Exodus and the Law

Years later this son Isaac had his own son named Jacob—his name was later changed to Israel— meaning “struggler with God”. The Hebrews would then be called the people of Israel after Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons. One of his sons, named Joseph, ended up living in Egypt. (Joseph’s story is an interesting one for another time…) Joseph invited his family to join him to escape a horrible famine that covered all the land. While living in Egypt, the people of Israel grew into a large nation. After Joseph died, the King of Egypt named Pharaoh, feared Israel because of their great numbers. He treated them horribly and made Israel his slaves. Their slavery lasted 400 years. But God promised he would bless his people…

Deliverance and the Instructions

(Story from Genesis 37-50, Exodus 1-2, 7-12, 19-20)

God inspired a man named Moses to rescue the Israelites from slavery. He sent Moses to warn Pharaoh that terrible things would happen to the Egyptians if they didn’t release God’s people. Pharaoh was arrogant and didn’t listen, so God sent a series of horrible plagues to punish the Egyptians, but these plagues did not affect the Israelites.

God turned water to blood, filled the nation with frogs, gnats and flies, killed livestock, covered people in boils, destroyed the land with hail and locusts, and brought great darkness over the land.

In spite of these horrific events, Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. So God sent one more plague…a plague that would take the life of every firstborn person and animal in Egypt. But God provided a way for the firstborn of Israel to be spared.

He instructed them to take a first-born male lamb without defect, and sacrifice it to him without breaking any of its bones. Then, they were to take the blood from the lamb and put it on the doorposts of their homes. So the people of Israel did what God told them to do.

At midnight God sent the death angel through Egypt taking the life of all the firstborn, but passing over the homes that had blood on their doorposts. The Egyptians wept over this tragedy and begged the Israelites to leave, releasing them from their slavery. And now Israel, a large nation of over two million people, set out to return to the land God promised to Abraham.

But Pharaoh wanted revenge—he sent his armies after Israel to catch them and kill them. When the Israelites approached the Red Sea they thought they were trapped by the waters and would be caught by the Egyptians. But God split the waters so that the Israelites could cross the river on dry ground.

When Pharaoh’s armies tried to cross behind them, God brought a huge wind that blew the waters back over them. The Egyptian Army was completely wiped out!

Two months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites set up camp at the bottom of Mount Sinai. God descended onto the mountain in fire and a thick cloud of smoke covered the mountain. God called Moses into his presence on the top of the mountain. There, God spoke to him saying, “Tell my people this, ‘You saw how I carried you on eagles wings and rescued you from Egypt. Now if you obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured people—a kingdom of priests—set apart to represent me.”

When Moses came down the mountain he told the people what God said.

They all agreed, “We will do everything that God asks us to do. No really, we will follow all the commands.”

After that God gave Moses instructions on how the people could return to following his ways and live in freedom, a life lived close to God and under his protection. We call these instructions the Ten Commandments, which were God’s basic rules for life…

“I am your God who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.

Put me above everything else. Do not make idols or worship other things.

Do not misuse or disrespect my name.

Remember the Sabbath, a day set aside each week to rest and worship me.

Honor your parents. Don’t murder or steal or lie.

Do not sleep with any one but your husband or wife—be faithful.

Don’t lust after what others have—be satisfied with what I give you.”

God gave Moses more instructions, called laws, to give to Israel. These laws gave specific details about things like…

How to treat neighbors and enemies, how to handle conflicts, what is fair punishment, when to work and rest, when to celebrate and worship, and what offerings are acceptable to God.

But the people did not want to live within God’s boundaries and rebelled again, calling these instructions a new kind of slavery. Even those who tried to obey these rules found they could not keep them perfectly.

Because God always does what is good, right and perfect, he could not overlook their sins and the ultimate punishment for sin was death. A life must be given to pay for each person’s disobedience. But God loved his people, so he provided a way for them to substitute the life of an innocent animal in place of their own.

People would bring pure animals to God, asking him to transfer their sins to the helpless animal. The animal was killed and its blood was given in place of the guilty person.

This system of sacrifice continued for hundreds of years. Sacrifices for sins had to be given day after day, year after year. And God accepted this, but only as a symbol of what was to come. He was preparing a final sacrifice that would pay for the world’s sins once and for all.

The Kings and Prophets

(Story from Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 2 Samuel, 2 Kings, Prophecies from 2 Samuel 7; Isaiah 7, 9, 40, 53, 61; Psalm 22; Micah 5; Zachariah 12)

After wandering the desert for forty years, God led the people of Israel to recapture the Promised Land from their enemies. God gave them many victories in battle, and completely honored his promises to them—but the people rejected him and worshipped false gods. This false worship led them into many other sins.

Because of their sin and disobedience, God removed his protection and allowed them to be overpowered and punished by foreign nations. When the people suffered they would come back to God and beg for his help and forgiveness. God once again forgave them and sent leaders, called judges, to lead them in defeating their enemies. (These are not like judges we have today, but more like generals). Battle after battle, Israel conquered their enemies at every border. In victory the people would worship God, but soon after that the people turned away from God again and lived their own way.

Unfortunately, this became a pattern from generation to generation… the people of Israel would come to God and worship him when they needed help, but when things were going well, they returned to worshipping other things. This was a time where everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

Since kings ruled other nations, the people of Israel complained to God saying, “We want a human king that we can see to rule over us.” God gave the people what they wanted and allowed them to be ruled by a succession of human kings that ultimately rebelled against God and his authority. Because of their rebellion, God removed his protection from Israel and allowed other nations to come in and conquer them. The Israelites were forced out of the Promised Land and many were taken away to be slaves once again.

During the time of these kings, God sent prophets to be his messengers. God spoke through the prophets, calling people to return to his ways and follow his commandments. The prophets warned Israel of what would happen if they continued to rebel against God. Prophets also foretold of a new covenant God would make with his people. They pointed people to a coming Messiah, an eternal king who would fulfill this covenant, save them and rule forever. God gave the prophets visions of what the Messiah would be like when he came.

Prophets like Isaiah foretold that…

…a virgin would give birth to him in Bethlehem.

…he would be from the line of King David, (their greatest King) who was a descendent of Abraham.

…he would do no wrong, living a life without sin.

…he would be beaten, killed and buried in a rich man’s tomb.

…his life would be made an offering for our sin.

…he would establish a kingdom like no other Israel had ever known.

…he would fulfill every promise God had made to Abraham, Isaac and their descendants.

…God will lay the punishment and guilt for all of our sins on him. His life will be made an offering for us.

…because of him, many will be made right with God.

Despite the warnings of the prophets, the people of Israel stopped listening to God, and God did not speak to humans again for 400 hundred years…

(Today’s post is from: The Storyformed Way is a derivative of The Story of God © Copyright 2003-2006 Michael Novelli & Caesar Kalinowski, all rights reserved. This derivative was created and distributed with permission. You are free to use, remix, and build upon this work non-commercially if you attribute Soma Communities. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)

A People of God

The earth felt new again, for Noah’s family everything was different. Yes the luxuries of life before the flood were gone, the comforts they had become accustomed to. However, instead of violence there was peace, instead of wicked cultures there was a family of faith. The state of the earth was as close to the Garden of Eden as it had ever been.  

Noah’s family began to repopulate the earth. Cities began being built, commerce was thriving and all the people spoke one language. In spite of the stories of God’s judgment and the flood, even in spite of the Rainbow in the sky, the people forgot about God. Their ambitions echoed the fall of Lucifer, “let us make a name for ourselves.”

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”  As God looked on, He saw how they had forgotten Him and were making a place of worship for themselves, and knew He had to take action.

The whole earth spoke one language, so God gave them many languages, which confused their efforts. The people began breaking up into their new language groups and dispersed all over the world. It was called the Tower of Babel for that is where the many languages came from.

Within a few generations, there were many nations and many languages. God developed a special relationship with one man, Abram. God established a covenant with Abram, a deep and lasting agreement between the two of them.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)

This was an amazing promise! God was promising to bless the entire world through one man and his descendants. There was just one problem, Sarai, Abram’s wife was unable to have children. Abram was already 75 years old and Sarai was 65. How could their descendants be the fulfillment of this promise?

God led Abram out of Ur and to a new land, the land of Canaan. “Look Abram, as far as you can see in all directions, this is the land I have given to you and your descendants.” Because of God’s promise, this land was now known as “The Promised Land.”

Many years passed and one day Abram said to God, “what is the good of all these blessings you have given me if I have no child to pass them on to? I am old and soon will have to make my servant my heir.” God responded to Abram, “No Abram, you will have a son who will inherit everything I have promised to you.”

God took Abram out one clear night and said, “Abram look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. This will be like your family, too many to count.” Abram believed God by faith in His promises and it was counted as righteousness to him.

“I am the Lord and I called you out of Ur to give you this land.” Abram asked, “How shall I know that I will possess the land?” The Lord told Abram to gather animals for a blood covenant, a type of covenant that is binding between the two of them. Animals would be cut in half and the two parties would walk between to represent the significance of the covenant, “may this happen to me if I do not fulfill my part.”

As evening came, God caused Abram to fall asleep, and said “your descendants will be wanders in a land that does not belong to them, and serve others for 400 years, but after they will come out with great wealth and possess this land. You however will die in peace, living to a good old age.” 

And then God thought, there is no one greater than I, so I shall swear by myself (Hebrews 6:13-18). And the Lord walked through the slain animals, bearing the full weight of the covenant. 

More time has passed and still Abram and Sarai had no son. Sarai grew very impatient and doubted God’s promise. She asked her Egyptian servant girl, Hagar, to be a surrogate mother for her. Maybe this is what God meant. Abram agreed to the plan. Soon Hagar became pregnant with a boy named Ishmael. This caused a terrible strain on Sarai and Hagar’s relationship. Hagar despised Sarai, and Sarai had Hagar and Ishmael sent away from the family.

When Abram was 99, God visited with him and said, “I am the almighty God, serve me with your entire life and live a blameless life that I may make my covenant with you and multiply you greatly! I am changing your name from Abram to Abraham, which means ‘father of many nations.’ I will always be your God and you will always be my people. I am also changing your wife’s name from Sarai to Sarah, which means ‘mother of many nations’. By this time next year she will be blessed with a son and you shall call his name Isaac.”

Abraham and Sarah both had difficulty believing that they could be parents in their old age, they even laughed at the thought. Abraham wondered, “how can I be a father at 100 years old? How can Sarah be a mother at 90 years old?” Sarah thought, “How can a worn out and tired old woman like me be a mother, and my husband is even older then I am!”

Abraham asked God, “why don’t you just pass your blessing to my son Ishmael?” But God asked Abraham, “Why did you laugh? Is anything too difficult for me? About a year from now you will have a son. Through Isaac I will pass on my blessing, not through your servant’s child!”

Sure enough, in just about a year Sarah gave birth to Isaac, exactly as God had said. The birth of Isaac was the beginning of the promise God made to Abraham. God desired for Abraham’s descendants, called the Hebrews, to be a new kind of people who showed the world what it means to live God’s way.

This wouldn’t be the last time that God Almighty used a miraculous birth to bless the world. And it was through Abraham’s descendants that this future blessing would come.

Today's story comes from Genesis 11-18, 21

(Today’s post is adapted from: The Storyformed Way is a derivative of The Story of God © Copyright 2003-2006 Michael Novelli & Caesar Kalinowski, all rights reserved. This derivative was created and distributed with permission. You are free to use, remix, and build upon this work non-commercially if you attribute Soma Communities. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)

Sinful Humanity

Two Brothers - Genesis 4; 1 John 3:12; Hebrews 11:4; Hebrews 12:24

It didn’t take long for the reality of life outside the Garden to settle in. Gone were those tranquil evenings and the long walks through the perfect garden. Here to stay was the toil and tears of a broken and fallen world.

Though outside the Garden, God still had a mandate and a plan for Adam and Eve, to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. They began to have children, first Cain who grew up to be a farmer and then Abel, who grew to be a shepherd. They had other sons and daughters too. 

Adam and Eve had no idea the amount of suffering and pain their choice to eat the forbidden fruit would cost them and all generations to come. The harsh consequences of their choice would soon become very plain to them as they watch the effect it had on their own boys. They raised them to know God, the Creator, who gave them breath. They told them of the walks in the Garden, of the Fall, and of God’s promise of redemption. They told them to worship God by offering up a sacrifice from a pure heart.

One day, Cain brought some fruit from his harvest to offer to God for his offering, Abel, by faith, brought the first born of his flock for a sacrifice. God rejected Cain’s offering and had favor on Abel’s, teaching that pure worship is defined by God, not by us. This made Cain very mad, for he had aligned himself with the evil one. 

God asked Cain, “why are you mad? If you do what is right, won’t it be accepted? Be aware, sin is crouching at your door. It desires you but you must rule over it!”

God warned Cain about his anger, but Cain disregarded God’s voice. He set up a meeting with Abel in the field on day, and when Abel showed up, Cain committed an evil deed and murdered him! This is the first murder in all of human history!

Shortly after, God asked Cain, “where is your brother?” “I don’t know, am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain replied.

“What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground! You are now cursed from the ground and it will not produce for you. You are now to be considered a vagabond and a fugitive on this earth.”

“This punishment is too great for me, I cannot bear it! You have removed me from my land and from your face. All who see me will kill me!”

“No! If anyone kills you, vengeance will be taken on them sevenfold!” said the Lord!

And God put a mark of protection on Cain and he left the presence of the Lord and moved east of Eden. In one day, Adam and Eve lost two of their sons, one to murder one to exile. The burden of eating that fruit is unbearable.

Not long after, Adam and Eve had another son and called him Seth. Eve said, “God has appointed for me to have another son instead of Abel, for Cain has killed him. It was after this that people began to call on the name of the Lord. Eve knew that God would be faithful to His promise to send a Savior through her seed to overcome the evil one. Abel’s blood cried out of the ground for vengeance, but the Savior’s blood would cry out for redemption. 

The Flood - Genesis 4-9; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5

Adam and Eve continued to have children, and their children had children. Soon the number of humans began to grow rapidly, and Adam and Eve’s sin spread throughout all generations.

As their numbers grew, mankind continued to drift farther and farther from the Garden and the presence of God. Although they were created in the image of God, they chose to disobey God and pursue their own devices. They began acting out of violence with one another. God saw the wickedness of the people and knew that every intention of their hearts were sinful.

His heart was broken and He regretted that He had ever made mankind.

“I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things  and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

But a man named Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord!

Noah had a close relationship with the Lord and was the only blameless man on all the earth! So God told Noah, “I am going to cover the earth with a flood, destroying every living thing. But I will keep you safe!”

The Lord told Noah to build an ark, a really big boat. God said to him, “Make a boat from wood and seal it with tar, inside and out. Then build many decks and stalls for animals inside of it. I promise to keep you safe in this ark! A pair of every kind of animal–a male and female–will come to you to be kept alive. You will also bring seven pairs of animals that I approved for you to eat and sacrifice. And remember, take enough food for your family and for all the animals.”

As Noah and his boys were building the ark, Noah preached to the people to repent and turn to the Lord for safety. They mock and ridiculed him for his flood warning, as it had never rained before.

Noah followed God’s plan precisely and when it was complete, God brought the animals to the ark. When it was fully loaded and Noah and his family boarded the ark, the rains came. Water burst up from the ground and poured down from the sky, covering the entire earth! Everyone and everything outside of the ark was destroyed, only Noah and his family survived.

For 40 days and 40 nights it rained down, but then it stopped. For months Noah’s ark floated along as the floodwaters began to subside. Noah sent out a raven and it quickly returned. Later he sent out a dove, and he was overjoyed that it returned with an olive leaf in its beak.  Finally one day, after the ark had settled on top of mount Ararat, Noah sent out a dove, when it didn’t return he looked out and saw dry land.

God said, “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, your sons and their wives and all the animals. Fill the earth and multiply.”

The first thing Noah did when he left the ark was to build and alter and sacrifice one of every clean animal unto the Lord. God was pleased with the aroma and said, “I will establish this covenant with you, that I will never again curse the earth, destroying every living thing with a flood, even though people’s thoughts and actions are bent toward sin from birth.”

“I have put all the animals under your control, but have put the fear of man in them. You can use them for food, but you must not eat the lifeblood in the animal. I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. Life is in the blood and all of life belongs to me!”

God also said, “See I have placed this rainbow in the sky whenever it rains. It will be a reminder to me of the covenant I have made with you and all generations of mankind.”

Even in His wrath against sin, God provided a way of escape. For Noah it was the ark. For us today, God has provided His Son Jesus Christ as our way of escape. Do you trust Him?

(Today’s post is adapted from: The Storyformed Way is a derivative of The Story of God © Copyright 2003-2006 Michael Novelli & Caesar Kalinowski, all rights reserved. This derivative was created and distributed with permission. You are free to use, remix, and build upon this work non-commercially if you attribute Soma Communities. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)

In The Beginning...

Perhaps the most captivating words ever written to invoke a sense of curiosity, wonder and attentiveness. The “beginning” begs questions. When was it? How did we get here? How do I balance theology and science? Is the Bible right or is modern scientific teaching?

We often want to run straight into the Creation/Evolution debate and in the defensive posture we miss the most exciting part. Think of when you were a child and your parents grabbed a book and began to read…”once upon a time.” What was your response? Or when you are watching Star Wars and the prologue begins, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” what emotions were invoked?

Excitement? An expectation of thrill and wonder? Precisely!

Though I am one who enjoys a good philosophical dialogue or a theological debate, which there is a time for that. But first, opening up the Bible and reading the first words should invoke the curiosity of our hearts as we begin to read the Story of God!

Do you remember the scene from Princess Bride, when the little boys grandfather says he has come to read him a book on his sick day from school? The boy’s first response was, “this is going to be boring!” and he was full of complaints, even critical of his grandfather. However, as the story progressed he was drawn into it. In the end, the boy asks his grandfather if he would like to come read it to him again.

A good story will draw you in, it will captivate you and you will desire it more. Too often we forget that the Bible is the Story of God. It is the Story He wrote before the foundations of the World. It is the Story of His love for you. Come to it with wonder and expectation. Allow yourself to be overcome with the story. Return to that time as a child that you could not wait for story time. Listen to the voice of the Author describe the Hero and reveal His love for you.

In the beginning…

The Artist was there. Nothing else. It was an immense dark canvas of emptiness. He gazed into the void and saw something. A glimmer in His eyes and the smile on His face revealed the joy He saw in the expanse.

If you could’ve looked into that canvas at that moment, you would have saw…nothing. The void would be too great. Imagine looking into non-existence itself and trying to see something. You could not, for you are finite.

Yet the infinite eternal Artist could see beyond the emptiness. He saw. And what He saw was amazing, so amazing that He wanted to share it with others before He even began His work. He spoke a word and a host of angelic beings became the audience for the Artist. 

 

The angelic host watched in amazement as the Artist began with a Word! He spoke “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” The bystanders could not even describe the experience. His Word was like a song, so beautiful and so powerful. As He spoke, it wasn’t just saying the word; it was as if His Word was the substance He was speaking. The brilliance of the glory of the Artist illuminated the dark canvas for the very first time. He separated the light and the darkness and created the first day. Time, as we know it, began in an instant, with a Word. The Angels could not hold back as they watched, but they sang praises to the Artist as He created.

Each day the angelic crowd waited in anticipation to watch as the Artist created with the power of His Word. On day two, His Word separated the oceans from the sky. He gathered the waters and made dry land. On the dry land, He spoke into existence plants and trees, which produced seeds according to their kind and this completed the third day.

On day four, the Artist stepped back from the earth and hung ornaments in the sky that brilliantly lit up the tapestry of the universe. The next day, the Artist filled the waters and seas with fish, the sky with birds, and the dry land with all kinds of animals. After each day, the Artist stepped back and reflected on His work and said, “This is good!”

With every new day, came new chorus of praise and worship. The Angles rejoiced in bringing glory to the Artist.

The First Humans

On the morning of the sixth day, the Artist’s demeanor changed from the joyous and happy expression He had been creating with. For a moment there was a deep sorrow, pain and hesitation. Only those angels close enough could hear the still small voice of the Artist that willed a “YES!” With that, the Artist’s joyfulness returned and He motioned for the crowd to see what was coming next.

The Artist spoke to Himself, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, and they will care for my creation.” To the surprise of the crowd, He knelt down on the dry land that He spoke into existence. He used His hands and got dirty and formed a man from the dust of the earth. He leaned over him and breathed his own breath into him, giving him life. The Artist called this man Adam.

Later, the Artist made the first woman, Eve, from one of Adam’s ribs, to be a companion and helper for him. Male and female, the Artist created them to be in His image, the Imago Dei.

The Artist created a very special garden, Eden, for Adam and Eve to attend to. It was the perfect paradise for the first humans. It had everything the ever needed or could desire. In the center of the garden, the Artist, planted two very special trees. One was the Tree of Life and the other was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Artist established only one rule for them, “you can eat of any tree in the garden, except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” With the warning that if they did eat from it, they would surely die.

From the very first day, Adam and Eve realized that the Artist created them to be with Him. They were amazed that the Artist spent so much time with them. It wasn’t that the Artist needed them, because He didn’t need anything…He was the Artist. They were overwhelmed that He would desire to spend time with them. The Artist would spend time on the cool of the day walking and talking with them. He created them to live abundant life under His protection forever.

Now the canvas was no longer empty, but full. Not just with brilliant colors, but with life! The Artist had left His fingerprints all throughout creation, but especially in those He created in His Image to reflect Him. He reflected on His handiwork and said, “this is VERY GOOD!”

The Artist rested on the seventh day and set it as a day of rest.

Disruption

 With each day of creation, one of the Angles, Lucifer, watched the angelic host praise the Artist as He displayed His creativity. This is what the angels were created for. The praise He received was intoxicating to Lucifer. He wanted the other angels, and even the Artist himself, to praise him.

Lucifer gathered the angelic host and claimed, I will be like the Artist, I will sit upon His throne and I will be God. A third of the angels began to follow Lucifer. Lucifer and his angels rebelled against the Artist.  Any rebellion against God is called sin. The Artist, God, cannot and will not allow sin in His presence. So God, expelled Lucifer, now calling him Satan, and his followers, now called demons, to the earth waiting for their final judgment.

It didn’t take long for Satan to own his new persona. He knew how much God, the Artist, loved His creation, especially those humans. If he could get Adam and Eve to worship him then he could replace God. Satan knew that all he really needed to do is get them to disobey God’s one command. Disobedience, like rebellion, is a sin against God and would require punishment.

Satan took control of a serpent and entered the garden of Eden. He found Eve and said, “Did God really say you must not eat of any of the fruit of the garden?”

Eve told him, “No, we can eat of any tree in the garden. Only we cannot eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil, or even touch it, or we will die.”

The serpent responded with, “you won’t die! God knows your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.”

When she saw that it was good it looked and delicious it was and that it would make her wise, she took it and ate it. She offered it to Adam and he ate it too. Adam and Eve both chose not to believe God, the Artist who gave them breath, but disobeyed and ate the fruit. Instantly their eyes were opened and their hearts filled with shame and fear. They ran and gathered fig leaves to cover their nakedness.

Later that evening, they heard God walking in the garden and, for the first time, they hid from Him. “Where are you?” God called to Adam. “I heard you coming and was afraid because I was naked, so I hid,” replied Adam. God said, “Why are you ashamed of being naked? Did you eat the fruit I told you not to eat?” Adam pushed the blame on Eve saying, “It was the woman you gave me. She gave me the fruit.”

Then God said to Eve, “How could you do this?” Eve blamed the serpent saying, “the serpent tricked me into eating the fruit.”

So God said to the serpent, “because you have done this evil thing, you will crawl on your belly and will eat dust all the days of your life. You will be the enemy of the woman and her children. You will bite His heel, but He will crush your head.” Here God gave the very first promise of redemption.

God said to Eve, “because of your rebellion you will experience pain in child birth and your desire will be against your husband.”

God said to Adam, “because you disobeyed my command and listened to your wife, the ground will be cursed under you. Through pain and toil you will work it and one day you will return to the dust you came from.”

The Artist’s heart was broken over their disobedience, but He could not overlook what they had done. God always does what is good, right and perfect. His perfection required that there is punishment for rebellion. So God threw Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, lest they eat of the Tree of Life and live forever in their sin. No longer following God’s way, they were removed from His protection and subject to pain, sickness and even death.

However, God continued to love Adam and Eve. He sacrificed an animal and made skins to cover their nakedness. Their sin led to the death of an animal to provide coverings. Little did they realize the picture that God, the eternal Artist, was painting with this sacrifice as one day He would send His own Son to provide the ultimate sacrifice for their sins, covering them with His own righteousness.

[This week's story taken from: Genesis 1-3; Job 38; Isaiah 14; Revelation 12; Psalm 8; Psalm 19]

(Today’s post is adapted from: The Storyformed Way is a derivative of The Story of God © Copyright 2003-2006 Michael Novelli & Caesar Kalinowski, all rights reserved. This derivative was created and distributed with permission. You are free to use, remix, and build upon this work non-commercially if you attribute Soma Communities. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)

Heart Burn...The Good Kind

Have someone ever told you something so scandalous that you couldn’t believe it to be true? Not they exaggeration, or hyperbolic language, but a statement of fact that seems utterly ridiculous and therefore your initial reaction is to deem it untrue.

Say I told you that a man in his 60’s who is a father and a grandfather is now a woman. Oh wait, that story is being told all over the media and internet with Bruce Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover story. Once a subject that would never have been given credence is now being preached in such a way that you are considered an idiot if you don’t accept it.  However, this post is not my opinion about that particular topic (maybe some other article), but about your feelings and thoughts at something scandalous.

What if the scandal isn’t challenging societal norms or morals? What if it is challenging the very way we view the world? What about when science debunked the accepted view that the earth is flat? Only to realize that science was just telling people what God had already stated in Isaiah 40:22. The significance of understanding the world is a sphere changes everything. Sailors, who were once afraid of falling off the edge of the world, now could sail around the world. And so many other changes.

What responses do we have? Dismiss it? Alarm? Fear? Uncertainty? Unsettled? Hopeful? Admiration? As different as our personalities are will provoke different emotions to news that is hard for most to understand.

The Road to Emmaus

In Luke 24:13-35 we encounter two disciples who were wrestling with news that completely ruptured their understanding of reality. So much so that they didn’t know what to think about it. People they knew and trusted were now telling them the unbelievable. Jesus has risen from the dead! People don’t just rise up from the dead. Dead is dead. It’s final. Or at least that is what reality dictated. This story…well that is scandalous!

While they were walking a stranger met them and began talking with them. They told him of the scandal and the absurdity of it. They didn’t realize they were talking to the risen Lord Himself! They were so convinced that it wasn’t true that He called them “fools” and began to teach them about how the Scriptures all pointed to the truth that this would happen.

For the next couple of hours, Jesus, still a stranger to them, shared from Moses and the prophets how everything pointed to Christ. From beginning to end, the Bible is the redemptive story of God through Jesus Christ.

Breaking Bread

 

When they arrived home, the invited Him in for dinner. When Jesus broke the bread with them, their eyes were open to the truth of who He was. Something the disciples saw Jesus do time again, something simple, like breaking bread was what opened their eyes. Once they realized this, Jesus disappeared from their sight. Now leaving them to continue on the story of God’s scandalous grace. Only after realizing Jesus was the one teaching them did they both exclaim how their hearts burned deep within as He taught them. 

Notice how the joy of what He taught overpowered the realization of how long it took for them to realize it was Jesus. Jesus didn't put them on a guilt trip. He didn't shame them. Once they knew the truth, they were set free!

There are so many experiences in this life that create a sense of awe, euphoria and joy. People seek to have experiences to help them forget pain, depression or sorrow. People run to alcohol and drugs to imitate feelings. Music can inspire and lift a person’s spirit. Relationships can provide a sense of purpose and bring stability, but can also be tumultuous. From drugs, sex, alcohol, power, money…you name it, nothing can cause your heart to burn in jubilation like the Spirit teaching you about Jesus.

Solomon said that God has wired us for eternity. Augustine said there is a God shaped hole in all of us. Song writers have written lyrics describing our longing for more. The more is Jesus. The answer is Jesus. The most wonderful, rewarding and inspiring truth is Jesus. Have you chosen lately, to do what Mary did, and sit at the feet of Jesus to be with Him? Has your soul been stirred that you describe it as “my heart burned within” as you experienced more of God?

Jesus wants you to be in an intimate relationship with Him. The God of the universe is inviting a sinner like me and you, to be in a relationship with Him. It is scandalous! Jesus died and rose from the grave in order that we could be united with Him forever.

And so over the coming weeks, we are going to walk the Road to Emmaus as these disciples did. We are going to begin with Moses and the Prophets and see how The Story of God is unfolding all around us. Life is not about me, it’s not about you, it’s about Jesus. Let’s walk this road together and seek to learn in such away that as we are walking we can say…doesn’t our heart burn with excitement…as we get to know Jesus better.

Senior Night

Tonight is a night we honor the Senior class of 2015. I look forward to this night as I get to sit back and listen to what God has done in their lives over the past several years. It’s a time when they challenge the younger students to continue on the course they have set.

It is a bit risky, too. I’m not telling them what to say. I’m letting them share from the heart. I trust them. I trust them because they have been faithful and committed to Christ, youth group and church.

This year I have 5 graduates. The Fab Five: Brooke, Abby, Shaq, Shane and Bobby. Each one has played a significant role in our youth group. Brooke and Abby stepped up to be small group leaders this past year. Shane, Shaq, Bobby and Brooke have been in the youth praise team for the past few years. Each one has grown tremendously and have been anchors in our group. They are dependable and trustworthy.

It’s exciting because it’s a time to listen to their heart and see their growth.

“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”  (2 Timothy 2:2 ESV)

Paul challenged young Timothy to learn from him and pass on the knowledge of the Gospel to others who will continue to teach others. These Fab Five have been sharing their faith and I believe will continue to share their faith. Tonight they challenge the younger students to do the same.

It’s also a sad night. It’s sad because the realization that my time with them is coming to an end. They will move on in a few months. Some will be going to college out of town. Some will be attending the college group on Thursdays instead of youth group on Wednesday. Yet I am confident with this group that they will continue to pursue Christ and make Him known.

 I don’t want to dwell on the sad part. Instead, I am going to rejoice in the time we have right now. I am excited to hear them share. I know they will be a blessing to our group.

Facing the Impossible

“I can’t do it!”

We’ve all said it, felt it and have been overwhelmed with it. Defeat. Small or big, we hate failure. It is disheartening and discouraging.

What makes matters worse, is that we aren’t prepared for failure. From a very young age, we are taught the axiom, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” We are told, “you can be and do anything you want.” “Pick yourself up by the bootstraps” and “get ‘er done!”

We think we are being trained to be self-reliant, but find ourselves ill equipped when we fail. It’s part of being human, to fail. It’s human pride to think we can do everything on our own. But sooner or later, we will be faced with something immense, to big for us to handle. It’s in these moments that prove the manner of person we are.

Facing the Impossible

Consider Joshua in the Old Testament (Joshua 5:13-6:27). Joshua was one of two spies who went into the Promised Land and believed God would deliver on His promise (Numbers 13). Because of his faithfulness to God and support of Moses, God chose Joshua to be Moses’s successor in leading the nation of Israel (Deuteronomy 31). 

The conquest of the Promised Land requires that Israel has to encounter the city of Jericho. Jericho was one of the oldest and largest cities in the world. It had the strongest fortifications and a large army gearing up for a fight against Israel. Destroying this city was Joshua’s objective. This task would be like getting a peewee football team to beat the defending Superbowl Champions, the New England Patriots.

Not only is the task before him huge, the provisions have dried up. For forty years in the wilderness, God had provided manna each morning for food. Yet as they approached Jericho, the manna stopped coming (Joshua 5:12). They couldn’t go back or just wait, because there was no more manna. They had to control the land. Joshua faced an impossible task with one option, go forward or die.  

Personal Encounter

The text doesn’t give an abundance of details about what happens next, but it is my opinion that Joshua was alone on a walk trying to figure things out. He was after all the general, possibly surveying the lay of the land and considering his attack strategy. Maybe he was struggling with worry or anxiety. Probably was thinking, “why me?” or “I’m not the right guy for this task!”

He looks up and sees a man with a drawn sword. This was not just any man, as we read later, this was the pre-incarnate Christ. This was an appearing of Jesus, the Son of God, in the Old Testament before He came as a baby. He is the commander of the army of the Lord.

Joshua asks, “are you on my side?” Jesus’ response was simply, “No.”

Submission, the Posture of Success

Joshua fell on his face before Jesus and worshipped Him.

This is so critical for Joshua’s success. God does not pick sides. He does not play favorites. The question is, are you on God’s side. It’s not about your agenda; it’s about God’s agenda. Will you be faithful to your call?

As Joshua realizes that he is not the one in control, but Jesus is; he falls down and worships. He spends time with Jesus. Before engaging in the impossible task, Joshua has a personal encounter with Jesus. This is huge. He is now in the place to hear directly from God what he is supposed to do.

Radical Obedience

Jesus’ strategy made no sense from a military strategists perspective. “You will march around the city, blowing trumpets and singing praises. I will give you victory.”

No supply of weapons. No military tanks or trebuchets. No atomic bomb. Just marching and signing orders. And the seventh day, do it seven times.

What went through the minds of the people when Joshua stood up and said, “thus says the Lord…we are going to march in circles and sing!”

Yet Joshua did march around. He led the people and they followed him. Their obedient march of praise and worship to God resulted in the crumbling of the walls of Jericho. God won the victory.

Joshua’s encounter with God, surrender of his will and obedience led to one of the most powerful statements in Scripture: “So the Lord was with Joshua” (Joshua 6:27). No task is impossible when you are with Jesus.

How About You?

Today you might be facing an impossible task. It could be school, exams, job, finances, relationship, future…you name it. You might be tempted to give up. You might not feel qualified. You might feel trapped.

Learn from Joshua.

Seek a personal encounter with Jesus. John 15 tells us that Jesus want to spend time with you. He wants an intimate friendship with you. Think about it…God Almighty wants to spend time with you! Seek His face and ask Him to move in your situation.

Surrender your will to His. Let go of your worry, anxiety and frustrations. Lay them at cross and trust His plan for your life. Trust that He knows better then you do. Even when it doesn’t seem to make sense, God’s way is better.

Obey what He tells you through His Word, through prayer and through other godly people. Obedience leads to victory and overcoming the impossible. You CAN do ALL THINGS through Jesus Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13).

What if Joshua disobeyed? What if he decided to try human wisdom and do it his own way? Jericho may never have been defeated, Rahab may never have been rescued, and the line of Jesus would have been radically different.

Yet he did obey. He showed us a pattern to follow. Will you follow it? What will God do through your obedience?