Tag: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 16:17-20

Leave a comment

“So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. When they measured it by quarts, the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat. Moses said to them, ‘No one is to let any of it remain until morning.’ But they didn’t listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. Therefore Moses was angry with them.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever proven yourself to someone only to have them doubt you anyway? That’s an enormously frustrating situation. One of the major themes of the Exodus journey is Israel’s persistent lack of faith in God. This story fits squarely within this theme. Let’s talk about how God provides, why Israel didn’t trust, and what all of this might mean for us.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 16:4, 12

Leave a comment

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. . . .I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Maybe it’s because I grew up in Missouri, the “Show Me State,” but I remember growing up that it was not at all uncommon when someone in a group of friends made a claim that seemed particularly outlandish, the rest of the group responded with two words: prove it. When Israel complained that Moses had dragged them out into the desert to starve them to death, while food was the direct object of their whining, it wasn’t the real issue. The real issue was that they were essentially telling God to prove (yet again) that He really was God. So he did, and in a way that has shaped the cultural memory of the entire world ever since. Let’s talk about what’s going on here.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Galatians 6:7-10

Leave a comment

“Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the best ways to grow a church is to invite new people to come. That sounds like it should be obvious, but perhaps not as much as you would think. Inviting people to church is such an old-fashioned idea. Surely there are more modern, seeker-sensitive methods of getting them to come. I mean, if that’s all it really takes to grow a church, how is anybody going to make money off of gimmicky approaches that guarantee successful church growth campaigns for only $199? Don’t you worry. Those will still be there. In any event, the trouble with this is that it feels awkward to invite someone to church. So we don’t do it. Especially if you are an introvert like me. After all, they may not come in response to our invitation. That’s true, but they almost certainly won’t come without one. Well, the other day, I invited someone to church. What I got in response was a bad church story. The invitation may yet play out, but if it doesn’t, that bad church story will have a lot to do with it. The whole thing got me thinking about why people have those and what we can do about it.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 16:1-3

Leave a comment

“The entire Israelite community departed from Elim and came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt. The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Kids can be whiny. I know this. I have three of them. If you have kids, yours are whiny too. I was whiny when I was a kid. Whiny kids is a natural part of life. They do it because they want what they want (like all of us do), but they don’t have any power to get what they want. So, they use the only tactic they think they do have: to irritate the world around them into giving it to them. Kids have to be taught by loving parents not to do this or else they will grow up to be whiny adults. Whiny adults are a sad thing to see. They are an even more irritating thing to experience. The roots of whining actually go deeper than this, though. More than merely a lack of power, they reveal a lack of something else the next part of the story of Israel’s journey into the wilderness gives us the chance to explore.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 15:25-27

Leave a comment

“So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there. He said, ‘If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.’ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy date palms, and they camped there by the water.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had a teachable moment? It doesn’t really matter right now if you were the student or the teacher in it. Teachable moments come along every now and then and bring with them the opportunity to impart possibly life-changing information or wisdom. Israel’s experience at the waters at Marah provided just such an opportunity for the Lord. Let’s take a moment to think through what God had to teach them, why it mattered, and why it points to something important about the nature of our relationship with Him.

Read the rest…