Exodus 35:4-9 Now is the time!

4Moses also told the whole congregation of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded: 5Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Let everyone whose heart is willing bring an offering to the LORD:

gold, silver, and bronze;

6blue, purple, and scarlet yarn;

fine linen and goat hair;

7ram skins dyed red and fine leather;a

acacia wood;

8olive oil for the light;

spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;

9and onyx stones and gemstones to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

Now is the time!

Exodus 25:9 You must make the tabernacle and design all its furnishings according to the pattern I show you.

Are you a cheerful giver to the Lord? I have to admit my sin, I struggle with this. From childhood I was a coin collector, I saved coins and money I earned for the future. The Lord has provided for all my needs but I still struggle with being a frugal person. I had a grandfather that paid cash for everything and lived modestly. I inherited his frugalness! Our son was the opposite as we tried to encourage him to save but money went through his pockets like a sieve.  

But I am reminded of;

2 Corinthians 9:7 Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. "For God loves a cheerful giver."

What about you, are you a cheerful giver?

Blessings, David

Exodus 35:1-3 Do not light a fire! 🔥

1Then Moses assembled the whole congregation of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do: 2For six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you are to have a holy Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Anyone who does work on that day must be put to death. 3Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

“Do not light a fire” 

“The Jews understand this precept as forbidding the kindling of fire only for the purpose of doing work or dressing victuals; but to give them light and heat, they judge it lawful to light a fire on the Sabbath day.” (Clarke)

What is the Sabbath to you and do you observe it?

In our busy world there just doesn’t seem to be enough time or days but one thing I know is, if I don’t rest one day a week from work I feel worn out and tired 😓.

Last Sunday we live-streamed our church, installed fence posts for our backyard and in the evening we used Zoom for our Life Group. I normally don’t like working on Sunday, (our Sabbath) but rain was coming and the boss (spouse) said we needed to get er done! 

Today I’m worn out, it rained all night and will rain all day, but now we have a fenced yard for our new puppy with a doggie door.

Do not light a fire 🔥 or install fence posts on the Sabbath day! I’m guilty!

Blessings, David

Exodus 34:33-35 Fading Radiance.

33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35and the Israelites would see that the face of Moses was radiant. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

2 Corinthians 3: 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.

Did you get was Paul was referring to? “to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.”

Paul is suggesting the veil was covering Moses face so the Israelites wouldn’t notice the fading radiance-glory of his face.

Philippians 3: 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

One day we will have glorious bodies!

Blessings, David

Exodus 34:31-32 Moses Commanded Them!

31But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32And after this all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them to do everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai.

Moses had to convince them to come back because his radiant face scared them, first the leaders and then the people.

Moses turned from being a dreamer into an administrator, commanding them (Israelites) to do everything that the LORD had told him.

There is nothing wrong with being a dreamer unless it affects the work set before you.

Have your dreams affected your work?

To dream or not to dream? Interesting story of a dreamer, enjoy.

https://www.ibelieve.com/faith/to-dream-or-not-to-dream.html

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:29-30 Make My Face To Shine!

29And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD. 30Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him.

“The face of Moses shone because he had long looked upon the face of God.” (Spurgeon)

“I am afraid, brethren, that God could not afford to make our faces shine: we should grow too proud. It needs a very meek and lowly spirit to bear the shinings of God.” (Spurgeon)

“We are always praying, ‘Lord, make my face to shine’; but Moses never had such a wish; and, therefore, when it did shine, he did not know it. He had not laid his plans for such an honor. Let us not set traps for personal reputation, or even glance a thought that way.” (Spurgeon)

Spurgeon has a unique way with interpreting Gods word, doesn’t he?

This reminds me of a song! This Little Light of Mine I'm Gonna Let it Shine with Lyrics | Gospel Song

I can’t wait to meet Jesus so He can make my face to shine!

Can you?

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:28 Forty Days and Forty Nights!

28So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

“It is impossible to exaggerate the stupendous things suggested in this simple statement.” (Morgan) It was a powerful evidence of the truth that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Have you ever searched a Bible app for “forty days and forty nights”?

Matthew 4:2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

Genesis 7:4 For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made."

Deuteronomy 10:10 I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.

1 Kings 19:8 So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

Genesis 7:12 And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

Deuteronomy 9:25 So I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.

Mark 1:13 and He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered to Him.

It’s a reoccurring timeframe and when the Lord uses it over and over again we should take notice. Not many of us can go the forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water, but Moses and Jesus did. And when it comes to rain, could we survive forty days and forty nights of it?

Could you do without anything for forty days and forty nights?

How long can you go without the word (Bible) of the God?

Matthew 4:4 But Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:25-27 A covenant with you!

25Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.

26Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.

You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

27The LORD also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Leaven (yeast) is often a picture of sin in the Bible, therefore leavened bread is not allowed.

The Lord is supposed to be first and foremost with us, therefore firstfruits are His!

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk”. This command was so the Israelites wouldn’t imitate a cruel pagan fertility ritual.

“Write down these words”... If Moses hadn’t written them down, would we be reading them today?

“I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

If you have accepted Jesus and the cross the covenant is yours also!

Do you believe He made a covenant with you?

Paul says in Romans 4: 16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:22-24 Three Celebrations!

22And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. 24For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God.

Three celebrations, Feast of Weeks, firstfruits of the wheat and Feast of Ingathering!

Feast of Ingathering is similar to our Thanksgiving, as a matter of fact that’s what our church calls it, Ingathering.

“and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God”.

“What a manifest proof was this of the power and particular providence of God! How easy would it have been for the surrounding nations to have taken possession of the whole Israelitish land, with all their fenced cities, when there were none left to protect them but women and children! Was not this a standing proof of the Divine origin of their religion?” (Clarke)

Our nation from its founding has been blessed by God, but we as a nation have strayed and I believe the Lord is trying to get our attention, to repent.

Please pray for a revival!

Blessings, David 

“Unbelievers may well be afraid, for they have an angry God above them, a guilty conscience within them, and a yawning hell beneath them. But we who rest in Jesus are saved from all these by His rich mercy.” (Alistair Begg)

Exodus 34:21 His rest, My rest, the Sabbath rest!

21Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.

What has the Wuhan Flu, Covid-19 meant to you?

Our state has a Stay Home, Stay Safe order. I’ve been sheltered in place since March 11th except for one trip to town for essentials.

We haven’t been able to perform any building projects but have been working on firewood, taking walks and resting. We live in the woods and are isolated so contact with others isn’t an issue.

We have also been in His word, watching several church services online and using Zoom Cloud for our church Life Group.

His rest, My rest, the Sabbath rest!

Are you worried about the pandemic?

Remember that the Lord is in control. While the world panics around us, rest in Him and feel His eternal peace.

Luke 12:22 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.

Hebrews 4: 1Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it. 2For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.

3Now we who have believed enter that rest. As for the others, it is just as God has said:

“So I swore on oath in My anger,

‘They shall never enter My rest.’”

And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world. 4For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.”c 5And again, as He says in the passage above: “They shall never enter My rest.”

6Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience, 7God again designated a certain day as “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David as was just stated: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.

Have you entered His rest?

Or do you worry about the pandemic?

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:19-20 The Firstborn and Redemption!

19The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep. 20You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.

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

The firstborn belongs to Me (the Lord)

I found this interesting article, Jesus and the Levite Redemption of the Firstborn 

By Kyle Pope

http://www.ancientroadpublications.com/Studies/BiblicalStudies/LevitieRedemption.html

Redemption: the act of being saved from sin, error or evil. This definition was from my iPad.

The following was from an internet search: “The act of redeeming or the condition of having been redeemed. Recovery of something pawned or mortgaged. The payment of an obligation, as a government's payment of the value of its bonds.

Do you notice what I did? If you surmised they removed God and sin, you get a cookie!

The price of redemption (sin)

Sin comes with a heavy debt to pay and when we see what the Lord required for sin debt, remember the price He paid for you on the cross!

Sin is easy to perform but it’s debt comes with a price.

The price of your sin has been paid, you just have to acknowledge Him who paid it for you or pay the price yourself!

Which have you chosen?

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:17-18 Feast of Unleavened Bread 🥯

17You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.

18You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you. For in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

No molten gods, a reminder of the golden calf incident (sin)! I would add no carved images also. No praying to statues, images, molten objects, pictures!

Instead pray in your prayer closet where no one can see you except for the Lord!

Leaven is a symbol for sin. 

Galatians 5:9 A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough. BSB

This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! NLT

Get it? A little sin spreads through the whole batch (you) of dough until you become totally corrupted.

“You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread”.

God wanted the Israelites to remember when they were brought out of Egypt by the hand of the Lord! Man has a short memory span and we are likely to forget history. 

This year because of the pandemic and our Stay at Home order I totally forgot about Good Friday and our church livestream service. 

Did you celebrate what Jesus did on the cross on Good Friday?

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:15-16 Worship the Lord!

15Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. 16And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

“To worship a statue while calling it YHWH is not to worship YHWH.” (Cole)

Were you raised with a religion that worshiped statues? 

Notice the context of Cole’s statement, in essence if you pray to a statue you are not praying to the Lord! You are praying to an idol made by man.

The Lord works wonders and answers prayer. For years we have been praying for or son whom we didn’t have any contact with. Several months ago my spouse sent a message to his girlfriend on social media to let him know his dog passed away. She replied that our son wanted to rekindle our relationship. The last few weeks we have been texting a lot and I sent him a bunch of pictures of his childhood. 

He now has two children and I believe the Lord is working on his heart. I’ve given him some fatherly advice and he thanked me. He also said he wants to be a father to his children like I was to him. 😇

The Lord is good and answers prayer!

If you have unanswered prayer, don’t give up! Instead make a prayer request to godly people and ask them to pray too!

Don’t prostitute yourself to a god, worship the Lord (YHWH) instead!

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:11-14 Other god’s!

11Observe what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 12Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst. 13Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles. 14For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

“I will drive out before you” because the Israelites couldn’t do it themselves.

“not to make a treaty” a warning and we will see later this warning is violated because the Israelites were tricked and they didn’t ask the Lord!

“you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles”

Asherah, in ancient Semitic religion, is a mother goddess who appears in a number of ancient sources. 

They were to remove, destroy all sources of false god’s!

“you must not worship any other god”

The Lord is a jealous God! 

Any other god can be an addiction, a hobby, a possession or any earthly thing that keeps your attention away from the Lord.

What other god are you worshipping?

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:10 An Awesome Thing!

10And the LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among whom you live will see the LORD’s work, for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you.

The Lord dictated through Moses His terms to the Israelites, they had a choice of which road they would travel. Be blessed or cursed, either way the world would know how the Lord dealt with the them, for the world already knew how the Lord dealt with the Egyptians!

He will “perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world”!

Think about that and let it sink in!

“All the people among whom you live will see the LORD’s work”!

A promise! 

“for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you.”

Jesus did an awesome thing for us on the cross, and the Father did an awesome thing by sending Him!

Yes, Jesus did an awesome thing for you!

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:8-9 Forgiveness and Goodness!

8Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9“O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

“The elements of God’s character are striking, suggesting both grace and truth. The effect on Moses was adoration and prayer.” (Thomas)

There is a process we go through when we ask the Lord for forgiveness, it has to come from our heart and be sincere. But our Lord is also Good, and after we ask for forgiveness there is nothing wrong in asking Him to be good (bless) to us.

What loving father doesn’t want to be good to his children?

Ask for forgiveness and ask Him to be good (bless) to you.

Forgiveness and Goodness, that’s our God!

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:5-7 God of Glory!

5And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD. 6Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out:

“The LORD, the LORD God,

is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger,

abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

7maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations,

forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.

Yet He will by no means excuse the guilty;

He will visit the iniquity of the fathers

on their children and grandchildren

to the third and fourth generations.”

“LORD descended in a cloud” How else could He have done it if no man could look at Him in His glory and live? 

Gracious:

“That word has gone out of fashion. Our fathers petrified it; they made it the foundation-stone of a structure of granite, in which the souls of men could find no rest, and therefore we rather dread that word – Grace. And yet there is no greater word in the language than the word that stands for the undeserved, free gift of the Love of God.” (F. B. Meyer)

“Not merely adequate, but abounding is this great God of glory. He has barns and silos full of love and faithfulness; he is stacking it in the streets looking for a distribution system.” (Erwin)

“To the third and fourth generation: a common Semitic idiom to express continuance.” (Cole)

You can be part of His distribution system or Satan’s! 

Which distribution system have you chosen?

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:4 He Gave, he Smashed, he chiseled, he carried!

4So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals. He rose early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hands, he went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him.

But who chiseled out the first set that Moses smashed? 

I have searched hi and low and cannot find an answer to that question.

Exodus 31: 18When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

He gave, but the Bible doesn’t clarify who chiseled out the first set. I can only assume since, “He gave” that the Lord made them. 

This is one of the questions only the Lord or Moses can answer!

I would like to assume that since He gave and Moses smashed, Moses had to painstakingly chisel out a second set as a “discipline”, a punishment so to speak because of his action of smashing.

Notice also the last half of verse 4, Moses had to carry them (UP) the Mount! 

I would wager by the time Moses reached the top, he had wished he hadn’t smashed the original set of stone tablets!

He Gave, he Smashed, he chiseled, he carried!

Blessings, David 

Exodus 34:1-3 Do Over!

1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop. 3No one may go up with you; in fact, no one may be seen anywhere on the mountain—not even the flocks or herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

Do Over! The Lord told Moses to chisel out two stone tablets like the originals because Moses got mad and broke the first set.

Have you ever gotten mad and broke something? 

If you could, would you request a do over?

Jesus gives us do overs, when we sin and repent He washes us, clothes us in white and our sin clock gets reset. Unfortunately we sin daily, so we need to repent daily. We get a “do over” like Moses!

How many “do overs” do we get in a lifetime?

Blessings, David 

Exodus 33:20-23 You cannot see My face!

20But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

21The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock, 22and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”

“But at the same time he assures him that he could not see his face-the fulness of his perfections and the grandeur of his designs, and live, as no human being could bear, in the present state, this full discovery. But he adds, Thou shalt see my back parts.” (Clarke)

Remember this hymn?

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/1058

Do you remember the movie The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston? I recall the scene when Moses came down the mountain after seeing the Lord, his face was changed, bright and his hair turned gray. Later we read in the Bible, Moses had to cover his face with a veil.

I can’t wait to see Jesus face to face!

Can you?

Blessings, David