June 27, 2021 NOTES NOT EDITED
A God Text
Exodus 34:29-35
SIS—God has a text message that will radically change your life.
According to one industry expert, “Buckminster Fuller created the “Knowledge Doubling Curve”; he noticed that until 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By the end of World War II knowledge was doubling every 25 years. [Now], on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months. According to IBM, the build out of the “internet of things” will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours.
We have lived in the “digital age” for decades now. We take calls and texts on our watches, and watch movies on our electronic tablets. Most of the information we consume on these “electronic tablets” is mostly useless noise.
Long ago, however, God sent a text to humanity on “tablets of stone.” Moses
stood in the very presence of God and received this “text” we call the Ten
Commandments soon after the Israelites were delivered from bondage in. This was actually the second version of the
“Text of Ten.” The first roll-out, or
beta version, didn’t work out. The
original tablets were smashed because of a wicked party the Israelites decided
to have while their leader, Moses, was up on the Mountain meeting with God. Upon returning to the camp and seeing the
idolatrous celebration, Moses smashed the “tablets” in righteous indignation
(Ex. 32:15-19). God’s wrath was about to
fall on the idolatrous nation but Moses interceded and God relented. Moses would return to the mountain and get
the “updated text on a new set of tablets.”
This time, Moses descends with “tablets in hand containing the most
important “text message” ever sent.
We pick up the story at that point. EXODUS
34:29-35 [READ]
The Bible, represented in our text
by the Two Tablets of Ten Commandments, is “God’s Text.” It is as important today—even more so—than at
any time in human history. Though we are
not on the Sinai Peninsula, nor have we climbed the Holy Mountain, we can
experience God in the same life-altering, life changing way that Moses
did. God has sent us a “text message” so
to speak. We call that “text message,”
the Bible. The Apostle John describes
the power of “God’s Text” (Jn. 6:63).:
The
Spirit is the One who gives life. The
flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken [texted] to you are spirit and are life
Today, you can experience an encounter with God through His text, the Bible that will radically and eternally transform your life in the very same way an encounter with God radically transformed the life of Moses.
There are three components to that “ God’s Text Message” that will radically change your life.
1. You must SEEK God’s Presence Passionately (Ex. 33:12-18)
Exodus 33:12–18 (CSB) 12 Moses said to the Lord, “Look, you have told me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor with me.’ 13 Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, and I will know you, so that I may find favor with you. Now consider that this nation is your people.”
v13: “please.” [נָא na]: beg, plead, implore
Moses was passionate—even desperate—about seeking God’s Presence and anointing on his life. In fact, Moses was “desperate” for a life-changing, day-to-day, everlasting encounter with God. Moses had been up and down the Holy Mountain of Sinai several times. Now, Moses was meeting with God in a special “tent.”
14 And he [God] replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 “If your presence does not go,” Moses responded to him, “don’t make us go up from here.
Here’s a real problem with Christianity in America: we are not desperate for God’s Presence in our lives. Oh, we don’t want His “curse”; we crave His blessing—we just don’t want His Presence. We don’t want the Light of His glory shining on the filth of our lives.
16 How will it be known that I and your people have found favor with you unless you go with us? I and your people will be distinguished by this from all the other people on the face of the earth.” 17 The Lord answered Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and I know you by name.”
Notice the word, “distinguished by this [God’s favor] from all other people.” For well over 40 years, the church has tried to look like the world so that the world would feel comfortable in our services—they call this the “seeker-driven model.” Giant churches were built on this model—megachurches. Yet, in this same period of time church membership and attendance has declined. 70% from 1937-1976. 50% in 2018 and continues to decline.
Maybe trying to make church “comfortable” for worldly people instead of “convicting” isn’t actually working. Basically, polls show that the behavior of church-goers versus non-church goers in regard to what we watch, how we talk, how we educate our children, or nearly any other measure—church-goers are not “distinguished” from nonchurch people. We have a “Christianity without Christ-likeness.”
We lack any real desire for
regular, radical, life-transforming communion with Almighty God. Not so, Moses.
18 Then Moses said,
“Please, [נָא
na, beg, plead,
implore] let me see your glory.”
Now, when I am speaking of “seeking God,” I am not talking about seeking to be “saved.” The Bible is clear in that regard. Romans 3:11–12(CSB)
11 There is no one who
understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away.”
Right now, if you are not saved,
but you feel something tugging at your heart, pulling you toward God, it is
God’s sovereign grace—He is “seeking you.”
If you do not harden your heart and ignore God’s calling, you can be
saved. I’ll say more about this at the end of this message.
As I said, Moses was passionate about seeking God. Moses wanted to be as close
to God as he was to his own skin. So
close, in fact, it radically altered the look of His skin, as we will see in a
moment.
Most people, even if they do get saved, never get to this point of “passionate desperation” in seeking an on-going encounter with God. Many, many people get just close enough to God to gain eternal life, but not much more. If you are not “desperately seeking Jesus,” you are not going to experience the kind of radical transformation Moses experienced. You may get “stirred from time to time, but you never really get changed!”
In a few centuries from the time of
Exodus, the Nation of Israel will fall into absolute chaos and immorality—so
much so that God will allow the pagan Babylonians to totally smash Jerusalem
and take the Jews into slavery for 70 years.
Israel’s prophets warned the people for many years to “seek God and
abandon their worldliness” or face judgment.
Israel ignored God’s messengers and so they would feel God’s wrath
through the wicked Babylonians. Jeremiah
came on the scene right before the exile to Babylonia. His message contains dome and despair, so
much so that Jeremiah is called the “weeping prophet.” But, Jeremiah knew that God would not abandon
His people. Jeremiah knew that when the
Israelites got desperate enough for God and began to seek Him passionately,
then God would respond and deliver them back into their land. Jeremiah 29:13 says,
You will seek Me and
find Me when you search for Me with
all your heart.
The word for “seek” [ בָּקַשׁ baqash] can be translated, “beg.” You could say, “You will beg for me.” This is the same idea as the word, “na,” used by Moses. There is a sense of urgency in seeking, even to the point of desperation.
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount described this type of “seeking” as “hungering and thirsting for righteousness.” Anything less than earnestly seeking God will result in frustration, and even failure. Augustine pointed out, and we should listen, “My soul is restless until I find rest in thee.” Radical blessing comes from a radical transformation when we radically seek an encounter with God.
2. Expect this encounter to CHANGE you (v29)
29 As Moses descended from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain—he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord.
The
great Italian artist, Michaelangelo produced a magnificent sculpture of Moses
with two very prominent—and unique features. Moses has two “horns” protruding from his head. This is a mistranslation of the Latin Vulgate
translation of the Bible which was the Bible in use in Michaelangelo’s
time. The word for “shone, or shine” is qāran (קָרַן ). In the Hiphil
Stem of the Hebrew it can me “to have horns.” Here it is in the Qal Stem, and should be translated something like, “shooting out blinding rays of light.”
In many ways this is a pivotal
verse in the Bible. It sums up in just a
few words what “salvation” is all about. Salvation brings
about a spiritual transformation that has material manifestations. This is such an important concept that I want
to repeat it—plus, I was sort of blown away by the profundity of it when it
popped into my head-- Salvation brings
about a spiritual transformation that has material manifestations.
I want to dispel the myth that Christianity is all about “pie in the sky in the sweet by and by.” I believe in heaven after we die. I believe in and hope for a land of bliss in which there are “no more tears, no more pain, and no more death.” Yes! I believe in “pie in the sky in the sweet by and by.” But, I also believe in having a slice of that pie right here, right now. Eternal life begins when we are born-again, not when we die.
I want to dispel the myth that salvation is only spiritual, or that faith is only an idea. Any salvation that is genuine salvation will always result in some “measurable, material” change. In the case of Moses, there was the added, quantifiable aspect of the “glow on his face.” But, with every one that it genuinely saved, there will be some evidence of that faith that one can measure in a material way.
Several years ago the Peanuts comic strip had Lucy and Charlie Brown practicing football. Lucy would hold the ball so that Charlie Brown could kick it. But every time Charlie Brown tried kicking the ball, Lucy would pick up the ball at the last second, and Charlie Brown would fall flat on his back. One day, Lucy was holding the ball, but Charlie Brown would not kick it. Lucy said “Please?” But Charlie Brown said, "No! Every time I try to kick it, you pull it away and I fall on my back." They argued back and forth for the longest time. Finally, Lucy says “Charlie Brown, I have treated you so badly over the years. But I’ve seen the error of my ways! I was wrong. Won’t you please give me another chance?" Charlie Brown felt bad for her. He said "Of course, I’ll give you another chance." He steps back. He runs toward the ball. At the last second, Lucy picks up the ball and Charlie Brown falls flat on his back. Lucy walks over to him and says "Recognizing your faults and actually changing your ways are two different things, Charlie Brown!"
When you truly get into God’s Presence on a regular basis your life will be radically changed—both inside and out. If nothing changes in your outward life, it is doubtful any change took place in your heart.
So many are content with a
“feel-good- but-do-nothing-faith” that is foreign to the faith of the
Bible. In fact, one young musician put
this into a song (Lonny Wolfe):
But this time Lord change me let the
work begin just now,
this time Lord change me please change me some how,
this time Lord change me let my
life be rearranged,
For I'm so tired of being stirred but not being changed.
So, many people go up the mountain
of church on Sunday morning but when they come down on Monday—nothing has
changed.
Moses truly encountered God on the
Mountain of Worship. It so radically
changed him that “rays of light shout out from his face.” So spectacular was this change that verse
30 says,
30 When Aaron
and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him.
Moses met God and everyone knew he met God. There was no doubt about. The love of God was written all over Moses’ face.
Spending time radically changed Moses to such a degree as it was unmistakably evident to all who saw Moses. The evidence of a saved soul is a changed life—not a perfect life, but a radically changed life. Change does not equal PERFECTION, it equals PROGRESS.
Moses desperately sought a relationship with God. That relationship unmistakably changed Moses. But, it wasn’t a “one and done” proposition. You must . . .
3. Keep Moving up and down the mountain (vv 34-35)
Look at verse 33-34: 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 and the Israelites would see that Moses’ face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.
Notice
the pattern of piety and holiness in Moses’ life. Up the mountain to commune with God and back
down the mountain to communicate God’s message to the people. True Christianity is a consistent pattern of
moving between the mountaintop and the marketplace. So many people love to spend time on the
mountain with God but never seem to connect with people in the
marketplace.
This leads to a stagnant, even dead, Christianity.
Godliness is a matter of constant
motion, perpetual progress or as the beloved pastor said, “Holiness is a
long obedience in the same direction”
(Peterson). If you want to be radically changed to the
point of making a radical difference in life you must constant move between meeting
with God on the mountain of worship and connecting with people in the
marketplace of ministry.
I love to say more about that “veil thing,” but that is really not the point of
the passage. Paul uses that veil idea
and writes a complete sermon around it in 2Corinthians 3. I just want at this point to focus on the
movement of Moses from the mountaintop to the marketplace.
Moses was in constant motion. He went up and down the “holy mountain” many times to meet with God—at least 8 times recorded in Exodus 19-34. He would climb the Mountain to meet with God and then come down to share God’s truth with the people. A godly life requires a healthy balance of living between the spiritual and the material world. A balance between worship and work. A balance between the mountain and the marketplace. Theologians refer to this as a balance between orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxy (right practice).
A godly life strikes a balance between individual devotion and community participation—private devotions and public service, or mountain-top experiences and valley expressions. Let me say that again so you can get it into your notes: A godly life strikes a balance between individual devotion and community participation—private devotions and public service, or mountain-top experiences and marketplace expressions.
It is important to “come to church,” but it is also important—even more so—to “go into the world.” Here’s how one preacher expresses this idea: “If we focus only on God, we’ll miss out on the important mission of serving a world in need. If we focus only on people, we’ll miss the glory of God that brings inspiration and hope into the middle of human life.”
We get “text messages” all the time
on our phones and on our tablets. The
social media meme reminds us: “Moses
was the first to download data from the cloud.”
The Bible is God’s “Text Message” to each of us to show us His
Inexpressible Glory and to offer us His Immeasurable grace.
God has a text message that will radically change your life.
[Taking out my phone
say, “Excuse, I have a text message from God.”]
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