Show Me Your Glory: Goodness

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S.O.A.P. – “Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer”

What is the most stunning and amazing thing you have ever seen?

The LORD said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”

When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes. For the LORD had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.” So from the time they left Mount Sinai, the Israelites wore no more jewelry or fine clothes. It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside. As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the LORD spoke with Moses. When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting. Exodus 33:1–11 NLT

Contrast the difference between God’s kind unwillingness to be close to the stubborn and rebellious people and God’s “friendship” with Moses. What was different about Moses?

In what way does this Scripture challenge or enhance your view of God?

Do you have a healthy fear/respect of the “Lord of Heaven’s Armies”?

Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to be “crushed for our iniquities” so that we do not have to endure your wrath that we deserve for our sin. Thank you for treating the Israelites kindly even when they were stubborn and rebellious. Help me to be humble and confident in approaching you through Jesus. Thank you for your amazing goodness!

When you do not feel as close to God as you want to, what honest questions do you ask Him?

One day Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.”

The LORD replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.” Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.” The LORD replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.” Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”

The LORD replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” The LORD continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock. As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.” Exodus 33:12–23 NLT

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. John 14:8–10 NLT

How do these Scriptures help you understand your Heavenly Father better? What questions do you have about God based on what you are reading?

Everyone who believes in God, from Moses to the Apostles, has areas of concern, doubt, and wanting more from God. Faith and humility leads us to 1) ask, 2) trust, and 3) obey.

Lord, I echo Moses’ prayer: please let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor!

What is the best or highest good that you can imagine?

Then the LORD told Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on them the same words that were on the tablets you smashed. Be ready in the morning to climb up Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain. No one else may come with you. In fact, no one is to appear anywhere on the mountain. Do not even let the flocks or herds graze near the mountain.”

So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones. Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out,

“Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.”

Moses immediately threw himself to the ground and worshiped. And he said, “O Lord, if it is true that I have found favor with you, then please travel with us. Yes, this is a stubborn and rebellious people, but please forgive our iniquity and our sins. Claim us as your own special possession.” Exodus 34:1–9 NLT

Be careful not to pass too quickly past this monumental passage. Consider what really happened: God showed up, gave His law to us, and showed Moses his goodness.

Confession means to “say the same thing.” Moses recognized that God’s justice and kindness means approaching him with humility, confession, and asking for mercy.

In what way do you need to approach God for yourself right now?

Who needs you to intercede (pray on someone else’s behalf) for them?

Lord, I stand in awe of you and am humbled that you invite me to speak to you. I am beyond thrilled that you are a good God, a God of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. Thank you for your forgiveness through Jesus’ blood on the cross. My you receive the reward of your sacrifice—a Holy-Spirit filled people who truly worship you in spirit and truth.

What are your feelings about conflict? How do you handle conflict when it is necessary?

The LORD replied, “Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people around you will see the power of the LORD—the awesome power I will display for you. But listen carefully to everything I command you today. Then I will go ahead of you and drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

“Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped. Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. You must worship no other gods, for the LORD, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.

“You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them. Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods. You must not make any gods of molten metal for yourselves.

“You must celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. Exodus 34:10–18 NLT

Just as great parents are intimately involved with whom they allow to influence their children, so God cares deeply about the worship and family environments in which his children’s souls are influenced and futures created.

How are you seeking God’s plan for your life? What next step of faith is God leading you to make in these areas?

Relationships
Worship routine
Work/school environment

Lord, thank you for caring deeply for the Israelites during their time of wandering and recommitment. Thank you for being a God of protection, provision, and good, pleasing and perfect plans. Teach me to listen clearly so I can hear, trust and obey your voice in my life!

Fill in the blank: I know the value of _____________ better than most.

“The firstborn of every animal belongs to me, including the firstborn males from your herds of cattle and your flocks of sheep and goats. A firstborn donkey may be bought back from the LORD by presenting a lamb or young goat in its place. But if you do not buy it back, you must break its neck. However, you must buy back every firstborn son. No one may appear before me without an offering. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.

“You must celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first crop of the wheat harvest, and celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season. Three times each year every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the LORD, the God of Israel. I will drive out the other nations ahead of you and expand your territory, so no one will covet and conquer your land while you appear before the LORD your God three times each year.

“You must not offer the blood of my sacrificial offerings together with any baked goods containing yeast. And none of the meat of the Passover sacrifice may be kept over until the next morning. As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel.” Moses remained there on the mountain with the LORD forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the LORD wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.

When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the LORD. So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him. Exodus 34:19–30 NLT

The Apostle Paul in the New Testament makes it clear that the purpose of the Law was to illuminate God’s righteousness, but that simply obeying rules cannot change hearts (read Romans 7). This is why we need to surrender to God and admit our inability to be good (Matthew 5:3) so he can make us into a new creation through the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17). This is not merely for our happiness (though we receive great joy)—it is for God’s glory!

Lord, teach me to be humble as I learn to follow you out of love and gratitude, not fear and shame.

Show Me Your Glory: Goodness

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