Gadfly's Muse

Week 1 Report: "On The Whole I Would Rather Be in Philadelphia"

 

Image: Purple Flower, 2010, Vicinity of Bertram, Tx.

Those of us who, though too young to have attended in person, were born when the memory of Vaudeville was still alive, easily remember W. C. Fields.  Today his comedy probably seems trite to the jaded ears of the younger generation.  Though certainly not a prude in speech, his comedy, along with his arch "nemesis" Mae West, was generally filled with innuendo, sly double entendres and slapstick goofiness.  You had to be there.  For those of us who at least knew from a distance we are glad that we were.  Laughing was easier then and generally the drinks flowed more cheaply.

One of W. C. Field's most memorable lines was, the title above is a variation, "On the whole, I would rather be living in Philadelphia."  This was the epitaph that he said he wanted for his tombstone.  It pretty much sums up his humor.  He was a native born Philadelphian but he poked fun at that city all his life.  His remark kind of sums up his attitude about being somewhere he didn't want to remain for long.

I suppose I could say that about today, the beginning of my second week of living with my new hip.  I'm OK... but on the whole....!

I ought to go through the checklist I suppose:

Progress:  significantly improved mobility and range of motion (X), absence of serious pain, either at rest of in motion (X), grumpy but persevering, optimistic attitude (X), doing my exercises (X).

That pretty much describes the overall assessment.  However, the booklet that Orthopedics gives you to guide you through recovery makes some interesting observations. (1) - your energy level declines throughout the first month - oh joy... I already feel like a worthless slob.  (2) Sleep will be very difficult for the first 3-4 weeks - yep... if it gets any worse I'll stare out the window all night long just to freak out my neighbors. (3) Constipation - don't even go there...  the stuff they give you at the hospital pretty much useless  (4) muscle soreness that renders it almost impossible to get comfortable (see sleep problem above) - yeah - that also.  

So... it ain't bad... but.

I very much appreciate the kindnesses shown to me by folks these past 7 days.  I hope to repay them in the future.  Just know you are beloved and valued friends (and a few relatives here and there).

Still very hard for me to sit at by big computer and do the kind of work that would make this "down time" less objectionable.  I'll get out things, like this an a couple of other things I want to post as I can muster resources.

Exodus 39&40_ Always Here, Always Near

"Comforting Presence", 2010, Vicinity of Bertram, Tx

Exodus 40:38 (NKJV)  ³⁸ For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Matthew 1:22–23 (NKJV)  ²² So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

What an excellent way for this already terse book to be brought to a close.  We see in our mind's eye, as best we can imagine, the glorious new Tabernacle.  We see Moses going about his multitudinous duties that first day: sanctifying the altars and the tables, making sure everything was "just so." (40:16)  We have a lot of information but it is tantalizingly difficult to envision the final product.  We would have had to be there.  But what if we had!

The final pieces are in place, Moses and Aaron and his sons, and the people are arrayed before the tabernacle and then down comes glory.  A "cloud of the Lord" by day and "fire" at night.  From that day forward the people of Israel moved only when God's Presence left its place of rest and moved out.  They went along behind.  And when it came to the end of that journey, they erected the tabernacle and God was pleased to cause His glory to shine above it and through it.

What an amazing and comforting thing it is to contemplate God's abiding Presence with His people.  God refers to Himself as a "gently flowing stream" in some translations of Isa 8:6 and I can think of no more apt analogy.  Who has had so deprived a childhood that they have not sat down, or, better, stretched out under some mossy old tree, next to a perky little brook and stared up at the skies through the gaps in the leaves overhead?  I suppose some "city slickers" may not relate to this but that just highlights the handicap they are under.  As you settle down, the woods close in and after a moment of quiet, the rustling of movement, the soft chattering of creatures and the calling of the birds gets under full swing.  And throughout it all, as your gaze moves from place to place, there is the steady "rhythm" of the little creek.  It brings all the parts together.  A nice harmony develops and a person knows what it means to have a "place of quiet rest."

This is what the Presence of God brings into our lives.  Oh, certainly, as in the events of just this past week, we may have things jump up and claim our focus.  We may have to concentrate on one specific thing and persevere in it... or see it to its conclusion... or just endure it until it gets better.  Alternatively there may be the joyous bursting forth of received blessings, where the exuberance of life fills our hearts and we know "delight" in things and people both near and far.  All of those risings and fallings are the tempo of our lives and each one has its own frequency.  But, if we listen carefully through the crescendos or focus on the gaps, there, in the background is the murmur of a soft Presence.  "I am Here... I will never leave you nor forsake you... I have you in the palm of My hand and I have set all things in their proper order so that you, like Moses, can worship me in peace."

There is nothing on earth that compares to that certainty.  It is as sure as Creation itself because it is grounded in the Creator.  

Yes, our God raises us up and leads us where He wants us to go... but He always goes ahead of us.  He is there when we arrive just as He was there throughout the journey.  As we settle down to rest or to work, His presence is the natural tune that weaves in and out of our lives and makes them harmonious.  As he is in the forest... by a gently flowing stream... so He is wherever we are in our journey.

"I am Here... I will always be Here... fear not, ...."

Anarchy in the Grocery Store: Depraved, Disgusting, Demonic and Damnable

A "copycat" ice cream licker was arrested in Louisiana on Saturday in the weeks after he was caught on video allegedly licking ice cream in a grocery store and putting it back in the fridge.

via www.foxnews.com

Ok... we see Antifa thugs beating up on some guy who thinks differently than they... there are nationally recognized politicians advocating the dismantling of core American political and law enforcement institutions... our college campuses have devolved into hot-houses of social action propaganda... etc. etc.

But now... people are licking Blue Bell Ice Cream and putting it back in the cooler.  One video shows a young man spitting into a jug of juice and returning it to stock also.

What possible explanation can anyone offer about this type of behavior?

Well, I might have one.

This kind of behavior is one facet of an anarchic mind set.  Children, teenagers, young adults, adults and even seniors can demonstrate it.  When a person becomes so disgusted with his or her life, so bored out of their mind, so devoid of meaning and purpose, they naturally become resentful... spiteful... and prone to rash acts that reflect that condition.  In essence it boils down to this:  "The world sucks... all those people out there suck... especially the ones who act like they are somebody important... nothing is really worth anything... so I'm just going to do stuff.  I'm just going to do outrageous things and justify it as 'making a statement.'"  

Think about it.  Licking a container of ice cream and then putting it back would almost require the person to hang around to see if anyone would buy that container.  And then, of course, the perpetrator giggles with his/her friends and go try to find some other despicable act.  Along the way the evil impulse takes on a form of "righteousness." The pervert becomes self-convinced that some higher principle justifies their behavior.

Anarchy, by definition, is aimed at bringing things down.  For those few thinkers who actually have a kind of coherent idea about it, anarchy is usually aimed at clearing out a rotten system so that people can put something better in its place.  There is a great deal of naivete in it.  But it is this kind of thinking that brought down Archduke Ferdinand in the early 20th century and initiated World War I.  It is these kind of thoughts that lead to bombs going off in crowded bus terminals and lone gunmen shooting up a ICE station.

The point I'm making is that there is a direct line of continuity between these ice-cream lickers and the depraved attitudes of Antifa. 

This is not a "kids will be kids" situation.  There is something deeply wrong with people doing this stuff.  They should be caught, severely punished or otherwise re-educated.  If ever there was a place for corporal punishment of offenders, this would be one of them.  Those at the other end of the specturm, the Antifa folks, should be treated as terrorists.  Guantanamo sounds like a good place to sort them out for a few years. 

Exodus 37 & 38: Details, Details, Details & Women's Work

Image: Aletheia, 2010, Hattiesburg, Ms

Exodus 38:8 (NKJV) ⁸ He made the laver of bronze and its base of bronze, from the bronze mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

These two chapters continue the detailed description of the furnishings of the tabernacle.  We begin to get an idea of the scope of the work as each item is reviewed.  The massive altar, the delicate lampstand, the beautifully proportioned altar for incense and, most importantly, the ark.

Speaking of the ark it must have been a wonder of skilled craftsmanship.  Imagine the gold "mercy seat" extending on either side to the "cherubim" that stood guard at either end.  In 37:8 we are told that these "cherubim" were made of "one piece" with the mercy seat.  Now that is amazing to me.  I assume, since they were "beaten gold" that the entire assembly was shaped by a blacksmith technique of some sort.  As a woodworker I know how easy it is to make mistakes, slips, that detract from the final product.  Since the ark had to be perfect that meant that if the artisan made a mistake on one piece that he might have to rebuild the entire assembly.  That's astonishing to me.  I am probably reading too much into it but it catches my eye.

The other utensils and furniture are presented as impressively designed and constructed.  All too often we tend to think of our "modern" age as so superior to the ancients in all things.  We fail to see the intelligence, skill and craft that these workers displayed.  With only minimal tools by modern standards, with no helps such as sand paper, blow torches, carbon steel chisels and hand planes, they did work that could only be called "priceless" in our classification.  Truly the Holy Spirit shows Himself in such work when it comes from a heart that sincerely desires to serve the Lord and to glorify Him in the work of our hands as much as in the words of our lips.  

Which brings us to the conundrum which is verse 38:8.

Here we are told that the bronze laver was constructed from the "mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle."  Now the laver was to be positioned between the altar and the entrance to the holy place.  It is interesting that the bronze that was used to make it was from women whose regular place of assembly was "at the door of the tabernacle."  

Who are these women?  What does it mean that they were designated "serving women?"  Why did they have mirrors with them as they assembled there?  We have clues about the answers but no one can say with certainty the truth about them.

Some things we do know.  Women in ancient Egypt brought polished metal "mirrors" with them to the temples of their gods.  Even today in some Moorish women regularly incorporate small "mirrors" as ornaments on their clothing.  These mirrors may have been as such ornaments for the women or they may have served some purpose.  We have no real answer but what we know is that the women who gathered there had them available and readily gave up these precious objects for the laver.

Secondly these women are described as "serving women."  The adjective used here is also employed (in its masculine form) for men who are in active military duties.  It is significant that the women are said to "assemble" at the door of the tabernacle... again using a word that has military connotations... we would say that the military unit "mustered" at a certain location.  We are left to ponder the implications.

Evidently, as was still true hundreds of years later as we read in 1 Samuel 2:22, there was some regular ministry that these women yielded up to God in the ordinary conduct of life in Israel.  We are not told that they were specifically chosen for this service, much less that we should consider them "ordained" to such service, or whether they just voluntarily showed up and made themselves available, but that whatever they did was regularly needed.

I imagine, as basically any pastor will affirm, that just as with the modern church, the daily and ordinary housekeeping and support for the tabernacle and its Levites, was done by women who voluntarily gave of their time and efforts to do it.  We know that women and men did not worship together and that women were precluded from some portions of it, but I am certain that there were many ordinary things that needed doing.  Some theologians think that they may have supported the Levites as the women who followed Jesus and His disciples served them.  It is fascinating to consider.

What we do know is that when they showed up at the door of the tabernacle they assembled in some regular order and that they then "served" as various needs presented themselves.  God has always had a special place in His heart and in His ministry for the humble service offered up, in His name, by women.  

Such is the case still.  The roles of men and women are not as clearly distinguished now as they were 50 years ago.  It is no longer unusual for the husband to be the "stay at home dad" because the wife has the higher paying job.  The simple 'pot luck' dinner which is such a staple of Christian fellowship is no longer comprised of food that was prepared only by women.  But everything that is done in the ordinary life of a church is usually, in some very specific fashion, supported by women who serve without very much recognition and seldom with any pay.  I think Phoebe (Romans 16) was just such a woman.  A woman with a big heart and a big love for her Savior.  She was a "servant of many" and such dedicated women will always bring a smile to God's face.

Exodus 35 & 36: It Is A Beautiful Thing

Image:  Glorious Church, 2010, Severn Run E. P. Church (stylized)

Exodus 35:21 (NKJV) ²¹ Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.

Charles Dickens began his most famous (in my opinion) novel with the words "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  Every pastor and every congregation that has commenced, endured and finished a building program will testify, I think, to the truth of those words.  There is something about "making it happen" that proves the metal of the church.  It hangs together or it doesn't.  And when it's done, and folks look back on it, they either say - "It was worth it" or "Never again."  Sometimes both attitudes are present.

But oh what a thrill it is as the vision becomes a reality.  As the earth is moved, literally, and the foundation is poured... wall frames rise up and are joined and then, one day, it is "under roof."  Just about the entire congregation gathered around our building when that steeple was lifted up by a 200' crane and set in place. (Not without some challenges by the way)  The sheer complexity of the building (when most of it is done by congregational members, often with no construction experience) is daunting and thrilling.  But at last it comes together... because the congregation comes together... all of those "whose heart was stirred, and whose spirit was willing."

That's what makes it beautiful.  The actual building itself, though beautiful, was not the real testimony.  It was the striving together to make a vision happen... that was the miracle... and none of us will ever forget it or the hands that worked to make it happen.

Moses must have had a similar reaction in his day.  How satisfying it must have been to see the children of Israel ransacking their possessions in order to provide for the tabernacle.  It is easy to pass quickly over the description of the various seamstresses, wood joiners, gold smiths and metal workers as we scan the pages and move toward more "interesting" passages yet ahead.  But God included these descriptions for our pondering.  What we see is "wisdom" at work.  It was the wisdom of ordinary people whose knowledge was in their skills that made that tabernacle beautiful... as was the case with our church also.

That movement of the heart that produces such serious commitment and unity comes from vision.  It comes from being aware, at the deepest level, that God has something for you to do in company with your brothers and sisters.  It is the energizing movement of the soul that overcomes obstacles, deals with frustrations, refuses to let petty pride interfere with mutual support and causes past grievances to be put aside, that brings out the very finest in a people or a congregation.

Along the way we see the Church as it should be in all its works.   The great challenge facing any congregation is having a sense of "doing something" or, as it is sometimes expressed, "going somewhere."  People do best when there are concrete goals to pursue as long as those goals, as with the building of the tabernacle, are seen as the will of God for the whole church.  When God gives a vision to His people it is one of the most wonderful aspects of Christian witness.  Let Satan do his worst, he cannot stand against the united, Spirit filled, people of God who are intent upon the Lord's work.

Moses did not build that tabernacle.... the people did.  Severn Run E. P. Church was not built by the pastor (though he hammered his share of nails, etc.), the people did.  And when the continued mission of the church brings people together to "build" God's Kingdom through missions, discipleship, mercy and a host of other callings, then that same sense of being involved in something important prevails.

And that is a beautiful thing indeed.

Exodus 34 - Thine is the Glory

Image:Covenant, 2014, Bombay Hook, Delaware

Exodus 34:14 (NKJV) ¹⁴ (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

Exodus 34 is a covenant renewal chapter. The people of God had really pushed things to the limit.  Moses' had to plead with God not to destroy them all but to rather remember that they were His people, His covenant people, and that for His own glory and truth He, God, ought to show mercy to them.  Moses, in other words, did exactly what God raised him up to do and now, in Exodus 34, God not only renews His covenant with Israel but also so radiates Moses that Moses' face reflected the shining reality of God Himself.

Much in this chapter finds its NT counterpart and fulfillment on the Mount of Transfiguration.  There Jesus, the prophet greater than Moses, outshines both Moses and Elijah.  There God speaks and declares that this Man, Jesus, is His Son and that the people of God are to listen to Him.  Moses is a foreshadowing of the Great Lawgiver Who came in the flesh and renewed our Covenant with God through the once offered sacrifice of His own Person.  

So much to consider.  How beautiful God's works are.  How satisfying to contemplate.  How solemnly important is His claim on our lives.

Notice in this chapter that God reaffirms that the people that He has created for Himself are a "mission minded people."  They will not be allowed to bask in the reflected glory of Moses forever.  They have been called, pardoned, redeemed and dedicated to a task.  Before them, at the end of their journey lies a land that is to be theirs.  This is their promised land... it is to be their home... it is to be the center of their life with God and they are to discover their joy and their destiny in it.

The only problem, which was no real problem at all, was that it was a percolating cesspool of evil.  Pagans inhabited the land... but not just any old pagans... after all, Israel had just been pulled out of another pagan land, Egypt.  No, this was the land of the "Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite." (vs. 11).  These tribes/nations had, in God's providence, been allowed to sink into hideous depravity for over 400 years.  God had given them over to their sin just like He had given over the whole earth to its sin in the days of Moses, ... just like He had given over Sodom and Gomorrah to their sin in the day of Abraham.  These people were living examples of what happens when God withdraws His restraining grace from the world of fallen sinners.  As one theologian described these nations: "they were not only doing great evil, they loved doing it."  This was the "problem" that stood in the path of Israel.

Two things were commanded of God's people with respect to these peoples.  God's people were not to make any "covenant with the inhabitants of the land".  God's people were to recognize and embrace their calling.  There could be no "mixing" with these people.  There was to be not syncretism in their physical or moral make up.  God's people were to be God's people... period.

God made it very clear why.  As the pressures of warfare mounted the desire for peace would work on the Israelite morale.  They would begin to make excuses for what they saw.  They would begin to think: "They're not so bad... we could settle the land a lot quicker if we just came to terms with them."  God said "No!"  You do that and you will desecrate my people. You will introduce the venomous slime of false doctrines into your teaching and the lure of pleasure will move you to first tolerate and then participate in their depraved ways.  No. Make no excuses for them nor make any allowances for them.  They must not be allowed to be part of your community... you are to make no covenant with them.

Second, God's people were to tear down all the places of idolatry and drive out all those who loved their idols from the land.  God's people are called to warfare with the forces of demonic evil in the world and they are to take whatever steps God allows to overcome that evil.

We must be careful now to distinguish where these two aspects of God's covenant with His people still apply.  I think it is absolutely clear that it applies first and foremost to the sphere of God's visible church.  Within the Church of Jesus Christ there is and there must be a continual war with the pagan idolatry that keeps sneaking in the door.  Far too many Christians have a syncretized religion.  They are "Christian" in the Church and "Secular" in the world.  These people bring the world's ways and ideas into Christ's body and they must be confronted and repudiated.

Today the Church of Jesus Christ is being infiltrated by pagan ideas of child sacrifice (abortion), sodomy (homosexuality), worldly ambition, political aspirations, etc. etc. etc.  These things are clearly repudiated in God's word and yet they are darkening the doors of many congregations and denominations.  Christian college students are under intense pressure to repudiate all that they have been taught about the world, life and morality.  

There can be no doubt that God's people are to be mission minded today in a very similar fashion to that mind God wanted in the Israelites.  Yes we are to teach and preach and proclaim the basic gospel message... but at the same time we are to pay attention to where the war is being fought and we have to get in the battle.

Christianity is not something that is just for the "spiritual" realm.  It was in the days of Moses and in the day of Christ, a war for the whole person and the whole people.  It is not just a matter of the heart and the mind being set on heavenly things... it is also a call to real life in a real world where great dangers and great depravity are rampant.

The Israelites had Moses with his shining face to lead them into their mission.  We have the Shining Light of the Face of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, at our head.  He is greater than Moses and His mission is greater than just Palestine.  His claim is over the entire world and it is our job to go with HIm in His conquest.

 

Exodus 33: Show Me The Way....

Image:  Followers, 2014, Bombay Horn Wildlife Refuge, Delaware

Exodus 33:13 (NKJV)¹³ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

How privileged this man Moses really was.  Everyday he would go out to the "tent of meeting" where Joshua had kept guard all night (presumably, vs. 11).  Everyday God would meet with Moses there... and talk with him... and encourage him... and establish him in the eyes of all God's people who stood and watched in awe.  God met Moses!  God was with Moses!  Moses found grace in God's sight and God knew Moses by Name! (vs. 17)

Think about it... if you had the opportunity to talk to God, face to face as it were, now, in your present redeemed but still fallen human nature, what would you do?  Would you even dare to do it?  It's a scary thought.  What would you talk to God about?  What questions would be uppermost on your mind?  I don't think questions like "Did Eve have a belly button?" would actually occur to us.  No.. if we could find our voice, which might be doubtful, I think our questions and our requests would be quite profound. 

Moses' request certainly was.

Moses asked God a "contingent" question.  He said "if I have grace in your sight..."  Moses knew that he had found grace in God's sight.  There was no way to explain all that had happened and all the high honors God had heaped on him except by being shown grace.  So Moses is speaking from strength here... "If I have found grace in your sight... as it appears to be the case... then..." and that is where Moses moves to his request.  And indeed it was most profound what he asked of God.

"Show me now Your way... that I may know You..." Knowing God, in biblical language, is always a process... it is always a state of existence... it is always a state of being.  One lives in the knowledge of God and in so living, walks in the light (John 12:35).  So Moses' request is aimed at the heart of Christian discipleship... it is to be shown how to walk... the way that we are to follow... so that in walking that path we commence knowing God.  We are introduced to God, as it were, when we are born again.  But, just as a man doesn't really know his wife until he has lived with her after their wedding day, so a Christian doesn't really begin to know God in that deepening reality of knowing Him, until that man walks with God.. daily... weekly... throughout the years... through the hilltops of joy... through the saddened seasons of grief... through fearful trials that can be terrifying (e.g. the death of a child)... and through the times of thanksgiving when our hearts are brimming with gratitude and joy.

Knowing God as our God... and knowing ourselves as having found grace in God's eyes... is not a mere intellectually held truth.  It is a vital living reality.

Jesus, in His High Priestly prayer in John 17 fulfills this prayer request of Moses.  It is interesting that Jesus' request there has much in common with Moses'.  Jesus says: vs. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.   Eternal life is "knowing God... the only true God... and Jesus Christ whom God sent."  Jesus also told His disciples that "I am the way... the truth ... and the life."  Everything that Moses asked for is summed up in Jesus' own teachings and words.

To know God is to walk with God through Jesus Christ.  It is to see every day as a pathway laid out before us in which we simply walk through whatever that day brings to us, in communion with our God and Christ.  This requires a certain level of discipline in the beginning because the ways of the world have a strong grip on us at first.  But as we commit ourselves to it... and do it... the world's grip begins to loosen and we find ourselves walking in assurance of our grace.

Moses discovered this... and so can we.

Exodus 32 - Bad Moon On The Rise

Image: Storm Brewing, 2010, Vicinity of Regina, Saskatchewan, Ca

Exodus 32:10 (NKJV)¹⁰ Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

This chapter reveals Moses as a "re-made" man.  His whining cries that he "didn't speak good" as a pretext to get someone else to do what God wanted are a thing of the past.  He is now unhesitating in his implementation of God's commands.  There is no timidity in him now.  Moses has become a decisive leader and... most importantly... an insightful and powerful mediator.  Moses speaks up to God on behalf of God's people and on behalf of God's honor.  He has come a long way.

Two things are clear in this chapter:  (1) the tenuous hold we Christians have on trusting God, and (2) the zeal which God's Holy Spirit creates in us when we keep our hearts and our minds firmly fixed on Him and His promises. 

God's people appear always "prone to wander, .." as the old hymn intones.  Yes, it doesn't take much and we can forget basically everything God has ever told us and done for us.  Look at these Israelites.

Yes, this is a terse account.  Yes, Moses has been up on that strange mountain for a long time and no one has heard from him.  Yes, it would have been easy to imagine that God had "done him in" for some reason or other.  Yes... I can understand how God's people might be tempted.  

But what stupidity they showed.  They had been clearly told not to make images.  And Aaron... how in the world could the consecrated High Priest of the Most Holy God show so little backbone?  It is easy, sitting here on this side of the cross, and looking back on this sorry episode, to find myself getting all self-righteous and contemptuous of the Israelites.  It is easy... but I have to remember, as do we all, that all that has to happen is for any of us to be put into a strange situation... to find ourselves facing a crisis... to be struck dumb as far as knowing what to do... and doubts about the living God flood over our souls.  We doubt... we think something has to be done... so we take it upon ourselves to fix whatever it is that we face.  Along the way we push God and His teachings off to the side.

Isn't this what the Israelites did?  They fell into the heresy of thinking that they needed a "god" that would let them "rise up to play."  They wanted a god who would delight in gilded idols and as a result lend his powers to their aid on demand.  What they wanted was a god they could, to some extent, control.  

All too often that same impulse can come over any of us in a heartbeat.  And God will not tolerate it.  If there is any one lesson that we must learn before we can truly rest in the grace of Christ, it is that this God... this mighty God... is not subject to our control in any way.  We cannot manipulate Him... We cannot placate Him with false promises... We cannot even atone for our own sin.  We stand before Him helpless and totally at His disposal.  He is Holy, Holy, Holy and we are not.  Those words terrify us at first but the more we embrace them and conform to them, the more we discover just how comforting they are.  God is sovereign.  Therefore He can do what He wants.  And what He wants is to show forth His power and grace among us.  He is God... this He will do.  Therefore we must trust and not seek to walk our own paths through this world.  Especially as we see the storm clouds rising.

The second point that we see in this chapter, as I have already mentioned, is the change that the indwelling Spirit makes in us as we obediently believe.  There is Moses... but there is also Joshua who must have been on that mountain, at least to some extent, with Moses.  And then there were those Levites.

Here is zeal for God and His righteousness.  It is the zeal that drives us to intercede for God's people with God Himself.  It is the zeal that unhesitatingly brings justice to bear on those whose lives are an abomination.  It is a zeal that is at peace with God's judgment because we know that He is just and righteous in His judging.  

Jesus said that a "man's enemies will be members of his own household."  This passage illustrates that principle. The Levites were instructed to come in through all the gates... so that no guilty party could escape... and kill all of those who were engaged in the wanton, riotous behavior that flowed from the intoxicated worship of that calf.  They killed only 3,000 so it was not an indiscriminate killing at all.  They were guided by God's Spirit but they showed no mercy in fulfilling their role... no matter who it was that came before them. 

Brothers and sisters, I thank God that He no longer is giving us tasks like this.  Under the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ we are not called to burn heretics at the stake nor stamp out every idolatrous nation with whom we come into contact.  

However we are called upon to seek the purity of our church.  We are called to display a holy zeal for God and His Kingdom and His teachings. That means we are not to tolerate false teachers or false doctrines among us.  There are some questions of doctrine where men and women of good faith can differ.  We can have fellowship and still differ on these.  But in primary doctrines... no!  Our God has given us the deposit of faith in His word and the doctrines that are explicitly stated in that word.  On these things there is no compromise.

Two things we see in this chapter:  how easy it is to fall into unbelief... and how zealous the Holy Spirit makes us when we embrace our God and His Christ.  Both things must be humbly embraced.

 

Exodus 30-31: Holy - It's What God Is - It's What God Makes Us.

Image:  Serious Worship, 2010, Severn Run E. P. Church

Exodus 30:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ .... It is most holy to the Lord.”

"Holy to the Lord" is the theme of this entire section of Exodus and the content of these two chapters serves to drive this point home in serious degree.  We are told how the table for the incense is most holy.. how the incense itself is most holy... The tabernacle itself is so holy that those who are privileged to enter it must wash with water from the holy laver "lest they die." (30:20).  The anointing oil is holy... so holy that anyone who makes a copy of it for their own private use will be "cut off from his people", cast out of the covenant community, to face the ravages of judgment that will come on those outsiders.  The same holds true for the holy incense.  The holy garments that were to cover Aaron and the other priests were to be made by a very specific man along with his helpers.  He was a man filled with wisdom for doing this kind of work under the tending Holy Spirit who gave them their skill.  

Lastly the day of worship itself is to be holy.  The worship of God on the Sabbath as well as the Sabbath itself was to be a "sign between" God and His people "as a perpetual covenant."  This is not something that God says in the context of the 10 commandments at this point.  That comes next.  The emphatic institution of the Sabbath, as God reveals it, is rooted in its creation ordnance status.  "In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth..." Moses is told and therefore the people of God are to show forth their status as God's special creation in the earth by honoring Him and keeping His Holy Sabbath holy.

I think that God's carefully phrased words of institution here, summing up the Sabbath as a sign, is the key to a supremely important aspect of Covenant living.  The worship of God, as observed by His people, is to be viewed as "most holy"... it is something that is to exhibit a reverence, solemn joy, supreme gratitude and love that is so different from the world... even from the way the world does worship for whatever it worships... that Christians are recognizably different from the world in that worship.

The Christian life should revolve around worship... especially Sabbath worship... most especially Sabbath worship.  It is "most holy" for the "prayers of the saints" (which as Revelation teaches us is the incense that rises up before God) to be offered up by a people who are very aware that they are in the Presence of Holiness.  

Worship is an outward thing... first, foremost and most significantly.  Yes and amen there is a subjective, receiving, inward blessing that comes from it.  But the "sacrifice of praise" which God requires of His people is to be understood as just that... it is something we bring... which we give... and that joyfully and transparently.  All of our "hearing" from God in worship is to be understood and reverently acknowledged as God Himself speaking to us through His word and through the holy man whom God has raised up, as He did Bezalel, and whom God has graced with the Holy Spirit and imparted wisdom and skill in the craft of preaching / teaching.  Listening to God is "most holy."  

The Sabbath is "most holy" and as a result Divinely empowered to facilitate that "rest" which comes from worship.  There is a 'specialness" that governs Sabbath worship.  Oh, I know that weekday private worship and even corporate worship, can be tender and special.  But nothing can rise to compare with the worship of the gathered people of God who understand that their worship is a "sign" that there is a God in heaven, who made the heavens and the earth and all that is in it... and Who, in the fullness of time, sent forth His Son to accomplish the full and complete redemption of His people.  It is unto the end that He be worshiped by these people whom He has created and redeemed that all of history and especially the Sabbath find its meaning and fulfillment.

The holy worship of God, accomplished by the holy people of God, in the holy manner that He has decreed that it be accomplished, is the sign of His Presence in the world.

God help us if we ever forget it.  How self-defeating it would be for the people of God to desecrate their high calling by inserting faddish trends from the world.  How our lives would be diminished when the yearning for holiness which is essential to our created status as Image bearers were denied expression and recognition.

We must be holy in our entire disposition.  Our holiness is not identical to painless-ness.  Aaron had to be consecrated before he ever took on the external dress of holiness.  No, holiness is a matter of the heart that comes from a God regenerated work in us that shows forth in faith and a yearning to be holy.  Yes it requires disciplined turning away from sin but it also pushes us to realize our forgiveness in Christ and to understand what it means to be "washed in the waters of regeneration."  All of this God has done in order to establish us as holy... so that we can worship in a "most holy" manner.

These chapters point us to holy worship as an object of our desire, an institution of our community and the express proclamation of our status.  Worship is serious business ... it is most holy to the Lord.

Exodus 28 & 29: Ordination - For Glory and For Beauty

Image:  Seminary Graduation, 2016, Greenville Theological Seminary

Exodus 28:12 (NKJV) ¹² And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial.

After they had finished making all of the garments and assembled all of the priestly tools, that first ordination of Aaron and his sons into the Mosaic priesthood must have been a terribly impressive affair.

First of all, when you go through and pay attention to the sheer number of sacrifices that had to be accomplished we see that this was a hard day's work for Moses.  He had to deal with all those animals, dispose of their flesh "just so", sprinkle their blood as instructed and prepare for Aaron's consecration.

And then there was Aaron himself.  Decked out in gloriously intricate hand crafted garments with precious stones sitting on his shoulders and pressed against his chest, he must have been pretty intimidated.  This was serious business and, once it was accomplished, the more serious business would commence.  He would have to make good on the symbolism that went into his garments.

He had to bear Israel on his shoulders.  He was the prototype of "sin-bearer."  He was to stand before Almighty God and represent Israel to Him... to intercede for them... to hear God's will for them.  He was to be Israel to God.  Oh, my.

Then, Israel was plastered to his chest.  His beating heart was to always beat for Israel.  They were to be his chest.. his worry... his concern.  Always he had to wear the "breastplate of judgment" knowing that Israel was sinful... they were sinners from birth and the only thing they did really well was sin more.  But they were beloved of God and therefore they were to be beloved of God's priest.  This was Aaron's calling.  Oh, my.

However there was other aspects of his ministry.  In 28:2 and other verses, we read that Aaron's holy garments were "for glory and for beauty."  Aaron's mediatorial role of representing Israel before God was complemented by his role as God's priest.  He was to shine before the eyes of Israel.  He was to present a picture of holiness and purity. On his head he wore a turban with an engraved plate saying "Holiness to the Lord."  For God is Holy... and all who approach Him in service at His altar are to be holy. (29:37)  As Aaron represented Israel to God so he also represented God to Israel.  What a solemn... holy... scary .... thing to do.  Oh, my.

In every way we can see that God never intended for all of this to be the final word about how He was to be worshiped nor how He was to be served through the priesthood.  We know through the inerrant and infallible teachings of Scripture that all that went on with Aaron, indeed with the entire temple system, was a teaching tool.  It was to serve to point people's eyes forward to that more perfect tabernacle yet to come and the most blessed High Priest who would minister in it.  We know that... but we also can recognize and should recognize just how impressive this whole set of events really were.

You see, we sinners are far too often like the Missouri mule.  God has to get our attention before we listen, believe and obey.  When it comes to ordination for example.  When God's church raises up men to become elders (and to some extent, deacons also) we need to remember that this is a solemn and holy calling.  Yes, we have our High Priest in heaven but our earthly calling as elders is to function as a "holy priesthood" under Him.  We too are to be consecrated to this task and we need to have the spiritual anointing of the blood of our Perfect Sacrifice very clearly applied to our person.  We need to be conscious that we are called to bear our congregations on our shoulders and each and every one of them should be close to our heart. 

This is how our Lord ministers to our people and this is how we, in His name is to minister on His behalf.  And not only that but we need to remember our high calling to holiness.  What the lay person is exhorted to do as he or she grows in sanctification, the elder is called to exhibit as elements of his vocation.  We elders are privileged to serve but we are also held to a high standard in our service.  We shall give an account to God for every person He has given under our care (Heb. 13:17, cf. 13:7).  Our ministry is as glorious as Aaron's though our distinction is not in the manner of our earthly priestly garments but in the manner of our solemn embrace of our roles.

Today's church needs godly men who are solemnly inducted and vested with authority.  They must be chosen from among those who see this calling as precious.  It is not something to which all are called.  It is not a reward for giving special donations or even just because of some special skill.  The calling of an elder is a calling of a heart given over to God and hungering for His righteousness.

Aaron's ordination reflected that high calling.  It was a glorious and beautiful thing.  God help us to make our ordination services as impressive as was his.