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Dear Father; As we study your word together, guide our thoughts and words as we seek your will in our lives in response to what you have said to us today.
Response to Exodus 23:14-25:40
Without accessing a lot of outside sources, We get to learn quite a bit about the beginnings of Jewish culture in todays reading.
Notice that we start with 3 annual festivals based on spending time in one place as there is seedtime and harvest.
Exodus 23:17;
I Exodus 23:17 Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.
A. Verse 15 Feast of Unleavened Bread; 7 days commemorationg the exodus from Egypt. 1st month
(Abib).
B. Verse 16a: Feast of Harvest; giving the firstfruits back to God
C. Verse 16b: Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when crops are gathered.
The purity of the sacrifice mentioned in verse 18 "Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast" caused me to investigate "where does yeast come from?" Most references are in regard to infection, and you can buy this fungus from the store. It certainly makes sense then that removing the "fungus" and "infection" might be quite symbolic - and healthy I might add - when the holiness of the sacrifice is originally set up in Jewish culture. How is yeast treated in the rest of the kosher diet?
One of my favorite verses is listed for the first time in Exodus 23:19 "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk" Don't be fooled by the (RSV) which reads "Don't boil a kid in it's mother's milk. See what translations can do to the text? This statement is repeated in Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21. Perhaps this is not worth mentioning beyond the point of repetition, perhaps you have something to add - if so, please do.
Exodus 23:20-24 seems to represent that God is replacing His presence with that of an Angel which will lead the people into the promised land.
Verse 25 speaks of the blessings He will provide the people in response to their worship.
Verse 27-30 speaks of his terror (same concept as the Angel of protection in verse 20-24?) going ahead of the Israelites driving the "Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites" out of the promised land slowly but surely as the people "have increased enough to take possession of the land." This terror, (which certainly is the reptuation of power He has displayed within Egypt and now within the Desert), is accompanied by the resulting confusion and wasps.
Verse 31-33 explains the borders of the promised land and warns them to destroy the people and their ideologies so that they will not become a snare to them.
How often does God need to refine our ideologies to get back down to the basics. "'I am' the Lord your God. Don't make things up about me - especially not with the things I have created and pretend those are me. Just worship me in Spirit and in Truth. Worship me by taking care of my creation but don't pretend you are me or attempt to take my place. Honor me and I will bless you. Love your neighbor as yourself and I will redeem you." When do we get to a point he just needs to wipe the slate clean and start over? When is our judgement day? Is it in the works now?
Exodus 24:1-4a shows Moses returning to the people and sharing all God has said. The people respond "with one voice; 'Everything the Lord has said we will do." And Moses writes it all down.
The next morning they offer sacrifices and Moses reads the book of the covenant in verse 7 and the people respond "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey."
If you are like me and you have read the Bible before, doesn't this sound a lot like Deuteronomy? For those of you who may not know, the first five books of the bible are considered by many to be the Penteteuch. They also comprise much of the Torah (which I am not as familiar with, so I don't know if there is more to the Torah - you let me know). Deuteronomy is the fifth of these books. We will study the early history and law of the Israelites before they enter the promised land in the book of Joshua. For me, Moses reading the book of the covenant sounds like we've just jumped ahead 40 years.
However, in Deuteronomy, the reading of the law is to a new generation as it is 40 years later and the people have gone through a great spiritual and ritualistic cleansing and increased in numbers and are then prepared to enter the promised land.
Note, here in Exodus 23:30 that there is already the hint that entering the promised land is not going to happen for these people anytime soon. I had not caught that in earlier readings and thought the 40 years was only as a result of the lack of courage displayed by this generation following the spies, but that's another story.
Back to the story for today, Moses and the elders now go back up the mountain and Moses disappears into what appears to be a burning mountain for 40 days. (another length of time worth study) Our story now takes a turn as Moses receives the instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant which shall hold the testimony, (the testimony mentioned appears to be the two stone tablets which shall hold the 10 commandments.) up to this point, the stone tablets are not yet in existence. The beauty and ritual surrounding the Ark of the covenant bring several words to mind for me: Holiness, Beauty, Purity, Majesty, Worship. However, as important as this sacred vessel became for the Israelites, is it not true that it became a graven image seen to represent God by that culture - and even today? Through it's presence, the people became proud and felt they had power in their possession. What a surprise they had when it was taken in battle and they suddenly felt God had left them with the loss of this thing.
Today, if we call ourselves by the name of God, it does not matter where we go to church or what our possessions are. All that matters is our relationship with God. Have we consecrated ourselves before Him? Do we remember that He is Lord, Judge, Master, and Redeemer and that we are but His servants on earth? The reason we are going to church should not be to honor ourselves and win His favor - chances are we already have it. But if we call ourselves by His name, we are going because we acknowledge Him as Lord, Judge, Master, and Redeemer and we wish to consecrate ourselves before Him and give Him the glory. Not only is church the opportunity to Love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, but we are able to give our gifts to a family who aught to be reaching out to their communities with the Love of God. We're doing it because He asked us to. Redemption is because He loved us. Worship is because we love Him. We might even find we are blessed by being a larger part of the family. I know I do! Just go knowing there are a bunch of other sinners there that are just as much in need of your love as you might be of theirs. (oops, sorry for preachin, I think I'm avoiding Matthew 24)
Response to Matthew 24:29-51
And here I thought I had finished with this yesterday. surprise surprise.
Again, I will mention that we cannot be fooled here by anyone who claims to know the truth. Verse 36 has a powerful statement (nor the Son) - so controversial that some manuscripts do not have it! "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." However, I am the blogger, so I get to share my thoughts (and you are the responder and are welcome to share yours!)
Several words pop out to me. In verse 24 "Immediately," "At that time," "this generation shall not pass away." I think it is difficult for many of us to accept that even Jesus did not know the mind of the Father. The apostle John dealt with this concept in much greater detail
John 14:10 "the words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me
does his works"
John 5:19 "the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever
He does, the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he
himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel. For the
Father raises the dead and gives them life"
John 12:49 "For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me
commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal
life."
John 14:31 "I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father."
John 8:28 "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing
on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me.
As we read through the New Testament, I will venture to say that the bridegroom has come. (Matthew 9:15) Jesus Christ conquered death. When we partake of the sacriment of Holy Communion, we are celebrating that marriage feast! He is the tree of life. (John 6:33) We are Children of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.(I John 3:2) Perhaps you do not believe. Some people get this and some people don't. You can believe you are not worthy or that your brother is not worthy, but if you believe you are a sinner and Jesus gave himself as the sacrificial lamb in service to God the Father who loves you and is called our redeemer consistently throughout scripture, then brother, you have seen the sign of the Son of Man coming with power and great glory! He came as a baby, he said "It is Finished" as He died on the cross, and He rose from the Dead that all may have life.(Romans 5:18)
He has paid the price. He is not going to force you to go with Him however. As any Father, He is aware of whatever pain you have that is keeping you from Him and If I read my Bible correctly, he'll give you time to understand His Love and allow you release from your pain. He says that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess the Lord Jesus. One day, I believe, you will understand the Love God has for you. I just hope for your sake, you will accept that Love and start loving Him back today. It even helps the pain feel better. Who doesn't want to be healed!
I appear to have sidestepped the "tribulation." As I mentioned yesterday, the Jews and Christians and all of man in one way or another have gone through a lot of tribulation. Consider the reign of Antiochus, the fall of Jerusalem, Nero, Hitler, Hussein, Haiti, and the like - take your pick. Tribulation writing is quite prevelent in Jewish Scripture, they've got a history of tribulation! When we mentioned "immediately," and "this generation" I'll just mention there is plenty of thought out there about post tribulation that is worth consideration. Most end times signs have possible historical references that cannot be discounted. In fact, most generations have seen these signs in some fashion.
So, perhaps this is all written once again for those who would call themselves by His name - and be serious, don't you know God? Are you serving Him? Are you caring for those things He has entrusted you with? Are you beating your fellow man or living in sin? If so, pay attention to the end of this chapter. If you know what is expected of you "Love God and love your fellow man" and refuse to follow His command?...be afraid, be very afraid.
Response to Psalm 30:1-12
What has God done for you? What trouble or hardship have you overcome? Do you think He had anything to do with it? If not, do you blame Him for the bad? We all need to make a choice. If we want to blame him for the bad, we had better praise him for the good. This is a great Psalm to sing Praise to God. Know what? He loves to hear our praises.
I am a father of 4 grown children. If they grumble and gripe at me, I don't have to listen to them, we'll just live in separation for awhile. I have learned also that if I grumble and gripe at them, they don't have to listen to me. If I want relationship, I have to come before my God or my fellow man with praise and thanksgiving. They are powerful attributes in any relationship.
So, if you want more of God in your life, come before Him with exaltation, praise! David's prayer in this Psalm simply is this: "Save me oh God and I will praise you! what good am I in the grave." Oh Lord, I will give you thanks forever.
Of course, even Jesus prayed "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And with that, He died.
But that was not the end of the story...
Response to Proverbs 7:24-27
As I mentioned in the Psalm above, God is not the cause of the bad things in our life - yet He certainly allows bad things to happen - to bad and good people. Life is full of temptation and snares and pitfalls. They can bring pleasure for a season and heartache for a lifetime. If you choose the path of the temptress, you will eventually lose. When you figure it out, Run! - hopefully that church on the corner is a safe haven! Is it?
Have a truly wonderful Day
Rick
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