February 12, 2010
After Moses asked God to show him His glory, he goes up the mountain for the fourth time. What a picture the LORD paints when He describes to Moses how He will place him in the crack of the rock, and cover him with His hand while He passes by.
What a safe place. Could there be a safer place? The words of the old hymn are running through my mind. Rock of ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in thee." What a reassuring moment for Moses. Think about all the events of Moses life up to this point: hidden in the bushes; raised in a palace; killed the Egyptian; fled his homeland; encountered God; felt inadequate; led the confrontation with Pharaoh; crossed the Red Sea; led the Israelites 30 days into the desert; goes up the mountain for 40 days receiving God's written instructions; comes down to realize they have "ruined themselves"; handles their disobedience; and then gets ready to go to the Promised Land and begs the LORD to go with them and for the opportunity to see His glory before he faces the road ahead. And—God shows up. He puts Moses in a safe and secure place; shades him with His hand; and lets Moses see His glory.
Exodus 34:5 - "Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses, and the LORD called out his name: THE LORD." Then the LORD reveals Himself again to Moses and told him who He is.
Exodus 34:6,7 - "I am the Lord. The LORD is a God who shows mercy, who is kind, who doesn't become angry quickly, who has great love and faithfulness and is kind to thousands of people. The LORD forgives people for evil, for sin, and for turning against him, but he does not forget to punish guilty people."
We look at the patriarchs of the Bible—Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David—to just name a few, and we think WOW! look how God spoke to them. And then in the New Testament we have the words of Jesus THE Christ himself. We collectively have the words of God in the Old Testament and the literal words of Christ in the New Testament and how many times did I leave them unopened?!? I had all of that available to me, God's words, GOD'S WORDS and I did not take the time to daily open the Bible up to read what He said. I am ashamed at my laziness and sad for all the times I left His words closed and did not prioritize my time to intentionally be in His word every day. Thankfully my actions are forgiven and it is different now.
When you read God's word—HE shows up! We are put in the cleft of the rock! He covers us with His hand! We do get to see His glory! He does instruct us! He does guide us! He is full of mercy, kindness and forgiveness. He is faithful! And our words are like Moses' in Exodus 34:9 - "Lord please go with us ... forgive us our sins. Take us as your own."
God's glory is amazing. The more you see—the more you want to know Him. The more you know Him—the more in awe you are of the "maker of heaven and earth." The more you realize who He is—the more you understand there will never be enough human words to express your gratitude or praise. He is THE LORD!!
As amazing as God's love is, perhaps even more humbling and disturbing is God's words found in Exodus 35:7 - "...he does not forget to punish guilty people. He will punish not only the guilty people, but also their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren, and their great-great-grandchildren.
Wow! Those verses should bring each of us to our knees. Our actions do not just affect us. Our actions impact the generations to come! This is so much easier to understand once your own children are grown and you have grandchildren. When raising your own children you are so busy that it isn't until time has passed that you truly start to get this. I want our lives and actions to be such that we are passing a godly heritage to our children and future generations. That is the key. Whether we realize it or not, we pass down to future generations the propensity to live and act the same way as we have. Living a godly live doesn't "save" future generations, but it does give them a foundation to build upon. Conversely, future generations are not held accountable for the sins of their forefathers. But, the way we live (either godly or sinful) is taught and passed down through generations.
Oh Lord, may our lives be pleasing to you. May our love for you and our desire to serve you be passed down through the generations.
Exodus 34:10 - "I, the LORD, will do wonderful things for you." How does that happen? God tells us. "Obey the things I command you." Sounds simple. But it doesn't just happen. We need to daily, and intentionally, submit our lives to him. Everything! Our hopes, wishes, desires, aspirations, our fears, our disappointments. We need to be willing to open our hands and surrender ALL to Him. We need to understand that without Him we are nothing and to desire nothing but Him. It is not about who we are and what we want. It is only about HIM.
The only way to do what God wants—to obey Him—is to know what God wants. The only way to know what God wants is to be reading His words. Once you know what He has to say, then you can choose to listen and follow Him. Only then. Only then can you, "obey the things I command you."
Next Entry: Exodus 35:1 – 38:31
After Moses asked God to show him His glory, he goes up the mountain for the fourth time. What a picture the LORD paints when He describes to Moses how He will place him in the crack of the rock, and cover him with His hand while He passes by.
What a safe place. Could there be a safer place? The words of the old hymn are running through my mind. Rock of ages, cleft for me; let me hide myself in thee." What a reassuring moment for Moses. Think about all the events of Moses life up to this point: hidden in the bushes; raised in a palace; killed the Egyptian; fled his homeland; encountered God; felt inadequate; led the confrontation with Pharaoh; crossed the Red Sea; led the Israelites 30 days into the desert; goes up the mountain for 40 days receiving God's written instructions; comes down to realize they have "ruined themselves"; handles their disobedience; and then gets ready to go to the Promised Land and begs the LORD to go with them and for the opportunity to see His glory before he faces the road ahead. And—God shows up. He puts Moses in a safe and secure place; shades him with His hand; and lets Moses see His glory.
Exodus 34:5 - "Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses, and the LORD called out his name: THE LORD." Then the LORD reveals Himself again to Moses and told him who He is.
Exodus 34:6,7 - "I am the Lord. The LORD is a God who shows mercy, who is kind, who doesn't become angry quickly, who has great love and faithfulness and is kind to thousands of people. The LORD forgives people for evil, for sin, and for turning against him, but he does not forget to punish guilty people."
We look at the patriarchs of the Bible—Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David—to just name a few, and we think WOW! look how God spoke to them. And then in the New Testament we have the words of Jesus THE Christ himself. We collectively have the words of God in the Old Testament and the literal words of Christ in the New Testament and how many times did I leave them unopened?!? I had all of that available to me, God's words, GOD'S WORDS and I did not take the time to daily open the Bible up to read what He said. I am ashamed at my laziness and sad for all the times I left His words closed and did not prioritize my time to intentionally be in His word every day. Thankfully my actions are forgiven and it is different now.
When you read God's word—HE shows up! We are put in the cleft of the rock! He covers us with His hand! We do get to see His glory! He does instruct us! He does guide us! He is full of mercy, kindness and forgiveness. He is faithful! And our words are like Moses' in Exodus 34:9 - "Lord please go with us ... forgive us our sins. Take us as your own."
God's glory is amazing. The more you see—the more you want to know Him. The more you know Him—the more in awe you are of the "maker of heaven and earth." The more you realize who He is—the more you understand there will never be enough human words to express your gratitude or praise. He is THE LORD!!
As amazing as God's love is, perhaps even more humbling and disturbing is God's words found in Exodus 35:7 - "...he does not forget to punish guilty people. He will punish not only the guilty people, but also their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren, and their great-great-grandchildren.
Wow! Those verses should bring each of us to our knees. Our actions do not just affect us. Our actions impact the generations to come! This is so much easier to understand once your own children are grown and you have grandchildren. When raising your own children you are so busy that it isn't until time has passed that you truly start to get this. I want our lives and actions to be such that we are passing a godly heritage to our children and future generations. That is the key. Whether we realize it or not, we pass down to future generations the propensity to live and act the same way as we have. Living a godly live doesn't "save" future generations, but it does give them a foundation to build upon. Conversely, future generations are not held accountable for the sins of their forefathers. But, the way we live (either godly or sinful) is taught and passed down through generations.
Oh Lord, may our lives be pleasing to you. May our love for you and our desire to serve you be passed down through the generations.
Exodus 34:10 - "I, the LORD, will do wonderful things for you." How does that happen? God tells us. "Obey the things I command you." Sounds simple. But it doesn't just happen. We need to daily, and intentionally, submit our lives to him. Everything! Our hopes, wishes, desires, aspirations, our fears, our disappointments. We need to be willing to open our hands and surrender ALL to Him. We need to understand that without Him we are nothing and to desire nothing but Him. It is not about who we are and what we want. It is only about HIM.
The only way to do what God wants—to obey Him—is to know what God wants. The only way to know what God wants is to be reading His words. Once you know what He has to say, then you can choose to listen and follow Him. Only then. Only then can you, "obey the things I command you."
Next Entry: Exodus 35:1 – 38:31
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