The Politics of Wealth: Dt 8:18

"But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day." (Deuteronomy 8:18)

In my country, we live in a politically charged environment where the differences between the various socioeconomic groups of our population are exploited for political ends. It is not uncommon to hear talk about the "two Americas, the haves and the have nots." There is also much debate over the tax brackets with some politicians complaining about "tax breaks for the rich" and wanting to increase the taxes on the wealthy in this country. I suppose it is to be expected that issues involving money would be easy fodder for politicizations, but what does the Bible have to say about wealth? And how should civil government apply biblical truths about wealth and apply them to policy decisions? This scripture teaches us several things about wealth.

1. Wealth is the provision of God. In a now famous speech, Congressmen Richard Gephardt referred to those who were wealthy and high achievers as "winners in life's lottery", yet this scripture clearly teaches that wealth does not happen by chance. There is no "life's lottery" where some just happen to win and gain wealth while others continually "purchase" tickets and never win anything. It is God who gives people the ability to make wealth, not chance or fate.
2. Wealth is not evil. While not everyone who becomes wealthy does so by ethical means, and not every wealthy person uses their wealth for noble causes, this does not mean that wealth is evil. Wealth is the provision of God and therefore not intrinsically evil. It is not wrong to be wealthy just as it is not wrong to be poor.
3. Wealth is not automatic. This scripture teaches us that God gives us the ability to gain wealth and not wealth itself. Just because someone has the ability to gain wealth does not mean that they will become wealthy. It takes personal effort, diligence, and perseverance to put those abilities to work to produce wealth. Sometimes, poverty is not the result of lack of ability but lack of effort.
4. Wealth is not equal. It is a reasonable interpretation of this scripture that God does not necessarily give the same ability to gain wealth to all people, nor is it reasonable to believe that all people will use the abilities given to them by God with the same effort and effectiveness. We should not expect or seek a social system where everyone is equal in terms of wealth and riches. God proportions to us our abilities, talents, and giftings as He choses, therefore we should not expect everyone to be equal or for life to be equatable.
   
5. Wealth is created. Wealth involves investing raw ability and talent into enterprises that can produce wealth. The process of creating wealth should involve the production and delivery of products and services that are valued by others. Contrast this with gambling. In gambling wealth is exchanged, depending on luck, instinct, and sometimes trickery, rather than being created.
   

So what should be a government's position and policy on wealth and the wealthy? Here are some of my thoughts based on this scripture.

• It is not the government's job to guarantee wealth. Wealth is the provision of God not the government. The government should never establish themselves as the providers of the people. In a recent presidential debate, someone asked the presidential candidates what they would do to help them to "find a job?" The candidates should have responded by saying, "Nothing!" Wealth is our responsibility, to use what God has given us, not the governments.
• Government should not attempt to equalize wealth. God does not guarantee that wealth will or should be equal, and neither should the government. Unfortunately, in my country, the income tax system had become largely a system for the redistribution of wealth. The rich are taxed and their wealth given to others in the form of various social programs. It is not the government's job to make equal what God has not.
  
• Government should not attempt to neutralize personal responsibility in creating wealth. Programs like welfare and the minimum wage serve only to reward people with "wealth" with out regard to personal effort. Welfare provides income without, in many cases, requiring the recipient to work, or even seek work. The minimum wage provides a minimum level of income without regard to a person's work ethic, their productivity, or their value to their employer. In these cases, a person's income level is decided by the government and not by their God given abilities and the effectiveness to which they use them.
  
• Government should not foster the gaining of wealth through gambling. As I stated above, gambling is a means to gain wealth that does not provide for the actual creation or production of wealth. Whether gambling should be allowed in the private sector is debatable, but I firmly believe that it is wrong, immoral, and improper for governments to sponsor and promote gambling. It may provide revenues to the government, but it promotes an activity that I believe is contrary to the scriptures.
  

David Robison

Technorati Tags: Book of Deuteronomy, Foundations of Governance, wealth, politics, government, taxes, The Robe, David Robison

Forgetting God: Dt 8:10-14

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." (Deuteronomy 8:10-14)

With all that the Israelites saw and experienced, all the miracles and provisions from the Lord, Moses felt it necessary to warn them not to forget God. How is it that, with all they had been through, they could forget God? Most of us who are believers cannot fathom forgetting God, yet many do. What Moses reminds the people is that, forgetting God is not about divorcing God from our thoughts but rather straying from His ways. Moses warned them not to forget God by "not keeping His commandments." When we depart from God's ways, we are in essence, forgetting God.

Jesus taught this same idea when He asked the people, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord , Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46) Jesus clearly linked knowing God with obeying God. If we confess we know God but fail to obey Him then we are, at best, deceived. Jeremiah also taught the same when He prophesied, "'Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?' Declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 22:15-16) When the children of Israel walked in God's ways, it went well with them and they were blessed. When they knew God it was expressed though their lives as they walked in His ways.

Today, let us not forget God by pursuing our own ways; seeking after our own interests and living by our own rules and morals. Let us purpose in our heart to live a life that is consistent with the one we know. Let us determine to be Christ-like, to live a life patterned after Him. In so doing, we will ensure that God is remembered in our hearts, soul, mind, and body. Let us today, remember Him.

David Robison

Rushing towards the Promise: Dt 8:15-17

"He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.'" (Deuteronomy 8:15-17)

Why does it seem to take so long to go from promise to fulfillment? The Bible is replete with stories of God making promises, only to wait years to bring them to fulfillment. Consider just three quick examples,

1. God promises Abraham a son, but waits almost twenty five years to bring it to pass.
2. God speaks to Joseph about the day that his brothers would bow down to him, yet the next dozen or so years were spent in slavery and imprisonment before he saw his brothers again.
3. God reveals to Moses that he was to be the deliver of God's people, but he then spent forty years in the wilderness, in obscurity, before he faces the "burning bush".

In the above scripture from Deuteronomy, it had been forty years since the children of Israel left Egypt and they have yet to step foot into the Promised Land.

So why does God so often delay between promise and fulfillment? I believe, in part, that it is so that we will always remember who it was who promised and who it was who brought the promise to pass. We have seen it over and over, people who rise quickly to the top, only to be shipwrecked by their success. Sports and entertainment provide an abundance of examples of young people who quickly gain the spotlight; many receiving multi-million dollar contracts. However, for some, their success is also their undoing. They loose sight of where they came from and who they used to be. Even worse, they forget who it was that gave them the abilities and talents for which they are praised. Far too often, those who rise to the top without having to suffer the struggles along the way, fall prey to the same deception that Moses was warning the Israelites about, "My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth."

In my own life, I can now look back and see how the years past have prepared be for my present blessings. I don't know if I could properly have handled my many blessings if not for the challenges, tests, and lessons that have lead me to this place. This scripture should encourage us all to embrace and give thanks for the times of our testing and trials; for the times of obscurity. For I believe that the more time God spends on us in preparation, the greater His plan for our lives must be.

David Robison

Technorati Tags: Book of Deuteronomy, Promise Land, trials, testing, promise, The Robe, David Robison

Why the wilderness: Dt 8:1-6

"You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him." (Deuteronomy 8:2-6)

For forty years, the children of Israel lived and wandered in the wilderness, yet these were not wasted years but rather years full of the purpose and promise of God. Their time in the wilderness was not merely a time of punishment for their lack of faith, but is was a time when God was preparing them for the promised land. It was a time of both trials and blessings. Certainly it was a time when God tested them and humbled them and even exposed them to hunger and thirst, but it was also a time when God supernaturally provided for them; their clothes did not wear out and He provided food and drink for them even in the middle of the desert. In the end, there were two key revelations that God was trying to teach His people.

Who am I: God humbled them "to know what was in your heart" and to know weather or not they had a heart to obey God. Is wasn't that God didn't know what was in their heart, but He wanted His people to know what was in their heart. Our wilderness experiences with God are meant to show us who we really are; who we are in the depths of our heart. When times are easy, it is easy to have faith and to follow God, but when hard times come, we are tested and we learn the true quality of both our faith and our obedience to God. Difficult times show us places in our lives where we must grow and where we must learn to trust and lean on God. Wilderness times help us avoid self deception and helps us to remain humble and to acknowledge our need and dependency on God.

Who is God: God desired that His people come to understand that their trials and blessings proceeded from the hand of a loving God. God was not treating them as a mere master or lord, but as a father. If God did not care for us He would either simply leave us alone of summarily destroy us, and in both He would be justified. But God was demonstrating Himself to His people as one who loved them; as a father loves his children. God's discipline and testing in our lives is evident that we are His children and that we are loved by Him. "But if you are without discipline , of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." (Hebrews 12:8) Whether times of trial or times of blessing, we must learn to received them both as coming from the hand of our loving heavenly Father.

David Robison

Technorati Tags: Book of Deuteronomy, Promised Land, father, The Robe, David Robison

New Survey

Here is the results from my previous survey:

How would you best describe yourself?

I am a Christian: 27 (79%)
I am some other religion: 3 (8%)
I am not a believer: 1 (2%)
I am not sure what I am: 3 (8%)

Be sure to check out the new survey question. Enjoy!
David Robison

Overcoming Sin: Dt 7:12-26

"If you should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?'" (Deuteronomy 7:17)

Sometimes, when faced with my sins, the task of overcoming them seems too daunting to even attempt. My sins seem too large and my will power and moral strength too small. I want to overcome my sin, but I'm not sure if I can. I easily identify with want Jesus said, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak ." (Mark 14:38) Fortunately, God has not left us to ourselves in our fight against sin. Not only has God given us the power of His Holy Spirit, but He has also given us a plan to overcome sin. Here, in part, is God's plan for us.

"you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid." (Deuteronomy 7:18-19)

When facing sin, we must first learn not to be afraid of sin or its hold on our life. We must remember that we have been saved, that we are no longer orphans, and that we are now children of God. We must remember what Paul said, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) God did not save us to leave us to our own devices. Salvation was merely a first step; our reconciliation with God. Now that we have been saved, God has freely given is all things "pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3) and is now at work in our lives giving us the motivation and strength to overcome sin. Paul reminds us, "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37) The truth is that we are overcomers, we are able to overcome sin, and we have all we need to be victorious, not in our selves but because of the one who now lives is us. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)

"Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God." (Deuteronomy 7:20-21)

At times, I find myself willing to live "at peace" with my sin. As long as I can hide it and as long as it stays in the shadows and doesn't bother me too much, I am willing to let "sleeping sins" lie. However, God is not content with my hidden sin. Even when I am not committed to the eradication of my sins, God is, and it is for this very purpose that He as called me and made me His son. "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." (2 Thessalonian 2:13) God is committed to our sanctification, even more so than we are. One of God's strategies in our sanctification is to employ His "hornets". God has a way of bring our hidden sins to the surface, of flushing them out of their hiding places so we can deal with them and be free of them. I had a friend who, every time we went out to eat, his order was always messed up, and every time he got very upset. After a while I suggested to him that maybe it wasn't the waiters and waitresses, but maybe it was the Lord. Maybe it was the Lord sending His hornets to get at an area of his life. God is faithful to bring our sins to the surface and, when He sends in His hornets, we must be faithful to deal with what He brings to the surface.

"The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed." (Deuteronomy 7:22-23)

Our perfection and our sanctification does not happen overnight, nor is it imparted to us immediately and completely upon our being born again, rather it is a process that starts with our salvation and continues until we finally stand before the Lord; completed in His presence. Paul reminds us that, "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) If God were to show us the sum total of our sin, we would be overwhelmed. This is why Jesus told His disciples, "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." (John 16:12) God does not expect us to become perfect all at once but rather little-by-little, one sin at a time. This is the great difference between the enemy's condemnation and God's conviction. The enemy wants to show us all our faults and convince us that we are hopeless causes, while Jesus shows us a specific sin, asks us to repent, and then gives us the power to overcome the sin. As we deal with each sin in its turn, we enter into a process of sanctification that takes us "from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18) and from righteousness to righteousness.

"He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned." (Deuteronomy 7:24-8:1)

Sin must be dealt with. It is not enough to learn to "cope" or "coexist" with our sin, we must defeat it and overcome it. The world does not understand such a radical commitment against sin. Peter, speaking of those who knew us before we gave our hearts to Jesus, says "In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you." (1 Peter 4:4) But even if the world should malign us, the price of sin is too great, and its ruin and destruction can last a life time, and even an eternity. Jesus spoke of how we should be radically committed to purging sin in our lives. "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell." (Matthew 18:8-9) We were made for glory, we were made for the presence of God, but sin separates us from our eternal purpose in God. As we commit our selves to God's process of sanctification, we open ourselves up to our true calling and purpose in God and, as Paul reminds us, "we derive our benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life." (Romans 6:22)

David Robison

Technorati Tags: Book of Deuteronomy, sin, righteousness, eternal life, The Robe, David Robison

Make no Covenant with Sin: Dt 7:1-11

"When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." (Deuteronomy 7:1-6)

While there is grace when we sin, there is not grace for sin. God has extended His grace to us to forgive us when we sin against Him, but He does not want is to remain in our sin. The grace of God has not appeared to excuse us of our sins but rather to teach us how to walk free from our sins. "For the grace of God has appeared , bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age." (Titus 2:11-12)

God warned Israel that they were not to make covenants with the enemies of God; those who sought to inhabit the land that God was giving to them. Instead, they were to embark on a systematic campaign to eradicate the enemies of God from the land and to destroy the remembrance of them and their sinful ways from the face of the earth. In order to live holy in the Promised Land, they could not afford to live with mixture; part holy and part sinful.

The same is true for us with regards to our sin. We cannot afford to tolerate or excuse our sin. Our sin is not to be coddled or indulged rather it is to be overcome and defeated. There is no truce or detente with sin, there is only victory or defeat. We cannot wink at our sin, we must be serious about removing it from our lives. In Romans 8:13 Paul tells us to "put to death the deeds of the flesh." This is the attitude we must have. At times it may even mean destroying our idols; the places and ways we make room for sin in our lives.

Sin is not our friend, it is not a welcomed companion, rather it is the source of many of our hurts and broken relationships. Only by confessing our sin can we receive forgiveness for our sin, and only by the power of the Holy Spirit can we walk free from our sin. Let us choose to walk free.

"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." (Romans 13:14)

David Robison

Technorati Tags: Book of Deuteronomy, sin, repentance, forgiveness, Holy Spirit, The Robe, David Robison

Doomed from the Start: Dt 6 (Part 2)

The second reason I believe that the Old Covenant was doomed from the start is because it depended upon the people of Israel remembering someone with whom they had no relationship.

"Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)

It was inevitable that they would grow distant and drift away from God. While in the wilderness they daily saw God's presence: a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They also daily experienced God's miraculous provision for their lives: fresh manna each morning and their clothes never wearing out. However, as they entered the Promised Land, things would change in two very specific ways. First, as they took possession of the land, they were dispersed far from the presence of God. Except for those who lived near where God chose to place His presence, they no longer saw or experienced His presence on a daily basis. Yes, they were to appear before God at the regular feasts, but on a day-by-day basis, they did not "know" God in any intimate way. Secondly, as the generations passed, many of the new generation had no first hand knowledge of the miracles and power of God. They had never seen the miracle of the manna, they had never seen any miraculous healings, nor had they seen the power of God expressed though His judgments. They heard stories but they lacked their own first hand account of these events. In the end, without a personal relationship with God, they drifted farther and farther, and eventually "forgot" God.

Thirdly, as the years passed, their faith with God became more cultural than experiential.

"When your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?' then you shall say to your son, 'We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand. Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household; He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers. So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today.'" (Deuteronomy 6:20-24)

While the Israelites were very good at passing down their national history, they failed to instill their faith in God from generation to generation. They had a cultural awareness of God and His work in the forming of their nation, but they lacked the present day faith and vital relationship with God that He seeks with all His people. Knowledge and history of God is not enough, we need faith and a relationship with God. Without such a relationship, any covenant with God is doomed to failure, even from the start.

David Robison

Technorati Tags: Book of Deuteronomy, Promised Land, Forget God, The Robe, David Robison

Doomed from the Start: Dt 6 (Part 1)

"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord , the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey... So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today. It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us." (Deuteronomy 6:1-3, 24-25)

Throughout the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses lays out the conditions of the covenant between God and the Nation of Israel. A covenant which, if they would be faithful to observe, would grant them long life and prosperity in the new land into which they were about to enter. This was a covenant not based upon their relationship with God but rather upon their faithful and strict observance of the laws and ordinances established by the covenant. As excited as they must have been, standing ready to possess the Promised Land, it was a covenant doomed from the start.

It was not that there was anything wrong with the covenant or its laws, for Paul reminds us, "So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." (Romans 7:12) Rather it was the inability of the law to produce righteousness within them that was the problem. "Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life , then righteousness would indeed have been based on law." (Galatians 3:21) Though the people didn't know it, they were entering into a covenant that they were completely unable to keep.

I believe that there are at least three reasons why the Mosaic covenant failed.

"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart." (Deuteronomy 6:6) External pressures and reminders to observe the law will never server to create in us a heart to observe the law. Moses counseled the Nation of Israel never to forget the requirements of the law. "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:7-9) But for all their external reminders, symbols, and exhortations, their hearts were rebellious and they consistently failed to keep God's law. For example, it is not enough to have the Ten Commandments prominently displayed in your house, unless they are written on your hearts, we will most certainly fail in our attempts to keep them.

We need to let God write His laws on our hearts. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Hebrews 8:10) When God wrote the Ten Commandments, it was said, "He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God." (Exodus 31:18) In the same way, as we grow in our relationship with God, He will write, with His own finger, His laws on our minds and our hearts. Without a relationship, they are just external laws, laws we are unable to keep, but with a relationship with God, then His laws become a part of us and His Spirit empowers us to keep them and to live Godly lives.

More to come... David Robison

Technorati Tags: Book of Deuteronomy, covenant, law, relationship, The Robe, David Robison

His acts and His ways: Dt 5:23-27

"And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. You said, 'Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.'" (Deuteronomy 5:23-27)

I was struck by the difference between the people's and Moses' response to the presence of the Lord. Moses responded by going up into the presence of the Lord to receive His word while the people responded with fear. Moses was drawn closer to the Lord while the people drew back. Why does the presence of the Lord cause some to draw near and others to shrink back? I think the key difference was that the people of Israel knew about God, but Moses knew God. Consider the observation that David made:

"He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel." (Psalms 103:7)

The son's of Israel saw God's acts, deeds, and miracles. Moses, however, knew God's ways, character, and nature. The people knew what God did, but Moses knew God. Moses had a relationship with God. Moses knew His nature and His character and was not afraid of His presence. The people, however, only knew of what God did, they didn't have a relationship with God. Because of this, when God came, they're response was fear.

It is important that we do not become content with the substance of God's gifts, blessings, and miracles and fail to acquire a relationship with the giver of those gifts, blessings, and miracles. As exciting as our experiences in God may be, they should never become a substitute for a relationship with God. God describes the difference between His relationship with Moses and that of even the other prophets of his day.

"Hear now My words: if there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, he is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord." (Numbers 12:6-8)

There are many people today who are seeking for an experience, a dream, a vision, or a manifestation, yet, as important as those may be, they can never compare to a "face to face" relationship with God. Visions are one thing, but an open, "mouth to mouth" relationship with God is another. Visions and experiences will one day cease, but our relationship with the Lord is eternal. Let us receive with gladness the experiences we have in the Lord, but let be willing to go beyond experience to have a whole hearted relationship with Him.

David Robison