Tag: God’s presence

Advent Reflections: Psalm 139:7-12

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“Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I fly on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the western horizon, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night’—even the darkness is not dark to you. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When the apostle Matthew was writing Jesus’ story, he began at the beginning. Writing for a Jewish background audience, he rooted Jesus in Jewish history, showing Him to be the Son of David as every Jew knew the Messiah would be. Then, he told the story of His birth. Narrating through Joseph’s experience, Matthew went out of his way to show that Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of prophecy. Specifically, He fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy about a child born to a virgin who would be called Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” Jesus made it possible for the God who is everywhere in Spirit to be with us in relationship. Let’s celebrate the goodness of our God with David’s words today.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus: 40:34-38

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“The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The Israelites set out whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle throughout all the stages of their journey. If the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out until the day it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and there was a fire inside the cloud by night, visible to the entire house of Israel throughout all the stages of their journey.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Here at last, then, we come to the end. We have been slowly but surely working our way through the narrative of Exodus for a little over a year and a half. And while we haven’t hit every single word directly (especially over these last few posts for reasons I explained as we were getting started on them), I’ve linked you to every bit of the text. More than once. I’ve never tackled a project like this with such thoroughness, and I’ll admit that I was a little leery at the start because of its sheer size and scope. Yet God has been good and faithful. Personally, I’ve come to understand just how thoroughly soaked in the Gospel the Exodus narrative is, and I hope you have too. It is soaked in the Gospel, but it is not the Gospel. We are reminded of that here at the end with a potent pointer to just how good and important the Gospel is. As we wrap up this whole journey today, let’s marvel together at another way God was planting the seeds of the Gospel long before it became a reality.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 34:6-9

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“Moses immediately knelt low on the ground and worshiped. Then he said, ‘My Lord, if I have indeed found favor with you, my Lord, please go with us (even though this is a stiff-necked people), forgive our iniquity and our sin, and accept us as your own possession.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some people around whom you are expected to behave a certain way. Society expects you to toe that line. The person in question expects it. You even expect it of yourself. And what’s more, you weren’t taught that. You just know it. There’s a kind of sixth sense when you are around the person that behaving in ways other than the right way simply won’t do. Now, exactly what the right way to behave around a given person is going to vary depending on the person and the circumstances. All the same, if you get it wrong, everyone is going to know it. When Moses encountered the presence and glory of God, He responded with worship and repentance. Let’s talk about why this was the right reaction, and how we can mimic it in our own lives.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 19:16-22

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“On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast from the ram’s horn, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. As the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. The Lord directed Moses, ‘Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will die. Even the priests who come near the Lord must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out in anger against them.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What is it like to be in the presence of God? We often like to imagine that such an experience is one of great peace and tranquility. Or perhaps we imagine it to be something that is gentle and encouraging. Yet while those ideas may have some truth to them in a certain set of circumstances, whenever we see God show up in power in the Scriptures, the experience is quite a bit different from that. Let’s talk about the wild scene we see unfolding here and why we should be so grateful for Jesus.

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Digging in Deeper: Joel 2:28-29

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“After this I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. I will even pour out my Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

So, yesterday we talked about the fact that much of the Old Testament does not apply to us as followers of Jesus. If you stuck with me for most of Monday’s full sermon I explained the concept there in a little more detail but with the Ten Commandments in view rather than the proclamations of the prophets. Context shift aside, the point is the same: Most of the Old Testament doesn’t apply to us. It details the old covenant God made with Israel which was fulfilled in Christ and replaced with the new covenant to which we are liable in Him. That’s the rule. This verse is one of the exceptions.

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