School's out! XD

Meanwhile, summer school is in...Oy -_-x

Anyway, God bless!

-Love, GinniePark

~*

Memory Verse of the Week:

"Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God." - Exodus 34:26a

~*

Covenant Renewal - Exodus 34:1-9

The New Tablets

1: "The LORD said to Moses, 'Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke."

2: "Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain."

3: "No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.'"

4: "So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up on Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands."

 

Worshipping Is Responding to God

5: "Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His name, the LORD."

6: "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."

7: "maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.'"

8: "Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshipped."

9: "'Lord,' he said, 'if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.'"

~*

Reflection

The New Tablets (34:1-4)

Illustrations portray Moses coming down from Mount Sinai carrying the two tablets with the Ten Commandments inscribed on them, five on one side and five on the other. But this is a misinterpretation. In keepin with ancient Near Eastern practices in a period before copy machines and scanners, these were duplicate copies of the same covenant document. One copy belonged to each party of the contract. Both copies would be kept in the ark. In this covenant, the people agreed to be servants of God, and God agreed to be with them.

God tells Moses to provide the stone tablets; the Lord Himself would write the words. Our Bible is the Word of God written on the paper we have provided. The paper, binding, and cover are not of importance, but the words on the paper are most important.

 

Worshipping Is Responding to God (34:5-9)

It is interesting to note that immediately after the Law is given to Moses, God talks about His character. The Law is not meant to bind or burden us, but rather, to reveal God to us. As Moses experiences the presence of God and hears His voice, his immediate response is to bow down in worship. Worship is primarily a "response" to God - to His character and deeds. Some churches will even start worship services with a sermon and end with time in praise and prayer as a response to the Word that was preached. In fact, everything we do in relation to God is a response; all initiative lies with Him, which is why Jesus came to "seek and save the lost." The important thing to remember is that the character of God ought to be the object of our worship.

~*

Application

-Jesus inaugurated the new covenant with His blood (Mark 14:24; 1 Cor 11:25), thus making the old covenant obsolete (Heb 8:13). Does this make the Ten Commandments no longer viable? No. The principles of the old covenant are still guidelines for holy living today.

-Worship recognizes the supreme worth of God to praise Him for His goodness, to meditate on His holiness, and to renew devotion to His service. It cannot be entered lightly.

~*

"A covenant puts no conditions on faithfulness. It is the unconditional commitment to love and serve."

-Bruce Shelley

~*

It All Leads Back To...

A popular worship song, "Blessed Be Your Name," is about worshipping God in all situations. Whether life is hard or easy, in years of plenty or need, we ought to praise God's name. But what about times when we sin? What about those moments in our lives when we fall short of God's glory? Can we still praise God in the midst of our sinful state?

God is holy and cannot be near sin. But to worship God means to be in His presence. Thus, we cannot sin and worship God at the same time. Of course we never want to fall into blatant sin, but when we do sin, the first thing we ought to do (once we realize it) is come into the presence of Our King. After all, our whole covenant with God is a demonstration of His love, mercy, and grace. And this is what God makes clear when He re-issues the Ten Commandments in Exodus 34.

John Piper states, "Before he [God] declares the terms of the covenant, he wants to make perfectly clear that it is a covenant based on mercy and love and forgiveness. So the very first promise of God's covenant is to mercifully forgive repentant sinners." When God tells Moses this, his first response is worship. Through this we learn: God offers us grace, and we respond by offering Him worship.

~*

A Letter to God

Lord, thank You for the new covenant.

Your blood is able to cleanse my conscience so that I may serve You.

Thank You for eternal life, the promise of Your presence, and hope for future perfection.

You are a God who cannot break His promises.

You are worthy of my utmost worship. Amen.