Daily Bread - June 2, 2018

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Friday, 01 June 2018 23:31

Exodus 29:43 - "And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be made holy by My glory." A Place Prepared For God To Dwell (Part 1) God desired to dwell in the midst of His people Israel, so He designed the tent of meeting to tabernacle among them. All of these things testify to the desire of God's heart to dwell in the midst of our lives. His ultimate purpose was to redeem man and make man a holy dwelling place where He could dwell. The first testimony to the sacredness of His dwelling place and the consecration He demands was given when God came to dwell in the tabernacle in the midst of Israel. God revealed many things about Himself to fallen men before the days of Moses. However, He did not begin to reveal Himself more fully to the nations until He revealed His holiness. God did not begin to manifest His power, or in fact, His own Person through men until His holiness was imparted to them and the sacredness and corresponding restrictions were established. Holiness is essential for the revelation of God to be communicated to man. However, it is not a holiness that can be earned, but one that comes as a result of a favorable encounter with God in which He imparts holiness. We cannot have God in our lives without His holiness. If God is going to be revealed in a person or dwell in the midst of a people, then they must be made holy and then be consecrated to that holiness. When God makes something holy, there are severe consequences if it is defiled. God's holiness must not be profaned. At the heart of the holiness God gives is moral purity. The idea that there can be spiritual purity without moral purity is foreign to the Bible. God in His goodness imparted holiness to the people of the Covenant and demanded them to be holy because He is Holy (Leviticus 11:44, 19:2, 20:26, 21:8, 22:32). God had only visited man up until this time, but now God commanded Moses to build Him a Holy Place that would be Holy of Holies, so that He could dwell in the midst of the people of Israel. "Let them make a Holy Place that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). While they could prepare the Holy Place, its true holiness would only come by God's glory entering into it (Exodus 29:43). He gave them the pattern and the administration of the tabernacle so they could learn about Him and understand how to cooperate with all He is. He desired to bestow the blessings of His Presence upon His people He had made into a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). However, they would have to learn not to violate His holiness. What they would learn above all other things was they could in no way alter the design or the administration of the holy things (Exodus 25:9, 40; Hebrews 8:5). Much of what is described in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers is intended to teach us the absolute sacredness of God -the realm of absolute purity- and the behavior necessary to interact with Him. Through the tabernacle and the holy things offered to God, we come to understand God's desire to dwell with us, how to approach unto Him, and the grace He supplies to enable us. Interacting with the holy demands the highest honor, reverence, and fear of the sacred. The sacred cannot be profaned, and the provision supplied to approach unto God cannot be altered in any way. God teaches us how we should feel about sin and iniquity, and what our proper response to it should be. He teaches us to choose between the clean and the unclean, the holy and the impure, both ceremonially and ethically. Anything unclean cannot be offered to God by either a clean or unclean person. Neither can anything clean be offered by an unclean person. All of these laws are to instruct us in how to choose the good and refuse the evil, how to love righteousness and hate iniquity. (Hebrews 1:8-10; Isaiah 7:15; Proverbs 8:13; Psalms 45:6-7, 97:9-11) Be holy in all aspects of lifestyle! (1 Peter 1:15)

 

Daily Bread - May 31, 2018

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Thursday, 31 May 2018 11:26

Exodus 3:5 - And He said, "Do not come any closer: take off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground." Ascension Into Holiness (Part 4): The Cloud of Glory There are many things to say about the glory of God which appeared as a fire by night and a cloud by day. The cloud that was the dwelling place of the Most High, which was like a divine overcoat for the Almighty, tabernacled with the people of Israel from the time they left Egypt. It had protected them and stood between them and their enemies. It had gone before them and led them in the way they should go. It had been the place where the voice of the Lord could be heard by Moses. It was the place from which the divine orders went forth to provide them with bread in the wilderness. Yet, most important of all, in the midst of this fire was the One Who had appeared to Moses in the bush; and as it burned brightly before him on his journey to Sinai, surely it worked an ever-present and growing hunger in the heart of Moses for a deeper revelation of God, Who dwelt there. At the first encounter Moses had with God, he hid his face; but something was happening as this amazingly faithful God continued to show His love and grace (Exodus 3:6). The burning in his heart had become unquenchable, and Moses had to have more. As he grew in relationship with the Lord over those few months from Egypt to Sinai, he had begun to grow desperately hungry to more fully know God. He desired to see God in the fullness of His glory, with no restraint, face to face. Moses had been allowed to commune with God face to face from the time the cloud of the Lord had come to rest upon the tent of meeting (Exodus 33:11). Yet, now Moses was uncertain about God's disposition towards the children of Israel, who had not only continually complained, but had committed such evil around Sinai even after the abundance of revelation given to them. Moses was earnest to know God's disposition: Was He now unwilling to lead them and dwell in their midst (Exodus 33:3)? Would He go with them and lead them as He had from Egypt? He pleaded with God to show him what He would do, saying, "Show me Your way." It could only be to Moses a certain horror if somehow God would refuse to go up to the Land of Promise with them. God had become more important to him than a promised land and future blessing. If the Lord was not willing to go with them, then Moses did not want to go either. If God was going to stay at Sinai, then Moses would stay there too (Exodus 33:15). God assured Moses that His presence would go up to the land of promise with them. God had advanced Redemption's plan and come to dwell in the midst of man, and in His faithfulness He would not turn back. He was committed to making a people ready to bring forth the Lamb that would take away the sins of the world. Show us Your way, oh LORD, that we may know You! (Exodus 33:13)

 

Daily Bread - June 1, 2018

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Friday, 01 June 2018 10:23

Exodus 3:5 - And He said, "Do not come any closer: take off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground." Ascension Into Holiness (Part 5): Show Me Your Glory! Captivated by God's love and faithfulness, Moses began to intercede with God to show him His glory (Exodus 33:18). It was Moses' desire to see more fully the Ancient of Days, Whose mercies surpass all comprehension. The God of all Creation, Who had personally come to deliver them from their captivity in His faithfulness, was willing to continue on with a rebellious people in His mercy. God warned Moses how no one could see Him in His glory and live. Yet, through the constant insistence of Moses, God was willing to reveal more of Himself to Moses. God was willing to show Him more compassion and mercy and grant to Moses that which was most sacred of all -the purity and beauty of His unveiled holiness. God's holiness is so sacred that the cherubim angels guard it, and the seraphim scream out in ecstasy of its beauty but are unable to gaze upon it. It's the holiness of holinesses contained behind the veil that no one can see or approach unto. It's the sacred and secret realm that is guarded against all impurity. God placed one conditions on this meeting: no one else could be anywhere near the mountain, neither man nor beast. Moses, and Moses alone, would be given this access (Exodus 34:3). Joshua would not be allowed to tag along as he did before (Exodus 24:13). Moses would ascend one last and final time to the highest heights of Sinai, where God had prepared a place for him. God made a secret place for Moses, "a place by Him to stand upon the rock" (Exodus 33:21). God would pass by him and, though Moses was not allowed to see Him approaching, he could look after He passed by. When He passed by, Moses heard the cry of the Eternal, the One Who is from everlasting to everlasting. God was in that place proclaiming His sacred Name to Moses saying, "I am your beloved Ye-ho-vah!" The very depths of His nature were now revealed to the man who had found grace in His eyes. The Moses that would rather stay with Him than have a land of material blessing, the Moses who would rather die than to be estranged from the One Who is holy, was allowed what was impossible for man to experience. God revealed Himself as the Lowly One Who was compassionate, the Giver of grace, longsuffering, plenteous in lovingkindness, and abounding in truth. The Lord revealed Himself not only as the covenant Keeper, but also as the righteous Judge Who would not excuse wickedness. (Exodus 33:18-34:8) This encounter had a physical impact on Moses for the rest of His life. His face would shine with the light of the revelation of God he had seen that day (Exodus 34:29-35). Although the complete unveiling of God's beauty would be limited only to seeing His back, the glory would transform his physical body, and the very cells of his face would radiate the eternal glory of God. Still, God's face was too holy to be seen, neither by seraphim nor Moses. His holiness is pure beyond what anyone could ever imagine and must be protected against all intrusion -nothing can mix with His countenance. Even so, now there is a place prepared where we can stand and behold His unveiled glory -to see the One Who is the Great I Am in the face of Jesus Christ. The Savior and Redeemer, Who has come to reveal all the fullness of God to men, is ready to make these things known. Should we hunger and thirst and be willing to obey Him, there will be no part of Who He is withheld from those who would seek Him. (Psalms 42:1-2, 63:1-7, 84:1-12; Matthew 5:6; 2 Corinthians 4:6) Let show us Your Glory, oh LORD! (Exodus 33:18; Psalms 63:2)

 

Daily Bread - May 30, 2018

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Tuesday, 29 May 2018 23:18

Exodus 3:5 - And He said, "Do not come any closer: take off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground." Ascension Into Holiness (Part 3) The glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain (Exodus 24:17). The people were made holy on yet another scale by the covenant of the Law and the sprinkling of blood. Now that the covenant of the Law and the blood of the covenant bound them to the Lord, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders were allowed to come and interact with God on behalf of all the people (Exodus 24:6-11). Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu were given a special assignment above all others in Israel, while the seventy represented the whole of the nation. Yet, once again, they had to remain far off while Moses alone was allowed to approach unto the Lord (Exodus 24:1-2). They saw God that day and ate with Him. Their eyes were allowed to behold Him from a distance, yet all they could really describe was the place where He rested His feet (Exodus 24:10). It was as though they could hardly lift their eyes to attempt to behold any more than those details of His feet. They sat down and ate a covenant meal with God and enjoyed the revelation of the communion that every peace offering in the future would be like. From this time forward, the children of Israel would realize how the peace offering would be accompanied by the Lord, and they would be eating with Him even though their eyes would not be able to see Him. We might think of this encounter with God to be much like that which Abraham had in the plains of Mamre (Genesis 18). What is particularly distinctive is that the manifestation of God they were allowed to interact with did not include the fire of His Presence. God gave this special group of people the opportunity to know Him in a more intimate way, yet they let it slip. Twice they had vowed to obey God and do all He had commanded, but it was soon forgotten (Exodus 19:8, 24:3,7) Aaron, within the next forty days from this event, would make a golden calf and proclaim, "This is your god that brought you up out of the land of Egypt." Nadab and Abihu would be struck dead for their violation of the holy things because they did not perfectly observe God's commands, and approached unto Him with strange fire. Concerning the seventy, none of their names would be remembered. Although they were those who had been allowed to eat and drink in the Presence of the Lord, they soon forgot their consecration to obedience, and carried on in their iniquity (cr. Luke 13:26-27). After the covenant meal Moses and the others had with God, the Lord called Moses up higher into the realms of glory. Moses, now bound by the Law of God, the blood of sprinkling, and the communion meal, would step into the midst of the fire. While all the others were sent down off the mountain with orders to ensure no one be allowed upon the mountain, Moses alone was allowed to stay. The only other person upon the mountain was chosen by Moses. We do not know how far up the mountain Joshua was allowed to ascend, but he stopped somewhere short of where Moses was called to go. Moses ascended the higher heights of Sinai to receive more than he ever had before. It was only by God's command and commission that he was allowed to go where no man had ever gone before, and now he would be allowed to worship beyond anything he had experienced. Moses had to wait for six days as he stood before the cloud and fire of the Lord, but then the Lord invited Him into the cloud of His all-consuming fire (Exodus 24:16-18). God spent six days preparing Moses to enter into the cloud of His presence as he waited to be invited in. When he stepped inside this place where only God dwelt, the revelation of all that God had established would be unveiled. The entire plan of man's redemption and its design would be made known to him. In the midst of this great glory, God showed Moses the pattern and design of the tabernacle, its administration, and the order of the tent of meeting, where the people of God would worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Exodus 25-31). Our God is a consuming fire! (Hebrews 12:18-29)

 

Daily Bread - May 29, 2018

Written by Pastor Mark Spitsbergen

Monday, 28 May 2018 22:02

Exodus 3:5 - And He said, "Do not come any closer: take off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground." Ascension Into Holiness (Part 2) The trials Moses would have to go through were great, but he was given a promise. If he obeyed, he would be allowed to return and encounter the beauty of God's holiness once again (Exodus 3:12). He would be allowed to come and worship before the One Who is the Author of Life. However, he would first have to face the setbacks of the hardness of Pharaoh's heart. He would have to endure the persecution of God's people who would be commanded to make bricks without straw. He would learn obedience to God as men on both sides would reject him for the message he carried. Yet, through it all, he would discover how God was more powerful and mighty than he could have ever imagined. He would watch as God did things through him -things that were unthinkable. As he stood between a sea that could not be crossed and an army that could not be defeated, God more fully revealed exactly Who He was. He would find shelter in the Presence of God again and again as those who he led refused to trust in the One Who is the Lord of Hosts. It was certainly hard for the people of Israel to even begin to imagine the God Moses had encountered; but even in the face of their unbelief, they would be allowed to see the fire of His Presence and hear the sound of His voice. When Moses had returned to Sinai, he found the place of worship lit up with the Presence of God on an entirely different scale. The display of God's glory was no longer confined to a flame in a bush, but instead the whole mountain was on fire with God's Presence. Now, it was not just the ground under his feet that was holy, but the entire mountain had become infused with the holiness of God. The Lord, in His love for the people of Israel, would not leave them out of the encounter of His presence. Now the whole nation would be allowed to see the fire of His presence and hear His voice. Yet, only Moses, who had been faithful, would be allowed to come closer to God while the people of Israel encountered Him from a distance. They were washed with water and sanctified by His Word, making themselves ready for the encounter with God. Having been prepared by the washing of water, they came to the place of worship and stood before the Presence of the Lord (Exodus 19:10-11). While they stood at the boundaries of their limitations, which were placed around the mountain, the sound of God's shofar became louder and louder. As the sight became so overwhelming and frightening, Moses called out to the Lord and the Lord answered. Moses was called out in front of the people, and he alone was distinguished from all others. He alone was given the holiness necessary to stand upon the holy ground without defiling it. He was granted the right to ascend and stand upon the Mountain of the Lord (Exodus 19:16-20; Psalms 24:3-4). The ground shook under their feet with the Presence of the Lord, and the sight of Him was so dreadful Moses shook and trembled (Hebrews 12:21). All Israel were eyewitnesses to the communion between Moses and the Lord as they spoke to each other. This was unlike anything the sons of Adam had ever experienced as the Lord revealed Himself in the midst of His holy fire. Our God is a consuming fire! (Hebrews 12:18-29)