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Scripture Reading: Exo. 19:1, 3-12, 16-19; 20:18-19; 21:1
In the previous chapters we saw God’s redemption, salvation, leading, and provision. In this chapter we will consider the children of Israel’s service to God. This service to God is presented in the latter part of Exodus and the entire book of Leviticus.
The key points covered in the previous chapters were all for preparing the children of Israel to serve God. God saved, led, and supplied the children of Israel in order to prepare them to serve Him. Those who serve God surely have been saved, have been under His leading, and have experienced His supply in various ways. Such ones also have had their flesh dealt with by God, and God has been victorious over the “Amalek” within them (Exo. 17:8-16). Only at this point are such ones qualified to start serving God, but even then, they still need further preparation and realization to see that their ability and ways need to be dealt with. Our problem in serving God arises from relying on our own ability and ways. If these two things are not dealt with, we cannot serve God.
When the children of Israel came to the foot of Mount Sinai, God commanded Moses to say to them, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My personal treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (19:4-6). The children of Israel did not come out of Egypt by their own strength; rather, God brought them out of Egypt so that they could be priests to serve Him.
However, the children of Israel did not know themselves. After they heard God’s words, they immediately answered, “All that Jehovah has spoken we will do” (v. 8). This response clearly shows that they did not know themselves; they wanted to serve God by their own ability. Thus, God said to Moses, “Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow; and have them wash their garments, and be ready for the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people” (vv. 10-11). God wanted the people to spend two days to be sanctified and to come to Him on the third day. On the third day God’s speaking and attitude changed. He was no longer full of grace, like the eagle bearing its young. On that day there was thunder, lightning, a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a loud trumpet sound. Mount Sinai was full of smoke, and the whole mountain shook (vv. 16, 18). Because the children of Israel did not know themselves, God gave them the law as a test. Indeed, even as God was giving the law to Moses, the children of Israel were at the foot of the mountain making and worshipping a golden calf (31:18—32:6), breaking the first three of the Ten Commandments (20:2-7). When Moses came down from the mountain and saw the golden calf, his anger burned, and he shattered the two tablets of the Testimony (32:15, 19). This is proof that the children of Israel did not know their condition.
The children of Israel did not know themselves, and throughout the generations those serving God have been the same. Peter is a clear example. On the night that the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He told the disciples, “You will all be stumbled because of Me this night” (Matt. 26:31). Yet Peter answered, “If all will be stumbled because of You, I will never be stumbled...Even if I must die with You, I will by no means deny You” (vv. 33, 35). Peter’s attitude was similar to that of the children of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai. Then the Lord raised up various people to say to Peter, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean...This man was with Jesus the Nazarene...Surely you also are one of them, for your speech also makes it clear that you are” (vv. 69, 71, 73). Peter, however, would not admit that he had been with the Lord, and he denied the Lord three times in one night (vv. 70, 72, 74). God surely knew how to put Peter through trials to deal with him. In this way He caused Peter to see his weakness.
If God had kept Moses on the mountain for only four days when He gave him the law, the children of Israel would not have made the golden calf. Yet God kept Moses on the mountain for forty days and forty nights (Exo. 24:18), and this became a trial to the children of Israel. They were at the foot of the mountain for a long time. They made the golden calf because they were unable to uphold God’s law. It is easy for man to fall; keeping God’s law is very difficult. In ourselves we have no strength to keep God’s law.
Those who have never served the Lord feel that they are very capable. Little do they realize that serving God is the most difficult thing. If we want to serve God, we must recognize that we have no strength in ourselves. Even if we have tremendous ability, it amounts to nothing in the matter of serving the Lord. We should not think that serving God is an easy matter. We have no way to serve God, and even if we had a way, God would not want it. Our strength to serve God should be based on the principle of being borne on eagles’ wings. If the children of Israel had known grace, they would have said, “O God, we are weak. Even if we had strength, it would not be well pleasing to You. Even if we had strength, it would be like ‘Ishmael,’ not ‘Isaac.’ We are like little eagles. Just as You bore us out of Egypt, You must bear us now so that we can serve.” True service is God bearing us to serve. I can testify that the messages I have given over the years have not been based upon human intelligence and strength. If my speaking is based upon human intelligence and strength, then the source of my speaking will one day be exhausted.
When Moses was called by God, he saw one vision and three signs. He saw a vision of the Angel of Jehovah appearing in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thornbush when he was shepherding the flock at Mount Horeb. The thornbush was burning with fire, but it was not consumed (3:1-2). Moses was amazed and turned aside to see this great sight. God said to him, “Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground...I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (vv. 5-6). The ground was holy ground because God was there. This is something that every called one needs to see. We are not honorable; we are only a thornbush under the curse. The vision of the thornbush burning without being consumed typifies how God’s fire needs to burn in us in order for us to be able to work for God. When we see this vision, we must take off our sandals. Sandals come in contact with the world; to take off one’s sandals is to put off the world. Those serving God must put off worldly ties and be sanctified unto God in order to be used by God.
Seeing such a vision should have been enough, but Moses still needed three signs—one related to Satan, one related to the self and the flesh, and one related to the world. The sign related to Satan was the sign of Moses’ staff becoming a serpent. God told Moses to throw his staff onto the ground, and the staff became a serpent. When God told Moses to pick up the serpent by its tail, it became a staff in his hand (4:3-4). For many years Moses relied on this staff to shepherd the flock for his living and to journey through the wilderness. This means that the staff represents man’s living. Anything—be it a person, matter, or thing—by which we make a living is a staff. Our position at work is a staff. If a wife relies on her husband, her husband becomes her staff. Some parents rely on their children, so their children become their staff. A staff is the embodiment of the serpent, and the serpent is Satan. To usurp us, Satan uses the persons, matters, and things that we rely on for our living.
When Moses saw this sign, he recognized Satan. When he saw the staff changing into a serpent, he recoiled in fear, but God told him to pick up the serpent by the tail. Then it became a staff again. This staff became Moses’ authority. The authority that Moses used in his dealings with Pharaoh and during the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea was based upon this staff (7:8-10, 15-21; 8:5-6, 16-17; 10:12-15; 14:16). Some realize that their staff is the usurping Satan, and they cast it down, thinking that they should no longer be involved in business or work. At such a point, God wants them to pick up the serpent by its tail. We must still be involved in business and work. However, we must pick up the serpent from the other end. Previously, we worked by the flesh according to our desire. Now we need to work by the Holy Spirit according to God’s desire. A staff that is picked up by its tail becomes a staff of authority, the authority by which we serve God (4:4, 17).
In the second sign, God told Moses to put his hand into his bosom and then to take it out. Surprisingly, Moses’ hand became leprous, as white as snow (v. 6), causing him to realize that he was full of leprosy, that he was full of sin. Those who are called to serve the Lord must see their corruption. The third sign was the turning of water into blood (v. 9). Water is for man’s enjoyment, and the water of the Nile was the means of Egypt’s livelihood. Here the blood typifies death. Water becoming blood shows that worldly enjoyment is actually death.
Every called one needs to see the vision of the thornbush and these three additional signs. First, we need to see that human living has been usurped by Satan. Second, we need to see that we are corrupt in ourselves. Third, we need to see that all the worldly enjoyment is death. Only after seeing these three things can we begin to serve God.
The fire from the thornbush was burning upon Moses as he worked to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. During Moses’ twelve conflicts with Pharaoh, the crossing of the Red Sea, and each challenging encounter, Moses prostrated himself before God, and the holy fire was made manifest. Our strength to serve comes from the burning of God Himself as the holy fire. This is the secret to serving God. We can start schools, open hospitals, or do many things in the world on our own, but in the matter of serving God, we need to put aside our own strength. Only God can serve. We cannot serve in ourselves. We need to be the sanctified thornbush. We need to say, “O God, I am only a thornbush. I cannot serve You. I entreat You to come and do it. If You do not come to do it, then I have no way.” If we pray in this way, the fire will burn in us, and no one will be able to stop us. Sin, the world, and even the authority of darkness will not be able to stop us. The ability to serve God is God Himself. Whenever we rely on ourselves, we are not able to serve.
To serve God we must first deal with our ability. The second thing that needs to be dealt with is our ways, our methods. We all have our own way of doing things and consider our way to be the best. People have their own way of doing even simple things, like cleaning a window. The matter of serving the Lord is the same. Someone who does not love the Lord has no opinion regarding serving Him. However, those who love the Lord and are zealous toward Him have many opinions and plans, often making it unbearable for those around them. Today the problem in Christianity is that those who love the Lord are too full of ideas and plans. You love the Lord and have your way of doing things, and I love the Lord and have my own way. Yet another brother loves the Lord and has his own way. When all these “ways” come together, Christ disappears.
When God dealt with the children of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, He not only dealt with their ability, but even more, He dealt with their plans and ways. God wanted them to stop completely and obey His laws and ordinances; they were to wait on Him and act according to His will (19:10-15). Similarly, when we come to the meeting hall to clean, we should do what the responsible ones want us to do. We have to learn to be directed when we serve in the church.
In the New Testament the Lord Jesus particularly dealt with man’s ways. When the wine ran out at the wedding feast in Cana, Mary, the Lord Jesus’ mother, said to Him, “They have no wine” (John 2:3). The Lord responded, saying, “Woman, what do I have in this that concerns you? My hour has not yet come” (v. 4). The Lord’s answer reveals that He did not accept man’s opinions or ideas. Mary learned this lesson and said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do” (v. 5). Then the Lord performed the miracle of changing water into wine (vv. 7-11). When man wanted the Lord to do something, He would not do it; but when man did not want the Lord to do anything, He came and did something. The principle was the same when Lazarus was sick. His sisters sent messengers to the Lord, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick” (11:3), but the Lord did not immediately go to see them. Instead, He remained where He was for two days (v. 6) and waited until Lazarus had died (v. 11). When the Lord came to Lazarus’s tomb and directed some to remove the stone, Martha said, “Lord, by now he smells” (v. 39). Nonetheless, the Lord told them to take away the stone, and He raised Lazarus from the dead (vv. 40-44).
In the Gospels we see that Peter was eager to speak his mind and give his opinion. Because of this, he came under the Lord’s dealing many times. Matthew 17:24-27 depicts this dealing by the story of paying the temple tax. When Jesus and the disciples came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax asked Peter, “Does not your Teacher pay the temple tax?” He said, “Yes.” When he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive custom or poll tax, from their sons or from strangers?” And when he said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “So then the sons are free.” In Caesarea Philippi, Peter received a revelation concerning the Lord as the Son of God (16:13-17). Peter also saw the Lord transfigured on the mountaintop and heard a voice from heaven, saying, “This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!” (17:5). Yet in the matter of paying the temple tax, Peter forgot the revelation and vision that he had seen. The temple tax was collected for the purpose of repairing the temple. The Lord as the Son of God certainly did not need to pay the tax for His Father’s house, but Peter promised the tax collectors that the Lord would pay. The Lord said to Peter, “But that we do not stumble them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. And when you open its mouth, you will find a stater; take that and give it to them for Me and you” (v. 27). This dealt with Peter’s desire to take the lead. By the time of the book of Acts, Peter had been broken by the Lord, had matured, and no longer had his own opinions. On the day of Pentecost Peter did not rely on any natural ability. When the disciples were together in the same place, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter was no longer fighting to take the lead; rather, he stood with the eleven to speak (2:1-4, 14).
Our natural man trusts our ability and opinions. Only a dead person has no ability or opinions. Our intelligence, knowledge, insights, and opinions need to be put to death. Only then can we serve according to God’s heart.
In the third month after coming out of Egypt, the children of Israel came to the foot of Mount Sinai (Exo. 19:1), but they were not able to serve God. They needed God’s further training for another nine months (40:17). When they completely abandoned their strength and ways, they were able to serve God. When the tabernacle was raised up, they came to know the meaning of service (v. 17). The strength and the way to serve were according to the pattern of the tabernacle, because Christ is the tabernacle. At this point the children of Israel saw that they could not use their own strength or their own ways to serve. Before they learned this lesson, the tabernacle could not be raised up. Only when they were at their weakest, having worshipped the idol (32:1-10) and exhausted their ways (33:5-6), did God raise up the tabernacle. Christ is the tabernacle. Only when our ability and ways are broken can we see that Christ is our real strength, wisdom, and way.
