ForgivingtheUnforgivable

     

     

     "Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you (hypago - bring under, lead under, sink out of sight, drive back), Satan (satanas - adversary of God and Christ, one who opposes, inciter of sin and apostacy towards God, prince of evil spirits, controls idol worshippers, the accuser, the devil, Satan)! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve. Then the devil left (aphiemi - send away, forsake) Him, and behold, angels came (proserchomai - draw near to, worship, visit, assent to) and ministered (diakoneo - to serve, to wait upon, the servant of a king) to Him." (Mt. 4:10-11). 

     The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Ki Tissa, meaning, "When you take/lift up/carry out", and the title is from Exodus 30:11-12. These verses say: "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 'When you take (nasa - bear up, lift up, take up, carry, forgive, exalt, rise up, support, endure, to cause one to bear, hold up, raise up, be high) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-census (ro's - sum, head, top, beginning, captain, highest, supreme, prince, height, chief) of the children of Israel for their number (paqad - number, visit upon, punish, appoint, judgment, reckon, lay upon as a charge), then every man shall give a ransom (koper/kapar - ransom, satisfaction, price of a life, henna plant [red-brown dye], atonement ordered by the LORD/atonement, purge, reconciliation, mercy, pardon, forgive) for himself to the LORD, when you number (paqad - see above) them, that there may be no plague (negeb/nagab - blow, striking, plague, infliction, stumbling, fatal blow/smite, slain, struck, beaten, plague, hurt) among them when you number (paqad - see above) them." 

     In the verses above, we see an atonement "ransom" commanded by the LORD to provide pardon and forgiveness for His people, Israel. This atonement "ransom" from the fatal blows of plague is connected to the lifting up/raising of a Prince who is the highest supreme, the Beginning. In the Hebrew word meanings above, I see a prophetic picture of the Messiah/Christ Jesus as this Prince who was lifted up on a cross, and then lifted or raised up from the dead. It is the atonement mercy and forgiveness commanded and provided by God by the blood (reddish-brown coloring - see henna above) of Jesus so that we do not have to suffer the fatal blow of plague which He suffered for us.

     This provides a powerful foundation to events that we read in this week's Sabbath portion, Ki Tissa. We will see God forgive the unforgivable.

     

     In Chapter 20 of Exodus, the LORD verbally gives The Ten Commandments to Moses to tell to the children of Israel, including the commands that they shall have no other gods before Him, and that they shall not make for themselves a carved image, nor bow down before them, nor serve them. "For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..." (v. 3-5). Later, the LORD will repeat this to Moses to tell the people: "...Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with Me - gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves." (v. 22-23).

     Later, Moses wrote all of the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) words of the LORD in the Book of the Covenant and read them to the people. The people said to Moses: "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." (Ex. 24:4-7). 

     Again, the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai and "He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God." (Ex. 31:18). Now these same *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega words of the LORD would be written again, this time in stone, and by the hand of the LORD Himself. This brings us to Exodus 32. 

     While Moses was still on the Mountain with the LORD: "...when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, 'Come, make us gods the shall go before us; for as for this Moses...we do not know what has become of him." (Ex. 32:1).  Aaron then collected all of the gold earrings that the people were wearing in their ears, "...and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it...Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." (v. 2-6).

     How can God forgive the unforgivable that we see taking place above? He sent an intercessor.

     The LORD said to Moses: "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted (sahat - destroy, corrupt, ruin, mar, be rotted, injured, pervert, decay, perish, act wickedly) themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them....Now, therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation. Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God...'Turn from your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (meaning Jacob), Your servants to whom You swore...'. So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people." Ex. 32:7-14, excerpt). The LORD had seen the people as rotting corpses because of their destroying sinful act, according to the meaning of the Hebrew noted above.

     As Moses' anger broke out upon the Israelites for what they had done, he broke the tablets of stone upon which the LORD had written His word, and burned (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-calf of gold that had been made and made the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-children-of-Israel drink it. Three thousand lost their lives that day to the swords of the sons of Levi, the tribe of priests. Why is the calf identified with *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega, or the Messiah/Christ (see *note below)? Perhaps because they made the golden calf idol their substitute man-made savior, their deliverer, their Messiah in their eyes. It still happens today, even with believers in Christ, that gold, money, the work of our hands, our families, our government, our military power, science, the visible things of the world rather than the invisible things of the Spirit, become our answer, our dependence, and the receivers of our faith instead of the One who truly died for us. Paul rebuked the church for turning away from the Gospel truth of Jesus Christ that they had learned and for believing a falsehood instead. (see Gal. 1:6-7). Jesus, through His revelation to John, rebukes a worldly rich church that doesn't even realize that it is really "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked", and urging the church to buy from Him "gold refined in the fire, that...the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed." (Rev. 3:17-18). Satan, the opponent of God and Christ (see above), is always dangling this deception in front of our eyes in order to turn faith away from God.

     Viewing the people, Moses had seen them as "unrestrained/naked," ((para' - uncover, bare, naked, perish, expose). Telling the people that perhaps he could make atonement (see kapar above) for them with the LORD, Moses returned to the presence of the LORD on the Mountain and said: "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." (v. 31-32). Seeing that the people had been uncovered or made spiritually naked before their enemies because of their sin, Moses sought God's kapar atonement covering for the people, even offering the removal of himself from God's book. The apostle Paul also said that he would have offered his own salvation if he could on behalf of the salvation of his Jewish brethren who did not believe Messiah/Christ Jesus. (see Rom. 9:1-5).

      I offer the following as food for thought only regarding nakedness and the atonement covering, and not as any kind of doctrine. This is the connection that I am seeing in my spirit. There is another instance of "nakedness" in scripture. It is from the Book of Genesis, when Adam and his wife, Eve, after their choice to rely upon themselves rather than the LORD, having believed the lies of the serpent (see Gen. 3:1-6), discovered that they were naked ('erom/'aram - nakedness, naked and helpless/to make bare, make naked, to be subtle, shrewd, crafty, cunning, smooth, impudent, spiteful as manifesting one's malevolent mind) (see Gen. 3:7). The Hebrew root meaning of "naked" above, 'aram, leads us directly to the serpent who is described as being subtle or cunning in Gen. 3:1. The Hebrew word and root word for "serpent" are 'arum and 'aram. We see the connection between the serpent and the nakedness of man through the Hebrew language here. We can see then that it is Satan's strategy for man to remove his kapar atonement covering, leaving him naked and helpless. How could Adam have had the atonement covering many generations before Jesus Messiah/Christ was slain on the cross? Scripture describes Jesus as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth. In Isaiah 53, the prophet saw the Servant of God already beaten and slain for the iniquity of us all because the prophet writes of this in the past tense even though Jesus wouldn't be born until 750 years after Isaiah wrote his prophecy. David saw and prophesied of the crucifixion as if it was occurring to him in his present time even though he lived 1,000 years before the birth of Christ and never suffered crucifixion himself (see Ps. 22:1-18). This is the nature of prophecy and the things of the Spirit, as well as the nature of God and His Son: He is past, present and future all at the same time. (see Jn. 1:1-2, Rev. 1:8, Rev. 4:8). It is also interesting that the name "Adam", which is usually translated as meaning "man", has a deeper meaning of "dyed red, be red, to show red, to look red". A related Hebrew word dam means "blood, bloody, wine". Perhaps we can say that Adam's name could mean "a man of the blood". Paul called Jesus the "last Adam" and the "second man" in scripture. (see 1 Cor. 15:45-49).  In Rom. 5:14, Paul wrote that Adam was "a type of Him (meaning Christ) who was to come." When the LORD created "Adam" and his wife, they were naked then also, but scripture says that they were not "ashamed" (bus - ashamed, confounded, troubled, disconcerted, disappointed or delayed, to fail in hope and expectation). If they were not ashamed, then they were in hope and expectation - hope and expectation of what or Whom? Jesus Messiah/Christ is our hope and expectation, our assurance. (see Ps. 62:5-7, Prov. 23:18, Ps. 5:7, Mt. 24:30-31, Rom. 15:12-13). Adam "wore" the atonement covering of the Lord through faith, and he was not ashamed - until he rejected the faith in the atoning blood covering. They then attempted to cover themselves with 'ale/'ala raised-up branch(es).

     In another reading portion of this week's Ki-Tissa Sabbath, we find that the whole nation of Israel, including their royal family, had turned from the worship of God to the worship of the false god, Ba'al.

     How can God forgive this unforgivable thing? He again sent an intercessor, the prophet Elijah: "So Ahab (King of Israel) sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, 'How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.' But the people answered not a word." (1 Kings 18:20-21).

     Elijah took twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel and built an altar in the name of the LORD. (v. 30-32). Elijah faced off against the prophets of Baal who were to offer a bull on an alter to their god, while Elijah prepared an offering of a bull on the altar that he had built to the LORD. The prophets of Baal could not get their god to answer them, and Elijah began to pray to the LORD: "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-all-these-things (dabar - thing, matter, commandment) at Your word (dabar - see above). Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-their-hearts back to You again." (v. 36-37).

     The fire of the LORD fell and consumed Elijah's (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-burnt-sacrifice, including (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-stones of the altar: "Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, 'The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" (v. 38-39). The LORD had turned the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega hearts of the people back to Himself.

     It is no surprise that God has also provided for us the perfect Intercessor - Jesus Messiah/Christ. The Book of Hebrews says of Christ: "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Heb. 7:25). Paul wrote of those who remain in the justification of God through Christ: "Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" (Rom. 8:34-35). John wrote to the church so that we may not sin. However: "... if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation (meaning atoning blood covering sacrifice) for our sins, and not ours only but also for the whole world." (1 Jn. 2:1-2). We also are to pray and intercede continually for all of the saints in the same manner. (Eph. 6:18).

     If you would like to learn more about intercession and forgiveness of God and Jesus Christ, you can join my prayer: "Heavenly Father, when I didn't know you and had no hope in eternity, Your Word gave the promise of intercession on my behalf, and of an atonement covering for my spiritual vulnerability. You fulfilled these promises through Your beloved Son, Jesus. You forgave me of the unforgivable as I was determined to live a life without You. Your Son became not only my Intercessor, but my hope and expectation when I had none. Jesus poured out His blood in order to cover me when I didn't know I needed His covering. Father, I ask You to keep me from the temptation of the evil one and direct my steps so that I never leave the atonement covering Jesus provided for me. Fill me with Your Spirit so that I can pray and intercede for others as Your Son intercedes. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

idols

We have certain ideas of what constitutes an idol. We usually connect idol worship with a kind of paganism, and the worship of a god or gods other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Who is the God of all creation. Sometimes we view an idol as anything that we make more important than God in our lives. This week's sabbath reading portion from Exodus chapters 31 through 34 titled Ki Tissa, meaning "when you elevate", includes the familiar account of the golden calf. However, I began to think about what constitutes the worship of idols, and began to see some unexpected things. It made me think about what we may be "elevating", as stated in the reading portion title, that we may not usually associate with idolatry. As this week's sabbath reading begins, Moses had been on the mountain receiving detailed instructions regarding the construction of the tabernacle and everything connected with it. It is at this time that Moses also received what we call The Ten Commandments: "And when He (the LORD) had made an end of speaking/communing with him (Moses) on Mount Sinai (meaning "thorny"), He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony (edut - testimony, witness, precept of God, revelation), written with the finger (espa/seba - forefinger particularly as in the finger of the priest applying blood or oil/dip into divers colors, colored cloth) of God." (Ex. 31:18). The word "speaking/communing" used in the above verse is the Hebrew word dabar, which includes the meanings "to speak, say, commune, to speak together, to arrange in order, to lead flocks to pasture, to direct people, to subdue, to lay snares, to plot against, to destroy). From this we learn that the words spoken by God not only lead His flock, or people, to safe pasture, but at the same time, sets up plots and snares to destroy the enemy. This dabar Word that leads us is a type of exodus, or "the way or road out of" for God's people who heed it, and the way or road into trouble for those who do not. For me, it was also interesting to see that as God gave many detailed instructions for the building of His tabernacle to Moses, a tabernacle which would play a huge role in the spiritual lives of His people, the LORD immediately followed those instructions with a warning: "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My sabbaths shall you keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you...keep the Sabbath...observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested (sabat - rest, celebrate, sit down and be still, to cease, put an end to, exterminate, destroy, leave, take away, remove, restrain) and was refreshed (napas - take a breath, to be breathed upon, refreshed by a current of air)." (Ex. 31:13, 16-17). The consequences of not keeping the Sabbath holy, as the LORD views it as holy, was death (v. 15). Here is a warning against the first idol presented in this reading portion: the tabernacle. Does that surprise you? It surprised me! The tabernacle was to be a work of the finest craftsmen, who were appointed by God and called by name, who were filled with the Spirit of God, and gifted by God in wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship (Ex. 31:1-6). The tabernacle itself was to be constructed of the finest elements including gold, jewels, and expensive dyes and fabrics. The tabernacle would be a prophetic image of the Messiah, the Savior to come. It would be the setting for the priesthood and the atoning and sacrificial power and presence of God, even the throne of God upon the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies. However, in doing this appointed work, they were not to forget the Sabbath, and the holiness and power of the Sabbath for rest and refreshing, the power of the Sabbath as a sign (ot - a token, a distinguishing mark, miracles, proof, flag, beacon, a memorial sign of the past and a sign pointing to the future, a sign of the covenant) between the children of Israel and God. The tabernacle tent, and later, the temple building, became an idol to the Israelites. They wrongly felt that they were safe from attack as long as the temple of God, containing the Ark of the Covenant, was in their midst (see Jer. 7:1-2, 4). Creating an idol of the tabernacle/temple was a deception that weakened them, and kept them from seeking the LORD in repentance. Jesus corrected this attitude: "Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.
But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice', you would not have condemned the guiltless..." (Mt. 12:6-7). Jesus also shocked His disciples when He said regarding the magnificent temple in Jerusalem that they were admiring: "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." (Mt. 24:1-2). Jesus was zealous for the temple fulfilling prophecy (Isa. 56:7, Jer. 7:11), not for the building's sake, but for what it represented - a house of prayer for all nations, a representation of the spiritual place where a soul could speak to God, and know that he is received (Mt. 21:12-13). The temple Jesus prophesied about here to His disciples was indeed destroyed by the Romans within a generation of Jesus' death and resurrection. The glorious temple that Solomon had built centuries earlier was also destroyed and ransacked by a conquering king from Babylon as prophesied. In our lives, the idolization of the temple may sometimes take the form of an idolization of a church building, or of the work that God has ordained for each of us to do. In these cases, the "work" becomes more important than what the work represents, which is God Himself, and God's fellowship, reconciliation, grace and salvation towards man while there is still time to receive it. In fact, one of the greatest tabernacles ever to exist was not one of the glorious structures, but the plain, personal tent of one man, Moses, which he moved and pitched (nata - outstretched, extend, elongate, bend down, coming down, descending) outside and far away from the camp of the Israelites (Ex. 33:7). So great was this personal aleph-tav-tabernacle (as written in the Hebrew), that whenever Moses entered it to speak to the LORD, all of the Israelites watched him, and they worshipped the LORD from the doorways of their own tents (v. 8-10). To this solitary, personal tent, the LORD descended in a cloud, and spoke to Moses face to face (v. 11). In this personal tabernacle, Moses called upon the grace of the LORD five times, seeking His forgiveness for the Israelites who had sinned against the LORD by worshipping a molded golden calf. The LORD answered Moses' pleas by His grace. (v. 12-17). This tabernacle had no outer glory, but was filled inwardly with the glory and presence of God. These are the temples that we are called to be also (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 1 Cor. 6:19-20). Some of the greatest "works" of the LORD are not accomplished on grand stages, in front of crowds of thousands, but are done in private, where no human eyes can see. The greatest "work" of all was accomplished in a lonely place, also outside the gates of the city, on a cross. In the same vein, we can sometimes "elevate" and take great pride in our own salvation, as if it was the result of an accomplishment of ours! We may fall into the trap of feeling superior to others because of the work of Jesus on our behalf. This then becomes an idol to us, which God brings to our eyes in this week's Sabbath portion. We read for the first time in scripture of the Book in which our names are written as belonging to God. As Moses pleads with God to spare the Israelites, he cries: "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold (referring to the golden calf)! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." (Ex. 32:31-32). Moses was willing to give up his own eternal relationship with God if the people of God could not be spared. The apostle Paul expressed a similar thought as he desired with all his heart to see his own Jewish people accept the Savior and Messiah, Jesus: "...I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites..." (Rom. 9:2-4). Who gets removed from the Lamb's Book of Life is up to the Lord, not us, but would we ever be able to lay our own salvation on the line for the salvation of others? Do we care enough about the salvation of others to even consider doing so? It is unthinkable! The prayers of Moses and Paul were not empty religious words, but heart-felt cries that reflected the cry of God's own heart, and I believe that those prayers were heard and understood by God in that spirit. As we read above, as God gave Moses the detailed plans for the tabernacle and priestly garments, He emphasized that His Sabbath should not be neglected. Here is another idol to many - the Sabbath. What does it mean to God, and what has man decided that it means? Jesus dealt with this idol when He healed, casted out demons, and spoke the truth regarding the Sabbath in the synagogues and temple. The people had made the Sabbath into a religious idol, creating rules, and persecution surrounding it. Jesus said that God was indeed working on the Sabbath, and so He was doing the same works as His Father- works of miracles, and healing: "For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, 'My Father has been working until now, and I have been working...Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner." (Jn. 5:16-19). Also, as we saw in the meaning of the word "rest" above, spiritual enemies of man are being exterminated, destroyed, removed, and restrained in the Father's and the Son's "work" of the Sabbath. Jesus didn't break the Sabbath, He embodied the Sabbath, as He saw what His Father was doing on the Sabbath. God intended the Sabbath to be rest and refreshing to man, and as an eternal sign , the meaning of which includes "miracles" as discussed above. The Sabbath is holy because it is a time to stop the ordinary cares and activities of life in order to listen and hear, and look and see the works of rest, mercy and refreshing that the Father is doing, so we, like Jesus, may do the same. It is a sign of His covenant. There is a Lord of, and contained within, the Sabbath (Mt. 12:8), but the Sabbath itself is not lord over man. This is why Jesus also said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." (Mk. 2:27-28). It is unfortunate that the marvelous, true intentions of the Sabbath are ignored, or have become subject to a form of idolatry that elevates man's own interpretations and doctrines, rather than God's. The Sabbath of man's interpretation becomes a form of godliness while denying its power (2 Tim. 3:5). A more obvious idol to our understanding, the golden calf that we heard about above, is found in this week's reading in Ex. 32. Moses had been on the mountain, communing with God for an extended period of time, and the Israelites grew fearful. They said to Aaron, Moses' brother and future high priest: "Come, make us god(s) that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." (Ex. 32:1). The first problem here is that the children o Israel so quickly lost touch with the truth that it was not Moses who brought them out of the land of Egypt, but God (Ex. 20:2, Ex. 29:45-46 and over 80 additional verses). Moses was His prophet, leader, and would become the one who delivers the Word of God to the people of God. With their eyes on Moses, they lost the knowledge of the sovereignty and salvation of God (Ex. 14:13-14). This is a type of idolatry also, isn't it? When Moses was removed from their sight, the people insisted that Aaron make them an idol to take the place of Moses and the God he served. Aaron listened to them, and fashioned a golden calf for them with an engraving tool. Then the people said: "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" (Ex. 32:4). When Moses saw what they had done, he asked his brother, Aaron: "What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?" (v. 21). Aaron blamed the people as being evil, and then lied, telling Moses that he threw their gold into the fire, and the calf just came out by itself (v. 24). The voice and desires of the people became an idol to Aaron, "elevated" above the truth he knew of God. He did whatever they told him to do, even though he knew it was wrong, and called it evil. We see the same today, as churches listen to the voices of the people, even knowing it is evil, rather than the voice and Word of God which saves. Joshua described this voice of the people as "a noise of war", and not in a good way (Ex. 32:17-18). To me, the golden calf, although it may represent a specific pagan god of then and now, really represents the idolatrous worship of the fears and desires of the people. Idols, which are made by man, have no power, as was shown in another portion from our sabbath reading in 1 Kings 18. The prophet Elijah exposed the uselessness of the false gods that Israel had chosen to follow, which were Ba'al and Asherah. He confronted the King, four hundred and fifty of the false prophets who served these gods, and all the people of Israel who had turned to these gods. In the "showdown", the false prophets did all that they could to make their gods answer them, including sacrificing a bull, calling on their gods' names, leaping about, and eventually, out of desperation, cutting themselves until their own blood gushed out, but their gods did not answer (1 Kings 18:25-29). As Elijah set up a sacrifice to the true and only God of Israel, the LORD answered Elijah with fire from heaven that consumed the offering: "Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, 'The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" ( 1 Kings 18:38-39). Establishing and elevating idols of the work of men's hands and ways, or giving way to idols to please the people, may be easy and tempting to do, but they will never testify to the saving power of God. From another of this Sabbath's readings, Psalm 96, scripture says: "For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary (miqdas/qadas - sacred, holy place, hallowed part/sanctify, dedicate, consecrate, prepare, purified)...For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth." (v. 4-6, 13). If you would like to learn more about the worship of God in Spirit and in Truth, you can join me in my prayer: "Heavenly Father, I want to give a true testimony of Who You are, or how You reign over all creation as the only God. I only want to elevate You and Your name. Cleanse me, Lord, and cleanse my nation, of all idols. There is only one name under heaven by which man may be saved, and it is the name of Jesus, Your only begotten Son. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Who will lead me into all truth, and guard my heart. Let my heart, my mouth and my life be a testimony of You. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Delay

We don't always react well to delays - delays in plans, expectations, in satisfying needs, or wants. As we wait for answers to our prayers as well, we can jump to false conclusions if the answer does not come in what we view as a timely manner. No matter whether the delays that we experience are of small or great importance, we don't like to wait. The children of Israel suffered a delay that brought out a shocking response. This week's Sabbath reading includes Exodus 32: "Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come make us god(s) that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." (Ex. 32:1). Moses was up on the mountain in the presence of the LORD. He had been on the mountain for forty days and nights (Ex. 24:18). Moses was considered to have been overdue in the Israelites' view, and they were evidently in a panic caused by his continued absence. The use of the word "delayed" in this verse is the Hebrew word bus, meaning "to delay, paleness, terror, to fail in hope and expectation, shame, put to shame, overwhelmed with unexpected calamity, to be deprived of hope; troubled, disturbed, confused". The reaction of the people to the delay of the return of Moses reflected this extreme meaning of the word, as we will see. There is even shame attached to the word meaning "delay" here. The Concordance mentions that an opposite idea to this meaning is found in the example from scripture, "O my God, I trust in You; let me not be ashamed...Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed..." (Ps. 25:1-3), and "For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame'." (Rom. 10:11). In this case, the people became exceedingly troubled and afraid at Moses' delay in his return, and asked Aaron to fashion a god to lead them. Aaron agreed, and told them to "break off" the golden earrings that they wore in their ears, and bring them to him. He melted them down, and fashioned (sur - besiege, distress, bind, confine, to press upon, to be an adversary) a molten (masseka/nasak - pour out, anoint, offer, cover, image, covering, vail, pour out blood/wine of victim, make a libation) calf. He told the people, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt" (Ex. 32:4), and he built an altar before it. The fact that Aaron ordered the golden (zahab - splendor, brilliant, shimmer) earrings (nezem - ring, nose ring, earring) of the people to be taken out of their ears (ozen/azan - hearing, ears, to reveal, receiver of divine revelation/ to listen and obey; of God: to listen to prayers) has a special meaning. According to the Hebrew meanings of the words, we can say that in removing the golden earrings, they were removing their shining glory in God, and giving it to something else. They exchanged their glory in God for shame (Hos. 4:7, Hab. 2:16). We can see why the LORD said in the Psalms: "They made a calf in Horeb (meaning "dry, waste, desert, desolate, destroyer, decay, to attack), and worshipped the molded image. Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior Who had done great things in Egypt..." (Ps. 106:19-21). God brought His Word of life and revelation in the middle of a place of waste and destruction, but His people gave that glory to the image of an ox, something common that they could see with their eyes and immediately attain. According to the Hebrew meanings, they were rejecting His divine revelation in their lives, and they were refusing to continue to listen and obey Him. It was also, as a result, a rejection of their covenant, or marriage to God, because as told in scripture, a golden nose ring, (also meaning earring), was given to Isaac's future bride, Rebekah, generations before as a promise of marriage (Gen. 24:22-30). When Aaron received from their hand the golden earrings from the people, this also carries a meaning of marriage: received being the word laqah - "accept, take, taken captive, take a wife, take in marriage". Instead of receiving the Word engraved on stone tablets by the finger of God (Ex. 31:18), they desired the calf that Aaron fashioned with an "engraving tool" (Ex. 32:4) by the hand of man. Aaron had built an altar in front of the golden calf, and the people brought offerings to burn before it (v. 6). They also rose up to "play". This word is sahaq - "laugh, mock, make sport, play, jest". The LORD then said to Moses on the mountain: "Go, get down! For your people...have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them..." (v. 7-8). God's wrath was set to destroy them, and make a great nation of Moses instead, but Moses pleaded with the LORD on their behalf (v. 10-11). This perceived delay of Moses in the minds of the Israelites began a sad set of circumstances that revealed the true hearts of the children of Israel, and became a prophetic lesson for us. In the same way, Jesus prophesied of a "delay" in His return that would also lead to events that revealed the hearts of men. Jesus told the parable of a master delayed from his expected time of return. His servants began to act in a corrupt and abusive manner. The master, Jesus said, will return when they are no longer looking for him, or expecting him, and those corrupt servants will be punished (Mt. 24:44-51, Lk. 12:40-47). Jesus also told a parable about a bridegroom who was delayed, and only half of those who were to take part in the wedding remained expectantly prepared. The others were no longer keeping themselves prepared for the bridegroom's appearing (Mt. 25:1-13). He told His disciples to "watch therefore". Peter warned that there will be those who stop believing that Christ will return in judgment because that return is seemingly delayed. They walk instead according to their own immediate desires, and scoff and mock at the idea of the Lord's return and judgment, not understanding that the "delay" is caused by God's desire to give all an opportunity to repent, and return to Him (2 Peter 3, also Jude v. 17-18). Revelation talks about an angel in heaven who will call out, "There should be time (delay) no longer" in the fulfillment of God's prophesied plan (Rev. 10:5-7). This statement tells us that there was a perceived delay, but that delay is now ended. False Christs will take advantage and declare themselves to be Christ and deceive many, as Christ's return seems to be delayed (Mt. 24:4-5). False teachers flourished in Paul's day as believers looked for the return of Christ. As a perceived delay in the return of Christ caused this fear and confusion, false teachers said that the Day of the Lord, and the resurrection of the dead had already occurred, and those who lived and died afterwards had "missed it". Paul had to give the Church the correct order of events that would occur before the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the catching away of the living in Christ (1 Thess. 4:13-18, 5:1-2, 2 Thess. 2:1-8). Delay, even a planned (by God) and prophesied (by Jesus) delay, can cause even the elect of God to believe heresies and false teachers and prophets. With these warnings from Christ and the apostles, comes the instruction to "wait": "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master...that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately." (Lk. 12:35-36), and "...if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (Rom. 8:25), and "...to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." (1 Thess. 1:10). Finally, Isaiah prophesied about a future time of great testing: "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isa. 40:30-31). Even while warning us to wait, Jesus promised, "Surely I am coming quickly'. Amen. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:20-21). If you would like to become someone who waits for the Lord, you can pray with me, "Heavenly Father, Your people are called to wait upon You with trust, and we will not be ashamed. The world looks for instant solutions, and quickly fulfilled desires, but Your glory is found in the trust of Your people. Deception heresies may come, but You have told us to remain steadfast in truth. I do not want to exchange Your glory in my life for shame. Your Son prayed that I would share in His glory, and His Father's glory. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to keep me in the paths of righteousness and truth, with all patience and perserverance until the day of Your return. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Elevate

According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary, the word "elevate" means "to raise or lift (something) up to a higher position". It can also mean "(of a priest) hold up (a consecrated host or chalice) for adoration". In the New Testament, Paul writes that the effect of our Christian walk is ultimately so that God may be glorified, magnified, elevated in, and through us. Paul wrote that he prayed always for the saints "that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure (meaning good will, kindly intent, benevolence, delight, pleasure, satisfaction) of His goodness (meaning uprightness of heart and life, goodness, kindness) and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him." (2 Thess. 1:11-12). Paul also wrote that on the Day of His coming, He is "to be glorified in His saints" (v. 10). David wrote this prayer, "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth." (Ps. 57:11). God is already exalted and glorified above the heavens and in the earth, yet David was inspired to write a command God to be exalted and glorified. There is a truth here for us. In a prayer of Jesus, He revealed that as He gloriified God with His life, He also could expect to be glorified in return: "Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You...I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." (Jn. 17:1-5). We also become part of this elevation as Jesus continued to pray, "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them (His disciples, and those who would come to believe in Jesus through their word), that they may be one just as We are One." (v. 20-22). This oneness in glory with the Father, Son, and each other is so we may be "made perfect in one" (v. 23, see also Eph. 4:13). We are elevated as we elevate the Father and the Son, and as a result, we become united with Them and each other in this elevation. Because the elevation of God has such a great beneficial impact upon us spiritually, it has also proven to be one of God's people's greatest challenges. Scripture tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people: "But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. Our Fathers trusted in You..." (Ps. 22:3). David speaks this elevation even in his prophetic vision of crucifixion in Psalm 22. What happens when God's people fail to praise Him, when they fail to trust Him in all things? God describes the high place that He inhabits: "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Isa. 57:15). The high and holy place that God inhabits is the place where the humble and contrite are also found. What happens when God's people are neither humble, nor contrite? What happens to the high and lofty habitation of God? What happens to God's habitation when His people decide to elevate themselves, or someone or something other than Him? Since the elevation of God by man is reciprocated back to man by Him in every way, what, in turn, happens to our elevation as we fail to elevate Him? Our readings this Sabbath give us a look into elevation. The Sabbath reading portions for this week are titled, "Ki lissa", which means "When you elevate". In one of the Torah readings from Exodus 32, the pattern of the tabernacle had already been given to God's people, and God had agaain declared the sanctity of the Sabbath as a sign between Himself and His people forever (Ex. 31:17). (The Sabbath in man elevates God, which in turn, elevates us.) As the account continued, Moses was delayed on the mountain as he met with the LORD. The people below in the camp approached Aaron, who was high priest, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." (Ex. 32:1). In response, Aaron molded a golden calf from the earrings worn by the Israelites. When completed, they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" (v. 4). When Aaron heard this, he built an altar for offerings before the golden calf, and declared a feast to the LORD. When the LORD told Moses what the people had done in his absence, Moses had to plead with God to remember His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and turn His wrath away from the people. The LORD relented (v. 11-14). The people of God had elevated something other than God. As this generation of Israelites, including Moses, failed to elevate God, He, in turn, could not elevate them to nationhood. That would have to wait for the next generation, while a whole generation died in the wilderness without a home. In another haftarah reading portion for this Sabbath from 2 Chron. 2, a new King Solomon, the son of David, desired to build the temple of God according to the plans that his father, David, had left with him. He declared to a neighboring king, Hiram, "Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual shewbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel. And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods." (2 Chron. 2:4-5). Before the building of Solomon's temple began, Solomon went before the brazen altar and made great offerings before the LORD. That night, the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream. As Solomon had elevated the LORD in his heart, and before the people, and in his reliance upon the LORD for his reign as king, the LORD also elevated Solomon: "...I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like." (2 Chron. 1:6-12). We know from later in Solomon's life, however, that he married foreign women, and built altars for them to worship their false gods in Israel: "For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods" (1 Kings 11:1-12). Because of this, the LORD told Solomon that his kingdom, the nation of Israel, would be divided (1 Kings 11:11-12). King Solomon once worshipped and elevated the LORD, but when he failed to elevate God, the kingdom that Solomon represented would no longer be elevated, but diminished. We can see from these examples in scripture, that God's people often failed to elevate Him. It is no different today. Though we have the scriptures, though we have the perfect example of our faith in the Person of Jesus Christ, though martyrs have given their lives to elevate the LORD before men, we still often fail to elevate Him. We often elevate ourselves, we elevate our circumstances, we elevate other men, but we do not always elevate God. In failing to elevate Him, we, in turn, are not elevated. Here's an example of the blessing created in the elevation of God: In another haftarah portion for this Sabbath, 1 Kings 18, Elijah the prophet turns the whole nation of Israel back to God as he elevated God above the demonic god Ba'al in a powerful demonstration. As a result, in spite of the fear of their evil and idolatrous king and queen, the people cried out, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" (v. 39). How did the LORD elevate Elijah in return? He elevated Elijah right off the face of the earth, and directly into heaven while he was alive. Elijah never saw death (2 Kings 2:11-12). God does not want us to elevate Him for His own sake, but for ours. Before leaving this topic, another haftarah portion for this Sabbath is Psalm 96. Psalm 96 stands as a beautiful elevation of God. Here are some excerpts: "Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! ...bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all people. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods...Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory due His name...O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him all the earth. Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns...For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth". Our Father elevates us when we elevate Him. To know the One Who elevates you, you can pray: "Heavenly Father, Your Son, Jesus, has glorified You, and prayed that we also be glorified with Him in order to become one with You. I believe that Your Son died for my sins, and was raised from the dead. When He was raised, I was raised also in Him. I was changed from sin into His righteousness, and from death into His life, as He was elevated. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to guide me in the knowledge and the eternal elevation and glorification of the Father, and the Son. I ask and receive these things in the Name of Jesus. Amen."