Category Archives: Exodus

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A Preview of the Beauty of Holiness

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

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 of his unequaled holiness.

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

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Knowing God

Reflect:
Exodus 32:1-34:35

“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.” ~Exodus 33:11

If I could choose in advance the epitaph that would describe me at the end of my life, it would be this: “The Lord would speak to Ray Noah face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”

Is that really possible for a human being? It was for Moses! If anyone ever really knew God, if a human being ever experienced an extraordinarily intimate revelation of God, if a man ever truly had a close personal friendship with God, it was Moses.

But Moses didn’t always have this kind of relationship with God. If you were to review Moses’ life, you would be reminded that in his first forty years, Moses knew a lot about God. He was born to Hebrew parents, but raised in the lap of luxury in the Egyptian palace as one of Pharaoh’s sons—he was a prince of Egypt. Moses knew about God through his heritage, but there is no indication of a walk with God characterized by love and obedience. In fact, it appears Moses was somewhat indifferent to God.

But then Moses tried to play God and killed an Egyptian, and he had to flee the palace to the backside of the Sinai Desert, where he lived as a fugitive for the next forty years until he met God at the burning bush. And during these four decades, Moses unlearned everything he knew about God in the first forty years. It was a desert experience—literally and spiritually—where Moses knew nothing but the silence of God. God had enrolled Moses in the University of the Desert—the Graduate School of Sinai—where he trained Moses in the curricula of solitude, monotony and failure.

But then came the burning bush, which marked the beginning of the final forty years of Moses’ life. And in this period, he came to know and experience God the way we want to know and experience him: In his power and glory. Moses, unlike any other man, experienced first hand every attribute of God a human being could possibly experience: God’s omnipotence—that he is all-powerful; his omniscience—that he is all-wise and knowing; his omnipresence—that he is everywhere at all times; his Divine nature—that is, his justice, righteousness, holiness, and incomparable greatness.

What more could a human want? Yet that wasn’t enough. Moses didn’t just want to know about God, he wasn’t satisfied with seeing the evidence of God’s activity. He wanted more:

“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor with you…Now show me your glory.” (Exodus 33:13,18)

You’ve got to admire Moses’ boldness, audacity and greediness for God! Here is what he’s really asking: “God, I want to know you…your character…your nature…what makes you tick. I want to enter into the deepest dimension of intimacy with the Almighty that’s possible for one human being.”

Amazingly, God obliged this big, audacious request—he revealed himself fully to Moses. (Exodus 33:14-23) Now this doesn’t simply tell us something about Moses, it mostly reveals something vitally important about God:

God wants us to know how much he wants to be known.

He has made himself knowable. He is not some unapproachable deity way out there in a galaxy far, far away. He is the God who is there, the God who is near, the God who will reveal himself to those who long to know him.

“What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him.” (Deuteronomy 4:7)

God want us to know that he is near and that he is knowable: “I will cause my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.” (Exodus 33:19) In other words, I’ll let you know me.

To ask to know him is a request that pleases the heart of God! You see, that’s what we were made for: To know God. That’s what he desires from us. God himself says in Hosea 6:6, “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.” And that should be our chief aim in life—to know God—because that is truly the sweetest nectar of life. Jeremiah 9:23-24 says,

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

Knowing God is the best thing in life. In fact, it is eternal life. Jesus said in John 17:3, “This is eternal life: That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

God has offered to let you know him—really know him. It’s the best offer you’ll ever get! I would take him up on it if I were you.

“Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.” ~J.I. Packer

Reflect and Apply: Not only does God want to be known, God has made himself available. He doesn’t want you just to know about him, he wants you to intimately know his person. God is knowable and personable. Exodus 33:11 tells us that Moses knew God as a friend, and that he “would speak to Moses face-to-face.” Exodus 33:14 God tells Moses, “My presence will go with you…” Exodus 33:19 says that God “caused his goodness to pass in front of him and proclaimed his name in Moses’ presence.” God said he would let Moses see the after-effects of his glory in Exodus 33:22. What is God saying? “I want you to know me, and I will make myself available to you. And now you will not only know about me, you will see and experience my very nature and personhood.” That’s quite an invitation! Have you taken God up on his offer?

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Don’t Miss The Point

Reflect:
Exodus 19:1-20:21

“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

~Exodus 19:4-6

This is the stuff Hollywood loves: Smoke covering the mountain, peels of thunder, flashes of lightening, God’s voice booming from the thick cloud, Moses reappearing from the fog carrying the Ten Commands. It is hard not to get caught up in the special effects and the sheer drama of this scene.

But don’t miss the bigger picture in the finer details of these two chapters. There are some unforgettable and enduring truths here that we New Testament Christians tend to set aside because of the new covenant we now live under in Jesus Christ, who was the perfect fulfillment of this law delivered in these chapters.

The first point is this: God wants us to be his very own people, set aside for his holy purposes. Just as he told Israel that he had selected them out of all the peoples on the planet to be his—and with it, if they honored him, unbelievable and unending blessings—so he has chosen followers of his Son to be his new community.

I was just reading a book by Brennan Manning in which he suggested that wherever you come across the word “Israel” in the Old Testament, you should substitute your own name there and personalize that passage to yourself. In general, that’s not a bad way to read the Bible. The point is, God is still searching for a covenantal people—the job is still open, and you are fully qualified.

The second point is this: God is holy and he demands holiness in us if we are to be his very own people. One of the unmistakable themes in this passage (and throughout the Bible) is the holiness of God and the requirement of holiness from us if we are to be in relationship with him; if we are going to live within his favor. When God told Moses he was going to appear and give Israel his law, he warned them first to purify themselves:

“Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” (Exodus 19:10-11)

Hebrews 12:14 says, “without holiness no one will see the Lord.” For sure, we are judged positionally holy before God when we are redeemed. But then we are called to give great effort to progressive holiness along the way between our salvation and our eternal home. Don’t ever forget: God is still holy, and he still desires holiness among his people—and that includes you.

The final point is this: God’s justice is far outweighed by his mercy. Did you catch that stunning statement within the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:5-6? Most people get stuck on the first part and miss the second half; the world dips their quill from the ink of the former clause to write God into a corner without considering the outrageous grace and beauty of the latter.

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Yes, God is holy and demands purity among his people. Yes, God is just and therefore must punish sin. For sure, sin has far reaching consequences—even jumping generations, sadly affecting children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. But don’t miss it—God is a forgiving God. In fact, that is his name: Forgiveness. (Exodus 34:5-7) And his forgiveness freely flows to thousands upon thousands of generations. Forgiveness—God is just dying to give it. In fact, in Christ, he did!

God’s justice is far outweighed by his mercy. Yes, God is holy and demands purity among his people. Yes, God is just and therefore must punish sin. For sure, sin has far reaching consequences—even jumping generations, sadly affecting children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. But don’t miss it—God is a forgiving God whose forgiveness freely flows to thousands upon thousands of generations.

For sure, there is not a more dramatic section in all of Scripture. But don’t lose sight of the big picture amidst the drama of the details. It makes the story all the more dramatic—irresistibly so!

“How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.” ~C.S. Lewis

Reflect and Apply: Re-read the Ten Commandments, this time, focusing not from a rule orientation, but from a perspective of relationship. That is the whole point of God’s Law: He is looking for a people he can love, and who will love him.

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Everyone Wants A Testimony, Until…

Reflect:
Exodus 14:10-11

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?”

So you want a testimony, do you? I do too! But are you willing to go through the circumstances that precede the testimony? Are you willing to have your back against the wall, to know that unless God comes through you’ll go down in flames, to despair even of life? Those are the conditions out of which great testimonies are born.

Joseph had to spend some time in the pit before God lifted him up as the “prince” of Egypt—next to Pharaoh, second most powerful figure in all of Egypt. David had to actually go out onto the battlefield and stand before Goliath before he became a giant-slayer. Daniel had to literally get tossed into a den full of protein-loving lions for the angel of the Lord to come and clamp their canines. Paul had to cruise into the midst of a deadly storm in order to survive an otherwise deadly shipwreck. Jesus had to go through the ordeal of the cross in order to overcome the grave.

img_0851You get the point, don’t you? Sadly, too many Christians don’t! They want the testimony without the trial. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. You cannot separate the crown from the cross. In the Christian faith, the road to glory is along the path of suffering. Now I realize that is not the greatest slogan for a recruitment campaign, but it’s true. Not because God is some kind of celestial masochist, but the reality is this present world is under the dominion of sin. And the Bible clearly warns that it takes warfare to bring it back and put it under the dominion of its rightful Ruler—and along the way, soldiers will get wounded.

Though it doesn’t make for an attractive recruitment campaign to Christianity, there is no testimony without a trial. The Bible clearly promises that the path to the crown is by way of the cross. However, it also promises that whatever discomfort, discouragement and pain Christians experience for the sake of their faith will pale in comparison to the story they receive and the glory God receives.

The children of Israel desperately wanted God to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt, but they complained bitterly when it caused them discomfort. On more than one occasion they whined at Moses and complained about God because they weren’t consulted about the Divine deliverance plan.

Now God graciously put up with their moaning, but he came really close to losing his cool on occasion. Ultimately God delivered them, in spite of their bellyaching, and they ended up with a terrific testimony. But they were forever tagged with the whiner label.

Here’s the deal: Don’t be that way! If you want a testimony—and I think you do—trust God to bring it to you in anyway he sees fit. Just trust, don’t complain—even with the not-so-pleasant stuff that precedes the testimony. Later on, whatever discomfort, discouragement and pain you experienced will pale in comparison to the story you end up with—and the glory that goes to God. As Charles Spurgeon rightly observed,

 “Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.”

Prayer… Sovereign God, thank you for every difficult, disappointment and delay you have allowed in my life. In your love, grace and wisdom you have used those very trials to shape me for greater things and eternal usefulness. 

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Thou Shalt Remember!

Reflect:
Exodus 12:1-42

“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.” ~Exodus 12:14’”

I have always been intrigued with the number of times throughout Scripture that God called his people to remember his mighty acts of deliverance by prescribing for them various kinds of memorial observances. In some cases, the memorial came in the form of an altar of remembrance (Joshua 4:1-7), at other times it involved the symbolism of the priestly garments (Exodus 28:12), while some of the time it was to happen through a regular sacrifice (Leviticus 2:16), a festival (Numbers 10:10), or a high, holy day (Exodus 12:14). Most importantly, for the New Testament community, the regular observance of Holy Communion (I Corinthians 11:23-26) replaced all other official observances that were mnemonically related.

Apparently, God was concerned that his people would remember who he is, what he had done for them, and why he had called them to specific acts of remembrance. So why such concern?  We’ve got a memory problem, that’s why!  We tend to get fuzzy on the important things we ought to be very clear about. People forget the covenant promise to be faithful to their spouse and begin to drift in their marriage. Parents forget how much their kids need both a mom and a dad, and instead follow their selfish desires by pursuing divorce…at a horrible cost to their children. We get sidetracked from our primary purposes in life because we fail to remember our core values.  We drift spiritually because we get busy with spiritual-sounding activities, but forget to love the Lord.

That’s why Jesus said : “Remember your first love…remember the heights from which you have fallen and return…remember, every time you do this, my blood, my body. Remember.” Over and over the Bible calls us to remember lest we forget. You can’t read too far into God’s Word before noticing that a strong theology of remembrance is woven into the fabric of the chosen community.

God understood the power of memory and how visible representations would evoke powerful emotions that would reconnect us to defining events in our lives.  He knew how symbols of memory could arrest our tendency to drift spiritually and refocus us on the core experience of loving him. That is exactly why he instituted the Passover in the Old Testament and replaced it with Holy Communion in the New. God doesn’t want us to forget him.

Perhaps that should be the Eleventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Remember!

“As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.”  ~Henry B. Eyring

Reflect and Apply: The next time you partake of the Lord’s Table with your spiritual community, make a special and strategic effort to remember what the communion represents: the mightiest act of God ever expressed—the sacrifice of his Son on the cross. Call to mind God’s grace and mercy, and express heartfelt gratitude for his gift.  And then consider what such wondrous love now demands of you. And don’t forget!

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Can God Do That?

Reflect:
Exodus 7:3-4

“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.” ~Exodus 7:3-4

This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last instance in the Bible that doesn’t fit neatly within our theological box. That God would harden Pharaoh’s heart messes with our sophisticated sensibilities about God, namely that he is a safe, kind, benevolent and loving Deity who would never raise someone up just to throw them down.

What are we to do with this difficult part of the Bible? It would be so much easier to deal with if it just appeared once, a vague Scriptural anomaly, but it doesn’t. Not just once and then swept under the rug, this statement about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart appears ten times here in Exodus and yet again in Romans 9:16-18? Obviously, the Bible doesn’t try to hide this just because it is difficult to explain or because it makes us uncomfortable. No, it is unavoidably here for us to grapple with.

On the one hand, there are some that would have it that God was simply responding to what was already in Pharaoh’s heart, thus relieving God of any responsibility in the matter of hardening the king’s heart in order to justify destroying him. On the other hand, there are those who would quite bluntly declare that God created Pharaoh exactly for the express purpose of destroying him in order to bring glory to himself.

Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between.  The fact is, God does involve himself in the details of man’s affairs in order to bring about his sovereign plan, and he is well within his unimpeachable righteousness to align those who are his enemies for utter judgment so that his great power might be displayed in all the earth. Pharaoh is Example A of this. Yet at the same time, we must note that Pharaoh was duly warned that his stubborn refusal to obey God would result in judgment. (Exodus 4:23) We also find that the hardening God brought about in Pharaoh’s heart was, interestingly, matched by Pharaoh hardening his own heart: Ten times God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:1,20, 27; 11:10; 14:4,8,17) and ten times Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 7:13,14,22; 8:15,19,32; 9:7,34,35; 13:15).

Ten times God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and ten times Pharaoh hardened his own heart. God, whose will and whose ways are inscrutable, is within his absolute sovereignty to bring about what he desires in human affairs—including hardening a ruler’s heart; yet man is never without personal responsibility in surrendering to the sovereign rulership of God.

What does that tell us?  Simply that God, whose will and whose ways are inscrutable, is within his absolute sovereignty to bring about what he desires in human affairs—including hardening a ruler’s heart; yet man is never without personal responsibility in surrendering to the sovereign rulership of God.

Does that make this uncomfortable piece of Scripture any easier to swallow?  No—and yes. No, it will always shake that comforting image of a loving, safe God.  Yes, we can lean into the track record of God’s loving omniscience and righteous omnipotence, and along with the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:33-36, declare with utter certainty in the face of mysterious passages like this,

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Yes indeed, glory to God forever.  Soli Deo Gloria!

“Man is a responsible moral agent, though he is also divinely controlled; man is divinely controlled, though he is also a responsible moral agent.” ~J.I. Packer

Reflect and Apply: Jonathan Edwards, considered to be America’s greatest theologian, wrote, “In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, we act all. For that is what produces, viz. our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. We are in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active.” Reflect on that statement; then ask yourself, “How am I doing in my part?”

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The Purpose For Which You Exist

Reflect:
Exodus 33:11

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

If I could choose an epitaph that described my life, it would be this: “The Lord would speak to Ray Noah face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”

Is that really possible for a human being? It was for Moses! If anyone ever really knew God, if a human being ever experienced an extraordinarily intimate revelation of God, if a man ever truly had a close personal friendship with God, it was Moses.

But Moses didn’t always have this kind of relationship with God. If you were to review Moses’ life, you would be reminded that in his first forty years, Moses knew a lot about God. He was born to Hebrew parents, but raised in the lap of luxury in the Egyptian palace as one of Pharaoh’s sons—he was a prince of Egypt. Moses knew about God through his heritage, but there is no indication of a walk with God characterized by love and obedience. In fact, it appears Moses was somewhat indifferent to God.

But then Moses tried to play God by killing an Egyptian, and he had to flee the palace to the backside of the Sinai Desert, where he lived as a fugitive for the next forty years until he met God at the burning bush. And during these four decades, Moses unlearned everything he knew about God in the first forty years. It was a desert experience—literally and spiritually—where Moses knew nothing but the silence of God. God had enrolled Moses in the University of the Desert—the Graduate School of Sinai—where he trained Moses in the curricula of solitude, monotony and failure.

But then came the burning bush, which marked the beginning of the final forty years of Moses’ life. And in this period, he came to know and experience God the way we want to know and experience him: In his power and glory. Moses, unlike any other man, experienced first hand every attribute of God a human being could possibly experience: God’s omnipotence—that he is all-powerful; God’s omniscience—that he is all-wise and knowing; God’s omnipresence—that he is everywhere at all times; God’s Divine nature—that is, his justice, righteousness, holiness, and incomparable greatness.

What more could a human want? Yet that wasn’t enough. Moses didn’t just want to know about God, he wasn’t satisfied with seeing the evidence of God’s activity. He wanted more:

“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor with you…Now show me your glory.” (Exodus 33:13,18)

You’ve got to admire Moses’ boldness, audacity and greediness for God! Here is what he’s really asking: “God, I want to know you…your character…your nature…what makes you tick. I want to enter into the deepest dimension of intimacy with the Almighty that’s possible for one human being.”

Amazingly, God obliged this big, audacious request—he revealed himself fully to Moses. (Exodus 33:14-23) Now this doesn’t simply tell us something about Moses, it mostly reveals something vitally important about God: God wants us to know how much he wants to be known.

God wants us to know how much he wants to be known.

He has made himself knowable. He is not some unapproachable deity way out there in a galaxy far, far away. He is the God who is there, the God who is near, the God who will reveal himself to those who long to know him: “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him.” (Deuteronomy 4:7)

God want us to know that he’s near and that he is knowable: “I will cause my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.” (Exodus 33:19) In other words, I’ll let you know me.

To ask to know him is a request that pleases the heart of God! You see, that’s what we were made for: To know God. That’s what he desires from us. God himself says in Hosea 6:6, “For I desire…the knowledge of God [from you] more than burnt offerings.” J.I. Packer said, “Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.”

That should be our chief aim in life—to know God—because that is truly the sweetest nectar of life. Jeremiah 9:23-24 says,

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

Knowing God is the best thing in life. In fact, it is eternal life. Jesus said in John 17:3, “This is eternal life: That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Knowing God is the best thing in life. It is life. In fact, it is eternal life.

God has offered to let you know him—really know him. It’s the best offer you’ll ever get! I would take him up on it if I were you.

Prayer… God, I don’t want you just to know about you, I want to intimately know your person. As Moses, I want to speak to you face to face. I want to see your glory.  I want to bask in your presence. I want your goodness to be upon me. I am greedy for you! So I humbly ask that you prepare me, cleanse me and bring me to the place where I can truly, fully know you!