Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Exodus 15:22-27

When you have been so signally blessed in the most amazing deliverance, as Israel had been, what would you expect to come next? Surely it ought to be the final completion of the Lord’s promised redemption coming true?

Well, for Israel, no. They are led by God (by the hand of Moses) into the wilderness and in that wilderness they are led for 3 days without water. They are led into suffering and pain; they are led into a time of testing.

Having crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, this was probably very far from what Israel expected. But the wilderness would be a place of profound, and often shocking, discoveries for Israel.

1. Response
When they reach water after three days only to discover that it is bitter, the people “grumbled against Moses, saying, ‘What are we to drink?’” Their deep disappointment is quite understandable but is their grumbling excusable?

This is the first of 3 scenes in which the people react badly to their challenging circumstances. We’ll look more fully at their responses as we work through these scenes but, from the off, they don’t present a model of faith and contentment in the Lord.

Having had such sultry weather for these past weeks, we can no doubt empathise with their thirst – they’ve been in this desert for 3 days without water; how hard that must have been. And if they could manage their own thirst, their children would have been crying out incessantly.

But if we can empathise to a degree with their predicament – and their sense of frustration that the water they come to with such great expectation turns out to be bitter must have been a very hard blow to take – we must also try to factor into the picture the recent amazing deliverance that they have experienced. The Lord is not calling them to follow him in blind faith but on the back of the most stunning show of loyalty and loving determination to take them as his people.
And that’s exactly where the rubber hits the road for us too. We have no Red Sea to look back to but something far greater – the events we have just recalled at this table. Here is love, vast as the ocean, loving-kindness as the flood…

But even with Jesus and his cross so often before us, we grumble and we mistrust the Lord who bought us.

When a baby sees its parent leave the room, it thinks they’ve gone forever and howls in protest and dismay. But that’s babies; they can’t help it. They don’t know any better. They’ll learn. As for us, our howls of protest are out of place; we really need to grow up in our faith. The Lord is worthy of our trust and he is honoured by it.

2. God’s answer(s)

i) Wood into the water Moses’ response is to cry out to the Lord (a good model for the people) and the Lord shows him a piece of wood. There is no record of the Lord telling Moses what to do with it; he simply takes it and throws it into the water and the water is sweetened.

Some see here a natural remedy – apparently there are trees that can be used in that way and are found near bitter waters (much in the way that doc leaves grow near stinging nettles). Others would want to suggest that this is just so clearly a miracle and that we should not shy from saying so.

I don’t think we have to worry too much over those points; often that sort of question leads us away from the main focus of the text. And the main focus here is that it is the Lord who is at work and is at work in grace among his people.

They have begun to grumble and will do a lot more grumbling before their years in the wilderness are over but here is the Lord graciously meeting their need and doing so without rebuking them for their lack of faith and their self-centredness.

Israel has entered adolescence and the Lord knows their frame and is being patient and gracious with them.

ii) Teaching and training But this scene and those that follow are not simply about the Lord putting-up with his grumpy people; this is about teaching and training his people. This is a test, after all, and the Lord makes “a decree and a law for them” and exhorts them to “listen carefully…and do what is right”; then they will know the Lord not as judge but as healer (v.26).

In fact, the emphasis on teaching is hinted at in v.25 where the Lord “shows” Moses the wood; the term used there is later used to mean ‘teach’ and is linked to the term ‘torah’ (instruction; law).

This scene looks forward, both implicitly and explicitly, to Sinai and the giving of the law. The people that the Lord has redeemed are going to need to be directed and trained by the law; without such direction they will forever go astray.

This puts the emphasis on this wilderness period on the training of the people. We know from the NT that we, too, as the Lord’s people need training and undergo such training and teaching at the Lord’s hand. But where does the law fit into our training?

The NT makes plain to us that the law was given to Israel to govern the time of her infancy (see Paul’s argument in Galatians 4). But it never could bring fullness and maturity, being weakened by sin, and is now declared to be obsolete. So what form does our training take?

In Galatians, Paul goes on from that passage about the law as a trainer to speak of the coming of the Spirit and emphasises that we are to be governed and led by him, not by the law and not by our flesh. The Spirit teaches and trains us so that the righteous requirements of the law might be met in us through our living by the Spirit. Law-keeping is not the way to Christian maturity; walking by the Spirit is.

But where does that leave the 10 commandments? That’s a complex issue and we’ll return to it next time but, for now, we should notice that the law given at Sinai are an expression of the fundamental requirement that we should love God and that we should love our neighbours as ourselves.

In all sorts of situations, and by all sorts of means, God by his Spirit is training us, leading us into the maturity of genuine love. Our wisdom is to trust him and to work with him in that grand project of restoration into the likeness of his Son.

3. A foretaste of fullness

This initial wilderness scene ends with a gracious encouragement from the Lord to his people: they come to Elim where they discover 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees. The encouragement goes beyond the simple provision of more water and a pleasant place to camp; there is something deeply-symbolic about this scene.

The 12 springs of water symbolise the provision of water for the 12 tribes and the 70 palm trees can be seen as symbolising a place of rest for all the family of Jacob who went down into Egypt (Gen. 46:27).

The God who has redeemed his people from Egypt and who has led them into a time of hardship in the wilderness will in his time lead them into the fullness of blessing that he has promised. Elim is a foretaste for them of that fullness and was no doubt a great boost for their flagging spirits.

Times of difficulty should not make us doubt the reality of God’s promises nor his ability to deliver on what he has promised. But, such is his gracious way with us, he not only makes promises but gives foretastes of blessing along the way. We have been given in his Spirit the down-payment of all that will one day be ours in glory.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Exodus 15:1-21

Last week, we saw how the Lord opened a way through the waters for his people, rescuing them from their enemies. The story takes a bit of a breather in ch.15 as we have recorded for us the song that the people sang in response to what the Lord had just done for them. And that is how it ought to be – deliverance should lead to doxology and salvation to song. We were created to hymn the praise of God and that is where this chapter takes us.

1. Songs in scripture…
I want to begin by reading some comments made on the back of a study of what is often called The Song of the Sea.

Singing has universal appeal. The Creator made us that way. We sing for different reasons. Sometimes we are happy, other times miserable. Sometimes we know why we sing, other times it just comes out. We sing to remember good times and to take our minds off bad times. Singing changes our moods as well as simply reflecting them. What we sing can have a tremendous influence in how we subsequently think or behave. Song can enter portals of our being that prose and logic cannot. The capacity to sing and to react to song is part of the human experience, so much so that without it, we would truly be less than human.”

[The songs of scripture] give us a glimpse of who God is and, therefore, what our proper stance toward him should be.

We do not sing in worship to reflect our moods any more than our sermons and Sunday school lessons should reflect our pet theories on the gospel. Rather, quite bluntly, we sing in an effort to take us away from what we think and draw us toward what we ought to think, feel, experience. We sing to create a mood more than to reflect one.

This is why the content of what we sing is so vital. Our songs are, like the songs of the Bible, reminders of who God is and what he has done. This is not to say that only one type of song fits this description; for example, the ‘classic’ hymns of the church. To argue as I have done is not to close off discussion on the subject because the issue is now settled. Rather, the discussion can truly be opened when we have all agreed at the outset that, like the biblical examples, who we sing to and what we sing about is a matter worthy of constant reflection and spiritual energy. (Peter Enns, Exodus, NIVAC)


The points being made there are extremely important and very helpfully put. The writer is not being small-minded but is genuinely concerned for the health of the church and the glory of God.

We need to take on board the sheer variety of songs that are found in the Bible – no one song will contain all the aspects noted. And so in a service, a wide variety of songs might be sung, in various forms.

But the point that the songs we sing don’t simply express our moods but help to shape them is of great significance. It’s what we see at Col. 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

The songs we sing teach and train us, they create and animate. Which means it is vital that we assess our songs in the light of the songs of scripture – and those songs, even where they focus on the status of the singer or the feelings of the congregation, do so in the context of speaking about the Lord – who he is, what he has done.

And that, of course, is just what we need. We need our songs not simply to express how we feel but to challenge and to shape our thinking so that our feelings are re-ordered and our emotions purified.

2. Focus of this song: the LORD is a warrior

Now, when we come to look at this song in all its detail, it is quite clear that its focus is resolutely set on the Lord and in particular on the Lord as a warrior (v.3).

Here is a theme that runs right throughout scripture, in both old and new testaments: God is a warrior and fights for his people and against his enemies. And as he does that, he gains a victory that is cosmic in its scope and that has implications for the whole creation.

i) He fights for his people The LORD takes absolute responsibility for his people and acts to rescue them. And, so, Moses and the people sing of him, “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (v.2)

ii) He judges their enemies The Lord who fights for his people judges those who oppose him. And that judgement here means the death of the whole army in the waters of the Red Sea.

Now, scenes of judgement we expect to find in the Bible; God is not partial to sin, he stands against it, deliberately and resolutely. But having said that, it almost seems that there is delight in this song at the expense of the Egyptians. How can that be so?

I think it is only when we see sin and evil up close and get a sense of just how desperately wicked they are that we can understand the delight in their destruction. Pharaoh and his men had taken their stand against the Lord and so had taken their stand for sin and chaos, for evil and death. Their actions (whether consciously so or not) were set on robbing creation of its liberation from bondage and its people’s from the black night of sin. That cannot be allowed. And so the Lord acts.

iii) He gains a cosmic victory This is no local victory that the Lord wins. He is in it for the sake of the whole cosmos and so the song speaks in cosmic terms. Again we see nature working hand-in-hand with the Creator and doing his bidding. We also see a reference to the watery chaos of Gen 1:2, a deliberate link back to that beginning of creation to proclaim the cosmic dimension of what has just happened.

Israel may be a small nation and, in the grand scheme of things in the ANE world, quite insignificant. But the Lord was acting for them and against their enemies for the sake of the whole world. And as he does so, he reveals himself to be the supreme ruler of all – “Who among the gods is like you?”

In all these ways, the Lord is also with us as his people – acting to redeem us from our great foes – sin, evil and death. And he is acting in us for the sake of the whole creation. He is surely worthy of the highest and purest praise we can bring.

3. Prophetic victory
One of the questions raised about this song is when it was written. It seems to flow straight from the crossing of the sea yet the final section (from v.13) speaks of a victory over peoples yet to be encountered (the NIV’s future tense is not justified). So was the song written a long time after the event and conveniently slotted-in here?

I think what we have here is indeed a prophetic passage (as suggested by the NIV) but the form of that prophecy is indeed the past tense and for a very good reason.

Our hope as the Lord’s people is secure because of Jesus and what he has done. Similarly here, the future success of the people is certain because of what this song is all about (the LORD!) and so future victories can be spoken of as already in the past.

Our final destiny is so secure that the Bible can speak of us as already saved, even as it speaks of us being saved. There is no doubt that every Christian will arrive safely in glory because the LORD is a warrior, because Jesus died and rose again, because his love is stronger than death.

In his unfailing love, he has and does lead us as his people and leads us to “his holy dwelling” (v.13). That term is used elsewhere in the OT for the temple but even that is only an anticipation of the full reality, the Lord dwelling with his people for ever. Our place in his family and at his table is forever secured because the Lord is our strength and song and has become our salvation (v.2). It is assured because, in his death, Jesus “shattered the enemy” (v.6) and they “sank like lead in the mighty waters” (v.10). It is guaranteed because “the LORD reigns for ever and ever” (v.18).

We must sing this song and others like it. We must fill our hearts and our minds with the truth about God, about Jesus, about his Spirit, about ourselves and the world, about the present and the future. We read the truth and we must sing the truth.

In Zeph. 3:17 we’re told that the Lord “will rejoice over you with singing”; we need to ask him to catch us up into that song through his Word and by his Spirit, for his glory and our strengthening.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Exodus 13:17 - 14:31

The Lord has taken his people out of Egypt in the most dramatic fashion. Ten plagues have afflicted the Egyptians and their gods have been judged. But having led them out, the Lord now takes his people on a detour; he doesn’t lead them in the way they might have expected. We’ll see why as we unfold this next section.

1. Providence: God guides his people
One of the hallmarks of this section in Exodus is the way that the Lord in his providence leads his people. Twice we are told here that he guided them (vv.17,21) and the whole movement of the story makes the same point: The God who has called his people out of Egypt will guide them; he goes before them, he directs them, he sets the agenda and calls the shots.

When we think of guidance, we often reduce it to a merely personal level and in terms of whether we ought to do this or go there and so on. That isn’t how it is seen here or in the rest of scripture. That isn’t saying that we cannot know the Lord’s help in those areas but that we must place that within the far larger context of the Lord leading his people into salvation and guiding his people for the sake of his gospel purposes.

That’s where the almost incidental detail about taking up Joseph’s bones fits in here. Egypt was not the people’s resting-place; the Lord had made great promises which went back to Abraham and forward into all the nations. It is because he has made those promises and is committed to fulfilling them that the Lord leads his people in his providence.

That leading-for-the-sake-of-the-gospel is something every church ought to seek to be sensitive to. Decisions are to be taken in the light of the Lord’s overall purposes and with the readiness to see him overrule because of those same purposes.

It’s good in our thinking to always be governed by God’s glory in the gospel of his Son. That’s how his providence works.


And that providence is unfailingly kind and aware of the weakness of his people; he knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. The Lord chooses the route the people are to take not because it is the quickest or easiest (his guidance is not a heavenly TomTom) but because he is mindful of their fragile hearts – they could get discouraged so easily (13:17; as indeed they do in 14:11f).

The example of the people as they grumble here (and it won’t be the last time they do so) is clearly not one to emulate but rather to learn from. But isn’t it good to know that the Lord does not ride roughshod over the particular characteristics and sensitivities of his people. That isn’t saying he won’t challenge us to grow and to overcome some of those aspects of our personalities but it is saying that he is a gentle and kind Ruler of his people, that he takes note of how we are.

2. Presence: God is with his people

God guides his people; but he doesn’t guide them from a distance. The second great theme in this passage is the presence of God with his people. He goes before them in the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. He goes behind them in the same way to protect them from the Egyptians (14:19). He is also seen as being among them and as fighting for them against their enemies from close quarters (14:24).

This is not an incidental point but one that is central in the whole purpose of God in redeeming his people out of Egypt. His presence will not simply be with them in times of trouble to rescue them, like a superhero who appears for a time and then goes back to his own normal life. The Lord redeems his people and fights for them in order that he might make his dwelling among them.

This is the great highpoint at the end of the book of Revelation – not the new heavens and new earth (great though that will be) but the final reality that “now the dwelling of God is among the people and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

That is the final reality in all its fullness but, just as Israel here knew the nearness of God, so too we have a first-instalment of all that will be ours finally in the gift of the Holy Spirit now.

He is present with his people, mediating the very life of God to us, personally and corporately. Just as the cloud symbolising God’s presence went before the people here in Exodus and filled the temple in the OT, so the reality is now experienced as God’s Spirit fills us as his people.

You cannot read the NT without being conscious of that fact and we ought also to be aware of it in our life together – not in a touchy-feely kind of way but in the reality of a new life that is expressed in genuine love and in all the fruit of the Spirit.

Our responsibility is to cultivate that life within us, not grieving the Spirit but keeping in step with him, conscious of the holy presence of God in our life together.

3. Power: God delivers his people

God’s providence and presence are clear in this scene but of course the great reality that we encounter here is the power of God in delivering his people and his glory made visible in that rescue.

The crossing of the red sea is one of the most memorable stories in the whole Bible and was often looked back upon in the OT as an instance of God’s powerful care for his people and his determination to save. Recalling it gave shape to their present and hope for their future.

We have not been delivered from an Egyptian army but from a far more deadly enemy; our rescue was not through water but by the way of the cross. That greatest of all saving events gives shape and meaning to our lives and bequeaths us a hope that will never disappoint us. Just as the deliverance from Egypt which culminated in walking through the Red Sea on dry ground would be the foundation on which they would build their lives as God’s people, so our being joined to Jesus and his victory over sin and death does the same for us.

God has called us out of our old existence of slavery to sin into a new life in glad submission to him as our Lord. Our task now is to live in the light of that and to work through the implications of belonging to such a gracious Lord.

But we ought to spend a few moments reflecting on the way this event is used by Paul is 1 Cor 10 where he reminds the church in Corinth that although many people were baptised into Moses in the waters of the Red Sea, God was not pleased with most of them and they were subject to judgement. Why was he not pleased with them? Because it is impossible to please God without faith and although these people were externally joined to the people of God, there was a distinct lack in their personal commitment to the Lord.

Being joined to a church is not the issue; being joined to the Lord in faith is. It would be fatal to make a mistake on that point. You need to make sure that what was said of many of these people who crossed the Red Sea could never be said of you.

The crossing of the Red Sea is an act of salvation for the people of Israel but the same event gives rise to the judgement of God upon Pharaoh and his cavalry. The nation that had sought to drown the newborn males of Israel has its strongest and best fighting men consumed by the waters. Again the Lord uses creation to make his point: sin will be judged; the Lord alone is God – he is the supreme Lord over all the watery chaos; there is no other.

The death and resurrection of Jesus also have this two-sided dimension to them – that which means salvation for all who put their faith in him also means judgement for those who refuse to honour him as Lord with their trust.

And in all this, the Lord displays his glory, as he did by the waters of the Red Sea; the glory of his holiness and the glory of his grace. Let’s give him the praise he is due and the service he is worthy of.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Exodus 11:1 - 13:16

1. The Final Judgement
The first nine plagues have spoken powerfully to Pharaoh and his people of the Lord’s decided intent to release his people from Egypt. His purposes for the whole creation will not be held back nor thwarted by the sinful oppression of Pharaoh and his gods.

Pharaoh has been given opportunity to repent, to let the people go. He has refused to take that opportunity. And so, now, the final judgement is going to be unleashed on Egypt; the Lord will kill their first-born, both of people and animals.

There is going to be no turning back; the warnings are ended and judgement is going to be executed on the gods of Egypt (12:12). This tenth plague is the culmination of all the others and the final judgement upon Egypt. It has come upon them because of Pharaoh and his intransigence and arrogance; notice how the Lord has made the people and even the officials sympathetic towards his people, but Pharaoh remains hard and so his people will suffer.

There comes a time when the last warning is heard, when people are called to judgement. The Bible makes that so plain to us in so many ways. Our response to that may not affect others in the way that Pharaoh’s did here but how we respond to the clear warnings of God will impact on us. Have you heard the call to turn to Jesus? Have you responded to that call?

The time is not unlimited; final judgement is a powerful reality that cannot be escaped. You need to listen to God’s voice and turn to Jesus if you have not done so. The warning of God is clear and unambiguous.

2. Delivered & Consecrated Through Blood

There were no distinctions between the people of Egypt – every family was affected and afflicted. But the Lord did make a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians (see 11:7).

i) That distinction arose from God’s own choice and in order to further his purposes of grace for the whole world. The distinction did not in any sense arise because of the worthiness of the people of Israel – after all, if they were somehow worthy their firstborn would not have been under threat. The Lord is showing here that his choice of them is not based on merit but on grace; they are equally as worthy of judgement as the Egyptians.

No, the distinction, the separation, is on his terms and for his larger purposes in the world. And we can say the same for ourselves – chosen not for good in us (as M’Cheyne expressed it) but in order to bring eternal glory to the Lord.

ii) The distinction leads to the deliverance of the people of Israel by the mighty hand of God. Their rescue, including the way they are treated by the Egyptian people, is entirely due to the power of God. He is the great redeemer of his people, the one who rescues and saves. All the glory is ever due to him!

iii) This rescue of the Israelites gives them a whole new start – they will be constituted as a people belonging to God from this point; it will be a turning-point in their existence. This month is to be the first month in their year (12:2); old things have passed, all things are becoming new for them.

And so it is for every person rescued from sin by the Lord. A new life; a new sense of belonging; a new start.

iv) The way in which the Lord chooses to save here teaches a very powerful lesson. Very detailed instructions are given to Israel in ch.12 about the Passover meal they are to eat and the way in which their distinctness is to made visible: by applying the blood of the sacrifice to the lintels of their doors. When the Lord saw the blood he would pass over their homes and not kill their firstborn sons.

Rescue from sin is accomplished by the Lord alone and through the shedding of blood, through a sacrifice taking the place of those worthy of death.

As we know, the rich symbolism of this first Passover comes to ultimate fruition in Jesus, the Son of God, whose blood was shed for the remission of our sins. He is our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7) and has been sacrificed for us.

In the most dramatic way, the Lord is showing Israel how their ultimate rescue will be accomplished: by his power, his wisdom, his grace; and by the death of his own Son – Jesus, the firstborn of God.

Let’s go on to ask, ‘What becomes of those who are thus spared?’ In 13:1f the Lord tells Israel that they must consecrate to him all the firstborn, whether of man or animal. They belong to him because he rescued them. Now, all belong to God by virtue of him being the creator but this rescue has put the people in a different relationship to him: their creator has become their redeemer. They are a chosen people, blessed in the covenant love of God.

And that is to be seen and demonstrated in the consecration of the first-born. Those redeemed by the Lord belong to him in a special sense, in a distinct redemption-sense – his own special people, saved because the Lord loved them and because he chose to catch them up into his purposes for his creation.

And that places obligations on them. Those obligations are not spelled-out here but they extend not only to the first-born in Egypt but to all whom the Lord redeems and rescues.

We belong to him and that belonging has the most radical implications for our lives in this world: we have absolute security and we have the most demanding and exhilarating calling – to serve the Lord and to make him known in his world. All that we are and has belongs to him; we owe him our very lives, our every breath, our hope of eternal life.

We are called to live securely in his love and lovingly in his service.

3. Sacred Ritual & Who Takes Part

Reading this section of Exodus, you cannot but be impressed at the amount of detail that is given not just for the first Passover but for the subsequent celebrations of the Passover.

Seeing that, we ought to ask, ‘Why such emphasis on the ritual? Why such stress on the details of the feast?’ Clearly there are all sorts of reasons why that might be the case but the emphasis here seems to be laid on the need to remember and to use the occasion to teach future generations what the Lord has done.

This mighty redemption is to stand as the paradigm for the Lord’s dealing with his people until it is fulfilled in the exodus of Jesus by the way of the cross. The people will need to recall often how the Lord rescued them and all that the event meant to them. They would be strengthened and encouraged in doing so; they would, in a sense, re-enact the Passover by carefully following the details the Lord is giving here and have a tangible sense of their connection to that great event.

And the occasion would also be used as a means of teaching the children of future generations what the Lord had done for his people in this great rescue – see 12:26. And it would be their solemn duty to teach its meaning to their children, encouraging them to remain true to the Lord, encouraging them to exercise true faith in him.

Now, in both those respects, it is surely significant that restrictions are laid down as to who is to be allowed to eat the Passover meal – no foreigner is to eat of it; it is for those who observably belong to the Lord (which, for a male, meant circumcision). It is a meal for the community who know the Lord’s rescue and only those observably part of that community are to share in it.

No foreigner is to eat of it but clearly the children of the people of Israel are to eat of it. I realise that there isn’t a straight-line equation between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper but it strikes me that those restrictions are something that is reflected in the NT with regard to the Lord’s Supper which was celebrated as a meal in which the whole church shared – young and old alike.

But whatever our take on that might be, let’s close by emphasising the great joy of all who know their rescue has been accomplished by Jesus our Passover and also, sadly, the great tragedy for all who refuse to listen to God’s warnings and who face final judgement.