Now

This week we begin worship with:

Deuteronomy 10:12

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

When is "now"?

Moses had gone up the mountain for 40 days to receive the commandments of the covenant.  Then, only to find the people having gone the way of idolatry in his absence.  

Deuteronomy 9:11-12a

And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly.

After smashing the tablets in anger he returned to the mountain to protect the people from God's wrath.

Deuteronomy 9:25
“So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 

At the end of which, Moses received a second set of tablets, the assurance that God would not act on His anger, and the command to restart the journey.

Deuteronomy 10:11
And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

This is "now".  After stumbling, after messing up, after being protected from God's wrath, we are to restart our journey.  Let's go.

Kiln

This week we begin worship with:

Exodus 19:18-19

Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

This was a terrifying sight.  The "smoke of a kiln" is not like that of a placid camp fire, it roars out of the chimney.

Regardless, at the sound of the trumpet God had instructed Moses to have the people come to the base of the mountain.  

Exodus 19:13

. . . When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

This was not a man's trumpet summoning God, but rather God's angel summoning His people.  We are truly called into a terrifying relationship.  

Exodus 19:20
The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

When Moses responded to the call, God spoke.  We should as well.

1 Samuel 3:10

And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

 

 

Finger

This week we begin worship with:

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you

rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and

lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is

easy, and my burden is light.

Contrast this with the burdens placed on them by the Pharisees:

Matthew 23:4

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

Yes, this is where we get the complaint “He would not lift a finger to help!”, but that speaks moving something small and trivial.  Jesus was speaking of something huge that a priest could lift with one finger.  This was the finger of accusation in what scripture calls “binding”, when atonement is required.  An example occurs in the next few verses:

Matthew 12:1-2

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

We should heed Jesus words to the Pharisees and be merciful as we ourselves enjoy His mercy to us:

Matthew 12:7

And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.