Is. 2: Day of Exaltation

Isaiah 2:11 "The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. "

Couple things.

I'm not exactly sure what is meant by "the last days," but apparently this is going to be among the final things that happens on earth, at the end of time. God will establish this "Mountain." The language here points to this mountain being a person. He will be "chief among mountains," which leads me to believe he will be exalted above men. He will be the final say on things, as all nations will stream to it. Quite a guy. He will be a descendant of Jacob, according to the text. He will also send out the law, he will be the final answer on all things. Additionally, he will usher in peace, as people will beat their swords into plows, spears into pruning hooks, etc. Nations will no longer have to fight each other over land and old scores if they all trust the final judge.

The second section of Isaiah two deals with why God abandoned Israel. They completely deserved it. They broke just about every command they were given, but it seems like it all comes down to pride. They destroyed themselves because they thought they were so smart. They created their own idols, and brought the wrath of God down. Now they have no where to run. Just as there is no place to hide from God's love, there is no place to hide from his anger. Everything they build up in their own arrogance will be destroyed, and God will be magnified.

Ps. 115: Trust in the LORD

Psalm 115:8 "Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them."

Israel serves a God who is invisible. He is intangible, not something that can be caught, tagged, photographed and released. The other nations serve and worship idols. Carved. Graven.

The passage of verses 5 through 8 is particularly poetic. It does a great job contrasting the idols and visible gods with God Almighty. Mouths that do not speak, ears that do not hear, noses that do not smell, eyes that do not see, hands that do not feel, feet that do not walk. This all demonstrates that simply because a god can be seen, it is no reason to worship. Almighty God, who deserves worship, has no physical (as far as I know) eyes, ears, hands, etc.

Verse 8 damns those who serve and worship these unseeing, unhearing gods. They will be like them. This type of dichotomy leads me to think that even today if God revealed himself in some physical form, he would not be believed.

Israel is implored to trust in the LORD. Those who trust God will be saved.

Jg. 10: Let's Baal!

Judges 10:14 "Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"

After Abimelech, there are a couple of judges mentioned who rule Israel. None of them are listed as particularly good or bad, and none really accomplish anything noteworthy. They were adequate to be used by God to lead the nation, however. Tola led for 23 years until his death, and Jair led for 22 years. Jair's main accomplishment was having 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys. Which is just awesome. I like how its not 30 golden stallions or whatever. Just donkeys. He also was well-liked enough to have land named after him...Havvoth Jair.

Then Israel falls back into idolatry pretty ardently from the sounds of it. They were possessed, overrun and shattered by the Philistines and Ammonites. Which were listed as the nations of whom Israel worshipped their gods. So just because they worshipped the same god as these other nations, that was not enough for these other nations to let them alone and do their thing. The same nations oppressed them. Israel pushes their Easy Button, calling on God to come and save them, saying that they repented, but God seems to have had it, as He says to call on the gods they were worshiping to save them. This would have made absolutely no sense in practice, as their oppressors would be worshiping the very same god. They repented, but still held onto their new gods. Which was not good. Only when Israel gave up their false gods would God step in and provide a way out.

Dt. 4: Obey and Live

Deuteronomy 4:35 "You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other."

There is a lot more revealed about the nature of God, and man's relationship with him in Duder 4. Moses is about to lay down the law, and for many it will be a review. For some, it will be review. But how important are these laws, and how final?

Firstly, Moses says that no one should add to or subtract from the commands of God. In fact, Moses says just to keep what laws are about to be set down. Who is man to think that he could co-govern or co-legislate with God? That is unacceptable. In the previous 4 books, it is clear that man is subject to God, in power and in nature. How could God reduce Himself to a level tolerable enough for man to come alongside Him...to assist Him? It's outside either's collective nature. I think another command implicit here is to basically take these laws at face value, without needless debate. God did not want people choosing which laws they could follow, and ignoring others.

Secondly, Moses offers a new perspective on the Israelites' story in the history of the world. He points out to them that there are no other gods (on the surface). There is no similar narrative for any other nation with their respective gods. They saw how God reacted at Baal Peor when another god was given worship. It is truly a "great" nation of people whose god is as near as God is to Israel. And is that important? God has put in these laws and decrees as protection. Moses makes it pretty clear: Obey the commands so you can live. He leaves pretty dire consequences for disobedience.

I find the section on idolatry the most revealing. Why would God so severely and vehemently oppose cast or carved images of gods...or for that matter, even of Himself? The Israelites have not seen any form of God. I think "form" is the key word here. Form or Image seem to be synonymous with corrupt.

Just as a form is not the real thing, a mirror image is not actually you. It is a representation of you. It is you minus all of your character, minus all of the things that make you you. Forms do not see, hear, taste or smell as v. 28 puts it. These forms and images therefore (of a God unseen), are bastardized versions of God. Misrepresentations of God. An imperfect version of God upheld beyond God Himself. These things that God has created have form...calves, fish, birds, dogs, planets, stars, whatever. They are tangible creations and affectations of the actual God. They are therefore not objects of worship, rather reasons to worship, maybe?

Idolatry and form-making attempt to give a visual representation of an invisible being which will not be seen. It is anathema. Polar opposites. An idol is about as far from God as one can conceivably be.

So serious this commandment that Moses calls heaven and earth as witnesses that he told the Israelites, so that they are without excuse, and calls on them to pass this command down through the generations. Destruction and scattering will be the consequences for idolatry, a revoking of their rights to the promised land.

Can Israel turn back and return to God? Oh my, yes. Verses 29-31 are just about the most uplifting verses I have read in a long time in these scriptures. God here is described as ready to be found, an answer to distress, merciful and faithful to His word.

So where is God God? Moses says everywhere, in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. God's reign permeates everything. God's superiority and distinction are singular.

Man, Deuteronomy 4 is so full of incredible things, I hope you go read it.

Ex. 32: Israel Freaks Out...Thousands Dead

Moses is gone. 40 days and nights (give or take) go by, and the Israelites have no idea when he'll be back. 40 days is a long time actually, to wait for someone who says they will be be back, but don't really give a set time. Anyway, during this time, God must not have been communicating to the Israelites in the way to which they were accustomed. Even though there was that giant cloud on the mountain the whole time. They knew God was there.

Well, they had to worship something, and in chapter 32 they surround Aaron and tell him to make them some gods who will go before them. They were evidently tired of being in this one place for so long, and got the wanderlust. Aaron, the priest, who went up on the mountain, who ate and drank with God Himself, is like, "OK, bring me all your gold earrings." He makes a golden calf out of them.

Extremely unsettling what they say here next in verse 4. "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egpyt." Wow. So it wasn't just a need to follow a different god. A replacement god. They go even further, and misattribute the LORD's miraculous power in bringing them out of Egypt to a lump of gold carved out of their earrings. This was after Moses sprinkled them with the blood of the covenant, gave them the ten commandments (one of which being "have no other gods before me") and they themselves proclaimed they would do everything the LORD says.

Aaron sees this, and figures this god needs an altar and some sort of offering, as the real God did, so he built an altar in front of this calf, and declared that the next day would be a festival unto this god. Aaron even calls it LORD. And the next day, the people got up early, sacrificed to the calf and presented offerings, ate, drank, and generally just raved.

Well, God of course sees this, and tells Moses to

"Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'

"I have seen these people, and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."

This is a seeming contradiction to what God has been saying all along. First off, He calls Israel Moses' people. All along, they have been God's chosen people. Then God says Moses brought them out of Egypt. Yet all these festivals and commemorations were designed to celebrate God's bringing the people out of Egypt. Why would God say this? Why would God throw Moses under the bus like this for Israel's behavior?

Is Israel's worshipping this calf their way of excusing themselves from God's covenant with them? They were told to destroy other idols back in chapter 23. Would this be a way of passing Israel from God's covenant to Moses?

God tells Moses to leave him alone so that his anger can burn and God can destroy them. Not unlike a teenage girl throwing a hissyfit, not wanting anyone to see her trash her room.

Or perhaps this was to call Moses out on their behavior? Was Moses not taking ownership of this priesthood? Perhaps he did not fully understand what it is his position meant to Israel ( and to himself). Was this God leading Moses to a response, testing him, and seeing where Moses was and to whom Moses was allied?

I find Moses' response very calming, and probably what God had hoped he would say. Moses brings up the Egyptians, asking why they should say that God brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them out? Moses reminds God of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. I don't think this was Moses trying to soothe God's fragile ego, or manipulate the mind of a deity. I think God wanted Moses to show some fortitude. And he did.

So God relents, and doesn't kill everyone. Whew. And Israel had no idea what almost was.

So Moses goes back down the mountain with Joshua...and I don't know if Joshua was actually in the cloud with Moses or what. Something tells me he wasn't witness to what happened between God and Moses, as he mistakes the sounds of Israel's pagan revelry for the sound of war. Moses hears the sounds, and says, "It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing I hear." They must be poor singers to make Joshua think they were at war. War sounds are not beautiful sounds. Moses sees the calf and the dancing, and completely loses it. He had just gone to bat for these people, and now he sees for himself how bad it really is. He smashes the tablets on the ground at the foot of the mountain, and creates some old fashioned Bible justice. He burned the calf in the fire, melted it down, ground it into powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. I don't think he held each one by the throat and poured calf-inated water down his gullet. He probably scattered it on their only water source, so they had no choice but to drink it.

Moses confronts Aaron, and Aaron blames the people, essentially saying, "You know Israel...."

He saw the people running about wild, and knew this was ridiculous in the eyes of Israel's enemies. So he took a stand, and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me." The Levites took the call and rallied to him. Moses forwards a command from God to go back and forth in the camp, killing his brother, friend and neighbor. And they did as they were commanded, and kilt off about 3,000 people. Which is just horrible. But they were warned. God blessed them for being more loyal to Him than to their own sons and brothers. Following God's commands was so important, they were to put their sons to death. Sons who were wicked.

The next day, Moses addresses a (probably) shocked and subdued camp, telling them that what they did was super naughty, and that he would talk to God and see about letting them off the hook. As indicated in the previous chapters regarding atonement and sin offerings, sin was going to be a given, which was why there was a need for these offerings to take place. God knew that.

Moses asks God to forgive the Israelites for their golden calf episode, recognizing how serious it actually was. If God refused, Moses offered to have his own name blotted out of something called God's book. Was this a list of names of righteous people who have found favor in God's eyes? Was it a book of every single person, and when they sin without atonement, the name is blotted out? God tells Moses whoever sins against him will be blotted out of his book, at any rate. God tells Moses to go on, and follow the angel, and God will punish Israel for their idolatry with a plague when the time is right.