THE AROMA OF ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP

"Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord." (Leviticus 1:9b HCSB)

In only four chapters, the phrase, "a pleasing aroma to the Lord" is repeated nine times. This underscores the aroma of acceptable worship.

Worship is so significant that it is woven into the fabric of all the Scripture--from the offering of righteous Abel in Genesis to the occupation of heaven's throngs in Revelation--a constant reminder of the primacy of worship. God desires it, deserves it and delights in it. It is the believer's priority on earth and will be our preoccupation for eternity.

In Genesis, we see RUIN. Sin has marred everything. The paradise God has designed is now pervaded with death--the contamination of corruption and corresponding condemnation of the curse. The drumbeat of doom echoes through the corridors of those fifty chapters. Adam and Eve defy God and are driven from God's garden. The first murder occurs when Cain slaughters his own brother and Cain is driven from the Lord's presence. The earth becomes so vile and violent that God washes it clean by sending a flood which destroys all life, but the seed of future generations of man and beast is secured on the ark. That new beginning is soon spoiled, as the race builds a tower and seeks an empire--the arrogance of egotism--and God brings confusion, driving them apart, scattering the populace to the ends of the earth. Need we speak of Sodom--so perverse that it is incinerated by God's wrath? Even in the best of men, we see at times the worst of behavior. Noah gets drunk, Abraham lies, Isaac repeats it, Jacob cheats, his sons are cruel and lustful. Yet, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. God is calling out a people and extending His covenant promise to them. In the midst of sin's cesspool grows the fragrant flower of hope.

So, we come to Exodus and find REDEMPTION. There is a way out of slavery. It is by the blood of a lamb. A price is paid to redeem the people of God. They are set free by God's power, and not their own. We learn that God knows our pitiful condition. He cares and brings us out. Slaves of sin--that is what we are. We dwell in Egypt--symbolic of this wicked world. The death sentence hangs over us. But, that is why Jesus came, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. As God opened the Red Sea for Israel and brought them out of Egypt and into new life, so we who have applied the blood of Christ, by faith, have new life in Him.

Now, our travels through the text take us to Leviticus and we observe RESPONSE. Worship is the only appropriate action in view of a people who have been redeemed at such a price, from such a condition.

Leviticus is about the worship of God. It is foundational to the life that pleases God. If we are not careful, we will become bogged down in the ritual recorded and miss the point. As we say, we cannot see the forest for the trees. Sadly, this may be the place where many well-intentioned Christians who planned to read their Bible through, start to struggle. The jaw-dropping soap opera that Genesis can be and the thrill a minute roller coaster of Exodus ends with a discussion of the tabernacle and its furnishings, and we find ourselves suddenly surrounded by entrails and blood, in the company of priests, looking at water to wash in and an altar of burning meat. The guidelines given seem monotonous. What's up with that? Can't we skip this part?

It is tempting. But I want to remind you that gold and gems are not found scattered on the surface of the soil, rather, they are buried deeply and must be mined by digging beneath the surface. Thus, it is with the treasure of truth. It is so rewarding to those who labor for it!

It is all about a life that pleases God. It is about the fragrance of acceptable worship that brings a whiff of heaven's atmosphere which overrides the sinful stench of earth's environment, and one which promises the sweet perfume that pervades eternity. I want that!

Jesus is the theme. In the sacrifices we see Him. The Lamb of God, without blemish, exuded an aroma which brought perfect pleasure to Holy God: in the gracious words that He spoke, flowing from a heart of complete devotion; in the loving works that he showed, moved by a mind consumed with compassion; in the ultimate worship that He shared, fulfilling his mission of redemption in dying on the cross! Total surrender! So, we hear, "And there came a voice from heaven: 'This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him!' " (Matthew 3:17 HCSB) It was repeated on the Mount of Transfiguration--and I suspect for a third time, when Jesus ascended back to glory and walked in triumph down the streets of gold!

Now, it is our privilege to express our delight in Him, by offering ourselves and all we are in worship of the worthy One! Paul underscores this theme, as the Apostle presents his systematic doctrine of salvation in Romans, taking us from RUIN in chapters 1-3, as we find the indictment from our sin, to REDEMPTION in chapters 4-11, as we see the intervention of our Savior, to RESPONSE in chapters 12-16, as we note the implications for our service. Those implications begin with these words, "Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship." (Romans 12:1 HCSB)

My sacrifice is a fragrant response to Christ's sacrifice. It is that kind of offering which Paul commended the Philippians for giving, "But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided-a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." (Philippians 4:18 HCSB)

There is something about the aroma of steaks sizzling on a grill that gets me to salivating. The aroma of those Levitical burnt offerings would not only ascend into the sky and bring pleasure to God, but would waft through the camp and captivate the people.

Of course, not everyone responds with favor to the smell of meat cooking--some react with fury! You have heard of PETA, I'm sure--people fanatically opposed to killing animals.

Similarly, the aroma of a life offered to God will produce a strong reaction--a hunger for God among some and a hatred among others. "But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. And who is competent for this?" (2 Corinthians 2:14-16 HCSB)

May God enable us to smell the fragrance of Christ, rising from the sacrifices we study in Leviticus, and may that stir us to offer ourselves in worship of Him. Such a life will make a difference in the world--and will bring delight to God!

THE MEETING PLACE OF GOD AND MAN

"The Lord spoke to Moses: 'You are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month'....Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him. ...The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." (Exodus 40:1, 2, 16, 34 HCSB)

Moses was told by God to build a tabernacle. There at the mercy seat, in the most holy place, God's glory would dwell--the meeting place of God and man.

Yet, that tabernacle was only an elaborate tent. Never meant to be permanent--neither it, nor its furnishings exist any longer. God has raised up a superior tabernacle--Jesus Christ--the ultimate, enduring meeting place of God and man! John wrote of Him, "The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 HCSB) The Greek word rendered "took up residence" is literally, "tabernacled"! All that was foreshadowed in that former tabernacle is fulfilled in Christ's fleshly tabernacle--in a surpassingly superior manner.

The tabernacle in the wilderness was a temporary structure. Likewise, Christ was only on earth for around thirty three years. But, though Christ's earthly ministry ended when He ascended to heaven, that tabernacle was not terminated, but had been transformed! Jesus is resurrected, glorified humanity! It was the same Jesus who appeared to His disciples after He rose. Why, Thomas even felt the wounds of the crucifixion that remained! Think of it--the glorified Son of Man and Son of God, ever-living to be the meeting place of God and man! Paul stated it this way, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human..." (1 Timothy 2:5 HCSB).

The rich symbolism of the Mosaic tabernacle can fill a book and so is beyond the scope of these devotional thoughts. But, what we can say is that all which the tabernacle represented, is seen in Christ, but in His tabernacle, infinitely greater.

To underscore that, a final thought concerning access into the Holy of Holies. Under the Old Covenant, only one man, the High Priest, could enter behind the veil, and that with fear and trembling that he might die, only by means of a sacrifice, and only once each year. But, when the flesh of Christ's tabernacle was torn on Calvary, God reached down and tore the veil from top to bottom, having opened the way, once for all into His glorious presence! Now, any who come through Christ--not one, not a few, all who will--can approach God--not once a year, not a few times, but any time--not just in one sacred spot, but anywhere--not with terror, but in confidence--needing no sacrifice, for the Lamb has been sacrificed and never will be offered again, and need not be!

So, the writer of Hebrews stresses, "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time." (Hebrews 4:16 HCSB) Jesus is the meeting place of God and man!

EMPTY HANDS, EMPTY HEARTS

"No one is to appear before Me empty-handed." (Exodus 34:20b HCSB)

There is a direct connection between what is in our hand and what is in our heart. Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Luke 12:34 HCSB). A heart that overflows in love for God moves the hands to express that love in living out our seconds unto Him, giving of our substance to Him and striving in our service for Him.

It is Valentine's Day, as I type these words. This is a day devoted to lovers. While that is all well and good--a box of chocolate, a bouquet of flowers and a card are only potent when underpinned with a life that shows we love our spouse. My wife wants me to enjoy being with her, to do helpful things for her, and then to spend on her is important too--and not just one day a year! If I don't, then all the romantic notions printed on a Valentine's card are empty words, that come from an empty heart glaring from a billboard of daily life. That writing overshadows the other.

God wanted Israel to love Him. He certainly loved them. Their heart for Him would be seen in the sharing of their time, treasure and talent. When they came before God, there would always need to be something in their hand. There would be something for them to give because God had given to them.

The Lord gave them each day as a gift. Understanding this, they were to devote one day in seven for God and God alone. "For six days work is to be done, but on the seventh day you are to have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord." (Exodus 35:2a HCSB)

God wants us to be stewards of our TIME. Every second we have is a precious thing. We have a limited number of days allocated to us by the Lord's decree. We don't know how many, but even a long life span will race by. We are to exchange the currency of our time for eternal reward by devoting our days to God. How do you spell love? T-I-M-E!

The Lord not only blessed Israel with the dawn of each new day, but with the wealth which they owned. The gold and garments and gems--all this had been given to them by the Egyptians, through the intervention of God in liberating them. If their pockets were full, it was because God did it. Hearts full of gratitude fill hands with generosity. So, God's people were challenged, "Take up an offering among you for the Lord. Let everyone whose heart is willing bring this as the Lord's offering: gold, silver, and bronze" (Exodus 35:5 HCSB).

God wants us to be stewards of our TREASURE. God isn't broke, but we are bankrupt without Him. He doesn't need our money, but we need what He gives. Why we would not have a crust--not a crumb--of bread did not the Lord so graciously provide it! Even in these challenging economic times we are a privileged people.

Yet, we can't take it with us. There will be no U-Haul attached to the hearse. We can send it on ahead, however, by exchanging the coin of the material realm for the riches of the eternal. Jesus said, "Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21 HCSB). How do you spell love? G-I-V-E!

The Lord blessed Israel with each sunrise, with their substance, but also the skills that they possessed--natural abilities they had worked into them by the Creator, spiritual capabilities wrought in them by the Spirit.

"Let all the skilled craftsmen among you come and make everything that the Lord has commanded... Moses then said to the Israelites: 'Look, the Lord has appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He has filled him with God's Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every kind of craft to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every kind of artistic craft. He has also given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, [the ability] to teach [others]. He has filled them with skill to do all the work of a gem cutter; a designer; an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen; and a weaver. They can do every kind of craft and design artistic designs.' " (Exodus 35:10, 30-35 HCSB)

God wants us to be stewards of our TALENT. What can you do with your hands? Those hands--and the abilities latent in them--are blessed by God not to be clutched tightly and used only for our own self-centered cravings, but are to be opened and extended to serve the Lord by serving people created in His image. We can build something on earth akin to a sandcastle which the tides of time will wash away or we can do a work for Christ that constructs an eternal legacy.

Jesus told this story:

"For it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another, one-to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. In the same way the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I've earned five more talents.'

His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy!'

Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I've earned two more talents.'

His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy!'

Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, 'Master, I know you. You're a difficult man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't scattered seed. So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.'

But his master replied to him, 'You evil, lazy slave! If you knew that I reap where I haven't sown and gather where I haven't scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers. And when I returned I would have received my money back with interest.

So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "(Matthew 25:14-30 HCSB)

The sobering thought is, that if all I crave are the things of the world and care nothing for eternity, that I may have a heart devoid of grace and will spend the endless ages craving what I can never have--a thirst without a drop of water on a gnawed tongue of anguish.

Do you truly love God? How do you spell love? W-O-R-K!

Don't show up before the Lord one day empty-handed.

THE STUBBORNNESS OF SINFULNESS

"The Lord also said to Moses: 'I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.' " (Exodus 32:9 HCSB)

It is hard to argue with the diagnosis. The test was complete; the symptoms were obvious. The Physician of impeccable credentials has told Moses that Israel has a disease that is a terminal one--sin.

We read the incident of the golden calf and wonder, "How could they do such a thing?"

God had delivered them with a mighty hand. Just days before, they had been hopeless slaves in Egypt. Then, they saw how God brought judgment after judgment on their oppressors. They had witnessed the Red Sea open before them--a highway for their escape--and seen it close on Pharaoh's charioteers--a graveyard for their enemy. Each night, as they camped, a pillar of fire gave them light and warmth. Each day, as they travelled, a pillar of cloud led them and gave them shade. When they were hungry, God rained down bread from heaven. When they were thirsty, God gave them water from the rock. When they were attacked by the Amalekites, God gave them victory.

How quickly they forgot! How rapidly they fell! How completely they turned!

Moses is on the mountain. He has been there forty days, so they come to Aaron and say, "Make us a god we can worship--a golden calf. Moses is gone. We haven't seen this God he talks to. We need a god. We want a god. How about one like the sacred cows of Egypt?" They willingly donated their jewelry for the raw material.

Moses is meeting with the God who made man, and his people are making a god with their hands. While God is engraving a command on a stone tablet, demanding exclusive worship and forbidding idolatry, the Israelites are dancing in a perverse ritual around an idol!

"He took [the gold] from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, "Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!' " (Exodus 32:4 HCSB)

Such is the stubbornness of sinfulness. They were out of Egypt, but not much of Egypt was out of them.

We are shocked! How could they do such a thing?

Think about this, how can one sing, "Oh, How I Love Jesus," on Sunday, and show love for the world on Monday? How can one bless God in worship at eleven o' clock and curse a waitress at noon? How can I bow my head in prayer in the church house and then fail to speak with God the rest of the week? How can I profess faith in Christ to fellow saints, who know Him, on the Lord's Day and never speak of Him to sinners, who need to know Him, that I see daily?

Supremely, how can I open my Bible and read of Christ's sacrifice for me, my eyes become misty as I contemplate the price He paid for my salvation, pledge my faithfulness to Him--then walk out the door, and into the arms of the world's whoredom--seduced by sin?

We have. We do. We are sinful still. It is a stubborn thing.

God would not be unjust to destroy us all. If we were to be cast into hell, how could we protest what we so demonstrably deserve?

But for one thing.

There was the covenant promise.

God had given His word. Moses, as the mediator lifts up the promise--willing to be blotted out of God's Book, if only Israel would not be--the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their seed would be God's sons. It was a covenant of grace.

That grace cannot be used as a license to sin with impunity--no, no! That doesn't mean there may not be grave consequences. There was severe suffering in the camp as a sentence on stubborn sinfulness. But, it wasn't for the destruction of the nation to cast them into hell. It was for the discipline of the nation to cleanse them for heaven.

God does that still. He disciplines His disobedient children--but, He never disowns them!

We have a better Mediator than Moses. There is a Lamb superior to the lambs offered as a sin offering in Israel. Whereas, Moses couldn't suffer judgment in their stead, there is One who came and received God's wrath as our Substitute--not only willing as Moses was, but qualified--as Moses was not. It is an unbreakable, unalterable covenant ratified forever in the blood of Jesus Christ!

Sin is a stubborn thing.

God's grace is--may we say--even more stubborn!

"The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more." (Romans 5:20 HCSB). Mount Calvary supersedes Mount Sinai!

The tests reveal our sin sickness is terminal--if left untreated. There is only one cure. Jesus Christ, the Great Physician has prescribed it in His cross!

It is echoed in a stanza of the precious hymn, "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place":

"My great Physician heals the sick,

The lost He came to save;

For me His precious blood He shed,

For me His life He gave.

I need no other argument,

I need no other plea;

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me." (Lidie H. Edmunds)

THE HOUSE OF GOD

"They are to make a sanctuary for Me so that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8 HCSB)

God demands and deserves our worship. Being a God so immense, that not even the heavens can contain Him, it is impossible that a church building can. He transcends all things, fills all things--He is all in all. There is nowhere you can go, that He is not there. This is the Being we worship.

But, we are finite creatures, locked into time and space. While God is everywhere, we must be somewhere, so that I need a meeting place with God--a sacred space where I can worship the Infinite One.

Can I not worship God anywhere? Can I not encounter Him in the fields and woods, by the lake or the ocean, since He is just as much there as anywhere. You could, you should, but would you? We are easily distracted. Do we associate the stream with praising God or catching fish? Will we look to the heavens while sitting in a beach chair or observe a child chasing a beach ball across the sand?

Please, don't misunderstand what I am saying. I recognize that wherever we go and whatever we may experience, there is an occasion for our hearts to be directed toward the Lord and draw near to Him in seasons of intimacy with the Creator.

Yet, worship is also not confined to the individual, but is done in the context of community. We are to gather together in corporate celebration of who God is and what He has done. That requires a meeting place.

Thus, God directed Israel to construct a sanctuary--in this case an elaborate tent. When they moved, the tent would be taken down and taken with them. When they stopped to camp, it was to be set up in the middle, for worship was to be central in the national life.

Is worship at the core of your life journey? How often do you find yourself in the company of fellow believers expressing gratitude to God? When you are physically attending, are you fully present--your mind and heart engaged on the truth? Do you mindlessly mouth the stanzas of the song or do they come gushing from the heart? When someone leads in prayer, do you pray or zone out? As the Word of God is proclaimed do you consume it with a ravenous appetite or do you look quickly from the text to your wrist watch, wondering, "What's for lunch?"

Worship is important to God. That ought to make it important to you. It will be the order of eternity. We should get used to it now. Let us gather tomorrow, praying that the Lord will rend the heavens and come down in power and glory. I am desperate for that! God willing, I will be there to meet God in the sanctuary. I don't want to miss it! Don't you dare!

INTO THE GLORY

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.' When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the cloud. The appearance of the Lord's glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop." (Exodus 24:12, 15-17 HCSB)

I'll never forget a phone call I received four years ago. One of our church members had two tickets to the ACC Basketball Tournament in Charlotte and wondered if I could work it out to go! Are you kidding me? Does a cat have a tail? It was awesome! I saw my favorite team--the Tar Heels--win that championship, led by the great Tyler Hansbrough! Unforgettable!

Have you ever been invited to go to such a big-time event?

The invitation Moses received, surpasses such by an incomparable measure. He was summoned to come be God's guest on His holy mountain. Moses was invited into the glory--the fiery cloud that rested atop Mt. Sinai--to be taught by the LORD! Incredible! Indescribable!

For forty days and nights, that man of God, would be immersed in wondrous glory. It was transformational! For a period of time, his skin literally shone, basking in the light of that experience. But, the rest of the Jews could only speculate. They weren't invited. In fact, to approach the holy mountain was a fearful thing and to touch it was to meet a horrible death.

But, that was the other side of Calvary!

On this side, we are now invited to come into the glory--not just the preacher, not merely a select few, like Peter, James and John on the Mountain of Transfiguration--but every child of God! We do not come with trembling knees, as a servant to a tyrant, but are invited to come confidently, "Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time." (Hebrews 4:16 HCSB). We are summoned as sons to the Father!

You see that first mountain was full of frightening thunder and lightning--a mountain quaking in God's majestic presence. That was Sinai--and it represents the Old Covenant of the Law--which can only condemn us as sinners.

But, all that has changed because of another Mountain called Calvary! It was there the perfect Man absorbed the lightning bolts of God's wrath, as that mountain shook. He was excluded, that we might be included. He experienced the fierceness of judgment that we who place our faith in Him can experience the freedom of justification!

We are summoned to enter the glory!

Already, it is transforming us. That glory which changed Moses did not last. It began to diminish. Yet, the glory we can gaze upon grows daily. Paul saw that brilliance when He met Jesus, and consistently looked unto Him, becoming an even more radiant Christian. It is something every believer should experience and the Apostle wrote of it:

"Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses' face because of the glory from his face-a fading [glory]- how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness. [We are] not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the the end of what was fading away, but their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside [only] in Christ. Even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:7-18 HCSB)

So, the glory grows until one golden daybreak we are summoned into the fullest glory of eternity!

"When by His grace I shall look on His face,

That will be glory, be glory for me." (Charles Gabriel)

Glory!

BORN TO SOAR

" 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to Me. Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine," (Exodus 19:4, 5 HCSB)

The baby eagle is born to soar. It is the work of the parent to prepare the little one. It was time for Israel to spread her wings. God’s people—like the eagle are born to soar!

In chapter nineteen of Exodus, we find God calling His children to rise to fulfill their potential. He has some choice lessons to teach them—to get them out of the nest, as it were. He instructs them concerning reward, conveying responsibility and commanding reverence.

Here is a word concerning REWARD--We are a special treasure (v.1-5).

“In the third month, on the same day [of the month] that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai. After they departed from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

Moses went up [the mountain] to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: ‘This is what you must say to the house of Jacob, and explain to the Israelites: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to Me. Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine…” (Exodus 19:1-5 HCSB)

God’s reward to His people was His grace. He delivered them from bondage and birthed them into new life. So, He has done for us, in saving us from sin and bringing us into new life in Christ.

God’s reward from His people is our growth. God has the rewarding experience of seeing us learn to fly! All parents know the joy of seeing our children learn new things and watching them grow up. We treasure those moments! So, our Heavenly Father is delighted when we begin to flap our wings—even feebly, at first—for we are growing into the potential for which He has chosen us.

But, these words Moses was to share with the fledgling nation were not just about reward. There is a word conveying RESPONSIBILITY—We have a sacred task (v.6-9).

“and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.” These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.’

After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. Then all the people responded together, ‘We will do all that the Lord has spoken.’ So Moses brought the people's words back to the Lord.

The Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will always believe you.’ Then Moses reported the people's words to the Lord.” (Exodus 19:6-9 HCSB)

We teach children responsibility. It is an indispensable lesson. As they develop, they will bear more and more responsibility. This is true in spiritual maturity, as well.

God’s people have a great responsibility to represent God to others. We are His priests. God did not choose Israel to convey a smug self-righteousness as though they were better than the other nations. He set them apart as a holy nation, so that His light would shine as a beacon from them.

When people see us, they need to see the God whom we represent. A newborn eagle looks very little like the majestic bird it will become, but as it matures it begins to look like the eagle that birthed it. So, as we grow up, the Christian is more and more like Christ. Others should see Jesus in us.

God’s people have a grave responsibility to reach others for God. This is what a priest does. He is an advocate—a mediator. Israel was to call the nations to repentance and reconciliation with God. Sadly, they didn’t grow up—always childishly, selfishly squawking for God to care for them, wholly unconcerned about others. If we grow and soar to our potential, we recognize that we have been chosen to be instruments of inclusion. We are God’s special people because we have been given a sacred task—the Great Commission.

So, Israel would soar if they heeded God’s call concerning reward and conveying responsibility. Furthermore, there is a word commanding REVERENCE—We need a sanctifying trust (v.10-25).

“And the Lord told Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Put boundaries for the people all around the [mountain] and say: Be careful that you don't go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain will be put to death. No hand may touch him; instead he will be stoned or shot [with arrows]. No animal or man will live. When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain.’

Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. He said to the people, ‘Be prepared by the third day. Do not have sexual relations with women.’

On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a loud trumpet sound, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.

The Lord came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. The Lord directed Moses, ‘Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will die. Even the priests who come near the Lord must purify themselves or the Lord will break out [in anger] against them.’

But Moses responded to the Lord, ‘The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since You warned us: Put a boundary around the mountain and consider it holy.’ And the Lord replied to him, ‘Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break out [in anger] against them.’ So Moses went down to the people and told them.” (Exodus 19:10-25 HCSB)

Could you imagine an eaglet attacking a mature eagle? Would you imagine that it would foul its nest? So, Israel was to respect the holiness of God. They were to be clean when they approached Him. It is wonderful that we have such a loving relationship with God, but we must never make this an excuse for a lack of respect. He remains God—and we are not.

I am an adult now. But, God still expects me to honor my father. That is commanded. If we are to show such respect to a fallen human being, what ought we to do concerning our Holy, Heavenly Father?

Perhaps you have heard the Grecian mythical story of Icarus.

Along with his father, Daedalus, the two were imprisoned on Crete. Daedalus devised two pairs of wings that they might escape. The father warned his son, however, to follow his line of flight—to fly neither too high toward the sun, lest the wax which held the feathers in place would melt, nor too low near the sea, lest the moisture dampen the wings and make them too heavy to fly.

He didn’t listen to his father. The thrill of flying overcame him, and he rose higher and higher, throwing caution to the wind that lifted him. Too late, he realized he had climbed too high, the wax melted, the feathers fell off and he plummeted into the sea and drowned.

In our desire to soar—let us be sure we respect the flight pattern God has established for us. We arrogantly ignore it to our own peril. Lucifer was not content to soar where God had placed the lofty angel. He wanted a higher throne—God’s—and thus he fell and became Satan.

Do you want to soar? We were born for that purpose. Learn these lessons and you may!

NO SHORTCUTS

"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, "The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war." So He led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation." (Exodus 13:17, 18 HCSB)

It seems as though most every "shortcut" I have taken wound up costing me more time--and fuel. Shortcuts aren't all they are cracked up to be!

The fact is, there are no shortcuts on the pilgrim pathway we are called to travel. Our progress toward the Celestial City above is filled with twists and turns--steep, rough, narrow; sometimes descending into dark valleys, traversing raging floods, pitfalls where we could stumble and foes ready to pounce on us. It is--to borrow from the Beatles, "The Long and Winding Road."

Israel found this out soon enough. When they left Egypt, bound for the Promised Land, they must have felt like they were walking on air--the heavy chains of slavery left behind. "A 'hop, skip and a jump' and we'll be in that land flowing with milk and honey," they must have thought. Yet, it would be forty years before they would finally reach their destination. While, it is certain, God didn't intend for them to be wandering in the wilderness that long, He did direct them there for a little season of development of their faith, which, regrettably, became a lifespan of discipline for their unbelief.

There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. There is no magic pill we can take to grow up overnight. We can't climb on a rocket, we must plod step by step.

Israel was led by God to a detour, dead end and dry hole!

There was a virtual interstate highway that ran out of Egypt and into Canaan, right up the Gaza Strip. But, there was a problem. It would run head on into Philistine territory--those stubborn people who would become Israel's intransigent enemy. God was building an army, but they weren't ready for a fight like that! They hadn't gone to basic training! So God took them on a detour. It was their spiritual bootcamp!

"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, "The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war." So He led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation." (Exodus 13:17, 18 HCSB)

Honestly, detours are no fun. I am not a patient man. When I go on a trip, I want to get there as soon as possible. I don't even like to stop for gas, or other necessities, because then people are passing me! It may be though, that the detour that irritated me, prevented me from being in a wreck down the road. Can we learn to wait on the Lord--to trust Him and be patient? The recipe for a saint doesn't call for a microwave, but a crock pot!

God leads us on detours--and, strange as it may seem even to dead ends! That's where God brought His people:

" 'Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea. Pharaoh will say of the Israelites: They are wandering around the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in. I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.' So the Israelites did this." (Exodus 14:2-4 HCSB)

There is nothing like turning down a road and reading a sign, "No Thru Street"! Israel was caught between the devil and the deep Red Sea. God had led them into a dead end and Pharaoh's army was coming to make them dead and bring their freedom to an end!

But, it is when we reach the end of our natural ability that we experience God's supernatural activity! The Lord would accomplish two things that day---a victory for His people, in opening up a way when there seemed to be no way, and a defeat for their enemy, in collapsing the wall of water on Pharaoh's army--all for His glory! The cries of fear would give way to celebrations of faith!

Maybe you feel like you are in a dead-end relationship, job or some other barrier you've hit. Meanwhile, Satan is breathing down your neck! Get ready--God is going to teach you something. You may soon see a deliverance that will be a turning point in your life! The One who brings us to it, will bring us through it!

God led His people not only on a detour and a dead end, but to a dry hole!

"Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter-that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, 'What are we going to drink?' " (Exodus 15:22-24 HCSB)

We often think that if we are experiencing adversity, we must be out of God's will. That can happen. But, it may be that we are exactly where God has led us--where He wants us. He does it to test us. Will we trust Him?

"So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable.

He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there. He said, 'If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh who heals you.'

Then they came to Elim, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms, and they camped there by the waters." (Exodus 15:25-27 HCSB)

There was an oasis just a bit further down the road! Not only springs, but shade; not only drinks to quench thirst, but dates to satisfy hunger! We want to give up, gripe on and go back when we face difficulty. It was a constant pattern for Israel. It would eventually cost that generation an opportunity to reach the abundant life God desired for them. Don't let shortages of resources cause you a shortage of faith.

Spiritual dry times will come by God's design. Keep walking, keep thirsting--and when you are desperate enough, God will lead you to wells of blessing!

" 'For I know the plans I have for you'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'plans for [your] welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.' " (Jeremiah 29:11-13 HCSB)

This is the way we must go.

There are no shortcuts.

NO CONDEMNATION

"Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before, or ever will be again. But against all the Israelites, whether man or beast, not [even] a dog will snarl, so that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel." (Exodus 11:6, 7 HCSB)

Double jeopardy--being tried for the same offense after having been previously acquitted--our legal system forbids it according to the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Likewise, it is forbidden in the Supreme Court of Heaven!

In Christ, each believer has died to sin. Christ has paid the penalty for our iniquity. He endured hell that we need not go there. Our vital union with Him has brought us acquittal. We can never be tried for our sins. That is why Paul could boldly affirm, "Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1 HCSB). Literally, there is no judgment for our sins.

This is a consistent teaching throughout Scripture.

We see the distinction made between the Egyptians and the Israelites here. If you think that the difference was in the Egyptians' evil practices and the Jews' inherent goodness, you have not read Scripture very clearly. The Hebrews could be just as vile as the pagans--we are all sinners--but it was that Israel would apply the blood of the lamb and the Egyptians would not. That meant judgment would pass over the Jews, but fall on the Egyptians.

God made the distinction between those righteous through faith and those condemned through unbelief. So, we read in Genesis that Enoch is raptured out of the world before the judgment of the flood comes, and Noah is preserved securely in the ark during the flood. Fire will consume the sinners of Sodom, while Lot will be virtually driven from that city because he was a believer. Lot was a backslider, yet a saved man.

Then, in the plagues God brought upon Egypt, He made a distinction with His covenant people.

"But if you will not let My people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians' houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live. But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, Yahweh, am in the land. I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow." (Exodus 8:21-23 HCSB)

"then the Lord's hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field-the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die." (Exodus 9:3, 4 HCSB)

"Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field. The only place it didn't hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were." (Exodus 9:25, 26 HCSB)

"So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived." (Exodus 10:22, 23 HCSB)

"and every firstborn [male] in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is behind the millstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock. Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before, or ever will be again. But against all the Israelites, whether man or beast, not [even] a dog will snarl, so that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel." (Exodus 11:5-7 HCSB)

When God disclosed to Abraham that His wrath was to be poured out on Sodom and Gomorra, Abraham knew that his nephew, Lot, and his family, were in the city and we read, "Abraham stepped forward and said, 'Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ... You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won't the Judge of all the earth do what is just?' " (Genesis 18:23, 25 HCSB)

In a future day, God will judge the world with cataclysmic events--a seven year span known as the tribulation period. Before that judgment falls, God will catch out His church. Christ will come for His Bride--the dead in Christ resurrected and the living saints raptured. With the restraining power of the church, in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit removed, the spirit of antichrist, ever present will be fully manifested in the Antichrist. He himself is one of God's judgments. Man rejected the true Messiah and craves another more to their own liking. God will give the world what they want and a time of unprecedented horror will enclose the earth with plagues akin to those which befell the Egyptians--except in a wider scope and greater severity. Weigh the words of Paul the Apostle,

"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: We ask you, brothers, not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For [that day] will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God's sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God.

Don't you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this? And you know what currently restrains [him], so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of His coming. The coming [of the lawless one] is based on Satan's working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. [They perish] because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved. For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe what is false, so that all will be condemned-those who did not believe the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 HCSB)

As God's people--possessing the righteousness which is by faith in the blood of the Lamb--we do not look for the condemnation of the world, but the consummation of the age; we wait not for the Antichrist, but we watch for Jesus Christ; we do not take the mark of the Beast, but have the mark of the believer; our destiny is not destruction, but deliverance; we don't anticipate horror, but hope.

"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord's coming will certainly have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 HCSB)

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

"So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, 'Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? And why did You ever send me? Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in Your name he has caused trouble for this people, and You haven't delivered Your people at all.' " (Exodus 5:22, 23 HCSB)

The day after--the day after the Super Bowl, that is. After America's largest spectacle on football's biggest stage, I am left to ponder my playing days--albeit on a much smaller scale. It was 1971, and I was on the A.C. Reynolds Rockets' roster. It seems like yesterday. I can still remember the locker room where we put on the pads--gladiators of the gridiron. The coaches had posted motivational signs--handwritten with a black magic marker on white poster board--that were intended to "fire us up." One that was prominently displayed, near my cubicle, proclaimed, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!"

So, out I went--all 145 pounds of me, yet tough as nails--and often found the going tough. There was nothing like getting in the way of a speeding locomotive called a fullback, who was bigger and faster than you, and bringing him to the ground--getting up with his cleat marks all over you, since he decided the closest distance was in a straight line, that he made toward the end zone. He didn't try to evade you, but steamroll you. Still, I could recall the coach's inspiring words, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

Apparently, the opposing team had read the same quotes. So, it boiled down to talent. After four quarters of this pounding, most often we walked off the field bruised and beaten. The Rockets sometime crashed and burned in those days. Then, shedding pads, rubbing bruises and bandaging contusions, as I headed to the showers in an attempt to wash off the stench of defeat, there awaited the wondrous quote, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." It was mockery! I wanted to puke.

Maybe, Moses felt the same way.

He had marched onto Pharaoh's home turf and demanded that Egypt's king release his fellow Hebrews. God had sent him and what did Moses expect? Surely, Pharaoh would do as God demanded. Moses had his team fired up and they were ready to head out in victory. What met Moses on his way to the goal was a bone-jarring tackle that drove him into the ground!

"Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness.'

But Pharaoh responded, 'Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know [anything about] Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.' " (Exodus 5:1, 2 HCSB)

On top of that, the tyrant does some trash-talking and calls the Jews a bunch of slackers! If they have time to sacrifice to God, then they have too much time on their hands--and so Pharaoh will show these goof-offs as he demands the same quota of bricks, even though they must now gather their own straw to make them. It is a virtually impossible task, and when they fail to do it, their foremen beat them mercilessly!

The fans were not happy with the quarterback! They boo him as he leaves the field. Not only did he fail to throw a touchdown--he had been intercepted--a pick six for the other team.

"When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood [waiting] to meet them. 'May the Lord take note of you and judge,' they said to them, 'because you have made us reek in front of Pharaoh and his officials-putting a sword in their hand to kill us!' "(Exodus 5:20, 21 HCSB)

They were ready for a new quarterback.

Moses wanted to discuss the game plan with the Coach.

"So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, 'Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? And why did You ever send me? Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in Your name he has caused trouble for this people, and You haven't delivered Your people at all.' "(Exodus 5:22, 23 HCSB)

The Coach isn't in a panic. We may be; God never is. The game plan hasn't changed. Moses just needed to trust the Lord and execute the plays--even, when the going gets tough. It always will. We have a foe on the other side of the field.

When the going gets tough, there are three fundamentals to tenaciously cling to. God tells Moses to reflect on His presence, recall all His promises and rely on His provision.

"But the LORD replied to Moses, 'Now you are going to see what I will do to Pharaoh: he will let them go because of My strong hand; he will drive them out of his land because of My strong hand.' " (Exodus 6:1 HCSB)

When the going gets tough for us, we must reflect on God's presence. Four times, God says, "I am." Moses is reminded of who has sent him and that He will be with Him.

"Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, 'I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not reveal My name Yahweh to them. ... Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh.' " (Exodus 6:2, 3, 6-8 HCSB)

He is all powerful--El Shaddai "God Almighty." The Hebrew title God takes for Himself reminds us that the One who is with us is far stronger than the one who stands against us! He is all sufficient--"Yahweh" is His name. He revealed Himself to Moses as, "I AM"--and He is all in all. There is nothing we need that He is not present to provide in Himself.

When the going gets tough for us, we must recall all God's promises. Twice God says, "I have." Moses is reminded of God's covenant with His people and that His word is His bond.

"Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered My covenant." (Exodus 6:5 HCSB)

He has heard our cry, "I have heard the groaning." He is not ignoring your problems. He is vitally interested in them and involved in solving them. He has heeded His covenant, "I have remembered My covenant." Like Israel, we are the covenant people of God. His name and His glory are bound up in us. He will not fail us!

When the going gets tough for us, we must rely on God's provision. Seven times God says, "I will" Moses is reminded of God's purposes and that His will cannot be thwarted.

"But the LORD replied to Moses, 'Now you are going to see what I will do to Pharaoh: he will let them go because of My strong hand; he will drive them out of his land because of My strong hand.' " (Exodus 6:1 HCSB)

"Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh." (Exodus 6:6-8 HCSB)

He will overcome our opponent, "Now you are going to see what I will do to Pharaoh." Is the enemy stronger than we are? Who is this pipsqueak compared to God? He will lift our burdens, "I will deliver you from the forced labor." The burdens might be too heavy for us, but we can cast all our care on the Lord, for He cares for us. He will redeem our life, "I will redeem you." If God has taken care of your greatest need--forgiveness of sin--with His greatest provision--redemption from sin--how will He fail to meet every lesser need? He will possess His people, "I will take you as My people." Our heavenly Father loves us! He will personally be involved, "I will be your God." He doesn't just send in a play from the coach's box above--He takes the field with us! He will bring us victory, "I will bring you to the land." From the start of the game until the final play, God leads us to victory! He will give us reward, "I will give it to you as a possession." Today, the New York Giants bask in the glory of a championship and possess the Lombardi Trophy--Super Bowl winners. What a day is promised when earth's clock reaches zero in the countdown and we enter heaven with the accolades heaped on us and we take the victor's crown! Then we will lay our trophies at Jesus' feet--the One who made it all possible. Hallelujah!

So, if today the going gets tough, forget the nonsense about getting tough yourself. When the going gets tough, do what Moses did--get going to God. His presence, promises and provision is enough--more than enough.

We will not pull out the game on a final, frantic touchdown drive as we saw Eli Manning engineer. It is going to be a beat down of the devil--not even close!

THE WAY OUT

"The Israelites' cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:9, 10 HCSB)

"Exodus" is a word that means "departure." That identifies what the second book of the Bible is about--the way out. It is a fascinating narrative of Hebrew history, but much more--it is a rich illustration of God's redemptive work.

The first chapter presents to us a CAPTIVITY.

"So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh. But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. They worked the Israelites ruthlessly and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them." (Exodus 1:11-14 HCSB)

Jacob's family prospered in Egypt under the care of Joseph, who had risen to a place of prominence and power under Pharaoh. But, Joseph died and eventually so did the memory of him. So, there came a cruel king to reign over Egypt who felt the burgeoning population of Israelis to be a clear and present danger to him. He would take whatever means necessary to hold onto the reins of power. The Jews were ruthlessly enslaved. Despite this, God continued to multiply His chosen people. The edict then came from the tyrant that any male child born to the Hebrews was to be thrown into the Nile River---crocodile food.

They needed a way out.

So, do we.

Their physical condition mirrors our spiritual state. We are enslaved--not to the Egyptians, but to evil. We are born into this world as sinners, and do Satan's bidding. The sentence of death hangs over us--the second death in hell. We need a way out! But, we are helpless to save ourselves.

The second chapter provides to us a CHILD.

"Now a man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.

Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. Seeing the basket among the reeds, she sent her slave girl to get it. When she opened it, she saw the child-a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, 'This is one of the Hebrew boys.'

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Should I go and call a woman from the Hebrews to nurse the boy for you?'

'Go,' Pharaoh's daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy's mother. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.' So the woman took the boy and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, 'Because,' she said, 'I drew him out of the water.' " (Exodus 2:1-10 HCSB)

Through a merging of heavenly intervention and human instrumentality, a child was born who would one day bring his people out. They needed a savior and God would send one. Moses was a miracle baby!

In a far greater way, God provided us with the Savior to bring us out of our bondage to iniquity. He intervened, by implanting in the womb of a virgin, One who would be our deliverer. Jesus--that would be His name--for He would save His people from their sins!

The third chapter proclaims to us a CALL.

"Then the Lord said, 'I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The Israelites' cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.' " (Exodus 3:7-10 HCSB)

God not only provided a deliverer in Moses, he prepared the deliverer for his mission. Then, there came that day, when this chosen instrument was summoned to fulfill his life purpose. To this end, he was born. Moses had a sense that he carried a special assignment from God. As he matured, he grew in his understanding of the need for someone to lead the people out of Egypt. In God's time, he was summoned to the task.

Jesus knew that His Father had sent Him to be the Savior of the world. At the age of twelve, we hear Him saying to Joseph and Mary, "Didn't you know that I had to be in My Father's house?" (Luke 2:49b HCSB). But, the time had not come. As Moses submitted to his vocation as a shepherd, and through the discipline of daily duty was suited for his calling, so Jesus lived as a faithful Son, plying His trade in the carpenter's shop until He would be set forth as the Good Shepherd to lead His people out.

The fourth chapter portrays to us a CONFIRMATION.

"Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped." (Exodus 4:29-31 HCSB)

Moses could show up and make a claim that God had sent him--anybody could. The issue would be: is there evidence to back it up? God would confirm His call to Moses by miraculous signs and wonders.

There came a day, when a Man stood among others who were to be immersed by John the Baptist, in the Jordan River. He looked like the others, but wasn't like the others. They were sinners, but He was not. Yet, it was for that very crowd that He had come--to bring them out of sin. Rising out of the water, following His baptism, the Spirit descends upon Jesus, identifying Him as the Savior, the voice of the Father commending Him as the Son--He was now ready to fulfill His mission. He would do that which no man had ever done--walking on water, raising the dead, driving out demons, stopping storms with a command, opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, loosing the tongue of the mute, strengthening crippled limbs, transforming water into wine and cleansing the leprous. He was unique--the only Begotten Son.

Moses prophesied that God would raise up, someday, One like him who would lead the flock of God (see Deuteronomy 18:15-18). Jesus was the fulfillment of that--like Moses, but far greater than Moses (read Hebrews 3:1-19).

Moses came to lead the people out. Jesus said, "I am the Way." Moses came to teach the truth. Jesus said, "I am...the Truth." Moses came to lead the people to new life. Jesus said, "I am...the Life" (John 14:6).

In this connection, it is interesting to read of how Moses, along with Elijah, appeared with Jesus on the mountain of Christ's transfiguration. Do you know what they were talking about? Christ's EXODUS! "They appeared in glory and were speaking of His death, which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem." (Luke 9:31 HCSB) The Greek word rendered "death" is literally "exodus"!

The way out--Jesus--the one way, the only way--He is our blessed Redeemer!

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

"So the Lord blessed the last part of Job's life more than the first." (Job 42:12a HCSB)

We love fairy tales. In fairy tales, always we get to the end, "and they lived happily ever after." But, life isn't exactly like that, is it? Ask Job. He had the storybook life. Living on easy street...healthy, wealthy and wise...he had it all...and lost it. His field of dreams turned into a graveyard of nightmares...or so it seemed. But the final chapters take us to a different conclusion: Job did live happily ever after!

The all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving Father in heaven had a plan that could not be thwarted. Job would testify, "I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted." (Job 42:2 HCSB) We may be sure that those plans are for our good and His glory--and no demon of hell can impede them!

Now, don't read this the wrong way. Job experienced great hardship, heartache and horror, but saw all this turned around in this lifetime on earth...and that can happen to us. But, not always. More often than not, it may await eternity. Living happily EVER AFTER describes the bliss of the HEREAFTER!

With blessed assurance, I can promise you, that no matter what struggles you go through in life--and you may be stuck in the middle of a whirlwind of woe right now--it is going to get better, someday--if you are a child of the King. It is impossible for me to predict when, I only can be confident of what--happily ever after!

Then, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. Then the One seated on the throne said, 'Look! I am making everything new.' " (Revelation 21:4-5a HCSB)

And, they lived happily ever after!

GOD IS GOD, AND I AM NOT

"The Lord answered Job:

'Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct [Him]?

Let him who argues with God give an answer.'

Then Job answered the Lord:

'I am so insignificant. How can I answer You?

I place my hand over my mouth.' " (Job 40:1-4 HCSB)

There is an unforgettable scene in the movie, "Rudy." Rudy is a physically limited athlete, with the heart of a lion, who wants more than anything in life to be a Notre Dame football player. For that to happen, he needs a miracle. So we find him, in the chapel, seeking one. Rudy looks for reinforcement and answers from Father Cavanaugh. The old priest tells Rudy, "Son, in thirty five years of religious studies, I've come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts: there is a God...and I'm not Him."

I would argue there are more certainties than those two, but those are definitely two indisputable truths--and indispensable ones. As the Book of Job reaches its climax, the suffering saint is confronted with this reality. God is God, and Job is not.

The tables turn. Job has been full of questions. He has begged for an audience with God. He has pent up within him a torrent of arguments, swollen by the emotions of indignation, pushing against the dike of his mouth, about to burst forth in a flood before God.

So, God shows up.

Does Job have questions? God has more! Does Job want God to stand before him? Job is summoned to appear before God! Does Job have so much to say to God? After God speaks to him, Job claps his hand over his mouth! He is reminded of what we all must admit, "There is a God...and I'm not Him."

Can we rest in that?

There are more insights from Scripture which will help us know the nature of God. We see His presence and power in the world He has created. We see His plan and principles in the Word He has inspired. We sense His purpose and peace in the wellspring of our conscience He has fashioned. A reading of Psalm 19 reminds us of that. There is much of God--His works and words, His will and His ways--that we may know, because He is a God who has revealed Himself in the stars, the Scriptures and in our soul.

Still, there are answers that remain elusive.

If we are honest, we must admit that God transcends our finite thinking. Another man--so brilliant, with such dramatic experiences with God, which furnished him with a breath-taking breadth of knowledge--even had to admit there are these limitations. Here is what he wrote:

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!

How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways!

For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been His counselor?

Or who has ever first given to Him,

and has to be repaid?

For from Him and through Him

and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:33-36 HCSB)

That's what the Apostle Paul concluded.

God is God, and I am not.

Well, shut my mouth!

THE BOTTOM LINE

"Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding. It is impossible for God [to do] wrong, and [for] the Almighty [to act] unjustly." (Job 34:10 HCSB)

Elihu has been like a volcano. The young man has sat dormant, listening, while the cycles of verbal fencing between Job and his three accusers have gone thrust and parry, and the force of emotion increasing each time. Elihu has been silent. He knows that it is not polite for a young man to speak in the presence of his elders, but he feels a rumble deep in the crevices of his heart---a fire grows within. Pressure builds and builds, until an eruption of words pours out from his indignant soul.

He can no longer contain himself. He is angry at Job's friends for their unsubstantiated attacks on Job's character, but is also upset at Job's defensiveness. In particular, he thinks that Job should have been defending God's character, rather than focusing on defending his own.

Elihu doesn't have all the answers either, but he thinks he does. Such is the rashness of passion in youth. I recall when I first entered the ministry--I smugly thought I had everything figured out. I went to Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute and my head was brim-full of Biblical insight, accordingly. What arrogance--and what ignorance!

But, just because Elihu did not know as much as he thought he knew, does not mean that what he did know was wrong. In fact, he understood the bottom line. Job's friends may be wrong in their conclusions and Job may be wrong in his reactions, but God is never wrong in any fashion!

Sometimes, what God may do, or refuse to do, might appear unjust, but it is only the appearance--an illusion--for acting unjustly is an impossibility with God! That's the bottom line. We may struggle with this. Our understanding can be so lacking. If God decided to explain His ways at times, it would be like trying to explain trigonometry to a turtle, or Einstein's theory of relativity to an amoeba!

Trust Him when you don't understand. Don't doubt in the dark what He has told you in the light. Spurgeon said it this way, "God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken, when we cannot trace His hand, we can always trust His heart."

That is the bottom line!

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING

"let God weigh me in accurate scales,

and He will recognize my integrity." (Job 31:6 HCSB)

In 1615, Cervantes wrote in Don Quixote that "the proof of the pudding is the eating." It is an expression meaning "results are what count; the quality of something can only be judged by the evidence." The Bible says, "But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works." (James 2:18 HCSB)

Job was condemned by his "comforters." Their reasoning was, "God is good. God punishes sin. Job is suffering. He is being punished by God. Job is a sinner who deserves what he gets." Satan is like a prosecuting attorney. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are summoned to testify against him. God is the judge.

As the courtroom drama unfolds, there are arguments and rebuttals. Job pleads for a defense attorney and none appears. "I wish that someone might arbitrate between a man and God just as a man [pleads] for his friend." (Job 16:21 HCSB) So, it is up to Job to make a defense--and in his final argument he serves up, "the proof of the pudding."

Others had spoken well of him: "When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the town square, the young men saw me and withdrew, while older men stood to their feet. City officials stopped talking and covered their mouths with [their] hands. The noblemen's voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me." (Job 29:7-11 HCSB)

He had helped the helpless: "For I rescued the poor man who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him. The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow's heart rejoice. I clothed myself in righteousness and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger. I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth." (Job 29:12-17 HCSB) "If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow's eyes go blind, if I have eaten my few crumbs alone without letting the fatherless eat any of it--for from my youth, I raised him as [his] father, and since the day I was born I guided the widow--if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing or a needy person without a cloak, if he did not bless m while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep, if I ever cast my vote against a fatherless child when I saw that I had support in the [city] gate, then let my shoulder blade fall from my back, and my arm be pulled from its socket." (Job 31:16-22 HCSB)

He grieved over the suffering of others: "Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?" (Job 30:25 HCSB)

He recognized the danger of sexual sin and scrupulously shunned it: "I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman? If my step has turned from the way, my heart has followed my eyes, or impurity has stained my hands, let someone else eat what I have sown, and let my crops be uprooted. If my heart has been seduced by [my neighbor's] wife or I have lurked at his door, let my own wife grind [grain] for another man, and let other men sleep with her. For that would be a disgrace; it would be a crime deserving punishment. For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon; it would destroy my entire harvest." (Job 31:1, 7-12 HCSB)

He was just in dealing with his employees: "If I have dismissed the case of my male or female servants when they made a complaint against me, what could I do when God stands up [to judge]? How should I answer Him when He calls [me] to account? Did not the One who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same God form us both in the womb?" (Job 31:13-15 HCSB)

He was free from idolatrous materialism: "If I placed my confidence in gold or called fine gold my trust, if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great or because my own hand has acquired [so] much, if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining or at the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and I threw them a kiss, this would also be a crime deserving punishment, for I would have denied God above." (Job 31:24-28 HCSB)

He did not hate his enemies: "Have I rejoiced over my enemy's distress, or become excited when trouble came his way? I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse." (Job 31:29, 30 HCSB)

He practiced hospitality: "Haven't the members of my household said, 'Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job's table?' No stranger had to spend the night on the street, for I opened my door to the traveler." (Job 31:31, 32 HCSB)

He confessed his sin when needed and did not practice self-righteous hypocrisy: "Have I covered my transgressions as others do by hiding my guilt in my heart, because I greatly feared the crowds, and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so I grew silent and would not go outside?" (Job 31:33, 34 HCSB)

The proof of the pudding is the eating--Job's profession was matched by his performance. We are saved by faith alone, but faith that saves is never alone.

If you were on trial for being a Christian, is there enough evidence to convict you?

THE BIGGEST QUESTION

"How can a person be justified before God?

How can one born of woman be pure?" (Job 25:4 HCSB)

Job is a book filled with questions. The one which Job repeats constantly is, "Why?" Why would God allow him to suffer despite his faithfulness to Him? Why do the wicked seem to get off the hook?

His "friends" thought they knew the answer. Job suffered because he was being punished. They wrongfully and repeatedly leveled this hurtful accusation.

While the answers given by Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are off-target, there is a question asked that hits the bull's eye, "How can a person be justified before God?" That is the biggest question of all--not the why question, but the how question!

We want to know, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

Job was good--relatively speaking. He was a godly man. Compared to other men, he stood head and shoulders above them. We would not want to join the chorus of critics that condemned him falsely. Yet, we must also face that compared to God's standard of righteousness, Job was not a sinless man--none are.

Jesus declared, "There is only One who is good." (Matthew 19:17b HCSB) Only God is utterly, absolutely good. David stated, " All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3 HCSB) Paul underscores this fact in the first three chapters of Romans--an indictment of humanity's crimes against heaven--where he quotes that Psalm and concludes, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23 HCSB)

Even Job knew that. It is why he offered a sacrifice and prayed continually for his children. "For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job's regular practice." (Job 1:5b HCSB) Even if he knew of no overt sin they had committed, he knew that lurking down in the human heart are evils that may never surface, but which cannot be hidden from a holy God.

It was in Job. It is in me. Sin is in us all--and God doesn't grade on the curve. On Judgement Day, we will not be evaluated compared to other men, but according to a flawless God. No matter how hard we may have tried--no matter how many Jewish traditions we have kept, how faithfully we have honored the five pillars of Islam, how many door to door witnesses to Jehovah we've presented, how many mission trips we've made on our bicycle, how often we've repeated, "Hail Mary" or what positions we held in the Baptist church--none of it is enough. The question persists, "How can a person be justified before God?"

There is only one answer. Jesus is that answer! God in the flesh, conceived in a virgin's womb without a sin nature, born into this world and having lived a sinless life, fulfilling all the righteous demands of God, making Himself an offering for our sin, rising for our justification, ascending to intercede for us, sending His Spirit to change us from the inside out, and completing that transformation into His image when he returns! By faith in Jesus Christ, His work cancels our sin debt and His perfect righteousness is deposited to our account! Have you received Him?

The biggest question of all is asked, "How can a person be justified before God?

How can one born of woman be pure?" (Job 25:4 HCSB)

The question has but one answer, "He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21 HCSB)

THE REFINER'S FIRE

"Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold." (Job 23:10 HCSB)

Gold is a valuable commodity. During the refining process, the gold is heated, so that the slag--contaminants--can be drawn off, and all that remains is the precious metal. The gold is not harmed by the fire--only refined.

For the child of God, faith is the precious spiritual commodity we must have. The profession of faith will be tested by the fire. If it is real, it will endure. More than that, faith is not only proven, but purified in the fire.

Peter spoke to Christians' who were facing persecution, when he said, "You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials so that the genuineness of your faith--more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:6, 7 HCSB)

Job finds some meaning and encouragement in this truth. There is an occasional shaft of light that breaks through the somber clouds of his confusion. He describes his trials in terms of gold being smelted. His conviction is that his faith will emerge unharmed. His three friends were accusing him of being a hypocrite. They were convinced Job was an egregious sinner and that was why he was suffering. Job knew better--and most importantly Job knew that God was aware of the reality of his faith.

Even in the best of us, however, there remains the contamination of sin to some degree. You can't walk through a coal mine without getting some black on you, and you cannot walk through this dirty world and be totally pure. But, God is refining us, and He uses the fiery trial to purify us. In salvation, the Lord has extracted gold ore from the world, but there remains residue of the world to be extracted from the ore--and that is the work of sanctification.

The hymn writer, John Keith captured this thought in a stanza of "How Firm a Foundation" thusly:

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;

The flame shall not harm thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."

Are you in a fiery trial today? One thing is certain, God will use this to refine you. If your faith is genuine, all that will remain is precious material--so malleable--that will be shaped into the very likeness of Jesus Christ--placed on display in glory someday--a trophy of grace!

WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD PEOPLE

"Why do the wicked continue to live, growing old and becoming powerful? Their children are established while they are still alive, and their descendants, before their eyes. Their homes are secure and free of fear; no rod from God [strikes] them. Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry. They let their little ones run around like lambs; their children skip about, singing to the tambourine and lyre and rejoicing at the sound of the flute. They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace. Yet they say to God: 'Leave us alone! We don't want to know Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what will we gain by pleading with Him?' " (Job 21:7-15 HCSB)

The question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" is a difficult one--a scenario so often seen, that a best-selling book was written by a Jewish rabbi twenty years ago--still reprinted and read today. The answers given in that volume are not adequate, but that someone is trying to solve the puzzle is understandable. Job wrestled with putting it altogether. It seemed there were always some pieces missing.

Another question, just as thorny, is this, "Why do good things happen to bad people?" I suppose someone has written a book about that also. But, the author hasn't been interviewed on Oprah, nor has it made the New York Times best-seller list, so far as I know. No one wants to think they are bad! So, the laws of supply and demand take effect.

Nevertheless, it is another dilemma for Job. The conventional wisdom of that day was that good people were blessed of God--physical health, large family, financial prosperity--all a reward from God. Conversely, the bad people were smitten with sickness, their children died, they were destitute--all a retribution from God.

It sounds reasonable. But, it isn't so! We can point to many examples of godly souls who suffered incredibly--and to awful people who had it all!

Who are the celebrities today? Who is living lavishly? Who holds the reins of power? Who indulges in the pleasures this world brings?

Sure, there is the occasional Tim Tebow who emerges. But, that's what claims our attention--someone who has sincere faith, yet has a measure of earthly success is such a rarity. For every Tebow, there are hundreds--thousands--of people who haven't a thought for God, yet, seemingly, not a care in the world. There are many whose notoriety and prosperity come from their defiance of God! Atheists become best-selling authors and godless comedians who mock all that is holy are household names. Does the name Bill Maher ring a bell?

Why do good things happen to bad people?

Job wondered. Years later, the Psalmist did. It nearly undermined his faith! Ponder this:

"God is indeed good to Israel,

to the pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet almost slipped;

my steps nearly went astray.

For I envied the arrogant;

I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have an easy time until they die,

and their bodies are well fed.

They are not in trouble like others;

they are not afflicted like most people.

Therefore, pride is their necklace,

and violence covers them like a garment.

Their eyes bulge out from fatness;

the imaginations of their hearts run wild.

They mock, and they speak maliciously;

they arrogantly threaten oppression.

They set their mouths against heaven,

and their tongues strut across the earth.

Therefore His people turn to them

and drink in their overflowing words.

The wicked say, 'How can God know?

Does the Most High know everything?'

Look at them-the wicked!

They are always at ease,

and they increase their wealth.

Did I purify my heart

and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?

For I am afflicted all day long

and punished every morning." (Psalm 73:1-14 HCSB)

Asaph echoes Job's sentiment. We still wonder. But, Job would ultimately find strength in the presence of the Lord--not all the solutions to the problem, but strength to face the perplexity. So did Asaph. Here is what the Psalmist did:

"If I had decided to say these things [aloud],

I would have betrayed Your people.

When I tried to understand all this,

it seemed hopeless

until I entered God's sanctuary.

Then I understood their destiny

Indeed, You put them in slippery places;

You make them fall into ruin.

How suddenly they become a desolation!

They come to an end, swept away by terrors.

Like one waking from a dream,

Lord, when arising, You will despise their image.

When I became embittered

and my innermost being was wounded,

I was stupid and didn't understand;

I was an unthinking animal toward You.

Yet I am always with You;

You hold my right hand.

You guide me with Your counsel,

and afterward You will take me up in glory.

Who do I have in heaven but You?

And I desire nothing on earth but You.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart,

my portion forever.

Those far from You will certainly perish;

You destroy all who are unfaithful to You.

But as for me, God's presence is my good.

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

so I can tell about all You do." (Psalm 73:15-28 HCSB)

All the "hell" the people of God will know is in this fleeting mortal existence. All the "heaven" the wicked will know is on earth. Which one would you rather experience?

We can deny self, and die to the world, as we take up the cross to follow Jesus, coming to the end and rejoice, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us." (Romans 8:18 HCSB)

Would you rather be this man Jesus told about?

"There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate. He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man's table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores. One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 'Father Abraham!' he called out, 'Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!'

"'Son,' Abraham said, 'remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.' " (Luke 16:19-26 HCSB)