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God & Polygamy

It is often said that the Bible turns a blind eye to polygamy, and I admit that I find it troubling that God is not stronger on this issue, particularly in the Old Testament where such activity is rife, even among the men we consider “heroes” of the faith. While we can point to cultural realities and Progressive Revelation, these do little to alleviate the bitter taste in our mouths. I don’t have all the answers, but I am continuing to dig deeper into the more troubling passages.

Exodus 21:7-11.

A female slave should not be set free like male slaves. Unfair! — This is because the girl is given (for any number of reasons beyond the scope of today’s devotional) for the purpose of marriage.

If she is “displeasing”!? — The word means ‘evil’ or even ‘immoral’. This is not a fickle judgement, but a serious flaw that emerges.

So what then? — Well, since they are effectively engaged, he must allow her to be redeemed by her family (if they can afford it), but she can NOT be sold again to foreigners, because HE has be “unfair” (this word means unfaithful, treacherous, and even deceitful).

He then has the option to give her to his son in marriage, but if he does that, she is no longer a servant, but a daughter.

If he “takes another wife”? Boom! God’s loves polygamy. — Easy, cowboy. The word CAN mean an additional wife, but it can also mean a DIFFERENT wife (Lv 20:27; De 11:16; Jb 31:8).

Oh yeah, explain “conjugal rights” hot shot!? — This word appears only a single time in the Bible. Here. And the meaning is quite unclear. What are “marriage rights”? Other documents from this time and region of the world have a similar list, but the third item is shelter/oil/things a wife would expect from her husband. Sex could be inferred by the reader, but it is not in the text.

And if he cannot or will not provide these things, she is to be released with no strings attached. Essentially this man has four options. 1) Marry her 2) Have his son marry her 3) Sell her back to her family 4) Release her free and clear.

I find no compelling reason to read an endorsement of polygamy here. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Exodus 20:1-22:15 | 038/365

They Had No Idea

After being rescued from the oppression of the Egyptians, the Israelites lack water, so they whine about it to Moses. Moses goes to God and He provides water. Some time later , the Israelites lack food, so they whine to Moses. Moses goes to God and He provides food. A flock of Quail descend of the encampment and died there. Meat! But God also sends what will become known as Manna. A food that more-or-less is dried dew. It was white and tasted like honey.

Actually, I think it may still be in the Ark of the Covenant (wherever that might be) and I very much would like to taste it. If anyone reading this ends up in possession of the Ark, reach out to me!

But what I find particularly interesting about this is the fact that the Israelites see this Manna in the morning, and have no clue what it is. They asked each other, “Hey, Al, any idea what this flakey white stuff is.” And Al replied, “I have no idea, Jim. I know that Moses told us the Lord would provide food for us, but that could not possibly be what this is. I was expecting bakery fresh bread!” Jim concurred, “Yes! And I was hoping for a delightful lentil soup!”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly like that, but the fact remains that the people had the blessing of God there before them, ripe for the picking, and couldn’t see it for what it was.

It’s not enough that we believe God will provide for us, we need to stop expecting God to do what WE want and starting asking Him to open our eyes to see what HE wants. God loves you, but the world doesn’t revolve around you. God has a greater, longer, more wholistic view and the way he meets our needs and answers our prayers gives us NOT the thing that we WANT, but rather the thing that we NEED. Pray that the Lord would open your eyes to see the blessings before you for what they are.

Exodus 16-19 | 037/365

Weak Leadership

Intro

Today I want to share a few quick, but important thoughts about the commissioning of Moses in the book of Exodus. Please turn to Exodus 3 in your Bibles. We will be reading selected portions from chapters 3 & 4.

Objection #1 | Exodus 3:9–12 NKJV

9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

12 So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

The first thing that jumps out at me in this section is that it’s recorded that God hears and God sees. God is not unaware of what is happening, He recognizes that action is needed, but God also isn’t going to poorly execute some half-baked plan just to get it done now! We can get rushy-rushy sometimes. And that can come back to burn us later. In fact, we’ll stick that in our pockets because it’ll matter in a little bit.

But before we get to that, this is where we see Moses’ first objection to being sent. He essentially says Pharaoh is too important for me to talk to. You should probably get another head of state to take care of this. I’m probably not your guy, says Moses.

So what was God’s response? The same as his response is today, I am with you. He doesn’t puff Moses up with some nonsense about finding the power inside you or whatever new-age nonsense the world likes to conjure up these days. God says that He is with Moses, and if he’ll trust God, he’ll return to this very mountain with all the Israelites to worship the Lord after they are freed from Egypt!

Objection #2 | Exodus 3:13–14 NKJV

13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

Well, Moses responds, how will the Israelites know which God I am referring to? There are so many. This whole thing is just too confusing. Maybe we should call this off.

God’s reply is so direct and powerful that it still hits hard to this very day. He replies tell them that I AM WHO I AM has sent you. This phrase in the Hebrew is actually tenseless. It means not merely “I Am”, but also “I was” and “I will be”. God it not merely saying that He is the God who is, but the God who was, who is, and who ever will be. Long before these other gods were invented by man, and long after they die with their worshippers, the God who was from eternity past and will be forevermore continues to stand. The One, True, Only God. THAT is who sends you!

Objection #3 | Exodus 4:1–8 NKJV

1 Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ ”

2 So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A rod.”

3 And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), 5 “that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

6 Furthermore the Lord said to him, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. 7 And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. 8 “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.

Moses now switches to the Israelites; You know, that sounds great and all… and I totally get it, but they’re not going to buy it. They’re a skeptical people, Lord. Maybe someone with a little more gravitas should tackle this project!

Moses essentially telling God that He might be guessing wrong on this one. Now, it’s easy to point the finger at Moses and say he’s a big, dumb, stupid-head for this, but have you ever felt like God was calling you to do something, only to question if it could really be like He says. Do we ever push back on God saying, well, Lord, did you consider this thing or that thing? We’re not so different from Moses.

And again, how does God respond? A simple question: What do you have in your hand?

A rod. A simple shepherd’s staff. We always think we need something else before we can do what God is calling us into. If we were pressed to say what that thing was we probably couldn’t solidly define it, but we would know for sure that whatever it is, we don’t currently have it. I had a dear brother come to me not so long ago, concerned about a character trait of his, saying that this thing was a hindrance to his effectiveness for the Lord. BALDERDASH! Just because you’re too trusting, or too skeptical, or too emotional, or too emotionless, or whatever that does not mean that the Lord can’t work through you! Maybe He wants to change that trait, or maybe He has equipped you with that because there is a need you will be able to meet that someone else wont. Our God is not so weak that He can only work through perfect vessels! If that was true we would never get to participate in anything!

And that simple shepherd’s staff — by the way — would win over the Israelites, demonstrate God’s power to the Egyptian Royal Court, call down God’s wrath on the Egyptian nation, provide deliverance through the Red Sea for God’s people, bring water from a stone, and preside over military victories for the Israelites. The tool isn’t nearly as important as whose hands it is in!

Objection #4 | Exodus 4:10–12 NKJV

10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

11 So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

Moses’ next attempt is to say, well, Lord, it occurs to me in this moment that perhaps my eloquence is insufficient to the task at hand and my rhetorical skills are found lacking when compared to the present need. Seriously. Moses tries to tell God that he ain’t so good on words. The same man who Stephen describes like this in Acts 7:22, “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds”. This, by the way, was 40 YEARS before the events we are now reading about in Exodus 4. Moses must have really lost a step during that span.

But even so, what is God’s response? He says, “I made you and every other person that walks the face of the earth! I made you the way you are, so I know exactly how you work! Besides, even if you were Oscar Wilde, it would only be because I made you that way!”

God made you who you need to be to accomplish what He has called you to. The important part is submission to the commission.

Objection #5 | Exodus 4:13–17 NKJV

13 But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. 16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God. 17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

Finally Moses voices his actual objection. Lord… I just don’t want to. We see that Moses was not ruled and let by the Lord, but by fear. Not by the spirit, but by the flesh. But the question is why? He has seen, just in the last several minutes, miracles performed by God. Why the hesitation? Why decline the blessing of God, just because you don’t want the responsibility that comes with it?

Remember we put the the rushy-rushy tendency in our pockets earlier? Let’s bring it back out a we bring this plane in for a landing. When we feel like we can do something under our own power, we often do. We don’t consult God or ask for His help because we’ve got this one.

This is what Moses did. He stepped in to help a fellow Israelite 40 years ago and it lead to the death of an Egyptian man. This led to Moses fleeing Egypt for his life, despite being the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. It’s no wonder he felt gun-shy about going down that road again. But what was the difference? God was not with Him the first time. Moses was out there trying to ‘make it happen’ on his own. We need to be reliant on God and have our plans held loosely, so He can take them from us if that is His desire.

Conclusion

Make no mistake. You are called into places of leadership. Even if it is just within your family. That being the case, what can we learn from this conversation between Moses and God?

There are a great many ways we can feel inadequate. 1) I’m not qualified 2) I’m not authorized 3) People won’t accept me 4) I’m not perfect 5) I’m scared.

But what does God do in each case? Does He slap Moses in the back of the head and kick Him our the door? No, God equips Moses!

1) Not qualified? I’ll equip you! 2) No authorized? I’ve sent you! 3) People won’t accept you? I’ll open the doors! 4) Not perfect? I made you who you are! 5) Scared? I will bring people to support you.

So then, let’s cast our burden unto the Lord and step out into the roles He has called us to full of faith and confidence in the Lord who was, is, and ever will be to carry us through. If you bring your fears and insecurities to God He won’t yell at you, He won’t belittle you, He will equip you for the work ahead. Let God equip you rather than bearing your stuggles and burdens alone! Now I’ll open the floor. Let’s go around and see what hit each of us from today’s passage.

The sermon was originally preached at Mountain Springs Calvary Chapel in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.

Why Isn’t God More Obvious!?

A question asked by atheists and naive Christians constantly. If only God would do X, or Y, or Z… then people would believe! I love this idea because it flies in the face of all the evidence since forever. We want to be right and our brains will seek out evidence that makes us right and ignore evidence that doesn’t. This confirmation bias is what lead a pair of pilots on Air Canada Flight 759 to nearly land on a taxiway instead of the adjacent runway. Look it up. There’s video!

The same thing led me to once pour nearly 4 litres of antifreeze into my windshield washer resivour. I could tell something wasn’t right, but I pressed through anyway because surely there is something wrong with the evidence in front of me rather than my previous decision!

When Pharaoh and the Egyptian officers and army realize they have let the Israelites go after plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, animal death, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and human death they think… ‘what a stupid thing we’ve done! We need to go recapture them!’

Seriously. How quickly and easily we forget the consequences of disobedience once those consequences have passed! Despite all that evidence, evidence from which the country of Egypt was still reeling, they decide to go get some MORE consequences. After seeing the pillars of smoke and fire and the parting of the Red Sea, the Egyptians — in spite of the unreasonably large body of evidence — continue to chase after Israel THROUGH THE GAP IN THE SEA WITH WALLS OF WATER ON EITHER SIDE! No amount of evidence would convince this man that the God of Israel was real and that He would ensure His people were released form Egyptian slavery.

The fact is that God has provided a plethora of evidence, we just need to set down our biases and review it honestly.

Exodus 13-15 | 036/365

Not a Hoof!

The temptation to compromise can be a strong one. We feel that God has called us to do something and we push toward that goal, ultimately settling for most of it. That’s pretty good, right? Close enough.

Growing up, my mother often said (and I often quote her), “‘Good enough’ never is.”

We see that in the… negotiation between Moses and Pharaoh. Moses wants all everyone to go. Pharaoh says “No.” Moses pushes as the Lord instructs him to and Pharaoh says, “Ok, but just the men”. Moses pushes as the Lord instructs him to and Pharaoh says, “Ok, but no livestock!”. Finally, GOD pushes and Pharaoh (and the Egyptians) say(s), “Go! Oh, and also take our silver and gold!”

The first Passover didn’t involved Moses or Aaron waving their staffs or smacking the water, this one was all God. Moses, empowered and emboldened by the call of God took the ball to the 10 yard line (to use a football analogy), but it was God Himself who carried it in for a touchdown.

We often feel like we need to do it. We can accept that God tells us where He wants us to be, but we need to get there under our own power and strength. And when we feel like it’s on us, that’s when the temptation to compromise seeps in. We got so close, let’s just leave the livestock behind! Take the exit presented to us!

But Moses staunchly refuses. He knows God is going to see this thing through and fulfill His promise 100%. We need to have the same trust. God wouldn’t call you to go 100 miles if He really wanted you to go 93 miles. When you come to the end of yourself, that’s when the power, and strength, and glory of the Lord shines through. That’s when He carries us. So the next time you feel tempted to throw in the towel and settle for less than God has called you into… don’t deprive yourself of the fullness of His blessing, instead resolutely stand up and say, “Not a hoof can be left behind!”

Exodus 10-12 | 35/365

Have It Your Way

Some of us would admit it, others never would, but we all love control. We like to be in charge. We want the final say and for the buck to stop with us. That’s why the Burger King slogan, “Have it your way” was such a fantastic stroke of marketing genius!

And this brings us along to Pharaoh. He has enslaved the Israelites and they are forced into hard labour for the Egyptian government and people. The time is right for God to raise up His chosen leader — Moses — and his brother, Aaron. They go to Pharaoh and famously ask him to “Let my people go!”. Pharoah’s heart is infamously hardened and he refuses, so God sends a series of plagues, judgements on the Egyptian people. Making the water undrinkable, sending various pests, extreme weather, killing livestock, and even afflicting the people with ill health. Some of these signs were mimicked by the Egyptian magicians, but others could not be. In some cases Pharaoh promised to let the Hebrews leave before reneging the moment that the judgement of God was relieved.

Often we cluck our tongues at Pharaoh and wonder why he was such a big stupid idiot, but I think our man is a cautionary tale for *US*. We desire the same control that Pharaoh did, we just don’t have as much power or authority. And when God’s will does not align with our will, the temptation is often to rationalize the incongruence. I literally had a woman tell me once that because God knew she was unhappy in her marriage, He sent her another man!

Lay your plans down and give the Lord final say-so. Once I stopped trying to ‘have it my way’ and waited on the Lord to lead, I felt so much more satisfied and contented in my life and my work. You’ll experience the same thing. Don’t be Pharaoh.

Exodus 8-9 | 034/365

The Lord Your God

Moses and Aaron have been commissioned by God to advocate before Pharaoh for the release of the Israelites. God warns them that Pharaoh’s heart will be hard, but that in time he will not only let the Israelites go, he will force them to leave Egypt.

What will cause this turn of events? The magnanimity of Pharaoh? LOL! The eloquence of Aaron? Not likely. The miraculous signs performed by Moses? Not likely (again). The grassroots groundswell of support by the Israelites against their Egyptian oppressors!? LOL (again)!

The Lord says this as recorded in Exodus 6:6-7 (NLT):

Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgement. I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt.

Remember the fullness of time from yesterday? Moses was God’s chosen leader because he cared for the people and he was humble, even doubtful he could possibly be a leader. The perfect vessel for God’s glory. And we had to wait for the previous Pharoah to die off so that Moses could return without being executed. Which leads us to this situation where God will free the Israelites in spectacular fashion, in a way that only the Lord can. In this way there can be no doubt who did it.

This is the God we serve. He is powerful over all things and Will only act in the fullness of time. If you feel like you can’t do it, that you are not up to the task… you are in good company. Remember that we can do (that is: persevere, press-on, or endure) all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil 4:13, Conrad’s Amplified Version)

Exodus 4:18-7:13 | 033/365

What Was God Waiting For?

Exodus opens with the Israelites growing into a mighty sub-nation within Egypt. And so the Egyptians seek to subjugate them with slavery. They do so successfully. But God does nothing. Pharaoh orders all the newborn male children drown, and God does nothing.

Eventually one little boy is hidden in the reeds down the river by his mother. Her hopes and motivations are not stated in the text, but by having her daughter — Miriam — keep watch, it’s clear that she hopes someone will come rescue the child and his sister can report back what has happened.

Moses is taken in by the daughter of Pharaoh. He is raised by Egyptian royalty in the lap of luxury while his people are beaten and enslaved. One day Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man and killed him. The next day Moses saw two Hebrews fighting each other and asked why they would be attacking their friend!

Shortly after this, Moses fled for his life after Pharaoh put out a decree to have him killed for the murder of the Egyptian man. While in Exile Moses got married and had a son. All the while the Israelites are still enslaved and God still hasn’t done anything. But now, now God begins to move.

What took God so long? Why didn’t he step in right away? Because He was waiting for Moses. Moses demonstrated a zealous (maybe a little OVERzealous) love for his fellow Israelites. And this was the man God wanted to task with bringing the law to His people. This man would be the one who would FIRST write down the words and instructions and history of God and His people.

We need to remember when things are going sideways that God has a plan, a purpose, and a person in mind to do address what’s happened. We have a hard time seeing beyond where we are at in any particular moment, but while we only see what’s on the road in front of us, God can see every road. And he knows when our course will change even if we can’t see it yet.

We need to trust enough to wait on God. He is coming. When the time is right.