Tag: Trusting God

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 32:7-10

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“The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, “Israel, these are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”‘ The Lord also said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever known someone who liked to play the Devil’s advocate in a debate setting? Are you that person? Some people just like taking the other side in a debate. Even if they don’t really believe in the position, they’ll stake it out simply because they like arguing. I bring that up because this next part of our story is hard to understand. All the players switch roles in ways that are confusing at best. If we are not sufficiently grounded in our understanding of their character outside of this story, we are going to struggle to make any positive sense out of it. Let’s take a look at God’s getting angry with Israel.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 30:11-16

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“The Lord spoke to Moses: ‘When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must may a ransom for his life to the Lord as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered. Everyone who is registered must pay half a shekel according to the sanctuary shekel (twenty gerahs to the shekel). This half shekel is a contribution to the Lord. Each man who is registered, twenty years old or more, must give this contribution to the Lord. The wealthy may not give more and the poor may not give less than half a shekel when giving the contribution to the Lord to atone for your lives. Take the atonement price from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will serve as a reminder for the Israelites before the Lord to atone for your lives.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the most awkward things for many preachers to talk about is money. The reason for this is not simply because of a fear of stepping on their people’s toes. The reason is that it is hard to address the subject without its feeling or seeming very self-serving. After all, the preacher’s salary comes from the church. His telling the people to give can come across like little more than his reminding them to pay him. No one wants that. The next part of the tabernacle cycle here is the description of an annual financial offering the people were to give. Let’s talk through what we see here and how we should see it through a new covenant lens.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 28:15-21, 29-30

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“You are to make an embroidered breastpiece for making decisions. Make it with the same workmanship as the ephod; make it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yard, and of finely spun linen. It must be square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide. Place a setting of gemstones on it, four rows of stones: The first row should be a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald; the second row, a turquoise, a lapis lazuli, and a diamond; the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They should be adorned with gold filigree in their settings. The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone must be engraved like a seal, with one of the names of the twelve tribes. . .Whenever he enters the sanctuary, Aaron is to carry the names of Israel’s sons over his heart on the breastpiece for decisions, as a continual reminder before the Lord. Place the Urim and Thummim in the breast piece for decisions, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the Lord. Aaron will continually carry the means of decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How do you figure out what God (or the gods, if you prefer) wants? That has been a question plaguing humanity since time immemorial. And we have come up with all sorts of ways to answer it. Some have been fairly simple and direct. Others have been entirely more complicated. Many have even crossed the line into being downright nefarious. The goal, though, has always been the same: to figure out what God wants so that we can live in light of that. For Israel, part of the answer to that question was the breastpiece. Let’s talk about this next part of the priestly garments.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 22:29-30

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“You must not hold back offerings from your harvest or your vats. Give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your flock. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to me.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There’s an awful scene from the beginning of the movie Braveheart where William Wallace has just gotten married and some English soldiers arrive in town and learn about the wedding. The soldiers demand their rights of jus primae noctis (“the right of the first night”) as extended to them by King Edward “Longshanks” the ruler of the land. This meant they were entitled to sleep with a woman on her wedding night before she and her new husband have the opportunity to come together. The actual history of the practice is a bit murky, but it was basically part of a ruler’s demand of the first and best of his people. Reading this next law, I’m reminded of that scene. God here demands the first and best from His people. How is this any different from what the English soldiers in Braveheart did? Let’s explore that together.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 20:17

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“Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

In the world of preachers, there is a phrase that occasionally gets thrown around when someone says something that is particularly profound or is worded in an especially memorable way. “That’s preach.” The idea is that you could take that line and build a whole sermon around it. Of course, a sermon built around an idea that isn’t directly informed by Scripture isn’t a sermon at all, but we won’t get into homiletical nitpicking right now. I say all of that to say this, one of the most preachable ideas I’ve ever heard (and which came out of a serious engagement with the Scriptures) was this big idea from Andy Stanley: “There’s no win in comparison.” He was talking about the dangers of comparing ourselves to others, but this danger is rooted in a sin whose prohibition in the Law of Moses is the caboose of the Ten Commandments. Let’s talk for a few minutes about coveting.

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