Day 31 - Exodus 35-38

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 31 - Exodus 35-38 (The Sacrament of Talents)

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“And Moses said to the children of Israel, "See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;  and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship,  to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze,  in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.  And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.  He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver--those who do every work and those who design artistic works.”  (Exodus 35:30-35)

You may be wondering why I entitled my post The Sacrament of Talents.  The word sacrament has its origin meaning to consecrate or make sacred.  I chose to use the phrase because our text clearly teaches that God gives us our gifts and talents in varying measure according to His purposes which of course are sacred.  To Bezalel, God gave a generous outpouring of artistic skill for the specific purpose of designing and creating the articles for the tabernacle including the Ark of the Covenant upon which God would sit and dwell with His people, the Israelites.

No doubt Bezalel acknowledged his gifts as having come from God and that he must have felt humbled and highly honored at the same time for being chosen to oversee all of the design and creation of the articles to be used in worshipping almighty God.  I would have loved to watched his expression when he found out from Moses that he would be in charge of creating the Ark of the Covenant!

The fact is, every gift given by the Holy Spirit to all believers are given for the purposes of God.  Paul clearly teaches this truth in his epistles such as in the passage below:

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.  Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." ... for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,...” (Ephesians 4:7-12)

If you are a believer reading this, you have been given at least one spiritual gift, not to use on yourself, but for the body of Christ, the Church.  Paul writes about the different kinds of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and and also explains that every believer is a vital part of the body of Christ without which the whole body suffers.  That’s how important each one of us is to Christ and to the ministry of the Church.  It really is no different from the gift God gave to Bezalel; and you and I can feel just as highly honored that God would call us for His sacred purpose.

Day 30 - Exodus 33-34

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 30 - Exodus 33-34 (What God Said About Himself)
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“Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.  And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,  keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."  (Exodus 34:5-7)

In Exodus 33:18, Moses asks God, “show me your glory.”   To a typical person reading that, it would be natural to regard Moses as impudent.  Imagine asking God to show you His full glory?  Even the angels who ministered before God continually has to cover their faces with their wings so as not to behold the glory of God!  But wonder of all wonders, God complies with Moses’ blod request with one condition; read it for yourself below:

“But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."  And the Lord said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.  So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.  Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."  (Exodus 33:20-23)

In our text above, God does just that and reveals His glory to Moses, except that he didn’t see God’s face.  I have learned an important truth about God through this episode in Moses’ life; that is, that God is not offended when His children ask Him for anything - even showing His glory.  It does not mean, of course, that God will grant us what we ask just because we ask.  Right after Moses made his audacious request, God answered,  “Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."  (Exodus 33:19)  God owes no one anything and He will show Himself to whoever He wants.

In my simple mind, I would think that what God said about Himself when He revealed His glory to Moses (which for me was the most amazing act God has done for one individual) carries a lot a significance and therefore merits our special attention.  First, God says of Himself that He is merciful and gracious.  Mercy is not getting what we deserve which is punishment for our sins - hell.  Grace is getting what we do not deserve which is what believers get in trusting Christ as Savior - heaven.

God says He is longsuffering or patient.  God’s patience is the reason why all non-believers who are still alive are still alive - God is still giving them time to repent.  He is abounding in goodness and truth.  God is not just good, He abounds in goodness and He IS truth as Jesus claimed in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

God says He forgives sins but by no means clears the guilty.  God has solved the apparent dilemna of His two natures of being merciful and being just by becoming a human in the person of His Son Jesus and taking the punishment of death that we all deserved upon His own body as He hung on the cross.

So this is the God of the Bible as claimed by none other than God Himself.  The question is: will you believe in the one and only true God as proclaimed by God or will you continue to believe in whatever god you may have made up in your mind?  Your choice.

Day 29 - Exodus 30-32

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Day 29 - Exodus 30-32 (Man’s Rebellious Nature Unbelieveably Displayed)

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“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." …  And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"... Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (wild partying).”  (Exodus 32:1.4.6)

Many things are hard to accept in the Bible but the rebellion of the Israelites in our text tops it for me.  God had just delivered the Jews from bondage in Egypt after witnessing the ten horrible plagues culminating in the death of all first-born in Egypt.  The Jews also witnessed the parting of the Red Sea and crossed the same with the wall of water on both sides.  Then they saw the Egyptian army drown behind them when God caused the waters to return as the last Israelite stepped on the other side of the sea.  

There were numerous other miracles these people were privileged to witness first-hand including the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire; God’s voice thundering in their hearing as He spoke to Moses so that they pleaded to Moses not to hear God again; the bread from heaven in the morning and birds in the evening for their food; the water that gushed from the rock after Moses struck it for their drink; and many other miracles.

What made the rebellion of the Jews even more shocking to me was the fact that Aaron consented to it and even fashioned an idol for the people to worship and then lied about it when he was confronted by Moses!  The absence of anyone protesting this disgrace tells me that everyone was in it without exception.

It would be easy for me to say that I would never rebel against God like the Israelites did in the wilderness and perhaps it is true.  But I know that I could easily be guilty of consenting of sin through my silence and apathy.  Abortion is one example.  Millions of Christians who may be against abortion can be contributors to this greatest of all genocide in history by our silence.

I do not have any intention to put any guilt trip on anyone regarding non-involvement in abortion protest or any other anti-Christian movement.  I simply am commenting on how believers today can be guilty of rebellion against God just like the Jews in the Old Testament with the prayer that you and I can avoid falling into the same trap of the devil repeatedly.  Let us heed the words of the apostle Paul:

“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea,  all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,  all ate the same spiritual food,  and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.  But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.  Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.  And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;  nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.  Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.  Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”  (1 Corinthians 10 1-12)

Day 28 - Exodus 28-29

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Day 28 - Exodus 28-29 (HOLINESS TO THE LORD)

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"You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.  And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban.  So it shall be on Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.”  (Exodus 28:36-38)

I can only imagine the glory and beauty of the priestly garments worn by Aaron as meticulously designed by God Himself - it must have been a sight to behold.  God never intended for the priestly garments to consecrate the priest who ministered before His presence in the tabernacle.  Rather, as in all the other articles inside the tabernacle, they were intended to be a copy of heaven itself and what took place there.  It was the blood of the animals that were sacrificed on the altar and then sprinkled on all of the articles inside the tabernacle including the priestly garments that consecrated all.

Aaron’s glorious priestly garments did not make him holy nor did any good he may have done make him worthy to stand before God.  If you may recall just a short while back from this time, when Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain in meeting God, this same Aaron fashioned a golden calf and made all the Israelites worship it.  I would not exactly call a person like that holy or worthy to stand before God.  Again, it was the blood of the animal that served as a substitute for the blood of the priest that made him worthy to stand and serve in God’s presence as holy.

On one side of the stage of the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ (picture shown on this FB post) reads “Holiness to the Lord” and on the other side reads “So Be Ye Holy”.  Both phrases were taken from Scriptures.  How can we be holy before God today?  Thank God we can be through the blood of Jesus who is the Lamb sacrificed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins!  But God requires repentance and faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Have you asked God to forgive you of your sins through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus?  If you will do that today, the blood of Jesus will wash away all your sins and He will give you new priestly garments of His own righteousness so that you can stand forever before God’s presence.  

Day 27 - Exodus 26-27

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 27 - Exodus 26-27 (The Veil That Separated the Holy God from Sinful Man)

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"You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.  You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver.  And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy.  You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy.”  (Exodus 26:31-34)

When God instructed Moses to construct a tabernacle or tent for Him to dwell among the people, He told Moses to make a veil which shall separate Ark of the Covenant upon which God would sit and dwell with the Israelites.  The veil signified the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.  Sinful man cannot approach God unless God first consecrates (set apart as holy) him.  “Only the high priest was permitted to pass beyond this veil once each year (Exodus 30:10;Hebrews 9:7) to enter into God's presence for all of Israel and make atonement for their sins (Lev 16).” (http://www.gotquestions.org/temple-veil-torn.html)  Consecration always involved forgiveness of sins “and according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22)

When Jesus walked this earth, instead of a tabernacle there was the temple built by Herod.  We read, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;...”  (Matthew 27:50-51a)  Josephus, the renowned Jewish historian describes that veilas being 60 feet high and four inches think and that horse tied to each side could not pull the veil apart.

The tearing of the veil of the temple implies what is perhaps the most important truth in all of Scripture, that is, that the way is now open for sinful man to permanently approach God through the shed blood of Christ on the cross and through His ministry to all believers as their High Priest.  As Scripture says:

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,  by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,  and having a High Priest over the house of God,  let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”  (Hebrews 10:19-22)  

Day 25 - Exodus 20-22

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Day 25 - Exodus 20-22 (The Ten Commandments)

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“You shall have no other gods before Me.  "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God... "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain..."Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ..."Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.  "You shall not murder.  "You shall not commit adultery. "You shall not steal.  "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  "You shall not covet ...anything that is your neighbor's."  (Exodus 20:3-17)

Did you know that there were two sets of tablets of stone upon which the Ten Commandments were written?  The first set were handed directly to Moses by God with the writings by God on both sides of the tablets.  Those tablets were thrown on the ground by Moses (yes, it happened!) in front of the Israelites in his anger at them for making a golden calf and worshipping it when Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain in meeting with God.  Later, God told Moses to cut his own tablet so that God can write the same commandments as in the first set of tablets.

When God says something as when He speaks to one of His prophets who records it and it becomes part of the Scriptures, it is the Word of God that demands obedience from all His creatures.  When God Himself writes His commandments on tablets of stone and twice at that, common sense dictates that God is trying to place added emphasis on those commandments.  Interestingly, God of all ten commandments, God repeats the first two, which is about making and worshipping idols, right after He gives the ten in Exodus 20:23.  Again, common sense tells us the gravity God places on idolatry.

Are you guilty of bowing down to a “carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth?” (Exodus 20:4, 5)  No amount of rationalization can spare you from being guilty of violating the first two commandments if you keep any idol in your home and bow down to it.  Think about it, will God accept whatever reason you might have in praying to an idol?  Will He consider your reason/s an exception to the first two commandments?  Why not ask God to show you if the carved image you are bowing to is an exception to His commandments?  If you are truly sincere, God will reveal the truth to you.

Day 26 - Exodus 23-25

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE

Day 26 - Exodus 23-25 (Praise God Who Dwells Among Us!)

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“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: …  And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.  According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.  "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; …” (Exodus 25:1, 8-10)

Wonder of all wonders is that the God of the Bible, the only true God, from the beginning of man’s creation in the Garden of Eden before the Fall of man and until the time of the restoration of creation and the redemption of man in the new heaven and the new earth, desires to dwell among us!  

This awesome truth is evident throughout Scriptures.  God spoke to Adam “face to face” in the Garden of Eden and even after the Fall when Adam hid from God.  God called Abraham in an audible voice and told him to go to a land he will show him to make him a father of many nations.  God spoke to Isaac and Jacob to renew His covenant with Abraham.  God appeared to Moses as a man talks with another man and revealed His full glory to him.  Now, in our text, God plainly tells Moses His intention from the very beginning of creation, that is, He desires to dwell among men: “let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”  (Exodus 25:8)

Even after this event, we know from the Bible that God never ceased to dwell among men.  God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah said, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”  (Isaiah 7:14)  Later in the New Testament, the apostle Matthew writes, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,"which is translated, "God with us."  (Matthew 1:23)

The incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ was the ultimate goal of God in His desire to dwell with us.  Although man killed Jesus, He rose again from the dead in order to dwell with man, this time, through the Holy Spirit Whom Jesus sent to all those who believe in Him.  Believers today enjoy God’s presence in their lives unlike even Moses because God is constantly and forever with them!  One day soon, Jesus will return to once again be with His followers never to be separated from them.

Does the truth that God desires to dwell with you and me touch move you to awe and praise to God?  If not, I suggest you bow your knees to Him now and ask Him to open your mind to this greatest of all wonders and to help you experience His presence in your life. You will never be the same after you meet God.