Psalm 15:1-5 Abiding with the God of Truth
Observation: 15:1-2 If you want to live in the Shadow of the Almighty, you need to not do wrong, proactively do right, and have Truth at the core of your being.
15:3-5 Make a list of some of those do's and don'ts.
15:4 To think well of vile men is to be better than God.
Application: Abiding in God starts with Truth, which overflows into our words and deeds.
Prayer: Lord, I want an abiding, intimate relationship with You; help me do what it takes. Amen.
Proverbs 4:20-23 Wellspring of the Word
4:20 “My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body. 23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.“
Observations: 4:20-23 The reader is exhorted to pay attention to wise words, keep them in front of them, and have them guide decisions (the heart was where decisions are made in Hebrew thought). Decisions are made in accord with our value system, which must be formed by God's word if we wish to experience the abundant life (rather than abundant or meager death). Keeping our heart set in the right direction is crucial for that is what waters the rest of our life.
Application: Focusing our mind, will, emotions and strength on God's Revelation results in life; develop the daily habit of storing up God's truth in Your heart.
Prayer: Lord, help me learn, understand, and value Your word, so I can make decisions that are pleasing to both You and me. Amen.
Exodus 32-34 The Covenant gets broken and renewed.
Exodus 32 False God's and Excuses, but True Forgiveness
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32:1 "When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don`t know what has become of him." 2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears...4 He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt." 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh." 6 They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
7 Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed to land of Egypt.`" 9 Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and, behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation." 11 Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, "Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, `He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?` Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, `I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.`" 14 Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people. 15 Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand...16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.
19 It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses` anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain. 20 He took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. 21 Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?" 22 Aaron said, "Don`t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 24...I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."
25 When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,) 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on Yahweh`s side, come to me!" All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 He said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, `Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor." 28 The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29 Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow on you a blessing this day." 30 It happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin." 31 Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. 32 Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin-- and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written." 33 Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin." 35 Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made."
Observations: 32:1 How soon we forget.
32:6 Israel's “worship” matches Egypt's celebration of the feast of Apis the Bull, described by Heredotus. See Digging Deeper. God is very explicit about the kind of worship He accepts. Hint: "It's not pagan worship."
32:11 Moses turns down the opportunity to become as great as Abraham because he is concerned about God's glory and reputation.
32:24 Conflicts with 32:2, but see Digging Deeper.
32:26 The sons of Levi (Moses' and Aaron's kinsmen) reverse the curse of Jacob (Genesis 49) by demonstrating loyalty to Yahweh at the expense of the disobedient Israelites.
32:33 Apparently those more active in the rebellion suffered death, while God pardoned the “me-too” general population. Blotting out from God's book is probably not a good thing. We're not told what book, but appears to be that listing of the righteous who would participate in His rule. (Psalm 69:28; Isaiah 4:3; Ezekiel 13:9, Daniel 12:1)
Application: Loyalty to God and His promises results in blessings; disloyalty, in death. Choose your consequences.
Prayer: Lord, may I always live in such a way that I give You pleasure, rather than provoking You to anger, even if it costs me my life. Amen.
Exodus 33 Favor With God
33:1 "Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, `I will give it to your seed.` 2 I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite...3 to a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way." 4 When the people heard this evil news, they mourned: and no one put on his jewelry. 5 Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell the children of Israel, `You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up into your midst for one moment, I would consume you. 9 It happened, when Moses entered into the Tent, that the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and spoke with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent, and all the people rose up and worshipped, everyone at their tent door. 11 Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn`t depart out of the Tent. 12 Moses said to Yahweh, "Behold, you tell me, `Bring up this people:` and you haven`t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, `I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.` 13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight: and consider that this nation is your people." 14 He said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 He said to him, "If your presence doesn`t go with me, don`t carry us up from here. 16 For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn`t it in that you go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?" 17 Yahweh said to Moses, "I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." 18 He said, "Please show me your GLORY." 19 He said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." 20 He said, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live." 21 Yahweh also said, "Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen." 
Observations: 33:2-3 God wants to send an angel to guide them since, if He were in their midst, He would consume them when confronted with their rebellious disobedience.
33:11 Want to know why Joshua was successful?
33:16-18 Moses pleads with God to go with them, appealing again to God's promises, and God relents. Moses asks to see God's glory as a reassurance or token, which leads us to conclude that he hadn't seen it on the mountain.
33:20 The Hebrew word for “face” is usually translated “before” or “in the presence of.” Previous reference 33:11 to seeing God's face must have occurred with God veiling His glory.
Application: Like Moses and Joshua, we should persist in seeking Him until we get as much of God as possible.
Prayer: Gracious and Merciful God, thank you for making it possible to find favor in your sight; may I do so. Amen.
Exodus 34 Glory and Guilty and Glistening
34:1 "Yahweh said to Moses, "Chisel two stone tablets like the first: and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 5 Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the NAME of Yahweh. 6 Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, "Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in hesed/loyal love and faithfulness/truth, 7 keeping hesed/loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children`s children, on the third and on the fourth generation." 8 Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9 He said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance." 10 He said, "Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among which you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you. 11 Observe that which I command you this day. Behold, I drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite...12 Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare in the midst of you: 13 but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim; 14 for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 Don`t make a covenant (or marriage) with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods 17 no idols 18 keep the feast of unleavened 19 firstborn...mine. 20..No one shall appear before me empty. 21 seventh day you shall rest 22 feast of weeks the feast of harvest 23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.
24 For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders 25 "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left to the morning. 26 You shall bring the first of the firstfruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother`s milk." 27 Yahweh said to Moses, "Write you these words: for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses` hand, when he came down from the mountain, that Moses didn`t know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all of the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But when Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded. 35 The children of Israel saw Moses' face, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him."
Observations: 34:1 Moses rechisels, God rewrites.
34:6-7 Coupled with 33:18-19 this is the most definitive statement of God's person and glory in the Scriptures. See "God in a Nutshell" below. God does not stop being just to be loving (Romans 3:25-26). To worship a God who is only loving or only just is to worship a false God.
34:9 Moses uses his favor in God's sight to intercede for Israel, asking God to pardon, accept and bless them.
34:14 God is allowed to be jealous, since He makes the rules. We can't. He next repeats, for the most part, previously mentioned commands dealing with the “religious” commandments.
34:14 God is allowed to be jealous, since He makes the rules. We can't. He next repeats, for the most part, previously mentioned commands dealing with the “religious” commandments.
34:26 Half of a verse, forbidding a pagan Canaanite cultic practice (mentioned in a Ugaritic text, is used to estabish the Kosher meat-dairy restriction.
34:29 If you want to know why Michelangelo and others depict Moses with “horns”, it's because Jerome, in the Latin Vulgate, mistranslated shone/radiant as “horned.” Poor Moses, as if didn't have enough problems with Israel and God...
Application: We need to take steps to insure that we don't repeat our sin.
Prayer: God who gives second chances, may I never take You for granted, but learn from my mistakes, so I can better obey You. Amen.
Digging Deeper:
God in a nutshell: God exerts His rule and authority in being merciful and gracious, patient and abundant in loyalty and faithfulness, showing hesed to a 1000 generations (of those who love Him and keep His commands – added in Deuteronomy 5:10), yet exercising His justice in punishing the guilty. He is jealous for our loyalty and gets angry over our sins, pardons, yet punishes with consequences and separation. His ears are open to our pleas. He is very explicit about the kind of worship He wants.
Us in a nutshell: We tend not to be very faithful unless we work at it. We often need immediate gratification and assurances unless we've developed self-control to avoid short-cuts and wait for God to fulfill His promises. We will suffer punishment and consequences for our sins, which could include missing out on God's presence and promises, even though redeemed and forgiven/pardoned. We have the capacity to have an intimate relationship with God.
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