FEB 14, 2011- TODAY’S READING IN THE ONE YEAR BIBLE
The Intercession of Moses; The Call to the Artists; The Cross and Great Commission of Christ
Exodus 37-38:31; Matthew 28:1-20; Psalm 34:11-22; Proverbs 9:9-10
THE INTERCESSION OF MOSES- A TYPE OF THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST
Because the children of Israel “sinned a great sin” (Exodus 32:30) in rebelling against God’s authority, breaking His commandments and worshiping the golden calf, the wrath of God burned against them. At first God wanted to destroy them entirely. For our God is a consuming holy fire. Moses becomes a type of our Intercessor, our Great High Priest Jesus Christ, who because of His great love for us, stands in the gap and pleads for His people (32:11-13).
Moses intercedes a second time, once again pleading that God will forgive the sins of His people (Exodus 32:31-32) but the Lord replies that He will blot out the names of all those who have sinned against Him from the Book of Life (32:33) and bring punishment (in this case, a plague) for their sin.
This dark background of Israel’s sin of idolatry and Aaron’s willingness to make the idol, highlights the great mercy that we see in the following chapters.
The Lord tells Moses that the people should resume their journey but that, because of the hardness of heart and rebelliousness (being stubborn and stiff-necked), He would send an angel before them (The captain of the Lord’s host, Joshua 5:13, another preincarnate appearance of Christ) to drive out their enemies and help them possess the land of their inheritance. Truly the inheritance was given to them by grace, rather than anything deserving on their part. How merciful the Lord is.
AN EXAMPLE OF REPENTANCE
But then God gave the disastrous news that provoked a deeper repentance among them: “…but I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”
This verdict brought deep mourning and wailing among God’s people. The Lord instructs them to put off their ornaments. This is a wonderful picture of repentance, as Arthur Pink brings out in his book, “Gleanings in Exodus”:
The removal of their ornaments was for the purpose of evidencing the genuineness of their contrition. Outward adornment was out of keeping with the taking of a low place before God. Contrariwise, external attractions and displays show up the absence of that lowliness of spirit and brokenness of heart which are of great price in the sight of God. The more true spirituality declines, the more an elaborate ritual comes to the fore. All around us Christendom is putting on as many "ornaments" as possible.
"And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb" (v. 6). This was a still more hopeful sign. Here we see Israel obeying God’s command to humble themselves. This is ever the ground of further blessing. The promise is, "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." A New Testament parallel to what we have before us here, is found in the case of the Corinthians. To them the apostle wrote, "Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings" (1 Cor. 4:8). There we see them with all their "ornaments" on. Later he was able to write, "For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath you sorry, though but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly manner" (2 Cor. 7:8, 9). They had "stripped themselves" of their "ornaments"!
A.W. Pink contrasts the humility of the Corinthians who repented of their smug self-satisfaction with the church of Laodicea which did not:
Revelation 3:15-20 (NASB) '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, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
Moses, in response to the Lord’s displeasure with those in the camp, sets up a tent of meeting, outside the camp (remember that the Tabernacle proper had not yet been built). There the Lord spoke with Moses as a man speaks with his friend (33:11) and Moses intercedes again for the people he loves (33:12-13). He asks that the Lord would show him His ways. He reminds the Lord that the people now belong to Him.
“Consider too, that this nation is Your people.”
Moses third intercession is successful. The Lord says, “My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” (32:14)
MOSES (THE LAW) HAS A VIEW OF GOD’S GLORY
Moses makes a further request. It is a big ASK. “Please show me your glory!” (33:18)
The Lord makes it known that no one man can see Him and live (33:20) But in His mercy, the Lord provides a way for Moses to see His glory, but only after He has passed by. He positions Moses in the cleft of the rock, a part of the same rock he is standing on (a type of Christ). The Lord covers Moses with His hand (which speaks of God’s work- foreshadowing the finished work of redemption that Christ would execute on the cross). Then, when the hand is taken away, Moses could see the back of the Person of God. This illustrates that Moses, who represents the law, could see the glory of God only from the perspective of its shadow. For the substance is Christ.
THE SECOND GIVING OF THE LAW
What struck me about reading Exodus 34 is that the Lord introduces Himself as He is about to write the law on the tables of stone that Moses has cut out.
Exodus 34:6-7. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."
This self revelation of God reminds us that God is love. Sometimes modern man reverses this as if to say, “Love is God”. However our concepts or experiences of love are very distorted and inadequate. God reveals Himself as Holy Love.
Notice how this is consistent with the revelation of Love in 1 Corinthians 13
God is slow to anger (Love is patient) and abounding in lovingkindness (Love is kind) and truth (Love rejoices in the truth); who keeps lovingkindness for thousands (love hopes all thing, bears all things, believes all things, endures all things), who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin (love keeps no record of wrongs) yet He will not by any means leave the guilty unpunished (love rejoices not in iniquity).
The Word does not say that Love does not get angry. Sin must be dealt with. That is why Love cannot be known or experienced apart from the Cross of Christ. It is there that our sin is punished and our guilt is atoned for. It is there that we discover the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
The Word does not say that Love does not get angry. Sin must be dealt with. That is why Love cannot be known or experienced apart from the Cross of Christ. It is there that our sin is punished and our guilt is atoned for. It is there that we discover the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
Moses’ response is one is one we should emulate:
Exodus 34:8 (NASB) 8 Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.
Once again the Lord makes a covenant with His people to more fully reveal His intention to bless His people through a Greater revelation of righteousness, the law written on the fleshy table of the heart of the Messiah, who would fulfill the terms of righteousness on behalf of those who believe on Him. The justified shall live by faith in Him.
Notice the grace in God’s promise. It is about His performance: I will do marvels. It is an awesome thing that I will do with you. All the people shall see the work of the Lord. I will drive out your enemy.
The Lord warns His people not to compromise with the idolatrous ways of the Canaanites. He reveals that His name is Jealous. God has zero tolerance for the diabolical acts and claims of phony competitors.
THE SHINING FACE OF MOSES (34:29-35)
Moses was unaware of the impact that face to face fellowship was having upon him. The revelation of God’s righteousness through the law had a transforming effect upon his countenance. The light of God’s countenance shining upon him caused his own face to shine. When Aaron and the people of Israel saw His face, they were afraid to get near him. Moses would have to put a veil over his face when he was with the people. The people would hear of God’s righteousness through the veil over Moses’ face (2 Cor 3:14).
Moses would take off the veil when he drew near to the Lord in the tent of meeting. He was the only one with this privilege of face to face fellowship as God revealed Himself in the giving of the law.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul refers to this incident, contrasting the revelation of God’s righteousness to Moses through the law and the revelation of God’s righteousness to us through Christ.
But we all (not just Moses), with unveiled face (the veil has been taken away in Christ-the greater revelation of god’s righteousness), beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord (revelation of Christ mediated to us by the Word and the Spirit), are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (The impact of our fellowship with Christ is not just skin deep! We are being conformed into the image of Christ by the work of the Indwelling Holy Spirit!) (2 Corinthians 3:18)
CHAPTER 35 repeats the regulations of the Sabbath (35:1-3) describes the collection of the specific materials that the Lord asked for in order to construct the Tabernacle according to the pattern He gave Moses on Mount Sinai (Horeb) (35:4-9). They did this with deeply motivated (35:21, 26, 29) and willing (35:22) hearts.
I love this encouraging invitation for artists and craftsmen:
Exodus 35:10 (NASB) 10 'Let every skillful man among you come, and make all that the LORD has commanded:
God who gives the talents has provided specific opportunities for them to be used for His glory!
The artist Bezalel was filled with the Spirit, with skill, intelligence, knowledge and all craftsmanship to both devise designs and to execute them. He also was inspired to teach and train others (together with Oholiab) 35:31-35)
The construction work required both a mind and a heart that had been prepared by God. It required specific skills and motivation.
People were inspired to give to such a degree that Moses had to give a command for the people to stop giving!
Exodus 36:6-7 (NASB) 6 So Moses issued a command, and a proclamation was circulated throughout the camp, saying, "Let no man or woman any longer perform work for the contributions of the sanctuary."
Thus the people were restrained from bringing any more. 7 For the material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work, to perform it.
The remaining part of Chapters 36 through 38 describe the execution of the construction of the Tabernacle called for in the earlier chapters (25-30 )
NEW TESTAMENT READINGS: MATT 27:15- 28:20
Our readings this weekend and today conclude the Gospel of Matthew. This is the climax of the Christ event. Here we have the gospel- the good news of what God has done in Christ. What we read about is “the Cross”, referred to prophetically by the Lord Jesus Himself as “the departure” (Luke 9:31) or “the exodus” as this is the Greek word used under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Luke’s gospel to encapsulate the event Jesus discussed with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.
In Matthew 27 we read of Jesus’ sufferings including the crucifixion. When the New Testament writers speak of ‘the cross’ they are not speaking of the wood that Jesus was nailed to, but the whole event of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection and what it accomplished. The message of ‘the Cross’, the Apostle Paul proclaimed, was of utmost importance:
1 Corinthians 15:3-5 (NASB) 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Today’s reading in Matthew 28 tells us of the resurrection of Christ and His Great Commission.
The resurrection declares that:
1. Jesus is who He says He is- the Son of God (Romans 1:3-4)
2. Jesus is fully vindicated and proved to be the Holy One and had lived a perfect life without sin (Psalm 16:10).
3. Jesus was successful in taking the death penalty incurred by our sin, as our sinless substitute, and paid our full debt to satisfy God’s righteous law. The proof of this is that Jesus was released from the indictment of condemnation and death proving that the Law was satisfied on our behalf. We who believe are therefore acquitted from all our guilt (Romans 4:25).
4. Jesus is victorious over death, and He has given the death blow to the one who has power over death, that is the devil (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8).
5. Jesus’ death answers any charge that might come against us (The law of double jeopardy says that you cannot try a person twice for the same crime. We have been tried and legally acquitted on all counts) and now Jesus is alive to intercede for us: OUR LIVING PROOF. (Romans 8:34)
6. We are able to be born again of the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and therefore have a living abiding indwelling hope of the imperishable inheritance that is to come ( 1 Peter 3-5)
7. We can be assured that believers shall have resurrection bodies like Jesus, the first-fruit of resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:49; Phil 3:21; 1 John 3:1-3)
And THE GREAT COMMISSION
There is one imperative with a participle that bears imperatival value:
1. THE COMMAND: Make disciples (share the gospel and lead by example new believers into a lifestyle of love and obedience, following and glorifying Christ).
2. THE PARTICIPLE BEARING IMPERATIVAL VALUE: Go! (This involves intentionality!)
3. THE PARTICIPLES DESCRIBING THE PROCESS:
a. baptizing- initiating their outward identification with Christ in His death burial and resurrection as a partaker of eternal life- fellowship with the Triune God.
b. teaching- modeling and instructing in a lifestyle of joyful obedience to God’s revealed will, fulfilling His commands in the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. THE PROMISE- (verse 20). The full provision of His presence, power and provisions to resource our obedience.
Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB)
19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Tomorrow we start the Gospel of Mark!
Pastor David
So, naturally, we proclaim Christ! We warn everyone we meet, and we teach everyone we can, all that we know about him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ. (Colossians 1:28, J.B. Phillips paraphrase)
New Life Community Church, Concord, MA 10742
Meeting Sundays at 10:30 AM at the Emerson Umbrella for the Arts, 40 Stow Street, Concord MA
Mailing Address: Post Office Box Five, Concord, MA 01742
Church Offices: 35 Bypass Rd. Lincoln, MA 01773 978-369-0061
Home Office: 978-371-3176
New Life Fine Arts
"Theater you can believe in."
