It’s not the most uplifting message, is it? But maybe it’s one of the more instructive messages:

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7.2, ESV)

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent for some traditions – a time to remember not only our own death, but also to walk with Jesus as he goes to his death. Traditionally, some people “give up something for Lent,” and if there are distractions preventing our wholeheartedly following Jesus or thinking about him more during this time, we should give those up. I am going to eliminate working some of the word puzzles I frequently spend too much time on!

More importantly, we should consider taking something on… I’m thinking Peace-making might be a good Lenten practice. There is way too much conflict, outrage, and discord going on right now. Nearly daily I’m receiving emails telling me some new thing I should be “fuming” about.

Let’s lead the way in encouraging peace rather than fomenting discord, shall we?

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5.9, ESV)

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12.14, NIV)

We should visit the story of Moses’ striking the rock when he was told to speak to it. The issue was that there was no water:

Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before theLORD! Why did you bring theLORD’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” (Numbers 20.2 – 5, NIV)

Moses ignored God’s instructions to speak to the rock and instead “struck the rock twice.” Now if it had been me (instead of the Lord), I might have said something like, “Well, I was trying to help you, but you ignored my instructions. I guess you’ll have to go thirsty for a while longer!” But it wasn’t me. Note what happened when Moses was disobedient:

Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. (Numbers 20.11, NIV)

God provided water anyway! It’s called grace.

¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103.10 – 14, ESV)

Moses’ forgetting that the power was God’s, not the staff’s, reminds me of a story told about an arrogant orchestra leader. It goes something like this:

A city orchestra hired a new conductor who was reputed to be quite good. Everyone looked forward to his coming. However, it turned out that he was very arrogant and treated the orchestra badly. Every rehearsal he berated them for their lack of skill, poor direction-taking, and general lack of musicality. This went on and on. Finally, they scheduled their first concert. The townspeople filled the auditorium. The orchestra members filed onto the stage and took their places. Finally, the conductor came out, took his place on the podium, and raised his baton. When he gave the signal to begin, no one played. He tried again. Still nothing. Finally, the Concertmaster, the first violinist, got up and whispered in his ear:

Maestro, never forget that no music comes out of that stick!

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. (John 15.5, NIV)

Yesterday, we looked at Moses’ striking the rock, causing water to come out, and we closed with this reminder from Paul that it’s all God’s work:

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth…For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3.5 – 9, ESV)

Moses forgot that lesson and several others later:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. (Numbers 20.7 – 11, ESV, emphasis mine)

A tragic mistake:

• God changed the instructions, and Moses missed it. “Take your staff, but speak to the rock–don’t strike the rock.” God rarely does things the same way twice. We, on the other hand, like routines. If something worked once, surely it will work again. If a church has an event where God really shows up and good things happen, rest assured, 20 years later, they’ll still be running that same event even though God has long been absent from it.
• Most of us believe that God had intended to set up a picture pointing to Christ with the Exodus 17 event. Jesus, the rock that was struck. But he was struck only once. Please see Hebrews 9.24 – 26. Moses ruined that picture, which may be why the penalty was so severe. (See Numbers 20.12)
• But perhaps Moses’ biggest mistake in this whole episode is his forgetting his role: “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Really? Who is going to bring water out of the rock? The guy with the staff? Moses had started to believe his own publicity, a mistake Joseph and Daniel did not make.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” (Genesis 41.15, 16, ESV)

The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. (Daniel 2.26 – 28, ESV)

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Corinthians 3.7, ESV)

Back to God’s allowing us to co-labor with him, this is classic.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17.5, 6, ESV)

God does the work, but with theater, so that Moses also gets some credit and some credibility. This story has a tragic sequel, unfortunately, and I’ll write about that tomorrow.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3.5 – 9, ESV)

No one will object to yesterday’s blog on “A Day’s Portion Every Day,” EXCEPT for the encouragement to do it early. I hear your cry. Not everyone is at their best in the morning, and, for sure, if another time of day is better for you, go for it.

However, I am reminded of a sermon I heard from J. Oswald Sanders (not to be confused with Oswald Chambers). Dr. Sanders was the long-time head of China Inland Mission. I heard him preach when he was in his late 80s and still bringing it with gusto. He told a story that went something like this:

Someone asked me once, “Dr. Sanders, will you pray that God will help me get out of bed in the morning to have my quiet time?” I replied, “I will NOT! I will pray that if you can get one foot out of bed, God will help you get the other.”

His point was, the daily meeting with God is a discipline, no matter what time you do it.

Train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4.7, ESV)

Continuing with our theme of ASK / ACT, asking God to do what only he can do, while taking the actions that he wants us to take, I can’t pass Exodus 16 without thinking of a little pamphlet written years ago by Stephen Olford: Manna in the Morning. It seems to be out of print now, but he was comparing the manna of Exodus 16 to our daily time with God.

I have since read other authors who argue that it’s not the best analogy since manna was temporary and after a while, the Israelites didn’t even like it (see Numbers 11.4 – 8). But Jesus, the living Word of God, compared the manna to himself as the Bread of Life:

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. (John 6.48, 49, ESV)

So what are the lessons from Exodus 16? They are simple:

The people asked for food (actually they grumbled about not having food!), and God provided. But God didn’t put it into their mouths – they had to go out and gather it:

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day…” Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. (Exodus 16.2 – 4, 21 ESV)

A day’s portion every day, gathered early before it melted. Pretty simple. The analogy to our daily time with God is obvious. The Word is here. Anyone in the US can have a copy in the translation of their choice. But God won’t pour it into our brains and hearts. We have to:

• Get up and read it.
• Get up and read it early.
• Get up and read it every day.
• Put what we read into practice. (Gathering manna wasn’t enough – the Israelites actually had to make meals out of it and eat it!)

But [Jesus] answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4.4, ESV)

Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD. (Proverbs 8.34, 35, ESV)

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up. (Psalm 5.3, NKJV)

We’ve been observing that God chooses to do his work by co-laboring with us. Sometimes that takes the form of prayer on our part, releasing God’s power into a situation. Sometimes he wants us to move out in faith as the Israelites did in crossing the Red Sea. Other times he may want us to take a symbolic action.

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. (James 5.14, NIV, emphasis mine)

Here’s a simple illustration involving God’s power and our prayer. I’m sitting in my den, and when I walked into the room, I switched on the overhead light. Did the light come on because I threw the switch? No, the light came on because:

• There is a wire running from the switch to the light fixture.
• The bulbs in the light fixture are in working order.
• There is electricity coming into the house from the outside.
• That electricity is wired to the switch and the light fixture.

However, even with all that infrastructure and power, the overhead light won’t come on UNTIL I throw the switch.

Is prayer like that?

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7.7, 8, NIV)

Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it. Thus says the Lord GOD: “This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock.” (Ezekiel 36.36, 37, ESV) [God’s power…waiting for Israel to ask]

We observed yesterday that God did his work, specifically the plagues against Egypt, by co-laboring with Moses and Aaron. The theme continues after the Passover and the Exodus when the Israelites were seemingly trapped between Egypt and the Red Sea, and Pharaoh decided to come after them. The people were afraid, and Moses gives this stirring exhortation:

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14.13, 14, ESV)

What a speech: stirring, inspiring…and wrong. Look at God’s response:

The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14.15, 16, ESV)

There is a time for prayer, and there is a time for action. ASK / ACT. In this case, it’s ACT! How did the Israelites escape through the Red Sea?

• Moses lifted his staff. If Moses doesn’t lift his staff, the waters don’t part.
• God parted the waters. If God doesn’t part the waters, it doesn’t matter that Moses lifted his staff.
• The people walked through. If the people don’t walk through, it doesn’t matter that the waters were parted.

ASK / ACT – God’s power / Our action. I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow.

Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. (Mark 2.3 – 12, NIV)

I’m reading about the plagues, Exodus chapters 7 – 12, and it’s interesting to note the cooperation between Moses and Aaron and the Lord. For example, here’s the first one:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” (Exodus 7.14 – 19, ESV, emphases mine)

God could have just done what he wanted, but in some cases, like the one above, he asks Moses to stretch out his staff. In one case Moses threw dust into the air. In some cases, Moses prays to start and/or stop the plagues. In all cases, there is communication with Pharaoh. 

It’s a good lesson on co-laboring with God. God can do whatever he wants, but he prefers to work with and through people. Prayer is part of it. Communication is part of it. Symbolic gestures are part of it.

We see the same lesson in Jeremiah 29.7:

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (ESV)

Couldn’t God bless the city without their prayer? But he chooses to have us co-labor through prayer. I’ll continue this theme tomorrow.