Thursday, 31 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Jo Black & Steve Hall and posted in Exploring Canaan

They spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size... We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:32-33

Imagine the souvenir t-shirt: My spies went to the Promised Land and all they brought back was grapes and this lousy t-shirt.

Isn’t it amazing how we can spin opportunities into disappointments? When leaders (like in today’s verses) stop depending upon God and share their lack of faith it can cause a lot of damage.

Let us be leaders who wear God’s t-shirt: God’s promises never fail.

Wednesday, 30 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Jo Black & Steve Hall and posted in Exploring Canaan

They gave Moses this account: “[The land] does flow with milk and honey! ... But the people who live there are powerful...” Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” Numbers 13:27-28 & 30

It can be difficult to describe a trip when you get home. You want people to understand something of what you saw and felt, but time is often limited and the photo album’s at home!

Our human tendency is to focus on the negative: the food was great but the beds were awful; the views were fantastic but the people weren’t very friendly…

For Caleb there were no buts when it came to God’s promises.

Tuesday, 29 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Jo Black & Steve Hall and posted in Exploring Canaan

So they went up and explored the land... They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where... the descendants of Anak, lived. When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes... Numbers 13:21-23

I'm sure these twelve men explored in a mix of excitement and fear: excitement at the fruitfulness of the land God was promising and fear because of the danger the powerful native people (Anak's descendents) represented.

Our excitement over God’s promises can easily get dulled or disappear altogether when we focus upon the obstacles we have to overcome to see these promises become reality. Choose to focus on the grapes not on Anak’s descendents!

Monday, 28 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Jo Black & Steve Hall and posted in Exploring Canaan

When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “... Is [the land] good or bad? ... Are [the towns] unwalled or fortified? ... Is [the soil] fertile or poor? Are there trees...? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit...” Numbers 13:17-20

Have you ever anticipated a great event so much that you feel like you’re going to burst with the excitement of it all?

Moses is longing to see the land God has promised and out comes this torrent of questions – he wants to know everything! He also wants to taste some of the land’s fruit too if that’s not too much to ask for…

Are you excited by what God has ahead of you?

Wednesday, 23 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Divine Presence

So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels. Exodus 40:38

The significance of this verse can be easily missed if you are unaware of where the Tabernacle was situated within the Israelite camp. Numbers 2 informs us that the Tabernacle was positioned in the very centre of the camp!*

God's desire was to be at the very centre of Israel's corporate and individual lives. So much so he was willing to "tent it" with His people in order to do this.

FOOTNOTE:
* The Tabernacle was a very ornate tent where the Israelite priests ministered.

Tuesday, 22 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Divine Presence

In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out — until the day it lifted. Exodus 40:36-37

When God said go, the Israelites got up and went; when God said stay, the Israelites remained where they were. God wasn't very concerned about the speed by which Israel reached the Promised Land; he was more concerned about the type of people they were when they arrived. Do you live by this rhythm allowing God to work on your heart or do you get frustrated by the lack of speed?

Monday, 21 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Divine Presence

Then Moses said to the Lord, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with [us] unless you go with us? What else will distinguish [us] from all the other people on the face of the earth?” Exodus 33:15-16

What's the point of going anywhere without God, even to a place as good as the Promised Land? This is Moses' view. He is so in love with God that he never wants to leave God's side.

Moses also realises that without God's presence, Israel are just like everyone else. There's a big difference between being people of presence and people of religion. How important is God's presence to you?

Friday, 18 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Divine Presence

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place... I will send an angel before you... Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” Exodus 33:1-3

Imagine catching your husband or wife cheating on your honeymoon. How would that betrayal make you feel? Would you be keen to journey home with them after that?

That's how God is feeling here. He is a jealous lover and is angered and upset that the Israelites have made a golden calf idol to worship.* No wonder he doesn't want to journey on with the Israelites!

FOOTNOTE:
* See Exodus 32

Thursday, 17 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel…. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. Exodus 24:9-10

These leaders probably climbed the mountain in fear and trepidation wondering whether they’d live to tell the tale... Yet they ended up having a ball as God throws a wee feast! Isn’t that awesome?

Sadly the journey up the mountain to experience God’s intimate presence only involved 70 leaders while the rest of the community waited at the bottom.

Don’t be someone who waits at the bottom - climb up!

Wednesday, 16 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Exodus 20:18-19

God speaks the first two commandments out loud for the whole Israelite assembly to hear, but then fear overcomes the Israelites and they force Moses to tell them the rest.*

Fear causes the Israelites to stay at a distance rather than enjoy an intimate relationship with God that Moses does. Is there any fear in your life that is causing you to keep God at a distance?

FOOTNOTE:
* Notice the shift between first person to third person between the second and third commandments in Exodus 20:4-7.

Tuesday, 15 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…” Exodus 20:8-10

In Egypt the Israelites were constantly worked every day of every year. They were exploited as expendable commodities rather than as people. A day off is therefore a revolutionary concept to ex-slaves!

God is commanding them to take a day off so that they take time each week to remember they are no longer in Egypt! Their value comes from God not from how many bricks they can produce.

Monday, 14 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Exodus 20:7

The word translated here as ‘misuse’ can also mean “carry”. God has liberated these ex-slaves and is inviting them to be his representatives to the world. How they “carry” God’s name is going to affect how others view God.

This command is not just about how or what we speak, but whether we act on behalf of the oppressed and poor - just like God did by liberating Israel.

Friday, 11 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Exodus 20:4

A marriage relationship cannot work if one of the parties is spending their time with an image of their partner rather than the real deal! God desires our intimate focus!

The other reason for this command is that people are made in the image of God. The Israelites themselves were meant to represent God to others through the unique way they lived their lives!

Thursday, 10 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

A great way to think about the Ten Commandments is to liken them to a marriage contract. It is God outlining the appropriate way for his bride, Israel, to live in order to stay faithfully married to Himself. This first command is therefore God saying that Israel shall have no other lovers apart from Him… He desires Israel for Himself alone.

Wednesday, 09 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death.’ … Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.” Exodus 19:12-13

In all the details about how people who touch Mount Sinai will surely die it’s very easy to miss what’s being said at the end of verse 13. There God announces to Moses that the people are to come up the mountain... but only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast. The people will be allowed up the mountain and into God’s presence! Does that change this story for you?

Tuesday, 08 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said. Exodus 19:9

God hasn’t talked to a group of people since Eden… and now the Israelites are getting told to get ready for God speaks in three days time!

No other religion has as its central event a god speaking to a group of people all at the same time. Sinai is a revelation of God’s heart for all people as He proposes a marraige of sorts between the divine and the human.

Monday, 07 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

“‘Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” Exodus 19:6

Wow this sounds like New Testament language! But here it is in Exodus.

Priests mediate between people and the divine. They show and tell others what the divine is like. God is inviting all the Israelites to be his earthly representatives (priests).

Israel is also to be a holy nation. We could say that a holy nation is a nation that lives the opposite way to the oppressive Egyptian Empire.

Friday, 04 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

‘Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.’ Exodus 19:5

The Israelites are a rag tag group of abused scar-bearing ex-slaves who have seen their baby boys drowned in the Nile and have never known true freedom. Talk about issues!

Yet, out of all the nations of the world, God has chosen them to be his treasured possession. But notice the ‘if’: if they obey God. First the Israelites need to learn what it means to be human again.

Thursday, 03 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.’ Exodus 19:4

It’s all grace! Liberation from slavery, rescue from empire, salvation from sin. They are all gifts from God.

The Exodus event defines who God is. He is not an abstract God floating somewhere in the heavens, but a God who acts on behalf of the poor and the oppressed. He is a God who liberates people and brings them to Himself.

Spend sometime today praising God for the freedom He brings.

Wednesday, 02 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Mount Sinai

On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. Exodus 19:1

The route from Egypt to the Promised Land in no way, remotely, not even closely goes near the Desert of Sinai. It’s like Google Maps sending you via London on a trip from Glasgow to Edinburgh. God has deliberately taken the Israelites on a huge detour. Something important is going to happen at Sinai.

Tuesday, 01 December 2009 01:00  |  Written by Steve Hall and posted in Big Exit

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” Exodus 14:26

Faced with a God powerful enough to hold back the sea would you have chased after the Israelites? Surely, a God who can do that isn’t going to let his people’s enemies get through to the other side and enslave his people once more. Der! And yet the lust for power consumes the Egyptians and they are consumed themselves by the sea. God is on the side of the oppressed. Don’t ever forget that!