Sometimes, God has to Reorient Us to Himself - Exodus 34-35 and Matthew 22:23-46
Many times our sins or our circumstances lead us to become disoriented to God and His ways. Then, He comes to us to reorient us to who He is and what He is doing. It is s tribute to His patience and His grace that He would take the time to explain things to us again. That is just how God is, and I praise Him for that great mercy and grace. Think about this as you read these passages.
The Israelites had sinned badly, but God told Moses to bring 2 more tablets up on the mountain, so He could write the 10 Commandments on them again. Moses returned to Mount Sinai again for 40 days. God started off by proclaiming Himself to Moses as a definite reminder of who He is. The emphasis was on His grace, even though He told him that He does not clear the guilty. Then, He repeated the covenant for Moses to go over with the people. Moses went down, and this time there was no party. There was an offering to build the Tabernacle. It was freely given, because the people knew that they had sinned by making the golden calf. Now, they would follow God's commands and build the Tabernacle. The people were reoriented to God. That is what we need so often. We need to seek Him and listen carefully.
Then, in Matthew 22 Jesus reorients the Sadducees and the Pharisees to Himself and to His truth. The Sadducees are taught about the resurrection, which was something they did not believe in. The Pharisees were shown that there was a great commandment. In fact, on these two commandments hang all of the Old Testament. Finally, He showed them from David's writings that David understood the Father and the Son. What an education Jesus gave them. What was He doing? He was reorienting them to the truth. Then, it was up to them to believe and to practice what He said. I praise God that He does this for us when we get disoriented. He gives us another chance to trust Him, but we have to listen and obey.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 36-38 and Matthew 23:1-22.
The Israelites had sinned badly, but God told Moses to bring 2 more tablets up on the mountain, so He could write the 10 Commandments on them again. Moses returned to Mount Sinai again for 40 days. God started off by proclaiming Himself to Moses as a definite reminder of who He is. The emphasis was on His grace, even though He told him that He does not clear the guilty. Then, He repeated the covenant for Moses to go over with the people. Moses went down, and this time there was no party. There was an offering to build the Tabernacle. It was freely given, because the people knew that they had sinned by making the golden calf. Now, they would follow God's commands and build the Tabernacle. The people were reoriented to God. That is what we need so often. We need to seek Him and listen carefully.
Then, in Matthew 22 Jesus reorients the Sadducees and the Pharisees to Himself and to His truth. The Sadducees are taught about the resurrection, which was something they did not believe in. The Pharisees were shown that there was a great commandment. In fact, on these two commandments hang all of the Old Testament. Finally, He showed them from David's writings that David understood the Father and the Son. What an education Jesus gave them. What was He doing? He was reorienting them to the truth. Then, it was up to them to believe and to practice what He said. I praise God that He does this for us when we get disoriented. He gives us another chance to trust Him, but we have to listen and obey.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 36-38 and Matthew 23:1-22.