Exodus 29; Servants in God’s Tent – The Priests – Consecration

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20120422_exodus29.mp3

4/22 Exodus 29 Servants in God’s Tent: The Priests (consecration)

Last time we looked at chapter 28, which detailed the official garments of the priests, particularly the high priest. We saw that his clothing was extravagant, designed to match the tabernacle itself, a uniform that would fit him for service in the courts of the King of kings. We saw that he was to serve as a representative who would bear the names of God’s people on his shoulders and bind their names over his heart and carry them symbolically into the presence of God. He had a weighty responsibility.

Today we come to Exodus chapter 29; instructions on the process by which the priests were to be set apart for service in the tabernacle. So far, chapters 25-31 have contained the instructions for what God is commanding his people to do, and the fulfillment, the record of God’s people obediently carrying out every detail of his instructions has been found in chapters 35-40. For the fulfillment of this chapter, we have to go to the next of the five books of Moses, Leviticus, chapter 8.

Today we will take a look at God’s instructions for how his servants were to be set apart, and as we go we will look at some of the ways this points to our service as priests of God, and then ultimately to our Great High Priest.

A Public Ceremony

Before we get into the details of Exodus 29, we should look for a minute at the Leviticus passage, which fills in some additional details.

Leviticus 8:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread. 3 And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” 4 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

We find out in Leviticus 8 that this is a public ceremony. Moses is to gather the entire congregation at the entrance to the courtyard. Everyone in Israel is to be present to see this one who would go before God to make intercession for them installed into this holy office.

The Necessary Materials

Exodus 29:1 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams.

These verses lay out what will be required for this ceremony. The first thing Moses is to do is to gather the appropriate materials that he will need. It will require the special priestly garments described in the last chapter, the special anointing oil described in the next chapter, and three animals; one bull and two rams, all without blemish.

Washed, Clothed, Anointed

Next, we see the actual ceremony begin.

4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5 Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, 9 and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

Moses is to do three things here. He is to wash, he is to clothe, and he is to anoint Aaron for service. Aaron needed to be washed because he was dirty. Remember, at this point Israel is camping in the desert. This was probably not a full bath, as it was public; we can assume that he was already wearing the linen undergarments; they are not mentioned as being put on here. This would be a washing of exposed flesh; the hands and feet. After he was washed, then he was clothed in the uniform of the high priest. Notice that all of these things are being done to Aaron. He is not doing them himself; he is passive. He is washed; he is clothed; and he is anointed. Anointing was a ceremony that was done to set someone apart for a particular office. Kings were anointed (1Sam.16:13); prophets were anointed (1Ki.19:16); and priests were anointed. The Hebrew word for anointing is where we get the word ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’ – it means ‘the anointed one’. Anointing was a symbolic way to show that God’s blessing was being poured out on this individual. The anointing of God’s Messiah is pictured in Psalm 45

Psalm 45:7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; 8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia…

In Psalm 133, the unity of believers is compared to this anointing oil.

Psalm 133:2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!

Aaron is washed, clothed, and anointed. This is useful for us, because we as believers in Jesus Christ are told in several places (Rev.1:5; 1Pet.2:5,9; Rom.15:16) that we are priests to God. We have been washed, clothed and anointed by God. We have been washed and set apart in baptism, where we publicly confess Jesus Christ as our Lord. Ephesians 5 describes how we believers are washed.

Ephesians 5:25 … as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

We are clothed.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

We are anointed.

2 Corinthians 1:21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (cf. 1 Jn.2:20,27)

We as believers, being built into a holy priesthood, are cleansed by the washing of water with the word, are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, are anointed with God’s Holy Spirit.

Three Sacrifices

Next, we have the three animals offered; the sin offering, the whole burnt offering, and the ordination offering. The sin offering was a way for the worshiper to confess and find forgiveness for sins committed in ignorance. The whole burnt offering was the foundational offering that secured atonement for a person and turned God’s anger into favor. The ordination offering was a special kind of fellowship offering, where the worshiper enjoyed the communion of a restored relationship with God. The sequence here starts with the sin offering.

Bull for Sin Offering

10 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Then you shall kill the bull before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 12 and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. 13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

Laying hands on the head of the sacrifice is common to all three of these sacrifices. It is a symbolic way to identify with the animal, to confess sins and recognize that sin deserves death, and this innocent animal will die in my place. In the sin offering, specific acts of sin are in view, specific known violations of God’s law are confessed and forgiven.

In Leviticus 8:15 we are told that this offering served to purify the altar and set it apart to make atonement for it. Even the altar itself, built by the hands of sinful men, needed to be purified, consecrated, set apart for service.

The majority of this sacrifice was not burned on the altar. The blood was smeared on the horns of the altar, and poured out at the base of the altar, the fat and some of the internal organs were burned on the alter, but the bulk of the animal, all the meat, was taken outside the camp and burned. This is as if to say, that’s what I deserve. That’s where I belong, outside the camp, separated from God’s people, cursed and cast out, unclean, excluded. My sins separate me from God, and my sins separate me from God’s people. This offering pictures that clearly. This animal is destroyed outside the camp so that my sin can be forgiven and I can be welcomed as part of the worshiping community.

This part of the sin offering is highlighted by the author of Hebrews.

Hebrews 13:10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Jesus was led outside the city to his place of execution. He was excluded. We go to Jesus, we honor Jesus, we worship Jesus, we gladly accept being excluded because our King was cursed and put outside.

First Ram for Whole Burnt Offering

15 “Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 16 and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, 18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.

The whole burnt offering was the core of the sacrificial system. The entire animal was butchered, prepared, and placed on the altar, and the whole thing went up in smoke to God. This was the offering that dealt, not with specific sins, but with my sinful condition; my sin nature. There is no part of me that has any merit before God. I am sinful through and through. All of me deserves the holy wrath of God. Instead, he offers a substitute. I lay my hands on the head of the animal, confessing that I deserve this punishment, transferring my guilt to it, and the whole thing goes up as a satisfying aroma to God.

Remember, this is a public ceremony. All Israel is looking on. They are seeing this man, the high priest, the one who is to mediate between God and them, lay his hands on the head of this animal. They would recognize in that action a confession of sin, an acknowledgment of guilt deserving death, a need for a substitute. These religious leaders were publicly and openly owning up to the fact that they were no better than the people they were representing before God. They too were sinners that needed forgiveness.

Second Ram For Ordination

19 “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 20 and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. 21 Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. 22 “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD. 24 You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. 25 Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the LORD. It is a food offering to the LORD. 26 “You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be your portion. 27 And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests’ portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and his sons. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD. 29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30 The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days. 31 “You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

This final sacrifice was a special fellowship offering. The fellowship offering always followed the whole burnt offering, and part of this animal was laid on top of the burnt offering, also offered to the Lord. Part of this offering was eaten by the worshiper in God’s presence, enjoying the result of the offering for atonement, enjoying forgiveness and reconciliation with a holy God. A unique part of this ordination offering is that the blood was smeared on Aaron and his sons. Just as the altar was set apart and purified by applying the blood to it, so the people who serve in God’s tent are purified and set apart by sacrificial blood being smeared on them. It was smeared on the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe. The right side was the place of honor and privilege. This would be a symbolic way of setting apart the whole person, from top to bottom. A priest was one who represented the people before God, and taught God’s word to the people. As such, he needed to be attentive himself to God’s word. He needed his ears sanctified. The thumb and big toe of a conquered enemy were sometimes cut off as a way to incapacitate them and render them helpless. The priest’s hands must be set apart for service, to do the things that please his Master. His feet must be set apart for service, to walk in paths of righteousness.

Seven Days of Ordination

35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, 36 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

This ordination ceremony was to last seven days. It seems that these three offerings were repeated every day for seven days, a complete cycle, a full week. This was a big deal. God took six days to create the world and everything in it, and here it takes seven days of bloody sacrifices to set apart these sinful people who are to serve him as priests.

Contrast Jesus

This highlights a contrast with Jesus, our Great High Priest. Last time we saw that Jesus was not part of this earthly priesthood. He didn’t have the right genealogy. He was from the wrong tribe, the royal tribe. He is a different kind of priest altogether. One problem with these priests was that they had to be replaced. They were mortal. Jesus, because he is eternal God, holds his priesthood permanently. The author of Hebrews tells us:

Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Jesus is different, better, a more excellent high priest, because he didn’t need any of these sacrifices to deal with his own sins. He is holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He had no sins of his own to confess. He had no guilt that needed to be atoned. Jesus could stand before his Father on his own merits, accepted. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus had no need to be forgiven. He always perfectly obeyed the will of his Father. Jesus is our final once-for-all greater high priest, who offered the once-for-all sacrifice, his own perfect eternal sinless self as a sin-bearing substitute to once-for-all permanently take away sin.

1 John 3:5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 28; Servants in God’s Tent – The Priests

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20120415_exodus28.mp3

04/15 Exodus 28 Servants in God’s Tent: The Priests

We are in Exodus, studying God’s specifications for the place where he will meet with his people. The view he gives us of the tabernacle began with the place of the manifestation of God’s immediate presence, the symbol of God’s throne in the most sacred place, and backs out through the holy place and out into the courtyard, to the means for sinful people to enter God’s presence, the altar of burnt offering. From there, our view is turned to the priests, primarily the high priest, who would be the one to bring the people back into the presence of God. Then, on the way back in, we will see some of the other furniture that was skipped over earlier, like the brass washbasin and the altar of incense, that would specifically be used by the priest as he enters into the holy places to serve. The focus of this chapter is the unique and elaborate clothing that is to be worn when the high priest enters the presence of God.

Oil For Illumination

It is interesting that the specifications for the lampstand are given in chapter 25, but the oil for the lamp is not presented until the end of chapter 27, right before the description of the garments of the priests.

Exodus 27:20 “You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

The focus turns from the furniture itself to how it is to be used, and specifically to who is to use it. Here we are introduced to Aaron and his sons, who will tend the light. The pure olive oil, oil which is used for anointing, and oil which is used to provide illumination, points forward to the Holy Spirit, who illumines God’s people and anoints them for service. It is appropriate that the oil is presented immediately before those who would serve are are introduced.

Tent of Meeting

It is also interesting that the tabernacle is here for the first time referred to as the ‘tend of meeting’. It is called the tent of meeting because this is the place where God will meet with his people.

Unique Office; Unique Outfit

Let’s look together at the details of this unique outfit that would be worn by the one who would bring God’s sinful people back into his presence, and then we will look to our final High Priest who brings all this to its perfect fulfillment.

Exodus 28:1 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests–Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 6 “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. 7 It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges, so that it may be joined together. 8 And the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

Aaron, Moses’ brother, and his sons, are singled out of all Israel to be the ones who would serve God as priests. A priest is one who guards the honor and glory of God, the one who instructs the people on how God is to be approached, and the one who intercedes in the presence of God on behalf of the people. Aaron and his sons would serve in a unique role, they would fill a unique office, and they were to be clothed for service in a way that would be appropriate to that office.

Holy garments were to be made. These were uniforms that would only be worn while a priest was on duty; they were holy; and would visibly set him apart as one who was authorized to serve in the tabernacle. God says that they were to be made for glory and beauty. ‘Glory’ could literally be translated ‘weighty’ or ‘heavy’; as priests who served the very presence of God, they carried a huge, weighty responsibility. They represented the glory of God himself. They would bear the sins of the people into the very presence of a holy God. Their uniforms would display the weightiness of their responsibility. They were also for beauty. They were to match the beauty of the tabernacle itself, with its gold and its lavish royal colors. In fact, the cloth out of which these garments were made would match the cloth of the tabernacle itself; royal colors, blue, purple and scarlet, colors of the sky, beautiful flame colored garments. In chapter 39, which records the actual making of these garments, there is added detail about how gold leaf was to be hammered out and cut into threads to be woven into the holy garments. These would be uniforms appropriate for those who serve in the courts of the King of kings.

Names on His Shoulders

There is some very specific symbolism built into the uniform of the high priest.

9 You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth. 11 As a jeweler engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree. 12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for remembrance. 13 You shall make settings of gold filigree, 14 and two chains of pure gold, twisted like cords; and you shall attach the corded chains to the settings.

The high priest was to bear stones of remembrance on his shoulders into the presence of the LORD. These two onyx stones were engraved with the names of the the twelve tribes of Israel. He was to bear them on his shoulders. Shoulders are designed to bear burdens. This one man would carry the weight of the whole nation of Israel on his shoulders. He would carry them before God for remembrance. The exodus event started when the people of God cried out for help, and we are told that God heard, God remembered, God saw and God knew (Ex.2:23-25). Here, God was providing a regular way for his people to be symbolically and regularly brought to remembrance. Their names were carried into the presence of the LORD on the shoulders of the high priest.

Names on His Heart

There was a second way God’s people were to be carried by the high priest before the presence of the LORD.

15 “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it–of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. 16 It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; 18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21 There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. 22 You shall make for the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. 23 And you shall make for the breastpiece two rings of gold, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. 24 And you shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. 25 The two ends of the two cords you shall attach to the two settings of filigree, and so attach it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26 You shall make two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. 27 And you shall make two rings of gold, and attach them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 28 And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. 29 So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD.

The high priest carried the names of the tribes into God’s presence, six on each shoulder. He also had them each deeply engraved, as a signet ring would be engraved to leave an impression, each on a precious stone mounted in gold settings on a cloth pouch. This pouch was bound over his heart. This may provide the background to the expression of love we find in the Song of Solomon:

Song of Solomon 8:6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. 7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.

The high priest was to engage both his strength (shoulders) and his mind, will and emotions (heart) in carrying his people before his LORD. This ministry of intercession was to engage his whole being.

God’s Guidance

This breastpiece, bearing the names of each of the tribes of Israel, also had another function. It was called ‘the breastpiece of judgment’; or ‘the breastpiece of decision’.

30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly.

We don’t know much about Urim and Thummim, except that their function was a means of receiving guidance from the LORD in making decisions. The words mean ‘lights and perfections’ or ‘lights and darks’, possibly differently colored stones that were used to determine the will of the LORD by casting lots. The breastpiece served as a pocket to hold the means by which the high priest could inquire direction of the LORD on behalf of the people.

Warning Bells

31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear. 33 On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

The purpose of the bells on the hem of the robe of the high priest were to make noise and announce his presence in the holy place so that he would not die. Entering the presence of the LORD was to be taken seriously. The privacy of God’s holy presence was symbolically guarded by this part of the uniform.

Holiness of Mind

36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ 37 And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

There was to be a reminder, a declaration, bound on the forehead of the high priest, ‘holy to the LORD’. He was to keep at all times on the front of his mind, that he was set apart to the service of the Lord, and the people he represented were also a people set apart, holy. He was the one who would bear their guilt, and the sacrificial blood that covered it, into the presence of the Lord, and he would be the one to bear their gifts, set apart to the Lord, into the presence of the Lord.

To Cover Shame

The concluding note indicates that the rest of Aaron’s sons, those who were not the high priest, were to be similarly but much more simply clothed.

39 “You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework. 40 “For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. 41 And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 42 You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; 43 and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

Remember back in the garden of Eden, God walked with the man and the woman in perfect fellowship, and they were naked and not ashamed. Their rebellion and sin brought shame and guilt, which must now be covered. God’s priests, who were to enter into fellowship with him were to be appropriately clothed.

No Shoes

One thing is missing from this description of the priest’s clothes. There is no description of any kind of footwear. Nothing is said about shoes. God had told Moses (Ex.3:5) to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Now the priests who would minister in God’s holy tent, would apparently minister barefoot.

Our Greater High Priest

The author of Hebrews points back to the priests who descended from Aaron and tells us that a much greater High Priest is now on the scene. Our final High Priest is Jesus. Hebrews does not tell us that Jesus is the latest and greatest high priest. He points to the startling fact that Jesus doesn’t qualify to be one of these Old Testament priests at all (Heb.7:13-14). Jesus is from the wrong tribe. He is from the royal tribe of Judah. The priests who served in the tabernacle must be of the tribe of Levi, descended from Aaron. Jesus is a different kind of priest altogether. He tells us that Jesus is a priest not based on lineage, but on the power of an indestructible life (Heb.7:16). He points us to the fact that Old Testament priests had to be replaced because they kept dying (Heb.7:23-24), but Jesus “holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.” He points us to the weakness and uselessness of the old priesthood, because it was ineffective to make anyone perfect (Heb.7:11, 18-19), and its need to be replaced by something better. And that something better is here. Jesus, who has perfect holiness written on his forehead. Jesus is the one who carries our burdens on his strong shoulders and binds us in love over his heart. It was prophesied in Isaiah

Isaiah 49:15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…

Jesus is the one who keeps us in constant remembrance before his Father.

Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Jesus is the one who guides us in paths of righteousness. Jesus is the one who covers our shame. Jesus clothes us in the royal robes of his own righteousness.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

In fact, now that the old is done away with by Jesus our great High Priest, he invites us, each one of us, all of us, to serve him as priests.

1Peter 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 25:10-22; Furniture in God’s Tent: The Throne Room

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20120304_exodus25_10-22.mp3

3/4 Exodus 25:10-22 Furniture in God’s Tent: The Throne Room

We are in Exodus 25. We are entering now the holiest place. God has rescued and redeemed his people, brought them to himself, entered into a covenant relationship with them, and now he is giving them the gift of his presence. As King and Commander, he will pitch his tent in the middle of their camp. In God’s instructions for the building of his dwelling place, this replica of what is in heaven, he starts with the things that are closest to him, things that most immediately represent his presence. Today we enter the very throne room of God and look at the first two pieces of furniture; the container and its cover.

Exodus 25:10 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16 And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. 17 “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. 21 And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.

And then in Exodus 37 we see these things built to specification.

Exodus 37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 2 And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. 3 And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. 4 And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold 5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. 6 And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 7 And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, 8 one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. 9 The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

The Chest

The most important piece of furniture in God’s tent was this box and its lid. The word translated ‘ark’ means simply a chest, a box or a container. In Genesis 50 this same Hebrew word is used to refer to the box or coffin that Joseph’s body was placed in.

This word is also used in 2 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 24 of a chest with a hole in its lid used as a collection box for money. The ‘ark’ in the tabernacle also serves as a container; God tells Moses in verse 16 to put into this box ‘the testimony that I shall give you.’ The box was to contain the two tablets of stone inscribed with the requirements of the covenant. It was a testimony or witness of the covenant relationship between God and his people. This chest is referred to as ‘the ark of the testimony’ or ‘the ark of the covenant’. We could think of it as the container or ‘safe’ holding the official documentation of the contract between God and his people laid up in the most holy place.

A ‘cubit’ is the distance from the tip of your fingers to your elbow; about 18” long, so this chest was to be about 3′ 9” long; 2′ 3” wide and 2′ 3” tall. The box was to be overlaid with gold inside and out. It was to have a gold molding around it, and it was to have gold feet with gold rings to receive the two gold covered poles. These would serve as handles by which to carry the box, so that no one would touch the box directly. This was King David’s mistake, when he first attempted to bring the ark into the city of Jerusalem, he put it on a cart pulled by oxen. This cost Uzzah his life; when the oxen stumbled and he touched the ark, God was angry and struck him down for his error (2Sam.6; 1Ch.13). This box was holy, set apart, not to be touched by human hands. Later, (Num.4:5-6) we find that the ark was rarely ever to be seen by human eyes; whenever the tabernacle was packed up and moved, the ark was to be wrapped with the veil, then goatskin, and then a blue cloth.

Numbers 4:5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. 6 Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.

This box, containing God’s commandments for his people was only part of this piece of furniture. The other part was its lid. Here it is called ‘the mercy seat’. This cover for the box was an elaborate thing, dimensioned to fit on top of the chest, but made of pure gold, with a winged angelic being formed at both ends.

The Cherubim

The angelic beings are called ‘cherubim’. We first meet the cherubs or cherubim in Genesis chapter 3. God had planted a garden, full of every good thing. There he placed the man and the woman he had created. He blessed them and entrusted the garden into their care. This was to be a place where God would manifest his presence, where God would fellowship with his very good creatures. This garden, if you will, was designed by God to be a temple where the man and woman could enjoy his presence, walking with them in the cool of the day. God gave them every good thing for their pleasure. He placed on them only one restriction; one tree was not to be eaten of under consequence of death. The man and the woman rejected God’s authority and chose to follow Satan’s lie rather than God’s truth. They severed their relationship with God. They could no longer enjoy his presence, but hid in fear. Their sin separated them from the holy God (Is.59:2). It says:

Genesis 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cherubim were awesome angelic guardians protecting the presence of God. We find the most detailed description of cherubim in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 1:4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.

Ezekiel 10:20 These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands. 22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward.

Many scholars think these creatures resemble a sphinx-like composite creature. Depictions have been found from Egypt to Babylon to Israel dating back to the 12^th century B.C., giving ideas of how they might have been portrayed.

In several places in scripture God is seen as enthroned on or above the cherubim (2Ki.19:15; Ps.18:10; 80:1; 99:1; Is.37:16; Ezek.9:3; cf. 2Sam.22:11).

Psalm 99:1 The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!

This is what we see reflected in the design of the cover for the ark.

Exodus 25:22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.

God is not represented by the cherubim; that would be prohibited by his second commandment. God makes his presence known above and between. The outstretched wings of the cherubim serve as God’s throne.

The Cover

These angelic figures are part of what is translated as the ‘mercy seat’ in the KJV and ESV. The NIV translates ‘atonement cover’; it was translated by Wycliffe as ‘propitiatory’. The Hebrew word כפרת[kapporeth] is derived from כפר[kaphar] which means to cover over, propitiate, or atone. The name comes from the function this cover will play on the Day of Atonement, as described in Leviticus 16.

Leviticus 16:2 and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. …11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. …29 “And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute forever.

God made a covenant with his people. He knew they could not perfectly keep the terms of this covenant. So with the covenant, he provided a way for sins to be forgiven. God, enthroned above the cherubim, looks down on the covenant documents that his people promised to obey. They have transgressed his law. The wages of sin is death. Then sacrificial blood is applied to the lid that covers the law. A death has occurred to meet the just conditions of the covenant. God sees that the violated covenant has been covered by the blood and he is satisfied. Their sins are paid for and they are clean. The Hebrew word means to cover. Our English word ‘atonement’ points to the result of sins being covered. It comes from the phrase at – one – ment; harmony, unity, a reconciled relationship. Because our sins are covered, we can enjoy a favorable relationship with our covenant God.

The LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, used the word ιλαστηριον [hilasterion] to translate the Hebrew word for mercy seat or atonement. This is the Greek word the author of Hebrews uses for the mercy seat.

Hebrews 9:5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. 6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.

This same word is translated ‘propitiation’ in Romans 3.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

A closely related word [ιλασμος] appears in 1 John

1 John 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus is our atonement cover. His death satisfies God’s just wrath that our sins deserve. His sacrifice opens the way for God to be propitious or favorable toward us. He restores harmony and brings true reconciliation between God and man. This is what the author of Hebrews points us to when he contrasts the high priest of the Old Testament with Jesus, our greater High Priest.

Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. … 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Jesus death on the cross was the final fulfillment that the sacrificial system was pointing toward. Jesus’ sacrifice of himself once for all covered the law that we violated from God’s sight. No longer do we need a human priest to go in to God’s presence for us. No longer are we excluded from God’s presence because of our sin. Our sin was finally and forever nailed to his cross. Jesus is our great and final High Priest. At his crucifixion, the curtain barring us from the holiest place was ripped from top to bottom.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

No longer is the law written on tablets of stone and laid up in a box in the heart of the sanctuary.

Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

We are God’s temple, God’s people, his law is written on our hearts.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 24:9-18; Feasting in the Presence of God

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20120219_exodus24_9-18.mp3

2/19 Exodus 24:9-18 Feasting in God’s Presence

We are in Exodus 24, which is the hinge-pin of the book, linking the narrative of God’s redemption of his people with the instructions for worship in God’s presence. God is revealing himself to his people on the mountain. He is teaching about himself, declaring what he is like, preparing his people to be in his presence. God is entering into a covenant relationship with his people. But God is holy, and we are sinners. God has established sacrifice as a way to address our sin problem. The wages of sin is death, so blood must be shed; either our own, or God’s provision of a substitute. In this chapter, as we saw last time, the blood of the covenant is splattered all over the people, a foreshadow of Jesus, who offers his own blood, the blood of the new covenant, not applied externally and temporarily, but once for all effecting the forgiveness of sins, and causing inward transformation.

At the beginning of this covenant ceremony, we saw the sacrifices made and the blood applied. In the remainder of the chapter, we see the continuation of the covenant ceremony; the covenant meal, and the formal documentation of the covenant.

Lets look at the first two verses of Exodus 24 and then pick up in verse 9, where we left off last time.

Exodus 24:1 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

…

Exodus 24:9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

This gives the historical setting for the rest of the book. Chapters 25-31 record the details of the construction of the tabernacle given to Moses while he is on the mountain in the presence of God. Chapters 32-34 document the people’s violation of the covenant, Moses’ prayer of intercession, and the renewal of the covenant. Chapters 35-40 see Israel building the tabernacle according to the instructions given in 25-31.

Holiness of God

We saw in the book of Hebrews that the tabernacle is designed to be a copy of the real presence of God. The tabernacle was to be constructed with three main sections, the outer court, the holy place, and the most holy place, which is patterned after what is happening here on the mountain. God denied access to the people in general, but invited the leaders of Israel to come part way up, and Moses alone to come all the way up. This is designed to teach the holiness of God. That God is holy means that God is absolutely distinct, separate, other -he is not part of his creation; he is over and above, infinitely more excellent than his creation. He is holy in his being, in his very essence. His existence is different from our existence. He is eternal; we are temporal. He is infinite; we are finite. He is self-existent; we are dependent. God is morally perfect and pure; we are fallen and flawed, sinners by nature and by choice. God is holy, and he is to be approached only by those who are purified and authorized by him and only when and in the way that he himself proscribes. God is holy, he is not to be approached casually or carelessly, and never without blood.

God Initiates

Here we see this all-holy God initiate a relationship with his people. He invites them to come near. God is always the initiator; we are those who respond to his invitation. God defines who is to come and how far they are to come. Only the seventy elders, the three priests, and Moses are invited to come up. And then, Moses alone is invited to come near to the LORD. In the tabernacle, only the high priest, only once a year, only with the sacrificial blood, was allowed into the most holy place. Jesus took only three of his disciples up the mount of transfiguration with him.

Jesus said “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (Jn.6:44); Jesus said “come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt.11:28); and “let the little children come to me” (Mt.19:14); and “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (Jn.7:27); and “whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (Jn.6:35); and “all that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (Jn.6:37). And at the moment Jesus finished his work on the cross, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mt.27:51; Mk.15:38; Lk.23:45).

Paul tells us:

Romans 5:2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Ephesians 3:11 …in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Hebrews tells us:

Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

God has initiated. You are invited. Come. Enter in. The way is opened to you through the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus. Draw near.

Seeing God

This section of Exodus is amazing, because it tells us that God invited, and

Exodus 24:9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

They beheld God! They saw the God of Israel! What does this mean? Because just a few chapters later, when Moses asks God to show him his glory, he is told:

Exodus 33:18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” …20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

“You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” This is the consistent fearful testimony of all who have had any kind of encounter with God. Jacob:

Genesis 32:30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

Gideon:

Judges 6:22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” 23 But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

The parents of Samson:

Judges 13:22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”

Isaiah:

Isaiah 6:5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Alas! Woe is me! We shall surely die! Man shall not see me and live. Even in this passage, the exceptional nature of what happened is highlighted. It says “he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel.” It is a fearful thing for any person to be in the presence of perfect holiness.

But is there a contradiction here? We are told that they did see God, but Jesus teaches that God is spirit (Jn.4:24), and the unanimous testimony of the New Testament is that God is invisible (Rom.1:20; Col.1:15; 1Tim.1:17; 6:16; Heb.11:27). Twice we are told unequivocally “no one has ever seen God” (Jn.1:18; 1Jn.4:20). Jesus himself says that no one has seen the Father (Jn.6:46). So, what are we to make of this when it says they beheld God? First, lets look back at the text to see exactly what it was that the Israelite leaders did see. It says:

Exodus 24:10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

They recognized that they were in the presence of God. But what they describe seeing was the pavement under his feet. It is as if they were not able to lift their eyes above the pavement in his presence. The pavement itself was staggeringly beautiful. It was like lapiz lazuli or sapphire; with depth and clarity like the heavens. The prophet Ezekiel describes something similar; he has a vision of four living creatures.

Ezekiel 1:22 Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. …26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Do you hear how many times he says ‘the likeness of, the appearance of, as it were? He is groping for adequate vocabulary to put into words what he saw. God is spirit, but he can manifest himself in a visual way to his people. God is spirit, as Paul says “who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no on has ever seen or can see” (1Tim.6:16). God is invisible, God is infinite, God is everywhere present, There is no way human eyes could ever take in all that God is.

So what of Job’s longing “yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold” (Job 19:26-27) or the longing of the Psalmist “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness”, and “One thing …will I seek after: …to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD” (Ps.17:15; 27:4)? If God cannot be seen, what of the longing in the heart of every believer to look into the face of God? This finds its fulfillment in Jesus. John tells us:

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Jesus is the ultimate visible manifestation of the Father. This has led theologians throughout the history of the church to conclude that any time in the Old Testament that God was seen in some way, it was God the Son, the second person of the trinity making his Father known.

So the leaders of Israel were invited in to the presence of God, to get a glimpse of his majesty, to enjoy a covenant meal. They beheld God, and ate and drank. Then Moses was invited to come up and receive the written copies of the covenant agreement. Covenants in that day were made between a conquering king and his new subjects. Two identical copies would be written, one kept by the king and one given to his subjects. This is what we see happening here.

Exodus 24:12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”

Aaron and Hur, who held up Moses’ hands on the hill while Joshua fought the Amalekites in chapter 17, are left to settle any disputes that arise in Moses’ absence. After an awesome manifestation of God’s presence like this, who would have disputes? This sets the stage for what we will find in chapter 32.

Exodus 24:15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

This is the awesome setting of the next seven chapters. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai. This word ‘dwelt’ is the root of the word translated ‘tabernacle’, the sanctuary that Moses was instructed to build. God tabernacled on Mount Sinai, in preparation to dwell with his people (Ex.25:8). The glory of God appeared like a devouring fire, and Moses was invited up into the glory cloud. Moses spends almost a month and a half in the glory cloud, in the consuming fire, sustained by the covenant meal, being shown the heavenly tabernacle, of which he was to build a replica, to show that God indeed wants to dwell with his people.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

 

Exodus 23:20-33; Promises, Warnings, and The Angel of His Presence

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20120205_exodus23_20-33.mp3

02/05 Exodus 23:20-33 The Angel of His Presence

We come now to the conclusion of God’s instructions given to his people at Sinai. He has communicated to them his expectations for what life lived in community with God should look like. He is a God who loves justice and righteousness, kindness and compassion. He alone is to be feared and worshiped and obeyed, and his presence is to be enjoyed. Here, at the conclusion of his commandments, he pours out good promises to his people, and he gives them clear warnings. This is a passage of promises and warnings. I want to look first today at his great and precious promises and heed carefully his dire warnings, and then I want to turn our attention to the primary promise, the ‘who’ of the promise, the angel of his presence.

God has rescued a people out of slavery to be in relationship with him, to be his very own. He has led them and fed them and rescued them from all danger. He has put up with their grumbling and complaining. He has revealed himself to them, and has communicated with them his character and nature. He has given them clear instructions for life within the community of God’s people. Now he is making them promises. He is going to lead them through the wilderness and bring them into a land he has promised to give them. He is promising victory to them. He is promising to fight their battles. He is even revealing to them some of how he is going to give them victory, and why he is going to do it that way. He promises to care for their needs. He promises to bless them abundantly.

But these promises are conditional. He will do these things “if”. And so there is warning. Let’s look at the promises, and then let’s look at the warnings.

Exodus 23:20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24 you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. 25 You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. 26 None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31 And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

God’s Good Promises

God promises to send his angel before us. The promise of his presence with us is the greatest promise, so we will save it ’till the end. He says he will

guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared

God’s protection is promised on the paths of life. Where ever you go, I will be guarding you. And I have a goal in mind. I will bring you to that place. I will make sure you get there. Your way will not be unopposed. You will have enemies. But I will be an adversary to your adversaries and and enemy to your enemies. I will bring you to face your enemies, but I will blot them out. I will bless your food supply; I will keep you healthy and make you fruitful. I will make your days full and satisfying. I will send my terror and confusion on your enemies, and cause them to run away from you. And here’s how I will do it. I will do it little by little, because if I drove them out all at once, you would not be able to maintain the land. So I will keep them in the land to maintain it for you, and I will drive them out slowly over time, so that you can enjoy the land, so the land does not become overgrown with weeds and overrun with wild beasts. I will gradually give you the whole extent of the land that I promised as your possession. These are big and rich and generous and far-reaching promises. God keeps his promises. At the end of the book of Joshua, we are told:

Joshua 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands.

Then in chapter 23 Joshua says

Joshua 23:14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

God has kept all his promises. Joshua continues with a challenge and a warning

Warnings for our Good

Joshua 23:15 But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, 16 if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

This would have struck home to the people of Joshua’s day. Their parents forfeited God’s promises and died in the wilderness because of their disobedience to God’s clear instructions. God makes good and gracious promises to his people, but he also warns us so that we don’t miss out on enjoying the blessings he provides. Let’s look at the warnings God gives his people here in Exodus 23. He tells them to pay careful attention; to obey his voice, he warns not to rebel against him, for he will not pardon their transgression. He warns not to bow down to or serve the false gods of the people who dwell in the land, or to imitate their cultures. He instructs his people to completely eradicate any trace of their false religions. He warns against making any agreement with the people or their gods. He clearly warns that the danger of allowing idolaters to remain in the land is that they will influence God’s people to sin against God. They will be a snare, a trap, luring them away from enjoying the reality of a relationship with the true God and enticing them to buy a counterfeit. God warns us because we need to be warned. We have an incessant tendency to become enamored with anything and everything besides God. The desires of the flesh, the deceitfulness of riches, the pride of life, the desire for other things constantly competes for our affection. This warning and command is not the restrictive command of a lover afraid of being left for someone else; this is the kind of warning that says ‘if you touch the stove, you will experience pain and injury’. God demands that we have no other gods, not because he is emotionally needy and craves our attention, but because he doesn’t want us to get burned. If genuine fulfillment and blessing comes only in relationship with him, then turning to other gods is turning away from the only source of real life. Our souls will only be satisfied in him, and he wants to spare us the pain of endlessly running after dead-end damning lies.

The author of Hebrews holds up the Exodus generation as a warning to us New Testament believers; a warning against turning our hearts away from the Lord.

Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works 10 for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

We need these warnings today because there is a danger for us today. We have a tendency to ‘go astray in our hearts’, and our hearts can easily become ‘hardened by the deceitfulness of sin’. The exodus generation, who were the recipients of so much of God’s revealed truth, and experienced so many of his physical blessings, were disobedient and did not enter in because of unbelief. The author goes on to exhort us:

Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Physical vs. Spiritual

For them the battle was physical. Their enemies were external and physical; Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, Jebusites. The dangers they faced were tangible and physical; starvation, sickness, barrenness, miscarriage. Their borders were physical; from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, from the wilderness to the Euphrates. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood (Eph.6:12). The passions of the flesh wage war against our souls (1Pet.2:11). The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds (2Cor.10:4, cf.6:7). We are called to:

1 Timothy 1:18 … wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience.

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

And we have greater promises of victory.

1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The Angel of His Presence

This brings us back to the beginning of the passage and the greatest promise of blessing that God gives. We need to ask the ‘who’ question. Who is the ‘angel’ that God sends to see that his promises are fulfilled? In verse 20 it is ‘an angel’ and in verse 23 it is ‘my angel’ and he is simply referred to in the other verses as ‘he’ or ‘him’. It will be helpful to know that the word ‘angel’ in the bible does not necessarily mean a guardian spirit or a superhuman winged creature. ‘Angel’ can simply be translated ‘messenger’. Let’s look at what this passage says about this messenger of God.

It says he was sent by God, that he goes before God’s people, that he serves as guardian on their journey, and delivers them to the place prepared by God for them. It tells us that he must be obeyed, that he has the authority to forgive or not forgive, that God’s own name is in him. We are told that to obey him is to do what God says, that he brings us to our enemies and God blots them out, that he blesses us and God fulfills our days.

This is not the first time that this messenger shows up in the bible. We have seen him before, when God called Moses.

Exodus 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. …4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

The messenger of the LORD appeared; and God called to him out of the bush. The Angel of the LORD is equated with God. He shows up again at the Red Sea crossing.

Exodus 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

Exodus 14:19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,

So the angel of God is identified with the LORD himself, and is associated with the cloud, but is distinguished from the cloud. I think it is this same figure that shows up to Joshua in fulfillment of God’s promises.

Joshua 5:13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Let’s look back at what Exodus 23 says about this messenger and see if we can make the connection with Jesus.

We are told that he is God’s angel or God’s messenger.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

We are told that he was sent by God

John 5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

He goes before God’s people

John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

He is with us as guardian on the journey

John 17:12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He leads us to the place prepared by God

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

He must be obeyed

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

He has authority to forgive

Mark 2:5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” …7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

God’s name is in him – he possesses the character and nature of God

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.”

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

To obey him is to obey God.

John 13:20 Truly, truly, I say to you,…whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

He overcomes our enemies.

Colossians 2:13 …having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

He satisfies our hungers and makes us fruitful

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

We have such great and precious promises in Jesus. Let us heed God’s warnings and obey his only Son, Jesus

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 20:18-21 Epilogue; Response to God’s Presence

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20110925_exodus20_18-21.mp3

09/25 Exodus 20:18-21 Epilogue – Response to God’s Presence; Request for a Mediator

We have for the past ten weeks studied God’s ten words to his people. God is communicating what is expected of the people he has redeemed out of slavery, people he has taken to be his own, what is expected of those who live in relationship with him. Now, at the conclusion of God’s thunderous voice from heaven, we see the response of the people to his words. This has great insight for us in how we relate to God.

We have been focusing in some detail on each of God’s ten words. To get the flow of this passage, I want to step back from examining the individual trees and take in the big picture of the forest and how it all fits together. So let’s read through chapters 19 and 20 of Exodus.

The Covenant Proposal

19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

Preparation to Meet God

9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, 10 the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

The Context of the Meeting

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.”’ 24 And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

God Speaks to His People

20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The People’s Response

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

May God bless the reading of his word, and may we, his people respond with deeper trust and heartfelt obedience and worship.

Covenant Relationship

So we see, God is entering into relationship with the people he has delivered, laying out the terms of this covenant relationship.

The word in verse 18 translated ‘flashes of lightning’ is interesting. It is a different Hebrew word from the lightnings of 19:16, and it only appears one other place in the five books of Moses.

Genesis 15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

This was where God cut his covenant with Abraham. Now as he enters into covenant with the exodus generation, he uses this word to remind us that he is the God of Abraham, who graciously enters into relationship with his people and who always keeps his promises.

The Fear of God

God makes himself known in a way that terrifies the people. He requires that they make proper preparation to meet with the holy God. God manifests himself in thunder, lightning, earthquake, fire, smoke, and thick darkness, with loud trumpet blasts, so that the people trembled.

He establishes boundaries and warns the people of the danger of getting too close to a holy God uninvited. Moses spoke to God and God answered in thunder. Moses is down at the foot of the mountain with the people. God, from above the mountain, wrapped in smoke and thick darkness, with fire and earthquake and trumpet blasts, thundered out his ten commands to his people. We see the response of the people in verse 18

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off

The people respond with fear and distance themselves from God. They were already kept at a distance by the boundaries that had been established. Now they wanted to flee. Certainly part of their fear came from this terror inducing display of God’s presence. But a great part of their fear would come from the content of what God said. His ten words to them would stir in their hearts the guilt of having already fallen short of God’s perfect standards, and the fear of further failing to live up to his expectations.

… the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

They recognized that the wages of sin is death. This presence of a holy God carried life and death severity, and the people were acutely aware that they fell painfully short. Throughout the bible, this is the effect God’s presence has on his people: ‘Woe to me, for I am utterly sinful and God is perfectly holy.’

Two Kinds of Fear

… the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

God reveals himself to his people. The people are terrified. Moses tells them ‘do not fear, God has come so that you will fear him; don’t be afraid – the whole purpose for God coming to you was to make you afraid.’ At first, this sounds like double talk. ‘Don’t be afraid because God came to make you afraid.’ There must be a right and proper fear of God, which is the fear God intended to produce in his people, and there must be an improper fear that Moses tells the people not to have.

The improper fear was what they were doing. They were standing far off. God had set boundaries for them, and they were distancing themselves even more from God. Their fear of God made them want to run and hide in guilty shame, to avoid God, to run from him. This is the fear that Moses rebukes. Do not fear God in such a way that you flee from him. This is the fear John is talking about when he writes:

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

John has been talking about the love of God for us in sending his own Son to be the propitiation for our sins (4:10) and our Savior (4:14), and that this is our confidence for the day of judgment (4:17). Do not fear God’s punishment so that you run away from him to try to hide yourself from him

The good kind of fear is an awe-filled admiration of who God is in all his omnipotent power and all-present awareness and absolute righteousness. It is a realization of the complete other-ness of God, his holiness and perfection and hatred of all impurity and evil. It is an awareness that he is good and righteous and just and that he will punish all wrong-doers. It is a fear of doing anything that would displease this holy God. This is a fear that desires more than anything to draw near in relationship to God. This is the fear that knows it cannot hide from God, so it lays its sinful self bare to the all seeing God and throws itself at his mercy. This is a sanctifying fear. The purpose of God’s coming was ‘to test you so that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ There is a good sanctifying effect of the proper fear of God. After Paul tells us in Philippians that every knee will bow to a sovereign Jesus, he tells us to

Philippians 2:12 … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. This is that healthy fear of the ruling reigning Jesus that produces a passionate pursuit of holiness in thought and word and deed. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

The power to pursue holiness comes from the proper fear of God. This is why the bible over and over again tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Request for a Mediator

… the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Notice what the people ask for? This is beautiful! They request a mediator! If we come face to face with a holy God, we will be undone. We need someone to go into God’s presence for us, and bring his words back to us. We will listen if God’s presence is mediated, but we are unfit and unable to survive his presence on our own. When God’s people understand who God is, when they begin to have a proper fear of him, then God’s people understand their need for a mediator. When we accurately understand who God is in his righteous majesty, we dare not approach him casually. We must have someone to go between us.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

We need a mediator. Jesus Christ is that mediator. He is the only one that can forgive sinners and bring us safely into the presence of almighty God. This is the good news!

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God,…

Jesus took our place as sinners and suffered the righteous wrath of God. Now that our sins are paid for, he can bring us into the presence of the Father with great joy! (Jude 24). This is what the people longed for. This is what Moses pointed forward to.

Hebrews 9:15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Jesus is our mediator. He mediates the new covenant, the better covenant, the contract by which he bore our sins and paid for them in full, and transfers to us his perfect righteousness, so that we can enjoy the presence of the Father forever.

Exodus 20:21 The people stood far off, while [he] drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” …38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Jesus, our mediator, went before us into the thick darkness where God was, and opened to us a way in to the very presence of the Father.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus invites us to come. Put your trust in Jesus alone and come.

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Praise God for our mediator!

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful … and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 19:1-8; God’s Initiative; Our Response

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20110612_exodus19_1-8.mp3

06/12 Exodus 19:1-8 God’s Initiative; Our Response

We are at a pivotal point in the history of Israel. The Hebrew people were in a helpless situation as slaves in Egypt. They cried out. God heard their cry, he remembered his covenant with his people, he took notice, and he took action. He brought them out of Egypt and conquered their enemies while they stood by and watched. He led them through the wilderness and provided for their every need, in spite of their grumbling and complaining. Now they are encamped at the base of Horeb, the mountain of God, Mount Sinai. This itself is fulfillment of God’s promise. When Moses was wrestling before God with his call to bring them out of Egypt, God said:

Exodus 3:12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

This is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Moses. He has led the people out of Egypt. They have successfully made it back to the mountain where God initially interrupted Moses and called him into his service. You shall serve or worship God on this mountain. Let’s keep in mind, as we go forward, the purpose for which they have come – worship or service. God is about to enter into a covenant with his people, to introduce himself to his people, and to lay out for them what it means to be in a relationship with him. They had been in the service of Pharaoh. God had demanded of Pharaoh ‘Let my people go that they may serve (or worship) me.’ God had saved his people to bring them into relationship with himself. Now they are here.

Israel will be camped here for almost a year. This is the setting for the next 59 chapters. Mount Sinai is the setting of the remainder of Exodus, Leviticus, and the first ten chapters of Numbers. This is extremely important. Exodus chapter 19 is the introduction to this most extensive section. If we miss the significance of this passage, we will be in danger of misconstruing a substantial part of God’s Torah. Let’s look at the first 8 verses of this chapter together.

19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

We are given the setting both by the time and the geography. This is the third new moon after the Exodus. This verse, by the way, is where the book gets its English name. The Greek version translates ‘had gone out of’ with the Greek word ‘exodos’ which means ‘the way out.’ The geographical note reminds us of Rephidim, also named Massah and Meribah because of their quarreling and grumbling, where God provided his people with water from the smitten Rock. Israel has come to the wilderness of Sinai, and they are camped before the mountain.

Moses went up to God and YHWH spoke to him. God gave Moses a message to communicate with his people. He addresses them as ‘the house of Jacob’ and ‘the people of Israel.’ Jacob, the deceitful, conniving heel-grabber, whom God renamed Israel, the one who prevails with God. God made covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – not because of any good in them, but in spite of who they were. God gives Moses a word for his people, the descendants of Jacob or Israel.

4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

God reminds his people of three things. He reminds them of things they have personally witnessed. This isn’t hand-me-down faith. Just over three months earlier, these same people were slaves in Egypt. They had no choice but to serve Pharaoh. Now they are at the foot of the mountain of God. They are here to worship or serve him. Three things God wants them to remember.

God’s Gracious Initiative

1. You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians. God wants his people to remember his ten mighty acts of catastrophic judgment on the Egyptians and their gods. He wants them to remember the Red Sea, where they were trapped between the Egyptian special forces and the water, where they cried out in unbelief and fear, where they were commanded to be quiet and watch and God would fight for them, where God protected them with his presence in the pillar of cloud/fire, where God opened up a way through the great deep, where God lured their enemies to follow, where God decisively crushed them once and for all. Remember what I did to the Egyptians. They mistreated my people. They refused to acknowledge me. They were hardened against me. They were filled with cruel pride and persistent defiance and repeatedly refused to believe my words or heed my warnings. God wants his people to remember his judgment unleashed on his enemies. Remember that you did nothing. Remember, you yourselves have seen what I alone did to the Egyptians.

2. Remember how I bore you on eagles’ wings. God wants his people to remember his tender care for his own people. Remember, again, you did nothing. I carried you. This is a picture of helpless inability dependent on the care of another. I swooped in when you had no hope and I brought you to safety.

3. Remember that I brought you to myself. God wants his people to remember that their being in his awesome presence is not of their own initiative. The Hebrew people did not get together and say ‘let’s make a pilgrimage to Mt. Sinai. They were brought. They were led. They were carried. Often reluctantly so, almost against their wills. ‘What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?’ (14:11). ‘It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians’ (14:12). ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ (17:3). God patiently, graciously, persistently brought them to himself.

God commanded Moses to remind the people of these three things that they had personally experienced. I acted against your enemies; I carried you to safety; I brought you to myself. Remember where you came from. Look at where you are. Remember how you got here. It was not your own doing, it was the gift of God. It was completely by undeserved grace. Remember that this is the foundation of God’s relationship with his people. Their part was to be quiet and watch as God saved them. Now their part is to be reminded of how God saved them and respond in worship.

Our Grateful Response

This is what God outlines in the rest of his message through Moses to his people. Now, therefore. In response to what I have done for you, an appropriate response is expected of you. Obedience to my voice and keeping my covenant. Because I have demonstrated to you that I will do you good and not harm, that I know best, and am fully capable of doing everything necessary to care for you, you must listen listeningly to my voice. You must guard or watch or keep my covenant. With privilege comes responsibility. If, in response to my gracious action in saving you, you will obediently listen and respond to my promises, then you will hold three privileged places of responsibility before me.

First, you will be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. Here, God’s ownership of everything is declared. YHWH is not some territorial deity whose jurisdiction is limited. He claims ownership of the whole earth and everyone on it. All the peoples of the earth belong to God, and he can do with them whatever he wants. He can execute judgment on the Egyptians, because they belong to him. But out of all the peoples of the earth who belong to God, these people are precious to him. They are treasured by him. If you will listen to me, you will be treasured by me. ‘You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.’

Second, you will be a kingdom of priests to me. This language is found nowhere else all the Old Testament. The whole people, not just one tribe, will be priests to God. A priest is one who represents God to others, and brings others into the presence of God. Their privileged position as God’s treasured possession among all peoples is not a place for boasting. God declares to them that he chose them not because of any deserving characteristic in them (Deut.7:6-8), but simply because he loves them. Being his treasured possession among all peoples means bringing his truth to all peoples and bringing all peoples into relationship with the only true God. This privilege is also a responsibility. This is exactly what God promised to Abram when he called him to follow.

Genesis 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God’s intent in choosing Abraham and his descendants out of all other nations is that they would serve all other nations for their good. They would serve as priests in bringing God’s word to the nations, and in bringing the nations into worship of the one true God. The whole nation was to be a kingdom of priests to God. A kingdom is made up of those over whom the King reigns. Refusing to obey the King places you outside of the kingdom. If you will obey, you will be priests to me among all peoples.

Third, you will be a holy nation. To be holy is to be distinct, set apart, different, designated for a specific function. As God’s priests, as his treasured possession, they are to be different from all other nations, precisely in the fact that they listen obediently and keep God’s gracious covenant with his people, and invite others to join them in that relationship with God.

A Conditional Promise?

When we understand what God is promising, we can better understand the conditional nature of the promise. This is not an if/then of reward for good behavior; ‘if you jump through all the proper hoops, then I will save you.’ No, God has already graciously saved them. The if/then is an if/then of the inherent nature of the position. In order to fulfill the role of God’s treasured possession, missionary intermediaries between God and the nations, yet uniquely distinct from the nations, you must be listening to God’s voice and remaining in proper relationship with him. You cannot be rebelling against God and treasured by him; you cannot be his ambassador and disregard what he says; you cannot invite outsiders into a relationship you do not have; you cannot be part of his kingdom and rejecting his authority; you cannot be set apart to him and while violating his commands.

3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

Moses faithfully takes God’s words to the people, all the people agree to God’s terms, and Moses faithfully conveys the answer of the people to the LORD. The people are entering into a covenant relationship with the LORD. The rest of the chapter recounts the most awesomely terrifying revelation of God to his people in the whole bible.

Our Goal as Followers of Jesus

The language of Exodus 19 is clearly in Peter’s mind when he writes to encourage the suffering believers in his first letter.

1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. … 7 So the honor is for you who believe, …. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Peter is addressing those who believe in Jesus, those who come to Jesus as their Lord and King, those who, according to his first chapter, have been given new life by God. We are being built up to be a holy priesthood, to offer acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. He calls us who believe in Jesus a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. We who believe in Jesus are privileged with a purpose. He calls us precious, but that comes with great responsibility. Not for pride in our position. We are chosen to serve. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are called to be holy, separate, distinct. We are his. We are to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands.

Peter describes our responsibility this way:

1Peter 2:9 …, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

By our words, with our attitudes, through our actions, flowing out of our transformed desires, we are to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us. All glory goes to him and him alone.

How do we do this?

First, we must acknowledge that God alone saves. God keeps his promises. God is the one who takes the initiative. God sent his only Son. Jesus has conquered sin and death and hell for us. Jesus has satisfied the just demands of a holy God in our place. He carries us on eagles’ wings. He reconciles us to God through his cross and brings us to himself. And God does all this not because we somehow deserve it, but while we were his enemies.

Then we can respondto him in humble, grateful obedience, not in order to get anything, but because he has already given us everything. We have been called to a great privilege. We are treasured by him. We are set apart. We are priests to the nations. So we must listen to his voice. We must submit to him as King. We must respond to his grace with glad-hearted obedience. In this way we proclaim the excellencies of him. 

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 12:14-20 and 13:3-10; Feast of Unleavened Bread

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20110220_exodus12_14-20and13_3-10.mp3

02/20 Exodus 12:14-20; 13:3-10 Feast of Unleavened Bread

Context:

Last week we looked at God’s redemption of Israel out of Egypt by a strong hand. God’s final blow against Egypt was the death of all their firstborn. Pharaoh had refused to free Israel, God’s firstborn. So God promised to kill Pharaoh’s firstborn. But God provided a way of escape. Come under the blood of the lamb and you are safe. The lamb died in the place of the firstborn. So every firstborn that survived the exodus belonged to God because God provided a substitute. We are doubly his; his by creation and we were bought with a price. God gives a reminder of his ownership of all of life by demanding that every firstborn be given to him. Every firstborn that was fit to be eaten or offered was to be sacrificed to him. All that were unclean or unfit were either to be redeemed by the substitute sacrifice of a clean animal, or destroyed. God demands that we acknowledge his right of ownership over everything by surrendering part of what he has given us back to him.

Unleavened Bread

Exodus chapter 13 begins (v.1-2) with God’s requirement of the firstborn and concludes (v.11-16) with more detailed instructions about the firstborn, but sandwiched in the middle (v.3-10) is a section about the feast of unleavened bread. How does this all fit together?

13:3 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5 And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. 8 You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

What can we learn from this? Connected with paragraphs about the redemption of the firstborn by a substitute sacrifice, there is instruction about a period of time that no leavened bread is allowed.

In chapter 12, instructions for the feast of unleavened bread come sandwiched between God’s promise of deliverance for all who come under the blood, and instructions to go select and kill the passover lamb and apply its blood. Look back at chapter 12:

12:14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty–first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

So we have in chapter 12, ‘when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you … observe the feast of unleavened bread … Go and select lambs for yourselves … kill the passover lamb, dip it in the blood … touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood.’

And in chapter 13, we have ‘Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine. …Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you , and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. … you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. … Every firstborn of man among yours sons you shall redeem.’

Consequences are Severe

What is the connection between the passover sacrifice and the feast of unleavened bread? What is the connection between God’s right to the firstborn and the feast of unleavened bread? Notice also that the consequences for eating leavened bread are severe:

12:15 …On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

12:19 …If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.

The consequences are severe – cut off from the community. The connections are interesting – the blood of the lamb and God’s ownership of us.

The feast of unleavened bread is a memorial – a sign and a memorial – that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. It is to be a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. We are commanded to remember. Remember the day in which you were brought out of the house of slavery by the strong hand of the Lord. It is also a teaching opportunity. Remember what the Lord did for you, and tell your son on that day ‘it is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt’. It is a memorial for you and a teaching opportunity to pass this truth on to the coming generation.

What is Leaven?

But why unleavened bread? Why is no leaven allowed? Why such sever consequences for eating anything leavened? Initially, it was a practical necessity in the hurried expulsion from Egypt – they didn’t have time for the extended process of making leavened bread and letting it rise before baking. That’s the practical and historical reason. But leaven has a symbolic significance in Scripture. Let’s first look at the significance of leaven in the Scriptures. Then we may see the connection with the passover sacrifice and the consecration of the firstborn.

In the sacrificial system that God gave Israel to make atonement for their sins, no leaven was allowed.

Exodus 23:18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.

In Matthew 13 (cf. Lk.13) Jesus told three parables; about birds and weeds and leaven – all bad. His point was that in this age, there will be genuine children of the kingdom and there will be sons of the evil one – causes of sin and law-breakers – all mixed together until the final separation at the end of the age. In Matthew 16, he warns his disciples to be ware of the leaven, or teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. In Luke 12, he says this leaven is hypocrisy.

Leavened bread was made by mixing a starter or a fermented piece of dough saved from the last batch of bread into the new dough. ***Funk&Wagnall’s dictionary defines fermentation as “The gradual decomposition of organic compounds induced by the action of living organisms…” The bacteria that cause fermentation actually eat away at the sugars in the dough and give off a gas that inflates or puffs up the dough. So leaven in bread introduces fermentation, which is a process of decomposition or decay and death.

Leaven in Corinth

Six times in 1 Corinthians Paul warns against being ‘puffed up’ (fussiow; only 7 times in NT: 1Cor.4:6, 18, 19; 5:2; 8:1; 13:4; Col.2:18). This is literally what leaven does – it inflates the dough to several times its actual size. The danger he is warning against is being puffed up with pride. In chapter 5, Paul is confronting blatant sin among members that is being allowed and even embraced by the church. In verse 2, Paul says that they are arrogant or puffed up:

1 Corinthians 5:2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

He goes on to confront their boasting and likens it to leaven:

1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So there is leavening influence of sin in the church that will permeate the whole church if not dealt with. We are being instructed that since Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed, we really are a new, unleavened lump. The transformation has happened through what Jesus did for us. We must act like what we already are in Christ. We are transformed, not as a result of our own efforts, but as a result of Christ’s efforts for us. We are given a new nature. We are exhorted to live consistently with that new nature.

1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

This helps us make the connection in Exodus between us being set apart to God, belonging to God, because we have been purchased by God with the blood of the lamb, and celebrating and remembering with unleavened bread. God brought us out from the house of slavery by a strong hand – I remember what the Lord did for me. I have been set free from sin. Having been set free I must live consistently with my freedom. This is not how to gain your freedom. This is how to be who you are now that you have been bought by Christ.

The passover lamb was to be selected on the 10^th day of the month. The lamb was to be observed from the 10^th to the 14^th. The lamb was to be killed at twilight on the 14^th and on the 15^th began the seven day feast of unleavened bread. This symbolic cleansing out of sin was to be in response to the completed sacrifice and the provided deliverance. Because we have escaped God’s just wrath by coming under the blood, we respond by purging out the elements of decay.

We belong to God as his creation, and we have been redeemed, or bought with the price of a substitute sacrificed in our place, so because we are doubly owned by God, we get rid of that which causes decomposition.

1 Corinthians 6:19 …You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

This is the fruit of holiness is produced by Christ’s finished work of redeeming love.

Why call it a Feast?

Why call it a feast? Going without something you normally enjoy is usually called a fast, not a feast. And the severity of the consequences – we’re going to have a party, but if you eat the wrong thing, we will cut you off and throw you out. That seems a bit harsh for a feast. Again, I think we can get some help here from Paul’s use of this in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So the old leaven, he defines, as the leaven of boasting, malice and evil. Who wants that at the party? Get rid of pride, the disposition to do evil and the active participation in evil. Get rid of what causes decay and decomposition. That will affect and infect the whole thing. We can truly celebrate with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. There is freedom in authenticity and a genuine desire to do what is good and right.

Freedom

We often have a distorted conception of freedom. We think we’re not free unless all the options are open to us. Let’s say you have a nice new ¾ ton four wheel drive diesel pickup truck. This thing will give you the freedom to go off-road into places you never would have dreamed of taking the family mini-van. Freedom! But there’s this tiny little sticker on the dash that is trying to steal your freedom and kill your joy. It says “diesel fuel only”. That’s so limiting! Especially when unleaded is cheaper and available at so many more places. I’m just gonna peel that little freedom-crushing sticker right off and start pumping in the unleaded. In fact, I’m just going to throw off all restraint and get out the garden hose and pump some good old H2O into my gas tank. Now that’s freedom. Freedom to do whatever I feel like doing. Freedom to wreck your investment. Freedom to sit by the side of the road and wait for the tow-truck. Freedom to be called a fool by anyone who knows anything about trucks. You see, that little sticker was intended by the one who designed the vehicle to give you the parameters inside which the truck will operate correctly. Violating the design engineer’s instructions is not freedom; it is catastrophic.

We want the freedom to do the things that are off limits to us. We need a change in perspective. What we should want is freedom from the things that cause decay and decomposition. Freedom from the things that will cause our engine to seize up so that we can live the human life to the full, so that we can get the maximum pleasure we were designed to enjoy. The author of Hebrews urges us:

Hebrews 12:1 … let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, ….

Peter warns us of false teachers promising phony freedom:

2 Peter 2:18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

Sin is slavery, not freedom. Holiness is true freedom to live the abundant life. Holiness, being set apart from sin and to God is the way to extract the maximum capacity of joy and true pleasure out of this life. Eternal life that Jesus promises is not merely a definition of length, but of quality. Paul gives us detailed instructions on how to walk in this blood-bought newness of life in Romans 6:

Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. …22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Remember, freedom from sin comes as a result of the once-for-all sin-bearing sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as our substitute. As a result and because of what he has done, we can enjoy the feast of freedom.

1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Because Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us, we can celebrate true freedom – freedom from death and decay, freedom to be what God created us to be, freedom to run the race, freedom to really live, freedom to seize the maximum pleasures and joy offered to us by our Creator who invented all the good things he longs for us to enjoy.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 10:1-20

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20101114_exodus10_1-20.mp3

11/14 Exodus 10:1-20 Teach Your Children About Bugs (Mighty Act 8)

Introduction:

We are in stage 3 of God’s mighty acts against Egypt. When he introduced this last of his three cycles of three strikes against Egypt leading up to the final death blow, God said “I will send all my plagues on you …so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth” (9:14). God is acting as kinsman redeemer to his people to rescue them from their evil oppressors, but in the process he is displaying his uniqueness and superiority over all the so-called gods of Egypt. All along, God is demonstrating his boundless mercy and great patience in restraining the full fury of his wrath toward rebellious sinners. He gives warning after warning after warning, and mounting evidence of his sovereign right to alone be worshiped, and multiplied time to repent.

God takes Pharaoh at his word even when Pharaoh doesn’t take God seriously. Things get intolerable so Pharaoh cries out to Moses to plead with God for deliverance. Moses prays and God answers even though everyone involved knows that Pharaoh is not genuine and will not live up to his word. God even reveals to Pharaoh one of his reasons for relenting and sustaining him through this sequence:

9:16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

God has a global purpose in mind. God is prolonging this contest for the fame of his Name for the good of his people. We see this good purpose expanded in the present section.

God’s Good Purpose in Hardening

10:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

This is a sobering passage. God says go, because I have hardened his heart. In fact, this is what God told Moses that he was going to do up front (4:21) “But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go”. Our prayers are naturally ‘Lord, soften hearts, so that when we go there may be fruit’. We want to wait for God to prepare hearts so that our going will be productive and the response to our speaking will be positive. And I believe it is right for us to pray that way. But here God stuns us and says ‘it is because I have hardened their hearts that I want you to go now’. Go, precisely because you will be rejected.

What is God up to here? This is incomprehensible if we are man-centered in our approach to the gospel. If we begin with the infinite value of the human soul, then the highest good is that no souls be lost and we become frustrated and disheartened and feel like failures when we do all that we can and the good news is still rejected and our message is not heeded. But if we subordinate the immense value of the human soul to the infinite value of God’s own glory, we begin to measure fruit and success in ministry differently. When Paul tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, both in heaven and in hell, he tells us that this is ‘to the glory of God the Father’ (Phil.2:11). God’s glory is the ultimate thing, and while many undeserving sinners will be praising the glorious grace of God, other deserving sinners will be praising the just righteousness of God. God’s righteousness demands that he always act for the greatest good. In the case of Pharaoh, the greatest good is described this way:

10:1 … that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

God’s gracious purpose in the hardening of Pharaoh is ‘that you may know that I am YHWH’. The means to this end was to sustain the Pharaoh in his wickedness so that he could judge the sin of Egypt and come to the aid of his people in such a conspicuous way that the telling of his mighty acts would be passed on from generation to generation. God is here communicating to his messenger that his purpose is much bigger than one isolated conversation. I am acting to put the fame of my name on display in such a staggering way that it impacts all your future generations.

This is the same divine intent we see when God’s ultimate messenger was sent for the very purpose of being despised and rejected and betrayed and ultimately crucified. This is what John says was happening in Jesus’ day:

John 12:39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

Praise God for his work of hardening – because God had a bigger purpose in mind. Paul gives us insight into what this grander purpose of God is in Romans 11

Romans 11:11 …through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. …25 Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Praise God for his hardening, so that the Gentiles – friends, that’s us! – so that we Gentiles might come in! God had promised to Abraham ‘in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed’. And through the hardening of some of the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, God has extended salvation to us who were outside of his covenant community! We respond with Paul:

Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Divine Show and Tell – Teach Your Children

10:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

This is a powerful demonstration of divine show-and-tell. God says ‘I am acting in a way that I may show and you may tell. God is the main actor and we are called to be his witnesses. That means that he performs the action and we testify to what he has done. God does the astonishing and we get to talk about it.

Acts 10:39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,

Notice this is primarily a family affair. You may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson. The ‘you’ is singular – you personally. Not you as a group. This doesn’t mean bring your kids to church so that someone will teach them about Jesus. You, the parent, be a witness to your kids and to your grand-kids. I can’t understand parents who say things like ‘I don’t want to force my kids to believe what I believe – I want to give them the freedom to choose for themselves what path they will follow’. For one, this is an arrogant statement because it assumes that you actually have the capability to force your kids to believe what you believe, which you don’t. Only God can do the work of regeneration in a sinners heart, including the hearts of your kids. You might be able to force them to parrot the answers to specific questions the way you want them to, and you may even get them to repeat some words after you in a prayer, but only God can change their hearts. Not only is this arrogant, but it is foolish. Foolish because while attempting to remain neutral, you are sending a strong message. You are teaching them that there is no such thing as absolute truth and it doesn’t really matter what you believe. Here’s what God’s word says about how we are to train our children:

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

First, we are to teach by example. You parents love the Lord. You parents keep God’s word on your heart. First live it. Then teach your children diligently. That describes persistent effort and discipline. And we are told to talk about it all the time. Integrate God into every area of your life. Don’t simply have a ten minute religious lecture about God and the bible before bed. Your whole day should be saturated by your relationship with the Most High, and that will be infectious with your kids. This is a long range multi-generational plan. We must teach our kids in such a way that they become parents who are so in love with God that they raise their kids to raise their kids to raise their kids to know and love Jesus.

But what are we to talk about to our kids and our grand-kids? What is to be the content of our teaching? What do we want them to get? I find the answer this passage gives somewhat unexpected. I think most Christian parents would answer that we should teach our kids the golden rule – to do unto others as you would have them do to you. We should teach them to be kind and nice to everybody. Teach them to love and to turn the other cheek. Teach them to control their temper and behave properly in public. And of course we should teach them that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Listen again to what God says we should pass on to our kids: “tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.” Here’s God’s priorities for your child-rearing instruction: teach your kids about the wrath of God. Teach them about God’s justice and about his awesome power. Teach them how God humiliates his enemies. Teach them how he tore Egypt apart and brought massive destruction because of their hard-hearted rejection of the one true God. Teach them that God is a jealous God. Teach them how seriously he deals with sin. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then for God’s sake put the fear of God into their tender little hearts. I think we do our kids a disservice when we tell them only that God is all love and hugs and smiles and it doesn’t matter what you’ve done – we might be in danger of making them think that God condones their sin and will coddle them in their rebellion and will always give them another chance. Don’t shield your kids from the righteousness and justice and wrath and awesome sovereign power of this great God we worship. Let them see that our God is really big enough to deserve our awe and praise. I think this is at least part of the reason for many of the horrific gruesome Old Testament narratives:

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Start today. When you go home, talk with your kids about how important it is to know the LORD. Talk about how God humiliated the Egyptians and the awesome signs he performed. Talk about bugs.

Let’s pick up in verse 3:

The Wages of Sin

3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6 and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

Pharaoh’s fault was that he refused to humble himself before the one true Lord. God is God and Pharaoh is not. It is one thing to acknowledge that God is sovereign. It is another thing to own that God is sovereign over me. This is what Pharaoh refused to do. Pharaoh is in rebellion against his own nature as a being created by and under the rule of the Creator. God has every right to demand from his creation that we acknowledge him as our Creator and Sovereign. Because of Pharaoh’s stubborn rebellion, he must be taught the lesson forcibly. Remember the hail? Yes, Pharaoh surely lost men to the hail, but what he cared about was that there were two crops that survived the hail onslaught. There was still hope for Egyptian agriculture. This plague of locust will eat everything left by the hail. Nothing will be left. Egypt will starve.

7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?”

Pharaoh’s magicians had testified that this was the finger of God after mighty act number 3. They suffered from the boils of the sixth blow and are not heard from again. Now Pharaoh’s court officials are turning and testifying against him. They confess that Moses has entrapped and enslaved the Egyptians – captured them and stripped them of their freedom – rich irony in the face of the king’s refusal to release his Hebrew slaves. They advise the Pharaoh to grant their request for release. They even question the wisdom of their king – do you not yet know that Egypt is ruined? In 5:2, Pharaoh refused to acknowledge God and now he refuses to acknowledge that his country is ruined. What Paul says has happened to him:

Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Pharaoh at least bows to the pressure of his counselors and before the plague recalls Moses and Aaron.

8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.” 10 But he said to them, “The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Pharaoh still thinks he is in a position to bargain with Moses. His starting position was ‘Who is the LORD that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and moreover I will not let Israel go (5:2). He demanded that they go and serve him, making bricks without straw (5:18). Then, after the fourth blow, Pharaoh offered to allow the Hebrews to worship their God in the land, (8:25) then he offered to allow them to go, but not very far away (8:28). Now he attempts to limit who will be released. Moses makes it very clear that he is not bargaining. God is making sovereign demands and he expects to be obeyed. Everyone must be released to hold a feast to YHWH. Worship is a family affair. Pharaoh’s response is dripping with sarcasm and a play on the covenant name of God. ‘The I AM will truly be with you when I let you all go’. Pharaoh offers to release only the men and has Moses and Aaron driven out of his presence.

12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

God keeps his word. God is uncreating Egypt. God created green plants and trees bearing fruit. Now he is stripping the land of all vegetation. God is unleashing the forces of nature against nature to consume and destroy.

16 Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the LORD your God only to remove this death from me.” 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the LORD. 19 And the LORD turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

Pharaoh realizes too little too late that his counselors were right. He quickly recalls Moses and Aaron and confesses his sin against them and against the LORD. In the last plague (9:27) Pharaoh admitted that he had sinned or made an error, but this time he names the offended parties and even asks forgiveness. His sin was against YHWH your God and against you. All sin is firstly against the LORD and secondarily against the people we have wronged. Pharaoh aptly describes the consequences of his sin as ‘this death’. The wages of sin is death (Rom.6:23), and the stripping of their food supply would inevitably lead to the starvation of all of Egypt. This is a reversal from the days of Joseph, where his brothers who were suffering from famine in Canaan heard there was grain in Egypt. Moses graciously intercedes, and the LORD mercifully relents, driving all the locust into the Red Sea. This too is a foreshadowing of what is to come, when the Egyptian armies are plunged into the Red Sea. There again this same wording will be used – not one of them remained (14:28).

Again God takes credit for the superhuman stubbornness of the Pharaoh. He is being put on display and humiliated by God so that

2 …you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have humiliated (dealt harshly with) the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 9:13-35; Hail from Heaven and the Fear of the LORD (Mighty Act #7)

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20101107_exodus09_13-35.mp3

11/07 Exodus 9:13-35 Hail from Heaven and the Fear of the LORD (Mighty Act 7)

God is beginning the third and final cycle of his mighty acts of power against Egypt and against Pharaoh and against all the gods of Egypt. God is demonstrating his power and his sovereignty and his ability to save his people. The blows against Egypt are mounting up to his climactic blow, the death of the firstborn and the drowning of the Egyptian army in the sea. Here we are at the seventh mighty act of God, the first in the final round of three. This account is longer than any of the other narratives, and it signals a significant escalation in intensity of God’s actions against Egypt. At the beginning of the seventh display of his might, we are reminded of the ground and the goal of the exodus.

9:13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Ground and Goal of the Exodus

The ground of the exodus is the ownership of the people. They are God’s people. They belong to him. They are not the Pharaoh’s, to do with as he pleases. They are God’s and must be released so that they can serve and worship their true Master and Lord. The exodus is rooted in God’s relationship with his people. ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.”’

The ground of the exodus is the rightful ownership of God over his people. The goal of the exodus is to restore God’s people into service of their true Master. The goal of the exodus is worship, glad service of the true King of kings and Lord of lords. And this is the demand of the King of kings to the king of Egypt – ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me.’

And this command comes with a warning.

14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.

Now, at this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself. This is the first use of this particular word translated ‘plagues’ in the bible, and its only use in the plural. Up to this point, God has described his actions as ‘extraordinary difficult work (translated wonders in 3:20), signs (4:17, 28, 30, 7:3, 8:23), wonder or miracle (7:3, 9, 11:9-10), great acts of judgment (6:6, 7:4), striking down (3:20; 7:17, 20, 25; 8:16-17; 9:15, 25; 12:12-13, 29), strike or smite (translated plague in 8:2), a very heavy destruction or pestilence (translated plague in 9:3). The word used here means a fatal blow, a plague or a slaughter. God is letting Pharaoh know that he is about to let the hammer fall. The six mighty acts up to this point have been merely a warm-up. Turning the water supply to putrefying blood, heaps of frogs littered all over town, a horrible infestation of biting insects, inescapable swarms of biting flies, disease and death of all the livestock in Egypt, and painful deep festering wounds covering all the people and animals to the point that they were incapacitated – all this was merely an introduction, God says, to what I have in store for you. ‘This time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people.’

Know there is none like me

And the purpose is clear – ‘so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.’ Pharaoh has begun by saying ‘Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.’ (5:2). God said in Exodus 7:5 “The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” Introducing the first mighty act, Moses said to Pharaoh: ‘Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.’ (7:17). When Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron after only the second mighty act to ‘plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people (8:8), Moses invited Pharaoh to set the time that the frogs would be cut off; ‘and he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God’ (8:10). When Egypt’s magicians failed to reproduce the third mighty act, they confessed to Pharaoh ‘this is the finger of God’ (8:19). At the fourth mighty act, God drew a distinction by setting apart the land of Goshen ‘that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth’ (8:22). Pharaoh again called on Moses and Aaron to plead for deliverance, and to bargain on the details of how they were to ‘sacrifice to the LORD your God’ (8:28). Pharaoh was beginning to understand who this YHWH God of the Hebrews is, he was beginning to realize that he is a force to be reckoned with, that he is a God superior to many of his Egyptian gods, but he was not yet ready to acknowledge that YHWH is in a class by himself, and he was not yet willing to surrender to him and obey him. God says the purpose of what’s coming is ‘so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.’ Our God is absolutely unique. He is incomparably great, incomprehensibly awesome, uncompromisingly sovereign. God says ‘I want you to know that there is none like me in all the earth.’ And one of the ways I will demonstrate that there is none like me, is I will tell you what I could have done but didn’t.

15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.

What I could have done but didn’t

God says to Pharaoh, I want you to look at the first six of my mighty acts of power in a different way. Instead of looking at them as painful acts of judgment, look at them as merciful acts of longsuffering and patience and kindness. Pharaoh, I could have cut you off from the earth with the first twitch of my little finger. The fact that you are still breathing my air is an undeserved gift and evidence of my great grace toward you. The fact that I have allowed you to survive the first six of my mighty acts after you mistreated my people and rejected my servant and spat in my face is evidence of unfathomable divine restraint, evidence of my great mercy toward you. There is none like me – not only in power, but also in mercy.

But the implicit warning is clear. This time I will. I will strike you and your people. You will be cut off from the earth. That, Pharaoh, is what is coming. That is where we are headed. This will be the first mighty act that directly results in loss of human life. Pharaoh, you still think you are in control. You still feel that it is your right to release or not release the slaves. You are still demanding that my people serve you. Pharaoh, I want to let you in on a little secret. I want you to know that you are really serving me. Listen to what God says to Pharaoh:

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

This episode with Pharaoh is quoted by Paul in Romans 9 as an illustration of the biblical principle of the rights of the creator over his creation.

Romans 9:21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory–

This is exactly what God is doing with Pharaoh – patiently enduring a dishonorable lump of clay so that he can display to the world his power and just wrath.

Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Pharaoh irrationally still thinks he is in control and is going to win in this battle for supremacy with YHWH. YHWH says ‘Pharaoh, even in your hard-hearted rebellion, you are serving me. I, who give to all men life and breath and everything, am right now sustaining you alive, enduring with much patience your willful self-centered pride-filled insubordination. I am causing you to continue to stand firm so that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

God’s Global Purpose

God’s purpose in his display of power in Pharaoh is bigger than the Egyptians knowing that YHWH is God. It is bigger than Pharaoh bowing the knee to YHWH. It is even bigger than the people of Israel worshiping their great God who redeemed them out of Egypt. God’s purpose is global – ‘that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ God had promised Abraham that ‘in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed’ (Gen.26:4, cf.18:18; 22:18). That offspring was Jesus, and Jesus told his disciples

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

God’s global purpose is to put the fame of his name on display for all the earth to stand in awe. We are told that name is Jesus.

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God’s purpose with the Pharaoh was to put his power on display for the world to see. And see it did. When the Israelites made it to the promised land, the people were terrified because they had heard what Israel’s God did to the Egyptians (Joshua 2:9-10). God’s reputation had preceded them. And here we are, several thousand years later, on the opposite side of the globe, reading these words:

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.

Pharaoh was exalting himself. Self-exaltation is never a good thing. If you are exalting yourself, God will grind you down, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’. (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5)

So much for the introduction; let’s get to the plague itself.

18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.’”” 20 Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

This is amazing! God is warning the Egyptians that his wrath is about to be unleashed and he tells them exactly what will happen and even how to avoid it! Everyone outside will get killed, so bring everyone inside! The first plague that will directly result in human death as God sends missiles from heaven to crush everything, and God tells them exactly how to escape. In fact he commands it. Send – the same word that God is demanding Pharaoh to do with the Hebrews – send them out of Egypt. Now he demands that Pharaoh send and get everything in from the field so that it would be spared. This is a God rich in mercy! Here again a distinction is made, but this time it is among the Egyptians. There is a distinction between those who feared the word of the LORD and those who did not pay attention to the word of the LORD.

Isaiah 66:2 …But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

God speaks, and we must obey. For our own good we must listen to what he says. Notice that those who feared the word of the LORD hurried to respond. There is urgency. We can disregard him to our own everlasting hurt. Even to the Egyptians, God extended a way to be delivered from the coming judgment.

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

God promised; God warned; God provided a way of escape, but God’s judgment fell. God delivered on his promise. Everyone and everything left in the fields was bludgeoned to death. Trees were shattered. But God exempted his people from the judgment.

27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

This is the third time that Pharaoh has called for Moses and Aaron to pray for him. This is also the third time that Pharaoh has promised to let the people go. But this is the first time that Pharaoh admits his own guilt. This is profound in light of what has been said before. When we read that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and God says to Pharaoh ‘for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth’ , we tend to feel ‘poor little pharaoh, that’s just not fair. God is mistreating one of his creation.’ But these words were spoken to the Pharaoh. And Pharaoh himself says ‘I have sinned. The LORD is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong.’ God is just. His justice is proclaimed even by his fiercest enemies. Pharaoh here confesses to anyone who has ears to hear that YHWH God of the Hebrews is just and right and he is in the wrong.

29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.”

Moses agrees to stretch out his hands in prayer for his enemy. His purpose is to further demonstrate that the earth is the LORD’s. But Moses communicates to Pharaoh that he knows they do not yet fear the LORD. Some of Pharaoh’s servants were said to fear the word of the LORD, but they do not yet fear the LORD God. They recognize that his words have power and he follows through with what he says, but they do not yet reverence him as God. They are afraid of his wrath, but they do not gladly submit to his authority. They are afraid of his actions, but they do not yet respect his person.

Moses gives us a clue as to why Pharaoh may have hardened his heart. Two staple crops were destroyed in the hail, but two other staples were later in their growth cycle so they survived. Egypt still had something tangible in which to place its hope.

31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

Again we see God’s power in response to prayer, and in the face of undeserved mercy, we see the sinful stubborn heart of Pharaoh in again refusing to let God’s people go. But as we have seen, this hardship for God’s people is for a good purpose.

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

God’s name is being proclaimed in all the earth.

Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.



Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org