Devotionals
Getting it Twisted
One of the more surprising things in the Gospel of John is when Jesus says that He must be lifted up by God in the same way that Moses lifted up the snake in the desert. If we go back to that snake in the desert, we see that God used the instrument of destruction... Read More →
The Least & The Greatest
Another day chock-full of all manner of things to dig into, it’s hard to choose where to focus. I think I want to take a minute and contrast our man Gideon with the previous judge, Deborah. Now, we don’t know either of these people of antiquity overly well, but what I find interesting is how... Read More →
Submission to the Lord’s Judgement
God decides it is time to visit His judgement on the Midianites. The tribes of Israel each prepare 1000 fighting men. 12,000 in total. This is far less than the total fighting personnel available. And they easily defeat the Midianites. All 5 kings fall in the battle. A sobering reminder of what could have been... Read More →
Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is
So far in Leviticus and through the back half of Exodus we have gotten a great deal of instruction from God through Moses. We got case law, regulations, best practices, and punishments for crime. Some of it is thick and worth contextualizing and explaining, like why Molech — of all the Mesopotamian “gods” — was singled out,... Read More →
Making It Right
There is much todo about sin throughout the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). And much of it is sin against God. The things we do that are an affront to Him and His law. But God isn’t simply worried about how we treat Him, but... Read More →
Digging Deeper
Leviticus often gets a bad rap for being “boring”. Disagree. Leviticus is drastically underrated. Numbers, however, I am fully ready to admit can seem like a slog at times. Today’s passage is a prime example of just that. Upon first reading this can be a dry, repetitive list seemingly without any purpose. But I think... Read More →
Black Sabbath
Exodus 35:2 (NET) says, “In six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord. Anyone who does work on it will be put to death.” Woah, coming in strong there! Why? Well, God is continually exhorting the... Read More →
Set Apart
The Israelites fall prey to their own impatience and the weak leadership of Aaron. The people couldn’t wait 40 days, they made a gold cow and worshipped it, Moses made them drink the cow, they got sick… suffice it to say it was a wild time. Shortly after this series of events Moses would come... Read More →
Made For A Purpose
God has given Moses a long, heavily detailed description of the alter, ark, tabernacle, garments, incense, and other items (Did Moses have a notebook? iPhone? Palm Pilot?) that each require a significant amount of skill. And this is where the story gets interesting: In Exodus 31 God tells Moses (not the other way around) that... Read More →
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... Read More →
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... Read More →
Sermons
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... Read More →