The Notes are Good

12.3 Moses 12, Day 3

Have you ever traveled away from home for an extended period of time? Whether being separated by work, school or service, your heart tugs to connect with your loved ones. You can write letters, talk to them on the phone, even video conference with them, but it isn’t the same. You want to be physically in their presence. That isn’t a logic thing, but it is a heart thing.

Today we see Moses speaking to God from his heart. He isn’t asking for special honor, his heart is longing to be with God. He is homesick for a heavenly home that he doesn’t even know about, yet.

And, God does not turn him away or say no. Instead, God cautions him, but finds a way to provide the connection Moses seeks.

Moses can’t see God in all His glory. “God’s glory” is the sum total of all of His attributes. It is simply too much for a human to experience fully. Too much power. Too much presence. Too much eternity. Too much. But God doesn’t hide his glory from those who seek it, He reveals it Himself in measured ways – not to hide Himself back from us, but to give us the ability to experience Him.

Think of it this way. You are sitting in a totally dark room for several minutes, when all of a sudden someone flips on extremely powerful flood lights. What do you do? You squeeze your eyes shut and cover them with your hand. Did you long for the light? Do you want the light? Yes to both. Can you handle that much light? Not at that moment.

But each day we walk with God, we move farther out of the darkness and farther into the light. Each day God reveals more of His light to you if you continue to seek Him.

My Answers:

5.
a.
Teach me so that I may continue to know you and walk in the path you have divined for me

b.
earlier this year I asked God to show me how and to whom I should minister and in 2 weeks time he brought the leader of house churches in a communist country and dozens of foreign nationals to my house for a 5 hour lunch and prayer and praise meeting

c.
Remember that this nation is your people

d.
I pray for the children in our school program – their willing acceptance of God helps teach me how complicated I make things that are actually very simple

6.
Honors God’s servants, Honors God, Approaches God, Tries to reflect His glory, Tries not to be an enabler of others sin

7.
a.
A glimpse into Heaven

b.
I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you and proclaim my name, have mercy and compassion

c.
No one may see me and live

12.2 Moses 12, Day 2

Face to face, as one speaks to a friend

As Moses’ faith and understanding of God increased, he entered into a deeper personal relationship with God.

When Moses first encountered God, God was a voice in a burning bush. While that reveals parts of God’s character (especially in the way the bush burned but was not consumed). It is hard to have a relationship with a burning bush. God repeatedly talked with Moses during the plagues on Egypt. God was present in a cloud and pillar of fire leading them out of Egypt. He was present in the cloud descending on the mountain top.

But, in the tent of meeting God meets with Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. This may be a figurative description explaining the relationship they had formed or it may be a literal description. God has the ability to take on human form (Jesus Christ), and there are instances of the preincarnate Lord appearing to people.

But, here is the key thing to keep in mind. God didn’t change. Moses changed.

Moses has grown and matured from obedience, respect, honor, fear to love and longing and friendship and joy. He didn’t set those other things aside, they are still appropriate responses, but he has grown and matured.

Where are you in your relationship with God? Is He a distant being? Words in a book? Or is He real and substantial and someone he long to talk with every day as your best friend (BFF!)? If you aren’t there, yet, do you recognize that you are the one who needs to change? God is there already – He is waiting with open arms. He doesn’t just consider you to be a friend, you are family.

My Answers:

3.
a.
The people of Israel had chose to remove themselves from God’s presence when they worshiped the golden calf

b.
They inquired of the Lord, they honored Moses (rose and stood at their tent entrance), when saw cloud, stood and worshiped each at the entrance to their tent

4.
a.
God presented Himself to Moses in human form, not in His full heavenly glory

b.
Through Jesus He did and still does

11.5 Moses 11, Day 5

Take off the ornaments

We have been blessed to have had the opportunity to support and serve an organization in our town that helps bring homeless women and men in off the streets. Many of these men and women have exhausted every other support option. They have been to jail. They have drug addictions. They are prostitutes. They have lost hope.

The Christian woman who founded and runs the organization came out of that same environment. She knows and her ministry is built on the fact that these individuals do not have the strength to get out of their situations on their own. It is only with the strength of Jesus Christ that their lives can be turned around. She will take them in, feed them, shelter them, care for them, teach them, help them find work, make them birthday cakes, share life and love and the good news with them. In return they simply need to accept this gift and submit to follow a few house rules.

One day we were talking with the founder and discussing what rule was the hardest for people to follow. I was surprised to learn it was the rule about cell phones. She has a requirement that someone new to the house must give up their cell phone for 60 days and must agree to allow them to erase all the contacts on the phone. This is the single biggest hurdle. The reason they require this is her time proven belief that you cannot continue to play in the same playground with the same playmates and think you are going to play a different game of life. She said that, despite the fact that it breaks her heart each time it happens, they have learned to not bend on this rule. If someone who needs their help refuses to cut ties with their old life, they fully intend to go back to that old life.

The Israelites didn’t have cell phones, but they had jewelry and ornamentation. Is jewelry and ornamentation bad? Are we restricted from wearing earrings? I don’t think that is what this is trying to say. Instead, the message was to remove the temptations. If wearing earrings causes your mind to return to the golden calf, get rid of the earrings.

You may not have a drug dealer on speed dial or a penchant for golden calves, but you may have ongoing repetitive sin in your life. Are you so foolish to believe that you can expose yourself to the same playground and playmates and not keep doing the same things? Clear out the ornamentation in your life that pulls you back into the same old things that you regret. It is OK to let it go, Jesus has way better things in store for you, but He needs you to grab ahold of Him with both hands – not one while you refuse to let go of your old way of life with the other.

My Answers

10.
a.
They sought to seek God’s forgiveness for others by offering themselves as an atonement for their sins

b.
Jesus

c.
His was innocent blood, He was God, He gave Himself as a ransom

11.
Self responsibility. (also that there is punishment for sin and a book of life to be blotted out of)

12.
a.
Before He said the angel would protect them along the way, they angel would wipe out the inhabitants, God’s blessings on their food and water, no sickness, no miscarriage, a full life span,

b.
stiff-necked people

c.
they mourned and took off their ornaments

d.
be humbled in my sin, repent and seek God’s forgiveness. Make restitution where possible. – Leave the old temptations behind.

11.4 Moses 11, Day 4

3000 die, one doesn’t

Today’s lesson is hard.

Aaron, who had been left in charge, made the golden calf. Despite what he later tried to claim, it did not just come out of the fire. Melting gold is not easy, you don’t just do it over an open campfire, it requires a bellows or some type of furnace, but first you have to construct the mold, and even then you have to have a way to get the molten gold into the mold without it solidifying. So, there was intent and effort and time put into making this idol. But Aaron appears to suffer no punishment for this sin.

At the same time, Moses calls out to the entire camp “whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And, at God’s command, the Levites strap on their swords and go back and forth through the camp killing those who are still running wild. 3000 die.

In our judgement this may not seem just.

First, we are not the judge. God is. It is not our place to judge God and we know that He is always just. We could stop there and accept in faith that God is right. But, let’s go farther, while keeping the fact that God is just in mind.

Everyone is going to die. You, me, Moses, Aaron, the Israelites, each of us has a day that this life will end. God is in charge. God knows and ordains the day we are born and the day we will die. To believe otherwise is to believe that God either doesn’t know or doesn’t have control. It isn’t that God wants us to die. He wants us to live with him forever, that was His original plan with Adam and Eve, but we chose and continue to choose sin. This life we have in this body will come to an end. So, with that understanding, would it make us feel any better if some of the 3000 had died the day before in an oxen accident or died the next week in a battle or simply died of old age in the dessert? Why do we bristle from the dying on this day as opposed to any other day?

So why this day, then? They had chosen the golden calf, but they didn’t die that day. They had seen Moses anger when he burned up the calf and ground it up and forced them to drink it, but they didn’t die that day. But in spite of all of that, the tablets being broken, the calf being burned, the ashes being ground up, the forced consumption of the burnt up idol, they still ran wild. Despite all they had seen, and felt, and heard and learned – despite all that they still chose to be wild animals.

The term “stiff-necked” comes from oxen. When an ox is yoked, the person in control steers and controls the direction of the animal by turning its head, either through the use of a bridle and bit or through the use of an ox-goad (a stick with a pointed end). A stiff-necked oxen is one who continuously fights the person in control. It refuses to turn its neck. It goes where it wants to go and does what it wants to do. It is a dangerous creature and it can inflict great damage, injury and death on others if it goes wild. If such a creature, despite the continued efforts and training of its master, continues to disobey, it is put down.

The Levites did not go through the camp maliciously murdering innocent friends and family. They obediently killed those who insisted on being wild animals in the street. They killed those who made the choice to become and live as enemies of God and enemies of the Jewish people. This camp was a battle field and they killed those who elected to terrorize their neighbors, family and friends.

Should we strap on a sword and start killing people in our neighborhoods? Absolutely not. That is not what we are commanded to do. But we, through our military, police and judicial systems, do fight and kill those who have chosen to be enemies both at home and abroad.

But why not Aaron? Why not any of the other thousands of jews who did not die on this day? It was not what God ordained. Our leaders are not perfect. Many of our leaders, including pastors and religious leaders, have committed great sin in their lives and have led others into sin. That does not mean that God is restricted from using them as leaders. God chose Aaron and despite the fact that sacrifices will be made for Aaron’s sin and to ordain him as a priest, he would carry the knowledge of his sin every day. This had to influence the work he would perform in the tabernacle. This had to make a difference in his thinking as he made sacrifice after sacrifice for the sins of the people. When faced with that job, day-in, day-out, it would have been easy for a high priest to think of himself as better than the people. Could Aaron ever do that again?

This is hard and uncomfortable, but so is life. Who do you stand with? Do you yield to the authority of the master, the farmer who cares for you and protects you and wants you to participate in good work, or do you fight and run wild? In Matthew 11, Jesus asks us to take his yoke, his yoke is easy and the burden is light.

My Answers:

8.
a.
They did not receive the 10 commandments crafted by God, they were out of control, laughingstock to their enemies, they were forced to drink the ground up powder of the golden calf

b.
Aaron and the people

c.
I am to be a solid witness not bending at the first temptation

9.
a.
he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “whoever is for the Lord, come to me”, Levites rallied, strap sword go back and forth from one end of camp to the other, killing brother, friend and neighbor – 3000 died

b.
They broke the first 4 commandments, they broke their covenant with God, even after Moses returned, they continued to be wild

c.
set apart, blessed, disciple of God

11.3 Moses 11, Day 3

Gears

When the people of Israel looked at each other they did not see perfect people. When the looked at themselves, honestly, they knew something was missing. They could feel it. A hollowness in their center, a roughness around their edges.

They didn’t like it. They didn’t like it in themselves and they didn’t like it in others. They wanted to fill it up and they didn’t particularly care what it was filled with. Anger, pride, joy, self-justification, food, drink, idols, it didn’t matter. They wanted smooth edges and an internal feeling of fullness. Fulfillment.

Are people today any different? Look around – don’t you see the exact same situation today. If anything our dedication to our own selfworth and our criticism of others may be at an all time high.

But, what if we have it all wrong? What if that emptiness we feel was there for a specific purpose? What if we were created to be gears? What if we are supposed to fit into something bigger? What if that roughness of around our edges was there not for ourselves, but to connect with others who also have rough edges. What if we are not a problem to be fixed, but a part of an amazing grand design? What if instead of focusing on ourselves, we turned our focus to the source of power that can turn our world around and around?

When Moses came down and saw the sin, he took the golden calf, burned it ground it up and made all the people of Israel drink it. Did it bring them fulfillment? Did it fill up that hole in the center of their soul? No, it made them sick.

My Answers:

6.
a.
16. the work of God, the writing of God

b.
They had broken the law (literally), they were not deserving of the gift of the law

7.
a.
He was left in charge, he had been appointed, he knew better – history before Egypt and eye witness to every miracle and plague

b.
blamed the people (prone to evil), they told him, they didn’t know where Moses was, he stuck the gold in the fire and out popped the calf

c.
same – blaming circumstances and others rather than owning my sin

11.2 Moses 11, Day 2

Idle spirits, idol worship

Waiting is hard. It is one of those things that seems like it should be easy. You aren’t doing stressful work. You aren’t fighting battles. You aren’t doing anything. You are waiting.

But, we grow impatient. We don’t like to wait. We want to do something now. We want immediate satisfaction and gratification. We don’t know what we want, but we want something.

While Moses was communing with God, the people were waiting. Clearly they knew that escaping Egypt and arriving at the base of this mountain was not the end-all be-all objective. But they didn’t have a leader to take them further. Aaron was not their leader, he was filling in as a substitute – more like a baby-sitter. So they grew impatient. They were idle and instead of focusing on what was ahead and preparing for it, they focused on themselves and their wants and needs.

They wanted fulfillment. They wanted gods that would move it along. They wanted to go now.

They should have been drilling and practicing. They should have been sharpening their weapons and honing their skills. They should have been fasting and praying. They should have been growing stronger: physically, mentally, spiritually and mechanically (tools/armor/weapons). Instead, they were building idols and preparing for a party.

There are times in our life when we feel like we are parked. We know we are not where God ultimately has planned for us to go, but we also know that God hasn’t moved us forward, yet, either. So what do we do? Do we use the time to grow stronger in our relationship with God? Or, do we grumble and complain and fill our body, thoughts and soul with junk to try to satisfy our wants and desires?

Waiting is hard.

My Answers:

3.
a.
Moses was so long in coming down, didn’t know what happened to him, turned to other gods

b.
He asked for their gold jewelry, he cast the idol and finished it with tools, he praised the idol instead of God, he built an altar, he participated in sacrifices to the idol, he called for a festival

c.
The Egyptians – bounty from the Lord’s conquest

4.
a.
Talents used for impropriety and wickedness, wasted or misused resources. Focus on self satisfaction, greed

b.
there are no new temptations, just common ones, God is stronger and in charge, no reason to yield. Use past lessons to learn

5.
a.
“your people” have become corrupt, quickly turned away from commanded and have made idol, stiff-necked, destroy them

b.
Destroy the people and start over with Moses – I will make you into a great nation

c.
As a witness to the Egyptians, out of memory of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, God’s covenant to them,

d.
relented and did not bring on his people the disaster He had threatened

10.5 Moses 10, Day 5

A special calling

Over and over again, as I study the bible, I’m struck by how upside down man’s ways are to God’s ways.

First, you are not an accident, some random product of unplanned and unexpected events. I don’t have a problem with the idea that things evolve and change over time, but who wants to believe they are nothing but a random accident? I believe I am here for a purpose and that there is a specific purpose and calling for my life.

But even though, as Christians, we believe this, we still can get things turned around. First, we start with us. We are born, we have a number of experiences and preferences and training and relationships, we accept Jesus, we look for our mission or calling and then we pray to be equipped for that role.

But look at it in reverse and we get a better view of God’s perspective. First, God plans a special mission or calling for you. Then Jesus and the Holy Spirit go to work aligning time and place and experience and training and relationships. Then you are born.

We saw today how God had a mission for two specific craftsmen in the construction of the tabernacle. God didn’t look around and review the resumes of the Isrealites to see who would be the best. He selected these men to be in this place at this time with these gifts and talents before they were ever born. He has done the same for me and you.

Finally, here is an aside so that you won’t ever forget the names of the craftsmen. Not only did God bless them with appropriate talents, but He also gave them perfect names. Bezalel, sounds just like Bedazzle, without the duh. What a perfect name for the interior decorator! And his helper is name Oholiab, which sounds like Oh-Holy-Ab, and he would need some Holy Abs of Steel for the heavy lifting he would need to do. I hope this makes you smile and helps you remember their names.

My Answers:

9.
a.
the prayers of God’s people

b.
at morning and twilight so that it will burn regularly

c.
There are times I should stop and pray, but also, my prayers should be constantly before the Lord

10.
a.
before entering the tent of meeting

b.
washed daily – daily repent and receive the cleansing

11.
a.
They would die

b.
cut off from the people

c.
These things were holy and sacred (set apart) – using them for self or others would be self worship or, at a minimum, putting self at the same level as God

12.
a.
filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills

b.
All different, all appointed by God to serve God

c.
To serve – to connect – to teach

10.4 Moses 10, Day 4

Priests, Present, Prayer, Patience, Passing the Torch

Are you called to be an active part of the ministry of your church? Yes.

1. Priests: When you become a Christian you are clothed in Christ. Just as the priests of the tabernacle wore special clothing to designate them as part of a unique group, set apart for special work before God, we wear Christ inside and out. All Christians are priests, with an expectation of being part of the ministry of the church. That ministry can take on many forms, such as teaching, counseling, caring, feeding, praying, supporting, etc. When the priests put on their clothing, it was like a uniform. In the same way, when we ask for Christ to be the center of our life, we take on the uniform of that faith. There are no spectators, no one sitting on the sidelines, if you are a Christian you’re place is in the field.

2. Present: The priests were present at the tabernacle every day. They had days of rest, but a big part of what they did was show up every day. The incense was lit twice a day, the candle wicks were mended, the bread was placed on the table, the sacrifices were made, the cleansing took place. In the same way, we are called to show up and do kingdom work every day. Every day we are called to cleanse our soul. Every day we are called to break bread with God. Every day we are tend the light to the world that our candle shines to those to whom we influence.

3. Prayer: When we decide we need to become more active in church, we often start with an assessment of what we are good at or what we are comfortable doing. But, that is wrong. Our approach should begin with prayer. If we trust God and know that He has a plan and calling for our work in His church, we need to also begin by asking Him to reveal that plan to us.

4. Patience: After we pray, we need to wait patiently and continue to pray. A few years back I read Tony Dungy’s book, Quiet Strength. He said, “I needed to do my current job well, keep preparing, and wait on God’s timing. I needed to trust His leadership rather than try to force an outcome I wanted.” He explained that every time he jumped ahead of God in his career, things did not go well. We need to have the same patience in our work and our job in God’s church.

5. Pass the torch: God did not only appoint Aaron, He also appointed his sons. I was visiting with a lady recently who asked about the church we attended. She and her family had attended a church for the past 2 years, but she explained that it was an older, established church and they had not found a place to plug in and serve in the church. Each time they had attempted, they found themselves trespassing on someone’s established turf. People serving in roles in the church are often heard to complain that they have to do too much themselves because others aren’t stepping up. Could it possibly be that we are not actively developing the future leaders to step in? Could God have something else in mind for you that you can’t step up to because you won’t let go of your current position?

My Answers:

7.
a.
God

b.
If try to take an easy, comfortable job, it is blocked or not successful – called to serve in area that would not have been my initial preference, such as working with kids instead of adults.

8.
Titus: We are washed in the saving blood of Jesus and rewed by the Holy Spirit

Galations: those baptized into Christ have clothed themselves with Christ

2Cor: Anointed us, seal of ownership, put spirit in our hearts

Rom: Christ as a sacrifice of atonement – righteousness

1 Peter: the church is a chosen people, Kingdom of priests, holy nation, God’s possession

10.3 Moses 10, Day 3

It’s a map not an art project

My daughters are very talented artists. One, in particular, can lose herself in the act of creativity. There have been many a time that she had a school project for a class such as science or history that called for a visual representation of something. Several hours into the project, which for most children probably took less than 1 hour, we would remind her, it is history homework, not an art project.

In today’s scripture we look at the clarity of God’s instructions, learn what it points to and remember that he repeatedly said, “make it exactly as patterned.” This reminded me, the tabernacle is a map, not an art project. A map is exact and clear. It provides direction. It records and reveals the nature of things (such as nature). It plots a specific course and/or points to a specific destination. All of this is true of the tabernacle.

Each dimension, each object, each article used in its construction was part of a map. It was a map that pointed to worship of God and it was a map pointing to the redemption provided through Jesus Christ.

My Answers:

5.
Bread Table:
The table was covered in gold, the plates and dishes, pitchers, bowls all gold. The bread of the presence was before God at all times – Jesus at the last supper took the bread, broke it and said, this is my body given for you

Golden Lampstand:
Jesus is the light of the world, In heaven, God is the light (no sun or moon)

Inner Curtain:
The curtain was separation from God. When Jesus died on the cross the curtain was torn from top to bottom – the curtain represents his body

Altar:
redemption is through the precious blood of Jesus

6.
a.
make it exactly as planned/patterned

b.
It was a revelation of the temple in heaven, it also was a foreshadowing of Jesus. Everything about God is connected.

10.2 Moses 10, Day 2

Perfect Purpose

We know that God is all powerful. The Creator of everything has the ability to do anything, any way He wants.

As we begin the study of the tabernacle, I think this point is important to keep in mind. Every thing and every way that goes along with the tabernacle is God’s intentional plan. He did not need the people of Israel to bring gifts. He did not need the gold, precious stones and yarn that they had taken from Egypt. He didn’t need them to build the table or lampstand or even the tabernacle. He does not need a tent or building. He didn’t even need their sacrifices.

God chose to do these things in these ways not for Himself but for the people. He allowed them to be a part of this. He enabled them to have the joy of sharing and giving. He accepted the sacrifices and obedience that they offered.

God did all of this with purpose. The stated purpose of the temple may have been for God. He would dwell among the people. But God was already everywhere and in everything. The physical representation of the temple was for the people, so they could physically experience God with them. It was a touch point, not unlike a favorite chair that you might have sat in and cuddled and read books with your mother.

Today we don’t have a tabernacle or temple. We have something far superior. God chose to fulfill the promises of the temple through Jesus. When Jesus was born, Immanuel, God with us, He take on human flesh and walked and lived and ate and slept among His people. Then, as the ultimate sacrifice, He gave up that human life so that His blood would pay the full price of our sin as a covering, sufficient for everyone for ever.

All of this that we are reading in Exodus was not just a specific design, it was a specific revelation of God’s plan done with purpose.

My Answers:

3.
a.
everyone whose heart prompts them to give – not forced, but a joyful giving

b.
Remember Malachi 3:8-12

c.
A living sacrifice. My heart, my time, my talent, my devotion, my order, my attention.

4.
a.
It is for God. He will dwell among the people

b.
Christ was born “God with us”, He was made flesh, we are adopted as brothers/sisters to Christ, we will dwell with God forever.

c.
God would dwell in their midsts. He would look down from above the mercy seat and see the laws (all that we broke) but in between is a covering of sacrificial blood