Category Archives: Exodus

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Practicing The Presence of God

Wherever You Are, You Are Never Far From God

God wants his people to see, feel and know his presence at all time. The truth is, whatever you are doing in this world, whether you are working with your mind or voice or hands; with your time or energy or money, whether you are sleeping, eating, thinking, working, you are in the presence of a watching, loving, caring, involved God. Practicing the presence of God will keep you aware of that.

The Journey // Focus: Exodus 27:20-21

Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. The lampstand will stand in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel, and it must be observed from generation to generation.

The lamp of the Lord’s presence was to be kept burning so that the darkness never extinguished it—and this was to be done perpetually, from generation to generation. God wanted his people to see, feel and know his presence at all times. The perpetually burning lamp was one of the ways they would be reminded of this unparalleled truth that God was always with them. It would help them to practice the presence of God.

God wants that for you, too. Whatever you are doing in this world, whether you are working with your mind or voice or hands; with your time or energy or money, whether you are sleeping, eating, thinking, working, you are in the presence of a watching, loving, caring, involved God. Practicing the presence of God will keep you aware of that.

So learn to practice the presence of God, as Brother Lawrence did, a humble cook who communed with God in his ordinary, everyday tasks. He learned the art of living in the presence of God throughout the day.

His name was Nicholas Herman, born to peasant parents in Lorraine, France. Later, he entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Paris as Brother Lawrence. He was assigned to the monastery kitchen where, amidst the tedious chores of cooking and cleaning at the constant bidding of his superiors, he developed his rule of spirituality and work. In his Maxims, Lawrence writes, “Men invent means and methods of coming at God’s love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God’s presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?”

For Brother Lawrence, “common business,” no matter how mundane or routine, was the medium of God’s love. The issue was not the sacredness or worldly status of the task but the motivation behind it. “Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.”

Brother Lawrence retreated to a place in his heart where the love of God made every detail of his life of surpassing value. “I began to live as if there were no one save God and me in the world.” Together, God and Brother Lawrence cooked meals, ran errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world.” (Christianity Today: Christian History—Brother Lawrence.

And Brother Lawrence, this humble kitchen helper, became one of the most influential Christians to ever live. I love what Lawrence said:

I am doing now what I will do for all eternity. I am blessing God, praising Him, adoring him, and loving Him with all my heart [in what I am doing].

Lawrence kept the lampstand of the Lord’s presence burning in his life by practicing the presence of God at all times in everything he did. If a poor, uneducated, unskilled kitchen aide can do it, so can you!

Going Deeper: Whatever you are doing today, literally invite God into it. Keep the lampstand of his presence burning throughout the day…then do it again tomorrow.

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The Tabernacle Then—Your Worship Now

Worship on God's Terms

Why should you care today about the details of how a tabernacle was constructed thousands of years ago? You should care because God cares, that’s why. God provided exacting details of how he wanted his house to be built, what kind of furniture he wanted in it, and how his people were to approach him in worship because he wanted to live among them. He still does! Why? Because he desires to “tabernacle” with you, too!

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 26:1-2,30

Make the Tabernacle from ten curtains of finely woven linen. Decorate the curtains with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with skillfully embroidered cherubim. These ten curtains must all be exactly the same size—42 feet long and 6 feet wide. …Set up this Tabernacle according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.

We live in a day when it seems that anything goes in terms of how we worship God. There is very little preparation on the part of the people as they come for corporate worship, what happens on the stage (in my opinion) is often more about the “performers” than the Audience of One about whom they are singing, and the end result of the “worship set” is that the audience claps their hands approvingly while the musicians exit the stage to the green room, and the order of service moves on to the next item on the agenda.

Now don’t get me wrong. Modern worship is not all bad. In fact, I would argue that there is much good in it—perhaps mostly good. No matter what church service I am in, no matter what style of worship is offered, no matter the quality of the musicians, I experience the presence of God. That is because, by and large, worship is a choice of the heart. I get to choose to worship the One who is worthy of my praise—and that is the choice I make.

So this is not a diatribe against worship in the modern American church. But it is a reminder against mindless, anything goes worship. God cares about how we worship, what we sing, even how we set the physical environment for the worship experience. If he didn’t, I doubt that we would have chapter after chapter in Exodus, sixteen of them, to be exact, in which he gave exacting details about the place and the process for his people meeting with him in the experience of worship.

There will be some, perhaps many, who will push back on what I have said so far. That’s fine—I think having a spirited, respectful discussion on a theology of worship is healthy and necessary to developing a proper practice for approaching a holy God who wants to be approached. But I would just say that whatever you believe about modern worship, you must consider what the tabernacle teaches us about what God wants, and demands, from the worshiping community. Consider the broad application of a New Testament exhortation regarding this Old Testament story:

All these things happened to [the Israelites of the Exodus] as examples—as object lessons to us—to warn us against doing the same things; they were written down so that we could read about them and learn from them in these last days as the world nears its end. (1 Corinthians 10:11)

What was it they did that brought down God’s wrath upon them? It had to do with their worship. They tried to worship their way; God showed them in no unmistakable terms that proper and pleasing worship must happen on his terms.

The bottom line to this, and the final sixteen chapters of Exodus that give us these boring, exacting details on how God expected worship to take place teaches us that he cares about our worship. Think of your worship this way: it is simply the pathway that God has established for you, a fallen, unworthy subject, to approach an unapproachable, holy Object who desires and is deserving of your best worship. It is thus important that you know how to approach him, and what “best” and “deserving” worship looks like.

That might sound a bit ominous and not encouraging of the free offering of worship to which you have become accustomed. Sorry about that. But you must keep the seriousness of worship in tension as you approach God. Yet this story also reminds us that God desires to live among his people—he wants to be close to you and for you to be close to him. That is the other side of these details. God has given a path for you to approach him, not because he wants to make it difficult, but because he wants you to experience his holiness without being consumed by it. That is why giving careful thought to your worship is so critical.

Exodus—God’s pathway to God-pleasing worship, and Numbers—the people’s pathway to humanistic worship, contrasts the right and the wrong ways to approach God. In the Old Testament story, God brought his heavy hand of judgment down upon the people for offering unholy worship. He doesn’t seem to do that today—thank God. But let the community of Israel be a constant reminder to us that worship done man’s way will always lead, sooner or later, to something that may look good on the outside but is anything but pleasing to the Audience of One.

On a positive note, be encouraged that Almighty God has gone out of his way to “tabernacle” with you; that is, to dwell in close, loving relationship with li’l ol’ you. Graham Truscott gives us something to think about in this regard:

When God’s people begin to praise and worship Him using the Biblical methods He gives, the Power of His presence comes among His people in an even greater measure

Going Deeper: As you read these passages on the details of the tabernacle and Old Testament worship, resist the urge to skip over them. Instead, read them thankfully, because what you are reading about is a God who, because he so desperately longs to tabernacle with you, has just laid down the way for that to happen.

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My Will or Thy Will?

God — On His Terms

There are two approaches to being in relationship with God. We can either say, “God, your will be done” or “God, my will be done”. One works, the other doesn’t. Get into the pattern of offering this prayer to your Heavenly Father: “Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.” When you think about it, why wouldn’t you pray that way? After all, who wants a God that can be bossed around, ordered here and there like an errand boy? What kind of deity would that be? That’s not the kind of God I want—or more accurately, the kind of God I need.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 25:8-9,40

The Lord said, “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you. … Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”

There are two approaches to being in relationship with God—which by the way, most every human being deeply desires, whether they have acted upon it on or not, or care to admit it or not. The first approach is the way God has established for coming to him. It is represented by the words our Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Father, not my will, but your will be done.” The other approach is much more common among us fallen, self-centered human beings, and it is represented by the phrase, “God, my will be done.” That prayer, unfortunately, is prayed early and often each day on Planet Earth.

One approach works; the other doesn’t. And when it is put that way, you know which is the proper way to come before Almighty God.

If any right minded person were to stop and think about it, who would want to be in relationship with a God that could be bossed around; who could be ordered here and there like an errand boy; who could be reduced to a celestial sugar daddy, there to meet our every need and respond to our every whim? What kind of God would that be? That is not the kind of God I want—or more accurately, the kind of God I need.

And of course, that is not the God of the Bible—the one and only God! He demands that we approach him on his terms. And boy, does he have terms. That is why, in this text, he is instructing Moses in exacting detail to build a house for him where his people can come to meet him through worship and sacrifice. Twice, he insists that this house be constructed “according to the pattern I have shown.”

Not only in the construction of his house, but later, God gives the people exacting detail in the laws they are to follow for the orderliness of their daily lives, the health of their social interactions, the process for their sacrifices, and even the holidays—the holy days—they are to observe. God is in the details! And those details remind us that God cares how we come to him, that we follow the pattern he has established. Not only does he care, he demands that we follow them if we want to have a relationship with him, as God told Moses, “so I can live among them.” (Exodus 25:8)

Of course, we don’t live by Old Testament policy today, but the letter of God’s law lives on in the spirit of law. That is, the initial reasons these exacting details were provided are still in play, albeit reinterpreted to the context in which we live. We don’t need a tabernacle today, but we sure do need God to live among us. And God still cares about the details that make it possible for him to live among us, and those details remind us that he is holy, and if we expect to enjoy his presence and walk in his favor, we must recognize his holiness and, likewise, walk in holiness. That holiness doesn’t come just by outward observance of rules, although we may find those rules as helpful guidelines for living, but it is a holiness of the inner person that honors him and invites his presence in our hearts.

What holiness teaches us, arguably the most important thing it teaches us, is that God is God and we are not—that when we come to God, it is on his gracious terms, not on terms that we establish. As you think about your relationship with God, honestly assess how you are coming to him. Do you have the attitude of Jesus: “God, here is what I want, but nevertheless, not what I want, but what you want is my desire”? Or are you coming to a God you have created in your image, a God to whom you in effect say, “God, my will be done”?

Those are critical questions to reflect on if you want to enjoy the full benefits of the God who desires to live close to you. Follow the pattern that he has shown you!

Going Deeper: Think about the attitude you have toward God, which is best revealed in the kind of praying you do. If you have been demanding that God conform to your will, instead of you to his, then repent, first of all, and second, begin to say, “Lord, not my will, but yours be done.”

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If You Think Holiness Is Boring, You Don’t Understand Holiness

A Preview of the Beauty of Holiness

In human history, only a privileged few have seen a representation of the glory of God, yet even then, they only saw it as through a glass darkly—and it was beautiful beyond description. But one day it will not be beautiful beyond description, for when we are in the eternal presence of Almighty God, we will have the capacity that no human being during their time on earth ever possessed, for we will see the Lord in the pure beauty his unequaled holiness. As a child of God, all of God is yours—now by faith, but one day by sight. Congratulations, great things are in store for you!

Going Deep // Focus: Exodus 24:9-11

Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

What a stunning passage: Moses and his management team climbed Mt. Sinai and have a full session, including a covenantal meal with God himself. And the description of the presence of God is beautiful beyond description: “They went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.” (Exodus 24:10)

What in the world is lapis lazuli? The Expositor’s Commentary offers this description:

Under God’s feet was a “pavement made of sapphire,” a deep blue or, more accurately, lapis lazuli of Mesopotamia, an opaque blue precious stone speckled with a golden yellow-colored pyrite. True sapphire, the transparent crystalline of corundum…symbolizes the heavens.

That’s right: what we have here is a preview of heaven and a time, when we too, will have access to the glory of God. But unlike this group, which saw just a similitude of the Presence, we will have unfiltered, unimpeded, uninterrupted access to the full glory, beauty and holiness of almighty God.

In human history, only a chosen few have seen the glory of the Lord—Adam and Eve, Moses, Isaiah, Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, John on the Isle of Patmos—and even then, it was not the fullness of his glory, for no human can see God’s holiness and live to tell about it:

Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23)

These privileged few saw a representation of the glory of God, but even then, they saw it as through a glass darkly. (1 Corinthians 13:12) And it was beautiful beyond description. But one day it will not be beautiful beyond description, for when we are in the eternal presence of Almighty God, we will have the capacity that no human being during their time on earth ever possessed, for we will see the Lord in the pure beauty his unequaled holiness:

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. … Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 Corinthians 2:8-12, 1 John 3:2)

As you read this description in Exodus—the glory of the Lord’s presence, the pure beauty of his holiness, the invitation to a covenantal meal—that is just a preview of what is yours, that is, if you have surrendered your life to him by grace through faith in the saving work of his Son, Jesus Christ. For when you do that, accept his free gift of salvation, his Word declares that you have been given the right to become the child of God. (John 1:12) And as a child of God, all of God is yours—now by faith, but one day by sight.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

Congratulations, child of God, Great things are in store for you!

Going Deeper: Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. So says Jesus in Matthew 5:12.

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Where God Makes His Home

I Serve Another and His Purposes

God’s holiness was not relegated to the Old Testament. Never forget: He is still holy, and he still desires holiness among his people, which includes you and me. The requirements of holiness shouldn’t be seen as restrictive, as some people think, but rather as a privilege that carries with it the unique blessing of being distinct within this world as God’s very own people.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 22:31, 23:13

You must be my holy people…pay close attention to all my instructions.

Once the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt and gave them the Law through Moses, he was very careful to identify the nation as his very own people. He sovereignly chose them and now he rightfully owned them as his people. And God set about to shape them into a holy nation that could “tabernacle”, or house his presence, contain blessings and reflect his glory to the peoples of the earth—as much as such a thing was humanly possible.

But Israel needed to understand very clearly that this position of privilege carried with it the responsibility of holiness. Thus the Law was given to pave the way to holiness. Interestingly, and quite importantly, their holiness had much to do with how they treated one another in daily life, not just how they approached God in sacred worship. If holiness is something you desire, which you should, then keep in mind that it is not just personal, it is social. Jesus, quoting Moses (Deuteronomy 6:4,5 and Leviticus 19:18), talked about the law as being both God-centric (“love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” – Mark 12:30) and people-focused in its application (“Love your neighbor as yourself” –Mark 12:31).

Holiness was a whole life demand that included interpersonal relationships, business transactions, legal justice, and treatment of the disadvantaged, among other things. To follow the law in these everyday details is how love for God was expressed in deed. And the payoff for loving God through living out his law was huge: if God’s people got this right, God would reign as their king forever, strengthen them and give them peace (“showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” – Exodus 20:6). Such a deal! But if they blew it, they would forfeit the best offer they could ever have—their gracious God living among them.

The law gets a bad rap among believers today. Like we do with so many things we don’t like or agree with or understand, we label it and marginalize it. We refer to observance of the law as legalism and those who follow it as Pharisees, among other things. And to be certain, those who woodenly followed the law clear down to its minutiae, and who made up hundreds of further laws to explain the law, drew the ire of the true Law-giver, Jesus, who was the perfect fulfillment of God’s law. Furthermore, it is true that no one is saved by law-keeping. It is only through grace by faith in Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice that one is saved.

No, the law cannot save anyone. But keeping the law, from the heart and not just by the head or the hands, was a way for Israel, who lived in lawless Egypt for 400 years, to now know how to live as people in the presence of a holy God. Of course, that law couldn’t save them—that was not its purpose. But it could definitely show them that they belonged to Another; One who was altogether holy and demanded holiness from his people. It showed them how to approach him on his terms (which was, and is, the only way to approach the Holy One), how to find pardon and restoration when they violated his law, and how to live in loving community as his chosen family.

Now while we don’t live under the law today, we still live under God’s desire for us to be a holy people, chosen as his very own to serve his purpose in lifting his fame among all the peoples of the earth. And as we read these explicit descriptions of his law in the Jewish Scriptures, let us remember that even under the age of grace where we are not obligated to observe the minutiae of the law, we are obligated to a life of holiness, empowered by the Holy Spirit, because the Almighty to whom we belong is holy. We belong to him, and as such, we serve the purposes of Another in holiness through our everyday lives.

God’s holiness was not relegated to the Old Testament. Never forget: He is still holy, and he still desires holiness among his people, which includes you and me. The requirements of holiness shouldn’t be seen as restrictive, as some people think, but rather as a privilege that carries with it the unique blessing of being distinct within this world as God’s very own people.

And it is still true that we best demonstrate our belonging to and our serving Another by loving the Lord our God with all heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength,” and by “loving our neighbor as ourselves.” (Mark 12:30-31)

As we live out this holy God’s higher law, we shall find that God has found a home in us, his holy people.

Going Deeper: I would suggest that you join me in offering this prayer in response to our reading: “Father, you desire me to be holy—set apart to tabernacle your presence, contain your blessings and reflect your Name to the nations. You want me to intimately know that I belong to you, that my life is not my own. I serve Another, and his purposes. That’s why you want holiness of me 24/7. Father, cleanse me and take away every stain of unrighteousness that has come from thought, word or deed. Make me pure and keep me pure, that I might be the home in which you will happily dwell. Reign over my life, give me your strength, and bless me with peace.”

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God Is In The Details

He Is In The Minutiae

God cares about even the minute details of my life. How encouraging! How sobering! Yes, everything about my life—even the things that are not visible to anyone else—matters to God. That is why I must learn to practice the presence of God in my ordinary moments throughout the day—how I think, what I do and say, how I respond to others. It is all worship to God—or at least it should be.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 21:1

The Lord gave Moses the following laws for his people…

God cares about the details of our lives—how we treat one another, how we can get justice when our rights are violated, how we are responsible for our actions, and even our inaction—the things we should have done. That is why God gave Moses a series of rules to guide the lives of the Israelites as they lived in their newly formed society.

Some of these laws seem arcane: “Suppose the slave loves his wife and children so much that he won’t leave without them [when given the chance to buy his freedom]. In that case, he must stand beside either the door or the doorpost at the place of worship, while his owner punches a small hole through one of his ears with a sharp metal rod. This makes him a slave for life.” (Exodus 21:5-6)

Some of the laws seem quite clear cut and totally relevant for today: “Death is the punishment for murder.” (Exodus 21:13) Whether you are pro or con with capital punishment, there was a very direct order from God about how to deal with someone who willfully took the life of another. In that sense, having a discussion about if and how it fits in society today is a relevant topic.

Some of these are hard to discern the clear intent behind the law: “Suppose a pregnant woman suffers a miscarriage as the result of an injury caused by someone who is fighting. If she isn’t badly hurt, the one who injured her must pay whatever fine her husband demands and the judges approve. But if she is seriously injured, the payment will be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, cut for cut, and bruise for bruise.” (Exodus 21:22-25) So would this suggest that killing the unborn is murder or not? A case could be forcefully made either way.

What we have here are a series of laws, provided by God, to govern the civil life of the newly formed society of Israel—laws that are arcane, laws that are still culturally relevant, laws that reside in the gray area of justice and morality. And though we may never know the real intent behind some of these laws, and how or if God wants us to apply them today, what we do know for certain is this: God cared about the details of the everyday lives of his people, Israel.

And since God never changes, that means he still cares about the everyday details of the lives of his people—that is, you and me. So what does that mean for us today? It simply yet profoundly means that God is involved. It means everything that happens to us and through us is known by an ever-watchful God. It means that my behavior matters to my Creator. It means that God wants me to be very careful how I live, how I act toward others, and that I follow his design for life as closely and as respectfully to his will as I possibly can. It means that all of life, my eating, breathing, sleeping, walking around life is to be offered as a pleasing sacrifice of worship to him.

That is what worship is, after all: the offering of everyday life to God. And since he has concerned himself enough to provide details on how I ought to live, then I ought to live each and every moment with the careful sense that what I do counts before him.

God cares about even the minute details of my life. That is so encouraging while at the same time so sobering. Yes, it all matters to God.

Going Deeper: Give thought to your every move. Learn to offer every detail of your life to God. Throughout the day, practice the presence of God. God cares. And you have opportunity in any given moment to please your Maker by how you live.

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Whatever Became of the Fear of the Lord?

It's Time To Rediscover It

Whatever became of the fear of the Lord? We have become so comfortable with sin that our fear of judgment has been lost. Punishment and consequences seem to have no governing effect. Cheap grace has made holy living a squishy concept, not the normal way of life for far too many believers. It is time we rediscover a holy fear of the Lord.

The Journey// Focus: Exodus 20:18-20

When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear. And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!” Moses answered them, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”

I sometimes wish that God would show up like he did on Mount Sinai—peels of thunder, flashes of lightning, the whole nine yards—and just scare the bejeebers out of us. We have become so comfortable with sin that our fear of judgment have been lost. Punishment and consequences seem to have no governing effect. Cheap grace has made holy living a squishy concept, not the normal way of life for far too many believers. We have virtually no fear of the Lord and no fear of sin.

God showed up on Mount Sinai as he gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, and from the camp around the base of the mountain, the Israelites watched the fireworks with fear and dread. So great and awesome was the divine display that when Moses returned, the people pleaded with him to be their go-between with the Almighty. They had witnessed God’s unsurpassed holiness from a distance and knew they could never stand before him because, at their best, they were fundamentally unholy.

In reply, Moses said something quite interesting: “Don’t be afraid, for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!” What? Don’t fear, God is just showing you how to fear. And that fear will keep you safe.

To understand Moses’ confusing statement we need to distinguish between two types of fear:

  1. The first fear is that which comes from our sense of guilt, and the punishment it deserves. This type of fear may be a conscious awareness of unworthiness, but even if the fear is subconscious, it still has a tormenting result in our lives. This type of fear leads to all kinds of bondage, insecurity and harmful behavior to assuage it.
  2. The second kind of fear comes in the form of respect. It recognizes the complete authority of God over our lives, and his complete justification for holding people to account who violate his right to rule. This fear of the Lord is healthy, whether conscious or subconscious, and promotes an attitude of belief in, love for and complete trust of God.

Both fears can motivate righteous behavior: the first fear for a time; the second for a lifetime. The first type of fear is what the Israelites had, even though Moses had called them to the second type. Their fear at this point was short lived, for after Moses returned to the mountain for further instruction in the law, and lingered there for several days, the people’s fear abated and they did the very thing the law commanded them to eschew: they built an idol, a golden calf, and worshiped it, indulging in all kinds of wanton behavior as they did. (Exodus 32)

And as a result, the punishment they feared when Moses first came down came upon them. Their fears were justified.

So I guess wishing God would show up with peels of thunder and flashes of lightening wouldn’t be that effective after all. Apparently scaring the bejeebers out of us is short-lived, because it scares us into the wrong kind of fear.

God wants us to live in holy fear—the one that comes from a mature knowledge of his holiness and a respect for his right to lovingly rule our lives. It is that kind of fear that is the best motive for holy living—and the surest way to the blessings God longs to shower us with. That kind of fear comes not from peels of thunder and flashes of lightening, but from a surrendered heart.

Holy Spirit, lead us into a holy fear of the Lord.

Going Deeper: Ask the Spirit of God to reveal to you what holy fear is, and ask him to lead you into a mature, authentic experience of the fear of the Lord.