Tag: Trusting God

A Gift of Trust

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What do we do when everything is falling apart around us? That’s the question that Habakkuk was left to wrestle with at the end of his collection of prophecy. His circumstances weren’t great, and they were on the cusp of getting much worse. What are we supposed to do then, especially when it’s not going to be within our power to fix them? Here at the end of our journey, we finally get an answer to that question. Let’s see where Habakkuk lands in his journey with God, and talk about how we can get to the same place in our own lives.

A Gift of Trust

Do you remember the old Magic Eye books? Do you remember those images? I’ll put one up on the screen as a reminder. Believe it or not, there’s a Walleye fish and a hook in all of that gobblygook. I made the mistake of looking at one on my Facebook feed the other day (pro tip: don’t do that in public because you look really funny crossing your eyes and holding your phone up right in front of your face), and suddenly there was a new one every time I opened the app. As you can see from the Magic Eye image up here, when you look at it for the first time, there’s clearly nothing there. But once you learn how to see them and figure out what the image is, you just about can’t not see them. 

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 35:1-3

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“Moses assembled the entire Israelite community and said to them, ‘These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do: For six days work is to be done, but on the seventh day you are to have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. Anyone who does work on it must be executed. Do not light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath day.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If you listen to certain preachers long enough, you’ll start to hear the same points raised over and over again. There are a handful of ideas I have talked about with my own congregation in a certain way so many times that when I start talking about them, some of the folks in the room can finish my sentence for me. Everybody has something about which they are especially passionate. This passion will show itself through their words and actions. It will become the theme of their life. Everything they do, it seems, is filtered through the lens of whatever it is. Hopefully the passion is a good one, but whether it is or not, it is going to be definitional for them because that’s the nature of passion. As we get started on the home stretch of Exodus today, we are reminded yet again about one of God’s passions. Let’s talk yet again about the Sabbath.

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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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