FIRST WORDS
To My Friends, Colleagues, Church Fellowship, Curious People everywhere and especially my Grandchildren,
Always know that you are fully loved by God and you are loved by me. I pray that you remember our purpose is to reflect the entire Glory of God.
MOSES REFLECTS ON HIS JOURNEY WITH CHRIST
It is important for me to begin this week by sharing how I think the first five books in scripture were written. I think we can safely attribute the actual writing of Genesis and Deuteronomy to Moses himself. I believe we have to be a bit more circumspect about the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. I personally believe these were written accounts by Joshua (in coordination with Moses) as he accompanied Moses up the mountain and down into the dessert with God's people. For Moses to have the actual conversations and participate in the experiences of these three books while at the same time maintaining such a precise accounting of the details seems a bit dubious to me. This leaves Joshua as the only one who was always there and we know he will eventually write the book of Joshua for himself.
I make this point, because it matters to me as I read the book of Deuteronomy. This book sounds different than the previous three and it just feels different. It sounds and feels more personal. In the laws, ordinances and offerings we get a first hand view of how they were practiced and not just recorded for posterity. It has the same feel for me as the Federalist Papers in our own history here in the United States. Our constitution is a cold and hard document. It is supposed to be. It is designed to be a guarantee of rights and processes. The founders were not explaining or defending the laws and processes, they were enacting them. The Federalist Papers on the other hand, are personal and alive with debate. Why the laws were passed and how they were intended to be lived out were the topics of these papers. That is Deuteronomy, it is a book written by Moses that gives us personal insight into the journey he took with God and the journey he took with God's people. He will get some things right and quite frankly he will get one key thing wrong. I hope this is not too shocking. We all get it wrong sometimes. Isn't it wonderful that we have the records of both in relation to the people of God.
I would like to use the blog this week to talk about one of those places I believe Moses got it wrong.
MOSES GETS IT WRONG
Let me take you back to Israel in the dessert of Exodus 17. We are not far into the journey with Christ when the people of Israel are thirsty. They are not shy telling Moses of their discomfort. Christ tells Moses to strike a rock with Aaron's staff the same way he struck the Nile in Egypt. Moses does, and water comes from the rock to quench the thirst of Israel. Another proof for the Israelites that they can in fact trust Christ to deliver them in their time of need.
Fast forward to Numbers 20 and we are faced with the same situation. This time, one would imagine, that the Israelites would be a little further along in their faith. God has been delivering them and traveling with them. The only casualties have come from the result of rebellion on the part of Israel and punishment from a Holy God. In numbers 20 the people are thirsty again and Moses is frustrated. Christ once again tells him to take the staff of Aaron but Christ changes it a bit this time. Instead of striking the rock, Christ tells Moses to simply speak to the rock. If you are tracking with me you remember what Moses did and Moses said. Listen to the account.
Numbers 20:8 - 13
"Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water....Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank."
Do you hear the third person narrative going on in this story? We have just received the simple facts of the story. Christ said, Moses did and then Christ responds. God is not happy. Here's the thing, this is not even the mistake I am talking about! To be sure it is a terrible mistake that Moses has just made, so severe in fact that Christ will deny him entrance into the "promised land" of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but it is not the mistake I want to talk about.
If we go a little further we find ourselves at the beginning of Deuteronomy. Right at the front of Moses's first hand account of his journeys he is going to talk about this very occasion. He will back track and pick it all up from Egypt to the last battle he will fight with Israel, but he begins with what is probably the most troubling episode in his life.
Deuteronomy 1:37 and repeated in 3:21
"Because of you (children of Israel) the Lord became angry with me and said, "You shall not enter it, either."
Moses has just blamed Israel for his mistake of disobedience to God. Let's be clear about what exactly that mistake entailed. Christ told Moses to simply speak His word over the rock. Moses decides to make a statement about himself and Aaron instead. The mistake is nothing less than Moses setting himself up in the position of provider and savior of the nation of Israel. Remember the words? "Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water..." The heart of Moses has slipped. He has not lost favor with Christ. He has not placed himself in a position that Christ cannot use him to lead the Israelites. What he has done is make a mistake and allowed his heart to move away from the presence and the will of God. In my language, Moses has failed to live out his basic purpose which is to reflect the glory of God. Moses has chosen to reflect his own glory.
The real kicker for me, is when Moses recounts this story, he has not yet reconciled his heart to his own mistake. He blames others for the condition of his heart and his actions in relation to God. I understand this very well. There have been many times in my life when I could have used a scapegoat. A major part of the maturity of person hood, just like maturity of faith, is our willingness to accept responsibility for our own mistakes, shortcomings and sins.
For me, there is no other response here except to say, Moses got this totally wrong. There is work to be done in his life in relation to the people of Israel and in the condition of his heart towards Christ.
Allow me to compare the response of Moses to the response of Christ in relation to the hardness of Pharaoh's heart.
It is absolutely true that had the Israelites not complained and rebelled, Moses would have had no reason or opportunity to take this glory upon himself. Would you agree with me in this situation that there is in fact a cause that we can point to for this action? Would you also agree that no matter how dynamic that cause is, we cannot remove from Moses his personal accountability for his own actions? He was still the one that acted contrary to the word of Christ.
Is it not equally true, that Christ Himself is responsible for the plagues that set up a win lose scenario for Pharaoh? Would you remove the responsibility for the choices Pharaoh makes from him? Are you willing to totally blame Christ for Pharaoh's actions? I am not, and yet Christ steps up in the book of Exodus and boldly claims responsibility for His part. I hear in the words "God hardened Pharaoh's heart" as the admission that Christ's unwavering judgment played a huge role in why Pharaoh was not able to turn back. Christ never backs away from righteous acts or judgments. He always takes total and full responsibility and yet does not alleviate the reality of personal responsibility on our part. He has chosen and so must we.
Is this not the same story that will be told at the beginning of the book of Genesis, when first Adam and then Eve try to mitigate their responsibility by bringing other's actions to their defense. For Adam it was Eve and for Eve it was the serpent.
Could it be to this idea that Christ will go in the gospel of Luke, when He says that to "everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded"? Is it this same idea in the book of Revelation 20 where John records the book of life is opened and "the dead are judged according to the things written in the book, according to their deeds"?
The idea is not that we make no mistakes or commit no sin. The idea is that we take responsibility for our mistakes and sin (confession and repentance) just as Christ takes responsibility for His Holiness and standards of expectations for us. It is in this way that the people of God in the Exodus learned to walk with Christ and become holy. It is in this way that we learn to walk with Christ and become holy.
For those who know me well.
NO EXCUSES!
Yol bolsum,
Tim
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