Tag: fear of God

The Whole Duty of Man

Num 19-20

Ps 19

Mark 4

~ Devotion by Cayce Fletcher (SC)

Cayce Fletcher is a wife and homeschool mom of three. She writes and podcasts at amorebeautifullifecollective.com where she helps women cultivate a life of depth, discipline, and delight. Read the latest post on finding beauty in the everyday here. 

Numbers 19 finishes the communication of the law of God to his people through Moses. We then see a 38-year jump in time. Right after the Exodus from Egypt, the people traveled to Mount Sinai. There they encamped around the mountain for about a year. It is there they received the law and celebrated the first Passover. 

After the year spent around Sinai, the Israelites went directly to Canaan, where the infamous episode with the spies took place. The Israelites were forced to wander for 40 years. Numbers 20 begins during this 40th year. The old generation that included Miriam (126 years old when she died) and Aaron (123 years old) was passing away, and the new generation was preparing to enter the Promised Land. 

Still, even though so much time had passed, the people seemed to have learned nothing. They began grumbling and complaining again. Moses turned to God in his distress. He fell down on his knees in prayer. What a picture of how we should respond when we are at the end of our rope! 

God met him there and gave him the next steps to take. He was to go to the rock and tell the water to come out. 

And then the tragedy occurs – Moses, who always chose the humble path, responded in anger (with a little bravado) to the people. He goes up to the rock, “and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”” Then, he strikes the rock twice. 

Because of his disobedience, he is barred from the promised land. God tells him that his response ‘did not uphold God as holy before the people.’

The right response to God is faithful obedience on our knees. It is there that we meet him face-to-face. But it is so easy to let our view of God get clouded by our messy emotions and our chaotic surroundings. 

Do we respond to God in faithful obedience? Or do we react rashly – foolishly – hoping God will bless the response even if it’s sinful? 

God requires whole-hearted obedience and an attitude that reflects a pure heart. Moses’ anger towards the people in that moment caused him to react violently – and Moses was judged for it. 

We rarely feel fear, awe, or reverence for authority today, but today’s passage reminds us that God is holy. We must remember the holiness of God and cultivate a healthy fear of God in our souls. The fear of God helps us to respond faithfully with humility to the commands of God. 

As we read of the end of Miriam and Aaron’s lives, let’s be reminded that the foundation of the legacy of our lives should be this fear of God. As Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

Reflection Questions

  1. How does a life built on the foundation of the fear of the Lord differ from a life without it? 
  2. In what ways did Moses show a fear of God throughout his life? Why did this instance at Meribah not show a fear of God? 
  3. How do you grow in your fear of the Lord?

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Please let us remember who the true Lord of our lives is. Let us remember how great you are. Let us remember that you are God and you are not. Thank you for the ways that you draw us back to this truth. 

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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A Kingdom of Priests

Exodus 19-21

Today’s reading is probably one of the most familiar passages in the whole Bible for it includes the Ten Commandments.  It is important to understand the context of these commandments.  God entered into a covenantal relationship with Abraham and Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob and Jacob’s sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel.  God promised to bless and provide for his people and in exchange His people promised to be faithful and obedient to God and worship God alone.

After 400 years of slavery, Israel has grown from 12 sons and their immediate family to millions of people.  These people, God’s covenant people, will be settling in a land where they will need to live in community.  They are no longer slaves.  They are now responsible to live in that community in peace and productivity.   They need help to know how to live together.  God provides His people with the structure of how to live together as God’s people.  The Ten Commandments and subsequently nearly 600 additional laws were all designed to help them be healthy and blessed representatives of God to the rest of the world.

God loves all people.  We must never falsely believe that God only loves certain people.  God considers all human beings His children and loves them all.  God wants to be in a right relationship with all of his children; however, many are disobedient and have no willingness to be in a relationship with God and many deny that God even exists.

So God needed to start with one group of people and prepare them to be a special, chosen people who would bring the knowledge of God to others.  Exodus 19:5-6 says, “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.”

Israel was to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  A priest is one who helps connect people and God.  God would go on to designate priests in Israel to help the people connect with God, but His expectation for Israel was that the whole nation serve as priests to help other nations connect with God.  Because the whole nation was being set apart by God to be priests for the world, they needed to live holy or set apart lives.  There were behavioral expectations that they were to follow.  They had to  be exclusively loyal to God, they could not murder, steal, lie, cheat, they were to be respectful and honoring of parents and not misuse God’s name.

Now we are completing what God began in Israel.  Through Christ we have entered into a covenant with God.  We are now the covenant people, we are called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  That is the Church’s role.  And God expects us to live lives of holiness as we are set apart to serve God.  As you read through the many laws in the Old Testament, recognize that some applied very narrowly to the Nation of Israel and do not necessarily apply to us.  Dietary laws and sanitary laws were important in Israel at the time they were given but are no longer applicable.  However, some of the laws which pertain to morality have been reaffirmed by Jesus Christ for the Church.  In other words, as Christians we are free to eat pork and worship on Sundays, but we are not free to practice polygamy or murder.

God is truly a God of grace and mercy, but God is also a God who hates sin and punishes sin.  In this way we are still to live in fear of the Lord: Exodus 20:20 “the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

Jeff Fletcher

(originally posted for SeekGrowLove on February 5, 2020)

Reflection Questions

  1. What are the duties and responsibilities of a holy nation/kingdom of priests? How would you rate how well/poorly Christians in your nation are doing this job? How would you rate how well/poorly you are doing this job? What can you improve upon this week?
  2. How can we mirror God’s grace and mercy? How can we remind the world (and ourselves) of God’s rule book and judgment? What is the problem with doing just one but not the other?
  3. What does it look like to live in fear of the Lord? Is this only an Old Testament concept or do we find it in the New Testament, too?
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Why the Fear of God?

Exodus 20

February 13

God, as we know, is all powerful. He freed the people from a land of slavery. (Exodus 20:2) God is a loving God, but he can be a jealous god. (Exodus 20:5). He can show us just how powerful he is. (Exodus 20:5-7,25-26) When I was younger, I was always confused by the saying “Fear God”. As I got older I have come to better understand this. We aren’t to fear God like we are the devil, but we are to fear him because we know His strength and power. We are supposed to fear Him so that it keeps us from sinning.

He has shown us and told us what we are to do and not to do. We are to honor our mother and father. We are not to commit murder. We are not to commit adultery. We are not to steal or give false testimony against our neighbor. These are just a few of the commandments. In order to follow these God wants us to fear His power and in a way fear disappointing him. He is our Father in heaven. It’s the same fear we should have for our earthly parents. Exodus 20 is a great chapter because it shows us all the things we should do to please God.

-Genesis Dylewski

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. Look closely at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). How would you describe each commandment in your own words? Now consider, why do you think God included each of these commandments?
  2. What is the overall subject of the first 4 commandments? And of the last 6? Which do you generally find more challenging – having a good relationship with God or having good relationships with people? While recognizing the importance of all 10, choose one commandment from the first 4 and one commandment from the last 6 to focus on this week. How will you better align your thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions with these commandments?
  3. Can you think of a time the fear of God kept you from sinning? Explain. Can you think of a time you should have feared God more? Explain. How can you work on developing a healthy fear of the LORD?
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