Sinai: Sabbath And New Creation

"Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights." - Exodus 24.15-18

As I have been reading through the Bible this year from beginning to end, certain passages are starting to jump out at me. This passage in particular made my inner biblical theological geek sing full-throated praise. What is being literally described is spectacular enough, but looking through the lens of redemptive history, this passage seems to explode. Two themes jumped off the page at me: Sabbath and new creation.

...But Christ Is Still Our Lover

The church is a mess. Aside from possibly being the understatement of the year, its true. It is very easy to look at the all rampant sin and wonder how on earth the church is being made into the image of God. It is not surprising to see people who, capitalizing on individualism, want nothing to do with the church; they have Jesus, why do they need the church? It is also very easy to look at all the ways that the church has wronged people, the corruption and scandals, the love of money and greed, and to conclude (often rightly) that they are no different from the world. Pulpits are more filled with self-help, empty platitudes, social and political grandstanding, and almost everything under the sun except for what they should be filled with: law and gospel, sin and grace, repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It is very easy to rage against the church and to condemn her. This is nothing new, however. It has been the story of the church since her inception because of one simple fact: the church is made up of sinners, like you and me.

The Mosaic Law: From The Hand Of Christ

I have heard it said a number of times that Christ gave us a new law, or a different law. Sometimes it is also expressed as Christ's expansion of the law. The sermon on the mount is often given as the example of Christ doing this. This is not the case however. Christ was not giving us new law, nor was he replacing the old law. What he was doing was explaining the fullness of the old law. I think that we can see this if we take seriously Christ's words in Matthew 5 and then meditate on the law of God received at Sinai.

The Temple Of God Is Union With Christ

Exodus 32-34 is an infamous chapter in Israel's history. As Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the law from the finger of God, the congregation returned to the idolatry of Egypt and created a golden calf to worship. As Moses descended from Sinai, a great confrontation began between God and his people. It is from this confrontation that Moses, who was afraid to speak before Pharaoh, stands boldly before God and intercedes for the congregation. There are many things that can be developed from this narrative, but I want to focus specifically on how, in this conflict, we see the nature of the relationship between God and his people.