Another Book

Today in my Through-the-Bible reading, I was in Exodus 32, which recounts the story of the golden calf.  While Moses was up on the mountain talking to God, the Israelites got 'bored,' and had Aaron make a golden idol for them.  God was furious, and if not for Moses' intercession, He would have wiped them all out.  But even though He spared their lives, God still held their sin against them.  "But the LORD said to Moses, 'Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.'"

As soon as I read that, my mind jumped to Revelation 20, where we see God's book again: "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened... And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done."  This is a terrifying scene.  I know my heart, and I know that if I had been at Mt. Sinai, I probably would have been going right along with the idol worship.  Because I was once an idolater too, and even now, I am a saint who struggles with idolatry.  I know that if God kept a record of my sins, I could never stand.

But the scene in Revelation doesn't end there.  It continues: "Then another book was opened, which is the book of life."  Praise God, there is another book!  I will not be judged according to what I have done, because my name is in the book of life.  When I read that this morning, I was humbled and broken and awed.  Truly, it could only be amazing grace that would save a wretch like me and cover over my endless offenses in those other books.  My sins are stacked so high, ingrained so deeply in my soul, written so clearly in those books, that it took the death of the Son of God in my place to blot them out.  So instead of my name being blotted out of the book of life (which is what I deserve), I get my sins blotted out instead.

Praise God, there is another book!

The Iniquity of our Holy Things

I'm smack in the middle of Exodus in my Through-the-Bible reading, and today I was reading about the garments of the priests in Exodus 28.  Exodus can be a challenging book, but I know from Hebrews that the whole sacrificial system and priesthood pointed forward to the perfect sacrifice and priesthood of Christ.  So I've been on the lookout for connections.  Here's one that jumped out at me:

It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts.  It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.  ~Exodus 28:38

God is so holy, and the people so fundamentally corrupted, that even their holy gifts were stained with guilt that needed to be borne and atoned for.  What a humbling reminder this is!  We must remember, in our service to God, that even our holy things need to be washed in the blood of the Lamb.  John Owen writes,

"Believers obey Christ as the one by whom our obedience is accepted by God.  Believers know all their duties are weak, imperfect and unable to abide in God's presence.  Therefore they look to Christ as the one who bears the iniquity of their holy things, who adds incense to their prayers, gathers out all the weeds from their duties and makes them acceptable to God."

Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling

Today in my Through-the-Bible reading I was in Exodus 17, when Israel defeats the Amalekites.  As long as Moses kept his staff raised, the Israelites prevailed, but when he grew tired and lowered his hands, the Amalekites prevailed.  So Aaron and Hur held up his hands, and Israel won the battle.  I was moved by the humility of Aaron-- all he was doing was holding up the great prophet's hands.  It reminded me of the hymn, "Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling:"

Hark, the voice of Jesus calling,

"Who will go and work today?

Fields are ripe and harvests waiting,

Who will bear the sheaves away?"

Long and loud the Master calls us,

Rich rewards He offers free;

Who will answer, gladly saying,

"Here am I, send me, send me"?

If you cannot cross the ocean

And the distant lands explore,

You can find the lost around you,

You can help them at your door.

If you cannot give your thousands,

You can give the widow's mite;

What you truly give for Jesus

Will be precious in His sight.

If you cannot speak like angels,

If you cannot preach like Paul,

You can tell the love of Jesus,

You can say He died for all.

If you cannot rouse the wicked

With the judgment's dread alarms,

You can lead the little children

To the Savior's waiting arms.

If you cannot be the watchman

Standing high on Zion's wall,

Pointing out the path to heaven,

Offering life and peace to all,

With your prayers and with your bounties

You can do what God demands;

You can be like faithful Aaron,

Holding up the prophet's hands.

Let none hear you idly saying,

"There is nothing I can do."

While the souls of men are dying

And the Master calls for you.

Take the task He gives you gladly;

Let His work your pleasure be;

Answer quickly when He calls you,

"Here am I, send me, send me."

The Fear of the Lord

I'm up late tonight writing Daily Verses for next week, and I spent some time researching for help with the devotional on Acts 9:31- "So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.  And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied."  Now there is a good recipe for church growth-- the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit!  But as I pondered on that I started to wonder, what exactly is "the fear of the Lord?"  

Fearing God is not about being afraid.  In fact, it's often associated with lack of fear.  For example, Exodus 20:20- "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin."  And Matthew 10:28- "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

Fearing God is about opening our eyes to the reality to which sin blinds us.  We are inclined to be afraid of many things-- the future, the past, enemies, insecurity, money, relationships, death.  But we are not naturally inclined to fear the One in whose hand all things fearful rest.  To fear God is to recognize Him as the holy, righteous, omnipotent, sovereign Creator and Judge before whom every knee will bow.

Fearing God, as I learned in my word study tonight, has many promised benefits.  Here is a partial list of them, just from Proverbs (I think I've stumbled across a key theme of Proverbs here):

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge."  ~1:7

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil." ~8:13

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."  ~9:10

"In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence." ~14:26

"The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life." ~14:27

"Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble without it."  ~15:16

"The fear of the LORD keeps one away from evil."  ~16:6

Can you see how awe of God's holiness and glory brings about all those promised results?  True wisdom and knowledge begin when the solar system of our lives is reoriented around God at the center.  A realization and love of God's holiness shows sin to be what it really is-- an affront to the character of our Creator.  To fear God is to see Him as the Sovereign One, in whose hands are all human events, and therefore we have a basis for a life of strong confidence.  Fear of the Lord, it turns out, is the fruit of faith, and therefore a fountain of eternal life.

Most importantly of all, fear of God doesn't just lead us to our Judge; it also leads us to our Savior.  The more we become aware of the great holiness and glory of God, the more we despise our sins and daily seek refuge at Calvary where the wrath of God was absorbed.  The fear of the Lord allows us to see our holy Judge as our glorious Savior.

"The fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure."  ~Isaiah 33:6