A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Deuteronomy 10

We have discussed everything contained in Deuteronomy 8:1 through Deuteronomy 10:13 at various times, so we will not tread that ground again, but will pick up Moses’ narrative at Deuteronomy 10:14.

Deuteronomy 10:14-22—14 “Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it. 15 The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. 21 He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.” 

Let’s start with verse 14 because it is absolutely mind blowing! “Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it.” Everything, everywhere, in all of creation belongs to God. Our sun has a mass 330,000 times that of Earth and its diameter is 109 times that of Earth’s. The star PZ Cassiopeiae has a radius 1200 times that of our sun. In fact, there are believed to be about 200 trillion billion stars in the known universe. That is the number 200 with TWENTY ONE ZEROES after it! Or 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. And guess who owns them all? God. There are other objects in space—asteroids, comets, meteors, and these are innumerable—and guess who owns each and every single one of them? God. And how big is the universe? It is 93 billion light years in EACH DIRECTION from one end to the other (if there is an end to it). And how many miles is that? 546,700 with EIGHTEEN ZEROES behind it. That is 546,700,000,000,000,000,000,000 . And God owns every single square inch of it! And as big and as huge and as vast as all that is, what does Solomon say about it? 1st Kings 8:27—“Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.” 546 sextillion by 546 sextillion by 546 sextillion miles—1.63398183X10^71 cubic miles—cannot contain God. And it all belongs to Him! (And I won't even begin on how He owns time!) Even those things we cannot see belong to God. Laws and principles of math, logic, physics, chemistry, gravity. Thoughts, emotions, feelings, desires. Kingdoms, lordships, powers. All these things belong to God. Because they were created by God. Colossians 1:16—For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. Who is “Him”? That would be Christ Jesus. John 1:4—All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. That includes you. 

And what is the best response we can come up with? “Wow!” And I don’t say this to belittle God, but to praise Him. Because that is the best we can do, when our feeble little minds try to grasp even a whisper of the greatness of God. The greatest and grandest words we can use to extol the hugeness and awesomeness and majesty of God don’t even come close. And guess what? He chose the nation of Israel to be His. He chose to place His name in Jerusalem. He chose to dwell in the temple there. Before the temple, he dwelt in the Tabernacle between the cherubim atop the Ark of the Covenant in a part of that Tabernacle measuring 30’ X 30’. “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.” 1.63398183X10^71 cubic miles of space cannot contain Him, yet He chose to dwell within a 30’ X 30’ room! And you know what? If you have faith in Christ as your Lord and Savior, He will take up residence within you! Romans 8:9-10—But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 1^st Corinthians 6:19—Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 2nd Timothy 1:14—That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Colossians 1:27—To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. God, who is bigger than all the 1.63398183X10^71 cubic miles of space in the universe chooses to dwell within those who have faith in Christ! And guess what? He owns you, too! You have been bought with a price (1st Corinthians 7:23), and He doesn’t issue refunds! 

15 “The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” God had given to Abraham the sign of circumcision of the foreskin (Genesis 17:10-11). But Moses was telling the people here that it was not only their foreskin that needed to be removed, but the fleshly covering of their hearts—their wants and desires that were against the holiness of God. Because God had chosen them (and not because they had chosen God), Moses commands them to put off the desires of their hearts and to bow their hearts to God. You see, one could have their foreskin circumcised, and that was good, it was the sign that the person was of the people that God chose. But what good would that circumcision be if the person walked in the ways of the pagans and worshipped their idols? If that person committed murder or adultery? That person would be as one who was not circumcised, and he would suffer whatever penalty God’s Law determined. Jeremiah repeats this warning in the word he received from God in Jeremiah 4:4—“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” They had circumcised their foreskins but their hearts were still made of stone. They were stiff-necked and refused to bow under the hand of God. It wasn’t only the circumcision of Abraham God wanted to see, it was the taking away of their fleshly desires, the wantonness of their hearts, the desires of their flesh He wanted them to cut away. But because they wouldn’t do that He told them, through Jeremiah’s contemporary Ezekiel that He would make a new covenant with them, in which He would do it, and give them a new heart that was tender toward Him. He would bring them back from their exile, He would do a work in them that He had never done before, and He Himself would give them a new heart. 

Ezekiel 36:19-27—19 So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. 20 When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.' 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. 22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” He had caused them to go into exile because they had not circumcised their hearts, but now He was saying He would give them a new heart, one that He Himself would circumcise, and that they would walk according to His ways and be stiff-necked no longer. This is why Paul tells us in Romans 2:25—For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Paul wrote Romans to both Jews and Gentiles in Rome. So the Jews would have known exactly what Paul was saying, and the Gentile believers could have learned about circumcision from their Jewish brethren. And they could show their Gentile brothers and sisters that even though they had been born with a heart that wanted to go its own way, that God would give them a heart that would gravitate toward Him. 

17 “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” God does not take a bribe because there is nothing we could bribe Him with, since He owns every single thing in the universe He created. He looks with pity upon those who can do nothing for themselves, and sets His eyes against those who would do them harm. This is the attitude we are to have as well—to help those who cannot help themselves. You’ve heard the old saying “God helps those who help themselves.” Now, forget that saying because it is not true. What is true is saying that “God helps those who cannot help themselves.” If one can help themselves, they will start to believe that they do not need God, and live their lives as though He does not exist at worst, or at best that they can live their lives without Him. Neither way is any way to live. This is the definition James gives of true religion. James 1:27—Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. The word translated “religion” here is the Greek θρησκεία (threskeia, “ceremonial observance—religion, worshipping”). In other words, if one is to say they are truly worshipping God and doing those things He commands, they must help the widows and orphans—those who can do nothing for themselves. This was one of the things the people of Israel got hung up on before their exile—the rich would become richer at the expense of the poor, they would take advantage of those who could least afford it, and they would eat while the poor went hungry. 

This was the sin of the rich man in Luke 16:15, 19-21—15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God…19 There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.” (This was a different Lazarus than the brother of Mary and Martha, whom He raised from the dead in John 11.) This rich man had all he would ever need (and maybe more), yet Lazarus only wanted some scraps of food the rich man did not eat. But the rich man said “Eh, go, be warmed, be filled” (see James 2:16). Or as we would say today, “I’ll pray for ya.” And even though this rich man could have brought him out a plate of food, he simply sent him the gristle and waste from what he ate. Even the dogs had more pity on this poor man, because they licked the sores that covered his body! Jesus had some harsh words for men like this in Matthew 25:41-46. And He certified the words He said there, by telling the people of the eternal fate of this rich man, Luke 16:22-23—22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. “Was the fact that Lazarus was a beggar the reason he went to Abraham’s bosom?” No, it was because he depended on God to provide even the leftover scraps of the rich man’s meals, indicating that he relied on God for his very existence. “Was the rich man’s wealth the cause of him going into Hades?” Yes, because he relied on his wealth to sustain him, and did not share it with those who needed it. 

A Worldling, wretched, vile and base,/Not subject to restraining grace;

But yielded to his lusts and pride,/And set all fear of God aside.

Though he had riches laid in store,/Yet no compassion on the poor!

A beggar in a helpless state,/Found no assistance at his gate.

The worldling spent his precious days,/In Luxuries, in sports and plays—

While the poor beggar lay distress'd,/With poverty and sores oppress'd.

But to them both it proved strange,/To meet with such a sudden change;

The worldling sent to endless pain,/The beggar plac'd with Christ to reign.

(“A Worldling, Wretched, Vile and Based” by Paul Henkel) 

The poorest 5% of Americans have higher incomes than about 95% of all people who have ever lived. May we always seek to use what we have been given by God to help those less fortunate than us, remembering that we are less fortunate than others. I remember hearing Paul Harvey relate a story about how when he was a kid, his church raised funds to help a family that was having financial troubles. So his family went out and raised money for them; week after week they would collect cans and return them for the deposit, they would go door-to-door to collect money for them, and when the end of the fund raising campaign came, they took all they collected to the church for the family. A few days later his family got a knock at the door. It was the church pastor. And he said to the father that the church was raising money for a family in need. It was his family they were raising money for. His family realized that even with as little as they had, they were still blessed by God. If I can find the story I will post it here. 

20 “You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.” Fearing God is the first thing we must do if we are to think ourselves wise. Solomon tells us this in Proverbs 1:7, 9:10. That the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. How can a man think himself wise if he does not even understand—first that God exists—and that He is the Almighty Ruler, King, Lord, Sovereign Potentate, and that He is above all and holds the entire creation in His hands? He spoke and all was created. He probably used more words than He needed to. And if He wanted to, He could end it all with a snap of His fingers. He is bound by nothing but His own holiness. He never fails, He never sleeps, anything and everything He wants to come to pass will come to pass. Those who scoff at the idea of the Virgin birth of Christ do not realize what an easy thing it was for God to do so. And by minimizing the Almighty power of God, they elevate man to a state he does not deserve. Was Man the crown of all of God’s creation? Yes. But he is still a part of creation, we are not God no matter what Steven Furtick or Creflo Dollar say.

First, Steven Furtick:               

  

It’s always been in you. There’s nobody who can leave my life who can keep God from keeping his covenant with me. I’m not in covenant with a person. I’m not in covenant with a political party.  I’m in covenant with God Almighty! I am God Almighty! 

Creflo Dollar:

 

When the devil shows up in the wilderness experience of your life, then you’ll act just like Jesus. You’ll say, “Get thee behind me, Satan, because I am the Lord Your God!” Hallelujah! “I have authority over you…” It’s time for us to go and dominate this world! It’s time for the body of Christ to start gathering up what belongs to us! 

We laugh at these men (and others like them) when they say such heretical things, but it is sad. Because they are influential to a great many people—people who refer to themselves as Christians (whether they are or not, God knows). And these men are leading these poor people away from the true God and into the worship of themselves by teaching these things. Bottom line—we are not God! We can never be God. We occupy an infinitesimal piece of a little planet in the 1.63398183X10^71 cubic miles of all creation, and to think that we could rule over this creation is ludicrous! I won’t even get started on the many blasphemous ideas about who God is because, quite frankly, even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. So let us remember this one thing—YHVH is God. He alone is God, and there is no other. There can be no other. Because even the 1.63398183X10^71 cubic miles of all creation cannot contain Him, and to think that we could ever have any power to rival His in truly insane. We should fear Him, serve Him, and hold fast to Him. He is our anchor, He is the one who supplies our needs, He is the One who fights for us, He is the one who raises up kings and brings them down. He turns their hearts in whichever direction He decides. 

21 “He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.” Think about the whole of Christian history. All of human history is Christian history because all of creation belongs to Christ. For Christ—according to the flesh—is descended from our first father Adam. From Adam came a long list of descendants including Noah, his son Shem, then Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Judah, then Obed, Jesse, David, Solomon, etc., until that night when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. All of human history belongs to Christ. He created it, He sustains it, and one day He will return and lay final claim to it. He is our praise. He is our God. The Early Church Father Melito of Sardis said as much in 180AD:

 

He that hung up the earth in space was Himself hanged up; He that fixed the heavens was fixed with nails; He that bore up the earth was born up on a tree; the Lord of all was subjected to ignominy in a naked body—God put to death! ... [I]n order that He might not be seen, the luminaries turned away, and the day became darkened—because they slew God, who hung naked on the tree.... This is He who made the heaven and the earth, and in the beginning, together with the Father, fashioned man; who was announced by means of the law and the prophets; who put on a bodily form in the Virgin; who was hanged upon the tree; who was buried in the earth; who rose from the place of the dead, and ascended to the height of heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. 

Who else but God could live a sinless life on this planet? Who else but God could refuse to repay those who did evil to Him? Who else but God could endure all that Christ endured on the earth, then set His face like flint to go to the cross and die an ignominious death for all the world to see? When you read the passages about how the soldiers mocked Him, how the Jews rejected Him, how Herod wanted to see Him perform some parlor trick for his amusement, how those who saw Him on the cross shook their heads and wagged their tongues at Him and ridiculed Him, remember one very important thing—they were doing these things to God! Let me share a few verses from Scripture, edited to show the truth about these things. Matthew 27:29-30—When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on God’s head, and a reed in God’s right hand. And they bowed the knee before God and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they spat on God, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. Mark 15:24—And when they crucified God, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take. Matthew 27:39—And those who passed by blasphemed God, wagging their heads. You see now how much more grave their blasphemies and insults were! The God of all creation and of all history, and these people rejected, mocked, and blasphemed Him to His face! 

This is the God of all. This was the God who called Abraham out of a city in the Chaldees, showed him the land his descendants (who were still several generations away) would dwell in, caused Joseph to be sold into Egypt, brought about a famine that drove his father and 11 brothers to Egypt, kept them there for 430 years, led them out of their slavery with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and would eventually conquer the people dwelling in the Land of Promise by the power of God. Seventy people went down to Egypt, and when they came out 430 years later, they were a nation—a relatively small nation, but a nation nonetheless. By the time they conquered Canaan they had grown in number. Were there 200 trillion billion of them? Of course not. But they had grown to a number previously unimaginable. And it all started with 70 people who went to Egypt. More precisely, it started with one man who came out of Ur of the Chaldees! 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--The Golden Calf (Epilogue)

Last week we surveyed the episode at Mt. Sinai where the people convinced Aaron to make a golden calf to worship. What that episode really shows us is how foolish human beings really are. Many times people construct a “God”—or, an idea about God—and usually this “God” they create is nothing like the true God. The “God” they create doesn't require much out of them, he’ll let them go on living however they want to. And this “God” will brush aside their sins and say “It’s no big deal.” And when you confront these people about some sin they may have in their life—or in the life of someone they love—what these people tend to say is, “Well, that may be your God. But the god I worship doesn't condemn anybody for that.” And, without realizing it, they have hit the nail on the head. They are absolutely right—the god they worship won’t judge anybody or condemn anybody. But that’s because they don’t worship the One, True, Living God, Almighty YHVH. They worship a god of their own making, and what is the term we use to describe worshipping a god of one’s own making?

Of all the sins that are talked about in Scripture, I don’t think there is one that is mentioned more often than idolatry. And I think that is because the world does not know God, or rather, they don’t want to know the true God. So they carve wooden and stone figures and bow to them. And this too shows how utterly foolish we humans are. These people who bow down to statues are worshipping something made by human hands—a block of wood or stone that was, for all intents and purposes, destroyed so it could be worshipped. They worship something that’s broken. Does that make sense? In Isaiah 40-46, God goes into this lengthy, intense diatribe against the sin of idolatry. Especially Isaiah 44. Listen to Isaiah 44:14-17—14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak; he secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it shall be for a man to burn, for he will take some of it and warm himself; yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; indeed he makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 16 He burns half of it in the fire; with this half he eats meat; he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire." 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" Those who worship trees and rocks and think there is such beauty in them—they are missing out on the beauty that is God. One more verse before we get to today’s text, Psalm 29:2—Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 

That said, we are going to begin with the merciful judgment of God. Exodus 32:27-29—27 And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother." Now, notice something here. In verse 29, what does God command the sons of Levi to do? “Put on your sword, and kill your brother.” But, in verse 29, Moses says that if the people repent, what might God do? "So He may bless you." Whenever and wherever there are righteous people surrounded by unrighteous people, and God has set His mind on destroying the wicked—but He does not want to destroy the righteous—He is perfectly capable of delivering those righteous ones. Listen to 2nd Peter 2:4-9—4 If God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction…7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked…9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. If God were to send a lightning bolt to zap the person next to you for saying something foul—don’t worry. If God doesn't want to hit you, He won’t--he’s got really good aim. So in these commands of God, where first we see the order to destroy every idolater, and then in the next breath Moses tells the people that if they repent God may still bestow a blessing on them, we see what the apostle Paul refers to in Romans 11:22—Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. God knows how to destroy the wicked and preserve the righteous. 

Next we see Moses’ desire to see Israel become a great nation—even at his own expense. Back in Exodus 32:11-13, Moses pleaded with the LORD to not completely wipe these people out. And even though God relented of the harm He said He would do—that may have delayed the deaths of the idolaters who repented, but it did not take away their sin. And that is what Moses pleads for here, in Exodus 32:30-32—30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." 31 Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." If you recall, last week God gave Moses a proposition—“Let Me wipe them all out and start over with you.” And Moses had the right to say, and could have very easily said, “Hmm…not a bad idea there. Let’s do it!” But in his spirit, Moses knows it’s not all about Moses. Yes, there will be times when his temper gets the better of him. But, like King David, the pattern of his life is one that is devoted to God and His righteousness, as well as to the people of God, leading them in righteousness. And nothing is more important to Moses than the name and the glory and the holiness of God. The one attribute of God that is greater than any other is His holiness. Not His love, but His holiness. And because of His righteousness, and to display His holiness, when He makes a promise—He keeps it.

For example, when Jehoram becomes king of Judah, and he kills his brothers and many of the princes of Jerusalem, God could have easily killed him and his children. But, listen to 2nd Chronicles 21:6-7—6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done..., for he had the daughter of Ahab as a a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. 7 Yet the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. As Moses pleaded with God, in Exodus 32:13—“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” When God makes a promise, He keeps it. Titus 1:2—God, who cannot lie. Not “does not lie” or “will not lie”—CANNOT lie.

And here, once again, we see the simultaneous judgment and mercy of God. The people have sinned—something has to die. But God is also merciful and patient, and Moses pleads with God, saying, “LORD, you know these people. These are Your people. I know these people should bear Your judgment. But rather than visit Your judgment on all of them, allow ME to suffer the punishment THEY deserve.” This is the same plea that the apostle Paul himself made in Romans 9:2-3—2 I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh. Did Moses take part in making that golden cow? And yet he begs God to punish him and him alone for the sins of the many people who committed that sin. Hmmm…one who did not commit sin, but asked to be punished for the sins of others. Sound like anybody we know? 2nd Corinthians 5:21—[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So you can see how Moses is growing in his office as mediator for the people of Israel. He may not realize it, the people definitely don’t realize it, but he is becoming a “type” or “visual prophecy” of Christ who is our mediator and was truly punished for our sins.

Now, the people did not become the righteousness of God by way of Moses or the Law, but we do become the righteousness of God in Christ. John Calvin—

“[Christ] assumed our place, that he might be a criminal in our room, and might be dealt with as a sinner, not for his own offenses, but for those of others, since he was pure and exempt from every fault, and might endure the punishment that was due to us—not to himself. It is in the same manner, assuredly, that we are now righteous in him—[not because we have rendered any] satisfaction to the justice of God by our own works, but because we are judged in connection with Christ’s righteousness, which we have put on by faith, that it might become ours.”

So Moses pleads with God to not only spare the physical lives of these people, but to spare them from the eternal punishment they deserved.

Which brings us to God actually demonstrating His ability to punish the wicked and spare the righteous. Exodus 32:33-35—33 And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin." 35 So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made. It’s simple—when a person sins, something has to die. Romans 6:23—The wages of sin is death. Ezekiel 18:20—The soul who sins shall die. Either that person dies, or something dies in their place. Period, paragraph. That fact would be driven home to those people for the next 1500 years or so. When day after day after day after day, week after week after week after week, year after year after year after year, they would take their animal, take it to the priest, the priest would kill it, cut it up and burn it for one simple reason—sin. There was a lot of blood, a lot of dead animals, a lot of burning carcasses and washing intestines and everything else that went with the office of priest, for one reason—sin. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:21—For Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 

Now, this principle did not stop when the old covenant with its sacrifices and offerings was replaced by the new covenant in Christ. That’s the bad news. The Good News—and what word do we use that means “Good News”? The gospel is that this principle found its fulfillment in the death of Christ. Hebrews 9:8-15—8 The way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.  11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. The blood of bulls and goats, which were offered under the old covenant, only covered over sins—it did not take them away. That blood was symbolic of the blood that Christ would shed which would completely take away and forgive sins—not just for the time being, not just until you sin again—but forever. How many times did Christ enter the Holiest of All in the Heavens? Hebrews 9:12—Once for all. Christ went into the Holiest of All, in the Heavens, the one not made with hands, and presented Himself as the sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe. Once for all. Not over and over and over and over again—a point the writer of Hebrews makes in Hebrews 9:25—Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another. He went in their once—it’s done.

So, this brings us now to Exodus 33:1-6—1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' 2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people." 4 And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the children of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.'" 6 So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. Does He tell the people, “Go into the lands, learn their cultures, soften your tone with them, be sensitive to their felt needs, and bring them under the tent. Because I am God, and God is love.” No! He says, “I'm gonna drive the inhabitants of these idolatrous nations out of their land and give it to you.” 

That is the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac and Israel—does God keep His promises? And if we were to read through Joshua we would see that God does just that. But God would tell the people that not only was He going to drive out the idolaters, they were to have nothing to do with them or their ways. Exodus 34:11-16—“11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.” And all the people did exactly that and they lived happily ever after. Right? Wrong. After the book of Joshua, with the conquests of the lands, comes the book of Judges—and I think we all know what happens there. But sadly, many churches today have forgotten that we are supposed to be different from the world.

Are we supposed to walk around in sackcloth and ashes? Not hardly. But should a worship service—where the people are supposed to be worshipping God—should that service feature the “praise band” playing music form AC/DC? Or The Beatles? Or Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places”? Yet these are the kinds of music that many “Seeker-Sensitive” churches are playing during their services. Like, for example, the fellow pictured below. 2nd Corinthians 6:14 (NASB)—Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Should a lost person be able to walk into a church and be hammered on and beaten down because they're lost? In no way! BUT—should that church be a place where the lost person can feel as if the way they are living and the sin they are holding on to is OK? In no way. The lost person entering a church building should be made welcome—but they should also be discipled and taught that sin is sin and without Christ they are lost. And as Peter said, 1st Peter 3:15—Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. What is the fruit of the Spirit? Galatians 5:22-23—22 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. That is how we are to lead the lost to Christ. Not by beating them over the head, but by gently and patiently leading them. Not by embracing their sin and incorporating it into what is supposed to be a time of worshipping God. That is why God told the people not to enter into any covenants with the pagan nations, because He knew if they did the pagans would have more of an effect on the Israelites than the Israelites would have on the pagans. Or, as Paul said in 1st Corinthians 15:33—Bad company corrupts good morals. 

Exodus 33:7-10—7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. How many ways did the people have of seeking God? Exodus 33:8—Everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. How many entrances did the curtain around the tabernacle courtyard have? ONE. How many entrances were there into the Tent of Meeting? In fact, how many entrances were there into the Garden of Eden? Genesis 3:24—So God drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. There was only one way in and out of the Garden of Eden. Now, how many ways are there into the presence of God the Father today? John 14:6—“I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” God hasn’t changed in this regard in 6000 years of human history. If you want to have access to Him, you do it HIS way. Yet there are many who hold fanciful notions, and teach them to others, that they can somehow gain some “new insight” and some kind of new revelation about how to reach God. Rodney Howard Browne’s “ministry” supposedly got started when he said to God, “Either You come down here and touch me, or I will come up there and touch You.” Wow, a God that can be bossed around. Can God be bossed around and have His arm twisted to make Him give us what we want? No. Yet there are many who teach that. They're making a ton of money. The people that listen to them and send them their money—not so much. That is a false idea about God. And what term did we use earlier to describe false ideas about God? Not banging the gavel on these people—just a warning to be careful about what you hear. Even if it’s me saying it. There is ever only one way to God. It’s either HIS way or it’s no way.

Exodus 33:11— 11 So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Let me just say a little about the phrase “face to face.” You will hear skeptics say, “In Exodus 33:20 God says no one can see His face and live! That’s a contradiction!” On the flip side, the Mormon relies on Joseph Smith’s “First Vision” as “proof” that he was a prophet. Joseph Smith supposedly saw, in his “First Vision”, God the Father and Jesus Christ. And when we mention that “In Exodus 33:20 God says no one can see His face and live! Joseph’s vision is a contradiction!” They say “Well, yeah, but it also says that Moses spoke with God face-to-face.” That defense is also used by those with fanciful ideas about God. But the phrase “face-to-face” is an unfortunate product of the evolution of the English language. “Face to face” in this instance does not mean that God revealed His face to Moses—that would indeed be a contradiction. What this refers to is the mode of communication by which God spoke with Moses. How did God descend on the tent in Exodus 33:9—The pillar of cloud would descend…and the LORD would speak with Moses. The first time God communicated with Moses—how did He do it? Through the burning bush. But here, He’s simply speaking to Moses as a man speaks to his friend. So “face to face” means that God was not speaking through an intermediary, or an angel or any other medium. He was communicating with Moses personally. Today we use cell phones and texting and e-mail. God spoke with Moses as we are doing right now. No one in between, no vision, dream, etc. Just God speaking with His friend. 

Exodus 33:12-23—12 Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people!' But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, 'I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' 13 Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people." 14 And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" 17 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." 18 Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" 19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" 21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen." 

Anybody know what old church hymn comes from this passage? Does God set boundaries? Are there consequences for stepping over those boundaries? If God promises to do something will He do it? So if Moses caught a glimpse of God’s uncovered glory, what would have happened? Look at Moses’ plea in Exodus 33:18 (KJV)—“I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory!” He doesn't say, “I'm going to see your glory or else!” He doesn't try to boss God around. He wants so badly to know God, but is humble enough to know that if God doesn't want to fully reveal Himself, He won’t. Matthew Henry—

“Moses had lately been in the mount with God, had continued there a great while, and had enjoyed as intimate a communion with God as ever any man had on this side heaven; and yet he is still desiring a further acquaintance. All that are effectually called to the knowledge of God and fellowship with him, though they desire nothing more than God, are nevertheless still coveting more and more of him, till they come to see as they are seen. Moses had wonderfully prevailed with God for one favour after another, and the success of his prayers emboldened him to go on still to seek God; the more he had the more he asked: when we are in a good frame at the throne of grace, we should endeavour to preserve and improve it, and strike while the iron is hot: “Show me thy glory; make me to see it” (so the word is); “make it some way or other visible, and enable me to bear the sight of it.” Not that he was so ignorant as to think God's essence could be seen with bodily eyes; but, having [until now] only heard a voice out of a pillar of cloud or fire, he desired to see some representation of the divine glory, such as God saw fit to gratify him with.”

But one day we will see God in all His glory. Not in this life or in this body. But, as it says in 1st John 2:28-3:2—28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. Moses could not see the glory of God with his own eyes. But I dare say he’s seeing it now. And we will one day as well.

Jesus Christ is Lord
Amen.