February 3-4: Exodus 19 – 20; God’s Appearing – Theophanies

             What is the difference between God appearing, the glory of the Lord appearing, and an Angel of the Lord appearing? In Exodus 19:11, the lord told Moses that on the third day he would come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Previously the glory of the Lord had appeared to them in the cloud (Ex 16:10). After this, 70 elders of Israel went up the mountain with Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu where they saw the Lord (Ex 24:9). I found over 25 verses that specifically say God or the Lord appeared to people in the Old Testament. These don’t even include the appearances to Isaiah and Ezekiel that are more descriptive. If you add to these references to the glory of the Lord appearing or filling the temple, you have another two dozen verses.

            A theophany is a, “Manifestation of God that is tangible to the human senses.”[1]Therefore there is no difference between all these different manifestations of God in the Old Testament. They are ways that God made his presence known to people. We shouldn’t get hung up on the fact that God is spirit (John 4:24) and doesn’t have flesh and blood (Matt 16:17). Since he is God, he can present himself in any way he wants. That’s why they are called manifestations.

            Reading in Exodus 20:18-19, the appearance of God on the mountain and the accompanying thunder, lightning, and trumpet blast were so fearsome that the people didn’t even want God to speak to them for fear of death. God appeared in these limited ways because no one can see the Lord and live (Ex 33:20). While each of the theophanies showed something of the Lord, none showed his complete glory or face. Just as he allowed Moses to see his back, he let some people see a physical phenomenon so that they would not die.

            The New Testament is different. The reason is that now, God took on a human body so that he could communicate directly with us. Hebrews 1:1-2 clearly tells us that in the past he spoke by the prophets and in various ways but now, by Jesus, his Son. When you look back at the theophanies and consider what God did just to let his presence be known without killing people, it is awesome to think that Jesus is the exact radiance of God. No longer do we have to fear seeing God because he now can be seen in Jesus. Jesus even told his disciples that they had seen the Father (John 14:7, 9).

            Yet, when we read the Book of Revelation, the glorified Jesus inspired the same fear in John as was recorded in Old Testament encounters with theophanies (Rev 1:17). But Jesus put his hand on him and told him not to fear. Because Jesus came and died for our sins, we don’t need to fear seeing God. His presences may overwhelm us if we did see him, but we will not die if we have put our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.

           

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[1]William C. Williams, “Theophany” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell, (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1996), Biblesoft.  

February 2: Exodus 15:24; Psalm 27:1; Got Grumbling? Praise God!

             Israel has just passed through the Red Sea on dry ground and have been saved from the pursuing Egyptian army. By the way, this was a miracle by the hand of God. Nothing in all creation could have done it. After the wind stopped, the people crossed with water on either side “congealed in the heart of the sea” (Ex 15:8).[1]They had already seen everything the Lord did in Egypt and they were able to walk on dry ground looking at a wall of water on either side of them (Ex 14:22). How impressed would you be with that?

            That’s the problem with them and us, impressions and emotional highs just don’t last long. As soon as the people became thirsty in the wilderness, they started grumbling. God purified bitter water for them and they marched on. After two months, they grumbled again about food, even to the point of thinking it would have been better for them to have stayed in Egypt (Ex 16:2-3). God gave them quail and manna, all they could eat. But wait! There is more! They didn’t have water at Rephidim so they blamed Moses accusing him of taking them into the wilderness to kill them with thirst (Ex 17:2-4). God again gave them water.

            Now compare David’s praise with the Israelite’s grumbling. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps 27:1). Throughout this Psalm, David is praising God as well as asking for help. He doesn’t come with grumbling but praise. He has confidence in the Lord and doesn’t think that the Lord is out to get him. He recognizes his true enemies and ask for help.

            What are your true enemies today? Are they grumbling and an unthankful spirit? Those two can do more damage to most of us than an army. Most of us will never face the things David did, but when we forget how good the Lord has been to us in saving us from hell by Jesus’ death on the cross, we can easily fall into a grumbling, discontent, poor-me attitude. The solutions is to get back to praising God and thanking him for all he has done for us. While we should be thankful for our salvation, he also takes care of us in a myriad of ways. Seldom do we even think twice about them, much less give the Lord thanks for them.

            Try it. Replace grumbling with praise. God will be glorified and life will be sweeter.

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[1]For an in-depth analysis of secular scientist trying to claim this happened naturally, see: John K. Reed and Carl R. Froede, Jr., "The Red Sea Crossing: can secular science model miracles?" Creation Ministries International | creation.com, , accessed February 02, 2018, https://creation.com/red-sea-crossing-science.

February 1: Matthew 21:23-46; Is Delayed Obedience Disobedience?

             I hear people stating this all the time, “Delayed obedience is still disobedience.” What does God say about that? Today’s passage in Matthew is all about obedience and disobedience. It starts with the chief priests and elders challenging Jesus to prove his authority. Instead of answering them he points to John the Baptist and makes the point that a whole bunch of disobedient people – tax collectors and prostitutes – heard him and obeyed. He also told a mini-parable about two sons. One said he wouldn’t obey his father but changed his mind and did obey. The other said he would obey and didn’t. The conclusion is clear. The one who actually did what the father wanted was the one who obeyed.

            It should have been clear enough at that point that the current leaders of Israel were voicing their obedience to God but were not actually obeying. The prostitutes and tax collectors had been blatantly disobedient but were repenting and obeying. Just to make sure the leaders got the picture, Jesus told them the parable about the man who built a vineyard and leased it to tenants. This was to let them know that there would be severe punishment for disobedience. The tenants who would not obey and produce fruit for the owner would be put to death and the vineyard given to those who would obey.

            If God considered delayed obedience as disobedience, then there would be no hope for any of us because we were all sinners and disobedient (Rom 3:23; Eph 2:2). However, in God’s grace he overlooks our past disobedience (Acts 17:30) and looks at whether our works demonstrate our profession of faith (James 1:22, 2:17). He not only overlooks that time of disobedience, but he enables us to be obedient to the end (Phil 1:6).