OPEN FOR BUSINESS—WITH GOD! 

Posted on December 26, 2024 by randscallawayffm

 

God has designed the place to meet with Him. Now God provides the process for dealing with personal sins.  God’s process is as detailed and specific as building the place for God and creating the tools used for burnt offerings.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God since Adam said yes to taking the fruit from Eve offered by evil. So, the sins of all the inhabitants of the camp must be dealt with through designated priests at the Tent of Meeting that is now open for doing business with God.

Leviticus 1

The Burnt Offering

1 The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.

3 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. 4 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you. 5 You are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 You are to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 9 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

10 “‘If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect. 11 You are to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. 12 You are to cut it into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 13 You are to wash the internal organs and the legs with water, and the priest is to bring all of them and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

14 “‘If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you are to offer a dove or a young pigeon. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He is to remove the crop and the feathers[a] and throw them down east of the altar where the ashes are. 17 He shall tear it open by the wings, not dividing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is burning on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND TO GOD?

Even though the book of Leviticus seems odd and maybe even distasteful and a bit disgusting to our culture, God was training His people to do business with Him in ways that they could understand at that time.  Leviticus is the third book of five “books of the Law” written by Moses, inspired by God.  God began from the very beginning—the Genesis of Creation of all living things.  God now tells Moses to write down God’s plan and process for His people to relate to God, to do business with God, who is holy.  Moses tells God’s people and designated priests in “real time” what is expected of them in detail.

Eugene Peterson’s commentary helps us to relate to Leviticus today;

“One of the stubbornly enduring habits of the human race is to insist on domesticating God.  We are determined to tame God. We figure out ways to harness God to OUR projects.  We try to reduce God to a size that conveniently fits our plans and ambitions and tastes. But our Scriptures are even more stubborn in telling us that we can’t do it.  God cannot be fit into our plans; we must fit into his.  We can’t use God—God is not a tool or appliance or credit card.

‘Holy’ is the word that sets God apart and above our attempts to enlist him in our wish-fulfillment fantasies or our utopian schemes for making our mark in the world.  Holy means that God is alive on God’s terms, alive in the way that exceeds our experience and imagination.  Holy refers to life burning with an intense purity that transforms everything it touches into itself.

Because the core of all living is God, and God is a holy God, we require much teaching and long training for living in response to God as he is and not as we want him to be. 

The book of Leviticus is a narrative pause in the story of our ancestors as they are on their way, saved out of Egypt, to settle in the land of Canaan.  It is a kind of extended time-out of instruction, a detailed and meticulous preparation for living ‘holy’ in a culture that doesn’t’ have the faintest idea what ‘holy’ is.  The moment these people enter Canaan they will be picking their way through a lethal midfield of gods and goddesses that are designed to appeal to our god-fantasies: ‘Give us what we want when we want it on our own terms.’  What these god-fantasies in fact do is cripple or kill us.  Leviticus is a start at the ‘much teaching and long training’ that continues to be adapted and reworked in every country and culture where God is forming a saved people to live as he created them to live—holy as God is holy.

The first thing that strikes us as we read Leviticus in this light is that this holy God is actually present with us and virtually every detail of our lives is affected by the presence of this holy God; nothing in us, our relationships, or environments is left out.

The second thing is that God provides a way (the sacrifices and feasts and Sabbaths) to bring everything in and about us into his holy presence, transformed in the fiery blaze of the holy.  It is an awesome thing to come in to His presence and we, like ancient Israel, stand in His presence at every moment (Psalm 139).  Our Lord is not dwelling in a tent or house in our neighborhood. But he makes his habitation in us and among us as believers and says, ‘I am holy, you be holy’ (1 Peter 1:16, citing Leviticus 11; 19; 20).

Once we realize this, the seemingly endless details and instructions of Leviticus become signposts of good news to us.  God cares that much about the details of our lives, willing everything in and about us into the transformation that Paul later commended.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you:  Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life—and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  instead, fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.  Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2, Message Bible.

Embracing and placing with full attention on God is how to respond to God who is the Only One who makes us holy to Him. To God be the glory!

Lord,

I give you my life today as an offering to you.  I’m listening for your holy prompting that will lead me by the hand to your agenda.

In Jesus Name, Amen 

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

GOD’S HOUSE—GOD’S RULES!

Posted on December 24, 2024 by randscallawayffm

Most adults of a certain age, raised to adulthood in the sixties-seventies, probably heard this phrase more than a few times from our parents; “Our house, our rules, as long as you live under our roof as our children; you will obey our rules.”  If your parents were Christians, they would add; “This is for your own good.”  And they meant it for the rules were meant to protect us while they provided for us until we were able to have jobs that provided enough to have our own home.  If you obeyed, life was easier.  If you did not, there was constant tension.  Remember?

When we enter God’s House, we come with expectant hope of seeing God’s glory at work as we worship Him with others.  If we pause to prepare our hearts and truly focus on God; we will indeed hear from God and learn His ways.  Coming to God’s House today is simple as we live in a country that allows us the freedom to meet to worship our God with others.  We have an array of choices of where to go as there are many churches in every city or town!  We are blessed to have it this easy.  Will there be a time when we do not?  Sometimes I wonder and I stop to give praise to God, thanking Him for the privilege to come into His house with humbled gratitude!

“I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.”    Psalm 122:1

God’s place has rules.  These commandments, given to Moses, were the “rules of engagement” with God.  The Israelites were taught to have respect, a healthy fear and awe of who God is as the One and Only God to be worshiped, with specific ways to repent of their sins through sacrifice. 

God appointed were anointed and given directions of how the priests should dress with very detailed ways given by God with how they will do ministry.  God gave them specific ways and means to bring His people back to Him through their repentance and His forgiveness of sins through specific ways of sacrifice. 

God’s greatest desire is that we trust and obey what He says as He stands ready to pour out all the blessings we need for our good which reveals His glory at work!  But when we choose not to obey, like King Saul who followed his sin nature of pride, it was the priests designated work, through the generations of Aaron, who were to bring them back to what God delights in—our obedience and allegiance to Him.  Here is an example:

“Samuel, (the priest to rebellious King Saul) replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23

So, arrogance and rebellion of God’s rules and commandments have no place in God’s house.

All of these commands are new to God’s people who He brought out of slavery from Egypt to journey through the wilderness on their way to new land that God has promised to them.  They were eager to build “just as God specifically commanded them.” Now all is ready to set it up.  They will see the outcome of their hard labor.  They will see God’s glorious Presence descend from heaven and hover over the new tabernacle built for God.  How amazing in our God!

But God’s house has rules.  So, Moses and the people do exactly “as the Lord commands” in every detail.

Exodus 40

Setting Up the Tabernacle

Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 “Set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month. 3 Place the ark of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. 4 Bring in the table and set out what belongs on it. Then bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

6 “Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; 7 place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 Set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.

9 “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. 11 Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.

12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest. 14 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics. 15 Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” 16 Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded him.

17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. 18 When Moses set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames, inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. 19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, as the Lord commanded him.

20 He took the tablets of the covenant law and placed them in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it. 21 Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the Lord commanded him.

22 Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain 23 and set out the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

24 He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle 25 and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him.

26 Moses placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain 27 and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded him.

28 Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. 29 He set the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings, as the Lord commanded him.

30 He placed the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, 31 and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash their hands and feet. 32 They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses.

33 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.

The Glory of the Lord

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

36 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.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Trust and obey God! Do what He says!

Max Lucado helps us understand a heart of obedience that delights God;

“Some people believe that outward appearance determines inner quality. With God, it is the other way around: Outward appearance should reflect inner reality. The priestly garments reflected the holy character of the priests as they were in communion with a holy God.

“Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh” (Romans 13:14).

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26–27).

This clothing has nothing to do with dresses and jeans and suits. God’s concern is with our spiritual garments. He offers a heavenly robe that only heaven can see and only heaven can give. Listen to the words of Isaiah: “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10)

Remember the words of the father when the prodigal son returned? He wanted his son to have new sandals, a new ring, and what else? New clothes. “Bring the best robe and put it on him” (Luke 15:22). No son of his was going to be seen in shabby, muddy rags. The father wanted the son to have the best clothing available.

Your Father wants you to have the same.

Again, this discussion of clothing has nothing to do with what the store sells you. It has everything to do with what God gives you when you give your life to him.” –Max Lucado, Lucado Encouraging Word Bible

Lord,

May we come before you with humbled, thoughtful repentance, hearts of praise and thanksgiving, with obedient attitudes who seek you first and often throughout the day and into the night. 

I love you, Lord with all that is in me. Thank you for cleansing my heart, renewing my mind, transforming my behaviors, while growing your character within me.

Thank you for refreshing my soul with your tender mercies when I fail and fall.  Thank you for teaching me valuable lessons while picking me up from the fall and setting my feet back on your firm foundation. 

What joy it is to trust and obey you!  Thank you for daily restoring the joy of your salvation within me for my good and Your glory!  I delight myself in you as you delight in me as your child.  You never fail!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

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

THE OBEDIENT COMPLETE THE WORK!

Posted on December 23, 2024 by randscallawayffm

Think of that time in your life when you were a part of a huge project that needed to be accomplished.  You knew from the beginning of the project’s inception that it would take a small army of people to accomplish it.  You realized the project would require the accomplishment of several smaller, intricate pieces of the project by people of varying abilities.  In my experiences with work or church projects; I discovered that to be a part of the whole meant:

  • I must put my complete focus on the leader who holds the Plan. 
  • I don’t need to know or even understand the whole Plan to do my part. 
  • My complete obedience to the directions given, while doing my best work, would be the key to the completion of the whole.
  • I must concentrate on completing my part of the Plan; to busy to judge others completing their part.
  • When I need advice with how to complete my part, I must go directly to the Leader for clarification.
  • I must fully believe in the Designer of the Plan with complete trust in the Plan.
  • A divided heart unduly questions the Plan, the Designer and all participants; which hinders completion.
  • When the work is completed as directed by the Designer you are elated with indescribable joy with all who had a part in it!

The following is the greatest story ever of team work!!  Lets’ see what we learn…

Exodus 39

The Priestly Garments

From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Ephod

2 They made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. 3 They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen—the work of skilled hands. 4 They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, which were attached to two of its corners, so it could be fastened. 5 Its skillfully woven waistband was like it—of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen, as the Lord commanded Moses.

6 They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings and engraved them like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. 7 Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Breastpiece

8 They fashioned the breastpiece—the work of a skilled craftsman. They made it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. 9 It was square—a span long and a span wide—and folded double. 10 Then they mounted four rows of precious stones on it. The first row was carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; 11 the second row was turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; 12 the third row was jacinth, agate and amethyst; 13 the fourth row was topaz, onyx and jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree settings. 14 There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

15 For the breastpiece they made braided chains of pure gold, like a rope. 16 They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and fastened the rings to two of the corners of the breastpiece. 17 They fastened the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece, 18 and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. 19 They made two gold rings and attached them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. 20 Then they made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod. 21 They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband so that the breastpiece would not swing out from the ephod—as the Lord commanded Moses.

Other Priestly Garments

22 They made the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth—the work of a weaver— 23 with an opening in the center of the robe like the opening of a collar, and a band around this opening, so that it would not tear. 24 They made pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen around the hem of the robe. 25 And they made bells of pure gold and attached them around the hem between the pomegranates. 26 The bells and pomegranates alternated around the hem of the robe to be worn for ministering, as the Lord commanded Moses.

27 For Aaron and his sons, they made tunics of fine linen—the work of a weaver— 28 and the turban of fine linen, the linen caps and the undergarments of finely twisted linen. 29 The sash was made of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn—the work of an embroiderer—as the Lord commanded Moses.

30 They made the plate, the sacred emblem, out of pure gold and engraved on it, like an inscription on a seal: holy to the Lord. 31 Then they fastened a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Moses Inspects the Tabernacle

32 So all the work on the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was completed. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord commanded Moses. 33 Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent and all its furnishings, its clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases; 34 the covering of ram skins dyed red and the covering of another durable leather and the shielding curtain; 35 the ark of the covenant law with its poles and the atonement cover; 36 the table with all its articles and the bread of the Presence; 37 the pure gold lampstand with its row of lamps and all its accessories, and the olive oil for the light; 38 the gold altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the curtain for the entrance to the tent; 39 the bronze altar with its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; 40 the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard; the ropes and tent pegs for the courtyard; all the furnishings for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; 41 and the woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when serving as priests.

42 The Israelites had done all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God loves to work in and through individuals while pulling them together in holy unity as a team!  He always has and always will.  God’s Son, Jesus came to earth to demonstrate the power of team work as he chose, trained, and sent his disciples in teams to do even greater things on earth than He did because His time on earth was coming to a close in person. 

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. —Jesus, John 14:12-14


Our alone time is with God the Father, seeking His will, purpose and plan.  But the accomplish of His will and plan means that we will join with others who God has instilled with purpose in order to complete the work God has given all of us to be and do.  It begins with believing and trusting God who designed and holds the plan.  He is the One and Only who knows all the details as the plan is being completed.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

God will see to it that His work is completed.  One of God’s Team Leaders, Paul writes to the team in Philippi;

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6

JOY, UNSPEAKABLE JOY!

“The Israelites had done all the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them.”  Imagine the overwhelming joy of the people who all had a part in completing the detailed, exquisite work God had commanded them to accomplish!  I can feel the joy that must have been overflowing in the team leaders of woodcrafters, embroiderers, weavers, stone cutters and setters, gold overlayers, and sewers—just to name a few mentioned here as they brought all the completed projects to Moses for his inspection!

Think about it!  This huge project was accomplished in the wilderness! But God, the Master Designer, had provided all they needed. God put together people gifted by Him to complete the work.  The people responded in obedience to God.  They believed God and trusted the details God have commanded them to accomplish for His glory and worship of Him.  Belief and relentless focus accomplished God’s Plan!  The reward is knowing you contributed to the plan that was now completed.

What this massive project also provided from God to His People was to bring them together in unity for their good while accomplishing the work.  We do not read of any complaining among them or arguing with Moses during this project while they were focused on their God and His Plan, do we?  They completed the work “just as God commanded” and they were blessed by their obedience.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy (joyful) in Jesus—but to trust and obey.

Lord,

What joy the people felt then.  What joy I feel now when I give myself to You and trust and obey what you say.

In Jesus Name

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

GOD’S GOT THIS!

Posted on December 20, 2024 by randscallawayffm

The center of worship to God with provisions made for atonement of sins was designed perfectly by God before the Israelites knew they were leaving town!  All the materials needed by the skilled artisans, weavers, and those skilled in woodwork and precious metal overlaying, according to God’s specific design, were readily available!  God provided.  God knew before they knew what would be needed.  Before crossing the Red Sea, God commanded the Israelites to take all that would be needed from the hands of those who called God’s People their slaves. And their Egyptian neighbors gave readily!  Let’s refresh our memories…

“The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.” Exodus 12:35-36

This passage gives us a realization just how much gold, silver, and bronze that God’s people carried out of Egypt to be used in God’s Design for His portable place of meeting with Him. Here are the portions used translated into our system of measurement today:

  • Gold: The weight of the gold was a little over a ton or about 1 metric ton.
  • Bronze:  About 2 1/2 tons or about 2.4 metric tons.
  • Silver:  About 44 pounds or about 20 kilograms.

No wonder God provided dry land to cross the Red Sea!  Just the weight of their Egyptian plunder on their carts would have created a traffic jam if they got stuck in the mud!  And this doesn’t include the amounts they kept for themselves after God said to stop giving, we have enough to build! 

Yesterday, we talked about God being in the details. God is always in the details!  God is the chief Designer of Details!  God loves helping us in all the details of our lives today!  God knows what we need to do today so that we can fulfil what God’s plan will be for tomorrow.  Could this be why Jesus emphasized the “don’t worry” part of his sermon on the Mount?  Probably, because we so easily forget that God, not us, is the One in control and is in all the details! When we say, “God’s got this”, do we really believe it?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”—Jesus, Matthew 6:25-34

Like me, I’m sure that you could tell wonderful stories of God’s provision—even before you knew you would need it!  I can and have many times in these writings.  God not only provides, God protects us by shutting doors, (and the windows), of those things that will hinder our relationship with Him and do harm to our hearts, minds, and souls. 

There are many trials provided by our imperfect world that will test our faith—we don’t need to add more pain through trials produced of our own making by foolishly disobeying God!  Trust and obey!

Exodus 38

The Altar of Burnt Offering

38 They built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. 2 They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze. 3 They made all its utensils of bronze—its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. 4 They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar. 5 They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating. 6 They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 7 They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards.

The Basin for Washing

8 They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The Courtyard

9 Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits long and had curtains of finely twisted linen, 10 with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 11 The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.

12 The west end was fifty cubits wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 13 The east end, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide. 14 Curtains fifteen cubits long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, 15 and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases. 16 All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen. 17 The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.

18 The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer. It was twenty cubits long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits high, 19 with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. 20 All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

The Materials Used

21 These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant law, which were recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. 22 (Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord commanded Moses; 23 with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan—an engraver and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.) 24 The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

25 The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel— 26 one beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more, a total of 603,550 men. 27 The 100 talents of silver were used to cast the bases for the sanctuary and for the curtain—100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent for each base. 28 They used the 1,775 shekels to make the hooks for the posts, to overlay the tops of the posts, and to make their bands.

29 The bronze from the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels. 30 They used it to make the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all its utensils, 31 the bases for the surrounding courtyard and those for its entrance and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and those for the surrounding courtyard.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22

The bronze altar was a place of bloodshed and death, for “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”—pause and let those words sink deep. If a sinner could manage to enter the tabernacle courtyard and wash in the laver, that wouldn’t save him.  Nor would he be forgiven if he entered the Holy Place and ate the bread or burned the incense. The way into the presence of God began at the bronze altar, where innocent victims (unblemished animals offered as a sacrifice) died for guilty sinners. 

This brings us once again to Calvary where the Son of God died for the sins of the world, once and for all sinners. (See Matthew 26:26–28; John 1:29; 3:14–16; Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).  Jesus, the one who knew no sin and was without sin, took all the sins of the world upon his shoulders and willingly laid down his life in sacrifice for our sins.  Jesus paid it all.  We come to the altar today to tell Jesus thank you with a repentant, humbled heart of faith that believes He removed all our sins so that we could be free from them—forever!

How do we respond?

  • Believe in all the details that God designed from the beginning until now that led to our salvation. 
  • Seek God and ask for His wisdom to follow all His details that include receiving His love, remaining in His love, so that we may love Him back and love each other with His love in us. 
  • Follow Jesus in all the details that He provided in His Word to us. Jesus is the Word! (John 1:1)
  • Live redeemed lives with expectant hope of eternal life that dissolves our propensity to worry and fear.

Lord,

You have provided all we need to live with expectant Hope.  Our future is secured because you fulfilled all the details to provide for us.  Thank you for removing our sins as we repent them to you. Thank you for being in all the details of my life.  I trust you with my life because you are Life!

In Jesus Name, for our good, and Your Glory, Amen!

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

GOD IS IN THE DETAILS

Posted on December 19, 2024 by randscallawayffm

Whether we think about it often or don’t think about it at all; our God, the Creator of all we see, feel, touch, smell, and taste is very detailed in all He designed for us to enjoy!  He designed every tree with a system of veins to carry sustaining nourishment from root to stem!  He designed our bodies in such meticulously unique ways that doctors, with all their schooling, still must figure out how and why our hearts race or how other body parts fail us. God threw the moon and stars into the sky above us to reflect the sun, our light and heat source. He set the planets in perfect rotation as they revolve around the sun so that seasons of growing and resting could be accomplished. 

God who was at the beginning, who is leading Moses in all the details of life on a journey through the wilderness with thousands; is with us today on our journey. God is the same God who breathed life into His Son, the promised Messiah, as the newborn made His way through the birth canal of a devote young woman espoused to a devote man who listened to God and obeyed. And was it just luck that a particular star exploded in the expanse of the night sky to lead people, rich and poor, to the newborn King to worship Him?  Mm, there is no coincident with God.  God is sovereign.

God is a God of details.  There is not enough space or time to describe all the details designed and implemented by our God!  It is important not to slide over the repetition of words describing all the design work of God for His place of worship and atonement.  God is in the details of every part of our lives, too.  As humans, it is pleasing to God when we notice the detailed work of God in our lives with a pause to praise Him!  To God be the glory! 

God honors what we do for Him.  God bless our efforts to stick to His detailed instructions as we accomplish His work.  Our work is designed to be His way of teaching us His ways as He works in and through us.  All we think, say, and do must bring honor to him.  Trust God.  God leaves nothing to chance.  God is in the details!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24

Observe how Bezalel and the other craftsmen and artisans work to fulfil every detailed instruction given to them by God, the Designer!

Exodus 37

The Ark

37 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. 2 He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. 3 He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 4 Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 5 And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it.

6 He made the atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 7 Then he made two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 8 He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover. 9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover.

The Table

10 They made the table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. 11 Then they overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it. 12 They also made around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. 13 They cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners, where the four legs were. 14 The rings were put close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 15 The poles for carrying the table were made of acacia wood and were overlaid with gold. 16 And they made from pure gold the articles for the table—its plates and dishes and bowls and its pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings.

The Lampstand

17 They made the lampstand of pure gold. They hammered out its base and shaft, and made its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 18 Six branches extended from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 21 One bud was under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 22 The buds and the branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

23 They made its seven lamps, as well as its wick trimmers and trays, of pure gold. 24 They made the lampstand and all its accessories from one talent of pure gold.

The Altar of Incense

25 They made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it. 26 They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. 27 They made two gold rings below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. 28 They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

29 They also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense—the work of a perfumer.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

All details matter and have significance in worship to God for all He has done.  God is God alone.  There shall be no other gods worshiped.  There shall be no hint of other gods in the Tent of Meeting with God.  Maybe God’s specific and detailed instructions were commanded by Him to train their minds away from entertaining their old habits of the worship of other gods, learned as slaves in Egypt. Even so, God is in the details for even greater significance!

Although Bezalel oversaw the construction of each item for the tabernacle, Moses personally saw to it that every piece of furniture and every utensil was anointed and placed where it ought to be. God could not and would not dwell in the tabernacle unless everything was done according to the pattern He showed Moses on the mountain.

  • Since there was no way to let in natural light from the outside, the gold lampstand was the only source of light available in the Holy Place.  Consider these details:  Without light from the lampstand; the priests couldn’t have carried on their various ministries.
  • God wants us to offer Him intelligent worship, not ignorant worship (John 4:19–24; Acts 17:22–31; Romans 1:18–25), and to do that, we need the light of the Word of God to guide us (Ps. 119:105, 130; Prov. 6:23).  God is in the details!

Consider these details of significance:  In order to please God and not be in danger of death, the priest had to use not only the right fire on the altar but also the prescribed mixture of spices for the incense (Exodus 30:34–38). Later we will read of Nadab and Abihu who tried to worship God with “profane fire” and were killed (Leviticus 10). Any Israelite who tried to duplicate this special incense for his own personal use would be cut off, which could mean death.  The priests were warned not to use this golden altar for anything other than burning incense (Exodus 30:9), for there are no substitutes for prayer. No amount of sacrificing can take the place of true praying.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:1-4

The golden altar wasn’t a place for making bargains with God or trying to change His mind (James 4:1–4; 1 John 5:14, 15). It was a place for adoring Him and praying, “Thy will be done.”  (Jesus prayer to God, His Father!)

God made us. God sees what’s inside us and knows the motivations of our hearts.  “The heart wants what the heart wants” is today’s worldview mantra among many who have given up on life abundant and have fallen for The Deceiver who is leading us from God’s detailed design to death.  The Deceiver does all he can to distract us from our relationship with God long enough to pull us away from His protection.  He “separates the lambs from the herd for only one purpose—to devour, defeat and rob us of our Hope of eternal life.  But there is One who was, is, and always will be the Overcomer who rescues us and brings us back to God—Jesus.

Jesus was sent to earth centuries later to not only save us but to go back over all the details of God’s commandments that got lost and distorted by humans who sought to satisfy their desires instead of seeking the Lord.  See Matthew 5-7 for detailed instructions from God’s Son explaining the intent and implementation of God’s original commandments designed in detail for our good and God’s glory.

Yes, God is still in the details!  Watch for God sightings today! An alert mind who seeks God will indeed find Him and see His glory at work all around us and in us! To God be the glory!

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts by removing all that does not belong there.  Renew our minds; transform our behaviors.  Refresh our souls with today’s fresh mercies.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us and all around us—for our good and your glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen

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

GIVERS GET TO WORK!

Posted on December 18, 2024 by randscallawayffm

I was a sophomore in high school when the walls of our new church building began to rise from the solid foundation laid.  Our church had been renting a building until enough funds were available to buy property and build.  I was a baby in arms when the vision began in the hearts of humbled leaders. God set the time, provided what was needed in all kinds of ways, along with skilled men and women to finish this project from the inside out outside in!  How exciting those days were for all who had poured their time, finances, labor, and most of all prayers for wisdom from God into His work He called us to accomplish.  His Word, His Way, His Time led us to experience the glorious and miraculous ways of God’s provision and help throughout this process of building His church.  

Willingly surrendering to what God wants is the key to opening the doors to new opportunities of pointing the way to salvation in Jesus to the lost from hearts who love and worship God supremely.  The first Sunday of worship is one I will never forget.  God’s vision brought us together and His Holy Spirit unified us in grateful praise for all that God had done in and through us for our good and His glory.  To God be the glory!

However, through it all, I don’t recall the leaders ever saying to the congregation; “Stop giving, we have more than enough to build.”  Wait, what?  This is want happened when the Israelites willingness to surrender all was more than what God needed to build His sanctuary!  These are but a few of the miracles God loves to provide as our willingness to surrender meters go over the top!

Exodus 36

1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”

2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. 3 They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. 4 So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

The Tabernacle

8 All those who were skilled among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by expert hands. 9 All the curtains were the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide. 10 They joined five of the curtains together and did the same with the other five. 11 Then they made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and the same was done with the end curtain in the other set. 12 They also made fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. 13 Then they made fifty gold clasps and used them to fasten the two sets of curtains together so that the tabernacle was a unit.

14 They made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. 15 All eleven curtains were the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. 16 They joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another set. 17 Then they made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. 18 They made fifty bronze clasps to fasten the tent together as a unit. 19 Then they made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.

20 They made upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21 Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, 22 with two projections set parallel to each other. They made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 23 They made twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle 24 and made forty silver bases to go under them—two bases for each frame, one under each projection. 25 For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, they made twenty frames 26 and forty silver bases—two under each frame. 27 They made six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle, 28 and two frames were made for the corners of the tabernacle at the far end. 29 At these two corners the frames were double from the bottom all the way to the top and fitted into a single ring; both were made alike. 30 So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame.

31 They also made crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle. 33 They made the center crossbar so that it extended from end to end at the middle of the frames. 34 They overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. They also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

35 They made the curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 36 They made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold. They made gold hooks for them and cast their four silver bases. 37 For the entrance to the tent they made a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer; 38 and they made five posts with hooks for them. They overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold and made their five bases of bronze.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Moses gave the Israelites instructions on how to build the tent of meeting. Those specific instructions came from God.  God designed each detail.  Skilled workers with God-given abilities were summoned to complete the work.  We learn that God always finishes what He starts. God, Master Architect, designed his house. Skilled people, such as Bezalel, worked to accomplish God’s plans. They wanted to honor and please God by their efforts.  The people gave—as a response to being part of God’s plan.  To God be the glory!

The Miracle of Giving was prompted by the surrender of His people!  God provided all that was needed to build when he told His people to gather the needed items from their Egyptian neighbors upon leaving Egypt.  They willingly obeyed God then and now they are giving back what was given to them which was more than enough to build. 

In fact, the willing hearts of surrender to the work of God caused them to give back more than was needed!  Moses had to make a announcement to the people—stop giving!  We have more than enough!  What a miracle of God whose plans do not fail—because He knows before we know exactly what is needed. 

What a lesson for the people to learn that their willingness to surrender what God had given to them on that last night of their rescue, would be more that enough now to build God’s sanctuary!  To God be the Glory!

I grew up with an old story repeated many times by preachers; 

There once was a preacher who announced one Sunday— “We have more than enough to build to build our new church!”  With the news, the people shouted, “Praise God!”  The preacher then said, but there’s one problem; “All that is needed is in your pockets.”  Silence.

What is our response to the goodness of God in our lives? 

Who do we praise with our first breath each day? 

Who gets the credit when a plan comes together that you have been working on for a long time? 

Will there be a time when God says to us—stop giving now, you have more than enough?  Mm.  Can we ever outgive God?  Nope.

We know that God as given more than enough to complete His Ultimate Plan to save the world.  Jesus, His One and Only Son was more than enough to free every person in this world from the bondage and hold that sin has on us.  God loves.  God loved then and God loves know.  His love never changes, never gives up, never runs out.  While were yet sinners, unwilling to surrender yet, God loved us and sent His Son to die for our sins and rise again to give us Hope for an eternal future with Him.  God gave.  We give ourselves in willing surrender back to Him. To God be the glory!  

I pray we who believe and are reading this today would live in ways that God will be seen and known as One who deserves all the credit, glory, and praise for all that is accomplished.  Peter, the disciple upon whom Jesus builds His church, writes;

“Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!” 1 Peter 4:7-11, MSG

As our response, may we exhibit God with our uniqueness. When we magnify our Creator with our strengths, when our contribution enriches God’s reputation, our days grow suddenly sweet. May we talk of our problems less and our Mighty God more. 

And to really spread the sweet fragrance of Christ to our world, may we use our uniqueness to make a big deal about God . . . every day of your life.  To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Lord,

Thank you for this lesson of willing surrender to you.  I give you my life today as an offering to you.  Cleanse my heart by removing all that does not belong. Renew my mind, transform my behaviors. Refresh my soul with your tender mercies.  Restore the everlasting, indescribable joy of your salvation at work within me always.  To you be the glory!

In Jesus Name, for our good and YOUR GLORY, Amen! Yes!

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

THE SABBATH—FOR OUR GOOD AND GOD’S GLORY!

Posted on December 17, 2024 by randscallawayffm

Who doesn’t love a great chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A?!

Chick-fil-A is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in College Park, Georgia, Chick-fil-A operates 3,059 restaurants across 48 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company also has operations in Canada, and previously had restaurants in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The chain also provides catering services. They offer many discounts for local sports, church events, and other non-profits as a way to give back to the community they serve.  Chick-fil-A calls its specialty the “original chicken sandwich”. The sandwich is simply a piece of deep-fried breaded boneless chicken breast served on a toasted bun with two slices of dill pickle, or with lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

Many of the company’s values are influenced by the Christian religious beliefs of its late founder, S. Truett Cathy (1921–2014), a devout Southern Baptist. Reflecting a commitment to “honoring the Sabbath”, all Chick-fil-A restaurants are closed for business on Sundays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.  Cathy said “Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and of directing our attention to things that mattered more than our business.”

The company’s official statement of corporate purpose says that the business exists “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A”.  It has been proven that honoring God by keeping the Sabbath holy along with allowing employees a day of rest from their labors, has been pleasing to God as all glory was given to God for Chick-fil-A’s success.  Chick-fil-A continues to rise above the competition who sell chicken as their specialty and are open seven days a week. In other words, Chick-fil-A does in six days what the others try to do in seven.  So, in our world, it has been proven by Cathy’s company that to continue “honoring the sabbath and keeping it holy” is still for our good and God’s glory!   

Exodus 35 is where it all began—with God’s commandment— “For six days, work; but on the seventh day, observe a holy rest.”

Exodus 35

Sabbath Regulations

Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: 2 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. 3 Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

Materials for the Tabernacle

4 Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 5 From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze; 6 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 7 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; 8 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 9 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

10 “All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle with its tent and its covering, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases; 12 the ark with its poles and the atonement cover and the curtain that shields it; 13 the table with its poles and all its articles and the bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand that is for light with its accessories, lamps and oil for the light; 15 the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils; the bronze basin with its stand; 17 the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard; 18 the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, and their ropes; 19 the woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary—both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests.”

20 Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence, 21 and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments. 22 All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the Lord. 23 Everyone who had blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen, or goat hair, ram skins dyed red or the other durable leather brought them. 24 Those presenting an offering of silver or bronze brought it as an offering to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the work brought it. 25 Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun—blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen. 26 And all the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goat hair. 27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. 28 They also brought spices and olive oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the Israelite men and women who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings for all the work the Lord through Moses had commanded them to do.

Bezalel and Oholiab

30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God calls. God equips. God sends. God fills the souls of men and women whose hearts are willing and obedient with His Holy Spirit.  God could have most certainly waved His hand over the wilderness sojourners to provide a tent of meeting for Himself; but instead He chose men and women with special skills, wisdom, and abilities to not only do the work but teach others the work.  God is teaching His People how to give Him glory in all areas of their lives!  It’s not about the task itself; it’s about God.  It is God who is inviting us to JOIN Him in His work!  What an awesome opportunity!  THIS is what the “willing people” throughout this passage are driven by—God’s invitation!

God knows that when we see Him work in and through us, equipping us, teaching us through discovery learning, (as we educators call it); that we will not soon forget how much God does for our good as we give Him the glory!  It is in doing the tasks that we see the glory of God at work!

We learn that we can do nothing of significance without God leading and equipping us; providing all we need to accomplish His will and plan with His purpose. God always has purpose and that purpose is unique to every man and women He has created.  With God, ordinary people do extraordinary works!

We learn that our willing obedience to God gives us more understanding and insight about God.  We learn that God knows that sometimes the obedient enjoy doing what God wants so much, they forget to rest and just be with God.  So, God, who also rested on the seventh day after creating the whole world in the previous six days; commands that we do the same. 

God is God. We are not God.  The Psalmist tells us that holy rest includes being still and letting go of all that is between God and us;

“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 (Read the whole psalm!)

Jesus taught this same truth to His followers;

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—Jesus, Matthew 11:28-30

Our response to God’s command is to come and rest from our labors, taking one Sabbath day each week, coming before our holy God, seeking to be made holy by Him. Why is this necessary, even today?  For our own good!  God knows exactly what we need when we need it.  We must take time to be still.  Being still in Psalm 46 means letting go of all that concerns us so that we can give our full, undivided attention to God. It is in this response that we know God more! It is a time to freely worship God and give thanks for all He has provided.  And it is a holy time to give back a portion of what God has given to us willingly.  It is time for God to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves—make us holy.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Just ask the chicken sandwich maker!

Lord,

You call us to come to you then you equip us to accomplish your uniquely created purpose in each one of us.  You are amazing in all your ways.  Your love and compassion for us is sometimes beyond our understanding—but I am grateful for your relentless love, mercy, and grace!  Thank you for saving my soul by your willing sacrifice.  I offer my life back to you willingly as an offering to you today.  Lead me, Lord with your agenda, through every detail of today. May your glory be seen in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS –SECOND EDITION

Posted on December 16, 2024 by randscallawayffm

A special speaker was coming to our church that Sunday!  I remember it so well!  I was a younger mom, working as a public-school teacher, volunteering to teach Sunday School, and then played the piano for worship as any good pastor’s wife was expected to be and do! (A story for another time.)  I looked forward to talking with this man who I had admired for years for his wisdom and compassionate love for others.  He was going to stay in our home.  Although that meant more preparation; we were elated to host him so we could have some one-on-one time with him before sharing him with the rest of the congregation.  It was a busy time with many details to accomplish as we prepared for his coming. 

The women of the church took over the after-church meal that rivaled all other meals provided in the past!  They were so excited for his coming to be with us that the women planned a meal of their best recipes.  All was going according to plan until I decided to “help” in the kitchen along with all my other tasks as host. I saw an older woman struggling to bring in her dish.  I quickly took the huge dish of roast prepared beautifully from her.  Then I tripped. The hot dish slid out of my hand and splattered all over the floor in a big mess of ruined meat.  We both just looked at each other in shock.  I was mortified and I wanted to cry.  But she smiled, looked into my eyes, and quickly helped me recover by forgiving me with words that brought me back to the main reason to celebrate that day of worship of God with learning from God through this man of God.  She said; “It’s only meat, the best is yet to come, hearing God speak today through His servant!”  In other words, let’s keep our attention on God for this is why we came.

God’s People tripped up, fell back to old habits of idol worship learned well while in bondage as slaves in Egypt.  They sinned aggressively against God by sidelining God. Aaron, second in charge, fearful for what the people might do to him, gave in to their wishes.  Aaron took gold from donated jewelry, melted the gold down, and then molded a golden calf to appease the people who were used to being able to see and touch their gods.  They forgot Who rescued them and brought them out of slavery. They forgot who they should be worshipping who provided daily manna with good water to drink each day of their lives on their journey. They forgot why they are on this journey in the first place—to be led by God to the land He promised to give them. They forgot God.

God knew what was happening as His finger was craving out the Ten Commandments that included, “You shall have no other gods before me,” as one of the Ten non-negotiable commandments of God.  This miracle of God’s hand on Moses’ tablets was happening at the same time as His people were in direct disobedience of this very command. God is angry.  This is a very bad day.  Evil seems to be winning while Moses is communing with God.  The Enemy is crafty and knows when and how to trip us up when we least expect it! God warns Moses of the ways of evil.

God sent Moses back down the mountain to address and confront the people.  However, Moses being with God, learning from God, with knowing God’s heart; felt the anger within him that was in God.  The more we know God; our hearts begin to beat like the heart of God. What breaks God’s heart; breaks our hearts.  What happened next?  Moses saw and heard the evil, ungodly, unholy acts of the very people God led through the Red Sea and his anger welled up inside him. In anger, Moses threw down the first set of tablets, written by the finger of God, and they broke into pieces!

But God forgave Moses. God provided punishment and consequences for those who directly and rebelliously sinned against Him. God forgave the people.  “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning,” The Psalmist will write later.  Psalm 30:5

God told Moses to prepare another set of stone tablets to replace what was broken in anger.  God is giving His people another chance to know Him, worship Him, and learn who He really is with all He wants to provide for them.  God is jealous.  But not like we think of jealousy today.  God desires greatly to pour out His blessings of all that is good over us.  But if we decide, (and it is a decision), to turn our allegiance and focused attention to the Enemy who wants to destroy us, or to anything other than God; it breaks His heart.  God is jealous for our full attention because He is always at work on our behalf!  And what breaks the heart of God will always break the heart of one who knows God.

Exodus 34

The New Stone Tablets

The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”

10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

15 “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.

17 “Do not make any idols.

18“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.

19 “The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock. 20 Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons.

“No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

21 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

22 “Celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord, the God of Israel. 24 I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God.

25 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.

26 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

“Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

The Radiant Face of Moses

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND? 

By the grace of God, Moses achieved his purposes: God promised to go with the people, God showed Moses a glimpse of His glory, and God forgave the sins of the nation. Moses could return to the camp with the second tablets of the law and tell the people God had forgiven their sins.  Would the people be grateful for the forgiveness of God?  Would they follow the conditions of the Covenant made between God and His People?  Will they be tripped up later by their enemies?  Some will not listen and some will follow. Stay tuned. 

The Glory of God—

Moses had been fasting and praying in the presence of God for eighty days, and he had seen a glimpse of God’s glory (see also 2 Cor. 3:7–18). Is it any wonder that he had a shining face? He didn’t realize that he had “absorbed” some of the glory and was reflecting it from his countenance. Because of this glory, the people were afraid to come near him, but he summoned them to come and they talked as before.  Moses was still Moses but he was being transformed by God and it showed on his face!  This happens to all new believers in Jesus who decide to take time to be with God each day.  Our faces will show the glory of God reflecting from us.  Our behaviors will also transform to demonstrate the glorious love of God in us!

Paul applied Moses’ experience to Christians who by faith see the glory of Jesus Christ in the Word and experience a spiritual transformation (2 Cor. 3:17, 18). This is why as believers of Jesus seeking Him first and only as our guide and example for living ; read the Bible and let it soak into our being!  When a child of God looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God, he or she is transformed by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God!  Yes!  It’s all about God—not us.

Lord,

Thank you for the memories of tripping up but finding forgiveness in you.  We are not perfect but we are certainly perfectly forgiven.  We don’t deserve your love and sacrifice for our sins; but I am grateful, so very grateful you met our need and did not give up on us.  Thank you for teaching us today of your compassionate love for us.  You are all we need to live in eternity with you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, for Your glory, Amen

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

MOVING ON WITH GOD

Posted on December 15, 2024 by randscallawayffm

In the months after God called Randy and I to be leaders in ministry of His church; we sought the Lord diligently.  We asked God to lead us, teach us, and give us all He knew we would need for this new journey of leaving what we once knew—public school teaching—to move on to the more challenging work that God had for us while not knowing exactly where God would lead us next.What we did have was the Hope of Heaven living in us which provided the benefits of a loving Father who answered our prayers of need.

Now, many years later, after many growing experiences through trials and testimonies of God’s goodness; we are in a new season of moving with God at His command.  There is still some molding and shaping that God still needs to do to make us all He created us to be and then do.  We know that.  So, we still seek the Lord daily for His will to be done in every aspect of our lives.  What we have learned over the years is that like Moses, if God isn’t going with us then we do not want to go!                

Exodus 33

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” 6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.

The Tent of Meeting

7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Moses and the Glory of the Lord

12 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God is a Friend to Moses.  Moses’ relationship with God is sacred and holy.  But it is also a relationship where Moses is confident enough to speak to God as a Friend who presents the human perspective of God’s created because He knows God can do anything.  Moses does not like to see His Friend angry. 

For Moses, there is no one like God and there never has been anyone like God. Moses not only hears from God as a prophet would with the assignment of passing God’s message to the people; but their relationship is so much more than the work.  Moses and God enjoy their conversations, though convicting and very hard at times. God, as a friend, enjoys being with Moses.

God enjoys being a Friend as well as our Father.  God loves us with a love that is beyond human love.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

Consider God as Friend.  God, the Father, sent Jesus, His Son to earth seek and to save the lost.  Jesus was not sent as God’s assistant manager with clipboard in hand to make a checklist of the sins of the world. God already knew them.  God already knows our sins.  We know our sins, too, if we stop to admit our sins—and confess them.  

Let’s recap:  God’s Son Jesus came in the form of infant, born to a virgin and her espoused husband who were also friends of God—devoted friends of faith who believed what God said and did what He directed them to do!  Jesus grew “in stature and wisdom” in His Jewish community and went with other young boys to synagogue school.  As an adult, Jesus made friends among those who began to realize who He was, believe in what He said and followed his teachings from God.  Jesus accepted all who came to Him with a need. Sometimes He went to the needy.  God led him to the wilderness to be tested as he fasted and prayed to His Father.  Jesus defeated the Enemy in the desert with God’s Word of Truth. 

Jesus then began his directed mission of seeking, saving, and healing the brokenhearted and setting the captives free from their own demons. His final act on earth was to willing lay down his life in the place of punishment for our sins.  Jesus, who knew no sin in his life was the perfect sacrifice for all the sins of the world. 

Jesus also gathered a dozen ordinary men, some unschooled, some who caught fish for a living, a business manager, and one who was a tax collector who took copious notes!  They all became friends as followed Jesus and learned from Him.  Jesus was their friend and their Master Teacher; until one of them sold Jesus out to His accusers, the religious who were jealous of him. They were not friends of Jesus and did not want to be! But Jesus, Son of God, became a Friend to each one who believed, loved, and followed Him. 

Jesus explains this Friendship and intimate Relationship with these beautiful words:

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.” John 15:9-17

Jesus becomes our Friend when we acknowledge who He is with what He did to remove our sins.  Jesus gives us a new life of freedom that our old way of living did not provide.  God who knew all believers would need help after Jesus ascended back to heaven sent a Helper, God’s Holy Spirit, to be a part of our being, living with us, to guide us to all Truth in a world constantly tempted by the Deceiver.  

Real friends want to spend time with each other, can’t wait to talk to each other, and go to places that friends enjoy together.  Real friends share honestly and openly with each other. Real friends love each other.

God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, the Three-in-One, desires to be a real Friend to us, One who never leaves us or forgets us. God is ready to pour out His blessings over those who love Him and keep His commands for their good and His glory. God, as our Friend, is always for us, not against us, so He is always at work on our behalf so we can become all He created us to be.  God is always with us.  Yes, there is no like our God!

Lord,

Thank you for being our Friend as well as our Savior and Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen       

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer

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

I CAN SEE AND HEAR YOU!

Posted on December 14, 2024 by randscallawayffm

As a former public-school teacher, I can readily and easily relate to the scene in Exodus 32.  I totally get it! When a teacher is summoned to the door of the classroom; our eyes are directed away from our students to the person who has interrupted the lesson.  As soon as we answer the door, no, even while we are walking to the door; our students who have lost eye contact with us think we as teachers no longer see them—or hear them! 

Talking rises to a new decibel.  Some will leave their tasks and decide to play, and others will pull out all their finely tuned tricks of misbehaving with rapid fire.  All this happens in nanoseconds as the teacher deals with the person at the door.  Even if it is the principle at the door; it does not matter to those who are left unsupervised—or so they think!

The principle, Moses, leaves God’s People in the care of Aaron, the assistant principle while he goes up the mountain to get God’s instructions. God’s seminar of detailed directions is taking forty days and night because it includes God’s Laws given with purpose so that the people will know HE is God and God alone. 

However, since Moses’ eyes are diverted away from “his students” and focused on God, the creator of all life; mischief beyond his imagination ensues.  Aaron can’t handle the peer pressure as he has never been in a situation like this so he caves to the wishes of the people led by selfish desires to only follow what they can see and touch—made by human hands.

God’s Rescued are doing exactly what He, Himself, told His people not to do.  God commanded them as they gathered at the base of the mountain; “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Exodus 20:4 This command was number three of the non-negotiable Ten!  But while Moses is away, this is exactly what the people do.

While concluding the seminar; God informs Moses of what the people are doing while they are together on the mountaintop. Nothing escapes the notice and attention of God!  (You might say, as many say of teachers; he does have eyes in the back of his head!)

While Moses is engrossed in God’s seminar to learn from Him all he needs to know to tell God’s rescued and redeemed people how to love God back with how to love and treat each other—the people misbehave in ungodly ways and will have to pay the consequences of their sins against God.

Exodus 32

The Golden Calf

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.”

2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

5 When Aaron saw this, he 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.

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

15 Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16 The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”

18 Moses replied:

“It is not the sound of victory,
    it is not the sound of defeat;
    it is the sound of singing that I hear.”

19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘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.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

27 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29 Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

33 The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

35 And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“O you, of little faith” says Jesus to His disciples who are in training.  When our attention is fully on God; we are in awe of God with a healthy fear of the One who is able to do anything in heaven and earth for our good and His glory.  God is the One and Only God who provided the Way (Jesus, His Son) to be redeem us from our sins and selfishness to be reconciled back to God!  When our eyes are diverted from the Teacher; we miss His glory and goodness at work all around us.  And when we miss seeing and hearing God at work; our faith is weakened.  When our faith grows weak; our resolve to love God back in grateful praise and to love each other like He loves us is in danger of being prey for the Enemy of God.  It’s an age-old problem in our broken world with God.

The Master Teacher, Jesus taught a “hands-on seminar” his students never forgot because they told it to us so we would never forget the desire of God coupled with all the power of God used by God to rescue us.

“Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:25-32

Are you crying?  I am—tears of gratitude!  I have been the disciple who didn’t even get out of the boat and I have been the disciple who took the risk to miraculously walk with Jesus while led to do a new thing for the Lord that I could not do without Him.  What I have learned is that it is not the task but our faith of obedience that God is teaching.  “One to three—eyes on Me,” I used to say to my students.  This is the same message God is teaching us daily!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace…

When Jesus reaches out His hand to rescue us—get a grip and don’t let go of the hand who wants to save us from drowning in the desires of the world around us.  God’s eyes of compassion are always on us. “God with us”, Immanuel, taught us this truth when He walked the earth to “seek and to save the lost.”  Look up and live!  Focus on the One who holds our best in His heart. May we truly believe and place all our hope and faith in the One who loves you and I most. 

Then go and tell, living as redeemed people who long to share where the Bread of Life who feeds and fully satisfies our hunger can be found.  Enjoy quenching your thirst with the Living Water from the well of God that never runs dry! 

Lord,

Thank you for rescuing me from my own sins of self along with the effects of sin of others.  Thank you for teaching me Your Word that encourages us to remain faithful to you who is faithful to us always. Thank you for coming down, as Moses did, to reconnect us to You who is Truth.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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