2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I never cease to be amazed at the love God has for His children. There are so many stories from the Scriptures that reveal this, enough to make me feel that His love is at the very heart of the covenant relationship He established with believing mankind. An outgrowth of that love is God’s compassion as evidenced by His willingness to give the Israelites the Ten Commandments for the second time in EX 34. At this point in time, the Jews other than Moses and led by Aaron (of all people-the high priest) had gotten involved in the golden bull incident outlined in EX 32: 1-35. Because of Moses’ anger at that time, he threw down the original tablets shattering them when he came down Mt. Sinai after having received them from God. That is what set up the need to deal with this predicament then. Between themselves, Moses and God set up a plan to create a new set of stone tablets with the same Ten Commandments on them in EX 34: 1-4. God’s compassion is shown in EX 34: 5-8, “I, the Lord, am a God Who is full of compassion and pity, Who is not easily angered and Who shows great love and faithfulness. I keep My promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin; but I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.” Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshipped. He said, “Lord, if You really are pleased with me, I ask you to go with us. These people are stubborn, but forgive our evil and our sin, and accept us as Your own people.”
God’s response to this was to renew His covenant with the Jewish people. EX 34: 10, “I now make a covenant with the people of Israel. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations….” It is then in (11-15) that God instructs His children to obey His laws and that he will drive out the inhabitants of the Promised Land. He also instructed the Jews to tear down all the idolatrous altars to the goddess Asherah [wife of Baal]. It was clear that God had set apart the Jews to be His covenant people and to eschew the worship of any other God but Himself. Now, that may seem egotistical and unrighteous in God’s part to the non-believer, but we as believers know that it is the only way to eventual salvation. That is true even though the Law itself doesn’t provide salvation. In the modern day, we know that the main disagreement between traditional Jews and believers in Christ is the acceptance that Christ Himself is the Messiah. We have been told that is a temporary stubbornness in RO 11: 25. However, there is another issue that separates us from traditional Jews. Because of their legalistic approach to the Law, they also believe that their deeds will lead them to salvation. We believe that FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION. That includes the understanding that good deeds are a natural outgrowth of living “in Christ” and having faith in Him.
What followed in EX 34: 27-35 was God renewing His covenant with Moses and Israel atop Mt. Sinai. Moses was there for forty days and then came down to present the Law to the people. What Moses didn’t know at first was that his face was glowing temporarily due to having been in the presence of God’s glory. This allowed to people to know that these Laws really did come from God, and Moses thereafter wore a veil on his face whenever he went into the tabernacle to be with God. The issue of a veil comes up several times in the Scriptures, and I hope to write more about that in the future. For now, lets see how God’s actual presence with the people in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness actually turns out to be a blessing for them and for us.
While I introduce the subject of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness today, it will be necessary to use more than one message to finish it. God’s love and compassion for believers includes His presence in their lives. Over the years, mainly because of mankind’s disobedience to God, that presence has taken different forms. In Moses’ time, God’s presence was both spiritual and physical. We know this because of the detailed descriptions in the Scriptures of the presence of His shekinah glory over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, the most exclusive part of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. The disobedience of the Jewish people as their history unfolds ends up with God placing them in the first dyaspora (scattering and loss of nationhood) during Ezekiel and Daniel’s time and His eventual decision to physically depart from the Temple in EZK 10: 4 & EZK 11: 22-25. God didn’t stop loving His children, but He knew they needed a “mid-course correction” which was the seventy years of Babylonian captivity for the southern kingdom of Judah and the 160 years of Assyrian Captivity for the northern kingdom of Israel. When God departed, He went to heaven, but He didn’t and still hasn’t given up on His children. History buffs also know that a second dyaspora became necessary from 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem until May 14, 1948 when in accordance with many prophecies, Israel was restored to nationhood again. The lessons from Israel’s history are not only a blessing to her but also to all believers including us.
PRAYER: O Lord, Your presence and compassion is a bigger issue in our lives that we sometimes realize. Without You, we have nothing and are worth nothing. With You, we have direction, protection, guidance, love, compassion, patience, forgiveness, provision, salvation, justification, sanctification, and the hope of glorification. All of this is given to us out of Your profound love for us. Your sacrifice of Christ on the cross and gift of the Holy Spirit allows us to hunger for Your word, begin to appreciate the blessings You bring to our lives, learn what it means to be a “covenant partner” with You, and especially to have the hope of the resurrection followed by eternal life. You have also been always-fair and just in Your dealings with us. You have allowed us, as Your friends, to know Your plan for us and to know the consequences for making unrighteous lifestyle choices. Part of Your covenant relationship with the ancient Jews was to be both physically and spiritually present with them. In doing this the way You did, You opened blessed new covenant truths to those of us who study the description of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness in the Torah carefully. That is because it’s design allows us to see those truths foreshadowed. Once we see the love and truth that You reveal in this, we can take great comfort in knowing that You are with us and that You haven’t given up on the Jewish people. What we bring before Your altar today in humility is hardly a portion of what You deserve, but it is all we have. We dedicate to You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and utter thanks. In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we will continue to examine the impact of God’s presence in our lives by looking carefully at the description of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness to see what new covenant truths it foreshadows. I hope you will find this message from God in the Torah to be a great blessing in your lives as it is in mine. Bask in the glow of God’s love for you today and always. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn