Finishing Up the Life of Moses

Well, everything is spiffed up and ready for action on both porches – but the dip in the temperature makes sitting outside in the shady porch in the early hours a wee bit too much. So, I finished reading about Moses, completing Deuteronomy inside the house.   Temperatures were so bracing this morning – May 1 – we needed a shot of heat! Thus I am not enjoying all my handiwork.

Inside study, means looking at all the work that needs doing – and it easily distracts me.

So, for the moment, I’ll look back to Moses’ life – overlooking the housework and morning news of war, superbugs, wicked weather -- rain and floods, and remember what Moses taught me.

Deuteronomy 34:7

Listen closely. Choose carefully. (Deuteronomy 30:14-20) And remember the song. (Deuteronomy 32)  We each go our own way, way too often, to our ruin and heartache.  

Don’t disobey God because things aren’t working out the way I hoped they would. (Deuteronomy 32: 50-52) 

Believe that God has a better plan for the folks I care about – and bless them with the hope that is God. (Deuteronomy 33:1-25) 

Don’t ever be ashamed of that plan. (Deuteronomy 33:26-29)

Remember the song and keep climbing.

Bible Study . . . Again

Autumn nears – and I will return to a group of women to study the Bible; this year it’s Exodus. And I am rereading The Gospel According to Moses, by Athol Dickson. All during a time when ancient countries like Egypt, Syria and Israel are current events.

For many years, I thought I knew what Exodus was about because I had seen the Charlton Heston version. When I finally read the book, and moved beyond the flannelgraph story, I learned the connection between Passover and Communion. (No kidding, even though I was “churched,” I had missed the part about why blood, and not wine, is central to relating to God. Hebrews 9:22)

I learned about Israel’s attraction to idols, even in the midst of God’s miracles and Law. They had seen and heard God’s power; they knew what He required – and they still wanted to worship gods of their own imagination – a persistent problem that plagued the Israelites.

And I have learned their problem and mine are quite alike:  I am prone to whine and wander!  Knowing what Scripture says – and does not say – is so important – but sometimes I feel like the Israelites: Manna again?  (So, You Wanna Go Back to Egypt?)

So, why study what I think I know?   

First – because I can. I have the right to learn about my religion. Years ago we met Egyptian Christians studying how we taught English in high schools in the United States, and they were flabbergasted that with all our freedom of religion here, we did not take advantage of it in sharing our faith.

Second – because, again, I can. I still have my wits about me, and the wherewithal to take some time and study what God did, so that I might understand what He is doing. Moreover, I might be able to encourage or be encouraged by other desert-trekkers.  A kind, edifying word can be as refreshing as a cup of cold water.

Third – because I still usually prefer my own way – and I don’t have another forty years to wander in deserts of my own making. (Isaiah 65:2)

But, fourth – I still have questions. And Moses questioned God. Athol Dickson described why some abandon faith:

“ . . . I abandoned my faith because t seemed I had no right to question difficulties, much less expect answers. I had been taught to accept ready made-dogma rather than to personally take my doubts to God.

 . . . God loves a good question.”  (The Gospel According to Moses, p. 17)

Exodus isn’t only about supernatural acts, or commandments that are impossible to keep; it is about real people – whose desert trek to worship their God turned into something nobody anticipated. All of which raises questions.  

So  – I am approaching the study in Exodus, thinking what it must have been like for an “older” woman to leave Egypt, not knowing if she will get to the Promised Land.   Real women had been enslaved in Egypt – they suffered, because of injustice and oppression; because of persecution and personal failure – women contributed their gold for the making of that abominable calf! (Exodus 32)  They whined, complained, and longed for the good old days, right along with their men – teaching their daughters and sons very poor lessons.

I’d like to offer better lessons and be a better companion. (Joel 2:25-27) But, this raises questions -- a bunch of questions.  

At the Movies, This Time with MOSES!

 

Moses’ life has captured another generation of filmmaker’s imagination. (Info.) Now, Christian Bale will portray this friend of God’s. (Exodus 33:11) It will be quite an opportunity for the actor and Ridley Scott , the director. Charlton Heston’s interpretation of Moses and Cecil B. DeMille’s vision of how Israel escaped Egypt shaped more of my early understanding of the Old Testament than any knowledge what the Bible said. (The Ten Commandments)

I’ve since studied Exodus; the second book in the Bible, and am looking forward the upcoming women’s Bible study this year – Out of Egypt – Israel’s Rescue and Ours. Every time I look over the highlights and notes in my Bible from other years, I learn something new – or see an application I’ve never seen before. (Hebrews 4:12) The Daily Walk Bible, a beloved devotional, describes its 40 chapters as a book of crying, complaining and consecrating. Moses is, of course, an important character. But God is the “leading man.”

How will Hollywood cast Him? Morgan Freeman? (Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty)

Moses talked with God face to face – as a friend. Moses, and the Israelites, saw His mighty deeds – and tasted His blessing and chastening. They saw His power, and heard His purpose – so Pharaoh would know . . . there is no one like the Lord, our God. Pharaoh and all Egypt found out this God was different than those of Egypt’s.  So, did Israel.

Portraying the ten plagues and destruction of the Egyptian armies is just an extravaganza of special effects unless we are willing to consider God’s power, authority and character – the very attributes that can back off people from drawing closer to Him. The reality of suffering is never more apparent – its reasons can lead deep into darkness and despair. 

How can we understand Moses, and the Israelites, without understanding the God whom they worshipped? What is Moses’ story apart from God who spoke to him as a friend? Yes, his life is action-packed! Moses’ birth, adoption, and upbringing in Pharaoh’s household as a prince of Egypt are the stuff of fairy tales; his ignominious fall is Shakespearian! But Moses’ rescue . . . that is biblical. (Exodus 5:11-12)

How will Hollywood portray such a personal redemption? Ben-Hur’s redemption and restoration came close.

Moses lived a life that seems unrelated to mine; the Israelites lived through circumstances that seem dissimilar to what our local church experiences. What ties us together, however is the same infinite personal God who kept track of each of us, and knew when the time had come for our rescue. (Exodus 2:25)

Is this Hollywood’s mission? Maybe not.

This might be our job. How can we show that this leading Man – the God who called Himself, I AM , the One who preserved, rescued and commissioned Moses and you and me, and gave us a purpose,  is not an ancient idol, or a cultural myth?  Can I explain that in no more words than a text message to a young woman who is unexpectedly pregnant – or to a friend who got bad news from the doc – or to myself?

The story of Exodus, texted or tweeted – or as a re-packaged blockbuster – the question is still how do we live out are parts – especially when hearts are getting harder and harder?

·      What we worship determines what we become.

·      Circumstances never create character – they merely reveal it.

·      Give yourself to God, first, and then giving your possessions – and kids – will be easy. *

Hope for Troubled Souls

* Quotes from The Daily Walk Bible.

Boston and Bible Study

Yesterday the bible study wound up – it was a nine month inquiry into Revelation; surely this has been a serendipitous use of my time. We went from apprehension about studying what we feared might be too complex or confusing, “end-times,” to being comforted, encouraged and edified no matter how quickly or slowly Christ the LORD returns. In this book, we learned how lost the lost are, and how secure the saved are, for our hope is anchored in HIS character.

His words resound: “Do not be afraid.”

The group Bible study may be done – but I feel like I haven’t wholly grasped it. Revelation is different from any other book in Scripture – to some its message appears hidden or frightening, or inscrutable. But to those who will read and hear, it is filled with [seven] blessings – blessings that meet every need of all the churches to whom John wrote. Its message is so simple a child can understand – as all the children’s leaders so faithfully taught little ones aged 2-5! These kids got it!  

Yet, I struggle to take it all in.

When I look back on what has happened since we began the study: a terrorist attack on September 11, “Sandy,” Newtown Connecticut, wounds, trials and illnesses within our church, and families, ending with another attack at the Boston Marathon, and a tragedy in West, Texas. And now, this morning’s news of murder and mayhem in Boston washes over my heart: What in the world is going on?

Seriously, Barbara?

Weren’t you paying attention?

The bottom line is people who hate God, hate people and want to kill them – for they have believed a lie fomented by God’s enemy and his servants. Christians believe that enemy was defeated at Calvary -- just as the Allied Normandy Invasion in June 1944 broke the back of the Axis. But battles abound – just as they did throughout the months leading up to August of 1945.  And until He returns, we all are on a battlefield.

The horrors have caught many Americans of-guard for we have not endured what other Christians and cultures around the world have endured.

In Revelation 2-3, Christ reveals to John the extent of the battles, internal and external. “Intimidation and persecution” are hallmarks of the spiritual reality that Christ will see us through in the time before His return.   Christ’s promises to those who overcome what He knows we struggle with have never been more precious and essential. The hope and help that God revealed to John on Patmos is as much as a comfort to us today as it was to John. His promises are trustworthy and true.  The point of Revelation is as a movie or picture book of what Matthew meant in his Gospel, 16:18,when he quoted the Lord Jesus Christ:  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Whew . . .

His promises for reward and retribution in Revelation echo the prophets. Like many their messages, this is filled with condemnation and comfort. It is a picture of the sum of all consequences of individual choices.  We see the result of having things our way.  And we see God’s retribution in His time for His people.    

It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! (Hebrew 10:31)

Therefore – when information overloads my mind, and horror engulfs my breaking heart, Habakkuk [still] helps:

I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled. Yet, I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
 to come on the nation invading us.

Though the fig tree does not bud
 and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails
 and the fields produce no food though there are no sheep in the pen
 and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights. (Habakkuk 3, esp. 17) 

God I believe -- help THOU my unbelief.  

Image source 

The Cost of My New Bible

The new (to me) Bible cost a bit more than two and half paper grocery bags at Half-Price Books. Well, they gave me the money at the back of the store; I gave it back to them at the front.

Mindful of what being buried alive in too much of a good thing means, thanks to a reality cable show, I have become diligent about discarding what others might enjoy or profit from reading. But a recent quote by a favorite author spurred on my disposal: John Piper told seminary students to stop reading so much John Piper and start reading the Bible. (Bible Study: Following the Ways of the World, by Kathleen Bushwell Nielson)      

I like his books, and I’ve collected several on timely topics – they are surely biblical.  That is, he anchors his opinions with Scripture.  But  books taking up space on a (dusty) shelf wasn’t why the man wrote them; hoarding them, afraid I may not find another copy, shows I may not have fully grasped the many ways Dr. Piper wants his readers to be in the world.

Anyway, I had to find space for the books from Maryland we just shipped to Texas and I needed a smaller Bible.  Study Bibles – Bibles with footnotes, concordances, charts, cross references, and maps -- I have. One that is more portable, yet with print large enough to decipher, that I can carry to and from Bible study, which just began, I didn’t have.

So, I traded in a stash of books for just one -- I wonder why the one who disposed of their Bible got rid of a brand-spanking new one.  Maybe the NIV edition wasn’t scholarly enough for their studies?    I sure hope it wasn’t because they didn’t want it.  Too many Bibles on Half-Price Books’ religion shelves look like folks couldn’t or wouldn’t use them – although I honestly am not sure what the protocol is for Bible disposal.  

Anyway -- in the coming months, I will be reacquainting myself with apocalyptic literature, and using a Bible with no notes, scholarly, or my own.  (It does have cross-references and a concordance – and maps.) It is a letter to me, in the church, and given so that we non-scholarly types could understand from God how He sees us.  And I pass along the following, if Revelation piques your curiosity, dear reader:

 Study Questions for Apocalyptic Literature

1.            What is the situation or what are the conditions among the people to whom the apocalypse is written? How does the text reveal the situation?

2.            What images and symbols are used in this text? What effect does it have on you as reader?

3.             Where do the symbols appear elsewhere in the Bible? And what, if any, connection does the author intend for us to make?

4.             What in the text demonstrates that we are reading about events from God’s vantage point of history? What comfort and insight does this provide for our human perception of history?

5.             How does the text anticipate or recall the death resurrection and reign of Jesus Christ?

6.             What is the tension or conflict in the text and how does it relate  both to the original readers and us?

7.            How does the text compel us to respond to the death, resurrection and reign of Jesus Christ?

 (from Bible Study: Following the Ways of the Word, pp 176-177.)

Taking It Personally

Jeremiah 18

Lots of politicians this week will make a public oath with their right hands on the Bible. The Bible seems an anchor of sorts, linking words and deeds. But most politicians will speak and do what they think right – with little heed to what the Bible teaches about political leaders, much less spiritual needs. So, I can spot their hypocrisy – can I spot my own?

The older I get, the more helpless I see that I am, no matter my good intentions. The closer others invite me into their lives – the fewer answers I have to their deeply felt needs: Singleness, a marriage coming apart, infertility, debt, disease, unruly kids, loss of a job or vision – old age. Knowing God and using His word to speak to Him, and to hear from Him are just about all I know for the troubles I face – that and having the courage to actually do what He says! (Micah 6:8)

Studying the Bible and learning to pray sound like dissembling solutions – and they may be. But, I offer the following introduction to women in the Bible to women who feel helpless and hopeless. God helps the helpless – including powerful politicians and the wealthy, which most American women are, comparatively. (Isaiah 25:4) In the midst of our pain, you and I are just the kind of women God seeks out!

Can you use this to get started studying your Bible this week?

God has shown us what HE wants HIS women to be like, so he carefully recorded information about many women for a reason. They were not perfect — they had problems — they struggled with unbelief — but they obeyed at a critical point in their walk with God — and HE blessed them. Their faith was the assurance of the things they hoped for, the conviction of things they could not see. For by faith in God the women of old gained approval. (Heb 11:1-2)

What He said about these women may help you to pray more intelligently. What about her life impresses you?

How does the record of her life encourage your prayer life?

Pick one or two women and listen for God to form some specific prayers about issues in your life:

Tamar: Overcame came a dysfunctional family. Her name may mean "like a palm." Because of the value of palm trees in the East, the idea of this name connotes wealth and beauty
Scripture references Genesis 38:6-30; Ruth 4:12; 1 Chronicles 2:4; Matthew 1:3

Rahab: A “working girl” changes professions
Scripture references: Joshua 2:1, 3; 6:17-25; Matthew 1:5, Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25

Ruth: An outcast’s faithfulness
Scripture references: The Book of Ruth, Matt. 1:6
What about Naomi's life impresses you?

The wife of Uriah, Bathsheba: An adulteress restored
Scripture references: II Sam. 11:2,3; 12:24; I Ki. 1:11-31; 2:13-19; I Chr. 3:5; Matt.1:6

Here's more:

Hannah: Giving over her most treasure possession – her first born son.
Scripture references: I Samuel 1; 2:1-21
How does her prayer life inform yours

Abigail: The woman with beauty and brains — and a troubled marriage
Scripture references: I Samuel 25:1-42; II Samuel 3:3

Sarah – Married to a difficult man
In Gen 21:1: "Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised." What do you know about Sarah's life? Her life was recorded by Moses in Genesis. She became the mother of nations. Look up Isaiah 51:2; Romans 4:19; 9:9; Hebrews 11:11; I Peter 3:6

Mary: The mother of our Lord Jesus Christ
Scripture references: Matthew 1;2; 12:46; Luke 1; 2; John 2:1-11; 19:25; Acts 1:14
Read the Magnificat. (Lk 1: 46-55) What do you learn about prayer from Mary?

Keep reading! Read about these women —

Deborah, (Judges 4 & 5; Hebrews 11:32-34;)
Dorcas, (Acts 9 36-43)
Jeosheba, Joash's aunt, (2 Kings 11) and
Salome, who wanted the best for her boys. (See Mat.20:20-24; 27:56; Mark 10:35-40; 15:40, 41;16:1,2)

Build your own list! A good resource is All The Women in the Bible by Herbert Lockyer.

Remember: "The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. (Ps 145:18-19)