Exodus Devotionals:   (**denotes very visual devotion)

        Exodus 2:25 - And God Knew

        Exodus 4:22 - My Firstborn

  **Exodus 5:1 - Let My People Go

        Exodus 6:3 - All in All

   **Exodus 9:13 - Let My People Go (Passover Lesson)

  ***Exodus 9:16 - Displaying God's Power in Your Life

 ***Exodus 12:14 - Remember This Night

 **Exodus 12:15 - Timing of Passover Events (Holy Day Lesson - Passover/Days of Unleavened Bread)

 **Exodus 12:15 - Don't Judge a Book By its Cover (Holy Day Lesson - Days of Unleavened Bread)

 **Exodus 12:15 - Wave Sheaf Day (Holy Day Lesson - Counting to Pentecost)

  **Exodus 12:20 - Let's Be Unleavened (Holy Day Lesson - Days of Unleavened Bread)

        Exodus 13:9 - As a Sign on Your Hand

        Exodus 14:13 - God's Rescue

        Exodus 14:13-14 - He is our Peace

   **Exodus 18:11 - More Troubles

   **Exodus 20:1-3 - No Other God

        Exodus 20:1-6 - You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me

   **Exodus 20:4-6 - Worshiping Our God

      Exodus 20:7 - Living the Life

        Exodus 20:7-11 - Taking God's Name in Vain

  ***Exodus 20:9-11 - REST!!

   **Exodus 20:12 - Loving  Your Parents

        Exodus 20:12-14  -  Is God Your God?

   **Exodus 20:13 - It's Murder

    **Exodus 20:14 - Shut De Door

   **Exodus 20:16 - That's Not True

        Exodus 20:15-17 - A Broken Wanter

    **Exodus 20:17 - What Do You Want?

        Exodus 23:20 - Fix Your Eyes on the Goal

  ***Exodus 23:30 - Drive Them Out

  ***Exodus 25:9 - The Tabernacle is Built (YEA Lesson)

        Exodus 29:45 - Tabernacle (Holy Day Lesson - Feast of Tabernacles)

  **Exodus 31:15 - What a Day!  (YEA lesson)

        Exodus 33:15 - God's Presence

        Exodus 34:6 - A God, Merciful and Gracious

     **Exodus 34:22 - The Turning Leaves (Holy Day Lesson - Feast of Tabernacles)

        Exodus 36:5 - Giving to God

       Exodus 36:5 - Much More Than Enough

        Exodus 40:17 - Precision

        Exodus 40:32 - Cleanliness is Next to Godliness (Holy Day Lesson - Day of Atonement)
     
        Exodus 40:38  -  God With Us

And God Knew
God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.   Exodus 2:25

I was always amazed as a child that Mom knew so much. She always seemed to know who had committed the misdemeanors. She always had such wisdom to apply to situations. She always seemed seemed to know how we were feeling and why. She even seemed to know what the dogs were thinking!

When I got older and started doing stuff with my friends, Mom knew when I didn’t really want to be a part of the activities, and she knew that it was going to be hard to say no and still save face. So she instantly, or so it seemed to me, devised a way of getting me out of it. I had called home to ask for  permission to do what I really didn’t want to do. All my friends were standing there listening to me, so I don’t think my voice gave away that I didn’t really want to do it. But Mom knew. She listened to the request and instantly asked, “Do you want to do that?” I said no. She immediately said, “Well then, you don’t have permission to do that.” I was delighted! My mom was (and still is) so wise. She just knew.

As you might have gathered, I think my mom is incredible. I believe she is wise and has more common sense than any other two people I know. But I think many people are amazed at the wisdom and knowledge of their parents - except for during those teen and young adult years. But once they get past being young and stupid, it’s amazing how wise mom and dad are again, suddenly, overnight! Parents knowing is a small way that our lives typify God. God is not only wise, He defines wise. There is no one more wise than God! And knowledge? God knows everything - at least everything He wants to know. 

In Exodus 2:25, the word for “knew” is the Hebrew word yada. It’s the same word we see in Psalm 139:23: “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” It means to perceive, to understand, to acquire knowledge.

So when we look at Exodus 2:25: God saw the people of Israel—and God knew, what did God know? He knew that carnal human nature always chooses to do it wrong. He knew it was time to send Moses to rescue them. He knew that the people just wanted relief from oppression but had lost a lot of the knowledge of God’s ways. He knew that just rescuing them wouldn’t change their stiff-necked natures. He knew the incredible devastation that would be Egypt once He brought His people out. He knew how the events of the Exodus would ring down through history as an incredibly important event, which pointed to the most important event to date: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God also knew how the Exodus story would ring in our lives. We live in oppression to sin, in a life and a world that has forgotten Jesus Christ, and we want to be free. But even after God sends Jesus to rescue us and save us from bondage to sin, we haven’t been completely divested of our carnal nature. We’ve been bought by a price, by the shed blood of the Lamb of God. Yet, we still have to die daily, choosing God’s way instead of our own, bringing every thought into submission to Jesus Christ. Our baptism is just the first step in learning to live as a child of the King, just as walking through the Red Sea was only the first step in teaching the Israelites how to walk in God’s ways. They rebelled against God; we rebel against God. God let them suffer the consequences, and we suffer the consequences of our sin. But they were God’s people, and we are God’s when we accept the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

And God knows. He knows what we need to get us from where we are into His kingdom. He knows our thoughts and our hearts. He knows.

I find that extremely comforting. You know, when I was a kid, I loved Mom so much that I didn’t want to disappoint her. My devotion to her helped to keep me accountable, to keep me from making choices of which she’d disapprove. In a similar way, having a relationship with God helps to keep me accountable, helps me to make choices that will please Him - because I don’t want to impair the relationship. Yes, I really do like knowing that God knows.

And you know what, He knows that too.

My Firstborn
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,”   Exodus 4:22 

What is your birth order? Are you oldest? Are you  youngest? It’s really hard being in the middle!! I know I always wanted to be the oldest. 

Can you think of several prominent firstborns in the Bible? How about Adam, Cain, Isaac, Esau, Rueben, Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ? 

What about people who weren’t firstborn? What about Seth, Jacob, Joseph, Judah, Levi, David? Isn’t it interesting that the only two that readily come to mind from the New Testament are John the Baptist and Jesus Christ? The firstborn was so important in the Old Testament. The right of the firstborn was powerful and definitely recognized by God. Even Esau is criticized  for despising his birthright. So why isn’t the firstborn so important in the New Testament. 

I think it has to do with the term firstfruits. Where firstborn was so prevalent in the Old Testament, the term firstfruits are so prevalent in the New Testament. Why is that? 

Look at 2 Thessalonians 2 :13: But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 

The term “firstfruits” is alternately translated by some manuscripts as “chose you from the beginning.” In a way, then “firstfruits” is very much like the term “firstborn;” those who believe in God for salvation are the firstborn from the dead!

**Let My People Go

"The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, Let my people go.” - Exodus 5:1 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: dry erase board, markers, YE2G.10 lesson

Have you ever played “Simon Says”? Simon says - stand up. Simon says - jump on one foot. Simon says - wave at your brother. Wave at your mom. Oops. Gotcha.

I never liked playing Simon Says. It’s a stupid game: kids are trying to be obedient and cooperative - and the person in charge is trying their hardest to trick everyone into failing. At least that’s how it always felt to me. I know that some would say that it’s an exercise in listening - and it’s important to listen carefully. Still!

Parents are always telling us to do things. Clean your room. Put your toys away. Take a shower. Go outside. Don’t be so loud. Wash your hands. I would imagine you can think of a few more. Which one is your favorite? Go read for an hour? Which one is your least favorite? Go pull weeds in the garden for an hour?

Why do your parents tell you to do things? Are they trying to ruin all your fun? Is it just a real-life version of “Simon Says”? No. Parents are not interested in aggravating you or trying to trick you into failing. Most of the time, the things they tell you to do are for your good. They’re trying to keep you safe or teach you how to live in this world with the least amount of pain.

How does this relate to our relationship with God? God has a lot of commands - things that He tells us to do too. And, like our parents, He tells us these things for our good. Can you name some of His commandments? Every one of them is for our good. So why is it that we don’t always obey?

Pharaoh didn’t obey for several reasons. 1) He didn’t believe in God. That’s the root of the whole problem. If he had believed that God is the only God, Pharaoh’s belief would have translated into obedience. 2) Obedience was going to cost him something. Pharaoh’s economy and building projects relied heavily on the slave labor. He wasn’t willing to let that go easily. 3) He didn’t want to submit his will to God’s will. Why? Because 4) Pharaoh didn’t have a relationship with God.

What about us? Let’s apply Pharaoh’s reasons to our obedience to our parents. 1) We do believe that they are our parents. They have the right to tell us what to do. Check. 2) Obedience costs us something - we have to stop what we’re doing or do something we don’t necessarily want to do. Uh oh. 3) We don’t like to submit our will to our parents. Oops. 4) But we don’t like being in conflict with our parents. The relationship is important to us. So we tend to obey - even if it’s not exactly something we want to do.

What about our obedience to God? First, if we truly believe that God is God, then our belief will translate into obedience. Do we believe that He has the authority and right to tell us what to do? Secondly, are we willing to surrender whatever it will cost us in order to obey? Third, are we willing to submit our will to God’s will? It all comes down to relationship. Do we have a relationship with Him that we want to preserve?

It’s all about relationship. We like God’s protection and provision. We like His promises. We see how God’s way makes life work well. And because of our relationship with Him, God even helps us make the right choices - the leading of the Holy Spirit. But we have to want to obey. Do you want to obey?


All in All
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. Exodus 6:3

This is one of those very confusing scriptures. Abraham, a friend of God, didn’t know Him as Jehovah? He only knew Him as El Shaddai?

El Shaddai means the “One who nourishes, supplies, satisfies, fills and makes fruitful. We see God telling Abram that He is El Shaddai, God Almighty, and Abram is to walk before Him and be blameless. (Genesis 17:2-3) Then in Genesis 28:3, when Jacob is sent to Laban to find a wife, Isaac also calls God El Shaddai.

Jehovah means “life, permanent existence, without beginning or end, the I AM.”  And there are numerous times when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all refer to God as Jehovah: Gen 24:3; Gen 24:35; Gen 24:51; Gen 26:22; Gen 27:7; Gen 27:27; Gen 28:13; Gen 28:21 . . .

Abraham also names the mountain where God provided the ram for the substitute sacrifice Jehovah-Jireh, God will Provide.

So why does Exodus 6:3 say “but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them”? There are some theories. First of all, the alternate translation from the NIV suggests it should read, “and by my name the LORD did I not let myself be known to them?” Apparently this a completely acceptable translation of the Hebrew. Another commentary (the ESV) suggests that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob didn’t fully experience God’s character the way the Israelites would as Moses led them out of Egypt. God would fulfill the covenant He made with Abraham in very profound ways: He would bring them out of Egypt (Ex. 6:6); He would deliver them (Ex. 6:6); He would redeem them (Ex. 6:6); He would take them to be His people (Ex. 6:7); He would be their God (Ex 6:7); He would bring them into the land that He’d promised to Abraham (Ex. 6:8); and He would give it to them as a possession (Ex. 6:8).

I suppose either of these explanations could be right. Or they could both be wrong. But the idea that I take away from the verse is that God is so huge that a single name cannot encompass everything that He is. Unfortunately in English, we read God, Lord, Master, God Almighty - and we miss enormously what God’s names mean! It’s truly a case of “it loses something in the translation.”

For instance (This list is taken from the NIV Archaeological Study Bible, pg. 90:

God - (Hebrew: Elohim) - names the transcendent Creator of all that exists (Gen. 1:2)

God Most High - (Hebrew: El-Elyon) - Indicates God’s superior position above all the other gods of the nations (Gen 14:18-20)

Lord - (Hebrew: YHVH, Jehovah) - the I Am, associated with God’s covenant with Israel, and speaks to the personal and relational nature of his character (Ex. 3:14-15)

Lord - (Hebrew: Adonai) - reveals God as owner and master of all his creation (Jos 3:11)

God Almighty - (Hebrew: El Shaddai) - Recalls God’s power in creating and sustaining all life (Gen 17:1)

God Everlasting - (Hebrew: El-Olam) - Emphasizes God’s immensity and eternality (Gen 21:33)

God, the One Who Sees - (Hebrews: El-Roeh) - Reveals God’s beneficent omniscience, a God who sees the needs of his people and cares enough to respond with help and deliverance (Gen 16:13).

God, the God of Israel - (Hebrew: El Elohe Israel) - Attests God’s sovereignty and providential watch and care over Israel as his elect people (Gen 33:19-20)

The LORD our Provision - (Hebrew: Jehovah-Jireh) Witnesses to God’s ability to sustain the faithful in trial and testing (Gen 22:13-14)

The LORD of Hosts - (Hebrew: Jehovah-Sabaoth) - Designates God as the creator and leader of the angel armies of heaven (1 Sam 17:45)

There are other names of God:

Jehovah-Rophe - the LORD who heals (Ex 15:26). Jesus is both the waters springing up to eternal life (John 4:13) and the Branch who purifies the water.

Jehovah-Nissi - the LORD our Banner (Ex. 17:8-15; Is 53; Rom 1:3; John 3:14; Rom 8: 31, 37; 1 Cor 15:57

Jehovah-M’Kaddesh - the LORD who sanctifies (Lev. 20:7)

Jehovah-Shalom - the LORD is peace (Judges 6:24).

Jehovah-Tsidkenu - the LORD our righteousness (Jer. 23:5-6).

Jehovah-Rohi - the LORD my Shepherd (Ps 23).

Jehovah-Shammah - the LORD is there (Ezek 48:35).

Do you see what I mean about it losing something in the translation?! Our God is huge! One name only identifies one part of who He is. One name is totally inadequate to give us the entire picture of our great and awesome God.

I can help but think of the song, “You Are My All in All.”  There’s another one, “You’re Everything to Me.” What both of these songs try to get across in their lyrics is the idea that God is the One who gives us life, every good thing, the air that we breathe. He provides all of our needs. He helps us; He rescues us; He strengthens us. He provides what is completely lacking; He does what we cannot do. He saves us. He loves us. He is our God.

I don’t know what the answer is for explaining Exodus 6:3, but I do know that as I look at the Hebrew definitions for God’s various names, I am awestruck by His majesty, and mercy, and love. Oh that I would be wholly devoted to Him that He would truly be my All in all.

**Let My People Go
Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me.  Exodus 9:13

Materials needed: lesson #1 from Primaries Holy Day Supplement book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/); plague cards

This week we’re going to celebrate the Passover, a celebration which originated in Egypt about 3500 years ago. God had sent His people, Jacob’s family, to Egypt to protect them from the famine. Joseph was second in command, under only Pharaoh. So Jacob (Israel) and his family settled in the land of Goshen and did very well . . . until a Pharaoh came to the throne who didn’t know Joseph. The Hebrews (Israelites) were prospering in Egypt and the Egyptians started to worry that they might try to take over. So the Egyptians slowly enslaved them, with the Israelites’ lives becoming more and more difficult as the years went by. Finally, they cried out to God for help - and God sent Moses to bring the people out of Egypt.

By this time, the economy of Egypt was really dependent upon the slave labor provided by the Israelites. Pharaoh didn’t really want to let the Israelites go. However, there is no one who can resist the will of God. But Pharaoh tried. So God sent a series of plagues.

First the water in the Nile was turned to blood. Not only that, but the water in the ponds and streams and pots was all turned to blood. And to make matters worse, the magicians duplicated the miracle, so that even if there had been any water left, it was all turned to blood! The fish died. The river stank! The people didn’t have anything to drink. It was awful!

After that first plague of blood, there followed plagues of frogs, gnats, flies, pestilence on the livestock, boils, hail, locusts, and three days of darkness. Eventually, God also struck Egypt with the tenth plague: the death of the firstborn. Those people who were not willing to obey Him by killing a lamb, then putting the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses, suffered the consequences of their firstborn dying when the Death Angel passed over at midnight on Passover.

It was absolutely amazing what God was willing to do to rescue His people from Egypt. . . . And it all pointed to what would eventually happen some 1500 years later when God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come as the Lamb of God to rescue God’s people - all of us - from bondage and slavery to sin. It is because of the blood of Jesus Christ that the Death Angel passes over us; Jesus pays the sin debt that we owe instead of us. If Jesus hadn’t paid that debt with His blood, we would die (with no hope of eternal life) because of the sins we’ve all committed.

We talk about the incredible lengths God went to when He rescued the Israelites from Egypt. Just stop and consider what incredible lengths God went to when He rescued each of us from sin; it cost Him His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now, let’s remember why God did that!! Let my people go. Then they will be able to worship me.  Exodus 9:13  This Passover season remember to worship God with all of your heart!


**Displaying God’s Power in Your Life
But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.  Exodus 9:16

Materials needed: battery, wire, light bulb

When you connect a bulb to a battery, what happens? The power (stored energy) from the battery cause the filament in the bulb to glow, giving off light.

In a similar way, when God works in your life - and you know that it is God who is responsible - you are a witness to the people around you of the greatness of God. You know that whatever happened wasn’t through your efforts any more than the light bulb can cause itself to glow and produce light. You know that it is all God and it’s your responsibility to give Him the glory and honor.

But there’s a couple more things you can learn from the battery and bulb. It makes a difference which direction you connect the wire to the battery. The power flows from the battery to the bulb. Power doesn’t not flow from the bulb to the battery. Similarly, we don’t make God do anything. It is not our will, but His will that is accomplished. He is the Source of power, not us. We exist to do His bidding; He is not like a genie in a bottle waiting to do our bidding.

It sounds silly to say that, but sometimes we go to God with a grocery list of requests for Him to fulfill. We are told to ask. But we really, truly want God’s will to be done because He always knows what’s best for us. He knows what we need to grow us, to make us profitable servants for His kingdom. We don’t know what we need; we only know what we want in this moment. And, in hindsight, sometimes we are very glad God didn’t give us what we thought we wanted at a particular moment in time.

The other very cool thing about a battery, a bulb, and a wire with a switch is that the switch can be turned off. What interrupts the flow of power from God through us - shining His light to people around us?
*Sin.  Sin, godlessness, unrighteousness, lawlessness, transgressing God’s law - sin separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2  tells us that our sinfulness separates us from God so that He cannot hear our prayers. Our sinfulness separates us from God’s power.

*Selfishness - wanting our will, instead of His, or wanting the glory for ourselves rather than giving God the glory. James 4:3 says that we don’t have what we ask for because we ask amiss, seeking to satisfy ourselves. Selfishness is just sin - the breaking of the first commandment because we put ourselves in the place of God, thinking that we are more important than He is.

I’m sure we could think of many other things which interrupt the flow of God’s power working in our lives, but they all come back to the lack of connection and relationship with Him. Keep your eyes focused on God and on His ways. Guard your feet from straying away into the world. Watch yourself, making sure that your heart is set on God. Read the Bible. Be constant in prayer. Go to church and fellowship with believers to exhort and encourage you.

There’s a popular song right now that could be our motto: light shine bright everywhere we go!!

**Remember This Night
"Always remember this day. .. It is a law that will last forever.” - Exodus 12:14 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: string, plague chart, YE2H.3 lesson (YEA/CEM)

Why might I tie a string around your finger? It’s supposed to help you remember something. Do you think it would work? Why or why not?  What might be a better way to help you remember something? When Ron was taking the steering column apart, he took a picture to help him remember how to put it all back together. When I have things that have to be done, I write them down so I don’t forget. Sometimes people pin notes to their clothes. Sometimes they put their car keys with something important - and sometimes that doesn’t work either. We are so good at forgetting what it is we want to remember. Case in point: How many times have I said to myself, “I’m going to put this some place safe” and then promptly forget where I put it. Oh, it’s safe - but I have no idea where . .  .

God knows that we forget. So He gives us the Holy Days to help us remember. And that’s what your lesson was about today: the death of the firstborn in Egypt. So what is it that we’re supposed to remember that this event teaches us?

• We are slaves to sin - unable to free ourselves from bondage.
• God is the only One who can rescue us.
• God rescues us at very great cost: the death of his Son. The blood on the doorpost was a sign to the Death Angel to pass over that house, protecting the inhabitants.
• The unleavened bread reminds us that they left Egypt in a hurry.  We aren’t gradually rescued from slavery to sin; God does it when we ask.
• The unleavened bread also reminds us that we can’t continue our former way of life. We need to take Jesus and His ways completely into our lives. We learn a completely new way to live.

But the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread are not the only reminders that God gives us. You are living one right now, today. What is it? It’s the Sabbath. What does the Sabbath reminds us?

• God is Creator of everything. (Exodus 20:11, NIV: For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.)

 

• God is our Redeemer. (Deuteronomy 5:15, NIV: Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.)

 

• There is a future coming when we will have complete rest - rest from our carnal nature, rest from pain and death and sin and sorrow (Hebrews 4:9: There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.)

The Sabbath is a weekly reminder of what God has prepared for us. Why do you think we need a reminder every week? Is it because we’re so good at forgetting? Is it because we need the encouragement every single week because of the trouble and evil around us? I don’t know, but I do know that the weekly Sabbath is a much better reminder than tying a string around my finger.

Timing of Passover Events

Memory Verse: “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread . . .” Exodus 12:15

Do you ever get confused about the timing of everything during the Days of Unleavened Bread?

• When was it that the Death Angel passed over the houses?
• When was it that the Israelites left Egypt?
• When did Jesus eagerly desire to eat the Passover with His disciples?
• When was Jesus killed?
• How could Jesus eat the Passover and be the Passover Lamb?
• He had to be in the tomb before the Sabbath - that’s why the soldiers came to break the legs of the others, but seeing Jesus already dead, they pierced His side. What Sabbath was that?
• Jesus said the only sign He would give would be the sign of Jonah - Jesus would be in the grave three days and three nights. We know that it was at the end of the Sabbath, dawning towards the first day of the weeks when the women went to the tomb.

When you understand the timing of the events, you can see the continuation from the Old Testament to the New Testament. It’s another witness to the fact that God is sovereign; events unfold according to His plans.  That’s a comforting understanding to have: there’s nothing in your life of which God is not aware. There’s nothing which catches Him by surprise. He is sovereign and He has will work all things (as the apostle Paul stated) for good for those who are called according to God’s purpose. What is that worth to you - to know that God is working all things together for good? If you know God, or rather are known by God and loved by God, what an incredible blessing! What an insignificant thing to eat unleavened bread for seven days - in loving obedience to Him! Don’t just avoid leaven; diligently eat unleavened bread.

Why? Because Jesus said He is that unleavened bread. We want to take Him fully into our lives, to be fully conformed to His image, to be ever closer in our relationship to Him. Have you eaten your bread today?

**Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover

“. . . on the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses” (Exodus 12:15)

Materials needed: book that is hollowed out inside

So when you put the leaven out of your house on the day before the Days of Unleavened Bread, what did you do with it? You probably just put it in the trash can to be picked up by the trash man the next time he picked up the trash. Maybe you fed as much of it to the dog (or fish - we used to take it down and toss it into the pond). Maybe you buried it with the compost in your garden. Or maybe you ate up all of it before the spring feast began.

It is curious. Deuteronomy 16:4 says, “Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days.” In those days, there was not supposed to be any leavening anywhere in the land of Israel. So putting it in the trash can until the garbage man picks it up midway through the week during the Days of Unleavened Bread always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.

But then I think about where that yeast comes from in the first place. Do you know how the Israelites would have gotten leavened bread? You mix flour and water. Then you set it in the open air - because there are wild yeast spores in the air all around us. Did you know that? Yeast is all around us right now. I doubt God wants us to stop breathing for a week during the Days of Unleavened Bread so that we avoid taking yeast into our bodies.

But it’s not only about the yeast; it’s about unleavened bread. And it’s really about what the unleavened bread represents. During the Days of Unleavened Bread, yeast, when it's in our bread, pictures the power of sin in our lives - because of the corrupting power yeast has on our dough. In a similar way, sin in our lives has a corrupting influence - causing us to act in ungodly ways, in ways that don’t please God.

We obey God, getting rid of the leavened stuff, as a picture of what’s going on in our hearts. We need Jesus to change us, to get rid of the ungodly inclinations. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:8 that we should have the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Think, then, of what the leavened bread would be insincerity and falsehood, lying, deceit, greed, selfishness.

You know that saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? Apply that idea to being unleavened. That is, you could be unleavened on the outside. There’s no leaven in your house. You’re eating unleavened bread. But that’s just what’s happening on the outside. What is going on inside? Are you taking in Jesus Christ more and more, so you can become more and more like Him? How do you do that? Church attendance, reading your Bible, praying, singing songs of praise - and obeying God when He tells you, “. . . on the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses.”

How did you do this year?


Wave Sheaf Day

“. . . for if anyone eats what is leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel” (Exodus 12:15 RSV).

Often, right in the middle of the Days of Unleavened Bread something very interesting happens - we start focusing on another holy day! Really! If you remember our calendar lesson from a week ago, we were talking about the timing of Passover events. You all knew that Jesus was in the grave for three days and three nights, that He rose at the end of the Sabbath.

We know, from putting the gospel stories together, that Jesus didn’t immediately ascend to the Father. When the Sabbath was over, the women had gone to the tomb with their prepared spices. But Jesus was not there. They went to tell the disciples. (The story is in John 20.) Peter and John ran to the tomb. They saw the linen clothes and the face cloth lying by itself, folded. They left. Mary Magdalene stayed, crying. She went back to the tomb and looked in. There were two angels sitting where Jesus had been lying and they asked her why she was weeping. When she turned around, Jesus was standing there. She thought perhaps he was the gardener and told him that if he’d taken Jesus’ body somewhere, just to let her know, and she would take Him. At that point, Jesus called her name. She responded, “Rabboni!” indicating that she recognized who he was. Then He said, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father . . .”

Let’s think about the timing. Jesus would have been resurrected at the end of three days and three nights - at the end of the Sabbath. It would have taken some time for the women, after the Sabbath was over, to walk to the tomb with their spices. It would have taken some time to go back to tell the disciples that the tomb was empty. It would have taken some time for John and Peter to run to the tomb, see that it was empty, and leave. Then it would have taken some time for the whole scene with Mary. But it was still the night portion of that day.

Matthew 28:8-9 says that the women “hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.”

From this we realize that Jesus has already ascended to the Father and been accepted on our behalf - otherwise He would not have allowed the women to touch Him.

Do you know what was going on in the Temple as this was all happening at the tomb? The priests had, at sunset, gone out to a barley field and had cut a sheaf of barley. Probably the same time Jesus was resurrected, the sheaf of barley was cut - with great pomp and circumstance. This was the ceremony of the wave sheaf offering. They would cut the sheaves of grain out of the fields. There was some time involved in getting this offering from the field to the Temple. But we believe that at the time the priests were waving the offering of the barley before God in the Temple, Jesus was ascending before the Father. That’s why He’s called the First of the firstfruits. That’s why one of the names of Pentecost is the Feast of Firstfruits.

So during the Days of Unleavened Bread, we were commanded to do what? Eat - eat unleavened bread for seven days. The command carried with it a severe consequence if you didn’t obey; you were cut off from Israel.

What are we commanded to do leading up to Pentecost? Count - count 50 days from the morrow after the sabbath. Here we are. It’s the first day of the count because it’s the morrow after the sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Today is Day One.

It’s easy to lose count. So I’m helping you. I know Kate has already made her paper chain so that she can keep count for the next 50 days. But I’m giving you calendars and stickers so that you can keep track of the count. Counting is important to God - otherwise He’d never have commanded it.

---

**Let’s Be Unleavened
“Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”  Exodus 12:20

Materials:  lesson #2 from Primaries Holy Day Supplement book (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/); matching cards

Are you busy? If someone were to ask me that question this time of the year, I’d be tempted to laugh. I’m always busy, but this time of year seems especially busy with preparing for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, getting the garden ready to plant, and (this year) preparing for a wedding. What if, in the midst of all this busyness, I had to move? Furthermore, what if I could only take what I could carry or put in a small cart?


When God rescued the Israelites from Egypt, life was very hard. They were, after all, slaves with harsh taskmasters over them. That’s why they cried out to God for relief in the first place. Then, when Moses told Pharaoh to let the people go to worship God, Pharaoh made their lives and jobs even more miserable. In the weeks leading up to Passover, conditions in Egypt were awful! Think about the plagues: water to blood, frogs, and gnats. These first three affected all of Egypt and the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived. The next six only hit Egypt but would have still impacted the Israelites indirectly: flies, pestilence on livestock, boils, hail, locust, and three days of darkness. By the time the ninth plague hit, Egypt’s economy would have been in shambles. Dead animals, crops and trees destroyed, bugs, dead frogs - Egypt would have been a mess!

So when the Death Angel killed the firstborn of everyone who didn’t put the lamb’s blood on the doorpost and lintels of their houses (the tenth plague), Pharaoh thrust the Israelites out. They had to leave - with whatever they could carry - that night (Exodus 12:42). That’s why their bread was unleavened; they simply didn’t have time to allow it to become leavened.

We celebrate these days, knowing that the Old Testament Passover is a picture of Jesus rescuing us from slavery to sin. Yeast is a symbol of sin at this time of the year, so we eat unleavened bread to remind us that Jesus had paid the price for our sin. We choose God’s ways, not sinful ways. But it should also be a time when we reset our priorities. We should be examining what we are busy with - considering which things are good and profitable and which are not because we can’t do (can’t carry) everything. And our priority has to be taking Jesus Christ into our lives on a daily basis (eating unleavened bread).

Have you eaten your unleavened bread yet today? Don’t get too busy to obey God!

Teaching note: I’m making matching cards for the students to actively help me tell the story and draw the analogies between the Old Testament Passover and what it means to us today.


Egypt                               Place of Slavery


Yeast                               Sin


Unleavened                    Without Sin


Lamb                               Jesus


Blood                              Payment for Sin


What Israel carried       What I can carry


Death Angel                    Consequence of

                                          Disobedience

As a Sign on Your Hand
“And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:9, ESV). 

Last month when we took the children to the Magic House, we were given a sticker to place somewhere, visibly, when we paid our admission. The sticker was a sign that we’d paid the admission price. Walking around the Magic House, it was fun to see where those stickers were placed on each person. Some wore them matter-of-factly on their left shoulder. Some were placed in very odd places that we won’t mention. But everyone had a sticker. 

Then when we went through the Lewis and Clark exhibition in the basement, the attendants stamped our hands with “Seaman’s pawprint.” Having been once through this popular exhibit, we weren’t supposed to come back. The stamp was a visible sign that we’d already been through this exhibit once. 

I couldn’t help thinking of our trip to the Magic House when I picked out the children’s memory verse for this coming Sabbath: “And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:9, ESV). The Passover was to be as a sign on their hands and as a memorial between their eyes! What? Where else are hands and foreheads mentioned? 

How about Deuteronomy 6:8: “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” talking about God’s law. 

How about Ezekiel 9:4: ‘And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” ’ 

Even Revelation 14:1 has a reference to something on the forehead: the Father’s name - a very good thing for the 144,00. 

Some have postulated that God intended for a physical thing to be placed on the forehead and the hand. The Jews called them phylacteries, and Jesus wasn’t particularly impressed with their effectiveness in writing His law on their hearts (Matthew 23:5). Likely Solomon had something quite different in mind than the legalism of the Pharisees when he wrote: “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3, ESV) 

If the Passover and God’s law wasn’t to be physically written as a sign on the hand and the forehead, what did God mean? I suspect He meant that the observance of God’s Passover (Exodus 13:9) and the observance of God’s law (Deuteronomy 6:8) were to act as schoolmasters to bring them into a closer relationship with God. After all, God is the One who redeemed them. Recognizing that redemption through observing the anniversary could be a powerful way to deepen the relationship. That would be what the “hand” stood for - the things that God’s people did. 

The “forehead” reference could very well refer to what the people spent their time thinking about. Look at Psalm 119:11, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (ESV). 

I have been redeemed from sin. I need to guard myself from sinning against God. I believe that observing God’s Passover and His law and thinking about God’s Passover and His law are valuable tools for me, today, in deepening my relationship with Him. 

There’s another interesting reference to the hand and the forehead - one that gets a lot of attention as the time for Christ’s return approaches. It’s Revelation 13:15-17: “And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.  Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,  so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” 

I believe that the mark of the beast is whatever you do (your hand) and whatever you dwell on (your forehead) that is against God. You aren’t going to get the mark of the beast unless you worship the beast. You aren’t going to worship the beast if you worship God. If you worship God, then His name is written on your forehead (Revelation 14:1), not the mark of the beast. So how do you keep from worshipping the beast and getting that mark - because it does say that if it were possible, even the very elect would be deceived? What can you do? I believe Psalm 119:11 gives us the answer. It’s the same answer we had in Exodus 13:9 and Deuteronomy 6:8. It’s just in the simple terms of a shepherd: “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”

What’s on your hand? What’s between your eyes?


God's Rescue

"Don't be afraid. Stand firm. You will see how the Lord will save you today." - Exodus 14:13 (NIrV)

Materials needed: YE2H.5 lesson (CEM’s YEA books)

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the economy of Egypt was in shambles! Their grain crop was gone; their herds and flocks were gone; their firstborn children were dead. God had done everything He told Pharaoh He would do. So why in the world Pharaoh would decide to chase after the Israelites and recapture them is almost beyond comprehension - although, of course, he was watching his labor force walking away and God hardened his heart.

So the Israelites found themselves, just days out of Egypt, caught between Pharaoh’s army rapidly approaching on one side and the Red Sea on the other. Incidentally, those folks who think the water was only 2 foot deep - aka the Sea of Reeds - are unbelievable! They would certainly have waded through water of that depth of avoid Pharaoh’s army. In fact, the water that they faced likely looked similar to one of our Great Lakes - wave action and deep. The Israelites knew they were in trouble.

But what did Moses tell them? (Here’s your memory verse!) Moses, at God’s direction, stretched out his rod over the Red Sea. A strong east wind blew all night, piling up the water into walls and drying out the sea bed so the Israelites could walk across on dry ground. Once the Israelites were across, the pillar of fire moved so Pharaoh’s army could move into the Red Sea which crashed back over the top of them and drowned them all. Not one of them remained (Exodus 14:28).

But God doesn’t do things like today, does He? I want to tell you three quick stories:

When I was little, we lived in Casper, WY - you know, where it snows in October and mostly stays on the ground until late April. The main streets get enough traffic and treatment that you’ll see the payment at times, but the side streets stay pretty snow-covered. Mom would put chains on the tires when the roads got bad and, because it’s a pain to take them off again, she would drive to work on the side streets. One day she was hurrying to work and came to an intersection. A pickup was coming crosswise towards her - sliding. Mom could see there was no way he could stop and she was already in the intersection; there was going to be a collision. She said a quick prayer and closed her eyes, anticipating the impact. When she opened her eyes, they were both through the intersection with no impact. Mom is convinced that God worked that miracle. But a skeptic might say that she just hadn’t accurately assessed the situation.

The second story comes from when I was a senior in high school working at a steak house across town. I was driving home late after closing one night - it was probably close to midnight. Close to our house, I had to cross two sets of railroad tracks. I would drive over the first one, curve to the left, and drive over the second one. I was driving along, singing out loud, thinking about the calculus assignment I still needed to complete. I crossed over the first set of railroad tracks, made the curve and started over the second set. Something caught my eye in the rearview mirror. It was a train!! And then I realized that I had been hearing the train whistle blowing furiously. I have no idea how I wasn’t flattened by that train. Where it was and the speed it was traveling, I surely must have just missed impact crossing that first set of tracks! But someone might say that I was just mistaken.

Several years ago, Mom and Dad were driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway. They stopped to do some sightseeing at a waterfall. As they were climbing the steps up the steep path, they heard someone calling for help. Dad raced on ahead. Mom continued after him as quickly as she could. She lost her balance. She was falling backward with no hope of catching her balance to keep from falling. She said it was as if two hands caught her and set her back up on her feet. There was no way she did that.

Does God always protect you when you’re driving too fast on snowy streets? Does He always protect  you from getting smashed by a train when you’re not paying attention? Does He always catch you and put you back on your feet? No. There are times when bad things happen to God’s people. But there are also times when God rescues us - because He loves us and because He gets the glory. Don’t take your relationship with God lightly! He can do great things to rescue you in this world.

He is our Peace
And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Exodus 14:13-14

In the book, Where the Red Fern Grows, after Billy had gotten his coon hound puppies, he needed to train them. So he got some little traps which he set around their house. Unfortunately, Sammy, their housecat was most frequently what Billy caught in those traps. It didn’t matter where he set them, or how far away, that cat was so curious about what he was doing and what those traps were, she would stalk him and eventually end up in the trap. Billy related how, one time, Sammy was lying on the front porch with all four legs bandaged, her tail twitching in annoyance. But Sammy never learned, and eventually became so wild no one could get near her. Sammy couldn’t resist those traps.

Now the Israelites weren’t held captive in Egypt by their curiosity - like Sammy - but they were in bondage, and their taskmasters treated them cruelly. They couldn’t get out of Egypt any  more than Sammy could keep from getting caught in those traps. It took God’s strong arm to bring them out of Egypt. It took the devastating plagues which ruined Egypt’s economy. It took miraculous events which had never been seen before and would never be seen again. And it took the obedience of the people themselves in killing the lamb and putting the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes.

And even after they’d left Egypt, standing on the brink of the Red Sea, the people found themselves caught again, helpless to do anything to rescue themselves because the Red Sea was on one side and Pharaoh and his army were on the other.  It was very much like Billy and Sammy. Even when Billy put his traps in hard-to-reach places, Sammy still was almost irresistibly drawn - and caught - in them.

As incredible as the story of God’s rescue of the Israelites from Egypt is, it’s meaning goes far deeper for the Christian than just the historical events. You see, before we came to Christ, we were all born into slavery to sin. Like Sammy, our nature couldn’t resist, and perhaps didn’t want to resist, the pull to sin. Like the Israelites, we had no way out of the situation in which we found ourselves. We couldn’t free ourselves from bondage to sin. We needed a Savior.

But God doesn’t just wave a magic wand and declare, “O.K. now you’re saved.” He has to bring us to repentance. Sometimes our heart is hardened and we don’t want to go God’s way until He has completely broken our power - very much like the devastation of Egypt’s gods and economy. Sometimes it takes bringing a person so low, where they’ve hit rock bottom, before they will turn and look up and repent before God. And then, as God starts to move in their lives, they sometimes again find themselves caught. Like the Israelites caught between Pharaoh and the Red Sea, they stand, powerless, with death facing them on every side.

So it’s at this point, when the people are clearly, ultimately stuck - with no way out - having reached rock bottom - with death on every side, here’s where we get Exodus 14:13-14: “And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.’ ” Here’s where the story becomes incredibly fantastic for each of us: God fights for us. He opens the way through the Red Sea - the place that would otherwise have been death to us. He holds the Egyptians back - all of those people, elements of society that are so anti-God, and our carnal nature - and He tells us that He will fight for us; we have only to be still - or as the KJV says, “hold your peace.”

It’s called salvation. Jesus saves. Our Messiah is our salvation. It’s not a coincidence that the Hebrew word for “salvation” in Exodus 14:13 is yeshuwah, and  it means “help, deliverance, salvation. It conveys the idea of deliverance from distress, and the source of this salvation comes from outside the situation.” (Zodhiates study Bible).  And it’s no coincidence that the Hebrew word translated in the KJV as “peace” and in the ESV “be still” is charash. It means to be silent, to cease, to hold your peace, to be deaf and dumb. In other words, all of our actions are ineffectual to save us; we just need to stop and recognize the only One who can save us.

There’s a fantastic verse in the New Testament which sums it all up in speaking about Jesus our Messiah. Ephesians 2:14 says, “He is our peace.” Jesus Christ redeemed us through the shedding of His blood and has reconciled us to God. He is the One who has rescued us from the power and penalty of sin. He is our salvation. And He is our Peace.

**More Troubles

"Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods.” - Exodus 18:11 (NIrV)

Materials: Memory Cards, Plagues activity sheets (https://donutsanddevos.com/the-plagues-of-egypt-printable-kids-resources-ep-054/), YEA lesson YE2H.2

If you remember, last week we talked about the first four of the ten plagues that God sent on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go. Each time the plague came, Pharaoh said he’d let the people go. When the plague was over, Pharaoh reneged. It was a hardening of his heart. [The Bible says that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 7:13; 7:14; 7:22; Exodus 8:15; Exodus 8:19; Exodus 8:32; Exodus 9:7; Exodus 9:34; Exodus 9:35; Exodus 13:15; it also says that God hardened his heart (Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 10:20; 10:27)]

Can you put the plagues in order? 1) water to blood, 2) frogs, 3) gnats/lice, 4) flies. Then what happened? Plague five was on the Egyptian livestock. Exodus 9:6 says that all the Egyptian livestock died. What happened to the Israelite livestock? Not one died. Then plague six was a plague of boils on man and beast. The boils were so bad on the Egyptians that the magicians couldn’t even stand before Pharaoh.

Next plague seven was a plague of hail - hail so big that anything out in the field would be killed. We have had some big hail, but to have hail that would kill a person!?! That’s pretty scary. There’s an interesting piece of the story here: Pharaoh called for Moses during the hail storm. That means somebody had to go get him. He walked into Pharaoh’s throne room - through the horrific hail and lightning storm. Then when Pharaoh relented and said the people could go, Moses told him the hail would stop when he got to the edge of the city. People would have been watching Moses walk - unharmed - through the hail storm! Anything else that was outside was killed. The trees were all broken down. The crops were beaten flat. But Moses was unharmed. But Pharaoh changed his mind again.

Plague eight was a plague of locust - a plague so large that there was not left one green leaf anywhere in Egypt. Now this is interesting. First we have a plague on livestock. All the Egyptian livestock died. They must have gotten some new livestock from the Israelites, just in time for them to break out in boils. Then any animal they left in the field would have been killed by the hail. And any plants that were still left after the hail would have been completely wiped out by the locusts. The Egyptians were getting an undeniable education that God is the Only God!

If this were not bad enough, the ninth plague was three days of darkness. The darkness was so dark it could be felt. Have you ever been deep inside a cave where there is absolutely no light? It can be incredibly scary. It’s a dangerous world we live in; we need our sight!!

Remember that every one of these plagues demonstrated that the Egyptian gods were not truly gods. Any false god is completely unable to save - and the Egyptian gods were no exception. Our God, on the other hand, is mighty and powerful, and He’s also completely good and loving. But don’t think that because God is good and loving that you will escape His judgment and punishment if you decide to rebel against Him like Pharaoh did. When God tells you to do something, you’d better obey.


***No Other Gods

Exodus 20:1-3  - “And God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

Materials Needed: crochet project, crochet hook, pad of paper, marker, YE3I.1 lesson from CEM

Can you think of any of God’s names?
He is our Creator (Psalm 102:27),
Redeemer (Exodus 20:1-3),
Provider (Jehovah-Jireh - Genesis 22:14; John 1:29),
Sustainer (Acts 17:28).
He is the Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4),
the Good Shepherd (Jehovah-Rohi - Psalm 23; John 10),
the Light of the World (John 1:4-9).
He is our Peace (Jehovah-Shalom - Judges 6:24).
He is the God of Angel Armies (Jehovah Saboath - Psalm 24:8-10; Isaiah 9:7).
He is our Banner (Jehovah-Nissi - Exodus 17:8-15).
He is God Almighty (El Shaddai - John 15:2; Genesis 17:1-2).
He is our Master (Adonai - Isaiah 25:8).

We could go on for a very long time because God is our all in all. He created us. He sustains us. (Revelation 4:11) What does that look like? Last Friday night at our house, we watched Jennifer pull out hours of work that she had done on a shawl she’s making. Jonathan asked the question we were all feeling, “Do you have to pull it all out?” When you see all of the work that has gone into a project, it almost hurts to watch it all disappear. But Jennifer, after all, was the one who had put in the work. She had the right to pull it all out because she didn’t like the direction it was going. (Show the students a crochet project - and pull it all out as they watch.)

This is just a pale representation of our relationship with God, but it demonstrates that God is Sovereign. He’s in charge; He gets to make all the decisions. Why is that? Because God created us. He sustains us. He provides for us. He guides us. He is our Master and Lord. And if that weren’t enough, God loves us so much - while we were yet sinners - He gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sins!

What god is like our God!! There is no god like Jehovah! Who said that? The people who were watching the drama play out between Elijah and the priests of Ashram and Baal (1 Kings 18). They had built altars, sacrificed a bull, and then waited for their gods to consume the sacrifice. Elijah built an altar, sacrificed a bull, told the people to drench the sacrifice and wood with water three times (!), and then prayed for God to make Himself known. The fire came down from heaven, consumed the sacrifice, the wood, and licked up the water. The people’s response: There is no God like Jehovah!

We don’t need to see a drama like that today to know that our God is the Awesome God! We should know better than to put anything before our God in importance! There is no one who can do what our God has already done and continues to do. So when God says, “You shall have no other gods before me,” He’s saying don’t bring anything else before Him and try to pass it off like it’s a god! Another of God’s names is Jealous (Exodus 34:24). He has done all of these things for us. He deserves our worship and praise. He has done it all! And He emphatically says He will not share His glory with any other (Isaiah 42:8). Our God is God alone!


You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:1-6

You shall have no other gods before me. What does this mean? What gods could we put before God? Anything which we treat as more important than God becomes our god. Anything which consumes our attention more than God becomes our god. Anything to which we devote ourselves more than we do to God becomes our god. It could be money, power, prestige. It could be a false god, like Allah or Buddha. It could even be ourselves.

Really? Ourselves? Well, think about it. "I know that God said you shall not bear false witness, but I’ll just tell a little white lie. God will understand." You have now set yourself up as a higher judicial standard than God. In effect, you’ve put yourself in God’s place. And it happens anytime you decide that God didn’t really mean what He said, that He’ll understand when you break His commands, and it won’t matter just this once.

It’s silly, really, to have any god before the One True God. The God we serve and claim as our God made everything else. The Bible says there was not anything made than was not made by Him. Nothing. Zilch. Nada! So, by the very definition of what God is - the supreme, the highest power, the most intelligent, the most righteous, the absolute ruler, that over which there is nothing higher - by that definition, anything that we would worship as god isn’t God, can’t be God, and can never become God.

The second commandment is very much like the first one. You are not to make an image of anything and worship it. Most of us have no problem recognizing that we’re not bowing down in front of a tree or a rose or a car. But making an idol of something God created goes farther than that. It ascribes power and glory to a created thing that only belongs to the Creator.

So what does that look like? Do you think money will make you happy? Then money becomes your idol. Do you think your house will keep you safe? Do you think your husband can satisfy your needs? Anything you put in God’s place, thinking that thing can fulfill God’s role, becomes an idol in your life.

So, do you have a god in your life before the Creator? Are you serving an idol instead of God? It’s something well worth considering because God says He’s a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) and He will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11).

***Worshiping Our God

Exodus 20:4-6 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Materials Needed: cards from last week, dry erase board, markers, statues, stuffed animals, photo

Last week we talked about our great God and some of His names. Many of His names are connected with what He does. He is our Healer, our Creator, our Provider, our Redeemer, our Guide, our Rock, our Sustainer, our Master, our Light, our Banner, our Shepherd, our Peace. He is God Almighty, the God of Angel Armies. And His name is Jealous. He is not willing to share His glory with any other.

Aaron made a golden calf and told the Israelites, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:8). What? A golden calf that was not living and had to be carried around - this was the god that rescued the people from Egypt? That’s absolutely ludicrous!

There’s no way we can create something that will be an accurate depiction of God. He is too great, too big, too glorious! That picture in the Christian bookstore that they say is Jesus - that’s not really Jesus. And it’s not a good idea to get an image into our minds - because it’s not true.

But is there anything wrong with making a model of something in creation? No - as long as 1) we don’t say that it is God and 2) we don’t bow down to worship it.

There’s an easy way to check if you’re breaking this second commandment. When you look at something, do you think that it is a depiction of God? No? Good! Do you think that it can do any of the things that God can do? No? Good! Do you bow down and worship the statue or photo? No? Good!

O.K. But do you create an image in your mind when someone talks about Jesus? Do you have a picture in your mind when someone prays to Almighty God? Be very careful not to create something in your head. We don’t know what God looks like and likely anything we would imagine would never come close to doing Him justice.


Living the Life

Exodus 20:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name" (NIV).

Materials Needed: YE3I.3 lesson from CEM

What if I walked up to your dad and I kicked him in the shin! When he asks why I did that, what if I tell him because it’s what you would do? Do you think that’s a good idea? Why not?! Does it matter if I use your name in a wrong way?

Let’s imagine your mom is speeding down the street and gets stopped by a policeman. When he asks her why she was speeding, what if she tells him she does that because it’s what our church teaches. Is that a good idea? Why would our church members be upset that she would say such a thing?

When my three children were young, I would tell them this (almost every time we walked out the door): You are ambassadors today. You are ambassadors for the name Saladin. You are ambassadors for homeschooling. And you are ambassadors for Jesus Christ. We would talk about how people watch the behaviors of people - even when you don’t realize that someone sees what you are doing. If you are behaving badly you bring dishonor, first, to your family name. People say things like, “Oh those Saladin kids! They are always so disrespectful and noisy.” Then you bring dishonor to homeschooling. People say things like, “Oh look at those homeschoolers. You know it’s really much better for them to be in public school. At least then they learn how to act in public.” And lastly, you bring dishonor to Jesus Christ. People say things like, “If that’s what their church teaches is appropriate behavior, I don’t want any part of that.”

This is the essence of the third commandment. It’s much more than saying words - although you should never speak God’s name casually. You should never use God’s name as a curse word or exclamation! Our God is holy! And we need to treat Him with the utmost respect. But the third commandment, "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name,” goes much deeper than the words you speak. It also refers to your conduct.

What kind of behaviors bring glory and honor to God? Humility, kindness, service, generosity, truth, honesty, excellence, trustworthiness, loyalty, respect, mindfulness, love, peacefulness, joy, gratitude. We could go on for a long time.

I love one of Tim Hawkins comic routines. He says if you’re going to drive in un-Christian-like ways, you should put an “I love Satan” sticker on your bumper. Please don’t put Christian stickers on your car and then drive in rude and unsafe ways! That’s good advice for even you - who are not driving yet. If you’re going to behave in un-Christian-like ways, please don’t tell anyone you are a Christian. God says He will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name. And it’s a dreadful thing to have God angry at you because you dishonored Him.





Taking God’s Name in Vain
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:7-11

When you meet someone for the first time, you are likely to tell them your name. Once you do, your name is tied in their mind to the impression that they have of you. Everything you’ve said and done, how you look, and what you wear are evaluated by the other person. What you say and do is a reflection of who they believe you are.

If you tell them you first and last name, now your words and deeds don’t just reflect on you personally, they also reflect on your family. You’ve introduced yourself with your family name. The other person now files away information about your family based on your words and deeds.

If you tell the other person your first and last name and something else about you, like being a homeschooler, you are now reflecting on yourself, your family, and the homeschool community by your words and deeds.

If you continue on and tell the person your first and last name, that you’re a homeschooler, and that you’re a Christian, now you’re reflecting not only on yourself, and your family, and the homeschool community, now you’re reflecting on God. And that’s serious.

You see, that’s a huge part of what the third commandment means. Some people think that not using God’s name in vain means that they have to stop using God’s name as a curse word or expletive when they’ve hit their thumb with a hammer. The larger part of the commandment is the admonition to not bring dishonor to the God you claim by the deeds and words people around you see and hear.

One of the deeds that lets people know just how very much you value God is obeying the Fourth Commandment. God is the One who set aside the Sabbath day, during Creation Week, and made it holy. He’s the One who gives it as a gift to His people. Part of collection of deeds people around you see is how you obey God’s commands.

Think of it this way: suppose someone made something especially for you. It was carefully thought out. It was for your benefit. It was filled with meaning. But you took the gift and smashed it. You decided to wanted to make something else special in place of that gift. It would be a huge slap in the face of the gift-giver. It would mean you didn’t think much of his gift or of him. That’s what happens when we decide to choose whatever day we want for worshiping God - when God already set aside a day, blessed it, and gave it to us as a gift.

When you think about it, God knows if you’re taking His name in vain if you profess to be a follower of Christ, but you don’t trouble yourself to keep His commandments - starting with the very next one, the Sabbath.


REST!
Exodus 20:9-11 - “Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Let’s suppose I ask you to do 10 jumping jacks. Easy? How about 20? 30? What if I asked you to do 100 jumping jacks? Would you ask me when you could rest?! Probably along about 50 you’d be looking to stop, especially if you don’t do jumping jacks all the time.

That’s kinda how life is. All week long we’re working; we could call it jumping jacks, jumping through hoops, jumping whenever the boss says to. Somewhere along the line, we start looking forward to when we can rest.

Did you know that God designed our bodies to work best if we take one a day a week to let them rest? If we ignore this fourth of the Ten Commandments, we’re really doing ourselves a disservice. After all, the architect of our bodies knows what makes them work best, and He said to rest one day a week.

Does it matter what day you rest? Some people understand that our bodies work best if we rest one day a week; they choose Tuesdays. But again, God is the one who said we should rest. He gets to decide what day that should be - because it’s about more than just physically resting.

Suppose I asked you to stand up and hold out your hands. I’m going to grab your wrists and ask you to lean back as far as you can, keeping your body absolutely straight. That’s hard, isn’t it. Well, it actually depends on how much you trust me. If you don’t think I can hold you, or if you think I won’t hold you, you’re likely to bend at the waist, bend at the knees, or not lean back as far as you actually could.

Your willingness to lean is based on your anxiety or worry about what could happen. So, let’s talk about what things cause you the most worry. Do you worry about spiders under your bed? Do you worry that your dad might get into an accident on the way home from work? Are you concerned that everyone is going to get into the potluck line and eat everything before you get there? Maybe you’re worried about talking during Sabbath School because you don’t want to give a wrong answer. We do tend to worry about things. We are anxious. What if you KNEW that there was nothing to worry about? What would it take for that to happen?

Part of what we’re supposed to learn from Sabbath observance is to rest - not just physically, but also mentally and spiritually. We’re supposed to trust God enough to be at rest, even if something doesn’t go the way we want it to. It’s trusting God enough to believe that He is working all things out for our good - even if it doesn’t look good right now. You could talk to any person in here and you’d find out they’ve gone through some very difficult things in their lives. God can use those events to teach them to trust Him no matter what. It’s called resting in Him.

But that doesn’t happen until you have a relationship with God. And you don’t grow your relationship with God more and more unless you spend time with Him - like coming to church on the day He designed, on the Sabbath. This day is for more than just resting physically and getting caught up on sleep. It’s about resting in God - because you trust Him - because you have spent time with Him and are growing in your relationship with Him.  The fourth commandment is absolutely designed for our good.


**Loving Your Parents

Exodus 20:12  - Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Materials needed: dry erase board, marker, YE3I.5 lesson (CEM)

Let’s put our thinking caps on for a moment. If you were going to give your parents a gift, what would be a great thing to give them? Answers might include a snow blower (if you live in Buffalo, NY) or a new car (if you have lots of money). If you don’t have a lot of money, maybe you would agree to mow the lawn or paint the house. Maybe you could make supper every night for a week. Of course, you’d want to make sure the gift was something they’d really like.

If you were going to honor your parents, what would that look like? Would you give them a gift? Would you say nice things about them? What does it mean to honor? Honor is very closely related to respect. So . . . how do you show respect to your parents?

Well, you know exactly what you shouldn’t do! Don’t talk back. Don’t stick out your tongue at them. Don’t say bad things about them to others.

A big way to show honor or respect is by listening to what they have to say . . . and not just listening, but actually implementing what they have told you. If your parents hate the color pink (or Plumb Scuttlebutt), does it show honor and respect to them to paint their house pink? They may need their house painted, but ignoring what they’ve told you doesn’t show respect or honor.

If you tell your mom that you’ll come till her garden for her, and she says, “No, I’m not ready for that yet,” does it show respect for her if you till her garden anyway? Just because you don’t know why she’s not ready doesn’t give you permission to surprise her with something she has specifically told you she doesn’t want done.

On the other hand, if your dad tells you to make sure you check the oil on your car, and you do that faithfully, you are honoring him. He may not even know that you’re doing what he’s asked, except he knows you don’t have to buy a new car because the engine seized up.

It’s interesting, isn’t it?! The primary way we show respect to our parents is by living our lives the way they raised us to live them. We’re doing what they taught us to do. Hmm. It’s very much the same way we show honor and respect to God: we do what He tells us to do.

In both cases, our words mean absolutely nothing if they are not backed up by our words. That is, you can tell your parents that you love them, but if you are disrespectful, they’re not going to feel loved and honored. God is the same. If you tell God that you love Him, but you don’t do what He says, He has overwhelming evidence to refute your claim that you love Him.

Ephesians 6:2-3 points out that this commandment is the first one with a promise: Honor your father and your mother that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. There’s a natural consequence - for your good - if you honor your parents. Think about it.



Is God Your God?
Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:12-14

How do you honor your parents? Is it just obeying them? I don’t think so. I think you can obey without really honoring your parents. So what is it that constitutes honoring? It’s showing the respect that is due to them. You show deference. You do what you’re told. You aren’t disrespectful or disobedient.

O.K. Why? For what reason(s) should you honor your parents? Ephesians 6:2-3 says that this command is the first with a promise: that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. That’s a good reason to honor your parents. I’d like to live long in the land.

Another reason is simply because God tells you to. He has the authority. He has given your parents authority over you. You need to honor that.

The third reason is closely tied with the second: that is, when you honor your parents, you are honoring God who told you to honor them. You are obeying your heavenly Parent when you show respect and deference to your earthly parents.

What about murder? It’s easy to see that murdering someone is wrong. You don’t have the right, the authority, to take another person’s life. But what about capital punishment? What about just wars? What about putting to death that person who murdered your child in cold blood?

War is a terrible thing. But a just war is not wrong. When Jesus Christ returns, He will come as the conquering King. The very word “conquering” indicates that He will be fighting a war - and will be winning that war. Also remember that numerous instances are recorded in the Old Testament when God sent the Israelites into battle to take the land - and He fought for them.

What about capital punishment? What about the state putting a murderer to death? It’s Biblical. It’s one of the primary purposes of government. It’s God-given responsibility that the state is charged with administering justly.

So then, personal vengeance must also be Biblical. Oh, it’s Biblical, but it’s not condoned by God. God says that vengeance is His; He will repay. Even in cases of manslaughter, the cities of refuge were established where family members weren’t allowed to exact payment, i.e. a life for a life.

There’s another aspect of this commandment: when you murder, you are setting yourself up as God. He alone has the right to decide when life begins and when life ends. When you take a life, you are taking His authority upon yourself; you’re breaking the first commandment as well as the sixth!

What about committing adultery? Very simply, God made marriage between one man and one woman for life. There are certain behaviors that should only exist within that relationship.

Furthermore, this commandment also speaks to your relationship with God - the One who bought and paid for you with the price of the blood of His Son. You belong to Him and you have no business becoming involved with, messing around with, anything that is not godly. If He is your God, then He’s 100% your God. You can’t hold back 5% of your life where you mess around with things that are ungodly and disrespectful to Him as your Heavenly Parent.

As we continue talking about the ten commandments, you’ll see how each and every one of them is a reflection of how you view God, what your relationship with Him is like, and whether He truly is your God or not. After all, if He’s your God and He tells you not to do something, then if you don’t obey, is He really your God?

Think about it.

**It’s Murder

Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder.”

Materials Needed: CEM lesson (YE3I.6), puppet

Teacher: Have you ever heard of Curious George? Well, Curious Caleb is here today to talk about the Sixth Commandment: You shall not murder. It’s simple and to the point. I guess that’s it for our sabbath lesson today. (Caleb jumping up and down!!) What in the world? Do you have a question, Caleb?

Caleb: What’s the difference between murder and kill?

Teacher: Good question. Let’s ask the kids if they know. Murder is killing someone when you don’t have the authority to kill them. Killing means the ending of their life. O.K. Pretty straight-forward. I guess we’re done today.

Caleb: Wait! So is there ever a time when killing someone isn’t murder?

Teacher: Another good question. Let’s ask the kids if they know. Capital punishment is not murder. Killing someone accidentally is not murder.

Caleb: What is capital punishment?

Teacher: Capital punishment is when the government (legal authorities) determine that someone’s crime requires that they are put to death. In the Bible there are several crimes that were punishable by death: murdering someone, blaspheming God, kidnapping are three.

Caleb: How could you kill someone accidentally?

Teacher: If you didn’t plan ahead of time to murder them, if you didn’t have a desire to murder them, if it was simply something that happened accidentally, then it is not murder. The Biblical example is an axhead flying off (Deuteronomy 19:5).

Caleb: What if someone kills your family member? Can you kill them in today’s society? Is that capital punishment?

Teacher: No. Even though that person killed your family member, you can’t kill them. It’s the responsibility of the government to administer the death penalty. So I have a question for you: is abortion murder?

Caleb: Yeeesss?

Teacher: Absolutely. It’s premeditated. You intend to kill them. You are murdering a living being.

Caleb: Then when we cut down trees, is that murder?

Teacher: No. Trees are not human beings. God gave dominion over the rest of creation to mankind. So humans will be held accountable for not taking care of plants and animals. Revelation 11:18 says that God will destroy those who destroy the earth. However, murder refers to killing human beings, not trees and not animals. Do you know why murder is so wrong? God is the God of life (Matthew 22:32). He’s the One who gives life. He’s the One who sustains life (Revelation 4:11). He’s the One who numbers our days (Psalm 37:18). A person who decides to murder someone else has tried to usurp God’s authority. Trying to do God’s job for Him is never a wise choice. Does that make sense?


**Shut De Door

Exodus 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery."

Materials: wedding vows, CEM YEA lesson (YE3I.7)

“Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today, before God and in the sight of these witnesses, to join these two in holy matrimony.”

Does that sound familiar? Many wedding services start just this way. It is legal terminology. There are witnesses to the contract that is about to be signed: God and all of the people attending the ceremony. Two key words in this introduction are “holy” and “matrimony.” Holy means set apart. Matrimony is the state or quality of being married.

These two people are embarking upon a lifelong commitment - covenant - as God is their witness - that they will abide by the terms of the contract. What is that contract? Many of them go like this:

I, Ron, faithfully promise and covenant with God, in the presence of these witnesses, to take Cynthia to be my wife, to love and comfort, to honor and cherish, and to be faithful to her in sickness and in health until death we are parted.

Then then bride states her part of the contract:

I, Cynthia, faithfully promise and covenant with God, in the presence of these witnesses, to take Ron to be my husband, to love and comfort, to honor and cherish, to submit myself to him, and to be faithful to him in sickness and in health until we are parted by death.

The covenant binds this man and this woman together for as long as they both shall live. They each prefer the other over all others. They are loyal and support of each other above all other relationships. In fact, there is no room for another person in this union. This is the promise they each make to the other.

If someone wants to wedge themselves into this relationship, to break that trust, each has the obligation before God to repudiate that advance. Like Joseph, they should get completely away from the situation. In fact, it’s best if they never put themselves into a situation that could potentially break that trust. There are many examples of a pastor (or other leader) refusing to meet with/counsel a woman without his wife present. That’s just wise! They are avoiding even the appearance of evil.

God does not take the marriage covenant lightly. How do we know this? Because the Seventh Commandment says, “You shall not commit adultery.” Breaking this commandment breaks that trust, breaks the promise made to your husband or wife. It’s serious stuff.


**That's Not True!

Exodus 20:16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”

Materials needed: candle, matches, buttons with crest/design, YEA lesson YE3I.9 (from CEM)

I remember my grandfather saying that a man was only as good as his word. It makes a lot of sense. In a community where people depended on one another, it was crucial that a person was reliable, that he did what he said he would do.

There’s another saying I associate with Grandad.  “If he says he’ll do it, you can take it to the bank.” In other words, if someone agreed to do a task, it was a sure thing; it was as if you had the money in your hand, ready to take it to the bank.

It doesn’t take very long when you’re around people to figure out who you would trust completely and whose word isn’t worth a plug nickel.

Individually and collectively, when you can’t trust what people say, there are serious consequences. Not keeping your word covers all sorts of things - from relatively unimportant, like saying that you’ll do the dishes after supper to testifying in court. Truth is so important in court cases - because you’re dealing with people’s lives - that before you give your testimony you are required to swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. That’s a very serious oath - and it needs to be because your words literally could mean the difference between life and death in some cases.

For many years, important documents had a seal applied, to verify their authenticity. (We still do this today; it’s called a notary.) A small amount of sealing wax was melted and allowed to drip onto a document. Then a ring with a family or monarch’s crest was pushed down into the wax. That way, if you received a document, you knew exactly who it was from and if it had been tampered with. Sometimes the seal was applied to the end of the document; sometimes it was applied after the document had been folded.

Telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is a problem today. It was a problem back when sealing wax was used. It was a problem in Biblical times. God was very clear that it was a transgression of His law to bear false witness, to not tell the truth. God’s consequence was effective. Deuteronomy 19:18-19 says, “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.” So, if you lie to get your brother in trouble, whatever punishment he would have received, you will get instead!

Proverbs 19:9 says, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.”  Our God expects us to tell the truth! We would expect nothing less from the One who says He is the Way and the Truth and the Life! So you won’t be surprised to find that in the New Heavens and the New Earth, Revelation 21:8, here’s what it says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

All liars are included in this list of those who will not be part of God’s kingdom.  God means it when He says, “You shall not bear false witness.”

A Broken Wanter
You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. Exodus 20:15-17

These three commandment have something in common: you break them because you want something you don’t have. You steal because you want something that isn’t yours. You covet - you look at what someone else has and you want that one, the one that isn’t yours. You bear false witness because the truth is not going to get you what you want, you think - a good name, escape from consequences, or in Ahab’s case, something he coveted and then stole, a vineyard (1 Kings 21).

There’s a phrase for this intense desire to have something you don’t presently have. It’s called having a broken wanter. That means there’s something wrong with this intense desire you have. James says that we quarrel and fight, we murder and covet, because of this broken wanter, wanting the things we don’t have. James says that we don’t have because we don’t ask. Now some people might stop there and say, “Oh, all I have to do is ask God for what I want and He’ll grant it to me.” Doesn’t Matthew 7:7 say, “Ask and it shall be given to you”? Not asking might be the first thing that is wrong in the case of a broken wanter. But James says there’s more. What if you’re asking for something you really shouldn’t have. Can you say, “I really want Keith and Diane’s house” and expect that God will give it to you? Just because you ask doesn’t mean God is obligated to give something to you.

James 4:3 says it this way: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Oh, you mean that if I’m only concerned about how I feel and what I want (being the god of my own universe) then expecting the true God to be a genie in a bottle isn’t going to work out too well for me? That’s about it. You have a broken wanter because you are acting as if you are the god of the universe and everything’s about you. You want to put yourself first. So you’ve broken the first commandment because you’re putting yourself in the place of God. Now it’s just a matter of which and how many of the other commandments you’re also going to break. If you’re a Christian, or say you’re a Christian, you’re breaking the third commandment because a broken wanter doesn’t bring glory and honor to God’s name, and so you’re taking His name in vain.

A broken wanter reflects a distrust of God, the One who made you and has redeemed you. God is the One who gives every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), the One who knows much more than your physical parents how to give good gifts to those who ask (Matt 7:11). God’s perspective is eternity; His plan is for molding each of us, forming Christ in us, purifying us as a people for His own possession, to bring each of us into His kingdom. If that’s God’s perspective, His goal, He has a plan for how to get us there. And He knows which gifts are for our benefit.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting things. God has given us a world that is full of delightful things. But we have a broken wanter when we don’t want God first. Wanting God first means wanting His ways, wanting His perspective, wanting His plan for our lives, wanting a relationship with Him. That means submission to Him, trust that His ways are best, and contentment with what we have been given.  It means wanting Him most of all.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4


**What Do You Want?

Exodus 20:17, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Materials Needed: miscellaneous trinkets, YEA lesson (YE3I.10), dry erase board, markers, cards with Biblical characters on them

Do you have a list of things you really want? Are the things you listed material possessions, time-related, people-related, or something else? What is most important to you? Is wanting things bad? Wanting things is not bad; really, really wanting something can provide motivation to strive and persevere. It’s when you want things that other people have, things that are not yours, that you are breaking the Tenth Commandment. What do I mean? Well, let’s use some Bible examples:

Gehazi - This was Elisha’s servant. And the story to which I’m referring is found in 2 Kings 5; it’s the story of Naaman. What did Gehazi want that didn’t belong to him? He wanted the reward that Naaman was offering to Elisha, which Elisha completely disregarded. Gehazi didn’t earn it; it didn’t belong to him. So what did he do? He lied. How did he think his actions weren’t going to be discovered? The consequence? He contracted leprosy.

David - This was the greatest king in ancient Israel. But what did David want that didn’t belong to him? He wanted Bathsheba. So what did he do? He took her - and ended up murdering her husband to cover up his sin.

Solomon - The wisest man who ever lived wanted something too. What was it? Women! He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. What did God’s law say? From the very beginning (Genesis 2:24), God ordained marriage to be one man and one woman. Jesus reaffirms this in Matthew 19. Deuteronomy 17:17 specifically says that the king shall not have many wives, lest they turn his heart away from following God. What did Solomon end up doing? Turning away from following God with his whole heart - and the kingdom would be divided due to his sin.

Shadrach, Meshack, and Abedngo - The three young men who were thrown into the fiery furnace wanted something. What was it? They wanted to be found faithful to God - even if it meant they died in the fiery furnace. What does this example show us? There are things that you can really, really want - even if it means you lose your life - that are very pleasing to God.

It’s important to spend some time thinking about what you really want. Gehazi, if he’d thought about it, should have realized that he wanted the favor of God and Elisha more than a few sets of clothing. David, if he had really thought about it, should have realized that he wanted the relationship with God more than he wanted a relationship with Bathsheba. Solomon, if he had really thought about it, should have followed God’s law to maintain the relationship he had with God - the one where God loved him enough to tell him to ask for anything. What would that be worth to you - to have God tell you that you could ask for anything?!

Don’t spend time looking at what someone else has and wishing that it was yours. Do what God has given you to do and trust Him to provide what you truly need. Obeying this commandment, like obeying all of the others, can keep you out of a lot of trouble!


Fix Your Eyes on the Goal
Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.  Exodus 23:20

There are some very interesting words in this verse!

Guard is Strongs #8104 - shamar - which means to guard, protect, attend to. It’s from a primitive root which means “to hedge about as with thorns.” It’s translated 283 times as “keep,” as in Genesis 2:15 where God put the man in the garden to tend and keep it.

Way is Strongs #1870 - derek - which means a road, a way, a path; figuratively, it means a course of life. It’s used in Isaiah 2:3  . . .”Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD . . . he will teach us His ways.”

Interestingly, both of these words are found in Genesis 3:24 - where the angel was guarding the way to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. They are also found in Psalm 91:11 where God gives his angels charge over you “to guard you in all your ways.”

This phrase is particularly comforting - knowing that God is sovereign; He’s in control; if you belong to Him, whatever happens to you is allowed by Him.

The second phrase is likewise comforting. To know that there is a place, a specific place, that God has prepared especially for His people is very encouraging. We have, each of us, a deep longing and need to belong. So to know that God has prepared a place gives us incredible hope - the kind of hope that is an anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19)!

Can you think of any other verses which talk about God preparing a place for His people? Absolutely! John 14 talks about Jesus going to prepare a place for his disciples. But it’s not just preparing a place - because I prepare a place for the dogs to stay when we go to the Feast, and that’s not very appealing to them. They don’t like staying at the kennel. Why not? Because I’m not there. So look back at this second phrase again:

to bring you to the place I have prepared

The word “bring” is an indication that God is there in that place He has prepared. If the verse read “to take to to the place I have prepared,” it would have an entirely different feel.

Think, then, about the verse as a whole. God is sending an angel to keep you safe on the way and to guide you to the place where He is.

I don’t know who exactly the angel is. That’s rather above my pay grade. But I don’t have to know. That’s God’s area of authority. All I have to know is that God is sending me help to get me to His kingdom. Does that mean nothing bad will ever happen to you or to me? No.  It means that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His promise (Romans 8:28). We have many examples in the Bible of God’s people enduring trials, suffering. What was their response? Regardless of what happened in the lives of God’s people, they kept their eyes fixed on the goal: that place God has prepared for those who love Him (Hebrews 11).

In the same way, we would do well to keep our eyes fixed on the goal, knowing that God is giving us aid to guard our ways and bring us into His kingdom, having the assurance that God is with us. So fix your eyes upon the goal. Fix your eyes upon Jesus.


**Drive Them Out
Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. Exodus 23:30

Materials Needed: two balloons, two small plastic bottles - one with holes poked in the end

If you place a balloon inside a plastic bottle, with the lip over the mouth of the bottle, how easy is it to blow up the balloon inside the bottle? It’s not easy, is it?  The balloon will inflate a little, but pretty soon the air pressure inside the bottle is greater than the air pressure of you blowing into the balloon. However, if you have poked a couple of holes in the bottom of the bottle before putting the balloon in the bottle, you can blow up the balloon. Why is this? Because you’ve provided a way for the air to escape from the bottle.

It’s a good demonstration for the verse in Exodus 23:30. God did not drive out, all at once, the people of the land He was giving to the Israelites. He did it a little bit at a time. The Israelites were not numerous enough to fill the land and without people there, wild animals would have come in and caused more problems for the people of God. So, little by little the pagan inhabitants of the land were driven out as the people of God needed more land.

How does this relate to the bottles and the air? When the balloon is inside the bottle, but is not inflated, the air pressure pushes back on the outside of the balloon. When you start to blow up the balloon, the air outside of the balloon (inside the bottle) has to go somewhere. If there’s not a way for the air to escape, the balloon can’t inflate. This is what happened in the land. There was only enough room for a certain number of people. When the Israelites increased in number, the other inhabitants of the land had to go somewhere!

Interestingly, as long as God’s people were faithful to Him, God would drive out the pagans before them. But if God’s people were unfaithful - they didn’t keep God’s laws and began worshipping idols - then God did not drive out the pagans before them.

So how does this relate to you? You are gradually being changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, if the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. As long as you listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit and make Godly choices, you become more and more like Christ. But if you don’t do what God has said, if you make excuses for not obeying your parents and not obeying God, if you choose not to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, then you will not become more like Christ. You will continue to live your life in rebellion to God and His ways. There’s no middle ground: you are either becoming more like Christ or you’re moving away from the things of God.

Choose to live your life God’s way. Choose to become more like Christ. Then God will help you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, if you earnestly seek Him with all of your heart.


**The Tabernacle is Built

Make this Tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” Exodus 25:9

Materials Needed: paper, pencils, clipboards, YEA lesson from CEM (YE3J.3)

Suppose I give you a piece of paper and tell you to draw exactly what I describe. How good would you be at following the directions:

Start by making a small square at the top right of  your paper. Make a circle underneath it, touching the bottom of the square with the same diameter as one side of the square. Now draw a horizontal line touching the bottom of the circle and extending to the left hand side of your paper. In the middle of the paper, draw a medium-sized triangle. From each of the two bottom corners, draw a rectangle. Each rectangle will be long vertically and narrow horizontally. Now, in between the two long rectangles, draw an oval large enough to touch both rectangles. Inside the oval write your name.

How do you think you did? Look at what your neighbor did. Do your drawings look the same? I didn’t give you the incredible detail that God gave Moses for building the Tabernacle. Moses had dimensions, specific lengths and weights for all of the elements. Each of the furnishings was described in detail and had a specified place within the Tabernacle. One might ask why.

Well, here’s a possible explanation. We are the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians 3:16). He is using the lively stones of man to build His house (1 Peter 2:5). God is molding us (Isaiah 64:8), forming us into the image of Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:19-20). Is it possible that God wants the same attention to detail from us as was required in constructing the Tabernacle?

God is building His house. God is forming Christ in us. God, who began a good work in each of us, will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6). But we have a part in that. We have to respond to His molding. We have to act according to what God is doing.  Paul says, “Walk worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1). Peter exhorts us to “make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love” (2 Peter 1:5-7). Paul says in Romans 12:1 that we should be a living sacrifice, seeking to do God’s will. That doesn’t sound like we can just sit on the couch and wait until Christ is formed in us. It sounds like we get busy doing whatever God has given us to do - but we do it with His direction and guidance.

How do we get that direction and guidance? By studying the Bible, memorizing scripture, singing songs of praise, going to church, fellowshipping with believers, talking about God, thinking about God, fasting, keeping His commandments . . . We diligently put God in the forefront of our thoughts, seeking Him and His direction as we go through our daily tasks.

Think about it: If God was so incredibly detailed about the construction of the Tabernacle, don’t you think He would also give detailed instructions about how the Temple of the living God would be formed. And if we have these detailed instructions, He expects us to follow them.

Tabernacle
I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. Exodus 29:45

This word dwell is Strongs #7931 - shakan - and means to settle down, abide, dwell, tabernacle, reside.

Can you think of any other place in the Old Testament where there might be a reference to God dwelling or tabernacling with Israel?

* That’s what the tabernacle was all about.  When the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies, he was in the very presence, the throne room, of God.

* David had a heart to build a permanent dwelling place for God - a temple. But he wasn’t allowed to do it because he was a man of war. Solomon, his son, built a magnificent temple. In 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 is the record of the glory of the LORD filling the temple during the dedication ceremony. Guess when this dedication took place - appropriately -  at the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. (2 Chronicles 7:8-9)

But God’s promise in Exodus 29:45 wasn’t complete. God was dwelling among the people, but was He their God? We’ve talked before about what it means to be God. It means the people treat Him as Sovereign. They obey Him. They trust Him. They honor Him and are wholly devoted to Him. That didn’t happen in the times of the kings, and they were taken into captivity, first the northern ten tribes and later the Southern Kingdom.

So God gives the promise again in Zechariah 2:10 that He will dwell in the midst of His people. We see a fulfillment of that in the New Testament.

* John 1:14 - The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  This word “dwell” is 4637 - skenoo. It means to encamp, to pitch a tent, to tabernacle.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became flesh and dwelt among us. But during His physical life on this earth did God’s people treat Him as God? Oh, some may have, temporarily. But Jesus Christ was abandoned by all during His trial and crucifixion.

Because of what Jesus Christ did, because He was willing to lay down His life for each of us, and because He was resurrected again, we have the incredible opportunity to have God dwell with us in a much more permanent way. 2 Corinthians 6:16 says that we are the temple of the living God and therefore God dwells within us! We have become the dwelling place of God.

But what is happening inside every Christian is just a small picture of what will eventually happen when Christ returns.

Revelation 7:15 uses that same word for “dwell” - skenoo - to state that God, who sits on the throne, shall dwell among them. The ESV says that God will shelter them with His presence. This theme is reiterated in Revelation 21:3: “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

Soon, very soon, we’re going to be celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. One of the pictures of this feast is the time when Jesus Christ returns as the conquering King and sets up His kingdom where He will dwell with us and will be our God. Hallelujah!


**What a Day!

Memory Verse: Do your work in six days. But the seventh day is the Sabbath. . . Exodus 31:15 (NIrV)

Materials Needed: Clothes/hats/items with logos/team message/some identifier; YEA lesson (YE2E.3 - borntowin.net/yea/primaries/)

Why would anyone wear a hat like this? (Cardinals cap) Perhaps you’re going to a baseball game and you want everyone to know who you’re rooting for.  So why would you wear this hat? (AT&T cap) Ron wore one every day that he worked to let customers know that he really was an employee. He had a good reason for being there. What about this hat? (Stihl or John Deere) Perhaps you really like their products and you don’t mind advertising for them. Any time you wear something that has a logo or message - some identifier - on it, you are conveying information to other people about what you like, or what you do, or to what organization you belong.

God has an identifier too. It’s called the Sabbath.

In Ezekiel 20:12 God says, Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. This is almost a direct quote from Exodus 31:13, so this was a sign God set up from the time He rescued His people from Egypt.

Do you understand this? As much as a piece of clothing might identify you with a certain brand or a company or a belief, observing the Sabbath is also an identifier. But here’s the cool thing: Yes, keeping the Sabbath is a witness to the people around you that you worship God. But God said, twice, that it is a sign between you and God! Its primary goal as an identifier is to remind you (not the people around you) that it is God who sets you apart, who makes you holy, who sanctifies you.

Is being sanctified a big deal? Oh yeah! It is in being sanctified that we have assurance of having eternal life, of being the Bride of Christ, of belonging to God forever.

So how important is it that you keep the Sabbath?! It’s very, very important. It is a weekly reminder, to you and to God, of how very special you are to Him - the Great God of the Universe. That’s not something to take lightly.


God’s Presence
 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.  Exodus 33:15

Do you remember the events which generated this quote?

God had brought His people up out of the land of Egypt, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, devastating the economy of Egypt, and their pagan gods, through ten plagues. God had rescued Israel from the pursuing Egyptian army, causing the people to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, but drowning the Egyptians as the water crashed back in upon them. God had made the bitter water sweet. God had provided manna and quail. God had brought forth water from the rock. And God had given the people the ten commandments. The people’s response: (Exodus 24:3,7) “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

But then, Moses was gone on the mountain for forty days.

You’d have thought that waiting for forty days would not have been the impetus which caused them to forget God’s commandments and their promise to obey those commandments. They didn’t know what had become of Moses. He’d been gone for so long. So they made a golden calf and proclaimed a feast to the LORD. God was so angry! He was ready to wipe out the entire population right then. But Moses interceded for the people. Then when he went back into the camp with Joshua, Moses broke the stone tablets upon which God Himself had written the ten commandments. Moses ground up the golden calf into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the people drink it. Then God sent a plague on the people because of their sin.

Added to all of that, God tells Moses that He is not going to go with Israel, that the LORD will not go up among them, lest He consume them on the way because of their rebellious hearts. This is disastrous! (Exodus 33:3-4) Moses and the people recognized their extreme need for God, the One who brought all of the plagues on Egypt, the One who separated the waters of the Red Sea, the One who provided direction by day, fire by night, and food and water.

Sometimes people are tempted to think that this is just Moses acting in character again - remember Moses was reluctant to go to Egypt and lead this people in the first place. He told God he didn’t talk very well. God gave him Aaron. But this is different. This is Moses accurately accessing the situation and knowing that if God isn’t with them, they’re sunk.

What about you? Do you have a mindset that if God doesn’t go with you in everything you do that you don’t want to do it? Think about that!! Why would you want to go where God isn’t with you?

Furthermore, do you make it a point to invite God into every part of your life and ask for His direction and involvement? Or do you blithely go about your day thinking you’re succeeding in your own strength, that you’re fine on your own, that you aren’t important enough to bother God with your life - and it’s going pretty well without Him anyway?

Stop.

If God loved you enough to send His Son to die for your sins, if you have entered into covenant with Him (signified by baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit), if you have, in effect, told Him that you will live by every word that He has spoken, then God is your God. He stands at the door and knocks, waiting for you to open it and let Him fellowship with you. You’re not insignificant to Him. He gave His Son for you! You’re not insignificant to Him. Your cares and concerns are not bothersome to Him. He’s your God; you are His people.

It would behoove all of us to have the mindset of Moses: If your presence will not go with me, don’t bring us up from here.

A God, Merciful and Gracious
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”  Exodus 34:6 

When you go to the zoo, what animals do you like to see the most? I like the elephants. We went early one morning and got to see the keeper cleaning the feet of the elephant. That is a mental video that I enjoying reviewing every once in a while. 

But when I go to see my parents, I don’t stand at a distance and just observe them. I go in, visit with them, spend some time. It’s eight hours to their house! I don’t want to stand across the street and just wave! 

So the term “see” can be taken in a couple of different ways. I'd like to submit to you that when Moses wanted to see God, he wasn’t just interested in God’s physical appearance, although that likely was part of the request. I think Moses really wanted to “see” God. I think he wanted to know God, develop a relationship with Him, to spend some time with God. And God honored that request. Not only did God put Moses in the cleft of the rock and show him His glory as He passed by, God also proclaimed to Moses who He was. Then God proceeded to show Moses that His proclamation was true. God mercifully did not destroy the Israelites after the incident with the golden calf. He promised to go with them and to guide them to the Promised Land. God was faithful even when the Israelites weren’t. 

This is the same God that we serve today. He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. I pray that you get to know Him in all of these capacities. Why don’t you go “see” Him?


The Turning Leaves
You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. Exodus 34:22 (NAS)


As I have been walking the dogs in the mornings, I’ve been watching the leaves on the shrubs and trees. Do you know what they’re doing? They’re changing color! The hackberries are a brilliant yellow, the winged sumac are a vivid red, and yet, the oaks maintain their dark greens. Why are some of the trees and shrubs changing color? It has to do with the amount of sunlight that the plants receive. When the sunlight starts to lose its intensity, the leaves don’t make as much chlorophyll. It’s the chlorophyll which gives the leaves their green color. So when the green color is no longer dominant, other colors start to show up - like the reds and yellows and oranges.


So why is the sunlight less intense? That has to do with the revolution of the earth around the Sun. The path, or orbit, of the earth around the Sun is not a perfect circle. It’s more of an oval, or an elliptical path. In addition, the Earth is not perfectly vertical; it’s tilted at 23.5º on its axis. You also need to know that the Earth doesn’t wobble - like a gyroscope. The Earth maintains that degree of tilt even as it rotates each day on its circuit around the Sun. 


When the direct rays of the sun hit the Northern Hemisphere, the Northern Hemisphere enjoys longer days, warmer temperatures - summer. When the Southern Hemisphere has the direct rays of the sun, they get to enjoy summer, while we in the Northern Hemisphere enjoy winter. When the most direct rays are over the Equator, that’s when we begin either spring or fall. 


During our summer, we have the most direct rays, longer days, and the warmest temperatures of the whole year. This is when plants grow really well and lots of chlorophyll is produced in the plants. But once Earth reaches the point on its path (its orbit) around the Sun when the Sun’s rays are most direct - the longest day of the year, then the days start to slowly get shorter. Little by little, we notice that the temperatures aren’t quite so warm. Since the leaves don’t have the intensity of sunlight to make the same amounts of chlorophyll, the leaves more and more lose their greenness; they start showing the reds and oranges and yellows. We say that the leaves are changing color. We say that the seasons are changing.


And it’s possible that this is what the second half of Exodus 34:22 (NAS) is talking about: You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.  We celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (here called the Feast of Ingathering) at the time of year when the leaves are changing, the seasons are changing, when the Earth has passed the point on its orbit (called the Autumnal Equinox), moving it towards winter and the shortest days of the year for the Northern Hemisphere.


It’s also very interesting that Exodus 34:22 calls the Feast of Tabernacles “the Feast of Ingathering.” It’s the time of year when the harvest has been gathered in (Deut. 16:13; Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 23:39). The harvest happens once the intensity of the sunlight has decreased enough to cause changes in the plants because the growing season is drawing to a close.


All of the scientific reasons for the plant changes is fascinating. It shows intelligent design by our Creator who made the universe and all that is in it. But when I look at the turning leaves, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the tilt, the autumnal equinox, and the decrease of chlorophyll. The leaves are another reminder of God’s calendar and His holy days!! The Feast of Tabernacles is coming!! You can see it in the leaves.

** Good visual resource: (You may need to save the pdf to your computer to get the diagram)
www.worldmapsonline.com/LESSON-PLANS/6-changing-seasons-globe-lesson-15.htm

Giving to God
and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”  Exodus 36:5

God gave Moses detailed instructions on how to build the tabernacle and then commanded that he follow them to the letter. This was to be the place where God dwelt, the place where He would meet with them. It was holy. The furnishings were holy. The people were to be holy.

Why do you think God asked the people to make voluntary contributions from their possessions for the building of the tabernacle and its furnishings? Think about it for a minute. Do you feel more ownership of something that you’ve contributed to or of something that has just been given to you? What has more value to you - something that has cost you or something that has cost you nothing? If Israel had not had a part in the construction of the tabernacle, it would not have had the same value to them.

But where did they get all of the gold and silver, the fine twined linen, the yarns? These people had been slaves in Egypt! Do you remember when God sent the final plague on the Egyptians? He told the Israelites to ask their neighbors for items of silver and gold and for clothing. They came out of Egypt with more than enough for building the tabernacle. God had provided to them what they would need, and more. How do we know that God didn’t require all of it for the building of the tabernacle? Exodus 36:5 says: and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”

There’s a principle here for our benefits. First, God has given us everything. Everything that we have, everything that we are, is a gift from God. How do we acknowledge that it all belongs to Him, that we’re just caretakers? We give the best back to Him. The Israelites are later told to bring a tithe, a tenth, of their increase to God. But this offering, for the building of the tabernacle, was not a tithe. It was a free-will offering. So how much should you give?

Well, first let’s consider what the tabernacle is analogous to today. We are the temple of the living God. (1 Corinthians 3:16) So we have to ask two questions: What do we need to build that temple? How much of the resources that God has given us is necessary for building that temple?

To build that temple into a dwelling place for God, first we have to repent of our sins, accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, and then, with the laying on of hands, God will send the gift of the Holy Spirit. We give our lives to God. The blood of Jesus has bought and paid for us. It is a work of God. Nevertheless, if we are truly repentant and desire God’s ways, then, once we have been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, we will pursue holiness. That requires time. It requires Bible study. It requires fellowship with like-minded believers. It requires fasting. It requires meditation. It requires prayer. There has to be a willing sacrifice of what you want to do in order to seek God, to have growing relationship with Him. It requires time.

What are you willing to give? How much of your time are you willing to give to pursuing a relationship with God? Could you get to the point where the builder said that you are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that God has commanded you to do?

Romans 12:1-2 says that we need to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, that this is our reasonable and acceptable worship. Think about it. When was the last time you brought much more than enough of your time to God?

Much More Than Enough
and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” Exodus 36:5

When I think of bringing a gift to God, I can’t help but think of the Wise Men who brought gifts to Jesus. What did they bring? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11) Why did they bring these gifts? No commentary is given to us in the Bible as to the reason for the gifts - other than they were coming to worship the king of the Jews. (Matthew 2:1-2) Indeed, gold, frankincense, and myrrh were kingly gifts. But Jesus never assumed His throne; He came as a suffering servant, not as the conquering King. (Phil 2:7) So why these gifts? Scholars have theorized that Mary and Joseph needed the funds these gifts would bring in order to flee to Egypt to escape Herod. Others speculate about the uses of the frankincense and the myrrh. Still, what we’re told from the pages of the Bible is that the Wise Men came to worship Jesus as king.

I think what the wise men did is a type - an event which hints at, foreshadows, what will be in the future. There is coming a day when Jesus will come again a second time. That second time, He will come, not as a suffering servant, but as the conquering King. (Revelation 19:11-16) At that time, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9-10), just as the wise men bowed before Christ, confessing Him to be king at His first coming.

But there’s more to consider here: When did the knee bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord in the lives of Christians? We did it at repentance and baptism. We repented before Him and confessed that He is Savior and Lord of our lives. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, “And because of him [God the Father] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Look at that! When we turned our lives over to Christ, when we were given salvation through His blood, we gained righteousness, sanctification, and redemption - and one other thing: wisdom.

We aren’t given the credentials of the wise men who visited Jesus as a child in the Matthew 2 account. We just know that they came to worship and bring gifts to Him as part of their worship and confession of Jesus as king. Like those wise men, we, who have been given wisdom, also kneel before Him and confess that He is king.

Now, here’s the piece de la resistance: do we have any clue anywhere as to what will happen to those who kneel and confess Jesus as Lord, to those who offer to Him everything they have in complete devotion to Him, to those who are wise? Daniel 12:3 says, “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Look at the comparison between being wise and turning many to righteousness: shining like the sky above or like the stars forever. Part of kneeling and confessing Jesus as Lord of our lives is living in service to Him. We’ve talked about Romans 12:1 before: “ . . . present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” We become wholly devoted to God. Our lives are spent in His service, wherever He leads us. Our mindset is of a servant of the living God - all the time. Does that happen automatically at baptism? No, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we learn to take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). It’s part of the pursuit of holiness, of purifying ourselves from every defilement out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

So are you wise? Is shining like the stars forever in your future? There’s work to be done now in service to God. The fields are white unto harvest. We’ve a story to tell to the nations. How much of our lives are we willing to devote to the service of God so He can use us to reach whomever He wills? Are we presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him? I hope that it is said of us, as it was said of the Israelites, that we had to be restrained from bringing more to God, that what we brought was much more than enough for doing the work that the LORD had commanded us to do.

Precision
In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacles was erected. Exodus 40:17

Did you know that scientists say that there is precisely enough oxygen and nitrogen mix in our air to keep all living things healthy? We are precisely far enough from the sun to benefit from its rays without being burned to a crisp like Mercury or frozen into stasis like Neptune.

Do you know how rare it is to find a flower that has an even number of petals? That’s why it almost always works out to say, “He loves me, he loves me not. He loves me!!” God designed the flowers just to give us confidence in our relationships - or not.

When you stop to enumerate the things that are just right to make life flourish in our universe, how could anyone doubt the existence of God as Creator?!

God is so precise - even when we don’t understand why. We don’t know why the tabernacle was the exact dimensions it was. We don’t know why God was so specific about the stones in the breastplate. We don’t know why God created the light in the visible spectrum to bend at the angles it does, but we sure do enjoy the rainbow it creates.

We are the incredible benefactors of a world that works beautifully and harmoniously because of the precision of God’s design.

So then we read in Exodus 40:17 that God gave precise instructions about the day to set up the tabernacle. The Israelites may not have understood why God wanted them to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month in the second year, however that didn’t excuse them from following His commands.

Similarly, when God gives us precise times and ways to worship Him, He adjures us to observe them. Period.

And you know what, just like we benefit from the Sun’s rays being at the precisely perfect distance, and just like we benefit from the precise refraction of light to create a rainbow, we benefit greatly from celebrating God’s Holy Days as He designed them.

As we stand here in the middle of the fall holy day season, quietly contemplate the perfect precision of God and then thank Him that He is so!

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the LORD commanded Moses. Exodus 40:32

I remember seeing a cute sign in a bathroom when I was a kid: Cleanliness is next to Godliness. It didn’t set well with me. I remember thinking, evaluating: Was that really true? I didn’t think so. I knew there were people who might be clean on the outside, but inside they were not so clean. They were not what I would call godly. They needed to wash their hearts from evil. (Isaiah 1:16; Jeremiah 2:22; Jeremiah 4:14)

Still the rituals of washing were important to God. In Leviticus 16, during the activities done on the Day of Atonement, the high priest washed before He put on the holy linen garments (Lev 16:4). Then, after he’d taken the blood into the Holy of Holies and after he’d confessed all of the sins of the Israelites on the head of the second goat, he took off the holy linen garments and washed again (Lev 16:24) before offering the burnt offering on the altar.

Did you notice what two things were sandwiched between the first and second washing, the two things that were done while wearing the white linen garments? First the high priest made atonement for the Holy Place, which was in the midst of the uncleanness of the people (Leviticus 16:16). The Holy Place had to purified. Second, all the sins of the people were confessed on the head of the second goat (Leviticus 16:22). The people’s sins were taken away.

Titus 2:14 talks about these two aspects of atonement as well. Jesus gave Himself to 1) redeem us from all lawlessness (the second goat taking away all iniquities) and 2) to purify for himself a people for his own possession (the first goat purified the Holy Place).

We are the temple of the living God (1 Cor. 3:16). We must purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

We are also the priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). God promised in Malachi 3:3 that He would purify the sons of Levi - the priesthood.

This is what Jesus Christ accomplished when He gave Himself for us, to sanctify us, having cleansed us by the washing of water with the word, “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27).

We, God’s people, are analogous to the temple, the priesthood, and the bride of Christ. All three must be clean, washed, purified. And all three must be righteous - the opposite of lawless, workers of iniquity. Both our redemption and our purification is accomplished in Christ.

Maybe cleanliness is next to godliness.

God With Us
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 40:38

If someone were to ask you what the book of Exodus was about, what would you tell them?

If you said that it’s about the Exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt, you’d be right. If you cited the stubbornly rebellious hearts of these people God had rescued, you’d be right again. If you said it details the giving of the Mosaic law, the building of the tabernacle and the law of the sacrifices, you’d be right again. But the overall impression I’ve gained, as we’ve made our way through the book of Exodus, is that God was with His people - even before they realized they needed Him.

Think of how the book begins: The Hebrew people multiplied in Egypt until the Egyptians grew afraid of their numbers and decided to assimilate them into the Egyptian nation by killing all of the baby boys. God knew they were going to need to be rescued. Moses was born, was rescued by the Egyptian Princess, was raised in Pharaoh’s household, and ended up in the wilderness, tending his father-in-law’s sheep on Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God. God was intimately involved in the events, preparing Moses for the time when he would need to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

I’m sure you could detail the plagues and the numerous miracles God performed as He led the people out of Egypt. But then, even more than just acting on their behalf, God gives them His law - a picture of the character of God. Furthermore, God gave minute instructions for the building of the tabernacle, the high priest’s garments, and the furnishing of the tabernacle. He gave them the privilege of having Him dwell with them. Do you fully understand how very much God was with His people?! He acted on their behalf. He dwelt in their midst. He gave them His laws so the people would act and think like God. Then to cap it all off, He gives them a physical, visual reminder that He is with them 24/7.

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 40:38

So God’s presence was with them day and night throughout all of their journeys!

Do you feel a little envious of the Israelites? Do you wish that God would dwell with you, tell you how to live, and provide you a physical, visible reminder that He is with you, leading and protecting you? I have good news for you. He has - if you have the eyes to see. 

What part of our lives corresponds to the tabernacle? 1 Corinthians 3:16 says that we are the temple of the living God. When you are baptized and have hands laid on you for the receiving of the Holy Spirit, you become the temple, the dwelling place of God. Then His Holy Spirit (John 16:13) works in you to lead you into all truth as you read God’s written word, which contains His commandments. So you have God’s presence and God’s law with you. But what about God acting on your behalf - miracles?

I suspect that each one of you has experienced God’s hand in your life in a powerful way. Could you prove that it was directly God’s hand? No, probably not. But just like some people try to explain away the provision of the quail as a yearly phenomena, you know that God provided them meat to eat. You know that was from God. Some people say that the people crossing the Red Sea dry shod was because there was a natural underwater land bridge. But you know that it was the power of God who dried up the sea bed for the Israelites but drowned the Egyptians as they tried to follow. In the same way, each of you has had events in your lives which you know was the hand of God. Talk about them. Remind each other of them. They are like that cloud of the LORD that was on the tabernacle by day and the fire that was in the tabernacle by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.