
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
What if you got a message written by God with His finger? S29e24 Dt9:6
How many days have you rebelled from God? For the Israelites, it was 14,600 days in a row. For a good friend of mine, it was 26242.
God writes a message to mankind on two tablets with HIS VERY FINGER. It is one of the first direct contacts with heaven. Later Jesus comes down to make even more contact with our world. So, no matter how many days it has been for you, please listen. Maybe it is time to stop rebelling and receive Him.
https://youtu.be/sEhE0v2-Ctw
What if you got a message written by God with His finger? S29e24 Dt9:6
Moses is summarizing the 40 year “journey”
Dt is kind of the cliff notes of the first 4 books of the bible
On this journey—they really didn’t go anywhere, so it wasn’t a physical journey, it was a spiritual journey
He recounts aspects of the character of the PEOPLE and
The aspects of the character of GOD
Yesterday you are facing nations greater, people greater and tall
Lord is going before you as a consuming fire; recently with hornets…why?
Because you are more righteous? No. More upright of heart? No. shinier?
Because of the wickedness of them
That He might confirm the promise the Lord made.
He is not a promise breaker. Because The Lord only speaks truth:
He cannot be a promise breaker
So we now pick up the story Dt 9:6
6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. 7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8 Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. Not because of your righteousness
In fact, you have been a stubborn people.
You have provoked the Lord to righteous, holy, and appropriate wrath
You have provoked the Lord to righteous, holy and appropriate Anger
Got so bad He was ready to destroy you.
For 40 years of days 14600 days you have been rebellious
That is a lot of rebellion
9 When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lordmade with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’
The rebellion continues with the story of the 10 commandments
Given to a people of a special covenant
Given in a place of special holiness—mt. of Sinai
Given to a leader, Moses, during a time of special sustainence no food/w 40 days—even during this special season
The rebellion continues, intensifies:acted corruptly,they have gone to ruin
Turned aside quickly
Made a metal image—golden calf—come back tomorrow
What if there is a message to humans written with His very finger
Ex 31:18 confirms that when God finished speaking with Moses on Mt. Sinai, He gave him two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
I love the detailstwo tablets written by God Himself—baby incarnation
He takes the stone from our world, and The Finger from His, CONTACT
To write these words that tell us so much about Himself: He’s holy, He’s just, He invented the family, He cares what you do with your zipper, He cares what you do with your worship, He cares what you do with your time, He cares what you do with your desires
He also reveals, in these prohibitions, our inclinations, our sinfulness and our desperate need of Him.
Or what if He contacts our world with MORE THAN a finger…ie in JESUS
How many days of rebellion have you had?
FOR SOME LISTENERS, it will be MORE THAN 14600 days 40 years. For a friend 26242 days of rebellion.
He barely made it before he died. What a blessing.
How many days have you enjoyed the fruit of NON-rebellion.
What we have before us from the Israelites is not far from us
Perfectly understandable. Perfect examples
We can turn aside quickly. We can mis-prioritize stuff and make idols:
Anything more important than God
So today, let us yield better than the knuckleheads of the OT
Careful: they are not the only knuckleheads this account reveals
You may be one of them, we all have been there or are there.
Either way you’ll soberly put your hand over your mouth
And appreciate this: it is not because of my shininess that the Lord called me but because of HIS shininess. He’s maker. He draws. He calls. He gives rights, FAMILY rights, to those even outside of His family.
Let’s respond whether it is just with His FINGER, or His whole self in Jesus.