Download the Study Notes

Today, we’ll highlight the rest of the OT story by discussing the highs and lows of various characters and periods in Israel’s history. Follow along with the notes:

Saul, if you remember from our last episode, was handsome and a head taller than any man in Israel.

“Saul answered, ‘But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?’” 1 Samuel 9:21

David and Solomon are the highest peaks in Israel’s high points, but they, too, have some lows.

One of David’s sons, Solomon, gains the throne through an odd set of circumstances. He’s not David’s eldest son, but he’s the eldest of David’s favorite wife, Bathsheba…

“God said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people…therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.” 2 Chronicles 1:11-12

**THIS IS A TURNING POINT IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE** God moves from the temporary dwelling of the Tabernacle that Moses built to the permanent dwelling of the Temple in Jerusalem. He claims Jerusalem as His holy city and dwells among His chosen nation to become their God in that place. Unfortunately, His REAL PEOPLE don’t realize how significant this action is, and Solomon stoops to his lowest point.

“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh…from the nations concerning which the Lord had said…‘You shall not enter into marriage with them…for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives…and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart…after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

“For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites…Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites…And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.” 1 Kings 11:1-8

After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam inherits the throne, and honestly…there are no high points in his reign

“The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the LORD will drive you.” Deuteronomy 28:36-37

It’s not like the Israelites weren’t ever reminded or warned about Yahweh’s standards of holiness. It’s during the time of the kings that we see the prophets and their ministries. Through the prophets we really get to see some of our REAL GOD’s emotions—His emotional highs and lows as He relates to His people. God’s anger and wrath at the sin of the people are mixed with His undying faithfulness and love, with His vow to bring them back.

Lyndsey once read a description of the prophets of Israel as God’s “covenant enforcement mediators.” In essence, the book asserted that all their poetic language, metaphors, and stories were meant to describe how God feels, not really saying anything new. They are merely restating the original terms of the covenant.

If we look at Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 4, and Deuteronomy 28, we see lists of blessings that will come to Israel for its faithfulness to God and destruction that comes for unfaithfulness. These are terms of the covenant. So when Israel hits a major low point during the time of kings, God sends in some “covenant enforcement mediators”—prophets—to remind them of what the covenant says. They describe in various details the upcoming destruction and vividly depict God’s emotional highs and lows in the process. Here’s an example of Amos describing God’s wrath—a particularly low low.

“‘The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. In that day,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.’” Amos 8:2-3

But Hosea shows us Yahweh’s compassion—the high point of God’s heart.

“How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?…My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger…for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.” Hosea 11:8-9

These sections of Scripture are full of our REAL GOD who wants to relate to us, and bring us back into relationship with Him. The time of the kings is a low point for Israel, and so the word of God through the prophets expresses this low point of God’s emotion but also promises a time of restoration when God will snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!

Unfortunately for the REAL PEOPLE of Israel and Judah, their defeat had to come first, and it came in the form of exile to foreign lands.

Remember, there were actually two exiles—the northern kingdom of Israel was exiled to Assyria in 721 BC, and then the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered in 586 BC when Babylon rose to world domination.

Biblical heroes like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Queen Esther lived during this second—and complete—exile to Babylon.

The Rock in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is the Savior of the world—Jesus—who will strike the iron and clay feet of earthly kingdoms. The Wind of His Spirit will scatter the pieces, and He will fill the whole earth, where we will finally dwell with our God again in perfect, transparent relationship as it once was in the Garden.

Just as all God’s promises from Deuteronomy came true for the Israelites, so will every word from his prophets’ lips come to pass for us all. This is the story of the Bible, the story we’re living today and the reality that’s drawing nearer every day.

May the anticipation of the fulfillment of His promises spur us on!

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:23-25

Download the Study Notes

Today, we begin with a look at Samuel’s parents (before they were parents)—Elkanah and Hannah. They are a wonderful picture of faithfulness to Yahweh during the time of Israel’s judges. Remember the time of the Judges?

“Israel had no king, and everyone did as they saw fit.” Judges 21:25 (emphasis added)

To illustrate how low Israel had fallen, not even their priests were being faithful to Yahweh. The sons of Eli, the high priest, were as corrupt as they come. 1 Sam. 2:12-36 tells us that Hophni and Phinehas were sticking forks in the boiling pot and stealing the sacrificed meat for themselves, and forcing people to give them raw meat before the fat was burned as an offering to the Lord.

It may not sound so awful to us, but it would be similar to a couple of pastors sticking their hand in the offering plate and removing some bills as it passed by. Or a crooked treasurer cooking the books so he could embezzle money.

Both Hophni and Phinehas eventually died on the same day as a sign that the Lord removed His blessing from Eli’s family. But that’s another story. In contrast to these corrupt priests, we have Samuel’s soon-to-be parents—Elkanah and Hannah.

We are given a wonderfully refreshing account of some REAL PEOPLE really seeking after God in 1 Samuel.

“Year after year [Elkanah] went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD.” 1 Samuel 1:3

Somehow in a world where everyone followed his own way, Elkanah was a devout follower of Yahweh. And Hannah, as we discover, had some kind of relationship with our REAL GOD, that allows her to cry out to Him for a son!

Hannah had been barren for years, and was tormented by her husband’s second wife, who evidently had children aplenty. Elkanah didn’t seem to understand why Hannah was so upset. He basically gives her a “Why do you need kids? You’ve got me!” reply to her sorrow. (We’ll try to overlook his insensitivity for the purposes of this blog post.)

We find Hannah misunderstood, sad, and desperate—feeling completely alone. So during one of their annual visits to the Tabernacle, she displays her emotions. Imagine the scene. Crowds of people seated around the Tabernacle, eating the ceremonial fellowship meal, chatting quietly. Eli, the high priest, is seated near the entrance to the Tabernacle with his sons and other priests while pilgrims from all Israel are scattered over the hillsides. And toward the end of their meal…

“Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the LORD’s house. In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, ‘LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life.’” 1 Samuel 1:9-11 (emphasis added)

Because she was praying silently, the high priest thought she was drunk! So he publicly chastises her for this heartfelt prayer! But Hannah remains strong and defends her faith:

“‘I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.’ Eli answered, ‘…may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.’…Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.” 1 Samuel 1:16-18

It would be like someone in church who danced down the aisle or stood and cried out to God in the middle of a pastor’s sermon. Wouldn’t the rest of the congregation (all of us prim and proper folks) lower our heads and try not to make eye contact?

This scene with Hannah is that-kind-of awkward! But she doesn’t care. She knows that Yahweh is the only One who can help her in her desperate state, and she doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

Have you ever experienced that kind of abandon? That kind of desperation? Purely seeking God, no matter what the consequences?

And here’s the kicker… As she begs for a child with one breath, she promises to give the child back with the next!!! Really? And she’s not just giving him to the Lord for a week or month or a few years. No. She’s giving him to the Lord ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE?

These pictures of Hannah show not only her desperation but also the deep measures of her faith. She’s getting it right, seeking hard after her REAL GOD with her whole heart.

Perhaps one of the most amazing things about Hannah is her faith in spite of all the struggles she faced.

I mean, she didn’t get a burning bush like Moses or a ladder to heaven like Jacob.

“So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him.’” 1 Samuel 1:20

When the Lord finally answers her prayer, she names him Samuel, meaning: “Heard by God.” 1 Sam. 2:21 tells us God not only heard her prayer for one child, but He honored her faith by giving her three more sons and two daughters.

For the first few years after Samuel’s birth, Hannah didn’t make the annual journey to the Tabernacle with Elkanah, but instead stayed home with Samuel. Elkanah allowed it but—faithful spiritual leader that he was—reminded her of her vow to God.

“‘Do what seems best to you,’ her husband Elkanah told her. ‘Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good [your] word.” 1 Samuel 1:23

Was Elkanah happy about giving up the firstborn son of his favored wife? I’m sure he wasn’t, but true to his character, he was more concerned with Hannah’s spiritual health than their earthly comfort.

When Samuel is weaned (age 3-4 in those days), Hannah finally takes him to the tabernacle to give him back to the Lord. Can you imagine the faith it took to give her young boy into the care of the corrupt priesthood? Eeee-gad!

God establishes a connection with Samuel at a very early age—a connection like we haven’t seen since Moses or Joshua. And even though their stories were only a few podcasts ago, over 300 years has passed since Joshua in terms of Israel’s history. God’s revelations to Samuel are a really BIG DEAL!

Especially when we consider that Samuel shouldn’t even have been serving in the tabernacle. He wasn’t a Levite! He was born into the tribe of Ephraim. But our REAL GOD had a plan for this child, and He began their intimate relationship soon after Hannah fulfilled her vow…

“The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ But Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down.” 1 Samuel 3:1-5 (emphasis added)

Samuel didn’t know it was the Lord’s voice, because this was the first time the Lord has spoken to Him.

“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.” 1 Samuel 3:7

This whole “God speaking” process happened two more times before even Eli realized what was happening. After some instruction from Eli, Samuel finally knows what to do when the Lord calls his name…

“The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ And the LORD said to Samuel: ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.’” 1 Samuel 3:10-11

The Lord came and stood there. Not even Moses or Joshua had the Lord just STAND THERE in their presence!

But here’s sort of a cool thought…why didn’t Yahweh just visit Samuel like that the first time He called his name? I believe our REAL GOD wanted to include Eli in this process. Our GRACIOUS God wanted Eli to experience His presence at least once before he died. Another picture of our REAL GOD who wants to relate to His people. Eli—like all of us—had some good moments and bad moments, but he’s still able to connect with God and be used by God.

During God’s initial visitation in the tabernacle, He reveals to Samuel the judgement He plans for Eli’s family. This young boy is called to tell “his boss” the bad news. Eli encourages him to tell all, and Samuel recites EVERYTHING, even the hard stuff—the mark of a true prophet. It’s the beginning of a lifetime of successful ministry…

“The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.” 1 Samuel 3:19-21 (emphasis added)

Samuel plays an important transitional role in Israel’s history:

Samuel was prophet, priest, and judge—but Israel still had no king.

Regardless of what a fantastic job Samuel has done (for an entire lifetime), he can’t live forever. And his sons are a disappointment…

“When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders…But his sons…turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So…all the elders of Israel…came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.’” 1 Samuel 8:1-5

Let’s pause for a moment and do a quick review of Israel’s kings (since we have the benefit of hindsight). During Samuel’s days, Israel showed some revival of spiritual health, but with the ushering in of Israel’s kings, God’s people deteriorate again until God eventually scatters them among other nations as judgment for their sins. The books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles shows the process of that deterioration, how Israel splits into two nations (Israel and Judah), and things go from bad to worse.

But our REAL GOD lets it all unfold, giving His people over to their desires, the worst kind of discipline. However, He does send a fair warning through Samuel.

“Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people…‘This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses…Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves…He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage…Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys…He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves…’ 1 Samuel 8:10-19

In the final years of Samuel’s ministry, he anoints Saul from the tribe of Benjamin as Israel’s first king. Saul is an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites, a head taller than anyone else, but his heart doesn’t measure up.

Samuel’s ministry continues in the waning years of his life, and today we want to end with his “Farewell Address.” At this point in his ministry, he’s setting things in place for the next generation to follow after him.

I’ll summarize parts of 1 Samuel 12 and directly quote the rest. My hope is that you’ll get a sense of Samuel’s heart as he passes the baton. The heart of one who has had a lifetime of intimacy with God. What I love here is the prophet’s heart, reminding Israel of who God is and beseeching them to turn to their One, True God and know Him.

He begins by basically saying, “I’ve walked with you all these years. Have I done any wrong to you? Stolen anything from you? Wronged anyone?” And those present affirm that he has been God’s faithful leader among them.

He gives a quick overview of their history from Moses through the judges to their current circumstances under their new king that Samuel himself anointed. He assures them of God’s faithfulness if they and their king are obedient to God’s commands and God’s wrath if they and their king are disobedient.

Samuel, in a rare and dazzling spectacle of God’s power, calls down thunder and rain on their wheat harvest to prove God’s displeasure with Israel’s desire for a king. The people are stunned and repent of their sinful desire for a king and ask Samuel to pray for them so they won’t die.

With a prophet’s heart, Samuel is able to show both God’s love and His judgment on Israel and promise them Yahweh’s blessing if they remain faithful and His wrath if they turn away and serve idols. He promises to continue to teach them the good and right way but warns that if they persist in choosing evil, both they and their king will perish.

Lyndsey and I have been struck by the Israelites’ (and sometimes current culture’s) view of God—that He is either pleased or angry with little in between. It seems that Israel often sees God as only a means to an end, wanting his pleasure or approval as an avenue to His power.

Much like the pagan deities of their time, they try to “bribe” Yahweh with good works or sacrifice in order to win His power on their behalf. Is that so different than many folks today who hope to BE good enough to win God’s favor? How many times have we heard, “They were such good people. How could God do that to them?” Does God owe us anything because we act rightly?

It seems to me that Samuel (and other prophets like him) saw God’s love as the motivating emotion from which ALL His action stems. God’s anger came from His love. His justice…because of His love. The working of His power was and is a natural outpouring of His love that works toward the goal of bringing His people to Himself.

He chose Israel as His treasured possession and was willing to do anything to bring them back into relationship with Himself—even if it appeared He was against them. The prophets seemed to understand that our God is with us, even when He is against us. And when He is against us, it is for good and right purposes. Our REAL GOD is never NOT with us.

We’re pausing for a moment in our Through the Bible Character Series to take a brief look at the prayers of two Israelite women. Both pregnant, these ladies lived at different times in Israel’s history, but had very similar prayers. In light of the Christmas season, we’ll look at Mary’s prayer, sometimes called the Magnificat, when she was pregnant with our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ll also talk about Hannah, whose son ushers in the kings in Old Testament history. (We’ll talk about Samuel in our next episode when we resume our Through the Bible Character Series.)

Mary and Hannah show us striking differences not only in the time they were living, but in the events surrounding their pregnancies and deliveries.

First, Hannah, found in 1 Samuel 1-2, was a barren older woman whose husband had another wife—a wife who had borne him many children. Like several women of Scripture, Hannah prays to the Lord, desperate for a child. But Hannah is different in that she promises to give that child back to the Lord.

Our REAL GOD answers, giving her a son, who she does indeed give to God for a lifetime of service in the Tabernacle. As she gives the child over to the Lord, she prays this prayer.

“My heart exults in the Lord; my horn [my strength] is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord: for there is one besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” 1 Samuel 2:1-10

This prayer resounds with God’s sovereignty! Hannah’s REAL GOD is the God who is above ALL things! This prayer isn’t just about her barrenness or her contentious relationship with her husband’s second wife. She recognizes that this God she is praising is the God of the WHOLE UNIVERSE, and He has placed new life in HER womb!

The second thing that blows me away is that somehow, toward the end of her prayer, she says something amazingly prophetic.

“He will give strength to His king and exalt the horn of His anointed.” 1 Samuel 2:10 (emphasis added)

Okay, ummmm…there is no king in Israel yet. And who does she mean by “His anointed?” The Hebrew word she uses for anointed is mashiakh, which we would translate as “Messiah.” So, not only is she prophesying a king in Israel, but she is—for the first time in Scripture—prophesying the coming Messiah! How cool is that?

So now let’s talk about the mother of this anointed Messiah King. Mary, whose story can be found in Luke 1-2, finds herself in very different circumstances than Hannah. Mary was young, unmarried, and undoubtedly had no intention of bearing a child at this point in her life. But our REAL GOD, in His sovereignty and kindness to us all, gave Mary the child the the rest of creation longed for. Mary didn’t ask for it, but our REAL GOD knew that all of mankind needed it.

Not only is Mary’s story very different, but it becomes apparent that her child will be different as well. When Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who has miraculously conceived a child in her old age (the child we know later as John the Baptist), the babe in Elizabeth’s womb jumps with joy at the sound of Mary’s greeting! Elizabeth is overwhelmed by the Spirit and affirms that Mary is pregnant with the Messiah without ever being told. Mary’s response? A prayer incredibly similar to Hannah’s:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” Luke 1:46-55

Do you hear it? Again, God’s sovereignty saturates every phrase! Although she was not at all expecting or hoping for this pregnancy, Mary considers herself blessed by God, just as blessed as Hannah did. Both women recognized their REAL GOD was God over ALL who could bring the lowly up and the proud low.

Compare the two prayers for yourself to find more similarities. Isn’t it amazing that these two women, in vastly different life circumstances, can praise their God SO similarly?! I believe it’s because they’re praising the SAME God. Our REAL GOD is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The theme of God bringing the lowly up and making the proud low, reminded Lyndsey of a passage from Isaiah. (This passage is used in Handel’s Messiah, an oft-heard Christmas piece.) Isaiah is prophesying of one who will prepare the way for the Messiah, for the new Kingdom He will bring to earth.

“A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’” Isaiah 40:3-5 (emphasis added)

Christ’s birth ushered in a Kingdom of equality, or really…justice, things being made right. Every valley lifted up. Every mountain and hill made low. Christ came to die for all, and all are equal at the foot of the cross. Equally sinful, equally loved and died for. That’s the new kingdom we celebrate when we celebrate our Messiah.

I believe in the wake of the Christmas season, God intends us to remember exactly that—the ground is level at the foot of the Cross—and continue to live the way many of us live only during the months of November and December. Why is it I only feel moved to serve in a soup kitchen during Thanksgiving and Christmas? Why not all year round?

Without doubt, these women’s prayers assure us that God is in control. They don’t groan about it or resign themselves to hand over the reins. No! They praise the REAL GOD who set the stars in place and yet is so intimate that He creates life in a woman’s womb.

No matter how low you get, you can be lifted up in a moment. No matter how high you get, you can be brought low in a moment. God reigns. It’s GOOD NEWS for a new year.

Download the Study Notes

Please welcome my guest co-host for today, Jill Eileen Smith. She’s a good friend and an expert researcher. Today, we’ll chat primarily about her book, The Prophetess, a biblical novel exploring the life and times of Deborah, Israel’s only female judge.

Mesu: You’ve written about several amazing women in the Daughters of the Promised Land series. Which women did you focus on for those novels?

Jill: I started with Rahab (The Crimson Cord), who actually lived during the days of Joshua (before the judges). Deborah (The Prophetess) came next, which is set during a time of terrorism when Israel was still getting their footing in the land of Canaan. The next two books are about Ruth (Redeeming Grace, which releases this coming February 2017) and Hannah (2018 – as yet to be titled.)

Mesu: Before we get into Deborah’s story, let’s talk about Israel’s judges in the context of REAL PEOPLE, REAL GOD.

Jill: Tough questions, my friend! But the truth is, God is so very patient with His people. He wooed Israel to love Him from Egypt to Canaan and wanted to be the One they turned to, the King they desired. But as most REAL PEOPLE do, when their human leaders were gone (Moses and Joshua had died), Israel floundered. Without a leader, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” And “right” was far from what God called good. His REAL PEOPLE ended up following the cultures around them and worshiping their gods, leaving their first Love, the God who had called them His own.

Mesu: I love the way you describe God’s “wooing” of Israel. Judges is a really violent book. While immersed in these disturbing stories, it’s sometimes hard to remember WHY God is allowing all the violence to occur. The reminder of God’s wooing takes us back to that Garden relationship–a REAL GOD who adores His REAL PEOPLE and is determined to restore that intimacy. But His determination is hard to watch sometimes.

Jill: Part of the hard lesson in Judges is that God allowed Israel to suffer at the hands of the very people they wanted to emulate. Instead of those cultures embracing the Israelites, they harshly oppressed them until Israel cried out to God for a deliverer. That’s when God would raise up a judge to deliver the people from their oppressors. Some of those judges also led the people back to the Lord, as I believe Deborah did, but many of them were simply military deliverers. Once those men died, the people fell into the same old patterns and walked away from the Lord again.

Mesu: You believe Deborah was different than many of the judges. We see that difference in the title of your book about Deborah: The Prophetess.

Jill: A prophetess is someone who hears from God and gives God’s word to His people. We know she was a prophetess because she prophesied things that came true. She told Barak, Israel’s commander, for instance, that a woman would kill Sisera, something that perhaps Barak himself expected to do. But her prediction came true. Remember the story of Jael in Judges 4?

Mesu: Jael was a brave lady! How do you think Deborah knew those things? How did she hear God speak to her?

Jill: She would have known that she was a prophetess because she would have had visions and dreams. That was how God said He would speak to His prophets since the time of Moses (Numbers 12:6).

Mesu: Does that mean all judges were also prophets?

Jill: No. There is no mention of Gideon or Samson or Jepthah or the others giving the Word of God to the people. I can’t recall another judge—other than Samuel—also being called a prophet. The others might have been visited by an angel, but it was for military action to lead the people out of oppression.

Mesu: It’s apparent that Deborah herself had a relationship with Yahweh. Does Scripture give any clues about the spiritual condition of the Israelites as a nation during her leadership?

Jill: Scripture tells us:

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Judges 21:25

So no one person rose up as leader to keep them aware of the Law of Moses or encourage them to serve the Lord as Joshua had done. Individual people may have tried to do so, and whole households may have tried to obey, but there was no central consensus of the leaders to follow the Lord as He had commanded. By the time we get to the end of the period of the judges, the priests are so corrupt that God stepped in and judged them, preventing them from causing any more damage.

Mesu: What did a judge in Israel actually do? Was Deborah like a traveling evangelist? Did she teach the whole nation about Yahweh?

Jill: People came to Deborah for judgment, and she settled issues according to the Law.

“She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.” Judges 4:5

I don’t think the whole country followed her as the tribes were too spread out. I think they knew of her and of Israel’s commander (Barak), but the times were dangerous and travel would not have been safe. So those who could travel came to her. She taught about Yahweh to those who were near, to those who would listen.

Mesu: Was Deborah married? Did she have children?

Jill: The Bible only tells us that she had a husband named Lappidoth. She does call herself a mother in Israel, however, and it would have been the norm for her to have children. There is no mention that she was barren, so I suspect she truly was a mother.

Mesu: Wow! Talk about SuperMom, right? Not too many women in Scripture worked full-time AND raised a family. Why do you think God chose a woman to be a judge during a time when women were so often devalued?

Jill: I’m not sure that women were devalued in Bible times. We tend to think that because the Bible is very patriarchal. And certainly men were placed in roles of leadership in their tribes and families. God held men more responsible than he did women. But God Himself never devalued women. In fact, I believe the Law protected women in many ways.

There were other times in Scripture that God used a woman to rescue His people – Esther comes to mind. I suspect that during this time of Deborah’s life, there just weren’t any men fully devoted to the Lord. Or maybe there were but God wanted to show the men that they weren’t living up to their spiritual duties to lead their families, so He chose a woman to show them how.

Mesu: When you and I talked about this time period in Israel’s history, you described it as a time when Israel experienced “terrorist attacks” from their enemies. It really helped me identify with these REAL PEOPLE in Judges since we in the U.S. have experienced some terror attacks on our own soil. What do you think we, as a nation, can learn from the Book of Judges?

Jill: In Judges, every time the people of Israel slipped away from the true worship of God to worship of idols, God sent other nations to oppress them. Perhaps that meant attacking their fields so they couldn’t harvest their crops. Other times it meant capturing their women and mistreating them. Whatever the means used, these nations devastated Israel. Sometimes the oppression went on for years and years until Israel finally got the message and cried out to God.

I think sometimes in our stubbornness we fall into a pit of misery and despair (whether outside forces are oppressing us or not) and it can take us a long time to realize that we need to cry out to the Lord for rescue. Every time the Israelites got to that point and cried out to God for rescue, He sent them a deliverer. But sometimes they were slow to realize their need of a savior—kind of like we are today.

Mesu: Now, during the time Deborah judged, the Canaanites were Israel’s oppressors. But throughout the Book of Judges, we see lots of nations used by the Lord to discipline Israel when they served pagan gods and turned away from Him: the Midianites, Amalekites, Philistines, Ammonites, and the Moabites.

In Redeeming Grace, your book on Ruth that releases this coming February, you talk specifically about a period of time when the Moabites oppressed Israel. It’s a story many of us are familiar with but might not realize it fits into this period of Judges.

Jill: The book of Ruth tells us that it happened during the time of the judges when there was “a famine in the land.” The trouble is, if you read Judges, you don’t see any particular time of famine mentioned. So we don’t really know if her story fell during the reign of a particular judge. We do know, however, that there was a judge who killed the king of Moab because of the oppression Israel suffered under Moab. This oppression is actually set before Deborah’s story in the book of Judges.

Then we have the timing of genealogy to consider. If we place Ruth’s story during this period of Moabite oppression, it is closer to Rahab’s time and would fit with Boaz being Rahab’s son. If we place it at the end of the book of Judges, we are closer to the time of King David and Ruth is said to be his great grandmother. The problem is we have too many years for them to fit together neatly.

Some suggest that the Jewish people would condense genealogies so that a “begat” is more like an ancestor than necessarily a father. Truth is, we don’t know for sure. I think that God knows how it all fits together and that somehow it will make sense to us one day. In the meantime, I chose the earlier time period because it made more sense to me to set it there. But someone else might have good reasons to place it somewhere else. We aren’t told, so we don’t know for sure.

Mesu: Keeping in mind that we’re trying to grapple with the overall story of Scripture here, how does Ruth’s story move mankind back toward that perfect, transparent, and loving Garden relationship?

Jill: Ruth’s story is one of redemption, a picture of what Jesus did for us when He came to fix what was broken in the Garden. Throughout the whole of Scripture, God has been wooing people to come to Him. Remember Rahab’s story—the prostitute from Jericho? This verse in Isaiah represents her story beautifully…

“Come let us reason together…though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18

Another verse in Isaiah represents Ruth’s story equally well.

“Fear not, I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1

Boaz shows a love like Christ’s and Ruth shows us a bride like Christ is looking for. Jesus came to restore, to heal, to bind up the wounds, to free the captives, and Ruth’s story is a picture of keeping that commitment, however flawed it might have been because we humans are not God. God wants relationship with us, and He won’t be satisfied until that Garden relationship is restored.

Mesu: Here’s a harder question…How does Deborah’s story move us forward in the overall story of Scripture?

Jill: Deborah’s story shows us that God commands obedience. We don’t get to have it both ways. We can’t have a loving God without also recognizing that He is also our Judge. Deborah judged her people in the ways of the Law which pointed them (and us) to the need for a savior. God sent His Son to be that Savior but He is also our Judge. If we won’t obey and accept Him as Savior, then we will face Him as Judge. The Bible is pretty clear on that.

Mesu: I just read in my Bible study on 1 Peter:

“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 1 Peter 1:17-19

I love those verses because they show our REAL GOD as both righteous Judge AND loving Father.

Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Jill!

Download the Study Notes

Have you ever been asked to do something so beyond your ability that you felt like giving up before you even started? Today’s character study begins with a glimpse of Moses’ final days and then focuses on Joshua, a man assigned a God-sized task….

The Israelites had been camped at the base of Mt. Sinai for a year. They’d met Yahweh, received the Law, and built the Tabernacle. Now, God would lead them toward the land of promise…

“In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out…” Numbers 10:11-13

The people complained (again), longing for meat, so God gave them quail to eat—LOTS of it.

“Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, ‘Why did we come out of Egypt?’” Numbers 11:18-20 (emphasis added)

Moses sent twelve spies into the Land God promised. When they returned, ten spies were afraid to take the Promised Land even though they had seen the land was “good” and “flowing with milk and honey.” Only two of the spies—Joshua and Caleb—urged the people to believe Yahweh’s promised deliverance.

The people despaired, (REAL PEOPLE are WHINY PEOPLE) and even tried to stone Caleb and Joshua. Of course, God didn’t allow it, and instead appeared in His glory, furious with the people.

“So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord…In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb…and Joshua…”                   Numbers 14:28-30

The deaths of Miriam and Aaron, two of Israel’s leaders, mark a new era in Numbers 20. The unbelieving generation of Israelites has died, and a new generation of Israelites is on their way to the Promised Land. Moses still leads them for the first few battles with Joshua at his side—an apprentice in training. But the new generation seems to be as cranky as the old…

“Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” Numbers 20:4-5

So God provided water—again.

“And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.” Numbers 20:11

This may have been the first miracle the “new” generation of Israelites witnessed. All reaped the miracle of manna each morning, but that may have become so normal that, in their minds, it was no longer a display of God’s glory.

After God delivered them from thirst, He delivered them from the Canaanite king of Arad. STILL, they complained. This time, about “miserable food” (manna) and no water to drink (Numbers 21:5). As a result of their discontent, God sent snakes to bite the Israelites, and many died, but God gave them a way out.

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’” Numbers 21:8

After the crisis of serpents, the Israelites moved toward the Promised Land, encountering interference from both King Sihon (Amorites) and King Og of Bashan. God delivered both kings and their lands into the hands of the Israelites.

King Balak of Moab heard of the Israelites’ journey through the land as they claimed victory after victory, so he hired a “prophet” named Balaam to curse Israel.

God’s REAL PEOPLE were in REAL DANGER and needed to trust their REAL GOD for His REAL POWER to shield them—and He did, forbidding Balaam to curse the Israelites even to the point of causing a donkey to speak! But while God systematically displayed His faithfulness, His people displayed their faithlessness.

The Moabite king couldn’t curse them, but the Moabite women seduced them, causing Israel’s men to worship Baal. Yahweh’s anger was again kindled and He sent a plague upon them (Numbers 25). Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, stopped the plague and secured the high priesthood for future generations of his family.

Numbers 26-36 concludes with a census and God’s instructions to Moses on the boundaries of the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 34 tells us the end of Moses’ story, his death and burial on Mount Nebo, and the official passing-of-the-baton to Joshua.

“Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.” Deuteronomy 34:9 (emphasis added)

After our marathon journey through Numbers, it’s clear that these REAL PEOPLE aren’t very good at following God, and yet our REAL GOD still brought them to the edge of the Promised Land. God did for the Israelites what they couldn’t have done for themselves—even though they whined and complained and shook with fear along the way.

So, now we’ve got a new leader, Joshua, taking on a huge task—leading this unruly band of people into a land that was currently occupied by “giants.” Most of our Bibles call them “Anakites.”

And it seemed Joshua needed some pep talks. Moses gave Joshua a commissioning speech in Deuteronomy 31 in which he repeated certain phrases:

Then, in the beginning of Joshua’s book, God gives him another pep talk—the first DIRECT CONVERSATION between God and Joshua—using the same phraseology that Moses used:

“‘Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you…Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’” Joshua 1:6-9 (emphasis added)

It’s not that Joshua was a scaredy-cat. It’s that Joshua had an utterly impossible job to do and needed our REAL GOD’s repeated assurance–and intervention.

God empowered Joshua with His Spirit, but He knew a leader with no followers ain’t much of a leader. So God needed to show Israel that Joshua was His man, His choice…

“Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” Joshua 3:7,8

Sort of a baby-sized Red Sea miracle, but it was big enough to show the REAL PEOPLE that God—and Joshua—were in charge.

“When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.’” Joshua 4:2,3

Joshua leads; God moves; the people obey. What’s next? Maybe a battle?

Worse, actually.

Circumcising the next generation—it was Joshua’s initiation to leadership. Yikes!

“At that time the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.’… Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt. All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not.” Joshua 5:2-5

The whole nation obeyed. Amazing! After all the faithLESS things Israel has done, this is a huge step in obedience.

“And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.  Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.’ So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.” Joshua 5:8,9

The conquering of Jericho might seem like an easy battle. The city was all shut up because they feared the Israelites. No one would come out to fight. Do you remember the story? All Israel had to do is walk around the city for a few days and then blow some trumpets. Easy, right?

Was it easy to march three days after circumcision? In range of Jericho’s archers? For days, Israel marched in complete silence around a city with impenetrable walls. No, I don’t think it was easy. And did it prepare Joshua for what he faced next?

After the rousing victory over Jericho, Joshua sent out scouts to the next city, Ai. The scouts reported back, and Joshua sent only 3,000 Israelite warriors to take the city…without consulting Yahweh for the battle plan.

“…but [Israel was] routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them…And Joshua said, ‘Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us…’” Joshua 7:4,5,7

Our new leader Joshua sounds a little like the whining Israelites, doesn’t he? I think we’re witnessing his crisis of faith. We all have them. Some of us more than once. This is the same Joshua who reported that Israel could take the Promised Land forty years earlier. Here, Joshua seems to think God has failed him—failed Israel.

“The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned…They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions…Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed!’” Joshua 7:10,11,15

After dealing with the Law-breaker, what do you think the Lord said to Joshua?

“‘Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.’ Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.’” Joshua 8:18 (emphasis added)

The Bible shows us leaders that mess up, so we know He can still use us in our own imperfections.

Joshua really was coming up against impossible odds, over and over again. And the stakes kept getting higher and higher.

“When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron and Akshaph, and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west; to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah. They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. All these kings joined forces and made camp together…to fight against Israel. The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them, slain, over to Israel.’” Joshua 11:1-6 (emphasis added)

Joshua needed regular reminders from the Lord not to fear and so do we. Our giants and enemies are different than Joshua’s, but we still find it hard to be strong and courageous. Our REAL GOD gives us that same reassurance through His Word and His Spirit—a constant Presence that never fails. Even when our circumstances change, our God doesn’t. He is still big, and He is still with us.

As we progress through the book of Joshua, chapter 12 gives us a list of defeated kings. In chapter 13, God tells Joshua he and the Israelites are done fighting though there is still considerable land to be taken. Chapter 14 begins the distribution of Land to Israel’s tribes, decided by casting lots (kind of like dice we use today). Within that distribution, certain land was assigned to Caleb and Joshua specifically because of their faithful report as spies when they left Egypt decades ago.

And what about the Tabernacle?

“The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh (tribe of Ephraim) and set up the tent of meeting there.” Joshua 18:1

The Levites also came to Shiloh to receive their unique allotment of towns and pasturelands within the inheritance of each tribe (since their inheritance was serving the Lord).

“After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, summoned all Israel…and said to them…‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: [he gives a summary of Israel’s history from Abraham to their present].’ The Lord said, ‘So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant. Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness…But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’ Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods!’… Joshua said to the people, ‘You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins…’ But the people said to Joshua, ‘No! We will serve the Lord.’ Then Joshua said, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.’ ‘Yes, we are witnesses,’ they replied.”                    Joshua 24:2-24 (emphasis added)

After years as Moses’ apprentice, more years as the sole leader of Israel, and even more years of rest in the Promised Land, Joshua knew the same thing we’ve learned in these studies: REAL PEOPLE are FORGETFUL PEOPLE. He knew some had already forgotten the God they promised to serve…

“‘Now then,’ said Joshua, ‘throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.’ And the people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.’ On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people…And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God…”  Joshua 24:23-27 (emphasis added)

Joshua pushed them for more than just a cliché, “We will serve the Lord.” He pushed them to vow obedience and then held them accountable by recording it for us to see thousands of years later.  

How about you? If Joshua challenged you today, could you vow to wholeheartedly obey God? Are you brave enough to let someone hold you accountable?

“Then all the congregation of the people of Israel…came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord ‘s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting…So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects…everyone who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins…silver or bronze…[and] acacia wood… And every skillful woman…whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breast piece, and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.” Exodus 35:20-29

It’s not as if God needs a home. The whole world is His dwelling place!

“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool, what is the house that you would build for me? And what is the place of my rest?” Isaiah 66:1

But God chooses to become accessible to Israel and dwell with them in a “house” that they build with their own hands—with their “stuff.” Piece by piece, thread by thread, Israel builds God’s dwelling.

God has given them an opportunity to possess Him, like He plans to possess them—as He told Moses on Mt. Sinai…

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”     Exodus 19:5-6

As we recount the details of the Tabernacle furnishings, take note of the similarities between each sacred piece and the bits and pieces we know about the Garden of Eden and God’s throne room in heaven. I think you’ll see that God’s new dwelling place on earth mirrors Eden and heaven in subtle yet meaningful ways.

Who on earth would God commission to build a perfectly heavenly dwelling place for Him on earth? He chose two men whom He empowered by His Holy Spirit to complete the job:

“Then Moses said to the people of Israel, ‘See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel…and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab…He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.”  Exodus 35:30-35

How would Bezalel and Oholiab have felt? Humbled? Frightened? Honored? Ill equipped? Probably all of the above. There are only a few times in the Old Testament when the Spirit of God is specifically mentioned as having filled someone with a specific skill or ability or word, but these men would need God’s supernatural wisdom and skill to complete the detailed work of preparing God’s home on earth. Isn’t it amazing that Christ-followers today are filled with the same Spirit that equipped the skilled workers of the Tabernacle?

That Tabernacle itself had three parts: The tent had two parts: 1) Most Holy Place, and 2) Holy Place; and 3) the courtyard (a curtained fence) surrounding the holy places.

The entrance of the courtyard/tent faced east, with the likeness of cherubim woven into the curtains separating the Israelites from God’s earthly presence…just like at the entrance to the Garden of Eden…

“After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:24 (emphasis added)

Ark – Made of acacia wood; one of several furnishings made of this particular wood and overlaid with gold. Many folks think it’s a foreshadowing of the crucifixion present in the Tabernacle (acacia was decay resistant and bore thick thorns; the Cross—a wooden structure—bore Christ to the grave with a crown of thorns, but His body saw no decay).

Mercy Seat – One piece of pure gold forming a seat with two winged cherubim rising over it on either end. God’s presence rested on the seat between the wings of cherubim. Imagine how difficult it would be to fashion one large piece of gold into a flat “seat” with two cherubim (which would undoubtedly be quite ornate) rising up one either side. This is a piece that would have required great skill and patience. And how fitting, for God would show great patience in dealing with His stiff-necked people.

(From Ezekiel’s vision of heaven) “Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground.” Ezekiel 10:18–19 (emphasis added)

Altar of Incense – Also called the Golden Altar. It sat right next to the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place and was to be managed (flames stoked and incense burned) by the High Priest only.

Incense of the altar was a special recipe, known and used only by the priests for this singular purpose. A holy purpose. A sacred scent. An aroma meant for God alone. In both the Old and New Testaments, incense in general came to symbolize the prayers of God’s people.

Aaron and future high priests were responsible to keep this incense fire burning 24/7, and again…it was a picture of the heavenlies:

“Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” Revelation 8:3-4

Table of Showbread – one loaf of bread for each of the twelve tribes of Israel that was replenished and presented to the Lord (with incense) each Sabbath. After the priests switched out the week-old bread for the fresh bread, Lev. 24:9 tells us they were invited to eat the old bread in the presence of the Lord as a fellowship meal (reminiscent of the meal eaten by Moses, Aaron, his two sons, and the 70 elders on Mt. Sinai – Ex. 24:11). I would guess even week-old bread tastes fabulous when eaten in God’s presence!

It’s interesting to note that the ingredients needed to make a single loaf of Showbread was the exact amount of manna to be gathered for an individual for the Sabbath.

Golden Lampstand – Another item that was to be fashioned of a single piece of gold, the Golden Lampstand was the single source of light in the Holy Place and would have reflected stunningly off the other golden pieces (table and altar of incense). Fashioned as a symbol of the Garden of Eden’s Tree of Life, the lampstand bore almond buds and blossoms (some translations say it even included the nuts) to represent all growing cycles.

It, like the Altar of Incense, was required to burn continually using olive oil as fuel. Where would the Israelites find olive oil in the middle of the wilderness? Only God could provide—as only God will provide the light in His eternal home:

“There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.”  Revelation 22:5

Outside the Tabernacle proper was a “fence” of curtains that protected the Tent of Meeting (and God’s presence) from the people. Inside that courtyard were several important furnishings…

Located, directly outside the Holy Place (first chamber of Tabernacle proper), the Bronze Basin was a large pool of water in which the priests washed their hands and feet as a symbolic cleansing before making an offering to the Lord for the people.

I love the Bronze Basin for a couple of reasons. Besides the fact that it was a great big tub of water in the middle of the desert, it also reminds us of the rivers mentioned in the heavenlies and the Garden of Eden. But the coolest thing about this Bronze Basin is the way it was constructed:

“They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” Exodus 38:8

So every time the priests washed their hands and feet before presenting an offering on behalf of someone else, they had to look in a mirror—checking their own hearts. We would do well to wash in the bronze basin with our own lives. We should wash our hearts clean before confronting sin in the lives of others.

Next in the courtyard, between the basin and the entrance to the camp, stood this bronze altar (not gold). This becomes a crucial article, seen by the whole camp, from beyond the courtyard’s curtained entrance. It’s most crucial detail is the horn on each of its four corners used to secure the offering on the altar. Remember another sacrifice that was secured or “tangled” by its horns?

“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.” Genesis 22:13

Do these pieces of the Tabernacle remind you of a home? A place to wash and purify yourself. A place to eat together with God. A warm light that burns through the night. Yes, it’s holy, but there’s also something about it that seems…homey and cozy. God’s dwelling place. Holy, but somehow not unlike our dwelling places. A place to relate. Another example of our REAL GOD revealing Himself to and relating to His REAL PEOPLE.

However, lest we think this Tabernacle too cozy…listen to the description of our REAL GOD coming “home” to dwell among His REAL PEOPLE…

“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.”                           Exodus 40:34-38

The glory of the Lord is so powerful that even Moses can’t go in. This is the same Moses who talked with and walked with and met with Yahweh and saw His glory! So while this Tabernacle might be “homey,” it’s definitely holy because our very holy God dwells there.

Let that sink in…God dwelling among humankind! He hasn’t dwelt among them since the Garden.

The last time God showed up, the Israelites trembled with fear, remained at a distance, and begged Moses to be their go-between. This time, it’s a very different scene after Yahweh speaks to the people from the cloud of His presence.

“Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down. Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.”        Leviticus 9:22-24 (emphasis added)

By blessing the people and entering into the cloud-covered tent with Moses, Aaron begins his official leadership. ALL the people react with joy and reverence to God’s presence and fall facedown at the sound of His voice. It’s a fantastic picture of wholehearted obedience that can celebrate God’s overwhelming presence.

Download the Study Notes

We’re so enjoying our new home in the Appalachian Mountains. Every time I walk or drive anywhere with my grandkids, we sing, “We’re going up the hill and down the hill. Up the hill and down the hill.” Because we can’t go anywhere without doing just that!

As Lyndsey and I prepared for this week’s podcast, I was reminded of our little song when Moses goes up Mt. Sinai and down Mt. Sinai again and again, taking on the role of messenger between our REAL GOD and His REAL PEOPLE, Israel.

We’ll skim a lot of Scripture today (Exodus 19-34), so you may want your Bible close by to follow along. As we begin, it’s important to remember that Moses isn’t just out for a stroll…he’s 80 years old while making these treks up and down this rugged mountain.

A 3-part pattern develops as we go through the first part of our story:

Moses goes:

Let’s begin with Exodus 19:

A healthy fear (reverence) of God was intended to keep the Israelites from sinning. God didn’t intend to make them cower. Notice He first said, “Don’t be afraid.”

 “Moses said, ‘Don’t be afraid. God is testing you so that your fear (reverence) will keep you from sinning.’” Exodus 20:20

Our REAL GOD intended to strike fear into their hearts because He knew it was good for them, and it’s good for us today. Solomon knew it a few hundred years later too:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10

It’s like when a loving father broadens his shoulders, puffs out his chest, points his finger, and says in a stern voice, “I don’t EVER want you to do that again!” A healthy father/child relationship has no fear of abuse. The father is simply being…mighty. He’s reminding the child where the power lies and there will be consequences if the child disobeys, but His heart is set on keeping His child safe.

Moses goes back up the mountain in chapter 20. God tells him to return to camp and bring up Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s elders (24:1).

Not since the Garden of Eden had men (or women) eaten in God’s presence (Genesis 2:16-17, when God told Adam and Eve they could eat from any tree in the Garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

Even though Aaron, his sons, and the elders were undoubtedly terrified to enter their REAL GOD’s presence, they made the trek up the mountain—and God gives them an encounter like no one else on earth had ever experienced! Yahweh eats with them. The epitome of fellowship in their culture. The essence of fellowship with God.

The Sinai meal foreshadows two other meals that welcome new epics in God’s Kingdom. Remember the Covenant God made with Abraham? Well, here, on Mt. Sinai, God makes a new covenant with Moses—the Covenant of the Law—that will govern His REAL PEOPLE, Israel, until Jesus comes.

Jesus, on the eve of His suffering, ate a very special meal with His disciples that Christians commemorate each time we celebrate Communion. One day, those who are waiting for Jesus’ return will eat another meal with God—the Wedding Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19)—and rejoice in His presence for eternity!

After feasting with Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s elders, Yahweh calls Moses higher…

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.’ Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and…said to the elders, ‘Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.’ When Moses went up on the mountain…[he waited] For six days…and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud…Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” Exodus 24:12-18

The Law is significant in how our REAL GOD relates to and reveals Himself to His REAL PEOPLE. It’s sort of like if Lyndsey or I would write a manifesto of Life, Love, Liberty, and Community: Everything You Need to Know to Survive and Thrive. You would learn a LOT about us by reading our manifesto. In the same way, we learn a lot about our REAL GOD by looking at the Law He laid out for His people.

If you haven’t read Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy lately, try reading one of them and ask yourself, “What do these laws reveal about the nature of God, His character, and His heart?” It may shine a new light on these Scriptures that sometimes feel dry and boring. Here are a few examples:

While Yahweh was revealing His heart to Moses through the laws and commands of His Covenant, the Israelites were counting the days of Moses’ absence and getting more nervous with every sunset.

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’” Exodus 32:1 (emphasis added)

It took the Israelites a little over a month to forget their fear of Yahweh and attribute their freedom to a man. Because Moses was the REAL PEOPLE’s only connection with their REAL GOD, they felt a spiritual vacuum in his absence and grasped at anything when Yahweh seemed silent and distant. Remember, they didn’t want to get too close to their REAL GOD. They preferred a comfortable relationship with God, one in which they held control. But a comfortable God is easily forgotten when life gets hard.

Even today, we can settle into a “comfortable” spirituality rather than draw near to our mighty God. Of course, because Jesus is our High Priest, we no longer need an earthly messenger or priest to be a go-between, but sometimes we let lazy spirituality keep us at a distance…

When God finishes inscribing the Law on stone tablets, He tells Moses to go down the mountain to the stiff-necked, short-sighted Israelites, who built a golden calf in Moses’ absence. Moses goes down the mountain and shows a little wrath of his own.

It would seem at this point in the story that Moses was tired of running up and down the mountain. He chooses to chat with Yahweh in the special tent erected for ALL Israelites to meet with God.

“Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting.’ Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents…As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance…Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud…they all stood and worshiped.” Exodus 33:7-10

The Israelites really seemed to want to seek after God and follow Him. But their faith, as we’ve seen, was too wishy-washy, and Yahweh’s holiness too pure. He suggested to Moses that perhaps Israel would be safer if an angel (rather than Yahweh Himself) led them to the Promised Land…

“Then Moses said to him, ‘…What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’ Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory…’ Then the Lord said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by…’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain.’” Exodus 33:15-17;34:1-2 (emphasis added)

Early the next morning, Moses goes back up the mountain, and encounters Yahweh in a way like no other person in Scripture!

“The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of [YAHWEH]. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord [Yahweh], the Lord [Yahweh], a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.” Exodus 34:5-10

God revealed Himself to Moses in a “cleft of a rock”—a broken place—on the mountain. Broken places are where we learn about God best. His mercy. His patience. His abounding forgiveness. And His steadfast love and faithfulness.

Yahweh also reminded Moses that He’s holy and just and will not leave the guilty—those who refuse to repent—go unpunished. He lets the consequences of those rebellious people’s sins visit their children to the 3rd and 4th generation.

If that sounds harsh, remember the context. God had just promised the Israelites (in His first Ten Commandments) that He’d show love to 1000 generations of those who loved Him and kept His commands. Punish 3-4 generations and love 1000 generations. That’s the nature of our God.

Moses spends another 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain while God reestablishes the covenant with His people and writes on the tablets of stone Moses prepared. The laws mentioned in this section (Exodus 34) specifically help the Israelites remember their God. Why? Because REAL PEOPLE are FORGETFUL PEOPLE.

“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them.” Exodus 34:29-31

Moses instructs them to bring their gold and silver and bronze, precious stones, expensive yarns—the best they had. Remember the first time they gathered their gold/silver? It was to make a golden calf…

This time, it’s to make a Tabernacle to worship Yahweh according to His specific instructions. Come back for our next podcast episode to hear how each instruction holds significance and meaning. We serve an awesome God!

Download the Study Notes

What happened to Moses after the Hollywood stories of DeMille’s Ten Commandments and DreamWorks’ Prince of Egypt? After God’s deliverer leads Israel across the Red Sea, how long does it take to get to Mt. Sinai? What route do they take? We aren’t as familiar with that part of Israel’s history. So let’s explore Israel’s early wandering–and God’s first steps toward relationship with His people.

My English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible explained their reason for grumbling like this:

“They do not yet trust the Lord’s presence with them is sufficient for their protection and provision.”

As we progress through this week’s study, we’ll see this common theme. Israel (and we) grumble because they (we) don’t yet trust God’s presence as sufficient for protection and provision.

God shows Moses a piece of wood (log) to throw into water to make it potable, and then gives them His first-ever “rule” or “Law” at Marah:

“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your Healer.”     Exodus 15:26 (emphasis added)

Remember, LORD – all CAPS – means Yahweh, and the definition of his Name is, “My nature will become evident from my actions.” Yahweh healed the water (action) and then issued the first Law (another action) with a promise (a future action): Obey, and you will not become sick with the illnesses of Egypt.

In the very next verse, Israel travels to Elim, where they find twelve springs of water and 70 palms (for shade from the desert sun), where they camp and enjoy a desert paradise. How about that for God’s action? What did they learn about His nature from that lavish gift?

We don’t know how long they wandered from Elim, but Israel arrives at the Wilderness of Sin (aptly named) 2 mos + 15 days after leaving Egypt, and now the WHOLE assembly grumbles against BOTH Moses and Aaron:

“Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in Egypt—where we sat by meat pots and ate bread til we were full…” Exodus 16:3

This would be an example of selective memory…maybe revisionist history. How often do we aggrandize the past, while comparing it to the hardships of the present?

God hears the grumbling and says to Moses, “I am about to rain bread from heaven…” — But it’s not at all what the Israelites expect!

“…In the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor…Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.’”                    Exodus 16:13-15 (emphasis added)

BTW, Israelites name the bread, “What is it?” (Hebrew word = Manna). Then God gives specific parameters to the people for gathering it. Why?

“In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.”       Exodus 16:4

They were to gather a day’s portion every day, and on the 6th day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much (no matter how much they gather). Cool, huh? God also promises meat at twilight (quail) with the bread that will come the next morning. Why?

“Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.”

 Exodus 16:12

Not only does Yahweh reveal His nature through His actions, but He will also proves His determination to belong to Israel. Our REAL GOD isn’t a distant deity. He’s an intimate Creator determined to be involved in daily life.

So the quail come at twilight. The dew comes in the morning and leaves flakes on the ground. And the people begin to gather…

“The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.            Exodus 16:16-18 (emphasis added)

No matter how much each person gathered, God gave them perfect portion control (no Weight Watchers’ scale needed!). A miracle within a miracle–that’s the nature of their God that is becoming evident.

Um…no. Remember when God said He was testing the people to see if they would follow His instructions? News flash: God already knew they’d disobey. It was Moses who needed to see the rowdy bunch he was destined to lead for years…

“Then Moses said to them, ‘No one is to keep any of it until morning.’ However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.” Exodus 16:19-20

Let’s face it. People are messy. We’re all prone to disobedience and strong-willed resistance to authority on some issue. You may be super chill about politics but VERY opinionated when it comes to raising your kids. Maybe you don’t care what’s for supper, but you care deeply about which car you’ll buy. We all have about a million opinions, and if you put us all in a single group–do you want to lead a group of people like that? I don’t!

And following isn’t easy either. It’s tough to follow even a good leader when I must trust his/her relationship with God in eternal or life/death decisions. Relationships–whether leading or following–are just plain hard. Imagine tent camping in the wilderness with over a million people–for forty years. Eeee-gad!  😯

These REAL PEOPLE Squabble!

Our Israelites move through the Wilderness of Sin (appropriate, eh?) and camp at Rephidim—and again, there’s no water. This time, Scripture tells us, the PEOPLE “test” the Lord by saying:

“Is the LORD among us or not?”    Exodus 17:7

They’re asking basically, “Why do we EVER have to be thirsty IF GOD is with us?” You might have heard people around you asking similar questions:

The Israelites are tired of the same “old” problem. They’re thirsty…AGAIN. Have you ever been tired of the same old struggle? Finances. Health issues. Marital problems. Family division. Do you cry out with the Israelites, “How many times do we have to be thirsty?”

Here’s an interesting question…Might our REAL GOD ask the Israelites–and us, “How many times must I prove power to provide before you’ll believe?”

At Rephidim, God told Moses to gather Israel’s leaders and take the SAME wooden staff he’d used to turn the Nile to blood (to harm) and use it for their salvation. Why?

Because our REAL GOD used the same tools–both man and wooden staff–for different purposes to show it’s not the about the tool. It’s about the God whose power works through it.

The Israelites needed to feel the absolute certainty of their God’s power–in a familiar “miracle”–before they encountered a new test.

Not long after God miraculously provides water to drink, the Amalekites attack Israel while they’re encamped at Rephidim. Remember, the Israelites are in a desert. Water equals treasure. Amalek is the resident nation, and Israel is encroaching on THEIR land and water supply. The Amalekites are fighting in familiar territory for their families. They have the advantage.

But Israel has Yahweh. And they now trust Moses to appoint a secondary leader–Joshua.

“Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.’” Exodus 17:9

As the elder leaders of Israel, Moses, Aaron, and Hur realized they wouldn’t be as effective with a sword in their hands as they would be with a prayer on their lips. So they climbed to the top of a hill in plain sight of those fighting in the trenches. Each knew their role and fought to exhaustion.

When Moses holds up his hands—or Aaron and Hur assist him in holding them up—God sways the battle for the Israelites. The Amalekites are defeated, and God makes a special promise to a young man:

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.’” Exodus 17:14

Joshua, who has no idea that he’ll lead the Israelites after Moses’ death, will surely remember his first battle victory for the rest of his life. What a sweet gift from the God who reveals His nature through His actions.

The Israelites built an altar and called the ALTAR, “The Lord is my Banner” (not a new name for Yahweh). It’s a memorial, a way to commemorate His faithfulness at a crucial crossroads in their early journey with Him.

What practical ways can you “build an altar” to the Lord at crucial crossroads in your life and relationship with God? What mementos or special reminders can you create to commemorate an important step in an ever-deepening intimacy with your REAL GOD? Take some time now to think about it and take that step.

Download the Study Notes

Most of you are probably familiar with Moses’s story, but we’re going to tackle this long and important chunk of Scripture from the perspective of how Moses (and the stories of Exodus) fits into the overall story of the Bible.

We began our Through-the-Bible Character Studies at Creation with God in perfect fellowship with the humans He’d created in His image. When Adam and Eve sinned, it shattered that perfectly transparent relationship between God and man. So the rest of Scripture is the story of how God works to restore that perfect relationship.

As we look at Moses during the next few weeks, we’ll ask the same question we’ve been asking, “What is our REAL GOD doing?” to restore that perfect relationship that was lost in the Garden. However, our second question, “What are the REAL PEOPLE doing?” will shift.

Jacob (renamed Israel in Gen. 32:28) died at the end of Genesis, so in the first chapter of Exodus, the descendants of Israel multiply and spread into a nation. While our ongoing study will still look at the lives of individual REAL PEOPLE, our REAL GOD begins interacting with a whole nation of REAL PEOPLE as a single unit throughout the rest of the Old Testament (OT).

So, our question will oftentimes become, “What are His REAL PEOPLE (meaning the whole nation of Israel) doing?”

In Genesis, we saw our God speaking to, covenanting with, protecting, promising, and prospering a number of men and women but most notably Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Now, as we begin Exodus, this same God has been utterly silent for 400 years. 400 years!!!

Here’s something even more puzzling: Not only was God silent (ouch), but He allowed Israel to endure great hardship and slavery (double ouch)!

My question is WHY?? Why would a God who wants to restore a perfect Garden relationship do these things that seem so completely UN-relational?

Before we judge God (which, BTW, is never a good idea), let’s read the context surrounding His silence…

“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.’ Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.” Exodus 1:8-11 (emphasis added)

The next verse explains the effect of this oppression on God’s chosen people…

“But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.” Exodus 1:12 (emphasis added)

The very thing the Egyptians feared came to pass. Oppression actually created a nation that spread like wildfire.

Despair drives people in predictable patterns. Our REAL GOD knit every Israelite together in his/her mother’s womb and understands every whim and emotion. He was building a nation. He had a plan and was allowing it to unfold. It’s called divine patience…He’s good at it. I’m not. Especially when there’s pain involved. How about you?

From a human standpoint, 400 years of God-silence sucks lemons, right? The Israelites have now reached a point of desperation. Have you ever been desperate? I mean, would-rather-die-than-live desperate? It’s terrifying and terrible—believe me, I know. God’s REAL PEOPLE—the Israelites—were there.

But remember, our REAL GOD had a plan. He knew His people would suffer under slavery. He told Abraham way back in Genesis 15. And He knew that Israel—the whole nation—out of their desperation would cry out to Him.

Remember how the man Israel (Jacob) wrestled it out with God one night and reached that desperation point. It’s how he found his own faith in God. He later had to go through more moments of desperation in order to be humbled by God and see God’s work in his life.

For the rest of our character studies, we’ll see in every story the secondary character as the nation of Israel coming into it’s own, finding their faith with God, wrestling it out…just like Israel (Jacob). Think of the nation’s story as Jacob and God on a larger scale.

Remember in our last episode, how we thought God allowed Joseph’s affliction and trials to hone his character, especially compared to the kind of man he may have become without those trials. And who knows what Jacob would have become without his wrestling match with God. Probably, the entire nation of Israel as a unit/a character is no different. God alone knows what we need, and He knew Israel needed to be brought to a place of crying for their God.

We also see in God’s silence His determination to give people a choice. During this time of silence, the Israelites had an opportunity to choose 1) the God of their fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob); 2) the gods of Egypt; or 3) to give into their despair.

Our choices today are similar. When faced with what feels like God’s absence or silence, we can choose to wait on God, run to self-medications (whatever makes us “feel” better), or turn our backs on all we know about God.

The story of the Hebrew midwives serves as a kind of window into the nation of Israel, by allowing us to see into the REAL LIVES of two women who made the right choice. Even in the midst of a great silence from their God, they made the right choice (Exodus 1:17 tells us) because they feared Him.

How did they choose to maintain a relationship with our REAL GOD—so much that they were willing to publicly disobey Pharaoh’s orders—even after 400 years of silence? And remember, while their REAL GOD was silent, they lived in a culture with MANY other gods who weren’t silent (well, technically they were, but other REAL PEOPLE were undoubtedly talking about their pagan gods). How did the midwives—or any other Israelite—know about God if He’d been silent for 400 years?

The history of Israel and their God (stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) would have been passed down through song from generation to generation.

Think of any quippy little songs and stories you learned as a child. “Happy Birthday To You” (written in 1893 [123 years ago]) and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (written in 1806 [210 years ago]) What about nursery rhymes? Can you recite “Hey Diddle Diddle” (first published in 1765 [251 years ago])? Many others have been floating around and taught to children for centuries. It’s the same way Israelite oral history was taught. The slaves in Egypt would have known the history of their ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—word-for-word and song-note-for-song-note during the days of God’s silence.

But after 400 years, wouldn’t the songs have been as meaningless as “Happy Birthday” is to some people today? And even more troubling…if nothing new was happening with their God, might they have mixed their songs and stories with those of the surrounding culture and the pagan gods?

We know the Israelites had incorporated Egyptian gods into their culture because of the golden calf they built the minute they thought Yahweh had swallowed up Moses on top of Mt. Sinai.

Throughout the OT, we’ll discover that the Israelites greatest sin was NOT that they completely turned away from God, but that they added other gods BESIDE Him.

We have God’s nation trying to preserve their stories through song to remember what He’s like in the midst of oppression and multiple other gods—finding it incredibly difficult to maintain any kind of vibrant faith in Him.

The answer is to do what Israel did: Remember your God, and cry out in desperation.

It was the Israelites who cried out, but God had chosen Moses eighty years before (Exodus 7:7) to be His instrument of deliverance. Moses wasn’t looking for God, but… God. Had. A. Plan.

“The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Exodus 3:7-8 (emphasis added)

God heard ALL their cries—the whole nation. To build a nation of people ready to follow Him wholeheartedly, He needed to wait until a whole nation was desperate enough to cry out.

After 400 years of silence, God speaks to one man, Moses, in order to speak to the whole nation. And what He speaks is His Name.

“Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.’” Exodus 3:13-14a (emphasis added)

Most English Bibles translate “I AM” as: “I will be what I will be.” But my Hebrew Study Bible blew my socks off with this literal translation:

“My nature will become evident from my actions.”

So, it was like God said to Moses, “Watch what I do, and you’ll learn who I AM.”

Back in Genesis, folks had been calling God the names of His characteristics because He was actively showing His nature through his actions to those individuals (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob):

To Moses, He gives one name for all time that basically means, “Yes, I AM a God who acts. Watch me! And you will know me.” Israel’s God was an active God, and that’s how they were to know Him from here on out…and keep knowing Him. That’s how WE are to know Him and keep knowing Him…WATCH Him!

So, Moses knows God’s new name…now what? Here’s what God expected him to do:

“‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’ God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, ‘I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.’”’” Exodus 3:14b-17 (emphasis added)

Imagine how Moses felt. He wasn’t raised as an Israelite. He barely knew their customs. He was raised as an Egyptian and then fled to Midian as a fugitive. Now, at age 80, Yahweh tells him to return to the people of Israel and LEAD them out of slavery?

Can you imagine the Israelites’ response? “Yeah, right. You mean that 400-year-old silent God that doesn’t exist? The one we sing those silly songs about? He’s going to come down and deliver us from bondage?”

So, God gives Moses miraculous signs to perform for the people. Really?!? More freaking out! Leprosy and a snake by the tail—really, God? We give Moses a hard time for arguing with God, but let’s get REAL here. Would we have done any better?

After some serious whining, Moses won’t budge on the deliverer calling. Enter…big brother Aaron, who our REAL GOD describes as someone who “speaks well” in Exodus 4:14. I suppose if the Creator writes, “Speaks well,” on your resume` that’s a pretty good endorsement. Again…Aaron wasn’t the second-string spokesman. He was God’s man for the plan. If God knew Aaron “spoke well,” that means God had been preparing him with opportunities to speak, right?

So the brothers return, gather the elders, and relay to the REAL PEOPLE their REAL GOD’S new name and His message. Do the Israelites believe it?

“And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel.  Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.” Exodus 4:28-31

Amazing. To believe and bow down and worship this God who hasn’t spoken—or even seemed to exist—for 400 years… It brings me to tears. Can you imagine the sight? The elders of Israel, overwhelmed. So far beyond words, they must hide their faces in worship before a God they thought was dead.

Now, He’s on their side. The silly stories are now amazing beacons of hope…

Their God is REAL!! OUR God is REAL!!

You may feel like God is silent in your life right now. Maybe you feel like He’s been silent for a long time, or like He’s never spoken to you at all. Maybe it seems like He’s just a character in some silly little song you learned as a kid.

Maybe what you need to hear today is the wonderful truth that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the I AM, is REAL after all! He sees your trouble and hears your cries and has a plan to deliver you.

In fact, His plan for deliverance has already been set in motion through His Son Jesus Christ! You are a slave no longer. His work is finished! You need only shake off the chains and accept His free Gift of salvation. If you don’t understand what that means or how to live a life of freedom through Jesus Christ, please email me at [email protected] or Lyndsey at [email protected].

If you’ve already taken that step of salvation but need the love and hope and peace and light of Jesus to show up and speak into your circumstances, know that Lyndsey and I have prayed for you—and continue to pray that everyone listening to this podcast or reading this post might feel His presence, hear Him speak, and know that His loving care is REAL. Rest in the I AM, and WATCH for Him to reveal more of Himself to you this week.

Download the Study Notes

The story of Jacob’s son, Joseph, is familiar to most of us and can be found in Genesis 37-50. It’s also been told to children and adults through fiction in a myriad of ways. The Dreamworks movie, Joseph: King of Dreams, is one I just recently watched with my grandkids, and I’ll bet some of you have seen the play, Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat.

The story begins with Jacob making the same mistake his father Isaac did:

“Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers…and he brought their father a bad report about them. Now [Jacob] loved Joseph more than any of his other sons…and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him.” Gen. 37:2-4 (emphasis added)

This family continues to spiral with more situations similar to Jacob’s own growing-up years…

Did Jacob and Joseph deserve to be duped? Was it okay for the ten brothers to sell Joseph or lie to their father? No, but at least we understand their motivation—the why behind it.

Consider the kind of man Joseph might have become if he would have continued living as the ever-favored son, tattling to daddy, expounding on his grand dreams, never experiencing any hardship or trials or testing. I think he was on his way to becoming a self-righteous, holier-than-thou old fart! Some of the hardships we’re about to see in Joseph’s life may have just beat the meanness out of him.

Before we go any farther in the story, let’s establish the main theme—and the main character. While Joseph seems like the main character for these 12 chapters of Genesis, he is really secondary.

This story is more about what God is doing to bring good out of bad in Joseph’s life. The story’s sole purpose is stated in Genesis 50:20—

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Beginning in chapter 39 of Genesis, we need not look far to see what God is doing when Joseph arrives in Egypt. When Joseph is sold into the household of Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard, we see some key phrases that appear repeatedly throughout Joseph’s life.

These phrases point to the main agent in this story—our REAL GOD Himself.

Because REAL PEOPLE are involved, things get dicey for Joseph again.

If Joseph was the main character, my editor would complain that he spends too much time in trouble! But the main character again works behind the scenes as the Hero of this story…

Even during Joseph’s false imprisonment, we see those key phrases about our REAL GOD ever near Joseph in his time of need:

“But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” Genesis 39:20b-23 (emphasis added)

In addition to all the success and favor, our REAL GOD grants Joseph an opportunity to interpret two dreams while in prison, foreshadowing an even greater opportunity for Joseph down the road. When the royal baker and royal cupbearer come to Joseph with their dreams, Joseph assures them only God can interpret their dreams (a far cry from the Joseph who flaunted his dreams as a spoiled 17-year-old). He interprets the dreams, but Joseph remains in prison—thinking he’s been forgotten.

Two years later (Sheesh! 2 more years of waiting—yep.), Pharaoh has two dreams that none of his wise men or magicians can interpret, and that ol’ cupbearer finally remembers Joseph and his ability to interpret. When Pharaoh asks Joseph to interpret his dreams, he responds with an even stronger statement about the Main Character in his life…

“‘I cannot do it,’ Joseph replied to Pharaoh, ‘but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.’” Gen 41:16

I love the confidence in God that Joseph likely gained in prison. Hardship either makes us or breaks us, and I think we see here a Joseph that’s been refined.

“…Now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh…” Gen 41:33–35

All this time Joseph has endured one hardship after another, and we’ve seen no hint of emotion (though I think that is partly because we’re meant to understand GOD as the main character, not Joseph). When he’s reunited with his brothers, we finally see the humanness of Joseph revealed—and our REAL GOD working through that too.

He appears to Jacob in a dream—like the first time He ever spoke to Jacob. How tender. How intimate. How kind…

“‘I am God, the God of your father,’ he said. ‘Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.’” Gen. 46:3–4

Jacob’s REAL GOD shows up at a time of great turmoil with a promise and an assurance to quiet Jacob’s fears. Did Jacob trust God fully and obey Pharaoh’s command to leave all his possessions in Canaan? Nope.

“So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan.” Gen. 46:6

When Jacob arrives in Egypt, his long-lost son Joseph is both happy and stressed to see him. Dear old dad begins his stay in Egypt by disobeying Joseph’s boss, so Joseph gives him a detailed script of what to say when he’s brought before Egypt’s king (Gen. 46:33-34).

Because Jacob will be summoned to the king.

 **Our REAL PEOPLE choices get us into hot water that only our REAL GOD can get us out of!**

“So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.” Gen. 47:20-21

Remember the original covenant God made with Abram—when Abe cut the animals in half, and God walked between them as a smoking pot and flaming torch? Gen. 15:13 says:

“Then the LORD said to [Abram], ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.”

God begins building the nation of Israel (Jacob’s sons) when Joseph is governor of Egypt. In 400 years, our REAL GOD will save them from self-inflicted bondage! Why self-inflicted? Because:

Their bondage came from small choices made every day to live a life of comfort in a land not their own instead of living in obedience in a Land chosen by God. Our bondage is the same today—small choices every day to live in what seems like comfort instead of obedience to God.

However, even though REAL PEOPLE make self-inflicted harmful choices, some of us are transformed in this life, and God continues His far-reaching plan of restoration.

We get a glimpse of that restoration in Jacob’s blessing to his sons on his deathbed. Though he’s still playing favorites with Joseph’s sons at the end (giving Joseph’s two sons the double portion of a firstborn and giving the greater blessing to Joseph’s younger son, Ephraim), we see a sweet maturity in Jacob’s relationship with his God in these final moments.

“Then he blessed Joseph and said, ‘May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm—may he bless these boys…” Genesis 48:15-16 (emphasis added)

Remember back in Genesis 28, after God had promised to be with Jacob and bless him abundantly, Jacob had given a half-hearted promise to sort of accept God if He did all He promised. But this is a different Jacob. This is 137 year-old Jacob, who knows what His REAL GOD has done for him. Beautiful, isn’t it?

In the wake of Jacob’s death, Joseph’s brothers fear he’ll exact his revenge, but the favorite son has been transformed as completely as his father. When his brothers fear the seventeen-year-old brat, Joseph answers instead like a man who knows the REAL GOD.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20

We, too, can be transformed from a weak faith (like Jacob) or through our hardships (like Joseph). Just like God was the Main Character in Joseph’s story—working behind the scenes in every life event, good or bad—so He is the Main Character in your story and mine.  

Try a little exercise with me…

Take a piece of paper and divide it into two columns. Label the left column “Good Things God Has Done,” and label the right column “Hardships God Allowed.” Fill the two columns with events in your life, and try to match the good things that have come from the hardships. Like Joseph, I’m guessing you’ll find that many of the hard things will have brought about some good in the long run. It’s how our REAL GOD blesses His people.

I’m convinced that one of my greatest sins is neglecting to acknowledge God’s work in my life. This simple activity helps us acknowledge that our REAL GOD is active in every event of our lives—the fun and happy as well as the challenging and stretching. It. Is. Transforming.