FEBRUARY 11
Exodus 32-33
Why does the golden calf have to be on my birthday? That day
was not a great day for this young nation. Yet, as we will see so often, after
a crisis, something good will come. That good thing comes because some follower
of God is moved by what happens and lays their heart out before God. We will
see this over and over. This becomes a noticeable pattern, only because God is
gracious and because some believer is there who loves God. Where this
"believer" is absent, the crisis only escalates. Where this person is
present, we see God's glory.
Exodus 32
Vs. 1-6 The people demanded an idol. Even though idolatry
can be seen in Jacob's family in Canaan, in Egypt Israel had become trained in
worshiping idols and imagining that divinity was in that statue. Inherent in
idolatry is having a god we can control. It is of our making and we feel
comfortable with its limitations and demands. This is not only satanic
deception and human manipulation, but more than all, it is the power of sin.
The power of sin defies all intellect and reason, all
compassion and desire. Reading this story you have to remember there was still
fire at the top of the mountain. There was still a pillar of cloud and fire,
and there was still manna every morning. Two to three million people were encamped
around Mt. Sinai and the nation of Egypt was in ruins. The people had witnessed
the greatest miracles of all time; they had heard the voice of God and they
were given the Ten Commandments. So, why did they do this? How could Aaron have
let them do it? What does Satan use best, atheism or confused spirituality?
Clearly - confused spirituality. What does sin use best? Everything.
As disciples, we need to take care. That same depraved
nature is in us. The difference is that we have been given hearts cleansed in
Christ and infused with a new life in the Spirit. Our strength is our total
dependence on the Spirit and the Word and the grace of God. We are strongest
following Christ in the harvest, focused on God's grace, our redemption and the
need of this world. As Paul said, "When I am weak, then I am strong."
We can never forget that we are spiritually bi-polar. We need our daily time
(meds) with God in His Word.
Vs. 2-5 I wonder if Aaron was afraid. Not only did Aaron
design and make the calf, but he organized the worship. Maybe he was trying to
keep the people from a full scale riot.
V. 6 The last part of this verse is quoted in 1 Corinthians
10:7, The people sat down to eat and
drink and rose up to play. The word "play" in this context would be
sexual immorality. I don't know if sex and idolatry were always mixed
everywhere, but they definitely were mixed in Canaan. It was the perfect way
for man to degrade himself in every way. I think it makes the enemy happy.
Vs. 7-14 This is a very important interaction between God
and Moses. God expressed His anger with the people, but this was for Moses and
for all of Israel to understand Him. God knew what Moses would say and how this
would be necessary for Israel.
V. 10 God had already shown the Messiah would come from the
tribe of Judah. What God says here was a "test" for Moses; but God
knew he would not only pass, but step up to a higher level of seeking God.
Vs. 11-14 This is why Moses was such a great man. It was
love for God and for His people. Notice that after the logical argument of v.
12, Moses reminds God of His covenant with Abraham, stating that that covenant
was without condition. God swore by His own self. It means that the covenant
with Abraham, in some hearts of faith, was fully understood as eternally
binding on God.
There is a line of thinking called the "openness of
God." The idea is that God can change His mind and plans based on new data
or the unexpected actions of men. Passages like this one are often used by
critics to show that God does change His mind, that His plans are not set and
that He doesn't know the end from the beginning. God does know the end from the
beginning and these verses do not disprove that. It is important to let
Scripture interpret Scripture; that is, we need to take what the Bible says as
a whole, and balance it against what we might read in one or two verses that
seem to say something different. The message of the entire Bible is that God
knows the end, and the tiny details thereof, from the beginning. For example:
Psalm 139:4 Even
before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
Psalm 139:16 Your eyes
saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the
days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
In light of God's foreknowledge and His unchangeableness,
how do you interpret what God says to Moses in this portion? Most people see
this as a test for Moses and a way to display the shepherd's heart that God had
developed in Moses during those 40 years in the wilderness of Midian tending
sheep.
Vs. 15-20 Now Moses is mad. When he was on the mountain
talking to God, the issue was still theoretical for him. When Moses came down
and saw the people, it aroused his own sense of justice and zeal for God.
Vs. 15-16 Moses is coming down the mountain with these
amazing tablets on which God Himself had inscribed the Ten Commandments. The
commandments were the summary of the covenant that God was making with the
nation; that is, obey and be blessed.
V. 18 This is all so ironic. It was a sound like joy, but it
was defeat. There was nothing wrong with singing and dancing. There was the
idolatry, but also in v. 25 it says they had
broken loose. There was something that happened here that was a moral and
social breakdown.
V. 19 I don't fully understand why Moses broke the tablets.
I would imagine that when Moses saw the extent of what had happened and how
many of the commandments had been broken, he realized the people had already
broken the covenant with God; and in his despair and anger, he broke the
tablets.
V. 20 By Moses doing this he showed that he, a man, was
showing the powerlessness of their "god."
Vs. 21-24 Everyone always notices how Aaron tries to pawn
this off on the people and chance. I
threw it (gold) into the fire and out
came this calf. And to think that Aaron would become the high priest of
these people. God will change Aaron through this event and it will show God's
patience and grace.
Notice that Moses gives Aaron the responsibility. If Aaron
had led, he might have stopped the people from bringing sin upon themselves. He
should at least have tried to stand in the way.
Vs. 25-29 There was such disorder that whatever order had
existed up until now had crumbled. This will actually be a big event in the
history of Israel, because when Moses called, all of the Levites came to him.
It doesn't mean that some people from other tribes didn't come, but no other
tribe, lock, stock and barrel, completely gave themselves to the Lord like
this. This then is the selection and ordination of the tribe of the Levites to
be the servants and teachers of the people in the worship of God.
V. 25 Notice Moses' word about giving their enemies
something to laugh at. I wonder if spiritual enemies were also in view. God is
making a nation to be a witness to the nations. It has only been 40 days since
they made a covenant with God. Satan is going, "Seriously, dude, this is
too easy."
V. 27 The Levites help Moses dispense justice. Apparently
whatever happened as a result of this idolatry was measurable. It appears that
most of the people joined in the worship, but only these 3000 were found having
committed adultery or murder or rape or whatever. This judgment probably reflects
a violation of commandments 6-10.
Vs. 30-34 Now that Moses himself has seen what the people
have done, he pleads again for them. This is why Moses was a great man and
follower of God. This entire section will explain something in the next chapter
about why the people worshiped God when Moses went to the tent of meeting.
V. 32 The book seems to be a concept they already had
regarding who would be acceptable to God and live with Him. Now it might have been the book of the census
they were going to be taking, or it could also be that in these months they had
already been compiling a written record of the people and their ages. However,
it seems that since God wrote the book, it is the Book of Life, meaning that
the line of faith from Adam to Moses already understood that God was keeping a
record and only those who were in the book would live with Him. Note that Moses
is willing to stand in the gap and take the place of the people.
V. 33 God says that only those who sinned will be punished.
V. 34 This is God promising to continue to lead Israel. God
is saying that Moses would lead the people to the place He promised, but that
was still 10 or more months away.
V. 35 I would guess that the plague was aimed at those who
had instigated the worship or were guilty of what the 3000 had done, that Moses
and the Levites had missed. This will begin to show the people, that the sins
of a few affect the entire congregation.
Exodus 33
Vs. 1-6 After this event, God tells Moses to go with the
people; but that He, Himself, will not dwell in the middle of the people
because if His holiness came in contact with their sin, they would go,
"Boom!"
This statement by God launched another crisis, and the
people mourned when they heard it. They were beginning to understand that their
sin and disobedience was a major issue. God was not an idol or a religion. He
was a Person to be dealt with in a relationship.
Vs. 7-11 All of this disaster brought this custom into
being. God said He would not come among the people, and so Moses had to go
outside the camp to meet with God and intercede for the people. The people
worshipped, knowing that their sin was separating them from God and that Moses
was going out there to ask for mercy for the people. Again, this is another
"good" thing that came from the malfunction with the calf.
This tent was not the tabernacle. When the tabernacle is
built, it will be exactly in the middle of the people with God's presence in
the tabernacle. All of what is happening here is leading up to that.
V. 11 It is interesting that Joshua basically lived there,
making sure, I suppose, that no one from the people tried to sneak in to get a
peek.
This whole adventure led to a crisis and Moses and the
people knew it. If God could not and would not dwell in their midst, they were
cooked. For Moses especially, the load was unbearable, and he needed God's
presence and assurance.
Vs. 12-23 Now we get an idea of those first conversations
Moses had with God in that tent. This is a very important and interesting
portion of Scripture, especially for us as disciples.
V. 13 What was Moses asking for, another miracle? The people
had seen miracle upon miracle with no real change of heart. Moses didn't need
to see another miracle. Moses wanted to know God. In my mind, this passage
makes Moses great.
Vs. 14-17 Even when God promises that His presence will go
with Moses and that He will give him rest, Moses doesn't stop.
V. 18 In his weakness Moses could have asked for anything,
but in v. 18 he says, Please show me your
glory. His deepest desire and need was that he wanted to know God
personally. He didn't want to have to rely on the ups and downs of experience
and events. He needed something more stable and unchanging than successes and
his own feelings. He needed to see and know the heart of God. In God showing
Moses His innermost heart, Moses knew he was welcomed in and accepted. What
will happen will not make Moses perfect, but it will increase his faith. There
is something in this that also happened to the prophet Elisha.
Vs. 19-23 Notice that whatever is promised here is different
than when Moses and the others ate with the Lord. What Moses is about to see is
different. Also, this is not simply sight. There is a very personal thing
happening that will give Moses the ability to lead another 38 years. It isn't
visual; it is spiritual. Moses asks to see God's glory, and God tells Moses
three things will happen. How do those three things represent God's glory? More
on this tomorrow when it actually happens.
For us as disciples, as we yearn to serve Christ in the
harvest, what is it that we really want? It takes a long time to finally
distill the pure desire out of us and our motives. We work and see successes
and failures and realize that none of them last or change us in a way that
lasts. What Moses asked for was the only thing that truly makes sense. We need
to know the Lord, to see His heart and be welcomed into His heart. This was
Paul's desire in Philippians 3. If our service depends on results, we are dead.
If our mood and faithfulness depend on visual results, we fail. When we serve,
knowing and seeing the Lord as our love and treasure, fully welcomed and
beloved, we follow with joy and faithfulness regardless of what the voices of
men say to us, or what the "results" look like.
Not that this portion has anything to do with me, but I'm
glad I can latch onto this truth on my birthday. I don't want my relationship
with God to be through bowing to the "calf" of results or what others
think of me. If I get to blow out the candles, this will be my wish, Show me Your glory.
Matthew 26:69-27:14
Matthew 26:69-75
Nothing is more haunting than Luke's account of Peter's
denial, where in the middle of Jesus' ordeal, there is a break in the action
and Jesus hears the rooster and looks out to the courtyard. His eyes meet
Peter's, knowing that Peter has just publicly "sworn to God" that he
doesn't know Jesus. Poor Peter. Like every great leader, before he became
useful, he had to hit the wall at 500 mph and become broken.
Matthew 27:1-14
Vs. 1-5 As they led Jesus away, Judas now understood that Jesus would be
killed and that the people would blame him. Used by Satan to achieve Satan's
ends to have the Jews incur the guilt of killing their Messiah, Judas had not
achieved his end. What would 30 pieces of silver get you? It couldn't have been
the money. Maybe he thought he could corner Jesus, and Jesus would finally have
to show His power and destroy the Romans. Judas might have escaped the wrath of
the people by committing suicide, but not God. The minute he croaked, he was
standing before God. What was he thinking? But Judas wasn't the only one who
made mistakes. Satan never understood the mystery of the incarnation or the
mystery of that strange, funky nation that would be formed at the resurrection
of Christ, bound by no common language, race or boundary, bound only by the
cleansing, justifying, sanctifying blood of Christ and His indwelling Spirit.
As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:8, None
of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory.
And to make Satan's defeat complete, by God's grace, Israel
will rise and fulfill its destiny and burn brightly for its Messiah in earth's
darkest hour. And those who are wise
shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to
righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)
Vs. 6-8 You don't find anything more irrational or ironic
than this. They paid Judas to betray Jesus to His death. That was OK. But to
use this blood money for religious
purposes was, according to their "law," sinful. So they bought a
field for the burials of foreigners.
Vs. 9-10 This is referring to a prophecy in Zechariah
11:12-13 almost verbatim. So what does this have to do with Jeremiah? Jeremiah
19 refers to the plot of ground, the
potter's field. This field would insure the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
Zechariah describes the price of the betrayal. Here, the field and coming
judgment are what’s in view.
Vs. 11-14 Pilate really lived in the Roman capital of Judea
in Caesarea, on the coast. He came to Jerusalem during the feasts
because of the risk of riots and to enjoy the festivities.
You really have to put all of the gospels together to
understand Jesus' interaction with Pilate. For his part, Pilate tried all sorts
of chess moves on the Jews to release Jesus. He finally caved into personal
fear when the Jews threatened to tell Caesar on him. Pilate gave in. He didn't
have to. Rather than being trapped in playing chess, there is that one
unexpected, invincible move where you simply throw the board into the air and
say, "This is what I'm going to do regardless of the cost." And you
obey God. It sure simplifies things.
Psalm 33:1-11
This is a great psalm of praise. Notice that there is no
mention of distress or danger or crying out. That is all behind David as he
wrote this.
V. 1 Notice that praise is native and natural to the
upright. How do you know if a person is upright? They are praising God.
V. 3 So where does that new
song come from? And when does it arrive on our lips? It isn't natural and
it comes at a price. Read Psalm 40:1-10. If the Lord hasn't fully led a person
through their pit and bog, He still has hasn't put the new song in their mouth.
Vs. 4-11 Notice the words used for the Word of the
Lord. Notice too that the creation is evidence of God's eternal power and
divine control. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the
world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
(Romans 1:20)
Proverbs 8:33-36
V. 33 This is a command. It is something we are to actively
seek and pursue in all situations. It is a part of prayer and our relationship
with God.
V. 34 And here is the blessing for those who do it.
Vs. 35 & 36 are a very powerful contrast, and v. 36 is a
truth that most people will not realize until it is way too late.
If you’re reading along
and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these
comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in
growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see
the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting
weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make
disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we
have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused
on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to
provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of
redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us
focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in
these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others
to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making
disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a
complete description of this model of being and making disciples you can find
it in my book: Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more
descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the
Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is the
commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never
hurts.
I am not endorsing any
particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte
Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with
us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their
own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular
tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to
criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has
written to us, as I understand it. Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like
documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to
print.
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