Posts tagged Moses
Bible in a Year – Day 45: God Draws Nearer
Feb 14th
Today’s Reading: Numbers 7
When Moses entered the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law. In this way the Lord spoke to him. (Numbers 7:89)
A new day had dawned for Israel. Previously, the Lord had spoken to Moses on a mountaintop – a place where Moses would go by himself, be gone for days and, eventually, return with a message from the Lord. Now, God had come a little closer. God had instructed Moses to construct a place for him – to have a recognized meeting place where they could talk. And now, after the tabernacle was dedicated (with a LOT of animals and grain) it finally happened.
No longer would Moses have to trek up into the mountains to meet with God. No longer would he have to be away from his people for days. Now, God was nearer. And so, this was no insignificant day. For Moses, it had to be a huge relief. Not only would this make his life a little easier, but it was a confirmation that all of this work had not been in vain. And even more than that, it was a confirmation to the people that Moses still “had it.” He was still God’s man for the job.
I think it’s interesting though that, once again, God’s actions in this story serve as a foretaste of his work of salvation through Jesus. You see, this pattern of God drawing nearer to his people would continue several thousand years later as Jesus’ life and death brought an end to the temple curtain that separated those who were “in” with God and those who were not. God would, once again, draw closer to his people.
Through Jesus, we are able to approach God in our daily lives, much like Moses could approach him in the tabernacle – here, instead of up there. The lengths to which God would go, not once, but twice, to make himself more accessible to us – even though we didn’t deserve it – are astounding. God bent over backwards to make it easier for us. And he continues to do it over and over and over again. How often do we take time to recognize that generous gift?
Bible in a Year – Day 42: The Beginning of the End
Feb 11th
Today’s Reading: Numbers 1 & 2
Have you ever tried to envision something and known that, despite your best efforts, what you saw in your head couldn’t hold a stick to the real thing? Most people think of heaven in those terms – that is, beyond what we can imagine. But I would suggest that the same is true of our visions of what it must have been like for the people of Israel wandering in the desert. As we begin reading through the book of Numbers (after Leviticus, probably one of the least-read books in the Bible) it’s worth noting just how many people we’re talking about.
We are told that the number of men 20 years old or older and able to serve in the army was 603,550. Now, imagine the number of women that weren’t counted, the number of children that weren’t counted (including teenagers), the number of elderly that weren’t counted because they were unable to serve in the army, the number of Levites that weren’t counted according to the order. Then, add to that the number of non-Israelites (or “foreigners”) and you begin to get a picture of a group of people that would have numbered probably somewhere close to 2 million.
So, Moses was leading a group of people roughly the size of the entire population of the city of Houston. No wonder this guy was stressed out. Imagine not only having to lead these people in the sense of “oversee their lives” but to literally lead these people through the desert. One figure I read estimated that this crowd, standing 10 abreast, would stretch for 150 miles. Now that’s a crowd.
2 million people following Moses, waiting on his next move, wondering if they were ever going to make it to the promised land. An army of over 600,000 ready to take on anyone who got in their way. Israel was a force to be reckoned with. And, they would ultimately “reckon” with themselves – among themselves.
The picture that is painted in the numbers presented at the beginning of this book is a picture of a group of people too large to manage, too powerful to be controlled and too numerous to be effectively led. There is no indication of it at this point in Scripture, but in a sense, this was the beginning of the end for the unified twelve-tribe Israel.
Bible in a Year – Day 30: Temp Work
Jan 30th
Today’s Reading: Exodus 36, 37 & 38
Moses (or whoever Biblical scholars now believe wrote the book of Exodus) makes me laugh. He could have saved himself a lot of ink and parchment if he had simply said, “and they built the tabernacle, ark, alter, etc. to the specifications that God gave them.” Instead, he walks us through all of those specifications again. What’s the point?
Well, as with any piece of scripture, “what’s the point?” is a very valid question to ask. And so, as I read through this list that was essentially the response to God’s call to built the tabernacle, I asked that very question. Why was this all in there again? Maybe it was about reinforcing the fact that God really does care about the details. Of maybe is was a kind of audit – some way of verifying the “what we did” with the “what we were told to do.” Whatever the reason, it’s in there and we should probably read it.
One quick take-away for me is that this was a massive undertaking for people who had no home, very little to eat and who were getting sick and tired of roaming around the desert. What we read in these verses are people who are being obedient – painstakingly so – in building a temporary place of worship, when what they really wanted was a place to call their land and a place where they could build a “proper” house for God. But that wasn’t God’s plan…not yet.
And so, I look at myself in the mirror and I ask what parts of my life I’m truly willing to be obedient with. What are my “tabernacles” – the things that God has asked me to do that I don’t necessarily think are in “his” best interest. Or, the things that simply don’t make sense to me and, therefore, I’m reluctant to do them. Am I willing to pour myself into something temporary just because God asks me to. It’s one of those questions that’s easy to answer with a resounding “yes,” but much harder to walk out when you feel like you’re just wasting your time.
Bible in a Year – Day 29: Plunder with a Purpose
Jan 29th
Today’s Reading: Exodus 33, 34 & 35
In today’s reading, there is a lot of back and forth between Moses and God and a few strange regulations, but the thing I want to focus on is the section in chapter 35 about the materials for the tabernacle. Obviously, the tabernacle was going to be a pretty ornate spectacle and, as I mentioned before, God wanted to provide the people of Israel with every little detail they needed to build it. In chapter 35, we find that not only did God give the plans, but he also provided the materials and seemingly supernaturally instructed the skilled workers.
In chapter 35, verses 4-9, Moses instructs the people to bring the materials that are needed and in verses 10-19, he instructs them to bring their skills. The thing that’s interesting for me is that these materials and skills were likely the direct result of Israel’s time spent in Egypt. Things like learning to hammer gold and weave intricate patterns would have likely been learned in their different roles as servants in Egypt. Likewise, the expensive materials they had with them (remember, they couldn’t just go to The Home Depot and buy the supplies to build the tabernacle) also came from Egypt. In fact, just before the people made their flight from Egypt, God told them to ask their masters for these kinds of precious gifts.
What sticks out here is that God allowed the people of Israel to acquire a certain amount of wealth through these valuable items. And yet, instead of simply allowing the people to get fat off of their wealth, God had a specific purpose in mind for those items. I wonder how many people have prayed to God for wealth or have somehow become wealthy, but have ceased to take into consideration the fact that God might want to use that wealth for something. I’m sure some of the Israelites hadn’t considered that fact. They thought they just got lucky and got to take some sweet treasure with them on their desert trek. But God knew differently. He knew that he would, in essence, redeem that Egyptian loot and turn it into something holy. This is just another example of God’s plan being so enormous compared to ours and a reminder that he’s always a few hundred steps ahead of us!
Bible in a Year – Day 28: What’s a Life Worth?
Jan 28th
Today’s Reading: Exodus 30, 31 & 32
As with just about every day, there’s a lot packed into today’s reading. However, there were two parts that really jumped out to me and they both follow a similar theme. First, there is the “atonement money” that God requires every person to pay. Second, there is this conversation between Moses and the Lord where Moses asks God to forgive the Israelites for worshiping the golden calf. Both, I think, demonstrate a fundamental truth about the value of each individual – a truth that God first taught Noah and then, Noah articulated back to God.
Let’s take a look at the atonement money. The purpose of this money was to offer a “ransom” for the life of each individual. Clearly, this has some prophetic undertones as Jesus would pay the ultimate ransom for us and would be the ultimate atonement. However, I think there’s something interesting about this passage. God requires that everyone is to give one half shekel. And he specifically says that the rich are to give no more than a half shekel and the poor are to give no less.
Now, whenever God and money are combined in the Bible, most people immediately believe that the passage must be a commentary on church giving, tithing, etc. In this case, though, I don’t think that’s the point at all. In fact, when you read through the rest of scripture, you see that God typically does require more from those who have more and often lessens the giving requirements for those who are poor. So what’s going on here?
Well, remember that we’re talking about a ransom or atonement. That is, a sum of money paid in exchange for someone’s life. What’s a life worth? Whatever the person who saves your life says it’s worth. In this case, God tells the people that they are to pay one half shekel as a ransom for each life. But what is God going to do with a half shekel? He doesn’t need the money! What he does need is that for the people to understand that their lives have value and that no one person’s life is more valuable than another. The lives of the rich aren’t worth more than the lives of the poor or vice versa. This is a lesson in the value of a life, not a story about tithing or church giving.
This same lesson, then, is obviously learned and articulated by Moses when he says to God in chapter 32, verses 31 & 32:
“Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
Moses here is essentially telling God that his life (or more accurately, his soul or his existence) is not any more valuable than anyone else’s. If they aren’t going to be forgiven – if they’re going to be rejected by God – then Moses doesn’t want to be accepted by him either. It’s a reminder that we’re all in this boat together – that God interacts with humanity as a whole as well as individuals. And it’s a reminder that you are worth the same as me and the same as the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich. And, ultimately, Jesus would pay the same price for all of us.
