I've got two things to share this week. Neither of which are related to the actual Exodus, which was the high point of our reading this week. I wasn't expecting that, but I think I like it.
The Call of Moses
It's useful to look at God's calling on various people throughout the Bible when assessing his call on our own lives. Here are some of the parts I found most enjoyable and thought-provoking about Moses' call.
But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" He said, But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.
(3:11-12)
Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I am."
(3:13-14)
But Moses said to the Lord, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue." Then the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." But he said, "Oh my Lord, please send someone else." . . . "You shall speak to Aaron and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do."
(4:10-15)
Purpose of Ritual
Having our lives be representations of the Lord's work in them starts in the Old Testament, not just after Jesus. It's just shown in different ways. While it's easy for modern Christians to treat rituals like they're this taboo or lesser thing, here we are reminded that the Lord gave his people traditions to follow with a purpose:
"When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb . . . And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.' It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt."
(13:11-16)
They also served another purpose. Without Jesus, the people had to prepare themselves to be in the presence of All-Holy God by performing certain rituals (this is one of the many reasons Jesus=Freedom - with His salvation we are no longer required to follow the rituals and Old Testament laws that fulfill this purpose; it's an important thing to remember as we delve more into those laws and look at which are applicable today). But even still these rituals were incomplete. They were incomplete because people even made mistakes in trying to save themselves from their mistakes. The Old Testament as a whole proves to us that salvation-by-merit will never work, because our merit is imperfect. The ritual-system was also incomplete because, ultimately, this method of salvation was insufficient for being permanently in the full-presence of God. Even after consecration, limits still had to be put in place to distance the people from God's righteousness.
The Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around . . ." . . . And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish."
(19:10-21)
Moral of the story - God does cool stuff when he calls us to our destiny. Rituals serve a purpose, but we are free from their restraint by the saving work of Jesus Christ.
What do you think about this stuff?
Anything else from this week that you'd like to talk about?
Leave a comment, and let's chat :)
~Courtney
P.S. I can touch on the the two opposing views of the historicity of the Exodus if anyone is interested. I didn't because I had other things I preferred to write about this week. But let me know if you would be interested in reading about that!
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