LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?
THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
(A) The Altar of Incense and the Census Tax. The altar of incense (1) represented the prayers of the people coming up before God. The incense was to be burned both morning and evening, signifying the continued praying of God’s people (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 8:3-4). Just like the incense always went up to God, our prayers should be regularly offered up. (2) Along with this, the altar of incense was also the place where the High Priest offered up the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement once per year (Exodus 30:10); this greater and more special sacrifice pointed to the insufficiency of the regular sacrifices offered during the rest of the year. Hebrews 9-10 shows how this points to Jesus' still more special sacrifice -offered up not once per year, but once for all of time- which makes Jesus the High Priest of a new and better covenant. These sacrifices in the Old Testament took on forms that would have been understandable to people of the Ancient Near East, but God took those familiar things and layered them with meaning intended to point forward to the true and better sacrifice that He would offer through His Son. Not to be ignored, the census tax in Exodus 30:11-16 shows who is in need of this kind of redemption: everyone. God does not discriminate between people. The Life Application Study Bible says this tax shows that "God does not discriminate between people (see Acts 10:34; Galatians 3:28). All of us need mercy and forgiveness because of our sinful thoughts and actions. There is no way the rich person can buy off God, and no way the poor can avoid paying. God’s demand is that all of us come humbly before him to be forgiven and brought into his family.”
(B) Oholiab and Bezalel using their gifts. God doesn't only call us to use our gifts, but he is the one who gives us those gifts in the first place. Commenting on the statement that these men are filled with the Spirit (Exodus 31:1-3, 6), The NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible says "This is the first time in the Bible that someone is filled with the Spirit, here for the creative task of an artisan. In both the OT and NT, being filled with the Spirit generally refers to a God-given ability to perform some action in service to God (Deut 34:9; Mic 3:8; Luke 1:15, 67; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 13:9). Bezalel is proficient in 'all kinds of skills' not simply because he has natural abilities but because God gave him wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. In 1 Cor 3, Paul sees himself as performing a similar function to Bezalel as regards laying the foundations for the church as God’s temple.” As God has similarly given each of us gifts, let's use them in a way that glorifies God.
(C) The Golden Calf. If you've ever heard of someone talking about "sacred cows" in political circles, this is where it comes from. That cute little phrase references a dark reality: the worship of something other than God. And the result, from God, is to turn away from the group that is participating in this kind of worship. He doesn't bless it. Last Sunday in the Bible Study before the service, we mentioned the existence of four "root idols" which lie under the surface of most problems that we think we have: these four root idols are comfort, security, control, and acceptance. We might think that we have a problem with money, for example, but really money is just the mediator between us and the god of security ("if I put enough of this away, I'll be safe"), or acceptance ("if I can't buy what the people around me are buying, I'll look bad"), or comfort ("working for the weekend"), or control ("he who makes the money makes the rules")--though the spider-web of our harmful attitudes are a lot more intricate than just these example quotes can really capture. Here's the connection with Exodus 32: rather than just outright walk away from God, the people identified God with their idols. They said, "These are your gods [or 'Elohim,' a plural word often used for God in the singular], O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!... Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD" (Exodus 32:4-5). And just like them, we often dress up our idol with names of God, following him as long as he tells us to be at peace with those around us and be kind (acceptance), or be a good steward who values diligence and hard work (security), or to trust and be content to live a simple life (comfort), or do everything in an orderly and proper way and respect those in positions of authority (power)--but then we struggle or become angry when someone brings us evidence that God calls us to do something contrary to the god we actually worship. The solution is to draw near to Jesus: in his face, we see the glory of God (2 Cor. 4:6). As we come back to him time and time again, we see the difference between him and our idols. The more we trust him, the more we come to see that his way is better.
RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?
There are a lot of ways we can apply today's reading in terms of our actions, attitude, and worship. For example, we can take more time to struggle with ways that God seems inconsistent with what we sometimes think He would be like--often this is where the God of the Bible and our root idol may be at the greatest level of contradiction, and so for us these might be the most important passages for us to dwell on. Another way we could apply this is to use our gifts in ways that would honor God. One more would be for us to see ourselves as equal to everyone else: no one else is more, or less, in need of redemption before God than you are (including you, me, and everyone else in the world).
PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?
Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, in your mercy, I come before you. I acknowledge my need for redemption and forgiveness. Forgive me for times when I may have looked at others and thought, 'they are more in need of redemption than I am.' Forgive me for times when I've chased after other things and convinced myself (and others) that it was in your name. Grant me clarity of mind and strength of spirit to discern your will and resist the temptations and idols that lead me astray. Guide me along the path that you've laid out for me, so that I can seek your truth and find fulfillment in your love alone. Amen."
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