What the Lord Has Separated Let No One Join Together

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Pete

Working my way through a catalog of commandments in Leviticus this morning (Lev. 18-20). Most make sense to this 21st century mind, others not so much. But what is clear is that the reason for the LORD laying out all these to do’s and to don’ts is that God’s people should be altogether different.

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow My rules and keep My statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God.

(Leviticus 18:1-4 ESV)

I am the LORD your God. I am the LORD. Twenty-one times over these ninety-four verses that reality is invoked as the meta-motivation for obedience. More than once every five verses is that truth brought home. In the midst of the commands that make sense and in those less than intuitive to modern sensibilities, what matters is that the LORD was their LORD. Not just through the act of creation, but more personally because of the act of deliverance. A people rescued from bondage. A people on their way to a promised land. A people with a personal connection to God — the LORD of creation their LORD through salvation.

And what really hits me as I finish up chapter 20, is that God is also the LORD of their separation.

“But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. . . . You shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.”

(Leviticus 20:24, 26 ESV)

God knew the propensity of his people to wanna go back to Egypt. He also knew their hearts would be attracted to the shiny, sin-filled practices of the nations living in the land they were to possess. So they needed to know that they were a separated people. A people severed from the rest, set apart from all others. A distinct and different sort of re-creation. Separated from the peoples. And what the LORD has separated, let no one join together.

In the world but not of the world. Walking in the land but not walking in its ways. While wholly invested as ambassadors, yet remaining holy as unto the Lord.

Fact of the matter is, God’s people are to be a different sort of people. Marching to the beat of a different drummer. Living a life which, by the very nature of being a separated people, is counter-cultural.

Bears some examination, I think. If we’re no longer marked by how different we are from the world, then have we joined together what was God has separated? Nestled in with nations? Partnered with the pagans? Adopting the ways of the world, rather than maintaining the distinctives which mark the kingdom of heaven? Not that we should live in exile from the world, for we’re commanded to go and make disciples of all nations. But that we would live in separation to the LORD our God. A holy people, for He is holy. A transcendent people, for He is transcendent. A people marked by truth, light, and conduct which reflects we are those set apart for a heavenly kingdom which is now though still yet to come.

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make My dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.”

(2Corinthians 6:16-18 ESV)

Our God has separated us from the peoples that we might be His people in order to reach all peoples. Let’s beware lest we join together what God has separated.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Leviticus | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

No More Goat Demons

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Pete

You can take the people out of Egypt, but the God who made them knew how hard it would be to take Egypt out of the people. For 400 years the people of Israel had lived in the land of Joseph. But over four centuries, the land remembered Joseph less and less. Whatever influence he may have had over the land in his time concerning the God of his fathers had passed long ago. While there may have been shadowy stories of their fading folklore told at bedtime, before Moses generation after generation would have grown up more familiar with how to live with fake gods than how to dwell with the one true God now in their midst. A verse in Leviticus reminds me of that this morning.

“So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.”

(Leviticus 17:7 ESV)

Context? A warning about offering sacrifices at home. A prohibition against presenting sin offerings, burnt offerings, peace offerings, or any other offerings “in the open field” (v. 5). It would seem that’s how they rolled in Egypt. Implies to me that back in the land of slavery, whenever they thought Pan, the goat demon, needed to be appeased they’d just head out to the backyard and do the deed. Quick, convenient, do it yourself sacrifice — whenever you want, wherever you want.

But not so for a people now en route to a promised land. A redeemed people. A purchased people. A people no longer their own but now the inheritance of the one true God of all creation. Worship of this God would need to happen inside the camp, not outside in their own fields. Their offerings brought to the tent of meeting and offered only by a set apart priest, no longer taken out to the back yard and offered on a self-serve basis. They had left the land of Egypt, they were to leave its ways as well.

As I chew on these opening verses of Leviticus 17, I’m thinking there’s something instructive for us here.

Though they were free from bondage, they weren’t free to do as they pleased. Deliverance by the God of their fathers demanded deference to the God of their fathers. Old things had to pass away if they were to fully realize the promise of a new life. No longer were goat demons to be a thing. Thus, they needed to stop living as if they were. Instead, the holy God who created them, who reclaimed them, and who desired to dwell with them was to be revered and obeyed by them. And a big part of that was in the manner of their offerings.

How prone might we be to improvising with our worship as were Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10:1-3)? How tempted might we be towards settling for convenience rather than pressing into true consecration? How easy might it be for us to find ourselves falling back to behaving in the old ways while claiming to be walking according to a new life? Pretty prone, pretty tempted, pretty easy, I’m thinking.

No more, says the God of deliverance, through His deliverer, to the people He has delivered.

Bring your offerings inside the camp. Present your sacrifices in My presence — at the tent of meeting, the place where My glory resides.

Come to Me, and keep coming to Me. Walk in My ways, not in the ways of the world.

No more goat demons.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

Posted in Leviticus | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The God of My Life

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Pete

In one sense it strikes me as an apt psalm for expressing some of the collateral damage experienced during a pandemic.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? . . . These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

(Psalm 42:1-2, 4 ESV)

Don’t know what was keeping the songwriter from “church”, but he was about done. Dying of thirst to again connect with the living God. And that by entering again into His house, along with many others, to gather before the God worthy of shouts of joy, songs of praise, and festive celebration. Connecting with God’s people in congregational worship inseparable from connecting with God Himself.

Almost a year after we first were told to shelter in place, many still have not been able to re-experience the joy of connecting with the living God by connecting with other living believers. And for those of us who have, we certainly couldn’t say we’ve being going “with the throng” or joining “a multitude” in our weekly, socially distanced worship.

But beyond the gathering with the saints, the song seems aptly appropriate for this seemingly never-ending season because of the cloud of depression that is threaded throughout the lyrics. Three times the psalmist is keenly aware of his “cast down” soul (v. 5a, 6a, 11a), and of the unceasing turbulence of anxiety that ebbs and flows within him. The very core of his being relentlessly bowed low because of the pressure of his surrounding circumstance. Waves of despair his almost daily unshakeable reality. This too a pandemic reality. Mental health almost as much a concern as COVID for those who, though unaffected by the virus, have had their lives turned upside down by of the “treatment.”

Yet, for the songwriter, the remedy for a cast down soul is hope in a living God. The antidote for the unrelenting pressure of the effects of isolation being the anticipation of the fulfillment of one day again praising Him with the people, and of an even greater day praising Him in His very presence (v.5b, 11b). And what fuels such hope? What continues to prime the pump of such assurance?

Verse 8 caught my attention this morning. Chewing on “the God of my life.”

By day the LORD commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

(Psalm 42:8 ESV)

Though tears had been his food day and night (v.3), for way too many days and nights, yet every day He knew — if but only in his head and not so much his heart — that God enveloped Him with a steadfast love. And every night the Spirit interceded with his spirit that there was still a song to sing — even if only a cappella, even if as a choir of one, even if apart from a festive procession. And that, because the songwriter’s God had become the God of my life.

El Chay, the God of my life. That’s who the prayer prayed to, who the songwriter sung to, who the worshiper longed again to worship before in the place of worship. So entwined was the life of the psalmist with the God of life that even in the deepest of depression his cast down soul could affirm his hope in God. His life, though impacted by his circumstance, not defined by his circumstance. His soul, though suppressed by the season, yet not sunk by the season. And that because he knew the God of my life.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

(Colossians 3:2-3 ESV)

Our lives hidden with Christ.

The Father, the God of my life. Because of the Son. Through the Spirit.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Psalms | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

On Being a Little One

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Pete

Their question, if not the right question, is certainly an understandable question. After all, they were getting in on the ground floor. They were initial investors. That they should be the first to be let in on what the kingdom of heaven was about could easily have caused them to think that, as it grew, they should naturally be the foremost in the kingdom of heaven. But there were twelve of them. So they were curious, who would be the foremost of the foremost?

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

(Matthew 18:1 ESV)

They weren’t looking to the throne. They weren’t wanting to supplant Gabriel, or Michael, or any other awesome angelic being. But amongst themselves, these who were called to be founders of the faith, who was going to be the stronger founder, the elder originator, the most influential initiator? The question makes sense . . . naturally. Yeah, but the kingdom of heaven is anything but a natural kingdom.

And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

“Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. . . .

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones.”

(Matthew 18:2-6, 10a ESV)

We have many ways that we like to reference one another as the redeemed. Like, calling them the redeemed, or the elect. Referring to each other as believers, saints, or brothers and sisters. But when’s the last time you ever heard someone refer to you as a little one?

What if, when we went to church each Sunday (if you’re back to doing that now) and looked one another in eye (still a while, I’m guessing, before we can actually look at one another face to face), and bumped elbows or pounded fists (or did whatever we do to substitute for shaking hands), we greeted each other with, “Good morning, small one! How was your week, less than others? Gonna watch the game this afternoon, least of these?” Uh, maybe there’s a reason little one has never gained traction like brother, sister, or saint has.

This morning, I’m chewing on being a little one.

The least of these. Small in stature. Not taking up much space. Not really allotted a lot of time. Not much in the way of rank or influence. Yet, great in the kingdom of heaven. Really? Are we willing to live so counter-cultural to the world? Can we truly be happy, content, fulfilled with such an upside down standard? If not, maybe we need to turn, humble ourselves, and become like children.

Jesus says “do not despise” such a thought. Don’t disdain being thought of as diminutive. Don’t hold in contempt being considered but a kid. Don’t think little of, well, being thought of as little.

Certainly not natural. Buy hey, we’re indwelt with the Spirit of God, we’re up for the supernatural! And, after all, we believed Jesus enough to receive Jesus, so why wouldn’t we trust Him with our “greatness” by letting go of it. By coming to Him, and being before one another, as but children. Happy to be a child, as long as we’re a child of the King. Willing to be known as the least of these. Content on being a little one.

Only by His grace. But I’m thinking, if we’re able to walk in it, another means of bringing Him glory.

Amen?

Posted in Matthew | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Belief and Behavior

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Pete

Been reading a book on asking the right questions when it comes to thinking through how to be intentional in leading people in the church towards following Christ. It’s what we’re commissioned to do, “Go and make disciples” (Matt 28:19-20). Baptize them into the body of believers and teach them how to follow the Head of the body.

The church is to make disciples, not just coddle believers. And a disciple is a learner and a follower. An imitator of their Teacher, walking in His ways, wanting what He wants. The Greg Laurie quote resonates with me: “Every disciple is a believer, but not every believer is necessarily a disciple.”

In the book I’m reading, the author suggests three fundamental areas of learning which are vital for making followers: bible, belief, and spiritual habits. Knowing the story, understanding theology, practicing the rhythms and ways of the kingdom.

Many get the need to at least read their bible if they want to mature as followers of Christ, some also will buy into the need to study their bible. The idea that spiritual disciplines are also helpful, also resonates with some, at least in my circles, as to their importance for growing in Christ. But mention doctrine, talk about getting a handle on theology, and the herd seems to thin pretty quickly. Seems too theoretical, some would argue, too ethereal. They want application, not academics.

But something I read in Acts this morning emphasized for me, again, the connection between right belief and right behavior.

“But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”

(Romans 24:14-16 ESV)

Paul is testifying before Felix, governor of Judea, at the governor’s residence in Caesarea (Acts 23:23-34). Defending himself against accusations of “stirring up riots among all the Jews” and “profaning the temple” (24:5-6). Paul’s rebuttal, in essence? Not true. They didn’t find me arguing with or stirring up the crowd. They can’t prove that I profaned our temple, because I didn’t. And here’s why I didn’t act in such a way, my theology. I believe that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

The resurrection of the just and unjust, that’s doctrine. That our bodies will materially be raised, reunited with our spirits, and required to stand before God at the resurrection is deep doctrine. And because Paul worshipped the God of his fathers by knowing and believing in such theology, he took great pains to maintain a clear conscience before both God and man. What Paul believed had a direct impact on how he sought to behave. What, by faith, he knew to be the certainty of standing before the throne of God someday, had a great influence on how he ordered his life today.

To be sure, we can be true believers and have very little knowledge of the divine and the ways of the kingdom of heaven. It’s how we all start. Born again, babes in Christ, the gospel so rudimentary that even children can respond. But to be true followers, to be deep disciples of Jesus Christ? That’s gonna require growing up a bit, require maturing in the things of Christ.

That part of making disciples is to teach, implies that part of being a disciple is to learn. That part of being a sojourner is also being a student. That part of being “doers of the word” is to first be “hearers” (James 1:22). Learning, not for the sake of knowledge alone, but so that we might live — practically, purposefully, and productively — as followers of Jesus Christ.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Acts | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

I Am Sorry

Posted on February 10, 2021 by Pete

Don’t know what David did, but he did. Don’t know if the effects he was suffering were but natural consequences of sinful behavior divinely permitted, or if they were supernatural repercussions divinely inflicted. What is clear is that David saw a cause and effect dynamic.

Read Psalm 38 and it is clear that David is in great physical and mental anguish. Unable to stand up straight (v.6), sides burning (v.7), heart palpitating (v.8), eyes dimming (v.10). So sick his friends and family keep their distance (v.11). So sick he can’t even muster up the strength to take action against his enemies who would seek to take advantage of his situation (v.12-14). He’s hurting, no doubt!

As one who knows God, then, he knows his dire situation is the result of Sovereign determination. And, through the Spirit’s illumination, has been convicted of his own moral relaxation.

O LORD, rebuke me not in Your anger, nor discipline me in Your wrath! For Your arrows have sunk into me, and Your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness.

(Psalm 38:1-5 ESV)

Your anger . . . Your wrath . . . Your indignation. My sin . . . my iniquities . . . my foolishness.

Busted! Bent over. Broken. Where do you go when where you are is of your own foolish making?

O Lord, all my longing is before You; my sighing is not hidden from You.
. . . But for You, O LORD, do I wait; it is You, O Lord my God, who will answer.
. . . . . . Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

(Psalm 38:9, 15, 22 ESV)

Without strength, without resources, and without excuse, the songwriter looks to His God knowing He is a “merciful and gracious” God, a God “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”, a God who keeps “steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6-7).

And I’m reminded that the means by which a holy and just God can forgive unholy and just wrong behavior is through the finished work of His Son on the cross. That mercy and grace can flow freely to cleanse sin because water and blood flowed freely from the lifeless body of our once for all sacrifice. That David’s hope for recovery from his dilemma is ultimately founded in the hope that comes from the Savior’s resurrection from the dead.

So, what’s the bridge from desperation to deliverance? The key to unlocking forgiveness when I have failed?

I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. (Psalm 38:18 ESV)

I am sorry for my sin. Only the perfect man, or the deceived man, or the callous man, finds such words absent from his tongue on a regular basis. Don’t want to wait until I am bowed by physical despair — whether permitted or inflicted — before I admit I am in desperate need of forgiveness from the Lord of my salvation.

O, that by His goodness I would flee sin. But also, should I be over taken by it, that I would be quick to recognize sin and even quicker to confess it. That I would keep short accounts. That I would remain long in His shadow. That I would be familiar with those three words, “I am sorry.”

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1John 1:8-9)

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Psalms | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s Their Names?

Posted on February 9, 2021 by Pete

Wrapped up Exodus this morning. And while I think I probably should be meditating on the wonder of the glory descending on the completed tabernacle, I find myself wondering about why I can’t seem to ever remember the names of the guys who built the tabernacle.

For as many times as I’ve read the account; for as much real estate as is devoted to their work (four entire chapters of Exodus); for as big a deal as is made of the fact that they were commissioned by God Himself, and specifically filled with Spirit of God for the job of creating the place where the glory should dwell, for me at least, they pretty much remain anonymous.

Think of the other places where the glory of God would dwell and I bet you know who made them without even thinking. Who created the earth? God. Who birthed the church? Jesus. Who built the temple in Jerusalem. Solomon. Okay, so who in the world fashioned the tabernacle? Crickets . . .

Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses; and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

(Exodus 38:22-23 ESV)

Bezalel and Oholiab. Don’t even know how to pronounce their names. Partly because they never make many sermons. Pretty sure they’ve never had a flannel graph figure stuck on a board as part of a Sunday School story. It could just be me, but I’m thinking they are unknowns for the most part.

They are kind of nobodies to the world at large. Even though God Himself knows them by name, and identifies them by name — and that, on the holy mount where He gave Moses the ten commandments, the basics of the law, and the blueprints for the tabernacle. Even though God specifically calls them out as being filled with “the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and craftsmanship” (31:3, 35:30). Even though 1/10th of the book of Exodus is devoted to the work they did.

So how come? That’s what I’ve been noodling on for the last two days of readings in Exodus.

Think of Exodus, and of the great characters developed in its story, and Moses and Aaron immediately come to mind. But Bezalel and Oholiab? Nope! Good grief, even Pharaoh has more notoriety than these guys (and a flannel graph figure to boot!). And yet, they built the place where the glory of God would dwell.

But it’s Moses’ name that ends up on the dedication plaque.

So Moses finished the work.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

(Exodus 40:33b-35 ESV)

So how come, when the glory falls on the work they’ve completed, they get so little glory? So how come, when they did so much work, they remain so anonymous? So how come, with all the detail in Scripture concerning their contribution to God being in the midst, I can’t seem to remember their names? That’s what I’ve been chewing on.

Welcome to the kingdom. Some will get accolades, others with remain anonymous. For some they reap in the here and now, others are asked to wait for their reward until the there and then. The endgame isn’t notoriety, it’s faithfulness.

Oh, that came up this morning in my readings as well!

Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

(Psalm 37:3 ESV)

Probably won’t remember their names until next year when I read about them again, Lord willing. But inspired by their faithfulness. In awe of the God who filled them with His Spirit to accomplish His purposes in order to reveal His glory — even if they remain in the shadows. After all, like the John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30 ESV)

In service by His grace alone. In service for His glory alone.

Posted in Exodus | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

One Word

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Pete

They were certain Paul had defiled the temple. Convinced he had brought unbelieving, uncircumcised, and unclean Greeks into the holy place. But it was based only on circumstantial evidence. They had seen Paul earlier with Trophimus the Ephesian. So, when later the Jews saw Paul in the temple, they “supposed” Paul must have brought his uncircumcised friend into the temple area with him. And they went nuts. They seized Paul. They beat Paul. If not for the intervention of Roman law enforcement, they would have killed Paul. (Acts 21:27-33)

Hovering over Acts 22 this morning, where Paul speaks to the crowd of his accusers. He asks the Roman tribune who has arrested him for permission to address the crowd. The Roman tribune, wanting to get to the bottom of a near riot, grants the request. And so, Paul speaks. Shares his testimony. Tells his story. Of once being a persecutor of the followers of Jesus. Of delivering both men and women to prison and death for being people of the Way. But then, of meeting the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Of an unearthly encounter of the divine kind so that he no longer regarded Jesus simply as a rogue teacher from Nazareth but as the Righteous One sent from heaven. An experience which converted him from being a persecutor of Jesus to giving his life to following the Lord. (Acts 22:1-16).

And it was going pretty well. The hushed crowds listened to him. That is, until he spoke one word.

“When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw [Jesus] saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ . . . . And He said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”

Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”

(Acts 22:17-18, 21-22 ESV)

“Up to this word,” the Scriptures says, “they listened.” But then “this word” was spoken and the listening stopped. And, at first, it hits me as somewhat unbelievable. Really? One word is all it took? And then I think about our current cultural moment, and maybe it’s not so hard to relate to after all.

One word. Up until that one word the Jews listened to Paul. Between his credentials as a student of Gamaliel, an activist zealous for God, and his supernatural, firsthand experience on the road to Damascus, Paul’s story was compelling. But then he spoke that one word, “Gentiles,” and things came unglued again.

The facts flung aside by the Jews because of their predisposed filter. The truth tanked because they had taken to heart a pre-supposed narrative. The basis for understanding Paul’s gospel undermined because of their bias towards Paul’s friends.

One word. That’s all it took to trigger the crowd. Think about it, and it sounds all too familiar. So often, that’s all it takes for well-intentioned people to stop listening. A word, a phrase, a sentence or two, and we jump to conclusions that end the conversation. We stop listening. We stop asking questions. We cease to seek to understand. Instead, we fill in the details according to our own understanding and make judgments founded on our own views of justice. And bottom line, we miss out. Subjugating truth to temperament. Bona fide belief for unbridled bias.

The Jews were up close and personal with gospel truth and one word derailed them from considering something they weren’t prepared to consider.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

(James 1:19-20 ESV)

Oh, for ears to hear. Despite that one word.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Acts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Faith to Face

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Pete

This morning I awoke, put another pillow under my head, laid back and with eyes closed whispered, “Good morning, Father. Good morning, Lord Jesus.” Able to do this because of the Spirit within me. Kind of Trinitarian moment, it now occurs to me.

I don’t do this every morning. Not even most mornings. In fact, rarely do I awake with such an immediate awareness of God’s abiding presence. But this morning I did. Wondering if it wasn’t intended to set me up for one of my favorite readings every year — Moses’s one-on-one with God (Ex. 33) after the golden calf incident (Ex. 32).

Here’s what I’m hovering over this morning:

And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. . . . So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

(Exodus 33:9, 11a ESV)

And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

(Exodus 33:17 ESV)

So much in Exodus 33 to stir the soul. The stirred up soul of Moses a catalyst for all who’d hunger and thirst for an up-close and personal encounter of the divine kind. Show me Your ways that I may know You. . . . If Your presence will not go with me, I don’t wanna go. . . . Please show me Your glory! (Ex. 33:13, 15, 18)

Thus, the pervasive passion of one accustomed to meeting God in the place where the glory dwelt. Thus, the persistent plea of one who knew what it was to speak with the LORD face to face. Thus the personal persuasion of someone who God knows by name. Maybe the sort of things someone might say who wakes up in the morning and first thinks, “Good morning, Father.”

I don’t’ speak face to face with the God of glory, but His Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I’m a child of God (Rom. 8:16). Sounds pretty intimate to me. You might even argue closer than face to face.

And what I hear Him saying this morning through His word is, “I know you by name.” As Gill puts it in his commentary, “I have a particular and special knowledge of thee, and distinguished thee from others, and have a personal affection for thee.”

He knows my name. And all the good, bad, and ugly that comes with it. Intimately familiar with all my fears, failings, and frailty. Knowing, better than I know myself, my struggles and their source. Yet still whispering back to me, “You have found favor in My sight.”

He knows my name. A name written in His book (Ex. 32:32). Written in red by the blood of Jesus. Ready, willing, and able to show me His way, send me with His presence, and reveal to me His glory. Not because of who I am. Despite what I have done. But only because I have found favor in His sight.

And that’s how come, while not yet face to face, yet faith to face, I can awake and whisper, “Good morning, Father!”

Such wondrous grace. One day to behold His unimaginable glory.

Posted in Exodus | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

A Radiance

Posted on February 4, 2021 by Pete

As much I realize that Scripture is to be read in context, often I find myself spring-boarding off a verse to some truth that, while it is truth, it isn’t necessarily the truth the particular verse I’m chewing on is intended to convey. Something I read this morning is a good case in point.

Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.

(Psalm 34:5 ESV)

Paused after reading that and Moses came to mind. The man who had been in the presence of God at Sinai, having had such a mountain top experience that, when he came down off the holy hill, his face literally “sent out rays”. His face shone. To such an extent, that those who saw him were afraid to come near him (Ex. 34:29-30). Talk about having a glow. Talk about reflecting the glory of God. Talk about a promise to claim. Those who look to Him are radiant.

Yeah, but . . .

While I think that’s true, perhaps its more true from Exodus 34 than it is from Psalm 34. Different context, different meaning.

David’s not coming down from the mountain. He’s sitting in a cave. He’s not recounting having been on holy ground, but before an enemy monarch. He’s not thinking about the face he had gazed upon but the spittle he made run down his own face as he faked insanity in order to avoid being conscripted into service against his own people (1Sam. 21:10-15). David’s penning this verse not with a mountain top experience in mind, but recalling the fear and humiliation of having walked through the valley.

Now read those words.

Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.

The radiance spoken of here, specifically, isn’t the reflective radiance of having encountered God’s glory, but the shining assurance of knowing God’s abiding presence. The CSB translates it “radiant with joy.” The darkness of difficult situations dispelled with the light of the promises of God. I will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut. 31:8). The aura that comes from hope founded in the word of God. The radiance of a countenance that has faith in God.

That’s why the songwriter could continue to pen:

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

(Psalm 34:6-8 ESV)

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in the LORD. Happy, even joyful, are those who look to Him, in testing and trial and even terrible situations of their own making.

For, while eventually there will come rescue, in the meantime there will be radiance. The shining of the presence of God, the promises of God, and the power of God, emitted from those who trust in God. On the mountain, and in the valley.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Psalms | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment