Pasta for Thought...

Last Sunday we set out to discuss the three Messianic symbols found in Numbers- the water from the rock, (20:7-11), the bronze snake, (21:6-9), and the Cities of Refuge, (Ch. 35). It should come as no surprise that we did not make it through all three. We had a good discussion about the first two, but did not get to the Cities of Refuge. So, now, let's explore that image briefly.

To get a full picture of the story of the Cities of Refuge you should read all of chapter 35. But for now, let me summarize the main idea. As the nation of Israel was preparing to enter into the promised land, God instructed Moses to set up six cities that would be designated as cities of refuge. The cities were to serve as a safe haven for anyone who committed murder unintentionally. The chapter spells out more detail about which offenses were covered and which were not, but the main idea was that anyone who had killed someone accidentally could flee to one of the cities of refuge and there they would find protection from the "Avenger"- (sounds like a Marvel comic). From what I could gather, the role of the avenger was filled by the nearest family member who felt strongly enough to do it, and that the avenger had the right to track down those guilty of murder and exact punishment. And back then, punishment was life for life.

These cities kept their gates open and manned at all times. Twenty-four hours a day. The cities were open to the Jew and the "alien", so even if someone was not a member of the nation of Israel, they could find sanctuary in the cities of refuge. The cities were all built in hill country or on plateaus, so that they were "up high" and were very visible by anyone in the area.

The person guilty of unintentional murder would be protected as long as they stayed within the walls of the city. They were to stay in the city of refuge until the current High Priest died, then they were declared free and allowed to return to their inherited land without guilt or punishment.

So let's summarize some of the notable characteristics of these cities:

1. Intention was key- anyone who intentionally murdered would not find any protection in the city of refuge, but if someone accidentally transgressed, they were protected.
2. The cities were always open.
3. The cities were open to anyone.
4. The cities were "up high" and easy to see.
5. Protection lasted until the High Priest died and then freedom was granted without guilt.

Is it just me or are the Jesus images piling up like last night's dishes???

I don't think any one of us gets out of bed in the morning and sets out to sin on purpose. But we still do it. We don't want to, we don't mean to. But we are weak and we are flawed, and while it is not our intention to violate the principles of scripture, we do it anyway. We are just the kind of people for whom the cities were made. Guilt is not the question. We are guilty. We don't even have an argument. But I think that we can all honestly say that we do not intend to violate God's law. That is one thing I love so much about the book of 1 John. A significant part of the theme of 1 John is our habitual life style- what we are trying to do with our lives. The book challenges us to think about what our intentions are in our lives.

The city gates were always open- ready to accept the refugee at any time. Jesus is the same. I don't know how you feel about "death bed confessions"... I am not even sure how I feel about them. But I do believe this with all my heart- Jesus will accept anyone who comes to Him sincerely and accepts Him, whether they do so when they are 8 or 80. The gate is always open.

The cities were for everyone- the Jew and the "alien". Here we see a foreshadowing of what would happen after Jesus' resurrection and with the spread of the church. There is no one who is excluded from the refuge of Jesus Christ if they are willing to accept Him.

In Moses' time I am guessing that if someone found themselves in need of the city of refuge, they hightailed it to the nearest one. They had to find it quickly and get there. That is why God arranged for them to be up high- in visible places. Well, I have to say, for all of the "lostness" of this world, it is not because Jesus is hard to find. If anyone really wants to find Jesus, its not hard. At least not in the United States. Knowing Jesus and learning about Him in our country is laid out free for the taking. Even so, we bear the responsibility of making sure people who need the refuge of Jesus know how to find Him. We have been given that task. We have to point the way to the city of refuge- Jesus Christ, (read Matthew 5:14- we have to be sure the "city on a hill" is not hidden.)

And then there is the death of the High Priest... wow. The death of the priest brought freedom and the removal of all guilt from the refugee. And in the same way, the death of the One High Priest, Jesus Christ, has washed away our sin and given us the right to return to our inheritance- a life with God. Both now and forevermore.

And so, the establishment of the cities of refuge in the book of Numbers once again gives us a peek at the Messiah to come, and ties together the scripture as the consistent, coherent testament of God. And I love reading it.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon

A Return to Pasta...

I could spend many words on explaining the long gap between posts. Suffice it to say that in the last 8 months I have been jolicated.... (that's my new verb- "jolicated". Its etymological root is with the name "Jolie Cate" and linguists have traced its origins to late January of 2010.)

Anyway, where were we?

This past Sunday we discussed Numbers 11-14 which tells to story of the nation of Israel leaving the foot of Mt. Sinai and moving to the border of the Promised Land.

And in the Promised Land, it's gonna be so grand
We'll have our fill from the grill,
As much as we can stand
It'll be so great, oh we can hardly wait
'Cause we're goin' to the Promised Land!

Sorry. Veggie Tales muscled its way into my brain. That was the blog equivalent of bursting into song.

Many of us have heard the the story from childhood about how the twelve spies were sent into the land to "scope it out", and how ten of them gave a dismal report full of negativity and pessimism, while only Joshua and Caleb expressed faith and confidence in what God could do. As is too often true, the negative report had more of an effect than the positive, and the whole nation began to plot their return to Egypt, (Num. 14:1-4)

On Sunday we discussed that phenomenon of wanting to go "back to how it was". It is a pretty universal thing. And even though we look at the narrative in the book of Numbers and wonder how in the WORLD these people could want to go back to slavery and hardship and Egypt, we are not so different ourselves. We forget about how bad things were once they are over, and something unknown in the future can become more of an issue than most anything in the past- even if that thing in the past was a great evil.

And so, the nation grumbled against God, and their grumbling was costly. This faithless report of the ten spies and the reaction of the people was a sort of last straw, and God was angry. God pronounces His judgment in Numbers 14:10-12

But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. ¹¹ The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? ¹² I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."

Then Moses does what I consider to be a pretty remarkable thing. He goes to bat for the people! He intercedes on their behalf! He tries to talk God down from His anger! I don't know, if it had been me I would have probably said something like, "I hear ya, God. They're a bunch of whiners! Always griping. Always complaining. Can't say that I blame you on the whole "plague" thing." But that is not what he does! He intercedes on behalf of the people, and, I think, does it in an interesting way.

It is good to remember here that Moses himself certainly felt the frustration of dealing with these people. Look back at Numbers 11:14-15...

I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin."

Moses says "I can't handle these people and their problems- if this is how you are going to treat me just kill me now."

So, Moses was no stranger to the exasperation caused by these people. But still he went to bat for them and pleaded with God to forgive them.

Let's look briefly at how he did it...

The first thing Moses does is say to God, "If you wipe these people out, then think of what the Egyptians will say about you! They will say you were not able to deliver your people!" Moses' first course of action was not to speak about the people, but to appeal to the character of God Himself. In a way, Moses reminded God of who He is. Now, that is a very loose way of saying it- I don't think that God really had forgotten Himself, nor did He need any reminder of his own character. But that is how Moses approached it. And I think that we see here a component of intercessory prayer that is worth remembering. When we set to the task of praying hard for others, we can appeal to the very character of God Himself! Like Moses, we can pray, "God show your strength for all to see! Show yourself to be the powerful and loving God you are!" I think that we sometimes shy away from praying with these kinds of words because we do not want to sound like we are "manipulating" God. But you know, I don't think we need to worry about that. I get the feeling that God is not one to be manipulated by anyone. And if His glory is what we are really after, then He will not mind us bringing it up.

The one other thing that I find interesting about the way that Moses interceded was the fact that he did it at all. These were people who were never happy! These were people who would try the patience of Mother Theresa. If it had been me I would have said to God, "Can I watch while you blow them away?"

Even now we are faced with a similar challenge. We have talked about this before. When we look around and see what people are doing in the world, we can react a couple of ways. We can, as I do most of the time, just shake our heads and say, "Boy do you people have a big surprise coming. When Jesus comes back...... hooo boy are you gonna get it....." Or, we could be more like Moses and we could plead with God for the forgiveness of people, even when we are dead certain that they do not "deserve" it, and even when we don't really like them all that much. Just because we want the world to see the glory of the Lord and know the love of God. That's what Moses did.

I think it is important to note that even though Moses went to bat for these people, God did not let their disobedience go unpunished. In the final verses of Numbers 14 we see the people come to their senses, but too late. They decided that perhaps they will go into the promised land after all, but God does not go with them and many of them died by the sword. The lesson here is that punishment is not delayed forever. And we live in that era in which we cannot know the exact date or time of the Lord's return. So, I think, the lesson is, obey now while there is time. There will come a day when the opportunity is past.

Just Keep Swimming....

Jon

Is That Pasta Floating in the Red Sea....?

Ah, the scene by the Red Sea. Charlton Heston... faky special effects... gotta love it.

But what a scene it must have been. When we read about things like this in the scripture we often just kind of fly by and read the story and move on. We have read it before and its not really new, and its really cool and all that, but, let's face it- nothing new. But when we think about the whole event on a little deeper level, we find that it must have been quite a scene. Can you imagine? Standing there on the edge of the sea- walls of water on either side- and your leader says, "Wagons Ho!!!" I have to admit, I would have been hesitant to walk out there in the middle of that sea basin. But what a show. I hope we get to see the replay when we get to heaven.

We also see the concept of a hard heart play out in this scene. Here are Pharaoh and his whole army standing at the edge of the sea, seeing their economic well being walk away. And now you are faced with a choice. Do you go after that economic security or do you come to the point of saying, "enough- let it go." Remember that God had already made it painfully clear that He was fighting for Israel. Many of the Egyptians even said so. But even with all that had gone before, Pharaoh chose to pursue. And here we see how a hard heart dulls perception. It seems pretty clear to us that the old "Rope a Dope" is in play here. God is drawing them in just to spring His trap. But, that is the insanity of sin. When we are buried deep in our sin and our obsessions, we do not think clearly or logically. And such was the case for Pharaoh.

I do like the part that tells of how God caused the Egyptian army to fall into confusion- in part by making the wheels come off of their chariots. The HAS to be where we get the term, "the wheels came off". How may times have we heard it on SportsCenter- "And then we come to the third quarter and that is where the wheels came off for the Pacers" Well, OK, the Pacers don't have their wheels on this year period.

The other aspect of this passage, (Ex. 13-14), that is so meaningful to me is that idea we find in Ex 14:13 when we read,

¹³ Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Wow. It says so much.

When God saves, He saves completely. The Egyptian army embodied everything that had worked against Israel for the last 430 years. Slavery, oppression, hardship, pain, loss of identity.. it is all tied up in the nation of Egypt. But God says in this passage, (paraphrasing), "Once I am done with what I am about to do, you will NEVER be bothered by this adversary again." That is not to say that the nation of Israel was problem free or sin free for the rest of their existence, because they were not. But, any other difficulty that came their way came by the choices they made. They brought on their own trouble, as do we.

I think that what we see by the sea is still true today. We find ourselves slaves to our routines and habits and customs and societies and choices and sins. If we are willing to allow God to perform His rescue by his design, and not interfere, and trust, and be still, then we can leave our adversaries behind, never to be seen again.

That sounds pretty cool.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon

Passover Pasta...

I have put down the camera long enough to try to write a bit of a blog post. Nothing like a new baby to rejuvenate your photography habit.

Really not a whole lot to add tonight- the interruptions to the sleep routine are having their effects on the thinking processes. On Sunday we had a bit of a discussion about the tenth and final plague- the plague of the first born. The lasting symbolism is not lost on us- this is another prototype of the messiah, the sacrificial lamb. But, as we discussed on Sunday, there are some other good tidbits that come from the account.

This plague is the final blow to Pharaoh's resistance, and a final judgment upon the gods of Egypt. Here, once again, we see God saying, "I am the one true God." Not only did this display of power show the Egyptians that their man-made gods were impotent, but the it also showed the people of Israel that the God of Abraham is the all powerful God. There need not be any doubt about God's sovereignty. And the same it true now. Can you imagine the day that is coming when God shows His power in ways that will make the plagues look mild? There are a lot of folks walking around thinking that God has moved on to other things because they don't see Him in action. But there is a day coming. A day on which everyone will see the power of God. Like those days in Egypt.

Another interesting aspect of the first born plague, at least to me, is that God made the provision for others, (gentiles), to be saved from the avenger and to partake in the Passover that was established. We know from the book of Exodus that some Egyptians went with the Israelites when they left. Any "outsider" had to be circumcised to take part in the Passover, but there was a means by which the grace of God could come to all who were willing to respond. It is no longer about circumcision, but there has been provision made for all to experience the grace of God. Jesus Christ, the passover lamb, has "opened the life gate that all may go in." Grace was offered through the blood of the lamb on that night in Egypt. Grace is offered through the blood of the lamb now.

Through all of the plagues and especially in this last plague we see the character of God. He shows grace to those who obey. He punishes those who continue in their defiance. He provides for those He chooses. He is above all man-made gods. And He can part the sea. Which, by the way, will be our next stop.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon

But I Don' Want Pasta.....

For whatever reason, Sunday just seemed rushed and disjointed. I am sorry about that. I think there was just a lot going on that morning and we were kind of rushed in our analysis of the passage. So, I want to offer a few more thoughts here and then we will move on next Sunday.

First, a few reminders to set this up a bit. We talked about Moses' response to the burning bush. He received a mission there, and there were three specific parts to the mission as God described it. Moses was to go to the elders of the nation of Israel and tell them that God saw their suffering and was about to act to bring them out of slavery. Second, Moses was to go to the King of Egypt and tell him to let the Jews go to the desert and and worship. Third, God gave instructions about how the families would take silver and gold with them and thus plunder the Egyptians.

As God was spelling all of this out, Moses offered several responses. I think that as we look at his responses, we see that his resistance to God's prompting, like onions and ogres, had layers. But there is a thread that runs all through his response as well. Let's check it out...

Before I start with this a want to say that I am offering this as just a pure analysis. It will sound at times a little harsh and perhaps a little negative. I want to be sure to say that, in the same circumstances, I would have reacted way worse than Moses. If the things I write here sound critical, it is because I am just looking at what was going on and not really including the whole idea that says, "Well, what would you have done if it was you?"

Moses had five layers of reaction to the burning bush incident. The first two came as questions that he asked God.

1. Who am I?

The real question here is "Why me?" Moses concept of his ability to perform the tasks was based on his own evaluation of his own ability- not what God might do with him. I understand, but the truth is that Moses was inwardly directed. He was focused on self.

2. Who are you?

I would have asked too. But I have to wonder why Moses asked. If he was beginning to picture this whole thing- going to the elders of Israel, going to Pharaoh, going to the Jews, saying all these things- he may have wanted an answer when everyone starts asking, "Where is this coming from?" I can't be sure, but I am guessing that at least part of Moses' reason for asking this question was because he was sure he was going to look pretty foolish in front of a lot of people and wanted to be able to "pass the buck". He wanted a name for who was behind this. He was pretty sure that no one would believe him, and he didn't want to look bad. At least to an extent, he was focused on self.

3. "What if they don't listen?" (4:1)

This is really the same question. This is really, "I don't think this is going to work." or "I don't trust what you already told me." Or even, "I don't believe you." And wow, was God patient with Moses. God gave him the signs of the stall and the leprous hand and the water turning to blood, (very plague like, don't you think?) Moses is still not buying it.

4. "I am not eloquent..." (4:10)

Again with the self. Still inwardly focused. Still not getting that this is about God's ability and power and not his own.

5. "Please send someone else..." (4:13)

This is really nothing but, "I don't want to." God has nullified every excuse and it boils down to this- "I don't want to." Years later Jesus would talk about how any true disciple must take up the cross of Christ and deny self. That is the very point at which Moses was standing when he was standing by the burning bush. The challenge was before him and he had to decide what to do with it.

The initial reactions of Moses are not what we would call exemplary. He was focused on himself and was resistant to what God was suggesting. But now, in 2010, when we look back on Moses, we hold him in extremely high esteem. And, I believe, so does God.

So I guess the old adage is true, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. The thing that I love about reading this kind of story is that it gives me hope. Let's see, focused on self... yea, that's me. Resistant to God's plan, um... me again. Has trouble believing that God can really do all those wonderful things we ME? Guilty. I am not so different from Moses. Moses is not so different from me.

So I think that we can take heart. We are humans full of weakness and failure. But when we manage to take God at His word and let Him do His thing, oh my. Who knows what might happen?

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon

Burning Pasta...

The lasting image in my mind from our session last Sunday is the image of the burning bush. We talked about some other things, but that image of the burning bush remains for me. There is just so much that happened there and so much that it means to us!

I could not help but come away from that passage thinking that all of us have a burning bush of some sort. Ours is not a shrubbery, (all you Monte Python fans out there, I know what you just said in your mind...), on fire in the middle of the desert. But think about it. Moses was first drawn to the bush out of curiosity. He did not even expect an encounter with God. But once he drew close to the bush, he found that he was in a place far different that what he thought. He was in a place that was set apart- holy. And it was holy because God was there. You have to wonder how many times in his years in the desert Moses may have walked past that very same bush. But this day was different. It was different because God was there.

How did you come to know God? What drew you? What made you stay? How did your life and direction change after that process? I think that for us the "burning bush" might be a series of things- people, events, encounters- that all add up to a life changing, course altering influence. And sometimes it is good for us to look back and identify those people and events and things that make our own personal burning bush.

The other enduring thought I have from Sunday is the whole matter of the questions Moses asked at the bush- "Who am I to do this?" and "Who are You? What is Your name?"

Who am I? Who are You. God's response to the questions says so much about living with Him.

We talked about how God did not really answer the "Who am I" question. Moses question was really an expression of doubt- in himself and perhaps in God. But I think that we would agree that it does not really matter how we assess ourselves or how anyone else assesses us- if God is with us, our own human frailties diminish into insignificance. Its loaves and fish. We are not enough to do anything on our own, but when God does the math and multiplies our skills times His spirit, well, there is some new math going on there- and you can't measure it with ISTEP.

And then there is the "Who are You?" question. Moses wanted to have a name- what do you call yourself? Again, God's answer says so much. The thing I keep coming back to is that by answering "I Am", God once again established Himself as the Creator- the unmoved mover, the One who needs no help. He is all present tense. I was fascinated to go to the Fellowship Center service after Sunday School and hear Justin talk about how we all have an "I was..." or "I used to be..." All of us do. We have all changed. But God doesn't. He never WAS anything. There has been no change in character, plan, or strategy. As He was in the beginning, He is now and He ever shall be.

Amen.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon

Nomadic Pasta...

Previously on Closer Walk...

Imagine those words being spoken by Keifer Sutherlin with kind of a raspy voice... Ah the return of 24 is not far away! Ooo Rah!

Last Sunday we started our study of the book of Exodus by amassing a good amount of data from our previous experience with the book and then we began to break it down a bit. Each one of us has our own unique set of experiences that have brought us to where we are right now. And as we come together to study God's word we bring our own unique perspective. For some, the biggest thing about the book of Exodus might be the fact that it shows God's provision for His people. Someone else might say that the biggest thing for them is the way the book shows the continuity of God's plan. Others may say that in the transition from slavery, (Egypt), to the promised land, (Canaan), that we see a description of ourselves- once slave to sin- moving in the direction of the promised land.

The beauty of it is that we would all be right. God is so big and His word so all-encompassing that it seems we never come to the "end" of it.

We talked briefly about how the book can be organized into 4 periods in Israel's history. For the benefit of those not there on Sunday and for our coming discussions, let's review those:

The Period of Bondage (Chap 1-2)
The Period of Deliverance (Chap 3-12)
The Period of Discipline (Chap 12-18)
The Period of Legislation (Chap 19-40)

As we work out way through the book, we will look at events and highlights of each period.

One last thought for this weeks entry... I cannot help but notice the similarity between something that happened in the beginning of Exodus and something that happened in the beginning of Acts. Those in power in Egypt began to be afraid of the Israelites and decided to try to squash them. Chapter 1 of Exodus tells of how despite these efforts, God's people multiplied like crazy.

In Acts, we see what happened in post-crucifixion Jerusalem. The pharisees thought they had squashed this "Jesus Christ" thing, only to find that it would multiply like crazy.

The tighter they squeeze, the more God's purpose slips away.

I think that it will always be that way.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon