The Covenant Renewed

 

 

Exodus 34:10-28

 

November 6, 2024

 

The Covenant Renewed

And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

“Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.  You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim  (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),  lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice,  and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.

“You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.  All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep.  The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.

 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.  You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end.  Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.  For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning.  The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.”

And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”  So, he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

God’s promise to Israel was to honor the covenant, the Ten Commandments.  And even after God’s instruction on what to do and not do, they chased the gods of the nations around them, and it brought judgment on them.

 

God’s ways are higher than ours, but a wise person would examine what God has said about work and rest and follow his leadership.  Much of the illness in today’s world is not believing and doing what God has said to do, in all areas of life.  He has given us wise counsel and a handbook on how to live life to the full.

 

The period of forty days and forty nights is important in the Bible, being found 24 times throughout Scripture. From the 40 days and nights that Moses spent in the wilderness when given the Ten Commandments to the same period that Jesus spent in the wilderness when tempted by Satan.  (Taken from the internet)

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Our Relationship to God Should not be Circumstance Dependent

 

Our Relationship to God Should not be Circumstance Dependent

 

1 Thessalonian 5:16-18 states “Be joyful always; also, Philippians 4:4 pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

Our basis for this is that Our Past Has Been Taken Care of: 1John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” In Psalm 103:12, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

 

Our Present is Provided For: Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things (the necessities of life) will be given to you as well.”

 

Our Future is Guaranteed:  In John 5:24, Jesus says: I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.  He also tells us in Ephesians 4:30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

 

We can also be at Peace: Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christi Jesus.”

 

HAVING GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT LIVING IN US:  Romans 8:9, tells us that the Holy Spirit resides in us the moment we are saved; “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.  And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”

 

The Holy Spirit will manifest Himself in A VERY DELIGHTFUL LIFE FULL OF FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT:  In Galatians 5:22-23, we see, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control illustrated in such a life.

 

 

It is my understanding that Bill Graham often stated that 50% of people in Churches on Sundays do not have a personal relationship with God.  This I have witnessed since the beginning of the coronavirus; the Church, you, and I, have allowed circumstances to control us mostly.   

 

“The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe in recent history.  It is estimated that about 500 million people, or one-third of the world’s population, became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide, with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40-year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic.”  What I read was different, was that people who went by the name of Christian, in other words, the church, took care of those who were sick; they did not lock themselves in their homes, but risked their lives to minister to the sick and dying.  Or as the song goes, they will know we are Christians by wearing a mask and having our groceries delivered.  NO, that is not the song; it goes “They will know we are Christians by our love.”  

 

I am sick of those who tell me when I share Jan and I will obey the law but will not live in fear. But you have to use “Common Sense”.  As I shared with my daughter, what I always believed was Common is no longer Common.  The Church is under attack, and yet people who go by the name Christian are too busy watching the news on the virus to know or care.  How do you distinguish yourself from your lost neighbor, who has every right to be fearful? This is home for him, and many Christians are acting as if earth is their home.  Fear not, for God has promised to watch over you; do you not believe that?

 

 

From our Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Moses Makes New Tablets

 

Exodus 34:1-9

 

November 5, 2024

 

Moses Makes New Tablets

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.  Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.  No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.”  So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.  The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.  The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”  And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.  And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

 

Can the Church identify with God’s attributes, sure a God of mercy, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness?  But no longer does God visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.  Ezekiel 18:19-20, “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”  That is good news, but the sins, poor performance, and dad missing from home can have a lasting effect on the child.

 

The Church is a chosen people, a holy priesthood; you will find that in 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  One must wonder, when looking at their lives, are we not like the people of Israel? Forgetting the love and mercy of our God, who has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  Who has pardoned our iniquity and our sins, and has brought us out of darkness into the light.  We are now heirs with our Lord, Jesus Christ.  And we are sealed and enveloped in Christ; all things must go through Him to get at us.  One must never forget that our free will needs to be examined often, to make sure that, as a child of our Father in heaven, we are being obedient to His calling and plan for our lives.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Moses' Intercession

 

 

Exodus 33:12-23

 

November 4,  2024

 

Moses' Intercession

 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’  Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider, too, that this nation is your people.”  And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.  For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”  Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”  And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.  But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”  And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

 

It seems to me that those who had earthly dads that they went to for advice may have a leg up on those of us who did not seek our dads’ advice, when it comes to our Father in heaven.  Those who had dads with whom they had built a relationship of trust, on his wise counsel, it seems, would have an easier time doing the same with their Father in heaven.

 

We do not know that much about Moses' dad, in that he was taken away from him at birth, but we do know that Moses' mother poured her wisdom and understanding of God into her son while she cared for him as Pharaoh's daughter's nanny.  One might see this as a hindrance to a close relationship with God, but in Moses' case, God had picked him as his man before he was in his mother's womb to lead a nation out of darkness into the light.  

What is God’s plan for you and me that is worth pondering over?  Could it be we have, like Moses tried to do things in our own strength, and like Moses have run away from our calling?  Maybe we need to recall the relationship with the Lord, the promises, and do as Moses did, have a faith walk with God.  I believe you and I would be wise to pray this prayer; please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.

As a member of God’s family by His grace and the faith that He has given us, to understand our calling and identify in Christ.  First, let us address the name God has given us: Saints. The word saint is used 67 times in the New Testament, always in the plural, and it is all about relationships, not performance. “Therefore, scripturally speaking, the 'saints' are the body of Christ, Christians, the church. All Christians are considered saints. All Christians are saints—and at the same time are called to be saints.” (Got Questions)

Next is your real Identity, beginning with birth, as all things, but not from your Mother, but the second birth when you ask Jesus into your life by faith in the finished work of the Cross.  2 Corinthians 5 16-17, make that clear.  ^“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

If that old man dies, you are now a new creation, and you must allow the Holy Spirit to break the habits of your flesh.

My friend and mentor Bill Gillham put a list of Scripture on your Identity.

 

Your True Identity in Christ

·      Romans 3:24  You are now justified and redeemed.

·      Romans 6:7     Free from sin’s power.

·      Romans 8:1     Indemnified (God does not reject

·      Rom.    15:7     Accepted in Him

·      1 Cor.   1:30      Have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption

·      1 Cor.   2:16      Mind of Christ is in you

·      1 Cor.   6:11      Washed, sanctified, justified

·      1 Cor.   6:17      One with the Holy Spirit

·      1 Cor. 15:22      Alive ( formerly dead)

·      2 Cor.   2:14      Always led in His triumph (whether it appears so or not)

·      2 Cor.     3:3      His Laws are written on your heart

·      2 Cor.    3:14     Your hardened mind is removed (mind transplant)

·      2 Cor.    5:17     A new creation (not an old garment with a new patch)

·      2 Cor.    5:21     The righteousness of God (cannot get more righteous)

·      Gal.       2:14     Have liberty (not a peaceful feeling, but a knowledge)

·      Gal.       3:28     All are one (no inferiority)

·      Gal.       4:7       A son/daughter and heir of God

·      Eph.      1:3       Blessed with every spiritual blessing

·      Eph.      1:4       Chosen, holy, blameless before God

·      Eph.      1:7       Redeemed, forgiven

·      Eph. 1: 10-11   Have an inheritance in heaven

·      Eph.      1:13 ​   Sealed with the Spirit

·      Eph.      2:6      Seated in heaven (now)

·      Eph.      2:10    Created for good works (which He can do through you)

·      Eph.      2:13    Brought near to God

·      Eph.      3:6      A partaker of the promise

·      Eph.      3:12    Have boldness and confident access to God

·      Eph.      5:30    A member of His body (not inferior)

·      Phil.      4:7      His peace guards your heart and mind (not a peaceful feeling, but knowledge)

·      Phil.      4:19    Have all needs (not greed) supplied

·      Col.       3:1      Raised up with Christ

·      Col.       3:3     Your life is hidden with Christ in God (see this by faith)    

 

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice 

The Command to Leave Sinai

 

 

 

Exodus 33:1-6

 

November 2, 2024

 

The Command to Leave Sinai

The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring, I will give it.’  I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.  For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’”  Therefore, the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

 

Obedience brings blessing. If only the Church could learn this truth.  When Moses shared that the chosen of God, the people of Israel, were not faithful, not obedient, but stiff-necked people.  He is not talking about people who have neck problems, but God is comparing them to an ox that has to have a bridle to make it go where the farmer desires.  Many words describe these kinds of people, who are not willing to be taught, are obstinate, and difficult to lead.

 

When the people heard that God, the one who chose them out of all the people of the world to be His chosen people, would not go with them, but would send an angel to go before them and give them victory, they stripped themselves of ornaments.  Was it a sign of obedience or fear of God?  I’m not sure, but I know a healthy fear of God is what the Church needs to bring about obedience.

 

When I was growing up, I had a healthy fear of my dad; his rules were to be obeyed, and if not, you were a rule-breaker, and he had no tolerance for rule-breakers.  I was like the people of Israel, in many ways, but after my butt had received the leather belt a few times, I learned not only to do as Dad said, but also found out that a healthy fear of not doing so kept me out of the pain that went with the leather belt.  

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

“You have sinned a great sin

 

Exodus 32:30-35

 

November 1, 2024

 

The next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”  So, Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold.  But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”  But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.  But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

Then the Lord sent a plague on the people because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

 

Often, in the Scriptures, we are given two examples. In this case, they were brothers. One was Moses, a meek man who feared God more than the people he was leading. The other was his brother Aaron, who feared the people more than God. Which brother do you identify with? Your pastor deals with this daily. If I do as I feel the Lord is telling me, then this person or group will be offended, or they are the biggest givers, and we need that support.  

 

But you and I have the same issues. If I tell my brother or the guy I work with how bad it hurts me to hear them use the Lord's name in vain, will it hurt our relationship?

 

But we all have the same issue as Aaron when we lie. He may have fooled his brother, but God is not fooled, and unless we confess those lies- such a harsh word for the generation of spin- but God has not bought into spin, and a lie is a lie.

 

​From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

--

Coming down the Mountain

 

Exodus 32:15-29

 

October 30, 2024

 

Coming down the Mountain

Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back, they were written.  The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.  When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.”  And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.  He took the calf that they had made, and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?”  And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.  For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’  So, I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So, they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.  And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’”  And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.  And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”

 

I’m sure that we can not grasp what Moses had in his hands, two tablets written by no one other than God.  I would imagine Joshua offer to carry them for Moses, but the were of great value, they were the written words of God.  Do you recall the definition for meekness: “True, biblical meekness is a self-control of strength that makes us lambs in our own causes and lions for the cause of Christ.

 

That day the people did not see a meek Moses, but a lion.  Is anger always bad? We are told in Ephesians 4:26-27, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,  and give no opportunity to the devil.”  One might wonder if the devil did not believe he had won a great battle when Moses threw down the tablets, and they broke.

 

But God’s power rested on Moses, for his anger was first directed at his own brother, who had allowed this to happen.  And Aaron would have no trouble living in 2024, in that, like so many, it was not his fault, and he lied about how the calf was made by his own hands. 

 

I believe God is still asking, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.”  If you are a follower of Christ, put on your sword. Do you know where it is? It is not designed to kill but to give life.  Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  

 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice