Grasping God’s Purpose: “Testing, testing, 1,2,3…testing” – Exodus 16

For some strange reason, at the beginning of most sound checks on the microphones, no matter where I am, people use the opening line: “Testing, testing, 1,2,3, testing..” I was watching karaoke on a cruise ship a few years ago, and a Japanese man that could barely speak English, got up and clearly said those words. I was amazed! Obviously the idea of the phrase is to offer sound for the tech person to adjust levels of microphones and be sure they are working. At the same time, there is something more powerful to be learned from that simple and common exercise: Tests prepare for optimum performance.

For the believer, his life is about the journey through this world to the land of Promise that awaits him at life’s end. The journey has some cool evenings and comfortable days, but many report that there are a significant number of painfully hot times of testing. Is it because God is disconnected or cruel? No, of course not. Testing prepares for optimum performance. Testing helps us know what is improperly set in our lives. It helps us have an opportunity to take corrective steps. That is the point of the middle section of Exodus that highlights the journey through the “hot by day and cold by night” dusty desert

Life is filled with tests: At the beginning of a new year, a high school principal decided to post his teachers’ new year’s resolutions on the bulletin board. As the teachers gathered around the bulletin board, a great commotion started. One of the teachers was complaining. “Why weren’t my resolutions posted?” She was throwing such a temper tantrum that the principal hurried to his office to see if he had overlooked her resolutions. Sure enough, he had mislaid them on his desk. As he read her resolutions he was astounded. This teacher’s first resolution was not to let little things upset her in the New Year.

Key Principle: Testing may be an unwanted gift, but it shows us our trouble spots.

God is very present in our testing! We must understand that the absence of trouble does not signal the presence of the Lord – and conversely, the presence of the Lord does not mean the absence of trouble.

We left off in our story last time in the end of Exodus 15, where the real tests of the desert began to become clear to Moses and the children of Israel. The tests are such a feature of the life of the believer, they are mentioned in many places. In the opening chapter of James, the writer of the Epistle begins with tests of the believer (Lit: “peirasmos”or approving tests, an alchemy term, cp. James 1:2-12). James argues they should not be viewed as enemies, but rather as a normal part of the battlefield lifestyle. Moses was just about to find that out.

The Obedience Test (15:22-27)

Look back a few verses into our last lesson to begin where the real testing started. This time of trouble we will call the “Obedience Test”. All were indirectly tests of obedience. This one was a test in “doing what was hard to understand, while trusting the results to God. Obedience is more important than obstacles.

Exodus 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. 26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.”  27 Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.

Note the progression of the testing process, and you will uncover a pattern that will repeat many times in the text:

First, there was the disappointment: When they finally got to a place with water, they found that drinking the water made them ill (15:23). Having just come from God’s great miracle at the Sea of Reeds, followed by a tear-filled time of deep worship, the contrast was striking and painful. With time, they would learn there was nothing WRONG with facing tests, and they should expect them. “They could not drink” can be translated they could not bear to drink (elo yakoli). From the initial shock and disappointment, there arose a sense of disgust: What do we do now? (15:24). Voices that were quick to celebrate will be equally quick to complain! The test began in fear and quickly manifest in COMPLAINT.

Faced with an insurmountable problem, Moses cried to the Lord for deliverance. The Lord directed him to collaboration on the problem —  he needed to cast a tree limb into the water to make it potable without any ill effects (15:25a). God provided a way of escape after they failed to drink water that would make them ill – but Moses had to ACT to access the deliverance. By the end of verse 25, we can clearly see the whole thing was a test from God (15:25b). God wanted to help them by making them sick, and getting the parasites of Egypt from them. If we simply obey, it may seem more painful up front, but it is the BEST way to get through the wilderness!

In the shadow of the deliverance was the directive of God: He told them, “Next time do what I say, even if you think it will make you sick, I am working a plan!” (15:26). God knows what He is asking, and why! He is the healer! When the people were cared for, He took time to carefully teach them WHY He tested them.

The test ended with some needed “down time: They arrived at a place of rest, with fresh water and no further test. This was a time to enjoy the delights of God after a difficult lesson. At the same time, it reminds us that many people get to Marah and never leave. They can’t go on to Elim – for they prefer to sit in bitterness and wallow at what appears to be an unfairness in the testing. To most, God gave them an escape and they were all able to continue, but they learned a critical lesson – trust God and don’t always expect an easy way out of troubles!

In this study we are in Exodus 16, where we find three more of life’s tests (sponsored by our Creator) illustrated. The three tests are the “Goal Test”, the “Consistency Test” and the “Limitation Test”. Let’s look at each.

The Goal Test: (16:1-3; 8-12)

In order to achieve success, or attain a goal, you must have a deliberate mind. This test is aimed at the mind and focus. It can be quickly summarized as the “eye on Canaan, heart in Egypt” test. The text opens with three symptoms of the need for the test:

Exodus 16:1 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Symptoms of the Need for the Test (16:1-3)

FEAR: First, there was a fear of the future that set in when they recognized the discomfort of their choice to follow God. The Israelites left the comfort of Elim and entered the foreboding environment of Sin a month after their departure from Egypt (16:1). The place of Elim (Hebrew: אֵילִם‎, ’êlim) is referenced both here and in Numbers 33.9 as a place where “there were twelve wells of water, and seventy date palms,” and that the Israelites “camped there near the water”.

It is described as being between Marah and the Wilderness of Sin, interior to the Sinai, and has been debated by some scholars to be in Wadi Gharandel, an oasis 100 km southeast of Suez. In the late 1960’s, Professor Menashe Har-El (a researcher of the ancient geography and history of Israel and the Mideast, formerly a lecturer at the teachers’ seminaries of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University) proposed Elim to be `Ayun Musa “the springs/wells of Moses.” He noted that in 1907 the geologist Thomas Barron had observed that 12 springs existed at this site along with palm trees.  That location is still debated. What is NOT DEBATED is the meaning of the name, “gods” or “strong ones”. It was a place of gaining strength, and it was a place of LIFE to a people lost in the desert. In protest, they became one giant “Back to Egypt Committee,” acting as though slavery with water was preferable to freedom without. The problem with the FEAR was that it blocked out God. We cannot see faith through fear, but the reverse is also true: We cannot see fear through faith.

FUSSING: A second symptom that surfaced from the inner fear was the whining about the circumstances – a mere verbalization of disbelief in God’s power and purposes. When the discomfort grew intense the contagion was released and spread like wild fire (16:2). Some people can complain about anything! One writer tells the story of a young man writing at a post office desk who was approached by an older fellow with a post card in his hand. The old man said, “Young man, could you please address this post card for me?” The young man gladly did so, then agreed to write a short message when asked and to sign the card for the man. Finally the younger man asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” The old man looked at the post card, thought about it for a moment, and said, “Yes, at the end put, ’P.S. Please excuse the sloppy handwriting.’” (Complaining Saints by Quintin Morrow Exodus 16:1-15, SermonCentral.com)

FORGETFULNESS: A third common call for the GOAL TEST is the manifestation of a selective memory, when we recall the past differently than it really was! (16:3). It is astounding how quickly they forgot their sorry in Egypt and recalled it romantically. Though memories are great to have, we never move forward by looking behind us. Israel was so consumed with the memories of leeks and onions by the Nile they failed to wait on the One who was taking them to a “land flowing with milk and honey”! Why? Simply because they hadn’t LET GO. Although God released them from Egypt, they hadn’t released Egypt from within them! When we won’t let go of the past life, we won’t follow God in faith in the present life.

The Process of the Testing (16:8-12):

Exodus 16:8 Moses said, “This will happen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the LORD hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”

WRONG DIAGNOSIS: When the Lord provided for the needs, they should have quickly realized they had rejected His plan, not just their own dreams and ideas (16:8). The people needed to look beyond THEMSELVES to see the hand of God and the purposes of God. When we are hurting and needy, we don’t easily see others, and God is buried deep in the pile.

Jim Smith went to church on Sunday morning. He heard the organist miss a note during the prelude, and he winced. He saw a teenager talking when everybody was supposed to be bowed in silent prayer. He felt like the usher was watching to see what he put in the offering plate and it made him boil. He caught the preacher making a slip five times in the sermon by actual count. As he slipped out through the side door during the closing hymn, he muttered to himself, “Never again, what a bunch of clods and hypocrites!” … Ron Jones went to the same church that Sunday morning. He heard the organist play an arrangement of “A Mighty Fortress” and he thrilled at the majesty of it. He heard a young girl take a moment in the service to speak her simple moving message of the difference her faith makes in her life. He was glad to see that this church was sharing in a special offering for the hungry children of Nigeria. He especially appreciated the sermon that Sunday – it answered a question that had bothered him for a long time. He thought as he walked out the doors of the church, “How can a man come here and not feel the presence of God?” (Illustrations Unlimited, James Hewett). The reality of these two men are that each HAD A DIFFERENT ATTITUDE about church, life and God.

The children of Israel thought their number one issue was Moses’ leadership, but they had no self-awareness of the bigger obstacle – their departure from God. Their failed relationship with the Lord was at the heart of their grumbling – and so is OURS.

DIVIDED HEARTS: The children of Israel looked one way and thought another…. They talked freedom, but dreamed slavery….They followed God’s cloud, but dreamed about Pharaoh’s provision. The PROMISED LAND and the PAST LIFE were is opposite directions – and they knew what their heart was beckoning for.

Exodus 16:9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for He has heard your grumblings.’” 10 It came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”

When we recognize the Lord has heard our voice whining, we may be afraid He will judge us, but we if we don’t back away from Him we will discover new things about God and His character (glory-16:10; provision- 16:12a; mastery over all things- 16:12b; creative ability to care for you- 16:13-15). God was about to give them BREAKFAST CEREAL for the morning, and QUAIL for the evening grill.

To think about Egypt, their minds would slip across the burning desert sands, and back across the sea, where slime bricks and slavery were quick forgotten but the smell of leeks lingered and held sway. But to think of Canaan, their minds would have to lift past the burning sand of their feet to the promised land of the distant hills… Canaan or Egypt… Forgotten shackles in one, future songs in the other…. Freedom in Canaan, full stomachs in Egypt… The key question is always, Would we rather stay in bondage than pay the price for freedom?

The key to the focus test is this: We need to keep our eyes on the Lord of our journey, not simply on the destination of our journey, or we lose heart!

The Consistency Test (16:4,27)

This can be easily summarized as the “use only as directed” test. The text shares: Exodus 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.

The clear point of the Consistency Test is obedience – not once, but ongoing. The daily GRIND of serving another’s goal goes against our nature. Those who master this are remembered as great by God.

In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He made application to Prior Richard at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery. “Your Majesty,” said the Prior Richard, “do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king.” “I understand,” said Henry. “The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.” “Then I will tell you what to do,” said Prior Richard. “Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you.” When King Henry died, a statement was written: “The king learned to rule by being obedient.” (Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching 155, ed. By Craig Brian Larson Baker 1993).

God met their need, but not so that they would begin to place their trust in the FOOD, but rather that they would recall their Master – and TRUST HIM. Food was supplied faithfully all the while they were in the desert until after they came into the land (Josh. 5:12). They had sufficient clothing and sandles (Dt. 29:5). They saw His hand in their lives in profound ways – a pillar of fire, a cloud, provisions of food and water – and this was just the beginning. The old English word for “rely” comes from the word, rally; so to rely on the Lord means having the confidence that He will rally to you, coming to the right place at the right time with the right help. Dependence on the Lord is not blind faith; it comes with instructions from God’s Word. For fullness — they had to follow orders.

What were the instructions?

God’s Word told Israel exactly what it tells us  — what was meant to enjoy, what they should evade, and what they should expect along the way. God told the Israelites how to enjoy their food: knowing when to collect, what to do with it, and how much was needed. It meant gathering food in proportion to the storage of the stomach and the people in the family (16:15). Exodus 16:15 “When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.”

God’s Word told Israel exactly what it tells us…They were expected to work together in collaboration with God to get the job done, day by day. Exodus 16:4 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.” God wanted them to celebrate HIS WORK and do THEIR WORK. Effective prayer involves the balanced tension between total dependence on God and responsible action by the one who prays. R. C. Sproul has noted, “To pray without action is hypocrisy. To act without prayer is pagan.”.

God’s Word told Israel exactly what it tells us — Each person became responsible to care for their own collecting, with each family caring for the needs of their family.  Exodus 16:17  The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. 18 When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.

God’s Word told Israel exactly what it tells us – Obedience is time sensitive. He explained not only the fact that it is to be done daily, but when in the day it is to be done (16:21). Exodus 16:21 They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.

God’s Word told Israel exactly what it tells us — Those who did not follow instructions found themselves without and hungry. Exodus 16: 27 It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? This same idea was repeated many times, as in 2 Thess. 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. 13But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

The key to the Consistency Test is this: We can’t expect God to take care of everything without us, that isn’t the deal. Nor can we expect others to do our part. We must act when prompted by God or face lack and the withdrawal of His blessing.

The Limitation Test (16:16-36)

Exodus 16:16 “This is what the LORD has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.’” 17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. 18 When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat. 19 Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. 21 They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt. 22 Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 then he said to them, “This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” 24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 “Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.” 27 It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? 29 “See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded, ‘Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

This test can be summarized as the  “learning to set limits” test. This is a hard one for a culture trained in HAVE IT YOUR WAY thinking. Look at these five truths:

  • First, the amount of food was specified: The amount that each person needed was given by God. They were to live within the amount He said they needed to be healthy. The amount was checked and divided as specified. (16:16-18)
  • Second, when to eat the supply was specified: Moses told them to eat it that day, and not leave any for later. God wanted them to work daily and need Him daily, but not hoard or begin to sell and take advantage of the system. (He must have seen what happens to relief food supplies of the UN! 16:19-20).
  • Third, when to gather was specified: The pattern of doing it every morning got the camp up and stirring early in a way that kept them disciplined (16:21).
  • Fourth, when to plan was specified: They were given opportunity to effectively plan for the Sabbath weekly (16:22-24).
  • Fifth, when to rest was specified: Nothing would be given them if they tried to run without rest and keep gathering (16:25-30).

A simple request for food gets translated into gluttony in our culture. There is nothing wrong with looking out for tomorrow, but when it becomes an opportunity to hoard things, our heart toward God grows cold as our heart warms to more and more things. We are living in the days of all-you-can-eat buffets. We stop at the food spread and eat until we can’t move. Often, we eat too much, even to the point of gluttony. Many Christians do to food what drunks do to alcohol. The difference is they don’t feel guilty at all.  Our culture is all about self-indulgence. It’s about the drive to obtain things that we think will make us happy.

Funny things happen on the way to the Promised Land, don’t they. We tend to forget what is really important. We tend to stop trusting God. We forget our past and begin to doubt our future. Our fear of what may happen tomorrow can some times turn us into gluttons because we’re not sure that what we want will be available when we want it. So we stock up. We load up. We hoard all that we can get. Gluttony is in its essence, a failure or a refusal to trust God in everything.

The key to the Limitation test is this: God wants us to work hard, but to control our desire to have everything we want when we want it. Failure to control our appetites, work and plan will hurt our walk with Him and our understanding of Him!

Testing may be an unwanted gift, but it shows us our trouble spots. God is very present in our testing! The absence of trouble does not signal the presence of the Lord – and conversely, the presence of the Lord does not mean the absence of trouble.

He Changes Everything: “The Suicide King” – Mark 15:1-32

Games have a unique and interesting history. Take for example, the playing card. They were apparently invented in Ancient China, where they have been uncovered as early as the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty (618–907).  Playing cards first entered Europe in the late 14th century, probably from Mameluk Egypt (A complete pack of Mameluke playing cards was discovered by Leo Mayer in the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, in 1939). The first documentary evidence is a ban on their use in 1367, Bern, Switzerland. Wide use of playing cards in Europe can, with some certainty, be traced from 1377 onwards. The earliest cards were made by hand. Printed woodcut decks appeared in the 15th century and from about 1425 professional card makers in Ulm, Nuremberg, and Augsburg created printed decks. Playing cards even competed with devotional images as the most common uses for woodcut in this period.

The four suits now used in most of the world — spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs —originated in France in approximately 1480. Also in the 15th century, Europeans changed the court cards to represent European royalty and attendants. In the early years, French playing-card makers  assigned to each of the “court cards” names taken from history:

  • King of Spades: David (a biblical king)
  • King of Hearts: Charles (presumably after Charlemagne)
  • King of Diamonds: Caesar (presumably after Julius Caesar, dictator of the Roman Republic)
  • King of Clubs: Alexander (king of Macedon)

The king of hearts is oft referred to as the “suicide king” because the figure appears to be sticking his sword into his head. Closer inspection of the cards of antiquity seem to indicate a hand holding it – perhaps someone else stabbed him. His youthful death is attested in that he is the only one of the kings without a moustache.

Today I want to look into the Word and trace a close picture of a King at the point of His death. It can be understood to be a suicide theologically (Jesus gave His life for us), but it certainly was a MURDER in the text. It is the death of the King of Kings, and it is graphically depicted in Mark 15.

Key Principle: Two kinds of people met Jesus at His Cross – the pride-filled powerful and the pain-filled prisoner. One was offered rescue, the other condemned by his hardness. That is ALWAYS how it is with Jesus.

The scene was early in the morning on a Friday, after Jesus had been taken into custody. He had been up most of the night, and badly treated by the Sanhedrin. He was marched from the western Hill, today called “Mt. Zion”, and was brought to the ancient Temple Mount. Mark shares:

Mark 15:1 Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate.

They took Him to the place where Pilate was staying in the city…

2 Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” 3 The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. 4 Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” 5 But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.

A little while later, a crowd began to gather before Pilate…

6 Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7 The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8 The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” 14 But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Again, Jesus was led away, this time into the lair of a brutal band of discontented soldiers…

16 The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. 17 They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20 After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. 21 They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross. 22 Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. 25 It was the third hour when they crucified Him.

The cross was placed just outside the city as a reminder of “Roman sovereignty”….

26 The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 27 They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 28 [And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”] 29 Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32 “Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

Two kinds of people met Jesus at His Cross – the pride-filled powerful and the pain-filled prisoner. Let’s walk into the scene, and meet them. You won’t have any problem identifying who is in what role MOMENTS into their description. Let’s begin with the POWERFUL.

THE FIRST KIND: THE PRIDE FILLED POWERFUL PEOPLE

They stick out, and that is their intention. They dress for attention. They walk with a swagger, and expect you to move out of their way. Some of them take pride in their GOODNESS – that is the religious kind. Some take pride in their easy RECOGNITION – that is the fame oriented political kind. Some take pride in the FEAR they create in others – that is the earthy “raw power” kind you find in bars where soldiers back from the front gather. The scene today provides a look at all three of these:

Religion based Power – Elders and Scribes

Search the passage for all the times the Elders, Chief Priests and Scribes are mentioned and it will look something like this:

They felt POWERFUL:

Mark 15:1 Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate.

The verbs of verse one reveal a sense of power. Note words like “held consultation”, “binding”, “led away” and “delivered”. Jesus appears to be a victim, and they appear to be in control of everything. He is a docile rabbit, and they are the slaughterers. He is unarmed, and they are dominant.

They felt SELF-JUSTIFIED: Mark 15:3 The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. 4 Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” 5 But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.

The men raised accusations. The term “katagoreo” is the word here, a combination of two very well understood words in Greek. “Kata” is a modifying word that usually indicates intensity or direction. Sometimes it is translated “down”, but it is much more. The second part of the word is “agora” the word for the public forum, shopping mall, or public discourse center. In combination, the idea is the loud disputations one could hear in a market place. Read: LOUD, BRASH, HOSTILE, FRUSTRATED. Stand at a “customer service counter” at Christmas and you will get the idea. People complain loudly out of a sense that INJUSTICE has been done to them. They believe they must PRESS the idea to be heard. Someone said about there marriage to me the other day: “My wife was taught in her home that if someone didn’t agree, it must be a hearing problem – they can’t hear you. She learned that if she turned up the volume, you would agree. Often I do – simply because I want the volume back down!”

You can read of their self justified attitude a few verses later:

Mark 15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.

Here are the leaders behind the scenes “agitating” (ana= by; seio=stir) the crowd to get what the leaders want. They are FINE with freeing a murderer and dissident, in exchange for getting rid of One who is much more popular. Their issue isn’t MORALITY or PUBLIC ORDER – their issue is CONTROL – and that is at the center of their works. Some religious people are about controlling others – but in the end all of them are about hoping they can CONTROL GOD and His reaction to their outward devotion.

I suspect that no teaching of the Bible is harder to swallow for people in our day than that of man’s utter depravity. Those words are the theological terms for the utter inability of man to earn God’s favor. That is at the heart of the religions made by men. Biblically, I can do NOTHING that will make myself acceptable to God – no attendance at mass or religious service, no prayer to a saint of yesteryear (no matter how great that saint was in their lifetime). Isaiah 64:6 reminds us that even our RIGHTEOUSNESS – that is, the things we do that we deem GOOD, are as “filthy rags” before God – because they are not what He accepts as our Judge.

Ray Prichard said it this way: “That doctrine teaches us that there is nothing we can contribute to our salvation. We are so lost in our sins that we have no idea how sinful we really are. When we look into our own souls and see ourselves, we see only the sin that lies on the surface, but God sees to the bottom – and what he sees is a foul pit of iniquity. We are so lost that unless God takes the initiative to save us we will never be saved at all.”

They are SELF SATISFIED: The religious powerful find evidence in the world that they are right in what they teach and believe. They are able to SHOUT DOWN the conscience that God placed within them with self made “ends justify means” dogma. Look at the behaviors they had toward the condemned Jesus at the cross: Mark 15:31 “In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32 “Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.”

Isn’t it sort of obvious if you were standing on the that hill on that particular day, that you would see THEY WON. They got the One who called Himself “The Way” out of their way. The One who was called “The Truth” was listening to the taunts of those who shouted insults and LIES. The One who called Himself  “The Life” – was having His life drained away from Him – at the command of the taunting ones.

Men of religion can seem powerful because they can indicate GOOD WORKS and ACCOMPLISHMENTS they believe justify the way they do things. They can point to beautiful buildings and helpful philanthropy – and argue they had the right to plow under distractions on their way to doing God’s work. Ironically, when God put on skin and walked the earth, He chose to walk with people who were largely uncared for by these religious powerhouses.

Political based Power – Pontius Pilate

Beyond religious people, there was the political backdrop of the passage. Jesus was not only a religious problem, He had become a political liability.

Pilate thought Jesus was STUPID: Mark 15:2 Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” 3 The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. 4 Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” 5 But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed. To one who supremely prizes POWER, the argument to gain and keep power makes sense. When you are accused, you fire back. You hold your ground, because YOUR OPINION is worth hearing. You believe in yourself, and you ask people to believe in (and vote for) you and the ideas you bring to the table. Silence is a sign of inability to the political mind. Your skillful oratory is your ability to FIGHT – and that is what makes you powerful. There He stood, the Creator of all (Col. 1:16-17), embodied before a puny Prefect. (Wikipedia on the title: “The “Praefectus” was the formal title of many, fairly low to high-ranking, military or civil officials in the Roman Empire, whose authority was not embodied in their person (as it was with elected Magistrates) but conferred by delegation from a higher authority. They did have some authority in their prefecture such as controlling prisons and in civil administration.”) What an irony… Jesus before Pilate. The levels between the two in every way were staggering. Was Pilate more intelligent? He thought so. Was Pilate more important in human history? He thought so. Was Pilate more significant in governing the affairs of men? He thought so.

Both Pilate and Jesus died. One opened salvation to humanity, and saved the world. The other was apparently banished to Gaul and unable to die in his own home, discarded by his emperor and his spouse. In what appears to be the more reliable historical note on what happened to Pilate: Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiae book ii: 7), quotes some early apocryphal accounts that he does not name, which already relate that Pilate fell under misfortunes in the reign of Caligula (AD 37 – 41), was exiled to Gaul and eventually committed suicide there, in Vienne.

Pilate thought Jesus was a CAREER OPPORTUNITY: Mark 15:9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy…15 Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Pilate knew the charges were not real, they were based on ENVY. He frankly just didn’t CARE. He wanted to keep the people before him from causing a stir. In a way, he was like the parent of the child that is held hostage in the public setting by a child that threatens to SCREAM if the parent tries to curb any desire of the child. He was hoping this would help cement relationships in HIS JOB. Luke adds the detail: “Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.” (Luke 23:12). Pilate no doubt saw the condemnation of Jesus as a great career move toward making important friends.

He thought Jesus was PATHETIC: Both before the Crucifixion and after, Pilate reflected a tiny bit of humanity in his demeanor. He seemed to argue to keep Jesus alive for a time: Mark 15:12 Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” 14 But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” After his bigger agenda of keeping the people happy took over and the Crucifixion was completed, he again showed a more human side: Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45 And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

I am not trying to make him into a good guy – he clearly was not. At the same time, he and his colleagues had dispensed such “justice” many times in their lives, and he certainly had no clue this day was any different. Jesus was, as far as he was concerned, a pathetic pawn trapped in His own popularity by envious and jealous religious stooges. He should, Pilate thought, be pitied for His misfortune.

Reputation based Power – Roman Soldiers

Beyond the echelons of power reached by public placement – like the priests and prefect – were the simpler but still powerful bearers of the Roman eagle standard… the cohort of Roman soldiers.

They saw Jesus as ENTERTAINMENT: Mark 15:16 The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. 17 They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20 After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. The chief problem for Roman soldiers was BOREDOM. Those who have served “Uncle Sam” can understand. There is nothing like being transported far from home to a place where most people HATE you and don’t even KNOW you. Respect of such people can only be gained, they thought, by open displays of BRUTE STRENGTH. If they had to be brutal, so be it. At least Jesus offered a distraction from the mind numbing boredom of serving Rome in this backwash of the Empire.

They saw Jesus as a DUTY: Mark 15:21 They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross. 22 Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. The soldiers had no desire to build relationships – just get their job done. When Jesus couldn’t stand up and carry the cross beam of His cross – they found someone else. A Numidian African – a Roman of the Senatorial Province of Cyrene was pressed into service.

They saw Him as a way to GAIN: Mark 15:23 They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. Beyond the distraction from boredom that Jesus provided, they could gain a small amount under Roman law, by getting the few meager pieces of cloth and leather that were taken from the condemned. It wasn’t much, but many duties offered no gain at all.

THE SECOND KIND: THE PAIN FILLED IMPRISONED PEOPLE

Just a single verse describes the criminals crucified on either side of Jesus in Mark’s account: Mark 15:27 They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left. Ray Prichard notes: “When Christ died, he didn’t die alone. Two thieves died with him. We often focus on the thief who cried out, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” We know that man was saved because Jesus told him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). But don’t forget there was another man hanging beside Jesus. He cursed and swore and blasphemed the Son of God. He died as he had lived, a wretched sinner, unforgiven. ..The cross that saved the one doomed the other. The cross stands as a silent sentinel proclaiming that you have to come God’s way – or you won’t come at all! The same cross that offends the world and judges the world also saves the world…God has no other plan of salvation – and he doesn’t need one.

Paul acknowledged how our message looked to his world. He said: “But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (I Corinthians 1:23) Our chief Christian symbol is the symbol of an EXECUTION. Today, a contemporary symbol might be a noose, an electric chair, or a small chamber with the machine for a lethal injection. Our message is the OUR LIFE COMES FROM HIS DEATH.

There is, however, a condition. I can KNOW that God accepts ME because of Jesus IF and ONLY IF we accept His Son’s sacrifice in the place of our own goodness, and our own works. 1 John 5:11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Hold up your left hand and let it represent you standing before God with your sins – in an unforgiven and guilty state. Now hold up your right hand and cover it with a cloth or a towel or a handkerchief. Let your right hand represent Jesus Christ and the cloth his perfect righteousness. As long as you (the left hand) stand before God with your sins uncovered, you cannot enter heaven. Now take both hands and clasp them together so that the cloth covers both hands. When God looks down from heaven, what does he see? He doesn’t see your sins because they are covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now you can enter heaven because God sees you as having the righteousness of his Son. (Prichard)

Two kinds of people met Jesus at His Cross – the pride-filled powerful and the pain-filled prisoner. One was offered rescue, the other condemned by his hardness. That is ALWAYS how it is with Jesus.

Grasping God’s Purpose: The Day After Syndrome – Exodus 15

There they stood, no dry eye in the place. We had been up until all hours of the night every day of the last week. We were all saying “Goodbye” tomorrow. How had we grown so close together in just one week? Now Pastor Ed just preached about giving our all to Jesus. We were all sure we would be ready to read our Bible no less that daily, and reach our entire school for Christ. We were the committed, the empowered. We were kids on a mission. Our lives would never be the same. We surrendered great things – such great things as can be surrendered by elementary school boys. What a time of worship we had. Now the sticks were tossed on the fire as we symbolically told Jesus we were ready to live for Him in all things. We were ready for anything… anything, that is, but going HOME. Anything but living these truths when we got home.

Don’t get me wrong, our hearts were emotionally immature, but terribly genuine. We believed what we were saying. The plateau we reached in our elementary school walk was not false… it was just set in an unreal setting. Life would set in and test our resolve. Long after camp, at least a few weeks or so, we would struggle to live the ideals we swore to at the camp fire. Was the time WASTED? I don’t believe so. Even in the camp experience of plateaus, our fragile and infant faith was being nurtured. We DID leave stronger than we came in. We NEEDED the experience of the “Rise and Fall” that followed as part of our growing process….

Have you ever left a worship time with the Lord elated, excited, committed and joyful – only to have it all come crashing down on your head! Have you ever seriously committed things to the Lord in a special time of consecration. Maybe it was a promise in a hospital room. Maybe it was a praise moment after a deliverance of the Lord. Looking back,you were geneuine in your surrender, but what followed was unforeseen in your life. EVERYTHING seemed like it was even worse than before. You really thought you were going to be able to walk with God… but in a blink the whole dream soured. Problems rushed in and nothing worked. If you know what that is like, this passage is for YOU.

Like a play with a “split stage”, Exodus 15 has two very different and even contrasting scenes. The first was elation and worship, the second was the “day after” when a pummeling of problems rolled in. It is a natural experience for us – for we live in two realms at the same time. The joys of the world above don’t cancel the power of the problems below. Yet, Intimacy with God gives us strength to care for BOTH worlds at the same time!

Key Principle: I must learn Who God is and how He works in the journey to be able to both enjoy life and walk with Him.

In order to understand the problem of the second half, let’s spend a few minutes in the joy of the HOT HIT in the first half of the passage…

Song of Preparation for the Journey (Exodus 15:1-21)

Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. 2 “The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. 3 “The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name. 4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 “The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone. 6 “Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. 7 “And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff. 8 “At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be gratified against them; I will draw out my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ 10 “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 “Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? 12 “You stretched out Your right hand, The earth swallowed them. 13 “In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation. 14 “The peoples have heard, they tremble; Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 “Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; The leaders of Moab, trembling grips them; All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. 16 “Terror and dread fall upon them; By the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone; Until Your people pass over, O LORD, Until the people pass over whom You have purchased. 17 “You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O LORD, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. 18 “The LORD shall reign forever and ever.” 19 For the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea. 20 Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. 21 Miriam answered them, “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.”

Moses led a song with the people: This is now a famous song sung in synagogues around the world on Shabbat. Later it will become a part of the song of the redeemed Jewish people that add to it the song of the Lamb in Revelation 15:3 in Heaven!

Refrain: Who is like You? (15:11)

  • Mi-chamochah b’elem Adonai (YHWH). (Who is like You among the gods, O LORD?)
  • Mi-chamochah ne-adar b’kodesh (Who is like You glorified in holiness?)
  • Nora t’hiloth oseh feleh – oseh feleh (Fearful/Revered in praises; Worker of Wonders!)

Don’t skip the details. The song was:

Directed to the Lord (1): Exodus 15:1a “Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said…” Redemption is impossible without God, and the redeemed need to turn back to God and PRAISE Him and thank Him for the great thing He has done. We praise Him when He delivers our body from harm. We praise when He heals from sickness. Which is harder, to say “rise up and walk” or to say “your sins are forgiven you”? Tell the Lord you want to PRAISE HIM for accomplishing your new life.

Once the song was lifted, the contents yielded six truths about God: Exodus 15:1b: “…I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.”

  • God has His place (1b “Lord” is Master): I am overjoyed to call Him my Master. He has all rights to my life, my happiness, my fulfillment!
  • God holds His position (1b: “exalted”): I will not lift another above Him in my eyes or my heart, He is first!
  • God does His powerful work (1b: “hurled”): There is NOTHING He can’t do to defend me. He can pull apart the earth itself to hold on to me!
  • God gives His provision– Exodus 15:2 “The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. 3 “The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name. 4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 “The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone.”
  1. Personal (2 “my”): He is the object of my praise and worship!
  2. Empowering (2 “strength”): He gives me the power to keep going!
  3. Joy (2b “my song”): He fills my mouth with song and my heart with joy!
  4. Rescue (2b “my salvation”): He throws a lifeline to me when no one else will!
  5. Defense (2b “Elohim”): He stands over me to defend me in strength!
  6. Connection (2b “my Father’s God”): He bonds me to a history of His legacy!
  7. Victory (3-5; 19 “warrior” mentioned and then illustrated): When I am overwhelmed, He is there to create a victory over my enemy!
  • God shows Himself through His Performance – He relates through His “working features” (15:6-13):

Right hand (6-7): Majestic, shattering power that consumes those who stand against You. 6 “Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. 7 “And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff. Later the Right Hand is mentioned again (12-13): The sign to all creation to obey, it swallowed enemies and led us gently at the same time! …12 “You stretched out Your right hand, The earth swallowed them. 13 “In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation.”

Nostrils (8-10): A powerful force that drove back the sea and shut down the pursuit of the enemy. 8 “At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 “The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be gratified against them; I will draw out my sword, my hand will destroy them.’ 10 “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters.”

  • God works in His purposes (Exodus 15:14-19)

1. Let the world know of Him (14-15): You want all Creation to know of You! 14 “The peoples have heard, they tremble; Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 “Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; The leaders of Moab, trembling grips them; All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

2. Let His redeemed be rescued (16-17a): You want your people to acknowledge Your rescue! 16 “Terror and dread fall upon them; By the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone; Until Your people pass over, O LORD, Until the people pass over whom You have purchased.

3. Let His worship be established (17b): You want to be at the center of our hearts! 17  “You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O LORD, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

4. Let His sovereign control be known (18): You want to bring about the righteous rule You have promised! 18  “The LORD shall reign forever and ever.”

STOP! See what the Lord has revealed about Himself through His servant Moses in a moment of JOY! It was the pattern of preparation for HARDSHIP!

The song is again sung in human history. The stage is set in Revelation 15:3. In the shadow of the Great Throne of God the sound of the voices of Jewish martyrs begin to cry out. From the anguish of their life on earth they were forcibly born into the presence of the Holy One, even as a newborn baby is pushed into arrival. Entering Heaven with tear-filled eyes, God wipes their eyes and pulls them to His side. “Well done, My child!” says the Master. Almost without thought they begin to sing the words they have learned from their youth. These Jewish followers of Jesus cry out, “Mi-chamochah b’elem Adonai” (YHWH). (Who is like You among the gods, O LORD?); “Mi-chamochah ne-adar b’kodesh” (Who is like You glorified in holiness?); “Nora t’hiloth oseh feleh – oseh feleh” (Fearful/Revered in praises; Worker of Wonders!). What are these words they sing? What are they saying?

  • My God is My Master! He has my heart and is exalted in my eyes!
  • He stops at NOTHING to cling to me, and hold me in His hand!
  • He gives me the power to make it through troubles and the joy to fill my heart in the journey!
  • He rescues me from the pit of despair and stands as a strong defender over my life.
  • He connects me to the great drama of history – His story.
  • He makes me a victor over the enemies of discouragement, addiction, and a broken life.
  • With His great right hand He orders the worlds, all Creation is formed and crushed in His hands. With a mere breathe He shuts down any enemy that pursues me, and uses His hand to gently lead me.
  • He wants the world to know Him, and He desires to rescue even more of my world!
  • He hungers that we would enjoy Him, for He knows that only when I recognize His greatness and love Him intimately will I truly find fulfillment!
  • Great is our God! Great is Our God!

In Exodus 15, the excitement receded, and what replaced the celebration was…heat and trouble. Salvation is exciting, the Christian life can be just plain hard. That’s the truth. Obedience and surrender are RIGHT and BIBLICAL and really, really tough. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are lying. It is worth it, but it is HARD.

Lessons of Living on the Journey (15:22-27)

Follow the progression of the story in 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. 26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.” 27 Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.

“Seven Lessons for the Journey”

 Lesson One: The Departure Lesson:

Moses led them from the place of victory to the desert, and the people began to suffer (15:22). Exodus 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. We must move back from the place of celebration to the problems that we face in our lives. The worship is designed to strengthen us and give us hunger for God, not a place to hide from our problems!

In November of 1988 a 19 yr old woman fell asleep behind the wheel of her car at about 2:15 in the morning. Her car plunged thru a guardrail and was dangling by its left rear tire. A half dozen passing motorists stopped, grabbed some ropes from one of their vehicles tied the ropes to the back of her car, & hung on until fire units arrived. A ladder was extended from below to help stabilize the car while firefighters tied the vehicle to tow trucks with cables and chains. One of the rescuers later said “Every time we would move the car, she would yell and scream. She was in terrible pain.” For nearly 2 ½ hours police officers, tow truck drivers, firefighters and passers-by (about 25 people in all) – to secure the car and pull the woman to safety. All through the episode, the woman kept repeated a phrase over and over to rescuers. She kept saying: “I’ll do it myself.’” (November 20, 1988, the Los Angeles Times)

This woman was in horrible pain. She was pinned inside her car, And she unable to change her circumstances Or save herself from her danger Ultimately, it took the efforts nearly 25 people to rescue her from potential death — And yet, she kept thinking she could solve the problem all by herself.

Lesson Two: The Disappointment Lesson:

When they finally got to a place with water, they found that drinking the water made them ill (15:23). Exodus 15:23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. The contrast between the great time with God and the reality of life here can be painful (cp. Elijah). There is nothing WRONG, that is the way life is, and we should expect it. “They could not drink” can be translated they could not bear to drink (elo yakoli).

Lesson Three: The Dissention Lesson:

What do we do now? (15:24). . Exodus 15:24 So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Voices that were quick to celebrate will be equally quick to complain!

Lesson Four: The Deliverance Lesson:

Moses cried to the Lord and the Lord directed him to cast a tree limb into the water to make it potable without any ill effects (15:25a). Exodus 15:25 Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet…. God provided a way of escape after they failed to drink water that would make them ill. Deliverance often includes doing something that requires discipline and obedience – it wasn’t intended to be easy.

Lesson Five: The Detail Lesson:

The whole thing was a test from God (15:25b). …There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. God wanted to help them by making them sick, and getting the parasites of Egypt from them. If we simply obey right down to the DETAIL, it may seem more painful up front, but it is the BEST way to get through the wilderness!

They say “the devil is in the details!” The story is told of a little boy who went to the grocery store and asked the clerk for a box of laundry detergent. The clerk was very impressed at such a little guy taking on the responsibilities of helping his mom with the household chores. So he said to the boy “Well that is mighty grown up of you to be wiling to help your mother out with the washing. Well the little guy wanted to set the record straight so he told the clerk, “Oh, I’m not going to use it to wash clothes, I need it for my dog.” The clerk was a little concerned at that point and so he said “Don’t you think this detergent might be a little strong for washing a dog?” The little boy replied, “Well, that’s what I want, he’s a mighty dirty dog.” So the boy took the box of detergent home, and about a week later returned. Well the clerk recognized him and asked him about his dog. The little boy said “O my dog is dead!” The clerk was shocked “Oh that’s so terrible, I guess that laundry detergent was too strong after all.” The little boy thought for a minute and said “No, I don’t think it was the detergent that got him, I think it was the rinse cycle.” Have you ever gone through a time in your life when you felt like you had been through the wringer.

Lesson Six: The Directive Lesson:

God told them, “Next time do what I say, even if you think it will make you sick, I am working a plan!” (15:26). Exodus 15:26 And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.” God knows what He is asking, and why! He is the healer! The test is not whether or not God is TRUE, but whether or not I will believe and follow.

Lesson Seven: The Down Time Lesson:

Exodus 15:27 Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters. They arrived at a place of rest, with fresh water and no test. Many people get to Marah and never leave. They won’t go on to Elim, they sit in bitterness and wallow. God is His goodness gave them an escape and they were all able to continue. The way out of the wilderness is THROUGH IT!

The Bible doesn’t leave us in the dark as to Who God is and what He is like..

Apparently, in New Hampshire, a man named Josh Muszynski stopped at a gas station and bought a pack of cigarettes with his debit card. A few hours later he was online checking his bank account and found that this particular pack of cigarettes set him back: $23,148,855,308,184,500.00. That’s 23 quadrillion, 148 trillion, 855 billion, 308 million, 184 thousand, 500 dollars. To put that in perspective: if you took ALL the money from ALL the countries in the United Nations, you still wouldn’t have enough money to buy that single pack of cigarettes. Needless to say, Josh immediately called his bank and managed to clear things up. Not only did his bank correct the error, they also removed the $15 overdraft fee they charged him. (Patrick D. Odum, Heartlight.org 8/11/09) The point is: if this man had actually owed that much money there was no way he (or anyone else on face of earth) could ever pay it back.

They should have understood from their time of worship: When I truly understand Who God is, I can face a trouble filled life here and now with confidence!

 

 

He Changes Everything: "The Great Snapshots"- Mark 14, part two

Pete Souza was attributed with saying: “Every great moment deserves a photograph!” and he knows a great moment. He is the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama; he is also the Director of the White House photo office. He is on an extended leave of absence from Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication where he is an assistant professor of photojournalism. He has a lot of experience as a “finder of great moments”  because he previously worked as an Official White House Photographer for President Reagan, a freelancer for National Geographic, and as the national photographer for the Chicago Tribune based in their Washington bureau.

The incredibly part of his job is that he is often standing there at the moment great things in America are happening. He has a very special and very technical view of the scene. He is also virtually silent on his feelings about the events he is a witnessing. I wonder what IMPRESSION he could give of some of the key people in government today from HIS PERSPECTIVE. Does Mrs. Obama get involved in policy? Do Vice President Biden and President Obama like really each other? How does the current President stack up (in his estimation) with President Reagan? Is the White House a lot different now? These are just a few of many things I would like to ask him at a lunch. He has certainly seen much!

If great moments deserve attention, probably no one has had a better view than Peter the Disciple, who was (according to the early Christian writers) the source of the accounts in much of the Gospel according to Mark. Mark seems to have a great view of many of the pivotal moments in Jesus’ earth ministry. He wasn’t a photographer, but he did offer short, clear verbal snapshots of the people and places that mean everything to our record of Jesus’ provision of redemption and forgiveness. In fact, Mark offered twelve small snapshots of the last hours before the arrest of Jesus.

In these twelve short snaps, we see can observe kinds of people that surrounded the event, and if we examine it more closely, we will observe the same three kinds are with us to this day. The three kinds of people are: 1) Religious but spiritually dead; 2) Obedient but seemingly unimportant; 3) Disobedient but loudly self righteous.

Key Principle: God uses people who are ready to commit to Him within, and anxious to live His truths without!

There are twelve snapshot scenes in Mark 14, each with one of three kinds of people:

Religious But LOST

The first kind are what I’d call the “Religious but lost” – they are physically in tune, spiritually dead. Last time we spent our study primarily looking at people that fit into this category, so we will only briefly mention them. There are four snapshots that offer examples.

Snapshot One: The Scribes seeking to kill Him (Mark 14:1-2): We saw the pious men in their elegant religious attire, conspiring to kill the Prince of Life. They had the trappings of godly men, but the hearts of ungodly ones! Do you recall: Mark 14:1 “… the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him.” Mark carefully showed the men knew what they wanted to do, but fear of the loss of control over the crowd shut them down – at least for the moment. In some ways, it appears they were afraid to lose STANDING in the eyes of the crowd. Remember, we made note that: “When we try to desperately hold on to the position or power that we have, we tip our hand to our real belief – that we EARNED the place we have.”

Snapshot Two: Judas, offering help to plotters (Mark 14:10-11): Our eyes drifted to the man under the cloak that was skirting the light on the edges of a dark forest. He had been in the meeting with Jesus, but heard the most painful thing Jesus ever shared about an individual. Do you recall? Jesus said of him: “It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” (Mark 14:21). Judas went out broken, but Jesus didn’t say this until Judas had already promised to TRAP JESUS. God didn’t bring judgment on him until he decided he didn’t want Jesus. That is STILL the way it works.

Snapshot Three: Judas and his Temple mob (Mark 14:43-50). The next snapshot of him was in the Garden of Gethsemane kissing Jesus and betraying Him (Mark 14:42-46). Do you recall what we learned about the POWER trap Judas was in? He was disappointed because Jesus didn’t measure up to his lofty expectations…When we try to hold God to our standard, we forget who He really is, and who we really are. Certainly Judas was guilty of that… and some of us are as well.

Snapshot Four: Jesus in questionings (Mark 14:53-65). We didn’t get to this one last time…but we should not miss this snapshot. Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane, and was led back across the Kidron Valley onto the upper hill to the west, a hill today called “modern Mt. Zion”. The hill offers a bird’s eye view of the most ancient part of Jerusalem, and follows the line of a stair like street that has been archaeologically uncovered in the twentieth century from the Pool of Siloam westward. Go up the steps with me as we read:

Mark 14:53 “They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes gathered together. 54 Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. 56 For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. 57 Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, 58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” 59 Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. 60 The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” 61 But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” 63 Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 “You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. 65 Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face.

By now, it should be an easy journey to see between LIES and FLAGRANT MISTREATMENT of God. Don’t just see these men and check them off the list of people who were wrong! Ask yourself this question: “How could they behave like this?” Then ask a more important question: “Could that be ME?” “No!” You object. I would not have treated Jesus with such disrespect! Really?

Look at the short distance between lies and a cool disregard for God and His Word. Look at it carefully. We keep hearing that God wants us to give our hearts to Him. One day we decide that God doesn’t really have the right to a surrendered heart. He doesn’t really deserve my life, or my deliberate obedience. We swallow a LIE that we can run our own lives well enough. We postpone obedience and say, “God, someday I will think about really following You, but today I am too busy!” On and on it goes, and our hardness allows us to flagrantly mistreat God inside. Maybe your best friend or your spouse doesn’t see it, but YOU DO. You are NOT GOD’S PROPERTY. You may be religious, but you are not in a relationship with Jesus.

Is that really different than slapping Him in the face? Imagine the feeling of the soldier that returned after serving his country with distinction, only to be spat upon by someone in the airport and called “baby killer”! This is the feeling the rebellious, self willed believer evokes in the heart of a Father who has sent His Son to die when we decide to walk away on our own. A short distance from that hardness and we begin to become cynical about His Word. “Prophesy!” We yell, as we demand that God jump through our hoops because our self willed life isn’t working as well as we had planned…Those men BEGAN as followers of God, hoping to make a difference. By accepting lies and promoting SELF, they displaced a holy ambition and began to rail against the God they had earlier hoped to serve.

Let me very clear here. This first set of snapshots (above) were people who had decided to live for themselves and not for God – because they don’t know God. They may have had a tender moment that sparked a religious sentiment at one time earlier, but it was not a true and real surrender based relationship. They began RELIGIOUS life, but did not walk in RELATIONSHIP with God. God knows the difference. There are two kinds of people in this world – those who KNOW God personally and have a relationship, and those who DON’T but need to. The people we have seen, for the most part, were a part of the DON’T group.

Let’s switch gears to the ones who KNOW God. There are two kinds – those who are walking with God, and those who aren’t – but know they should be….and it is entirely up to them to choose which they will be. Let’s look quickly at both:

Obedient but EASILY MISSED

First, we see the “Obedient but seemingly unimportant” – lot of believers that seem more like set props – until you recognize that their surrender and obedience made a real difference in the way God told His story!

Snapshot One: Mary and the anointing (Mark 14:3, 6-9): This little snapshot is found in the earliest part of the chapter. We skipped over a woman (John 12 suggests it was Mary of Magdala) who was sacrificing to Jesus by pouring an expensive and cherished ointment on His feet, to allow her story to linger in our hearts as the final part of the teaching from Mark 14. Look briefly at her story: Mark 14:3 While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. Jesus was pleased with the sacrifice of a woman who FELT SMALL, but gave what she had to be used for His purposes! She BROKE the vase of what she had to offer, and gave every drop to His use. There can be no more complete snapshot of surrender. She is in this story what the woman with the last coin of her home was in the earlier study – one who gave all. I want to say more about how Jesus reacted to her, but let’s pick up the other snapshots that fit into this section first.

Snapshot Two: Peter and John preparing Passover (Mark 14:12-16):  Another quick look, and we see two disciples responding to Jesus’ command to go set up a room. At first glance it doesn’t look that essential, but in restrospect, the setting would become one of the most important of any – with one third of the Gospel of John recalling the events of that evening, and many coming from inside that very prepared room!  Mark 14:13 And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; 14 and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’  Not to beat the point, but let’s quickly recall that obedience creates a platform for God’s work to grow and expand. What God calls a man or woman to do may seem insignificant to them at the time– but that is only because we don’t know the whole plan!

Snapshot Three: The man with the water pot (Mark 14:13): When we read Mark 14:13 above we found a matching story in the account of the room preparation  — another obedient man, who only gets the stage mention of “man with water pot”. We don’t know his name, or his family. We don’t know how God communicated to him to be there at the Siloam Pool at that specific time – we only know that he was there, and that the man was working in concert with the plan of God. Do you think the enemy didn’t work a bit to slow down that guy? Is it possible that he was fighting to be obedient in that hour to do what God called him to do. His most important moment in life may well have been this one – and I am willing to wager that it was not convenient, and that it felt hard to do – because I know the adversary of Jesus.

Snapshot Four: The owner of the upper room (Mark 14:14-16): Barely a “blip” on the radar screen of history, this man knew what Jesus wanted, and had it furnished and ready. The Gospel offers only this: Mark 14:14 “and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ 15“And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” 16The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.” I am certain the man had no idea how important his obedience was to Jesus’ plan – believers HARDLY EVER see that.

Each of these snapshots are obedient people that could almost be skipped in the passage. They are almost wall flowers – but God used their obedience dramatically. They offer us critical truths that we should not ignore or glance over…Go back to Mark 14:4 and look at the woman with the ointment. In that aromatic room you will see God’s truths:

Mark 14:4 But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. 7 “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. 8 “She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. 9 “Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.

First, there is a truth that is expressed in the Bible many times – even those one the team don’t always get what you are doing when you surrender and sacrifice at God’s command. Some well meaning believers were SCOLDING her, when she was being supremely obedient to the call of Christ. Truth: Measure life by God’s approval, not everyone else’s. They don’t always get it right.

Second, note that Jesus rebuffed those who criticized her action for their own cloaked motives and self righteousness, protecting her with His words. “Let her alone” (6a). Truth: Let God be your defense when you know you are walking in surrender to Him. Self justification isn’t necessary – God is big enough to protect you while you work out His call on your life.

Third, Jesus noted that her sacrifice was “a good deed” to His standard (6b)! Judas complained because it looked like a waste. Even some believing Disciples joined the chorus of complaints. Truth, nothing given to Jesus in surrender is a waste. Your boss may simply shake his head when you leave a lucrative position to go work in the third world – but nothing truly given in response to God’s call is a waste – no matter who believes it is.

Fourth, Jesus identified her insights and priorities as the CORRECT ones (14:7). Jesus alone is the judge. Truth: the court of public opinion is often at odds with the court of ETERNITY. Don’t get caught deeming something ok because of the popular sentiment. It is only RIGHT if Jesus says it is right.

Fifth, Jesus again showed the size of the sacrifice was the true gauge of her heart (14:8a). You can see this in every one of the four snapshots. The individual acts of our life may seem utterly tiny against the backdrop of history. Truth, obedience – like disobedience  – has enormous consequence.

Sixth, Jesus carefully identified that her work fit with God’s plan (14:8b). Truth: our best moment is the one we are doing to advance God’s plan – no matter what it looks like at that moment. You share Christ with a neighbor who seems to pay little heed to your words, but you do not know that a year later in a coma, that testimony is the one they recall before meeting Jesus. When you get to Heaven, you’ll realize the importance of that day – not today.

Seventh, Jesus promised that her act would be ever recalled by followers of Jesus in times to come (14:9). Truth: Nothing given in sacrifice to Jesus is forgotten by Him. More people see what you sacrifice than you know. Angels are watching the children of God! Other young believers are watching the children of God.

Mary came to Jesus out of a broken heart and a failed life. His words set her free. His love unlocked the deep pain of her heart, and empowered her to serve by surrender and sacrifice. She understood the meekness Jesus called for – because her only hope of eternal life was found in His grace. She saw no goodness in herself. She had little, but she was unwilling to keep any of it for herself! When we recognize our own deep sinfulness, we are ready to thankfully surrender to the One who gave all for us! This is the SURRENDER KEY– the key that opens us to be used of God for powerful tasks that last for the ages to come! The SURRENDER KEY allows Jesus access to all that we have, and all that we hope to accomplish. It is the gift God most wants. It smells of perfume, but is really not about the physical world – it is a spiritually open heart.

It seems like we could end our study there, but we would miss the third group that needs little more than a mention to be totally understood. They are the believers that have decided to walk without obedience to God.

Disobedient but NOISY

Last, we see the “Disobedient but loudly self righteous”  – a bunch ready to preach truth to the lost world, but not ready to live truth when it comes to their own choices.

  • Snapshot One: The disciples in the upper room with Jesus (Mk. 14:17-26): Can’t you hear them shouting to Jesus: “Surely it is not I that will betray You!”
  • Snapshot Two: The sleepy disciples at Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42): Can’t you hear the snoring in the midst of the prayer meeting Jesus called in the minutes before His arrest?
  • Snapshot Three: Peter declaring allegiance to Jesus (Mark 14:27-31; 66-72): You surely grasp the whole scene of Peter making grand gestures that he would DIE before DENY! Yeah, right.
  • Snapshot Four: The young man who ran away uncovered (Mark 14:51-52): John Mark (traditionally) is so desperate to stand until death with his Lord, he fled into the night immodestly.

Can you see the connection of these snapshots? Believers that decide to go at the walk with God in their strength “doth protest too much” but live to little. In the end, God uses people who are ready to commit to Him within, and anxious to live His truths without!

Seven Truths About God's Judgment (short post)

Truth 1: The judgment can first be seen in the YOUTH (the resource of the future – 4:1-10). The generation of the youth were thrown to the dogs in successive stages, and should have been an adequate warning to the society to change!

Their value is diminished in society (4:1-2)

Lamentations 4:1 How dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out – At the corner of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter’s hands!

Normal bonds of caring wane (4:3-5)

Lamentations 4:3 Even jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel – Like ostriches in the wilderness. 4 The tongue of the infant cleaves to the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

Once protected without, they were destroyed from within (4:5-6)

Lamentations 4:5 Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits. 6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her.

They showed on their bodies the signs of devastation (4:7-9)

Lamentations 4:7 Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than corals, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli. 8 Their appearance is blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones, It is withered, it has become like wood. 9 Better are those slain with the sword Than those slain with hunger; For they pine away, being stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.

Parents used them up for their own purposes (4:10)

Lamentations 4:10 The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

How sad, but the idea that parents would use their children for themselves is not new! Look around our society. We have the freedom to treat marriage like we used to treat dating, but the generation of children coming up should show us that such disregard to the covenant of marriage will undo us!

Truth 2: Not all judgment is FUTURE (4:11). Some judgment is playing out NOW in consequence. God has purposes to allow consequences of sin to be part of the judgment process. Those consequences are part of the down payment to justice.

Lamentations 4:11 The LORD has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion – Which has consumed its foundations.

Perhaps we think that God will let everything go now, and judge in the life to come – that isn’t Biblical. The consequences in our society today are PART of the beginnings of judgment. God’s loving justice requires that someone answer for the unjust behaviors that flourished.

Truth 3: The world was taken by surprise that God acted in this way (4:12). The confidence of the hollow believers was infectious, and others believed they were impervious and would last – but they were all proven wrong.

Lamentation 4:12 The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

We wrap the truth of God’s power in the cloak that He will allow us the luxury of acting irresponsibly, and He made no such promise!

Truth 4: The problem began in spiritual leadership (4:13-16). It was SIN among the teachers of truth that began the problem. They offered false sacrifice in sinfulness, until God stripped them of their spiritual insights. When they understood it, they proclaimed their wretchedness and the outreach shriveled – and the Lord set their work aside.

Lamentations 4:13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst the blood of the righteous; 14 They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood So that no one could touch their garments. 15 “Depart! Unclean!” they cried of themselves. “Depart, depart, do not touch!” So they fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, “They shall not continue to dwell with us.” 16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them, He will not continue to regard them; They did not honor the priests (they did not honor the priesthood), They did not favor the elders (they did not favor the eldership).

Those who know and teach God’s Word must first pause and look within. Those who teach the youth of the nation are often the first to lay aside truth. Trouble starts in the teacher, and then infects the student.

Truth 5: We looked in the wrong direction for salvation! (4:17). It may mean we looked to another NATION rather than REPENTANCE. The second reading also makes sense – that we looked to our national heritage to save us, and not to the Lord!

Lamentations 4:17 Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help was useless; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save.

How many are looking for salvation from our FLAG our PARTIES and our GOVERNMENT? The answer has always been in a walk with God.

Truth 6: Our end came SWIFTLY as our enemies rallied (4:18-20). There is an illusion in history that all things will continue – but it is an illusion. The end can collapse swiftly, and will always be a surprise to most. God’s people will suffer along with the rest, but they must take God with them – not forsake Him!

Lamentations 4:18 They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew near, Our days were finished For our end had come. 19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness. 20 The breath of our nostrils, the LORD’S anointed, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, “Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.”

Most people won’t believe judgment will happen until it DOES happen. That is why they continue to text while driving, “manage” their porn addiction or keep feeding bad behaviors.

Truth 7: Those who gaze at our judgment will live to see their own (4:21-22). Judgment begins with the house of God, but uit does not end there. It may begin with one nation, but all will eventually face judgment. One should be a warning to another!

Lamentation 4: 21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, Who dwells in the land of Uz; But the cup will come around to you as well, You will become drunk and make yourself naked. 22 The punishment of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!

Part of the purpose of incremental judgment is GRACIOUS WARNING! When a nation begins to see its youth slipping away, when bonds of family are being loosened, they should pause and pull back. To keep going forward with the “liberating policies” that are pulling them ever downward is to ignore the warning signs!

Grasping God’s Purpose: “A Choice Vessel”- Exodus 14

Walking through Colonial Williamsburg, I was struck by the simplicity of the vessels that our forefathers used to care for their needs. The days of molded plastic and cheaply machined glass have certainly made a change in the quality and stylishness of even our simplest drinking cups! One thought was particularly clear, it wasn’t the BEAUTY of the vessel that made it valuable, it was the USABILITY of the vessel. The most beautifully carved bucket was only worth having if it was water tight. In the same way, though God wants to use me as a vessel that will bring honor to Him, it is only possible if I make choices that open up His use of me. What choices can I make that will open myself to being used by Him?  Key Principle: To become a vessel God can use, I must understand and then live the choices that God will be honored by. Some of our problem stems from a lack of knowledge, but most of it stems from simple willful disobedience. Exodus 14 offers at least Ten Choices that I can make to become a useable vessel to God! Each of the ten must be grasped, but are only effective when put into ACTION:

The Ten Choices of a Vessel fit for Use

  1. Choose to recognize that God has the right to use me to reach others even by taking me through difficult and trying times. (14:1-4).

Exodus 14:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. 3 “For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 “Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

God’s plan for Israel was not going to be an easy one, but that was the one Moses was to obey, announce and lead. Moses was in the difficult predicament of sharing unpopular truth. Believers should get used to it – truth is often inconvenient, but always helpful! I liked this:

Have you ever found yourself in a predicament? We have a lot of word pictures in the English language to describe being in a predicament. We hear phrases such as “you sure have painted yourself into a corner,” of being “caught between a rock and a hard place,” being “up against the wall” or “in a pickle. ” A least one person has defined a predicament as being , “A lawyer who specializes in suing doctors for medical malpractice finding himself in need of major surgery.” [Charles Swindoll. Moses: A Man of Selfless Devotion. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1999). p. 211.]

The events of our lives are not random, God has crafted a time and place for us. We forget that when things go wrong. More often than not, we wonder if we have deserved some spanking when things don’t go our way. In the face of stern difficulty, we even convince ourselves that the reason we are going through trouble is something we have done. It seldom occurs to us that the wilderness and the Sea of Reeds is part of the call of God for us. God has a plan for the troubles!

In the text, note that God had several reasons for the journey direction of Moses. First, God wanted to lure in Pharaoh. Sometimes God uses our lives to pull in the lives of godless men. It is exciting when that purpose is to soften their hearts to see His love and goodness – but that wasn’t the case here. God used the testimony of the people of God, and Moses their leader, to bring a hardness into him that would set him up for judgment. As uncomfortable as that could have been for any of us – our lives are about recognizing God’s right to use us for HIS PURPOSES.

The ultimate end point of God’s plan was what it always is: to expose WHO He is to man and to the Heavenly host. That is His big plan, and we have the opportunity to be used of Him today to do it! For this reason, Paul reminded the Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.”

Do you believe that God has the unreserved right to use your life for any purpose that will fit His plan – even if that use doesn’t fit YOUR plan? Moses had to believe that, or he would have been utterly ineffective as God’s leader and spokesman – and so will we.

  1. Choose to remember that power is not often where it appears to be in a fallen world. God allowed Pharaoh to feel a sense of control and power that was not there! (14:5-9).

Exodus 14:5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; 7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. 9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

The human view was a powerful Pharaoh and a puny Moses – an organized army and a hapless camp of clueless slaves. That IS the human view – but it is NOT the truth! God was there. His power moved men, and soon would move seas, mountains and monuments. God can and will shake the foundations when it suits His purposes! Towering countries will be brought low for His purposes. Famous men and women will be swept aside by the tide of HIS STORY. Power is not where it appears to be!

  1. Choose to accept sometimes even friends and even God’s people won’t understand what God is doing in your life – and why! (14:10). Rather, expect that people will look for someone to blame when they are hurt and cannot understand their pain. Accept the fact that they are wrong in what they are saying, but deal with them patiently! (14:11-12).

Exodus 14:10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 “Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

When we face insurmountable odds, it is so easy to lose our perspective over the situation. Too often when we are confronted with an impossible situation, rather than meet it head on, we want to take the easy way out. We say, “I don’t want to face this, I don’t want to have to fight so I’ll just go back to Egypt and resume my life as a slave.”

It may be that this very day, someone hearing these words is thinking… If God doesn’t take this pressure off, I am going back to my old life. It may seem like it at this moment, but a full slave is much worse off than a hungry free man. Freedom to walk with God brings possibilities. Slavery to sin brings death – God’s Word could not be more clear! The people in the narrative didn’t have all that we have, so don’t be too hard on them!

  1. Choose to walk obediently while leaving the running of the universe to God. If God’s purpose is to use us as a testimony, we don’t have to fix everything. God will do what God needs done if we give His Word as instructed (14:13-15).

Exodus 14:13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. 14 “The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.” 15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.

God’s instructions through Moses are four-fold – all emphasizing the passive role of men and active role of God:

  • “Do Not Fear”.
  • “Stand by”.
  • “See”.
  • “Keep silent” .
  1. Choose to courageously face that God’s purposes are bigger than we can grasp, and He will, no doubt, call you to do things well beyond your ability. (14:16-18).

Exodus 14:16 “As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. 17 “As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 “Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.”

Pastor John Hamby wrote: “Nine year old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday School that day. ‘Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind the enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge, and all the people walked across safely. He used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters and call in an air strike. They sent in bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.’ ‘Now, Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?’ his mother asked. ‘Well, no, Mom, but if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!’”

  1. Choose to accept that God owes you no complete explanation of how He intends to work. God defends His work In ways that may look like they make no sense to you or the people around you! (14:19). Mature vessels will learn to see God’s hand in what is happening and learn to discern some of the purposes! (14:20). God works well beyond our list of possibilities! (14;21-22)

Exodus 14:19 “The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.” 20 “So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. 21 “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. 22 The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

  1. Remember life without God is more difficult than it appears. Choose to warn yourself often that they we follow God to be used of God. People who think they can participate in the power of God without the purposes of God  are badly mistaken (14:23-25).

Exodus 14:23 “Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. 24 At the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”

It may be that you have developed a rather materialistic lifestyle. Like Moses, and the children of Israel you have rubbed shoulders with folks in Egypt most of your life. You work with Egyptians. Think like Egyptians. Read Egyptian newspapers. Listen to Egyptian music. Do commercial battles with Egyptian entrepreneurs. You’re in the competitive world of the Egyptians, so its only natural that you react like them.” [Charles Swindoll. Moses: A Man of Selfless Devotion. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1999). p. 223.]

  1. Choose to accept that God is a righteous judge. It is our privilege to be used by God’s hand to show His power to the world (14:26-29).

Exodus 14:26 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. 29 But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

  1. Choose to identify God’s hand of blessing on your life. When God acts and His people see Him clearly, they see the world for what it is (14:30).We need to rehears the blessings twice what we say about our dislikes and troubles, because they are more easily forgotten!

Exodus 14:30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

  1. Choose to accept the truth that the troubles are worth it all, for God will show Himself and be praised! (14:31).

Exodus 14: 31 When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.

Your future may seem impossible, and the problems impassable – but God is working a plan. You are where you are because God has something He can teach you. “Often God seems to place His children in positions of profound difficulty, leading them into a wedge from which there is no escape, designing a situation that no human judgment would have permitted had it been previously consulted. The very cloud directs them there. You…, may be involved in a situation like this at this very hour. It does seem perplexing and mysterious to the last degree, but it is perfectly right. The issue will more than justify Him who has brought you there. It is a platform for the display of His almighty grace and power. Not only will He deliver you, but in doing so He will give you a lesson that you will never forget …..” [F.B. Meyer. The Life of Moses: The Servant of God. (Lynnwood, Washington: Emerald Books, 1996.0 p. 80]

To become a vessel God can use, I must understand and live the choices that God will be honored by.

The Message offers this note to close from 2 Timothy 2:20ff

In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing. Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil’s trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.

What is really at stake? A response to John Piper’s question: “Do Jews Have a Divine Right in the Promised Land?”

Before I address Dr. Piper’s thought provoking article, let me introduce a problem that first became a reality for me in Bible College. I saw in the classroom of godly and seasoned professors a propensity to interpret the Bible to solve modern dilemmas in what I believed to be an awkward way. I was taught the post-prohibitionist line that Jesus “turned water into grape juice”. It came from men of deep conviction that alcohol was intrinsically wrong, and the text was altered by the ethic. My reaction was this: “There may be moral and ethical reasons to believe one should avoid alcohol, but we should not change the literal reading of the text because we feel strongly about that!” Now –  in my view – a number of my evangelical friends are doing the same thing with Israel’s claim to the land: allowing their deep convictions about the behavior of the modern State of Israel to retool their approach to Scripture. John Piper is not among them, but he is being used by them in citation. I believe something is at risk that those who are doing so may not understand. What is at risk is the literal interpretive view of the text of Scripture.

No doubt there has been a long standing support for the Jewish people based on the literal interpretation of the Word. With the founding of the modern State of Israel, many literalists felt it was a vindication of their theology as well as the fulfillment of the next stage of their prophetic understanding. In response, classical Covenant theology and its offspring “replacement theology” have been making a surge in the evangelical community, with the effect of removing support from the Jewish people who are both openly opposed to the Christian understanding of the Person of Jesus, and often represented in the news as a people unfairly occupying a victimized Arab population – a small number of whom are our very own brothers in Christ. Now, younger men and women in ministry, some without strong understanding of the historic collision of two grand theologies and beckoned by the victimized cries of brothers, find themselves ready to move toward a theology represented by John Piper and many others – without the understanding (in my view) of what they will leave behind. As a Pastor who has spent much of my life living in or traveling back and forth to the region, I want to offer a word of caution.

One more thing, I want to offer a caveat that must be understood – what is NOT at stake. At no time should you read that I have anything less than the highest respect for the godliness of the original author of the article I am reviewing. Dr. John Piper is a mature and knowledgeable brother is Christ. He has offered, both in writing and in speaking, many an encouraging word to the beloved bride of Christ. Mine is a deep academic debate about theological foundation, not a personal attack. I do not make it lightly, because the time spent on this “classic apology” for the literalist position is not a slight thing.

My simple point is this: if the evangelical community adopts wholesale the position of covenant understanding contained in the original article, it will give up a literal view of the text of Scripture, and join the ranks of allegorical interpreters. That is my central issue. What follows is my response (in red) to John Piper’s article (in red, bold type my addition) on Israel and the Arabs in land conflict.

 “Do Jews Have a Divine Right in the Promised Land?

April 17, 2002 | by John Piper | Topic: Middle East

Piper: How should Bible-believing Christians align themselves in the Jewish-Palestinian conflict? There are Biblical reasons for treating both sides with compassionate public justice in the same way that disputes should be settled between nations generally. In other words, the Bible does not teach us to be partial to Israel or to the Palestinians because either has a special divine status.”

First, I am not sure that we should “align ourselves” in this conflict (per se) – beyond the author’s second sentence – “compassionate justice”. Though I clearly disagree with the author’s covenantal views (as you shall see), I don’t think God’s special place for Israel’s future requires me to accept bad behavior from those civil leaders the present Jewish state. Modern Israelis don’t accept their behavior without question. When Israel is wrong nationally in some policy, we should freely say so – with two qualifiers. First, like the wrongs committed by our own US soldiers in Iraq, we must have some understanding of the nature of conflict when surrounded by hostile parties. Failure to take that into account is second guessing from the cheap seats of comfort those who are up to their neck in real and perceived dangers. That should inform our criticisms.

Second, we as believers must bear in mind that a significant portion of the pain that Jewish people have experienced in Western history has been because of the church – not in spite of it. When those who wore our church costumes and held our banners freely hurt Jewish people in example after historical example, the church moved from being a bystander to a participant in historical Jewish suffering. (For those who think I refer to Catholicism, listen to the counsel in “Concerning the Jews and Their Lies” by Martin Luther for perspective). That does not stop us from speaking about wrongs committed – but it should inform our sensitivity and cause us to be careful in our deportment. At the same time – wrong is wrong whether committed by Israel, or by anyone else.

I take particular issue with the end of the paragraph that “the Bible does not teach us to be partial to Israel”. I think the author intended to say exactly what I said in my paragraph above, but he went further than our Scriptural example. Paul looked forward to Israel’s restoration and saw them as nationally saved in the future. He honored even his lost brothers with a special honor before God (Romans 11:28) the title “beloved” used of no other national people. He looked toward the day when: “ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED”. They were just as LOST at the time of the writing as modern Israel is now (and Paul personally suffered because of them), but he was still anxiously awaiting Israel’s eventual redemption – but still he honored them with words that show he saw the promise as irrevocable and special. Again, that doesn’t excuse them from misbehavior, but we should recognize that they continue to be the “apple of God’s eye” as He awaits the return of His estranged bride (still a future reality anticipated by Paul). Failure to do so is becoming the very arrogant one Paul was writing to squelch in Romans 11 – that was his argument!

Piper: “I do not deny that Israel was chosen by God from all the peoples of the world to be the focus of special blessing in the history of redemption which climaxed in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. “The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). Nor do I deny that God promised to Israel the presently disputed land from the time of Abraham onward. God said to Moses, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring'” (Deuteronomy 34:4). But neither of these Biblical facts leads necessarily to the endorsement of present-day Israel as the rightful possessor of all the disputed land. Israel may have such a right. And she may not. But that decision is not based on divine privilege. Why?”

If this were a court case, I would argue the author is offering conclusions based on facts not presented into evidence. If Israel was titled to the land, when did the title get revoked? On the contrary, I submit that the Scripture says that the land belongs to God, not to Abraham, nor any other man (Leviticus 25:23) and therefore was not open to sale by Israel. At the same time, the land TITLE of stewardship was given to Abraham (Genesis 12:7; 13:15) through Isaac and Jacob. It was a genetic passing of title (cp. Gen. 15:2-4 “from your loins”; also Genesis 12:7 uses the term “descendants”, the physical nature of which is attested to in the symbol of circumcision in Genesis 17). I mention this because most covenant theologians refuse any distinction between distinction between the “sons of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph” and the “sons of Abraham by faith” – two designations which seem significantly different in careful reading. Their articles show they read the Galatians 6:16 “Israel of God” in the awkward way of “replacement Israel, that is the church” rather than the simpler “Messianic Jew” (real believers in Messiah that were born of Abraham’s physical seed) that appear to be in the firing line of the subject of much of that Epistle.

The notion that the HUMAN TITLE to the land was part of the conditional covenant does not match the reality that God made the land contract of title at a time when Abraham was asleep, and took no active role in agreement to the gift of God – a perpetual title (called “everlasting” in Genesis 17:7-8). It makes the conditional Sinai covenant  THE SAME as the one to Abraham, when clearly they were separated by more than 400 years of Egyptian bondage. The TITLE COVENANT of Abraham and the MOSAIC COVENANT (which IS a conditional covenant) are clearly not one and the same in the text of the Hebrew Scriptures. Paul agreed that the “gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29) – a statement taken from an argument concerning the condition of lost Jewish people in the first century. Only in a scenario that allowed “everlasting” to mean “until Jesus comes” can one revoke the title – and I see no grammatical justification for that replacement position.

The clear rendering of Genesis 13:15 “for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants FOREVER.”  The casual way one can dispense with this statement should shake any member of a church that is resting salvation on the same word – “forever”. If there is in fact a perpetual title to the land as stated in Genesis 17:7-8 and the title was passed genetically to the sons of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, the title of the land still belongs to Israel, regardless of their current spiritual condition. The issue of DOMICILE (that is – whether or not they will live in the land successfully and peaceably) is clearly separated in the covenant from TITLE – because in the original promises to the permanent title there were promises of captivity and removal from the land (Gen 15:13ff). The gift was made because of God’s nature, not Israel’s faithfulness (Dt. 7:7-9). This idea that a covenant with God is not based on works of man should not be problematic to the modern church – as we teach that we possess one for eternal salvation. We all agree that there are conditional promises in the Mosaic covenant, but neither the covenant promise of land title in the Abrahamic covenant nor our own salvation textually fit into the same mold of conditional promises of the Mosaic covenant.

Piper: “First, a non-covenant-keeping people does not have a divine right to hold the land of promise. Both the blessed status of the people and the privileged right to the land are conditional on Israel’s keeping the covenant God made with her. Thus God said to Israel, “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples” (Exodus 19:5). Israel has no warrant to a present experience of divine privilege when she is not keeping covenant with God.”

“Holding the land of promise” and “owning the land of promise” are not the same thing. To be succinct, the issue of Israel’s TITLE cannot be based on their obedience, but the issue of their DOMICILE (living on the land) can. They have no right to expect God to give them the land if they refuse to follow Him. So how can I support their return to the land now? Simple. Jeremiah 31 promised they would return to the land (Jer. 31:35-37) and at a SUBSEQUENT TIME have their heart changed by God. Paul saw that as a FUTURE time of salvation for the Jewish people (Romans 11:28-36). Zechariah 12:10 offered that will come at a time when they “look on Him whom they have pierced”. If one takes the book of Revelation to be literal, the battle for Jerusalem is yet ahead (Revelation 16-19). I have no issue with the notion that we should not be endorsing bad behavior, but that is not the same as denying the Biblical reality that God titled the land to a people and called it ISRAEL (Ezekiel 37:11-12) and not Palestine.

Why should Christians who believe the literal view of the Bible forsake that view because a covenant theologian (who has been historically forced to allegorize passages of Scripture) with arms locked to local Palestinian Christians who have been firmly and completely taught nothing but a replacement theology (that the church is Israel in the New Testament) give up their literal view? I can both believe that Israel has an unshakeable right to the TITLE of the land AND believe that God loves the Arab people of the land and has a future plan for them. We need not be forced to give up a literal view of the texts of our Bible to stand both morally and judicially with brothers who are hurting in the Arab community while understanding God’s broader program with the Jewish people. Paul thought that God’s fulfillment of the program to the Jewish people was SO IMPORTANT that he spent as more words on this in Romans (9-11) than he did on justification (3:21-5:21). It was no small issue to the first century Apostle, and it should not be quickly brushed off by us.

The fact is that either God was at work bringing the Jews back into the land today or this was a total human fabrication of the Zionist mind. Either their return was half step of Jeremiah’s (Jer. 31) promise to return the Jews BEFORE their heart was changed to be intimate with Him, or it was not. Either they will be nationally saved at some point in the future (Rom. 11:26), or they will not. Covenant theologians historically have taught the promises are not related to the modern Jew, and literalist have believed they are taking steps toward their eventual literal fulfillment of the promises of Scripture. Neither position is without Biblical foundation, but both have radically different implications. Sadly, many who claim one theology (but are unfamiliar with its foundations) seem to be trying to be on both sides of the issue – probably because they have failed to examine where their actions lead.

Piper: “More than once Israel was denied the experience of her divine right to the land when she broke covenant with God. For example, when Israel languished in captivity in Babylon, Daniel prayed, “O Lord . . .we have sinned and done wrong . . . To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame . . . to all Israel . . . in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you” (Daniel 9:4-7; see Psalm 78:54-61). Israel has no divine right to be in the land of promise when she is breaking the covenant of promise. This does not mean that other nations have the right to molest her. She still has human rights among nations when she has no divine right. Nations that gloated over her divine discipline were punished by God (Isaiah 10:5-13).”

I beg to differ that Christians that begin to side with the Palestinian cause will not molest Israel. For thirty years I have watched Christians come into Israel and the surrounding region and do just that. In a short time they choose sides, based usually on love for whoever they are ministering to. In short order they join the “corps of hatred” – a never ending banter of exchanges of blame from Israel to the Arabs and back. Read their facebook posts and blogs and you will hear their adopted anger and the vacillation between deep hurt and anger in their charges, etc. It has happened to many of my friends. I have found only a few who could minister in love to Arabs and not slip into deep distrust (read: hatred) of Jewish people. I have seen the same equal abuse among those who out of love for the Jewish people become angry partisans against the Arabs – distrusting even those who know Jesus Christ as personal Savior. In my view, it is naïve to suggest that covenant and replacement theology had – and has – nothing to do with historical Anti-Semitism, (a case which I am more than willing to make). At the very same time, the belief that Israel’s title is irrevocable does NOT lead me to support any form of oppression – as has happened by some of my more radical believing friends. Israelis fight over the behavior of their government, why should I give them a blank check?

Perhaps I am mistaken, but I can think of no other people on earth that can currently claim the distinction of drawing from thousands that desire to blow themselves up to destroy a genetic group of people – simply because they are genetically Jews. To think this is not also a deep and abiding spiritual battle – to suggest that it is “just another people” on the earth is at least naïve and at worst blind. Right now, a group of men is meeting somewhere plotting to kill Jews because they are Jews. It happened when they held no territory, and it happens when they hold a land they believe to be theirs. If these harsh plotters are like most who have left a record in the past – they may not even know any Jews and may have never met any Jews. A recent new report offered testimony of Indonesian Moslems who claim to be ready to pledge suicide bombings against Jewish people – and they are not in the Near East. My point: the conflict is also a spiritual staging ground – not just a territorial dispute. Before we join into the chorus of voices against a people like Israel, we may want to ask who our friends are, and what is motivating them to stand at the side of our protest of Israel’s “rights”. This should give the spiritually mature a pause.

Piper: “Secondly, Israel as a whole today rejects her Messiah, Jesus Christ, God’s Son. This is the ultimate act of covenant-breaking with God. God promised that to Israel “a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7). But with tears this Prince of Peace looked out over Jerusalem and said, “Would that you . . . had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. . . . You did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:42-44). When the builders rejected the beautiful Cornerstone, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” (Matthew 21:43). He explained, “Many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness” (Matthew 8:11-12).”

It is easy to read Matthew 21 as though Jesus were handing off the “everlasting and irrevocable possession” of Israel to someone else – but that is not so. Jesus was referring to offering the choice to a future generation of Jewish leaders, not the one that was standing there at the time. Evidence? First, a massive number of Jews were not in the land at the time of Jesus’ visitation. If God meant to overturn His Word concerning them, He did so with a minority presence. That alone isn’t enough, but it should give us pause. Is the majority of “the church” today walking in obedience such that we should feel secure about God using the term “everlasting” in such a manner? For greater evidence which is textual, let me add: Ask the men who were listening to Jesus in Matthew 21 if they thought Jesus was moving the blessing to non-Jews and replacing it with the church or any other entity? I suspect their question to Jesus later in Acts 1:6 “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Did they misunderstand Jesus’ pronouncement of removal, or did they appear to understand that He was pushing it off to a future time but maintaining it for the Jewish people? The answer seems clear enough to one who takes the Bible literally.

Piper: “God has saving purposes for ethnic Israel (Romans 11:25-26). But for now the people are at enmity with God in rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ, their Messiah (Romans 11:28). God has expanded his saving work to embrace all peoples (including Palestinians) who will trust his Son and depend on his death and resurrection for salvation. “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith” (Romans 3:29-30).”

That paragraph is a great one, and reminds us of the truth that the Gospel is the hope forward. I wonder in what way the author believes God has saving purposes for a people replaced by the church. In addition, if it is true that God has such ethnic purposes, why should we get involved in trying to sort out every decision that political Israel and its Arab neighbors make when we are to be spreading a message of a “Kingdom not of this world”. It seems unwise for us to enter the region and try to get involved in the political affairs when we have so many to reach and so much love to offer. Why not care for Israel and the Arab peoples, and keep saying that Jesus loves them? What benefit to the Kingdom is there to take a political side among two people groups that are divided even within their own societies?

Piper: “The Christian plea in the Middle East to Palestinians and Jews is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). And until that great day when both Jewish and Gentile followers of King Jesus inherit the earth (not just the land), without lifting sword or gun, the rights of nations should be decided by the principles of compassionate and public justice, not claims to national divine right or status. © Desiring God” (Please don’t hesitate to view all John’s work (much of which is nothing short of excellent) at: www.desiringgod.org

In the end, the Dr. Piper is correct in my view that we cannot decide “principles of compassionate and public justice” while willfully blinded because of our prophetic view. Behavior is right or wrong based on what it is, not who does it. At the same time, there is another mistake that can creep into the church when we take this author’s “high road” of principle. Many decide what the Bible meant based on what they see on the ground. If God isn’t done with Israel, and the TITLE is revoked, that truth cannot be removed because we don’t like some particular behavior of the holders of the title.

As I have tried to state, what is truly at stake, in my view, is the literal fulfillment of God’s promises. Daniel and Revelation in the literal view promise a full restoration of Israel to an intimate walk with God. Paul saw it as a future even to the church age he was living it. In point of fact, the Millennium (whose purpose is to fulfill the land contract to Israel) makes no literal sense to a replacement theologian, and therefore he is forced to allegorize the six times the term “1000 years” are found in the first seven verses of Revelation 20. He has no need of a time for God to fulfill the land covenant promises to Abraham – for the church has taken her place. A literal seven years of Tribulation to get Israel to bow her neck quickly becomes allegories of morality – for Israel is stripped of any special relationship to the future.

I am not concerned that covenant and replacement theology will simply move the church to join an anti-Jewish and pro-Arab view – though I believe that it will. I am more concerned it will press the demise of the literal rendering of the text of Scripture – an issue that is worth an open disagreement among loving brothers in Christ. It is with that in mind I write, and I respectfully offer that I have a fundamental disagreement with this noted author. I believe that genetic Israel is special currently (albeit not exempt from moral scrutiny), and that she will be saved – literally. I think she should behave herself now, but don’t expect behavior different than any other people currently at enmity with God. If the Bible is literally true, the good news is that those days are numbered – the estranged wife of the Father is coming home to Him some day soon. One job given to the espoused bride of the Son is to show her what the relationship is supposed to be like and make her jealous of the loss of intimacy (Romans 11:11)  – and we won’t do it if we are constantly joining the chorus of those who desire to beat her.

Note the original article is not entitled, “Should believers support Israel when their government misbehaves?” but a broader argument: “Do they have any lasting claim to the land. ” Either “everlasting” means everlasting when it comes to God’s love and promise – or it doesn’t (Isaiah 59:21). Either “sons from your loins” means genetic children, or it artfully means “people with a spiritual designation of ‘sonship’ that has nothing to do with the gene pool”. Either “one thousand years” of Kingdom on the earth means a literal fulfillment of a land agreement or it is a spiritual marker of a spiritual battle of light and darkness. Either seven years of tribulation is a literal feature of time or some unspecified allegory of judgment.  What is at stake is nothing less than how we read the Bible – literally or allegorically.

Grasping God's Purpose: ”Take the Long Road Home” – Exodus 13

I confess that I am not always a patient man. I like short cuts – but they must be proven. I only notice the flowers along the drive because God gave me a wife to call them to my attention. I read management and efficiency literature. Things that are poorly managed bug me. Perhaps that is why this passage put a “burr under my saddle”. In these days of efficiency management, God’s way of doing things can grate us the wrong way. He can take the long way around things and makes a point in what seems an inefficient way. This study will help us understand and relate to the “indirect God” and appreciate the brilliance of His method of teaching!

In the text for our study, there are two clear parts: God makes commands (12:43-13:16) and then begins an example (13:17-22) leading the people. The two sections have one thing in common, both are inefficient in their execution. Why doesn’t God do things the short and easy way? Let’s take the passage apart and it will become clearer. While we do, there is a principle that we will learn:

Key Principle: God knows the SHORT way is not always the best way to move us ahead. He takes His time to make sure the WAY we head is pleasing to Him!

THE COMMANDS (12:43-13:16)

Timing of the Commands (Ex. 12:43)

First, look at the opening Command in Exodus 12:43 “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it…”  Something strikes me strangely about these words…Before we explore WHAT God commanded Moses, I had a question… WHY offer detailed instructions BEFORE you get the people moving out of Pharaoh’s way? Bear in mind the passage is set while they are still in Egypt. It can be as simple as the idea that the record was expanded by Moses later. There is no reason to believe he wrote the final form of what we have THAT NIGHT. At the same time, it occurs to me that there are perhaps two spiritual and yet incredibly practical reasons why this was placed where it is in the story:

First, They were not ready to have God lead them anywhere until they were ready to listen! (and neither are we!)  I have met many believers who have labored over God’s will for some venture or question. Have you ever been fasting and praying and still not hearing clearly from God while you are in the will and the way of God—about what He wants you to do, or where He wants you to go with your issue? It is worth noting that if you are not walking in the will of God you will need to understand that God seldom raises His voice. His Words soak into your ears by a whisper…not a shriek. If you are not close enough to God to hear Him whisper, then you may find yourself wandering continuously with no idea where you are headed…because God’s whisper is only for those that are close enough, and those that are quiet enough to listen. It is as if God says: “IF YOU’RE REALLY INTERESTED IN HEARING FROM ME, MOVE EVERYTHING, EVERY OBSTACLE, EVERY ENCUMBRANCE, EVERYTHING THAT DISTRACTS YOU FROM ME OUT OF THE WAYWhile God had the attention of Israel on the miracle of the Passover – perhaps He used their short attention span to speak words that would last for all their generations. I suspect there is another reason God spoke BEFORE He moved the people out..

Second, God was not ready to show His POWER until we are ready to proclaim His right of OWNERSHIP! God strips a believer of PERSONAL OWNERSHIP before He shows what belonging to HIM means. Have you noticed how God speaks in Scripture as though He is in charge? The writer of a series of billboards seems to “get it” in the “God Speaks” series in the DFW area. The billboards are a simple black background with white text. No fine print or sponsoring organization is included. The sponsorship for these “God Speaks” billboards is anonymous:

  • “Let’s meet at my house Sunday before the game.” – God
  • “C’mon over and bring the kids.” – God
  • “What part of “Thou Shalt Not…didn’t you understand?” – God
  • “We need to talk.” – God
  • “Keep using my name in vain, I’ll make rush hour longer.” – God
  • “Loved the wedding, invite me to the marriage.” – God
  • “That `Love Thy Neighbor‘ thing… I meant it.” – God
  • “I love you and you and you and you and… “ – God
  • “Will the road you’re on get you to my place?” – God
  • “Follow me.” -God
  • “Big bang theory, you’ve got to be kidding.” – God
  • “My way is the highway.” – God
  • “Need directions?” – God
  • “You think it’s hot here?” – God
  • “Have you read my #1 best seller? There will be a test.” – God
  • “Do you have any idea where you’re going?” – God
  • And finally: “Don’t make me come down there.” – God

I am not being snide, but it isn’t in the nature of man to submit to rules or even the concept of Divine ownership. Our pride is big and our resistance is significant – even when God moves into our lives in a PROFOUND WAY, like He did on the first Passover with Israel.

Substance of the Commands (Four Types in Ex. 12:43 – 13:16)

Type One: The Distinction Commands (Ex. 12:43-51)

Exodus 12:43 “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it. 44 but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45 “A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46“It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47 “All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48 “But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49 “The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.” 50 Then all the sons of Israel did so; they did just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that same day the LORD brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

God said essentially: “Set apart this feast of the Passover and include only those I have specified to observe it for your generations!” (12:43-51). God has a new and special identity for people who desire to walk thorough the wilderness with Him. It is a distinct people, with a unique set of markers and a unique set of standards. Failure to come under His Word bars you from participation! Three important lessons can be seen here.

First, we need to include who God includes, and exclude who God excludes. In the “tolerance at any cost” laden generation, we need to remember that throwing in the towel on God’s standards so that we can be loving and accepting of everyone is NOT a marker of godliness, it is a warped version of truth. We need to be gracious and loving as God’s people. At the same time, that grace stops at the edge of God’s Word. We must be careful, for all around us are voices that call us to allow things God said we cannot allow – and call it all LOVE.

Second, That principle can be even more closely applied to my own life. We need to serve an eviction notice on a lot of stuff left over from our old life. Anything that doesn’t please God and doesn’t honor God needs to be shown the door. Things that are hindering your being properly aligned with the Spirit of God must fall under His Word on the subject. You can’t bring in the treasure until to take the trash out. God doesn’t bless a mess – in ministry or in heart. Once we’ve evicted every encumbrance—then God will move in our heart with free course. Don’t argue to hold on to encumbrances out of some warped theological theory – just give them up.

Third, on a more positive note, careful observation of the text about the meal reveals that God was signaling a FAMILY relationship in the observance. Those who are a part of the family are to take part as sons (12:42). God’s work in people started through the family, and He illustrates the relationship as that of a SON. Interesting, in the time, this was a title of a young man that respected his father, and wanted to be identified as part of his legacy. How the enemy has launched an attack on this part of the identity! Those who are not part of the family are not to take part unless they have been circumcised as the family (12:43-45, 48-49). The people were to be examined and to join the people of God by submitting themselves to reverence one of God’s more difficult to follow commands. Being a part of God’s program was not a negotiation, nor did people come in with a list of demands. It was a privilege to be a part of God’s family. God’s provision was a family experience and cannot be shared outside the house (12:46). Those who refused to join God’s family failed to receive the benefits of the family. It isn’t a right; it is a privilege to have God’s blessings! The off ramp of Hell highway is available, but you must turn the vehicle!

Everyone in the family is to participate – it was not left to your choice (12:47). If you are a part of God’s program, then you do what God says to do. He isn’t taking a head count on what we think, He’s telling us His expectation. After they committed to follow the Lord, they were commanded to move ahead (12:50-51). That’s the pattern of the Bible – trust; then obey, then get blessed. God has no grandchildren and every one must make a decision of whether to trust God or not on their own.

Type Two: The Devotion Commands (Ex. 13:1-2)

Ex. 13:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.”

“Set apart (Devote) the first born of man and beast – they are MINE” (13:1). God knew that His purchase made in Egypt long ago would quickly be forgotten when the people were redeemed and out of the harsh bondage. Believers tend to lose their enthusiasm the further they get from their lost life. God told them to recall the beginning story with every new generation! Obviously, the tendency of believers both then and now is to be cheap and cheat God on His property!

The roof of the church hall of a little Swiss church, at the turn of the 20th century, was falling down. So the members of the church held regular prayer meetings in the hall after the service to pray for funds to repair the roof. There was an old man, known to be very tight with his money, who used to attend and sit near the back of the hall. He could sneak out just before the collection plate came round at the end of the prayer meeting. One Sunday, he was held up on his way to the prayer meeting in the Hall by the vicar and could only find a seat at the front of the church. During the prayer meeting, a piece of the roof fell and hit him on the head. Feeling spoke to by the Lord, he stood up and said “Lord, I’ll give $1000″ A voice at the back of the church was heard to say” Hit him again, Lord“!

God wanted the FIRST – of EVERYTHING. He bought them and paid for ALL of them, but He wanted them to remember! Later on the price for redemption of a human first born male was set at 5 shekels (Numbers 18:16).

Type Three: The Memorial Commands (Ex. 13:3-10)

Ex. 13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the LORD brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten. 4 “On this day in the month of Abib, you are about to go forth. 5 “It shall be when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe this rite in this month. 6 “For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. 7 “Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders. 8 “You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 “And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt. 10 “Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.

The short read is this: “Memorialize our deliverance in this week long festival! Do so by getting leaven out of the feast for a week, eating unleavened bread each year at this time!” (13:3-10). The “memorial commands” are these:

  • The memory of the powerful work of God would be seen in a meal (13:3a). This theme isn’t new to the Bible. There was a meal covenant in Scripture that was shared when peace was forged between waring parties (Psalm 23, Jacob and Laban in Genesis).
  • Leaven was natural, unleavened bread was rushed and un-natural. It went against the grain (13:3b). It was faster to make, but harder to swallow. In many ways, God’s command was to make people reverse the normal ways they did things to recall the events of the wilderness.
  • God was deeply interested in the timing of the event (13:4) and the continued observance of the event (13:5-7). He wanted them to concentrate all their effort on even cleaning any of the “leaven” they had in the camp, carefully cleaning it out! (13:7b).
  • Notice how many times he says “with a strong hand.” The Hebrew root of this word is: khaw-zak’ which means “to fasten on to” “to bind.” The pun was this: just as God delivered you by “BINDING YOU” to His hand, so this observance shall BIND YOU to Him!

Don’t be so quick to think that God doesn’t care about OBSERVANCES. Not everything about God is INFORMAL. I want to challenge that idea. I know that we can come dressed however we want and God can hear us. I know that we can lay in a hammock and worship God in a small Bible study at home with our friends. I know that there are no Biblical commands to erect buildings as churches. I know the job description of clergy is very much more about character in Timothy and Titus – than about what they do. Yet, I do NOT conclude that being a part of a living body of a local church is unimportant. I DO dress to be here. I DO want to worship corporately….and I DO see a God in Scripture who cares about observances – how they are done, what is included in the services, and who should participate. Let’s not keep settling for the downward tug of our times to make everything into a barnyard dance or rock concert. God cares what we do, when we do it, how we are inside and outside. Apply that as the Spirit leads, but don’t dismiss it. Two guys at Dunkin Donuts talking about Jesus with no accountability or leadership structure is NOT a local church- even if modern writers say it is.

Type Four: The Devotion Commands (Ex. 13:11-16)

Ex. 13:11 “Now when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 you shall devote to the LORD the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the LORD. 13 “But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 “And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 ‘It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 “So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

A quick read on this section may be” “Devote the first born of our children and our animals to the Lord remembering that they are the purchase price of our redemption from slavery!” (13:11-16). I  think it is worth remembering that Everyone is prepared to sacrifice SOMEONE ELSE’S STUFF, but not their own!

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin who is 5, and Ryan who is 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson so she said: “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, “Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.” Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Hey Ryan, you be Jesus.”

God told the people to offer back to Him the first born of their children, not by taking their lives, but by a sacrifice of a lamb. (13:11-13) God kept this command Himself! Ironic that this would be the time when God’s very own firstborn son would become the “Lamb slain” to purchase men! God has people give to help them recall who really owns what we have: Have you ever noticed how big $100.00 looks when you take it to church, yet how small it looks when you take it to the mall?

Don’t skip Exodus 13:13. The donkey was unclean so they couldn’t sacrifice it – so they used a lamb instead. If someone could not sacrifice a lamb, then the donkey’s neck would be broken. It was either redeemed, or it was DEAD – no middle ground. That’s a lesson in the judicial nature of a Holy God.

THE EXAMPLE OF LEADERSHIP (Ex. 3:17-20)

The commands now given, God led the people out. Take a closer look at what the example teaches us:

  • Protection: God Protects Us from US: God led them the long way to help them overcome a fear He knew they would have (13:17). Exodus 13:17 “Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” The route chosen by God was southeast towards Sinai. Why? To avoid possible militaristic confrontation with the Egyptians. Because that would encourage people with shallow minds and tunnel vision to go back. Sometime we should thank God not just for His faithfulness in what we went through—but the trouble that we avoided because He shielded us. We may just need to thank God for what we missed along the way…instead of just thanking God for what He brought you out through.
  • Organization: God gave them a chance to spread out and get organized before the journey began (13:18). 18 Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt. They needed a chance to get in ranks before they underwent attacks, and God gave them the time and space.
  • Opportunity: God gave them the time necessary to keep their promises. If they had to run, they couldn’t take the bones of their fathers as they promised! (13:19). 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.”
  • Preparation: God gave them a glimpse of the journey before they got into the wilderness (13:20). 20 Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
  • Direction: God gave them direction – clear and distinct. Exodus 13:21 The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Why doesn’t God do things the short and easy way? Because He knows the shortcut isn’t the best way to get what you need from the journey! He takes His time to make sure the WAY we head is pleasing to Him!

He Changes Everything: “Prophetic Room with a View”- Mark 13

Because I get around a good bit in travel, I often am sitting in places where travelers gripe about the things that go wrong on trips. There is the usual fare of “This airline is never on time!” or “I can’t believe the poor service I got in the restaurant last night!” Occasionally, the complaints slip over to hotel rooms. One of the most common complaints with luxury travelers arises when they book an expensive room in a hotel at some exotic destination, and are deeply disappointed with their view of a trash dumpster instead of the beautiful surroundings! They understandably feel robbed! Even though little time is spent in the room during the day, the inspiring views of the morning sunrise can enliven the whole day’s itinerary!

Imagine being with Jesus during the last week of His ministry. We cannot know how disappointed He was at the response – not only of the Jewish leadership in the Temple – but even of His own Disciples. He had to shake His holy head at least a few times and wonder if the boys were ever going to understand what He was doing. Because He knew the hearts of men (as John reminded), I am quite sure He concluded that the only hope was the indwelling of God’s Spirit to get our hard hearts and equally stubborn spirits to yield and understand. Our text today seems to present one of the most enduring problems Jesus had with the Disciples. They could SEE with their physical eyes, but their SPIRITUAL SIGHT was quite limited. They could measure buildings, budgets and bodies in the physical world, but seemed unable to recognize that wasn’t a gauge of obedience and surrender.

Let me put it this way: When believers measure success or impact in ministry by “buildings, budgets and bodies” they miss what God is really all about – spiritually surrendered hearts that show up in mundane daily choices made in holy ways. The same can be said of how God views rewards. When believers have eyes set on the rewards of the physical world and not on God’s way of seeing reward, we may feel disappointed when we see the truth. The problem isn’t that God won’t take care of us – it is that we focus on the wrong part of the coming events in prophetic rewards. God has rewards planned for those who surrender their heart to Him – but the rewards are set in the context of God telling His story – not just affirming us and making us feel good.

Key Principle: Jesus changes the way I view impact, success and reward. Sometimes what the world will call LOSS is actually a spiritual GAIN.

The Problem: Two Examples of the “Wrong View” (Mark 12:41-13:2)

There is a logic behind placing the story of the widow’s mite just ahead of the celebration of the Temple – both focused on the wrong view. Both emphasized the physical and outward appearances of worship, but missed the spiritual realities behind those appearances. Very often the view that we see is not the one we anticipated. We don’t see things the way they are, and we aren’t quick to notice that we don’t see the way things really are!

Look carefully at the two settings in these familiar stories:

Example One: “The poor woman with the coin” (Mark 12:41-44):

Mark 12: 41 And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

Note that Jesus was sitting where it was possible to watch people offer their tithes in the Women’s Court of the Temple (12:41). Jesus began watching HOW MUCH people were giving (12:41b). Along came a “poor widow”, the words likely denoting a woman without a male heir – the Hebrew equivalent for DESTITUTE with the implication of HOPELESSNESS (though this woman was still worshipping and looking forward). Jesus was clear that the woman gave “All that she had to live on.” (12:44). What an act of deep passion. It was not a slight thing – it was a powerful pouring out of the last cent to God. This was a “Hagar moment”, where she was placing the baby to die, giving to God all that she had to give (Genesis 21:15). This was a “woman of Zarephath” story – collecting her sticks to make a fire for a final meal (1 Kings 17:12). This was a powerful story of deep surrender, barely noticed by the rulers of the Temple, overlooked by the Disciples of Jesus – and focused on by God in human skin. God saw it. He recognized the surrendered heart – it cried out to worship and trust Him against all human odds.

The unnamed widow wasn’t like me today. I gave to the Lord in my regular giving – but I kept MOST of what I was given by God to fill my daily requirements. He got SOME, but I got MOST. Look at her offering – He GOT IT ALL! Can you imagine giving the last of your checking, the last of your savings, the last of your retirement, the last of your stocks and bonds, the last of your IRA… ALL of it? Here is a truth I want you to really think about… All of it IS HIS, and all of it MUST BE GIVEN – even if He decides to let us use it in this life. If it is NOT HIS, than I have no right to say that He is my Lord. He is NOT.

What does GIVING ALL look like in contemporary Christian practice? Do I sell all and give it away, living as a pauper? Maybe, but not likely. What it truly means is that you begin to allow the Spirit of God to answer the question, “Lord, since this is all yours, how can I best use these things to honor You?” The Spirit does not remain silent when a surrendered heart asks such a question. Don’t do it if you don’t want the answer – because God will meet those who say they want to meet Him. God will answer with clarity as you grow in faith (i.e. seeing the world as God says it is in His Word.)

Conversely, the Temple authorities were no doubt more impressed by the people of means. Even the Disciples probably barely noticed her until Jesus pointed out that the AMOUNT GIVEN was less significant than the AMOUNT SACRIFICED. Who says God doesn’t keep track? God is much less impressed with the amount that we give, than He is with the amount we keep for ourselves – that makes an impression on Him. Now look at the way this story links to the next…

Example Two: The disciples impressed with the Temple buildings (Mark 13:1-2):

Mark 13:1 As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

Look at how excited the Disciples were with the PHYSICAL example of THEIR OWN WORK and sacrifice. They were truly impressed with the human expression of love for God so eloquently offered by the work of a generation of Jews at the Second Temple. The pride exuded from their mouths fell flat in front of the Master. He saw an end to the glory of the Temple. He saw a coming day of destruction and it made Him sad. The same view that made the Disciple excited made the Savior sad – and therein is a significant lesson. We don’t see things the way God does much of the time. Years of sacrifice to build a great edifice was not the impressive thing to God. Offering all of what a poor woman had to live on was. God was on a different page than His followers.

When you step back and look at both of these stories – the woman at the treasury and the proud pilgrim disciples – it isn’t hard to see that men see things differently than God does. We get excited about BIGGER gifts – but God gets excited about more SACRIFICIAL gifts. We get excited by MONUMENTS to our God. He gets more excited about SURRENDERED HEARTS.

The Correction: Resetting the Focus (13:3-37)

When our crew is out shooting video, there is a need to constantly check both white balance and focus. If these are not corrected, the final product will either be unfocused (inaccurate) or off colored (shaded and jaded). Jesus knew that if He did not offer corrective refocus to the Disciples, they would be off focus and not recognize how God was going to move ahead in the coming days with the children of Israel.

Jesus was the consummate teacher. He just kept teaching and correcting, patiently explaining “Surrender 101” to the elite corps of future leaders – even when it seemed hopeless. How patient He was with them! He could at least in some small way, take solace that the coming of the Spirit into His followers would sort out the jumble that held their confused minds. He reset the truth in the story by correcting the view. Things for the Jewish people were about to change dramatically. A judicial blindness was about to fall on them. They were about to be spiritually spanked for a time, pass through a horrendous time, and eventually enjoy a national redemption (that is still on the way).

The Question: (Mark 13:3-4)

Mark 13:3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?

Privately, John and Andrew sat beside the Master and wanted to know the answer to a question that was on the minds of Jewish people through the ages – “WHEN will the Jewish people gain the promises God has made to her?” This isn’t the only time the question came up. After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared on the same mountain to the Disciples in Acts 1, and the question was phrased this way: (Acts 1:6) “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

There was no question that the disciples thought anything other than the idea that God was not done with Israel, and that God WOULD LITERALLY FULFILL His promises to Israel at some point. They just wanted to know how long the wait was going to take. Paul spent considerable time addressing that same question in Romans 9-11. It was a central issue on the minds of Jewish believers of the early church. Those who argue that “the sons of Abraham by faith” are now a replacement for the “physical sons of Israel by Abraham’s loins” are not in sync with what the Disciples knew to be true – even after the Resurrection.

Note they asked two questions: WHEN and BY WHAT SIGN they will be exposed. The Disciples wanted to know more than a time line, they wanted a description of events. Jesus obliged and gave them a description of a future, in the context of the Jewish people.

The Description: (Mark 13:5-32)

Mark 13:5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 6 “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many.

Jewish witnesses:

One of the difficulties of this passage is the simple word “YOU”. Is Jesus speaking to the Disciples as His followers, or as Jews? Replacement theologians (those who think God is DONE with genetic Israel and has replaced her with “spiritual Israel” after she “rejected her Messiah”) would argue that Jesus was warning believers of end times event. A careful look at Mark doesn’t really offer the necessary pieces to make a conclusion.

Fortunately, Matthew included more detail to this sermon, and offered this note in Matthew 24:15 “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. …20 “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.” Both Matthew and Mark speak of Daniel’s prophetic announcement of the Abomination of Desolation, and we could show that the whole latter section of Daniel was written to explain to Daniel “what will be for YOUR PEOPLE” and “YOUR CITY” (Daniel 9:24-27), but that isn’t perhaps as clear as the simple statement, “..pray your flight is not on Sabbath.” – which seems to clearly indicate that Jesus was speaking to the men as JEWS.

Who will be tempted to defect:

Where did Jesus begin in his answer to the SIGNS they should watch out for? He started with concern that Jews would be MISLEAD by many other spiritual sounding promises. He warned them repeatedly (cp. Mk. 13:21-22) to be careful about following false redeemers and messiahs instead of staying on course when they found Him. Follow the description Jesus gave:

Mark 13:7 “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. 8 “For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Jesus opened the subject of FEAR based on NEWS COVERAGE. They would HEAR ABOUT wars and the possibility of coming conflict. He moved from the coverage, to the actual description of real CONFLICTS. The first ones appear to be ETHNIC STRIFE related – as He said “nations” would rise against “nations – the term “ethnos” can refer to ethnic identities in the classical sense of nation. He then moved to a form of the word “basilea” – a “king” to denote strife between legal national entities. Jesus said Jews would HEAR of trouble, then see ETHNIC strife, and then NATIONAL BATTLES.

Mark 13:9 “But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. 10 “The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. 11 “When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. 12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 13 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

At a specific time in the future:

If the message Jesus was offering was to Jewish people, how could it be that THEY became witnesses to Jesus and were hated because of that message? How could that fit the secular and largely agnostic Jewish society that we see today? How could Orthodox Jews, fervent in their faith but resolutely against any discussion about Jesus, end up as witnesses to Him? The TIMING of this event seems to be the key to understanding what Jesus was saying. Bear in mind, we are studying this in the context of Daniel’s prophecy, and Daniel was clear that God spoke concerning Jerusalem, the Jewish people and THEIR COLLECTIVE future. The timing of these events are set in Daniel 9. We cannot avoid it because the verses recall Daniel’s words:

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.

Daniel was told that the prophecy he was being given would end all other prophecy, and settle the account of sin for Israel, once and for all. It was clearly to Jews and referred to both Jerusalem and the Temple – any other reading strains the text. Keep reading:

Daniel 9:25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

No literal reading of the text can miss the fact that Daniel was offered the truth that Jerusalem would be rebuilt, and that would “start the clock” on the coming of Messiah. That coming would bring the Messiah’s DOWNFALL – He would be “cut off”. That “cut off” was linked in time to Jerusalem’s destruction. That destruction was linked to pain, suffering and desolation of the Jewish people and Jerusalem. Keep reading:

Daniel 9:27 “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

A “prince to come” is the “he” of verse 27 according to grammatical rules of the antecedent, and Daniel was informed that some future deceptive and temporary prince was coming that would give a respite to Jews for a time, then cause the Temple sacrifices to cease and will offer some open abomination to the Temple precincts – as he attempts to decimate Jewry yet again.

For the sake of time, let’s identify this period based on previous studies we have made in the Word. In 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, we have previously studied an event that has been popularly named “The Rapture”. The text simply offers that at a time chosen by God, the believers of this time (we call them the church) will be “snatched away” by Jesus when He comes in the clouds – not to the earth – but to call His betrothed to her wedding. We noted that when this event takes place, God will turn His eyes back to His estranged wife, put away for a time to bring the spiritual “harvest of Gentiles” to completion (Luke 21:24; Romans 11:25-26). The times of Tribulation are well documented in Revelation 6-19, and we have studied them in detail, and will begin doing so again in the coming days this winter, Lord willing (stay tuned). The point is this: when the church is removed for her BEMA judgment (another subject we have discussed in 1 and 2 Corinthians) and her wedding feast, God will mark JEWISH PEOPLE that will know Jesus as Savior to share that message with the earth (see Rev. 7 and Rev. 14).  Listen to the description of these witnesses as John offers it in Revelation:

Marked for witness to the lost world in the Tribulation:

Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

I simply mention this passage to show that those who believe God is done with Israel are forced to spiritualize even the clearest references to all things JEWISH: note “Israel” and the names of many sons. Revelation 14 offered a further description:

Revelation 14:1 “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. … 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 … These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.”

For those not sure it was an actual and specific time, note the character of Jesus’ words:

Mark 13:19 “For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. 20 “Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.

What we can see from our study is simply this: The signs that Jesus gave to the Jewish men who were His Disciples – Peter, James and John – were clear. A group of Jewish men and women in some generation would be placed into a time of INTENSE persecution – worse than any previous event on earth. They would possess the belief in Messiah and be given a very special and intimate relationship with God during the earth’s darkest days. They would see the pummeling of the earth of a Tribulation Period, and would experience His protection for the first half of that time. They would be tempted to follow other voices, but God will use them to reach out to His estranged wife when the days of Gentile salvation were completed. Some would be martyred in their faith. Others would endure to the end, believing in the coming of the Son to save them. When He breaks through the clouds, they will see Him, and be saved.

The terror of the Tribulation will APPEAR to be Christ’s message overturned. It will appear as though Jews will be annihilated. It will appear as though the message of the witnesses is false. The Temple will be restored, but then overturned and defiled – and the nations will see it as just another false religion and hopeless God. THEY WILL BE WRONG because they have a physical view of the spiritual world – and it cannot be clearly seen in that way!

The Command: (Mark 13:33-37)

Mark 13:33 “Take heed, keep on the alert; … 35 “Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, .. 37 “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’”

Jesus called on the men to shout down through the ages – stay alert! Don’t give in! Don’t look at life by the physical appearances. Don’t judge the truth with physical eyes! My message is TRUE in the darkest hour. I will prevail. I will not leave My people – no matter how forsaken they feel or how rebellious they have become. See it the way I say it will be! Jesus changes the way I view impact, success and reward. Sometimes what the world will call LOSS is actually a spiritual GAIN.