Verse for the Day, 17 October 2014.

Exodus 34:5-8, “The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.  (6)  The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  (7)  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."  (8)  And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.”

Once more we are being shown the unique privileges that Moses was blessed with by God, and of all the privileges this must have been one of the greatest. Moses is given the fullest glimpse of God’s glory ever beheld by man, and hears God proclaiming His name and His character.

This unique moment gives us further insight into God, His nature and His desire. These verses are God’s description of Himself, they are not written or stated by a man describing God, this is God describing Himself. Of all the things that God could have said of Himself, why is it that He chooses to focus on His mercy, grace, patience, love, faithfulness and His justice? This description of God helps us to understand who God is towards us, and that God desires for us to be in relationship with Him. God expresses these attributes and characteristic to their fullest measure to us. No other creature in creation enjoys or receives them to the extent that we do. The reason as to why this is, is that God created us for Himself, so that we might know Him, live with Him, have a relationship with Him and bring glory and honour to Him, through our willing worship of Him. The people of Israel certainly knew the truth of all these attributes during the time of the Exodus, God had shown Himself to be all of these in an abundant measure.

Moses’ response to the glory of God and the hearing of God’s description of Himself, is the only appropriate response, to bow with his face to the ground and worship God. Moses realises how unworthy, insignificant and sinful he is, and bows seeking to acknowledge the greatness of God.

Whilst the people of Israel knew the truth of God in this manner, we who are believers in Jesus Christ have received it in an even greater measure. In Christ we have seen the fullness of God’s mercy, grace, patience, love, faithfulness and justice. In fact we have not just seen it, we know it and experience it every single day. God has revealed to us His glory in and through Christ, a glory that we have come to know, love and treasure. God has drawn us closer to Himself, than Moses was to God on that mountain, for God now lives within us through His Holy Spirit. We also have the joy of knowing that one day we shall gaze upon the full glory of God and not have to hide in a cleft of a rock. Our response to this should not be that of Israel’s response, they presumed upon this working and character of God, took it for granted and put it to the test with their constant sinfulness. Instead, our response should be that of Moses, we should bow before God in worship, not just once, but on a daily basis, because every day God is this God to us, to a measure and extent that we do not fully grasp or appreciate. We need to rejoice in all that which God is to us, what He has done for us and what we shall one day enjoy because of who He is.

Exalted God we give thanks and praise to You today for the mercy, grace, patience, love and faithfulness that You lavish upon us day after day. Thank You that in Your justice our sin has been dealt with by Christ, and now we have the hope of seeing You in all Your glory. Help us to respond by worshipping You with all that we are. Keep us from taking all that which we have received from You for granted, may we honour Your name through our lives. Amen

Verse for the Day, 16 October 2015.

Exodus 33:7-11  Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.  (8)  Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent.  (9)  When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses.  (10)  And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.  (11)  Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

This chapter is quite amazing, as it records for us the nature of God’s relationship with Moses. We are told that Moses would go into the tent of meeting, and whilst in this tent we read that “God would speak face to face with Moses, as a man speaks to his friend.” What a joy and privilege this must have been for Moses, and how we long to share in a relationship with God like this!

The wonderful news is that we do share in such a relationship, in fact as believers in Jesus Christ we have an even better, more intimate relationship with God. We are not just friends of God, Jesus calls us his friends in John 15, we are also children of God. We can call God our Father. Not only are we friends and children of God, we are also filled with the presence of God. Moses went in and out of the presence of God. If he wanted to speak with God, to be in the presence of God, he had to go to the tent of meeting. For us as Christians there is no need for us to find a tent of meeting, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are always in the presence of God, God’s presence is always with us. This means that we have constant access to God in prayer, at any time and in any place. Furthermore we don’t need to come filled with fear and having to offer a sacrifice first, we can come with joy and confidence, in the name of Jesus Christ. We are warmly, lovingly welcomed and received. We have the promise that God’s ear will be turned towards us, He will hear our prayer, and He will answer by doing that which is for our highest good and for His greatest glory.

Let us not envy Moses’ relationship with God, for if Moses were present amongst us, he would envy our relationship. We have a gracious God, who has blessed us with an incredible salvation, one that brings us forever into the presence and favour of God, as friends and as children.

Gracious Father we exalt Your name today, for You have lavished Your grace and mercy upon us abundantly. We cannot fathom how it is that we should go from being rebels and enemies, to friends and children. Yet such is the work, the salvation of Christ. Thank You for the assurance that we have in knowing You are with us every day and that we can turn to You at any time, knowing that You will joyfully receive us. Help us to cultivate our relationship with You, instead of trying to look for something better or deeper, for there is nothing better or deeper that being in a right relationship You. Amen.

Verse for the Day, 15 October 2014.

Exodus 32:1-8, “When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, "Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."  (2)  So Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."  (3)  So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.  (4)  And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who 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 the LORD."  (6)  And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.  (7)  And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.  (8)  They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'”

Exodus 19-31 are some of the most incredible chapters in the Bible, the people of Israel have seen the presence of the LORD upon Mount Sinai and they have heard His voice. Aaron, his son’s and 70 of the elders had gone up the mountain and sat at God’s feet, seeing a glimpse of God’s glory and majesty. God has given His laws of love and life, He has promised to remain faithful to the people and to bless them greatly. He has also given to them the unique means of being able to worship Him through the tabernacle. It is a high point in their history. But this high point is marred by their sinfulness.

Our minds cannot fathom how they could have sinned in such a blatant, deliberate and shameless manner. They are encamped around Mount Sinai, and the presence of God is still upon this mountain, and yet they turn away from God and make an idol. The people come to Aaron and tell him to make them idols to bow down to. Even after all that Aaron has seen and witnessed, he fails to confront the people and refuse their request. Instead he instructs the gold to be brought to him, he fashions the idol, he builds an altar to sacrifice to it, he proclaims it to be God, to be the LORD and commands that the people hold a feast and bring offerings to this idol.

But what makes this idolatry even more horrific, is the fact that they not only proclaim this calf to be God, which would be to break the first three commandments, they also state that this calf, this idol god, is the one that delivered them from the Egyptians. How can they attribute to this golden calf all the works of that God performed in redeeming them from Egypt, a calf that has been made with their gold, and their own hands?

This tragic and horrific event serves to graphically illustrate the absolute depravity, sinfulness of man, the foolishness of man and the deceitfulness of sin. Our sinful condition is of such a great extent that even after having seen God work in miraculous ways, having heard His voice and seen His presence, we can turn away from God and go straight back into sin. In fact they are building and worshipping this golden calf, in the presence in God, as all they needed to do was to look up to the top of the mountain and see the cloud of God’s glory upon it. Yet in our sinful state not even the presence, the nearness of God is a deterrent, it doesn’t seem to bother us that God can see every single sinful action. Such is the depths of our sinfulness and folly.

It is easy for us to point fingers at the people of Israel, but we need to examine our own lives closely. We may not be guilty of such outwardly obvious idolatry and sin, but we can still be guilty of harbouring idolatry and sin in our hearts. Both are equally sinful and displeasing to God, and both are fully seen and known by God. We need to daily examine our hearts, ensure that God, that Christ is the central desire of our hearts, lives and actions. We need to constantly pray for the help of the Spirit to keep up from falling into idolatry, helping us to identify those desires and temptations so that we can walk away. Let us not underestimate our own sinfulness, foolishness and the deceitfulness of sin. God is gracious, gentle, patient and forgiving, but He also wants us to honour Him with our lives and therefore calls us to obedience and holiness.

Merciful God, we declare that You are the one true God, apart from You there is no other, all the other gods are but idols and are altogether worthless. We pray that You would assist us by Your Spirit to keep this truth at the very centre of our lives, that we might live for none other than You. Keep us from bowing down to the idols that surround us or from engaging in deliberate and blatant sin. May we always be conscious of Your presence, that You see all and know all, and that You will also supply us with all that we need so that we can say no to sin and yes to godliness. Help us in Your mercy we pray. Amen.