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).
February 13, 2015
God is honored when His people worship Him with “stirred” hearts and “willing” spirits. The first has to do with the emotion and the other the will. One with a stirred heart is filled with passion for God’s kingdom work. They enthusiastically bring their offering of praise. One with a willing spirit serves God, not out of duty, but out of desire. They want to serve and give. God cares more for the condition of our heart in giving, than in the content of our gifts.
February 12, 2015
God gave Moses and the Israelites instructions on how to offer worship that honored Him. True worship might be described in two moves: 1) Recognizing God’s worth and 2) Giving God His worth. We are to bring our worship into God’s house with us, not come hoping to respond to the worship of others. It’s called a church “service,” because we are called to come and serve, not be served. Stop coming before God “empty-handed.” Bring your worship with you!
February 6, 2015
How the Bible came to be: God spoke and men wrote. Paradoxically both fully human and fully divine. Sixty-six books written by over 40 God-inspired human authors of various cultures and backgrounds, over a period of 1600 years in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek to form one book, the Bible, God’s Word. There’s no other book like it. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word of God never will!
February 4, 2015
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.
January 31, 2015
Among the many instructions God gave Moses concerning the Passover Lamb was that it must be a male without blemish and that they were not to “break one of its bones” in sacrificing it. God was preparing the Israelites not only for their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, but ultimately for redemption from their slavery to sin. For by establishing the Passover as an annual memorial, He was preparing them to recognize the true Lamb of God when He came. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb. He was the male without blemish, the sinless Son of God. And although it was Roman practice to break the legs of those they crucified, which they did to the two criminals on either side of Jesus, not one of His bones was broken. As John reflected in his gospel, “For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken’” (John 19:36).
January 30, 2015
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.