and lead his people out of slavery to the Promised Land.] 

Exodus 4:1-5

Do you know what a stick is? I'd like to think I do. I'm not the smartest guy around, but identifying a stick seems like a pretty easy task. So I couldn't help but wonder why God asks Moses a seemingly silly question in this passage. "What is in your hand?" God clearly knows what is in his hand. I am sure Moses knew his shepherding staff pretty well. So what's the point? Wouldn't it have been easier to simply skip the question and say, "Throw the staff in your hand down on the ground?"

I try to read Scripture carefully. I don't always succeed, but I try because I believe what II Timothy 3:16 says: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching." So yesterday as I read this passage, even though my gut told me not to question such a minor thing in the text, I stopped to consider.

Slowly, this thought dawned on me. It's precisely because Moses knew so very well that his staff was a stick that God's question was worth asking. Could there have been anything more certain in Moses' mind than the fact that his staff was a stick and not a snake? That fact must have seemed as solid to Moses as the ground beneath his feet. Yet God asked him to identify the stick - to define what it was and wasn't - so that He might show Moses that something which seems as settled as the nature of a stick is no boundary to God at all. Nothing is impossible with God!

This is the perfect response to Moses' question. He brought up a human problem to God, "What if the Israelites don't believe you sent me?" He is asking God what His plan is to solve this potential problem. God gives him the sign of the staff turned to a snake not only as a proof to the people that Moses really has communed with God, but it is also a sign to Moses that God is not easily stopped by even the most sure of human boundaries. Moses must and will learn in the intervening years to trust God and worry less about potential human barriers. The question for us is, "Have we learned this lesson?"

Have you grasped the simple truth that the problem which seems insurmountable to you is nothing before the Lord? This is important in your personal life, but even more so in the life of the kingdom. Is your church struggling to grow? Are you worried that the good news of Jesus is no longer appealing to people? Are you struggling with a call to ministry or mission and simply can't see how God can get you from where you are to where He is calling? Be reminded today that the surest obstacles in our eyes, the most certain facts, are as nothing before our mighty God. Trust His plan, even before you know all the details. Simply obey.

It Starts Small

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

Mark 4:30-32

 

 

It occurred to me tonight as my wife and I read to our daughter out of her story Bible that God has a habit of starting large undertakings in small ways. When His people were enslaved in Egypt, even before they cried out for His help in Exodus 2:23-25, God began His rescue plan by saving one little baby boy from Pharaoh's plan to kill him (Exodus 1-2). Think about it. When God's people needed a Savior, He didn't send an army or even a lone warrior. God sent a baby! Then He worked in Moses' life for 80 years - first giving him a heart for God's people (Acts 7:23-29) then teaching him to be a shepherd (Exodus 3:1-3) - before finally calling him at the burning bush to lead the exodus.

 

Much, much later when the Savior to whom Moses' life pointed came to rescue God's people from their sins, He came not as a conquering warrior to trample Satan under His feet, but He also came as a seemingly helpless baby boy. A baby who, like Moses, was rescued from the hands of a murderous king. A baby who was dependent on a teenage girl for nourishment and care. This boy grew to be a man as He waited thirty years to begin His ministry. It was through Him that God redeemed a people for His name from every tribe, people, nation and tongue (Revelation 5:9). It was He who crushed the power of Satan by allowing Himself to be crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).

 

There is a profound wisdom in God's plan that is beyond my understanding. But tonight as I consider it, it occurs to me that perhaps this is why God opposes the proud and so often chooses to exalt the humble by using them to do great things (James 4:6-7). It is how He has gone about doing things for a long time. It maximizes His glory. If this is right, then one major tactic the enemy might use to make us unfruitful in the service of our Lord is to encourage creeping pride in our lives. Examine your heart. Do you find pride? If so, ask the Lord to root it out. Perhaps this small prayer will be the beginning of another great work of God in your life.

 

For further reading...

• Exodus 1-3- Consider how the Lord worked in Moses' early life.
• Matthew 1-3- Compare Jesus' early life to that of Moses.