Grasping God’s Purpose: “Let My People STOP!”- Exodus 20:12-26

The year was 1956, and “big productions” were the “in” thing in Hollywood. Everyone knew Cecil B. DeMille’s thirst for the BIG PICTURE. He fired the imaginations of American church and synagogue goers with the Movie of the decade….There he stood, perched on a rock, high above the parting seas. Moses (read: Charlton Heston) stretched out his hands and the glass walls created for the movie were pummeled by the fire hoses behind them with water to create the Red Sea water walls the Israelites passed through. It was a great moment on the big screen. It recalled what had to be a high water mark (pun intended) in the career of the ex-prince ex-con that was now about to become Israel’s shepherd law-giver.

Certainly it is true that Moses had some high times with God… He also had some profound LOW TIMES, but that is for another study. Think about the timing of the text we want to study… Moses had taken the people fifty days away from Egypt into the Sin wilderness to the mountain where God met him earlier. Moses came back “home” to the place of his call. By the time of their arrival, Israel saw God drop ten plagues on Egypt, and then summarily cancel each. They saw God part the waters of the Sea of Reeds and then swallow Egypt’s leading corps of soldiers with the same water. They saw God’s navigation GPS in the pillar of fire and cloud. They ate bread brought by wind, and quail roasters that dropped from the sky! They cried out periodically, but God always delivered what they needed. By the time Moses walked up the thundering mountain to meet God, all Israel was aware of His holy presence. They saw the pyrotechnics, and new this wasn’t a Moses orchestrated event. God’s manifest presence entered the scene, and it was obvious.

Climb the hill with me, and sit behind a bush. Listen in, as God’s voice thundered from Heaven, and Moses sat transfixed by God’s glory, waiting on the written copy etched out by God’s hand into the stone of the mountain…First we hear God tell us about His place in our lives and schedules: Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Keep listening, and you will hear a change in the direction of God’s commands. Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. 22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 ‘You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 ‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 ‘If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. 26 ‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.

Key Principle: Once I understand God’s place, then I must be responsible for my behaviors, and even my desires. Failure to take both seriously will bring pain on me and those around me. That isn’t JUDGMENTAL, it is ORGANIZED and PURPOSEFUL.

Years ago I was riding in the car of an Israeli friend. For those who haven’t experienced it yet, you should know that Israelis are good at many things – but driving isn’t normally on the list. They have the most “company start ups” of any modern nation, but they can’t seem to master LINES on the roadway. My friend was weaving between three lanes – back and forth. I said, “Ruby, why don’t you stay in one lane?” He replied: “It’s only paint!” The point is simple: lines were made to avoid collisions – and so were God’s relational and contentment laws.

The mountain of the Law — what a scene! It deserves our careful attention, and so we continue with a careful look at each of the words God gave to Moses. Think back with me about where we have been, so we can move on. Last time in our study of the first four of these commands, we saw:

  • There are three codes of Law – not one – including Civil Code, Constitutional Code and Criminal Code.
  • Within the Civil Code and Constitutional Code there are ten core commands (called the “Ten Commandments”) that help set the tone and parameters of these codes.
  • These commands are not more important than many other commands, but they are a basic primer on what God wanted the people to be concerned about.
  • Within the Ten Commandments, there were three types of core commands shape in us three core value statements to determine how we make sense out of life and make our personal choices in life.
  • The first three are vertical commands (laws that govern how we are to relate to God above us), followed by several horizontal commands (laws to govern how we are to relate to other people beside us) and finally contentment laws (laws to govern how we look at life from within us).
  • We learned that When God is understood, sin is defined. When God is NEAR, sin is PLAIN. When God is REVERED, sin is REVILED.

What were the vertical commands? Briefly, they were the first four of the ten commandments:

I. Exclusivity: I have the absolute right to your undivided loyalty.

Exodus 20:1 “Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. “

II. Identity: Do not try to shape Me in to your understanding or box Me in to your molds (Ex. 20:4).

Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God

III. Reverence: Regard My name as high and important! Do not use it without importance, nor swear by it falsely (7). I am listening!

Exodus 20: 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

IV. Boundaries: My boundaries are the ones that matter – since everything was created by Me for My purpose.

Exodus 20:8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work

Now it is clear that knowing who and where God is in my life is absolutely essential, but it is not the end – it is the beginning of a life lived well. We are not in a monastery –  and life is busy and connected. Because of that, we need to use the foundation of our knowledge of God to LIVE LIFE… and that involves the other two types of command – the Horizontal Commands and the Contentment Laws. These two overlap each other and represent a practical foundation of my daily behaviors.

First, let’s look at the Horizontal Commands

Our behaviors and choices – even our understanding of engaging OTHER PEOPLE –are horizontal commands. The value statements found in these laws presuppose that because God placed us in the position of life and under the authorities of life we were born into, we should follow His commands about how best to respond.

V: Position: Prize and care for your parents to receive the great blessings of life! (12). Why? Because to reject our parentage is to reject His rule.

Exodus 20: 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

God gave you the place you have in life. He selected your family for you. Does that mean that all their misbehavior was HIS FAULT? Of course not! They chose to walk with Him- or not. They chose to rightly discipline or wrongly punish. They chose their actions, but that doesn’t negate the reality that God knit you together in your mother’s womb. God sparked the genes to build a unique and wonderful YOU! Accepting our family is part of accepting God’s ruler-ship in our lives. Don’t forget! Both longevity and possession of God’s intended blessing was linked to the care they were to have for parents.

Is it any wonder that as American families distance themselves from caring directly for their parents that God withdraws some of His hand of prosperity? I don’t believe so.

The Bible warns: “A wise son heeds his father’s instruction…” in Proverbs 13:1. It is worth reviewing anew that there is a difference between children OBEYING their parents, and adults children HONORING them. You are not required to live their standard throughout your life – because an adult bust take responsibility to stand before God on their own two feet. At the same time, many young people surmise that this means when they hit eighteen years of age, they can somehow righteously mutter: “Sweet! I don’t have to obey any longer. I hate these rules, and I’m OUTTA here, baby!

One Pastor rightly asked: “Let me ask you this: If you move out at 18, and start living a life that is totally against your parents wishes (like a “sex, drugs and rock and roll” life), or shacking up with someone, or blowing all your money, and living off the government instead of making a living, and making them feel humiliated at the kind of life you’re living. . . can you honestly stand before God when you die, and say, “Sure, I honored my parents?”

Consider this famous writer’s insight: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned.” ~ Mark Twain

Let me be clear. Honor your parents – because God put them in your life. Your call as a believer is to honor the POSITION, not based on whether the PERSON has “earned” your respect. Long life and prosperity are linked to it. Obedience is found in it. Blessing grows out from it… and it is rooted in accepting God’s right to rule over your life. YOU ARE NOT A MISTAKE.

  • It doesn’t matter if your parents “planned” to have you.
  • It isn’t changed by whether or not they stayed together.
  • It isn’t negated if your mother was raped. God put you in there – and what men meant for evil, God used for good. The baby was the only good thing that came from that lousy and evil situation.

VI: Sacredness: To reject the sanctity of human life is to reject the sacredness of His breath in man. Do not plan and deliberately kill another human being (13). Life is sacred, and that sacredness is diminished in our eyes when we tolerate murder.

Exodus 20: 13 “You shall not murder.

I couldn’t help but smile at this little story: “A Sunday School teacher was discussing the 10 commandments with her 5 & 6 year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor your father and mother,”she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Quickly, one of the kids answered, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Here is the truth – every life matters. It isn’t whether they are smart and influential or academically challenged and poor that counts. It is the BREATH OF GOD within that makes you worth something. It is His hand that sculpted your frame that makes you valuable. A simple ball in the hands of a celebrated athlete becomes invaluable. Your simple genetic chemical makeup became incredibly valuable when the Master Creator touched and formed YOU. Every life matters. It is why we mourn a nation that has killed its unborn and exported its philosophy of “termination of life for inconvenience sake”.

VII: Covenant: To violate the intimacy of another’s marriage is to diminish the promises and vows people make and use the sexual gift outside its especially purposed parameters. Remain loyal to your marriage covenant (14). Promises and vows are important and must not be easily passed off.

Exodus 20: 14 “You shall not commit adultery.

For the sake of clarity, the word adultery specifically refers to a sexual relationship with someone other than your spouse. Again, let me be clear. That includes DIGITAL ADULTERY. Your sexual relationship and desires were given to anhance your expression of love to your spouse, not as some perverse personal entertainment system. I don’t mean to be crass, but the world has little embarrassment for things sexual today, and the church cannot quietly remain on the sidelines – or we become as helpless and ineffective as Father Francis Mulcahy was on the set of MASH in the 1970’s. He was a nice guy, but his platitudes offered little direction, and his love offered little truth.

We must understand what has happened to sex in our generation: “Go through the checkout line. . . what do you see? Magazines: Cosmo, etc. etc. What’s the big article feature that’s talked about on the cover? ‘‘Men Tell what they Really Love” ‘‘Touch Him Here” ‘‘7 Hot Tricks to Make Him Scream for Mercy”. . . Go to the bookstore: Shelves and shelves of ‘‘How to Be a Great Lover” etc. etc. Do you know why? Because when we remove sex from relationship and commitment of marriage, there’s nothing left but technique. (sermon central illustrations).

In a very clear way, we can observe how these relational values press us to watch how we relate to others surrounding us, but also press us to govern desires within… in what we call “contentment laws”.

Finally, let’s look at the “Contentment Laws”.

The final core value statements relate to how we govern our inner beings and control inner desires – (i.e. commandments VIII-X). Each of these peek through our lives and demonstrate the underlying perspective  – particularly on how we view things that aren’t ours. These reveal how we govern ourselves as we walk through this life.

VIII: Stewardship: Property rights must be strictly observed (15). What God hasn’t given you isn’t yours, and you can’t just take it. What God has given you ISN’T YOURS EITHER – it is on loan from Your Father for your temporary use.

Exodus 20: 15 “You shall not steal.

Contentment Laws begin with theft (Don’t use your HANDS to gain advantages I didn’t give you). When we say, “This is my stuff; I own it and it belongs to me.” We show that we don’t grasp the stewardship position God has placed us into.

A burglar broke into a house and began to steal all of the valuables. At that moment he heard a voice that said “Jesus is watching you.” He was so scared he froze for a second. He regained his composure and started stealing again, when the voice came louder, “Jesus is watching you.” He just about lost it right there. After regaining his composure he began to steal again this time watching very intent around him when he heard the voice again this time he recognized a shape in the corner as he approached he realized it was a bird cage. He removed the cover to find a parrot. He almost laughed. “What is your name?” The parrot replied “Moses“. The thief then said what kind of person would name a parrot Moses? The parrot replied the same kind of person that named a Rottweiler “Jesus”.

The truth is that everybody needs things. At the same time, let’s be clear: this commandment says, “Don’t get things any way but God’s way.”

IX: Truth: Do not use your mouth to slander, dishonor or harm your neighbor in order to gain unfair advantage (16). We must guard truth! The issue wasn’t simply telling a LIE – it was LYING to gain an advantage over a neighbor.

Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

This happens in car show rooms, insurance offices, hospital billing centers, mortgage brokers, stock brokers, government conference rooms and court rooms. It happens where ever someone thinks that they will gain the things God has given to another. It happens when we think that being CLEVER is more important than being CONTENT with God’s work in our lives. America has become a very hypocritical place. We are outraged when the very Congressman that we sent to “bring home the bacon to our state” is caught doing just that. When the CEO of the corporate board room that we have lauded for his “success” is caught cashing his inflated paycheck. We simply can’t decide on what is right, the further we get away from absolute truth. The truth is found in submitting to God’s Word and linking value to things that really exist. Setting prices based on real costs with reasonable markups. Setting salaries based on real world needs. We cannot reward greedy men  with the term “successful” on the one hand, and then castigate them when they do what we have rewarded them for. We must decide to take a stand in truth.

X: Contentment: Don’t use your EYES to focus on things that belong to someone else (17). God will give you the right things for you if you trust Him! If you focus on another’s things, you are showing rebellion against the what God has for you!

Exodus 20: 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Did you hear the one about the guy who found a bottle on the beach, and when he pulled out the cork, out popped a genie? The genie gave him 3 wishes, but said, “Be careful what you wish for– because your worst enemy will receive twice as much as you do.” The guy wished for $1,000,000. *POOF* It appeared at his feet. At the same moment, miles away, $2,000,000 appeared at the feet of his enemy. Next he wished for the largest diamond in the world. It appeared at his feet. But his enemy got 2 of them. As the man realized how well his enemy was doing, he got more and more frustrated trying to think of what to wish for next. Finally, he turned to the Genie and said, “OK – I’m ready. Scare me half to death.”

Why did God have a law against coveting? He did so because it put their focus in the wrong place. Later God said: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15 (NIV)… All of the things that we covet have at least one thing in common. They are temporary. They are a part of the world that I will leave behind when I die. Once I understand God’s place, then I must be responsible for my behaviors, and even govern my desires. Failure to take both seriously will bring pain on me and those around me. That isn’t JUDGMENTAL, it is ORGANIZED and PURPOSEFUL.

1 Samuel 2 "The Portrait Hall": Hannah – A Godly Woman (part two)-The Book and the Cover

There is an old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover!”. The truth it expresses is Biblical, you can’t always see reality when you look on the surface. God calls us to look more deeply! THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR!

KEY PRINCIPLE: Many live with a sculpted appearance of faith. God is not impressed by appearances. He looks past the exterior worship, and examines the motives and reality inside – God knows the heart! We must, therefore, work on the inside, and not just the part other people see.

I.   Hannah looked like:

     A. A LOSER to Penninah (1:6).

     B. A CRYBABY to Elkanah (1:8).

     C. A DRUNK to Eli the Priest (1:14).

II. Eli and His “holy family” appeared:

     A. Priests of the Most High God (1:3).

     B. Righteous judges (1:16).

     C. Representatives of God (1:17).

III. Hannah knew and walked with God. He pain was real, and yet she worshipped:

A. Her worship (2:1-10). Look at what she learned about God:

  1. God rescues me (1).
  2. God is distinctly different (unmoved by exterior appearances – 2).
  3. God is my defense (2b).
  4. God discerns the real truth (3).
  5. God gives me the strength to go in (4).
  6. God levels the field for the righteous (5).
  7. God controls life and death (6).
  8. God rewards as He sees fit (7).
  9. God exalts and honors (8a.)
  10. God created and has the power to hold it all together (8b).
  11. God guards the way of His people – wicked walk by sight (9).
  12. God is the judge (10).

B. Her sacrifice in truth (2:11).

A couple of lessons:

In her celebration of God’s faithfulness, she shows her focus was on knowing God, not simply ideas about Him!

Her words were matched by action, giving up the child God gave her!

IV. Eli and His Sons:

     A. Hophni and Phinehas’s Sin:

1. Didn’t know the Lord (12).

2. Didn’t follow the Lord in their actions:

a. Focused on self indulgence: took too much of God’s sacrifice(13,14)

b. Didn’t feel the rules applied to them: took too soon (15)

c. Relationship with those who God put in their lives became increasingly less important: violent threats (16)

3. Didn’t follow the Lord’s appointed authorities in their life: disobedient to father (2:25)

B. Eli’s Sin:

1. Dad out of touch (2:22-25).

2. Dad out of control (3:13,14).

Application: Things are not always as they appear! The Godly and the religious aren’t always the same.

1 Samuel 1 "The Portrait Hall": Hannah – A Godly Woman

When we are in pain, God has a special opportunity to move in our lives – but He wants us to learn the lesson of the pain. It is for OUR BENEFIT that tough circumstances come. He knows what we need!

I.   The “Players” and The “Stage” explained: Hannah’s household (1:1-3).

  1. People introduced (1-2a).

Elkanah the Levite assigned to Ephraim (1 Chron 6:34,35) and his two wives. He may have taken a second wife because of a special provision of Deuteronomic law that allowed a childless couple to bring on a second wife. It may also have been a levirate marriage at the loss of Elkanah’s brother (Dt. 25:5-10).

  • Elkanah is from kawnaw: bought = God purchased
  • Hannah is from Chnawnah: grace
  • Peninnah is from pawnah: a jewel or precious stone
  1. Problem injected (2b): Hannah was childless. Other stories of childless women were that of Sarah (Gen 11:30), Rebekah (Gen 25:21), Rachel (Gen. 29:31).
  1. Practice explained (3). Elkanah went annually to worship (shawkaw: bow down) and sacrifice (zawbach: slaughter) at Shiloh (from shawlaw: resting place).

II. The Portrait: A woman of character (1:4-28).

  1. Resistant to Bitterness: She had pain, but her pain did not make her unlovable and bitter! Godliness works out in a LOVEABLE woman who honors her family – 1 Sam 1:4,5. (mannaw ahat afim: “portion of one double noses” is double portion).
  1. Realistic Perspective: She was tested, but she UNDERSTOOD THE CONTROL of God in the tough situations of her life that were beyond her control- 1 Sam 1:6.
  1. She was Authentic and Sensitive: Times of celebration for others were often times of pain for her. Godliness does not imply pious hardness; the godly woman is sensitive – 1 Sam 1:7.
  1. She placed others first: When she saw her pain was causing others, she set the pain aside and ATE, even though she did not want to! 1 Sam 1:8,9.
  1. She was Honest with God: Godliness shows itself in the BLEEDING HONESTY in the prayers of hurt, not empty piety – 1 Sam 1:10,11.
  1. She was Circumspect: Her concern for her testimony before others was sincere– 1 Sam 1:12-18.
  1. She trusted God to do what was right: She WORSHIPPED because God was worthy, not because He always said “yes” -1 Sam 1:19.
  1. She marked God’s faithfulness: She was not REPRISING, but took from God with joy and publicly declared the goodness of God – 1 Sam 1:20.
  1. Her word was reliable: She KEPT HER PROMISES, even the ones that HURT – 1 Sam 1:21-28.

The godly woman resists bitterness in pain, but learns to trust God through honest prayer and sharing of her pain with her Lord. She continues to stay aware of the needs of others around her and her testimony. She keeps going and waits on the Lord to bless. She is careful to praise the faithfulness of God in every area He shows care for her!

Seven Stages of Preparation to Lead – Joshua 1

The Principle Approach: “Standing In The Doorway of a New Promise”

Doors open and close. They offer exciting new opportunities and perhaps some significant (and often painful) challenges. Doors abound. They are all around us – beckoning us to new rooms of experience. Some doors come into focus through meeting new people, others are first clearly seen through the tear-filled eyes of loss. One Bible character found himself in the threshold of a new door facing a commission from the Most High through the tears of such a loss.

Joshua spent nearly forty years of his life serving behind the towering figure of Moses. Yet, the day finally came that God took the mantle of leadership off of the lifeless shoulders of the old chief, and placed it firmly on Joshua. The door opened to a new era of God’s people, and the lessons involved in this new direction were captured eternally in the Biblical record, in a book that bears Joshua’s name.

The Church through the ages has primarily thought of the Book of Joshua as a historical record, but the ancient Jewish organization of the Scriptures placed the book as part of the Prophets (Nevi’im). The Prophets are divided into the Early Prophets (Nevi’im Rishonim) and the Latter Prophets (Nevi’im Ahronim). Joshua was placed at the opening of the Early Prophets. The writing can easily divided into three sections: Entering Canaan (Joshua 1-5); Conquering Canaan (Joshua 6-12); Dividing Canaan (Joshua 13-24). The first chapter of Joshua is read in the final reading of the annual schedule of synagogue portion readings (parashot) at the end of the Hebrew calendar year, as the Haftarah (selections from the prophets and writings that accompany the Torah selections) reading to follow the text from Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12 called Vezot Habrachah (“And this is blessing”).

The Preparation Stages: Seven Critical Lessons

Joshua 1 opens with the memory of a meeting between God and Joshua. The text relates:

“Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying: Moses my servant is dead: now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel…”

Though God met with Joshua and spoke directly to him for the first time in the Scripture record, Joshua had a long road of preparation to get to that point. God did not simply clone Moses, but rather included in the record of His Word a slow and steady training of Joshua from military adviser to Chief of the Tribes, an office that had only one prior leader (Moses) and left tough sandals to fill! Serving Moses from about age 40, Joshua did not receive the mantle of leadership until about age 80, yet he no doubt seemed young compared to his mentor and predecessor (who was about 120 when he passed on)!

The Bible writer took great pains to show the gradual formation of Joshua, as he was prepared by God to lead the people into the very critical operation of attaining the land God had promised to their fathers. Joshua was groomed for the job, and the Torah reveals that he had seven specific experiences that shaped his leadership style, his heart for God and his daily priorities. A closer look at these seven events of Joshua’s life can help us understand the preparation this choice servant of God experienced, but it can offer much more. Observing these shaping experiences can also help us understand how our Lord shapes those who He can use.

Each experience was a stage in his training and included first three “external” leadership lessons:

  • Stage One: The Value of the Worn Knee – Learning the Power of Intercession (Ex. 17:9-16)
  • Stage Two: The Value of the Locked Arms – Learning the Mystery of Communion (Ex. 24)
  • Stage Three: The Value of the Trained Ear – Learning to Hear the Hearts of Men (Ex. 32)

Following the lessons of these external leadership qualities, the training continued with three essential “internal” leadership processes:

  • Stage Four: The Value of a Thirsty Heart – Learning the Process of Worship Encounters (Ex. 33)
  • Stage Five: The Value of a Controlled Appetite – Learning to Overcome the Need for Recognition (Num. 11:26-29)
  • Stage Six:  The Value of Vision – Learning to See with the Eyes of Faith (Num. 13:16; 14:6-10; 14:38)

 

The seventh and final preparation stage was the commissioning service itself, and the lessons that come with finally taking the leadership place. With all the preparation to that time, there was still a lesson to be gained at the diploma time.

Stage Seven: Learning to Receive a Commission (Num. 27:12-23; 34:17; Dt. 1:38; 3:21; 31:3; 34:3)

Without fanfare or special announcement, Joshua emerged into the scene of the Bible record amidst a brewing conflict with the desert people called the Amalekites. The children of Israel were tired by the beginning of the Amalekite conflict. Part way through the fifty-day journey from the territory of Egypt to the mountain of the law (recalled now in the days between Passover or Pesach and Pentecost or Shavuot they already neared exhaustion.

They had seen God’s provision at the healed bitter waters of Marah (Ex. 15:23-26) and the refreshing oasis of twelve pools and ten palm trees at Elim (Ex. 15:27), yet they were compelled to move on to the mountain where God planned a meeting with Moses on their behalf. To the mountain they trudged, sheep and goats, carts and children. Suffering hunger in the dry and barren wilderness, God rained upon them first bread, then quail from the heavens to fill their stomachs (Ex. 16). Their incessant complaining and overt disobedience led even God to ask, “How long will you refuse to trust Me?” (16:28). The manna in a pot became the first of many memorials for the Israelites, and was later placed beside the tablets of the law that Moses received from God (Ex. 16:34).

Arriving inside the fanlike fingers of the Wadi Feiran system, a connected system of valleys with water in underground rivers beneath, the Israelites arrived depleted of water in their storage, and thirsty. Though God had shown them His might at the parting of the Sea, the cloud and pillar of fire, and numerous supply demonstrations, the people again panicked. The huge uplifted granite mountains of the Sinai peninsula sloped above them, and God directed Moses to take the elders to the slope of a mountain he knew well from his shepherding days (cp. Ex. 3:1). This was the shepherding territory of Jethro the Midianite, the father-in-law of Moses. Unknown to the people, but familiar to Moses, he did not doubt that God could, and would supply the water necessary for the people. He also knew how to get the water.

In areas of that desert where the metamorphic rock (sand stone and the underlying granite beds) meet sedimentary rock there are strata deposits of water. Shepherds of the ancient world, as the Bedouin Sinai dwellers today, knew exactly where these deposits of water awaited their needs. As we travel through the desert today on camel back through this Egyptian landscape, we still see the places where the calcified deposits on the walls of the great Wadi Feiran have been pierced by sticks and rocks to access the water deposits that exists in those pockets behind the walls. Moses knew the method, and had he had the time to look carefully, he could even predict with fair accuracy the location of water deposits. The appearance of small mosses and damp surfaces can be signs of water deposits. He was, after all, a skilled shepherd from the region before he led the children of Israel. A modern discovery of this phenomenon by a westerner illustrates what a Near Eastern shepherd of the region knows so well. This selection is taken from records of the British governor of the Sinai region of the 1930’s, Major C.S. Jarvis – today a part of the “Palestine Exploration Fund” records:

“Several men of the Sinai Camel Corps had halted in a dry wadi and were in the process of digging about in the rough sand that had accumulated at the foot of a rock face. They were trying to get at the water that was trickling slowly out of the limestone rock. The men were taking their time about it and Besh Shawish – the color sergeant – said, “Here, give it to me”. He took the spade of one of the men and began digging furiously in the manners of NCO’s the world over who want to show their men how to do things but have no intention of keeping it up for more than a couple of minutes. One of his violent blows hit the rock by mistake. The smooth hard crust which always forms the weathered limestone split open and fell away. The soft-stone underneath was thereby exposed and out of its apertures shot a powerful stream of water. The Sudanese, who are well up in the activities of the prophets but do not treat them with a vast amount of respect, overwhelmed their sergeant with cries of ‘Look at him! Prophet Moses’!”

What a miracle God demonstrated at the rock! In order for such a large cask of water to have been stored in the rock ledge deposit, the rain waters would have begun to accumulate long before Joseph even lead the children of Israel into Egypt. God may have instantly stored to necessary water, but there is no reason to believe He did not begin to supply the answer long before the question! It may well be that hundreds of years before rains began to form in the water deposit so that it was ready for God’s thirty children. It would be just like our God to be creating the solution before we face the problem. Is that not like His character?

Stage One: Learning the Power of Intercession (Ex. 17:9-16)

Not long after, the masses of Israel came to a resting place along the soft bed of the wadi near the sheer walls to the south. The name they gave the place gives a hint of the character of the place, Rephidim. The word comes from the descriptive verb Rah-fahd which literally means “to spread a mat for the bed”, or to create a bedding area. The word was sometimes used to denote a place of comfort – a place of rest. Just what the doctor ordered, a little rest for the weary troops. Finally, the Israelites probably thought, a little break. That’s when the armies of Amalek hit, just about the time the guard was down and the group was depleted. How like our enemy that is!

Out of the story of the Amalekite attack came the first lesson to the “Chief in the making”, Joshua. Moses faced a tough situation, and Joshua watched the solution unfold. He was able to pick out what any leader needs to quickly understand: Everyone can see the problem, leaders devise solutions. That is what the people needed, and that is what Moses provided.

Moses focused immediately on the six things a leader must know to make good decisions, and Joshua got the benefit of seeing the lesson close up:

  1. Leaders must know the circumstances, the situation they are faced with. Nobody conquers a demon they don’t know about. Every significant move of a leader is preceded by an accurate assessment of the circumstances that they face. (17:8).
  2. Leaders must know the enemy they face. Sometimes reconnaissance is necessary to gain knowledge (Num. 13 and 14), as knowledge of the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses make all the difference in battle. Whether physical or spiritual, battles are won or lost often on the enemy assessment. Understand where and how an enemy will attack is essential to preparing defenses that will withstand his onslaught (17:9).
  3. Leaders must know their resources for problem solving. Foolish leaders tackle every problem on their own. Wise leaders assess their own team to meet the demand of battle (17:9).
  4. Leaders must understand that even the physical problems of God’s people are fought in Heavenly places. This is a critical area often neglected. Paul later addressed the physical disturbances to his work with the truth that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers” (2 Cor. 10:3ff). Moses didn’t need a simple head count and weapons assessment, he needed to bow before God and intercede for the battle. (17:10-13). The upward palms have long been understood by rabbis as a position of prayer. In the Hebrew world of long ago (as in Orthodox traditions today), prayers of supplication were symbolized by holding the hands palms up. In times of extreme need, the arms were lifted upward and palms were held up, a position probably referred to in the instruction of Paul to Timothy (1 Tim. 2:8). If understood in this way, there was nothing mystical about the hands of Moses, but POWER lay in the intercession of the leader. What a great lesson for any leader that gets caught up in the mechanics of the problem to the exclusion of the spiritual reality!
  5. Leaders must be good followers (17:9-10). Look at the unquestioning obedience of Joshua. Moses said, “Jump!” Joshua jumped. It is worth highlighting that Joshua was not prepared to lead if he was not prepared to follow.
  6. Leaders must acknowledge where true victory comes from. Note the instruction at the end of the battle (17:14). Joshua was to be brought in to hear the specific promise of God; He would cut off Amalek from the earth because of this attack. Joshua needed to hear it, and understand that any work that he would do in that cause was not his victory, it was God fulfilling His promise. Leaders need to feel responsible to faithfully execute the work of God, but not to own the work. It is God’s work, and we are privileged to be a part of it.

In the final analysis, Joshua needed to see the power of an interceding leader. The troops can do the work, but they will easily believe that it was at their hands that victory was attained –because of their skill, their ingenuity, and their power. They, of course, would draw the wrong conclusion. It is only an interceding leader that can see the truth.

Stage Two: Learning the Mystery of Communion (Ex. 24)

The Setting: Shavuot

Following the Amalekite war, Moses went through the painful but profitable experience of correction by Jethro, his father-in-law. Moses placed himself in a position of unrealistic expectation, trying to accomplish more than anyone could expect – a mistake common to driven leaders. The result was an overuse of his abilities, a slow draining of all of the creativity and leadership vision by the wearing grind of daily administration. Jethro told him to delegate administration, and in those words, God used a man that could get Moses’ attention, and get him to change the pattern of his work habits to refresh him and pull him back on track (Ex. 18:24).

After the departure of Jethro, Moses brought the people to the edge of the Mountain of the Law, as God instructed. The time came that would later be memorialized in Shavuot (or “the Feast of weeks”), a holy convocation instructed in Levitical law (Lev. 23:15). This feast was an agricultural celebration, but its true importance is underscored in the Biblical instruction that included it as one of three mandatory offering appearances before the Lord annually (Dt. 16:16). God did not want this day forgotten! This was a day He gathered the children of Israel and God blew a shofar (ram’s horn trumpet) before them that shook their camp (Ex. 19:16)! God has seldom made Himself so obvious in the affairs of men – this day was not common! They had already traveled fifty days from the departure from Egypt (Ex.12: 15-20) to the time of the arrival at the mountain (Ex. 19:1). The term “fifty days” was captured in the word “Pentecost”, still a holy memorial each year among observant Jews recalling the encounter with God at the mountain, and the giving of the law. The Sabbath days between Passover and Pentecost were counted according to God’s instruction (Lev. 23:15).[1]

God invited seventy elders and a specific guest list of leaders to the mountain to worship Him (Ex. 24:1). They were not allowed to move up the mountain with Moses, but they were instructed to come together for a corporate time of reverence (the Hebrew verb shakhaw means to bow before, prostrate one’s self, or revere, Ex. 24:1) some distance away from Moses. Moses prepared himself for the meeting. He rose early in the morning, wrote down the words God had given him in the previous encounter, raised up an altar and standing stones for the tribes, and sprinkled the blood of offerings on the altar. He read over the words he had written before the people, and they affirmed their commitment to God’s holy covenant. He took the elders and leaders up to the mountain.

The event that followed was unprecedented in human history. God passed by before the men, and they beheld a brightness that seemed like the sun. The mystery in the event was not simply that they gazed upon the path of God, and stood before a striking brightness. The shocking part of the story was their response! They were called there to worship, and yet the text reveals they “saw God, and did eat and drink.” What a response! God came, and they had a banquet together.

At a certain time in the meal, God instructed Moses, “Come up before Me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tablets of stone…” Moses arose, and took Joshua with him (Ex. 24:13). God made it clear that Moses was to appear alone (24:2) and either Joshua stopped some distance away or was considered necessary by God to help Moses in and out of His holy presence. The text does not say clearly, and only Joshua, Moses and God know for sure. One thing is certain: Joshua learned an important lesson in his preparation to the lead the nation that day.

Having grasped that intercession by a leader was essential, it was obviously not the whole training course. Joshua saw something new at the mountain of God’s appearing. He learned a graphic lesson that Moses heard from Jethro weeks before this encounter. Joshua saw a picture of a communal team that honored God. He ate with the others, drank with them, and communed with them. He saw a team leadership formation in corporate worship. There is a time for personal time with God, but there is equally a time for team.

The passage not only stemmed any uprising concerning the veracity of God’s authorship of the commandments (some might have thought Moses was making the commands up on his own), but it also gave the elders the opportunity to commune together and feast and worship. What an important lesson: Leaders need to lock arms with other leaders. We are not called to be “Supermen” that face the forces of darkness alone, depending solely on our “superhuman” ability or even the work of the Spirit within. We need each other, and grow when we can worship corporately, not only individually. We are stronger in communion, not in “Lone Ranger” mode.

Moses learned this in a rebuke by an older priest and relative. Joshua avoided the painful experience of sapping his own strength and “burning out” by observing the incredible benefit of corporate strength. The team can worship together, eat and drink together, and help to strengthen one another! It is significant that we have no Bible record of Joshua hoarding power, nor of him taking on responsibility that God had not ordained. His record of leadership and delegation is impressive. He may well have grasped the lesson at a banquet on a mountain!

The Divine wisdom penned out in the words of King Solomon recall:

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they can have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, KJV)

Joshua’s training included the graphic display of the advantages Solomon later cited. The wise king reminds us, ‘Together-

1)      We can accomplish more, so the rewards are greater (Eccl. 4:9).

2)      We can assist and rescue one another, so the endurance is greater (Eccl. 4:10).

3)      We can comfort one another, so the encouragement is greater (Eccl. 4:11).

4)      We can defend one another, so the strength is greater (Eccl. 4:12).’

Often leaders fall into the trap of believing their own press, subscribing to the affirmation of the positive view of their followers and not remembering their own weaknesses. It is part of the fabric of our makeup. We lead – they follow. We know – they don’t. It is a dangerous tendency to distance ourselves from the accountability that helps refocus and redirect us. We need other leaders. Joshua could have duplicated Moses’ mistake, but in this awesome display God accomplished another step in his training. It all happened at the buffet table on the mountain!

Stage Three: Learning to Hear the Hearts of Men (Ex. 32)

We have been studying the training that God superintended in the life of Joshua before he took over leadership of the children of Israel. We began our exploration with the leadership lesson that Joshua gained at Rephidim in the conflict with the Amalekites. In the midst of trouble, we observed the significance of a leader learning the power that comes from Heavenly places in intercessory prayer. In a way, we could say Joshua learned to have the prayer KNEES of a leader. Next, we saw a leadership lesson of accountability at the mountain of the law in the setting of the banquet of the seventy elders. We noted that Godly leaders need to be accountable to other leaders. In that way, Joshua learned to have the ARMS of a leader, locked in the arms of others. As we continue in this series, there is a third lesson that God used to prepare Joshua to take up the mantle of leadership. Joshua needed to have the EARS of a leader, to hear the sounds of the people in the camp with greater sensitivity and understanding.

The Setting

Moses led the people to Sinai, and left the tribal leaders at the banquet we looked at in our last lesson to go up on to the higher parts of the mountain of the law. He remained away from the people forty days and nights and received the plans for the building of the Tabernacle. The people below observed a fire that engulfed the mountaintop (Ex. 24:17-18); which probably caused some to feel Moses was not returning to them (Ex. 32:1; 23). Aaron returned to the people during that time and succumbed to their pressure, allowing the creation of a “god visual” along with some celebrations of the deity in the camp (Ex. 32:23-25).

The choice of a god was likely that of the Egyptian deity “Hathor” – normally symbolized by a woman’s body with a calf head in Egyptian records. Other representations were more basic, a calf or a woman with a horn arrangement on her head. The horn “flip” became so common a motif that archaeologists refer to household “gods” (teraphim) that have a flip in their hair as having “Hathor locks”.[2] The influence of Hathor was evidenced in the excavation at Timnah, the copper mining site near Eilat, in southern Israel. Several stone stelae (inscribed standing stones) were found, and at least one had the head of Hathor. The excavation included what appeared to be a Midianite shrine, as Hathor may have spread into their cultic practices as well.[3] Several scholars have noted the relationship between the worship of Hathor and the peoples of the Sinai desert – the Midianites and the Egyptians. It is possible that she was the goddess of both slaves and journeys – and these were slaves on a journey. They probably chose the god image that suited the times. Their experience with the God of Abraham was quite limited, though He had brought the plagues upon Egypt  (Ex. 6-12) and had parted the sea (Ex. 15). They knew His power, but not His tender care. They learned that as their generation experienced God in the desert heat.

The lesson of the calf in Exodus had many dimensions. The people learned the price of disobedience, as some of them were forced to drink ground gold dust in water (Ex. 32:20), while others were slaughtered because of the sexual sins carried on with the great celebration in the camp (Ex. 32:27-28). For the Levites, this was their first great blood-letting sacrifice, as they took their knives to their own cousins as an atonement for the debauchery. They learned the pain of intercession and judgment of sin in a graphic way. For Moses, the lesson was about the control of his emotional being (his flesh), as the tablets of stone that God hand carved for him lay broken on the ground. For Joshua, the lesson was something even greater – it was a lesson of discernment.

Before Moses and Joshua came down and discovered the sin in the camp, God revealed to Moses the fact that the people were in sin (Ex. 32:7ff) and that He wanted to wipe the people out and begin with the family of Moses to rebuild the children of Israel. Moses pleaded on behalf of the people, offering reminders about the nature of the eternal promise God made to Abraham (Ex. 32:13), and arguing that the Egyptians would not learn of God’s love if He wiped out the children of Israel in the desert. Moses knew something was wrong in the camp, but only because God told him it was so. It does not appear in the text that Joshua was privy to this revelation of God.

Joshua, on the other hand, heard the commotion in the camp below – but did not perceive it properly (Ex. 32:17,18). He called to Moses in a concerned voice that the people were stirring as if they were under attack! Moses replied, “It is not the shout of those calling for leadership in the field of battle, nor is it the cry of those who are being slaughtered. This is the sound of singing that we hear!” To be fair, since Joshua had not been given the Divine insight of the sin that was going on in the camp, he was responding in the area of his strength, military leadership. This was (and is) the natural inclination of any leader.

The critical error of Joshua was to “satisfice”, a term coined in the 1990s for when the first explanation that makes sense becomes the answer without any search for other facts. It was clear that without the correction of Moses, Joshua was bent on proceeding on a false notion because his assumption made sense to him. Yet, he needed to learn to move past his natural strengths, and begin to learn to hear the truth of the situation. In this test many a leader trusts his own intuition rather than carefully listening. This was a danger that a more experienced leader could avoid. Moses was not told the nature of that sin, but he had the ears of a leader. He knew the sounds of the people, and he knew their nature. He gently corrected Joshua, for Moses was a more seasoned leader. This was an opportunity for Joshua to grow.

Any true leader will attract followers; this is the nature of leadership. More mature leaders (like Moses) will have the opportunity to lead other leaders, an even more significant ministry! There is a danger for the leader who has not developed the sensitivity to hear the hearts of his followers in their spoken voices. Many followers cannot truly express what they are experiencing. In fact, many cannot understand what they are going through, that is why they need leadership in their lives! They need direction, help and understanding. The leader needs to be able to hear their needs even when the follower cannot properly express the needs. It is not unlike the experience of the young mother that hears an infant crying. The more experienced mom will perceive the sound of the “hungry” cry as distinct from the “wet” cry. She will know how to meet the need, often by the sound of the cry and its timing! How much like that mom Joshua needed to learn to be! He would need to be able to pick out the voices, know the times, sense the needs and respond.

Sometimes the leader needs to be able to pick out the words of the follower from their intent. In the case of the discouraged worker, the leader will need to lift up the follower by helping them see the larger vision of the work. General George Patton, in his book War As I Knew It, offered the insight: “Never assess the battle from the words of a wounded soldier!” What an insight! It is important that leaders hear past the words, and listen with understanding to the heart! The reports from the field are filtered by the lives of the followers; we must remember that!

Other dangers lurk in the words of the followers. Some will share what we want to hear, not what is truly on their heart! The opportunities arise for a leader to be praised by their followers. This can be a dangerous time if the leader cannot hear past the words and perceive the hearts of followers. Some flatter with words to gain some significance in the eyes of the leader. Yet, Proverbs 27 warns the greatest help is not in flattery, but in the truthful words of a friend (even if those words are hurtful, 27:6). Joshua needed to learn early the true nature of the people. He needed to be able to hear their voices – but gauge their needs beyond the sounds!

Movie Sequels

There is another dimension to this story (and another reason it was relayed by the Spirit into the eternal text of God’s Word!) that should be recalled to truly understand what God’s people were to learn from the discipline and tragedy from the sin in the camp. The Bible is a library, but its writers often presupposed that you knew earlier stories when they shared later ones. This story has a sequel found in the Christian Scriptures that is built on its foundation, and helps open our eyes to the incredible events at the mountain of the law. Carefully examining both stories adds a dimension of understanding the spiritual lessons that cannot be found another way.

Trying to understand a sequel to a movie is much easier if you have seen and can recall the original movie. Most of the time, when a sequel is released, the original movie begins to air again so people can recall the characters. Catching up on the plot, and the interplay between characters is much more difficult if the first movie was forgotten. In the same way, we need to recall the events at Sinai to understand what the Biblical author in the early church thought we would remember when reading the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).

In the case of our story, it is essential for any Bible student of the Book of Acts to understand the background of the giving of the Law at Sinai to truly understand the coming of the Spirit to the Apostles. The key to this reminder is in the beginning of Acts 2:1, “Now when the day of Pentecost had fully come…” What was the writer reminding us about? What should that day have recalled in our minds? How could the time of the year enhance our knowledge of the event

Our story at the mountain of the law is set at the earliest “Shavuot” (later called in Greek, Pentecost). The story of the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2:1ff is set at the same time of year – thousands of years later. The Acts setting is, in a real sense, the “movie sequel” to the original events at the mountain of the law. The meaning of the second great Pentecost event (the “sequel”) is clear only when we grasp the illusions to the event at Sinai, set at the same time of the year. Let me explain: As Moses and the people came into the area of the “Mountain of the Law,” God instructed the leadership to restrict the access to the mountain for the people by gathering them in one place (Ex. 19:12). After they were in one place, strange weather descended onto the mountain (19:16). The holy fire of God descended from heaven onto the mountain and filled the area with smoke (19:18) and there was a rumbling of an earthquake. The scene eventually settled, and more than a month later, Moses emerged with the tablets to find 3000 people caught up in the debauchery scene described above. He ordered the Levites to have them killed (32:28).

Now look at the “sequel” events at the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2. Note the comparisons: the people were in “one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1), there was the “sound of a mighty rushing wind” (Acts 2:2), there was the “appearance of fire” (2:3) and there were “3000 people” (2:41). The similarity is intentional, and the meaning clear. With the coming of the Torah (the Law) at Shavuot (the original scene in Exodus) came the knowledge of our sin and the clarity of why we die. With the coming of the Spirit (the Torah “written in the hearts of men”- the sequel in Acts) came the internal understanding of our sin (note: “their hearts were broken”, Acts 3:37-38) and the salvation of those who repented! The writer intentionally highlighted the second Shavuot (Pentecost) event details to match the first, to point to a sequel! What a tragedy that many of us study the later Christian stories and avoid the older foundational stories that make its setting come alive!

Hearing it wrong

Though Joshua misheard the people, God used Moses to correct him, and gently move him another step in his leadership learning curve. This is one of only two missteps of Joshua ever recorded in the Bible. He got most answers right, but this was a hard lesson. How many great leaders are sidelined because they have believed the things which followers told them of themselves. I think about the insightful words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

The story was related by Spurgeon that after one night of exceptional preaching at a local church, a young and beautiful woman came to the preacher as he descended moved toward the rear door of the hall. She called out to him, “Oh, brother Spurgeon, that was truly a great message from God! What a man of God you are!” He replied softly in an uncharacteristic moment, “I know, madam! For the devil told me the very same thing when I came down the stairs!”

The aging preacher new better than to listen to what he wanted to hear. He knew enough to hear the words with the sensitive ears of one that is accustomed to the Master’s voice, not the roar of the crowds. Learning to hear past the noise, and listen with ears attuned to the hearts of men and the agenda of God is an essential part of the training process. Failure to do so will destroy the leadership and testimony of both men and ministries. This was an important lesson, but there was yet more to learn. Next we will focus on the HEART of the leader as we see what Joshua learned to cherish more than anything else!

Stage Four: Learning the Process of Worship Encounters (Ex. 33)

In each of the leadership lessons Joshua experienced while Moses was alive, he moved steadily toward the task of taking on the leadership of the children of Israel. We saw Joshua learn the value of intercession – we called it the “well-worn knees lesson” – from the example of Moses before the Amalekites. A second experience on the “Mountain of the Law” helped Joshua understand the concept of the team and its role in leadership – “the locking arms lesson.” We also observed an incident of Moses correction of Joshua when Joshua misunderstood the cries of the Israelites – “the trained ear lesson.” With the knees of intercession well worn, and the arms of the leader locked firmly in the arms of the team members, and even with the ears tuned to the followers – Joshua was still unprepared to lead. Why? Each of those three lessons was external – a “how to” course on leadership that Joshua observed. Yet, he could not lead the people of God until he experienced and mastered three great internal lessons that were firmly rooted in his heart.

The three internal leadership lessons included quenching the internal thirst for God (worship encounters), finding the true compass of direction (overcoming the need for affirmation and recognition of followers in order to feel significant) and seeing through new eyes (viewing life through faith). Of the three lessons, the first is the most important. Nothing can substitute for the intimate communion with God in worship encounters, and this first great internal event was where God opened chambers deep within Joshua’s heart that the man of God was unaware of until their doors were pried apart.

Deep within the heart of every man is the desire to communion with God. It began with the fall of man in the Garden of Eden when a hole was burrowed through his heart that could not (and cannot) be filled with anything but communion with man’s Creator. Before sin, Adam and Eve knew the voice of their Creator. They experienced His gentle touch, and felt the warmth of His presence. After the fall, the most intimate experiences of life were now in the relationship between the two of them, and God seemed more distant. Yet, the need to know God and to sense His approval in their lives was, no doubt, still very real.

As generations passed, many of the conditions changed, yet the need to experience intimacy with God did not diminish. In an effort to mask the pain of this emptiness, men accumulated things to occupy and distract themselves. They masked the emptiness with mind numbing drugs and filled their lives with amusements of every sort. They measured life by the accumulation of material possessions and experiences. Yet, most knew that life was more than possessions and a string of events. That innate sense was a leftover of the garden days – that man was not simply material and temporal. Even in areas where the Bible has not penetrated the culture, people knew of afterlife and a “Higher Power.”

I cannot resist the analogy of this sad history, evident in the book Watership Down by Richard Adams, published in 1969. The story was set in the region he grew up in, Newbury in the Berkshire Downs, England. One summer day in 1967, the author was driving along the road to Stratford-on-Avon with his family as he told the story to his daughters (then 10 and 8 years old). He later wrote the tale down that had become a children’s story treasure.

For the uninitiated, Watership Down is about a group of rabbits that set out on a journey to create a new warren. It was told from the perspective of the rabbits who developed their own institutions of religion, government, economics, education, and family. From my fading memory of the book, one particular scene remains. During the exodus of the rabbits, they made their way across a farm property and discovered a pen of rabbits that were raised for slaughter. My loose paraphrase of the story will serve well enough to make my point.

The rabbits discovered the most amazing site! A fence surrounded a small group of rabbits that were happily resting inside. The weary travelers were amazed at how at ease and well fed the caged rabbits were. After some discussion, the weary bunnies decided – at least for a period of time – to join the rabbits in the pen. They burrowed beneath the rather flimsy fence and entered the cage, welcomed by the relaxed occupants. They asked the rabbits how they came to enter the place, and how they were able to eat so well in spite of the fact they had no foraging party! They were amazed at the response. “It is the most peculiar thing!” one bunny said. “Each day, the bowls are filled to the brim by the humans with these very delicious pellets. We eat the pellets, as much as we want! There is no search for food, and there is no worry!”

The traveling rabbits enjoyed the time in the cage. Yet, the whole scene seemed too easy – a suspicious setting for world savvy rabbits. Their leader detected that something was wrong, and soon his suspicions were validated. One morning he awoke to find that the largest and most impressive bunny was gone. He asked all of the other bunnies, but no one seemed to know where the large bunny went. Unsatisfied to allow the matter to drop, the Moses-like bunny burrowed beneath the cage, and began to check out the scene. Rounding the edge of the barn, he was shocked and sickened to see the pelt of the great rabbit hanging from the wall. He quickly hopped back to the cage and called the bunnies together.

“They are killing bunnies!” he cried. “We must leave here at once! We cannot stay in this place, we will all be killed.” The rabbits who had traveled with him were hastily organized, but the other rabbits did not seem to care. He could not understand why they did not move quickly to abandon the doomed cage. They seemed unconcerned about their own destiny. The graphic image of the pelt burned in his mind! He pressed them, “You must leave! Your lives are in peril!”

“Well,” one rabbit answered, “We know that is how you feel. We also know that from time to time, one of the bunnies is missing from the pen. Yet, in balance, it is a good life we have. We just sit and eat our pellets. We don’t have all your worries, we have wonderful, delicious pellets!”

What a telling analogy of fallen man with an empty heart! With no way of truly comforting himself in his distance from God and with fear of his own end, he simply ignores the reality of physical death and eats his pellets. Watch how quickly he moves from the funeral of a friend to a few drinks to dull the senses. He feels the need to fill the emptiness, and yet it is with spirits, and not with the intended Holy Spirit.

Enter the believer – one who knows God. It would seem a simple matter for the believer to have time in intimate communion with His maker. Yet, Joshua learned that knowing God was not enough. Interceding before God on behalf of the people was not enough. The hole in his heart could only be filled by times of personal and private worship. This was the source of satisfying drink that quenched the Psalmist (“As the deer pants by the rivers of water…” Ps. 42) and it is the source of strength and refreshment for every man or woman of God commissioned to lead. It cannot be neglected, replaced or overlooked.

Exodus 32 closed with the repentance offering of the children of Israel after 3000 perished because of the sin of the golden calf. God threatened to delegate the march to the Promised Land to an angel (32:34) rather than His personal presence. The news brought wailing to the camp of Israel, and Moses appealed the decision in chapter 33, as he begged God to first show Himself (33:13f) and then requested the journey be cancelled if God would not personally join the journey (33:15). Obviously the main concern of the narrative was the record of the words of God to Moses. Yet, I was struck by a detail tucked inside the record. I could not help but note the physical position of Joshua amid the debate and discussion between Moses and God.

After the sin in the camp and the death of the thousands, Moses moved the tent that acted as the “proto-tabernacle” out of camp (the actual tabernacle was not yet erected) and had it set up some distance from the camp (33:7). Moses left the camp each day and made his way to the tent to commune with God, where God spoke to him tenderly, as two old friends with many great memories shared (33:11). The record includes the detail that the men of Israel rose up each day and observed as the man of God passed on his way to the tent (33:8) and that the cloudy pillar descended on the place when Moses met with God (33:9). The great request Moses gave to the Lord to see Him in all His glory was made in that setting (33:18).

Moses entered and exited each day. This was a time for him to meet with God, yet the two were not alone! A closer look at the narrative reminds us that Joshua was present, and that he “departed not out of the tabernacle” (33:11). Imagine that scene! God and Moses communed together, the cloud ascended, and there was Joshua, serving Moses by day and staying through the night! What a place of privilege!

Isn’t it interesting that Moses did not remain, but came from the camp and returned to it daily! I suspect the memory of Israel’s defection after Moses was gone for forty days reminded Moses that a knowledge of his presence helped Israel remain obedient to the Lord. He returned because they needed him to be among them. Joshua did not need to return, he was not yet the leader.

I wonder what Joshua did on those lonely nights. I wonder if he felt he could let his mind wander in fields of lust or envy and greed – or if his sense of the close proximity of his God caused him to be diligent, and attend to every thought. I suspect that was the case! Yes, with a graphic display of God’s presence, Joshua surely knew he could not indulge his own lazy mind. He could not allow his thoughts to drift into the forbidden.

In final analysis, I suspect that is truly the problem with those of us who have allowed our inner disciplines to slip away from honoring the Master. The sense that God is busy running the world, and the deceitfulness of the physical nature of life beckon us to take our heart walk less seriously. Television shows, songs on the radio, and even advertisements call out to us: “Physical comfort and pleasure are what is important!” How easy it is to believe!

A sense of God’s very real presence in the room with us is essential to begin to walk, act and think uprightly. Paul told the Philippians they were to “ever rejoice in the Lord” and “act in a gentle and reasonable way” because “the Lord is nearby” (Phil. 4:5). The writer of Hebrews called the early Messianic followers to “draw near to God” fully assured of God’s full satisfaction in the work of Messiah and His power to cleanse our sin once for all (Heb. 10:22).

The secret to acting rightly is thinking in a way that honors God. The secret to thinking rightly is perceiving God’s presence! Walking daily with the knowledge that He knows everything is less important than living with a moment-by-moment reminder that He intimately knows my thoughts and the intents of my heart – and He cares about each one! Nothing escapes His holy inspection. He is near! His loving presence should evoke the same desire we had as a child to please the watchful eye of our parent. It is not fear of retribution that motivates us; it is the joy of pleasing Him! His kindness leads us to repentance; His mercy leads us to a sweet walk with Him! Joshua could see it, and the realization of God’s real presence was the beginning of a heart journey that changed him!

Stage Five: Learning to Overcome the Need for Recognition (Num. 11:26-29)

Step by step, God used various situations to train Joshua while Moses was yet alive, until he eventually took on the leadership of the children of Israel. In the course of his leadership training, Joshua learned three great external qualities of Godly leadership: the “well-worn knees” of intercession, the “locked arms” of teamwork and the “trained ear” of perception. Yet, he could not lead the people of God until he experienced and mastered three great internal lessons that were firmly rooted in his heart. In our last study, we saw the inner need to recognize the close presence of God, and not quench the internal thirst for God in true worship encounters.

Another great lesson Joshua mastered was the conscious discipline of curbing his appetite for affirmation and recognition by his followers in order to feel more significant. It was the lesson of learning to find “true north” on the compass of direction, not falling into the trap of walking according to the compass of applause. Just as nothing can substitute for the intimate communion with God in worship encounters, nothing can cause a leader to stray more quickly than “believing his own press” and hungering for more self-praise.

The setting for this lesson is found in Numbers 11, part of the section that recalls the march from Kadesh Barnea to the “great and terrible” wilderness of Paran (10:11-12:16). During the journey God showed Himself faithful again to Moses in the request for Divine direction as they began the march. Moses asked God: “Do not leave us, I beg you. You comprehend exactly our problem of sojourning through this wilderness. Be our eyes for us!” (10:31) God answered with a cloud that led them each day they moved the camp (10:34). Moses was careful to acknowledge his need of Divine guidance with each move. Every time the camp was moved, the Holy Ark was moved ahead of the people. As it was taken up, Moses exclaimed, “Rise up, Lord, and let your enemies be scattered!” When the new camp was begun, the Ark was placed at rest to the sound of the words, “Return O Lord to the camp of Israel!” Moses graphically reminded the people of his daily dependence on God for direction, a wise move for any leader.

Despite Moses’ dedication, the people were easily drawn into complaining. The murmuring was a pain to the Lord’s ears, and no doubt caused pain and heartache for the leaders of the people as well. Moses was not untouched by the constant whining. The days were hot, the land was dry and the nights were often very cool. Nothing was ever clean. Nothing was ever convenient. Nothing was ever easy. It was a miserable place to fight for survival, and Moses was taking the people on a trek to their new home. Goals are not the stuff of the desert. Desert people quickly learn to expend as little energy as possible to survive. Yet, Moses pushed on.

The first group to squeal and crack under the pressure of the sun was the “rabble,” called in the King James Version “the mixed multitude” (Numbers 11:4; see also Exodus 12:381). This group included other Semites not part of the children of Israel. In fact, it was for this group God included the special condition that the Law given to Moses was to be carefully observed by the stranger in the midst of Israel, as it was observed by Israel itself (Ex. 12:49). This group began to clamor for a change of menu, complaining that the God of Abraham forced them onto a vegetarian diet! What was worse, they began to cry out to the children of Israel and remind them of the diet of Egypt, including the rather pronounced tastes of onions, garlic and leeks. Compared to the “Moshe Crocker Cookbook: 1,000 ways to serve manna” (see Num. 11:8 for great ways to serve it!), the Egyptian fish restaurant menus began to sound incredible (Numbers 11:5). The heat of the desert was thinly veiled in their complaint, “We are dried up! There is nothing but this manna!” (Num. 11:6)

Moses heard the complaints, and the weeping at night. It grieved him to the point that he wanted to quit. He turned to God and (swept by the complaining spirit that inhabited the camp) whined: “Why have I not found favor in your sight? Why did you place the burden of these people on me? Are these MY children that you should tell me to provide for them all … I cannot take more of this alone! If this is the way it must be, take me and kill me, this is too much! (Num. 11:10-15, my paraphrase).

God patiently answered Moses, and told him to get ready for God to answer the requests of the people. First, God told Moses to get the seventy elders of the people and gather with them at the Tabernacle, where God distributed the Spirit given to Moses upon the other leaders. This was an answer to the lonely feeling Moses had. Second, God told Moses to get the children of Israel prepared for a feast of meat that He was about to send upon them. God promised to send an abundance of meat that would overwhelm them until they were sick of it, a month long special of quail by the ton. When Moses heard that claim, he doubted saying, “Have you forgotten how many people are here?” (Num 11:21). God reminded Moses, “Are you saying this is too hard for Me?” Moses got the point and told the people to get ready.

Always true to His Word, God swept over the leadership council at the Tabernacle (Num. 11:25) and they began to openly proclaim God’s truths from their mouths. Even the two leaders that were not at the gathering (for reasons that are not given) – Eldad and Medad began to prophesy from the Lord in the midst of the camp. God’s spirit rested on them, and people took notice! A young man saw what was happening and ran to report to Moses at the Tabernacle. When the group heard the report, Joshua stepped forth and bid Moses, “Stop them, tell them to be quiet!”

Moses looked into the eyes of his young leader in training. He knew what was bothering him. He said to Joshua, “Are you envious of them for my sake? Josh, I wish all of Israel experienced the move of God’s Spirit in these prophesies!” (Num. 11:28-29, paraphrased).

Then quail came down like a flood on the plain, and the people scooped them up. Day and night for two days the people caught and cooked fowl. They were as overcome with quail as a mom on free shopping spree at the local grocery! There was no limit to how tightly the shopping cart was stuffed! Yet, their hard hearts did not melt with their full stomachs. God knew a lesson was in order, and He sent a sickness to draw the people back to Him (11:33).

What of the lesson to Joshua? Certainly he was loyal to Moses, and that was obvious from this account. He possessed the desire to protect Moses and to ensure his leadership. His motives were good. Yet, Moses possessed a quality that Joshua needed to understand and learn. Numbers 12:3 recalls, “Moses was a humble man, the most humble of his day!” When criticized by his own family, Moses did not feel the need to respond in kind. Joshua needed to understand this critical feature of a Godly leader. The truth that he needed to grasp: When we walk with God and truly care about what is on His heart, we need not defend ourselves. He is our refuge – His powerful arms shield us! When we thrash about to prove ourselves right under attack, we lose our God-ward focus.

The lesson revolved around the understanding of one word – “humility”. The Hebrew term2 was used twenty-four times in the Hebrew Bible, and was translated “meek” in the majority of them. The true meaning of humility can easily be obscured by our proud culture, however. Humility is not thinking poorly of one’s self – that is a poor self-image (and is a sin)! Humility is placing the needs and desires of others above one’s self! It is that quality that inspired great men and women of the Bible to go beyond measure for another. It was the quality that Paul recalled in the Messiah, who considered Heaven’s throne something that He could let go of, to put on the skin of a servant (see Phil. 2:1ff). It was the lesson of “other person centeredness”.

Akin to humility was the byproduct of other person centered thinking – security. Moses was not insecure in his leadership, for he knew in his heart it was bestowed and maintained by the Most High God. He did not feel the people made him their leader! He felt that God put him in the place of leadership, and God alone maintained his place. He was not intimidated by another’s giftedness, nor was he moved by self-protection. Moses had an abundant supply of God-given security, and the recognition of men was a distant second on his mind. How much Joshua needed this lesson to help transform his natural abilities into a Godly leader!

When the leader feeds his ego from the followers, he loses the strong sense that he serves God and not the followers. When they complain, he loses heart. Conversely, when the leader remembers that God placed him in the position, complaints by the flock drive the leader back to his Master, and strengthen his grip on the hand of God. Joshua needed to learn from one who was marked by the grip of a Powerful and Loving God!

Stage Six: Learning to See with the Eyes of Faith (Num. 13:16; 14:6-10; 14:38)

If you have followed the whole series of studies on the preparation of Joshua for leadership of the children of Israel, you are already aware that the lessons that Moses learned from the hand of God were as much for Joshua and Israel as for Moses. God included them in His Word as evidence that the lessons were much more than a simple personal encounter; they were a pattern for all of His followers that are fashioned by their living of Bible truth. Seven passages of Scripture include details of the God’s training camp, learning situations and challenges faced by Moses and observed by his deputy, the much younger Joshua.

We have examined three external qualities of Godly leadership: intercession, teamwork and perception. Next, we observed two of three internal lessons: constant recognition of the close presence of God and curbing the appetite for affirmation and recognition in order to feel more significant. Finally, we have come to the final step before Joshua cued in line for graduation and received his commission diploma. The third internal lesson was a most critical one – the lesson that gave Joshua the ability to see more than his contemporaries. This was the lesson of vision, the ability to see with eyes of faith.

There are a great many people who can identify problems and challenges. God has even gifted some with a naturally high sense of detail. These “gifted ones” are apt to find the mistakes in any product or plan, and are at their best in the “Quality Control Division” of the company. The same personalities are not normally the best people for the vision casting and brainstorming of the “Product Development Department”! They can identify the problem, and may even be able to suggest alternative engineering for the product, but they have a different skill set than a visionary planner. Vision requires seeing the product complete and working in the mind’s eye before the building is begun.

In the context of ministry leadership, vision is more than advanced insight and marketing savvy. Leadership of God’s people requires time spent in the presence of the Master, and a careful and sensitive ear to His Divine direction and desire. Beyond those qualities, God must build into a leader a specific vision of the work. Joshua learned about this invaluable tool of ministry in his first recorded espionage attempt, the entry of the spies into Canaan in Numbers 13. Let’s look more carefully at this well told account.

God spoke to Moses (13:1) and told him to send men to search the land of Canaan from the southern access (v. 17). The men were told to measure the size of the defending army (v.18), the terrain (v. 19), the measure of the walled embattlements and fortifications (v. 20) and the raw materials of the landscape that can aid in the plan of attack (v. 20). One additional request was given, though only a few of the spies seemed to hear it. They were to bring the “fruit of the land” (v. 20), as it was the time of the first harvest of grapes. This was the autumn of the year. After months of heat and no sign of rain, this was the beginning of God’s great miracle harvest in Israel, the grapes begun to ripen on the vines in un-watered vineyards!

In general, horticulturalists affirm that fruit will not form on trees or vines with less than the equivalent of seven inches of rainfall. This is the minimum required. Yet, after months of hot and dry weather in the central mountains of Israel (and not a single rain!), the Autumn landscape still yields marvelous grapes to this day! How is this possible? God brings the rain water in the form of heavy dew that crawls up the mountain slopes in a mist at night. We sat many nights watching the mist move across the landscape in my home on the edge of the Judean Wilderness. No special effect of Cecil B. DeMill’s “The Ten Commandments” was any more impressive than this “hand of God” fog that creeps slowly until the streetlamp outside was no longer visible. Today the night fog is a driving hazard, but the water is still essential for the formation of the grapes.

In the Joshua story, the children of Israel trekked through the “great and terrible wilderness” of Paran (v.3) and were accustomed to the surreal lunar-like dead and dry landscape. In Paran, no plant stands a chance. The land was possible to pass through, but never to inhabit. It is beyond dry, it is stripped of almost all life.

Stage Seven: Learning to Receive a Commission (Num. 27:12-23; 34:17; Dt. 1:38; 3:21; 31:3; 34:3)

Finally, graduation day came for the prepared Joshua! Moses led the people for 40 years, and God revealed the journey was over for him. Looking closely at the passage that recorded the rise of Joshua to leadership, we can see several important principles:

  1. The true leader of God learns to care more for the flock than his own life (Num. 27:12-17).
  2. The new leader should have the endorsement of the old one, it will ease the transition pains (Num. 27:18-20).
  3. The new leader needs to be established in the existing leadership structure (27:21-23).


[1] A careful study of the Apostle Paul’s journeys demonstrates the care with which Jews recalled this command. Nearing the end of the “Third Mission Journey” (see Acts 20:6ff) the Apostle was making his way from Macedonia to Jerusalem by way of the ships that skirt along the coasts of Asia Minor, stopping to change ships and offer greeting to the believers who knew him well in the region from previous ministry.

 

The Days of Unleavened Bread had passed (Acts 20:6) when Paul came to Troas to preach. The text of Acts 20:7 was translated in English (KJV): “And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread…” Dr. Charles Ryrie, in his study Bible, makes a note on the verse: “This became the regular day of worship for Christians in remembrance of Christ’s resurrection on Sunday.” Yet a closer look at this passage appears to reveal a completely different intent (RSB, p.1577).

The Greek of the passage (transliterated) says: “’En de te mia ton Sabbaton..” Even if you cannot read the Greek, you can see the word “Sabbath” in the Greek “Sabbaton”. The term for Sunday not only does not appear in the text, introducing it misses the point of the text. The KJV translator apparently understood Luke to be saying “on the first day after the Sabbath”, but this is a very awkward reading. Consider that Luke had carefully noted the Passover (and the adjacent Feast of Unleavened Bread) had passed. He then added (literal translation of the Greek): “On and the one of the Sabbaths”). The time was not a Sunday morning, but rather a night meeting (as was demonstrated by Eutychus’ untimely slumber (Acts 20:9)! Paul preached until morning (Acts 20:11).

It may well be that the writer was trying to convey the timing of the event as a Sabbath evening meeting at the time of the first of the Sabbaths after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Though Luke was a Gentile physician, his knowledge of Jewish observance is unassailed, and has led a number of scholars to conclude that Theophilus (the intended first recipient of his letters that today constitute the Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts) may have been a proselyte to Judaism before Luke communicated the Gospel to him. Jews count the Sabbaths between Passover and Pentecost, and the sermon of Paul at Troas was on the evening of the first Sabbath of the “countdown”.

[2] See Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, Prof. Amihai Mazar. Doubleday: The Anchor Bible Reference Library, 1992. Note pages 274-76 in reference to teraphim.

[3] Ibid, p. 286ff.

1 The Hebrew term is transliterated As-pes-oof’: meaning “multitude”; from the agricultural term in Hebrew “Aw-saf”- something that is gathered and stored (as in a harvest);

2 transliterated “aw-nawv”

Grasping God’s Purpose: “The Life Line” – Exodus 20:1-11

Out of the black night came the sound of a low muffle, as the helicopter swept across the open rice patty swooping low on top of the crouched soldiers.  The men were well behind enemy lines, and there was no opportunity to land to retrieve the team. The helicopter let down a gaggle of rope lines, and simply swept across the patty – allowing the soldiers to quickly stand and grab the rope as it passed by. It was a dangerous operation, but it was a practiced one for this special team. They knew the drill. When the rope hit the top of the rice stalks, they positioned themselves to grab hold. Whether in quiet or under enemy fire, they dare not let go once they grabbed hold. This was their lifeline to escape. They would come on board the copter later… for now they hung onto the lifeline.

In a way, because you and I were born into an ongoing war between God and the enemy, we need a lifeline stuck down here in the midst of cross fire – but God knew that. When God uncovered His law to Moses and then the Israelites, He did so through ten initial standards that set the whole program in motion. They were much more than simply God’s “top ten” – they were a life line to those who traveled through a harsh desert and into the land of promise. They were meant to accomplish three specific objectives – to connect the people to God; to connect appropriately people to each other; to set standards for governing our hearts within. We call them simply: “The Ten Commandments”.

The first four of these commands is fixed on our view of God Himself – a lifeline of vertical commands that helped every Israelite understand the IDENTITY and SANCTITY of the God they served. Knowing HIM and recognizing HIS PLACE was foundation for all other law. When a believer recognizes God as He is, he can relate to others and his inner life properly. How I treat others and how I deal with temptation issues are built ultimately on how I understand the person and character of God.

Key Principle: When we recognize God as He is, we will relate to others and my inner life as I should.

When God is understood, sin is defined. When God is NEAR, sin is PLAIN. When God is REVERED, sin is REVILED. As one man observed: “No man chooses evil because it is evil – he only mistakes it for happiness.” (Wollstonecraft).

 Before we move forward in the opening of the law, we should “explore the forest” surrounding it. We need to understand a few things about the whole picture of LEGAL CODE in the Torah (five books of Moses). It is essential that we recognize there are three essential codes of Hebrew Law – Civil Code (or rules for the camping trip through the desert for the forty years in the wilderness found in Exodus and Numbers); Criminal Code (or standards of atonement and restoration in light of constant violations before a Holy God found in Leviticus); Constitutional Code (laws to establish the Jewish people as a legal entity before God and then govern their behaviors under His regulation found in Deuteronomy). Within the codes of law (the structure from which our own American jurisprudence system is indirectly derived) we find both BLACK LETTER LAW (“basic standard elements for a particular field of law, which are generally known and free from doubt or dispute”) and CASE STUDIES (an intensive analogy that gives rise to a particular law or shows its specific application).

Within two of these codes of law (Civil and Constitutional) there are a CORE SET OF PRINCIPLES that set the tone for all of the governed behaviors, called the “Ten Commandments”. These were offered at two distinct times in Israel’s history – at Sinai when God was establishing the basis for the CIVIL CODE, and thirty-eight years later at the establishment of the CONSTITUTIONAL CODE (near Mt. Nebo) as Israel was about to enter, conquer, divide and settle the land of Canaan promised to Abraham long before.

Within the Ten Commandments, there were three kinds of CORE COMMANDS:

When we dig deeper into the specifics of the core commands, or “Ten Commandments”, we can easily identify three different objectives those commands were aimed at. These objectives emerge as what we will call a “type” of command. The three “types” of core commands shape in us three core value statements that determine how we make sense out of life and make our personal choices in life. The three are vertical commands, horizontal commands and contentment laws.

Vertical Commands (laws that govern how we are to relate to God above us).

First, commandments I-IV lay out how we must understand Who God is and how He fits in our lives. Those truths are the basis of all that we do. Letting God hold the central place in our lives keeps things from turning into gods. No one sets out with the intention of worshiping these things – but in our fallen condition they slowly, and almost imperceptibly they grow inside us and enthrone themselves. Someone may object and say, “Wait a minute, what if the person doesn’t believe in God? What if they are an atheist or an agnostic? How can you say how we understand God is at the foundation?” Well, think about it. An atheist believes there is no God – so they make all decisions about right and wrong – moral and immoral – on the basis of their own view of good and evil. They essentially serve themselves when it comes to morality. What makes sense to them becomes their standard. For an agnostic, though they claim they may believe in God, but cannot know if He is there – the net effect is the same. He serves a god of his own mind – and that satisfies him.

Horizontal Commands (laws to govern how we are to relate to other people beside us).

A second core value statement that determines our behaviors and choices can be found in our understanding of OTHER PEOPLE – and how we desire to live with them. Some scholars posit that commands V-VII are primarily about RELATIONSHIPS with other people in our community, and therefore are horizontal commands. The value statements found in these laws presuppose that because God placed us in the position of life and under the authorities of life we were born into, we should follow His commands about how best to respond. To reject our parentage is to reject His rule. To reject the sanctity of human life is to reject the sacredness of His breath in man. To violate the intimacy of another’s marriage is to diminish the promises and vows people make and use the sexual gift outside its especially purposed parameters. These are all horizontal commands – in that they press us to watch how we relate to others surrounding us, and we will study them in coming lessons.

Contentment Laws (laws to govern how we look at life from within us).

A third set of core value statements relates to how we govern our inner beings and control inner desires – commandments VIII-X. Each of these peek through our lives and demonstrate the underlying perspective  – particularly on how we view things that aren’t ours. When we say, “This is my stuff; I own it and it belongs to me.” We show that we don’t grasp the stewardship position God has placed us into. How we understand responsibility and delayed gratification. How we govern our heart and mind within – and how we govern our actions without. Contentment Laws include theft (Don’t use your HANDS to gain advantages I didn’t give you), integrity (Don’t use your TONGUE to gain unfair advantage) and coveting (Don’t focus on things that belong to someone else). These reveal how we govern ourselves as we walk through this life.

Before we plunge in, it is also worth noting that the Ten Commandments were repeated as they entered Canaan. God drove home the point that the covenant core civil codes were CONTINUED as they entered the land of Promise. Some were further amended and articles would be made to form the nation, but the core code of conduct would not be altered. – because it defined basic principles of civility from God’s perspective (which is ultimately the one that counts!).

Look at the first four commandments – they are all about our view of and personal relationship with God. This is wholly appropriate, because we are to love God first. . . Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart. . .” (Mark 12 is a repeat of Deuteronomy 6). These are the first commandments and the most important according to the Savior. Grasping these “VERTICAL COMMANDS” is essential to provide the foundation of our obedience.

Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The first standard is found in Exodus 20:2-3. It is wrapped in the words: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” One first pass, it may look as though God is fine with being FIRST IN LINE of a series of Gods – but that is too simplistic a reading. It is actually a statement regarding exclusivity.

Standard 1: Exclusivity: I have the absolute right to your undivided loyalty.

The opening standard is all about God’s right to my life, my priorities, my choices and my thoughts. Exodus 20:1 “Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.  These verses have essentially three specific point of obedience:

First, I must see the Lord God of Heaven as the One that has the right to govern my life (20:2,3). This is not a simple statement, because rebellion runs very deep within fallen men and women. We YEARN to be our own supreme. In this statement: “I Am the Lord your God!” the Lord employs the Divine name: Yahweh – “the One and only self-Existent and ever present One”. We saw this in Revelation 1:4 in a previous lesson.  The description of God the Father is familiarly described in as “the ever present One” – “He who was, is and is to come” seems to emphasize the same truth as found in Genesis 21:33 “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.” The ever-in-the-present God of Abraham keeps His promises. Because God exists outside of linear time – He is never caught making promises that “become too hard” to keep. His Word is secure. The first commandment is predicated on me understanding that God always IS – and in that way is He is above all, and fully knowledgeable of all. He is always there, and always knows – everything.

Dawson Trotman, the founder of the Christian organization “Navigators”, used to go to bed at 10:00. He did that because he got up early each morning to pray. When he was with someone, and 10:00 rolled around, he’d pass out magazines, and say “Folks, I’m going to bed. You can stay here as long as you want. I’ve got an appointment with God tomorrow morning and, frankly, my appointment with God is the most important thing in my life.

Second, I am commanded to recall the rescue He has performed for me as I consider the basis for His right as my Supreme. Because I DO forget, and God doesn’t – He reminds the believer (in principle) to look back at the work that He has done to draw them out of slavery and bondage from a past that was hopeless and lost. He owns me by Creation – but again by redemptive purchase!

Third, I am commanded to deliberately place Him first – at the supreme position in my choices as I walk through life. The construction of “Have no other gods before Me” can just as properly be translated BESIDE ME – and sometimes is. That is the portent of this truth – I will not compete for your attention in choices, morality, love, affection, etc. TRUE or FALSE: Most people have God in first place in their life. I think we know the answer without a sermon or a preacher. Most people serve themselves. Can you name some of the things that people put in God’s place today? How about money? Perhaps sports? How many would think it was pleasure? For some, it appears to be sex – they give inordinate attention to this function of their body. For still others it is their self affirmation found in their career. Still others find it in a girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse or child. Things we get fixated on are the center point of our worship – and God wants to be there.

In the early 1990’s, several university professors passed out copies of the 10 Commandments to students and asked them to arrange the commandments in order of importance. Over 90% of the students rearranged the commandments and placed the commandments dealing with man’s relationship with his fellow man above the commandments dealing with man’s relationship with his God. But the truth is this: Putting God first has to be the top priority if we’re going to live lives that are in harmony with the way he has put this world together. If you don’t have God first, it’s difficult not to want to steal something, or kill someone who’s done you wrong, or misuse God’s gift of sex. (sermon central illustrations).

Standard 2: Identity: Do not try to shape Me in to your understanding or box Me in to your molds (Ex. 20:4).

In time, you will start by representing Me with some image –  and end up substituting Me with something that you CONTROLLED AND PUT TOGETHER (20:5a). I am uniquely first in all of what is – and it cheapens Me to liken Me to a mere Creation I have made. You will be tempted to trade Me for some other person or object in your life. It will fail and bring troubles in your life and the family you have for generations (5b). Yet, if you follow Me, you offer a kindness for yourself and for many others (6)!

Dt. 5:8 ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9 ‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

This is perhaps the most common sin on the planet. It is far more pervasive than sexual perversion or theft – and it dwells in some insidious form is MOST of us – the RE-SHAPING OF GOD into a controllable and palatable size and shape. This is the sin that shows through when someone says: “My god would never send anyone to hell! He is loving and kind.” Those truths of God can be warped into thinking that He is not just and holy as well. They are as sure a re-shaping of God as the fashioning of a golden calf form at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

Standard 3: Regard My name as high and important! Do not use it without importance, nor swear by it falsely (7). I am listening!

God’s next standard has to do with not using His holy identity in a casual way – without its dues importance or by swearing by His name falsely (Ex. 20:7). God reminds: “I am listening!”

Dt. 5:11 ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 

The word “vain” (Hebrew: “shawv”) is from a form of the word to desolate or leave destroyed; often translated “false” or “empty” –  and is now translated “meaningless or worthless.” So to take someone’s name in vain is to empty their name of meaning or worth. It may be related to Jesus’ statement specifically in Matthew 12:36 “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” It is SURELY related in principle.

When we focus on the word “vain” then, it recalls something we hold as “meaningless or worthless”. Recently I asked a young person why they wrote OMG so often – it stands for OH MY GOD. They answered: “It is just an expression. It doesn’t really mean anything!” I pointed out then –as we should now – that is the VERY DEFINITION OF WHAT GOD SAID WE SHOULD NOT DO!  Don’t use His name in common speech as another form of expression – He is GREATER than that! God said this because His name is DISTINCT (holy). “Let them praise Your great and awesome name- it is holy.” (Psalm 99:3). God’s IDENTITY IS SUPREME, so His name is holy – the word holy means unique, distinct and in this case ABOVE.

In 1977, George Burns and John Denver starred in the movie “Oh God!” The film depicted God as appearing to an assistant manager of a grocery store as a fun loving old man, and “God” selected the employee as his modern messenger to the world. Carl Reiner thought the title was funny. The fact is that it is now an empty expression of daily speech – devoid of any real meaning.

Standard 4: Ownership as Foundation: My boundaries are the ones that matter – since everything was created by Me for My purpose.

Genesis 1:1-2:3 opens with a  story of seven days – not actually a “Creation” account. It is formed around God making everything, and purposing everything. The Biblical logic is this: “Since I made everything and gave everything its original design and purpose – remember it is all for whatever I have said it is for.” That expose on created things ends on a boundary God set for work – simply called the Sabbath. It is as though God said “Take time to stop, reflect and evaluate on your life and accomplishments with regularity. Stop when I say stop. Present yourself to Me and offer yourself anew. Do not neglect this (8-11).”

Dt. 5:12 ‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 ‘You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

The Sabbath (Hebrew: shabbat) is literally translated “rest” or “cessation of normal activities”. Originally mentioned in Genesis 2:1-3, the observance of the Sabbath day is first mentioned in the book of Exodus 16:23, when the children of Israel were in the desert.  It became a symbol of the Covenant relationship between the children of Israel and the God of Abraham given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Though part of the observance of the Sabbath a day was rest and refreshment before God, it also a day of holy assembly or worship unto Him (Leviticus 23:3). In addition, it served as a constant reminder of God’s continued covenant with Israel (Ezekiel 20:12), and was later applied as a reminder to them that God had delivered them from Egyptian slavery.  The Israelites were expected to keep it with such seriousness that Sabbath breakers were to be stoned to death.  No fire was kindled and no sticks were gathered (labor associated with other days of the week).   The prophets considered proper observance of the Sabbath day as a litmus test of obedience to God. They argued that it directly affected the success and standing of the people of Israel and Jerusalem, or their downfall and decay of the city of Jerusalem.  In that way they considered the Sabbath observance as a thermometer for the spiritual condition of the Israelites (Jeremiah 17: 19-27; Nehemiah 13: 15-22, Isaiah 58:13, Ezekiel 20:12,24, 22:8).

The term Sabbath was not only used for the 7th day of the week and also for special observance days, feasts and periodic observance years. The day of Atonement was referred to as a Sabbath (Leviticus 23:32), Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:7,8), and the seventh year in the growing cycle (Sabbatical year). These were prescribed for the Hebrews and included foreigners who dwelt among the Israelites, called those who “drew near to cleave to the God of Israel”. The Sabbath year of rest for the land was observed after six years, Leviticus 25:4, “But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.”

In the limited time we have today, let’s recall that although the Sabbath was a unique command to Israel “for all their generations” and was not a command given to those who came to Jesus who are not Jewish. Paul offered two totally different standards of obedience for the Jew and Gentile believer. I realize that many would disagree with me, but I cannot reconcile all the texts of Scripture consistently any other way.

  • The mere fact that certain letters were addressed specifically to Jews in the Christian Scriptures (James 1:1; Hebrews 1) demonstrated that the early church understood the lifestyle issues and practices of the Jewish and Gentile believers were not identical.
  • In short, I believe a pivotal teaching of the Spirit is found in 1 Cor. 7:18-20. God says through Paul’s pen to be what God called me to be. If I was of the circumcision, remain so (implying a Jew can remain keeping the standard of the Torah). If I am called of God from uncircumcision, REMAIN so. I am not to seek after a change in what God made me, but to rest in Him for salvation, and walk in Him according to which calling I came to Him in. Gentiles come to Israel and often start trying to “act like Jews”, which neither reaches their loved ones back home, nor impresses Jewish people. It becomes a novelty, but draws no one to Messiah. In the end, most give it up after the newness wears off. We need to celebrate the person God created us to be, Jew or Gentile, and walk according to the identity He gave us!

The principle of Sabbath, however, applies to all believers. Sometimes MORE is LESS. We need to be careful to regularly, purposefully, deliberately STOP – reflect – and worship.

All he ever really wanted in life was more. He wanted more money, so he parlayed inherited wealth into a billion-dollar pile of assets. He wanted more fame, so he broke into the Hollywood scene and soon became a filmmaker and star. He wanted more sensual pleasures, so he paid handsome sums to indulge his every sexual urge. He wanted more thrills, so he designed, built, and piloted the fastest aircraft in the world. He wanted more power, so he secretly dealt political favors so skillfully that two U. S. presidents became his pawns. All he ever wanted was more. He was absolutely convinced that more would bring him true satisfaction. Unfortunately, history shows otherwise. [He] concluded his life … emaciated; colorless; sunken chest; fingernails in grotesque, inches-long corkscrews; rotting, black teeth; tumors, innumerable needle marks from drug addiction. Howard Hughes died,… believing the myth of more. He died a billionaire junkie, insane by all reasonable standards [Bill Hybels, “Power: Preaching for Total Commitment,” Mastering Contemporary Preaching (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1989), 120-121].

Why did God demand Sabbath? Because it was a boundary that forced people to recall that THIS IS NOT THE ONLY WORLD THEY LIVE IN. They are not primarily PHYSICAL BEINGS. Men and women are PRIMARILY SPIRITUAL BEINGS with a few moments of PHYSICAL LIFE. God demands my focus to turn to the right place. He said: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15 (NIV). Remember, most of what you are engaged in on the earth is a part of the world that I will leave behind when I die. That isn’t true about my walk with God – nor my understanding of Him. When I recognize God as He is, I will relate to others and my inner life as I should. How I treat others and how I deal with temptation issues are built ultimately on how I understand the person and character of God.

The End of the World: “Seven Deadly Sins” – Revelation 2-3

They have been called the “Seven Deadly sins”. Solomon wrote In the Book of Proverbs: “six things the Lord hates, and the seventh His soul detests, namely: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief, a deceitful witness that utters lies, and he that sows discord among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19). Later, in Church History, “The Seven Deadly Sins” became known as the Capital Vices or in Latin theology the “Cardinal Sins”. These vices that have been recalled since early Christian times to instruct the church concerning fallen humanity’s sin nature. The currently recognized version of the list is usually given as wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. No matter how you slice it – we have always known there is a SIN PROBLEM in the world. To naively believe that most people are “basically good” is to show you have a VERY LIMITED life experience.

Coming back to our study in Revelation, we see the sin problem as it affected seven churches of the time of the Apostle John – at the end of the first century. It was now more than fifty-five years from the time of Jesus’ death and Resurrection. We have noted already that John wasn’t writing to individual believers, but to churches that were characterized by sin problems. Though that was true, it was equally true that each church was made up of believers that individually struggled – just as we do today.

Key Principle: There are sinful choices that can cripple believers and churches. We must identify the dangers, and deliberately choose to walk away from the temptations.

The letters as they appear in chapters two and three were sent to seven literal churches in the order of the postal route. They are perhaps easier to recall if you use the teaching device Dr. Howard Hendricks taught his students years ago. Repeat and learn the phrase: “Everybody Sing Please That Sounds Pretty Lovely”. The seven messages were loaded with information each city could recognize from its own history and experience, and it would be great if we had the time to share all of the history we cover on our trips to the seven churches. In the end, what will fulfill our purpose for today is NOT a complete study of the places and letters, but a brief look at each to ask a simple question: What is the sin problem here and how does it woo believers today? We will not avoid what we don’t identify as a problem. That is the reason for SPEED BUMP warnings, POT HOLE signs and WET PAINT notices.

Each of the seven letter is broken down into the same details:

  • The name of the city is given first. Next there is an identification of Jesus that is significant to that city. For instance, to Smyrna – an archaic city that lay in ruins by the C5th BCE and was DEAD but later reborn under Antigonus in the C4 BCE – Jesus introduced Himself as the One who was DEAD and is now ALIVE!
  • The praise for the church is given. Usually it is a simple statement of Jesus KNOWING something about the struggle of the church. For example, to Ephesus, Jesus said He knew their patience, and the purity in their struggle with the Nicolaitines.
  • The indictment or instruction usually follows the praise. An example of this would be in the case of Pergamon, where Jesus said: “Some are in the error of Balaam and Balac and still others are overtaken in the error of the Nicolaitines.” It is from this section that we will discover the sin problems in this lesson.
  • The letters also include the penalty or promise given to the church based on their sinful practices or resistance to them. Things like “a white stone of acquittal” or “hidden manna” are offered for their obedience.

Look at the pat of each letter that bears out the SIN ISSUES. What were the seven hindrances that can become deadly sins for God’s people? Each church has one, and every believer faces them.

Hindrance #1: Neglected Priorities – When we don’t place our heart for God above all else.

The letter to the church of Ephesus is found in Revelation 2:1-7. It is worth noting that as a city, the sun was setting on the prosperous port of Ephesus, and all that was left was a trinket trade and tourism to the Wonder of the Artemission – a temple to the goddess of LOVE – an old shrine on the cliff above the city. To that mother of the churches of Asia Minor, John was instructed to dictate a letter from Jesus that said:

2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: … 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. …”

They left their first love. They began in love with the Savior – worshipping, thanking, praising and sharing because of HIM. WHAT BEGAN AS A PASSION became a PROGRAM. The issue was NOT a lack of vigilance against error (2:2), it was not a matter of endurance (2:3), nor acceptance of popular trends (2:6) – the issue was a heart for God. Without that heart – God’s church set aside the essential fiber that held it together, AND DRONED ON WITHOUT ITS PASSION THAT OFFERED ITS PURPOSE.

How does that happen to a church? How does it happen to an individual believer? There are several ways.

  • We can forget whose pleasure our life is for. We must stand against the current of spiritual drift and seek the Lord’s pleasure first in every situation. Currents will pull strongly to self satisfaction – but the focus of the believer is to be the pleasure of the Lord.
  • It can also happen by getting caught up in PROGRAM CREEP. We start to measure our walk with God and our work for God – instead of gauging our passion FOR God Himself.

Jesus offered a three-fold prescription:

  1. Remember – recognize what we have left behind (2:5).
  2. Repent – change our mind in a way that leads to a change of action (2:5).
  3. Return – restore the old works by turning back (2:5).

Surprisingly, the answer isn’t to QUIT WORKING but to go back to the reasons we were working in the first place.

Hindrance #2: Fear of Opposition – When we pull back on our witness for fear the reactions will be painful.

Forty miles north, the city that sat upon a hill that appeared as a crown above the harbor of Smyrna, but her church was afraid of the rising tide of persecution (Revelation 2:8-11). John recorded Jesus’ words:

2:8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: .. 10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life…”

The church of Smyrna was gripped with fear. Jesus knew their physical troubles and material needs (2:9), as well as the persecution by other religious people (2:9). Instead of promising the church a FREE RIDE in the coming days – Jesus warned the people of coming persecution. He said:

  • New imprisonments will be ordered (2:10)
  • New troubles are ordained to arrive (2:10)
  • Some would be martyred (2:10)

How do believers face the fear of rising ANTI-CHRIST waves that seem to be growing in strength and severity? Even more, how do believers face the harsh reality that many are, right now, suffering severely for the cause of Christ?

First, remember that COMPLAINING was not to be the church’s water mark – so we need to check the whining. Second, we need to remember that this is not our permanent home. Believers must constantly reinforce Heaven as our home and spiritual warfare as our constant companion.

A church that is focused on creating the kingdom on earth will be tempted to lose its edge in seeing this as a temporary situation.

Hindrance #3: Compromise of Principles – When we join the corps of the unfaithful because we feel they are stronger.

From Smyrna, an hour and a half’s drive north along the coast will take us to the ruins of the once impregnable cliff city of Pergamum. The warnings against her church included the strong rebuke that the tolerance of error was eroding the truth to a dull and compromised lump.

2:12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: … 14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth… “

A careful look at the Balaam and Balak story would recall a “prophet for hire” (Num 22-24), a story that offered the warnings of a compromise of life (cp. 2 Pet 2:15; Jude 11). Suffice it to say that two kinds of false teaching were being offered to people based on the paycheck offered to their clergy:

  • Seductive teachings that drew weak away in forbidden food and immoral practices. These appear to have been focused on Christian “liberties” without restraint.
  • Mysticism of the Nicolaitians – accepting intimate revelations given privately and replacing the hierarchy of the priesthood with a new “Spirit chosen one”. The bottom line was they lacked objective accountability.

Believers that want to do things “hanging over the edge” into the world without any accountability are abundant – but every growing believer needs to beware.

Hindrance #4: Tolerating Immorality – When we allow immoral actions to continue unchecked because we don’t want to cause conflict.

If we headed from Pergamum, another sixty miles inland, we would reach the great ancient city of the Hephaestus metal workers guild and temple at Thyatira. These were believers in desperate need of the message of purity from the one whose eyes were flames and feet were fine brass.

Look at the six descriptive phrases of what was GOOD about this church in Revelation 2:19:

  • I know your deeds – it was a working church.
  • and your love – it was a church with a heart.
  • and faith – it was a Biblically focused church.
  • and service – it was a need focused church.
  • and perseverance – it was a steady and enduring church.
  • and that your deeds of late are greater than at first – it was a growing church.. sadly, it was a church about to get crushed under the weight of sin:

2:18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: .. 20 ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ..”

The deadly sin is mentioned in Revelation 2:20. The issue wasn’t their instigation of immoral teaching – it was their TOLERATION of it. Look closely at the term in 2:20: (af-ee’-ay-mee: apó, “away from” and hiēmi, “send”) – properly, send away; release (discharge). Essentially, they didn’t CUT OFF the cancer, but let it grow larger and more pronounced.

We need to check ourselves carefully: Many would rather experience God rather than study his word. Many would rather worship God or fellowship with other believers than sit under biblical teaching- unless it was tailored to felt needs…. Ahab said about Micaiah, God’s faithful prophet in 1Ki 22:8 “I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad”. Jezebel prophets prophesy only good thingspeace and prosperity (Jer 23:14-17). They never prophesy judgment. It is unbalanced, unbiblical and wrong.

When believers tolerate immoral actions allowing them to continue unchecked because we don’t want to cause conflict – they kill truth and rob hope.

Hindrance #5: Spiritual Apathy – When we allow the weakness to spread unchecked by vigilance and defense of the truth.

Chapter three opens with a letter that went to the next postal route city – another two hours by modern bus today, traveling to the southeast. The proud revived city of Sardis was chastised for its pride by the One who died, and was raised again.

3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3 ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. …”

Sardis was one of the great cities of the ancient world, the capital city of a great empire. The Greeks referred to it as the greatest of all cities. In the previous letters, “I know thy works” had been a comforting phrase – HERE THERE WAS NOT. Here, Jesus pointed out that their reputation was different than their reality. They LOOKED strong, but they were WEAK.

They remembered the past and were complacent about the present – presuming on the future: When a church lives in the past, its reputation and its history, that church is dead. When a church is more concerned with form and ritual that church is dead. When a church is more concerned about church activities than that God be glorified through those activities, it is dead. When they try to grow and hold on to people, they become self focused. When it is more material than spiritual, it is dead.

Believers have the same temptation – look back to a former commitment, and breeze through a retirement from our faith. Vigilance is the opposite of apathy – not simply action.

The 4,000-mile-long Great Wall of China was built to keep invaders from the north. The first wall was constructed by Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China, who lived between 259 – 210 BC. But is AD 1644 the Manchus broke through the Great Wall and overran China. They did this by bribing a general of the Ming dynasty to open the gates. As Christians, we must be vigilant that nothing breaches our spiritual defenses. Even the most mature believer can never afford to let down his guard. (A-Z illustrations).

Hindrance #6: Dwindling Stability – When we won’t push to deliberately build the body of believers.

Twenty-seven miles southeast of Sardis was the earthquake battered community at Philadelphia who was promised that faithful believers could be an eternal strong pillar in God’s Temple.

3:7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: …8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. …”

Faithful, but barely hanging on – that is the truth behind thousands of churches and literally MILLIONS of anemic and sickly Christians. Have you seen them?

  • Alzheimer’s Christian: Remembers only selectively what God has done before, but fails to be able to connect with what may be happening in the Kingdom around him today.
  • Autistic Christian: Stuck on a phrase and often inappropriate in responses. Unable to connect to anyone that has no special training to understand them.
  • Epileptic Christian: Not in control of all energies expended. Seems passionate but strangely disconnected from the body, randomly expending great energy not directed by any leadership or head.
  • Leprous Christian: Unfeeling toward other parts of the body and infectiously causing a spreading numbness of insensitivity that kills good growth.
  • Obese Christian: Ready to sit and eat with no real intent to get up and DO anything, they become expert food critics of the messages they hear.
  • Burned Christian: Because of an experience that often has nothing to do with the current body they are in, they are in constant need of careful handling and touchy care.
  • Anorexic Christian: Unable to see themselves as God says they are, they continue to self inspect for every flaw, totally overtaken in their own issues.
  • Heart Diseased Christian: Unable to function normally because of other contributing behaviors that have weakened their endurance.

Hindrance #7: Luxury Distraction – When we focus so much on this world’s comfort, we forget this isn’t the real world.

Finally, the church set on the ridge between the hot spring cliffs of Pammukale and the snow caps of the Taurus mountains, the distracted city of Laodicea was chastised for offering a half hearted commitment to God while their focus was on themselves!

3:14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked…”

Here we are, the modern believer in the west. We own many Bibles, but seldom really read any of them. We have hundreds of choices for church families – but we only go if there is something we are really encouraged by. There are lots of opportunities to serve Jesus in our community – but we cannot fit it in between the sports we play and the sports we watch. There are incredible numbers of places to share the Gospel – but there is little time because our Facebook friends need to know what we are cooking for dinner tonight. We love the children of our community – but teaching them God’s Word would take time from seeing my friends in church. We love ministry – if someone could just put it together for us and let us come. …You see, we are BUSY people. We are TIRED people. We are IMPORTANT people – at the center of our world. We seek COMFORT – not commitment. We seek PLEASURE – not persistence in the tough things.

Here we are facing the hindrances of obstacles to follow God. They are sinful choices and fallen practices.

  • I don’t always place my heart for God above all else.
  • I pull back on my witness for fear of the reactions.
  • I am tempted to join the unfaithful because they seem stronger.
  • I tolerate immorality because I don’t want to fight everything.
  • I get apathetic the truth.
  • I don’t push to deliberately build the body of believers.
  • I focus too much on this world’s success and pleasure and forget this isn’t the real world.

I am a modern Christian. There are sinful choices that can cripple believers and churches. We must identify the dangers, and deliberately choose to walk away from the temptations.

“Learning to discern the best path – Part Two” – Philippians 2

We have all been there – the choice between two paths. Robert Frost immortalized the process in his twenty line poem, “The Road Less Taken”. The ending five lines describe looking back:

I shall be telling this with a sigh  
Somewhere ages and ages hence:         
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—     
I took the one less traveled by,           
And that has made all the difference.

Obviously the choice of the path we take has everything to do with where we end up. Obviously, choosing the wrong path is perilous. What is true for our career path is also true for our walk with God. For Paul the Apostle, he chose to follow Jesus and spread the Gospel. He ended up in house arrest near the Tiber River in Rome, where he awaited a meeting with the Roman Emperor to plead his case. Some concluded that Paul made a wrong turn, and they were not afraid to say so. Yet, they were very wrong. God was at work! While waiting, he heard about the problems of the small church enclaves that dotted the Empire at Christianity’s infancy. He prayed for the believers and their struggles. He sought God on their behalf. God’s answer came in the form of a revelation of truth that Paul needed to share with the church.

The letter can easily be divided into three parts: First, the Prayer of the Church Planter (1:1-11) – where Paul showed believers how they could lose frustration and gain a positive heart. Next, the Prescriptions of the Church Planter (1:2-4:9) – where Paul showed believers how to learn to discern the best path. At the end of the letter, Paul demonstrated the Pattern of the Church Planter (4:10-23) –unlocking constant encouragement secrets.

Our last study left us in the middle of the “Prescriptions” section. Paul offered three treatments in what has become the first chapter of the letter.

  • Treatment #1: He offered vision – He helped people see that God was doing things on a broader plain:
  • Treatment #2: He demonstrated transparency – Paul shared with his spiritual family the struggles he faced, and that with honestly:
  • Treatment #3: He drew them together – He  let the team know that standing together was the secret to standing strong.

Our study this time will add yet TWO MORE treatments to the package. All of the treatments flow from a single principle…

Key Principle: Careful attention to choosing the right path is essential to getting you to your desired destination!

Paul added more to the series of treatments for their problems.

Treatment #4: He pointed out clear standards – Paul presented to the believers the “bench marks” of obedience they can follow. On this occasion, Paul offered two to the believers at Philippi.

Humility as a Bench Mark of Obedience: “Other person centeredness” was the standard modeled by our Savior. A benchmark is a tem borrowed from Mathematics and particularly from the work of Surveying that is defined as “a mark on a stone post or other permanent feature, at a point whose exact elevation and position is known: used as a reference point in surveying.” Paul offered two FIXED MEASURES of obedience to the Philippians, the first was HUMILITY.

Humility is defined differently in our culture than in our Bible. In our culture it is “the quality of being modest, and respectful”, derived from the Latin word for “from the earth”, or “low” (derived from humus, or earth). It can be an “aw shuks” quality of feeling low or insignificant. Biblically speaking, it is something far from that. Humility in the Bible is OTHER PERSON CENTEREDNESS. It is that quality of losing one’s self in something greater than self directed thought. It is thinking of another because they are more important that you to you.

Jesus was HUMBLE. He didn’t think He was less than God said of Him. He wasn’t LOWLY in the sense of misunderstanding His own importance. He was OTHER PERSON CENTERED in His actions – therefore humble. Paul used that truth to reveal something that is only offered in a shadow elsewhere in Scripture: That Jesus consciously chose to come to die for us in a dialogue with the Father BEFORE He put on skin in the form of a baby. The clearest place to see this is the text of Philippians 2. Paul’s point was that they should : “Fill out the joy you have begun in me by becoming servants one of another. Look at Jesus’ model of emptying Himself and adopt His way of thinking about yourselves. In obedience, show His changes in your life reverently, knowing that God can change multiply your work and even change your heart.

Here is the uncut version from the Word: (2:1-4). 2:1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Take these verse apart and you will see the incredible truth of what Jesus chose to do.

First, Paul opened with a series of “ifs” that all have affirmative answers. There IS encouragement in Christ. There IS consolation of love from Him. There IS fellowship in and of God’s Spirit. There IS affection and compassion that believers share because of their ONENESS in Messiah. All these “ifs” can be read as “BECAUSE THERE IS…” In light of God’s lifting, loving, bonding together – Paul called on the people JOIN THEIR THINKING TOGETHER – BE OF ONE MIND.

How would that unity look in a practical way? Would everyone like the same things, choose the same desserts and music? NO… but they would STOP BEING SELFISH. The opposite of selfishness was Biblical humility.

Selfishness is never seen more clearly than a spirit of entitlement. Fiona Smith, in her blog wrote these words in 2007: ”Although born in Britain, I lived for many years in South Africa, with all its massive social problems. So when I finally ‘came home’ a few years ago I had little patience with people who moaned and complained about poor housing, transport, policing, education and healthcare. When I pointed out that compared to many other parts of the world we have it good, I was told, bluntly, that in Britain ‘we deserve more.’ The American constitution defines certain ‘inalienable rights’, while the British social welfare system sets out to deliver them. We live in an age of entitlement. We demand and expect a certain standard of living: a good house, a decent education, an above-inflation salary, streets free of crime and grime, must-have appliances, designer décor, fashionable clothes, continental holidays… And why not? We’re British. We deserve it….Psychologists and sociologists are linking this sense of entitlement to the rise in violent crime and inappropriate social behavior. If we don’t get what we think we deserve – materially and emotionally – we are easily overcome by a sense of injustice. And this can bubble over into rage: date rage; road rage; sports rage; shopping rage; parking rage … spiritual rage? ….When I was at university a young man called Graeme was very active in our Christian Union. Like Jacob, he struggled with God, and I was drawn by his passion and refusal to let go until God blessed him. But one day he just gave up and pinned his reasons for doing so to the Christian Union notice board. I wish I’d kept a copy of his declaration of the death of God. But I remember the opening sentence: ‘This is why I no longer believe in God.’ Graeme went on to list a series of promises that God had made in His word, promises that Graeme held on to, believed in and prayed for, and how they failed to materialize in his life. ‘There are only two possible conclusions I can make,’ said Graeme (and I paraphrase), ‘either there’s something wrong with me or there’s something wrong with God. I know that I’ve done everything I can, so I’ve kept up my side of the bargain, but God has not come through on His. I can only conclude that God has lied, and seeing God can’t lie, this leads me to the inevitable conclusion that He cannot really exist.’ Graeme left soon after that, and I have no idea what happened to him. I can only pray that he realizes there was a third conclusion he didn’t consider: that his understanding of God’s promises might have been wrong.”

What Graeme didn’t understand was that he was not equal with God, and he was not ENTITLED to anything… but that is not our culture. We live in a culture where the soloist better be ME or I quit the church choral group. My child better be highlighted in the bulletin or I will let you know how deeply hurt I was.

We must demonstrate HUMILITY by demonstrating the UNSELFISH BEHAVIOR called up by Paul as a bench mark of obedience.

Paul then carted out the best picture of this behavior EVER on the planetthe picture of what Jesus did for us. Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Paul didn’t make the Philippians WONDER about what humility looked like. He opened the door to show us a room that was long hidden by God… the room of the discussion between Jesus and His Heavenly Father before the Incarnation.

  • Jesus had the conscious attitude of other person centeredness before He had a human body (2:5-6).
  • Jesus existed in completion on the throne of God Most High and made a conscious choice (2:6).
  • Jesus deliberately “emptied Himself” – a state of self imposed limitation – to redeem us (2:7).
  • His act of humility was in meeting a need for our salvation through His death (2:8)

After Paul assured his readers that God accepted and honored the sacrifice of Christ as the Preeminent One, he returned to his main point. They were to work out the salvation they received from God through accepting Jesus, by changing their behavior that was so naturally inclined to think of SELF FIRST.

A youth minister was attending a Special Olympics where handicapped children competed with tremendous dedication & enthusiasm. One event was the 220-yard dash. Contestants lined up at the starting line, & at the signal, started running as fast as they could. One boy by the name of Andrew quickly took the lead, & was soon about 50 yards ahead of everybody else. As he approached the final turn he looked back & saw that his best friend had fallen & hurt himself on the track. Andrew stopped & looked at the finish line. Then he looked back at his friend. People were hollering, “Run, Andrew, run!” But he didn’t. He went back & got his friend, helped him up, brushed off the cinders. And hand in hand, they crossed the finish line dead last. But as they did, the people cheered, because there are some things more important than finishing first.

That is a picture of what Jesus did. Though a VICTOR, He became a SERVANT. That is the picture of what we are called to become, but this is not all.

Tranquility as a Bench Mark of Obedience: “Calm reasonableness” was the attitude they were called to exhibit consistently. There was a second BENCH MARK – and it is found in how we handle the pressures of daily life, and the stresses of interpersonal relationships one with another. Paul wrote:

Phil. 2:14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. 18 You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

Someone has written: “On the seventh day God rested….and on the eighth day God started answering complaints.” Some days it feels like that may be true – even when you are serving God. It is easy to get negative, isn’t it?

Someone else astutely observed: Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Paul unfolded the simple truth: We need to work together without verbalizing all our selfish immaturity. We need to LIFT the discussion above whining – so that we can be SHINING EXAMPLES of what God wants to show. Let me offer this rule: “If you KNOW you are not an example of what God wants others to see, don’t verbally criticize others who are trying to be!”

Treatment #5: He fleshed out teachings on unity: Paul shared his camaraderie with others in the service of Jesus

From the end of Philippians 2, it is possible to identify at least four tests that help us know where we stand on fleshing out UNITY in the body of Christ.

The first was the CONCERN TEST:

Philippians 2:19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.

First, it was an effort to send Timothy. Departing was not simple. That in itself should remind us that if believers are walking together as they should be – church hopping will not be simple. Parting should hurt, and take effort.

Second, note that the term “kindred spirit” (isopsyxos) is literally “equal-soul (identity)” shown in Spirit led believers who treat the moral weight of a matter similarly – with the same “right conviction”. It is used in 2 Pet 1:1 as “equally precious” or “like precious faith”. This issue is this: We stand in unity when we identify with those who have the same concerns and moral principles.

The concern test is this: Am I deeply concerned for other believers in my service to the King? Do we share the same moral precepts and critical areas of concern in life choices?

The second akin to it is the COOPERATION TEST:

Phil. 2:21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. 23 Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me; 24 and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly.

First and foremost, the cooperation test is about the ability to practically serve one another. Those who serve their own interests were fickle when times were hard. They were at one time with the Apostle – and then defectors when self benefit ran its course. We must be ever so careful not to allow self interest to dictate our involvement. Where do you hear it? “I’m not going to that, because I don’t feel like it really touches me, or meets my need!” Could it be that it meets a need in someone else for you to be a part of it?

Pastor Newland wrote these words, and I found them helpful: “Do you ever ask yourself on Sunday morning, “Why am I going to church? Am I going because I feel I owe a debt to God, so I’m trying to pay it back? Or because I’m carrying a heavy burden that I hope will be lifted? Or because I like the music & the fellowship & even the preaching? Why am I going?” Why should we go? Well, if we’re genuinely interested in others, the church becomes a training ground where we learn how to help one another. So when you come to church, be on the lookout. Over there is a mother with both hands full, trying to herd her kids through the door. Maybe she could use your help. Or you’re sitting near a guest, here for the first time. Introduce yourself & tell them, “I’m glad you came.” And let them know that if we can help them in any way to grow in their faith, that’s why we’re here. Or when you look at the prayer list, & learn of someone who is having a difficult time – get a card & write them a note, & let them know that you’ll be praying for them. Or if someone you know is struggling with a heavy burden of grief or loss, hold their hand, & maybe weep with them. Just let them know that you care.”

Second, it is also worth noting that the work of Timothy was advancing the Gospel by serving the one that God called to lead him. He served Jesus by serving Paul. Cooperation, not an entrepreneurial self adventure, was the evidence of God’s building up of Timothy to a worthy help in the Kingdom. Tim bent his life around what God was doing in and through Paul – not expecting Paul to conform a program to himself. Those who desire to learn should work to change their lives to conform to the offerings of the trainer – launching out more slowly and helping with greater fervency.

The cooperation test is this: Am I willing to practically serve those who God has put before us to lead us to maturity?

The third is the COMMITMENT TEST:

Phil. 2:25 But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; 26 because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you.

We are living in a generation that hate responsibilities and ignore commitments. Say anything you want about Epaphroditus, you cannot argue that he was uncommitted to the work. Paul called him a BROTHER, a FELLOW LABORER, a FELLOW SOLDIER, a MESSENGER and a MINISTER. No wonder he almost died. The guy had so many jobsin the ministry, he couldn’t fit them on his Latin business card. Saving Epaphroditus’ life was a genuine prize to Paul who was worried he would be buried in administration and service if his companion died! Paul would have lost a right arm in ministry, and been sorrowful and weighted down. Paul sent him (presumably with the letter we are now studying) to assure people their prayers were answered for his restoration to health.

So often we forget those whose commitment means so much! One man asked his friend “By whose preaching were you converted?” The man replied, “NOT BY ANYONE’S PREACHING, BUT BY MOTHER’S PRACTICING.”

The commitment test is simple: “Will they miss me if I am gone?” If there would be no functional change in the body of believers because of your absence, something is desperately wrong with your commitment – and that is burning a wound in the unity of the body.

The fourth is the CONSIDERATION TEST:

Phil. 2:29 Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; 30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.

People that want unity are unafraid to honor other people. Selfish and immature believers are defensive about God’s blessing on others in their ministry works for Him. Paul directed they hold Epaphroditus in HIGH REGARD – because of the effective work he did for filling in the gap of aid to Paul. The terms “high regard” are a translation of éntimos (an adjective derived from “en” or  “in,” intensifying “timḗ” or “attributed honor”) – it is properly hold in honor, cherish, hold precious or hold in a condition of personal respect.

The consideration test is this: “Do I esteem greatly those who are working in all the areas of ministry that service our community?”

Before we go, it is worth recalling that unity is not a “pie in the sky ideal” … it was revealed to be practiced. Chuck Swindoll wrote these words: “Imagine, if you will, that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad. So he says to you and the other trusted employees, “Look, I’m going to leave. And while I’m gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business. You manage things while I’m away. I will write you regularly. When I do, I will instruct you in what you should do from now until I return from this trip.” Everyone agrees. He leaves and stays gone for a couple of years. During that time he writes often, communicating his desires and concerns. Finally he returns. He walks up to the front door of the company and immediately discovers everything is in a mess–weeds flourishing in the flower beds, windows broken across the front of the building, the gal at the front desk dozing, loud music roaring from several offices, two or three people engaged in horseplay in the back room. Instead of making a profit, the business has suffered a great loss. Without hesitation he calls everyone together and with a frown asks, “What happened? Didn’t you get my letters?” You say, “Oh, yeah, sure. We got all your letters. We’ve even bound them in a book. And some of us have memorized them. In fact, we have ‘letter study’ every Sunday. You know, those were really great letters.” I think the president would then ask, “But what did you do about my instructions?” And, no doubt the employees would respond, “Do? Well, nothing. But we read every one!” – Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, p. 242.

Careful attention to choosing the right path is essential to getting you to your desired destination!

The End of the World: “Meeting with the King” – Revelation 1

From Family Radio’s Harold Camping to Hollywood, the end of the world is a hot topic these days. National Geographic News (November 6, 2009) reported: “The end of the world is near—December 21, 2012, to be exact—according to theories based on a purported ancient Maya prediction and fanned by the marketing machine behind the soon-to-be-released 2012 movie. But could humankind really meet its end in 2012—drowned in apocalyptic floods, walloped by a secret planet, seared by an angry sun, or thrown overboard by speeding continents?” Probably not, the article concludes. The article reassures: “The Maya calendar doesn’t end in 2012, as some have said, and the ancients never viewed that year as the time of the end of the world, archaeologists say. But December 21, 2012, (give or take a day) was nonetheless momentous to the Maya. “It’s the time when the largest grand cycle in the Mayan calendar—1,872,000 days or 5,125.37 years—overturns and a new cycle begins,” said Anthony Aveni, a Maya expert and archaeoastronomer at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.”

Here’s a question: “How does the world end?” What is the closing chapter of God’s story on earth as explained in the Bible? That journey begins in this series of teachings, as we look at the Book of Revelation in sufficient detail to help you make sense of a cryptic part of the Bible. Here is our task: we want to carefully understand coming events as they are revealed, but never lose sight of the reality that our lives need to be ready to meet the King. We dare not wander off in the theoretical and let younger Christians wade into mental exercises that do not call for constant surrender to the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Key Principle: God wants us to know what will happen, but He wants us to know more WHO He is – the One who is bringing all these things about! The purpose of human history is to tell Who God is – and no one can show that better than Jesus.

 

In order to see God as He is, we should look closer at the portrait of His Son, the Savior – as John reveals Him in the Book of the Revelation.

John the Man

The time was the waning years of the first century, most of the Apostles had died for their faith. Emperor Domition (81-96 CE) had exiled John to the penal colony of Patmos.

The author of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ was none other than John the Apostle. He had been one of the twelve Disciples of Jesus, later sent out as Apostles. He was the son of Zebedee the fisherman from Bethsaida north of the Kinnereth, and his wife Salome and brother of James. Early Christian tradition maintains that he was the last surviving Apostle, and that he died of natural causes rather than being martyred.

John had an extraordinary career as a disciple. He was one of the “inner circle”. Peter, James and John were the selected sole witnesses of several important events:

  • The Raising of Jairus’ daughter in Capernaum (Mk. 5:37);
  • The Transfiguration (Mt. 17:1);
  • Preparation for the Last Supper (Lk 22:8);
  • Witness to the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane (John 18).

Called the “sons of thunder”, John and his brother desired Jesus to “call down fire from Heaven on a Samaritan town” that appeared to reject Jesus (Lk 9:51-6).  He was, by most accounts, the “disciple whom Jesus loved” –  a title showing his unique place in the earth ministry of Jesus.

As an Apostle, he was the author of the Gospel of John, three Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation. Some believe his Gospel account may have been written, in part, to deal with Ebionite heresy (that asserted Christ did not exist before Mary gave birth to Him in the flesh). Certainly it explains the controversy with the Judean aristocracy better than any other Gospel. From the Book of Revelation we conclude that he had lived for a long time in Ephesus and greater Asia Minor until moved to the island of Patmos “for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 1:9). Most scholars place the writing of Revelation near 85 CE.

As an elder in the Asian church, John discipled the early church father Polycarp – who later became Bishop of Smyrna (Izmir). Polycarp, in turn discipled Irenaeus, and passed on to him stories about John from which our traditions restore at least a shadowed image of the man. In Against Heresies, Irenaeus related how Polycarp told a humorous story of John, who went one day to bathe at a public Roman Bath in Ephesus, and rushed out of the bath-house without bathing – shouting, “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within. Apparently his temper and tongue were never completely subdued!

The record indicates that John survived his contemporary apostles and lived to an extreme old age, dying naturally at Ephesus in about AD 100. According to another early church father, Tertullian (c. 200 CE; The Prescription of Heretics) John was sent to the penal colony (likely at Patmos) only after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. Jerome, a few hundred years after John told of a tradition that John was brought to Rome during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, and was thrown in a vat of boiling oil, but was miraculously preserved unharmed. In an obvious overstatement, tradition recalls that all in the entire Colosseum audience were converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. The church of “San Giovanni a Porta Latina” has been dedicated as the traditional scene of this event. John’s tomb is recalled at Selçuk, a small town in the vicinity of Ephesus.

Revelation the Letter

Revelation is unique in all the Bible because it includes an internal outline (in Rev. 1:19) that helps us understand its message. It is further unique because it was deliberately encoded. Some of the codes are obvious (locust with the face of a man), yet others are not. For instance, a careful observation of the book will help us identify “seven sevens” in the book:

  • The letter was written to seven churches of Asia Minor.
  • The letter includes seven “blessed are” statements.
  • The letter is organized into seven blocks of information about the earth
  • These sections are divided by seven blocks of information about events in Heaven.
  • There are seven identifications of those in the throne room of Heaven.
  • Each judgment set (seals, trumpets, bowls) are seven in number.
  • Rev. 14 identifies seven angels that aid the believers of the Tribulation Period.

This is not new to John, for he wrote The Gospel of John is in the same format – Jesus had seven “I Am” statements with seven “I Do” works to give evidence to His claim of Messiah-ship. John included only the ones he was directed to use to shed light on Jesus’ identity.

A Quick Look at Revelation One

An overview of chapter one leads us to a simple outline. John unfolds:

1. The Cause of the work (1:1-3): The book was written to show Jesus; explain the end; and bless the student.

2. The Collaboration (4-8): The book was written by John with the One on Heaven’s Throne, the Spirit of God and Jesus the King.

3. The Circumstances (9-10): John was AT Patmos IN worship.

4. The Commissioning (11-18): John was commissioned to record a message FROM Jesus TO the seven churches of Asia Minor.

5. The Contents (1:19): Jesus told John to write the work in three parts – the vision of the Risen Christ (1:1-8); letters to the seven local churches (2-3); and “things that come after” (4-22).

6. The Curiosity (1:20): God will give keys to SIGNS in many places.

That outline is informative, but STERILE. It is flat on the page – but what is exposed in Revelation 1 is NOT. It is earth shattering. It fills Heaven with light and song. It is a story of the veil torn back, and Heaven’s Master exposed.

Since the name of the work is The Revelation of Jesus Christ, we must begin where the book begins. This is not simply the story of the future – it is the story of Jesus, the holder of the future. Our study today must be about HIM – or we do not understand the whole of the point of the book. Revelation’s opening chapter offers a multitude of titles for Jesus. His description is the personality on which the plot of the book rests. Who is this Jesus? Is this the story of a broken man, an ex-builder from Nazareth, crushed by the Roman authorities at a Passover travesty of justice so long ago? Not at all!

Jesus is God’s One and Only Choice for our Rescue

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

We begin this book with the simplest title of our Savior. From the beginning of the book he is called Jesus Christ.

  • Jesus: His name  “Yeshua” or “salvation” recalls his earthly ministry when He fulfilled the call of the angelic prophecy: “He will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21).
  • Christ: Calling Him by the Greek title “Christos” is another way of saying “Mesheach” (Messiah) or simply “God’s anointed One”.

We have said it many times and in many ways, but we dare not skip the fundamental truth that defined the Apostle’s preaching at the beginning of the church: Acts 4:8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people… 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead… 11 “He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. 12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Revelation opens with Jesus as God’s choice to save us. All other choices: religious zeal, moral living, a passionate work ethic, or any other device is insufficient to save – since God has clearly declared what He accepts. God is not ambivalent, nor is He obscure. The idea that this book is designed to stop people from understanding God clearly doesn’t mesh with its opening – God wants you to know Jesus and what He is going to do to close the calendar. In addition, God considers this word on the subject TRUE. Look more closely at the opening verses:

  • The record of this revealed truth claims to be clearly from God (1:1).
  • The letter claims to be the very written “Word of God” witnessed truthfully by John (1:2).
  • The letter openly calls itself “prophecy” and demands obedience to its directives (1:3).

Jesus is One with God the Father and God the Spirit

Though God the Father and God the Spirit are described, the emphasis of this chapter is clearly on God the Son and His description. Yet Scripture is not haphazard – so let us not skip over the two descriptions that precede the imagery of Jesus the Son. God is AGAIN described as ONE in ESSENCE but three in distinct personalities. This isn’t as uncommon as some would lead you to believe in the Word. The Hebrew Scriptures show God as multiple in personality:

  • Genesis 1:26 records that God spoke in multiple language: “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
  • At Babel, Genesis 11:7 records: “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
  • And even in the “Shma” that opens every synagogue service, the recitation of Deuteronomy 6:4 declares: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” Yet the term “one” is the same as is used in Genesis 2:24, where “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” Clearly this means one in essence, and not in fact.

The Gospel accounts continue this same understanding at the record of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

  • Matthew 3:13 “Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. 16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Obviously three persons are all declared together in this passage, yet one God.

The description of God the Father is described in 1:4 as “the ever present One” – “He who was, is and is to come” seems to emphasize the same truth as found in Genesis 21:33 “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.” The ever-in-the-present God of Abraham keeps His promises.

The description of God the Spirit is described in 1:4 as “from the seven Spirits who are before His throne”, which many understand to be a gloss description echoing Isaiah 11:2: “2The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. If that is the relationship, God’s Spirit deserves special attention and explanation as:

  • The Spirit of God’s “ever in the present completion” (Yahweh).
  • The Spirit of God’s practical ability or skillfulness to demonstrate truth (wisdom: hokhmah).
  • The Spirit of God’s revealed discernment (understanding: bi-naw).
  • The Spirit of God’s strategies (counsel: aytsaw).
  • The Spirit of God’s powerful accomplishments (strength: giborah).
  • The Spirit of God’s fierce awesomeness (fear:yiraw)

There is much more in these titles, but this is not the main emphasis of the passage – the revelation of God the Son is the main purpose.

Jesus is Set Above all Creation by His Father

Observe for a few moments the next few verses that sprung from the worship of John’s worship time at Patmos. Surrendered to the Spirit and caught up in a vision – he saw Jesus as He is in Heavenly places. He knew the EARTHLY Savior. He spent years with Him. He leaned on His sweaty garment in the Last Supper. He laughed with Him, and cried with Him. He felt close to Him… yet this description of Jesus was not FAMILIAR… it was REVERENT. This was the Son as seen from God’s perspective – revealed in Heaven’s robe of glory!

Three Descriptions that Illuminate Jesus

The first description comes from Revelation 1:4-8, with special attention to the seven character traits illuminated in 1:5.

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” He is:

  • The faithful witness: Probably a reference to His Davidic ruling status – He is a statement of God’s truthfulness to David as in Isaiah 55:3 “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting Covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David. 4 “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples.”
  • The firstborn from the dead: the “Double blessed son” (A “double portion” of the paternal property was allotted by the Mosaic law in Deuteronomy 21:16-17) and the first fruits of the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15), this title reminds us that He was raised first so that He might be shown as preeminent as is Colossians 1:18: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Lazarus was raised but died again. Jesus was raised to life eternal, the first to have this distinction.
  • The ruler of the kings of the earth: By His resurrection He passed to glory and dominion (as in Philippians 2:9 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name…”). His preeminence over the kings of the earth is illustrated in places like Psalm 2:2, 89:27; Isaiah 52:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; Revelation 6:15; Revelation 17:4; and Revelation 19:16.
  • The one who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.
  • The one who has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father: This echoes the voice of Peter – “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”
  • The one to whom be glory and power for ever and ever.
  • The one who is coming again in the full view of the whole world.
  • The Alpha and Omega: the beginning and the consummator of human history.

Men and women, we do not exalt Christ out of some secondary need to make Him more important in a world religion. We exalt Christ because the Father in Heaven has exalted Him. We preach His Word because of what God has said.

  • God has said that He is the One of whom the prophets spoke.
  • He bears the mark of the faithfulness of God to supply an eternal ruler to David’s throne.
  • He clearly demonstrates God’s acceptance of His sacrifice in the Resurrection from the grave.
  • He stands above all as King of all Kings of the earth.
  • He clearly showed His love for us in setting us free.
  • He installed us as intercessors and priests for our community.
  • He is worthy of GLORY, majesty and praise… and get ready… for He is COMING BACK.
  • That One who started the clock of human history and communicated the very first letter will get the LAST WORD.

Yet, still there is more… A second description is revealed after John describes in 1:9-12 the meeting with Jesus and the setting of the remarkable vision of the Risen Christ, he draws us back to the One that overwhelmed him as he fell down as dead before Him:

Revelation 1:13 “…and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. He is:

  • Like the Son of Man: “like a man, a human being, or in a human form.” A graphic statement about the humanity of Jesus, this title recognizes forever that Jesus is the son BORN OF A WOMAN, who took a form carried upward when he ascended into heaven, the universe is controlled by a man, the first among many brothers
  • Clothed as a Priest: A robe reaching down to the feet, leaving the feet visible. The allusion to a long, loose, flowing robe, such as was worn by kings and priests should carry us back to Isaiah 6 at the commissioning of Isaiah the prophet (cp. Ex 28:33ff). His sash seems to favor the priestly garb (Ex. 28:4).
  • Donned with bright, white hair: Hairs of old men, are compared to an almond tree in bloom (Ecclesiastes 12:5). Many NT scholars believe the hair color to be a metaphor for the antiquity of Christ, who Colossian 1:16-17 poses as the very “Ancient of days” (cp. Daniel 7:9), Who created all things at the beginning under the auspices of His Father.
  • Bright, flaming eyes. God’s eyes are penetrating, seeing everything, knowing everything. Jeremiah 16:17 – “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes. And Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
  • Feet of fine bronze, still glowing: The metal that was being made in the furnace was still glowing hot. In Ezekiel 1:7, “and they” (the feet of the living creatures) “sparkled like the color of burnished brass.” The word used here – chalkolibanō – occurs in the New Testament only here and in Revelation 2:18 and means “white brass” (compound of chalkos or brass, and libanos, whiteness, from the Hebrew “lavan” or white). This is a PURIFIED state of His feet, reminiscent of the (millu’im) consecration of priests in Leviticus 8:23.
  • A voice like a rushing river: He spoke with the SOUND of GOD’S VOICE, as in Ezekiel 43:2, “And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.” (cp. Revelation 14:2; Revelation 19:6).
  • Seven churches held in His hand – for He is the head of the church.
  • A sword from His mouth: He spoke with POWER of GOD’S VOICE, as Isaiah 49:2 declared: “And he made my mouth like a sharp sword.” or in Hebrews 4:12, “The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword,” etc.
  • Face that shone brightly, like the sun: The Bible used such a description in two ways. First, it was one INTENSELY IN LOVE WITH GOD as in Judges 5:31; “But let them that love him (the Lord) be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might”; another was as ONE WHO IS REJOICING as in  Psalm 19:5, “Which (the sun) is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.”

A clearer picture is offered anew, as the Lord revealed His Son.

  • He looks like us – he is a PERSON.
  • Though a man – He is ancient and eternal.
  • He sees everything, knows everything and understands everything.
  • His feet tread in purity.
  • His voice is loud and powerfully effective.
  • His people are held in His grasp.
  • His faces shines with excitement, energy and intense love.

Oh, but we are not finished yet… there is yet a third description is given by Jesus Himself, as He describes the position His Father has given Him in the throne room of Heaven:  Revelation 1:17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. He said He is:

  • The First and the Last.
  • The Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever.
  • The One who hold the keys of death and Hades.

Jesus is Celebrated and Revealed throughout this Letter

The sight of him was enough to make John fall at his feet as though dead. Of course it did. Is there any other like Him? No, surely not. John wasn’t done with the description of Jesus in Revelation 1. There are more descriptions than this that are found as this Book reveals Who Jesus is – that is a primary purpose of the writing.

  • There are descriptions of Jesus in every one of the seven churches special letters that we will study in another time together.
  • There is a description of the One who moves to open the final chapter of world history in Revelation  5 – the description of “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” and “the Lamb that had been slain” (5:6).
  • In Revelation 7:17 Jesus is described as the Shepherd of those who are purified in His blood.
  • In Revelation 12:5 Jesus is displayed as the one “Who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter”.
  • In Revelation 13:8 He is the owner of the “Book of life”.
  • In Revelation 19 and 20, Jesus is the Groom for the Church – set for the Wedding feast. He is the great Victor over the evil forces of the earth:

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

  • In Revelation 21 and 22, Jesus is the lamplight of the New Jerusalem, His throne the source of the river of life, the very “Alpha and the Omega –  the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End… the Root and the Offspring of David… the bright Morning Star”.

We haven’t even really touched the “Hymns of Praise and Worship” in this book. But the point is clear enough: The purpose of human history is to tell Who God is – and no one can show that better than Jesus. God wants us to know what will happen, but He wants us to know more WHO He is – the One who is bringing all these things about! “These are true words of God.” 10Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Don’t sit still and waste your life. He is the King. Get ready… Today you may be meeting Him. He may send for you soon… or He may be on His way. In any case, Get ready to meet Him!

Grasping God’s Purpose: “First Steps” – Exodus 19

When the iPhone first offered its FACE TIME video interface that allowed people to see each other while speaking to one another, they used a commercial that was a familiar scene. They offered a dad away on a business trip the opportunity to watch their child take their very first steps. There is something warm and “Hallmark” about being in the room when a baby first takes a step for the first time. It is a beginning. It inaugurates exploration and the beginning of expression of choice made with the feet. To the experienced parent, you know all too well – the CHASE begins!

Lao-tzu, a Chinese philosopher (c. 550 BCE) contemporary to what scholars in the west call “The Classical Period of World History”. He offered this well known adage: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” What he said was simple but profound. He was not talking about the mathematics of the journey, he was urging action. He was positing that nothing of value happens until we make the effort to begin. Even more than that, he was offering encouragement – things start slowly, and incrementally – but there small size belies their true importance. Beneath this adage is the assumption that the journey is worth it all – that it is a good thing.

We have seen throughout this study in Exodus that for the believer, life is about the journey from the world of the old life to the land of Promise that awaits him at the journey’s end. The foundation of the believer’s walk is firmly set on a personal encounter with God. Moses had one, and the people were about to experience theirs – as God met the nation at the mountain of the Law. They were about to discover what every believer agrees today – that God makes the rules of the journey – for that is just common sense. At the same time, many believers do not understand that there is a FIRST STEP that God demands even before He offers the direction of the journey to us. That step is revealed at the edge of a mountain in the Sinai wilderness. Even before God offered the CONTENT of the laws to govern behavior, He demanded a vow that the believers would be dedicated to following Him.

God offered a formula: Direction follows dedication.

Have you noticed how many believers do not seem to know what God wants them to do with their lives? He gave them life, and then he gave them rescue – salvation. They know Jesus as their Savior. Yet, many lack a sense of what God put them on the planet for. For some, they encounter God and put Him in a small slice of their life. They accommodate God; they fit Him in to their schedules and feel a twinge of guilt when they recognize how little they give of themselves to Him. Still others don’t place themselves in settings where their behaviors will be challenged to conform to God’s standards. They want God to offer continuous ENCOURAGEMENT – not responsibility.

Our story is set in the shadow of the Mountain of the Law. The passage is about a PREPARATION to face God and His direction. It is about a step that must PRECEDE the revealing of the direction of God. Today we need to ask, “Are we ready to meet God as God?”

Key Principle: Being saved is about YOU being rescued by God (finding God). Being in a committed relationship (following God) is about choosing to follow what GOD wants to do through you – making His choices your choices.

One of our country’s most beloved Presidents was Abraham Lincoln. He had the great misfortune of being at the helm of our nation during one of its most troubled times. The once united States had split in two, and the armies of the North and South were waging an incessant war that claimed the lives of more men than have died in any war since. Lincoln felt the tragedy of this war more than anyone could have guessed. He mourned the deaths of soldiers and spent long periods visiting the sick and wounded in the Union hospitals. The constant shedding of blood was sometimes almost more than he could bear. Then, in the midst of the war, his own son died and the President was literally brought to his knees. In the middle of the week, Lincoln did what he often did during those days, he found refuge at a Presbyterian church in Washington, D.C. He went with an aide, sat with his stovepipe hat in his lap, and tried hard not to interrupt the meeting by sitting off to the side, near the preacher’s study. The minister opened the Scriptures and taught from God’s Word. And when he finished, the president stood quietly, straightened his coat, took his hat in hand and began to leave. His aide stopped him and said, “What did you think of the sermon, Mr. President?” He said, “I thought the sermon was carefully thought through, eloquently delivered.” The aide said, “You thought it was a great sermon?” Lincoln replied, “No I thought he failed… he did not ask of us something great. (source unknown).

In the midst of his turmoil, even Lincoln understood that when you listen to God you should expect the Lord to call you to something above the ordinary – something that requires HIM daily invited and engaged in your life to pull off that call. You should expect God to challenge us and to call us to something higher than ourselves. But the preacher Lincoln listened to on that day failed. He failed to challenge him. He failed to ask something great of the President and of the others present.

By the time of the events recorded in Exodus 19, God did many things to rescue Israel and He reminded them of the high points at the beginning of the passage of what they had already experienced. Then God asked them to do something great – God asked them for a covenant commitment to Him.

He asked them to stand up and pledge their obedience to Him, and to make a covenant that HE had the right to lead them as God!

Up until this point, God did what He’d promised their forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. He brought the people out of slavery in Egypt and given them an opportunity for a new life because that was the promise He had made to men who were now long dead. But now, as God formed a new nation out of the rabble of Israelite ex-slaves – He told them He wanted something special from them. He wanted to create a relationship with them that He could use to show the world. He wanted NO EMBARASSMENT on their part, an open and committed relationship!  No other people on the face of the earth was ever offered what He was offering them now…But there was a catch. They had to acknowledge His offer, and conform to His conditions to get the benefits. God saved them from their bondage in the world, ONLY THEN God called them to do something great. God called them to stand up and MAKE A COMMITMENT to HIM. God wants no less from us as our first step – an open dedication to Him. Before God offered the CONTENT of the laws to govern behavior, He demanded a vow that the believers would be dedicated to following Him.

The Call for a Committed Relationship (19:1-8)

The passage opened with the record of God’s call of dedication – where it was, what it was and how they could respond to it.

The Place of the Call:

Moses returned to the place God met Him before (19:1-3a). Exodus 19:1 “In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. 3 Moses went up to God…”

The heat of the summer  was beginning to come in the desert winds by 50 days after they celebration the Passover (12:18) when they had left Egypt. A month and a half later, they came to the Sin wilderness. They passed from Rephidim and encamped in the shadow of the mountain. Moses went up to meet with the Lord (19:1-3). Moses knew the place, and knew that God would be there (3:1). He met God there long ago, and He returned there to have the next step of the call revealed.

God had already called Moses out of his world. God had already “paid in full” the cost of Moses life and bought him. God then did that for all Israel in Egypt. The price of a lamb paid for their salvation at Passover –  just as the Christian Scriptures reveal that our Passover lamb, Jesus, was slain and paid for you to find God.

You were CALLED by God from the world when you gave your heart to Jesus Christ. Nothing else can save you. Only HE can. But even though you have been saved, that is NOT the end of the story. That is FINDING God. This second call is about FOLLOWING God!

The Point of the Call:

God called the people at the end of verse three, and the next few verses make a simple point: God said: “I saved you, but now I want to do something more through you!” (19:4-6).

  • Prerequisites: The Lord told Moses to report what He said, and went on: a) “You saw My work with Egypt and b) you experienced my saving rescue (19:4). Exodus 19:3b “…and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: 4‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.

You cannot experience the call to be dedicated to God, until you have experienced the salvation of God. God wants you to be saved before you are sanctified. If we try to reverse the order, we will make men and women who are MORAL, but self justified. Only those who have passed through the rescue of God can truly follow the standards of God. Think of it this way: God wants us to DO good things – works that please Him. He said to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) – but He only said that to people who had already experienced salvation by acceptance of God’s unmerited gift through understanding what God’s Word said Jesus has already provided. God said to Israel: You have experienced my rescue – NOW I want something from you.

  • Proposals: Now, if you: a) choose to receive and obey My Word, and b) you willingly join in a covenant relationship with Me… (19:5a). Exodus 19:5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

God offered a covenant relationship with them that was based on CHOICE and BEHAVIOR. Beneath their covenant was the underlying proclamation that God had promised to Father Abraham to make of them a great nation. Yet, several times on the journey God threatened to destroy them and make the nation through the loins of the aged Moses. The choice of dedication is about choosing to be the vessel through whom God does what He has planned.

  • Promises: …then: a) you will be marked as MINE, and b) be a distinct people before all others on the earth.” (19:5b-6). Exodus 19:6 “and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.

God promised them a privileged priestly position before God if they would agree to commit to Him, and then follow the specifics of that call as outlined in the next few chapters. NOW, I am asking myself: Why would God do that? Why ask the Israelites to make this verbal commitment to Him? I mean, hadn’t the Israelites followed Moses for the past month and a half? Hadn’t they spent nearly 50 days in the desert depending on God for their food and water? Hadn’t they walked thru the Red Sea and thru the desert following a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night as God had guided them to this mountain? Wasn’t that enough? Apparently not It was not because this wasn’t a casual relationship God was asking of Israel. This was a lifetime commitment. He didn’t want a DATE, He wanted a WIFE. This lifetime commitment called for a physical declaration of their intention to accept.

There is a Biblical word for God’s expectation of their verbal commitment – it is called a “Vow”. A vow was when one exclaims aloud a deliberate dedication to a call of God, and is set apart to accomplish that call for God. One example is found in Numbers 6 which records a “Nazarite Vow”. This was a vow to dedicate one to God’s service for some specific goal or task:

Numbers 6:2 “… ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; … no vinegar, …nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. …5 ‘All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long. 6 ‘All the days of his separation to the LORD he shall not go near to a dead person. 7 ‘He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 ‘All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD..”

1) During the vow they would refuse to drink wine.

2) During the vow they refused to touch anything that had died – even if their parent died.

3) They would refuse to even cut their hair. Their entire lives were dedicated to some specific call of God through the time of the completion of this vow.

Deuteronomy records that someone who decided to make a special offering to God (like a shelmim – or celebration offering) was said to be making a vow. For us, of course, when someone gets married, they exchange vows before God.

A vow went far above a promise. People break promises all the time in their lives. But when someone made a vow to God… God expected them to keep it. Ecclesiastes says: “It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the [temple] messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?” Ecclesiastes 5:5-6

A vow was a commitment to a special covenanted relationship with God – and God takes vows very seriously.

Let me illustrate how people misunderstand a vow today by something from a psychologist. In his book The Christian Counselors Manual, Dr. Jay Adams tells of a man who came to him and said, “I know you hate to hear this preacher but my wife and I don’t love each other and we are going to get a divorce.” The preacher said, “I do hate to hear that you don’t love each other, you need to repent of that and start loving each other because the Bible commands, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and you are a Christian so you have to obey the Lord’s commands. And the man said, “Well, I just don’t feel anything toward her any more.” The preacher said, “Okay, lets go down to a lower level then. The Bible commands love your neighbor as your self. She’s your closest neighbor. So you have to love her regardless of how you feel about her. That’s irrelevant.” The man said, “I am going to have to be honest with you preacher, I despise her. She despises me. We can’t stand the ground that we are walking on and we just cannot get along.” Oh! The preacher said, “You are going to have to go down to a lower lever then. The Bible also says to love your enemies as yourselves. You have no option. You are commanded to love.” He said, “How in the world can I do that when I don’t feel anything.”  “You are going to have to understand that feelings are irrelevant. That’s the Hollywood concept of love. That is the romantic concept of love. A Christians love is Agape love. Doing the right thing regardless of feeling. So make a list of the ten things that you would do if you were madly in love with her and go and do them anyway. One counselor said, “If you act the way you wish you felt, eventually you will feel the way you act.” So go do them regardless of feeling.” The man said, “I couldn’t do that – that would be hypocritical. And the preacher said, “No that is not hypocrisy. That is obedience. Hypocrisy is NOT acting contrary to the way you feel. Hypocrisy is acting contrary to the way you believe. “

God called Israel to act the way they committed to believe. The vow was the commitment – the standards followed that commitment.

The Participation in the Call:

There must be consideration and acceptance, for there is a cost of the call. Moses reported what God said, and the people proclaimed, “Count us IN!” Moses returned with their decision to the Lord (19:7-8). Exodus 19:7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

The text is UNDERWHELMING considering the size of what the people were doing as they stood at the foot of the mountain. They were committing to be dedicated to God – and God would KNOW if they lived up to the commitment. I labor over this point because they were being called to do something GREAT, not small… and so are you. It is worth considering carefully, and is not to be responded to flippantly.

The Concerns of a Committed Relationship (19:9-25)

The call to commitment requires two important understandings: God will move because of your promise to be dedicated to Him (God’s validation of the commitment), and He will require changes in you to be able to use you properly (Preparation).

Validation: The Lord replied: “I am going to come in a way that the people will hear when I speak to you (19:9). Exodus 19:9 The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

Count on God beginning to use your life when you openly vow to Him your life in dedicated obedience. You won’t know all that He wants you to do – neither did Israel. The mountain and the Law was yet ahead. At the same time, God will take your simply commitment of obedience and dedication at face value – He will act on it and begin to meet you in profound ways in your life. Count on it.

Preparation: Get the people ready to receive Me by having them focus entirely on preparation today and tomorrow (19:10-15). God will meet you, but He will not simply drop His standards and accept you as you are. He will IMMEDIATELY begin to work in your life to press you to live out His directives. There are some preparations that He will require, even BEFORE you really know His plan for your direction. These come in three forms: a new and deliberate attention to removing dirt from your life, a commitment to remain within the limitations God placed on you, and dedicated attention to His Words as they come to you.

  • Removal of Dirt: Tell them to clean their clothes (19:10-11). 10 The LORD also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; 11 and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

God will start showing you dirt spots that need to be cleaned from your life immediately upon your dedication to Him. You are a believer, but as a dedicated believer – an active and committed follower to His Word – you will quickly become more sensitive to areas of dirt that have accumulated on you.

  • Reverence and Patience: Instruct them to hold back from the mountain. If they touch the mountain before I call for them, they will die. “ (19:12-13). 12 “You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 ‘No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

People who are dedicated to following God willingly live in the parameters He places on their lives. They do not PUSH boundaries, they respect what God has placed around them, and do what He requires of them.

  • Real Focus: Moses came down and told them to prepare and additionally urged them to remain ceremonially pure by abstaining from sex as they prepared. (19:14-15). 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. 15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.

God created sex, so He wasn’t against it. It wasn’t dirty – that isn’t the point here. What He was doing was demanding their minds be on readying for time with HIM. He didn’t want them to have a divided heart – distracted by other needs. They needed to get ready to commune with Him – and so do we.  Filling our minds and hearts with other issues before an intense time with God cheapens that time – because we are distracted.

Note: God repeated the warnings above, and appeared to be very concerned about the preparation! God descended on the mountain with strange weather and the sound of a trumpet blast, as Moses brought the people to meet the Lord. The mountain was filled with smoke and fire, and the trumpet blasts grew. The Lord called Moses to come up to Him (19:16-20).

Exodus 19:16 So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. 19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

In His presence, the Lord repeated to Moses: “Warn the people again not to come up for a look, and to make sure the leaders (priests) had fully prepared for the meeting with the Lord.” (19:21). Exodus 19:21 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.

Moses assured God that the people were not going to come up, but the Lord sent him down to get Aaron, and to ensure that neither the priests nor the people try to come up. Moses went down and told them all that the Lord said. (19:22-25). Exodus 19:22 “Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, or else the LORD will break out against them.” 23 Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 Then the LORD said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break forth upon them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

God knows us. Boundaries and fences are opportunities to push the limits. God wanted the people to understand the kind of God He truly is. When He says it – He means it. The boundary is the limit – and He doesn’t want us to get the idea that everything is an extenuating circumstance. We may be able to RATIONALIZE wrong in our lives, but He is not like us. Fences have meaning to God – and they should to us as well!

How like this is Romans 12:1-2!

In India there is a Bible Institute run by Dr. Samuel Thomas – a modern day hero of the Christian faith. Each year this Bible Institute has a commencement ceremony where students who have finished their studies are together for one final time before leaving this institute as graduates. What is so profound is that the climax of this commencement ceremony is the time when the entire graduation class rises and repeats words very similar to these: Today, I stand as a dead man. I declare that in Jesus Christ, I am saved by His blood, and thus I am dead to sin, and no longer dead in my sin. Today, I stand and declare that I surrender my will and my life to His will and his life. I shall go where he sends me, without asking questions. I shall go to whomever He sends me, without seeking fame. I shall preach to everyone, even if they hate me. I am an ambassador of the Cross, and must deliver the message. I shall pour my life out to reach my family, my friends, my neighbors, and my city. I embrace the shame of the Cross, and I fear nothing but God. I welcome suffering, shame, persecution, beatings, imprisonment and death, but I will not be silenced. If I am killed, I pray that my blood should be a harvest for souls. This is my city. I dare not do less. Following graduation, each student is given three, and only three items. 1. A new Bible 2. A new Bicycle 3. A one-way train ticket to their field of service They have no PLAN B, and neither should we. (sermon central illustrations).

When you became a Christian, you made a commitment at the foot of Mt. Calvary to a unique relationship with God. After that experience, God calls us to do something new – commit to a COVENANT RELATIONSHIP with Him. Quit dating Him, it is time for a WEDDING that you won’t walk away from!

Next we will be studying the CONTENT of God’s governing laws over the people in the wilderness. Don’t forget: Before God offered the CONTENT of the laws to govern behavior, He demanded a vow that the believers would be dedicated to following Him. He will not give DIRECTION until He gets DEDICATION!

Grasping God’s Purpose: “Learning to Define Responsibility” – Exodus 18:1-27

When Robert Frost wrote twice in his poem “Mending Fences” an old adage: “Good fences make good neighbors” – he disagreed with the sentiment. His poem was about a fence that was placed between the apple orchard on his property and the pine trees on his neighbor’s property. The wall was damaged each year, and required both he and his neighbor to meet in an annual ritual to rebuild the wall. Frost saw the activity as useless, as it was obvious that their mutual participation meant that they were already in good relationship, and the time spent fixing a fence was therefore useless. His neighbor repeated twice the adage: “Good fences make good neighbors” – but Frost wanted to show the man was unenlightened and dull of mind. Regardless of Frost’s objection – I want to argue in favor of the adage. It is true.

Enlightened people may not need fences, but I believe the world is not filled with such enlightened people. For most of us, we have long since concluded that boundaries are essential in the world in which we live. Many people are not willing to carry their own weight in life, and are desperate to find someone on which to saddle their responsibility. Sometimes the only way to get people to tend to their whole property is to erect a fence. The wall openly displays what is theirs to care for – and what is yours.

When we don’t set proper boundaries, we can hurt ourselves as well – taking on things we are not designed to handle.

For the believer, his life is about the journey from the world to the land of Promise that awaits him at life’s end. On the journey, some will lean hard on you because of a relationship with God you have that they are lagging behind in. Other people confuse what is your responsibility from theirs (and often you end up with more that they do!). Some of the lessons of the journey to the land of promise are individual lessons, others are communal. This lesson was in a way BOTH. One of the most critical lessons for our journey is the BOUNDARY LESSON – defining the responsibility and establishing a system to help people care for their own problems and responsibilities.

Key Principle: To deliberately mature believers, leaders must establish the pace of personal responsibility and define a system that younger followers can understand.

The boundary lesson is probably most clearly explained in Exodus 18 as it is unfolded in four parts. In this case, the lack of a boundary was set by the leader – he was killing himself rather than allowing others to use their gifts. First, the background to the lesson is set so we can grasp the problem well. Next, God sent an observer to help set Moses in order. When he spoke, Moses received a critical teaching from God into his life. Finally, the passage closes with the benefits Moses gained from the lesson.

The Background: A Worn Out Leader Run Amuck (18:1-5)

God sent a teacher to Moses when he was grinding out the work to teach him how to define responsibility and establish a system that would honor God (18:1-12).

The News Traveled (18:1-5)

Exodus 18:1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah, after he had sent her away, 3 and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” 4 The other was named Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” 5 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mount of God.

Here is one incredible moment from the photo album of Moses’ life! Jethro heard what God had done from Zipporah’s visit, and Jethro accompanied the family back, with Moses children and wife (18:1-5).

Every leader needs to recognize that God will use people in our lives that we respect and cherish to teach us truths. Look more closely at the first five verses. In them we can spot several truths of a helper that God uses to help a leader put up proper boundaries. There are five specific realities portrayed in the story of Jethro that help define and explain the process of a swamped leader getting God’s help.

First, note that God stirred in the helper’s heart (Jethro) apart from any overture by the swamped leader (Moses). The leader was buried in work (as we will see in the coming verses). He didn’t go looking for help –  God sent help. Why is that important? Because it demonstrates that while a godly leader may be working as HARD as he can, he may not be working as WELL as he can. No one leader possesses all the gifts necessary to care for a flock. In fact, leaders are at their best when teamed with other leaders who are gifted in very different ways than they.

Second, note that the helper was motivated and stirred from within – not from human pleading. While the leader was very much in need of assistance, he was yet walking in obedience to the light that he had. That obedience opened the door for God to stir in the heart of another. We must not gain our partners by manipulation and haranguing – but by seeking and obeying God. He will send our help. Before He does, He will become our fuel and our supply. When He does, He will often show His care by supplying through our team.

Third, pay close attention to the fact that the helper was someone the leader respected and cared for – someone who had deliberately invested in the leader’s life (as a mentor). The men had shown mutual respect to each other in the past. You cannot simply come from out of nowhere and offer help to a leader. They are used to integrating opinions into their decision making process, but they do not normally shift direction abruptly because someone offers them a suggestion – that would be bad leadership! Offering help and counsel should come only after we have pitched in and shown a true desire to pull together with the leader. Further, our advice is only really valuable when we have some substantive knowledge in the area we offer counsel. Strong opinions are often not the same as carefully learned truths.

Fourth, the helper brought tangible gifts that were deeply prized by the leader. Jethro showed up with Moses’ family. How incredibly symbolic! Think about the leader that is so busy at the job he hasn’t had time to be NORMAL – and to miss his wife and children. Bringing them back GROUNDED Moses back to the earth. Family tends to do that!

Finally, the helper was already invested in his own walk with God, and prepared to initiate worship, praise and instruction. Moses didn’t need to instruct, encourage, placate, lift, cajole or otherwise explain truth to Jethro – he came all set to praise, worship and walk with God. This was a clear relief to Moses.

“Help is on the Way!” (18:6-7)

Moses didn’t need a note from a distant friend chastising him for doing too much – he needed flesh and blood assistance. That would cost Jethro, and it was built on prior investment. Exodus 18:6 He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” 7 Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent.

Because Jethro sent word to Moses that they were coming (6), Moses went out to greet the family and brought them into his tent (7). Advise isn’t given until after relationship is re-established. Jethro waits to observe what is going on, and doesn’t shoot too quickly (based on Zipporah’s words..).

Share and Share Alike (18:9-12)

When the men sat down together, Moses celebrated all that God had done. He didn’t begin with all the problems of leading a whining and stubborn (and don’t forget ever hungry and thirsty) group of Jacob’s children through the hot desert. He started with the good stuff.

Exodus 18:8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had befallen them on the journey, and how the LORD had delivered them. 9 Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, in delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 So Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and who delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 “Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

Moses related the whole story of the Lord’s deliverance from Egypt (8) and Jethro rejoiced and worshipped the Lord in response (9-11). The climax of the worship was a communal meal before God offered by Jethro with the Israelite leadership (12). Here is the point: Moses didn’t realize how overwhelmed he was – he was used to being unbelievably taxed in the work! If he is like most leaders I know, he probably thought the boundary problem was NOT HIM, but rather some fluke or simply a “learning curve” he would grow through.

The Observation: (18:13-16)

The day after Jethro arrived, Mo went back to the normal daily work. It was a long day, and included sitting in one spot while those with disputes stood by waiting for their claims to be heard.  Exodus 18:13 It came about the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. 14 Now when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?

Standing in the side was Jethro who observed and then asked Moses for an explanation of the practices (14). Jethro’s words indicated some clues to his disagreement:

  • What are you doing FOR the people? Jethro was trying to get Moses to see that lack of appropriate boundaries harmed both HIM and the PEOPLE.  It is harmful to people to hold back their responsibility and do too much for them that they should do. It both overworks the leader and enables the follower. Why, then, would a leader choose to over work themselves in this way? There is one word – CONTROL. When we delegate, we lose direct control over every aspect of the work. Some leaders really struggle with it.
  • Why do you sit ALONE? It is perilous for the people to place all their hopes in one person, for that one person is all that need be undone to destroy the people! People need to be instructed to care for themselves, and their must be a long term system that does not depend on one man to keep the community going. Moses needed more than a Joshua – he needed a team. That team would both share the load, and create a check and balance for the leader. With more involved, the judgments would likely be more fair.
  • Why do the people STAND before you while you SIT before them? The people will soon not see the truth about your worth and their individual worth if YOU become the center of their attention. Good leaders know that they are not the story – they serve the One who is!

Somebody said, “If Satan can’t make you bad, then he’ll just keep you busy.” Even after this time with Jethro, Moses was known to grow so busy that he was stressed out. Numbers 11:11 recalls when Moses said, “God what have I done so bad that you have given me the burden of all these people?”

Moses made a common leadership error. He mistook busyness for accomplishment. He mistook activity for success. He mistook extreme stress for ministry. Nothing was fun anymore, because there was too much of everything. Excess is the enemy of balance. We live in a time when excess has become the norm.

We never do one thing at a time. We text while driving, read while eating, sing while showering and talk while brushing our teeth. Silence has become the enemy. Stillness, for some of us, has become a chore.

Some of us have confused busyness, making it a status symbol. We get the mistaken idea that the more successful we are the busier we should be. Writer Reggie McNeil warns those in my work: “Success can kill you just as problems can. The management of members and church work can leave a minister spiritually bankrupt.” The truth is that your occupation can and will do the very same thing – if you are not careful.

Prolonged stress and over commitment can signal to the world “success” – but it can lead to dire consequences in both your physical and your spiritual life. It can erode your otherwise pleasant personality; causing you to be irritable and inefficient at your job. It can endanger your personal relationships, your marriages, your parenting and your friendships. It can pull the life out of your desire to walk with Jesus in truth. It can, and will –wear you down. It will threaten your health.

Author Nelson Price offered in Servants Not Celebrities a list of diseases that can be caused by emotional stress, They include: asthma, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, ulcers, colon cancer, and headaches.

Moses responded, but his words also showed the flaw of what he was doing:  Exodus 18:15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 “When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

Moses said “The people come to ME to speak to GOD (18:15). When the people struggle with each other, they come to ME to reveal God’s ruling on their struggle. (18:16). With the people dependent on Moses to give God’s truth, Moses held control – but at a terrible price. God told Moses to write down the law, because God wanted it to go beyond Moses. Work that is controlled is work contained; work released is work multiplied.

The Teaching (18:17-22)

Jethro watched and listened, and then Jethro spoke. He wasn’t happy about what he saw – and neither would any father-in-law be in this situation. No doubt things weren’t going to work well for his daughter or his grandkids if he didn’t step in. He told Moses the practice was NOT GOOD. I love the simplicity of Exodus 18:17: “Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good.” Note Moses’ record related not Jethro’s name, but his RELATIONSHIP. Jethro is remembered as one that has a vested interest, not one that dropped by to offer discouragement (18:17). Relationship earns us a right to speak into someone else’s pain and problem. Dropping in out of the blue is hurtful and wrong.

Jethro said simply: “18 “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. He told Moses he was wrong, but he offered specific help to solve the problem. Just telling him he was on the wrong path wasn’t helpful. He told Moses that he would need to choose some helpful leadership to handle disputes they are able to, and stay out of the small stuff (18:18-22). People who have overloaded lives don’t want or need you to sit doing nothing on the sidelines and criticize their over-commitment. What they need is help, and Jethro offers practical and measurable help. He shows the bigger picture and offers solutions! He lays it out in clear ways. It will require a change for EVERYONE!

  • Moses needed to get alone with God more and really spend more time with Him! (18:19). 19 “Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, This isn’t to give him more time OFF, but time to take to the Lord what others are failing to take to the Lord. Moses had a MORE IMPORTANT role than the one he was playing – but he needed someone wiser to indicate that to him.
  • Moses needed to judge less and teach more (18:20). 20 then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. It is easier to control everything yourself in the short run, but that is short sighted. The people needed training, and Moses needed to adjust his schedule to training them. The people needed to learn the law and walk according to the rules .
  • Some of the people needed to take responsibility for helping with specific actions of leadership within the ranks of the people (18:21). 21 “Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.  90% of successful delegation is not training but recruiting the right people. If you place the right person in leadership – with a little training and you’ll do wonders. If you vest the leadership in the wrong person – even with a lot of training and they can do untold harm to the organization. Finding a godly leader takes prayer and working together.
  • The leaders needed to know when to include Moses and when not to include him (18:22). 22 “Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

The Benefits (18:23)

Exodus 18:24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. 26 They judged the people at all times; the difficult dispute they would bring to Moses, but every minor dispute they themselves would judge. 27 Then Moses bade his father-in-law farewell, and he went his way into his own land.

Moses LISTENED, so he got the benefit of the advice. Leaders are usually set on the defauilt setting of “doing the talking” and not the listening. Good leaders are wise enough to keep their mouth closed and ears open when valuable instruction is coming their way. Because he listened – he lastedHe didn’t wear out! John Stroman wrote, “A life out of balance is like a tire out of balance, they both wear out quickly. The people got on with their lives and had the opportunity to have quick judgments – instead of focusing so much of their emotional and time reserves on so many disputes.

Angeles Arren wrote a short article entitled “The Flying V.” In the fall of the year, geese head south for the winter. If you have ever seen their journey, you have noticed them flying along in a V formation, and you might wonder why. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in V formation, the whole flock has at least a 71 % greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. When a goose flies out of formation, it suddenly feels that drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation, and another goose flies pointed at the head. The geese in formation honk from behind, perhaps to set a flying pattern or to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. Finally, and this is important, when a goose gets sick or wounded and falls out of formation, two other geese will fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their flock.

To mature believers, we must set the pace of personal responsibility and establish a system that they can understand.