Moses on Mt Sinai with 70 Elders
Moses on Mt Sinai; 1356 Manfredi de Battilor Bartolo Di Fredi Fredi wikigallery CCL
Meditation
Thursday, Ordinary 28, Proper 23 promoted influence of the goodness of God in the lives of people.
The Psalmist praised God for all the incredible things that God had done for Israel in bringing them out of Egypt, and despite the failure of Israel to obey and their building of a golden calf while they were waiting for Moses to return, because of Moses’ influence, God didn’t wipe them off the face of the earth.
In Exodus, God called Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 elders to gather for worship with a specific purifying ritual to prepare for worship. The Book of Covenant was read aloud and the influence of the leaders swayed the tribes to follow God. Each person could influence a minimum of 20 people and the influence could grow exponentially—like the he told two people and they told two people and so on and so on. The power of influence retelling the Children of Israel of God’s covenant with Abraham became astronomical. Their response was that they would do all that the Lord God commanded.
In the New Testament epistle of I Peter, he explained what made up the flock of God. Some people served the Lord, like Peter, out of love for God. For others, though, it was ‘forced’ and inauthentic. Their interest was more about the wealth that could be gained instead of the service to the people. When people ‘serve’ for reasons other than the love of God, power struggles surfaced and Peter insisted that younger people respect the elders, of which he was one, he noted. In fact, once again, the Scriptures pointed out the importance of humility. Pride and arrogance were vile in God’s eyes and Peter made a specific reference that God would oppose the arrogant and proud, but would give grace to the humble.
When we are arrogant and proud instead of humble and kindly, we fail to convey the truth about Christ. He, who could have been haughty and proud with good reason, chose to come in the most humble of circumstances and suffer the pains of homelessness and poverty to demonstrate that the King of Kings was humble.
It is too often easy to take credit for the wonderful things that God has done for us. Or to be ungrateful for the things that we receive without earning it. But part of our Christian journey is to become like Christ, like Peter said—humble and gracious—so that our sphere of influence can multiply because we are magnifying the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Click on the Scriptures for links to biblegateway.com, where many translations of the same text enhance the understanding the readings, which come from the (RCL) Revised Common Lectionary – Daily Lectionary
Readings. I add a Daily Prayer to bless you with God’s Favor.
Enjoy the Daily Encouragement and Bible Study and may you be inspired to be your best self for Ordinary 28, Proper 23 .
Ordinary 28, Proper 23
Love Divine All Loves Excelling – Keswick Praise
Moses the Intervener
Moses, by Carlo Dolci wikigallery CCL
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 28, Proper 23
Every Praise is to Our God – Hezekiah Walker (Flash Mob)
Ordinary 28, Proper 23
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20106:1-6,%2019-23;Exodus%2024:1-8;1%20Peter%205:1-5,%2012-14&version=KJV;GNT;NCV;NIV;ERV
(multiple versions)
Thursday, Ordinary 28, Proper 23
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
King James Version (KJV)
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
King James Version (KJV)
5 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Greed, liz west, flickr, CCL
3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Good shepherd, 5th-century mosaic from the tomb of Galla Placidia in Ravenna. Fr Lawrence Lew, OP; flickr CCL
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
King James Version (KJV)
12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
Brotherly love/kiss; Guillaume Seguin; flickr CCL
14 Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, may we praise you as Moses did with all the humility and authenticity of Peter. In Jesus name, Amen
Ordinary 28, Proper 23 Music
Give Thanks – Don Moen
Ordinary 28, Proper 23 Humor
Reasons for Christians to Be Vigilant
©Jeff Larson, Used by permission
I Will Call Upon the Lord – Marty Nystrom
I hope you found a chance to encounter your Creator and experience the Love of God and the joy of Christ in Ordinary 28, Proper 23 .
Conclusion
Thursday, Ordinary 28, Proper 23 praised God in the Psalms and demonstrated the intervening influence of Moses to quell God’s anger at the Children of Israel for their failure to worship him obediently. The story in Exodus continued with the expansion of the priesthood, when Moses, Aaron and sons, and 70 elders gathered for worship while the people waited back from the mountain.
It is sometimes easy to think of God as a folksy kind of hero, instead of the omnipotent sovereign that he is. The fiery cloud that hovered over the top of Mt. Sinai was too pure and holy to be encountered by people unprepared for it.
Years ago, I went through a gold mine and smelting mill where they dug ore out of the ground and sent it through furnaces of intense heat—the refiner’s fire—that would burn away the unnecessary part and leave the liquid gold pouring into molds.
Not everyone wanted to prepare that hard for worship…and they stayed further away, while the 70 elders and the four leaders went to the mountain to worship, read from the Book of the Covenant, reminding the Children of Israel of the promise of God to Abraham that was becoming a reality. Their influence would be felt in two ways, soothing God’s anger at Israel’s disobedience and teaching the people the way to worship God.
Peter stressed that the elders should have that influence over the people—younger people especially. People should also serve God out of love for God, not for what they could ‘gain’ from it. Authenticity and humility were hallmarks of the way that Christians should behave. It is no less true today.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
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*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
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ChapLynne's Chat 
Now you have censorship and no freedom of speech as well!
How does being humble and not arrogant become censorship and no freedom of speech?
Lynne, Telling the people to be humble and not proud makes them ripe victims for any oppressor……like, say, any tyrranical government. My God wants the people to have free will and self-motivation to better themselves as well as God’s own creation which is the universe with planet earth within. QED, Jean
Humility and free choice are not mutually exclusive. Humility is related to not taking credit for the great work God does in our lives, instead of being prideful and arrogant suggesting that we deserve all the credit for what God has done. Arrogance–according to God–is a sure way to bring on God’s ire. Lucifer fell from heaven over arrogance/pride. Adam and Eve fell out of pride. Moses failed to enter the promised land because of his arrogance in tapping the rock, vice speaking to it. The Pharisees were chided because of their arrogance and pride. The publican and tax collector were honored because of their humility. All of them had free choice. Humility may mean that one is subjected to tyrannical governments: Martin Luther King, Jr. humbly protested the law and was incarcerated. Nelson Mandela was humbled by his incarceration and served his time in an apartheid regime, but remained humble despite his rise to power and authority in his government and the world stage. Christ demonstrated humility for us of his free choice and asked us to follow his behavior.
Oppressors come in all forms and hide behind ‘humility’ to engage in rapacious activities [e.g., the telecom providers who can no longer provide working cell phones nor working cell phone services and ‘humbly’ and ‘politely’ refuse to refund $100 for defective 4G Phones and Defective Cell Phone Service! And THAT was not only $100 out of MY pocket but 1-1/2 weeks of MY valuable time and NOW I no longer have a working cell phone nor service!!!] They ARE still thieves [the telecom providers, that is].
A mutual friend from 1st Pres Alameda wanted to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a PACIFIST and NOT a REBEL! NOT so! How do you think it came to be that everyone wanted to crucify Jesus for attempting to rectify the ills of society?
I also have another take on Jesus [aka Christ] and that is that he was SOMEONE whom we learned of when he was born [and honored with ‘tribute’ by 3 Kings from Orient, aka Persia] and then did not hear of again until his 30’s. I strongly believe that Emperor Tiberius knew who Jesus really was and Tiberius made a ‘swap’ to save Jesus’s life. Ergo, it was NOT necessary for the 3 Kings of Orient [aka Persia] to come riding in to rescue Jesus at the 11th hour like the cavalry, say [excuse the apparent pun]. But that is a conspiracy theory that many are NOT willing to believe–especially if they take The Bible literally.
Even the story of The Exodus contradicts itself worse than ObamaCare’s 1,000 pages! How could escaping slaves from Egypt have loads of gold jewelry accumulated and with them as they are fleeing for their lives [and conveniently so they can make a gold idol to worship!]? Just doesn’t add up, Lynne!
Calling Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela ‘humble’ doesn’t add up either! ‘Humble’ persons do NOT take on The Evil Establishment–they remain ‘slaves’ for Eternity!
Regards, Jean