Last week we looked at the first 4 commandments as well as the passages leading up to them. This week we look at the last 6 commandments. The first 4 commandments deal with our relationship to our heavenly Father. The last 6 deal with our relationship to one another. Jesus expressed what is at the heart of the commandments when He was asked "which is the greatest commandment?" First he quoted the Shema, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength and with all your mind." Then he said the second is like it "Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus goes on to say that all the laws and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
When we think about the 10 commandments we can see the direct link to what Jesus said as the first 4 expand on "Love the Lord your God..." and the latter 6 expand on "Love your neighbor as yourself." These words that Jesus used were not new to the Jews as they can both be found in the Pentateuch (First 5 books of the Bible, also considered the foundation of the Jewish faith). I bring all this up to remind us that Jesus was about love and mercy, but he held the law in high esteem and viewed himself as the fulfillment of the law. (Matthew 5:17) I believe we must always seek balance between justice and mercy just as Christ did.
I want to skip "Honor your father and mother" and save it for last.
You shall not murder
My feeling is most of us get this one. It's not too hard to figure out. Although, I always try to clarify to young people that this does not mean it is wrong to kill. The King James version can confuse us because it translates it "Thou shalt not kill" but almost all other versions use the word murder in reference to unjust or unauthorized killing. I'll never forget when the war in Afghanistan began after 9/11 and I was in the convenient store in the Indiana State University commons. A young man was looking at the paper and he was up in arms about the war. He approached me with paper in hand saying something like "Can you believe this? This is awful!" I responded by saying something along the lines of "yes, it is disappointing we are at war, but I don't think it's unjustified." He responded by asking me if I was a student and I said "No, I'm a campus minister." I knew what his next comment was going to be before he said it. It was something like "Then, how can you say that? Doesn't the Bible say 'thou shalt not kill?'" I immediately responded by saying, some versions do but what is meant is don't commit murder or unjustified killing."
We need to be careful though. Jesus gave his own take on the "no murder" issue. He expands upon it in Matthew 5:21-26. Jesus is warning us that murdering another person's character is a sin as well and we should make peace with our enemies before whatever grievance we have comes to trial. Jesus even shows us the need for mercy when the law says the death penalty is justified. We see this in the story of the woman caught in adultery where those who were bringing her to Jesus spoke of the law in Deuteronomy 22 where sometimes death is a justifiable punishment for adultery. Jesus reminds them of their own sins challenging them to cast the first stone if they are without any. The woman finds herself free of accusers and Jesus says "Neither do I condemn you" and challenges her to "Go and sin no more." Again, there must be balance between justice and mercy.
You shall not commit adultery
For all of you who told your children to "ask Pastor Dave" what adultery means or any other difficult question you didn't want to answer, I just want to say "Thanks A Lot!" I've seen you with your smile on your face standing back and observing as your children approach me with these delicate questions. All kidding aside, kids are very humorous with their questions and their answers. I recently asked a group of kids what they thought "committing adultery" means and one child said "It's when kids aren't nice to adults like they should be." If that's the case there's a lot of committing adultery going on.(ha ha)
But seriously, has any commandment taken more abuse than this one? I love what Dave Ramsey often says on his radio show about our culture and/or the world (whatever label you want to use here). To paraphrase, Dave Ramsey says culture tempts us to push the envelope as far as we can ethically and then ridicules us to no end the moment we cross the line. There is no greater example of that than committing adultery. People are more visually stimulated today than ever. It's everywhere. One of the best recommendations I've heard on the subject came from Andy Stanley. If you don't want to be tempted by it, you must flee from it. Any time, any moment, there is even a suggestion of the chance of giving in, we must seek the discipline to flee from it. If you like podcasts, I highly recommend Your Move with Andy Stanley. He expands on this idea in one of his talks in his series on Guardrails. Good stuff!
You shall not steal
Again, this is one of those we all probably get, but who of us didn't as a child learn the guilt of this the hard way. We've all likely at some time in our life given into the temptation of the 5 finger discount. Yet, there are other things we can steal that are not of a physical nature. People steal time from their employers. They steal someone's good name through gossip. Many of the ideas I get for these blogs come from commentary writers like Maxie Dunnam, who wrote the volume on Exodus in the Communicators Commentary Series. I give credit to him at least once in my blog whenever I use some of his ideas. Otherwise, I would be stealing credit for something he thought of. We must be cautious not to gloss over "you shall not steal" by saying "I'm no thief" and allow God to examine us and the Holy Spirit to convict us if such is the case.
You shall not bear false witness
We all know to be honest, not to lie. But I love it when someone calls another person out on a Sunday morning for lying, especially young people. Someone tells a fib in jest and the other person's response is "don't lie, you're in church" as if lying other places is a more permissible sin than when you're in the actual church building.
An interesting thing to note is Jewish law is just as harsh on those who have testimony or evidence and don't share it as it is with those who give it falsely. (Leviticus 5:1) Our lack of words can be just as harmful as false words. This is something that is very difficult for young people. Fear of sticking our necks out for the sake of the truth is a value that seems to lose ground daily. The truth is the fear is greater because the likelihood of our proverbial necks getting chopped when we stick them out is greater. Youth often take a self defense position of if I defend someone than I will the next target. Yet somehow the need to do so has never been more needed for those who are in need of someone to come to their aid. Paul reminds us in I Thessalonians 5:11 to "encourage one another and build up one another." Later in verse 14 he says to "admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone." We can not live this scripture out and keep silent when the defenseless need defended.
You shall not covet your neighbor's (anyone and anything)
In some ways this commandment is a guardrail of sorts from breaking the other commandments. If you avoid having a burning desire for your neighbor's spouse, you won't be tempted to commit adultery or to murder your neighbor in order to be with their spouse. If you don't get all hot and bothered about your neighbor's car or TV, you won't be tempted to steal one from him or from the store. Nor will you be tempted to rob the bank to have the money to buy one. Yes, I know I'm being extreme, but I hope my extreme examples help you see the point. To covet means to desire. The word covet itself is a neutral word. In other words in can be used in a positive or negative way. I often have heard people say "I covet your prayers." This is not a bad thing. It's a good thing. To have a desire for someone to pray for you is a good thing to let someone know. If someone says to me "I covet your wife," they're going to have a problem. The bottom line is we must ask God to help us to discipline our desires and focus them for the good. This sounds simple enough but it isn't. At the heart of it is obedience which takes love of God and time with God in order for it to develop.
Back to #5...
Honor your father and mother
This commandment sits at the transition point between those commandments directed to God and those directed to each other. This is no coincidence. At the heart of the Jewish way of life is the family, not just the immediate family but the extended family. Is there any doubt that our family experience or lack thereof is the biggest determining factor of who we become? Our family experiences motivate us positively or negatively. How many people do we hear say "I am where I am today because of my family?" How many people blame their family experience for their poor decisions? What we do and how we react in the midst of our family experiences determines a lot. Maxie Dunnam believes this is why the Jewish people have survived through so much. Regardless of who has oppressed them, they've clung tightly to their families. No culture is more committed to study of their family and it's history than the Jewish people.
This commandment is the only commandment linked directly with a promise. The NIV translates the commandment this way. "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." This seems to suggest if you honor your father and mother you will live a long life. The NASB translation gives a little more clarity to the promise. It says "that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you." This translation clarifies that life can be prolonged by honoring your parents. This makes more sense to me. I'm sure we can all think of a Christian whose life ended before they had reached what we would consider a long life. It could also be that this person honored their parents in a manner worthy of the 5th commandment. This would seem contradictory to God's promise. But I believe what God promises here is that our lives will have more of an opportunity to be prolonged in the context of honoring our parents.
We need to understand that God was speaking to the Israelites as a culture which needed to set itself apart from other cultures. Some cultures of those days would abandon the elderly and leave them behind to die when they were no longer useful. Sad, but true. God is saying do not be that type of culture. Care for your elderly with the respect they deserve. God was saying by doing this, it will prolong your life because your kids will see how you treated your parents. Thus they won't leave you behind when the time comes.
In our day and age, I can think of two practical applications of how honoring our parents can prolong our lives. For young people, honoring your parents can help them with decision making. How many young people foolishly lose their life because of poor choices. Perhaps they don't literally lose their life (although some have because of poor choices) but they get caught up in an unhealthy lifestyle because of bad decision making and they do lose parts of their life they can never get back. If in the midst of choices, we teach our children to remember their parents and how much they love them, perhaps it will prolong their lives. They will have a greater desire to honor their parents by the decisions they make. If we can help young people to think ahead and visualize the pain a bad decision might cause, they may think more deeply before a poor decision is made. The catch here is we as parents must be constantly showing and assuring our children of our unconditional love.
The other application here is of adult children and how they treat their elderly parents. Do we honor them with our time and energy, with our presence? Or do we go months and months without communicating with them? What are we teaching our children about how we honor our parents? The old cliche is true. What comes around, goes around.
The challenge is to be a Christian people who don't just view these commandments as suggestions. We can not pass this off as less applicable because it's Old Testament teaching. Jesus said himself he came to fulfill the law. He even simplified it for us by giving us a bigger picture. "Love the Lord with all you've got and Love your neighbor as yourself." This begins with the family and extends from there.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
More than Just 10 Suggestions - Part 1 (Exodus 20:1-17))
Does anyone really like to be told what to do? In all likelihood, your answer to this is an emphatic NO! Yet no other document telling us what we shall and shall not do is more mentioned, more thought of, than the Ten Commandments. When we consider directions for our daily lives is there a more clear or precise resource? Hollywood has made millions on the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments whether in reverence or in farce. For years people have argued about whether or not the Ten Commandments should be allowed to be posted in schools and on court house lawns. The funny thing to me is that most of what the Ten Commandments is about is already built into the conscience of most people, the law of nature if you will. We intrinsically know such things as lying, stealing, murdering, cheating on your spouse and disrespecting your parents is wrong. We don't have to read the Bible or hear the Gospel to have a sense of a higher power working in this world either. (read Romans 1:18-2:16) Yet, I think God in his perfect timing was doing what needed to be done in order to avoid chaos from ensuing amongst the people of Israel, and to give us clarity in a world today where some just view the Ten Commandments more as suggestions. God was doing what we often do when needing to make something official. He put it down in writing.
We will be spending two weeks on the Ten Commandments so I want to share a little bit on what happened between the account of God giving the rock that provided the Israelites water (Exodus 17:1-7) up to God giving Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments. Then, we'll look at the first 4 commandments and save the last 6 for next time.
In chapter 18, two things occur: 1) Moses is reunited with his family 2) Jethro, his father in law, gives him leadership advice. We see Moses spending day and night hearing the disputes of the people and instructing the people in God's law. Jethro advises him to delegate and appoint trusted leaders over 1000 men, 100 men, 50 and 10. Is it any coincidence that this story comes before God establishing the Ten Commandments? The Israelites had grown to a huge nation but had been under Egyptian rule. God was now helping Moses to bring order to a newly independent nation. But God did not want it to simply be some document for Moses to use to rule and govern the people. God made himself known in a powerful way according to Exodus 19. We read of thunder, lightning, the sound of the ram's horn and smoke billowing everywhere. God wanted to make clear what he was about to do was more than make rules and regulations. He was giving an eternal promise, a covenant between Him and Israel, between Him and all who would come to believe in Him.
One thing worth noting about the commandments is that there is a natural division between the first 4 and the last 6. The first 4 deal with our relationship with God and the last 6 deal with our relationship to each other. Another unique quality we see is that these commands use the 2nd person personal pronoun of "Thou" or "You." They are written to speak to each of us on a personal level.
You shall have no other gods before me
We must note that there were other religions with sets of commands in this day and age, much like the Ten Commandments. Yet no other set of commands prohibited the worship of other Gods. Yahweh is making clear that He is singular and He is universal. He is also a personal God thus there is no need to worship anyone or anything else. Before this first commandment he gives the Israelites some ID. He declares He is the same God that brought them out of bondage in Egypt. He wants to leave no doubt in their minds of his true identity. He is more than enough and there is no need to look anywhere else for supernatural guidance.
You shall not make for yourself any graven images
This commandment takes a step beyond the first one. It clarifies that God can not be contained in an object for worship. We can have visual reminders that help us in worship but nothing, no object is deserving of our worship. I've always understood that anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God can become an idol. This obviously goes beyond the golden calf. It can be money, a job, a relationship, a desire to be popular or famous. It can even be religious practices that we distort. For example, people could hide their idolatry of being right all the time behind a zeal for their correct interpretation of the Bible. In so doing they forget to show others forgiveness, love, grace and compassion. If God was able to be worshiped through an object this would mean God could be controlled and/or manipulated. Our God can not be put in a box or in an object. He is not containable.
You shall not take the Name of the Lord in vain
For the people of Israel, names were a big part of who they were. A name wasn't just how you were called, it was a definer of your persona. So to use God's name carelessly or in a perverted manner was clearly not acceptable because of the importance of names in their culture. According to Maxie Dunnam to say something "in vain" means "empty, groundless, without basis, frivolous, insincere." (Communicators Commentary Series, Old Testament Vol. 2 - Exodus p. 258) Dunnam also suggests that this can be about profanity, but it's more than that. When people use God's name for advancing their political, economical or social agenda for personal gain, it is also taking the Lord's name in vain. These are harsh words from Dunnam, but it is a great reminder for us to be careful when we claim to speak on God's behalf. At the heart of this is a caution to not take God and/or his name too lightly.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy
Sabbath means to cease or to rest. It was important for the Israelites to be reminded that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world and to remind them of their deliverance on the Passover. In addition to these, it is important for Christians also to be reminded of the Resurrecton of Jesus Christ on our Sabbath. Sabbath is a reminder of the need for our lives to have a rhythm that balances work with restoraton. This restoration goes beyond the physical. It needs to include mental/emotional restoration and the most importantly spiritual restoration. The Israelites considered the beginning of their days to happen at dusk, not at dawn. This way of thinking can teach us American go getters a lot about the rhythm of life. In the Jewish tradition, the day begins with rest and ends with work. Thus, in order to give God your best, the day begins with restoration, rest, sleep. Think about this, how would that change our way of life if we considered the beginning of our day a time to restore ourselves in order to give our best work when the sun comes up? How would that change our view of resting, slowing down, giving time to our family and to our God? The same holds true for our weekly pattern. Don't we really consider Sunday as part of our weekend and often think of Monday as the real beginning of the week? But isn't Sunday the first day of the week? What if we remember to consider Sunday as the day that prepares us for the week that is to come? Let us begin our week with Sabbath that restores us for the the challenges we will face during the week that is ahead.
Jesus told us the Greatest commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Are these first four commandments nothing more than expanding upon the greatest commandment that Jesus taught us? May we be a people, a family, a church that instills these commandments in our young people in a fresh new way just as Jesus did some 2000 years ago. Let's teach our children to resist the urge to think as the world thinks. Let's help them to not take the Lord lightly. Remind them we need no other God or person or thing to worship. Help them to remember to rest in the Lord, to keep Sabbath rhythm to life. The best way to do this is to live it ourselves.
We will be spending two weeks on the Ten Commandments so I want to share a little bit on what happened between the account of God giving the rock that provided the Israelites water (Exodus 17:1-7) up to God giving Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments. Then, we'll look at the first 4 commandments and save the last 6 for next time.
In chapter 18, two things occur: 1) Moses is reunited with his family 2) Jethro, his father in law, gives him leadership advice. We see Moses spending day and night hearing the disputes of the people and instructing the people in God's law. Jethro advises him to delegate and appoint trusted leaders over 1000 men, 100 men, 50 and 10. Is it any coincidence that this story comes before God establishing the Ten Commandments? The Israelites had grown to a huge nation but had been under Egyptian rule. God was now helping Moses to bring order to a newly independent nation. But God did not want it to simply be some document for Moses to use to rule and govern the people. God made himself known in a powerful way according to Exodus 19. We read of thunder, lightning, the sound of the ram's horn and smoke billowing everywhere. God wanted to make clear what he was about to do was more than make rules and regulations. He was giving an eternal promise, a covenant between Him and Israel, between Him and all who would come to believe in Him.
One thing worth noting about the commandments is that there is a natural division between the first 4 and the last 6. The first 4 deal with our relationship with God and the last 6 deal with our relationship to each other. Another unique quality we see is that these commands use the 2nd person personal pronoun of "Thou" or "You." They are written to speak to each of us on a personal level.
You shall have no other gods before me
We must note that there were other religions with sets of commands in this day and age, much like the Ten Commandments. Yet no other set of commands prohibited the worship of other Gods. Yahweh is making clear that He is singular and He is universal. He is also a personal God thus there is no need to worship anyone or anything else. Before this first commandment he gives the Israelites some ID. He declares He is the same God that brought them out of bondage in Egypt. He wants to leave no doubt in their minds of his true identity. He is more than enough and there is no need to look anywhere else for supernatural guidance.
You shall not make for yourself any graven images
This commandment takes a step beyond the first one. It clarifies that God can not be contained in an object for worship. We can have visual reminders that help us in worship but nothing, no object is deserving of our worship. I've always understood that anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God can become an idol. This obviously goes beyond the golden calf. It can be money, a job, a relationship, a desire to be popular or famous. It can even be religious practices that we distort. For example, people could hide their idolatry of being right all the time behind a zeal for their correct interpretation of the Bible. In so doing they forget to show others forgiveness, love, grace and compassion. If God was able to be worshiped through an object this would mean God could be controlled and/or manipulated. Our God can not be put in a box or in an object. He is not containable.
You shall not take the Name of the Lord in vain
For the people of Israel, names were a big part of who they were. A name wasn't just how you were called, it was a definer of your persona. So to use God's name carelessly or in a perverted manner was clearly not acceptable because of the importance of names in their culture. According to Maxie Dunnam to say something "in vain" means "empty, groundless, without basis, frivolous, insincere." (Communicators Commentary Series, Old Testament Vol. 2 - Exodus p. 258) Dunnam also suggests that this can be about profanity, but it's more than that. When people use God's name for advancing their political, economical or social agenda for personal gain, it is also taking the Lord's name in vain. These are harsh words from Dunnam, but it is a great reminder for us to be careful when we claim to speak on God's behalf. At the heart of this is a caution to not take God and/or his name too lightly.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy
Sabbath means to cease or to rest. It was important for the Israelites to be reminded that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world and to remind them of their deliverance on the Passover. In addition to these, it is important for Christians also to be reminded of the Resurrecton of Jesus Christ on our Sabbath. Sabbath is a reminder of the need for our lives to have a rhythm that balances work with restoraton. This restoration goes beyond the physical. It needs to include mental/emotional restoration and the most importantly spiritual restoration. The Israelites considered the beginning of their days to happen at dusk, not at dawn. This way of thinking can teach us American go getters a lot about the rhythm of life. In the Jewish tradition, the day begins with rest and ends with work. Thus, in order to give God your best, the day begins with restoration, rest, sleep. Think about this, how would that change our way of life if we considered the beginning of our day a time to restore ourselves in order to give our best work when the sun comes up? How would that change our view of resting, slowing down, giving time to our family and to our God? The same holds true for our weekly pattern. Don't we really consider Sunday as part of our weekend and often think of Monday as the real beginning of the week? But isn't Sunday the first day of the week? What if we remember to consider Sunday as the day that prepares us for the week that is to come? Let us begin our week with Sabbath that restores us for the the challenges we will face during the week that is ahead.
Jesus told us the Greatest commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Are these first four commandments nothing more than expanding upon the greatest commandment that Jesus taught us? May we be a people, a family, a church that instills these commandments in our young people in a fresh new way just as Jesus did some 2000 years ago. Let's teach our children to resist the urge to think as the world thinks. Let's help them to not take the Lord lightly. Remind them we need no other God or person or thing to worship. Help them to remember to rest in the Lord, to keep Sabbath rhythm to life. The best way to do this is to live it ourselves.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
What a Rockin' Water Hole! Exodus 17:1-7
I had a friend once say to me "I'm a sucker for good allegory." I would agree with my friend in that it is so great when you can peel back the layers of a text and find meaning behind the meaning. Why does God do that? Some folks would say "Just tell me what to do, God! Don't beat around the burning bush about it." (Sorry, couldn't resist) But the truth of the matter is, the farther we go in life, the deeper God wants us to get and quite honestly (and I think Jack Nicholson would agree) we can't always handle certain truths until we get older. As we look at the continuing saga of the Israelites in the desert, we can point to the basic truth that we can learn, young or old. God provides even when we don't always deserve it. Yet, there is more here to consider when we peel back the onion that God reveals to us layer by layer.
Just like eating turkey makes you sleepy, it's quite possible that a constant diet of manna and quail may cause short term memory loss, because once again we see the Israelites complaining to Moses about him leading them into the middle of nowhere without having life sustaining resources, but this time it's not food but a lack of water that worries them. (By the way, we're still without NBC - see previous blog)
I sense by Moses' reaction to the Israelites that he is getting really weary of being in middle management. The following might be a little more edgy translation of the latter part of Exodus 17:2 where Moses responds to the people. "I'm tired of you complaining to me. Doesn't this scenario seem at all familiar to you people? Do you forget what God did for you last time? Do you realize who your messing with here? You're on the verge of wearing me out, but more importantly you're wearing God out too."
Well, as we have seen before, Moses takes the people's complaint up the stairs to the big guy who has the big office overseeing the entire plant. He's done this before and "The Boss" has been pretty understanding but Moses has become in fear of his life this time. "I'm not sure I wanna do this anymore, God. They're gonna kill me if we don't get them some water."
Well, God once again in his abundant mercy provides water for the Israelites. But notice what God does here. He tells Moses to take some of the factory foremen (a.k.a. the Elders of Israel) with him. The hope is maybe if they get a first hand glance at how this works they will stop doubting and start trusting. And so they went and Moses, in front of many witnesses, struck the rock with his staff and out of it flowed water to quench a nation's thirst. But again the irony is thick here because Moses names the place "Testing and Quarreling." If that isn't a jab in the ribs of the Israelites, I don't know what is. God again puts an everyday reminder of His provision in front of the Israelites.
Imagine a morning in the typical Israelite household after that. The man of the tent is having his morning breakfast of Arabica Wilderness Blend coffee and freshly picked, fire grilled Manna with scrambled quail eggs. His wife comes up to him and says "Honey, can I borrow the camel? I need to go up to Testing and Quarreling Place to refill the canteens and water barrels." Every time they would mention having to get water they would be reminded of their fragile faith and God's unfailing provision.
Depending on where you and your children are in faith, knowing God provides may be what you need to here right now, but there are deeper layers here. As I have gone through Exodus and refamiliarized myself with these passages, I am blown away by the connections between the Exodus experience and the experience of knowing Jesus Christ. The Exodus experience is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ and who he is. Paul said as much about this passage in I Corinthians 10:4b. "For they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ." (NASB) In John 4:14 Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well "but whoever drinks of the water I will give him shall never thirst; but the water I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." Jesus is our daily bread (Manna), our rock of salvation, our living water. Jesus not only came to Earth, fully man and fully God, lived a perfect life, died and the cross for our sins and was resurrected to give us new life and life eternal. He was there in the beginning. (See Genesis 1 and John 1:1) He was there in the wilderness with the Israelites. He was there with Paul on the road to Damascus. He is here with us in our everyday mundane things like bread and water. The more we can weave this truth into our lives, the lives of our children and all those we come into contact with, the greater and richer our lives will be.
Rob Bell says "Everything Is Spiritual." Peel back the layers of anyone's life, Christian or not, and I believe you will find that to be true. Whether we realize it or not, whether we are comfortable with it or not, Jesus makes himself at home in everything we think, say and do. We choose what kind of host or hostess we are to his presence and his reality.
Just like eating turkey makes you sleepy, it's quite possible that a constant diet of manna and quail may cause short term memory loss, because once again we see the Israelites complaining to Moses about him leading them into the middle of nowhere without having life sustaining resources, but this time it's not food but a lack of water that worries them. (By the way, we're still without NBC - see previous blog)
I sense by Moses' reaction to the Israelites that he is getting really weary of being in middle management. The following might be a little more edgy translation of the latter part of Exodus 17:2 where Moses responds to the people. "I'm tired of you complaining to me. Doesn't this scenario seem at all familiar to you people? Do you forget what God did for you last time? Do you realize who your messing with here? You're on the verge of wearing me out, but more importantly you're wearing God out too."
Well, as we have seen before, Moses takes the people's complaint up the stairs to the big guy who has the big office overseeing the entire plant. He's done this before and "The Boss" has been pretty understanding but Moses has become in fear of his life this time. "I'm not sure I wanna do this anymore, God. They're gonna kill me if we don't get them some water."
Well, God once again in his abundant mercy provides water for the Israelites. But notice what God does here. He tells Moses to take some of the factory foremen (a.k.a. the Elders of Israel) with him. The hope is maybe if they get a first hand glance at how this works they will stop doubting and start trusting. And so they went and Moses, in front of many witnesses, struck the rock with his staff and out of it flowed water to quench a nation's thirst. But again the irony is thick here because Moses names the place "Testing and Quarreling." If that isn't a jab in the ribs of the Israelites, I don't know what is. God again puts an everyday reminder of His provision in front of the Israelites.
Imagine a morning in the typical Israelite household after that. The man of the tent is having his morning breakfast of Arabica Wilderness Blend coffee and freshly picked, fire grilled Manna with scrambled quail eggs. His wife comes up to him and says "Honey, can I borrow the camel? I need to go up to Testing and Quarreling Place to refill the canteens and water barrels." Every time they would mention having to get water they would be reminded of their fragile faith and God's unfailing provision.
Depending on where you and your children are in faith, knowing God provides may be what you need to here right now, but there are deeper layers here. As I have gone through Exodus and refamiliarized myself with these passages, I am blown away by the connections between the Exodus experience and the experience of knowing Jesus Christ. The Exodus experience is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ and who he is. Paul said as much about this passage in I Corinthians 10:4b. "For they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ." (NASB) In John 4:14 Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well "but whoever drinks of the water I will give him shall never thirst; but the water I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." Jesus is our daily bread (Manna), our rock of salvation, our living water. Jesus not only came to Earth, fully man and fully God, lived a perfect life, died and the cross for our sins and was resurrected to give us new life and life eternal. He was there in the beginning. (See Genesis 1 and John 1:1) He was there in the wilderness with the Israelites. He was there with Paul on the road to Damascus. He is here with us in our everyday mundane things like bread and water. The more we can weave this truth into our lives, the lives of our children and all those we come into contact with, the greater and richer our lives will be.
Rob Bell says "Everything Is Spiritual." Peel back the layers of anyone's life, Christian or not, and I believe you will find that to be true. Whether we realize it or not, whether we are comfortable with it or not, Jesus makes himself at home in everything we think, say and do. We choose what kind of host or hostess we are to his presence and his reality.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Oh Manna, What is it? (Exodus 16)
This week we find Moses and the Israelite nation beginning their wanderings in the desert. It has been a month and a half since they miraculously crossed the Red Sea. Now we see the Israelite people once again showing their humanness by seemingly forgetting the good things the Lord had done for them like freeing them from slavery and rescuing them from the Egyptian Army. They complain to Moses about bringing them in the middle of nowhere to starve to death. Perhaps appropriate background music for the Israelites' murmurings would be Paula Abdul's hit "What Have You Done for Me Lately."
Isn't it amazing what happens to us when little things seem to suddenly be at a loss? I have no room to criticize the Israelites. Last night after coming home from a long and busy day, I had but one thing on my mind, FOOTBALL! I had been looking forward to coming home, helping Amy put the kids to bed, popping a bowl of popcorn and spending the last three hours of my day watching the first NFL game of the year. Much to my dismay, I discovered that the company that owns the local NBC affiliate had blacked out their channel on Dish Network over a contract dispute. My attitude became that of a baby crying for milk. Thus, I settled for reruns of the Mentalist which I fell asleep watching. (This is probably what would've happened if I tried to stay up and watch the football game, but the inconvenience was annoying none the less.) My issue seems petty compared to the plight of the nation of Israel being in the middle of the wilderness without any food, but I would think that experiencing what they did at the Red Sea would've changed their perspective of God's provision to some degree.
Perhaps, it's just part of human nature to have a short term memory when it comes to faith which makes the miracle of the Manna all the more apropos for the situation the Israelites found themselves in. It's important to note the details that go with God providing the manna and the quail. The people could not store it for use later. If they did, it would go bad. Of course, some people tried and had to deal with the rotten mess and the stinky smell of bad manna. (No such thing as Febreeze back then) The only day that they could collect more than a days worth was the day before the Sabbath when they could collect two days worth and prepare it for the next day. Still some people didn't get it. They walked out of their tent on the sabbath day hoping to have breakfast only to say "Oh manna, where's the manna?" but as the Lord had told them would happen, there was none to be found.
God had revealed himself to the Israelites in powerful ways but they got a little hungry and they thought He'd abandoned them to starve in the wilderness. It's as if God says "What is it? You still you don't get it. You still don't trust me to get you through whatever your facing. How about I give you a daily reminder of how much you need to depend on me." Every day for 40 years in the wilderness the people did not forget God's provision because every morning it would reappear when they would get up and walk out of their tents. And they called it "Manna" or "What is it" because that was what they said when they picked it and that's what they said when they ate it. So that is what it became,"What is it." This to me is very funny. It's like a bad Abbott and Costello sketch.
"Mom, what's for breakfast?"
"What is it"
"What do you mean, what is it?"
"Exactly, what is it. Do you want yours boiled or grilled over the fire?"
The next time you're at a family get together and you can't identify a dish someone has made, some casserole or jello concoction that looks like it's from another planet, just compliment whoever made it by saying "mmm, manna from heaven" when in reality you're just doing the same thing the Israelites did in the wilderness, your asking yourself, "What is it?"
In all seriousness, Maxie Dunnam tells us that Manna had a threefold purpose. It was a token, a test and a truth. (The Communicator's Commentary Series, Vol. 2: Exodus p. 193) It was a token of his love and grace. God could've been angered by their lack of trust, but instead he heard their complaint and he gave them something to eat. It was a test because they had to rely on it daily. God wants our dependence on him to be a hard habit to break, not just something we cry out for when we get ourselves into trouble. So daily, the nation of Israel had to rely on the manna and the quail to be there. It is a truth because it reminds us that our relationship with him can begin "fresh every morning." Each day with God is a new beginning. We are also reminded of Christ's quoting Deuteronomy when He was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. He said "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." We are sustained by God, not by the food in the refrigerator or by our paychecks or by our loved ones. All of these are God's gifts to us.
In this world where so many want to make self reliance the ultimate goal, we must remind our children that this is foolish thinking. Whoever has the most toys may think he wins, but whoever has the most toys still dies and the toys don't go with him. Yes, our children need to discover their abilities and develop them and get the best education they possibly can and experience life's opportunities, but to what end? To make a living to sustain themselves and their families (and us when we go to the nursing home) or to make a difference in the life of others for the sake of Christ? "What is it?" It's the bread of life. It's Jesus himself. The creator of the universe. Let's point to him as the one we rely on to sustain us.
Isn't it amazing what happens to us when little things seem to suddenly be at a loss? I have no room to criticize the Israelites. Last night after coming home from a long and busy day, I had but one thing on my mind, FOOTBALL! I had been looking forward to coming home, helping Amy put the kids to bed, popping a bowl of popcorn and spending the last three hours of my day watching the first NFL game of the year. Much to my dismay, I discovered that the company that owns the local NBC affiliate had blacked out their channel on Dish Network over a contract dispute. My attitude became that of a baby crying for milk. Thus, I settled for reruns of the Mentalist which I fell asleep watching. (This is probably what would've happened if I tried to stay up and watch the football game, but the inconvenience was annoying none the less.) My issue seems petty compared to the plight of the nation of Israel being in the middle of the wilderness without any food, but I would think that experiencing what they did at the Red Sea would've changed their perspective of God's provision to some degree.
Perhaps, it's just part of human nature to have a short term memory when it comes to faith which makes the miracle of the Manna all the more apropos for the situation the Israelites found themselves in. It's important to note the details that go with God providing the manna and the quail. The people could not store it for use later. If they did, it would go bad. Of course, some people tried and had to deal with the rotten mess and the stinky smell of bad manna. (No such thing as Febreeze back then) The only day that they could collect more than a days worth was the day before the Sabbath when they could collect two days worth and prepare it for the next day. Still some people didn't get it. They walked out of their tent on the sabbath day hoping to have breakfast only to say "Oh manna, where's the manna?" but as the Lord had told them would happen, there was none to be found.
God had revealed himself to the Israelites in powerful ways but they got a little hungry and they thought He'd abandoned them to starve in the wilderness. It's as if God says "What is it? You still you don't get it. You still don't trust me to get you through whatever your facing. How about I give you a daily reminder of how much you need to depend on me." Every day for 40 years in the wilderness the people did not forget God's provision because every morning it would reappear when they would get up and walk out of their tents. And they called it "Manna" or "What is it" because that was what they said when they picked it and that's what they said when they ate it. So that is what it became,"What is it." This to me is very funny. It's like a bad Abbott and Costello sketch.
"Mom, what's for breakfast?"
"What is it"
"What do you mean, what is it?"
"Exactly, what is it. Do you want yours boiled or grilled over the fire?"
The next time you're at a family get together and you can't identify a dish someone has made, some casserole or jello concoction that looks like it's from another planet, just compliment whoever made it by saying "mmm, manna from heaven" when in reality you're just doing the same thing the Israelites did in the wilderness, your asking yourself, "What is it?"
In all seriousness, Maxie Dunnam tells us that Manna had a threefold purpose. It was a token, a test and a truth. (The Communicator's Commentary Series, Vol. 2: Exodus p. 193) It was a token of his love and grace. God could've been angered by their lack of trust, but instead he heard their complaint and he gave them something to eat. It was a test because they had to rely on it daily. God wants our dependence on him to be a hard habit to break, not just something we cry out for when we get ourselves into trouble. So daily, the nation of Israel had to rely on the manna and the quail to be there. It is a truth because it reminds us that our relationship with him can begin "fresh every morning." Each day with God is a new beginning. We are also reminded of Christ's quoting Deuteronomy when He was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. He said "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." We are sustained by God, not by the food in the refrigerator or by our paychecks or by our loved ones. All of these are God's gifts to us.
In this world where so many want to make self reliance the ultimate goal, we must remind our children that this is foolish thinking. Whoever has the most toys may think he wins, but whoever has the most toys still dies and the toys don't go with him. Yes, our children need to discover their abilities and develop them and get the best education they possibly can and experience life's opportunities, but to what end? To make a living to sustain themselves and their families (and us when we go to the nursing home) or to make a difference in the life of others for the sake of Christ? "What is it?" It's the bread of life. It's Jesus himself. The creator of the universe. Let's point to him as the one we rely on to sustain us.
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