(#14 5983) Day 3 - Exodus

FIRST POSTED ON 15 FEBRUARY 2019.

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my Shabbat blog!

Earlier, we saw how the Third Day of Creation foretold the literal gathering of the floodwaters and appearing of the Dry Ground of a new world following the Flood.

Symbolically, it pointed to the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) through whom God brought forth His plan of salvation - the dry ground as it were on which we are rescued from drowning in the sea of sin and judgment, this dry ground being none other than Jesus our Rock of salvation.

But there was one more Kairos event that took place on this Day - the supernatural gathering of the waters and appearing of dry ground during the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Most of us are quite familiar with the Exodus story and how it symbolically describes our deliverance from bondage to sin when we accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour and Lord. But there is another and perhaps even more important observation - it was here that God first revealed His personal name.

Although God’s name (Yahweh) was first used in Gen 2:4, bear in mind that Genesis was written by Moses, whom God revealed His name to. Later on (Gen 4:26, 12:8, 13:4, 21:33, 26:25), we see the children of Seth, as well as Abraham and Isaac “calling on the name of the Lord” but we are told in Ex 6:2-3 that God did not reveal His personal name to them, not even when asked by Jacob after wrestling the whole night with God (Gen 32:29-30). It was only here, with Moses, that God revealed His personal name, and we are told the reason in Ex 4:22 - because “Israel is my firstborn son.” God saved the Israelites because He loved them as His very own. He saved His people not just to free them from their physical bondage but to restore their true identity as His children.

Reflections - Many seek God’s name for the wrong reasons, often for power or control, blessings or self-glory. Yes, we are told of the power found in His name alone - that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Rom 10:13). We can prophesy, drive out demons and perform many miracles in His name. However, when God proclaimed His name to the Israelites, it was because they were to be His children, His firstborn, who would carry His name to all the world. Likewise, when Jesus took on the name of God - “I AM” (Jn 6:35, 8:12, 10:9, 10:11, 11:25, 14:6, 15:1; see also Jn 8:58) - it was not to seek glory for Himself although He could have easily done so, but to do His Father’s will. God gave us His name in Jesus to let us know that we are His children.

It is this personal relationship that is the key to true discipleship. When we see God as our Heavenly Father, we are motivated by love and obedience, and His will and honour becomes what is most important in our lives. It was this love - love for His Father and love for us His brothers and sisters - that led Jesus to obey and do His Father’s will by dying on the Cross for us. Ultimately, it is God Himself who demonstrated true love to us His children. In Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, actually the father was the true prodigal by His extravagant show of love to his prodigal son. But this was exactly what God did for us as Paul explained in Rom 5:8. Like the father who rushed out of His home to meet his unworthy son, “God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, [God left His home and came down to us as a human in Jesus and] died for us.” (Lk 15:20, Rom 5:8).

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(#13 5983) Day 3 - The Patriarchs

FIRST POSTED ON 1 FEBRUARY 2019.

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my Shabbat blog!

As we continue our study of the Third Day of Creation, when we look at how God brought about this dry ground of salvation through the lives of the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - we learn some very important lessons about our Christian faith.

First, God’s gift of eternal life is unconditional, meaning we cannot do anything to earn our salvation. It only requires faith on our part. Like Abraham, we are called to believe in God alone and in His word for us in order for God to credit or give us His righteousness to cover our sinfulness.

What this means also is that, as Christians, we are children of promise like Isaac. Just as God promised Abraham a son and the blessing of descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, God promised us His very own Son Jesus and the blessing of becoming Abraham’s spiritual descendants and the very children of God. Now, we do not become Christians by being born into Christian families. Neither do we become Christians by trying to earn God’s favour through our religious works. We become God’s children of promise only through faith in Christ, when we enter into a personal saving relationship with Him.

Finally, we need to wait on God and not run ahead of Him. This is the main lesson behind Jacob’s life. Although he was already assured of God’s promises (Gen 25:23, Rom 9:10-13), Jacob did not wait for God’s Kairos but rushed ahead to try to steal the blessing. This led to a life on the run filled with lies and deception. Instead, we are to be like Joseph, who understood God’s Kairos and therefore knew what he should do.

Let me elaborate - Time is God’s gift to us. Our time thus belongs to Him, and the best time for us is always His Kairos. In His wisdom and love, God gave His Creation Seven Days (7,000 years) to make everything good and whole (Shalom - perfect/complete/at rest). When Adam and Eve sinned, God in His mercy sent them out of Eden away from the Tree of Life so that they would not eat from this tree and end up spending eternity in darkness, doom and death. In His time, God gave us a second chance through one man (Noah) and called another (Abraham) through whom we could be saved, promising him a son. But Abraham could not wait; he rushed ahead in his own time. Yet God is faithful. In His time, He fulfilled His promise to give Abraham a son (Isaac). In His time, Isaac had twins, and God chose the younger (Jacob). But Jacob could not wait; he rushed ahead in his own time. Yet God is faithful. In His time, He wrestled Jacob into submission and through his dysfunctional family of twelve sons, brought forth the nation - Israel. In His time, He revealed His plans to Jacob’s favourite son (Joseph) in a dream, which led to the beginning of his living nightmare. Joseph was sold as a slave into Egypt and later imprisoned on false charges. But Joseph knew God and trusted in His faithfulness. He did not rush ahead in his own time but waited on God’s time. So, in God’s time, Joseph was appointed to the highest position in Egypt after Pharaoh. In His time, God brought to pass His plans as revealed in Joseph’s dreams, and brought Joseph face-to-face with his wicked brothers. But Joseph did not harbour anger and bitterness towards them. He knew God and recognised His time and purpose; it was God who sent him ahead into Egypt to preserve a remnant by a great deliverance. In His time, God used one man, Joseph - who could understand the signs of the times and knew what he had to do - as part of His larger salvation plan for all of us.

Today, do we acknowledge that our time belongs to God? Do we know Him well enough and trust in His faithfulness to wait on His Kairos and not rush ahead in our own time? Do we know His heart and His purpose so that we can recognise the signs of the times that we live in today and know what we should do in such a time as this?

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(#12 5983) Day 3 - Dry Ground

FIRST POSTED ON 15 JANUARY 2019.

Shalom Aleichem and welcome to my Shabbat blog!

Over the next few sessions, we will be looking at the Third Day of Creation and from there bring this discussion on the first three days of creation to a close.

If you recall, the first two days of creation pointed to Man’s fall into sin and how sin has to be dealt with by a holy and righteous God. This judgment eventually came about with the Flood but at the same time, God provided an Ark to save Noah and his family.

Now, following the Flood, God literally gathered the waters - like what He did on the Third Day - so that life can once again be revived on the dry ground of a new world. But mankind continued to drown in the sea of sin due to their fallen nature. Instead of repenting and turning back to God, they wanted to make a name for themselves, beginning here with the Tower of Babel. Throughout the rest of God’s Word, we will see the contest between this Satan-inspired kingdom of man (Babylon) and the Kingdom of God, which we will see later is represented by God’s chosen city - Jerusalem.

But the Third Day of Creation portrays an even more important reality - for just as God literally gathered the waters following the Flood, in symbolic terms, amidst what we could imagine as the sea of sin that threatens to engulf and drown us in eternal judgment, God gathered these waters and brought forth "dry ground" as it were, which is His plan to rescue us. God chose one man, Abraham, and from Abraham and his descendants, He birthed a nation, Israel, and it is through Israel that the world will be blessed, because out of this nation God gave us Jesus Christ.

Oh, what a wonderful picture of hope and salvation that God shows us on this Third Day of Creation!

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