Exodus 17:1-7: When We Don't Get What We Want or Need

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”

But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”  - Exodus 17:1-7

 Were the people complaining for nothing? This passage says that they "were thirsty for water" and worried that Moses would "make us and our children and livestock die of thirst." Is this just short memory on their part? Had they forgotten how God had rescued them from Egypt? No. But they were not sure about the character of this God and were probably worried about Moses connection with this God. Was it sure? Was the signal getting through clearly from heaven to earth? Or was this episode of dying of thirst due to static in the connection?

This happens with us, too. When there is a prolonged period of need and no clear answer in sight, we wonder if there is a problem with the connection. Perhaps we heard God wrong. Perhaps we forgot to charge the battery. Did we miss the critical phone call from heaven or did God forget to call or did God speak unintelligibly? 

Moses is really complaining that he is getting blamed for something that is really God's fault. But unlike God, he could die from the rocks the people would pick up. So the people need to trust that God would provide and Moses needed to trust that God would provide. So Tim needs to trust that God will provide. 

Matthew 18:15-20: Private Before Public

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” - Matthew 18:15-20

In many of the villages and towns where Christians would later walk, who could you ask to settle disputes? In Israel, the city gates you would find elders known for fairness and wisdom who could be called upon to judge between people and whose judgement would be enforced by the authority of the town leaders. Jesus reacted to someone who called upon him, a stranger, to act in this role “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” (Luke 12:14) 

But where did you go when in not in Israel any more? You would turn to the synagogue or the church. Paul chided the believers, saying, "I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?" (1 Cor 6:5)

Of course, the best resolution is that the two parties involved could just talk and resolve it: "If they sin, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you." How do you start this conversation? At this stage, the goal is to stop the destructive behavior before its effects are irredeemable. It is a test to see whether there is regret and if so, "If they listen to you, you have won them over. But..." 

But what? Up to this point, it has been one on one-just two people discussing something. Maybe you are wrong. Maybe you misunderstood or inflated what you saw. Maybe you will be accused of slander. So you bring a few others into the case who can listen with discernment. They will see whether this is as you originally presented it or not. If it wasn't or they see signs of genuine resolution, then it ends there. 

But what if it was a problem and the person you approached does not agree, does not regret, does not change? Then you take it to the next level: the church. 

Why the church? Because, in the hostile culture of the day, the was little chance of getting fair hearing. The church would select elders to hear and decide.  At this point in the process, we have arrived at confrontation. While the losing party might comply with the decision, it rarely results in reconciliation. and the people have to be ready for the outcome "if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector" 

What I hear most clearly from this is: privately before publicly and then don't trust your own judgement. 

Romans 13:8-14: Love Fulfills The Law, I Fulfill The Law

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. - Romans 13:8-14

"Love does no harm to a neighbor: Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Jesus said, "I have not come to abolish them [the law and prophets] but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17b) "Love" fulfills the law. "I [Jesus]" fulfill the law. Therefore Jesus is love. Pretty basic syllogism. 

Just like driving laws. There are lots of ways of driving that comply with all posted speed limits but still fall afoul of the Basic Speed Law of driving: "You may never drive faster than is safe for the current road conditions." That's a negative law. 

But I think that love is not simply refraining the bad to a neighbor, but also involves doing good to a neighbor. For example: "It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Cor. 13:7) 

Paul wants to point out that the Law--all the rules and commands--so heavily praised by Psalm 119 and elsewhere--are not an end goal-some sort of checklist that, once completed, gets us on God's good side. Rather they are as a means and a guide to an end--loving our neighbor. 

Am I looking for an excuse to "not harm" but also "not help"?

Exodus 12:1-14: Choose To Number Your Days, Who Changed You Gently

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance." - Exodus 12:1-14

When a new king was crowned, they would start numbering the years based on that year: "In the 14th year of King so-and-so..." Same here: "In the month of Yahweh's Passover..." It marked a new era in Israel's history, one marked by God's defining act, to be celebrated with the Seder, a series of actions and words which recall how it all got started. And people have been celebrating this day, through good years and bad, for a good 4,000 years probably. 

We also have those defining moments in our lives. Maybe not as momentous as the Passover was to the Israelites, but still key dates that mark God's work in our lives. The day I confessed to God that I couldn't stop doing bad stuff without help. The day I came home from Eureka to find my parents had starting going to church. The day Jeff Blatt told me I should apply for a job at Award Software. The day I told my small group I'd fill out the application as a short term missionary. The day I realized Helen said yes. The day CBFMS told me they would rescind our appointment as missionaries. The day we decided to leave Fremont and move to El Dorado Hills. The day I started working at Insyde. The day Helen said she wasn't going to keep going to Cornerstone with me. And more-births, deaths, beginnings, endings and transitions. Each of them marked a new season in our lives and the days after that were numbered-fundamentally identified-as being before or after that date. 

Sadly, I don't remember the exact timing of a number of these. But that's ok. We don't know when Jesus was born or when he died, so we picked a day to remember his actions. So I will choose my birthday each year to reflect on those turning points in my life, thank God for bringing me through them and "changing me gently" as I prayed long ago. Maybe we don't have roast lamb, bitter herbs or bread with no yeast. Instead, we have French Dip, french fries and german chocolate cake.