Category: Rediscovering Redemption

Remember Everything

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day…

     Ex. 16:4

Read Exodus 16:1-36

What is it?

Evernote? Post It? Stickies? Moleskine? iCal appointments? Exchange Diary meetings? Each of these serve the purpose to remind us. We have invented more ways to remember and yet seem more and more prone to forget.

It has been a month since the people of Israel left the Red Sea (the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. Exodus 16:1).  They saw an amazing deliverance. Up to this point in their history as a people group, they had never been so overwhelmed by a miraculous act of grace and redemption.

A month later what is their complaint? God did not want them to be happy. Their belief is that they were happier in the “good old days.” They were happier when they were in Egypt. They may not have been free, but they were fed. Even the very name of Manna or “what is it” implies forgetfulness. They forgot what the lash of Pharaoh really felt like. They forgot the wonder of the Redeemer.

Often times we are just like this, our present predicament supposedly outshines the promises of God.

You know the worst thing in the world is to be forgotten, to have people forget you, to have people forget who you are, to have people forget you were coming.

But this is the image of grace. A God who has been forgotten, suffered the anguish of oblivion still pursues us and desires a relationship with us. That is what sin is, forgetfulness of the saving and sustaining grace of God.

In the midst of our forgetfulness, Christ comes to us. He declares “I am the bread from heaven.”(John 6:41).  Hear the savior say, “Though you forget me I will not forget you. I will redeem you. I will sustain you. I will provide for you.” Today remember that God has not just provided for you in some distant past event, but every day he sustains you. The antidote to grumbling is remembrance. The Lord remembers you. Let this transform you.

Is. 49:15

Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.

The Real You

“25 And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,26…I am the LORD, your healer.”

     Exodus 15:25-26

Read Exodus 15:22-27

Have you ever had a knee jerk reaction when driving? Perhaps someone cut you off. Perhaps the other driver was engaging in some aggressive driving. What is your first reaction? If you are like me you may voice you frustration with a grunt, a sigh or even get angry at the other driver. I remember doing this sort of complaining. Immediately, I apologized and made excuses for myself. I told my wife, “It wasn’t really me. It was just my Mediterranean upbringing.”

Who we really are is revealed when we are pushed to our limits.

In this story the people of Israel have successfully escaped the clutches of Pharaoh. They are now free, hot, tired and thirsty. When they finally find a desert well. They discover its waters, like so many other desert wells, are bitter. They feel let down.

Their response: murmur. There are over a dozen passages in the Pentateuch where such ‘murmuring’ is mentioned. They grumble against Moses. They grumble against God.  By their grumbling reaction, Israel showed only too clearly their true nature when under test.

Here is the first of successive heart surgeries where God wants to heal Israel. God desires to change Israel in such a way that when pushed in extremis—to its visceral limit—it will ooze not bitterness but sweetness.

God proclaims that he will turn the bitter into sweet. Many years later in a Garden called the “Olive Press” (Gethsemane).  The real personality of a person pushed to the extreme will be revealed. It is only when olives are crushed that they yield a beautiful and healing oil. Jesus, when pushed to his extreme limit, shows us the true healing of the heart that God desires to effect in humanity. He wants to take our grumbling and bitterness and turn it into something beautiful and sweet. It is in the waters of testing, that Jesus transforms our will into something beautiful.

Today let God heal you.

Pray:

“Father, as I go through the pressures of life, may I discover the who I really am. May I also become who you really desire me to be. Test me. Try me. Purify me. Fashion me more in your image that I may be able to say ‘Your will be done’ rather than ‘My will be done.’ I ask this all for the sake of your Son, Jesus.  Amen.”

Bathed in Blessing

Exodus 14:22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Read Exodus 13:17-15:21

Have you ever been to a baptism service? What is the largest number of baptism candidates you have seen? One? Two? Ten? Twenty? This passage we just read is the largest baptism service the world has ever witnessed. Paul tells us, “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,”(1Cor. 10:1-2)

1. How do we get every spiritual blessing?

What does baptism mean? It literally means to be bathed. Rediscovering redemption means exploring what it means to be bathed in blessing. God tells Pharaoh that Israel is His firstborn son, and ‘I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.”(Exodus 4:22-23a)

One the beauties of redemption is the concept of adoption. Adoption carries with it at least three main concepts, if not more.

Adoption means access. If a person tries to run towards the prime minister unannounced the prime minister’s security detail will most probably tackle them before they reach their objective. Rewind this whole situation and now have the person running towards the prime minister be his son or daughter. Now the protective detail will no longer tackle, it will aid and even grant access. Sonship or daughterhood grants us access.

Adoption grants us an incomparable inheritance. This inheritance is of greater value than any gold spoils we may take from Egypt.

Thirdly adoption grants us security. We are kept safe from any dangers, toils, or snares that Pharaoh may try to throw our way. You can hear God saying to Pharaoh, “If you mess with my son you mess with me.”

2. Why do we get every blessing?

In Harry Potter, when Harry asks Dumbledore, “Why can’t the bad guy touch me?” Dumbledore explains, “Because your mother gave her life for you. Because your mother sacrificed her love for you. That’s the strongest magic there is. That puts a power on you evil can’t deal with.”

There is no more powerful narrative structure; there is no more incredible moral beauty than that. To not just read about somebody else doing that for somebody else, but to know Jesus Christ came to earth and did that for you, to get you eternal glory and love, that will change the center of your life. The waves of the Red Sea did not come crashing down on you, all the breakers and waves came down upon the Jesus and guarantee your adoption. His rejection on the cross guarantees our adoption. Jesus giving up his inheritance guarantees our inheritance.

Today if fears assail, remember you are adopted. If you are worried about finances and provision, remember you are adopted. If you are anxious about tomorrow, remember you are adopted. Your Father will care for you.

Can a Leopard Change its Spots?

31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

Read Exodus 12:29-13:16

In the film Dumbo a flock of crows pose some fun questions. “Have you ever seen a horse fly? Have you ever seen a house fly?” Of course we have, but only due to a play on words.  But we have never seen an elephant fly. It is impossible for elephants to fly, but Dumbo defies our understanding of nature and flies.

By a single swift pronouncement Pharaoh makes Israel free. Israel no longer has to toil under the lash of an oppressor. They may now enjoy the freedom of choice.

Often times we in the modern world define freedom as the ability to choose. It is a virtue to always have our options open and be able to freely choose them. As enticing as this definition of freedom sounds, we may actually be surprised that we are not as free as we think. We all have hidden constraints, our family upbringing, the countries where we were born in, and sometimes just being in the right place at the right time. Most self-respecting people will actually acknowledge that we are preconditioned by our DNA and follow its design. Ironically Richard Dawkins may be right when he asserts, “DNA neither cares nor knows. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.”

We are only free to be what we were designed to be.

As much as a bald eagle would wish to run like a cheetah, it never will be able to freely choose this. A cheetah may wish to fly like an eagle, but it will never be able to freely choose this.

Can the … the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good.
     Jer. 13:23

Yes, the leopard can change his spots! The beauty of the Gospel is precisely this: Theology can conquer biology. Grace can override our inherent desire to sin. Our baser instincts may be overruled. We are actually free to choose. We are actually free once again.

We are made in the image of God. God by his nature is completely free and only chooses to do good.  True freedom comes to us by grace. Grace conditions our situations so that we will always freely choose the good. Let us accept Grace and let it transform us. True freedom conditions us to always want to choose good.

Today as you pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Pray that “God would by his Spirit take away from ourselves and others all blindness, weakness, … and by his grace make us able and willing to know, do, and submit to his will in all things, with the like humility, cheerfulness, faithfulness, diligence, zeal, sincerity, and constancy, as the angels do in heaven.”(Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 192)

Our Lives are His

Exodus 11:5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

Read Exodus 11:1-10

How many of us have ever travelled to Hawaii? My guess is not many. How many of us know or have known a loved one who has suffered from cancer? My guess is nearly all of us. There is nothing the grants us more solidarity with our fellow humans than our mortality.

Benjamin Franklin once commented, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” (Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789)

We are now 9 plagues into the story of the exodus. Still Pharaoh will not relent. Somehow privilege, difference, and circumstances prevents the Pharaoh from identifying with the Hebrew slaves and his suffering Egyptians.

Since the beginning of Hebrew scripture we have seen the natural consequence of breaking God’s heart: the breaking of ourselves and our world.

God promises that this processes of mortality can be reversed. He is the Lord of Life. All life belongs to him. He will protect those who acknowledge his Lordship and turn to him. Let’s give up trying to be “lords of life.” It lead to the death of Jesus. “[We] put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses.”(Acts 3:15)

It is this humble repentance that undoes the bonds of death and creates an new solidarity and a new humanity. There is nothing more liberating than acknowleding that Life belongs to God. As such, he will care for His creation. Whatever pressures or cares face your life today: Remember your life is His. He will protect you.

Let this truth and humility lead to a new solidarity and peace in your life today.

 

No Bully for a Father

 

Read Exodus 7:14-10:29

Every few months we hear of father’s acting unfatherly towards their children. Fathers should protect their kids not mistreat them. Fathers should be loving not bullies. These stories are heart wrenching.  When we read about the God of Moses we see a loving father issuing ten pleas to a stubborn son by the name of Pharaoh.

Many historians point to the “Ipuwer Papyrus” to suggest a possible cataclysmic event in the history of Egypt that might parallel some of the incidents described in the biblical account of the Plagues.

Lo, the river is blood, as one drinks of it one shrinks from people and thirsts for water …
Towns are ravaged, Upper Egypt became a wasteland …
     (“Admonitions of Ipuwer”, M. Lichtheim. 1971–80. Ancient Egyptian Literature. 3 vols. Berkeley)

God is the God who acts decisively in time and space to bring about repentance and redemption.

God gave Pharaoh 10 warnings.

It is possible to read the story of the 10 plagues and mistake them for something they are not. Each was designed not to punish, but to bring about repentance. Often times we hear of them referred to as ten plagues.  Some would prefer to skip over these verses as outmoded and archaic. The excerpt quoted above is a telling part of the whole plague narrative.  It is the seventh of the ten plagues. You can hear the tender entreating of a father to a runaway son.

“Do you not see that as the Almighty I could use my omnipotence and force you to change. But this is not what a Father does. I am entreating you. I am begging you to change.”

Even in this seventh plague of hail and fire. God is giving pharaoh ample warning. The LORD is actually asking Pharaoh to tell the Egyptian people to put their livestock under cover. He desires every human being to protected from the natural consequences of their disobedience.

The LORD would have his world cling to him and take shelter from the storm. Take shelter under the pierced side of the Savior.  Hear this compassionate plea from the God who loves you and redeems you.

Ezek. 33:11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

Pause and reflect on the God of unlimited grace and countless chances for repentance.

Hardened Humanity

Exodus 5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD

Read Exodus 5:1-7:13

Hardening of our Humanity

Have you ever been to the dentist and felt numb in the gums? This is a bit how Pharaoh felt about his heart.

If you worship things instead of the person of God, you will become less a person and more of a thing.

Ex 7:3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you.

The worst thing God could do to Pharaoh is to simply give him over to the strongest desires of his heart. God makes us so free we are unable to not follow this freedom.

One of the descriptors the Bible often uses for the effects of sin is having a heart of stone (Ezekiel 11:19).  It is not that God is hardening our hearts actively he is passively allowing us to have the deepest and strongest desires of our heart. We play active part of  not listening (Ex 7:4).

The Knowledge of God

British satirist and author Jonathan Swift once said, “There Are None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See”(1738, “Polite Conversation”). There are moments in our lives when we will have Truth spoken to us and we will still refuse to see reality.

Pharaoh is approached by Moses and asked to liberate the people of Israel. What is Pharaoh’s response? “Who is the LORD… I do not know the LORD.” Pharaoh was not speaking as an atheist, he was speaking as a polytheist who was genuinely intrigued by the God of the Hebrews. Later on in the chapter he can no longer fit God into his box. Rather than revise his worldview  he decides to revise his understanding of the God of the Hebrews and reject the gracious overtures from the LORD.

Endless Wonder

God has filled our hearts with strong desires. We need to recognize it is not a matter of having weaker desires but having a greater object of our desire. The only thing that will melt our heart is to see Jesus as the greatest object of our affection. It is Jesus’ death on the cross that will gives us that greater object.

Ezek. 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Inexhaustible Resources

Exodus 3:3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

Read Exodus 3:1-4:31

Have you ever discovered, learned or experienced something that changes your worldview? There are moments in our lives when things do not fit our worldview. We are prompted to either reexamine the evidence or reevaluate our worldview. Often times we refer to this text as the “burning bush” passage. However, it should more aptly be named the “non-burning bush” passage.

Moses had one of these moments. As he is tending his flock, he discovers the “burning bush.” His worldview tells him that bushes that are on fire should burn and within minutes they should be cinders. His curiosity leads him to investigate. Perhaps your understanding of God is undergoing one of these burning bush moments.

We all have burning bush moments.

We all have things that seemingly do not make sense in our life, but then we realize we may have been looking at life through an incorrect filter. Moses’ reappraisal of the natural world and the supernatural world leads him to encounter the Living God.  It is from this encounter that he is called to do exactly what God has wonderfully planned for his life.

The most important thing we learn from this passage is that “the bush is not burned.” This is a beautiful picture of what God does in our life. The bush that should be the very fuel for the fire, is not consumed. It has encountered the source of inexhaustible resources. God will give us never-ending resources to fulfill exactly what he has called us to do

Let us encounter the God who is all a burning joy and flame.

2Cor. 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

 

Divine Detours

Exodus 2: 15b Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Read Exodus 2:11-25

Have you ever felt like you are on a detour and your life actually should be going a different way?

One day, after Moses grew up he went to see the Hebrew workers. He saw his people being oppressed and impulsively decided to take justice into his own hands. He attacked and struck down the Egyptian who was beating one of his fellow Hebrews.

Moses’ impulsive act was both a metaphorical and literal “royal mess.” For the next 40 years Moses will live in exile in the desert of Midian. Moses probably felt like these 40 years were one large detour in his otherwise amazing story. Every detour in our life as we look back on it was part of a beautiful tapestry being woven by the Master Weaver. Even the snags and threads show that our life is a carefully woven and handcrafted piece of work.

Years later Moses would realise that his 40 years in the desert were part of his story and a growing of his skill set. He would learn about the One True God from his father-in-law and priest of Midian, Jethro. He would learn to live in the desert and be able teach and guide the people of Israel and teach them how to live a thriving and nomadic life in what would otherwise have been an inhospitable climate. If it had not been for the so called detour, Moses would never have met his wife Zipporah, and even more importantly the Living God at the burning bush.

Remember that you are not on a detour. God has a plan for your life and wants to meet with you. He will even help you discover that the detour was actually the intended route all along. Don’t flee from your detour, it is in the wilderness that God encounters his people time after time in the Old Testament. It was in the desert that God then propelled his own Son into the spotlight and spoke the most amazing words any human being will ever hear, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11)

Out of the Strong, Sweetness

Exodus  2:1-10

3 When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.

Have you ever wondered if Pharaoh found it ironic that every action that he took to destroy the Hebrews resulted in exact opposite of his intent? The river which the king wanted the boys thrown into would be the very river that would preserve a Hebrew boy and lead him to become their greatest leader. The court that was meant to inculcate Egyptian values and learning becomes the very vehicle for the beginnings of Hebrew scripture.

What topsy turvy events do you have in your life that the adversary would use for your downfall, yet God is using it to make you into a glorious person of character? Do you see these events as frustrating or do you embrace the goodness that God will bring out of it?

Just as the story of Samson and the Lion. Do you see God bringing sweetness out of the strong? Do you see God working behind the scenes accomplishing a beautiful and sweet mercy in your life?

Gen. 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.