“A Chronicle of Redemption” 

A Reflection on Exodus Thirty Nine and Forty

The book of Exodus began with a reluctant leader, Moses. Born of Hebrew slaves in Egypt, he was sent down the Nile River as a baby only to be picked up by the daughter of the Pharaoh.  He would live as royalty until one day, everything changed. After witnessing an Egyptian laying a smackdown on a Hebrew slave, the urge for justice overwhelmed him and he killed and buried the Egyptian.  Confused and afraid, he fled to the desert.

It was in the desert where Moses would have two significant encounters.  First, he meets his future wife at a well where he ran off some dirtbag shepherds who were harassing her.  Then Moses would also encounter God Almighty in a burning bush.  It is here where God calls Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, out of slavery, and into freedom.  Moses is reluctant, God is insistent.  God wins.

Moses passes on God’s demand to the Egyptian leader, Pharaoh, to let his people go.   Pharaoh resists. But after a series of only-can-be-explained-by-God, signs and wonders, Pharaoh relinquishes and allows the Israelites to leave Egypt.  He would second guess that decision and chase after Moses and God’s people only to fail. God had their back and parted the Red Sea.  God showed who was really in control.

God stretched and used Moses until he was the leader he was destined to be.  Moses would discover that leadership has its ups and downs as he listens to the constant whining, complaining, and immaturity from God’s people.  Moses stayed close to God through it all and experienced an intimate relationship with the Lord.  During this journey, God gave Moses commandments for the people because they were his family and He wanted to guide them to maturity.  Also, Moses was given blueprints for the Tabernacle and everything in it as well as a heavenly GPS to guide the people to the promised land.

In short, God called an unlikely man to lead a group of slaves through a journey of redemption into a land of freedom.

The key to Moses’ success is found in the final two chapters of Exodus in the repeated phrase, “as the LORD commanded Moses.”  Moses really isn’t the hero of the story, it is God.  Specifically, it is the God of the Bible, Jesus.  It was him who called Moses, him who worked wonders, him who paved the path, him who set boundaries, him who gave second chances, him who provided, him who drew the plans, him who led the way, and him who saved Israel into freedom.  It was Jesus all along.

This is a chronicle of redemption. A true story of a people who were lost and now are found. A people who were nothing to the world but were in fact, God’s chosen people. A people who were in chains and now have liberty.

That’s my story too.

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“It Takes a Community” 

A Reflection on Exodus Thirty Seven and Thirty Eight

God designed us for community.

The Israelites were becoming a community during their Exodus from Egypt. When God gave Moses plans to build the tabernacle and everything it encompassed, he knew it was going to take more than Moses to make it happen.

The result was people gave whatever they could for the cause.  They gave their wealth, possessions, talent, and time to carry out the plans God gave Moses. The finished product was nothing short of amazing.  From the ark of the Covenant to the Tent of the Meeting, everything was as it should be.

I dare say that the greatest feats of our lives aren’t the ones we do alone- it’s what we do together.

God himself is in community within the Trinity. When Jesus began his public ministry one of the first things he did was gather twelve guys around him. We’ve also seen it after the September 11 attacks.  People came together and gave money, spent tireless hours in the wreckage, and comforted one another.  We watch it on television when “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” comes to a town and builds a new home for a deserving family in less than a week.  What ends up happening is the community pitches in.  We see this when it’s time to move to a new home and friends and family come to help.  We need each other.

Community comes in the form of family, friends, churches, teams, organizations, cities, and nations. We were never meant to do life alone.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”  - Ecclesiastes 4:12

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“When the Ordinary Are Extraordinary” 

A Reflection on Exodus Thirty Five and Thirty Six

This weekend, every retail store will have a person ringing a bell and accepting donations for the Salvation Army.  The dollar bills and change collected represent the cheerful generosity of the community.  It’s always encouraging to see the Salvation Army bucket full of money.  It reminds me that the spark of generosity still exists within our me-first, take-take-take, comfort-seeking society.

When we think of generosity, we tend to think about the very wealthy who make donations and set up foundations for various causes. After all, that’s what makes this news (as it should).  But it’s so impressive when ordinary people give.  There is no press release, no buzz, no fanfare.  Simply generosity- like the Salvation Army buckets.

Back in Exodus, ordinary people were giving with extraordinary results. They not only gave their pocket change, they gave the best of what they owned to help build the tabernacle and everything in it. Now that’s generosity!

This continued morning after morning until there was too much stuff. The response was so great that Moses had to send out an order for people to press the pause button on their giving. They had more than enough to carry out God’s plan.

It’s remarkable what happens when people give cheerfully. Lives are changed- not just for the recipient- but for the giver.  True giving has it’s own reward.  Something that can only be experienced by being generous.  Pure joy.

If we want to make an impact. Let’s look beyond ourselves and be people of generosity. Not just this Christmas season but all year round.

It’s remarkable when the ordinary do something extraordinary.

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“A New Set of Stone Tablets” 

A Reflection on Exodus Thirty Four

A huge moment in history gets spoiled.  The first time Moses went up Mt. Sinai and God inscribed the ten commandments on the stone tablets didn’t go so well. While Moses was on the mountain in a powerful scene with God, the people were back at camp creating a golden calf to worship.  As Moses came down he was ticked off.  In fact, he was so ticked that he threw down the stone tablets with the handwriting of God himself on them.  They crumbled into pieces. Oops.

Not Israel’s finest moment.

But God is a God of second chances.  Once again, Moses is up on Mt. Sinai spending time with the Almighty. Moses is instructed to chisel out two tablets and God will once again inscribe them with his commands.  This is to serve as a covenant between God and his people. Israel gets a second chance.

Have you ever needed a second chance?

Each of us have been given one life and each of us will screw it many times in our lives.  We will disobey God, damage relationships, and worship our own form of “golden calves.”  The good news is that God forgives and offers a second chance. We may have dropped our the original stone tablets of our lives but Jesus can give us new ones. He can take what we break and turn around and us it for his good purposes.

That’s what happens when we follow Christ.  For someone like me-  who’s dropped plenty of tablets in my life - that’s good news.

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“People Are Watching”

A Reflection on Exodus Thirty Three

Remember that song “Private Eyes” by the 80’s duo Hall & Oates? While the song is a bit creepy, it’s has some truth in it. You never know who’s watching you.

Moses experienced this. There was a special tent outside the camp where he met with the God of the Bible- Jesus. The people in the camp always took notice when Moses entered the tent; especially since there was a pillar of smoke that hovered at the entrance. Kind of tough to ignore that. What Moses was doing by his actions was setting an example for the onlookers. He was showing them it was important to spend time with God.

You know who else was watching Moses? Joshua.

Joshua will later succeed Moses and become a great leader among God’s people. The secret of his success wasn’t his mastery of the sword, eloquent speech, or blazing good looks. As a young man he spent time with God- just like Moses. This is subtly revealed in verse eleven:

“The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.”

It’s remarkable how Moses communicated with God. But sometimes lost in that amazing account is the fact that after Moses left the tent- Joshua remained. Before he was ever a great leader Joshua spent time with Jesus. If you’re in pursuit of the mission of your life- be like Joshua and Moses- spend time with Jesus. If nothing else, you’ll grow in your relationship with him and that’s pretty cool in itself.

This is a great reminder and challenge for me. Just like God’s people (including Joshua) observed Moses, I know that my family is watching me. They see if I’m genuinely pursuing my relationship with God or if my faith is just mere words. I want them to be like Joshua and love Jesus the way I do and develop their own relationship with him. Not live through mine.

As a Christ Follower, I realize that everyone who knows me is watching me in some respect. They want to see if I’m a hypocrite or if Jesus is the real deal. They will notice how I handle failures and successes; good times and bad.

The truth is I’m a flawed man who’s in pursuit of a flawless Savior. I’m not perfect. I’ve messed up. I’m not the hope of the world. Jesus is. But I want to represent.

After all, private eyes are watching.

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Right now I’m on the receiving end of a triangle choke-hold with a Bible passage.

I know it might sound odd to some of you, but the truth is, when I study Scripture I often respond by saying one of three things:

1. “Huh?”
2. “Word!”
3. “Ouch!”

Today, I’m on a “huh?” passage. I’m trying to strip away my preconceived notions as I reread it, pray through it, reread it again, and read commentaries. I may have to tap out and earmark this passage for the Deuteronomy 29:29 file. But not before I battle and beg for understanding.

I’ve grappled with Text before and some of the most powerful words spoken in my life have come after the cage around those words fell down. I hope that’s what is happening here.

Continue reading if you want view the cage match I’m fighting in.

The text is Exodus Thirty-Two and it’s kicking my butt. The hardest blow for me is the first four words in verse 14.

“Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.”

Reading it in the context of this chapter, the book of Exodus, and all of Scripture, it has seized me. I believe with all my heart in the total sovereignty of God. I also believe that he never changes. But this text provokes me to ask: Is God really relenting or is he drawing Moses to his will? Why would the Potter relent to the clay? Somehow, this has to align with the rest of God’s Word.

I could easily skim over all that, but I desperately seek the truth. I believe in the harmony of Scripture. In light of the whole Bible, this passage requires more meditation by me. I just want my heart and mind to align with God’s truth.

I will say there are treasures beneath the surface of this chapter. From worship to Jesus himself, there are riches to be discovered. But those four words, “Then the LORD relented…” are seizing me like the woman in Deuteronomy 25:11-12.

In the meantime, I take heart in these words from the great theologian, Charles Hadden Spurgeon, regarding this difficult text:

“‘God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent.’ But, in the course of His action, there appears to us to be sometimes a great change, and as we say of the sun that it rises and sets, though it does not actually do so, and we do not deceive when we speak after than fashion, so we can say concerning God, in the language of the text, “The Lord repent of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” It appears to us to be so, and it is so in the act of God; yet this statement casts no doubt upon the great and glorious doctrine of the immutability of God.”

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“It’s a problem to be more self-sufficient than Jesus! “

A Reflection on Exodus Thirty One

What makes Moses’ life remarkable is the interaction he has with God. It seems God is always talking to Moses.  To Moses, the big question isn’t if God is real, it’s “what’s next?”.  The trail blazed by Moses can only be explained by carefully following God- step by step by step.

This time, God is speaking to Moses about unleashing the talent in other people.

“Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you.” (Exodus 31:6b)

God reveals that he is the one who hands out gifts and talents.  As a leader, what Moses must do is draw that out of people. To get them to use their God-given abilities for something greater than themselves. Moses is following his calling and now God is about to use him to lead other people to theirs.

Isn’t it funny how our lives are intertwined?  We think that our decisions, actions, and inactions affect us alone- but they have a ripple effect on others.  The truth is we’re linked. To accomplish a God-sized mission, it usually involves more than just us.

Perhaps you know what you’re called to do but you’re stuck.  You’re not gaining much traction and you realize somethings gotta give.  Perhaps it’s you who’s gotta give- someone else a shot. Perhaps you need to unleash the God-given talent in other people.

Maybe, just maybe, God is telling us the same thing he told Moses; that God has given someone else the skills, ability, and knowledge to do what we can’t.  That we’re not Spiderman, Jack Bauer, or even greater- we’re not Him.

Can we admit to God, ourselves, and others that we need help?  Does our infection of pride need a dose of humility?

I don’t know about you, but these are difficult questions for me to wrestle with.  I constantly fight the temptation to try to do everything myself. And constantly, God reminds me that’s not the way he rolls.  When God came to earth he surrounded himself with twelve dudes. What makes me think I’m any better?

It’s a problem to be more self-sufficient than Jesus!

Do we ever stop to think that our lives, our goals, our calling, isn’t just about us? That it actually could be part of something much bigger than us.  That we affect others much more than we realize. How arrogant we can be- especially me.

Here are some questions I need to ask myself:

• Is my pride getting in the way of my calling?
• What are the gifts and talents of the people around me?
• Are they using them like they should?
• What strengths of mine could I share with others?
• Where am I weak and others are strong?
• Is there other sin that is tripping me up?
• Am I more self-sufficient than Jesus?

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“What is this thing called Atonement?”

A Reflection on Exodus Thirty

Atonement. Big word. Not one that’s used often today. But its meaning is central to Christ Followers.

As we read through Exodus, we discover that rituals of sacrifice and offerings are established to make things right between God and the Israelites. To cover over their sins. As we read them, you may wonder, What is this thing called atonement and why is it necessary?

It’s one of those things that is simple and deep at the same time.

Have you ever had someone say a lie about you? How did it feel? Did you want to set the record straight? Did you want the truth to come out and clear your name? That’s justice. You’ve been wronged and you want it made right.

God, in his love and righteousness, can’t sweep indiscretions under the rug. There must be justice. If not, there would be no hope. This is why God set up a system with the Israelites. So they could have hope. So they could receive forgiveness.

But ultimately, God set up this system to point us to Jesus and the sacrifice he would make on our behalf.

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross covered our debts of sin. It was necessary in order to justify us with God. In order that we could have life after death. Jesus substituted himself in our place. Took on all our mess- all of our sin- and paid the price for us. He took on the worst and darkest parts of all his people and died for us. That’s atonement.

This is why I’m so thankful. Looking at the messiness of my life- the sins I’ve committed- I know there’s no way I could make it right. Add to that the thoughts I’ve had and forget about it- I’d be burnt toast. But Jesus…he paid the price for me. I’m covered. I’m forgiven. For that, I give him my life.

When you see the word atonement, whether in the Old Testament, New Testament, at the movies, etc. - think of Jesus.

If you’re covered by the atonement of Jesus- thank him. He’s the hero!

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“Somewhere, PETA Activists are Cheering”

A Reflection on Exodus Twenty Nine

What a mess! Bulls and rams are slaughtered.  Fat is laying on an alter. Puddles of bloodare on the ground.  Priests are covered in blood and oil. It’s a mess alright- but nothing like the mess of our sin.

Sin is something every human being has in common.  We all screw up; we’re all fallen. The worst part about our sin is it separates us from God himself. The justice of God demands that our offenses be atoned for. Hence, the sacrifice of animals. The good news? That sacrifice is no longer is required. (Somewhere, PETA activists are cheering).

This entire ritual is set in place to point us to the one who sacrificed himself for us.  Who atoned for our sins.  Who defeated sin and death.  Of course I’m talking about none other than Jesus.

The only cure for sin is through Jesus.

These words from God are as true today as they were way back then:

“They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.” - Exodus 29:45-46

God says we belong to him. He wants to dwell among us and be our God. That’s huge!

Yes, sin is bad, very bad.  But God is good, very good.  He could’ve left us in our sin condition but he provided an antidote. The Sacrifice. The Sin-Demolisher. The Savior. Jesus Christ.

He is the point all along.

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