“Leave me Alone “- God

An unusual verse to find in scripture, but what a concept!  In the Old Testament, Exodus specifically, God is quite frustrated with his fickle people who turn their hearts back and forth endlessly.  God is debating plan B to accomplish his purposes, since the first plan didn’t work out so well.

Jumping into the story in Exodus 32, God has delivered his people out of slavery from Egypt as he said he would do.  He has led them across an un-crossable river, fed them with supernatural food from heaven, and given a promise of future land to dwell in.  He leads them by cloud during the day, fire at night. 

Israel’s response to God’s provision? 

They need more than fire from heaven leading them.  They need more than 100% organic food from on high that magically appears every morning.  They demand more than deliverance from oppression and death, endless plagues, and water supernaturally pouring out of a gigantic rock.  Though they have seen divine glimpses of the leading of the Savior, they need a physical representation to tangibly touch.  Faith and trust are not enough, despite the ridiculous providential provisions from the God of gods. 
  

Forty days is a long time, a lot can happen.  Not uncommon for people to meet someone and get engaged a month or so later.  Not uncommon to discover a new job in a new city and move suddenly.  A lot can happen on a mountain, too, when day after day Moses is nowhere to be seen.  Perhaps God killed him, perhaps a bear ate him, perhaps he will never return.  He could have starved to death, died of thirst, who knows!!  If so, the Israelites will be left in the desert, alone, without the one person who intervened on their behalf with the Almighty God who brought them out from Egypt. 

^NIV  Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they  who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."

So, while Moses spends day after day on the mountain-top, the people grow anxious and cling to the one hope they can have – a physical representation of this majestic God, that they can bow down to, praise, worship, and sacrifice to.  The people come to Aaron, and he guides them and leads them in the path of un-righteousness. 

Perhaps this will please God. 

Indeed, it does not please God.  In fact, God is quite angry with his people.  He chose them long ago, and fore-told they would go into bondage in Egypt.  Leading them every step of the way across impossible situations, his people have created their own incredibly offensive image, then loudly proclaimed this mere golden idol they made is the God who brought them out of Egypt.  Slap in the face of the Redeemer.

How could God not be angry? 

How could his anger not “burn against them?”  So, what God tells Moses in Exodus 32.10 is that he has another plan in mind.

¹⁰ Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn again st them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." (Exo 32:10 NIV)

“Now leave me alone” is in an obscure tense of a common verb, and also an imperative (command).   It means “to rest” so the phrase could be translated “Now cause me to rest” which is the awkward English, better worded as “Leave me alone.”  God is telling Moses to stop talking to him, so His anger can burn against Israel, and destroy them.  His backup plan is to make Moses into a great nation, and kill all his rebellious people who incessantly turn against him for any and every reason.

“Leave me alone.” 

Moses’ response?  Appealing to the divine purposes of God, in which he desires to glorify himself by using weak, sometimes worthless people for his glory.  This is reminiscent of Ephesians chapter 3, where the divine mystery is that God in his apparent foolishness uses mere humans to prove to the angels his great wisdom by entrusting us with His eternal truth.  Here in Exodus 32, Moses declares that the nations will mock God by saying God merely delivered his people in order to kill them in the desert. 

Abraham speaks to God in a way no one else has, yet also understands the glory of God.  Thus, when God says  “Don’t talk to me,” Moses clearly does talk to him.  He does so gently, as a man facing an angry king carefully chooses every single word he says, knowing they could be his last.

Thoughts and Applications

Moses carefully appealed to the divine purposes of God in speaking with him.  In addition, his purpose in speaking is to appeal to the best situation God would be glorified in.  He deeply knew this Almighty God, enough to know and side-step God’s promise of a new, great people.  Rather, he appealed to God’s first plan on the basis that it would bring more glory to his name than the second plan.

When we pray, while we don’t often speak face to face on a mountaintop, I think our prayers could reflect a bit more of God’s glory.  We often pray for stuff we want or think we need, rather than for God to be glorified.  We pray for God to help us meet our bills, but for our glory not for his. 

We pray for God to bring people into our church, but perhaps God would be glorified by them going somewhere else.  Our prayers are so often short-sighted, missing the eternality of God’s plan. 

“Why should God give you what you ask him?”

A good question to ask after praying is “why?”  Sure, you need money to pay your utilities.  But why should God give you what you ask of him?  Is it merely so you can be comfortable and enjoy life, or is it so that you can rest at home after going out into the world making disciples? 

It’s true, Christians need to pray more, and I’m one of them.  However, it is also true that we need to pray better.  We need to open our eyes to God’s purposes, and how he can gain glory through what we ask of him.  We need to be like Moses, who turned down a divine promise of a great nation, and instead pleaded for God to be glorified through his initial Plan A.  Indeed, those are the prayers that God seems to be faithful to quickly answer…

Seven days to reflect on your sin...with the world watching.

Being an only child, I can only speculate on the difficulties of brother and sister relationships.  There’s a family conflict in scripture involving Moses that is often overlooked, and can be found in Numbers 12.  Moses, Aaron, and Miriam – they are the trio of siblings God used profoundly in leading the Israelites out from slavery.  Aaron and Miriam began reflecting on how Moses had married an Egyptian woman, perhaps questioning his loyalty, obedience to God, and ability to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

Pride creeps in.  They decide since God speaks through them as well as Moses, they should have the same authority and power over the Israelites.  Pride suggests they should be elevated beyond what God has called them to.

God literally calls them out on their sin, confronting them in Moses’ presence.  Punishment? – Miriam is given an intense skin disease (the word has a broader meaning than specifically leprosy, though it could well be).  Moses intervenes on her behalf, and she is sent outside the camp of Israel for 7 days.  This is both a fulfillment of the command to keep lepers outside the camp, as well as to serve as a warning to Israel.

She comes back after 7 days, Israel abruptly moves on in their desert wanderings, and she is never heard from again in scripture.  Moses’ pleaded for the Lord to heal her, but the text does not say if she was healed!  Maybe she was, maybe she wasn’t.

Interpreting the text – Numbers 12

In realizing scripture is about real people in real situations, consider Miriam.  She acknowledged before the Lord her sin, yet spends 7 long days and 7 long nights outside the camp.  Possibly alone, possibly itching, scratching, possibly her flesh rotting.  She has gone from being a prophetess (Exodus 15:10) to being temporarily banished.  No doubt looked down upon by many, talked about – and think of the walk of shame as the crowds no doubt moved out of the way while she walked away from the presence of the Lord and from his people.  7 days of reflecting, of meditating on her jealousy and realizing God is much greater and she is much less significant.  Then the walk back into the camp, and to face her two brothers, one righteous and one slightly less so.  What does she say?  How does she act?  Sin and its consequences have defined her now, have shaped how people see her.  She serves as a living example that God is not to be trifled with, but must be served faithfully with humility.

As the Israelites stand at the edge of the Promised Land and the second-giving of the Law, Deuteronomy, is given.  One of the warnings is for Israel to "remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 24:9 NAS).  Miriam has gone from prophetess to leper, to serving as a warning for others of how jealousy and sin are detested in God’s sight.

Applications

We take sin so lightly in America.  It’s okay to get a divorce if things don’t work out, if your wife hates you and yells at you every day.  It’s understandable that no one likes the senior pastor and the associate pastor needs to replace him, even though God has not said so.  After all, God uses both right?

While there was grumbling and conversations of jealousy, these were not outright blatantly obvious sins.  Rather, they were sins of the heart – jealousy, perhaps some pride and some self-righteousness thrown in the mix too.  Neither of these sins of the heart were specifically addressed in Exodus, but God’s response indicates he detests jealousy.   In the text, Moses is mentioned as being incredibly humble - as opposed to his brother and sister who demand, in a sense, to be in Moses’ shoes.  The Egyptian wife is merely an outward reason to plan/act on their jealous sinful hearts.

What’s the outward reason we use as an excuse to cover up the inward sin of our hearts?  Do we preach and teach the bible because we want to be admired?  Do we point out the obvious mistake of our coworker because we desire to be recognized and be perceived as more valuable than them?  In brief conversations at church, do we promote ourselves and our accomplishments over the week, or do we listen to others?

Applications are endless, but most importantly, specific when the Holy Spirit brings deep conviction to our hearts.  Christians need to be concerned about their outward actions, such as tearing down the leaders God has put over them.  But we also need to be even more concerned about those deceptive sins of the heart that can go un-noticed by others, perhaps even by ourselves as well.

God may close one door to open another.

The setup for a good story is in the foundation. There are subtle clues meant to be built on later on. A clever writer connects the dots in unexpected ways, and is intentional with every word, every phrase. In the Old Testament, Hebrew is much like this – subtle, yet intentional in its brief statements of introduction before telling the “main point.”  

1 Samuel chapter 1 begins with two paragraphs that set the stage for the section, chapter, and ultimately rest of the two-book story. First paragraph is solely contextual – names and linage, who the players are. There's a man named Elkanah, and he has two wives. Then there's the subtle yet intensely emotional statement “And there was for Peninah, children. And for Hanah, there was not children.”  (My translation)

Easy to overlook in reading, not at all in real life. Competition between the wives? Jealousy? Grief? Soul-wrenching sadness at being unable to produce offspring?

The story begins with “year after year...” in a summary of ongoing faithfulness of Elkanah to the Lord. Faithfully he goes....1) to worship (the Lord) and 2) to sacrifice to the Lord. “Worship” in Hebrew is in an obscure structure I've never seen for any other word. From “to bow down,” the verb structure it appears in inherently has three aspects:

1. Passive – the action “bowing down” is done to the person, as if someone kicked their knees and forced them.
2. Reflexive – the action is done to the person, by the person. They are the ones forcing themselves to bow down.
3. Causative – there is an inherent sense of causing the action to happen, of being the person to cause the action of bowing down.

All three lumped, together, this is an exceptionally theological phrase. Sure, it means to bow down. Sure, it means to worship [the Lord]. But there's additional depth to the phrase that can't be ignored. So, Elkanah goes to worship, but he also goes to sacrifice to the Lord Almighty.

The story continues, and we we learn that God has “closed the womb” of the wife Elkanah loves. The other wife has an abundance of children, and provokes and irritates the loved wife. We also find the phrase “year after year” connecting the story together. Year after year Elkanah goes faithfully to sacrifice and worship / bow down before the Lord. Year after year, Elkanah's beloved wife suffers the anguish of barrenness, and it is all the Lord's fault! He's the one who has closed her womb! In addition there is the year after year torment by the other wife. Often the other wife is so oppressive that Hanah weeps and at times stops eating out of her grief.

It is any wonder she weeps as she prays for the Lord to remember her? Is it any wonder a woman weak from grief, torment of barrenness might pray at an altar for a long period of time? What is amazing is even in being “rebuked” by the priest, we see the soft, gentle answer of a woman in deep distress and grief. She explains how she was merely pouring out her soul to the Lord.

Often the story centers on Eli the priest and his assumption she was drunk instead of praying. Perhaps rather it should focus on why she was there in the first place, pouring out her soul to the Lord. It is this “Lord Almighty” who is the one who closed her womb to being with. We can see her deep, profound dedication in the midst of an extended, year-after-year crisis of faith when God seems to ignore and not answer her prayers.

Perhaps in taking a closer look at the setting we can learn more about the character of this woman. In light of her character, principles and thus applications to our lives today are obvious. God will eventually answer those who steadfastly seek his face, even when it takes 3,4,5 or even ten years. “Don't give up” is not the answer, but rather worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty. God may in his wisdom decide to “close” the “doors” of the single thing desired in life, however noble. The Lord opens and closes at his choosing, for his purposes, and in his timing.

Ultimately, Hannah's dedication leads to a son entirely dedicated to the Lord. It is in the foundational years of Samuel's life that he hears the voice of God audibly, and becomes a priestly leader to a nation straying from the Lord. Eli the priest had two sons, but they were both wicked and should not have been priests. Had Hannah simply had a child, she would not have suffered – but her child would not have grown up in the temple, and lived to serve God's purposes. God closed the door of her womb so that he could open the door  to Samuel being a priest for Israel.  

Much like he so often does in our lives...  

For Forever is His Love (Psalm 136)

Psalm 136 – For Forever is His Love

I came across this Psalm in my Hebrew Bible and noticed it because the repetition of that phrase at the end of every single verse.  It lines up quite nicely, and is a refreshingly different Psalm to reflect on.  Spurgeon in Treasure of Scripture Knowledge noted that this Psalm is almost identical to the one before it, Psalm 135, except for the refrain “His love is forever.”  The assumption is that it was re-worded so the Levites could loudly proclaim the first part, and the congregation could respond to every single line.  What an amazing sight it would have been!

Psalm 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (KJV)

Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. (NAS)

Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. (NIV)

Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.  (NLT) 

  ^WTT Psalm 136:1 הוֹד֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה כִּי־ט֑וֹב כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃

Wow!  What a variety of different ways to say the exact same thing!  Before building a theology of love though, lets take a look at some underlying Hebrew.  The same phrase is repeated after every single proclamation of what the Redeemer of Israel has done for his chosen people Israel, so it might be worth taking a closer look at.

For 

This word implies the phrase before results in the phrase after.  In verse one, we are called to praise the Lord for he is good, because or since his love endures forever. 

Forever

This is a phrase seen consistently throughout Hebrew.  Here there is a preposition before it, meaning “for” or “unto.”  Combine the two = “for forever” or “unto forever” or “everlasting.” 

Is 

This word isn’t there, but is implied.  Hebrew does that occasionally!  Word for word, this reads “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love: for-forever.”  This is how there is a variety of ways to say the same thing, because of this verb-less clause.  Endures is a good translation, as long as you realize it’s not there but implied.

  

His love

The “his” is obvious – it is the covenantal love of God Almighty, Redeemer of Israel.  The overlooked part, however, is that this word brings such a heavy wealth of theology to the table all wrapped up in the word “love.”   It brings to mind every single promise God ever made, and the legacy of the covenantal promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  

חֶסֶד (HES-ed)

God’s “compassion” or “great mercy” is shown to us in light of his covenantal promises (Deut. 13.17).  Although God abandoned his people briefly, it is with great compassion that he brings them back (Isaiah 54.7) and it is his lovingkindness and his truth that preserves us (Ps 40:11), because his compassions never fail. (Lam. 3:22)   Indeed, as the scripture says, the Lord is gracious and compassionate. (2Ch 30:9)

This word appears occasionally throughout scripture, but is always a joy to stumble across – for it immediately brings a broader theological context to every passage.  In this passage specifically, Psalm 136, it brings to the table the eternality of God’s love in light of his accomplishments in delivering Israel.  He promised he would deliver them, and he did.  The Psalm is a call to remember God keeps his promises, and gives specific ways of how he has. 
 

In light of every single thing God has done… His eternal covenantal love he freely gives to his people extends from before time began to after time ends.

Exodus 21:10 - Conjugal Rights of an unloved, unwanted wife?

Exodus 21:10 - Conjugal Rights of an unloved, unwanted wife?

Even absurd and difficult to understand verses in scripture have the power of the finger of God written on the tip of every single letter, as it is written...”All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  (2Ti 3:16-17 NIV)

Faithfulness in marriage regardless of love or desire

Exodus 21:10 "If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights. (New American Standard)

"If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy. (New Living Translation)

First question:  Is there any underlying Hebrew that gives a better understanding to the text?  Yes!  “Reduce” as in the NAS means “diminish, restrain, take from, withdraw, abate, do away, keep back.

The man is not to give any less or withhold from his first wife the various things committed to her at marriage – food, clothing, and sexual fulfillment.

Second question: 

What in the world is the context for this?  It comes in the middle of a list of laws God gave Moses to set before the people (Exodus 21:1).  The better question though, is why this list of commands? It is because God alone is God, and he alone delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt.  God has set out specific commands to follow, so that his people know how to serve him.  He does not abstractly and randomly punish people for unknowingly sinning against me, but in his grace has given the Israelites a clear way to know whether they are serving God or not. 

^NAS  Exodus 20:1-2 Then God spoke all these words, saying, ² "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Third Question:   

What are some underlying principles that apply equally then as well as today? 

The God of the covenant demands that men keep their covenants to their wives as a visible sign of the covenant God keeps with them.  Their marriages to each other, which supposed to exclude any non-Israelites, are to honor him and their devotion to marriage is a reflection of the heart of Israel for their Deliverer.  Thus, if a man changes his mind about the woman he married, he cannot change his mind about the covenant he established with her.   

While scripture neither approves of, nor specifically condemns polygamy, the condemnation here is not toward marrying another woman and having two wives.  Rather, even in the midst of his second covenant of faithfulness he must continue to be faithful to the first covenant he chose to establish.  He must show the covenantal faithfulness toward his first wife, regardless of his attraction for her.   This is applied in that culture by providing food, clothing, and sexual fulfillment to the first wife. 

Fourth Question:   

What about today?

In marriage today in America, it is doubtful there are many pastoral exhortations  that men need to have sex with their first wife, as well as their current one.  Contextually, polygamy is not generally applicable to America.  Covenantal Faithfulness, however, can most definitely be applied.  When a man gives lofty promises before marriage then changes his mind… He must still be faithful to her in every aspect.  This is a reflection of the glimmer of the glory of God revealed through the institution of marriage.  Faithfulness regardless of love, because marriage is meant to reflect to a pagan world the faithfulness of the Deliverer of Israel.  The world cannot help but ask why a man would provide for, love, and cherish a woman he no longer desires to be with.  The answer is that marriage is for the sake of the kingdom of God, not for the sake of love.

Martyrdom of Polycarp

Not inspired as scripture, but what a convicting story to read!

 It begins with a revelation to him that he would be burned alive, then he is betrayed by those closest to him.  Before they take him away, he asks for an hour to pray and has a meal prepared for the soldiers.  His prayers were so convicting no one could stop him from praying for an hour longer.

At his trial he said "You threaten with a fire that burns only briefly and after a little while is extinguished, for you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly.  But why do you delay?  Come, do as you wish."

As they took him to the center pillar before the fire was lit, they were about to nail him to it.  Polycarp's response? "Leave me as I am; for the one who enables me to endure the fire will also enable me to remain on the pyre without moving, even without the sense of security that you get from the nails."

After Polycarp prays, the fire is lit.  But it could not kill him,  "For the fire, taking the shape of an arch...completely surrounded the body of the martyr; and it was there in the middle, not like flesh burning but like bread baking or like gold and silver being refined in a furnace."

"When the lawless men eventually realized that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they ordered an executioner to go up to him and stab him with a dagger.  And when he did this, there came out a dove and a large quantity of blood, so that it extinguished the fire; and the whole crowd was amazed that there should be so great a difference between the unbelievers and the elect."

__________________________________________________________

After some reflection, I have a thought on why this exceptionally inspiring story was not included in the cannon of scripture.  Not from an exegetical or systematic theological approach, but rather from a practical standpoint.

First, while incredibly inspiring, it does not have a sense of authoritative divine inspiration.  Secondly, if it were the case, I believe many Christians would be mislead into seeking the signs that followed Polycarp's martyrdom rather than the will of God.  During persecutions that came and will come, they might depend on the signs rather than the voice of God.

Just my own thoughts though.


(All quotations from The Apostolic Fathers in English by Holmes, 2006.)

Church Fathers: An articulate summary

As I was checking out a stack of church history books, the librarian mentioned her father was a "church history buff."  Brings to mind a very buff man who enjoys reading very old books, but it was interesting to find out I was checking out one of her father's favorite books.  Here's a lengthy quotation from The Apostolic Fathers, in English by Michael Holmes.  I found it articulated and brought a framework for some of the similarities and differences of the fathers.

"Taken on their own terms and in the context of their own times, these writers prove to be an engaging cast of characters.  They are real people struggling to deal with various opportunities, problems, and crises as best as they can.  There is, as Lightfoot observes, the 'gentleness and serenity of Clement, whose whole spirit is absorbed in contemplating the harmonies of nature and of grace'; the 'fiery zeal of Ignatius,' in whom the passionate desire for martyrdom overwhelms all other concerns; the enduring faithfulness of Polycarp, whose entire eighty-six-year life 'is spent in maintaining the faith once delivered to the saints'; the 'moral earnestness and simple fervour' of The Shepherd of Hermas and The Didache; and the 'intensity of conviction' of The Epistle to Diognetus, which 'contrasts the helpless isolation and the universal sovereignty of the Christian.'"

"Even in The Epistle to Barnabas, which Lightfoot thought was 'overlaid by a rigid and extravagant' allegorical interpretation of scripture, one 'cannot fail to reconise a very genuine underlying faith'..."

"In short, for all their differences and disagreements, they share a deep and genuine devotion to Jesus."

Imagine taking all those significant descriptions of character and combining them.  Imagine knowing a believer who has enduring faithfulness, moral earnestness, intensity of conviction, with a fiery zeal for martyrdom if necessary to spread the gospel...

#2 of the Big Ten: Idols and God's generational curse.

Ever wondered why its one of the first in the list?  It's so easily skipped over, because it doesn't seem to be relevant to our culture, much less applicable to our lives.

First question, is why the commandment at all?  Theologically, God has the single legitimate claim to everything that the Israelites could possibly want or think of in a god.  He is almighty, all-knowing, and they have seen their deliverer and protector in action just recently coming out of Egypt.  So why is God worried about Israelites that have never personally seen this God face to face carving representations?

Assuming the best-case scenario of Israelites longing to have a tangible representation of their Lord, God's greatness literally cannot be represented by anything human hands can make.  The created is incapable of portraying the creator in any accurate sense.  But even if human hands were able to, they are forbidden here in Exodus 20:4.

The likely case though, is of Israelites straying and creating images/idols of false gods.  In 20:5 the implication is that then the Israelites would bow down and worship these false gods that they created, instead of the true God.

Why?  because God is jealous for his people.  It all comes down to his intense desire for his people to follow them with all their heart willingly.  He will curse them if they do not but show his covenantal love to them if/when they do.

The "generational curse" here is so often taken to mean and apply to whatever we feel like, particularly in spiritual warfare.  Contextually, we have curses and blessings.  This is an appropriate time to think culturally, meaning of the family structure.  Generally, with one father or patriarch of a family, there would be sons, daughters, and grandsons and granddaughters all living together.  It was common for three or perhaps even four generations to be considered part of one household.  Thus, it all falls to the patriarch - if he sins and turns away from God, eventually God will curse him to bring him and his household back.  Thus the "generational curse."

What is absolutely astounding though, is God's promise to bless the righteous with his covenantal love to the thousandth generation!  This can be seen through David, who God blessed.  His descendants rebelled and sinned endlessly, but God still had his hand on them in light of his love for David!

Applications?  Endless! Think of the responsibility of the demand to love God with all we have, and how turning against him can and will affect others particularly those in our own households.  Picture the father that commits adultery and divorces his wife - he brings on the curse of a ruined household, children scarred, and significant financial turmoil.  Others are affected by his decision to turn his back to the Lord and reject his commands.

Picture instead the grandfather who loved God, pastored churches, and gave his entire life to serving God.  That's the kind of person whose children God will have his hand on, even if they don't turn to him, for the sake of the covenantal love he offers to those whose who fully serve him with all their hearts.