Digging in Deeper: Exodus 34:15-16

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“Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the best explorations of the law of cause and effect currently on the market is the series of books, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Each book takes the reader deep into a thought-provoking exploration of piercing questions like, what would happen if you gave a mouse a cookie? Or a dog a donut? Or a moose a muffin? Or a cat a cupcake? Or even a pig a pancake? As you will soon discover upon reading one of these classics is that a whole lot of things will happen. The mouse will probably ask for a glass of milk to go with the cookie (who wouldn’t?). Then he’ll want a napkin and a straw and a mirror and all sorts of household adventures will potentially unfold from there until he winds up asking for a cookie, and the whole thing starts over. This is all silly, of course, but the books really do help young children begin to understand that like one domino striking another, actions have consequences which is an essential insight to have when navigating our way through this world. It’s an insight that lies at the heart of our passage for today. Let’s keep digging into one of the major guardrails God gave Israel for life in their new home.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 34:12-14

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“Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you. Instead, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, and chop down their Asherah poles. Because the Lord is jealous for his reputation, you are never to bow down to another god. He is a jealous God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the most important things that successful companies put in place when they are being formed are a set of core values. These are the things that define them as uniquely them. They set them apart from every other company that offers the same services or sells the same products. Smart companies understand that these values have to be guarded. If they let the success or failure another company experiences lead them to drift from those values, they will cease to be who they are. God created Israel uniquely and to be different from all the nations around them. Let’s talk about how He helped them maintain their identity.

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Letting Go

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If we want to grow God’s kingdom, walking a path of sacrificial living is going to be the key. But sacrifice by itself isn’t enough. There’s another step to take. In today’s continuation of our teaching series, Together, we are talking about what comes next once we have decided to walk this path. Helping us understand it will be two different stories, one of which ranks among the hardest in the Old Testament. Let’s dive in and see why letting go gives God a lot of room to accomplish His good work.

Letting Go

Some of the most incredible military victories over the course of human history have been won because one side simply refused to surrender and fought with courage and valor until their opposition was finally overcome. Even battles that have been lost have been turned into rallying cries for future soldiers to inspire them on to incredible feats of bravery. Consider the battle cry, “Remember the Alamo!” When the citizens of Texas were fighting Mexico for independence which ultimately resulted in their becoming a part of these United States, they were inspired by that cry to keep on pressing to defeat their foes until their threat was eliminated once and for all. But the fact is that Texas lost the battle for the Alamo that created that cry. It was their very refusal to surrender, though, that transformed them from being merely the losing side to immortalized heroes in the minds of their fellow soldiers and citizens. 

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Morning Musing: Matthew 14:13-14

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“When Jesus heard about it, he withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

A devastating hurricane recently smashed its way through my region. The impact on my own community was barely noticeable. We endured a few hours without power and some water seeping in the basement of the church building. A couple of hours west of here, though, was not nearly so fortunate. I recently heard a colleague who did mission work in Libya during and in the aftermath of their civil war say that if you took away the guns and the violence, the worst affected areas look very much like a war zone. To say the response to send and bring relief and help has been overwhelming would be an understatement. One disaster relief organization quickly mobilized to have 2,000 beds available for volunteers to help with the recovery effort and has found themselves having to manage 20,000 applications to help. And the vast majority of this response has come from Christians. Why do followers of Jesus do this in a way that goes so very far beyond what the adherents of any other worldview do?

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Morning Musing: Exodus 34:10-11

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“And the Lord responded, “Look, I am making a covenant. In the presence of all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in the whole earth or in any nation. All the people you live among will see the Lord’s work, for what I am doing with you is awe-inspiring. Observe what I command you today. I am going to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.” (CSB – Read the chapter)‬‬

One of the things that stands out in the Old Testament narrative is all of the ways God reveals Himself to the people of Israel through powerful, miraculous actions that could only have been accomplished by Him. He wanted the people as clear as could be that He was God and about what kind of a God He was. We see so many different examples of these kinds of actions on God’s part, in fact, that it’s easy for us to wonder a bit why He doesn’t still do that kind of thing today so that a skeptical world can have an easier time believing in Him. The truth is that He does. We simply have to learn to see properly. Let’s talk about it.

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