February 2, 2017
The people of Israel complained of thirst, threatening to stone Moses for leading them into the desert. Moses brought their complaint to the Lord and the Lord answered. God told Moses to take his rod and some of the elders with him as witnesses, and to strike the rock at Horeb, and water sufficient for the people would come forth. Moses obeyed the Lord. Some have tried to estimate the amount of water it would have taken to quench the thirst of so vast a people with all of their flocks. Suffice it to say, the water would have had to gush forth like a great fountain to have met everyone’s need. The apostle Paul wrote that this “Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). In other words, the rock was a Spiritual Rock, a Christological Type, pointing to its fulfillment in Jesus. For He was “struck” for us that living water unto eternal life might pour forth to those who believed. The Israelites had their thirst quenched by the waters from the rock at Horeb that day. Yet, their thirst returned the next day. But those who have drunk from the Spiritual Rock, which is Christ, will thirst no more. For Christ has said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).
January 27, 2017
Just as Jacob had wrestled God on the eve of his return to the promised land, so Moses had an encounter with God on the eve of his return to Egypt. While Jacob’s encounter left him walking with a limp for the rest of his life, Moses was at risk of death in his meeting with God. Apparently, Moses had failed to circumcise his son. This was the mark of the covenant that God had given to Abraham. And Moses had been negligent to keep it. So, in this terrifying encounter with God, Zipporah, Moses’ wife, ascertained the offense and performed the circumcision herself. When she had cut away her son’s foreskin with a sharp stone, God released Moses and let him go. Before Moses could lead the household of God, he needed to get his own house in order.
February 13, 2016
The modern separation between the sacred and the secular is not the wholistic view of faith and vocation that is seen in the Bible. Consider these two men whom Moses named in the Exodus story because of their God-given talent as craftsmen. He described Bezalel as being “called by name” (Ex.35:30) by the Lord to work as the lead craftsman in building the tabernacle. Both he and Oholiab were similarly gifted by and called by God to do this highly skilled work. Moses even described Bezalel as being “filled with the Spirit” (Ex.35:31), not only to do all kinds of specialized work as a craftsman, but also as one whom God “inspired to teach” (Ex.35:34) others his craft.
All work is sacred when it is done as “unto the Lord” (Col.3:23).
February 5, 2016
God gave Moses very specific laws to set His chosen people apart from the other nations of the world. At first glance, this “eye for eye” law may look barbaric to the modern reader. Yet, it actually limited the level of retaliation that the offended party could take, and it laid the foundation for modern law. “An eye for an eye” is sometimes referred to as the principle of appropriate retaliation or as in the Latin, “lex talionis” (“law of retaliation”). This meant that the victim could not demand more than the value of the injury in compensation; therefore, preventing the escalation of revenge, as was the pattern of the tribes before the law. The law does not eliminate the sin of humanity, but it does act as a guard rail, limiting its excess, and pointing to our need for rescue from a Savior.
February 4, 2016
Before God wrote the ten commandments down onto two stone tablets, He actually spoke them aloud from Mount Sinai before all the Israelites. The Scripture actually refers to them as “words” (Hebrew: הַדְּבָרִ֥ים ha-Dabarim “the words”). The Jews therefore refer to them as the Ten Words or Ten Sayings (Hebrew: עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִֽים Aseret ha-Dabarim). These ten words are beautifully organized into two tablets, the first tablet of words being about how we should love and relate to the Lord God and the second tablet of words are about how we should love and treat our fellow man. This is why Jesus could summarize all the commands with “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.” There are around 613 commandments given to the Israelites by God. Yet, all of them are found within the “ten words,” that appear like chapter headings in a table of contents in the beginning of a book. For instance, all the commandments concerning feasts and holidays, might be considered under the “Keep the Sabbath” heading. And all the laws concerning human sexuality might be implied under the “You shall not commit adultery” word. The wisdom and righteousness of God is revealed in these ten words. But the only way to satisfy them is to have them written on our hearts by believing in the Christ and receiving His righteousness in exchange for our sin.
February 3, 2016
As long as Moses held his arms up, the Israelite army was winning, but when he tired and began to lower his arms, the battle went against them. This is the spiritual influence that God invests in a key leader, yet they remain human, subject to fatigue and discouragement like everyone else. Many churches today replace their tired leaders with fresh ones, thinking that will turn the battle their way. It usually doesn’t. The new leaders eventually wear out too. Aaron and Hur thought of a better solution. Why not help hold up their leader Moses’ arms? Why not give him some help without trying to steal his leadership? Humbly moving to help their leader turned the tide. There are at least a couple of leadership lessons here: 1) Leaders need to be humble enough to ask/allow others to help hold up their leadership arms. 2) Followers need to support their leaders through times of difficulty because when their leader succeeds, so do they.
February 1, 2016
This explains why the Israelites went the long way around to get to the Promised Land. God felt they needed time to grow in faith before facing warfare. God led them like a coach preparing a fighter for a match. He put them in front of weaker opponents before taking on a real contender. Sometimes we struggle with why it’s taking so long to grow or to see the dreams that God has given us, come to reality. But perhaps God is preparing us. If He gives us the bigger responsibility too soon, we may fail because we are not yet prepared for it. Perhaps God is taking us around the long way.
January 30, 2016
The Lord instructed Moses to have the people kill a male lamb without blemish and spread its blood on their doorposts, so that the angel of death would pass-over them. The Passover was to be an on-going remembrance of how God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. The Passover clearly prepared them for its fulfillment in Christ, who is the Lamb of God without blemish and whose blood was shed, so that we might be delivered from sin’s slavery and from death unto eternal life. The Passover meal pointed forward to Christ, as the Lord’s Supper now points back to Him. Jesus is our Passover Lamb.
January 27, 2016
When Moses made excuses about his inability to answer God’s call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, God asked, “What’s in your hand?” Moses replied dismissively, “A rod” (A shepherd’s staff). It was not a sword to fight with, nor a priceless object to barter, but a piece of well-worn wood used in the daily work of a shepherd. Moses had spent the first 40 years of his life as a prince. He attempted to free his people in his own strength and became a murderer instead. Then, Moses spent the next 40 years hiding in the wilderness, working as a simple shepherd of sheep. God couldn’t use a proud prince, but a humble shepherd might be just the man for the job. God chose a humble shepherd like old Moses to lead His people to freedom. And as it turned out, the last 40 years shepherding weren’t a waste. God wanted to use the very thing Moses had in his hand.
What’s that in your hand? Have you considered using it for God?
January 25, 2016
Today’s OT reading moves us from Genesis to Exodus. These two book names in the English translation of the Bible are taken from the Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT) and mean “Beginning” and “Going Out.” The original Hebrew names are “Bereshit” (בראשית – “In the beginning”) and “Shemot” (שמות – “Names”). In the Hebrew Bible, the names of books are taken from the first word in the book. Verse one of the book of Exodus begins with the “names” of the sons of Israel. Names are very important in the Bible. Although Shakespeare would disagree saying, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The Bible places great significance on names. Perhaps because it reveals the names throughout the generations that lead up to the revelation of the greatest Name of all… Jesus (Acts 4:12, Phil. 2:9-11).