Moses V: Why Are We Here?

Due to technical difficulties, this column arrives a day after production. Thanks again to Matt Wolfington for this commentary.
God is creating a covenant with His people and it is an outline of specifics and conditions. Pay special attention to the calling out of Moses from the people at camp. While the masses are God’s people, Moses is the one called. I said previously to never discount the power of God working with groups. Certainly, God uses the vessel of a single person as well. Jesus would be first on my mind, but here the focus is Moses. Look at the terms of How God is going to claim the people of Israel: The will be His “treasured possession,” and “a kingdom of priests,” and finally “a holy nation.” While God offers the words, it is Moses who will have to deliver them (is his requirement and gifting of communication increasing?) God will also use Moses to administrate these terms (as well as others) of the covenant.

God used Moses once again to show the people His very own power. While Moses could approach God on the mountain, the people could not. It is also apparent that had no desire for they “Trembled with fear,” and told Moses “Do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Notice that the people placed Moses in a position of being able to tell God what to do. (They have certainly changed their tune about Moses’ leadership abilities!)

In Chapter 24 we continue to see Moses as the mediator. God uses Moses to communicate to His people. Chapter 24 is in stark contrast to Chapter 19, which you read first. Chapter 19 has God fending off the people from the mountain as he communicates with Moses. Chapter 24 initiates a covenant which is a new way for the people to be in communion with God. Once again, Moses is called up the mountain to be with God and yet Moses leaves others to care for the people. (Note: he was on the mountain for 40 days) His gifts continue to be evident in many areas, but the one God uses the most is the personal gift between Himself and Moses, personal communication. Even in Moses and all his gifts, just as today, God still prefers the relationship over all else. Now at the end of Chapter 24, look how God is seen again: “consuming fire.”

Moses IV: Leadership Lesson in the Sinai

Commentator is Rev. Matt Wolfington. He also has a blog of his own at www.pastor-matt.blogspot.com. Yes, some of you knew about that one before this one.

40 years of living day to day…
I want you to pay close attention to the endless cycle of complaining, crying out to God and God providing. It is a seemingly endless cycle. No matter how many times God provided, they still thought that Moses had doomed them all to a certain death.

God did not allow them to ever have more than they needed. They needed food: Manna and Quail provided…just enough each day, no more and no less. Try to store it up and it becomes infested with maggots. They needed water: God used a piece of wood and a rock to fulfill their needs. Actually, God used a faithful, willing servant, named Moses, to work through to fulfill their needs. God did not make the water turn sweet or flow from the rock spontaneously (although he certainly could have). Rather, he chose to reveal his glory through one of his children.

Much of the reading today continues to highlight the gifts you have already seen, time and time again, in Moses. However, Chapter 18 brings enhanced revelation of “Visionary and Managing Leadership.” Moses was already operating in this gift because Ex 18:13, “The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people,” tells us this is not a new thing, but it has been going on since their time together. But it gets better. Jethro, remember this is Moses’ father-in-law, the priest who gave him a daughter to marry back in our earlier readings; offers advice to Moses. Now listening to advice and knowing how to discern it and make use of it requires the concert of multiple gifts Moses already possesses. This is exponentially true when it is your father-in-law providing the advice. (note of humor)

Moses had been doing what God had called him to do. As a “boss” once told me:

“You don’t need to work harder. You need to work smarter.”

Jethro was telling Moses the same thing. Too often we hear from God and think we have to do it all. There are “leaders” and there are “doers.” Many times, it takes a “doer” a long time to become a leader and, more often than not, they never make the connection and cross over to the true role of leader. Moses was working hard. Jethro, no doubt sent and inspired by God, told Moses how to work smart.

Note: 2 years after entering the desert, Numbers 1:46 tells us there were 603,550 men, age 20 and older who could serve in the Israelite army. Imagine the number of younger men, elderly men, total women and children who accompanied that number of people. Even if you just doubled that number, which is a very low and inaccurate number, there would be 1.2 million people with Moses. The City of Dallas has 1.2 million in population and it is the 9th largest city in the U.S. If we even conservatively guess 1.8 million people that is the population of North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Hawaii COMBINED! Moses was the judge of them all. No wonder they were standing, “around from morning till evening.”

Taking this advice, Exodus 18:25-26

25 “He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.”

Moses III: The People Are Free

Commentator for the Moses Study is Rev. Matt Wolfington.

Unique: Being without equal. Distinct.

Here we have more evidence of God’s divine gifts of “Proclamation” and “Knowledge” to Moses. God is giving Moses and Aaron a direct structure to pass along to the people of Israel to not make them unique, but rather remind them that they are unique. Moses is offering information about coming events or “prophesying.” The Passover, protecting the Israelites from the plague of the firstborn in Egypt, was about to take place. God wanted future generations of the Israelites to be reminded for of what He had done for them and why.

26 And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' 27 then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. Exodus 12:26-30 (NIV)

The Passover story also represents the gift of “Shepherding” in Moses. He gathered the people together, demonstrated concern for their struggles and protected them from harm. God was again setting Moses up to be more relied upon as a Shepherd in the coming days. Think about it: If Moses comes to you and tells you how to save your family from the death of God’s wrath, and it works; are you not going to turn to him again for answers later down the road?

A theological note here: The Passover represents a theme throughout the Bible as a whole. God redeemed an entire collection of people while individuals perished. The people of Israel shared a meal as families during the Passover and were delivered from Pharaoh together, not individually. Today, we are individualistic, but there is no denying God’s power in collective intervention and redemption.

So it the Passover happened and the people were freed. Then they crossed the Red Sea. Again, Moses’ gifts were used. While the faith of the people of Israel waivered, Moses turned to God. The seas parted and they were delivered out of Egypt.

Exodus 14:31 “And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”

God wanted Moses to be the leader of the Israelites and deliver them from the Egyptians. Mission Accomplished.

The people, along with Moses, praised God through song. Yahweh is praised for his greatness and strength and then his holiness. They praise his acts of power and redemption. They say that he is God alone, for all other gods are worthless against Him. Now, God is king of the world. I think you can see a few gifts here as well: While this song is written and sung to God, it is certainly an encouragement to the people to remember the deliverance. Also, the song is a bit prophetic.

Tomorrow’s reading: “Turn out the lights. The party’s over.”

Moses II: Confronting Pharaoh

The commentary continues with Rev. Matt Wolfington.

Exodus 5-7

“This is what the Lord says,” or “Thus saith the Lord,” pretty much gives us the clue that Moses is prophetic. His gifting in this area is strong, but also remember he was reluctant to initially receive the gift. Moses seemingly is still skirting the directive of God to deliver the people of Israel, when Moses only asks for a brief respite from their labors for a festival in the desert. Pay close attention to this because it is going to come back again and again in later negotiations. We are seeing the wisdom of Moses displayed here before most people even realize it. Ironically, Pharaoh says that he does not know this God which Moses is speaking about. Remember, we are too sure how much Moses did either when he had his encounter with God. Moses and Aaron get in trouble with the people of Israel because Pharaoh comes down hard on them. There is hatred among the Israelites now because of the harder labor and Moses and Aaron get blamed. Pharaoh is causing the problems but he is not held responsible. Even by the slaves. Does not seem like a good plan up to this point, now does it? Then God steps in. There is no mentioned of the past, just the promise of the future.

But here God reveals himself in a bit of a new way. Before Moses, God revealed himself as “El Shaddai” (God Almighty) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; promising a covenant which was never fulfilled. But to Moses, he is revealing himself as “Yahweh.” The time has come to remember and fulfill that covenant. Why is this important? First, it signals that the gift given to Moses of wisdom and knowledge is coming to bear even stronger than before. Secondly, Moses becomes and Encourager. The promises given by God in Ex 6:6-8 starts and ends with “I am the Lord.” The people will hear and be encouraged by these promises and in this instance, they should see that it is not the promise of Moses, but of their God. They know the history of their people and upon hearing this, there would be the bolstering of spirits among them.

A quick note about the genealogy in Chapter 6. Why is it there? The author wanted to make sure the readers (ancient readers) knew that Moses and Aaron were connected to this history of people who had encountered God.

In chapter 7 again Moses is shown his prophetic gift, even though he is still reluctant. Is it his reluctance that causes him difficulties? God was talking to Moses and Moses was to talk to Aaron and Aaron was to talk to Pharaoh. We also have more evidence of the gift of miracles. Get ready for more excitement! Tomorrow, we will hop right along.

Moses I: The Bullrushes Boy

Our gifts study with Moses is being written by my partner in crime with our class, the most esteemed Rev. Matt Wolfington. Welcome to the blog and thanks for adding to our knowledge and understanding of God's Word. So, without further adieu, here's Matt!

Exodus 1-4

Hello, people of God. I am new at this sort of communication (in some ways) so bear with me as I learn to be a bit ore concise as we move along. This entry is a bit lengthy, but, WOW, what a story. As we explore the story of Moses, we will see that Moses’ “gifts” are developed and revealed over time. In much of his life up until his encounter with God, he has no idea he posseses them or that he is using them.

The quick story of Moses’ birth and childhood is important: When he was born, as a Hebrew, he should have been killed (murdered) under Pharaoh’s law, but his mother, put him in a basket, and hid him in the Nile river. Pharaoh's daughter ultimately found this baby and commanded the baby’s mother to nurse him and raise him. Worked out pretty well for this baby and his mommy. The baby wasn’t murdered and the mom raised him anyway AND got paid for it by Pharaoh’s money and he had no clue about it.

So, when Moses is older, living under the roof of Pharaoh, he goes out and seeks to see “his own people.” Moses sees the plight of the people who have the same blood as he does. His sympathy for them, implied or otherwise, immediately changes to passionate anger out of his motivation of compassion and desire for justice. When he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, Moses murderes the Egyptian to save the slave. Just as quickly and seamlessly as he turned to anger he turned to self-preservation and instinctive caution. He hid the murdered body.

To his amazement, he returned to the same place the following day and sees two Hebrew slaves fighting. Again, out of his desire for justice he steps in but learns that his murder is no secret so he runs to Midian, another country, to hide.

Behold, when he got to the place he thought was safe, he found another case of injustice and stepped in. (By now, I have decided Moses is a little impulsive and aggressive.) He helped the daughters of a priest take care of his flock. The priest asked Moses to stay and even marry one of his daughters. They have a son together. During the time Moses lived in Midian, Pharaoh died. Moses was tending sheep when he came upon the infamous burning bush. God talks to Moses! Now get this: we have no knowledge that Moses has any relationship with God at all. Now his father-in-law was a priest so we can assume he has heard the name of God and such, but that is about it for the Bible reveals nothing to us in this arena.

So here is Moses, a man destined to be murdered himself at birth, but saved (we assume by God’s grace), raised in a privileged life under the Pharaoh who wanted him murdered, Moses murders someone himself in the name of justice, runs from justice himself and finds refuge in a foreign land because he administered more justice to the daughters of a priest. That’s a story in itself. Because we have no Biblical knowledge of any relationship with God, we think he does not have one of any significance. Yet, God Himself, is revealed to Moses. A note here: Moses had moved his flock to a new place away from his normal routine. This was the “far side of the desert.” Was Moses seeking something? Think about that: was it Moses who found God in the wilderness of his life or was it God who found Moses?

Scholars estimate Moses was about 80 years old when the burning bush experience happened. He knew the talents he had possessed in those 80 years and I am sure never imagined that God would reveal Himself to him and on top of that now give him a spiritual gift beyond his natural abilities as well as a God sized mission. So how does God talk to a strong-willed, impulsive, aggressive, murderer who ran from the consequences of his own actions whom He wants to carry out His mission? By appealing to his interests. God led Moses into the conversation by using Moses’ own concerns: Justice for people. One of the gift inside of Moses was that of “Knowing” (#9). Now this was a obviously a developing gift, but when God speaks to you and you are to share that with others, it is a gift of “Knowing.” I think it was quite instantaneous, but none-the-less, it was there.

Moses was stubborn and argued his case for God to use someone else. God told Moses his mission but Moses only measured himself by what he knew was naturally inside of him. When he does this, he sees himself as limited and unable to carry out the mission God has placed before him. God gave Moses a proverbial Spiritual Gift Basket! Starting with the burning bush, Moses would find he was an Encourager, Nurturer of Leadership, man of Faith, full of Wisdom, could perform Miracles, had the ability of Visionary and Managing Leadership, and was certainly a Shepherd.

Moses, even after God reassured him of the signs and wonders that Moses will be able to perform, just flat out tells God: Exodus 4:10 -

Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent,neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

God is a bit perturbed at Moses’ and “Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses,” as we read in Exodus 4:14. Moses wasn’t going to give in easily and God certainly wasn’t.

Was Moses really that reluctant, or was he trying to figure out God for himself? Was this part of the fulfilling of his knowledge and wisdom? Was Moses so clouded by his past, that he could not see into the future? As Moses gives an objection, God gives him an answer and really, gives Moses more than he requested. Not only does God provide for the immediate need, but offers more for the future as well. Hello, revelation!

I will end with this, today: God even gives Moses a helper in Aaron, who can supposedly speak eloquently. But how does this relationship work? The scripture tells us that Moses received the gifts. Moses has the power. Moses encountered God himself. Yet the last few sentences in Chapter 4 say that Aaron, initially, did all the talking and it was Aaron who performed the miracles. Chew on that for a few hours.

Joseph III: "The Covenant Continues..."

Genesis 47-50

The more I read the book of Genesis the more I am impressed with how masterfully it is both compiled and written. Scholars have known for a long time that there are four different writing styles inside the book (with different names for God and different emphases), one of which is the style of the compiler himself. The title given the compiler is often "the deuteronomist." When you read the book of Deuteronomy, you will see that is mostly a compilation of material that is already present in earlier books. Here, in the closing chapters of Genesis, the story of Joseph not only closes the whole story of Jacob's family, but also prepares us for the enslavement of the people in Exodus. Joseph uses the extreme famine to consolidate Egyptian wealth and power, including subjecting the whole land of Egypt to servitude. It is that move that later becomes the network for the creation of the pyramids and the great cities of Egypt with a slave labor force. In the meantime, his own family is wonderfully taken care of from Pharoah's own choice land and housing.

It is worth pausing to note that Joseph's spiritual gifts of administration and leadership are starting to become corrupted. Generations of Jews will suffer for his abuse of power, most of all, his own countrymen.

Genesis 48 tells the story of the blessing of Joseph's sons. Just a quick note. You may know that eventually the tribes of Israel were named for Jacob's sons. But one son is not represented. Interestingly, Joseph is the one that's left out. Why? Because he is the chosen heir of the sons and so, receives a double portion. There are actually two tribes named after Joseph, through his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. This was the issue way back with Jacob and Esau with the stolen blessing. The oldest child was to receive twice what the other children received in inheritance. Now we see it again, as Jacob blesses the second-born over the first. Joseph tries to correct his dear old dad, but Jacob is acting on purpose. The pattern of the younger ruling over the older continues.

Genesis 49 is a powerful description of Jacob blessing the rest of his children. You will notice that several are as much curse as blessing. But the point for parents and grandparents is obvious. We have the power to bless and empower children to become what God has created them to be.

Jacob dies and the patriarchal story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is now finished. All of them were gifted, though not equally so. All were heirs of the promise and children of God's covenant. All we critically flawed, as well. There story is ours and ours is theirs.

Joseph 2: "Reunited, and It Feels So...."

Genesis 42-46

The dream of Joseph that his brothers would one day bow before him has now come true. Fortunately for them, Joseph is not the ambition-driven man that he once was. When they sold him into slavery, the brothers showed Joseph who had the power and he was powerless. Now it is reversed and they are the powerless. And Joseph does let them feel that, as he calls them spies and forces them to be held accountable for what they did to him, as he forces them to get Benjamin to him. At the same time, he sends the brothers back with grain and the money they brought to pay for it. They fear they will be seen as thieves, but actually Joseph is not only a vehicle of accountability, he is a vehicle of grace. More than that, Joseph has missed his family, even his pesky brothers and most especially his father and little brother, Benjamin. Most of all, Joseph has become aware of the plan of God. God has used the whole situation(his dreams, his inflated ego, his being sold into slavery and false imprisonment for attempted rape, his placement in prison by the cupbearer who would one day tell Pharaoh of his interpretive powers, and his being miraculously put in power)so that he could provide for his family during the famine. Looking back, it all makes incredible sense. At the time of each part of it, none of it made sense. God was working his purpose out, sometimes with his cooperation and sometimes in spite of him. As you look back at your own life, what is the big picture of God's role in your life? Take a few moments to reflect and thank God.

The reunion of Joseph with his brothers is powerfully told. Joseph is heard wailing over his brothers by Pharaoh's servants. Pharaoh himself is pleased that they have been reunited. The brothers now experience the power of forgiveness and reconciliation. Joseph calls for the entire family to move with Jacob to Goshen and settle there for the last five years of the famine. Biblical history says they would be there much, much longer than that. In my own life, I have discovered that God uses my sins and mistakes, the sins and mistakes of others as part of getting his plan done. The question is who we will become in the process. Joseph could have used his great power and sent his chariots to bring little brother and dad to Egypt. He could have under false pretenses made the charge of spying stick and put all ten of his older brothers in prison, and perhaps even had a slave sale with them (that would have been a true turnabout!). But the truth of Joseph's wailing is that he needed his brothers and they needed him. Can we let go of past hurts and choose to forgive and allow God fully to use what has happened to us "for good?"

This is a study on spiritual gifts and God has developed in Joseph the gift of mercy. We have seen in him knowledge, administration, discernment, and mercy, but the full use of those gifts are set free in him as he walks with God and is reconciled with his brothers. I continue to be impressed and moved by this great story. How about you?

Joseph I - "Deadly Ambition" (Almost)

Genesis 37, 39-41

Have you noticed the irony in the biblical accounts so far? Lot chooses what seems to be best, but it ends up going up in sulphur (think stink) and flames. Abraham is to be the father of a great nation, but can’t have children. Jacob is chosen over Esau, but Esau is the more virtuous of the two. In contemporary terms, Rachel is hot and Leah is not, but it is Leah who has the blessed life and carries more of the family line while Rachel dies in tragedy. It seems clear from the outset that God’s choosing and one’s giftedness are to be held with a sense of looseness (not taking ourselves too seriously) and humility (we don’t know how things will turn out or what impact we will have on others). Now we come to the story of Joseph. The natural and spiritual gifts of Joseph will be much more obvious than those of his dad (Jacob) and his granddad (Isaac). This story will also have its share of deception and manipulation, but even more, it is about ambition. Ambition can be very positive when it is directed for others and led by the Spirit. But that’s certainly not where it starts out for Joseph!

The coat of many colors was a special gift to Joseph because he was Rachel’s firstborn and because, as Genesis 37 says, Joseph was born in Jacob’s old age. Favoritism is always a problem among siblings, and this blatant favoritism is made worse with Joseph flaunting his special status. The irony of the story of Joseph’s dreams is that they will eventually come true. The problem is the way Joseph handles his dreams. I’ll never forget my mentor in candidacy for the ministry when he said, “Preaching in front of a large group of people is a pretty good thing for the ego, isn’t it? You get to speak “for God!” That was the first statement that man said to me right after, “Hi, my name is Phillip Royal.” Obviously, his point has stuck with me, and each Sunday morning, I must be willing to cast aside selfish ambition and seek God’s best for those who hear what I share in the name of Christ.

Joseph’s brothers have decided to kill him, but Rueben spares his life, not knowing that the other brothers will sell him into slavery. Then the Midianites who bought him, resell him to the Egyptians. How the mighty have fallen! The scene between father Jacob and his sons is downright pitiful, with deception taking its most cruel role.

At this point of the story, the plan of God to use Joseph as a great ruler seems to have been thwarted…but hold that thought. But before things get better, they get worse. By Genesis 39, Joseph has developed into a hunk – must have taken after his mom. Potiphar’s wife attempts to seduce him and when she fails to do so, she accuses him of the advance, which lands him in prison. It is there, at the very lowest point of his low and the apparent ridiculousness of his dreams, that God starts the plan of developing a leader. The gift of knowledge is strong in Joseph, displayed mainly in dreams. He also seems to show a strong capacity for discernment, which will show up later in the story.

Genesis 40 tells the dreams of his prison mates, the cupbearer and the baker. Joseph interprets the dreams and what he tells them as a word of knowledge (a spiritual gift) comes true. The cupbearer enjoys that he is restored to his old position, but forgets Joseph. The baker dies in just the way Joseph said. So here is Joseph, still a dreamer and interpreter of dreams, but sold into slavery, cast into prison and forgotten. Much as in the story of Abram and Sarai, the principals in the story are having to exhibit great patience with the plan of God. Anybody else have trouble waiting on the LORD?

In Genesis 41, Pharaoh is the one who dreams and only Joseph can interpret for him. Pharaoh is so impressed that he makes him “second-in-command.” He becomes the main administrative leader over Egypt, making sure the nation gathers enough food in the seven years of plenty that they will be able to survive the seven years of famine. Here we see that dormant in Joseph was the gift of administration. He could organize people for productive action and motivate them to do it. Because his gift is discovered, developed and deployed, there will be food for the Egyptians and for other surrounding countries. He was blessed to be a blessing. How old was Joseph when he had his ambitious dreams in Genesis 37? He was seventeen. How old was he in Genesis 41? He was thirty, quite a young age for such responsibility. And he thought, as does the reader, that the plan of God for Joseph was dead. The LORD sure can move quickly…even if there was thirteen years of waiting.

How has the Lord blessed you to be a blessing? How has selfish ambition played a role in your life and how has God grown you through some difficult experiences? How has the LORD put you in places, situations and relationships you never thought would happen? What gifts are you starting to spot that are developing as your relationship with God develops? The plot thickens tomorrow.

Jacob 3: The Face of God

Genesis 32-36

Sorry for the late entry. The Cotton household has turned into an infirmary as my wife and younger son are now repeating my Monday experience with a bug that’s been spreading all over Lubbock.

In Genesis 32, we find what is easily one of my top five biblical passages. Isn’t it funny how great fear and traumatic experiences can stir strong experiences of the presence of God (“no atheists in foxholes!”)? Jacob has an experience with angels and then sets about his greatest manipulation yet – a parade in honor of his brother. The last time they have spoken, Esau was screaming that he would kill his twin brother for cheating him out of his rightful double portion of Isaac’s inheritance. The story is hilarious. Esau and his family are accompanied by a militia of 400 fighting men. In the wilds of southern Canaan it was wise to be armed. Jacob has only his swindled wealth and his family and flocks. He divides his people so that at least part might escape Esau’s wrath. Then Jacob gets really desperate and prays. But notice he is only slightly repentant (one “I’m not worthy”), but instead holds God to his word of covenant (not that Jacob’s word has been worthy anything). After prayer the parade begins, hoping to call on the much stronger and armed Esau’s sense of sympathy. After that, the coward sends all the woman and children ahead of him. But his real battle is ahead, a mano a mano with God.

The wrestling match with a man all night is one we can relate to in key times of stress – the sleepless nights, the wrestling with decisions and options. But the real match is with God and about who we will be in that situation. Jacob (the trickster) has now met his match. He is always used to coming out on top, but now he will win by losing – a metaphor for life in both the Jewish and Christian perspectives. Jacob will not let go without the man’s blessing, so the man gives him a new name, Israel. Remember “Tatanka” in the movie Dances With Wolves? The Native Americans gave Kevin Costner's character the new name. Jacob is renamed “one who struggles with God”. So would be the history of the nation by that name, and so it is with those who are part of what Paul calls “the new Israel,” like you and me.

Jacob sets up another altar and names a holy place, “Peniel”, which in Hebrew means "face of God". In the end, Esau sees the parade and laughs. Jacob gives his rehearsed speech, with all the overdone, “I am your servant, you are my Lord” stuff. How ironic that the prophecy of Isaac was that the older would serve the younger. Clearly, at least in rhetoric, the language is the opposite. But what “the struggler with God” experiences is the power of forgiving grace. And the words Jacob uses with Esau in 33:10 are powerful, “For to see your face is like seeing Peniel – the face of God.” Is there anything more humbling and disarming than to see the face of God in the one you have hurt, who has chosen to forgive you? I guess we could see what Jacob says as the ultimate manipulation, but I really think it is sincere.

In Genesis 34, it’s all back to deception, with the defiling of Dinah and the vengeance taken by her brothers. Deception, retaliation, and increasing theft and violence. This, too, is the story of God’s people – a blessed and gifted people, but self-centered and misdirected. In Genesis 35, Jacob returns to Bethel, the place where he saw the ladder of angels. God tells him to go there and Jacob makes a new commitment of his family to God and gets rid of the idols and the jewelry they had accumulated. Jacob’s life has come full circle and he is different. The covenant from Genesis 28 is now renewed and updated in Genesis 35.

Genesis 35 is also one of great grief: Rebekah’s nurse, Rachel and Isaac all die. Rachel dies in giving birth to Benjamin. Joseph and Benjamin were her two sons. The story of Joseph to follow has everything to do with who their mother was. In the burial of Isaac, the mention that both Esau and Jacob participated together is important.

Take a moment to consider the times when your life has come full circle – in what you do, in where you are, in who you know, and your renewal experiences with God. The places and the people are often somewhat the same, but everything is different, thanks to the amazing grace and the reconciling power of God.

Jacob 2: Running for His Life

Genesis 27:41-31:55

The reason I have chosen knowledge as one of Jacob’s potential gifts is that he does have spiritual experiences with God, in which God speaks to him. He is given the opportunity to be wise, but he chooses to be otherwise. We are already seeing the beginnings of the “separation” of the Jewish people with the desire to not have Jacob marry a Canaanite woman. On his way to meet Uncle Laban, Jacob, in Genesis 28:10ff sleeps on a rock and has a vision in which the covenant that was given Abraham in Genesis 12, 15 and 17 and to Isaac in Genesis 26 is now given to Jacob. The hymn (spiritual) “Jacob’s Ladder” draws its inspiration from this passage. As was his usual, he built an altar. The interesting life lesson here is that Jacob has holy and even dramatic experiences with God, but he still stays the rascal that he always was. Spiritual experiences do not necessarily make a person truly Christian or holy. What do you think?

Rebekah’s deceptiveness evidently was also a family trait, for Laban tells Jacob he can have Rachel (the one he desires) for seven years work. He then sneaks in his older and less attractive daughter, Leah and requires that Jacob work seven more years. Leah ends up the much healthier of the two, while Rachel has difficulty having children, and eventually dies in giving birth to Benjamin.

The deception continues and after outswindling Laban of his wealth, he is once again on the run. But this time he is caught. After a major altercation, they come to an agreement, which is called “the Mizpah.” Often, today it is used as a blessing.

“May the LORD watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another.”

In the church, where I grew up, we closed every “Youth Club” meeting with that “blessing.” In its context, I now know that it was a warning more than a blessing, that even if they couldn’t see what each other was doing, God could. Once again, Jacob builds (along with Laban) an altar.

Soon, Jacob’s life of deception will come to roost. Take time to look at yourself for a moment. Deception comes naturally to most of us, and if we’re not careful, we will experience the worst of tragedies, self-deception, the very root of a sinful, broken and empty life.

Jacob I: The Great Manipulator

Genesis 25:12-27:40

The listing of the descendents of Ishmael is interesting for two reasons: 1) that they are listed since he was not the natural heir and 2) because of the last sentence, “And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.” The Ishmaelites tend to vanish from history, but the conflict between Jews and Arabs remains to this day.

Whatever dormant spiritual gifts Jacob has, we get very little of them. He shows capacity for wisdom and knowledge (gifts #8 and #9 of our study), but his motivations compromise him at every point. Jacob is aptly named, which means “grabber” or “trickster.” If Ronald Reagan was “the great communicator,” Jacob is “the great manipulator.” He seems to have been well taught the art of deception, certainly by his mother Rebekah, but we mustn’t forget that Abraham did his own share. Notice that Isaac, Jacob’s father, uses the old “she is my sister” routine his dad used twice before.
Jacob then works deception to a fine art, swindling his brother out of his birthright and he will later do the same in getting himself a wife.

The story of the theft of Esau’s blessing by Jacob is powerfully told with great passion. We wonder how Isaac could have been so duped by his wife and son. We are told that his eyesight had gone bad, but he really couldn’t tell the difference between the hair on Esau’s arms and that of an animal? One of the struggling points of this story is that God makes use of this deception, in choosing the younger over the older, a pattern we saw between Ishmael and Isaac. In truth, as we will see later, there may have been more spiritual gifts displayed by Esau than Jacob. The story of Jacob is one that really begs us to look carefully at our motivations. For Jacob, selfishness and ambition won the day, and Jacob ends up a tragic figure.

Abraham IV - Whose Promise Is It Anyhow?

Genesis 22-25

About every three months, I find I have to give God back HIS church. The church I serve is the place where I serve, but it is not MY church. The house I live in is really not MINE. Oh, I know the majority of it belongs to the mortgage company, but it is not THEIRS either. God has provided it and I am but a temporary steward of it. MY family is not related to anybody else. Tina is married only to me and OUR boys only call us mom and dad, but she is not MY possession, nor are OUR children. She is the gift of God with whom I have the privilege of sharing in a committed life. The boys are gifts of God with which we are given the special, awesome and daunting privilege and challenge of being parents. Occassionally, I find that I have to loosen my grasp of Tina and the boys a little, so they are free to be the creations of God they were intended to be. The story of Abraham and Issac and the trip to Mt. Moriah is as much about that issue as anything else. Abraham must learn that Isaac is first of all God's child, the fulfillment of God's promise.

We are offended by the graphic nature of God's test of Abraham -

"Take your son, you only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of hte mountains I will tell you about."

Later on, Jewish law, in contrast to some of the surrounding religions, would forbid child sacrifice. In fact, it seems impish at best that God, after the entire 25 year dramatic journey of promise and fulfillment, would choose at a whim to undo the whole thing. This seems more like the self-serving, power-hungry gods of the ancient Babylonians than the God of the Hebrews. So we have to be reminded that in the plan of God "this is a test, only a test" of the Abraham loyalty to God system.

But this test is not just about making sure Abraham knows whose child this really is. It is also a test of Abraham's devotion to God. Is he only following God for the blessings? If the blessings are taken away, would he still follow? In the ministry of Jesus, when he started to become more controversial than popular, with many followers deserting him, Jesus asked his disciples in John 6:67, "You do not what to leave too, do you?" Their response is interesting, "Lord, whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." No doubt, Abraham, was thinking something similar. Going back is not really an option. It's worthy remembering that we are not primarily blessing receivers, but rather cross-bearers.

The tension in the story is raised as Isaac asks why there is no lamb for the sacrifice. It is further raised as he binds his son to the altar and draws the knife to kill him. The story is told well and we are hooked. Suddenly, an angel of the LORD calls out for Abraham not to kill the child and God provides a substitute sacrifice for his son. We all, not to mention Abraham and Isaac, are breathing easier. Yes, I am stuck on the trauma to Isaac with all this, but I must be reminded again that "this is a test, only a test." Life really does test us as to whether Jesus Christ is really LORD of our lives, whether God is really #1 over all. Abraham passes the test.

A Christian can hardly read this story without thinking about how God himself went through the same experience with Jesus. In this case, others would carry out the sacrifice, but there was no subsitute ram provided. Jesus became the lamb.

Genesis 23 - Sarah's death.
Here we have the hospitality of the Hittites in providing a burial spot for Sarah's body. The rest of Jewish history will not find the Hittites so hospitable!

I will add to this column later, but at least here is a good start.

Abraham III - Promises Kept

Genesis 18-21

One of the favorite hymns of St. Luke’s is “Standing on the Promises.” We sing it with lots of enthusiasm, but we know its truth by having difficulties in which God has proven Himself faithful. The laughter over the promise of a child continues when Sarah overhears the three visitors talking with her husband. Abraham and Sarah together show a spiritual gift as they provide the very best of what they have for people they do not know. The gift is #5 of the 20, generosity. I would divide this into at least two gifts: 1) the gift of giving (in which one is blessed with resources and lives to share those with those around them, and 2) the gift of hospitality (in which guests are welcomed and authentically and generously provided for. Abraham and Sarah share hospitality, which Jewish law will later expect of the people. The letter to the Hebrews of the New Testament says in chapter 13, verse 2: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” I think the author of the letter had Abraham and Sarah in mind. This is a gift that is strong in many people at St. Luke’s and needs to be further developed and deployed. It is a major gateway gift that allows people to come to faith in Christ.

The promise story is then interrupted by Lot’s poor choice to settle in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. While every community has its share of sin, I have always wondered why we have to exalt places that lift up sinful and destructive behavior: New Orleans (couldn't there be great jazz without immorality and sexual deviance there?), Las Vegas (everybody knows that what happens there never stays there!), and parts of San Francisco. Is it the natural attractiveness of forbidden behavior: bad thoughts, bad boys, bad cities? The justification is that there was a lot of wealth in Sodom and Gomorrah, but there were also four corrupt kings vying for power (drug lords and organized crime a possible parallel?). God decides to bring judgment on the cities for their behavior.

Abraham, because of a spiritual gift he has, mercy (#7), dickers with God trying to spare the city and the people. The whole bargaining process is quite humorous, but in the end there are not even ten righteous people in the city. God judges and rains down burning sulfur. Lot and his family are tragic characters. Abraham does everything for them, but they are corrupt. Lot has a drinking problem and his daughters get him drunk and commit incest with him. Obviously, it is easier to get them out of Sodom and Gomorrah than to get Sodom and Gomorrah out of them. The children they have with their father become continual rivals with the Israelites in the promised land (the Amorites and the Ammonites).

With the tragedy in Haiti, the question of the judgment of God has been raised by some preachers, most notably, Pat Robertson. I will speak to this issue tomorrow in church, so I will only briefly touch on it here. There are indeed, particularly in the Old Testament, examples of God punishing the people for their sins by sending natural disasters – plagues, disease, floods, etc. But it is quite another thing to assume that every natural disaster is due to the sinfulness of people. Both the book of Job and the teachings of Jesus counter that idea strongly. We must be careful that out of arrogance or even bigotry, we fall into “blaming the victim” rather than offering the compassion of Christ.
In chapter 20, Abraham repeats the “this is my sister” ruse. She actually was his half-sister, so he was making good use of a loophole (Genesis 20:5-13). Abraham prays for Abimelech and they are healed, and once again, Abraham emerges all the richer!

Chapter 21 returns to the story of the child. Sarah becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son at the age of 90. She invites everyone to “laugh with her” as she names the child Isaac. It took a long time, 25 years, but God kept his promise. The rest of chapter 21 tells the tragic story of Hagar and Ishmael. God miraculously spares them and in verses 17b-18, “Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Notice that the call on Abraham has been affirmed in Ishmael. I can’t help but wonder if the common root of God’s call and promise isn’t one place were Jews and Arabs could find common ground.

The final part of Genesis 21 tells of the agreement with Abraham and Abimelech. Abraham makes his first tribute to God calling him “El Olam.” Abraham and God are moving forward in their relationship. There is so much more in these chapters, but as you can see, this article is already a long one. What lessons from these chapters speak most clearly to this time in your life?

Abraham II - Helping God Out

Well, did you spot some more spiritual gifts in Abraham? I spotted two in his actions with Lot. You will be getting official definitions of them in the future. The study will highlight twenty spiritual gifts. Faith, the one we highlighted yesterday, is #10. I saw Nurturing Leadership ("those who lead gy sheltering, guiding, modeling, and other parenting-type behavior"), which is #6. Lot was not necessarily a good study, but Abraham was careful to give him opportunities to grow, including allowing him to make decisions and learn from the consequences. As we shall see, the choices Lot made for settling his family appeared to be good, but they were actually not good at all. We'll read more about that later. The other gift I see in Abraham is wisdom ("mature and skillful judgement...the ability to see the ramifications of problems and then sift among possible alternatives to find solutions that are in accordance with God's intentions."), #8 of the 20. Wisdom does come with experience, but not all experiences become wisdom for everyone. We just keep repeating our mistakes and continue in our dysfunctional patterns. We need folks with the gift of wisdom to help us.

Genesis 15-17
You may remember from our first class the three D's of spiritual gifts - Discovery, Development and Deployment. We grow in our spiritual giftedness as we follow Christ, and the process usually has lots of trial and error. In Genesis 15, we discover a complication, the man from whom a mighty nation is to be born as a blessing to the world has a wife who cannot become pregnant. Notice Abraham's language in verse 3: "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." God tells Abram, "This man will not not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." If you have read Genesis 16, you know that the writer of Genesis is preparing us for what we read there. But, for now, we are told that Abram believed the LORD, "and credited to him as righteousness." That doesn't mean that Abram didn't doubt. In verse 8, he doubts quite boldly. But his doubt is not mere skepticism, it is an attempt to understand. Doubt can often be part of the process of growing in our faith.

Abram is put into a deep sleep and God reveals to him what the future holds for this people of whom we will be the father. God does bolster our faith when we need it.

The problem with learning how to use the gifts of faith and wisdom is that we start to think that they are "our" gifts and it is all up to us. Spiritual gifts are the manifestations of God's presence in our lives, and are primarily not what we do for God, but what God does in and through us. When we make it about us and decide that everything is up to us, we tend to get in God's way. Sarai and Abram get frustrated and take God's promises and plan in their own hands and create a disaster that is with the world to this day (the Arab-Israeli conflict). Admittedly, God ends up creating two great peoples in this situation, as he often does work in spite of us when he cannot work with us. Now we are dealing with another spiritual gift, one that I did not place in my top tier - patience. Admittedly, the story stretches us because Ishmael is born 11 years after the promised of fatherhood to Abram and it will be another 14 years before Isaac is born.

Genesis 17 describes the covenant of circumcision, the sign that makes every Jewish man remember who and whose he is. God does it to Abram and then Abram does it to all the males in his household. It also reminds him of who he no longer is. Baptism does the same for you and me.

Abraham is then told once again that Sarah will have a child, to which Abrahm responds with derisive and painful laughter. God commands Abraham (his new name following circumcision) to call the child "Isaac" when he his born, which means "he laughs." Everytime Abraham calls his name, he will remember the faithfulness of God, and how important it is to not take the plans of God into our own hands.

Where is Abrahamn's story like yours?

Abraham I - The Journey of Faith

Welcome to the daily bible study blog for the course, Discovering God's Vision for Your Life, facilitated by myself and Matt Wolfington. The emphasis is on our spiritual and natural gifts and how they shape God's vision (and hopefully ours) for our lives. The Bible study will look at several key biblical characters and how they discovered, developed and deployed their gifts. In each case, the process was messy with several mistakes, false starts, and quite a few sins. No doubt our own process has been and will be similar. We begin with Abraham, whom we will examine for the first four days.

Abram (his given name before covenant with God) was from Ur of the Chaldees, likely an adherent of ancient Babylonian religion. The placement of the call of Abram after the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 is not accidental. Babel is one of the towns on the way from Ur to Canaan. In Genesis 11:31, we read,

"Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Cannan. But when they came to Haran they settled there."

This trip would have taken the North route around the Arabian peninsula (a distance of nearly 700 miles). The family had made it about 60% of the way to Canaan when they stopped. Terah, the father, died in Haran. This vision of God to Abraham invites him to finish the journey.

It's interesting to think about how this would have been for Abram. The Babylonian ziggarut looked much like "the pyramid building" at the loop and Indiana in Lubbock. At the top of the zigarrut was a temple that was a "window to heaven." Abram now has an encounter with the true God of heaven. There are Babylonian versions of creation and the flood. We have here the beginning of the emergence of the Jewish faith with one God (not fully defined until Jacob)from a Babylonian background of many gods.

One of the key differences between the Jewish and Babylonian concepts of the divine is that God takes the initiative. The Babylonian gods tended to regard people as a nuisance, where people are the object of God's love in the Jewish faith. The covenant with Abram is initiated by God. It has been said that religion is really about us reaching for the divine (inviting the response of the gods), where Judeo-Christianity is about the divine reaching for us (inviting our response). The call on Abram's life begins with God's promise.

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

When we talk of spiritual and natural gifts that shape God's vision for our lives, the initiative is with God. We are discovering, developing, deploying gifts already created within and through us. The more our relationship with God develops, the more our gifts our awakened.

Abram receives his call at the tender age of 75. It's all relative. Abram is listed as the oldest of three sons, born to his parents when they were 70. Someone please tell my kids that I am not too old to have kids their age (lol!). If Terah did live to be 205, then Abram would have left his family about 60 years before his father died. As the oldest he would have had primary responsibility for his family. Breaking away would have been difficult. Abram is being required to discover and develop the spiritual gift of faith - the abiding trust that God has spoken to him and will be with him even in the presence of great risk. He will exercise that spiritual gift often throughout his life.

It's important to note the risk dimension of faith. The land to which Abraham was going was already inhabited. Genesis 12:7 reads "At that time, the Canaanites were in the land." The rest of the story of Israel will mean dealing with them, so this is a hint of things to come. Then the second problem occurs when famine comes to Canaan and the clan is forced to go to Egypt. That is also a hint of things to come in both the Joseph story and the New Testament flight of Jesus. But notice what Abram does with Pharaoh - he lies. Deception by the people God chooses is a recurring theme throughout Genesis (Abraham, Sarah, Rebekah, Jacob, Joseph). And hey, it worked. Abraham became filthy rich while in Egypt because of Sarah's good looks. Obviously, being spiritually gifted does not mean that we have great character. The church and the world are full of people who are extremely gifted but are tragically flawed in their motivations. As we study these gifts of the Spirit together, we will want to pay particular attention to our motivations - so that we may be fully used by God.

The rest of our reading (chapters 13 and 14) are about Abram and Lot. What other spiritual gifts can you see in Abram as he deals with the situations of choosing where he will settle his family and where Lot will settle his or in getting Lot out of his first mess (there will be others?).

God has called all of us to a journey that will call on our faith. But some of us seemed to exude that confidence and trust in God that inspires and strengthens people to believe along with them. I must confess that this gift is not among my primary gifts, but is rather in the second tier (we'll talk about that in future class sessions). I'm too analytical and too questioning. It takes the abiding trust I experience with others (on staff and even in our class) to keep in the fray of following Jesus in our world. Have a great day.