READING FOR JULY 29, 2024: EXODUS 34, 2 TIMOTHY 3, PSALM 73:1-15 EXODUS 34 God decided exactly when and where Moses would meet God again and what Moses should bring to receive a new version of the commandments. No surprise that Moses did exactly what God said. This obviously seems the right thing to do, buthow often do we stray from this? God descended from the clouds and stood with him. That could be a figure of speech or perhaps God assumed a bodily form—as angels did when they appeared to people. God identified Himself with a lengthy phrase describing His character. These are aspects of Himself that He wanted Moses to focus upon for this meeting, especially God’s forgiving nature, although God does say the guilty will not go unpunished. If we consider these qualities in light of the cross, we can add that for those receiving Jesus in faith, the punishment due us has fallen on Him: “He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed”(Isa. 53:5). Moses’s bowing before such a God is the only good response.
God reaffirms His covenant with His people, even strengthens it by referring to His upcoming driving out of Israel’s enemies. Although, God certainly chose Israel to express His grace to the world, eventually through Jesus, He was not unfair to other nations. They had committed abominations for long periods: “Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these things the nations which I am driving out from you have become defiled. For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has vomited out its inhabitants” (Lev. 18:24-25).Genesis tells of His patience toward them: Then in the fourth generation they [Israel]will return here, for the wrongdoing of the Amorite is not yet complete” (Gen. 15:16).
It was because of these sinful lifestyles that God prohibited intermarriage between a Hebrew and one of these inhabitants. God feared that such marriages would lead Israel to adopt these practices: “You might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might prostitute themselves with their gods” (vs. 16). Until recently some Christians falsely held God opposed all interracial marriages. It wasn’t until 1967 that the Supreme Court ruled laws against such marriages as unconstitutional. What God still opposes are Christians marrying non-Christians: “Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). God then highlights some of His previous commands. One other interesting detail about this meeting is that Moses didn’t eat or drink for 40 days. Certainly, Moses was supported in other ways: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3). It would be an under-- statement to say Moses was affected by these meetings. His face literally shown. When we meet with God, do others notice? “They were amazed and began to recognize them [Peter and John] as having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
READING FOR JULY 29, 2024 CONTINUED: 2 TIMOTHY 3, PSALM 73:1-15 2 TIMOTHY 3 Sometimes one hears, even from Christians, that the world keeps getting better, that the arc of history always bends toward justice. This is not consistent with what Paul foresees for the last days. For us older folks, can we honestly rate the world better than when we were younger for the following: “Lovers of self, lovers of money boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (vs 2-5)?
Among the people Paul tells us to avoid are those who choose pleasure over God, who on the surface hold to Godliness, but not in reality. They oppose God’s revealed truth and are depraved. Paul even calls them out by name, although these men appear nowhere else in the Bible. If Paul says the latter days will be worse than his time, it stands to reason that more such men exist today. Does anyone or group spring to mind as meeting these criteria?
Then Paul points to Timothy as a model of Godliness. One reason is that he followed Paul’s teaching, not what some would applaud today. Paul likely anticipated this because he said Godly people will be opposed in increasing intensity. Here’s what Paul said Timothy and we should do in light of this: Implement Paul’s teaching and keep obeying the Bible. Here’s why the Bible matters: “From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work” (vs. 15-17). READ THE BIBLE; READ IT TO OUR KIDS.
PSALM 73:1-15 Verse one serves as a spoiler alert of where Asaph’s little philosophical journey ends up. The fact that he went through some agonizing uncertainties and even grievances to get there is instructive. It is better to surface and examine our doubts than to bottle them up and gradually slide toward permanent unbelief. We really need to give ourselves and others the space to work through our honest feelings if we are ever going to grow a faith that lasts. Maybe that’s why some of our children don’t walk with the Lord when they reach adulthood.
Asaph's problem came when he focused on how well he perceived nonbelievers were doing compared with him, who tried to follow God. He really believed those Facebook and LinkedIn posts that portray success and happiness. He seems to have bought into the culture’s definition of a good life and started to keep score using a worldly point system. Don’t we all do this at times? In the back of his mind, though, he knew this was wrong thinking because he had enough sense not to advocate this position in front highly impressionable children. Stay tuned for the next installment to see how he works out of his spiritual funk.
