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There’s nothing like a last chapter in a book, a final sequel, or the last inning of the 7th game of the world series. And with “MARCH MADNESS” upon us, maybe a “Road to the Final Four” with the championship game on Monday April 7th imagery would be more appropriate. Once this month gets going, it’s about to get real CRAZY! Here come the Samuel L, Charles Barkley & Spike Lee commercials! Moses is “finishing well” in his own style this week in our devotional but it is a very long “ROAD to his FINAL FORTY”. So far we’ve hit his early PIVOTAL POINTS of being born & adopted, multi-cultured & over-zealous, a fugitive & shepherd, and a “reluctant deliverer”, all in 15 chapters. Now my “overly ambitious intent” this week was to cover the remainder of the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible), with just the “highlights & low lights” as Moses led God’s people up to the Promised Land. But the deeper I got into the Scriptures, the more I realized we can’t cover that much ground. So we’ll kind of have to go a week at a time, just like the Israelites did. Last week we finished getting through the Red Sea and now we have the “PRELUDE to the 10 COMMANDMENTS. From chapter 16-19 there are 5 “transitional events” before God brings down the Law form the mountain. Here are those 5 things….. 1…MANNA FROM HEAVEN & QUAIL ON THE SIDE… think chicken fajitas without the veggies and sopapillas with honey rather tortillas with guac. It started with manna, but Israel wanted protein. Should have left well enough alone! God graciously & miraculously provided for His people, even when they whined about it. 2…Next was WATER FROM THE ROCK. The people were 3-days dehydrated & ready to kill Moses, so God directed him to bring some ELDERS with him (always a good idea) & then represent God in a holy way and strike the rock, as God would bring the water on! 3…Following that was a BATTLE WITH THE AMALEKITES, which was a famous one. It’s Joshua’s first chance to “muster the troops” and choose the fighting men. Little did Josh know one day he would be the “next guy leading” when it became time for a military general in about 40 years. He was patient and faithful and led in battle while Moses had his famous pose on the hilltop “raising his hands to the Lord” during the battle. And although Moses soon got tired & needed help from Aaron and Hur, together they “appealed” to God in that way and a great victory came about. 4…Then JETHRO CAME TO VISIT MOSES. I love the advice of a good father-in-law and Jethro had great godly advice. Delegate the responsibility to those you’ve trained and only take the “tough ones” or you’ll wear yourself out! Why didn’t God tell him that? Sometimes the Lord wants us to learn HIS truth from other people to get them involved in the project! Turned out to be “life-giving and marriage-saving” advice! 5…And in Chapter 19, we finish this rather lengthy prelude to the giving of the 10 Commandments with ANOTHER VISIT FROM GOD. 60 days had passed since the Exodus of Egypt and Moses climbs the mountain and meets with God. Now it took 25 verses for this final prep, but in that time, God reminded Moses that He had “carried them on eagles’ wings” (great title for a worship song) so that the people might become his Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God said He’d come in a thick cloud so the people could HEAR Him but TRUST Moses. The folks were to wash their clothes, mark off a “yellow-tape” boundary of the mountain and not cross that line. So Moses went down & told the people to consecrate themselves, which involved abstaining from sexual activity. So on the 3rd day, the smoke came, the people stood at the foot of the mountain, Moses warns the people not to come near as he brings Aaron with him. All 10 commandments are either VERTICAL towards God or HORIZONTAL towards one another. They’re all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T and providing guardrails and boundaries… 1…no other GODS (don’t worship anything I’VE made) 2…no graven IMAGES (don’t worship anything YOU’VE tried to make) 3…don’t MISUSE My NAME (don’t take Me LIGHTLY) 4…OBSERVE the SABBATH (you need REST & you need WORSHIP) 5…Honor your MOM & DAD (regardless of what a proposed bill in Wisconsin says to refer to them as) 6…don’t MURDER (everyone knows in their heart that LIFE IS PRECIOUS) 7…don’t commit ADULTERY (it’s the essence of FAITHFULNESS in marriage) 8…don’t STEAL (the boundary of what BELONGS to you or to me) 9…don’t LIE (without TRUTH there can be no TRUST) 10…don’t COVET (all sin is basically a matter of the HEART) Take some time to day to reflect on them in light of how they represent the CHARACTER of God. God is holy & respectful. He desires for us to show that same respect not only for HIM,but also for all OTHERS. If we allow them to, these “commandments” can guide our thinking in how to live a moral life. They are the basics of ETHICS that the rest of our laws can be built upon. They serve as the essence of society and anytime they are violated, there are major repercussions! Gary Thomas, a great Christian author, wrote several books with similar titles. They all had the first word, “SACRED”. His initial book was “Sacred Pathways”, which suggests there are 9 basic pathways in which we can “CONNECT” with God. You might be an “aesthetic”, in which you engage with God thru visual beauty. Perhaps you’re a “contemplative”, in which you connect with God best in reading & reflection. The “naturalist” loves to be out in creation and the “enthusiast” thrives on moments of worship. You can see where this is going. It’s a great tool to see what a person’s “primary sacred pathway” to God might be! The Commandments serve us in helping us realize we are “made in the image of” and who we should be “approaching in an honoring way”. They help us see the value of EVERY person with whom we will ever come in contact. I heard a great sermon from a friend in the area a few weeks ago, Chris Tanner, in Georgetown. His message was on prayer and his points were very simple and memorable. Prayer INCREASES our faith. Prayer DEEPENS our relationship with God. And Prayer ADVANCES the Kingdom. In a similar way, when we begin to simplify things but not reduce them, we can get a better GRIP on the Word of God and the expectations of God. Our RESPECT for the commandments of God does very much what prayer does. When we OBEY out of respect, our faith gets a boost, our intimacy with God is taken to another level, and the Kingdom expands. But if respect is replaced with “DISREGARD”, then we’re building our lives, families, or cultures on something else besides God! So take some time to be a “contemplative” type today, even if that’s not your “primary pathway” to experiencing God. And simply reflect on the Commandments. Have you noticed the difference between #1 and #2? I confess to you, it didn’t strike me this clearly until a few years ago, which is an indicator I need to grow in my “contemplativeness”. But as I think about the difference more, I realize that in Commandment #1, God is saying, “don’t elevate anything part of MY creation (sun, moon stars, animals, etc) and the things I “made from nothing”, above Me or to be in competition with Me. As Paul said in Romans 1, “they worship the creation, not the Creator”. And yet in Commandment #2, I seem to hear God saying, “And don’t try to come up with an augmented, reshaped, cool & creative, or re-engineered version of MY creation claiming it’s been MADE by you”! it’s OK to be creative, but don’t ELEVATE your stuff over My stuff and be obsessed with yourselves in that way! The Commandments bring us back to the basics of Who God is and how He wants us to live. They’re pretty simple, not complex, but they are difficult, not easy, when it comes to faithful obedience. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 28 before He caught the next cloud back to heaven, “teach them to OBSERVE EVERYTHING I have commanded you”. The best way to teach it is to live it! May we “live it” better and better as we attempt to “finish well” my friends! Love you guys….& catch you next week as we “hope” to finish covering the book of Exodus! george
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