Chronological Bible Reading

God Bless You!

2012-02-28T00:01:00.013-06:00

The Lord commands Moses to communicate a three-fold blessing to His people.

“The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-25).

The blessing is directed to the entire congregation, rather than to any individual. It consists of three parts. The first phrase of each blessing announces God’s good intentions toward His people; and the second clause declares the benefit each blessing.

“The LORD bless and keep you.” - Bless (material wealth) and keep (protection from all that could oppose fullness of life). The Lord’s disposition toward His people is one of love, benevolence, and generosity. He is obligating Himself to the good welfare of His people.

“The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.” - Make His face to shine (indicative of pleasure) and be gracious (unmerited favor). The Lord’s temperament toward His people is one of joy and pleasure. Israel has God’s full and undivided attention. He moves toward them to show them unmerited favor.

“The LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace.” Lift up his face (an act of intimacy and affection) and give you peace. His love promises to overcome any hostility (cf. Lev. 26:40) His people may present to Him.

God’s name upon Israel was their honor, their comfort, their safety, their identity, and the assurance of God’s covenantal relationship with them. He is not ashamed to be called their God.

Who God is for Israel is who He is for His church. Benevolent. Protective. Intimate. Like Israel, the church is blessed by God and blessed for God.

He is good. He only does good.

Selah’s song communicates the precious truth of God’s love for His people:

“O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hzYKovRsJ8

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"Then the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'If a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), and if feelings of jealousy overcome her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure—then he . . . " (Numbers 5:11-15a)

Can you imagine being at the mercy of a husband's jealousy and suspicion when you've not committed adultery—especially when your life is on the line, since the punishment for adultery is death? How do you prove that you are innocent?

In order to prevent women from being killed or punished because of jealousy or suspicion, without any proof of adultery, the Lord provided a way to test a woman's veracity. Imagine with me how nasty the tabernacle floor must have been as general dust mixed with the blood droppings from the various sacrifices. Add holy water to this and require the woman drink it. One of two things will happen: nothing or her abdomen will swell and her thigh waste away. Researchers conclude that guilty people produce stress enzymes which will interact with the concoction and will sicken the guilty person. Those who are innocent won't produce those enzymes and will therefore remain unaffected by the drink.

So, what does this mean for men? It means that men motivated by feelings of jealousy must be careful before they make any unmerited accusations. And what does this mean for women? Innocent women don't have to worry about being falsely accused and then punished. They can drink the concoction without fear. Guilty women, however, need to be very afraid!

This regulation protects women from baseless accusations. And this regulation teaches man that he must guard against acting on feelings alone; he must be very careful before he accuses his wife of adultery. Any accusations made must be made based upon facts/evidence. So this regulation is both weird and wonderful.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:

Numbers 4:34-6:27

What does the numbering teach about individuals?

Why does the Lord require that those with infectious diseases be quarantined outside of the camp?

What does adding the one-fifth to the restitution teach about sin?

What purpose does the Nazarite vow serve?

Why does the Lord require those taking the Nazarite vow to do certain outward things?

What does this blessing teach Israel about God? About the Levites/priests?(Numbers 6:24-26)

Turning truth into prayer:

Ask the Lord to make you more aware of when you accuse or judge someone falsely based upon feelings alone and to help you live a life free of suspicion toward others.

Organized Ministry

2012-02-27T00:01:00.020-06:00

Changing locations would require the help of every Levite in breaking down the Tent of Meeting and then reassembling it at a new site.

The Lord dedicates Aaron and his descendants from all of the other Levites to minster as priests before Him in the sanctuary and to care for the most holy things. They were given the responsibility of packing up the holy furnishings and articles used for ministering in the sanctuary. No one but Aaron and his descendants were to view the holy things. They were to camp on the east side of the tabernacle in front of the Tent of Meeting.

All of the remaining Levites were organized by clan and assigned tasks to make moving the Tent of Meeting simple and to ensure that God’s holy things were treated with respect.

The Gershonites were to camp on west, behind the tabernacle. They were given the responsibility of carrying the tabernacle and tent, its coverings, and the outer curtains.

The Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. They were given the responsibility for the carrying the contents of the sanctuary: the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used in ministering, and the inner curtain.

The Merarites were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. They were given the responsibility of maintaining the infrastructure of the Tent of Meeting and carrying these pieces when they moved locations.

These instructions reveal a number of truths about the ministry.

No one person can do it all. Specific tasks are assigned to all of the Levites by clans.

Confusion occurs when jobs descriptions are unclear. Each man from each clan knew what they were and were not responsible for; they were not responsible for the tasks assigned to the other clans.

Disorganization disrupts forward-movement. Feelings are ruffled, tempers flare when well-meaning people fall all over each other to get the job done.

Ministry has little to do with preference but everything to do with calling. Carrying the sanctuary articles may appear more spiritual, but without the assembly of the Tent, does it really matter? The Kohathites had to do only what they were assigned to do.

The wisdom of God is once again manifest in Israel’s midst!

Israel’s learning to move together as an organized community will prepare them to take the land of Canaan in an organized manner.

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"Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death." (Numbers 3:10)

Representing God to man and man to God is a serious vocation. Many people desire the ministry. As my husband says, "Desire alone doesn't qualify for ministry." Paul states, "If any man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work (1 Timothy 3:1).” Paul then gives a list of qualifications. So desire must be coupled with certain qualifications.

The Lord tells Moses, "Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death." I'm sure there were others in the camp who wanted the job, maybe for the glamour or to be close to the action. God's priestly calling, however, precludes self-appointed men or men interested in being a priest without being a Levite. The writer of Hebrews also affirms this: "And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was (Hebrews 5:4).”

The excitement of ministry draws many who don't realize the demands placed upon the home, family, and life. Such persons, driven more by earthly ambition rather than by heavenly passion, usually do more harm than good in the ministry. Though they may be good people with many commendable skills and giftings, that alone doesn't qualify them. They must be God-called.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:

Numbers 3:1-4:33

What were Aaron's descendants given responsibility over?
Why are only Aaron's descendants allowed to see the holy things within the Holy and the Most Holy Place?
What are they to do with the holy things as the camp prepares to move?
What will happen to the Kohathites if they violate God's instructions regarding the holy things?
To whom does God make responsible for the holy things?
What does this tell you about God?

Turning truth into prayer:

Pray for your church staff. Pray that the call of God would weigh heavy upon them and that they would depend upon God instead of their own gifts and ingenuity to fulfill His charge through them.

Mass Communication

2012-02-26T00:01:00.010-06:00

God is the great Organizer. Creation reveals His organizational skills as He formed the heavens and the earth and then filled them with life. Throughout the process He created systems (solar system, ecological system, reproduction systems, biological systems) which He has sustained for thousands of years.

The Lord gave Israel a number of systems during their first year while they camped at Mount Sinai: the sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood system, sanitation system, dietary system, judicial system, social system, moral system, and Israel’s entire cultural ethos. New systems for a new people.

Moving 2.5 million people through the desert requires another system. The Lord gives a system for that as well.

The Lord begins with a census, “Take a census of the whole community by their clans and their families, listing every man by name, one by one” (Numbers 1:2). He instructs Moses to designate one man from each tribe to assist him in numbering the whole community by their clans and families. The Lord has Moses create a banner for each tribe and positions each tribe in at a specific place around the perimeter of Tent of Meeting.

In Numbers 10 the Lord introduces an announcement system of trumpets. When two trumpets sound, the whole community is to assemble before Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. At the sound of one trumpet the community prepares to move and at the sound of the second trumpet the tribes camping on the east are to set out. His subsequent instructions give other signals designed to communicate different instructions to the entire community. He organizes His people as an army ready to march forward from Egypt to the Promised Land, using His systems for discipline and direction.

Every system God gives shows His people His direction, reveals His care, and protects them from the chaos of the nation around them. His simple system of summoning and grouping His people works effectively for forty years as the community moves nearly fifty times in the wilderness.

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"Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to number by their divisions all the men in Israel twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army . . ." "You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. Instead appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the testimony. . .." (Numbers 1:3,49,50)

Soldiers or Priests. Which of the two is more exciting, boring, safe, dangerous, noble, etc.?
God calls both, and both are needed. Each job has both benefits and drawbacks:

Soldiers risk their lives on the frontlines, while priests stay back and intercede on their behalf.
Soldiers share war stories about exploits, both wins and defeats, while priests stand in the gap in the background. (Joshua led the army and fought the Amalekites, while Aaron and Moses remained in the background interceding on their behalf (Exodus 17:9ff).
Both soldiers and priests know God's power and presence, but they experience that power in different ways.

In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul makes clear that the differing gifts divided in the body are given by the Holy Spirit as He wills. In the same way that the Lord called some as soldiers and some as priests, so He now selects some for public ministry and some for private ministry. To some He gives speaking gifts, and to others He gives serving gifts (1 Peter 4:11). Every gift and every calling brings with it both opportunities and limitations. When we are called to one thing, we cannot do another. Envying the job given to another communicates a lack of trust in God and a lack of contentment in His gifting.

Great joy comes when God's people discover their gifting and walk in their calling. In the Olympics, runners run in assigned lanes. Crossing lanes brings disaster and disqualification. In the same way, pushing to be what one is not, envying gifts one does not have, or seeking positions for which one is not equipped is “lane-crossing” that brings disaster and may even bring disqualification.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:

Numbers 1:1-2:34

What does this assignment do for each tribal leader?
What do these instructions tell you about God and His relationship with His people? What does it tell you about their relationship with one another?
Why are the Levites excluded from the census?
Why were the Levites to remain encamped closest to the tabernacle?
How were each of the tribes or clans indentified as they camped around the tent of meeting?
What was the significance to the tent of meeting's position in regards to the twelve tribes?

Turning truth into prayer:

Thank the Lord for the gifts He has given you and for the calling upon your life.

Hostile Environment

2012-02-25T00:01:00.024-06:00

The Creation Era chronicles man’s choice to follow his senses instead of adhering to God’s Word:

Adam and Eve choose tasty fruit over walking with God. God comes after the rebellious pair. He covers their nakedness and promises to redeem them.

The entire world, save Noah and his family, prefer to live according to their fleshly appetites, marry as they please, and live corrupt lives. They refuse to respond to 100 years of Noah’s sermons of coming judgment and perish in the flood.

The Patriarchal Era captures the lives of four men as they struggle to live by faith in a world blind to its Creator.

God conforms an idolater into a prophet and a man of faith (Abraham).

He provides a wife for a bachelor and gives him twin sons (Isaac).

He wrestles with a schemer and bends his will to His (Jacob).

He sends a savior ahead into Egypt to sustain His budding nation during a world-wide famine (Joseph).

The Exodus Era details the LORD’s rescue of a stubborn people from slavery and their journey into the wilderness where He meets their every need. He gives them good laws, gracious provision, His glorious presence, and mighty protection as He guides them from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Such a rich heritage with a God who is good, patient, and merciful. And they are hostile toward God?

God makes to this rebellious people a scandalous promise, “I will put my dwelling place among you,and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people” (Leviticus 26:11). His manifest presence is contingent upon their obedience to Him.

The Lord warns Israel that their continued disobedience and hostility toward Him will provoke Him to respond to them with hostility, “If in spite of these things [sudden terror, wasting diseases, poor harvests due to drought and famine] you do not accept my correction but will continue to be hostile toward me, I myself will be hostile toward you” (Leviticus 26:23-24a).

The blessings that He promises in Leviticus 26:1-13 communicate His desire to lavish good upon His people. God, by His very nature, isn’t hostile; He is so pure, however, that He cannot tolerate rebellion in His presence. He simply responds to the continued hostility of His people.

Solomon comments on the hostility of man toward God, “The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the Lord” (Proverbs 19:3, NJKV). Rebellion causes people to brood and become hostile toward God instead of coming clean before the Lord. God’s people must guard against a heart of foolish rebellion.

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"If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit." "But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you . . .." (Leviticus 26:3-4,14-16a)

Congratulations! You've made it through the book of Leviticus. Leviticus reveals the holiness of God. And, because humanity is self-destructive, it reveals the need for boundaries and regulations. It is simple, really.

“If you follow My decrees, I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. But if you will not listen to Me, I will bring upon you sudden terror.” God clearly describes the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience.

The temptation to see these regulations merely as a legalistic set of rules misses the point entirely. Leviticus makes believers aware of the awesome holiness of God and the high cost of sin. The writer of Hebrews says that every transgression receives a just penalty (Hebrews 2:2). Because of this just penalty, honest believers see from Leviticus that they would soon go broke buying rams, lambs, and doves to make atonement for sin.

The great blessing of the Gospel is that acceptance before God is not based upon the continual offering of my sacrifices or my continual attempts at perfect obedience. Rather, it is based entirely upon the finished work of Christ (the once-for-all payment for sin). His righteousness grants me standing before a Holy God and frees me from slavish obedience to the minutia of rule-keeping. In Christ, I enjoy the blessings; apart from Him, the curse would rest on my head (John 3:36).

While believers may not experience the ultimate of separation from God, those who walk contrary to Christ's clear leading will experience the fruit of disobedience in this life. Those who abide with Him enjoy the blessing of His presence, His peace, and His power on their lives.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:

Leviticus 26:1-27:34

What does God promise to those who obey Him?
What does He promise to those who will not listen and obey God?
What makes a man/woman hostile toward God?
How are those who are disobedient described?
Why does God not allow the firstborn of animal be offered to the Lord?
What does it cost a man to redeem items dedicated to the Lord?

Turning truth into prayer:

Thank the Lord that the curse of sin and its just penalty are borne by Christ so that I may experience His blessing.

Object Lessons

2012-02-24T00:01:00.011-06:00

The stories of the Bible abound with object lessons designed to teach God’s people enduring truths (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:6)The Book of Leviticus contains two object lessons that reverberate throughout the entire community.

The first object lesson is recorded in Leviticus 10 when Aaron’s sons offer profane fire to the Lord, and fire from the Lord consumes them. What a warning to every priest in every generation!

The second object lesson occurs in Leviticus 24 when a son of a mixed-marriage couple (an Egyptian father and Israelite mother) quarrels with another Israelite and curses the God of Israel. Those who hear his blasphemy bring him to Moses for sentencing. Moses seeks the mind of the Lord. The Lord responds by sentencing the son to death by stoning. The entire congregation, plus the strangers in Israel’s midst, stone the blasphemer to death. Sounds pretty harsh at first blush, but blaspheming the Name of God is a serious action against God and against others!

This scene reveals a number of truths:

The Laws given to Israel must be obeyed by everyone, including the strangers in Israel’s midst.
The Name of the Lord is holy. He is good and only does good; therefore, those who curse Him deny His goodness and seek to diminish His glory before others.
God deals with sin harshly because what one “gets away with” affects negatively everyone in covenant community. Left unaddressed, this man’s blasphemy would affect his peers and eventually others would mimic his behavior (Eccles. 8:11).
Those who enjoy the covenant blessings of God must honor His Name.

People think they can “get away” with negative behavior that appears to have no real or immediate punishment. God grants such object lessons to demonstrate that all sin is serious and worthy of death, and through these object lessons He warns those who are tempted to tread the same path.

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"In this year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property." (Leviticus 25:13)

Perhaps one of the most memorable scenes in cinema occurs when William Wallace of Braveheart is stretched out to die. His final word is the cry, "Freedom!" The desire for freedom resides in the heart of every person, but the reality of that freedom is elusive. Culture, government, obligations, and sin—especially sin—enslave hearts, minds, and bodies. Freedom remains an unrealized hope.

The children of Israel were commanded to set aside the fiftieth year, the year of Jubilee, as a year of freedom. Inheritance lands that had been sold to pay debts returned to rightful families. Houses that had been taken or foreclosed returned to their original owners. Those who had been enslaved to pay off debts were set free.

This freedom came at a costly sacrifice. In order to obey God, those who had taken the lands had to release them. Those who had received slaves had to watch them go free. It was a faith commitment. The year of Jubilee also meant that landowners did not work their lands; farmers did not work their fields; and vinedressers left their vines untended (25:11). It requires faith to believe that God will really provide, not just for one year, but for three years. Faith took seriously God's promise that the land would produce enough for three years (v. 21).

Most of all, the year of Jubilee meant freedom. Imagine the joy of the father who has been enslaved in order to pay a debt as he returns to his wife and children. Imagine the parents as they welcome the boy who had grown to manhood paying off a debt. Freedom!

Sadly, the Scripture never records the children of Israel actually celebrating a Jubilee year. In fact, the Babylonian captivity was a 70-year rest for the land to enjoy its Sabbaths, of which the children of Israel had robbed it (2 Chronicles 36:21). Because they did not believe God's promises, they did not obey His commands. Unbelief drives disobedience.

Though God has never demonstrated anything but goodness toward His people, Christian history reveals an incredible mistrust in the promises and character of God. While not a New Testament promise, the heart of the year of Jubilee—freedom—can be a reality for the New Testament believer. Paul says "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty."The Bible says that it is for freedom that you've been set free. Genuine liberty today comes not from politicians or political parties, but by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Real freedom is appropriated by faith and is available to every child of God. For the Christian, every year can be a year of Jubilee as he/she sets others free by practicing forgiveness.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:

Leviticus 24:1-25:55

Read John 6:35, 48, 51; 8:12, 9:5. What does Jesus' declaration tell you about who He is for us before God?
Leviticus 24:10-23 contains the second narrative portion in Leviticus. What does this story tell you about God? About His people and standards?
What does obeying the regulations regarding the land Sabbath require of/from the children of Israel?
What does God promise to do for those who obey the land Sabbath/the year of Jubilee regulations?
How does the Lord regard the land and the people's relationship with the land?
What does the year of Jubilee do for the people or allow the people to do?
Why is it important to God that the children of Israel aren't enslaved?

Turning truth into prayer:

Ask the Lord to show you where you are not walking in liberty, where you're held captive in your personal life, or where you are holding others captive by not offering forgiveness.

What’s On Your Calendar?

2012-02-23T00:01:00.012-06:00

Celebrating birthdays reminds each person of their entry into family. Annual events such as Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving remind families of past events that impact their present well-being and connect families to the greater community of celebrants.

The Lord requires Israel to set aside days on their annual calendar to commemorate His relationship with them as individuals, families, and community. These annual events are intended to remind them of His activity on their behalf in the past and to establish their personal and communal identity.

The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:4), celebrated weekly, was to be a day of blessing, of rest, to remind Israel of creation, God’s goodness, provision, and their redemption from Egyptian slavery (verse 43).

Certain feasts or celebrations were to be held at a specific location in Canaan and attended by all the males in Israel. (Jerusalem became that central location during the Kingdom Era):

The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:5-14). This celebration begins on the first month of the year with the Passover and a sacred assembly where no work is to be done or unleavened bread eaten and followed by another seven days where no unleavened bread is to be eaten. These feasts commemorate Israel’s departure from Egypt.

The Feast of Harvest/Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-22). Seven weeks after the Passover begins the season of harvest where people present the first fruits of the harvest to the Lord along with a sacrifice. This feast acknowledges God’s provision.

The Day of Atonement and The Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles (Leviticus 26-32). On the tenth day of the seventh month of the year Israel must hold a sacred assembly for the annual atonement of sin, the Day of Atonement. Five days later begins the Feast of Tabernacles which lasts for a week. The people are to build temporary “booths” and live in them for that week to commemorate the wilderness wonderings and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Why does the Lord instruct Israel to establish these feasts/celebrations as annual events on their calendar?

People are prone to forget the past.

Celebrations give parents opportunities to teach their children about the Lord and their heritage.

Celebrations bind the hearts of individuals to the greater community and build national identity.

Celebrations acknowledge God’s goodness and provision and man’s gratitude to God.

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"The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies." (Leviticus 23:1-2)

Today's reading deals with regulations for the food of the priests and the order of feasts for the people. The feasts detail times of celebration for God's people, because God loves celebrations of His goodness. As the feasts are considered, one detail becomes obvious. God's directions for His people and their feasts demand faith.

In 23:9-10, "The LORD said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them, "When you enter the land I am going to give you and reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest".'" Do you hear the faith involved in these words? The God of heaven plans for His people 1) to enter the Land, and 2) to reap the harvest. The idea is never "if," but "when".

Sadly, the generation who heard these words did not enter the Land and did not reap the harvest. Their spies walked its valleys, saw its cities, and even brought out its fruit; yet because they did not believe God, they did not enter into the Land. Faith is always the key.

The real question with God is never "if"; when He speaks, His word is sure and His promises are true. His promises and plans are stated as if they've already come to pass; they simply await the appropriation of His people. When His children embrace His promises, confess them as so, and act as if what God has said is more true than their circumstances indicate, then He moves Heaven and Earth to keep His promises and show His power. He never doubted that they would have the land--He had created and prepared it for them. All His promises were offered--and accepted--in faith.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Leviticus 22:1-23:44

Why does God require the same thing from the priests that He requires from the people?
What does the wave offering represent?
Why are annual celebrations so important to God? Important to the people?

Turning truth into prayer:
Praise to God reminds us that all that we have comes from Him. Praise is reflective and anticipatory. Thank Him for specific provisions He has made for you in the past and for His gracious provision in the future.

God and Community

2012-02-22T00:01:00.012-06:00

Who am I? What thinking person has not asked that question?

You are who you are based on your relationship with others. Your family, birth order, gender, ethnic group, etc., all form your identity. You are whose you are. Relationships shape personal identity. The people group with whom we lived in Africa, the AmaNdebele, say, “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.” This statement means that a person is a person because of the people.

“I am the LORD,” “ I am the LORD your God,” declares the Lord more than fifteen times as He instructs His people on how to live in community with one another (Leviticus 19). Their identity with one another--as wives, mothers, fathers, husbands, employers, employees, poor, rich, etc.--all depends on their relationship with the LORD. That relationship is the core of Israel’s identity personally and communally.

Only after Adam and Eve eat from the forbidden tree do they separate themselves from each other, fear exposure, and cover themselves with leaves. Sin affects their relationship with God and with one another; it changes community.

Sin enslaves the heart to “self” so that in every relationship man faces, he asks, “How does this relationship build me up? Satisfy me? Affirm me? Hurt me? Diminish me? Define me?” The epicenter of all sin-based relationships is “me.” Self-focused people break down community while God-focused people build community.

These instructions reveal a number of truths about community, including:

Self-focused people abuse relationships and break down community.

God-focused people honor relationships and build community.

Self-focused people act out of bitterness and revenge.

God-focused people respond in love and righteousness.

It is no wonder, then, that when Jesus identified the two great commandments, He drew from this passage in Leviticus to declare, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).

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"Do not practice divination or sorcery. Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:26,31; 20:6)

Tucked away in these regulations are a series of commands that may seem strange to modern secular Americans. These verses deal with consulting mediums, seeking guidance from the dead, following divination, or being involved in sorcery. They seem strange to us because our secular way of life discounts any supernatural activity, but to much of our world today, as to Israel of old, the spiritual world is a real and frightening place.

Africans, Asians, and many S. Americans live in a world where the ancestors speak and quide their lives. Divination - using mechanical means to discern direction, such as read tea leaves, palms or casting bones guides them through the maze of day to day life. Mediums and spiritists are humans who employ familiar spirits to get in touch with the dead and offer direction for the living.

Fascination with mediums is growing as people conduct seances and call psychic hotlines. What is wrong with these practices? The real danger behind these practices is not, as the secularists might think, that they don't work; the real danger is that they do. In many cases many do get in touch with the spirit world. The Bible is clear that two things happen in this involvement:

They will not hear from the true God.
They actually communicate with demons.

Thus they get false counsel from the one Jesus called "the father of lies."

These verses warn us that the choice is clear. Opening ourselves to the spirit world defiles us (19:31) and causes us to prostitute ourselves to false gods (20:6). We receive counsel then from the father of lies who has come to kill, steal, and destroy. On the other hand if we choose to listen to the true God and His Word His counsel always leads to life and peace.

The wisest choice for the child of God is to flee from encounters with the spirit world and to learn to live in the Word and receive God's counsel.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Leviticus 19:1-21:24

How does holiness manifest itself in someone's life?
What do these regulations teach you about man? About God?
What does keeping God's commandments communicate about God to other nations?
What are some ways that people in the U.S. flirt with or outright engage evil spirits?
How does God differentiate between the priests and the other men of Israel?
What does this differentiation tell you about God?

Turning truth into prayer
Ask the Lord to show you where you are opening yourself up to the spirit world.

The In-between People of God

2012-02-21T00:01:00.011-06:00

“You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices” (Leviticus 18:3). Moses spends the following twenty verses unpacking “their practices” by addressing sexual relationships. He completes his message with an explanation, “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled” (Lev. 18:23).

Israel is like the creamy filling in the middle of a cookie, with Egypt in her past and Canaan in her future. Moses warns her not to follow the ways of either people. Then he commences to explain what he means by talking about the defilement of both people. Eighteen sexual prohibitions in one single chapter! Sexual sin defiles people personally and communally.

What do these prohibitions reveal about sexual sin, community, and defilement?

Since the Fall men struggle with self-control in the area of sexual appetite.

Men lacking in self-control will abuse even the relationships most near to them.

Men will struggle to view women as complementary and covenant partners.

Men completely given over to their sexual appetites slake that appetite in the most dishonoring and unnatural ways.

What a man does personally always affects the community; therefore, one man’s sexual sin always impacts the lives of others (other men’s wives, daughters, nieces, granddaughters, as well as other women’s sisters, daughters, nieces, mothers, etc.).

Since the Fall women struggle with identity in the area of sexuality.

Women want to be wanted and valued. They often use sexual attraction to dull the separation from God that sin has caused.

Victims of sexual abuse may experience the love of Christ and the wholeness He brings into the relationship.

Sexual sin and sexual abuse defiles women. Women are more than objects to be desired sexually.

These prohibitions teach both men and women the value of covenant and the value of sex within marriage. God isn’t against sex. He is against any sex that hurts others―and sex outside of the bounds of His plan always hurts others.

Christ-followers in every generation are in-between people. We live in a fallen world where relationships are based on consumerism (where people are used like products to make us feel better and lessen our pain of separation from God) instead of covenant (where both lay down their lives for the good of the other). Such “in-between” people build covenantal communities to create safe places in which everyone may thrive.

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"He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites--all their sins--and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert." (Leviticus 16:21-22)

Leviticus highlights three celebratory days for the people of God:

Passover
Feast of Tabernacles
Day of Atonement

Of these three the Day of Atonement is by far the most significant. Passover remembers deliverance from Egypt, the Feast of Tabernacles remembers the traveling in the wilderness, and the Day of Atonement addresses sin. On every other day of the year the high priest dons the ephod and the breastplate, enters into the Holy Place, and performs the sacrifices associated with his calling.

On this day, however, he puts on only the simple white tunic, takes a bull, incense, and two goats. On this day alone he enters into the Holy of Holies twice. The first time he enters he enters with the blood of a bull for his own sin. The second time he enters with the blood of one of the goats for the sins of the people. This blood of this goat he sprinkles on the mercy seat, where Holy God promises to meet with sinful man.

What does the blood say? The blood testifies to the death of the guilty for the broken law. Beneath the mercy seat rests the Law which has been broken by humanity. The blood on the mercy seat says that the price for sin--death--has been fully met. Sin is atoned by blood as Israel identifies with the goat and the goat becomes Israel's substitute. The day is not over. The priest now confesses the sins of the people over the live goat and sends it away signifying that the sin has been removed from the sinner and borne away.

The Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur pictures the wonderful promise of full redemption. While the blood of bulls or goats could never take away sin, the Father, in mercy, provided atonement through the spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ.

In His death He becomes our substitute, bearing our sin.
In His burial He becomes our scapegoat to take away our sin.
In His resurrection He becomes our victor, granting not only forgiveness but life.

And whereas the high priest had to enter every year on behalf of the people the Lord Jesus entered once for all so that He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25).

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Leviticus 16:1-18:30

Read Hebrews 4:16; 10:22 and describe the believers entry into the Holies of Holies.
Why does the Lord makes such a big deal about eating meat with the blood?
What does sexual sin do to the children of Israel?
Why does God gives instructions about sexual sin after He gives the regulations regarding the Day of Atonement?

Turning truth into prayer
Thank the Lord that Christians have boldness to enter into the very presence of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Defilement

2012-02-20T00:01:00.016-06:00

Rules help people feel safe in a community where they thrive personally, communally and spiritually. Peoples’ bodies often host infectious diseases. The world itself hosts infections such as fungus or mildew. Such is life outside of the garden of Eden.

Holy God desires to dwell among people who live outside of the garden of Eden and He has made a way to do so. He positioned His Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, in Israel's midst. The Tent and all of its furnishings are sanctified by the shedding of blood. The High Priest enters the Most Holy Place once a year, on the Day of Atonement and sprinkles blood on the mercy seat, the place where God dwells.

The Tent is a separate place, a clean place and must be protected from defilement, “You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so that they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place which is among them” (Leviticus 15:31, emphasis added). Uncleanness, left undiagnosed and un-contained, would soon contaminate the Tent of Meeting. Can’t have that if His presence is to remain in the midst of His people!

The Psalmist warns of sin contaminating the heart, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). Believers must be just as diligent as the Israelites in protecting themselves from defilement. Not for prides’ sake in personal cleanness, but for Jesus’ sake and the enjoyment of the sense of His presence.

The Apostle Paul quotes three Old Testament texts and applies them to Christ-followers,

“I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18)

Paul utilizes these promises to urge believers to live clean lives, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). The believer is God's dwelling place on earth; therefore, defilement prevents the manifestation of His presence in and through the believer's life.

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"These are the regulations concerning contamination by mildew in woolen or linen clothing, woven or knitted material, or any leather article, for pronouncing them clean or unclean." (Leviticus 13:59)

As I continue reading the handbook of regulations given to the children of Israel out in the wilderness I am amazed at God's minute concern for the public health of His children. I think of the times that I made my kids brush their teeth when they were little. I knew things about dental hygiene that they did not. Though brushing their teeth interfered with their childish priorities I knew that they would benefit later as adults from having developed good oral hygiene habits. I "had their back" or their best interests at heart, as does God.

In His infinite wisdom God sees and knows things about life that He doesn't explain; He simply instructs. The incredible detail about mildew/fungus may seem to you--and may have seem to the Israelites--"much ado about nothing." For the God who loves us this painstaking detail is one more way that He can show His protective care for His chosen people.

God's regulation's regarding mildew and bodily discharges confirm God's great love and care for His people. Just as uncaring parents neglect teaching their children good oral hygiene, so too, would God demonstrate His lack of care by His lack of governing regulations. Thankfully, the Lord has our back, so therefore, He has instructions, rules, and regulations.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible storying
Leviticus 13:47-15:33

Why does God command the priest's involvement in the inspection process?
What does it cost the people to deal with issues of mildew or fungus?
What is the primary reason that God prohibits uncleanness or defilement among His people?

Turning truth into prayer:
Ask the Lord to reveal instructions that He has given which you ignore because they simply don't make sense to you. Confess your mistrust as sin. Thank Him for "having your back."

Weird Instructions or Manifest Wisdom?

2012-02-19T00:01:00.022-06:00

Kids ask a lot of “Why?” questions. In Leviticus God gives a lot of instructions that naturally lead to asking “Why?” questions. Like:

Why is is permissible to eat only animals with divided hooves and that chew the cud?

Why must only sea creatures with fins and scales be eaten?

Why are certain birds approved for eating while others are not?

Why are certain insects on the approved eating list while others are left off?

Why is a woman unclean for eighty days when she has a girl child and only forty days when she has a boy child?

Why must a person be quarantined for seven days if he has a boil or skin infections?

God gives such instructions to Israel for a number of reasons:

God is wiser than man. God is all-knowing and man is limited to what he has experienced and what has been passed down to him from previous generations. Will His people acknowledge their limitations?

To teach His people to trust Him. God is good and only does good. Will His people trust Him with what He doesn’t explain?

To develop a culture of cleanness. Will His people live selfishly or lay down their lives for the good of the community?

To create a teaching/learning environment for parents/children. Will His people use the parameters that God establishes for them to teach their children about God, sin, separation, and covenant identity?

To distinguish His people from the peoples around them. Will His people allow God to leave His fingerprints all over their lives so that peoples around them may yearn to have such a God as their own?

To establish a culture of God-awareness. Will His people allow the rules that He gives to remind them that they are not their own, that they’ve been bought with a price?

Rules build a culture where people feel safe and thrive personally and communally.

Why do we do what we do? Because of whose we are. Because God is good. He only does good, therefore, any instruction given by Him is ultimately for my good and for the good of the community in which I live.

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"These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves in the water and every creature that moves about on the ground. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten." (Leviticus 11:46-47)

Leviticus teaches us just how much faith is the foundation of our walk with God. Long before scientist were around to discover bacteria, germs, and the need for hygiene God made provision for the health of His people. His instructions forbade the eating of certain animals, the touching of dead animals, and even the guarding against impurities found in blood. Because the laws of the people around them did not contain these same prohibitions they must have seemed strange to the Israelites. God required that His people simply trust that He knew what was best. After all this is the heart of faith.

Truths mined from Leviticus 11-13:

A specific list of unclean animals is given to Israel from which they cannot eat reminding the people daily that they were a "people separated unto God".
Touching a dead animal makes a person unclean (except for those being offered in the tabernacle) until he has ceremonially washed and the day has come to a close demonstrating that one must be vigilant in his/her personal life to remain undefiled.
All household articles coming into contact with certain dead animals became unclean and had to be either destroyed or had to be cleansed. This regulation demonstrates that God requires that His people not be defiled like the nations around them.
The passing of so much blood/dead tissue after childbirth made a woman unclean. God's command gave her time to recuperate from the trauma that childbirth inflicts upon the human body. This instruction demonstrates God's care for women.
Contagious skin diseases (symbolic of sin) prohibited the bearer from living among others in the camp. This section on skin diseases demonstrates the separation that defilement requires.

Far from being an uninteresting code book of weird instructions Leviticus is actually years in advance of science. God protects His people from germs, bacteria, and disease through simple laws. God truly fulfills the promise that He made in the desert when He told the children of Israel that "If you obey my laws I will put none of these diseases on you that plague the Egyptians."

So, don't ignore or disobey God when He speaks. He speaks and guides because He KNOWS stuff!

Questions for today's Chronological reading:
Leviticus 11:1-13:46

List the three groups of animals listed in chapter 11.
How do the foods laws help the people to remember whose they are?
What is it about childbirth that makes the mother unclean?
Why is it that God is seemingly so hard on those with certain skin diseases?
What does "spending time outside of the camp" symbolize?
What were those with skin diseases responsible to do when around others?
What does this teach you about sin? The influence of others?

Turning truth into prayer
Ask the Lord to show you where you've allowed unholy habits to enter your life.

The Fire: A Sign For Joy Or A Sign Of Judgment

2012-02-18T00:01:00.021-06:00

"Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to His command. So fire came from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord." (Leviticus 10:1-2)

The fire falls and ignites the sacrifices (9:24). The fire serves as a visible demonstration that God accepts the sacrifices of His people. In fact, the fire falling in the Old Testament serves the very same purpose as the resurrection of Christ in the New Testament. The resurrection is God's demonstration of His acceptance of the Son's sacrifice on behalf of sinners just as the fire demonstrated His acceptance of the Levitical sacrifice.

The sad corollary to this story, however, is the death of Nadab and Abihu. The fire, a sign of God's acceptance, became instead, a source of judgment to those who dishonored God's holiness. Nadab and Abihu act contrary to God's prescribed way and add incense to the fire in their censers. The fire that consumes the sacrifice in the previous chapter now consumes Aaron's sons.

After the resurrection the leaders of the Jews denied an event that they knew had taken place. Their unbelief brought them great judgment from God. Eventually the temple itself was destroyed. In the same way Nadab and Abihu profaned God's holiness and presumed upon their position. Whatever other sins they may have committed (drinking or possibly - v. 9 - or entering the Holy of Holies), the Bible clearly teaches that they died because they did not honor God's holiness.

The great lesson for today is the necessity of insuring that our worship is acceptable to God. Not all worship is acceptable to God. In Leviticus worship was acceptable when God's prescribed sacrifice is offered on the altar by God's mediator. Likewise, Hebrews (the New Testament commentary on Leviticus) tells us that because of the death of Christ we can draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:19-22). The fire that consumed Nadab and Abihu will one day consume all those who refuse to come to God through His Son Jesus Christ.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Leviticus 8:1-10:20

Why do you think God has the entire congregation witness Aaron and his son's inauguration as priests?
What do they do that demonstrates their transfer of sins onto the sacrificial or substitute offering?
What does Moses' placing the blood on their right ear, thumb of their right hand, and big toe of their right foot demonstrate?
Chapter nine covers the formal inauguration of the entire sacrificial system in Israel with Aaron offering his first offering. Before, he made a bull for people to offer sacrifices to but now he offers a bull on the altar to God. What does God promise will happen once the offering is made?
God instituted the sacrificial system (the shedding of the blood of the innocent to cover the sins of the guilty) so that His chosen people might, in spite of their great sinfulness, have access to God. Read Romans 5:1-2. What does God promise regarding access to New Testament believers?
What happens to the sacrifice once Moses and Aaron exit the Tent of Meeting?
What do the people learn about God through this process?
What does the death of Aaron's son teach Israel about God?
10:8-11 is the only time in Leviticus where God actually speaks directly to Aaron. What instruction does God give Aaron?
Read Hosea 4:11; Proverbs 20:1; 23:28-35. What do these verses teach about alcohol?

Turning truth into prayer:
Thank the Lord for the access we have to Him through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Unintentional Sin

2012-02-17T00:01:00.019-06:00

Have you ever realized later that you should have defended someone’s innocence or spoken up in a situation? Have you ever been contaminated by something harmful and not realized it until later? Have you ever made a hasty and thoughtless commitment to do something, get distracted and completely forget until much later? These all fall under the category of “unintentional sins.” Since these are sin, those guilty cannot simply walk away and say with regret, “Oh well.” Confession must be made―“I was in the wrong”― and a sacrifice must be offered.

Allowances are made for these unintentional sins based on the person’s financial ability to offer a sacrifice. The rich and poor people who sin unintentionally make an offering according to their ability: a female lamb for those who are wealthier, a grain offering for the absolute poor. Sin is sin and atonement must be made even for unintentional sins.

The recognition of unintentional sin underscores the depravity of man. We sin without even being aware of it. Sin, like paying taxes, is inescapable in this life. We live in a fallen world where sin leaves its fingerprint on every part of our lives and world. What hope does a person who fears God have?

The Apostle Paul includes unintentional sin in his inclusive statements regarding sin:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:23-26).

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us. . ..” (Ephesians 1:7-8a).

“And you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:13).

These truths regarding the forgiveness of sin, including unintentional sin, free believers from living with disappointment with self and with others. Not every sin is intentional. Sin happens. We are freely forgiven, so we must freely forgive others when they’ve sinned against us, either unintentionally or intentionally. Sometimes others fail to speak out on our behalf, fail to be as “clean” as we think they ought to be, or forget to keep a commitment made to us. God gives grace to us and we give grace to them. True Christlikeness walks in a heart of forgiveness and chooses to “give up the claim of what is owed by a brother” for unintentional sins (see Deut. 15:3).

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"The fire must be burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out." (Leviticus 6:13)

Leviticus 6:8-14 recounts God's command to Moses for the priests to burn an offering on the altar every morning and every evening. The evening fire is built high enough to burn through the night. In the morning the priest dons his priestly garments, cleans off the ashes and from the embers of the still burning fire kindles the morning offering. In this brief passage God commands the priests five times never to let the fire go out. When the priest takes away the ashes he carries them outside the camp; they no longer serve any purpose.

In some ways the burnt offering is a picture of the believer's own devotional life. Just as this fire was actually kindled by God in Leviticus 9, so the believer's initial fire is kindled by God. The new birth and the resulting changed life ignite a fire of love and devotion to God that issues forth in sacrificial living. The believer is responsible to continually stoke this fire and keep it burning through daily time with God. This continually burning fire produces a bright flame of witness and a warmth in the heart; it brings joy in the night seasons. Too often, however, believers neglect this daily fire and little by little this fire goes out. Instead of a bright warmth there is a dark coldness and instead of a fire there are ashes.

Your devotional life must be kindled daily. Depending on past experiences and the help of others leaves you with a cold, dark altar. As my husband says "Yesterday's fire is today's ashes." Are you living in the light and warmth of a daily sacrificial fire or are you living on ashes?

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:

Leviticus 5:1-7:38

What do the four sins (in 5:1-6) requiring a sin offering have in common?
What all does "making restitution" for violations against "the Lord's holy things" involve?
What do the sins listed in 6:2-3 involve? How were they to be resolved?
Which portions of the sacrifice were acceptable to God as sacrificial meals for the priests?
What instruction does God give regarding the altar fire?
This paragraph (7:7-10) describes the first four offerings (sin . . . guilt . . . burnt, and grain), which priests receives each of these offerings?
Why does the Lord prohibit the people from eating the fat from the offerings?
What part of the animal is given to the priests as a contribution?

Turning truth into prayer

How bright is your devotional flame? Are you living on past experiences with the Lord? Ask the Lord to light a light in your devotional life.

Bloody and Scandalous Love

2012-02-16T00:01:00.012-06:00

The sacrificial system was bloody and scandalous.

It was bloody. Something must die.

It was scandalous. The innocent dies and the guilty goes free.

Sin is serious and carries a penalty—death. To propitiate sin means to make reparation for wrong doing and receive forgiveness for that wrong doing. The person voluntarily brings the sacrifice to the altar. He acknowledges both the guilt of his sin and the sentence his sin deserves as he places his hand on the animal. In that act the penitent sinner transfers guilt to the animal; the slaying of the animal says, “I should have died, but this animal is my substitute, dying in my place.” This sacrifice atones for sin by covering the sin and appeasing the wrath of a holy God. The animal dies the death the sinner deserves. The priest sprinkles the blood around the altar. Solemn occasion. Bloody ritual.

The humble man approaches the altar burdened with guilt and shame. He walks away freely forgiven, with a bounce in his step and a song of praise to God in his heart and on his tongue. Scandalous joy! Forgiven!

The proud person either refuses to acknowledge his offense, minimizes his offense, or excuses and blames it on another. The penalty, however, remains; it calls him by name and requires his death.

The Crimson Blood, Kari Jobe captures the scandal of God’s love for sinners.

O the blood, Crimson love
Price of life’s demand
Shameful sin, placed on Him
The Hope of every man

Savior Son, Holy One
Slain so I can live
See the Lamb, the great I Am
Who takes away my sin

O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
The precious blood of the Lamb
What a sacrifice
That saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory
O what love
No greater love
Grace, how can it be
That in my sin
Yes, even then
He shed His blood for me

CHORUS
O the blood of Jesus washes me
O the blood of Jesus shed for me
What a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

Guilt transferred to the Innocent One. Penalty paid by the Innocent One.

Bloody Sacrifice. Scandalous Love.

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Leviticus: Procedural Manual

Many people who set the goal of reading through their Bible annually come to the book of Leviticus and either slow to a stop somewhere in the first few chapters or don't bother reading any further. Reading Leviticus is as exciting as reading a business handbook, procedural or protocol book. Handbooks typically contain instructions and explain company culture and expectations with some so boring that a few companies have their employees sign a statement that they've actually read the entire contents of the handbook.

The book's primary function is to show Israel that God is holy and that sin is serious. "You shall be holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy" (19:2). Therefore, the material covered reads like a manual as it spells out in detail the system for providing atonement through the various sacrifices. Chapters 1-17 guide the nation through the various sacrifices and the responsibilities of the priests to carry out the sacrificial system and chapters 18-27 give practical instructions to the nation for living holy lives.

As you read Leviticus don't get bogged down in all of the details but rejoice because:

Jesus fulfills every demand in the sacrificial system
The Holy Spirit is the Internal Instructor and Regulator in personal holiness

The Old Testament law says "Do" while the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Testament says, "Done" when the Lord Jesus said, "It is finished" as He died in man's place, the just for the unjust.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Leviticus 1:1-4:35

What does the "laying hands" upon the head of the burnt offering symbolize?
In what way does God make make provision in the sacrificial system for the different classes of people in Israel?
How much of the sacrifice is to be burned upon the altar? What does this tell you about God?
Read Romans 12:1. How is this offering similar? What kind of sacrifice does the Lord desire from believers?
How do the priests benefit from the grain offering?
What does the grain offering represent?
What four groups of people are mentioned in the sin offering?

Turning truth into prayer:

By placing his hands upon the sacrifice the worshiper acknowledges his guilt and transfers his sin onto the innocent animal which is then slaughtered as a sin offering. Forgiveness is granted to the worshiper because sin deserves death, death occurs via a substitute. Thank the Lord Jesus for dying in your place. "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:12-14). Sins atoned and heaven gained.

Yesterday's Work, Today's Reward

2012-02-15T00:01:00.018-06:00

"Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." (Exodus 40:34-35)

The artisans may now rest from the "minutia of obedience." The fruit of their painstaking labors is about to be revealed. After the tedium of sanding, sewing, and smelting they stand back and watch as Moses assembles the disparate pieces of their work into one cohesive structure. But this is no ordinary structure; this is the habitation of God among His people.

In response to the faith-filled obedience of His people who have completed the structure revealed to Moses on the mountain God manifests His Presence--the Shekinah glory. He fills the tabernacle and the out-radiating of His glory so illuminates the structure that Moses cannot enter it. This is the "wow" factor at work! Just like Job said, "I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you", so what they had only heard from Moses becomes real. In their wildest dreams they never could have imagined what they saw in the instant the glory filled the tabernacle.

Plowing must take place first in order to plant and, then later, harvest a crop. The "plow" precedes the "Wow!"

This is what God intends for church to be like when the disparate pieces of His body--each redeemed sinner--fulfill their purpose in unity and love and the glory of the Lord falls on His people. The church becomes what He always intended it should be--a showplace for His glory. Believe it or not, God intends this experience for local bodies of believers. Even though they exhibit flaws, hurts, and struggles, they allow Jesus, the Master Artisan, to shape them by His Spirit so that the Body fits together and functions as one. Churches like this cause believers and unbelievers alike to experience . . . the "Wow!" factor of God's presence among His people.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 39:1-40:38

How does Moses summarize the completion of the tabernacle and its materials?
What does the Lord instruct Moses to do once the tabernacle materials are all completed?
What Does God command Moses do that will consecrate the materials and the priests?
What happens once the tabernacle and its furnishings are completely "set up"?

Turning truth into prayer
Ask the Lord to reveal any areas remaining "undone" in your life and in your church that prohibit His glory from settling on you and your church.

The "Minutia" of Obedience

2012-02-14T00:01:00.010-06:00

"All the skilled men among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman." (Exodus 36:8)

Hours, days, and weeks were spent on constructing the Tent of Meeting according the pattern given by Moses.
They made the tabernacle . . .
They made the curtains . . .
They made upright frames . . .
They made crossbars . . .
Bezalel made the ark . . .
He made the atonement cover . . .
They made the table . . .
They made the lampstand . . .
They made its seven lamps . . .
They made the altar of incense . . .
They also made the sacred anointing oil . . .
They built the altar . . .
They made the bronze basin . . .
They made the courtyard . . .

"A long obedience in the right direction" is how one theologian describes the Christian journey; it is also an accurate description of Israel's construction project. The craftsmen spent no telling how many hours converting the offering materials into an actual tabernacle--a tabernacle filled with ornate furnishings designed by God and crafted according to the designs He revealed to His servant Moses.

Most of the Christian life is just that. Obedience. Sometimes tiring obedience. When understood, joyful obedience. The craftsmen had no idea what would take place once the tabernacle was complete. The "wow" always comes later. In the meantime, another day and another hour of stitchery, metal-smithing, and wood-planing. The minutia of obedience. What may be tiring today is rewarded tomorrow.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 36:8:-38:31

As you read today's passage think about your own life. Is your life marked by a pattern of consistent obedience or times and seasons of momentary aberrations?
Encourage your heart with Galatians 6:9

Turning truth into prayer
Pray for those in your life whose obedience seems tired or fatigued. Write them an encouraging note or send them today's devotion.

Making Treaties With The Enemy

2012-02-13T00:01:00.016-06:00

God warns Israel not to make treaties with those who live in the land, “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going” (Exodus 34:12).

He gives three reasons for this prohibition:

The people will see how awesome is the God of Israel, “The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you” (34:10). Treaties with pagans compromise their ability to see God’s activity on behalf of His people.

The people will cause Israel to stumble, “They will be a snare among you” (34:12). Treaties with pagans jeopardize the spiritual well-being of those who follow Him.

The people will influence your sons to worship idols, “They will invite you and you will eat of their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same” (34:15-16). Treaties elevate pagan religions and make them acceptable options.

Joshua was a young lad when Moses gives this prohibition. Nearly forty years later as Israel prepares to enter into Canaan Moses reminds them of this prohibition,

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess and has cast out the many nations before you...and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve others gods...For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the nations on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:1-6).

Later, during the Conquest Era, Joshua and the people fall for the deceptive tactics of the Gibeonites and make a treaty with them. This treaty forces Israel to use their resources and time to protect the Gibeonites when they are attacked by opposing forces. After Joshua’s death, during the Judges Era,Israel begins to intermarry with the peoples around them and worship their idols. Just like God said.

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"Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp." (Exodus 33:7)

Over the course of my Christian life I have known a few saints who lived in the Presence of God. God was real to them and those around them were aware of this "aura" of God's Presence. Manley Beasley was one of those people. He, over the course of his life, had learned to practice the Presence. He experienced the truth found in John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt [tabernacled] with us."

Four types of Tent dwellers reside in and around the Tent of Meeting:

1. Those who enter the Tent of Meeting (Moses) and are there when the pillar of cloud descends upon the Tent.

2. Those who are irresistibly drawn to the Presence and remain in or peripheral to the Tent of Meeting (Joshua)

3. Those who would "go to" the Tent of Meeting on occasion (inquirers)

4. Those who watch the Tent of Meeting from a distance (Israel)

What takes place within the Tent of Meeting doesn't remain in the Tent. Those who spend time there live with a greater appreciation of and awareness of who God is as they learn His ways. Others around them are aware of the Presence in and on their lives.

I long to walk continually in the awareness of the Presence. I don't have to beg for something that I already possess but I do need to learn how to "practice" His presence, appropriate His presence. His Spirit dwells in my spirit. The more I walk in the awareness of this truth, the more aware I am of His presence.

Some folk try to make this a mystical experience (it may be so for some) when really, it is, first, a faith experience. Then, it becomes your reality.

Questions for today's Chronological reading:

Exodus 33:7-36:7

What request does Moses make of God?
Why is knowing God's ways so important (Psalm 95:10)?
What does God reveal about Himself to Moses?
What are the conditions God gives to the people regarding the continuation of His presence?
What does God promise He will do for the men who appear before him three times a year?
What will this require from them?
How does God involve everyone in His work of building the tabernacle?

Turning truth into prayer
Tell the Lord that you would like to become a Tent dweller. Ask Him to help you learn to practice His Presence until He becomes your greatest reality.

People-pleasers Make Poor Leaders

2012-02-12T00:01:00.014-06:00

“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25).

Aaron blew it. Aaron failed to lead when the people came to him and demanded an idol, “Come, make us gods who will go before us” (Exodus 32:1). Aaron became a follower of men rather than a follower of God. The people led him instead of the other way around. Aaron was a people-pleaser.

The Bible offers five clues that Aaron was a people pleaser:

Moses’ absence threatens Aaron’s leadership position. He has to grant the people’s demand and make them the god they want in order to protect his leadership “position.” People-pleasers protect their position at all cost.

Aaron builds an altar to the calf god and throws a party. Parties are always crowd-pleasers. People-pleasers feel powerful when they use their position to enable people to do what they want to do.

Aaron blames his actions on the people, “They said to me, ‘Make gods who will go before us.” People-pleasers blame others for their poor decisions.

Aaron embellishes the truth, “They gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” He refuses to admit personal failure in his responsibility to lead the people. People-pleasers embellish the truth.

Aaron didn’t intercede for the 3,000 people who lost their lives that day. People-pleasers let others perish to save their own skin.

Crowd-awareness pressures leaders to compromise God’s righteous standard, while God-awareness protects leaders from succumbing to the pressure of followers. Choose rather to please God than to be popular with man.

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"He [Aaron] took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." (Exodus 32:4)

There is the God we want Him to be and there is the God who is and they are not the same. Israel wanted a God who:

Represents strength but is powerless. They want a strong god that they can control instead of One who is in control.
Has a mouth but is speechless. They create a god who can't speak because they do not intend to obey Him.
Is amoral, without ethical standards. They desire to worship a god who allows them to express themselves sexually, morally, and without restraint.

Man has not changed with the passage of time. The "god we want" today tolerates sexual immorality, overlooks unrestrained behavior, and ensures our individual freedom at the cost of community and country stability. "The God Who Is" seems to silently watch from the sidelines or the mountaintop yet He will not remain silent forever. Just as God saw the wickedness in Israel's camp so God sees and knows that man today has created an alternate god, one that he can live with, one who doesn't have moral or ethical standards, and one that has an illusion of power. Yet, God is still God. And there is none other. Repentance means turning from the gods of our own making and surrendering to the God Who Is, the God who has revealed Himself in Scripture as:

Creator God who upholds all things by the power of His might
God who sees, hears and has spoken to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ
God, the Lawgiver, who establishes parameters and boundaries for our own good and for His glory.

Sin reduces God into a created image, whether in wood, stone, or ideas, scaling Him down to make Him subservient to man so that man can remain "in charge" and substituting man's view of God for God Himself. Symptomatic of a declining culture is the creation of false gods (Romans 1:23).

Questions for today's Chronological reading:
Exodus 30:1-33:6

Why were the children of Israel from twenty years old and older to pay a "census tax"?
What would paying this fee do for the people?
Why does God place the bronze basin before the altar?
What does this tell you about God? about the priests?
How does God ensure that his temple specifications are carried out?
What does remembering the Sabbath do for the people?
What happens when people no longer keep the Sabbath?
What was Aaron's role in the golden calf situation?
How does he "spin" the events?
What does this tell you about Aaron? About those who "spin"?
Upon what promise does Moses base his intercession for the people?

Turning truth into prayer
Pray for our nation. Pray for repentance toward God and revival from God.

God Among His People

2012-02-11T00:01:00.013-06:00

“So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God” (Exodus 29:44-46).

Ever since man’s eviction from the garden of Eden, God has desired to dwell among His people. He does not dwell with them, however, because He is holy, humanity is sinful, and the earth is cursed. In mercy God devised a way that reveres His holiness, covers man’s sins, and consecrates a place where He and sinners may meet.

The place - The Tent of Meeting is a place on earth designed to communicate both separation between holy God and sinful men and the restoration of that broken relationship.

The priests - God chooses and dedicates Aaron and his sons as servants in His tabernacle and as His adjudicators between Him and His people. These priests wore an ornate ephod with 12 stones engraved with the name of the tribes of Israel as a physical reminder of their calling and duty. The consecration ceremony reminded them that they too were sinners in need of cleansing and substitution. The morning and evening sacrifices were constant reminders of the sinfulness of man, the holiness of God, and way of atonement. The priests were never to take their role lightly; they wore their priestly garments and head dresses that declared Holy is the LORD.

The price - God requires a sacrifice from anyone who wishes to approach Him. These sacrifices, both individual and corporate, declare that sinful humanity can only draw near to Holy God through the blood of an innocent substitute. Whenever they offered their sacrifices, they laid their hands on the head of the animal to identify with the animal, transferring their sin to that animal and acknowledging the reality of sin’s penalty―death.

Sadly, Israel rebelled against God as her priests corrupted themselves and her people worshiped idols. God removed Israel from her land. For a time. Then a High Priest came who offered Himself as the substitute for man’s sin. God accepted HIs offering and God again dwells among His people, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

God longs to dwell among His people. May He find a welcomed dwelling place in the hearts and lives of His people today! God among His people!

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"They are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so that he may serve me as priest. These are to be the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash." (Exodus 28:3-4)

God gave exact instructions regarding the priestly garments. These garments distinguished the priest from all other men, giving them dignity and honor. Dressed in these garments the priest represented the people before God. Each piece symbolized or taught the people something about God.

The central piece of the priest garment is the ornate breastplate with its twelve jewels mounted in gold settings. On each of these stones is engraved the name of one of the tribes of Israel. The high priest bears on his shoulders and in his heart the burden of all twelve tribes mirroring the Great High Priest's heart, love and intercession for His people.

Even today our High Priest interceeds on behalf of His people. All believers can live with the joy of knowing that the Lord Jesus bears their name close to His heart. Not only does He know our name but He ever lives to bring our name before the Father continually. Should no one remember to bring your name in prayer before the Father today, rest assured that the Lord Jesus never ceases to pray for you.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:

Exodus 28:1-29:46

Name the pieces of the priestly garments and give at least one outstanding feature of each piece.
What do the priest do to demonstrate their transfer of sin onto the sacrificial substitute?
Where were the priest to sprinkle the blood?
Upon what basis would God dwell among His people?

Turning truth into prayer
Thank the Father that Jesus Christ is the High Priest who prays for us by name. Even at this very moment.

Earthly Pattern of Heaven's Reality

2012-02-10T00:01:00.014-06:00

Behind every design is a designer. Someone with a vision and a piece of paper. God is the Heavenly Designer of redemption. He communicates both His desire and His design to Moses who oversees its construction on earth.

The Lord gives Moses the pattern from which he builds the Tent of Meeting―the place where holy God meets with sinful man. He instructs Moses, “Make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you” (Exodus 25:9). He also gives Moses a pattern from which he is to follow in furnishing the temple, “See that you make them according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain” (Exodus 25:40). He also gives Moses a plan he is to follow when setting up the tabernacle, “Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown to you on the mountain” (Exodus 26:30).

True redemption began in the heart of God, was birthed in a womb of a virgin, died on a Roman cross, was buried in an earthy tomb, was raised gloriously from the dead, and ascended to the Father. True redemption is in a person—the true High Priest—Jesus. Redemption both begins and ends in heaven while religion is completely earth-bound.

Religion refuses to recognize the vast chasm between God and man, heaven and earth, or God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness. Religion is an earthly design, the best that man can do. Religion cannot breach the divide between man and God.

The Apostle applied this truth about a heavenly pattern and earthly reality to New Testament Christians, “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Works prepared by God beforehand for believers to embrace and experience. How wonderful! May our earthly lives conform to heaven’s reality.

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"Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you." (Exodus 25:8-9)

The furnishings in the earthly tabernacle were a copy of heavenly furnishings demonstrating God's desire to welcome redeemed sinners into fellowship with Him.

The Tabernacle or "Tent of Meeting" demonstrates God's desire to be near His people. God is holy and desires to have a relationship with His people. Because sin separates man from God He determines to provide a way so that He can "tabernacle" with man or come among them. The sanctuary furnishings illustrate how to live in God's presence or rather, how it is that a holy God can interact with sinners.

The sanctuary furnishings:

A chest - made of wood and overlayed with gold the lid of this chest has two angels facing one another. God promises to meet with man above this covering where the blood of a substitute is sprinkled on behalf of guilty sinners. This chest is to be placed inside of the Most Holy Place which is hidden behind a thick ornate curtain.
A table - made of wood and overlayed with gold this table contains the bread of God's Presence and is positioned in the Holy Place symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel and their fellowship with the Almighty. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life. Israel must partake of the life of Christ to experience fellowship with Holy God.
A lampstand - this gold seven-bowled lampstand lights the Holy Place for the priestly functions before God. So Christ today is the Light of the world (John 8:12), who reveals the way to God (John 14:6, 9). The light beckons one to follow its beams into the very presence of the Living God.
An altar - The exact location of this altar is not given but it was just inside the entrance to the tabernacle” (40:29). The basin was between it and the tabernacle (30:18). This altar illustrates the fact that one can approach God only through sacrifice; only by sacrifice is sin atoned for. On this altar—the first object a worshiper saw in the tabernacle courtyard—sacrifices for sin were continually being made.

The sanctuary teaches us how to live in God's presence. First we see the altar where sacrifice is continually offered for sin. We then see the lampstand which reveals the table of presence and the closed veil blocking entrance into the Most Holy Place where the glory of God dwells between the cherubim. Blood sprinkled on the mercy seat once a year testifies to God that sins have been covered for one more year.

When Christ died the veil that separated Holy God from unholy man was rent (torn from top to bottom) and the way opened into the very presence of God. What the children of Israel dared not do--go behind the veil--we are invited/welcomed to do, to boldly enter into the the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 4:16).

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 25:1-27:21

What is another name of the place outside of the curtain which veils the ark of the tabernacle?
Why does God place a curtain around the entire sanctuary?
Where do the plans for the sanctuary and it furnishings originate?
What does this tell you about God? About the sanctuary?
Where were the chest, lampstand, table of showbread, and altar to be placed?
Why was the lamp to be kept burning?

Turning truth into prayer
Thank God for the new and living way which Jesus has consecrated for us. Jesus is the High Priest, the sacrificial Lamb, and the way through the veil. He welcomes you into His presence. Come boldly.

Ingratitude Leads To Idolatry

2012-02-09T00:01:00.011-06:00

Throughout the Creation Era God reveals that He is Jehovah-Jireh, God Who Provides. He demonstrates his lavish provision in the garden of Eden through trees containing mature fruit that also contain seed, thus ensuring continuing provision for humanity. He anticipates man’s need of redemption when He creates the animal who would be sacrificed to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness before they were even created. He commands Noah to load the ark with seven of every clean animal; from that supply Noah offered to the Lord the sacrifice that prompted God to tell Noah that He would never again curse the ground for man’s sake.

During the Patriarchal Era God fulfills the promise that He made to Abraham when he gives to him and his barren wife Isaac. Years later He provides a ram in the thicket as a substitute for Isaac. He provides a wife for Isaac, opens her womb twenty years later, and gives her twins. He provides for His seminal nation during a global famine when He sends Joseph ahead and installs him as prime minister in Egypt.

He rescues His expanding nation from Egyptian slavery and meets their every need during their wilderness wanderings. In this Exodus Era God establishes three annual feasts or celebrations to remind Israel of His provision:

The Feast of Unleavened Bread (also called Passover) - Israel’s hasty flight from Egypt was celebrated annually by eating bread baked without yeast for seven days.

The Feast of Harvest - Fifty days after the Passover Israel harvested the firstfruits of their fields and presented them to the Lord in gratitude for His provision.

The Feast of Ingathering (also called Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths) - Harvest season concluded with a celebration of yet another year of God’s abundant provision.

Celebrating these three agricultural feasts reminds Israel of God’s provision and blessing to His people. Forgetting that God is the source of all that they have leads to ingratitude and thus to idolatry. The children of Israel must never forget that it is God who meets their needs. It is no wonder that Moses commanded God’s people, “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth. Then it shall be if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish” (Deut. 8:18-19).

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"For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused . . . Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove." (Exodus 23:10-11)

God is not limited by man's logic. His ways often conflict with human logic and require faith on man's part. Will a man trust God? Throughout Scripture God promises to do many things on behalf of those who trust in Him. His instructions come in various stages and in differing degrees:

Little instructions and small tests: Take only enough manna that each day requires and on the sixth day take enough for day six and day seven. Left-overs became "wormy" after one day, so it would require faith on the sixth day to collect enough for two days. Would God come through for them?
More instructions and greater tests: God commanded the Israelites to commemorate the Passover (which we looked at several days ago). This commemoration would take a week out of their annual schedules. Think about the impact of taking a full week off during the beginning of planting season (it is illogical!). Following this instruction would demand faith in God.
Greater instructions and greater tests: God gives an even greater instruction which requires even more faith in Him. The land sabbath. "For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused." This instruction demands great faith in God that He will SO bless the sixth year that the land will produce enough for two years (until the crops come in on the eighth year).

It is no strain to God to provide on the sixth day enough manna for two days. They also have to depend on Him that He will again provide on the eighth day. God is so BIG that He is able to produce an abundance from a shortened planting season. And, it is a huge leap of faith for the Israelites to expect super abundance in the sixth year to get them through to the eighth year. Which is why they never do it. They lack faith in the ability of God, even after they've experienced His great deliverance from Egypt and His provision of water and quail in the desert. God still looks for people who will dare to take Him up on His promises today.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 22:1-24:18

What are some of God's basic values seen in the instructions He gives to the Israelites?
Why does God make the restitution greater than the offense?
Why does God require the men to appear before the Lord during the three feasts mentioned in chapter 23?
What does God promise He will do for those who carefully obey and worship Him?
Why does God stagger the Israelite's victory over their enemies?
How do the people respond to God's instructions and promises?

Turning truth into prayer:
Thank the Lord that He is able to provide sufficiently for today and in the future. Ask Him to show you where you are trusting in human logic rather than walking by faith in what He has revealed about Himself in Scripture.

No Rules

2012-02-08T00:01:00.025-06:00

A community without rules is like a prison full of dangerous criminals turned loose on one another. No one feels safe in a community without rules.

Imagine the chaos that would transpire if your city removed all driving ordinances and signs. A dramatic increase in accidents and loss of life would immediately occur.

Imagine 2.5 million people living together in community without laws, rules, and regulations to guide their behavior. God brings Israel out of Egypt and immediately begins to form them into community and gives them rules to guide their behavior. He takes Moses up on Mount Sinai and gives him laws. First, He gives them the ten commandments which are divided into two areas: spiritual and social. Spiritual, because men are sinners and God is holy. He will not be treated as other’s treat their gods. Social, because they are sinners whose natural selfishness will implode community. Later, He gives them further instructions regarding worship, sacrifice, economics, and annual celebrations.

The Ten Commandments cannot save men but they:

Regulate human behavior by establishing boundaries that protect men from acting out of their natural selfish inclinations and hurting others. They also demonstrate man’s inclination toward corrupt worship.

Reveal human depravity and man’s need of salvation.

Reflect the holiness of God, His desire for community, and His standard of righteousness.

Rules are powerless to save people from their sins but they are beneficial in that they regulate communal life (rules don’t prevent sin) and demonstrate man’s need of redemption.

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"And God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." (Exodus 20:1-2)

Left to themselves man will offend a holy God and destroy one another and themselves, therefore God gave the nation of Israel laws to protect themselves from self-destruction. The Ten Commandments were not given for salvation but for protection--protection from treating God and one another lightly and protection to keep the nation of Israel intact. They also reveal the tendency of the human heart to treat God and one another without due respect.

God made promises to Adam and Eve and to Abraham regarding the coming Seed who would come and save them from their sins. Without the Ten Commandments to guide and guard their relationship with God and one another they would quickly degenerate in their behavior to the point that they would not be any different from the nations around them. The Law, therefore, was given to differientate between Israel and all of the wicked nations around them.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 19:1-21:36

How does God describe His bringing Israel up out of Egypt?
How does God describe His relationship with Israel?
Why does God establish parameters around at the foot of the mountain?
What do the ten commandments teach about God? Creation? Interpersonal relationships?
What is the root cause of coveting?
Why were the people so afraid of God?
What does the law regarding female servants tell you about God's view of women?
How do the various laws differentiate between deliberate acts causing harm and accidents?

Turning truth into prayer
Pray for the United States of America. We, as a nation, are imploding by our own wickedness. We need to repent before our God.

Trust Me!

2012-02-07T00:01:00.021-06:00

God says, “Trust Me!” Man says, “I’ll trust what I can see.” It’s unnatural to walk by faith. If it were easy everyone would be doing it! Adam and Eve learned that truth in the garden when they chose what they could see over what God had revealed about His goodness and veracity. Ever since the Fall men struggle to believe God, to trust Him, and to walk by faith.

Now God has 2.5 million such faith-strugglers to contend with. Exercising faith in God challenged many in Israel when their food supplies from Egypt ran out and water was but a mirage. Sadly, their faith in God drowned in the emptiness of their bellies.

God’s provision of manna and water require daily trust. Each man had to come to grips with the question, “If I eat all that God provided for me today, will He provide for me again tomorrow?” God stretched their faith to include doubling up on the sixth day to last through the seventh day when no manna would appear, “Would God come through on the eighth day?” Many in Israel could not see beyond the immediate and lived accordingly—in unbelief and rebellion against God and His designated authority, Moses.

Israel must learn that God can be trusted. The wilderness provides the classroom to teach them that truth. To have God and His promises is to have His provision, protection, and peace—to believe Him regardless of natural conditions or what the eye may see. The impossible situation is the probable situation in which God will work.

The wildernesses of life demand faith in God. It takes faith in God’s Word and in His unchangeable character to walk by faith instead of by sight.

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness” (Psalm 37:3, emphasis added).

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"Moses also said, "You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD." (Exodus 16:8)

You can take the people out of Egypt but it is more difficult to get Egypt out of God's people. Though Egypt was slavery, but it was safe slavery; Egypt was purposeless drudgery (making bricks out of straw) but at least it was familiar, predictable. As soon as the last note of the victory songs die down the sighs of complaining fill the void. Returning to Egypt was preferable than following a God you really didn't know, because to those with a mindset of a slave familiarity is better than freedom.

People who either don't know God at all or don't know Him well assume the worst about Him especially when He allows them to go through trouble. Not once do the Israelites thank God for His amazing provision or His abundant protection, but in every difficulty they immediately lift up their voices in complaint. Always they say that God wants to kill them; yet, had they paid the least attention to the plagues, the Red Sea crossing, or even Elim, they would have seen God's protection, God's provision, and God's power on their behalf. Instead they question God's character. So it is today. Either you live in an attitude of gratitude, thanking God for all that He gives, does and is, or you spend your days complaining about our trials and questioning His character.

As Adrian Rogers said, "You are either humbly grateful or grumbly hateful." The better you know Him the more fully you will trust Him. So, then, complaining reveals a lack of trust in God and a warped view of God.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 16:1-18:27

Why does God provide only enough manna for a single day (except on the sixth day)?
Describe the people's view of God.
What promise does God make regarding the Amalekites?
What does Moses' report or testimony do for Jethro's view of God?
What does this tell you about your testimony of God's activity in your life?
How does God improve Moses' time management skills?

Turning truth into prayer
Ask the Lord to make you sensitive to when you grumble and complain. Ask Him to reveal areas in your life where you entertain ideas about God which are unworthy of Him.

The Mighty Hand of God

2012-02-06T00:01:00.015-06:00

Those who’ve studied eagles say that the parent hobbles into the nest with its talons curled inward to protect their little ones from injury. The eaglets need never fear being hurt by the same talons that shred their prey.

The hand of God is like the eagle’s talons. The hand that stretched out against the Egyptians was the same hand that parted the waters of the Red Sea for Israel’s crossing, “By the strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place” (Exodus 13:3,14; 15:6,9,12). The hand that destroyed the infrastructure of Egypt was the same hand that covered Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 33:23).

King David also trusted in the mighty hand of God for protection, “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up” (Psalm 18:35). The same hand that protected him defeated his enemies.

The prophet Isaiah pictured God’s hands as hands of mercy, even in the midst of judgment, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” (Isaiah 49:16a).

Sadly, Judah’s prolonged and continual rebellion provoked the hand of God against them, “I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath” (Jeremiah 21:5). God does resist the proud and the rebellious, but He would rather use His hand for His people instead of against them. Peter captures this truth, “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).

Just as God brought Israel up out of Egypt He promises to bring Judah up out of the land of the Babylonians, “As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. I will bring you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out” (Ezekiel 20:33,34). God swears by His hand to keep the promises that He makes, “Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers” (Ezekiel 20:42).

Several truths emerge from understanding the mighty hand of God:

God’s heart and hand are for His people.

Humility before God keeps me in the hand of God for protection and pleasure.

Rebellion toward God moves His hand against me in discipline.

The terrible hands of the Lord move lovingly toward those who trust Him. Christ's outstretched hands on the cross beckon every humble heart into its embrace. His hands will stretch out once against all evil doers in fury and in wrath. For now they are stretched out in love.

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"Commemorate this day . . . in the days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' say to him 'With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." (Exodus 13:3,14)

People are prone to forget what God has done in the past and forgetfulness of God's past activity leads to spiritual declension. Commemorating the Passover with a feast year after year would give succeeding generations the opportunity to tell the story of redemption to following generations.

They were commanded to tell the story of God's deliverance for at least two reasons:

They were to tell the story annually to remember God's deliverance. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had entered human history, acted in mighty power, and had rescued His people from the bondage of Egypt.
This story demonstrates to the children of Israel in every generation that they need God's deliverance. The shedding of blood reminds Israel that sins must be atoned and that the shedding of the blood of the innocent provides that atonement.

The truth of this statement is obvious as Israel went through seasons of spiritual declension and upon their return they re-instituted the Passover. The Passover commemoration was God's way of keeping the story alive by preventing memory loss and providing a teaching tool for future generations.

What commemorations does the New Testament give to believers? How do they assist us in teaching our children about God?
Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 13:1-15:27

What does God do to let the Israelites know that He "has their back"?
How do the Israelites respond to the approaching Egyptians?
What does the writer of Hebrews promise the believer (13:5)?
How does God route the Egyptian army? What does this song teach you about God?
What has God communicated about Himself to the Israelites?
What has the news of God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptians done to those living in Canaan?
What was Miriam's role in Israel? What does this tell you about family member and sevice to the LORD?
How does God test the faith of the Israelites?
What does this testing reveal about the Israelites?

Turning truth into prayer:
Knowing the stories help you remember God's activity in the past. Ask the Lord to help the stories and the truths found therein to sink down deeper into your heart and mind.

Promises and Pictures

2012-02-05T00:01:00.013-06:00

God has an affinity for promises and pictures. After Adam and Eve sin against the Lord He promises to redeem man (Genesis 3:15). He then provides a picture of redemption when He kills an innocent animal in the garden of Eden and uses the skin to cover the couple’s nakedness. A promise and a picture of redemption.

The second sacrifice was offered by Abel. Abel believes the promise and acts in faith. He offers a picture of faith when he believes God’s promise. God accepts Abel’s sacrifice. A picture of redemption. The writer of Hebrews affirms Abel’s faith offering, “For you have...come...to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:18,24). Abel’s sacrifice pictures his faith in God’s promise. Jesus fulfills God’s promise.

Noah demonstrates his faith in God’s promise of redemption when he builds an altar to the Lord after the flood. God accepts his offering (Genesis 8:20-21). A promise and a picture―a picture of redemption and faith.

Abraham responds to God’s promise of an heir, land, nation, and blessing after he arrives in Bethel by building an altar. Isaac and Jacob both respond to God’s promise by offering a sacrifice to the Lord on the altar that they build. A promise and a picture of redemption appropriated by faith.

It shouldn’t surprise us when God instructs each household to slay the firstborn or their flock and apply the blood to the doorposts of their homes. The Lord passes the homes of those who respond by faith in His promise. Death passes by because death, via the substitute, has already occurred. A promise of redemption merges with a picture of redemption.

The LORD commands Israel to celebrate the Passover annually. It is through this celebration that the promise of redemption and the picture of redemption keep faith alive from one generation to the next. A promise of redemption and a picture of redemption.

The Old Testament promise of redemption found its fulfillment, not in a picture of redemption, but in the Person of redemption. Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Glorious promise fulfilled through the Glorious Person of every Old Testament picture of redemption.

God’s affinity for promises and pictures continues in the New Testament. A new picture (the Lord’s Supper) accompanies the new covenant and promises His coming again. The Lord’s Supper is a picture of redemption that has already been accomplished (broken body, blood spilt of the Substitute of God).

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"Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs." "The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt." (Exodus 12:7,13)

The Israelites were to choose year-old male lambs or goats without defect and care for them for four days and then on the fourteenth day slaughter them at midnight. They were instructed to take some of the blood and put in on the doorpost, then roast and eat the lamb, and stay inside for the night.

Why the blood on the doorpost? What does it represent? The blood testifies that death has already occurred in this house. The death of an innocent lamb substitutes for the death of the firstborn. Death has already come to this house. "When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over the doorway and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down."

I imagine that after experiencing nine plagues there were a few Egyptians paying close attention to Israelite activities. Since a mixed multitude came up out of the land with the Israelites, a few of them may have applied lamb's blood to their doorpost as well. All who were behind bloodstained doorposts were safe from death's visit whether Israelite or Egyptian. The same truth applies today with Paul's invitation to all: "Whosover shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Regardless of ethnicity. Regardless of the amount of sin and shame. The bloodstained doorposts protected all who sought refuge behind its door.

Character, integrity, morality---these do not earn redemption. Apart from the blood of the lamb, the most righteous Israelite was no safer than those in Pharaoh's household. The same is true today. God looks at the Blood of Jesus Christ and forgives sinners, both good and bad.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 10:1-12:51

Describe what the plagues have done to the Egyptian economy.
What do the Egyptian officials recognize about their situation?
What does the event of the ten plagues teach the Egyptians about their gods? About God?
What two sets of instructions does Moses give the people prior to the last plague?
What does the blood of the lamb on the doorpost represent?
How long were the Israelites to celebrate the Passover Feast? Why?
Who were the "other people" mentioned in 12:38?
How long did God tell Abraham that his descendents would be enslaved (Genesis 15:13-14)and how long were they enslaved?
What does this tell you about God?

Turning truth into prayer
Remember the words of the old hymn? "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus."

Thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed for the remission of sin.

Hardness of Heart

2012-02-04T00:01:00.012-06:00

Some people refuse to believe in God. No matter what. They have hard hearts. But, even hard hearts have their gods. Collectively they create a culture of hardness of heart and idolatry. Like the Egyptians.

To the Egyptians the Nile brought life so they worshiped the Nile by creating a god of the Nile. God strikes at their idolatry by turning the water into blood and churning frogs from her midst. Later, He takes the Hebrews into the wilderness to teach them that He is the sustainer of life. Rather have Him―the Living Water―in the waterless wilderness than to have the Nile without Him.

The creation of lice from the dust stumps the Egyptian magicians. Only God creates life from the dust of the earth.

Wave upon wave of disease, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness pound like a furious storm and destroy the economic infra-structure of Egypt. Still, Pharaoh refuses to bend. Only after the death of the first born in his own house does Pharaoh release the Hebrews to worship their God.

Creation reveals God’s invisible attributes, even His eternal power and Godhead (Romans 1:20). The Fall, however, altered man’s ability to perceive God. The Apostle Paul summarizes man’s fallen state, “Because they knew God, they did not glorify God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21). Those who are alienated from God operate out of a futile thought system developed by darkened hearts. Only the light of the Gospel transforms the human heart and illumines the mind.

Miracles actually condemn those who view them. They see the acts of God and walk away. The resurrection of Christ from the dead was one such miracle yet most refuse to believe and turn to God.

This story reveals a number of truths about hard-heartedness:

Those who worship creation do so to avoid dealing with God Himself.

Man is more hard-hearted (and hard-headed) than he imagines. In the presence of miracles men often maintain their hardened position toward God.

It is more important, therefore, to seek Truth than to seek a miracle.

The hearts of most people are not affected by miracles. A few, however, do respond, “The officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field” (Ex. 9:20-21). A few believing Egyptians accompanied Israel when they left Egypt (Ex. 12:38).

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"This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood." "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go I will plague your whole country with frogs." (Ex. 7:17; 8:1-2)

I wonder what the average Egyptian thought about the sorcerers duplication of Moses' first two plagues. Great, more bloody water . . . and more frogs. It would have certainly been more impressive to return the water to its original state than to make more bloody water. Or to make the frogs disappear rather than cause the frogs to multiply more rapidly.

And what about the third plague? "When Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not." I bet there were plenty of Egyptians thanking God that the power of their sorcerers was unequal to that of the Living God! Only God creates from dust. Try as they might they couldn't create life. Thankfully God establishes limitations for mankind or we would abuse our power and self-destruct in the process.

While the magicians sought to perpetuate their influence before Pharaoh with their seemingly impressive displays of power, God's miracles through Moses reveal God's power and His redemption. Later in chapter nine the Lord explains the use of His power through the various plagues: "For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth" (9:15-16).

The real purpose of God's power is to display His glory throughout the earth. His power changes people by making new creatures out of old. You can be involved in demonstrating God's power by making His name known to your neighbors and to the nations.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 7:14-9:35

How does Pharaoh's decision affect his own people?
What does God do to make a distinction between the Egyptians and His people?
At what point was Pharaoh willing to allow the Israelites go and offer sacrifices to the LORD in the dessert?
Why is Pharaoh willing to make this concession?
What does Pharaoh do when Egypt is struck with a terrible plague on its animals?
What does God do to humble the magicians?
What do some of the Egyptians (and the Israelites) realize about God through the plague of hail?
What does this story tell you about God? About man?

Turning truth into prayer:
Where do you see man abuse his power (albeit limited) today? Ask the Lord to humble the proud and exalt the humble.

Disappointment With God

2012-02-03T00:01:00.001-06:00

God appears to Moses and declares His intervention on Israel’s behalf. Moses and Aaron share this good news with Israel and they “bowed down and worshiped” (Ex. 4:31). The same crowd, a few days later, grumble with disappointment when their situation continues to deteriorate “May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (5:21). In response Moses expresses his own disappointment in God, “Ever since I went to Pharaoh in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people and you have not rescued your people at all” (Ex. 5:23).

This scene reveals a number of truths:

Circumstances may actually worsen before God’s wisdom and activity become evident. The intensifying of the situation doesn’t contradict the promise of God or the activity of God.

God does not act according to man’s mental script or timing but according to His own wisdom and timing. Therefore, it is always too early to make conclusions about our circumstances and God.

Disappointment takes over the hearts of those who entertain wrong expectations about God and His activity.

It is always too soon to judge God! God is not subject to man’s mental scripting or limited to man’s imagination or expectations. God always exceeds man’s expectation!

More is going on than the natural man can detect. God is not only about to deliver Israel out of Egypt but He is about to humiliate Pharaoh and his gods.

God’s strategy always differs from that of man. The wise man waits on Him for His timing and His activity. The foolish man frets and succumbs to disappointment in God and anger toward God. God’s promises of redemption assure man of His redemption. His way and in His timing. God is good. He does good.

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"Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage." (Exodus 6:9)

The Israelite's situation does not improve, as expected, and deliverance doesn't occur as they had penned in their mental day planner. The Israelites don't handle the "set back" well. False expectations and discouragement go hand in hand. The wisdom writer describes the heart sickness that occurs when expectations are dashed: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12).

Holding onto discouragement impairs one's ability to hear from God. Moses reiterates the promises that He made to Abraham regarding this very day and season in their developmental journey. He speaks on God's behalf promising them sure deliverance. But their false expectations have sickened their hearts so that they cannot even hear the truth.

Like many believers today, they took the promises of God and developed a script on how God would carry it out. Immediately. And according to their plan. God does not follow man's script, but His own.

Disappointment drowns hope. We, just like the Israelites, become upset with God and with His servant-spokesman and are then deaf to the Word of God.

Discouragement occurs when hopes are dashed and things don't go according to plan. So, how does anyone avoid heart sickness and remain whole when plans go awry?

(1) Don't try to interpret the promises of God by mentally scripting how you think God is going to work. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Is. 55:9-10). And He seldom does according to our plan or interpretation. So, expect delays and detours.

(2) Discouragement comes when we set our hearts on "the plan" rather than "the Planner." Plans must remain loosely in our hands and hearts while our hearts cling to the Lord Himself.

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding [mental scripting]; in all your ways [unknown or unclear] acknowledge Him and He will direct your path" (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 418-6:27

How has Pharaoh already demonstrated hardness of heart?
How does God describe the task Moses will face in Egypt?
What is the purpose of circumcision? (See Genesis 17:9-14)
How do the elders respond to the miracle and the news that Moses gives regarding their delivery from slavery?
What is Pharaoh's attitude toward God from the very beginning?
What are the Israelite's expecting and what actually happens to them?
What causes despair? (see Psalm 27:13)
What does Moses' prayer reveal about his expectations and disappointment with God?
How does discouragement and cruel bondage affect the Israelites?
How does God differentiate between Moses and Aaron and the Egyptian sorcerers?

Turning truth into prayer
Confess your discouragement to the Lord and then affirm your trust in Him as "the Planner."

The God Who Is

2012-02-02T00:01:00.005-06:00

The Exodus Era covers approximately 470 years of Israel’s history: 430 years in Egypt and 40 years in the wilderness. Israel has multiplied to a people group of more than three million people―just as God had promised their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The conditions in Egypt have turned adversarial and Abraham’s promise has been fulfilled partially, “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:13-14). The people of Israel, strangers and slaves in a land that is not theirs, cry out to God. Quietly and off the radar of man’s perception God works. He grants a family of Levi a baby boy and gives him a princely education. Israel is unaware that God is answering their prayers right under their noses.

Then God speaks. Eighty years later. More than three hundred years have passed since God last spoke to Jacob. He now introduces Himself to Moses.

He is God to the Ancients - “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Ex.3:6). God’s promise to Abraham obligated Him to give Abraham a son, a land, a nation, and a blessing to all the families of the earth. This promise was partially fulfilled when Abraham and Sarah gave birth to Isaac; when Isaac and Rebekah gave birth to Jacob; when Jacob had twelve sons. Israel didn’t leave God in the land of Canaan when they moved to Egypt. God’s not stuck in time. He appears to Moses in the desert at Mount Horeb and informs Moses that it is time to fulfill the second part of His promise. He who lives outside of time enters time right on time!

He is God with an Agenda - “I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians an do to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey . . ..” (Ex. 3:8) God enters time to deliver His people from bondage and into the land of promise.

He is God with an Assignment - “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt” (Ex. 3:10) God incorporates individuals into His story!

He is God with an Appellation (name) - “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them? God said to Moses, “I AM WHOM I AM” (Ex. 3:13-14), He who has no beginning or end. The Ever-existing One. That is His name.

He is God of Ability - Moses asks, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” Further, he hides behind his lack of eloquence in speech. The Lord proceeds to grant Moses special abilities that he did not have before.

God is on a mission to redeem His people. He chooses an unlikely candidate, just like His choice of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to lead His people. Why does He do it this way? So that Moses, Israel, and all of Egypt will know that He IS.

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"Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies and fight against us and leave the country." Ex. 1:8-10

Every story contains four parts: the setting, main characters, a plot and a conclusion. Let's break down the beginning of the Exodus story:
Setting:

The political situation - a new Pharaoh rises to power who has no emotional attachment to the Israelite people.
The socioeconomic setting - a great empire is being constructed on the backs of an enslaved people, a mandate has been given to kill all of the male babies born to Israelite households
The historical relationship - Jacob's descendants have been in Egypt now for over 300 years and have been nothing but a blessing to Egypt

Characters:

A heartless Pharaoh - he cares only about building his kingdom and oppresses those who threaten his empire
A ruthless and oppressive people - the people of Egypt are fully devoted to their Pharaoh and to building a great kingdom
A bitterly oppressed people - Israel is without any representation in Pharaoh's court; her population grows at an alarming rate
A struggling and seemingly insignificant Israelite family - this Levite family struggle to live under oppression
An invisible, but definitely involved, God

Plot:
God promised Abraham hundreds of years before that his descendants (even though he was childless at the time) "will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions" (Genesis 15:13-14). Here they are now. Oppressed. Multiplying. And worn out. Weeks pass into months and years as the situation worsens. Where is God?

Conclusion:

Though God works slowly He is at work in our world today. The book of Exodus offers many lessons about God and His work:

Though our world becomes increasingly hostile toward Christians our numbers can increase during seasons of oppression.
Though we have little voice in the political system and no voice in mainstream media we can be certain that our voice is heard in heaven.
God is at work in this world accomplishing His redemptive promises and "no one can restrain His hand" (Daniel 4:35). God uses the evil that men do to further His purposes.
We should not despair when the situation becomes unbearable. God often allows situations to worsen progressively for His people.
We should be hopeful as we look around for the people God places in situations for prevention and intervention (the midwives).
God works "under the radar" until the time comes for Him to "go public."
Anticipation of God's intervention should grow in our hearts as oppression escalates.
The promises of God instill faith, therefore, we must meditate on the Word of God as the promises fuel faith in the midst of difficulty.
We must not fight among ourselves; fellow Christians are not our enemy.

These and many more truths from the opening of the book of Exodus should thrill our hearts as God fulfills His promises in our midst. Our Redeemer will step in at just the right time. We must watch and pray.
Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Exodus 1:1-4:17

Why does Pharaoh increase his oppression of the Israelite people? What does this tell you about when the actual hardness of heart occurred with Pharaoh?
How does God intervene on their behalf? Who does He use? What does this tell you about God?
How does God reveal his care for Moses' mom and sister?
Why does Moses kill the Egyptian? What does this tell you about Moses?
What is the Israelites perception of Moses' intervention?
What does Moses spend the next forty years doing?
What does this tell you how God prepares those He plans to use in leadership?
How does God identify Himself to Moses?
How does Moses' and Abraham's initial conversations compare?
What does God do to assure Moses of His power and ability?
Why does Moses ask for a substitute?
How is God working simultaneously in Moses' life and in Aaron's life? Where else have we seen God working in parallel situations?

Turning truth into prayer
Ask the Lord to speak to your heart over the next few weeks as we dive into the book of Exodus.

Thread of Redemption

2012-02-01T00:01:00.021-06:00

Before his death Jacob speaks a blessing or prophecy over the heads of each of his sons. Judah’s blessing, in particular, points back to the redemptive thread begun in Genesis 3;15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

This redemptive thread continues when God speaks to Abraham:

“In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).

“I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. . . . (Genesis 17:6) “And I will bless her [Sarah] and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her” (Genesis 17:16).

This thread continues through Jacob, “Also God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body” (Genesis 35:11).

And is passed on to Judah,

“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. . . . The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Genesis 49:8-10, NKJV).

This thread appears repeatedly throughout His story and terminates in the Book of the Revelation with dozens of glimpses of Shiloh, “the One to whom it belongs.” The story culminates in the exaltation of the One from Judah’s line who indeed defeats the serpent, “But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5). Through Shiloh comes redemption and to Shiloh belongs the heavenly scroll.

Judah’s blessing directs the reader to follow the thread of Judah’s descendants throughout the remainder of the Bible. Someone is coming! He will be King. He will bring peace between God and sinners. He is Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and who sits on heaven’s throne.

What God promises, He sets in motion and finally fulfills. He is good. He does good.

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"Then he gave them these instructions: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." (Genesis 49:29; 50:24)

Jacob and Joseph's lives were wrapped up in the promise of God to Abraham regarding a nation and a land. Jacob's body was embalmed and returned to Canaan for burial where his father had been buried. Though promised the entire land of Canaan the children of Israel only possessed a burial plot. But, for God, a promise given is a possession received.

Joseph made the people promise that his embalmed body would one day find its resting place too, in the family burial plot in Canaan. Both men died in faith. They believed the promises of God spoken to Abraham regarding their 400 year sojourn in Egypt. Joseph actually refers to return to Canaan, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place" (50:25).

The writer of Hebrews describes their faith:

"By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones" (Hebrews 11:21-22).

The possession of the burial plot was God's down payment for Abraham's descendants on the land which they would one day possess. All they had were the promises of God and a burial plot. Having a promise is enough.

While unpleasant to consider, we too, are preparing for a time when we will die. We will either die, the way the world does--with a vague hope, or we will die in faith as did Jacob and Joseph--looking for our homeland.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:

Genesis 47:13-50:26

What does Jacob communicate about God to Joseph before he dies?
What does this teach you about leaving a legacy?
Why was Jacob so hard on Simeon and Levi? Which incident does Jacob refer to?
Consider the names that Jacob uses to describe his relationship with God: Mighty One of Jacob, the Shepherd, and the Rock of Israel. What has Jacob come to understand about God?
How do Joseph's brothers respond to their father's death?
How does Joseph view the events of his life?What is Joseph's last request? What does this tell you about him?

Turning truth into prayer
Think about the years behind you. Which name used by Jacob best describes your relationship with God? Take a few minutes and praise the Father for all the ways He has led you.

Assessing Life

2012-01-31T00:01:00.017-06:00

“How old are you?” Women are often reputed for fudging the answer to that question. Jacob not only answers Pharaoh’s question, but he also offers commentary, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult” (Genesis 47:9).

Truly, Jacob’s life has been one of difficulty:

Jacob lived his boyhood in the shadow of his father’s preference of his elder twin. He never measured up to being a “manly man.”
Jacob and Rebekah’s deception of Isaac cost Jacob dearly. He had to flee the security of home.
Jacob’s years with Laban and his family were challenging, to say the least. He was deceived by Laban, married to two women who fought constantly, despised by most of his sons, treated irrationally by his employer, robbed of his favored son, and bombarded with deep grief.

Such is a life of one who seeks to live independently of God. No God, no peace. Know God, know peace. Even in the midst of adversity.

Jacob’s story teaches a number of truths about God and life:

God takes a man as he is. He uses life’s hardships and consequences to corral a man, break him of an independent spirit, enlarge him (“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress” - Psalm 4:1, KJV), and reveal Himself to him.
Continual friction and hardship are inadequate gauges to use in assessing life. A person may live a life of ease and not know God. Does a man come to know God in the process? That’s all that matters!

Rather live a long life of difficulty and get to know God than to live a long life full of fun and not know God at all!

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"Joseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father and brothers, with the flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen. Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you, and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen."

Psalm 105:17-19 describes Joseph's preparatory time in Egypt, "He sent a man before them--Joseph-- who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons until the time that his word came to pass. The word of the Lord tested him." (Psalm 105:17-19)

Joseph attended God's School of Leadership Training from age seventeen until age thirty. God's educational program lasted thirteen years and consisted of three courses resulting in three separate grades. He couldn't precede to the next course until he passed the previous course. How'd he do?

The first course: The Passage of Time

God spoke to him in a dream when he was just seventeen years old and then confirmed it in a second dream. Thirteen years pass as he waits. And he waits some more. He trusts in the Lord the entire time. Everyone around him recognizes the peace of God upon his life. This first course was to teach this future leader how to wait upon God. With seven years of devastating worldwide drought ahead of him he would need this life skill. Waiting teaches future leaders that faith and scheming don't mix (See Isaiah 64:4). Grade: A+

The second course: The Problem of Suffering

Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold, first to a band of traders, and then again, to a wealthy Egyptian. Tough stuff for a favored child! If that's not enough he is falsely accused of sexual harassment by the boss' wife and wronging thrown into prison. While there he is forgotten by a fellow prisoner who forgets the prophetic word Joseph gives him about his restored position in Pharaoh's house. Joseph remains in prison for two more years. Time flies when you are having fun but drags on and on during suffering; although Joseph wasn't having fun he remains faithful. Suffering teaches future leaders perseverance and godly character (Romans 5:3-4). Joseph would need plenty of both for the years ahead of him. Grade: A+

Third course: The Place of Forgiveness

Think of the people that Joseph had to forgive: his brothers, his boss, his boss' wife, and Pharaoh's cupbearer. Betrayal teaches future leaders to see the redemptive hand of God even in the pain caused by others. Joseph would need to demonstrate tenderness toward others as the second in command of a suffering nation. Grade: A+

The Word of God tests you too. Are you waiting on the Lord or fretting and scheming? Are you rejoicing in your suffering or complaining bitterly? Are you holding a grudge against someone or forgiving them graciously and freely? Your becoming a leader depends on how you answer these questions. How are you doing? Joseph reveals a heart of complete forgiveness when he asks Pharaoh for the best part of the land for his father and brothers. Those who forgive and see God in the midst of their circumstances offer the best to those who've hurt them.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
1 Chronicles 1:1-23; 7:1-5, 30-40; Genesis 14:46-47:12

Describe Joseph and his father's reunion.
Why does Pharaoh show such generosity to Jacob and his sons?
How does Jacob describe his life to Pharaoh?
What does Joseph, his brothers, and their father learn about God over the past twenty-plus years?

Turning truth into prayer
Unforgiveness robs people of leadership potential. Ask the Lord to pinpoint people in your life for whom you wish less than the best because of residual bitterness or unforgiveness.

Trumped Up Evidence

2012-01-30T00:01:00.011-06:00

Joseph’s brothers present Jacob with trumped-up evidence of Joseph’s death, his shredded coat, dried blood, and bewildered faces. Jacob views all three and concludes that Joseph is dead. Jacob believes a lie based on trumped-up evidence and something within him dies.

Twenty-two years later his sons return from their second trip to Egypt bearing the good news that Joseph is indeed alive. At first Jacob refuses to believe the truth (the trumped-up evidence had been so compelling) until he sees the carts Joseph had sent to carry him to Egypt. That something within that had died revives. Jacob has a glitter in his eye, a jump in his step, and hope in his heart as he loads up his family and heads toward Egypt.

On the way Jacob stops at Beersheba and offers sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac, for the first time in twenty-two years. God also speaks to him for the first time in twenty-two years, “I am God, the God of your father,” he said, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.” (Genesis 46:3-4)

Several truths emerge from this story:

Just as Jacob’s sons use “trumped-up evidence” to deceive their father so the father of lies uses trumped-up evidence to deceive people today. The shredded coats of circumstances and broken relationships and the dried blood of dreams, hopes and plans convince many that God is finished with them.
Something dies within the one who believes the trumped-up evidence. Hopelessness, despair, depression, and bitterness settle in. For years. Only the truth sets one free.
Jacob hears God speak to him once the lie is revealed by the light of truth. Believing trumped-evidence about God, about himself, his family and his circumstances closes Jacob’s heart toward God. Once the truth breaks through he again offers sacrifices to the Lord and God speaks to him.

Things are never as they appear. Hope, therefore, cannot be based on circumstances and people, but in the Living God. The Psalmist captures this when he states, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:13-14)

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"Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." (Psalm 45:4)

When you can say "Come close to me" (not so that you can get in a good punch) in the spirit of reconciliation to someone who has hurt you then you've matured in grace and faith. Your view of God will determine whether or not you'll forgive others for hurting you. Joseph saw the hand of God in all that touched his life and was therefore able to extend forgiveness to his offending brothers.

Jesus said that "offenses must come" (Matthew 18:7). Offences must come but nothing others do to me should cause me to live a resentful and bitter life. How can I, like Joseph, live at peace with those who've caused me deep heartache and pain?2 Corinthians 4:7-18 is just one of many Scriptures providing an answer:

I am an earthen vessel. Besides being useful I am also vulnerable to being dropped, cracked and broken.
The treasure, Jesus Christ, resides powerfully within my spirit which is encased by my physical body.
The pressure of difficult and often perplexing betrayal and persecution works to bring about my death (the self-life) so that the indwelling life of Christ can "break out" and meaningfully touch the lives of "undeserving" others.
God bursts through the temporal world of brokenness and offers healing. And, all through me. His vessel.

Pain inflicted by others becomes a conduit for the manifestation of God through your life. Forgiveness/Unforgiveness is the cut off valve prohibiting or releasing the Spirit of Christ through me to touch "undeserving" others graciously, meaningfully and deeply.
Steps to walking in forgiveness:

Recognize that I am expecting something from others. Offences come because I expect something from others, whether it is praise, affirmation, acceptance, validation, or one of the many other things we expect from others.
I reckon myself dead to the offence and release it to the Lord. Dead people have no expectations. "I died and my life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). Dead people can't be offended.
By faith, I yield to the life of Christ dwelling in me. I appropriate the promise of His presence and residence. Jesus is what people need. I, with my expectations and unforgiveness, get in the way of His giving them what they need (grace) through my life.
I choose to forgive, which means, I verbally release that person and specific hurt to the Lord. (Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling.)
I must then refuse to entertain thoughts of evil, suspicion, and mental record keeping of wrongs committed against me (1 Cor. 13:5). I refuse to give the enemy a place of operation in my life by allowing negative and unforgiving thoughts about another to fester. I will not allow the accuser of the brethren to accuse others through my mind.
I thank the Lord for the offended person, the misunderstanding and ask the Lord to use it redemptively in my life to teach me humility and agape love. 2 Cor. 4:7-15.
I offer my body as a living sacrifice and yield to the life of Christ residing in me to do what I cannot: agape love. I ask the Lord Jesus to literally take over my physical body and manifest Himself through my mortal flesh. And, He does! Even my countenance towards the offending brother/sister changes. I don't have to "fake" it. He surfaces and faces those offenders on my behalf IN me. It is an awesome and freeing experience. This is Romans 5:8 "love" and it does not originate from me but within me and can be mine toward others experientially.

Instead of causing bitterness these painful situations become stepping stones of sanctification. Once the Lord does all that He intends in me He will work in them. Ultimately, other people are not your real enemy. Unforgiveness is your real enemy!. The enemy has a field day in the lives of those who refuse to walk with a heart of forgiveness toward those who've hurt them.

You cannot control how that other person responds; you, however, are responsible for how you handle the situation. The real indicator that Joseph has forgiven from the heart is seen in his words "Come close to me." When you can say to those who've hurt you "Come close to me" you've entered the very portal of grace.

Questions for today's Chronologcal Bible reading:
Genesis 45:1-46:9

Descibe Joseph's view of God.
Joseph describes himself as "father to Pharaoh", "lord of his entire household", and "ruler of all Egypt". How has his time in Potipar's house and in prison prepared him to take on such huge responsibilites?
What had Joseph learned about himself, God, and others during those thirteen years of preparation?
What happens to Jacob when he hears the news of Joseph's life and position?
What does this teach you about the effects of believing lies?
How does Jacob know that it is God's will for him to leave Canaan and go to Egypt?
What does God promise Jacob about his descendents?

Turning truth into prayer
Ask the Lord to show you where you are being held captive by unforgiveness. Determine before the Lord that you will work through the steps of release and forgiveness.

Operating From A Love-deficit

2012-01-29T00:01:00.016-06:00

The last words Joseph hears before he is sold to a band of traders are from Leah’s son, Judah. It was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelite traders, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood” (Genesis 37:27). Mission accomplished. No brother, no fulfillment of his dreams and no bowing down to the favored son. No brother, no more favoritism from their father.

The twenty-two years between Judah’s treacherous decision to sell Joseph and the brother’s sojourn to Egypt taught Judah a thing or two about hurt and bitterness:

Those who operate out of a father’s love-deficit often attack those who know a father’s love-surplus out of jealousy.

Bitterness hardens people to the hurt they inflict on others; experiencing similar loss softens the heart toward those whom they’ve hurt in the past.

It was Judah whose two sons, Er and Onan, were “taken out” by the Lord because of their wickedness (Genesis 38:6-10). It was Judah who became a widower (Genesis 38:12). It was Judah who experienced a tremendous amount of heartache. Judah now understands the grief that occurs from the loss of sons.

Judah knows firsthand what it is like to lose, not one, but two sons. Therefore, he seeks to spare his father the loss of his son, Benjamin, “Now then, please, let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father” (Genesis 44:33-34). He is now ready to give up his own life in place of his younger brother’s life.

This story is especially meaningful in a world where blended families have become the norm. Sibling rivalry is challenging enough without the complications of additional relationships. This blended family, like those in our day, was a seedbed for hurt, jealousy, and bitterness. Believers who’ve grown up in such homes don’t have to operate out of a love-deficit, but a love-surplus. We have a Father in heaven who is perfect and who loves perfectly.

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"Their father Jacob said to them, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Every thing is against me!" (Genesis 42:36)

Really? Everything?

"Everything is against me." So Jacob thought. Meanwhile everything was really working out for the redemption of his entire family. This isn't the first time he has looked at his circumstances or situation and believed a lie. Years earlier his sons brought in Joseph's ripped and bloodied coat of many colors and he immediately assumed that something terrible had happened to Joseph and that he was dead (37:31-33). Jacob, in fact, believed that Joseph was dead for more than twenty years. For twenty years he believe a lie.

People believe lies all of the time based upon trumped up evidence. The enemy is good at framing situations and fabricating evidence. So, circumstances, for the child of God, may not always be as they appear at first glance.

People sometimes believe that God doesn't love them when they lose their job, experience some other sudden loss or a particular prayer remains unanswered. God works behind the scenes accomplishing his purposes. Just because we can't see Him at work doesn't mean that He is inactive. All things do work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

For the believer this means that God is not only at work in the eternal realm accomplishing His purposes but that He is at work presently in my circumstance. I can trust Him in spite of the evidence which seems to declare otherwise.
Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Genesis 42:1-44:34

How do the brothers describe themselves to Joseph?
How do the brothers explain their being held in custody?
What does Joseph discover about Reuben?
Who do the brothers blame for the silver found in their grain bags?
Read Proverbs 19:3. How do those who've done foolishness respond when they've suffered the consequences?
How does Jacob respond to the brother's report?
Upon what does he base his conclusion? (See also his believing trumped up evidence years before-Genesis 37:31-34)
What do the brothers believe about Joseph when they return to Egypt and are invited to Joseph's house for a meal?
How many times do the brothers bow down to Joseph unknowingly? (What had Joseph dreamed about his brothers years before?)

Turning truth into prayerWhat are some lies you've believed about yourself and about God? Ask the Lord to reveal lies that you've believe which have held you captive.

Life Courses in Management

2012-01-28T00:01:00.020-06:00

Joseph is the eleventh son in a large household, which must have taken some management to feed, clothe, and care for. Overseeing his father’s extensive flock absorbed the time of he and all his brothers. Little does Joseph know that his boyhood experience form the bedrock of a lifetime of management.

Joseph makes the best of his circumstances when he is bought by Potiphar, the captain of the guard. He simply does what he knows best. He manages. He manages with the awareness of God’s presence. And he manages well. So much so that Potiphar promotes him as the overseer of his house and all that he has.

Like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Joseph has good genes. His handsome form and appearance catch the lustful eye of Potipar’s wife (a real cougar!). Joseph finds himself thrown into jail after being falsely accused of attempted rape. Joseph again does what he knows best, he manages. His organizational skills (and the Lord’s presence); promote him to prison supervisor. During his tenure two of Pharaoh’s servants are thrown into prison and share the dreams that they have with Joseph. He accurately interprets both men’s dreams; one man is restored to his position while the other is hanged. Meanwhile, Joseph continues to do what he knows best. He manages. For two more years.

The Lord interrupts Pharaoh’s sleep with two disturbing dreams. Mystified by these dreams Pharaoh demands an interpretation. The former prisoner remembers Joseph. Joseph is immediately called for. He interprets the dream and offers managerial advise. Pharaoh recognizes the Lord’s presence and Joseph’s managerial skills and promotes Joseph to oversee Egypt’s economy for the following 14 years.

Joseph’s whole life prepares him for this one position that will save an entire generation, including his own family, from massive starvation. Who knew that all these management experiences would lead to an even greater position? God did!

This story reveals a number of truths about work ethic, attitude, and providence:

A right attitude toward God and adverse circumstances prepares a man to do what he knows he should do. A man with a high view of God accesses each circumstance that comes his way as opportunities to excel for the glory of God. Joseph apparently maintained a joyful attitude and strong work ethic at each juncture of his life. The wisdom writer couples man’s positive attitude with God’s providence, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

God uses the adverse circumstances brought about by the evil intent of others to further His redemptive purposes. The wisdom writer states it this way, “A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way? (Proverbs 20:24)

Joseph only knew in retrospect that each of his managerial experiences in adverse conditions were crucial for the saving of an entire generation of people, including his own.

He is good. He does good. We can trust Him in the midst of adversity.

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"When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream." Genesis 41:1)

God works on both sides of the bars. Prison bars.

On the one side He drops two of Pharaoh's servants behind prison bars, gives them both dreams and has Joseph interpret them. I know exactly what Joseph must be thinking when he tells the butler "But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison." He's thinking "I'll be out in just a few more days." Upon his release the butler forgets Joseph. Hope of release disappears as the days pass into weeks. Two more years pass as Joseph finishes his educational course designed by God to teach him patience and endurance, which God knew that he would need to lead the people during days of famine.

Meanwhile on the other side of the prison bars God drops two disturbing dreams into the middle of Pharaoh's sleep which necessitated interpretation. God sovereignly and strategically places the restored butler whose dream has been interpreted by Joseph into position on the other side of the prison bars as well. He remembers Joseph at just the right time. When God is ready.

God works on both sides of the prison bars preparing a prisoner to lead and a Pharaoh to follow. And all because of a promise He made decades before to Abraham regarding his descendents, "Know certainly that your descendents will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years" (15:13).

Joseph has no control over his circumstances. He spends thirteen years as a slave and prisoner. Working in Potiphar's house and time behind bars were years not wasted but years learning about people and about God—things which can't be learned from a book. Time behind bars teach Joseph forgiveness, perseverance, and hope. The time behind bars prepares him, upon his release, to rescue his family and lead a nation during a seven-year crisis.What are you learning behind the bars of your life? Could it be that God is preparing you for the life He is preparing on the other side of the bars? God works on both sides of the bars.

Seeing His work on both sides requires faith.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Genesis 40:1-41:57

What does Joseph understand about dreams? About God?
What does Joseph's demotion and promotion teach you about God?
Read Psalm 75:6-7. What does this verse teach you about God?

Turning truth into prayer
Thank the Lord that He is at work in your life right now. Ask Him to help you exercise faith in Him in the midst of whatever circumstances you are going through.

Family Dysfunction and Providence

2012-01-27T00:01:00.019-06:00

Joseph never had a chance with his brothers.

When Jacob prepares to meet Esau he places the maidservants and their children in front of his delegation (the most dangerous position) followed by Leah and her brood. He places Rachel and Joseph closest to himself (Genesis 33:1-3). Wonder what this did to create sibling rivalry?

Jacob’s designing a “rich ornamented robe” for Joseph to wear only increases the distance between the brothers and further distinguishes Joseph as Jacob’s favored and loved son. Then he has those dreams with interpretations and implications far too clear to miss. Poor guy never had a chance!

Life does that to people. Sets them up for challenging relationships and harsh circumstances. But God (great words) transforms those challenges into providence and uses them to propel His redemptive purposes. He did that with Joseph and He does that with His people today.

Bitterness, hatred, betrayal, retaliation are mere man-made chisels upon the stone of Joseph’s life and the seminal nation of Israel to fulfill His promise to Abraham, “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them for four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:13-14).

Jacob’s favoritism and the betrayal of Joseph’s brothers reveal several truths about family dysfunction and providence:

Bitterness, hatred, betrayal, retaliation, vengeance, etc., though formed in the heart of man intent on evil, provide the tools that He uses to bring His people “out with great possessions”. He takes and uses the evil that men do to transform those whom He loves.
God wastes nothing, including unfair treatment, abuse, etc. He doesn’t cause them, but He utilizes them for His own redemptive purposes.

Joseph’s story gives an example of a life-time view of family dysfunction and providence, when the story continues with, “Meanwhile the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard” (Genesis 37:36). Meanwhile. What a hope-filled word! Something else is always going on that eye cannot see or mind understand, but that faith in God can grasp.

The truth that, “God uses what He hates to perform what He loves.” should warm our hearts with possibility. How will God use this in my life?

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"Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them. "Very well," he replied." (Genesis 37:12-14)

Years before in Jacob's life one single act of obedience changes his life as he obeys his mother's instructions to go to Haran to Rebekah's family. What he thought would be for a short while (27:43-45) actually turns into twenty-plus years. Years filled with family additions, increase of wealth, and a lot of conflict. That single act of obedience changed the course of his life. Who knew?

Many years later David's father, Jesse, sends David to check on his brothers who are engaged in warfare with the Philistines. That day changes the course of his life as he encounters and deals a death blow to Goliath. Though he spends the next thirteen years fleeing from King Saul he eventually becomes Israel's beloved second king. One simple act of obedience places him on the trajectory toward coronation.

Back to Joseph as he is sent by his father to check on the welfare of his brothers. One act of obedience separates father and son for more than twenty years. Joseph spends those years experiencing more betrayal, false imprisonment, the presence of God, and finally, elevation to the position of prime minister. All because of one act of obedience.

Who knows how one act of obedience will define or redefine you? Only God knows.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading: Genesis 37:1-39:23

How does Jacob's partiality toward Joseph affect Joseph's relationship with his brothers? (You'd think Jacob would have learned his lesson about favoritism!)
How do Joseph's dreams change his life?
Which brother came up with the idea to sell Joseph?
What do the brothers think their selling Joseph to Midianite merchants do to Joseph's dreams?
How do the brothers deceive their father?
What does Judah's marrying a Canaanite woman and his following actions tell you about his relationship with God?
What character trait keeps Joseph from tampering with his bosses' wife?
List the events that occur following Joseph's dreams which seem to contradict the dreams given to him by God.
What does this tell you about God and His ways?

Turning truth into prayer
Ask the Lord to help you see the seriousness of every act of obedience and disobedience.

Forgiveness and Reconciliation

2012-01-26T00:01:00.019-06:00

Both the passage of time (twenty years) and unforgiveness separate two brothers. Jacob hurt Esau when he deceived their father and stole Esau’s blessing.

Esau could easily justify his anger and murderous thoughts against Jacob who had stolen from him.

Jacob could, just as easily, justify the deception of his brother because of Esau’s marriages to pagan women.

Forgiveness is one-sided. Forgiveness occurs when one party moves toward the other. Reconciliation, however, is two-sided. Reconciliation occurs when both parties abandon their self-justification, release the other’s debt, and move toward the other.

Esau, though a pagan man, never looked more like God than when he not only forgave Jacob, but warmly embraced him in reconciliation. That’s why Jacob says, “For to see your face is like seeing the face of God.” (Genesis 33:10) Grace, administered through a pagan brother, broke through the cloud of guilt and shame that hovered over Jacob’s life for the past twenty years. Pardon is given and the relationship is restored. That’s so like God!

This scene of reconciliation between the brothers offers several truths about forgiveness and reconciliation:

A person is never more like God than when they forgive another.

Harboring unforgiveness toward another, therefore, is ungodly. No matter who you are.
Reconciliation occurs when two forgivers move toward the other.

Reconciliation in relationships expresses the heart of God. God could easily justify His anger toward ruined and rebellious sinners, but at the cross God forgives by allowing His spotless substitute to take the wrath that man deserves (at great cost to Himself) and offers man total reconciliation. Like Jacob, man must humble himself and receive this gracious gift. Fully forgiven. Fully restored.

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Intermarriage and the people of God

Seth’s descendants began to intermarry with Cain’s descendants and the whole world becomes corrupt save one man, Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives (Genesis 6:1-8)

Abraham forbade Isaac’s taking a wife from among the Canaanites and sent his servant to the home place of his relatives to procure a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24:3-4).

Esau’s marriages to Canaanite women grieved the hearts of Isaac and Rebekah and they sent Jacob to obtain a wife from among her people. After 20 years of living among Laban’s family Jacob returns to the land of promise.

Intermarriage among the Canaanites again becomes an issue when Jacob returns to the land of his fathers. First on the agenda is revenge for the rape of Dinah by a Shechemite prince. The Shechemites use this incident to tempt Jacob and his sons to become one with their people. Jabob’s sons pretend to comply, demand the circumcision of the Shechemites, and kill them while they are vulnerable.

Perhaps, had Jacob returned to Bethel where he had met God before and where God had promised to meet with him again this entire incident would have been avoided (Genesis 28:13-22; 3113). Nevertheless, this occurrence demonstrates once again God’s displeasure with pagan intermarriage. The Shechemites summarized the consequences of intermarriage, “Won’t their livestock, their property and all their animals become ours?” (Genesis 34:23). With intermarriage comes a loss of identity and possessions.

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Today's Chronological Bible reading: Genesis 33:1-35:29

"Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor." (Genesis 34:13)

God meets Jacob as he flees from Esau and gives Jacob a promise that he and his descendants would return to and inherit Canaan (Genesis 28:13-15). Twenty years later Jacob now faces a choice--would he rely upon God to fulfill His promise or would he inherit Canann by allowing his daughter to marry Shechem who promised him "you can settle among us; the land is open to you." Unfortunately we will never know the answer to that question because his sons take the matter into their own hands. They trick the Hivites into being circumcised and then kill them all on the third day while they are laid up in pain.

Jacob has taught his sons to scheme by his own example. Jacob reaps in his sons the fruit of a lifestyle of scheming although he himself had now renounced that lifestyle. (He was a recovering schemer!) The seeds he sowed in the lives of his children (especially Simeon and Levi) are now bearing the bitter fruit of disobedience, deception, and destruction. Jacob was not pleased by their taking the lives of those who had shamed their sister. Later, on his deathbed, Jacob cursed Simeon and Levi's willfulness and anger (Genesis 49:5-7).

Scheming may seem like an easy and viable way to solve your problems now but the ultimate price later may be far greater than any you want to pay. Children of schemers often become masters of scheming.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Genesis 33:1-35:29

Why were the Shechem's people so anxious to intermarry into Jacob's family?
What do the Hivite's offer that might induce Jacob to consider allowing this marriage to take place?
What had God promised Jacob regarding the land of Canaan?
What has Jacob learned about God over the course of his life regarding the promises of God?
What plan do the brothers concoct to avenge their sister's honor?
What does Jacob command of his sons as they prepare to return to Bethel to worship?
What is so significant about Bethel?
What happens after Jacob's encounter with God in Bethel?
What does this tell you about spending time with the Lord?

Turning truth into prayer
Ask the Lord to give you the wisdom needed to teach your children not to scheme.

Hidden Idols of the Heart

2012-01-25T00:01:00.047-06:00

Idolatry plays a role in the seminal days of the nation of Israel. Abraham’s father, Terah, worshiped idols (Joshua 24:2); it skips over Abraham and Isaacs’ generation, but rears its ugly head again in Jacob’s generation.

Rachel takes the household gods of her father and hides them when Jacob gathers his family to flee from Laban.

What was true of Rachel is true of many believers throughout history. She possessed an image of a god with which she was familiar and comfortable. A god she could carry around with her. A god who was smaller than she. A god hidden away among her possessions. A god who isn’t God at all. She also experienced the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who opened her womb, who instructed Jacob to return the land promised to Abraham. Hers was a syncretistic religion—a blending of Laban’s god with Jacob’s God—therefore, she operated out of a corrupt view of God.

Westerners may not have carved images in their houses, but they’ve images of God they’ve created in their hearts. Images of God with a mouth that cannot speak. Images of God with ears that cannot hear. Images with hands that cannot help. Distant. Aloof. Unseeing. Images of God that do not interfere, confront, correct, lead or punish—one that is tolerant, passive, and Santa Claus-like. Imbalanced. Un-biblical.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob speaks, sees, hears, and acts. He is loving, patient, intimately involved, redemptive, firm, powerful, confrontational, wise, merciful, gracious, and jealous.

A saint from the past diagnosed the problem of idolatry in the heart, “There is a god we want and a God who is; the turning point comes when we relinquish the god we want Him to be and embrace the God who is.”

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob doesn’t resemble the god of Laban and Rachel in any way. May God search our hearts and reveal the images we’ve entertained of Him that are corrupt and ignoble. May we replace these images with the view of Him revealed in the Scriptures—incorruptible, unchanging, and everlasting.

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Wrestling With God

"So Jacob was alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak" (Genesis 32:24).

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines wrestling as "a sport or contest in which two unarmed individuals struggle hand-to-hand with each attempting to subdue or unbalance the other."

Jacob wrestles with God. An unequal match to be certain. God has no weakness to be exploited, but Jacob does.

Jacob's battle was never really with Esau or Laban (See Ephesians 6:12; 2 Cor. 10:3); it was spiritual in nature and it was between him and his God. God wrestles with Jacob to bring him to the end of himself. This "wrestler with God" has spent his entire life exploiting others instead of relying upon God to fulfill His promises for his life. This final wrestling with God has brought him to the end of himself where he can't go back and he can't go forward without God's intervention and protection. He truly is between a rock and a hard place. What a great place to be--where God shows up!

How do we "wrestle" with God today?

When we scheme to make things happen
When we make promises to God based upon our own ability rather than surrendering to God
When we take advantage of others
When we run away from our problems instead of taking our problems to God

We all have our Peniel's-places where we finally surrender our abilities and embrace God's promises and power.
Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Genesis 31:1-32:32

What are the two indicators that it is time for Jacob to return to Canaan?
What does God promise Jacob?
How does God come to Jacob's aid as he flees Leban?
What does this tell you about God?
Describe Jacob's emotional state as he prepares to face his brother?
Genesis 32:9 records the first time that Jacob actually seeks God. What is the basis of his prayer?
In spite of God's promises to Jacob what does he continue to do as he prepares to meet Esau?
What does Jacob learn about himself, about scheming, and about God at Peniel?

Turning truth into prayer
Is there something you are wrestling with God over? The sooner you surrender the less painful it will be. Offer a prayer of surrender to the Lord Jesus.

ADD: Affection Deficit Disorder

2012-01-24T00:01:00.015-06:00

A deep sadness envelops Leah and overshadows all that she does. She is unloved by Jacob and everyone knows it. Similarly, a deep sadness occurs, month in and month out, as barrenness hovers over Rachel’s life like a dark cloud. Everyone is aware of her deficiency. Both women live with a deficit: Leah lacks love and Rachel lacks babies. Ripe conditions for competition.

Women compete with one another for value, accolades, prominence, love, and affection. With every baby Leah hopes to experience Jacob’s love. She wants what Rachel has. The arrival of each of Leah’s babies reminds the Rachel of the one thing she lacks: a fertile womb. She wants what Leah has.

Each woman suffers with a competitive spirit and ADD, Affection Deficit Disorder.

Jacob’s affection isn’t quite enough while Rachel’s womb remains empty. Leah has what Rachel wants, the affection of sons.

A packed nursery doesn’t replace the empty heart of Jacob’s dutiful nightly visits into Leah’s tent. Rachel possesses what Leah wants. Leah craves the affection given by loving husbands to loved wives.

Both women live with continual disappointment as they focus on what the other has. A completive spirit is born on the wings of insecurity. Women compensate for the thing they lack (insecurity) by focusing on the one thing in which they excel (Leah’s womb and Rachel’s beauty).

It takes Jacob, the man on the run from God, even longer to come to the end of himself. A beautiful wife, the clamor of other women for his attention, increasing family and wealth are poor substitutes for what is missing from his life. He too, has Affection Deficit Disorder.

A number of truths emerge from this story:

The dull ache of living outside of the garden of Eden affects the hearts of both men and women. Competition with other women is a symptom of a spiritual problem. An obsession to gain wealth is a symptom of a spiritual problem.

The awareness of deficiencies reminds both men and women that no human relationship or work can fill the void inherited in the hearts of all when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit.

Outward beauty cannot erase sin in the heart; full nurseries cannot empty the heart of sin; and, hard work and the accumulation of possessions cannot expunge sin from the heart.

Everyone is born with Affection Deficit Disorder. Some feel it more acutely than others. Women substitute personal beauty, the love and affection of husbands and children for the affection of Christ. Men substitute beautiful women and personal kingdom-building for a relationship with Christ.

Paul emphasizes the beauty and reality of Christ’s affection, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy. . .” (Philippians 2:1). The Spirit fills the craving hearts of those belonging to Christ with the affection of Christ. He is what the soul longs for.

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Building Blocks of a Nation
"Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob and Jacob lay with her" (Genesis 29:16,22-23).

God elevates Leah, the "un-pretty one" with her crossed eyes, insecurity, and scheming ways, by making her the matriarch of the kingly tribe of Judah and the priestly tribe of Levi. She, of course, never realizes her contribution to the covenant people of God and nation during her lifetime. And Jacob? He would have made a great 21st century politician with his lying and scheming.

God chooses unlikely people as building blocks of the people and nation promised to Abraham. The scheming and sibling rivalry behavior of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah demonstrate the truth found in Paul's letter to the pagan-background Corinthian believers:

"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen to shame the things which are might; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence" (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

One of the great mysteries of the Bible is how God takes and uses flawed people. Yes, they live with the negative consequences of their actions, but somehow in the wisdom of God their behavior doesn't prevent God from accomplishing His redemptive process. God is SO big that He is able to discipline us with the consequences of our mistakes while accomplishing His will, in spite of serious errors/sins on our part. Obviously, that doesn't excuse the attitude that Paul had to address with those abusing grace: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1).

The Genesis stories, especially, encourage flawed people as they identify with the imperfect people found in the drama of these foundational stories of the Bible. When we understand that God doesn't call the perfect, but rather He perfects the flawed, then we are able to receive His grace and extend His grace to others.
The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller challenges the reader to evaluate whether he/she really understands and walks in grace. Read it and be blessed.

Questions for today's Chronological Bible reading:
Genesis 28:10-30:43

Describe Jacob's physical and spiritual state when God speaks to him in a dream.
What does God's promise do for Jacob and how does he respond to God's promise?
What does Leah think having children will do for her and her relationship with Jacob?
How do women use their children today to meet their unmet emotional and relationship needs? Why is this unhealthy?
Describe God's relationship with Leah. What does this tell you about God?
Describe God's relationship with Rachel. What does this teach you about God?

Turning truth into prayer

Ask the Lord to use your past failures to help you understand grace and extend grace to others.