February 20, 2010

Exodus 3

With the exception of the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, this chapter begins the record of the greatest theophany found in the Bible. (A theophany is an appearance of God.) Books have literally been written on this chapter. How can I have just one little meditation on this chapter?

Why did God choose to appear as a burning bush? This metaphor of God as a consuming fire runs deep in Scripture. See Ex. 24:17; Deut. 4:24; 9:3; & Hebrews 12:29 plus a host of other images of his burning anger. We can talk all we want about the grace of God, yet at the same time we must remember that He is also a holy God. His holiness consumes what is not holy. The fire image is quite a fearful thing. But wait, listen to what this consuming fire says, “I have surely seen the oppression . . . I know their sorrows. 8“So I have come down to deliver . . .”

This really is more than what one can grasp in one sitting. Moses asks a very reasonable question, “What is Your name?” For a person of His culture and time, that was a way of asking, “Who are you? What are you like?” Moses could see this consuming fire that did not consume things. He knew of the oppression of his people. He had experienced the impotence of his own ability to deliver. His life had seemed like a colossal waste. Yet his senses could not deny what he was seeing and hearing. Who is this God that had not yet delivered and had been seemingly unavailable?

What was God’s answer? “I am that I am.” To a perfectly good question he receives what would seem at first a smart-aleck answer. But think on it. How else could an infinite God explain Himself to a finite man? He is what He is. Since He is infinite, the best way to learn what He is like is by experience. If it is through experience that we learn to know Him, then He is what He is. The next 40 years are experiences where Moses will learn what God is like and who He is. Some things that Moses will learn are that God sees the oppression of His people; He knows their sorrows; He comes down to deliver. In the midst of that deliverance, God’s fire consumes all that is not holy. What is holy remains and is made pure. It is not consumed. Hmmm. . . There is a lot to think about here. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

Mark 2

Isn’t it funny how we get hung up on forms. A friend of mine told me of a family member who was receiving training to be a notary. In her training she was told that if someone didn’t fill out the forms properly, she, of course, was not to notarize the paper. Now that is understandable. But she was also instructed not to tell people how to fill out the form properly. Why? Because that would be giving legal advice. They are hung up on a form of a different sort.

The people of Jesus’ day were no different. Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” How outrageous! Only GOD can forgive sins! Well, Duh! Only God can heal! Jesus did not fit their form for Deity. Jesus went to eat with the tax collectors and sinners. The form says that a holy man does not eat with sinners; then, how can sinners find out how to have their sin removed? Jesus did not fit their form of separation from sin. Even the disciples of John the Baptist did not get it. J.B. taught his disciples a form of fasting – a sign of mourning over sin and its ensuing separation from God. But God was with them in the flesh! Jesus did not fit their form of fasting. Then there was the form of the Sabbath. All through the ages people have tried to push the envelope on the form of work on the Sabbath. What constitutes work and what doesn’t? But the point was not to give man the proper forms to fill out in the proper way. The point was to give man relief from everyday pursuits to focus on the One who created the form, the One who gives him meaning, to focus on God. They made the form the point rather than God.

The kingdom of God isn’t about forms of the kingdom. It is about Him! It is about His glory! That is why we have to cut through the forms and see the glory! What is the glory? He is the God who forgives sin! The forgiveness of our sin will one day lead to our healing. Fasting has its place—if we are mourning over a lack of seeing His glory. The Sabbath was given so that we could spend a day focusing on His glory. It is not about defining what forms of work we can and cannot do. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John