In Closing…

The Epistle to the Hebrews closes like a letter. Not much else has sounded like a letter, but the ending does. Could the ending have been added to an essay to support Pauline authorship? Probably not, but authorship aside, the content of the wrapping up of this epistle has very interesting elements.

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21 NASB

Is it interesting that, while the benediction begins calling on God to equip the disciples, it ends with praise of Jesus specifically? It turns out this is somewhat unique to Hebrews. Although, considering the great length the writer has gone to deify Jesus, it should be expected.

This benediction also contains the only direct reference to Jesus’ resurrection in the entire letter (I had to go back and check that). Which is only true because Jesus’ resurrection is assumed in the many references to His ascension and intercessory work in heaven.

Notice what is prayed for. That the God who raised Jesus, the Good Shepherd, from the dead would equip the writer’s audience. And the equipment would “every good thing”, the purpose of which is the practice of God’s will (or Jesus’ will), and the method of equipping is God Himself “working in us that which is pleasing in His sight”.

Think that through for a moment. Once more, we see that the life we live is less about us than our Savior. It’s our life to live, is it not? Yet it is our Savior “working in us” which equips us to do His will. Like Paul wrote, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”, or, basically, let it happen. Our role is submission, our achievement is the will of another not our own, and our participation is almost passive.

I say “almost” because we are held accountable for our participation. We are, in fact, supposed to participate in the work/will of our Creator. The struggle is to “discover” that work/will. We have so much baggage, so much self, so much we desire that we can barely hear His voice through all the noise.

The most amazing, unimaginable, fantastic, unbelievable opportunity in human history is to participate with the Creator of the universe on His projects. Instead, we choose to consume anything we want that we believe makes us safe, great, and powerful over others. We become about our clothes, our image, our rights, our comfort, our money, our…whatever. And we miss our Creator’s purpose.

When you consider the immense depth of love such a powerful Creator has for rebellious creatures, doesn’t it seem strange that we are so quick to dismiss His eternal powerful projects to focus on our own temporary weak goals? And yet, that describes humanity throughout human history. A world-wide flood resulted from this propensity, and yet, it continues.

Perhaps, on this day where a “world power” celebrates freedom from oppression, we can decide to trade our slavery to ourselves for freedom as slaves to our Creator? We can choose to do that because He is also our Savior. Celebrate submission, even as we celebrate freedom.

So, what’s your view through the knothole this morning?

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

Advertisement

Sacrificing Sheep

Participles are extremely flexible words. Using two words, one of them a participle, four sentences making up three verses can be summarized. Titles are places to condense, and paragraphs are places to expound.

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

Hebrews 13:15-17 NASB

There are familiar elements to these verses, but I have rarely heard them all used together. We (Americans) don’t like ideas like “sacrifice” and “obey” much. These concepts get in the way of our self-focused lives. I’m generalizing, but it certainly applies to me. And, from commercials and what passes for entertainment around me, I think it applies to far more people than just me.

This isn’t a great spot to unpack all that Scripture says about sacrifice, so a slice will have to suffice. Sacrifice isn’t exactly what we typically think it is. Sacrifice, in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, satisfies a few practical theological requirements. Look at God’s response to Noah’s sacrifice after the flood:

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”

Genesis 8:20-22 NASB

Our Creator, the Destroyer of the world through flood, smelled the aroma of the sacrifice. And then, having smelled the aroma of the sacrifice, He promises never again to interrupt the cycles of this world. He promises this even though He can see that the people He created are twisted from birth. That is the effect of sacrifice, that is how our Creator responds to sacrifice. Well, some sacrifice, He doesn’t respond that way to all sacrifice.

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Genesis 4:3-7 NASB

Cain did not “do well” with his sacrifice. There has been a lot of speculation about why Cain didn’t do well enough that his sacrifice wasn’t accepted by God. All we can truly assert is that the description of Abel’s offering was qualitatively better than Cain’s. So, the difference is qualitative, rather than the actual substance of what was sacrificed. There is a qualitative requirement for our Savior’s acceptance of a sacrifice.

The prophets, starting with Samuel, write as follows:

Samuel said,
“Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He has also rejected you from being king.”

1 Samuel 15:22-23 NASB

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle;
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.

Isaiah 1:11 NASB

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

Jeremiah 7:21-24 NASB

For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6 NASB

And in case you are thinking that “praise and worship” is different…

“Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.
“Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
“But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5:22-24 NASB

There are more, but you get the gist. There is more that our Savior requires than the practice of singing and praising. Look again at the second of the two components included in “sacrifice” in Hebrews 13:16, “And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Sure, we like the singing part. That’s fun. But doing good and sharing is what pleases our Savior. Even the content of the praise should be thankfulness, as in agreeing that God has given us all we have.

The second element, obeying our leaders, is included because I believe it’s part of the actualizing of our ‘sacrifice’. When we submit to those our Savior has placed over us, when we make the burden He has placed on them lighter, then our sacrifice to our Savior, is real, coming from a sincerely dedicated heart. To do good stuff, to sing loud songs, and to give stuff to others isn’t enough if we refuse to submit to our leaders. And keep in mind that the refusal to submit is evidence of a prideful heart. It’s not one more thing on a checklist.

In fact, none of these things are checklist items. Loving justice and doing good, sharing and praising are all things that are supposed to originate from a devotion to our Savior. Religious practice without a relationship with our Creator is pointless. In fact, a case can be made that the object of our worship at that point isn’t our Creator at all.

So, let’s be the “sheep” of our Good Shepherd, sacrificing to our Savior, those things acceptable to Him. Let us practice our praise, our doing good, our submission, all because our Creator is also our Savior. Love, give, submit, for we are disciples of Jesus.

What’s your view through the knothole this morning?

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

“Bad Tactic” Faith

Be honest, how often have you considered the things you find in Scripture to be impractical for our modern world? Turning the other cheek, not resisting an evil person, going the extra mile, and so on, all seem like they would cause you to fail today. Who really thinks the meek will inherit the world? They certainly won’t conquer it, which is what we consider valuable.

But even those are possible to believe, they have the potential to be successful, and there is value in kindness even for atheists. But what about when God asks you to do the stupid? “I know how we can take down the huge walls of Jericho, lets walk around them for 7 days!” Really? How about that sort of faith, how likely are we to adopt that level of belief in our Savior?

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

Hebrews 11:30-31 NASB

Consider for a moment the absurdity of the siege of Jericho. It really wasn’t a siege at all. The sons of Israel only encircled the city during the day, as they walked around it once. After that, they simply watched it (Joshua 5:13). So, while the city was “tightly shut”, anyone could conceivably make an escape. I’m not sure that was the point, but it could have been.

Clearly, the sons of Israel had no concept of siege tactics currently in vogue at the time. No ramps, no ladders, no siege weapons, nothing expected. The Egyptians had used “siege towers”, and it’s very possible the people of Israel would have seen those depicted on the walls of the cities they built. But they still didn’t even try to make any.

Yet, by faith the walls of Jericho fell down. And when they did, one of the people who lived in the wall was saved. By faith, part of the wall fell down, except that portion where Rahab lived. And she lived in faith, believing that saving the spies was good for her and her family. And it was. She became an ancestor of David and Jesus, a testimony of faith, and made the role call by name. A prostitute in the genealogy of Jesus? Yes, because of her faith.

So, our Creator uses the faith of those we would never consider to achieve greatness. And He uses tactics we would never imagine. People and methods we would reject become His favorites. Think about that. In some sense that’s you and I. In another sense, it’s the people you and I discount every day, those living in parks, under bridges, in mansions, or even next door.

Will you and I have the faith to be obedient to the foolish commands of our Savior? Will we be willing to risk being unpopular to do His will? Rahab risked more than unpopularity, she risked her life, twice, if you think about it. Noah built an ark impossible to hide. Moses wandered in from the desert to confront the king of Egypt, and Joshua walked around a city quietly for seven days.

What is our Savior asking you to do? What does our Creator want from you? Who have you possibly marginalized, someone our Savior desires to use in your life? Are you open to that? Are you willing to be obedient when it seems silly? Will you listen to the voice of your Master as He speaks through the unexpected person around you?

What’s your view through the knothole this morning?

Insult By Way of Explanation

If you are reading this, you probably are wondering at the title. Spoiler alert: I’m not going to insult you. Perhaps I should say that I’m not going to insult you intentionally. If you come this blog regularly, you may have found things I’ve said offensive at some point. If so, sorry about that, but only to the extent the offense was distracting from the message. To the extent the offense made the point more clearly, I have no regret.

More than likely, what frequent visitors find is confusing, or worse, boring. For those things, I truly am sorry. I regret being confusing and boring because it obscures the message I believe my Master gives me. Try as I might, I still wind up as either or both. But the writer of Hebrews uses insult to pull his readers into rapt attention:

Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Hebrews 5:11-12 NASB

“Yeah, I’d like to go deeper, but you’re stupid. Are you paying attention now?” That’s what this tactic seems to be for the writer. He goes on in the beginning of chapter 6 to describe some basics he’d like to get past so he can delve into more important things. Why? Why insult his readers/hearers prior to driving to a deeper point?

I get that it’s a literary tactic, but why, with all the available tactics, did he choose that one? Why be insulting? Because they were in grave danger, and I mean “grave” pretty literally, and spiritually. The writer wants his hearers/readers to wake up to this next point, and having insulted them, he is sure to have their attention.

It’s time to leave the connective elements that Jesus’ teachings have with Judaism, and move on to the more important elements. Why? Because if they don’t, they will eventually reach a “point-of-no-return” (see 6:4-8, and my previous entry “No ‘Third’ Repentance“).

As we, Twenty-First Century readers, read this First-Century writing, we need to come to the same abrupt halt. Our attention needs to be arrested. There are points of correspondence between our culture and Christianity. It’s time to get past them into deeper, more meaningful stuff. Because, if we don’t, there will be a point-of-no-return for us as well.

The insult indicates, or explains, the dire importance of “what comes next”. The next thing is pushing past basics elements that teachings of Jesus have with Judaism:

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

Hebrews 6:1-2 NASB (emphasis mine)

Those disciples of Jesus believed in and taught new converts, but so did Jews. Jews taught their new converts the same basic elements, they simply had different meaning. A Jewish disciple of Jesus could hold to those basics and not run afoul of their traditional Jewish brothers. But those beliefs were not an end, they were supposed to be a foundation for more.

One of the more disastrous problems with way too many churches today is the failure to “make disciples” of those they convert to faith in Jesus. Few failures can more assuredly cause “shallow soil” and “thorny soil” than the failure to disciple. On the flip side are those churches making disciples of their theology rather than of Jesus. That’s almost worse; except that sometimes, within the bad theology, there are kernels that can lead diligent seekers of truth to the feet of Jesus.

Read Hebrews 5:11 through 6:8 again. Wake up, smell the coffee of the call of Jesus. He calls us to seek HIM, not words about Him. He calls us to seek His face, not opinions about Him. We are to be baptized, immersed in His Spirit, not this world’s view of Him, or even this world’s view of this world.

Jesus is the Person who stands as the point of the Scripture He inspired. What is necessary to know to know Him is found in there. Once what is necessary to know Him is found, we actually come to know Him through our obedience to Him. It’s not what we find in Scripture that defines our relationship with our Creator, it’s what we do with what we find in Scripture. It’s obedience to our Creator that defines our relationship with Him.

It’s not “work” that saves us, but work demonstrates we’re saved. It’s not a confession of word as much as a life lived in deeds that declares our allegiance. Do we live as if this world is passing, and we’re looking for that city “who architect and builder is God”? (Hebrews 11:10) Or are we distracted, seeking rather to conform to this world instead of the one to come? The writer of Hebrews leads his readers to an enduring faith, enduring to the Eternal City of God. And yes, he insults people along the way. Because it’s important.

Let’s be insulted, offended, challenged, and driven to reach that city. Let nothing stop us.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

Why a High Priest?

Jesus is our Prophet, King, and Priest. He is our “High Priest”, but according to the order of Melchizedek. And you may think you know how He is our High Priest, since He became our “sin offering”, as Paul points out (Romans 8:3 and Ephesians 5:2). And notice He offers Himself, according to Paul. Yet, Paul never refers to Jesus as our High Priest. So, what is it about Jesus that makes Him our High Priest?

The writer of Hebrews is, as far as we can tell, the first Christian writer to refer to Jesus as our High Priest. There are several problems with viewing Jesus in this way, even though Paul may allude to it in his “sin offering” references. The biggest issue is that Jesus is not from the tribe of Levi, nor from the Aaronic or Zadok line. And that is more significant than you may think.

Jesus’ lineage is probably the biggest reason for the writer of Hebrews to refer to Jesus as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. But that doesn’t explain how or what Jesus does that indicates how He functions as our High Priest. The writer alludes to Jesus’ death on the cross, but even that isn’t what is used to define His role.

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:7-10 NASB

So, when did this happen? If you are familiar with the Gospel accounts, it may seem like a reference to the Garden of Gethsemane. But there, Jesus prayed for the “cup” of suffering to be removed, and it wasn’t. The reference above sounds like Jesus received what He asked for. Perhaps it’s more likely a reference to the “High Priestly Prayer of John 17. But, honestly, we don’t know. There could have been lots of places where Jesus prayed this way, any given morning, and a good case can be made for the Garden of Gethsemane prayer as well. Not knowing when Jesus did this doesn’t change the fact of it as His qualification.

Jesus prayed and He learned obedience (which sounds weird for someone already perfect) from suffering. Because of these two things, Jesus is “designated” High Priest, becoming the source of eternal salvation. Again, salvation is predicated on “obedience”, so it sounds like “works” salvation, but isn’t. The obedience is “perseverance in faith”, not performing elements of the law for “worship”, “festivals”, and so on.

So, it seems that the role of High Priest isn’t predicated on the self-sacrifice of Jesus, but rather the activity of Jesus in prayer (interceding) for others, and suffering. Perhaps the “suffering” is a reference to His death on a cross, but it may not be. Notice that the “One able to save Him from death” heard Him, and yet He still died. While not definitive against seeing “suffering” as a reference to His death, it does seem a strange way to put it if it were.

Jesus removes the penalty of our sin through His work on the cross. He empowers our life through His resurrection. But it’s His passionate prayers and obedient suffering that fulfill this role of High Priest. If Philippians 2:5-11 is a pattern set by Jesus, then how is this? If Jesus is our High Priest, aren’t we called to be “priests” (see 1 Peter 2)? So, we too are to be passionate in prayer for others, and obedient through suffering. We are to follow this pattern set by Jesus, and, in this way, continue in faithful perseverance.

This is another place that I see I am to be active in my faith, but I am not. I see the call to passionate prayer for others, but it seems I can’t be bothered. I see the call to obedience through suffering, but I’d rather not, I’d rather remain comfortable. What about you? Are you passionately praying for others? Are you pursuing obedience, even though you suffer for it? I need to turn this are of my life around, over to my Master, and commence changing my attitude.

What do you see through your “knothole”?

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

Confidence

Many people may not know that the term “con”, as in “swindle” or “deceive” is actually a shortened form of the word, “confidence”. A “con-game” is a “confidence-game”, at least that’s how it’s played. Someone uses their projected sense of confidence to deceive another, or others. But, when we hear the word “confidence”, we don’t immediately go to that negative inference. And that’s good, because confidence is good.

In fact, an argument could be made that the reason such deceptions work is only because of the attractiveness of confidence. People can be thought of as having an innate desire for confidence. The alternative is fear. The greatest solid basis for confidence is Jesus.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV

Jesus instills confidence in His disciples, or at least in His sincere disciples. And it is this confidence that the writer of Hebrews is trying to use as an inducement to faithfulness. Entering the rest of chapters 3 and 4 is only possible through faith (Heb. 4:3), and part of what is enjoyed in this “rest” is confidence before our Savior (Heb. 4:16).

Views either for or against eternal security miss the point here. The point for the author, the goal he’s trying to accomplish, is the perseverance of his audience. Arguments about the state of a person’s salvation while they walk this earth is outside the view of the author. He wants these Hebrews to make it across the finish line, and into the eternal rest of our Savior.

Jesus is the One, the High Priest and Apostle, making the rest of God accessible. We experience that rest when we respond to the access through faith. Part of how we experience this rest here-and-now is through our ability to approach Jesus’ throne with confidence. There is a future aspect, but there is a present aspect as well, access to Jesus.

So, what is our confidence based on? It has to be based on something for us to be convinced of its validity. Our confidence is based on Jesus’ example. That may sound peculiar, but Jesus laid out a path for us to follow (see my last entry The Walk). Our confidence is experienced as we obediently follow the obedience of Jesus:

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:8-10 ESV

The writer here isn’t concerned about theological arguments about the immutability of God any more than he is exploring eternal security. His point is that Jesus laid out a path for us to follow, and we too are to be obedient, we are to be made perfect, we too are to follow the role to which our Creator has designated for us. In so doing, we live out our faithfulness, experience the rest of God, and confidently approach the throne of Jesus.

That’s the lesson I see in these chapters. Hebrews hasn’t been about what I thought it was about. It has held challenges I didn’t expect, and made assertions I didn’t expect to find. I’m sure I’ll find a lot more as I go along. As you read chapters 4 and 5, what do you see through this “knothole” of Scripture?

The Walk

I have been wrestling with a few things in my heart lately. They are a mixture of something I found in Philippians, recent sermons heard in my church, and my recent study of Hebrews. Actually, it also includes what I hear as a consistent theme in modern church music.

The problem is described pretty well in Hebrews 4:1-2:

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

Hebrews 4:1-2 NASB

Here’s the problem: what does it mean to unite the truth of Jesus with faith? According to the letter of James, faith without works is dead (James 2:17-18). But what of works? Clearly, works are not what saves us (Ephesians 2:8-9), and yet works are what we were created to do (Ephesians 2:10). So, what are we supposed to be doing? What works fulfill our purpose?

And this is an important question because failing to find that answer endangers our finding the final rest of our Savior (Hebrews 4:1). This question of what we are supposed to be about is crucial to our “Walk with God”. Think about this enormous elephant in the room: Belief in the Cross of Jesus does not save us in and of itself. Are you now horrified, and ready to burn me at the stake as a heretic? Well, wait for it…

The cross of Jesus makes it possible to enter into a relationship with our Creator. The barrier of our sin, of our rebellion, of all our twisting of His work in human history has been removed in the work of Jesus on a Roman cross. All debts are paid at the Cross of Jesus, and, in truth, we are finally free. And if Jesus had only died on that Roman cross, our sin would have been paid for, but He didn’t only die on that cross.

Paul, in the letter to the church in Philippi wrote the following, summarizing the life of Jesus:

who, although He existed in the form of God,
Did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
But emptied Himself,
Taking the form of a bond-servant,
And being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
By becoming obedient to the point of death,
Even death on a cross.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him,
And bestowed on Him the name
Which is above every name,
So that at the name of Jesus
Every knee will bow,
Of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
And that every tongue will confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord,
To the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:6-11 NASB

The quote is from the New American Standard, but I put it in the poetic structure of the Nestle-Aland 27th Edition Greek Text. This is likely from an early Christian hymn, which means it was supposed to be familiar to the church. Yet Paul begins his quote by commanding them to “Reason yourself to the same conclusion reached by Jesus.” (my translation of Philippians 2:5).

From this hymn, we learn that Jesus essentially did three things, three things Paul wants the people of the Philippian disciples to do:

1. Jesus empties Himself of His equal form and nature of God (v.7)
2. Jesus took the form of a servant (v.7)
3. Jesus humbled Himself becoming obedient to death (v.8)

The basic pattern of Jesus is made up of these three things. And Paul goes on to describe three examples of people, familiar to the Philippian disciples, who lived these three things out: Timothy (Philippians 2:19-22, servant), Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-30, obedience to the point of death), and Paul, himself (Philippians 3:3-11, emptying himself).

What this means for us is that we are designed to live out this pattern as well. It is good to celebrate the Cross of Jesus. But, let’s continue on to celebrate the Resurrection Power of Jesus at work in us to follow the pattern of Jesus. When we stop, content to be “saved”, we fail to continue on walking with Jesus in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). And according to Hebrews 4:1,2, this means we fail to reach the Garden at all.

The purpose of the Cross of Jesus is to bring down the barriers erected in the Garden of Eden. Now we can empty ourselves of the oppressive weight of all our power and achievements. The barriers to becoming a servant have been destroyed. And our obedience is made possible through the blood sacrifice, once for all, of our Apostle and High Priest (Hebrews 2:14-3:1).

I have been called by my Master to three things. I have been called to wait, to worship, and to walk before Him. I have been enabled to do these three things because my Master knows my name, He loves me, and He has my back.

Regardless of how you express it, you are called to walk with Jesus, daily. And this walk is characterized by a cross of your own. To carry it, we empty ourselves and become a servant. Then, and only then, can we carry our mark of obedience toward death, even the death of a cross. What this looks like for you will depend on Jesus. For Peter and John, they had to leave their nets. For the “Rich Young Ruler”, he had to sell all he had and give the proceeds to the poor. What will “emtying” look like for you?

None But One

“No other gods.” It sounds pretty basic, simple. what could go wrong? And yet, this command becomes the one that eventually destroys the nation of Israel.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
“You shall have no other gods before Me. “
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

Exodus 20:2-6 NASB

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

The first law of the “Ten” is that there are to be no other gods before Yahweh. Literally, this refers to other gods to/for Israel in Yahweh’s presence. Think about that for a second. No other gods in His presence; as in “before His face”. Have you, like me, misunderstood this commandment to mean “other gods besides our Creator and Savior”? And not “besides” as in physically beside, but as in having another god of any sort other than my Master.

Some, looking at this, are confused. What’s the difference? How is there truly any difference at all between having other gods of any sort, and having other gods in the presence of Yahweh? It has to do with worship. In a sense it is splitting hairs, but in another, it reveals something that we, in our modern sophisticated culture, take for granted. What if this means, for us, today, in our culture, that nothing is as important to us as Jesus?

Before you quickly dive in, and claim that nothing competes for your attention, let’s define the depths referred to:

• Do you take time for Jesus daily? Not “Bible reading”, Jesus, prayer, Him
• Do you participate in the church you attend, or just Sunday morning. And not your kids, your spouse, YOU. Do you actively participate in what happens at the church you associate with? Or do you not have time for that?
• Have you even chosen a church? Or are all churches insufficient for you? Do their peculiarities, people, and positions keep you from committing to one?
• Have you been baptized? And this means immersed publicly, and not as a child, but as a believer, as part of your commitment to follow Jesus.
• Would you consider yourself a disciple of Jesus, or do you believe that term is for fanatics? Do you consider yourself a “follower” or “believer” instead?

The more “no’s” you have to those questions, the more likely you are to be living in violation of the first commandment. Whatever competes for your attention and keeps you from time with Jesus, participating in His congregation, following His command to be baptized, and devoting yourself as His disciple; whatever that thing or those things are, they have become “other gods in His presence”.

Suddenly this entry becomes a call to eat His flesh and drink His blood, and many may be offended (John 6). I’m not sure, but that might be a good thing. My hope is that this may prompt anyone reading to reevaluate how devoted they are to our Savior, Jesus. I realize from writing that I’ve been holding back from my church, and I see how wrong that is. I feel it, viscerally. And I’m not okay with it. Which may be what’s driving this, I’m projecting. Even so, I suspect I’m not the only one who needs to hear this message, and obey this law of my Master.

Good When It’s Good

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to parent children when you’re asking them to do what they want to do? It’s amazing. It’s the same with dogs, managing employees, and, I suspect, even cats give the appearance of obedience in such situations. But what about when the need is to do what needs to be done, and the need is no fun, not easy, and not quick? What happens to the obedience of children, dogs, employees, and possibly cats?

The story of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt has pictures of this beautiful relationship between the sons of Israel and their God, Yahweh. One of those is found in Chapter 19. God describes what He wants of the people in glowing, wonderful terms.

Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on beagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

Exodus 19:3-6 NASB

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

These sons of Israel, who rebelled when thirsty, and questioned Moses when hungry, even when provided with Manna, are to be special to Yahweh. They will be the “possession” of His, from all the nations on the earth. As Americans, being someone’s “possession” doesn’t sound great. In our culture, this sounds subservient, inferior, or oppressed. In Hebrew, this word has much different meaning. The Hebrew word is only used about 8 times (according to the Strong’s Concordance numbering), and of those, twice it is used for the treasure of kings (1 Chronicles 29:3, and Ecclesiastes 2:8), and the other six times, it’s used in reference to Israel, as Yahweh’s chosen people. If you want to look it up, it’s Strong’s 5459, and you can view the definition and usage here.

It’s enough to say that “possession” in English doesn’t truly do it justice. It would be like what we’d keep in the vault, and not the little one at home, but the impregnable one at the bank or something. It’s not just something owned, but something precious. That’s idea of what God is giving to the people. And for this special position within the other nations of the world, they are to keep His covenant. There’s an agreement involved, and already, American minds and hearts, go “Of course, there are strings attached!” And there are. And these strings are more like ropes of chains to be fair.

The people are to obey the voice of Yahweh, and keep His covenant. That sounds easy on the surface, but it never is for these people. Even so, they like the sound of the offer, and agree to it:

So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

Exodus 19:7-8 NASB

This is a beautiful picture of a relationship between the Creator of the universe, and His human creatures. Out of all these He created in His image, He selects this nation. It’s amazing, wonderful, and should make us somewhat jealous to be included. And, to be honest, we are. We too, are in a covenant with our Master, Jesus. Or, another way to say it, we are in a covenant with our Creator, through Jesus, our Savior. Either way, the truth of this covenant is clear. And we may respond like the sons of Israel, but we need to remember that par of the covenant includes us being a “possession”.

The covenant established by Jesus is different, in many ways, from this covenant established between Yahweh and Israel. But it has a lot of similarities too. For instance, this covenant is established by God, not by us. This covenant includes a relationship with God, a relationship established and defined by things on both sides, ours and His.

This next statement is where many will disagree with me. Which is fine, because it’s an interpretation, and nothing more. The covenant established with Israel at Horeb/Sinai was not predicated on their obedience. It sounds like it is, to be fair, yet, in practice, this covenant is maintained in the face of their disobedience, and flat out rebellion, by God. It was the blessings of the covenant that were predicated on their obedience.

If this is true, that the covenant at Sinai was established and maintained by God, then we have yet another similarity with our own covenant with God through Jesus. They, too, were saved (i.e. set apart from all other people by being in relationship with God) by grace, not by works. Our own covenant with God is established through the sacrifice of Jesus, our Christ, our Redeemer, and Savior. These titles of Jesus make Him the One through Whom we have access to our Creator (through His sacrifice), and there is no other. Yet, in similar fashion, Jesus is Lord, making Him synonymous with Yahweh of the Hebrew Scriptures. Meaning Jesus established this covenant with the people of Israel as well.

The differences between the two covenants are in how they are carried out, the definitions of “obedience” between God and His people. In the covenant with Israel, they brought sacrifices over and over, from what God provided to them. In the covenant through Jesus, He becomes the eternal sacrifice, once for all sin. So, sacrifice, that form of worship in a single place where God placed His name, that is changed by a single event. In this way, Jesus truly does sum up all of the law and prophets in Himself.

But what remains is similar is that we too are to be obedient. And that’s the part we miss. We call that being “legalistic”. But is it? It’s not about following the law to enter the covenant, because the covenant was not established on our obedience. It’s about enjoying the benefits of the covenant through obedience. And, before you run amok thinking this refers to circumcision and Sabbath keeping, remember how Jesus sums up all the law and prophets, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Sabbath-keeping and circumcision were to mark the people of Israel from among the other nations of the earth as holy to Yahweh. If you want to do that, go to church, and be immersed. Like “Sabbath-keeping”, attend church every week. Like “circumcision”, be immersed once. After that, simply “walk about” living life as in the presence of your Savior. Live and make decisions based on being the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Live out the love poured into you by your Creator and Redeemer. Love the Lord (Jesus is Lord) with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

See, we don’t need to view the covenants as that much different. They are, but they are much more similar than they different. They are, in this interpretation, much more connected with obedience than we seem think.

Back and Forth

Do you ever imagine the scene you read about in Scripture? When you read chapter 19 in Exodus, try to imagine Moses’ as he goes back and forth from the mountain to the people. After a bit, it begins to seem like Moses is a pretty busy guy.

On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:

Exodus 19:1-3 NASB

Israel sets up camp, which is a lot of work, and Moses heads up the mountain to speak with God. And Yahweh speaks to him, so, clearly Moses is supposed to go up on the mountain. If you like hiking, this might sound great, like a lot of fun. And, in some ways, it had to be one of more awesome experiences of Moses’ life. At least it probably was the first time.

So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”

Exodus 19:7-9 NASB

It doesn’t say that Moses went back up the mountain to “report the words of the people.” But, later, in verse 14, Moses goes back down the mountain to give the words of Yahweh to the people. But then, for three days, he remains with the people in the camp until they all go out to meet Yahweh as He descends on to Sinai.

The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.

Exodus 19:20,21 NASB

Moses heads back up, at the request of God, Who then sends him immediately back down. I’m not trying to obscure the message of Yahweh to His people. And I’m not trying to play down the importance of it. The things that Yahweh says to the sons of Israel are monumental, and the appearance of Yahweh on Mount Sinai blows away the visual effects of any movie ever made. I don’t want to detract from that at all. Those things are lying about the surface of this chapter, and they are important.

What I’m saying is that we can get so impatient with our Savior that we can miss what He’s saying to us, and through us to His other children. Sometimes we get the runaround, going back and forth from the people to God, and back to the people. For instance, pastor’s preach sermons, and people listen. But nothing changes, and the pastor goes back and does it again, and again, nothing changes. At what point does the pastor stop?

What about teaching? When does the teacher stop teaching because it’s not “working”? When do you stop attending church because “you’re not being fed”, or the people are cold? When our Savior might be giving us the runaround, it may be that we’re carrying messages back and forth. The term for such messengers, in English, is “angel”. And some of us have entertained “angels” without knowing it. And, I suspect, some of us have been angels without knowing it.

God chose a frustrating, rebellious, willfully disobedient people, from out of all the peoples of the earth, to His special possession. They are very similar to the Hebrews of Moses’ day. They are us. The message that we have been chosen, even though we don’t deserve to be, that is the message we carry. For our Savior is coming, and will be showing up in the most dramatic of ways. We are called out to stand before Him when He appears, and it will be terrifying, and marvelous when it happens.

So, go ahead and run back and forth, relaying the message of God, He’s coming, He has chosen, and we are to go out and meet with Him.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation