The Shelter of God’s Word – Psalm 1

Posted on March 13, 2019 by dkoop

A young man was learning to skydive and was so excited that he would get to do his first solo jump. Before his solo jump, he was given these instructions, “You’ve seen how this works, jump when you are told. Count to ten and pull the ripcord.  In the unlikely event that your chute doesn’t open pull the emergency ripcord.  When you get down, a truck will be there to take you back to the airfield.

The young man had these instructions memorized as climbed aboard the plane. The plane climbed to ten thousand feet and the skydivers began to jump. When he was told to jump, he jumped. He then counted to ten and pulled the ripcord. Nothing happened. His chute failed to open. So he pulled the emergency ripcord. Still nothing happened. No parachute. “Oh great” he thought, “And I suppose the truck won’t be there when I get down either!”

I know that we all have had days like that where nothing seems to go right! In Psalm 1 we will see that like a parachute is to a skydiver, God’s word is to His followers, a matter of life and death.

This Psalm is so practical, in a nut shell it shows us two groups of people, going down two separate paths leading to two distinct destinations. Which one will you be, the righteous or the wicked? Which path will you take the one of sin and scorn or the one of blessing and prosperity?  Which destination will be yours at judgement, the place of death or life?

When I first read this Psalm as a teenager it spoke volumes to me about the company I kept.  My friends determined the path and the person I would become.

Let’s look at it:  Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take   or sit in the company of mockers,

Notice the pattern: walk, stand, sit.  As we walk with the wrong crowd we begin to be comfortable with it and to sit is to be entrenched their lifestyle. I’m sure that you had an experience or are living an experience like I did in 7th-9th grade.   I had some friends who got involved in drugs, they used drugs and then they begin to sell drugs.  We rode the bus together, played baseball and were in boy scouts together.  As I continued to walk with them what do you think happened to me?  You know the answer.  As I walked with them, I stood and did drugs with them too, how long before I would sit or be entrenched in that lifestyle and sell drugs too?  Because of Christ in my heart, His word in my mind and my parents and other godly influences in my life I was able to change my friends and go down a different path.

I experienced the wrong path and I’m sure you have too.  It’s great that God has an alternative path for us!

“Blessed (or happy) is the one whose… delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.

God’s word puts us on the right path.   I like the word “delight” because it reminds me that Christianity is not a list of “do’s and don’ts.”  Walking with Christ is not what we are against its about what we are for.  We love Jesus, we love God’s word, we delight in what’s right.

“Meditate” is not something the Buddhist or Eastern religions came up with.  It’s biblical.  It’s means in the Hebrew to “chew the cud.”  It’s a picture of a cow or sheep regurgitating what it ate for breakfast (gross I know) and then re-chewing it to get the most of it.  How do we meditate on God’ word?  Read it, think about it, talk about it, discuss it with others, memorize it, teach it to others and most importantly do it and live it.   That’s why church is so important.  We get to do all of the above together: messages, Connect groups, and kid’s classes and youth group.

Our families are also a great opportunity to meditate on God’s word.  We have Discussion Questions each week to go with each message on the outline to take home and discuss with your family. I love how God tells us in Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 that we can walk, stand and sit as go through God’s Word together.  6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 

7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Notice the three illustrations that blessing or happiness in verse 3.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
 whatever they do prospers.

Let’s consider each of these:

  1. “Planted by streams of water.” (We have what we need.)

When I read this I think about the Cypress trees along the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Having grown up in San Antonio I love to go back there and walk along the river enjoying the shade, the beauty and the majesty of these trees. I can’t reach my arms around them they are so large. When I look up, they tower into the sky. Their roots are well established with their nobs or knees that pop up along the bank showing their grip.

These trees are a picture of stability, much like the life of Christ follower who lives by God’s word.  We are established. We have our needs met, we are satisfied, we are secure.  Contrast this with a leaf that is blowing down the sidewalk like verse 4 reminds us.

  1. “Yields it Fruit” (Fruitful)

If we delight in the Word of God we will be a fruitful people Do you know a fruitful person? They are refreshing and nourishing to be around. You go away from them encouraged. You go away strengthened. Their words are healing and convicting and encouraging and deepening. Being around them is a blessing.

  1. “Whose leaf does not wither” (Perseverance)

In life we will all experience storms, drought, high winds, sleet, cold and high heat.  We all face these hardships, but rooted in God’s word we can persevere.  We will not be blown by winds of cultural change.  We will hold on when life is hard because our foundation is not in people or money but God’s word.

  1. “Whatever they do prospers” (Prosperity)

I’m reluctant to even mention prosperity because of the misunderstanding that has been given by some that following God leads to monetary wealth.  Part of God’s blessing could be monetary; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Job were all wealthy, but the best definition of prosperity is knowing and living for God.  Prosperity is long term as opposed to money that is short term.  Prosperity is hearing, “well done my good and faithful servant.”

As we close out this Psalm, I want to share with you something else that jumped out to me as I looked closer at the last two verses.   It’s about Jesus!

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

What about Jesus? How does this psalm lead us to Christ?

The word righteous in verse 5 and 6 presses us forward to Christ as our righteousness.

Righteous and righteousness are major biblical words and doctrines listed over 1000 times in our bibles.

Let me share a few.

Jesus lived out righteousness: 

When Jesus asked John to baptize him, John objected saying, “no, you should baptize me” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. Matthew 3:15 (NIV)

Jesus said we should seek righteousness: 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6 (NIV)

 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

Jesus says that we can’t earn righteousness by our good deeds:

 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (NIV)

Jesus says righteousness is about believing:

 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Matthew 21:32 (NIV)

 Who is righteous? 

Paul writes,

 “There is no one righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10 (NIV)

How do we become righteous?

  • By faith

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17 (NIV)

  • In Jesus

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Romans 3:22 (NIV)

 How does this apply to Psalm 1?  We were on the wrong path, walking with sinners, sitting with scorners, being blown away by the wind and heading for death and judgement.  Christ takes us, gives us new life by planting us by the streams of water; Him.  We find life, peace, fruitfulness, blessing only in Christ.

Thank you Jesus!

Darrell

www.Upwards.Church

 

Inspiration for this post is from:
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary – Wisdom and Poetry, (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2004), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 85-87.
Rod Mattoon, Mattoon’s Treasures – Treasures from Treasured Psalms, Volume 1, (Springfield, IL: Lincoln Land Baptist Church, n.d.), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 4-19.
John Piper, Desiring God, Summer Psalms

 

Posted in Storm Shelter- Psalms | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Storm Shelter – Introduction to Psalms

Posted on March 12, 2019 by dkoop

How often you check the weather forecast? I find myself doing this often to be prepared for rain, sleet, wind or storms. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were an app giving a forecast for the real storms of life?  Although no such app exists we do know that storms are a part of life.  In our series from the book of Psalms we will learn that God provides shelter from life’s storms. He does not just provide shelter, God is our shelter.

At the center of the Bible is the book of Psalms. This great collection of songs and prayers expresses the heart and soul of humanity. In them we find the whole range of human experiences expressed.

Dr. J Vernon McGee has written, “Someone has said that there are 126 psychological experiences, I don’t know how they arrived at that number, but I do know that all of them are recorded in the Book of Psalms. It is the only book which contains every experience of a human being. The Psalms run the psychological gamut. Every thought, every impulse, every emotion that sweeps over the soul is recorded in this book.”

I’m grateful to John Piper for compiling this list of emotions found in the Psalms:

  • Loneliness: “I am lonelyand afflicted” (Psalms 25:16).
  • Love: “I loveyou, O Lord, my strength” (Psalms 18:1).
  • Awe: “Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in aweof him” (Psalms 33:8).
  • Sorrow: “My life is spent with sorrow” (Psalms 31:10).
  • Regret: “I am sorryfor my sin” (Psalms 38:18).
  • Contrition: “A broken and contriteheart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalms 51:17).
  • Discouragement and turmoil: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoilwithin me” (Psalms 42:5)?
  • Shame: “Shamehas covered my face” (Psalms 44:15).
  • Exultation: “In your salvation how greatly he exults” (Psalms 21:1).
  • Marveling: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelousin our eyes” (Psalms 118:23).
  • Delight: “His delightis in the law of the Lord” (Psalms 1:2).
  • Joy: “You have put more joyin my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Psalms 4:7).
  • Gladness: “I will be gladand exult in you” (Psalms 9:2).
  • Fear: “Serve the Lord with fear” (Psalms 2:11).
  • Anger: “Be angry, and do not sin” (Psalms 4:4).
  • Peace: “In peaceI will both lie down and sleep” (Psalms 4:8).
  • Grief: “My eye wastes away because of grief” (Psalms 6:7).
  • Desire: “O Lord, you hear the desireof the afflicted” (Psalms 10:17).
  • Hope: “Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hopein you” (Psalms 33:22).
  • Brokenheartedness: “The Lord is near to the brokenheartedand saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalms 34:18).
  • Gratitude: “I will thankyou in the great congregation” (Psalms 35:18).
  • Zeal: “Zealfor your house has consumed me” (Psalms 69:9).
  • Pain: “I am afflicted and in pain” (Psalms 69:29).
  • Confidence: “Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident” (Psalms 27:3).

More explicitly than all the other books in the Bible, the Psalms are designed to awaken and shape our emotions in line with the instruction they give.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus was crucified, but the Psalms tell us what went on in His own heart during the Crucifixion. The Gospels tell us He went back to heaven, but the Psalms begin where the Gospels leave off and show us Christ seated in heaven.

There are sixteen messianic psalms that speak specifically about Christ, but all 150 of point to Christ. “The Book of Psalms is a hymnbook and a HIM book — it is all about Him.”

“Out of 219 quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament, 116 of them are from the Psalms,” says Dr. McGee.

Psalms has the more chapters of any book in the bible.

Purpose of Psalms:  To provide poetry for the expression of praise, worship, and confession to God

Authors: David wrote 73 psalms; Asaph wrote 12; the sons of Korah wrote 9; Solomon wrote 2; Heman (with the sons of Korah), Ethan, and Moses each wrote one; 51 psalms are anonymous. The New Testament ascribes two of the anonymous psalms (Psalms 2 and 95) to David (see Acts 4:25; Hebrews 4:7).

Date Written: Between the time of Moses (approximately 1440 B.C.) and the Babylonian captivity (586 B.C.)

Christ (the Messiah) is prominent throughout. The King and the Kingdom are the theme songs of the Psalms.

The key word in the Book of Psalms is Hallelujah, that is, Praise the Lord. This phrase has become a Christian cliché, but it is one that should cause a swelling of great emotion in the soul. Hallelujah, praise the Lord!

Different types of psalms were written to communicate different feelings and thoughts regarding a psalmist’s situation.

Psalms of Lament express the author’s crying out to God in difficult circumstances. Psalms of Praise, also called hymns, portray the author’s offering of direct admiration to God. Thanksgiving psalms usually reflect the author’s gratitude for a personal deliverance or provision from God. Other types of psalms are referred to today as Wisdom psalms.

Did you know that Psalms is found at the center of your bible?

The very center of the Bible when measured by chapter count is Psalms 118.

Here are some other fun facts surrounding Psalm 118:

  • The longest chapter of the Bible falls just after this center chapter– Psalm 119.
  • The shortest chapter of the Bible falls just after this center chapter– Psalm 117.
  • There are exactly 594 chapters before Psalm 118, and exactly 594 chapters after it. When you add the number of chapters before Psalms 118 and those after, the sum is 1,118. And the verse at the very center of the Bible is Psalms 118:8.

The Center Verse

Psalm 118:8 – “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” (NIV)

God is our refuge and shelter!   I hope that you will join us in our series, Storm Shelter.

We’ll cover:

  • The Shelter of God’s Word -Psalm 1
  • The Shelter of God’s Leading -Psalm 23
  • The Shelter of God’s Presence -Psalm 84
  • The Shelter of God’s Power -Psalm 95
    The Shelter of God’s Encouragement -Psalm 42
  • The Shelter of God’s Forgiveness-Psalm 51

Darrell

http://www.Upwards.Church

Sources:

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/songs-that-shape-the-heart-and-mind
  1. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1983), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “PSALMS”.
Life Application Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 841-842.

 

Posted in Storm Shelter- Psalms | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

God is With Us – The Tabernacle, Ex. 40

Posted on March 5, 2019 by dkoop

This week we’re wrapping up Exodus and it ends on a positive note.  Last week, we examined the Golden Calf debacle, a real low point for the people of God.  Many of you know that I attended Texas A&M and love a good aggie joke.  The Israelites, like many of us can’t help but make some boneheaded decisions from time to time. It reminds me of… the aggie that interviewed for a job painting highway stripes.  The foreman said, “to get this job, we have to have an agreement.  I need for you to paint at least 3 miles of stripes a day.”  The aggie said, “no problem, I can do that.”   The first day, he painted 5 miles of stripes. The foreman was impressed. His second day on the job, the aggie painted 3 miles of stripes. The third day, the aggie only painted 1 mile of stripes and the fourth day a ½ mile. The foreman said, “I don’t think this is working out. What’s the deal? Your first day you did so well, but now it’s bad.”  The frustrated aggie replied, “I’m sorry boss, the bucket just keeps getting farther and farther away!”

The Israelites learned from their mistake.  As Exodus closes, they have been faithful, helpful and generous. They would follow God’s instructions, build the Tabernacle and experience God’s blessings upon them.

I love this quote from Skip Heitzig, he says, “Exodus starts out in the brickyards of Egypt, but ends in the tabernacle with God living at the center of his people. In the same way God wants to take us out of the slavery of sin and live at the center of our lives.”

In Exodus 25-40, God told Moses how to build the Tabernacle, and Moses delegated jobs in order to do it. God allows people to participate with him in carrying out his will. Our task is not just to sit and watch God work, but to give our best effort when work needs to be done.

The physical care of the Tabernacle required a long list of tasks, and each was important to the work of God’s house. This principle is important to remember today when God’s house is partly represented by the church. There are many seemingly unimportant tasks that must be done to keep our church buildings maintained. Cleaning, mowing, printing, washing dishes, changing diapers, painting walls, or pulling weeds may not seem very spiritual. But they are vital to the ministry of the church and are an important part of our worship of God.

I was amazed as I studied the Tabernacle how much it is mentioned in the bible.  Did you know that 1/3 of the book of Exodus deals with the Tabernacle?!  Chapter 25 to chapter 40 (leaving out 32 & 33 the Golden Calf) gives us 13 chapters.  Leviticus has 18 chapters devoted to the Tabernacle. Numbers has 13 chapters devoted to the Tabernacle. Deuteronomy has 2 chapters devoted to the Tabernacle. Hebrews has 4 chapters devoted to the Tabernacle.

50 Bible chapters devoted to the Tabernacle!   It must be important.

Each aspect of the Tabernacle teaches us about Christ. The tabernacle was designed specifically, in detail by God, and pointed to the Person and the ministry of Jesus Christ.

We will look at this in more detail when we get into Leviticus next year but briefly I’ll share how a few parts point to Christ.

By looking at the image of the Tabernacle, see that there was only one way in.  This reminds us of Jesus who said, “I am THE way, no one comes to the father but by me.” John 14: 6  In John 10, Jesus says that he is THE gate, whoever enters through me will be saved.”

After the entrance we come face to face with the altar, a place of death and sacrifice. Sheep, goats and bulls were sacrificed at the altar and their blood atoned for the sins of the people.  When John the Baptist sees Jesus he reminds us, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  Jesus’ death on the cross, his shed blood is our atonement “once for all.”

Then we see a large basin for washing. The washing symbolized spiritual cleansing and forgiveness of sins. The basin reminds us that we are washed and cleansed by Christ.  The basin is also a picture of baptism, we are dead in our sins as we go down into the water but come up raised to walk in new life with Christ.

Next, entering the Holy Place and Most Holy Place we see that the décor changes from bronze on the outside to gold on the inside.  Gold symbolizes royalty and deity. The articles in the Holy Place reminds us of how we are to live with Christ in our lives.

The menorah represents the perfect light of Christ that guides us. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.”  The bread of Presence reminds us that Christ is our sustenance and living bread. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry.”

The Altar of Incense pointed to Jesus Christ as the great Intercessor and Mediator who represents us before God and makes our prayers acceptable to God.

The Holy Place and the Most Holy Place were divided by a large (shielding) curtain.  Do you remember what happened to the curtain when Jesus died on the cross?  “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Because of Jesus, “we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence.”

As the Moses and the people finish the work of the Tabernacle, God is pleased.  Let’s look at what happens.

3 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

God’s presence is with His people!  He is living or dwelling at the center of his people.  The people see and experience the glory of God.   Every day when they woke up and they looked out and saw God and his glory in their presence.  Isn’t that what Jesus also did?

“The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christ was born and came to “tabernacle” (dwell) with us.

As Exodus closes, not only was God with the people, He also guided them.

“In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

The Israelites were once Egyptian slaves making bricks without straw. Here they were following the presence of God, carrying the Tabernacle or place of worship that they had built for God.

Exodus begins in gloom and ends in glory. This parallels our progress through the Christian life. We begin as slaves to sin and are redeemed by God.  He guides us through life with His word, the Holy Spirit, the church, and other believers.  We always have his presence and guidance.  We end our pilgrimage living with God forever.

Darrell

Sources: Life Application Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 156.
The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible – Exodus II, (Chattanooga: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “F. The Assembly and Dedication of the Tabernacle, the Center of Worship: Experiencing the Presence of the Lord, 40:1-38”.
Posted in Journey with God - Exodus | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What’s Your Golden Calf? – Exodus 32

Posted on February 27, 2019 by dkoop

Do you find it easy to forget all that God has done for you?  I do.  Instead of being thankful for eternal life in Christ, peace, forgiveness and purpose, I’m ashamed to say I wish for more.  Surrounded by the blessings of family, freedom, convenience and abundance I find myself thinking, “When are you really going to bless me?”  I have so much yet selfishly long for more.

I can relate to our text today.  The people of God had been delivered out of slavery, had seen the power and miracles of God’s ten plagues against the Egyptians and their gods.  They had seen God part the Red Sea, give them manna and quail from heaven, water from a rock, and receive the Ten Commandments from directly from God at Mt. Sinai. Yet when Moses goes up at the people’s request to get more instructions from God they get impatient at his absence.  They quickly turn from all that God had said and done and decide to make an image, a false god to follow and worship instead.  Wow!

Their decent into chaos begins with impatience.  “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Exodus 32:1 (NIV)

Where is this Moses fellow? They feel that they have waited long enough and it is now time to take action, now it is time to take matters into their own hands.  “How long do I wait?” is a question that I am asked a lot.  We ask that question of God don’t we? “How long is this going to continue? Which direction do I take Lord? At what point do we stop this waiting thing, and just do something?  It’s hard to wait on God and easy to get impatient.

How many bad decisions have we made because of impatience?  We want God to work on our behalf now, not later.  We hate to wait.  I’ve seen people marry in haste because God didn’t bring them someone on their time table or they didn’t think anything better would come along or that their biological clock was ticking.   I’ve seen people cut corners morally to get ahead because God wasn’t blessing them on their time table. I’ve seen people give up on God all together because He didn’t seem to answer their prayers as they had laid out.   We like them turn away from God to an image of our own creation because of our impatience.

The Israelites were tired of waiting on the true God and decided to find one who was more accommodating.   I find a tendency in the human heart to do the same thing with our relationship with God. We try to formulate a god who will accommodate us.

Some people want a god that only requires them to sit one hour a week.

Some people want a god that does not require them to give any of their money.

Some people want a god that does not require them to change their behavior.

Notice the use of the plural personal pronoun “us“:  “make us gods who will go before us”; “this fellow Moses who brought us”;  (NIV) These people wanted a comfortable, convenient god they could control because they were self-focused.  Many people want a god that caters to them.

We make the same mistake that the Hebrews did, and we do it over and over.  We mold God into who we want Him to be, rather than seeking out who he truly is.

We are not necessarily interested in who God is; We are interested in what God can do for us.

I don’t know about you, but that is not where I want to be. I want to know who God is, and worship and serve the true God rather than something I have pieced together; a conglomeration of ideas about God that I like and feel comfortable with.  I don’t want God only for what He can do for me.

How do we avoid falling into the same trap that the Hebrews fell into? Let’s look more at our Scripture and see what took place and how it applies to us today.

As the story continues the people complain to Aaron.  This is not his best day, Aaron caves in and gives them what they want.  He makes a god fashioned to their liking.  A golden calf, why a calf? A popular Egyptian god, Hapi (Apis) was thought of as a bull and a heifer. The Canaanites around them worshiped Baal, thought of as a bull. Baal was their sacred symbol of power and fertility and was closely connected to immoral sexual practices.  They were weary of a god without a face. But in doing so, they were ignoring the command he had just given them: “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind” (20:4).

They are used to having images of gods around them, they grew up with this kind of thing. So, Moses, he’s out of the picture, and this Moses was their link to God. They need another link, another mediator, so they create one. They worship like the pagan culture they came out of. Never mind that the festival they created had several violations of the Ten Commandments, this is what their idea of God is.

5 Aaron built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

The festival got out of hand. The Hebrew word for revelry (tsachaq) has the idea of loose conduct, the kind of loose behavior that happens when a person has been drinking or taking drugs. The word has the idea of crude language and laughter, of sexual misconduct, of engaging in a wild dancing party or a wild drinking party.

The bottom line here is this: Are you in your life as a Christian going to follow the biblical reality (what God says in His word) or the cultural reality you live in? This is the choice that was set before the Hebrews, and they chose the cultural reality. It was familiar, it was fun, it was a good time and many seemed to agree it was ok.   Our golden calf today may be money, success, a house, power or position.  We may have a golden car or a golden child.  Whatever is a priority of our time, emotions and money is likely our golden calf.

What is God’s response?   What if you came home from out of town and found that your kids threw a wild party and you walk in to see you house trashed, your kids drunk and naked?

God was ready to destroy the whole nation because of their sin. But Moses pleaded for mercy, and God spared them. This is one of the countless examples in the Bible of God’s mercy. Although we deserve his anger, he is willing to forgive and restore us to himself. We can receive God’s forgiveness from sin by asking him. Like Moses, we can pray that he will forgive others and use us to bring them the message of his mercy.  Who is God leading you to pray for?  Who do you need to intercede for?

How could God relent? God did not change his mind in the same way that a parent decides not to discipline a child. Instead, God changed his behavior to remain consistent with his nature. When God first wanted to destroy the people, he was acting consistently with his justice. When Moses interceded for the people, God relented in order to act consistently with his mercy.

Let’s tie this in with the New Testament.  Moses stood as the intercessor between God and the people. Moses is a picture of the great Intercessor, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus intercedes on our behalf.  He took our punishment.

Isaiah 53 explains this beautifully…

Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

Thank you Jesus for interceding for me!

Darrell

www.Upwards.Church

 

Sources:   Life Application Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 144.

Posted in Journey with God - Exodus | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments