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Exodus 20:3 – The First Commandment

Read Exodus 20:1-21

Summary

We live in a world of choices, and religion is just one of many “products” on offer. You can even bundle your religions together, mixing some aspects of one religion with parts of another, to have your own custom belief system. In the ancient world, this idea was just as common.

But Christianity does not allow this “Pick ‘n Mix” approach to worship of God. The First Commandment, pronounced by God from Mount Sinai, reminds us that God requires exclusive worship of him. To refuse to worship him is sin. To worship God amongst others is sin. Our allegiance and our worship belongs to God alone – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Our Passage Explained

Immediately after reminding the Israelites that he was the God who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, God announced his First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (v.3).

Firstly, this commandment forbids idolatry. While we think of idolatry as primarily the worship of images of wood and stone (and this is true), those physical images are just physical representations of an inner false desire. More broadly, idolatry is the worship of any god who is not the true and living God.

Idols are much broader than just (literal) religious figures, they are anything which takes the place of God as the highest priority in our life. Many of the ancient world’s idols were actually a physical representation of a sinful desire, such as fertility gods which were often connected with sexual immorality. 

Paul identifies idolatry and immorality as being linked (Romans 1:18-32). Any sort of immoral act is an act of idolatry, a worship of something like money, sex, power, or control instead of God.

Forbidding idolatry forbade the Israelites from worshiping any other god. They were not to worship the gods of Egypt, decisively beaten by God. They were not to worship the gods of Canaan, where they were about to settle.

The First Commandment also forbids atheism. The very fact that God discloses his existence and demands exclusive worship and allegiance means that denying God’s existence and Creator’s rights is a sin, and violates this commandment.

The Israelites were not to live atheistic lives, ignoring or denying God’s existence. He was their God, their Divine King. They owed him worship and allegiance by right as Creator, and as their Covenant King.

Thirdly, the worship of God is without restriction in duration or extent. God is not a localised deity responsible for the maintenance of part of the Middle East, but the Creator of all things. Heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool (Isaiah 66:1). There is nowhere we can flee from God’s presence (Psalm 139:7-12). God transcends Creation, it cannot contain him (1 Kings 8:27).

The Israelites were not to worship God in the land he was to give them, then to worship other deities in other lands when they travelled there for trade or pleasure. They were not to worship God for some matters, and another pagan god for other matters (or for insurance).

Fourth, this commandment is not just a corporate commandment, referring only to the people of Israel as a whole. The commandment is given to “you” in the second person singular. That means that each and every person was individually responsible to obey the commandment. It is not the general response of God’s people required, but the collective obedience of every individual, without exception, of God’s command to worship him alone.

Our Passage Applied

Just as was the case with Israel, we too must worship only God alone. We cannot mix the worship of God with other religions; a bit of Buddhism on Monday, some Atheism on Tuesday, and a dash of Christianity on Sunday. God demands, and is owed as our Creator, our complete and undivided worship.

We cannot worship God in one area of our lives, or one location, and then worship another deity in another part of our lives. God is present everywhere, and so every place and every space is “before [God]”. God is entitled to, and may demand, exclusive worship over every area of every person’s life, in every location, in every time. To do anything else is treason against God.

Neither can or should we try and live our life in a “practical atheistic” way, acknowledging God with our lips but denying him with our attitude, our actions, and our lifestyle.

Instead, positively speaking, the First Commandment directs us to acknowledge God as our Maker and Sustainer. To each individually honour and acknowledge him as God over every part of our lives, offering him praise and worship for his very nature.

We should do this because he is our Creator, but also because God is our Redeemer. God, in Christ, reconciled us to him while we were sinners. God himself showed mercy to us, delivering us from slavery to sin.

Only God is “the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” and to him we owe “honour and glory forever and ever” (1 Timothy 1:17). He alone is worthy of honour and praise, obedience and submission.




Exodus 20:1-21: The Ten Commandments

Read Exodus 20:1-21

Summary

Just about every adult in our country has probably heard of the Ten Commandments. Many probably cannot tell you what they are, but they probably describe them as a bunch of rules to obey. This may even be the case for many professing Christians, who view them as a bunch of rules the Jews had to obey, but irrelevant now Jesus is here.

The Ten Commandments are laws, yes, but they are so much more. They reveal the standard of morality God requires, and they reveal how a people freed from bondage can live a life which pleases God. 

While we cannot pass up the opportunity to look at each commandment, we must also remember the context of the Ten Commandments, the principles the commandments teach us about living with God and each other, and how the Israelites received them.

Our Passage Explained

v1

In Moses’ time, nations related to each other by treaties known as covenants, which followed a set formula. God, the Great King of the Israelites, is establishing a covenant relationship with Israel, and the Ten Commandments follow this familiar structure. 

The Commandments are the “principles” on which the rest of the Law builds (eg, later in Exodus and in Deuteronomy). They also come directly from God, because it is God who speaks these principles to Israel (v.1).

The Ten Commandments sound negative, but they are expressed in the context of a positive situation. They prohibit conduct that would affect a loving relationship with God. This is clear from the preamble which God provides.

v2-11

God reminds them of who he is. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (v.2). The God they are covenanting with is the Creator of all things, who covenanted with their ancestors, and who freed them from slavery in Egypt. 

God not only graciously made them, he graciously saved them. Therefore, his commandments help Israel avoid spoiling the “good thing” they have going! And as the Great King who rescued them and placed them in such a positive place, let alone their Maker and Sustainer, God is perfectly entitled to set the terms of the relationship!

The commandments which follow broadly fall into two categories. The first category, the first four commandments, cover the relationship between them and God. They ban idolatry and require the strict worship of only God (v.3). They ban images of God; because God must reveal himself and be worshiped as he is, instead of being imagined and pictured as if he is part of Creation (vv.4-6).

Nor may Israel misuse God’s name for false worship, speaking blasphemy, or treating God like some cosmic servant who acts on demand (v.7). Instead, they must revere God, and worship him as he requires. This includes patterning their lives after God, and setting aside the Sabbath for rest and worship of God like God did at Creation (vv.8-11).

v12-21

The second category of commandments cover how they should treat others. Children should honour their parents (v.12), as families are the bedrock of a healthily functioning society. Nor should they commit murder, adultery, steal, or make untrue statements about others (vv.13-16). Finally, they must respect the possessions of others (v.17), instead being content with what God chose to give them.

The announcement of the Ten Commandments, along with the terrifying thunder and fire that accompanied God’s presence, left the Israelites in fear (v.18). They retreated from Mount Sinai, begging Moses to mediate for them (v.19). Moses, before going up to God, told the Israelites that God’s terrifying presence was to give them such a taste of his power and glory that they would not sin (vv.20-21).

Our Passage Applied

As we reflect on this passage, we must recognise first of all that these are God’s very words spoken. They are not abstract principles from a legal textbook, but the expression of God’s moral will. Since they reveal God’s moral standard, they have continued relevance to us all, even though revealed at a particular time and place.

The Commandments reveal our sin to us, because we cannot come into God’s presence and not see our sin. They show us how we fail to love God, and to love each other. But the Commandments also help drive us to Christ. Jesus uniquely met the standard God requires, and suffered the punishment for our sins, to free us from bondage to sin.

We should also recognise that the Ten Commandments are given in the context of privilege. The Israelites were redeemed from bondage to serve God, and blessed with relationship with him. Likewise, as we approach the Commandments, they not only reveal God’s standards but do so in a context of great blessing, having received forgiveness for our sins through Jesus Christ.

The Ten Commandments for us are not a spoilsport list of no-nos, but God’s revelation to help us live thankful lives. When we see the Law by Christ fulfilled, and hear his pardoning voice, it changes us from slaves to God’s children, and duty into choice.

Image: Moses Breaking The Tablets Of The Law (1659) By Rembrandt (1606-1699)




Exodus 19:9-25 Preparing for the King

Read Exodus 19:9-25

Summary

When I was younger I had the opportunity to attend Government House to receive my Boys’ Brigade Queen’s Badge from the Governor-General. Because the Governor-General is the Queen’s representative in New Zealand, everybody who attended had to dress nicely, observe protocols (standing, showing respect for the office, etc), and behave appropriately!

God, the Israelites’ divine King, was coming to visit his people at Sinai. They needed to prepare themselves for his arrival, getting spiritually ready for that special day when God would descend and speak through Moses to them. While God appeared to Israel in the cloud, he has come to us in the person of Jesus, so we too can approach God, spiritually ready.

Our Passage Explained

V9-11

After the Israelites committed themselves to entering into a covenant relationship with God, where he would be their covenant king, Moses went to report this to God (v.8). But before he could do so, God told him he would authenticate Moses’ role as God’s appointed leader by appearing in “a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever” (v.9).

In response to the people’s commitment, God instructs them to prepare for his arrival. They are to “consecrate them[selves] today and tomorrow, and … wash their garments and be ready for the third day” when he would appear (vv.10-11). They were to make themselves ready for God’s appearance. The outward washing of garments was symbolic of an inner cleansing, as they prepared spiritually.

v12-16

Moses was also to ensure the right protocols and behaviour. The Israelites were not to touch the mountain which would become holy through God’s presence, either by accident or a disrespectful desire for a closer meeting, which would lead to their death (vv.12-13). God is holy and cannot be approached sinfully or irreverently.

After these instructions are given to Moses, he relays them to the Israelites who ready themselves physically and spiritually for God’s arrival (v.14). They also abstained from intimate relations (v.15), as this made them ritually unclean to participate in the special occasion (Lev. 15 contains these rules as an ongoing part of their religious worship).

On the third day, God appeared to the Israelites in “cloud and majesty and awe” (as we sing in my favourite Christmas Carol; O Come, O Come, Emmanuel). God’s awesome holiness and majesty is declared as his presence was accompanied by “thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast” that left the people visibly shaking (v.16).

v17-25

Moses led the people to the edge of the mountain to meet God (v.17). Meanwhile, Creation itself struggles to react to its Creator’s presence, as God descends on it in fire (representing his purity and power) and smoke billows everywhere and noises grow louder (vv.18-19), before God finally rests on the top of the mountain to which he calls up Moses (v.20).

God tells Moses to remind Israel not to approach him, because in his holiness and their sinfulness there is a barrier of unapproachable holiness and majesty (v.21). Even those who had offered sacrifices to God must prepare themselves properly for entering God’s presence (v.22).

Despite Moses’ insistence that his earlier warnings were enough, God knows better and insists that Moses again descend the mountain and warn the people (vv.23-4). God’s holiness and majesty is important, and so too is respecting his commands and behaving reverently towards him. Moses obeyed God’s command (v.25), reminding the Israelites of how they should behave.

Our Passage Applied

When God descended to Sinai, the people saw him in majesty and awe. It taught them, as it teaches us, that God is holy, immortal, and dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). Nobody can see God, and even Creation struggles to express his wonder and purity to us.

Because of God’s wonder and glory, our approach to worship of him must be respectful and reverent, and as he commands. God is holy and a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29), and we must worship him with respect.

But unlike the Israelites who trembled at the foot of the mountain, we can boldly come into God’s presence to worship and praise him because God descended again to dwell with his people, not in “cloud and majesty and awe” but as a tender baby boy, Jesus Christ (John 1:14). 

Jesus’ life and atoning death on the Cross cleanses us from all sin and impurity, as we receive him by faith. Clothed in Christ’s righteousness, we can enter God’s presence to praise and commune with him. God’s Holy Spirit continues to spiritually cleanse our lives, making us what he has declared us, in Christ, to be – holy.

Therefore, we approach Mount Zion, the heavenly city, to worship God and enjoy his presence (Heb. 12:22-28). We approach a mountain which does not shake like Mount Sinai, and will not be shaken when God returns in majesty and awe at the Last Day. We are made spiritually ready, prepared for entering the presence of our Divine King.




Exodus 19:1-8: God’s People, God’s Presence, God’s Reign

Read Exodus 19:1-8

Summary

God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt, and led them out into the wilderness. There, he fed and protected them, leading them on the way. But for what reason? And would God at some point leave them to their own devices, or did he have a plan and a purpose for them? Does he have a plan and a purpose for us?

In this passage, God’s people arrive at Mount Sinai, where God will arrive in all his divine glory. There, the God who chose them and rescued them from slavery in Egypt will enter into a covenant (or treaty) with them, establishing his reign over them as their Great King.

Our Passage Explained

v1-3

Firstly, this passage records God’s People entering the place of God’s special presence. God exists everywhere (he “transcends” Creation), and God has been with the Israelites on the road from Egypt. But Sinai is a special place of God’s presence, where he will particularly make himself known to the locals.

So we read that on the third new moon after they left Egypt, “on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai” (v.1). Their time of moving through the wilderness areas after leaving Egypt ended, and they settled in a camp at the foot of Mount Sinai (v.2). 

When Moses first set foot on Sinai, God promised that Moses “shall serve God on this mountain” (3:12), and so Moses fulfilled this promise as he “went up to God” while Israel encamped before Sinai (vv.2-3).

In God’s presence, Moses hears God proclaim the Israelites as his people, and his intention to reign as their Great King. Moses is told to relay God’s message, bringing the terms of a Great King to the subjects he has rescued (v.3).

v4-5

God’s treaty starts with a preamble which establishes the relationship between them and him. “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (v.4).

God reminds the Israelites of his rescue of them from Egypt, after single-handedly defeating Pharaoh and his armies. He also reminds them of his tender care for them in the wilderness, providing them with direction, with protection, with water, manna to eat, and the initial instructions of holy living.

All God’s deliverance, protection, and provision is to bring them to himself. They were redeemed with purpose, to a purpose. God has a purpose for their existence which far exceeds that of brickmakers to Pharaoh.

v6-8

That purpose is to be God’s people, his possession. God will set the terms of the relationship, a series of laws which reflect God’s character and the standard to which we are all held to account. It is what the Israelites were redeemed for, a covenant relationship with God. Enjoyment of the blessings relies on their obedience to his commands (v.5), but it comes because God has redeemed them already!

If the Israelites hear God’s voice and obey his reign, they will enjoy God’s covenant blessings. The first is that “you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine” (v.5). Of all the nations living, big and small, God chose the Israelites as the vessel of divine blessing on all the earth. They are treasured, like a child’s favourite soft toy or a person’s priceless possession.

Secondly, they “shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (v.6). As the vessel of divine blessing, Israel will preserve the true religion of God and the sacrificial system which points forward to their greatest contribution: providing the Messiah, Jesus. They will remain distinct from the pagan nations around, so that the pagans themselves will turn to God in faith.

Moses takes these words to the people. The elders of Israel, on all their behalf, commit to being God’s people under God’s reign, there in God’s presence (vv.7-8). The details will come later, but the redeemed people are now to take up a new role.

Our Passage Applied

Sadly, as the rest of Scripture teaches us, the Israelites did not live up to the standard set. But despite that, God still kept a remnant who remained faithful, and in due time Christ came to redeem us from our sins.

From that remnant, God is now building his Kingdom on earth, represented by the Church. God brings people from all nations and sets them apart, to be his kingdom of priests and a holy nation, distinct worshipers of God amongst the unbelieving world (1 Peter 2:9). 

We are God’s possession, chosen by him to serve him and call others to worship God too, because we have been redeemed by God. We do not serve to earn our salvation, we serve because we have received salvation.

The Church today is God’s people, enjoying God’s presence (through the Holy Spirit), under God’s reign. Like Israel, we have been redeemed into a covenant relationship, a possession for a special purpose. One day we will know even more fully the joy of being God’s People, in God’s Presence, under God’s Reign.

Image: View of Mount Sinai by Edward Lear (1812-1888)



Dandelion in the wind

Working for Christ – Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

Life is fleeting, all is “vanity” says the author of Ecclesiastes. But this is not an excuse to sit back and do nothing. Ash Clarkson shows us how we must be bold in working for Christ, give generously and trust God for the outcome.

Our passages:  Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, Matthew 25:14-30. Preacher: Ash Clarkson (9th July 2020).

Introduction

In 1792 William Carey moved to the mission field in India in the face of opposition.

In 40 years Carey translated the Bible into many languages and converted 700 people. His legacy was to create a great overseas mission in India and Africa; even though he saw little of what was achieved.

The writer of Ecclesiastes takes a look at our life. In our temporary existence, we may be tempted to do nothing. Yet the author wants us to use our lives for a purpose.

Since God is in control we should work boldly, give generously and trust God for the outcome.

1. Work with boldness

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.

Ecclesiastes 11:1 ESV

This is a metaphor that is quite arcane to us today. We might think of feeding the ducks where the bread would disappear; certainly not return.

But their bread was more like pita bread. If you throw it in the river it will float away. If you walk down the steam you may find it again.

The metaphor probably refers to ocean trade. In those days, ocean trade was very risky, but also very profitable. If one was to send trade ships out, they may return in three years.

The passage says to take a risk with our labours. Daily work, raising children or work for the kingdom are all profitable for the Lord.

In Matthew 25:14-30 two servants take a risk. The servant who doesn’t take a risk gets rebuked harshly.

2. Give generously

One way we take a risk is through giving. Giving charitably, we don’t see any of the return, but you would be surprised at the influence it has.

In ocean trade, goods were spread across a number of ships. Even if only one returned the profit would still outweigh the losses. Today financial advisors say to spread investment funds.

But the author is not talking about an investment portfolio, he’s talking about a giving portfolio. We give because we don’t know what disaster will befall.

Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

Ecclesiastes 11:2 ESV

When someone needs medical treatment then they don’t begrudge the taxes they’ve paid that will be there to support them.

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”‘ [20] But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Luke 12:19-20 ESV

Do not lay up treasure for yourself, but work richly for God.

Since we have freely received of Christ’s labour, so freely we should give.

Other work

That’s money. But what about other work?

Children require hours for not a lot of return except the odd smile and word of affection. But teaching them about God is worth it.

Work for Christ (the Kingdom), give an account to all who will hear you. Work for those opportunities as they need to be earned.

In v2 we are encouraged to give generously.

If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

Ecclesiastes 11:3 ESV

Some things we know about, and are obvious. These are the laws of nature because God made them laws.

We can work with courage because there are certainties in life as well as uncertainties.

He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 ESV

Someone who is always waiting for the ideal conditions that will never arrive. Today this is called paralysis by analysis. This is not a good way to live. We should take courage because God is in control.

As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 ESV

3. Trust God for the outcome

Things happen because of things we don’t understand or why they happen. There’s still a lot we don’t know about pregnancy even today. We have to trust that God is in control.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 ESV

Whatever is ordained for us to endure we know this is part of God’s good plan.

Working boldly and courageously we can work with diligence at every opportunity.

In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 ESV

We should get on with our work and be flexible in our labours. We don’t know which parts of our work will prosper.

Recently I threw some seeds down. Some prospered and others with exactly the same soil and conditions didn’t.

So therefore leave the mysteries to God and work diligently.

Working for Christ

We sow the seeds of the gospel and let God take care of conversion and sanctification.

One day we will have rest from our labours, under the sun where we toil with opportunity of salvation and fear of judgement.

Jesus says he has overcome the world.

Resources

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serpent

Exodus 7:8-13: Serpents as Signs

Read Exodus 7:8-13

Summary

Many years ago I visited the glaciers on the South Island’s West Coast. You can walk right up to the terminus of the glaciers, where bits of ice calve off and crash down to the ground below. Warning signs tell you to keep away from the glacier face, in case a falling rock of ice strikes you. Unfortunately, some people ignore these signs, and pay with injury or death.

God is acting through Moses and Aaron to free his people from slavery in Egypt. In this passage, Moses and Aaron return to Pharaoh’s court to demand he free the Israelites. There, Moses and Aaron demonstrate a warning sign to Pharaoh and Egypt, one Pharaoh tragically ignores. The serpent sign authenticates the message of Moses and Aaron, and warns that God will overcome any who oppose him.

Our passage explained

v8-10

In verses six and seven of chapter seven, we read that Moses and Aaron obeyed God and spoke again to Pharaoh. As they prepared to go to a second audience with Pharaoh, God speaks to both of them, warning them that Pharaoh will say to them “Prove yourselves by working a miracle” (vv.7-8). Since they are claiming to speak on behalf of God, Pharaoh asks them to demonstrate that God exists, and that he should listen.

God wants to make clear that he is coming to free his people, and so he tells Moses and Aaron to “take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent” (v.8). This sign was not new to Moses, who had seen God work this sign at the Burning Bush (4:3). But it demonstrated God’s power to turn a “dead” part of Creation (a stick) into a living creature.

Moses and Aaron are faithful to God’s command. They went to see Pharaoh “and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent” (v.10) just as God predicted and commanded. With no trickery on Moses’ and Aaron’s part but only God’s divine power, the staff becomes a serpent, authenticating God’s messengers to Pharaoh and his advisors.

v11-13

At this point, any sensible leader should have recognised that the Creator God was speaking through Moses and Aaron, and listening was a sensible idea. But Pharaoh does not react this way. “Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers … the magicians of Egypt” (v.11).

Those summoned are not bureaucrats but magician-priests. Much as Nebuchadnezzar had a variety of magicians and sorcerers in his Court (Daniel 2), so too Pharaoh called on the educated elite of his society, who were also priests to the many Egyptian gods. These men preserved occultic knowledge in their society. 

Pharaoh’s calling of the magician-priests shows he views this as a contest between religions, not just between nations. The serpent sign is a direct attack on the religious system of Egypt, as well as Pharaoh (who had a snake on his crown representing his divine authority).

The magicians of Egypt copy Moses and Aaron’s sign. “By their secret arts… each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents” (vv.11-12). This was likely not a straight repeat of the sign, but a trick that looked the same. One commentator has suggested this was achieved by stunning snakes who would wake up when thrown on the ground.

However the trick was achieved, God’s dominance over the Egyptian gods and their occult magic arts is demonstrated when “Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs” (v.12). The supremacy of Moses and Aaron’s sign is shown by the serpent sign consuming the other snakes. There is no “draw” here; God is the decisive winner.

Despite the victory of God through the serpent sign, “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them” (v.13). Pharaoh is committed to his alternative facts, and will not admit God is sovereign over him and Egypt. Thus the stage is set for God’s war against the gods of Egypt.

Our passage applied

Pharaoh’s hardened heart reminds us that signs do not guarantee listening. People sometimes claim that if God existed he would reveal himself, but the signs are already there (Psalm 19, Romans 1). The problem is not the lack of signs, but the stubborn heart. Only God can soften hearts so the signs are heeded.

This passage warns us to heed God’s message and signs. Ignoring God, his message, and the accompanying signs will prove fatal. 

We must also watch for the mimicking of true signs. These mimickings of God’s power, whatever the supposed sign or wonder, try to distract and entrance those in the world who are perishing, and even God’s people were it possible. We must discern the message that comes with the signs, and see if they are from God.

But we can be thankful that God overcomes the fake signs of this world. His divine power expressed through his Word and the accompanying signs show that he is at work in the world, saving his people and building his Church. In Christ, we will overcome the world’s enchantments.

Resources

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Egyptian statues

Exodus 7:1-7 – Stubborn Pharaoh, Softened Moses

Read Exodus 7:1-7

Summary

When things go wrong, we often forget God’s promises. We focus on our own failures and inadequacies, and not on God’s power to save and conquer. Moses and the Israelites, faced with more oppression by the Egyptians, had forgotten God’s promises and lost hope.

In our last devotion, we saw God remind Moses of his nature as a promise-keeping God. In Exodus 7:1-7, God reconfirms to Moses his divine appointment as God’s ambassador and leader of his people. He reminds Moses of his divine mission, warns him of the struggle against Pharaoh to come, and promises again to deliver the Israelites to freedom.

Our passage explained

v1-2

Firstly, we see God reconfirm to Moses his divine appointment as God’s ambassador and the leader of the Israelites. Moses assumed his lack of speaking talent was a stumbling block to God’s purposes, but God does not agree.

Instead, God describes Moses as his ambassador, saying “see, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet” (v.1). Moses was not a commentator providing analysis and insight to Pharaoh, but the mouthpiece of God standing and announcing. What Moses announced, God was announcing. Aaron, who in early exchanges with Pharaoh would speak for Moses, was his mouthpiece in turn. 

The message they gave should be received as if God had directly stood and spoken to Pharaoh himself. God’s command was “you shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land” (v.2). Moses and Aaron were not self-appointed, but divinely appointed leaders of God’s people and ambassador for God, bringing the approved message of their Covenant King.

v3-4

While Moses was reminded of his divine appointment, he was also warned of the struggle against Pharaoh to come. “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you” (vv.3-4).

The passage clearly states that God himself will harden Pharaoh’s heart. While we use hard-heartedness as a reference to an uncaring attitude (and there is a sense where that is certainly true here), the hard-heartedness meant here is better understood as an increasing stubbornness and refusal to recognise God’s command. More than solely Pharaoh’s sinfulness, God will actively harden Pharaoh in judgment for his enslavement of God’s people.

This stubbornness carries on despite many miracles. Moses will perform “signs and wonders” but Pharaoh will not listen. “Tone-deaf” Pharaoh will lead his land into disaster, ignoring the signs of the times and God’s ambassador, speaking as God to him.

Despite the struggle to come between Pharaoh and God, God will deliver the Israelites to freedom. Foolish Pharaoh will bring judgment on the whole land, as God “will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment” (v.4). 

v5-7

God’s hand will be so apparent that “the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD” (v.5). Not only the Israelites, but also the Egyptians, will acknowledge God’s power and authority. The Egyptian religion of fake gods and a “divine” Pharaoh will be exposed for the nonsense it is.

Moses and Aaron respond to God’s words in faith. Unlike Pharaoh, their hearts are softened to hear God and believe him. “Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them” (v.6). Moses and Aaron go once again to Pharaoh, knowing his hard heart, because they trusted God’s promises. Their ages, at 80 and 83, are no barrier to them serving God to deliver the Israelites (v.7).

Our passage applied

The declaration of Moses as being like God reminds us that we should treat all of the Scriptures as God’s words. They were written by many men over centuries, but were written as if by God himself (inspired by the Holy Spirit). The Prophets and Apostles wrote as God’s ambassadors, and the message they bring is one from God himself.

This high calling extends to the Preacher as well. When the Preacher stands at the pulpit, declaring and explaining God’s Word, he serves as an ambassador for God to us. We ought to pray that our Preachers are always faithful to God who sends them, whom they represent.

Moses and Aaron faced a ruler who was not prepared to listen to God. God actively hardened Pharaoh’s heart, making Pharaoh more resistant to their message. God chose to make more stubborn a man who sinned against God and his people, to bring about his judgment and for God’s glory. It is not unfair that God acts this way, and so we can expect to see the same judgment applied to sinners in the world today.

But while Pharaoh’s heart was made more stubborn, Moses’ was softened. We can thank God for showing mercy and softening our hearts, even when like Moses we are disobedient and forgetful of God’s promises. Our deliverance does not depend on us, but on God who has shown mercy to us.

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palm trees

Exodus 6 – Promise-keeping God

Read Exodus 6

Summary

It is important to keep your promises. Keeping your promises shows you are trustworthy, and you can be relied upon. We teach our children to keep the promises they make, aim to do so ourselves, and expect it of our politicians.

In Exodus 6, we are reminded of how God is trustworthy. God keeps his promises. Responding to the cries of Moses and the Israelites as their burdens were made heavier for daring to dream of freedom, God reminds Moses and the people of his divine commitment to his promises. Exodus 6 shows God announcing his commitment, records God’s faithfulness through a genealogical account, and demonstrates that it is God’s strength that would deliver, not Moses’ abilities.

Our passage explained

v1-8

At the end of Exodus 5, Moses expressed to God his distress at the worse situation the Israelites were in, as they had to find straw to make their bricks. God calms Moses by announcing his commitment to redeem his people. God will cause Pharaoh to drive Israel out of Egypt, not simply let them go (v.1).

In the next few verses, God repeats his solemn promises, anchoring them in his name (“I am the LORD”, vv.2, 6-8). He is the same God who appeared to the Patriarchs as God Almighty, but will now fully reveal the meaning of his divine name to their descendants (v.3). He promised them and their descendants the land of Canaan, which he would now bring Israel to as he hears and act on his covenant promises (vv.4-5).

Because God is the same one who entered into a relationship with the Patriarchs, Moses is given a command to speak to God’s people. He is to tell them “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment” (v.6). Moses speaks as God’s agent, telling them he will free them from slavery, so they will be “my people, and I will be your God” (v.7). He will take them to Canaan, as promised to the Patriarchs (v.8).

v9-19

Sadly the Israelites do not listen to Moses’ words, because they are so downtrodden (v.9), but God is not deterred. He commands Moses to go to Pharaoh, and “to let the people of Israel go out of his land” (vv.10-11). 

While Moses appears to have accepted God’s promises earlier, the unbelief of Israel renews his doubts. He questions whether Pharaoh will listen (as the Israelites have not), because of his “uncircumcised lips” (v.12). He believes his inability to convince the Israelites demonstrates his inadequacy for service, but God still insists he has a duty to lead his people out of Egypt (v.13).

At this point the story pauses, as God’s faithfulness is recorded through a genealogical account. God’s promises were not made to individuals in a void, but to their descendants as well. Moses lists a partial genealogy of Israel’s descendants, starting with Reuben, then Simeon and Levi (vv.15-19).

v20-30 

As God’s instruments of deliverance (v.13), Moses and Aaron’s lineage are described (vv.20-22). Since Aaron and his sons will later have an important place as God’s priests, their line is mentioned (vv.23-25). This genealogical listing situates Aaron and Moses as part of God’s covenantal plan (vv.26-7), evidence of God’s faithfulness to generations.

After placing Aaron and Moses in historical context, the story resumes in a way which makes clear that God is the deliverer, not Moses. It returns to God’s command to Moses in verse eleven to command that Pharaoh let God’s people go, and Moses self-doubt in his calling from God due to his “uncircumcised lips” (vv.28-30). 

Our passage applied

Moses does not believe Pharaoh will listen. Why would he? He did not before, and even the Israelites do not listen. What follows must not be the result of Moses’ power, but God’s.

That Moses and the Israelites must realise God’s power will force Pharaoh to set them free reminds us that our own strength cannot release us from bondage and service to sin. Only God has the power to change our hearts, initially when we are saved and progressively as the Holy Spirit makes us more like Jesus in our desire to love and obey God.

In the same way, people are not persuaded into the Kingdom of God by charismatic communication. Good public speaking skills may win you an election, but it is God’s power that converts. Our feeble words from “uncircumcised lips” are as effective in communicating the Gospel as any skilled speaker because of God’s power accompanying them, not because we use the perfect phrases or the right oratory skills.

That freedom from bondage promised by God and delivered to us by God’s son frees us for divine service. Like Israel, God rescues us so that we will be his people, he our God. The long line of believers rescued throughout history shows God keeps his promises, and we can trust in him.

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bricks

Exodus 5 – Bricks without straw

Read Exodus 5

Summary

Not many things are as easy as they first seem. Beginning in confidence, we are often taken aback by opposition or unanticipated roadblocks to goals. If this is true of everyday events, it is also true of putting sin to death and worshipping God as we ought to.

Moses’ return to Egypt had gone better than he anticipated, as the Elders and God’s people accepted his message and calling. But Pharaoh had no plans to easily let God’s people go, and in Exodus 5 we see the oppression that the Israelites faced grow. Exodus 5 shows the first confrontation with Pharaoh, the increase in the burden, and the cries of God’s people.

Our passage explained

v1-5

The first five verses discuss the first confrontation of Pharaoh by Moses and Aaron. After his return to Egypt, Moses and Aaron go with the Elders of Israel to an audience with Pharaoh. There, they relay God’s command to Pharaoh to “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness” (v.1). This command clearly stated that the Israelites belong to God, not the (supposed) god-king Pharaoh, and that they owe their life and work to God, not him.

If Pharaoh accepts this command, then releasing the Israelites from slavery is a logical consequence. Pharaoh is unimpressed by this idea, and sarcastically refuses to acknowledge God’s authority over him or do as God commands (v.2).

Since Pharaoh will not listen to God, perhaps he will listen to reason? Moses and Aaron attempt to soften the command by suggesting that if he does not let the Israelites worship their god, then he will lose them anyway (v.3). 

But Pharaoh is no more persuaded by this argument either, instead he sees their request as an upheaval of Egyptian society and suggests that Moses and Aaron are responsible for the Israelites standing around lazily, not working (vv.4-5).

v6-14

Instead of releasing the Israelites from their oppression, Pharaoh increases it. The same day, he requires that the Israelites also find the straw (previously provided) which they mixed with Nile clay to form the large, strong bricks used for their building projects (vv.6-7). But they must produce the same number of bricks as before. Pharaoh thinks all this talk of freedom and worshipping God means they have too much time on their hands, and must be kept busy before they rebel (vv.8-9).

The taskmasters and foremen go to the Israelites, sharing the good news of their extra burdens (vv.10-11). God wants them to be free to worship and serve him; Pharaoh prefers they continue to serve him. Whose word is more powerful? Pharaoh is suggesting with these commands that his words are.

The increase in the burden sees God’s people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather together the straw needed to make the bricks, while the taskmasters urgently command “complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw” (vv.12-13). The pressure builds and the foremen of God’s people, who in some sense collaborate with the regime, are beaten for the fellow countrymen failing to make the quota (v.14).

v15-23

The extra burdens unleash cries from God’s people. The foremen appeal to Pharaoh, asking why the state is imposing this burden on them (vv.15-16). They describe themselves as “your servants”, implying dependence on him, not God, for their well-being. Pharaoh inflexibly dismisses them, accusing them of laziness (vv.17-19) which puts the foremen in a difficult position.

The foremen approach Moses and Aaron, and blame them for their situation (vv.20-21). They reject Moses and Aaron as God’s spokesmen, since their situation has got worse, not better as promised. God’s relief has not come by Moses and Aaron, who only seem to make things worse.

Moses’ response appears to be bewilderment, since he cries out to God “why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?” (v.22) Rather than God’s people being rescued, they have felt even heavier oppression (v.23). God’s answer to Moses’ lack of understanding will come later.

Our passage applied

Moses’ reaction reminds us that God’s working can be difficult to understand. We read God’s promises to sanctify and cleanse us from our sins, and wonder why we still struggle. We hear God’s Word proclaim his presence with us, and wonder why we feel distant from him. 

God’s purposes work out differently to our expectations, on his own timing. Sometimes to help us truly depend on God, he allows us to fall deeper into trouble. We should not assume instant satisfaction guaranteed, but like Moses turn to God for understanding.

This passage also demonstrates the world’s opposition to our worship of God. Pharaoh saw himself as more powerful than God, and increased the Israelites burdens to try and prove it. Likewise, the world will increase our burdens, whether through enticing attractions which encourage us to collaborate with the world, or through heavier burdens so we abandon thoughts of forsaking the world for Christ. 

But Christ has already overcome the world, and so too, trusting in Christ, will we.

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Egyptian statues

Exodus 4:18-31 – Returning to Egypt

Read Exodus 4:18-31

Summary

In the latter part of Exodus 4, we see Moses’ faithful response to God’s call in his return to Egypt to rescue God’s people. But before Moses can see God’s promises begin their fulfilment, he must ensure his own life is fit for service as the mediator between God and his people.

Our passage explained

v18-23

After Moses’s encounter with God at the Burning Bush, Moses prepares to return to Egypt. Following the customs of his day, he asks and receives permission from his Father-in-law to return to “my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive” (v.18). In forty years since Moses’ exile, perhaps the Egyptian genocide against God’s people has harmed his family.

Perhaps understanding that Moses will still fear for his life due to his earlier slaying of an Egyptian (2:12), God encourages Moses that he can go because “all the men who were seeking your life are dead” (v.19). Moses responds in faith, packing his two sons and wife onto a donkey and carrying the staff which God empowered as a symbol of his presence with Moses (v.20).

As he sets out, God encourages and warns Moses of what awaits him. God commands Moses to perform miracles before Pharaoh, as proof of Moses’ calling and God’s demand (v.21). But he also warns Moses that God “will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (v.21).

Pharaoh’s hardened heart will stop him from releasing the Israelites, who God identifies corporately as “my firstborn son” (v.22). God’s people are dear to him, his children, with whom he has an ongoing relationship. Moreso, they hold a position of special status to God, as the firstborn. If Pharaoh will not let God’s son go, then “behold, I will kill your [Pharaoh’s] firstborn son” (v.23).

v24-26

But while Moses has responded to God’s call to ministry, he must ensure his life is fit for the role he has been called to. As a father, he was responsible for ensuring that his sons were circumcised in faithful obedience to the covenant made with Abraham (part of the Covenant of Grace). Failure to do this resulted in being “cut off” – ritual and usually fairly prompt actual death (Gen 17:14). 

On the return journey at a way station, God seeks Moses’ death (v.24) for a failure to circumcise one of his sons, possibly his younger son Eliezer. Moses’ wife must step in to save Moses’ life by circumcising her son, since Moses cannot. Her response “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” suggests she may not have approved of circumcision of her sons (and thus the delay to one of their two sons), but to save Moses must shed blood (vv.25-26).

v27-31

Previously, God promised Moses that his brother Aaron would be his spokesman (4:14). In verse 27, we see God’s fulfilment of his promise to Moses by sending Aaron out to meet Moses on the way. Aaron accepts Moses’ calling and their roles, and together they gather the elders of Israel to reveal God’s calling of Moses as his answer to their prayers (vv.28-30). 

Their response, and that of the Israelites, is to believe the message of God through Moses and Aaron. They respond to God’s hearing their prayers by bowing down and worshipping God (v.31). These verses show God’s promises to Moses fulfilled (3:18). Seeing God’s words coming true before his eyes would have reassured Moses for the greater battle coming – with Pharaoh.

Our passage applied

Likewise, God’s response to the anguish and prayers of God’s people encourages us to continue to seek God’s help. Our relationship with God does not change whether we are undergoing trials or blessings. God’s people hold a special status, we are his “firstborn son” by adoption, children of God whom he delights to protect and bless with a beautiful inheritance (Romans 8:14-17). 

Despite the troubles which lie before us, we can have confidence in our status as God’s beloved sons and daughters. God’s further message to Moses as he left for Egypt encouraged him to trust God; that the outcome was certain. The final victory of God over sin, death, and all who oppose him is no less certain.

But we must also heed the warning presented in these verses. Before Moses could serve as God’s mediator, he had to ensure his life was fit for service. His neglect of circumcision, the covenant sign of admission administered to his son, even after having come into the direct presence of the covenant-keeping God, was a roadblock to his calling, and nearly led to his death.

We too are called to live holy lives in response to God’s calling of us (1 Peter 1:14-16). Since God loves us and has adopted us as his children, we ought to glorify God by loving him and doing what he commands. While we fall short of this standard constantly, thankfully we have a mediator in Jesus Christ who fulfilled all righteousness for us and was cut off for our salvation, to save us from death.

Resources

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