WHAT DOES GOD WANT? - CHAPTER 3
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Judges 2:1–4 (NET)
The Lord’s angelic messenger went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my agreement with you, but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’ But you have disobeyed me. Why would you do such a thing?At that time I also warned you, ‘If you disobey, I will not drive out the Canaanites before you. They will ensnare you and their gods will lure you away.’ ” When the Lord’s messenger finished speaking these words to all the Israelites, the people wept loudly.
HIT RECORD JOE!!!
Yahweh is betrayed by his chosen family.
One of the reasons that most casual readers of the Old Testament struggle to read and understand the books in the OT is a general lack of context around the narrative of this amazing story and God’s unwavering commitment to Free Will.
The stories in these books show a family affair filled with “Both Triumph and Tragedy”
As Dr. Heiser points out “ God wasn’t surprised” he knew exactly who he was dealing with and what they were capable of doing.
400 years from 70 to Millions
Abraham and all those who are members of his linage are now under the care and the promises of Yahweh, The Creator of everything in Heaven and in Earth.
God has promised Abraham that His SEED would be blessed, that his children would be LIKE the STARS in the sky and as numerous as the Sands of the Sea.
He also tells Abraham that his family would be strangers in a foreign land and would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years
Gen 15:13
God provides some Hope in this prophecy in the next verse
Gen 15:14
Saying “He will bring Judgement on this nation that has oppressed them and that he will bring this people out with Great possessions”
Jacob / Israel
The son of Jacob, Joseph is sold in to slavery by his older brothers and finds himself in Egypt, first as slave, then as wrongly accused prisoner and lastly as the second most powerful man in all of Egypt.
in Gen 45:5-11 we are told that a famine hit that land that because of the blessings that Joseph had been given by Yahweh and the Wisdom God gave Joseph to operate in, Egypt had tons of food to spare.
Jacob and his family (about 70 people), with Yahweh’s approval fled to Egypt to escape the famine.
This is where the Prophecy God gave to Abraham concerning his family starts to take shape.
The family of God grows large and a new King that did not know Joseph comes into power.
Exodus 1:8-10
Force labor and Extermination plans for all new born Boys
400 years under this sort of harsh treatment
Moses enters the story
God engineers the circumstances to protect the life of Moses, have him adopted into Pharaoh’s own house and be trained, educated and provided for right under the King’s nose.
Moses knows he is not truly an Egyptian
As a grown man, Moses witnesses the Hard Cruelty that HIS people were placed under and saw an Egyptian Man attacking a Hebrew man.
(One of his OWN people)
Moses obviously has this sense of being called to deliver his OWN People, BUT he lacks the character to fulfil that calling, murders a man in a weak human attempt to fulfill what had been divinely placed inside of him and then ends up fleeing for his life, settling in the land of Midian.
From a Prince of Egypt to a Shepherd of Midian
Moses settles in Midian, near a particular Well.
It’s at the Well that Moses protects the daughters of Priest of Midian, first identified as Reuel (which means friend of God)
This event, gets him an invite to the Priest’s table and later one of the priest’s daughters as a wife and for the next 40 years, Moses undergoes a transformation from a prince to a Shepherd.
Numbers 12:3
(Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.)
In these 4 decades, God forges something inside this man’s heart. A humility that was unlike any other man on the face of the Earth and that time.
Meekness NOT Weakness -
God calls Moses to deliver HIS People - The Burning Bush, the Plagues and the Red Sea
Exodus 3
And as Dr Heiser notes ‘The rest of the story is one of the most famous stories in all the World”
Yahweh, takes on Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt in a showdown of Epic proportion which culminates in a massive Exodus of people, millions of people carrying out tons of possessions and treasures.
In one of most amazing scenes every written in the history of mankind, Yahweh, God literally parts the Red Sea before them.
Law and Loyalty
It is very important to note that people who left Egypt and crossed over the Red Sea, were already God’s family and Loved by God before the first Commandment was ever given.
The Rules of the Family (The Covenant and the Laws that Govern that Covenant) were not given so that by keeping them you could be a member of that family; that’s not a family that’s a Club.
The Rules were set in place so that each person had the ability to execute his or hers own Free Will and demonstrate their desire to be a part of this family by aligning themselves with Yahweh, showing loyalty to him and Not showing loyalty to any other gods.
A Picture of our Purpose
Those who choose to be in a Loyal, loving relationship with God and who reject any lifestyle or behaviors that would show a loyalty to any other gods were positioned to be used by God as
“A Kingdom of Priest” Exodus 19:5-6
And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”
By becoming this Holy Nation, “ All the nations of the Earth, would be blessed by them”
The laws given by Yahweh to these people were designed to help his Children avoid other gods and live Happy, peaceful lives with one another and with God.
The were meant to show the path to peace and blessing and position them for purpose.
Free Will is still in Play
The story show us a narrative of these people learning that they can count in Yahweh to feed them, protect them and provide for them in seemly hopeless situations. Countless Miracles and Displays of God’s power, love and mercy towards them are recounted for us AND STILL....a large number of these people refuse to chose Life.
Their lack of Love and Loyalty to God leads to this difficult scene that we started our day with.
For centuries, the books of the Old Testament show a cycle of God’s children betraying their love for Him, God allowing them to suffer under the weight of their choices, their cries for help, His mercy to forgive and offer rescue and then their demonstration of betrayal all over again.
Judges rule, then the people chose a King (Saul) who is a disaster. Then God chooses a King (David) who is a moral mess BUT completely loyal to God and it was that Loyalty that caused Yahweh to enter in to a Covenant with David which states that the ONLY legitimate rulers of God’s people could be from his sons.
Sadly, many of David’s sons were unfit as Kings and suffered for their disloyalty to God.
A true King of David’s line was to love God.
“This is why every King was suppose to keep a copy of God’s laws with him and meditate on these day and night”
Deut 17:18 , Joshua 1:8, 2 Kings 11:12
He was to be the most excellent example of a loyal believer of Yahweh.
The Kingdom Divided
Solomon was a great king, but he did not follow in his Father David’s loyalty to God and allowed the worship of other gods to take place in Israel.
When he died, the nation was split into to factions, 10 tribes to the North and 2 tribes to the South.
The Northern Kingdom plunged into disloyalty and the worship of other gods immediately. The Southern Kingdom slowly followed suit until both Kingdoms were no more, conquered and exiled as slaves into Assyria and Babylon.
All seems to be lost and the dream of a Human family for Yahweh all but dashed.
The Promise of a NEW COVENANT
It’s in the midst of the darkest time in the history of God’s chosen people that God ends two prophets
Jeremiah and Ezekiel to proclaim a New promise.
“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord.“But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation which you profaned among the nations where you went. I will magnify my great name that has been profaned among the nations, that you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the sovereign Lord, when I magnify myself among you in their sight. “ ‘I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries; then I will bring you to your land. I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols. I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh.I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations.Then you will live in the land I gave to your fathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
There was a new day coming
God, faithful to his people and committed to his promises had a plan.
“What was needed was a man who was a descendent of Abraham and of David, who would be the Ultimate King and Perfect Imager of God, displaying the most excellent example of believing loyalty to God.
That man would also need to overturn the Curse of Death on the Human Race.
But how could a mere human conquer death?
He’d have to be God as well!
How was that suppose to happen?
It’s an Impossible task, BUT with God all things are Possible!
Q&A
In the past, what was the narrative, the overarching principle you thought God was telling the rest of the world in the Exodus story?
At what point in the Story were the Hebrews considered God’s chosen people; before of after the giving of the Sinai Covenant?
God’s desire was for his children to be a Nation of ______________?
The first two human kings of Israel were Saul and David. The lives of both Saul and David’s were a hot moral mess, yet David was proclaimed by God to be better than Saul. What was the difference between these two men?
It has been made apparent in the story that Israel and her Kings cannot keep the terms of the Covenant with God. Rather than wiped them out and start over again; God in one of the darkest points of the Nations history prompts two men, Jeremiah and Ezekiel to share with the people a promise. What was that promise?
Can you See how the Stage is being Set for the Messiah?