Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends…hey it’s the weekend!
One of the things about weekends which fascinate me is the wide range of worship practices all around the world. Huge cathedrals or mud walled huts; large congregations in vast auditoriums with multimillion dollar electronics or small clusters of people gathered in the shade of a tree or quietly in a basement. People lighting incense before a large cement cast Buddha or one of a thousand different Hindu idols, or prostrate, face down on their prayer mat facing Jerusalem or Mecca. So in your country, your culture, your family and your heart…what does worship look like, when and where will it happen this weekend?
Yesterday I left you at the foot of Mount Sinai in a history defining moment. 1 million people had audibly HEARD the voice of God proclaim what we call the “10 Commandments” as His guidelines for living God honoring lives. This voice from heaven had been loud and clear and in their language. In front of them Mount Sinai had appeared like a volcano with the top of the mountain on fire, billowing smoke, and trembling like an earthquake. When all was said and done, the people rose from their face down, fearful, prostrate position and in great fear said to Moses “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die!” (Ex. 20:19)
Moses’ response was shocking: “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” (Ex. 20:20) We discussed that at length yesterday. God was extending a remarkable invitation to these people to BE His chosen, treasured possession people (Ex. 19:4-6) but instead, the record stuns us with their response: “The people remained at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.” (Ex. 20:21) And so Moses went up the mountain to meet with God, while the people backed away, refusing God’s invitation. As I left you yesterday I asked you to consider that you and I face this decision everyday, in many different ways, as life provides us invitations from God to step closer to Him, to engage a deeper relationship with Him… but our human nature is fearful and too often we back away from God, missing out on so much God has for us!
As Moses went to meet with God, Moses records for us what he heard God say, in Exodus 20:22 “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites this: “You have seen for yourselves that I have SPOKEN to you from heaven: Do not make any gods to be alongside ME; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold. Make an altar of earth for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle…” (Ex. 20:22-24) So what do you think it means, my friends?
Please remember these Hebrew slaves had lived for many generations in Egypt, surrounded by Egyptian worship of a wide range of man made images shaped in the form of many different animals or combinations of animal and human forms. They had watched Egyptian religious leaders and sorcerer’s lead Egyptians in worship of the sun, moon and stars, and even the Pharaoh himself was worshipped, and images of him were raised up in cities and towns, and the people bowed before them.
Beginning here, God was starting to redefine WORSHIP… for His people. Many more instructions would be given, but over and over God would make it clear… God honoring worship was singularly focused on the one, true, living, Almighty God, the Creator of all things and all people. Years later, to the prophet Isaiah, God said “To whom will you compare ME? Or who is My equal, says the Holy One of Israel? Lift your eyes, look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength not one of them is missing… Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth…” (Is. 40:25,26,28) “I am the LORD, that is My name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.” (Is. 42:8)
For now at least, these 1 million people were instructed to make simple altars for worship and offer sacrifices as God Himself would instruct them. Their worship was to be focused on God, not the place, not an ornate altar, not even the sacrifice itself… worship is an expression of adoration and praise and thankfulness to GOD Himself.
And then God made this powerful statement to Moses: “Wherever I cause MY name to be honored, I will come to you and I will bless you.” (Ex. 20:24) I have underlined and circled that in my Bible, can you imagine why? How can you apply it to your life, the place in our world where you live or work or study or worship or raise your family or live life? Do you see the limitless word “WHEREVER”? Don’t you love the OMNIPRESENCE of God as seen in Psalm 139 and the powerful reality that anywhere is a potential place for God to do great things…anywhere, including right where you are today?!
Do you notice how God works to bring HONOR to His name? As you consider your life journey can you see evidence that God has “caused My name to be honored” in the circumstances of your life? That is a very important truth my friends, for it means that even in the most dire, the most difficult, the most complex or painful circumstances, God can cause His name to be honored!
Finally, consider deeply the final phrase in this powerful statement from God in Exodus 20:24 “…I will come to you and bless you.” Because we cannot SEE God, and normally we don’t HEAR God’s voice, it’s difficult for us to experience or even understand His PRESENCE here on earth with us, isn’t it? But this promise is fundamental to our living in the fullness of what God intends for us His people. This is one of many reasons God sent His Holy Spirit to LIVE here within each of us, people who have trusted Jesus Christ to be our Savior.
Remember this name of Jesus: IMMANUEL? Do you remember what it means? Matthew tells us Joseph was visited by an angel when he was considering breaking off his engagement with Mary at the news of her miraculous pregnancy. But the angel told Joseph: “…do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the LORD had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call Him Immanuel – which means, God with us.” (Matt. 1:20-23)
The people who lived in the days of Jesus experienced the practical, very real “IMMANUEL”, God with us. They could see Him, talk with Him, have meals with Him, experience Jesus’ healing power. And as Jesus was preparing to return to heaven He promised the Holy Spirit would be just as real in the lives of His followers, only invisible to our human eyes. So when God promises Moses in Exodus 20 that “Wherever I cause My name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you” we understand what God is saying because we know what happened when God came here in the person of Jesus, and we know of many people in whom the Holy Spirit is living vibrantly, powerfully. The only question is a simple one: Is this you? Do you understand my friends? Is your life one which God causes to bring His glory and honor? Are you experiencing God’s Presence and can you see how He is blessing you?
So let’s sit this weekend with Moses, wherever you are in the world, and ponder this great promise. Ask yourself the important, honest questions which will help you know if you see the evidence of this promise in your life or not. And then I urge you to have a long conversation with God about it, just as I suspect Moses did! And here’s a song to help you consider the power of such encounters with the Presence of God…
Today’s Scripture is Exodus 20:22-24.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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