Tag Moses

Lessons from an Unlikely Idol

Todd R Leave a comment

The history of the kings of Judah can read like a back-and-forth between construction of idols by bad kings and the destruction of idols by good kings.  Hezekiah was one of the few good kings, and one reason is recorded in 2 Kings 18:4, which says:

“[Hezekiah] removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).”

Judah was meant to have only one God, the true God Yahweh, and to destroy anything that would lead them to idolatry.  Unfortunately, worshipping other gods in high places was not uncommon, and neither was worship of Asherah.  What’s interesting about this verse is the mention of this “Nehushtan.”  The origin of this bronze snake that Moses made comes from a story in the book of Numbers.

Photo by Michael Jerrard on Unsplash

As often happened while they wandered the wilderness, the people of Israel complained to God and Moses that they would have been better off if still in Egypt.  They hated the food God was providing and accused Him of leading them into the wilderness to die.  As discipline for this grumbling, “the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.”[1]  The people repented and asked for the serpents to be removed, and Moses prayed for them.

The answer was that “Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”[2]  This serpent being lifted up was later identified in John 3:14 as a prelude to Jesus being lifted up on the cross, but in Hezekiah’s day it had become an idol, an object that took people away from worship of the true God and the then-future Christ.  Instead of being a symbol of salvation, the bronze serpent became a symbol of idolatry, which leads to damnation.

The story of the serpents ends there, and there is no mention that God told the people to keep this bronze serpent, or that God told them to give it a name.  This was probably the beginning of the problem, that Israel added to God’s intentions for it.

So, what are the lessons for us?

Nehushtan, the bronze serpent, was created at God’s command to be an aid to worship, a device for reminding His people of His provision for them, from above.  Instead, it became an idol.  What this tells us is that anything, even something once (or currently) used in worship, can become an idol.  Even things like private Bible study or public singing of hymns can be idols if we use them as ends in themselves and not as a way to worship our only God.  A thing can be an idol not because of what it is, but because of our attitude toward it.

Also, something that is an idol to one person might not be an idol to another.  The bronze serpent was not an idol to Moses, but it was to people in Hezekiah’s time.  So, if we know that something tempts us, that thing might not be a temptation for others, and vice versa.  Therefore, we should not be quick to judge others for doing things that bother us, but may not be a problem for them, and are not specifically prohibited in the Bible.

When Christ was raised up on the cross like the bronze serpent and was raised from the dead like those who survived the bites of serpents, He identified Himself as the only God and the only one worthy of our worship, but He also identified Himself as the merciful one who desires that we be merciful to each other.

Like ancient Israel, we all have Nehushtans in our lives that corrupt our worship, and like the good king Hezekiah, we must remove them from our lives to reform our worship.

[1] Numbers 21:6
[2] Numbers 21:9

Barbs in Our Eyes

Todd R Leave a comment

As Israel was preparing to enter the Promised Land of Canaan after wandering in the wilderness, God gave them many instructions through Moses about how they were to live when they got there.  One of the instructions was to eliminate all of Canaan’s inhabitants.  Part of the warning not to ignore this comes in Numbers 33:55, which says:

“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.”

What this is communicating is the urgency of getting rid of anything that could influence us to sin, and this applies as much to us as to ancient Israel.  In Israel’s case, the nations they were to remove from Canaan were under God’s judgement for centuries of worship of false gods, which included practices like ritual prostitution and child sacrifice.  God knew that His people would be tempted by these foreign gods and practices unless all trace of them was eliminated.

For us, God also wants to protect us from false gods and harmful practices and habits, and the phrase “barbs in your eyes” is a picture of the urgency for us to get rid of anything that would tempt us.  Think about it: If I had a thorn in my eye, I would drop everything and not be able to do anything else until I got it out.  Until the thorn was gone, it would be my one and only priority.  In modern times, God doesn’t tell His people to attack other nations in judgement, but He does want His people to attack sin with the same zeal.

So when I read “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell” it leads me to ask the question:

Do we remove sources of sin from our lives as urgently as we would a barb in our eye?

The Spirit of Craftmanship

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After God redeemed His people Israel from slavery in Egypt, He wanted to impart a further lesson to them: that He was always with them.  At first, His presence was signified “by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.”[1]  Later, including after Israel entered the Promised Land, the Lord’s presence was especially known as dwelling in the tabernacle, and even later in the temple.

The pillars of cloud and fire simply manifested themselves by God’s will, but in the case of the tabernacle and temple, someone had to build them.  After revealing to Moses the intricate design of the tabernacle and all its component parts, Moses may have been concerned about how this was all to get done.  Therefore, God said to Moses in Exodus 31:2-4 how He would provide for that:

“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.”

Since the construction of the tabernacle would require many skills and techniques, including working with wood, metal and cloth, someone with all of these skills would be needed.  But note where the “ability and intelligence,” “knowledge and all craftmanship” come from – the Spirit of God!  They didn’t just appear out of nowhere.  God’s Spirit personally enabled Bezalel to do the needed work.

Also note that God said, “I have called by name Bezalel.”  He didn’t say to Moses “go find someone, anyone, who you think can do the work, and I will enable them to do it.”  No, He called Bezalel “by name.”  This calling was to belong to Him, and no other, by God’s Spirit and grace.

Now Moses might have asked, “how can one man do all this, even with God’s Spirit?”  In verse 6 the answer is provided:

“And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you”

Oholiab was also called by name, but God also provided many others with the ability to build the tabernacle.  Each person had their part to play, and God knew every one of them personally, even if Exodus doesn’t name them.

Which brings us to the topic of Spiritual gifts, those abilities described by Paul and others in the New Testament as being given to each believer for the building up of the church.  Were all the skills needed to construct the tabernacle “Spiritual gifts” given to Bezalel, Oholiab and others?  I think so, since God clearly says these men were filled with God’s Spirit to do these things.[2]  The lesson here is that every Christian has Spiritual gifts, but that many of those gifts may not seem “spiritual” as we often think of that word.  Not everyone is a pastor, elder, deacon, Sunday school leader, or other church roles you can think of.  In fact, some people will be more like Bezalel and Oholiab, filled with the ability to make beautiful and/or useful things that glorify God.

If you’ve found your place in the church and in the world to use your gifts, praise God!  If not, it doesn’t mean you don’t have gifts to use in God’s service.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them,” and when he says “we” he means every Christian.  We all have our own tabernacles to build, and God will give us the means and ability to do them, including the help of other “able men” if needed to get the job done.

What skills and interests do you have?  Can they be used to help build up the church?  Can they be used as a witness to the world?  Ask for God’s guidance and keep an open mind about what He might say.  In Bezalel’s case, it included building a massive curtain!  God calls each of us “by name” to do specific things – are we listening to whatever He might say?  He is always with us, ready to lead.

[1] Exodus 13:21
[2] There are differences between the OT and NT concepts of being filled with the Spirit, but for space I’m leaving that out here.

We’re All Little Pharaohs

Todd R 2 Comments

Anyone who knows the story of the Exodus knows who the bad guy is: Pharaoh.  As the leader of Egypt, he is primarily to blame for the enslavement of Israel.  Eventually, through Moses and Aaron, God tells Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery, and time and again Pharaoh refuses.  Clearly, Pharaoh is God’s enemy.  However, in his resistance to God, I think Pharaoh fell into some habits any of us could fall into.

First, Pharaoh admitted his need for God only when things were going wrong but shut God out when things were going well.  In Exodus 8:8, Pharaoh asked Moses to “Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people” but once the frogs were gone, Exodus 8:15 tells us that “when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart” and refused to do God’s will.  The same thing happens in chapter 9, during the plague of the hail.  Seeing the destruction caused by the hail, Pharaoh says “Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail” in verse 28, but in verse 34, “when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart.”

Photo by Alex Azabache on Unsplash

Next, Pharaoh repeatedly negotiated with God to define the scope of His influence.  Faced with the plague of flies, Pharoah said to Moses and Aaron “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.”[1]  But staying “in the land” was not what God wanted His people to do.  In response to the plague of locusts, Pharoah said “the men among you” could leave and worship God, but he wouldn’t let the “little ones”[2] go.  Also, after the plague of darkness, Pharoah said “Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.”[3]  In these 3 responses, Pharaoh insisted on limits to where the people should worship, which people should worship, and what they could (and couldn’t) use in worship.

Third, Pharaoh also tried to limit the scope of his own sin, and which sins he would be accountable to God for.  In Exodus 9:27, Pharaoh said, “this time I have sinned” and in 10:17 said “forgive my sin, please, only this once.”  In reality Pharaoh was sinning every time he refused to listen to God, but he wasn’t willing to admit that.  He only admitted a minority of the times he disobeyed.

If you’re like me, this all might sound familiar.  Often our prayers are more fervent and sincere when we need help than they are when we have something to praise God for, or when times are good.  Often, we allow God to govern some parts of our life, but we keep other parts for ourselves, to do what we want with.  Also, we often only admit some of our sins and choose which ones to care about.  We’re all a bit like Pharaoh, the bad guy in the Exodus story.

Fortunately for us, we have something else in common with Pharaoh: the true, Almighty God will defeat all of the “gods” we follow.  Every single one.  Behind the battle between Moses and Pharaoh was a contest between our God and Pharaoh’s gods.  As the Life Application Study Bible notes: “As each gloomy plague descended upon the land, the Egyptian people realized how powerless their own gods were to stop it. Hapi, the god of the Nile River, could not prevent the waters from turning to blood. Hathor, the crafty cow-goddess, was helpless as Egyptian livestock died in droves. Amon-Re, the sun-god and chief of the Egyptian gods, could not stop an eerie darkness from covering the land for three full days.”

When we choose not to obey God, we harden our hearts against Him and follow the “gods” we choose for ourselves, but God will ultimately defeat them all.  God’s purpose in saving us is to deliver us from all other gods, as He delivered Israel from Egypt.  He will deliver us from our slavery to every sin that binds us and make us not follow Him wholeheartedly.

We may be more like Pharaoh than we’d like to admit, but the Pharaoh in us has been killed, nailed to the cross with Jesus. When we reach heaven, all of our other “gods” will be gone and we will be perfected in our obedience to the one, true God, for our good and for His glory!

That’s a deliverance worth looking forward to and praising God for!

Amen.

[1] Exodus 8:25
[2] Exodus 10:10-11
[3] Exodus 10:24

The Sovereign Over Our Blessings

Todd R 1 Comment

40 years after God first made a covenant with Israel, promising to be their God and bless them if they would love and obey Him, the covenant had to be renewed.  Israel had been led through wilderness for decades after refusing to enter the Promised Land, but Moses eventually gathered them again to finally cross the Jordan River and take the Land.  Moses prepared them by renewing the covenant, but before that, Moses reviewed blessings and curses from God that would come with obedience or disobedience.

We know that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”[1] and therefore any blessing is an act of grace because only Jesus lived a life of full obedience.  However, the choices of the ancient Israelites, and modern people, have consequences, and these blessings and curses carry a lesson about God’s sovereignty.  God would not make promises or threats that He is unable to carry out and therefore He must have the power and control to deliver on all of them.  Consider these parallel verses in Deuteronomy 28 showing God’s control over…

…all places, rural or urban:
“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.” (verse 3)
“Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.”  (verse 16)

…reproductive and agricultural success:
“Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.”  (verse 4)
“Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.”  (verse 18)

…military success:
“The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.”  (verse 7)
“The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”  (verse 25)

…the weather and its related benefits:
“The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands.”  (verse 12a)
“And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron.  The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.”  (verse 23-24)

There are further curses, without parallel blessings, where God is declared as sovereign over…

…disease:
“The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.  The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.”  (verse 21-22)

…human psychology:
“The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind.” (verse 28)

…nature, including the smallest worms and crickets:
“You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them.”  (verse 39)
“The cricket shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground.”  (verse 42)

…and even over the fates of nations:
“The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand.” (verse 49)

As we know, Israel was eventually carried away into captivity by Assyria in 722 B.C., and Judah to Babylonia in 586 B.C. because of their ongoing unfaithfulness to God, however God fulfilled His covenant through Jesus Christ, descended from the tribe of Judah, centuries after they returned from Babylonian exile.  In Christ, people from all nations can be His people, and He will be their God.

We are all in exile, sojourning on this earth, but our God, sovereign over all, has Promised a new Land, a new heaven and a new earth, and we know He is faithful, even if it takes centuries.  Therefore, praise God for the blessings He gives His people in all of the areas under His control, which is everything!

Nothing escapes His notice and nothing is beneath Him to be concerned about.  Pray for His blessings in all areas of life, no matter how large or small.

Amen.

[1] Romans 3:23