December 2 – Only One True

“Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?” – Exodus 15:11 (NASB)

The people of the earth from nearly the beginning have created their own gods. The one true God is compared to those who come from the imagination the people. Exodus 15 is a song that was sung by the Israelites after they escaped the grip of Egypt’s Pharaoh. After multiple devastating plagues, Pharaoh lets the Israelites leave Egypt but quickly changes his mind and pursues them unsuccessfully. This Song of Moses is of God who worked to free His people. God has always been at work in the lives of His people and is at work in our lives now if we by faith have believed in Jesus and now have the right to be called His children (John 1:12).  There are no other gods that can honestly be compared to our Lord God Almighty. Every other so-called god is a product of the imagination of those who reject God. That is a promise we have here as the answer to the question posed in this verse. There is none among the gods who is like God for our God is the only One majestic in holiness, awesome in praises and working wonders.

 

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June 4 – His and Kept Through Obedience

“‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel” -  Exodus 19:5-6 (NASB)

These words were given by God to Moses with instruction to speak them to the children of Israel. This is just before He gave them the Ten Commandments.  God explains how important to Him it was for His people to obey His word.  God identifies Israel with three titles, “My own possession,” “a kingdom of priests,” and “a holy nation.” contingent upon their being an obedient and covenant-keeping people. God was of course speaking to the people of Israel whom he had lead out of slavery in Egypt. Let’s notice the divine claim “for all the earth is Mine,” in the middle of the titles, and had to be understood as dismissing all other claims by so-called other gods of the nations. He said He would consider them His own possession if they would obey Him and keep His covenant. We know that a promise like this can be expanded to include all who have responded to God's invitation and have, through faith believing, become part of His family.  Yes, God is looking for us, His people today to obey Him fully. It is a wonderful promise to know that God treasures us as we follow His covenant fully.

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November 3 – Absolute, Abounding, Almighty Love

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” - Exodus 34:6 (ESV) 

God’s heart: It’s infinite in love and faithfulness, isn’t it? We’re promised that God’s love is steadfast. That it’s permanent too. So, no need to worry or fear that we will lose our connection to it. A mountain spring that might be headwaters of a great river is at the beginning only a stream bubbling up as it fills a small depression and then overflows, running downhill. We could watch a long time waiting for the source to run out but it probably won’t. Behind the spring is a mountain full of limitless pure fresh water waiting to spring out. God’s love is like that, if you can imagine it. In Hawaii  Kilauea seems to be nearly an endless series of eruptions since 1790 with increasing, decreasing, and increasing lava flows but always active to some degree. The most recent massive eruption was in 1983. God’s promise of mercy and grace and his promise of patience and love can be trusted to be far more abounding than either a mountain spring or furious volcano. God’s faithfulness will never be exhausted and even if we conceive of the others possibly ending someday, God’s promise never will, it’s not possible. 

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October 12 – Who/What God Is

“The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;” – Exodus 34:5-6 (NASB)

While we are not expected to have experiences with God in the manner that Moses did, we find in these verses from Exodus a promise for us from God. He came down to Moses who had ascended to the top of the mountain. On this particular occasion God came down in a glorious cloud. This was what is called a theophany—a visible manifestation of the invisible God. God had appeared to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-9), so he appeared again on the mountain. The Bible says almost nothing about God’s appearance. Moses wanted to see God, but rather than telling us what he saw, the Bible tells us what Moses heard: The Prophet heard the promises which defined God’s character. Our LORD God is, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, truth and faithfulness, Verse 7 goes on; God maintains love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Each of these characters also define names of our LORD. For God’s name stands for his entire being. It is his nature. It is who He is—the God of creation and redemption, who made and saves His people.

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Source: Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 1040–1041.

September 8 – The Name Is Important

“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” ” – Exodus 3:14 (NASB)

Our verse today is from a conversation God had with Moses. Moses, divinely protected from death when he was born had an amazing upbringing being trained up in the house of Pharaoh’s daughter in Egypt. The best education and training possible in the day. But he had fled from Egypt after defending one of his own people and killing an Egyptian oppressor. After 40 years in the wilderness Moses thinks he is safe but God comes and tells him to return to Egypt. You are to confront Pharaoh and lead the people out of Egypt and slavery.  Moses is reluctant for several reasons and asks who he should tell his people has sent him. God reveals His name to Moses. A name that declares that He is eternally present. He has always been, He is now and He will always be. This is also a promise of God’s eternal presence with His people. He is present to help us, comfort us, guide us, and so much more. His presence never leaves us, and He will always be with us. That is the greatest comfort we can ever find, and we learn it from the very name of God: I AM. 

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July 7 – Fear That Deters Sin

“Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.”” – Exodus 20:20 (NASB)

Fear of God is like the promise of ‘hope’ that does not disappoint, we are more used to a ‘hope’ that lets us down and is more of a wish than a certainty of God’s promises. We know and think of fear as a terrible and unwanted emotion. Like the people of Israel, at the base of Mount Sinai were receiving the Law of God, specifically the Ten Commandments. Having seen the thunder and lightning and the sounds of the trumpet and fire from the mountain top, they are deathly afraid of God and fear He is going to kill them. Moses instructs them to not respond to the phenomena with fear. Instead they were also told to have a proper healthy fear of God. It’s being in awe and reverence of God’s perfection. Such fear deterrers sin. God’s intention is that his power and holiness stimulate fear in us not to drive us from Him, but to drive us to Him. Fearing God means, first, fearing to abandon him as our great security and satisfaction. Romans 11:20 instructs us to stand strong through faith so that we will avoid pride and instead fear falling to unbelief.

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May 6 – Marvelous R & R

“And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.’”  Exodus 33:14 (NIV)

Does it make a difference for us, in how we live, to know that God is with us through difficult hours? I believe it certainly does, just as it did in the time of Moses when God gave him this promise. God had just reviewed His instructions to Moses, telling him to lead the people of Israel from Sinai to the Promised Land. Typical of Moses, he was again in a self-made quandary. Even though God had led the new nation of Israel out of Egypt with marvelous manifestations of His loving care and provision, and even though God had relented and provided whatever Moses and the people complained for, Moses was frequently disturbed by challenges God put in their path. In spite of God’s promise “I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites…”  Moses asked who was going with him. The Lord assured him that He Himself would go with him. Then He added that He would give them rest by bringing them to the land after their wanderings. We, too, can have confidence when we remember that God is with us. It’s a rest we can experience when we trust Him.

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March 21 – I AM the Promise

“God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”  - Ex 3:14. (ESV)

Moses was confused. He was tending the sheep and goats in the wilderness for his father-in-law. It had been 40 years since he fled from Egypt and his favored position. On Mt. Horeb he comes across a bush on fire but not consumed by the fire. He approaches to investigate. God calls out his name, “Moses, Moses”.  So much to learn here but our promise today God made with his Name. He is sending Moses back to Egypt with a massive job assignment. Moses lacks confidence. He knows names are important so he asks God who he is to say sent him on this mission. Who will he tell the Israelites has sent him to lead them out of Egypt when they ask what God’s name is. Moses asks “They’ll want to know under what authority I have come back.”  God tells Moses His name. “Say…I AM who I AM has sent me to you.” It is the verb “to be” and spelled out in Hebrew as “Yahweh.”  It is a name that is a promise. God is and always has been. In most modern English Bibles we use ‘The LORD.’ Other versions use Jehovah.* 

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*The making of the name Jehovah.

There was no name ‘Yehowah’ or ‘Jehovah’ at the time God met with Moses in the wilderness. His name was I AM which in Hebrew becomes the four consonant name YHWH and when pronounced, it needed vowel sounds to voice it as Yahweh.  Hebrew often did not use vowels for certain words but had pronunciations and when written out vowels were used.  When God gave the Children of Israel the Ten Commandments, the third commandment was “You shall not take the name of YHWH your God in vain for YHWH will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”  The Jews over time were so concerned with possibly slipping up and accidently saying the name YHWH in vain they refused to ever say it or even write it.  It was overly cautious because infractions of the law required so much in sacrifices and vows to wipe their slate clean.  Forgiveness for sins required proper and fitting sacrifices as well as behaviors.

The Masoretes were a group of Jewish scribes who were guardians of the written law and helped preserve the text of the Old Testament Scriptures. They eventually developed notes on the text based on Jewish traditions. The word Masorete comes from the ancient Hebrew word for "bond," used to refer to the Jews' obligation to keep covenant with God. Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai translated "Lord" or Elohim translated "God". Thus, the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being. Although Christian scholars after the Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the 19th and 20th centuries biblical scholars again began to use the form Yahweh. Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and this pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.

July 23 – He Will Do That Thing

“And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.””  - Exodus 33:17 (ESV)

Moses had asked God to go with him as he led the people of Israel to the Promised Land. What a wonderful answer to prayer! God agreed to go with Moses just as he had prayed. It was a very difficult time for Moses. He was instructed by God to lead the people whom God called a stiff-necked people (Exodus 33:5). He had encountered such disobedience from them with the making of Egyptian idols that Moses doubted he could lead the people rightly (Exodus 33:14-15).  Moses had asked God to go with him. This request pleased the Lord. And God wants to be with His children today, too. When we ask Him to be with us, He is pleased with our request. And, as God told Moses that He knew his name, so He knows us by name too. He knows your name and He knows mine. He wants to be with us today. When we ask for His presence He will say to us as he said to Moses, “I will do this thing that you ask. I will be with you through your trial and testing every step”

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July 18 – A Right Fear

Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” - Exodus 20:20  (ESV)

In our passage today we have an explanation for the tremendous thunder storms that followed Moses’ reading of the Ten Commandments to the people. The storms must have been more powerful than any they had seen for it caused great fear. Now they truly feared God and appeal to Moses to be the spokesperson between God and them.  Although we often find the command to “Fear not” in the Bible, this is a different expression of the emotion. Moses compares the natural fear of a storm with awesome reverence – a kind of fear of God, for it is He who created the storm. God tested the people of Israel to give them a proper sense of fear of Him. Knowing the awful consequences of sin as they were just now receiving the Law with its instruction of how to avoid sinning and how they must deal with their sin. Before their obedience was this fear, as a motivation. Fear of God was what would prevent the people from following the sinful ways they were used to. God’s promise to us is to help us keep, in our hearts and minds, an awesome reverence of God.

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April 17 – Keep Calm

“The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” - Exodus 14:14 (NLT)

Our promise is found in a specific Old Testament context for Israel but it is a promise for all of us as well.  After 400 years of slavery to the Egyptian Pharaoh, the Children of Israel were leaving Egypt.  God had sent ten plagues on the land of Egypt in order to convince Pharaoh to let them leave.  Now, camped on the shore of the deep-water sea, they see Pharaoh has again changed his mind and pursues Moses to stop the Israelites from leaving Egypt. Frightened, the people respond by crying to, and complaining, and blaming Moses for their certain destruction and death. They can see no other solution.  But Moses says to them, “Keep calm. The LORD has this fight won for you.”  Moses also tells them that this is the last time they will ever see these Egyptians.  God promises us the same.  In the direst circumstances, we too can stay calm and trust God to have our side.  When danger and opposition threaten us. God promises to be with us and to never desert us.  Whatever we're battling today or tomorrow, our LORD will fight for us. He promises to do so.

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December 1 – God's Love Abounds

“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,”  - Exodus 34:6  (ESV)

One image that comes to mind from these words about God is that of a fresh spring of pure water that bubbles up to the surface, providing a limitless supply of pure water.  Never drying up during the greatest drought it gives and gives and gives for century after century.  Available to all who come to draw the water.  That is the idea of 'abounding' in steadfast love and faithfulness. We might think of the power of a perpetual volcano that pours out an endless flow of lava from deep in the earth and is like the love of God that never ends for us.  It comes from the very core of God's character, His absolute existence and omnipotence.  This verse was how God described Himself to Moses as He, a second time, inscribed the Ten Commandments on the new stone tablets. They were and are the essential elements of the Law given to Moses. In anguish over the sin of the people, Moses had smashed the first tablets but God reminds Moses that He is merciful, gracious and slow to anger.  That is what our God is and He abounds in all of it.   

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October 27 – Known By Name

“The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.””  Exodus 33:17 (NASB)

Being known by name is important in many ways.  Yesterday's blog we noticed how God's Name is near to us. Today we read how significant it is that God knows us by name.  Moses had asked God to go with him and the people of Israel on their way to the land God had promised to them.  Our verse is the promise God gives to Moses in reply to his request.  God gave two reasons why He would do what Moses asked Him to do.  He said He would do it because H was pleased with Moses and because He knew Him by name.  This promise can be ours as well.  If we are trusting in our Lord and if we love Him and obey Him, He is pleased with us.  And we believe that He knows us each in a personal way and by name also.  So we can trust Him to answer our prayers too.  The God who Moses prayed to and who answered him is our God, for there is only One God and He never changes.  What a privilege we have that God knows us by our name. 

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July 12 – Relax and Rest

“The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”” Exodus 33:14 (NIV)

This is such a wonderful promise given by God to Moses, and to us also.  We can be assured that He is with us.  It is a promise we need to remember just as Moses needed to remember it.  It was given for a special reason and we see that in the last words of the verse where God said, “and I will give your rest.”   Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt and they were at Sinai.  God wanted Moses to lead them them on to the promised land.  They were a difficult people and the assignment seemed too big to Moses.  That is when God gave him this promise.  The promise was the for the presence of God and that gave Moses reason to relax, to rest.  We too can know that God will be with us because of His many promises to do so and we too can find rest, even in the middle of stressful circumstances and difficult situations that seem too big.  When we face great challenges in life, let's remember our God is with us and let's relax, trusting in His presence.  He will  care for us as He promised in our verse and in the middle of the battle we can rest.  

June 4 – Obey and Keep

“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;” Exodus 19:5 (NASB)

Our verse today is from instructions God gave to His people  before he gave them the Ten Commandments.  He explains how important to Him it was for His people to obey His word.  God was of course speaking to the people of Israel whom he had lead out of slavery in Egypt. He said He would consider them His own possession if they wold obey Him and keep His covenant. We know that a promise like this can be expanded to include all who have responded to God's invitation and have, through faith believing, become part of His family.  Yes, God is looking for His people today to obey Him fully. As we read the Bible He talks to us and by the Holy Spirit we are taught what He wants of us. As we listen to the preaching and the teaching of His Word, He's watching to see who will fully obey.  And each one who does obey will be a treasured possession to Our God.  It is a wonderful promise to know that God treasures us as we follow His covenant fully.

February 28 – Uncreated Creator

“God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”” Exodus 3:14  (NIV)

When God called to Moses from the burning bush in the wilderness of Midian and told him He was sending Moses to bring the people of Israel out of the bondage in Egypt, Moses wanted God to identify Himself by name. God answered by identifying Himself with a very special name. Our God is the One who IS. But His name means more than that. He has always been and He will always be. “God is the uncaused Being that caused everything else to come into existence. God is the uncreated Creator who created the universe and everything in it.”* To communicate this, God gave a message about Himself to Moses to pass on to His people in Egypt.  We believe that this message is for us today too. Yes, God wants you and me to remember always that He exists, that He is here. Let's be careful to never allow the enemy Satan to cause us to question whether there is a God. Let's rejoice in the assurance that our God is there and the He is here for us. He is the great I AM and always has been. 

* God has no Beginning

February 16 – His Presence with Us

“And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” Exodus 33:14-15 (ESV)

It is in Exodus chapter 33 that we find one a very striking conversations between Moses and the Lord recorded.  Today we have selected part of that conversation. The Lord God brought His people out of Egypt but they had not yet gotten to the Promised Land. They were still in the wilderness at Mount Sinai. God wanted them now to continue the journey and He promised to go with them. We've selected this verse to remind ourselves how important it is that the Lord is involved in what we're doing these days. God has promised to be with us as we live by faith from day to day. He wants to show us the way as He promised Moses that His presence would be with them. God has also promised us the same thing – He is with us wherever we go.

October 1 – More to Learn Everyday

“Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” Exodus 33:13 (ESV)

Moses was far along in his life when he prayed these words to God. It was a crucial time for Him. He had experienced many close encounters with God but Moses knew he still had more to learn more from God and that he needed God. Moses needed guidance and direction and he sought that from his God. No matter how long we have walked with God we haven't learned everything about Him yet. There is more for us to learn so we can pray as Moses did. We can ask God to teach us His ways. Moses knew that God would hear and He hears us too and He might use many different means to show us what he is like. When he teaches us we will know Him and as He keeps on teaching we will keep on learning to know Him. There is nothing more important for us to learn.

June 1 – Compassionate and Gracious

“And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,” Exodus 34:6  (NIV)

The words in this verse were spoken to Moses at Mt. Sinai after the people had fallen into sin worshiping a golden calf idol.  God was anxious that the people He had chosen as His people know Him and Know what kind of God He is. We believe these words are a promise to us and are recorded because God wants us to know as well. He wants us to know that He is compassionate and gracious and He will forgive us when fail to live as we should. After we fall, we can always come to Him and He will forgive. He abounds in love and faithfulness. Let's remember this today and always and thank Him for loving us and for keeping his promises.

May 27

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’”  Exodus 33:17 (NIV)

Moses had asked God to go with him as he led the people of Israel to the Promised Land. What a wonderful answer to prayer! God agreed to go with Moses just as he had prayed. Moses had asked God to go with him this was pleasing to the Lord; God wants to be with His children today, too. When we ask Him to be with us, He is pleased with our request. And, as God told Moses that He knew his name, so He knows us by name. He knows your name and He knows mine. And He wants to be with us today.  When we ask for His presence He will say to us as he said to Moses, “I will do what you ask.”