Monday, Ordinary 28, Proper 23, Oct 13
ChapLynne
Posts: 31 Member
Meditation
Monday, Ordinary 28, Proper 23 sadly recorded the discovery of the duplicity of Aaron and the Children of Israel, who had built a golden calf to worship. Moses, carrying the two tablets that God, himself, had inscribed with the Law, came down from the mountain and beheld the dancing and celebration around the calf. In his anger, Moses slammed the tablets down and they shattered. He’d just spent forty days receiving those tablets and within minutes, they were useless.
God had told him that the Hebrew people had turned away from him, and it precipitated Moses’ descent from the mountain.
Aaron used the same excuse that Adam and Eve had used—fix blame fast on someone else. “‘Those’ people complained because ‘you’ had been gone so long.” Aaron whined to Moses. Moses melted the gold calf and ground it into fine powder. He mixed it with water and made the people drink it.
Then came the true purification. Moses asked for those who were following God to step forward. He gave the order for the Levites to kill those who chose to follow the false gods. Three thousand men who had ‘grievously sinned against God’—no doubt the instigators— were killed.
Moses went back up the hill to ask forgiveness of God, offering his own name to be removed from the Book of Life in order to save his people, who had followed the false leaders and turned away from God.
God reinforced that people would be accountable individually. Those who sinned against him would be held accountable and their name wouldn’t be in the Book of Life.
Furthermore, God told Moses to go lead his people and reminded him that his angel would go before him.
For the rest of the people, who had followed false gods, they were given a terrible disease as a punishment.
The New Testament lesson in Jude warned that some people would be the type that disobeyed God, scoffing about God and following their unholy desires. “These people” were among the ‘church people’ and not ‘them--those pagans and atheists, because Jude said these people would “divide you” i.e. dividing the believers of the church. The only ones who can divide the church are those within the church. God’s indictment of them was equally as bad as his indictment of the Hebrews who turned their backs on God.
But believers can find their way back to God, Jude said. With faith, prayer, and the love of Jesus, they can be recipients of God’s mercy. And they, in turn, could show mercy to those who might have had doubts, and bring others out of the fire—out of places where they would be in danger—so they could be saved. In helping them, Jude warned that one should be careful that “their filthy lives don’t rub off on you.”
He didn’t leave it there, but offered the great benediction,
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
That benediction has special significance to me. I can remember hearing my father, a Presbyterian minister, saying those words at the end of countless Sunday services. I couldn’t have been more than four or five years old, but his raised hands and clear deep voice stuck in my memory. God would prevent us from falling into sin and would present us faultless before the judgment throne. Powerful words to live by.
Thanks be to God.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 28, Proper 23
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 97;Exodus 32:15-35;Jude 17-25&version=KJV;GNT;NCV;NIV;ERV (multiple versions)
Monday, Ordinary 28, Proper 23
Psalm 97
Exodus 32:15-35
Jude 1:17-25
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Philippians 4:4
King James Version (KJV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Exodus 32:15-35
King James Version (KJV)
15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.
28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
29 For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.
31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
35 And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
I have to cut the lesson short. MFP won't allow the full length. Find it at http://chaplynne.wordpress.com
Monday, Ordinary 28, Proper 23 sadly recorded the discovery of the duplicity of Aaron and the Children of Israel, who had built a golden calf to worship. Moses, carrying the two tablets that God, himself, had inscribed with the Law, came down from the mountain and beheld the dancing and celebration around the calf. In his anger, Moses slammed the tablets down and they shattered. He’d just spent forty days receiving those tablets and within minutes, they were useless.
God had told him that the Hebrew people had turned away from him, and it precipitated Moses’ descent from the mountain.
Aaron used the same excuse that Adam and Eve had used—fix blame fast on someone else. “‘Those’ people complained because ‘you’ had been gone so long.” Aaron whined to Moses. Moses melted the gold calf and ground it into fine powder. He mixed it with water and made the people drink it.
Then came the true purification. Moses asked for those who were following God to step forward. He gave the order for the Levites to kill those who chose to follow the false gods. Three thousand men who had ‘grievously sinned against God’—no doubt the instigators— were killed.
Moses went back up the hill to ask forgiveness of God, offering his own name to be removed from the Book of Life in order to save his people, who had followed the false leaders and turned away from God.
God reinforced that people would be accountable individually. Those who sinned against him would be held accountable and their name wouldn’t be in the Book of Life.
Furthermore, God told Moses to go lead his people and reminded him that his angel would go before him.
For the rest of the people, who had followed false gods, they were given a terrible disease as a punishment.
The New Testament lesson in Jude warned that some people would be the type that disobeyed God, scoffing about God and following their unholy desires. “These people” were among the ‘church people’ and not ‘them--those pagans and atheists, because Jude said these people would “divide you” i.e. dividing the believers of the church. The only ones who can divide the church are those within the church. God’s indictment of them was equally as bad as his indictment of the Hebrews who turned their backs on God.
But believers can find their way back to God, Jude said. With faith, prayer, and the love of Jesus, they can be recipients of God’s mercy. And they, in turn, could show mercy to those who might have had doubts, and bring others out of the fire—out of places where they would be in danger—so they could be saved. In helping them, Jude warned that one should be careful that “their filthy lives don’t rub off on you.”
He didn’t leave it there, but offered the great benediction,
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
That benediction has special significance to me. I can remember hearing my father, a Presbyterian minister, saying those words at the end of countless Sunday services. I couldn’t have been more than four or five years old, but his raised hands and clear deep voice stuck in my memory. God would prevent us from falling into sin and would present us faultless before the judgment throne. Powerful words to live by.
Thanks be to God.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 28, Proper 23
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 97;Exodus 32:15-35;Jude 17-25&version=KJV;GNT;NCV;NIV;ERV (multiple versions)
Monday, Ordinary 28, Proper 23
Psalm 97
Exodus 32:15-35
Jude 1:17-25
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Philippians 4:4
King James Version (KJV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Exodus 32:15-35
King James Version (KJV)
15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.
28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
29 For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.
31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
35 And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
I have to cut the lesson short. MFP won't allow the full length. Find it at http://chaplynne.wordpress.com
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