Written Sept.13~
Saturday morning~
Imagine not sleeping all night in Galveston and looking through windows that got blown out in the morning light. Dear Lord, be with those people and help them recover quickly.
The difference between Exodus 3:1-11 and chapter 32:1-11 is striking. God tells Moses in 31 that He will fill individuals with His Spirit to do His perfect will. All they need to do is be available. But even while the instructions for the temple are being carefully written down on stone tablets, the natives are getting restless. Look what happens when they get anxious and jumpy, nervous that things in the leadership team aren't moving along like they think they should be. Of course, when 1.5 million people are piled up in the middle of nowhere like they were, I suppose I might have done some second guessing myself.
The difference between the results of God's plan being implemented and man's idea of what God wants are polar opposites. God expects to be obeyed, and provided a clear directive to Moses in such a way that misinterpretation would be difficult~a stone eraser had not yet been invented. But back at the camp, impatience was rising. It had been 47 days since they had promised (24:7) "All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient." A couple of chapters have passed, and in 32:1 their opinion of God and his servant Moses has changed to "We don't know what has become of him."
If you have investments of any type~stocks, real estate, savings account, cattle, etc. or know people who do, common knowledge is that timing is everything. There is a time to sell, and a time to buy. For the nation of Israel, this would have been a good time to wait for Moses to reappear from out of the cloud on the mountain with Joshua and the Word of the Lord.
What is interesting later on in the chapter is God didn't punish Aaron for his lack of leadership which resulted in the unrestrained action of the people. Apparently, what Aaron did was not a sin against God, because God's response to Moses' personal sacrificial offer was that (v.33) " Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book."
God's way:anointing for a specific work that results in worship that is pleasing to Him at no cost, only obedience.
Man's way:"Give me your gold" to build an idol that looks like what man thinks God looks like, right here~right now. I don't want to wait for the divine anointing. It might not be what I expect. Since I have paid for it, it needs to feel good and exciting to compensate me for my investment.
We read that about 3,000 men died that day at the command of the Lord, and later on "The Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made."
As we prepare for this endeavor, let's purpose to wait on the Lord for His anointing and personal instructions. We can expect great things as we move "In the shadow of the Almighty."
Have a great day, Phil.
Heard from Phil's aunt today who lives in London. She will meet Phil at the information center in the airport at 9:00 Tuesday morning. I visited Phil's truck last night. It's parked in the church lot. I walked around it and looked at his stuff. I gave it a little pat and looked around to see if anyone saw me do it. There was a message on the phone when I got home from my neighbor. She said the sheriff said that there is a rash of robberies in the area. I called Dianna and she promised that she and Steve would come over if I needed them. I slept with the phone beside me and she did too. The boys were already asleep. I'm not really worried, but I want to act responsibly. I'm thankful for our guardian angels with wings and our guardian angels with fur and growls~Sampson and Angel. There was a cricket in the boys room that kept them awake. Michael said that he never came so close to swearing in his life. Philip left their room and came in the house to sleep in the back room. Susan's cricket cage was in there~a symphony of sounds rather than one raspy solo. Philip removed the cages. Over yonder, Michael turned on his lights and stalked the cricket until he got him. We could all use a little more sleep around here.~
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