Text for Today's Study: Exodus 30-39

Learner objectives: (1) To be able to name how the children of Israel sinned, and how they were commanded to repent. (2) to be able to tell how man sins today, and how through Jesus the Son man repents (3) to be able to identify Jesus as the sacrifice and the propitiation for our sin.

Narrative: This story is told to us to show (1) the faithlessness of man (2) the longsuffering of God (3) what man must do to once again walk in harmony with God.

Time: (also see time line in the classroom): about 1440 B. C.

The Bible Story:

Which command did Israel break? The eighth? Ninth? Tenth? They didn't even get past the first--"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

But then they aren't so different from a lot of people today.

Many people have put material things ahead of God. They work during worship service. They drain their time and energy so much that there is none left for Bible study. Some put the god of food ahead of Jehovah. This would be many, many more of our brothers and sisters in the Lord than we ever imagined. Some have bowed down to the god of sex--loving the sex of marriage instead of loving the mate and using sex to communicate the love.

How do we leave Egypt?

For material things--recognize that this is the lust of the eyes (I John 2: 16). Lusting after material things shows a lack of faith in God, in His ability to provide.

Lusting after things shows that our focus is on the wrong things (Matthew 6: 19-21). Things can't love us back. Those who lust after things often feel lonely because the things can't love them back. It is absolutely true that you can't take it with you. Naked we enter into this world, and the soul leaves naked as well. Manage money well, but don't love it. Being above the love of filthy lucre is a necessary trait of an elder. ( I Timothy 3).

Lust of the flesh. This is anything that makes the flesh feel good, if that gratification is done contrary to the will of God.

1. Love of food. Is it wrong to overeat? It is wrong to do anything that sins against our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 3: 16, 17 or I Corinthians 6: 19, 20. God doesn't want to spend all of our time on this earth worrying about food. See Matthew 6: 25-33. Our focus should be on the kingdom, not on food. But the glutton thinks all the time about food. Gluttons are spoken of derisively in Titus 1: 10-13. Overeating--consistent overeating--shows a lack of faith in God and his ability to provide. What did God tell Israel? Deuteronomy 8: 2, 3 . God gives hunger. There is a normal process by which He does this. He blesses us with food. All the food is good. Matthew 7: 7-11. Man has utterly missed the boat when he started counting calories and fat grams and parts of a food pyramid. God made the mechanism within man to crave the vitamins and minerals that are needed.

Q. When do you stop eating? A. When you are full. When Jesus fed the five thousand, or the four thousand, did he tell them to eat it all up and join the full plate club? No, he told them to gather up the remnants. Was Jesus ever on a "diet?" Did Paul ever count fat grams? Let God regulate your weight. Just never eat when you aren't hungry, and never eat past full.

2. Love of sex. Notice that this is not a criticism of sex as an expression of love in a marriage situation. Marriage is honorable in all, and the marriage bed undefiled (Hebrews 13: 4). I Corinthians 7: 1-7 describes the meeting of needs between the couples of a marriage.

As a marriage goes along through the years, there can be a subtle change from "loving the wife (husband) and using sex to show it" to simply loving the sex. This shift is a gluttony for sex itself. It is a lust of the flesh (I John 2: 16).

Symptoms might be

The Holy Spirit ultimately controls what goes on in the bedroom. II Cor 6: 14-7: 1. The only way to escape that control (if a Christian) is to grieve (Ephesians 4: 30) and quench (II Thess.5: 19) the Spirit.

The Lord has shut down the sex lives of others before in an effort to get their minds back on spiritual things. See Abimilech in Genesis 20. If your mate seems over the hill, look at your spiritual life. Is the god of sex ahead of the God of Israel? Repent. Put God first. You'll be amazed at what happens in your marriage. Your mate isn't over the hill. But repent for the purpose of getting right with God. Matthew 6: 33

Pride of life. How many "I" messages do you send during the day? How important is it that you be first, or be recognized, or to say "I told you so?"

One's glory should always be in the Lord. There is great contentment when the Lord can use your talents and abilities in His Kingdom. Tooting one's own horn only leads to dispair and insecurity. Those who worship themselves live an uncertain lifetime.

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