Blogging Bible Study: Desert Digging - Sojourn at Sinai

posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Chronologically speaking, Israel is encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai for almost a year; the record of that stay begins in Exodus 19: 2  and concludes in Numbers 10:11, when the cloud lifted from the tabernacle.

It was a critical, formative time for Israel and there are certainly many lessons from this chunk of scripture.  But I am focusing on 'desert'...so let's see what we find about the desert during that period.

There really are not a lot of references containing 'desert'...the focus was elsewhere during this period.  But there are a few.

Exodus 23:31 references the desert as a territorial border -- "I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River; I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you."


Leviticus 7:38 references the offerings the Israelites were commanded to bring while in the Desert of Sinai; 11:18 mentions the desert owl.  So the next real 'desert' statement is in Leviticus 16

But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat....When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forth the live goat.  He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites -- all their sins-- and put them on the goat's head.  He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task.  The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert."  (Lev. 16:10,20-22)


I have always thought this a little odd.  But the truth is...we don't know the fate of the goat that symbolically carried the sins away into the desert.  Was it a domesticated goat, who would have no clue how to survive, and so slowly die of starvation/thirst...or not so slowly die as prey?   Or was it a desert goat, who was released into his own environment, where he could live happily as a wild goat?  We don't know. But...we do know that this complicated process of sacrifice and release both shows the atonement and the removing of sin from the people.  Once the goat was released at the remote location...whether he lived or died he would not be returning.  He, and the sins he bore, were gone for good.  And, here's another thought that occurs to me...you see that the people could do nothing in and of themselves to atone for or rid themselves of their sin.  No prostration, humiliation, acts of charity, or any other action save the sacrifice for atonement and the banishment of the scapegoat for removal.  If you read through Leviticus, you will find varying sacrifices and/or offerings to be made by an individual who sins in some fashion, and in some cases restitution is required where there is injury or loss to another party, but there is no form of ritualistic...anything...that an individual might be required to do to rid himself of sin or atone for his own sin or obtain forgiveness for his sin.  That is a concept that just isn't there.  There is a sacrifice...there is removal...and it is all ultimately down to the grace of God, who forgives the one who seeks forgiveness.  There are rituals associated with cleanliness, but those things often aren't associated with sin so much as the natural course of life...an illness, dealing with a dead body,  burning garbage, etc.   There is no ritual a human can do by which she/he removes or atones for their own sin.  But under the Law, the scapegoat, by God's grace and design, carried the sins outside the camp into the desert...gone for good..

In Numbers, chapter 1, we see that God commanded a census of the people before they left

The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of  Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt.  He said, "Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.'.... and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month.  The people indicated their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men twenty years old or more were listed by name, one by one, as the LORD commanded Moses.  And so he counted them in the Desert of Sinai."  (Num 1: 1-2, 18b-19)  This is the first of two such census takings recorded in Numbers; that's why the book was given the name 'Numbers', to be exact.  Topically, this census is also continued in chapter 3:14, when Moses is commanded to count the males of the tribe of Levi - The LORD said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, "Count the Levites by their families and clans.  Count every male a month old or more."

But there were two missing from the count; we see in 3:4 what happened to Aaron's two sons Nadab and Abihu -

Nadab and Abihu, however, fell dead before the LORD when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai.  They had no sons; so only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of  their father Aaron. 

That account is recorded in Lev. 10, if you want to go back and read it; I have written a blog post about it before so I'll let you click through if you want to read that.  It is enough, here, to say that the Israelites had to learn to differentiate between what was holy and what was ordinary.

Finally, the last mention of the Desert of Sinai is in chapter 9, just before the Israelites depart

The LORD spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they came out of Egypt.  He said, "Have the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time."...and they did so in the Desert of Sinai at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.  The Israelites did everything just as the LORD commanded Moses. - (Num. 9:1-2,5)

It had been a year since they left Egypt; nine months since they camped at Sinai.  In those nine months, the ragtag band of refugees became a nation with laws, a central place of worship, a chain of command...a national identity beyond just family relationship.  They were going to need it.  In Egypt, they had been sequestered away...living in a separate community, comprising a separate class.  But where they were going, there would be  a battle to maintain their boundaries and identity as the people of God.  They got all of the necessary tools at Sinai.  All they had to do was live according to the instructions God gave them through Moses...and God himself promised to defend them.

Blogging Bible Study: Desert Digging - On the Road to Horeb

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Then Moses led the people from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur.  For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.  Ex. 15:32

And, because I thought it might be interesting to throw a little side quest into it, I'm going to add the next two verses:

When they came to Mara, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah).  So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"

This is three whole days after they stood on the shore of the sea, freed by astonishing events from their captors.  Seventy-two hours after the praise dance rejoicing over their deliverance.  Now they are complaining.  And, here's the side quest...I'm going to count as we go through this desert journey.  This is the second time since leaving Egypt that the Israelites complained.  

Of course, Moses  prayed and God had him throw in a piece of wood to make the water sweet. 

Hey, I'm not explaining this.  I don't know why it worked.  God did it, the people had water, and they made it to an oasis where they camped for a bit before heading into the Desert of Sin ('Zin' in some translations).

In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.  The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt!  There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out to this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."  Ex. 16:2-3 (Grumble count: 3)

Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.' "  While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in a cloud.   Ex. 16:10

That night, quail fell on the ground and they ate meat, and the next morning, When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.  (Ex. 16:25).  The Israelites called the flakes 'manna.'  They were given instructions ..only gather enough for one day, except for the sixth day, when they were to gather enough for the seventh day as well.  There were some problems in the beginning, but the people soon caught on and fell into the routine. The final instruction regarding manna had to do with a memorial:

Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.' "  (Ex. 16:32).

This is the first memorial they were instructed to make.

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded.  They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink."  Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me?  Why do you put the LORD to the test?"  Ex. 17:1 - 2  (Grumble count: 4)

They had some more words with Moses about dying from thirst, Moses cried out to God and was given instructions to strike the rock with his staff...and they had water.  They were also attacked by the Amalekites while they were at Rephidim;  a deed that earned the Amalekites a heavy penalty.  Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands so that he could intercede for the battle  and Joshua led the army to their first military victory. 

Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God. Ex. 18:5

In addition to bringing Moses' family to him, Jethro gave Moses some excellent advice about dealing with the day-to-day administration of the people, and Moses followed that advice, designating leaders to judge disputes and answer questions.

Then, In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt - on the very day -- they came to the Desert of Sinai.  After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of  Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.  - Ex. 19: 1 - 2

So, Moses brought the people to the place where he first met God.  Three months it took them to get there...and in those three months they had seen many marvelous and incredible things.

They would camp there at the foot of the mountain for almost a whole year.

But the Israelites learned much in those three months.  They learned that God would protect them...first from the Egyptians, and then from the Amalekites; they learned that God would lead them and they learned that God would provide for them.  And, if they paid attention, they would also have learned that God heard them when they grumbled.

That should have been a comfort...and a warning.  God hears the grumbling and...God HEARS the grumbling.  Ain't nobody gonna hide a bad attitude.  God hears.

Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Coming out of Egypt.

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi 

I honestly have no idea how many posts are going to be generated from the Exodus; I do want to kind of keep things to one general theme per post if I can...and they may be divvied up by the actions/attitudes of the folks we're looking at.  So, today...looking at the part 'DESERT' played in the escape from Egypt.

And make no mistake, it was an escape.  The people were in forced servitude.  Back in the day, one of my kids brought home a book from a school book fair about ancient Egypt that poo-poo'ed the whole idea that the great building projects had been done with slave labor.  The text assured the reader that the laborers had been paid in beer and bread.  It may have been true that they were given some provision.  But they were not free to leave.  They were not free to choose their  occupation.  They were forced to do the labor they were doing.  They were beaten if their work was not judged adequate.  By anyone's standards...that is human trafficking.  Otherwise known as slavery.

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.' "  ...Then they said, 'The God of the Hebrews has met with us.  Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword."   Ex 5: 1, 3, NIV 84.

That 'three day's journey' is a key detail; it shows up again...

After 4 plagues had struck Egypt, Pharaoh attempted a compromise, telling Moses and Aaron that the people could have their worship festival and accompanying sacrifices in the land in which they dwelt. But that wasn't the request, as Pharaoh was reminded,

'We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God as he commands us.'  

Miserable with the flies that were the 4th plague, Pharaoh seemed to relent:

Pharaoh said, 'I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far.  Now pray for me.'  Ex 8:27 -28

Of course, once the flies were gone, Pharaoh went back on his agreement and refused to let them go.  Six soul-crushing plagues later, mourning the sudden death of his firstborn, Pharaoh basically told the Israelites to get out...and they left quickly, having eaten the Passover meal packed up and ready to bug out.  But they did not go the way their forefathers had come.

So God led the people around by a desert road towards the Red Sea.  The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle....After leaving Succoth, they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert.
Ex 13:18,20

The Israelites did not stay at Etham; they turned around  and camped by the sea.  All part of God's strategy.

"Pharaoh will think , 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.'"  Ex 14:3


Pharaoh thought exactly that and sent his armies after them.  Camped between the Egyptian army, the desert, and the sea, the people complained for the first of MANY times.

They said to Moses, 'Was it because there  were no graves in Egypt that you have brought us to the desert to die?  What have you done by bringing us out of Egypt?...It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than die in the desert!"  Ex.14:11, 12b

And, for the first of many times, the Israelites saw themselves delivered by God's intervention.  I've seen many depictions of the crossing of the Red Sea; none of them pictured the Israelites straining against a strong east wind, which I am sure they did; it was the wind that dried the ground and held the water back.  A freak wind.  A God wind.  By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up.  The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.   - Ex. 15:8

When it was over, the Israelites stood on the eastern shore and the enemy that had pursued them was no more.  They were not going back.   See, in all the interactions Moses had with Pharaoh, there was no mention of them leaving and never returning; they were to go a 3-day's journey into the desert, hold their festival, and return.  After the 9th plague, Pharaoh tried to get Moses to agree to go into the desert but leave their flocks and herds behind.  Moses said, no,  we need them all so we can make the required sacrifice.  Pharaoh ordered Moses from his sight, stating 'The day you see my face you will die!'  Moses agreed, 'I will never appear before you again.'  Then he prophesied the tenth and final plague, death of the firstborn, and that Pharaoh's officials would come to him and tell them to leave.  But there was no mention of a change of request; Moses had steadfastly maintained that they would travel for three days into the desert and hold their festival.  IE, they were to travel TO the desert, travel three days INTO the desert, hold the festival (which did not have a fixed time) and then return.  All in all, it could add up to as much as a month, give or take a few days.  Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron -- Moses did not come before him seeking audience -- and told them 'Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.  Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go.  And also bless me.'  (12:31b-32).  This is still implying the '3-days-into-the-desert journey'.  Pharaoh, by sending the army after them,  broke the agreement and chased them to the other side of the sea.  They couldn't return now.  The sea was in the way.  And it was Pharaoh's doing.

I'm not sure that fine point had ever occurred to me before this very moment; Pharaoh himself made sure the Hebrews could not return as they had implied.  He chased them into their freedom.

He had chased them into the desert. Where, as only Moses and Aaron truly knew at this point, they would encounter God.

Out of slavery into the desert.   Nobody said it is easy to leave a life of bondage; there's stuff to go through  and lessons to be learned. The desert is often the first stop out of bondage...because, even though we would never know beforehand, God is found in the desert. 

...and, so, back to school...

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

A long-awaited vision is coming to pass...my church is initiating a ministry school. We've had a couple of goes at it in the past, and learned from them, and now, well, this looks to be the foundation of something that really can grow.  I'm heavily involved in the data side...tracking attendance and such.

It's a two year commitment; the first year, being the first year, is at a discounted tuition rate. They had about twice as many folks sign up as they expected.

I kinda wanted to do the worship track...but I'm not a worship leader.  Songwriting is my thing. I didn't know if I could do it for songwriting. 

I talked to the Education pastor...who is also our small group pastor...about it a couple of times.  The first year is meeting on Wednesdays, the same as our small groups.  That may change in the future, but for now, that works.  But I couldn't teach a small group if I did the class.

I finally went to him and asked him what he needed me to do.  Admin stuff?  Teach a small group? He said he would love it if I could head up the check in processes for them...and then he really surprised me by saying he'd love for me to do the worship track course designed for laymen.  I've already done the Master's degree from the correspondence school, so there wasn't much point to me doing the general ed stuff...but after a chat with the pastor leading the worship school, they all agreed that I could sit in on the worship track classes.

I figured I'd just, you know, kind of audit the class.  Observe and listen and learn.  Not really participate.  Because, you know, I'm not, like, a real student.

But tonight was orientation.  We walked everyone through practicing checking in...we have a new check in system, so even folks who had done it before needed a little coaching on what to click when.  They picked up their student welcome box and went upstairs to what was the library when our building was a high school but is now our children's sanctuary for snacks and the actual orientation class.  One volunteer and I stayed behind for about another 15 minutes to check in stragglers, then we shut down the kiosks, rolled them back to the main checkin area and went upstairs.

The volunteers had taken the unclaimed welcome boxes upstairs and I happened to walk by that table as I entered the meeting.

And I spied, with my little eye, a box with my name on it.

Y'all.  I almost cried real tears, right there.  I had a box...just like everybody else.  I don't know why that hit me so hard.  I guess I had visions of myself being, well, kind of tolerated in the program.  But instead...I got a welcome box.  I truly did not expect one, since, well, I wasn't a 'real student'.

I had a paradigm shift.  Why was I there?  I was there because someone in leadership said, 'I want you to do this.'  It was beyond permission...it was enabling (That word does not always mean a bad deal).  I had just taken it as permission to sit in.  The box meant I could participate and dig in and not be afraid that someone would take it wrong.  Suddenly, I didn't think of this as something I had maneuvered myself into.  I didn't do anything, really, other than follow up with what was suggested.  So if I didn't really put myself here...then that means Someone Else arranged things.

And I would be treating that opportunity with disrespect if I did not dig and study and push myself to do things I really can't do.  Even if it means doing something badly in front of folks who do that something very well. 

I have experienced humiliation before.  It is not fatal.  And if there is freedom/empowerment/ release on the other side, it will even be worth it. 

Blogging BibleStudy - Digging in the Desert: Desert Calling

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

The first two chapters of Exodus tell the backstory of Moses...where and what he came from and  how he happened to be where he was at the start of chapter three...saved from infanticide by a shrewd but faith-filled mama and quick-thinking older sister, raised in luxury and supremely educated, only to have his first attempt to Do The Right Thing blow up on him and send him into exile as a shepherd.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.   (3:1)

Moses wasn't just in the desert...he was on the far side of the desert.  I have often wondered if  that place was known as 'the mountain of God' before Moses's experience there, or if that's what it was called later.  Because God was there...and he commissioned Moses to go and do what he failed to do so many years earlier...save his people from their Egyptian overlords.

...then you and the elders are to go to the King of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us.  Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' (3:18)

Moses protested...and God relented enough to allow Aaron to be the spokesperson, since Moses, for all his education, apparently had a speech impediment.   God did not allow Moses to turn down the assignment;  Moses was  not allowed to live out his days in obscurity while someone else confronted Pharaoh.  But he was given help.

The LORD said to Aaron, 'Go into the desert to meet Moses.'   So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. (4:27)

The help came to him in the desert.  It was a confirmation of what God had told him. 

And Moses and Aaron left the desert and went back to Egypt. It's worth noting that, if they were successful, they would return to the very same spot...the mountain of God on the far side of the desert...bringing others with them:

And God said, 'I will be with you.  And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you:  When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you [plural] will worship God on this mountain.' 3:12

I am very much reminded of my own desert experiences, my own inclination to want to retire to 'the far side of the desert' and be...safe...from my own foibles.  Those times when my own attempts to Do The Right Thing backfire and do more harm than good, spoiling not only that opportunity but messing with relationships that I value.  I can't hurt anything...or anyone...on the far side of the desert, can I?

But God tells us, in the desert, that our failings and flaws are not disqualifications from His calling.  He will send us help if we need it, to go bring others to the place where He met us...

Skipped the Week

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Well, I did not get the next installment in the Desert Study yesterday because...it was my wedding anniversary (39 years, thanks for asking).

My office is closed on Fridays; My Sweet Babboo took the day off and we spent the better part of the day wandering about the local Botanical Gardens.  We have annual passes, but can't seem to make use of it other than for the discounts on special events, like the Christmas Lights display.  So, once MSB told me he was planning to take the day off, it seemed like a good way to just spend some time together.

The Huntsville Botanical Gardens opened in 1988 and has really, really grown.  I think the last time we spent a day wandering was back in, oh, 2009 or something like that (I just went and checked, because I posted about it on the sewing blog.  2006.  Oy.  And that dogwood succumbed to a tree disease  a few years later)  Amazing how much it has changed  since then.

'Moses Rocks' -- my name for them.  If I ever have a yard fountain it would be one of those.

So, we had a nice day racking up steps on the fitbits, lol.  It's nice to remind ourselves that a nice time together doesn't have to involve packing stuff up and going somewhere else.

 

 Iconic view from the walkway in the Water Garden

 This unique piece is on the very edge of the garden and goes nowhere.  Interesting....

In the butterfly house.

I'll pick back up with the Desert Study next Friday. 

Conference Approaches...Kingdom Sisterhood 2019

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

The first major women's conference our church held was in the fall of 2001. That also happened to be the final nudge that convinced My Sweet Babboo and me that this was to be our family's next place of service.We'd been in our previous church for 20 years; moving to a new congregation was...a process.

Our church has had a major women's conference every year since, with the exception of 2005, when we took all the funds designated to host the conference and put it towards hurricane relief to help those who had lost everything to Katrina.  In 2008 we had a shift in the women's ministry; the conference that year was called SHE Revolution (SHE = 'Seeking His Embrace')...which led to the women's ministry coming under a new vision and a new moniker...She Revolution.  Over the years, it's kind of morphed into 'She Women's ministries'.

A key piece to the puzzle was the 2013 (I think?) Color Sisterhood conference in Sydney, Australia.  Somewhere around 30 women from our church went...including a number of our lady pastors (pastoring is a couple's calling here; husbands and wives serve together.  Same for deacons and elders.  Not getting into the background of it, just explaining the culture so the terms make sense.).  That conference heavily influenced the direction our women's ministry took in the years following.

This year's conference, then, is probably a direct result of the seeds sown in 2013.  It's titled 'Kingdom Sisterhood' and at our first leadership prayer time leading up to the conference we were all given an assignment:  to read Bobbie Houston's book on sisterhood.

So I ordered it from Amazon and it arrived over the weekend.

I started reading immediately; there really isn't much time between now and the conference (Sept 6 - 7) so I thought I should get on it.

But I have a confession to make.

I can hardly say 'Kingdom Sisterhood' without getting a lump in my throat and a heavy sting in my eyelids.  See, I do not have a good history with this 'sisterhood' thing.  It grieves me that I am not good at it, but there it is.

You folks who have been reading the blog for a long time will know this; I talk about it from time to time....that self-protection wall I have that keeps relationships safe. And by safe...I mean, hopefully,  so that my bull-in-the-china-shop tendencies will not overstep those boundaries and I won't hurt someone's feelings without realizing I've done it.  I do not always succeed.  There have been conferences in which I have sat in the back, well away from others, and cried myself into a state of complete sinus shutdown. Because of this whole I'm-not-good-at-sisterhood thing.  Oh, there were specifics to each time that reflected current events but at the core of it...was that.  My ability to offend people without even trying, to so completely fail to explain something  that I left folks with the sure knowledge that I thought something/felt something/expected something that had nothing whatever to do with my actual thoughts, feelings or expectations.

My friends, this is ridiculous.  And it has to stop.  I have to get it.  This is the thing I wanted to leave in Israel...that social awkwardness that has plagued me since elementary school.  I didn't know it would rise up and slap me in the face quite so quickly or emotionally, but here I am.

So you know, this is sort of an accountability thing here.  I have GOT to get over this blocking hill.  I have to figure out how to deal with my inevitable faux pas in a healthier way.  I am surely not the only person who does this sort of thing...but pulling back and retreating and...sitting in the dark back seats alone...is not the way handle it.

Sort of like swimming...someone who knows how to swim won't be afraid of water.  Someone who knows how to deal with conflict and miscommunication won't be afraid of close relationships.

It's time to stomp that down...and let it stay stomped down.

And experience Kingdom Sisterhood.