Download 12049U THE WILDERNESS OF LIFE

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12049U
THE WILDERNESS OF LIFE - 1991
Speaker:
Bro. John Martin
Study #5:
Wonderful and Fearful Events at Mt. Sinai
Reading:
Exodus 32
My dear brethren and sisters and our young people.
Well, our brother Paul has truly epitomized for us, b&s, in very few words, exactly what
we're going to talk about this evening. We are going to see some very wonderful things
in this Word, and believe me, b&s, we are going to see some very fearful things;
because as we've already learnt, and if we haven't been impressed already, then there
must be something wrong with our ears because this Word is very plain, and as we've
already learnt, we are in a very highly typical period of Israel's history. All these things
happened unto them for types, and b&s, as we follow the type through this evening,
you're going to see that something has got to happen, and we are living on the very
verge of that happening! because we're going to review this evening, a section of the
Word which has been a typical section, which has been fulfilled to the letter, to the
absolute letter it has been fulfilled, in a most remarkable fashion, and there's half of it,
b&s, waiting to be fulfilled. If it's not fulfilled, then the Word of God is not the Word of
God, because the first part, as I said, has been fulfilled to the absolute letter.
Now in Exodus 19, we take our next step in the journey through the wilderness of life,
and we come at last, b&s, to that awesome mount of Sinai. As we have it here on our
map, right down in the base of the peninsula, Israel now coming from Rephidim have
arrived at this awesome place of Sinai. And certainly, as they spent nearly 11 months
here, b&s, 11 months they spent there, they learnt an awful lot about their God, and
they left Sinai vastly different people, than that they came. And so we read in Exodus 19
and verse 1, 'In the 3rd month when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the
land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai'. Now notice what it
says there! 'the same day', what day? Now the Jewish tradition has it, b&s, that the day
they came was the 50th day in which they had left Egypt. And that, of course, is quite
conceivable. They would have left Egypt on or around the 15th or the 16th of the first
month after the Passover. Of course, a month of 30 days meant the following month
made up 45 days, and here they come in the 3rd month, and it would have been early in
that month, and it would have been 50 days out of Egypt. In a word, b&s, they arrived
there on the anniversary of what we call, the day of Pentecost, which is a Greek word
'Pentecost' meaning 'the 50th'(4005). Never called that in the Hebrew text, of course, it
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was always known as the Feast of Weeks. So later on, when they had the Passover,
and later on when the Law was established, and the morrow after the Sabbath they
waved the sheaf, and then they counted from that waved sheaf, 50 days, and they kept
the Feast of Pentecost. Now Jewish tradition had it that they arrived there around about
that 50th day, and that the central portions of the Law was given on the day of
Pentecost (and I believe that's absolutely correct). Now if we've never believed before
this, that we've got a typical record, just use 2 hands and look what happens.
We're going to turn up to Exodus chapter 32, and we're going to turn to Acts chapter 2,
and we're going to have a look at the first Pentecost and the last Pentecost, and just
have a look at what happens, and surely we must be impressed with the typical aspect
of this record, when we compare these two references?
What happened on that first occasion when you might say, Pentecost was established,
not so much in Law but in practice and principle at Mount Sinai? Well, we read about
the dreadful occasion of the golden calf, and in verse 28 which our bro. Jeff read for us
just a few moments ago, we read in verse 28 of Exodus chapter 32, 'And the children of
Levi did according to the word of Moses (and listen, listen carefully) 'and there fell of the
people that day about 3,000 men'. Now read Acts chapter 2, b&s, verse 1, 'And when
the day of Pentecost was fully come', fully come, (do you know what Luke means by
that? he doesn't mean that the actual day had arrived, he's talking about the fulfillment
of the type), b&s, this is the absolute fulfillment, there is no more Pentecost's after this in
the type. In Exodus was the first one and here is the final one which is the fulfillment,
the absolute fulfillment of that 50th day, because here we are, 50 days from Christ's
resurrection, and here we are celebrating the day of Pentecost. When the day of
Pentecost was fully come what happened? verse 41, 'Then they that gladly received His
word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls'.
There fell that day about 3,000 men, there was added unto them that day about 3,000
souls, and the word 'souls' b&s, whilst it does describe the being or the person, it is also
used in scripture for the whole man. And there fell on the day of Pentecost initially 3,000
'Adam's', men; but here were men and women, 'souls' who were saved on the day of
Pentecost, and what that is telling us is this, that the Law killeth but the Spirit gives life.
The letter kills but the Spirit gives life, b&s, and right there in that comparison we have
set before us very graphically, the fact that we are in a highly typical record.
Now Exodus 19 said, that when they came to Sinai, we read in verse 4 Yahweh
reminded them, 'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bare you on
eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself'. You know, b&s, no greater symbol could
He have chosen at that time to illustrate His point, because they were in one of the
world's natural habitats of the eagle. As I described to you the Sinai peninsula, a sandy
peninsula with the triangular mountains streaking up from the base of granite, and there
in the high crag where the eagle had his nest, soaring effortlessly on the thermal which
would come up off the hot sand, soaring with all his glory and his seemingly lack of
effort, and wheeling around that area, they would see them everywhere; and they would
understand, b&s, the practice of the eagle which is described for us in Deuteronomy 32,
have a look! This is what Yahweh did for His people, and He's just said to them that He
brought them out and bare them on eagles' wings; reading at verse 9 of Deuteronomy
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32, the practice of the eagle. And as I read this, I'm going to read this in the masculine
gender because in the Hebrew, that's what it is; we read about the eagle here as 'her' in
the feminine, but in the Hebrew it is actually masculine, so we read in verse 9, 'For
Yahweh's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a
desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led them about, He instructed him,
He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up his nest, fluttereth over his
young, spreadeth abroad his wings, taketh them, beareth them on his wings: So
Yahweh alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him'. And there is the
great Father eagle, the time has come for the little eaglets to learn to fly, and He
tumbles them out of His nest from way up there, and away they go tumbling over unable
to fly, sometimes being able and the next minute they lost their balance and over they
go again until almost it would seem certain that they would crash into the earth and
become just pools of blood. Then the father eagle magnificently, comes soaring down
with unerring judgment and at the last minute rescues them, until in the end they learn
to fly.
You know, brethren, we've got to learn to fly! we're going to ride upon the high places of
the earth, we've got to learn to fly; we've got to see the world as Yahweh sees it, and He
keeps tumbling us out of our nests which we make for ourselves! and we tumble and
stumble through life, b&s, only time, and time again to be rescued at the last minute by
the Father eagle, who's trying to teach us to fly. And when we learn to fly, and we get
way up above there, above flesh, we see the world as Yahweh sees it. That's what He
was going to do for His people, to have an eagle's view of things! and to see the world
as He sees it. Learn to fly, b&s, it's wonderful to fly with God and to soar on the thermal
of the Spirit and to see men for what they are and to learn something of our heavenly
Father's attitude towards the world and His people; and to do that, we've got to get
away and above the circumstances of life. And that's what He was trying to teach His
people in bearing them on eagle's wings and bringing them onto Himself.
Now back in the 19th chapter of Exodus, another remarkable thing was told the people,
which a spiritual Israelite later on would have thought very deeply about. He said to
them in verse 5 and 6, Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my
covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people. For all the
earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These
are the words that thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel'. You know, on that first
occasion when Moses came down, b&s, with that initial comment from Yahweh, and He
spoke to all those people, what a scintillating promise that was, that they would be a
kingdom of priests, kings and priests. And you can imagine the murmur of the thrill of
anticipation that went through that crowd! of the absolute thrill of that, that they would
have authority with God Almighty and act on His behalf, that's what that meant. And that
thrill, b&s, would run through that crowd, and they would stand there like the disciples
did in keen anticipation, 'Lord, will Thou at this time establish the kingdom? 'That would
have been the thought among all the Israelites on that occasion.
And later when he was to come down on one of those seven ascents and descents that
he made, he was to bring them a book which said, that they could never be a king and a
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priest whilst that book was in vogue and in force. And they would have had to ponder
that because the book was to tell them, that the priests were to come from Levi and the
prophecies had gone before, that the king would come from Judah, therefore, they
could never be a king and a priest together, and if they were not of Judah or of Levi,
they could never be a king or a priest. And so they had to learn that Yahweh had
something in store for them, that was not in that Law; and as long as that Law was in
force, b&s, they could never be a kingdom of priests. And Peter it was who said, 'that
we are a peculiar people' quoting that record. We're a peculiar people, a royal
priesthood, 'that we should show forth the virtues of Him who had called us out of
darkness into His marvellous light'. And how is it that we can fulfil our destiny whereas
they could never have fulfilled it? it's because, b&s, that we have One greater than the
Law, our Lord sprang out of Judah of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning
priesthood, said the apostle, and yet He's the greater high priest of our profession. And
His priesthood is based on one singular criteria, king of righteousness and therefore,
b&s, all of those who are justified by faith, irrespective of nationality can fulfil the great
destiny of Exodus 19, whereas Israel could never have done that as long as that Law
was in force.
And so God was getting His people to think about their destiny, and teaching them to
fly. Now we come to Exodus 24, b&s, and our type this evening is in two distinct parts,
and it's necessarily so! And we're going to see in Exodus 24, one of those monumental
passages of scripture, dealing typically with the first advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. I
want you to notice what happens in Exodus 24: first of all, in verse 1 and 2 Moses is
called along with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: who
worship afar off. Verse 2 says, 'that Moses alone shall come near Yahweh'. Verse 4
says, 'that Moses wrote the words of Yahweh, and built an altar. He put around the
altar, 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel'. He then sent young men of the
children of Israel, verse 5, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings
unto Yahweh. Verses 6 to 8, he binds the people to the book by the blood of the
covenant. And verse 9 proceeds along with Nadab and Abihu and Aaron and 70 of the
elders of Israel and they see a vision of Elohim, the God of Israel; and in verse 11, God
enters into fellowship with those 70 elders. And in verse 13, Moses rises up with his
minister, Joshua, whom he takes part way up the mount and says in verse 14, 'Tarry ye
here, until we come again unto you'. He goes up into mount Sinai, verse 16, and verse
18 he disappears out of sight and Yahweh speaks to him. Now you just put all that
together, b&s, and just have a look what happens. Look at the type!
The blood of the covenant -Exodus 24
1. Moses alone shall come near unto Yahweh. Hebrews 9:24 says that Jesus
has entered into the Most Holy, made without hands. He went there alone,
nobody went with Him, He went alone. But before He went He was established
as our altar.
2. When Moses built an altar in Exodus 24, learn this, that was before the Law
was given, he would have built that of unhewn stones, typical of the Lord Jesus
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Christ whose character was not shaped according to flesh, and therefore, says
Paul in Hebrews 13 and verse 10, 'we have an altar'.
3. Around that altar, Moses established 12 pillars, and we know what happened
at the Last Supper, when Jesus took the wine, He said, 'this is the blood of the
new covenant' quoting that record; the blood of the new covenant. He had
around Him at the Last Supper, b&s, 12 apostles who in Galatians 2 verse 9 are
called 'pillars', He had them around Him, didn't He?
4. Moses took the young men, who would they be? they would have been the
original priesthood before it was taken over by Levi, as we learn from Numbers
chapter 3. And we are described in Hebrews 12 verse 23 as 'the ecclesia of
firstborns', that's what they were.
5. Then Moses, before the Law was given, took burnt offerings and peace
offerings to bring the people into fellowship with God, and when the Law was
given we learn that God only legislated that bread and wine would only be
offered with burnt offerings and peace offerings, and no other. So they were the
only two offerings later on under the Law of Moses, with which they had bread
and wine. And in Luke 22 verses 19 and 20, we know that the Lord had those 2
elements with Him at the last supper.
6. Then Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the book and on the people,
and brought the people into covenant relationship with Yahweh their God in Mt.
Sinai. And Jesus said, 'this is the blood of the covenant, which is given for you'.
Now, b&s, there is in that an absolutely remarkable type that has been fulfilled to the
letter; you know what's coming, the other half of the type, and that's going to be fulfilled
to the letter. And it's a fearful thing to contemplate it, because that has been fulfilled to
the letter! And the other half is coming!
Now look what happened in Exodus 24! Look at the wonderful way this goes on. It's
absolutely marvellous what it says here! You see, there was with Aaron, Nadab and
Abihu, in verse 9, and 70 elders of Israel. Now, b&s, they obviously were of Israel, they
weren't Gentiles, literally that is; but there's no doubt whatever that as a group of
people, they were there to represent the Gentile element in the ecclesia. They were a
special little group set forward in that type to represent the Gentile element in the
ecclesia, and they went up and they saw the God of Israel, verse 10. Now listen to the
words of verse 10 and just think to yourself, where have you read these words before in
your bible? Give yourself a memory test in verse 10, 'and they saw the Elohim of Israel
and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were
the body of heaven in his clearness'. Diligent bible readers will know that is taken over
into Ezekiel chapter 1, the vision of Elohim in the cherubim and there was the high
priest of the nation with his two sons, there was Moses representing in type, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and with them, those representing the Gentile ecclesias, who were left
(before Moses left to depart their presence and to move to the top of the mountain,
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before Moses left them), they were given an outstanding vision of the future. A
wonderful vision of the future which Ezekiel picks up hundreds of years later, and
quotes those words in his first chapter in the visions of Elohim, when all nations are
included in that wonderful vision of the cherubim.
Now we read in verse 11, 'And upon the nobles (that's the 70 people) 'upon the nobles
of the children of Israel He laid not His hand: and they saw God, and did eat and drink'.
Now, b&s, look at that, when it says 'He laid not His hand', it means He spared them,
Israel were forbidden to come anywhere near that mountain. They were given grim
warning about that, so much so as our bro. Paul said, Moses because of those
instructions and because of what he saw, exceedingly feared and quaked, MOSES DID;
and as they drew near to Yahweh there would be fear and trepidation about this holy
God, who was at that time, of course, established in that mountain in manifestation. So
it was an awesome scene, and as they moved towards Him, there would be trembling,
b&s, trembling! waiting for a flash of lightning and the end of them. But, He didn't touch
them, He let them alone and you know, when He let them alone they're called 'nobles',
and do you know, b&s, that is an unusual word, it is only found one other place in the
scripture, so unusual is it, do you know what it actually means? It means literally in the
Hebrew according to Strong, 'to join in separation' (678). Yahweh was separate, b&s, so
separate that flesh was warned to keep right away, keep way back, and even if an
animal was to stray near that mountain, they weren't to kill the animal with their hands,
they had to thrust it through with a spear or with a dart. You know why, because the
animal had gone, therefore, they don't dare go near the animal, so they had to throw a
spear at it or a stone at it, they had to keep away from the animal even. This is the holy
God and these 70 are approaching closer than the rest, He laid not His hand, but He
took them to join them in His separation; 'be ye holy, as I am holy'; that's what the word
'noble' indicates, 'to join in separation', quite remarkable, isn't it? and they saw God.
We know they didn't see the eternal Spirit, that would never be possible, but they saw
His manifestation and even that, b&s, was something! It was an outstanding privilege,
and not only so, but they ate and drank with Him. You know, b&s, that little group of 70
who were joined in separation unto Yahweh through the blood of the covenant, although
as I said they were literally Israelites, they represented ourselves. The number 70 as
we've learnt on numerous occasions, is the number of the nations. What do we do
Sunday morning? We come near unto God, 'come unto Me all ye that labour and are
heavy laden' saith our Lord, and we do; and with all our sins, b&s, and all our iniquities
and uncleanness and all our shame, we still come, and we come in humility and He
doesn't lay a hand on us, and we see God in the personage of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Not literally, but we see Him through the Word, we see Him in the word of exhortation,
and we eat and we drink, and we live by faith with a vision of the Elohim. That's what we
are, b&s, and there's your type, it's absolutely magnificent.
Verse 13, now Moses rises up and he takes Joshua with him; and you know, b&s, it's
absolutely wonderful. Why do we have Joshua in this record? there seems to be no
point in Joshua being here; he plays no part except when they come down from that
mount, and then it's a very minor part. Why is he there even? I believe he's there just
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simply to put his name there, that when Moses returned from that mount and he joined
that young man, there was 'Jehoshua' there, 'I will come again' John chapter 14, Moses
said, 'you tarry here until we come again to you; 'I will come again, said Jesus, and
receive you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be also'. And so the very words
of Moses are again taken up by our Lord and echoed in a far greater way as He
promised to come back to His disciples. 'We will come again unto you', and he left in
charge, in verse 14, Aaron and Hur, a man, of course, who represented the priesthood,
and Hur as we've already seen from Exodus 17, a man of Judah. He left them two men
who were objects, their objectivity of their life was focused in those two men; there was
their king and there was their priest, 'I will make you a kingdom of priests and he left
them those two men in charge of the people and he went up unto Yahweh'. And we
read in verse 16, 'the glory of Yahweh abode upon mount Sinai and the cloud covered it
six days; and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And
Moses went up and we read in verse 17, 'and the sight of the glory of Yahweh was like
a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. And
Moses went into the midst of the cloud and gat him up into the mount; and Moses was
in the mount 40 days and 40 nights and Yahweh spake unto Moses.'
You know, as Moses disappeared up there, b&s, they saw that mountain aflame; it was
ablaze but not only that, but it would indicate by here and in Isaiah 64 and other places,
it would almost indicate that what they saw was that they actually saw the mount being
consumed in the fire. It was solid granite, there's little there to burn, but they saw that
mountain almost as if it was being devoured by that fire, and you know, Paul says 'we're
not come unto a mount that might be touched, that burned with fire, and blackness and
darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, which voice
they heard. They entreated that it shouldn't be spoken to them again'; WE'RE NOT
COME TO THAT, he said, we're come unto mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. To the general assembly,
an ecclesia of firstborns, he said. And he warned those law keepers, 'our God is a
consuming fire', that's the last verse of Hebrews 12. We're not come to that, b&s, we
don't see things consumed, we see them built, we see them built and glorified and
powerful, we see those things in our lives which are public, we are not worshipping a
God which devours. And that's the God that Israel saw because that's the God they
needed because of their own lack of faith and disobedience to Him. He was to them a
consuming fire! and the apostle make the very opposite point concerning our Lord
Jesus Christ and His Father, and because of our attitude we pray that it's towards Him
and because of the work of His Son.
And what did Yahweh do with Moses in the mount? Well, He gave him the details of the
tabernacle, didn't He? From chapters 25 to 31, Yahweh spake and said, 'Thou shalt
make, thou shalt make, thou shalt make', after the incident of the golden calf, we get
back to the details of the tabernacle in chapter 35, they're all repeated all over again,
almost word for word, except we have now, 'and he made, and he made and he made',
and so we can say, b&s, that Moses went into a far country to receive for himself a
kingdom and return. He went up there and got the details of the tabernacle and all the
things that were to go in there and all the ceremonies which were in effect, a little
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cameo of the kingdom of God on the earth. He went away to receive a kingdom and to
return. And that's what he did, didn't he? And so Moses is gone! Now brethren and
sisters, you go over that, you go over it point by point, and think to yourself, (that's only
half what I've been telling you, the other half isn't on the transparency) but you add all
the other points I've been telling you, everything about that type has been fulfilled to the
very last jot and tittle. We've seen our Lord Jesus Christ go to Yahweh alone, we know
He's established an altar whereby we can worship before God, even His own sacrifice.
We know He's had the 12 pillars about Him, that they became the foundation of the
ecclesia of firstborns, we know that we've had bread and wine with our burnt offerings
and our peace offerings Sunday morning, we know that we've been brought nigh by the
blood of a new covenant, we are the 70 elders out of the nation, we've seen a vision of
the elohim, God has left us alone, and invited us into fellowship, we've eaten and drunk
with God and we've seen our Father in the personage of Jesus Christ and we've
watched Him go into heaven from the mount of Olives and we've heard Him say, 'I will
come again' and we've heard Him say, 'He's going to receive a kingdom and return'. It
has been fulfilled to the last jot and tittle.
Now let's listen to what hasn't been fulfilled! and b&s, here we're going to read of exactly
the scene that's going to be portrayed among the ecclesias when Jesus Christ returns, if
it's not so, why is it in this bible? Exodus 32, it's a frightening thing, b&s, to contemplate
this, here is a powerful exhortation for us all to take heed to, because this is going to be
fulfilled exactly the same as the other is being fulfilled, and what do we read in Exodus
32? 'And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the
people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us
gods; as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not
what is become of him!' There was no delay, b&s, 40 days was a well established
principle, there was no delay! and had the people known the signs of the times, had the
people understood divine principles, they would have waited for every one of those
days. But they didn't understand, b&s, they didn't understand, and when he disappeared
in the cloud, and after a few days he was gone, and he seemed to some of them that he
wouldn't come back, they saw that he delayed to come down. What did Jesus say in the
parable, about the man who beat his fellow servants and smote them and dealt unjustly
with them? Why did he do it? what was the motive, b&s, for turning on each other? Why
do we speak harshly about brethren? Why don't we speak kindly one to another? why
do we take opportunity to pull each other down? Why do we denigrate our ecclesia
instead of building it up? Why did that man beat the servant? because he said in his
heart, my lord delayeth his coming! He didn't believe he was going to come back. I'll
guarantee that if everyone of us here tonight thought and knew for sure, which we don't,
but if we did, that Jesus Christ would be here tomorrow morning, we would be the milk
of human kindness to each other; we would be falling over each other to help each
other to the kingdom. That's why the man beat his fellow servants, because he thought
that his lord delayed his coming.
And so did this crowd! Now why did they think it? What happened at this time, b&s, that
the people turned so quickly away from God and their leader, Moses? what spirit got
into them? You know, we know! We're told expressly what it was! in the 7th chapter of
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Acts Stephen puts his hand right on this point of history; we know what the words say,
but look what he says they said. It's right at this point of history they're saying this in
verse 38 of Acts chapter 7, speaking of Moses he said, 'This is he, that was in the
ecclesia in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in mount Sinai, and with
our fathers; who received the lively oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would
not obey, but thrust Him from them, and in their hearts, turned back again into Egypt,
Saying Unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us', that's the words we've just read
from Exodus 32. And so what was it, b&s, that caused them to say, 'my lord delayeth his
coming'? it wasn't impatience with Moses, it had nothing to do with that. It wasn't as if
they had only grown tired of the laws of God or that they had grown weary with their
journey, it wasn't just that! but they turned back to Egypt, b&s, not with their feet, their
feet were going towards the Land, their faces were that way; but their heart went way
back that way.
In their hearts they turned back into Egypt, that's what Stephen says, there's the divine
commentary on the reason why the people saw the delay gave them opportunity
because, their hearts were throbbing, b&s, for what they'd left behind them. And Sunday
morning we come here, and this hall is packed, and every brother and sister's face is
this direction, and set before us, are the emblems of our Lord's body and of His blood;
all that a man is, meat and drink, the life of a man set before us, all that a man exists by,
and in His case, the bread of heaven and the precious blood that makes atonement for
our souls. And there He is, and every face in this audience looks in this direction, where
are the hearts? Where are the hearts? examine yourself, said the apostle, 'let a man
examine himself'. And you do that, b&s, do it during the prayer and stop and think,
where are your thoughts when the brother is praying to God? are they on every syllable
that he says? in the hymns we say, are hymns of praise, where are your hearts then?
where is the heart of the brother who stands singing the hymn like this? where's his
heart? WHERE IS HIS HEART? you watch him, and I shouldn't be watching him, should
I? my eyes should be straight ahead, what am I doing watching him? Where's my heart?
where is it, b&s? And when the brother's exhorting and the clock gets one minute after
he's suppose to sit down, where is your heart then, as everybody gets agitated? Where
are our hearts, b&s? we should come here with throbbing hearts. Our eyes should be
straight ahead, we should see those emblems and see a vision of a man, a perfect man,
who gave His life that His friends might have life, and have it more abundantly! We
should see a man who was a Son of the Eternal God, who Himself made the supreme
sacrifice of His own Son, that He so loved the world that He did that, when we were yet
sinners. We should sing our hearts out to Him, b&s, and when a brother is praying we
should close our eyes and say silently almost every syllable he says, so we can say a
hearty 'amen' at the end. BUT WHERE ARE OUR HEARTS? our eyes are this way, and
so were their eyes that way, but Stephen says, in their hearts they went back to Egypt.
That's where they were, right back in Egypt! and Egypt, b&s, consisted of the spicy
things of this world; the flesh pots, three square meals a day, a roof over your head, and
of all the bondage that might have been there, a whole lot better than the dreariness of
this religion that we've come into! That is what they were thinking! And when Moses got
out of sight, they got onto to poor old Aaron. 'Up, make us gods', even the verb is in the
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plural, 'gods many' they said, 'up, make us gods many',(we don't care how many you
make) why did they say that? because there were gods many in Egypt, that's why! that's
where their hearts were, they remembered all that, they remembered it you see. and the
old idolatry of Egypt surged forward, b&s, and they said, 'As for this Moses, we wot not
what is become of him'. Do you know, the children of these hypocritical fathers, when
the children come to fulfill the measure of their fathers, they strutted around the Holy
Land, spitting in our Lord's face. Their respect for Moses, 'we know where Moses came
from', they said, 'as for this fellow we've never heard of Him!' and they strutted around
as if they, b&s, were giving the greatest reverence to Moses. Hypocrites they were, and
Stephen reminded them of that, you know, like their fathers, what respect did they have
for Moses when he disappeared, b&s? What respect did they have for him when his
back was turned? And exactly the same goes on, doesn't it? in ecclesial life: what
respect have we for our heavenly Father when we're away from each other, and as it
were, we think His back is turned and we think He's altogether like unto ourselves, and
He can't see us? What respect is given to Him then? what did they give Him? NOT ONE
SHRED OF RESPECT, we don't know what's become of Him; that was the end of Him;
and all the heartache and the sleepless nights and the toil and the labour, and the tears
that poured down that poor man's face! Snap that much respect for all the work which
was given on their behalf; 'as for him, we don't know where he's gone. You get into it,
Aaron, and we want something to worship; we want a bit of fun! and poor old Aaron is in
an awful situation.
And so Aaron buckles under the pressure, doesn't he? and in verse 2 he asks them to
break off the golden earrings in their ears. B&S, jewellery today is attractive, it has its
place, but in those days, it had a far greater significance; there were significant things
about the jewellery that these people wore. Do you know what the golden earring was
significant of? You turn to Proverbs chapter 25, you look what the golden earring was
significant of, and this is what they broke off to make the golden calf. This is what the
golden earring was significant of, just have a look at verse 12, 'As an earring of gold,
and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear'; any wonder
that they broke them off? unwittingly, of course, but Solomon saw that golden earring as
being like the words that would fall upon the ear of a person who would be obedient to a
very wise reprover. So the golden earring would sparkle because it would give that
sense, that this person was prepared to listen to criticism and to hearken to it and to
order their lives correctly. Break off the golden earrings, and they'd come off like a
rocket, wouldn't they? there were no obedient ears there, b&s, and as for the words of a
wise reprover, he might have spoken to the air, for all they cared about His laws or His
principles.
And we know what happened back in Exodus 32, 'He received them at their hands,
verse 4, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and
they said, 'These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and
said, Tomorrow is a feast to Yahweh'. Now here's one of the greatest lessons in life; this
is one of the most powerful lessons in life, you see, b&s, that is telling us very plainly
that Aaron did not make that golden calf deliberately as an idolatrous object. HE DID
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NOT! as a matter of fact, the last verse tells us that, 'And Yahweh plagued the people,
because they made the calf, which Aaron made'. There were two different attitudes
towards that calf, there was Aaron's and there was the people's; Aaron was in grievous
fault, there's no question of that, I'm not justifying Aaron one wit; if Moses hadn't prayed
for him in the 9th chapter of Deuteronomy and verse 20, Moses said, 'if he hadn't
prayed for his brother, God would have killed him', he committed a grievous error. But
his error was different than that of the people, and therein, b&s, lies an enormous
exhortation; you see, they saw it and said, 'ah, the gods of Egypt' and Aaron said, 'no,
no, no, and he called a feast to Yahweh'. So they made the calf that Aaron had made,
there were two different attitudes to that calf; why did Aaron do it?
You know, we know that when the details of the tabernacle came back with Moses,
there was included in the cherubic figures, the figure of the ox, whether or not there was
any intimation before that, we don't know, this we know, however, it was a symbol of
great service, it was a farmer's right hand man, as it were, and therefore, always was a
symbol of service, faithful service to the heavy burdens of the day. And it would seem
clear to me, that Aaron's intentions were good, but his choice was poor; now, b&s,
where is the lesson? the lesson is clear, they had already been told that they should
never have any other gods but Yahweh, they knew that even before the ten
commandments were given, that was clear to Israel. What Aaron did there's no excuse
for it, it's wrong, but you see, b&s, that error gets committed all over the world in every
generation; so we've got an ecclesia and that ecclesia may be small or large, in our
case, a little bit large by comparison with others. And because it's a larger meeting in
comparison, we have a lot more young people; and therefore, we have great
responsibilities here to bring those young people up in the right way, and we know what
that way is! we're not left in any doubt as to which way we should go. We know the
principles by which we should bring our young people up, but what happens in some
ecclesias? I hope it never happens here! what happens in some ecclesias when young
people chaff at the bit? They become impatient and when they're listening to the hymns
the throb of the 'beat music' is in the other ear; and there's all sorts of jangling going on
in their hearts, about what's going on out there in the world. And instead of after
meeting, talking about the Word, we listen about who won the 'footy' and who's kicked
all the goals, and who's the best player on the ground, and so on and so on; and who
went tops. Egypt was in their hearts and they put pressure on the meeting, the brethren
don't know what to do; they want to know how to hold their young people together, so
we do away with the organ and get a guitar. We mean well, it'll add a bit of melody to
the hymns, perhaps the young people will respond, that's why we get the guitar. But
when the young people see the guitar, 'ah, I know what that is'! or instead of the hymn
book which may be dreary tunes, and a bit sombre in the wording, a bit conservative,
we'll get a 'JOY' book. And we'll add some words and perhaps a little bit of slang here
and there, to make it more compatible and easier to listen to by our young people. We
mean well, we're foolish but we mean well! but when the young people hear it they say,
'ahhh, I know where that originates!'
Do you see, b&s, where Aaron went wrong? and you see that done all over the place.
You see it done in the world, what's happening in the world is extreme, humanism;
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everything is humanistic, every single thing is humanistic, so how do we beat the 'drug
problem'? the people, the authorities, the police, the judiciary, have all got pressure
because of the drug scene, what are we going to do? Well, legalize it! Ah, they've got
good intentions perhaps, it'll take out the 'black market' aspect of it, but what do the
people think about that? Licence, don't they? and so this goes on and on and on and as
Psalm 106 verse 20 says, 'they changed the glory of Yahweh into the similitude of an ox
that eateth grass', that's what they did, b&s.
Now do you know something? I can understand perhaps a little bit better than most in
this audience, although there were people with me at the time, in the Cairo museum, I
will never forget the occasion. You see, b&s, in Egypt there were two gods that were
represented by the bull and by the calf (the female, the heifer); there was the god Apis
of which Jeremiah speaks about; he's the god of fertility, of course, he's the sire of the
herd and the Egyptians worshipped him as such, the strong one, the god of fertility. But
I'll never forget, standing in the Cairo museum in front of this great plate glass display,
and in there was the golden calf, and we were being told by this Egyptian guide what
that symbolized, who knew nothing about the bible, (or perhaps if he did, had some
hazy knowledge about it), and this is what he said, he said, 'that is the goddess Hathor,
that is the goddess of fun and dancing'; fun and dancing, and poor old Aaron brings out
this golden calf, with intentions that he might have some objectivity of the strength of
Yahweh and service to Him, calls a feast to Yahweh and out come the people and say,
Whoopee! we know what that is!'And it says, 'they sat down to eat and to drink, and
they rose up to play'(the Hebrew word means 'to dance'). Do you see what happens,
b&s? you lower standards to make things more palatable and you do that with every
goodwill in the world, you do that, and you see where that leads the people. You know,
it says in this record, verse 25, 'When Moses saw that the people were naked', you
know, the word doesn't mean 'naked' at all, as a matter of fact, the word in the Hebrew
really means 'to break loose'(6544); they broke loose, b&s, that's what it means, they
broke loose; Aaron had made them to break loose, they became unrestrained. That's
what happened, and so the people turned to debauchery!
'And they sat down', we read, in verse 6, 'and they rose up early on the morrow, to offer
burnt offerings and peace offerings' (listen to this) burnt offerings and peace offerings.
There was ostensively worship to Yahweh: the burnt offering, b&s, is a symbol of
dedication and the peace offering is a symbol of fellowship. Here was an ecclesia which
gave all the external appearances of wanting to serve God and to be in fellowship with
Him; but their hearts were full of the 'fun of Egypt', and they sat down to eat and drink
and they rose up to dance. And Yahweh saw it all, b&s, and there was poor old Moses,
all hidden from his view, way up there on the top of Sinai, and the cloud, of course, hid
this from his view, and even if it wasn't a cloud, his eyes could not have seen, but
Yahweh's did!
And, brethren and sisters, all over the world today, all over the world you are reading
about brethren and sisters leaving the truth, you read about people going into different
fellowships, and some of those going into fellowships where the extremes of hardness
(they cut one another off unjustly), others go because it's loose and they can do what
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they like, and all over the world, b&s, the pressure of this world is coming upon us; you
go and see the external ethics of worship but where's the heart? and you see things that
make your flesh creep, and you see that brethren are desperately trying to keep their
ecclesias together, are getting all these sorts of methods, adopting things and methods
that are only saying to all the young people that they are capitulating to flesh,
capitulating to them; and I well remember an occasion in my life, many years ago, when
I went abroad and saw this very thing happening, almost identical to what I'm talking
about tonight, given the modern application, and do you know what, b&s? Many years
later I went back to that same place, and do you know something? they had learnt that
lesson, to their great credit. The brethren whom I had told what I thought about that,
they greatly criticized me, took me to task over it; but when I went back many years
later, they came up to me to apologize and they had learnt that lesson. And the result
was that all their young people were back and instead of palliating to them, they gave
them an ultimatum; they said, either you conform to these standards or else. And they
conformed and they came to conform happily! Not always the best way to do things, I
know, but they were grim circumstances and they took grim action, and it worked,
because they saw that all the things they were trying to do, all the innovations, only lead
to one downfall to another, until in the end the young people lost their respect for their
elders, because they saw their elders were prepared to capitulate to them. B&S, that's
no way to bring up a family or an ecclesia, that's what poor old Aaron got talked into. He
got talked into that! committed a dreadful error and it nearly cost him his life; he
escaped by the skin of his teeth, and by the prayer of his brother, and because he did
have, at least, a different motive than they did! But he only escaped, b&s, as I said, by
the mercy of God!
And so while the ecclesia was in that state, verse 15, Moses turns, Moses turns. B&S,
the hour is coming, the day is coming, the moment in history is coming, when the Father
will give the command; it will come from the throne of He who is the greatest of all. It will
come from the eternal Spirit, a great command, and He'll say to His Son, 'TURN', and
the Son will turn, b&s, and He will come with all His holy angels; Oh, what a day! what a
day! Now I want you to listen carefully to the way that Moses came. You listen, b&s, to
verses 15 and 16, I'm going to read these verses slowly, you listen to the emphasis.
'And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony
were in His hand: the tables were written on both sides; on the one side and on the
other they were written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the
writing of God, graven upon the tables'. What an incredible way to say that! and you
know, you can see what's happening. Here he comes, he's coming, b&s, and look at
him, look what he's got; he's got tables and they're written on both sides, they're written
on this side and they're written on that side, the writing is the writing of God. You can't
miss the import, when he comes, he's not going to come and say to the people, 'well,
we'll make a compromise about this! well, it might be said here, but we'll allow this
because after all's said and done, we can't be always doing the right thing' NO! written
on this side, written on that side, both sides the work of God, the writing of God,
graven upon tables. There will be no changing it, b&s, and when he comes what's he
going to be like? Are we going to see the Lord Jesus Christ, part of the Word made
Spirit, and perhaps part of Him a little humanistic? Are we going to find Him bending to
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our pleas, b&s, because we are weak, and therefore, after all's said and done, we have
to be reasonable? Is that how we're going to find Him? He's going to be written in and
out, upside down, every way, He is the Word of God, He is the embodiment of it, and
when He comes, b&s, there it is, that's the measure, and there will be no changing it!
And I'll tell you something else that's not in that record: but Moses himself makes
mention of it in the 9th chapter of Deuteronomy and verse 15, he said that when he
came down, the mountain was still on fire. He said, I came down with those 2 tables of
stone and the mountain was ablaze, it was on fire. Now what does the apostle say?
He's talking to those people who were troubled by the present circumstances of life,
who couldn't rest because of all the evils that were done unto the Son, who sighed and
cried over the abominations of this world; he said, 'rest with us when the Lord Jesus
Christ shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them who
know not God and who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ' (2 Thess.1:7,8).
WRITTEN ON THIS SIDE AND THAT SIDE, IN AND OUT, UPSIDE DOWN,
THROUGH AND THROUGH! There will be no compromise, b&s, there's one standard
of judgment, it will not and cannot be altered, and that's what happened here! And
Moses came down like that!
Halfway down, he picks up Joshua. Joshua, the young man who, of course, was a
military man, a leader of the army. And we read in verse 17, 'That when Joshua heard
the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in
the camp; quick, quick, there's a noise of war!' Ah, b&s, the voice of experience, the
voice of Him who walks in the midst of the ecclesias; 'I know your works, I know', NO,
Joshua, 'it's not the voice of them that strive for the mastery; know what I hear? I don't
hear the voice of the brethren and sisters crying out for help these days because they're
being overcome by their enemies. Joshua, listen carefully!' and floating up that
mountain, b&s, came the crackling of thorns under a pot, the laughter of fools, and the
light-heartedness of people who saw their opportunity to get away from the
responsibilities of the truth. Modern equipment you want? When our Lord comes, b&s,
what will He find? All the Christadelphians fighting the good fight of faith, on bended
knees pleading for their King and Captain of their army to come and help them and
rescue them? Will He, b&s? Or will He find brethren and sisters thinking about
retirement, when they get to a point in life where they think, 'well, it's about time that I
had a bit of a rest; others, young ones, can do this or that, and I can quietly go off and
just drift into the background and no one will miss me, and I desire a break, after all, I've
served the ecclesia for this many years'. I'm talking about myself, you know! that's how I
think! because that's how I feel at times. You know, we've got to get rid of that,
somehow we've got to get above that! We've got to get to a point, b&s, where we've got
to get into the work not out of it; and we've got to get to a point when the likeness of life
has got to be overcome with a more sober attitude of patient waiting for Christ. We've
got to get to a point where we can actually face up to the fact that He is the Word of
God embodied and be able to stand in that day, even if we have to get on bended
knees and like Daniel prostrate with our faces on the ground, at least to survive; 'who
may abide the day of His coming?' this was the second half of the type, b&s, you don't
think it will happen like this? well, that did! and this is going to happen exactly the same
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way, isn't it?
Oh, it's a fearful prospect! 'it's the voice of them that sing that I hear!' that's what Christ
is going to hear, He's going to hear our ecclesia, singing and dancing, that's what He's
going to hear. 'shall I find the faith on the earth? the answer to that is 'yes' but the
inference is, b&s, there won't be much of it, but there will be those who are alive and
remain until His coming, but how many alive to the things of God? That's the point, isn't
it? that's the issue! The truth, b&s, is a serious matter, the kingdom is a wonderful thing,
eternal life is everything, and when we've got eternal life we can enjoy the pleasures of
God for ever more; you can't buy those things lightly, b&s; you've got to make sacrifices,
you have to do that. And sacrifice if it means anything, it means you've got to be hurt,
anything you don't get hurt by it's not a sacrifice, you can't get away from it! We've got to
be hurt, we've got to give and give in service and in our material things until it hurts, and
if we don't, then that's our estimation of our lack of value to things of the kingdom of
God!
How do you value it? What value do you put on it? 'It's the voice of them that sing that I
hear'! what a fearful thing that is, and you know as well as I do what happened. He
came back, Aaron gave his pitiful excuse, in verse 24, when Moses upbraided him he
said, 'I said unto them, whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. so they gave it
me; then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf'. And that would be like some
of our lame excuses at the judgment, b&s, that's how it'll sound, 'I threw the gold in the
fire and it came out a calf', like a man drawing a rabbit out of a hat, isn't it? that's how
lame that one was! Poor old Aaron was beyond words, he didn't know what to say, did
he? He was like the man without the wedding garments, speechless, because it was so
foolish what happened. So absolutely foolish, and when we stand there stripped of all
the veneer of respectability that we might have for one another, because we can't read
our hearts and minds, when we're on our own, with the angel, I believe, who will judge
us before we ourselves approach the great white throne of judgment, when we're on our
own, b&s, how shameful we'll feel. And how absolutely ridiculous we'll appear, and
when the things are revealed to us, I believe, that some of them will, which in the
goodness of God will be necessary to purge our character; not to judge us in the sense
of being negative, but to remove the final vestige of pride and arrogance; when we're
stripped of all those things, we'll stand there and not only will we feel ashamed, but to
feel utterly stupid, the way we've carried on in life. And Aaron says, 'out came this calf',
didn't he look stupid because he'd done a stupid thing and it was made to look silly!
Poor Aaron that was probably all he could do, and probably couldn't lift up his eyes to
his brother when saying that, and depending upon his brother's own prayer to save him
from the wrath of Almighty God.
My word, b&s, these are serious matters, and you know, in verse 26, Moses stood in
the gate of the camp and said, 'who, who is on Yahweh's side? who is?' Well, b&s, you
want to be on Yahweh's side, well you know, I'm not here to create a division or to stir
up people to fight brethren and sisters, but you know it has to be said to be faithful to
that record; if we were to say, what was the criteria that was set forth before the people
that they might be identified as being on Yahweh's side, we would have to say this, the
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criteria was that every man was to be sent back into that camp and he was to go to his
own relations, verse 27, 'And he said unto them, Thus saith Yahweh Elohim of Israel,
Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the
camp, and slay every man his brother, his companion, and his neighbour'. In other
words, b&s, 'who's on Yahweh's side? the Levites would come forward; right, now this is
what I believe happened, because this is what the record says. Now say there were
several hundred or a thousand Levites there, who knows, maybe there were several
thousand of them and they drew to Moses and said, 'we're on your side'. He'd look at
them and say, Right, I want you to go from one side of this camp to the other, and I
want you to get in there with your sword; now brother so-in-so, yes Moses, come here;
now I want you to pick on all the Browns, oh, do you? yes, and I want you to pick on
those who were your companions in the truth, the ones you were closest to who made
that calf, those are the ones I want you to get!' Oh! Brother Green come here, yes,
brother Moses, 'I want you to take out all the Greens', oh, do you? yes, I do'. You see,
b&s, that's not so easy, is it? not a matter of charging into that camp with a sword and
sort of skirting around this brother because he was friendly to us before, or there is our
own son over there, so we'll turn a blind eye to him, I'll go and get Paul Cresswell's son,
and he might go and get my son. NO WAY, no way known; if we're on Yahweh's side,
prove it, prove it says Moses! And you know, they did! and they got their reward, you
turn to the 33rd chapter of Deuteronomy, they did exactly what Moses said. You look at
this, we've quoted these verses before, b&s, in verses 8 and 9, 'And of Levi he said, Let
thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah,
and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; Who said unto his father and
to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew
his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. They shall
teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and
whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar'. You know, b&s, that is the acid test, isn't it? It
wasn't a question of being indiscriminate, they had to go and pick out their own
relations. Now you watch ecclesial families, you watch! I'm not here to pull anyone down
and criticize them, but I want us all in the kingdom; it would be less than my duty to
point out my own observance which can't be gainsaid, because it's absolutely true.
There are people, strong people we'd call them in the truth, who would do anything for
God really within their means, and who have been superb examples, EXCEPT when it
comes to their families, and there they falter. There are people who will lay down rules
and see that they are enforced against other people's children, but when their own fall
it's different. There are people who have high standing principles on marriage and
divorce or whatever it might be, that must be enforced against everybody else, until the
day that one of their own gets into that situation and then it's different. And don't tell me,
b&s, that what I'm saying is untrue, because it's a historical fact, or otherwise I've been
mesmerized all my life and I don't know what I'm talking about or what I've seen. It is
absolutely incredible what flesh and blood will do when it comes to flesh and blood; and
it's incredible what flesh and blood won't do when it comes to flesh and blood.
Well, Moses said, 'who is on Yahweh's side?' and they all rushed down, 'I am'; 'right',
the acid test, 'go and get your boy', 'go and get your dad and your mom', and he did;
and in Deuteronomy 33, said to his mother and his father, 'I don't know you', disowned
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his own children, disowned them, and for that, b&s, God gave them the priesthood. Is it
any different with the Lord Jesus Christ? 'Lord, Lord, we will follow thee! but first, let me
go and bury my father', see he'd do anything for the Lord, anything, EXCEPT when it
came to his dad. 'Let the dead bury their dead', different isn't it? Saul, the king of Israel
in his early days, went out against Nahash the king of the Ammonites, fought a
wonderful fight, it was great victory and they lauded him to the high heavens, and when
we read that record we say that Saul made a marvellous start, did he? He went to
rescue the men of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites, didn't he? because hundreds of
years earlier, it was the men of Jabesh-gilead who wouldn't go and slay the Gibeonites,
who outraged the Levite's concubine; and Saul was Saul of Gibeah, you see, b&s, it
was all political, and he even carved up an ox in twelve pieces just the same as that
Levite did with his concubine, to call all Israel to battle. He was wonderful in battle when
it suited his own political ends, and because he had a fleshly affinity based upon the
gravest evil. You see, b&s, it's different, isn't it, when it comes to our own? you think
about that! you think about your attitude, think about that sword in your hand, and think
about being sent back into the camp looking for your children, not mine, yours! If that's
not right, well, you tell me, but that's what's in that record, it's in Exodus 32 and it's in
Deuteronomy 33, and we could summarize that lesson very simply when Jesus said
this, 'He that hateth not his father or his mother, or his wife, or his children and followeth
not Me, is not fit for the kingdom of God'. Our Lord didn't teach hate, b&s, what He
meant by that was, that when we put our family before our God and before Him, we
hate Him.
That's what He meant, if we can't love Him more than our own, then we're not fit for the
kingdom of God, and I believe that's going to be one of the greatest acid tests of our
judgment, among many others we're going to stand there, b&s, and we're going to be
exposed for what we are, and we're going to be told about all the principles we've kept
and the ones we didn't keep, and we're going to be told that we were very valiant for the
truth when others were involved, except when it came to our own! Now the question is,
who is on Yahweh's side? you go home to bed and put your head on the pillow and
think about whether you're on Yahweh's side and whether you could face up to that test,
or whether you couldn't, and also I whether I could or I couldn't.
But that was the test, and for that, b&s, He gave them the priesthood. You know,
Malachi comments upon that in Malachi chapter 2, Malachi actually quotes from 2
records in Malachi 2; he quotes from this one in Exodus 32 and from the case of
Phinehas in Numbers 25, and we'll see what motivated those Levites on that occasion
to go and do what under normal circumstances, a man would never do! What motivated
them, b&s? Well, we read the words, and this as I said, is taken from 2 records and
they're both quoted here, we read concerning Levi in Malachi 2 verse 4, 'And ye shall
know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with
Levi, saith Yahweh of armies. My covenant was with him of life and peace: and I gave
them to him for the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My name'. Now
when we talk about the Levites going through that camp, or Phinehas coming in with his
spear and putting it through the two of them as they were in the tent together, spearing
them through to the ground; we always talk about courage, b&s, courage what
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wonderful courage, we need brethren with courage. Malachi says nothing about
courage, but I'll tell you what he does say, 3 times, FEAR, FEAR, FEAR! and that was
the motivation that let a man take a sword and run it through his own son! Fear! not
courage, why? because he knew, b&s, that if he didn't, there was Almighty God in the
heaven that would obliterate that people from the face of the earth. And He sent a
plague among them, even after that a plague came, even after the 3,000 fell, still a
plague came. Yahweh's wrath was not turned away until it burned every rebel, but had
they not done what they did, Yahweh would have obliterated the whole lot of them; they
feared Him. Now why do you think that brethren in this ecclesia or any other ecclesia,
not only ours, but there are faithful brethren all over the world, why do they take drastic
action? Why do you think people spend sleepless nights trying to work out what's best
for an ecclesia? why do we discipline people? not because we have courage, b&s, it's
because we fear what would happen to our meeting, if we don't do it, because we fear
Yahweh. We only make judgments, b&s, according as we understand the Word, and
that is very often faulty, we admit that; but this we know, that Yahweh in the heavens
will deal with issues if we don't, and when we do, He will work with us, and He will
acknowledge us, and when we show that we're not afraid to stand up against our own
because we fear Him above all else, then we'll be priests in the age to come. That's
why, b&s, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns and we'll be among those redeemed, we
pray, not caught singing at His coming; that's why when He comes and we go into the
world as kings and priests, we can make a fair judgment. We can make an honest
decision, we can look a person in the eye and say as we lead them to the kingdom
through the millennial age, 'this is how you've got to act against your children', because
they did this, you must take that action against them. And we can stand there with
crystal clear conscience knowing, that when we were called upon to do that, we did
exactly that! But when you put your own above the ecclesia, beware! for our God, b&s,
is a consuming fire!
So we've seen some wonderful things happen at Sinai, there they are! The marvellous
type of our Lord Jesus Christ's first advent when He came to establish that covenant
between Him and His people and His God. And we've just seen, b&s, some very fearful
things; the first lot of wonderful things, as I said before and say again in conclusion, has
been fulfilled to the letter. Do you imagine, b&s, the second half won't be fulfilled to the
same degree? Just think about that!