Wilderness Wanderings

[God said], You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north. You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink (Deuteronomy 2:2-6).

Moses is recounting Israel's history. His own commentary is mixed in with God's directions for the journey and instructions for life as his people. In our text, he is recounting the moment for which Israel had spent nearly 40 years waiting. That's how long they had been wondering in the wilderness after the first failed attempt to enter the land.

One can imagine that a few of the Israelites wondered quietly if God would keep his promise or would he leave them to wander endlessly, generation after generation, in this wilderness. Centuries earlier God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their descendants would one day live in the land of promise. Israel's lack of trust in God's capacity to make it happen had launched them on this 40-year wilderness wanderings. Maybe God didn't want to risk it again.

But no! God calls an end to this pilgrimage. "It's time," he says. He is faithful to his promises. He was now setting the stage for their triumphant entry into the Promised Land from across the Jordan opposite Jericho. He will give them the land. These stories are written, as least in part, so that we will see God's faithfulness at work. We, too, must often wait for God to fulfill his promises. Sometimes, the waiting is long and longer. We, too, wonder if God has forgotten, or maybe God is abandoning us to the wilderness. The promise God made to Abraham took more than 400 years to be fulfilled. The lesson here is simple: God does not forget; he keeps his promises. Trust him.

This part of Moses' sermon also demonstrates that God is faithful to his threats. Because the faithless Israelites had refused to enter the Promised Land, God swore to destroy that generation in the desert and start over with a new people. There is also a warning here for us. That first generation was ungrateful for divine grace experienced over and over again. They repeatedly clamored to return to Egypt. Part of the covenant arrangement is that we take God seriously at his word. That we trust him. There is consequence for lack of trust.

Consequences for lack of trust may appear less obvious for us then they were for Israel. But, then again, maybe not. Consider the disciples in the boat with Jesus soundly asleep while the wind and waves threatened to capsize the craft. What does Jesus say when they wake him, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40). Later, one of those disciples would pen the line, "Perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18). Whose love is the disciple speaking about? God's love of course. We do not need to fear because God loves us. This is the lesson Israel had such a hard time learning. Are we much different? But we do not have to live in fear, we can trust in his love. It was lived out on the cross.

There is another lesson in this text. The reference to Esau is significant. The land his descendant's live in was given to them by God. It's the same language that is used to describe God giving Canaan to Israel. God is involved with the nations around Israel as well. We do well to remember this. As much as it may seem that God is absent from the affairs of the world, Moses wants Israel to see that God is the King of kings. This gives us encouragement in our prayers for the nations, for peace among the peoples.

Israel did have a unique purpose, but she did not have a monopoly on God. God is deeply invested in the whole earth. The psalmist understood this well when composing this prayer, "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations… May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you" (Psalm 67:1,2,5). Likewise, the church does not have a monopoly on God. God is always at work outside the church. The church is called to reveal God to the nations, that the peoples may join us in praising him.

This is a return of sorts to an old devotion from February 23, 2021. I had intended to write something new for today, but find myself sick instead. This devotion remains a good one to be reminded of, and from a bit later on in the same run of history that we're covering now in Deuteronomy. May you find hope in God as you read...

"…the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death." "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. … "Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window. (Joshua 2:11b-14a, 21)

Rahab the prostitute, hanging by a thread at the approach of the army of Israel who intended to raze Jericho to the ground.

Rahab clearly didn't hold a high position in her ancient society. She was likely assumed to be a woman of dubious character. She quite likely was a victim of circumstances out of her control that placed her in this profession. Economic hardship. No husband to guard her rights. A prostitute.

And yet, Rahab the prostitute gives a full and sincere confession of faith in the God of Israel, nearly as strong a confession as anyone else in the book of Joshua as she speaks to the sovereignty and power of the Lord who will give this new land to his people.

She trusted this Lord she had only ever heard about, and she entrusted herself to his people. "Give me a sure sign… that you will save us from death," she says. And the sign they give her is a sign that oddly reverberates with the crimson blood of the lambs smeared over the entry ways of the Israelites on the night of Passover. In her window she is to tie a scarlet cord, and huddle inside behind locked doors with her whole family as the Israelites did on the night of their salvation.

But this cord signifies more. This story is the second instance of this Hebrew word for hope. Where is that word in this story? The "scarlet cord." There are actually three words here in the Hebrew. One of them means thread, one of them means scarlet, and the last of them has a root which means "to be tense/rigid," or by extension "to be expectant." That last one is our word for hope, and is indeed translated as hope elsewhere in the Bible.

Rahab the prostitute, hanging by a scarlet thread of hope in the Lord, even as the walls were quite literally about to collapse around her, putting an end to life as she'd known it. But that scarlet thread of hope playing gently in the wind was also the promise that a new life was coming.

Even when a thread is all you seem to be holding on by: it's enough. Hope in God never comes with much in this life we can lay our hands on, just a thin whisp of scarlet hope. But as these members of Jesus' own genealogy—Rahab, Jacob, and Ruth—would discover: God is faithful. The Lord delivers. A hope in him, threadbare though it may be, is never misplaced.

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is 1 Samuel 11 from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

Dive-In Questions

1. Do you agree with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: "If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"? In what ways have you been tempted to divide the world into good and evil people?
2. Do you struggle with the violence ways in which Israel sometimes related to her neighbours? Can we say anything that might help us with this? How does the Amalekite attitude towards Israel play into this?
3. How does this passage portray Saul? What does it reveal about God?
4. What is at the heart of obedience? Where do you find this most difficult? In what ways do your religious activities hide a heart that only half-heartedly listens to God?

Then you replied, "We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us." So, every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country. But the Lord said to me, "Tell them, 'Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.'" So, I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord's command and in your arrogance, you marched up into the hill country. The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. You came back and wept before the Lord, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you (Deuteronomy 1:41-45).

As all parent knows, raising children is full of complexity. Taking a newborn home from the hospital may seem like the scariest thing on earth. Many parents have moments of utter panic as they realize that this little human is utterly dependent on them. Yet, years later, looking back, we realize that that was the easy part.

Its what came after that proved to be so complex. How do we teach our children to live within proper boundaries? How much pain do we allow them to experience so that they learn? How do they come to believe that we have their best interest in mind when we put up limits? Will they ever learn to truly listen to us?

These questions, and more, are at play in our text for today. Moses is reminding Israel of her history, hoping that the children will respond differently to God then their parents. Yesterday, Pastor Anthony, talked about how the parents did not trust in the Lord. They would not believe that he loved them. They did not believe that he was a good father who intended to give good gifts to his children. Because they refused to trust and obey, God said he would give the good land to their children instead. The parents would wonder aimlessly in the wilderness until their children reached adulthood.

Well, when the first generation heard that, they were sorry indeed. They realized they had sinned against God. In their eagerness to make it up to him, they decided to go and take the land, to do battle against those who lived there. As they armed for battle, Moses warned them not to go, God would not go with them. They went, only to discover that the land "flowing with milk and honey" also produced stinging bees, which swarmed around them, chased them off, and struck them down. Why? They recognized their sin, but still were not willing to listen to God.

Having chastised the Corinthians, Paul draws a parallel with this episode when he writes, "…your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended… Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you… (1 Corinthians 7:9-11).

What was the difference between Israel and the Corinthians? Paul speaks about two effects of sorrow or grief. There is worldly sorrow, which is at best a shallow remorse, but which is consumed by bitterness and self-pity and which issues in death. Clearly, the Israelites demonstrated this. "In their arrogance," Moses said, they went to war. "We know better than God," they said, "we know how to fix this."

Alternatively, there is godly sorrow which produces repentance as expressed in earnestness, eagerness, longing and concern and which issues in salvation. The difference between the two comes down to this, "listening." After then confessed their sin, the Israelites were still not willing to listen to God. They had not changed. But the Corinthians did. They began to pay attention.

God, our Father, lavishes grace on his children, but also gets angry when we defy him and refuse to trust him. Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35) teaches us this is still true. God, our Father, loves and carries and cares for us, but Hebrews 12:6 reminds us that the fatherhood of God means more: "The Lord trains the one he loves. He corrects everyone he accepts as his child."

Sometimes, some of the pain we experience is this kind of pain. We should be very cautious about naming this for someone else. But we should be willing to name it for ourselves. Are you? Is there this kind of pain in your life right now? If so, whose example will you follow? If you turn to God with godly, listening sorrow, know that you can carry on with the blessing of your Heavenly Father.

"There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go. When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: "No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors… And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea." (Deuteronomy 1:31-35, 39-40)

One might think that a good parent-child relationship builds trust. But that is not Israel's response to God's fatherly care that saved them and provided for them.

Even despite the report of a good land from Moses, from the spies, and from God's own promise. Even despite the assurance received from Moses and from the Israelite's own experience. Even still: fear of the "facts" as the Israelites decided to see them overshadowed the relationship of trust with God their Father.

This is now the third time that Israel has responded in fear instead of in faith. The first time was when they asked to send spies to show them where to go instead of trusting the God who had led them by cloud and fire to show them where to go. The second time was when they named all the many fears they had, including not only a fear of the scary people in the land, but also a fear that God their father actually hated them and intended to kill them off by means of the Amorites in the land.

After this second time, Moses assures them: do not be afraid—God will fight for you and care for you as a Father—just as you yourselves have seen him do these past years in the wilderness! But they would not trust in this Lord. They would not believe that he loved them. They would not believe that he was a good father who intended to give good gifts to his children.

So finally God himself speaks. To the people who could not see the gifts of provision and care in the wilderness: they will not see the good gift of the promised land either. To the people who saw God as a God of hate that wished for their death, they will receive precisely what they expected: death as a punishment from their God. For this people unwilling to be children of the father, their place would be taken by true children: their own.

Through this passage runs a common question of the Bible. The question is: what do you see? Do you more quickly see enemies or gifts? Do you see scarcity or abundance? And what God do you see? A God of love, or of hate?

To put the question differently, do you see the world through the eyes of a child, or of a cynic? Children know how to receive gifts, receive love, receive care. Children are trusting. Children have faith.

As the writer of Hebrews will later write, reflecting on all the stories of Israel: "faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." So, what do you see when you look out at the world around you?

May God open your eyes more and more to the childlike, faith-filled vision of his fatherly care, good gifts, and loving action.

"But you wouldn't go up [into the land, Moses said to Israel]. You refused to obey the command of the Lord your God. You spoke against him in your tents. You said, "The Lord hates us. That's why he brought us out of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites. He wanted to destroy us. Where can we go? The men who checked out the land have made us afraid. They say, 'The people are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are large. They have walls that reach up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.'" Then I said to you, "Don't be terrified. Don't be afraid of them. The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will fight for you. With your own eyes you saw how he fought for you in Egypt. You also saw how the Lord your God brought you through the desert. He carried you everywhere you went, just as a father carries his son. And now you have arrived here" (Deuteronomy 1:26-31).

Today, we ponder the second half of the Bible's story. Yesterday, Pastor Anthony reflected on the first half, so if you missed yesterday's, you might want to pause here and do that first. As he said, the first half of the Bible is all about God's gifts to us. The second half explores how we respond to these gifts. And as our text relates, humans tend to be less than thankful for God's gifts.

Before we explore that, let's turn to the book of 1 Corinthians in which we read, "Those things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us. That's because we are living at the time when God's work is being completed. So be careful. When you think you are standing firm, you might fall (10:11-12). This is no subtle warning that we really need to pay attention to this story.

Of course, we are not Israel. Arguably, the gift God gives us is much greater. Earlier Paul wrote, "Because of what God has done, you belong to Christ Jesus…He makes us right with God. He makes us holy and sets us free (1 Corinthians 1:30). He continues, "We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us" (2:12), and "we have the mind of Christ" (2:16). God's gift to us is Christ Jesus and all his benefits. This gift will keep giving until we have received our inheritance on the new earth.

How do we respond to God's gifts?

The best thing to do is to receive them with joy and thanksgiving; as Pastor Anthony said, like a child. But somewhere between childhood and adulthood many of us become like the Israelites. We look at the gifts God gives and decide that God can't do it. We are too scarred, too broken, we can't be fixed. We believe the lie that God's primary attitude towards us is hatred. He is repulsed by what we have done, or the things done to us. Try as we might, we can't rid ourselves of sin's stain. So focussed on the bleating of evil around us, we do not hear the words of Jesus, "For those sins I died." We are filled with fear.

It might also be that we are too proud to receive them. This sort of refusing pride comes in two ways. On the one hand, we do not think we are sinful enough to need redeeming, all we need is a tweak here and a tweak over there and we are good to go, heaven should be proud to have us. Such pride has never investigated their own heart. Such hearts cannot receive the gift.

On the other hand, there is a pride that refuses to receive God's grace. Refuses, not because we are so stained, but because we are rooted in a theology that says, 'we must earn our place'. Among seasoned Christians, I constantly hear versions of this. As much as we talk about grace, we cannot believe it. When we slow down enough to examine are own hearts, we discover we are filled with fear. We have not made enough progress in the Christian life; God must hate me for being a repetitive failure.

In the face of such fear, Moses reminds Israel of what God has been doing for her: he has been present with her and going before her; as her divine Warrior and Captain he fought for her defeating her enemies before her very eyes; and he has sustained her through the great and terrifying desert. With sensitive pastoral touch, Moses compared God's care to that of a parent who carries their child through danger to safety. She has experienced God both as fighter and as father, as savior and as provider; a powerful combination of metaphors that echoes through the whole Bible.

Echoing Moses' compassion, Paul says that we belong to God, we are set right with him, we are set free and made holy, we have the Spirit of God and the mind of Christ. Like Moses, Paul says, 'Don't be afraid. God can do this.' Move forward in faith, receive the gift, embrace the promise.

Then I said to you, "You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Then all of you came to me and said, "Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to." The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe. They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol and explored it. Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, "It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us." (Deuteronomy 1:20-25)

This set of verses lays out fully one half of the Bible. Arguably the best part. The other part, we'll come to tomorrow. So what is this first half of the Bible about? It is about what God has given. The other half is about how we respond. But first things first.

Three times in this passage some form of the word "given" rings out. "You have reached [the land], which the Lord our God is giving us." "See the Lord your God has given you the land." "It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us." Gift, gift, gift. Three times gift. Three also being one of those numbers that resonate through the scriptures telling us here that the land is a complete gift, a perfect gift, a God-gift.

So, what is it that we do with gifts…? Earn them? Win them? Of course not. Ask any child: they know. The thing to do with gifts is to receive them! Open them! Rip into them, play with them, enjoy and take delight in them! Children will even correctly point out that we should all be wanting and living in eager expectation of getting even more gifts: all the time. It's never a bad time to get presents. Of course, adults often reply with a corrective: "be grateful for what you got!" In other words: don't expect anything, don't think you deserve anything, don't be too eager to receive anything. After all, hand outs are bad. Too much of that might spoil a child and make them lazy.

Sorry to say, adults, but we're the ones who've got this all wrong. As Jesus will tell us later on in the Gospels: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." It is not only childlike humility that we need to emulate, I think, it is also that childlike ability to receive what's given and to live with hopeful expectation.

This same idea came up in our last sermon from 1 Samuel: Jonathan has the eyes to see the gifts of God in salvation from enemies and the promised land under foot simply oozing with honey. But Saul cannot see the giftedness of life as God has created, provided, and redeemed it. So much so, that he declares on oath that even if the transgression against his ill curse should lie with the "gift of God" (i.e. Jonathan)—he won't hesitate to put that gift to death. It is religious zeal, bereft of the Spirit of God and purified by fear (see tomorrow's devotion) at it's worst.

Tomorrow we'll discover that the story of the wandering Israelites was not so different. They believed their fear of "the facts" more than they believed in the perfectly sufficient gift of God. The results? They all died in the desert. Death is the result of giving up on the gift of God. The same thing happened to those religious leaders who crucified the gift of God in the Gospels. You can hear Saul's zealous vow and the Israelites disbelieving fear just underneath the din of "crucify!"

Everything needful has been given by God. A creation of life and abundance, a salvation against every enemy, and place with God to call home. Will you receive it as children? If so, you will find that there remains a place of rest, life, hope, and peace for the people of God…

Here is what I commanded your judges at that time, (said Moses). I said, "Listen to your people's cases when they argue with one another. Judge them fairly. It doesn't matter whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and an outsider living among you. When you judge them, treat everyone the same. Listen to those who are important and those who are not. Don't be afraid of anyone. God is the highest judge. Bring me any case that is too hard for you. I'll listen to it." At that time, I told you everything you should do (Deuteronomy 1:16-18).

In creating a leadership structure for his people, God establishes an important principle that runs through the Bible: good laws are not sufficient, good laws need good people to administer them. Good leaders possess wisdom, understanding, and a good public reputation. These good people are given four principles to govern their decision making.

One: they must look for what is right, determining who is the innocent and the guilty party. The word 'fairly' in our translation is a little weak. The Hebrew says, "judge the right." The primary duty of judges is to discover where right lies and to judge accordingly. They must have the wisdom to distinguish truth from falsehood. Not always easy.

Two: they are not to show partiality. All humans are equal, and we all deserve equal standing before the law. Two specific examples are given. The Israelite is not to be favoured over the outsider nor the important over the unimportant. The equal status of the outsider is a distinctive feature of Israel's law. These outsiders were landless folks from non-Israelite nations. Being landless and without family, they were vulnerable to exploitation and oppression.

The reference to the outsider and the unimportant evokes memories of Israel's status in Egypt. The Egyptians treated the Israelites horribly. Israel was not to imitate Egypt but the Lord their God who rescued them from oppression. The land of promise is God's gift to Israel, meant to be shared. As such, the small, the weak, the poor get the same fair hearing as the rich and powerful, they are to be treated as God treated Israel.

Three: the judges were not to be afraid of any person, because in exercising justice they were doing the work of God himself. Judicial activity has an elevated status in Israel. And the law has a transcendent value. It may be administered by humans, but it possesses an authority above them. Behind the law stands the God who loves and requires and gives justice.

Judges should not let fear of the powerful or wealthy compromise their insistence on the right, issuing judgements that bring shalom to the community. A frightened judge can never deal justly; nor is there any place to turn for justice when the court is intimidated. The earthly judge rules on God's behalf, who will hold all parties, including the judge, accountable.

Four, humility. Judges must be able to admit when cases are too difficult for them and pass them along to Moses. This will require constant inner probing. It is easy for those in authority to delude themselves into believing they have all the answers. The truth is rarely easy to discern. It takes great humility, which must be constantly nurtured, to be able to say, "In this case, I don't know."

The early church modeled itself on the Deuteronomic pattern of leadership portrayed here. When she experienced similar rapid growth under God's blessing, there were disputes and organizational stresses. These were met by a response similar in nature (cf. Acts 6:1-7).

God does not drop good leaders out of the sky. They are nurtured within the community of faith. Are you developing the qualities for good leadership? Are you encouraging those around you to do so? Even though leaders are held to a higher standard, it is good to aspire to this role (cf. 1 Timothy 3:1).

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is 1 Samuel 14:24-52 from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. If someone would look into your life and assess the fruit that your life bears, would they say you are a good tree?

2. What kind of a tree was Jonathan? What does his name mean?

3. What kind of a tree was Saul? Write down all the examples that you encounter in this sermon and passage and what they mean…

4. What is the verdict that the text arrives at and how does it get there? Who brought trouble? Who sinned? Which fruit and which tree was vindicated?

5. How might you grow good fruity in your life?

At that time I said to you, "You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone. The Lord your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky. May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised! But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you." You answered me, "What you propose to do is good." So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials. (Deuteronomy 1:9-15)

This past year we talked a bit about deconstruction. This past year, even these past few years, have been years of pruning, tearing down, being diminished. Some of you went through that. Some of you are still there. But some of you, as we turn the calendar into this new year, are beginning to enter a different head and heart space: one of reconstruction, rebuilding: a season of growth.

The story for the Israelites at the opening of Deuteronomy is not so different. During their bondage in Egypt, they were in many ways a people diminished, torn down, discouraged. They lost sight of who they were and whose they were. It was a season of deconstruction where the promises seemed to fail and the presence of God seemed absent.

But after God showed up in a big way in response to his people's distress, liberating them from their slavery, the seasons changed. Though they were in the desert, it was very much a season of reconstruction. It didn't have to go that way: it could have been a season of drought, despair, and death—that is what the wilderness is all about, after all. But through the surprising work of God to nourish and refresh with manna and water, to give direction and signs of presence through the cloud and fire, and to give structure, identity, and purpose through the covenant, law, and rituals: this season in the land of desolation became a surprising place of encounter, formation, and yes—reconstruction. Israel became a people—a nation—with an identity and a purpose in the wilderness.

How did that work? Well, it was actually many little moments of deconstruction and reconstruction. Our text today is one of them. After crossing the Red Sea, Moses was the sole commander, official, and judge over the people. This "institution" carried by one man could not bear the weight of this people, though. The "institution" broke down. "How can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?" Moses asks.

Was this a sign of failure? Not at all. It was a sign of blessing, actually. God was fulfilling his promise to multiply his people and to make them numerous! But with that increase came different opportunities, challenges, and needs. Before burning out completely, Moses received the wise intervention of his Father-in-law, Jethro to build something new, give power away, and entrust this people of God to the work of God in the people.

So a new institution grows up: a new structure for the faith and life of the people. The new opportunity and challenge inherent in the pressing problems and their scale led to the deconstruction of one form of institution and leadership and the birth of another as more and more were invited to shoulder the responsibility of the blessing and its challenge.

It's worth noting though, that God worked through both the old and the new form. He's not bound to one particular institutional manifestation of leadership, church, society, or nation.

So as our own situation and culture changes around us: how might God be inviting us to deconstruct and reconstruct faithful and responsible forms of personal devotion, of family life, of church, and of leadership out in the world to support lives of faith and community in our culture today?