Psalm 75:4
I say to the boastful, "Do not
boast,"
and to the wicked, "Do not
lift up your horn;
Here we have the psalmist saying that it is not our own
good deeds that bring reasons to boast or acclaim; acclaim does not come from
the world, but rather it comes from the Lord. Only in His eyes and according to
Him does it matter whether we have reasons to boast...and as it says elsewhere (Romans
3:23)- all have sinned and all have fallen short of the Glory of God - in other
words we don't actually have any reason to boast. - But not to worry we are all
in the same predicament!
Exodus 20:18-19
Now when all the people saw the
thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the
mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far
off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but
do not let God speak to us, lest we die."
Yes, I expect the people were afraid and trembled. And
yes, I expect it made sense to them to put Moses between God and them - but by
putting Moses in between themselves and God, they effectually distanced
themselves and made it easier to ignore or forget or turn away. Being afraid of
God, while understandable, doesn't assist us in having a relationship with God
- or anyone else for that matter. Imagine if we always used a liaison between
us and someone we wished to talk to - you remember that old game of telephone
where we pass a message from one person to another and by the time it gets back
to the originator it has changed sometimes subtly and other times dramatically;
I think that when the Israelites put Moses between themselves and God they put
themselves at a disadvantage and set up the opportunity for misinterpretations
to evolve later on.
The next section where we talk of selling and redeeming
and of treating people who are related to you with compassion and not unduly
giving favor to the 'new and improved' person (wife, daughter-in-law etc) may
seem a bit strange - but remember that this is a people who has been sold into
slavery for 400 years - what do they know about correct treatment of each other
- my guess is that under these circumstances it has been every man out for
himself and each of them grasped for whatever satisfaction they could - at the
expense of anyone and everyone; and what Moses tells them here - is STOP IT!
Begin treating each other with respect. Obviously this is a baby-steps kind of
move but it is in the direction that God wishes to bring them.
Nehemiah is a new book today for us, and we read in the
opening section of Nehemiah's prayer:
And I asked them concerning the Jews
who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And
they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who had survived the
exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken
down, and its gates are destroyed by fire."
As soon as I heard these words I sat
down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before
the God of heaven. And I said, "O Lord God of heaven, the
great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love
him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes
open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and
night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the
people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. (Nehemiah 1:2-6)
The reading in Romans today is one of my all time
favorites; I commend it to your reading. Paul speaks eloquently about the
salvation of God - open to all who believe and redeeming all the Israelite and
Gentile through Christ. Thank you Jesus.
Today’s readings: Psalm 75, Exodus 20:18-21:11, Nehemiah
1, Romans 11
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