Don Guthrie – Page 32 – The Everyday Prayer

Moral, Civil, Ceremonial

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 21:1-2, 7-17, 22-27; 22:21-31; 23:1-12 (day one)

It is an important point. God gave the people of Israel three different kinds of law. Moral law–the Ten Commandments. Written on stone to symbolize their permanence. For all people, at all times. Civil law–laws for the national life of Israel. Not permanent or universal. See Acts 10-11 as God convinces Peter to set aside “kosher” law. Ceremonial law–guidance for the religious life of Israel. Feasts and fasts and ceremonies. No longer binding on Christians, but rich in symbolism and instruction. Fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Our RE Verse reading this week deals with civil and ceremonial laws. Are Christians under these? No! Is the Moral law still a permanent revelation of God’s will for us (achieved now by the Spirit)? Yes! “Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of the Law shall pass away, until all is accomplished.”–Jesus (Matthew 5:18) Followers of Christ benefit from reading and reflecting on the Law.

Twice Mine

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 20:1-17 (day seven)

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”–v 2-3. Old story. Boy builds a toy boat. Loves “sailing” it in a pond near his house. Loses it one day. Sees it later in a pawn shop window. Buys it back. Says, “you are twice mine, I made you and I bought you.”

God owns us the same way. He made us in creation. He purchased us through our redemption in Christ. We are “twice His”. A clear claim in this week’s text. “I AM the Lord your God (creator), who brought you out of Egypt (savior). YOU SHALL worship only Me! Who can dispute that God DESERVES our obedience? We are twice His.

I will look for you in worship in a few hours. We will think together on what we owe Him. I love you guys!

The Ten (der) Commandments

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 20:1-17 (day one)

It is our privilege, this week, to reflect on the 10 Commandments. It is not unusual for moderns to claim that the law is no longer binding on believers, an “Old Testament thing”. I disagree. Jesus said, “Whoever shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.”–Matthew 5:17. God’s law and God’s love are not separate things. Over and over, God makes the point that they are given “that it might go well with you.” (Deuteronomy 12:28, Ephesians 6:3) God is not arbitrary. He is not power hungry. Why should He be? He gives laws to live by, because, in the very nature of things, our lives will be better for the following. None of us can say WE LOVE HIM if we ignore His laws. All of us can say that HE HAS LOVED US by giving His Ten (der) Commandments.

Merciful and mighty

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 19:1-12, 16-22 (day seven)

“Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. . . the whole mountain trembled violently.”–v. 18. The true God is both tender and terrifying. Believers know both sides of our Great God. His first words to us are grace. See v. 4. He offers a life of peculiar blessing/opportunity. See v. 5. None of this, however, must be interpreted as weakness. He is fearful, holy, and dangerous! Just as a child first experiences his mother’s tenderness (first stages of life) only later to experience her firm discipline, learns to love her and then fear her, so, God is tender with us in salvation and tough on us as we begin to grow into maturity. “Therefore, knowing the FEAR of the Lord, we persuade men”, said Paul in 2 Corinthians 5. The God we serve is both tender and terrifying, grace and government, merciful and mighty. May the Lord restore this balance in every Christian heart.

Pastors and Teachers

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 19:1-12, 16-22 (day one)

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.”–v 21.

“And He gave some as apostles and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.”—Ephesians 4:11.

One expression of God’s love for the church is to provide leadership. As Baptist Christ-followers, we believe in the “priesthood of the believer”. No priest is necessary in order for us to pray. This does not mean, however, that we do not NEED leaders to teach, strengthen, challenge, correct and warn us. (One mistake is to make TOO MUCH of leaders. The other is to make TOO LITTLE.) Moses is that faithful leader. He carries the words of God to the people. Hard words? Sometimes. Limits to personal freedom? Often. “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.”—2 Timothy 4:2.

Three days

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 15:22-27; 16:1-18 (day seven)
“For three days they traveled in the desert without finding any water.”—15:22. Ever wonder why God makes us wait? Wait in prayer? Persevere in an unfair situation? If it is possible for God to provide in an immediate, timely way (and it IS possible), why would He do otherwise? Part of the answer is that waiting (endurance) is part of the process by which the human heart learns trust (unlearns sin). “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation”—Romans 5:3-4 (Living Translation). Hate to wait? Want your answers now? You are headed for difficulty. A wise and loving God has chosen to ask you, in certain times and seasons, to walk in faith, to wait (without sight) for His promised help. Hmmm. . . where have I heard “three days” before?

Jehovah Rapha

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 15:22-27; 16:1-18 (day one)

“If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I the Lord am your healer.”–15:26.

Jehovah Rapha. “Lord, healer.” I am not sure that the waters of Marah would have made them sick. I am certain that they feared that drinking brackish, bitter water would do so. Years of free, unlimited, clean water in Egypt (from the Nile) had made them tender and timid soldiers. So God toughened and taught His people to trust Him for their health and welfare. So long as we are in the center of God’s will, walking with Him in cooperative, surrendered life; so long as He orders more days for our story, we are invincible. He is our healer!

Where are your eyes?

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 14:1-4, 10-31; 15:1-2, 20-21 (day seven)
“As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked up, and behold the Egyptians were marching after them, and became very frightened.”–14:10.

Where are the eyes of your heart focused at this present moment? On your disappointments or the Lord? Faith is more than a spiritual technique, but God’s wisdom calls for His people to place our eyes on Him, only Him, always Him. We call it worship. Walking on water taught Peter this lesson. (Matthew 14:22-23) Exodus 14 illustrates the same principle. So long as their eyes were on the Egyptians, they were paralyzed by fear. When God is large, then our problems are small by comparison. The problem is that our eyes are often focused on the wrong thing or person. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling. . .what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”—Ephesians 1:18-19.

When prayer is the wrong thing

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 14:1-4, 10-31; 15:1-2, 20-21 (day one)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward!”—14:15.

I sympathize with Moses. He leads and before things get better they almost always get worse. Three days into the “great escape”, the Egyptian army catches up with them. The people panic and blame Moses. Even Moses seems off-balanced. But, as he cries out to God (usually a good thing) He hears an unexpected answer and learns an important lesson. When the way is clear, when the will of God is known, further prayer is just delay. When we know what we should do, doing it is the only godly thing. And calling others to do God’s will is the leader’s job. “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.”—James 4:17. Hmmm. . .should I pray about this, or do what I know He wants?

New Year’s Day

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 12:1-14, 24-27, 13:8-9 (day seven)

“This month is to be. . . the first month of your year.”–v 12:1.

How do you celebrate New Year’s Day? Football? Family? Fireworks? The Hebrews had a different tradition, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Began with Passover. They took a lamb (v 3), without defect (v 5–to accurately represent the coming, sinless Christ), cared for it in their homes for 14 days (v 6), then slaughtered, roasted and ate it with the family. Bitter herbs (v 8–to remind of sin and suffering) were also included and bread without yeast (unleavened, v 8–to remind of the speed and decisiveness required to be included in God’s plan– not even time for bread to rise). It told an important story! Life BEGAN for Israel when God made them free. So maybe New Year’s Day is not January 1. For believers, it is the day we received Christ by faith and forgiveness and power as a result. ” In Christ. . . new creation”–2 Corinthians 5:17. Please celebrate!