Bibledoorajar: Deliberate

Deliberate. That is what is recorded in regard to the golden calf episode. It cannot be denied. The people of God deliberately chose to go against God and all their promises of fidelity to Him. As it was, it shall ever be. Men deliberately choose to select the ungodly. They like to say there was no choice, that nature propelled them in a certain direction, but the truth is free will and choice always existed. We choose everyday what or whom we will serve.

 If you follow the story long enough you will find what the real trouble was at the golden calf fiasco.
In Deuteronomy 32 we learn that the vast portion of the children of Israel possessed no FAITH in God.  They knew the choice of idolatry in Egypt and they liked the choice of idolatry of Egypt. There were no tablets of laws associated with that worship but there was a great deal of carnality.

There is a reason why years later the apostle Paul wrote to the carnal Corinthians to flee idolatry. He urged them to make a choice. He urged them to walk in pure faith of the living God and to seek blessings associated with Him. At this time there is great pressure on Christian leaders to not dwell on the problems of pursuing forms of idolatry and sin. These are to be ignored, but the problem with that is that statistics prove that such pursuits as the object of choice do not bode well for humans. Many are dying young from disease and/or suicide as a result of life choices. Many who call themselves Christians possess no living faith in Jesus. They embrace their life choices rather than cast them on the Lord at the cross.

I used to have a handyman of Mexican origin. He would come to work and he would always try to teach us a bit of Spanish. He never failed to come without saying this, "Fe es La Victoria"---Faith is the Victory. It was and always will be the way to overcome the world.

"For Thou, O Lord, are high above the earth
Thou art exalted far above all gods"
                                           Lyrics by Pete Sanchez

Bibledoorajar: The Great Shift

When I was in Graduate School, we were taught theories about how we humans wind up doing what we do to cope with our neediness.  We learned about projection, the phenomena where we project our needs and difficulties on to someone else in order to get relief. And, we also learned about the theory of introjection wherein we adopt the ideas or attitudes of others in order to gain relief.

While God was in their midst the people projected all their needs on Him and said they would always follow Moses their deliverer. Remember, Moses wrote it down? And then Moses disappeared to Mt. Sinai for some personal time with the Lord and the people got antsy. Yesterday they saw Moses and today they did not. Thus, began the process of introjection. They began to look around for someone or something that would bring them relief. For them it was the memory of the gods of Egypt.

     "This is that Moses who told the Israelites, God

       will send you a prophet like me from your own

       people. He was in the church in the wilderness,

       and the angel spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and

       with our fathers; and he received living words to

      pass on to us. But our fathers refused to obey him.

      They told Aaron, ' make us gods who will go before

      us---we don't know what has happened to him!"

The martyr Stephen's address to the Jews in the Narrated Bible, Acts. 7

Bibledoorajar: The finger of God

Earlier in Exodus we read of the magicians of Egypt advising Pharaoh that he was being called out by the finger of God. Now we find the finger of God writing commandments on two slabs of stone. From the words of Jesus in Luke 11:20 we learn that if He (Jesus) cast out demons with the finger of God then no doubt the kingdom of God had arrived through Him. God wrote the commandments with His own finger to show His all encompassing authority. Jesus healed and ministered only via God's authority. His authority is the basis for all communities established in His Name. His is the creative power to establish viable God/man loving communities and human interaction. King David said God fashioned his hands and fingers for battle with His authority.

Alfred Lord Tennyson mentioned that the finger of God moved over the one he was memorializing and that afterward he slept in death. Thus it was and always will be with the finger of God. Creation is His and He has declared what a kingdom established by Him should look like.

Bibledoorajar: The Forever Sign

     After all the furnishings of the tabernacle were completed by the artisans of God's own choosing, Moses is instructed to tell the people that the Sabbath day was always to be kept holy. Six days were they to work, but the seventh day of rest was a sign of the relationship the people had ,and would always have, with their God. They were to be advised that no one should ever do any work in the tabernacle on their own lest they die. Everything about the tabernacle was and would always be God's doing. Oh, how much God wanted the people to realize how much He, their God, had done and was continuing to do for them.! The children of Israel were to keep guard about this relationship for it was a perpetual or eternal covenant. It was a covenant based of obedience and that proved to be a terrible problem for the Israelites.
     We know how often the children of Israel broke covenant with their God through their disobedience. Indeed, for the church and eternity, that was the main thing that would have to be addressed by God. There was little doubt that people would not be able to maintain obedience on their own. Israel demonstrated that. And thus, the marvelous grace of Jesus completing all obedience for us came as a wonderful gift. Christ would do the work of obedience and the Holy Spirit would be ever present and prevailing to maintain our faithfulness to Christ. Mercy and grace would be free!!! Help was always one prayer away. And, most importantly, there would be a place of rest for us in this weary place with Jesus.

               "Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on His gentle breast,
                There by His love o'er-shadowed, Sweetly my soul shall rest."

So penned Fanny Crosby in 1870. And so we claim for ourselves today. Our faithfulness is worth eternity and reflects the superlative covenant God established with the death of Jesus. Praise Him.

Bibledoorjar: The Ransom Money

     God had been moving His people closer and closer to Him through all the requirements He made in regard to the tabernacle and the priests. All the holy furnishings had to be redeemed because sinful men employed their use. At last God is satisfied with the redemption process in all but one way. He desired a ransom of 10 gerah be made for each person that would be numbered as He required. This atonement money was to be used in the service of the tabernacle and reflected again the preciousness of its' presence among the people. It also sent the message that the people had been redeemed (saved) but that they are also were redeemed to be His (do His will). They were ransomed to do many things in service to Him such as soldier, king, prophet, artist, parent, etc. Every person was ransomed with the same amount of money and each understood the value of 10 gerah and had, at least some idea, of the contribution it made to the important aspect of the tabernacle. It was not that God needed the money, but He did have to have a way for the people to know they were His and served at His will. Letting go of money was a good way because of its' value. Remember when Jesus told the parable about a woman who had 10 pieces of silver but lost one. She lit a candle and hunted and hunted until she once again had the full amount.
     We learn from the light of the Word that our ransom was not with corruptible silver but with the incorruptible life of our Savior. It is good that we keep our light shining on that.

Bibledoorajar: Holy Furnishings

Yesterday my congregation met for fellowship with God following a rather involved class discussion about what happens to us at death. That is, if we are asleep (comatose) in Jesus, is there another part of us, say our spirit, that is alive and with the Lord and functioning among the many witnesses who urge us to finish the course?  For some, this discussion seemed "complicated" while others seemed to be more at peace with their view. Anyway, later as we came to that part of the worship where we share the emblems. I looked up and noticed that one server was concerned that the other had overlooked a believer and gone on to the next row. He signaled that we cannot leave even one out. (Really, the brother did not intend to leave her out, he just thought his dispensing method would be more efficient). It made me think of this study and how important the Most holy furnishings were and how much thought God put into them so not one would have to feel left out.
 It was with these furnishings that God said where He would meet with His people as opposed to other furnishings in the other parts of the tabernacle which prepared the people to meet with Him. God said He would meet with the people from the Mercy seat which was a solid sheet of pure gold. It sat above the Ark and had a crown of gold that formed the top and sides. It was the most costly item in the Most Holy Place( divine)  and the blood that was sprinkled there for the propitiation of sins was foremost in preciousness. For our sister to whom it looked like she may be left out, it meant that the preciousness of her Propitiatory was overlooked. She, a chosen one, must be included as Christs' (her sins satisfied) in order for the Father to be thoroughly satisfied with the fellowship.
God had also had Moses have a table made. On this table were twelve loaves of "pierced" bread in rows of six. Once again we see that all of God's chosen (the twelve tribes) were represented and therefore none were to be left out. The bread sweetened by frankincense stayed before the Lord for seven days and then was eaten by the High priest and his sons in the holy place. Each loaf was to be the same size indicating all of God's chosen were in view.  How could the sister enjoy this wonderful communion if overlooked? How could I feel complete if she were? But I am glad to say, the communication between the servers was cleared and the one server stepped back to her and saw that she was served. Whew! I now felt we were all one in Him.  And it was wonderful. I pray for all God's chosen who chose to miss this wonderful communion yesterday that they may be imbued by God (as my petition is presented by the Propitiatory and accepted) with a strong desire for this most holy and often fellowship.
          "O Master, through these symbols shared,
          Thine own dear self impart,
          That in our daily life may flame
          The passion of Thy heart."
            From Beneath The Forms of Outward Rite by James Blaisdell

Bibledoorajar: Unfailing Sacrifice

The Lord required that a burnt offering of a live animal be made morning and evening at the time of prayers. This animal sacrifice with its' shedding of blood and slow burn savor going up to God was foundational to all other sacrifices. That is, there were other sacrifices that did not call for spilled blood which could be offered but they only were acceptable within the context of the continual burnt offering. Done morning and evening, it was to be unfailing and carried out under the auspices of the priests.

Jesus died once and for all, and God has declared His sacrifice unfailing. His blood sacrifice is ever pleasing  before God. Paul spoke of being a sacrifice (poured out) via his work for other Christians on the basis of the foundational and unfailing work of Jesus. Sometimes we refer to people willing to do this as martyrs and there have been many. For the most of us, we should think of pouring out a sacrifice of prayer and praise morning and evening. We pour out because of the foundational work of Jesus and our offerings are a sweet savor before the Lord. Our prayers and praise are varied and specific but are always made in the light of sacrificial work of our marvelous Lamb, Jesus.  We may not be unfailing as we serve but praise God His mercy and grace are great. There is always the offering of "Thank you" to be made.