Isaiah 63:1-9

Scripture: verse 8

He said, “They are indeed my people,
children who are not disloyal.”
So he became their Savior.

Observation: I don’t know where God got the idea that Israel wouldn’t be disloyal.  Israel ignored Him and rebelled against Him over and over again.  But the passage isn’t about Israel’s loyalty.  The passage is about the abundance of God’s steadfast love, which is apparently undeterred by all the idiocy that Israel has already gotten up to.

God is our Savior.  He sets us free and defends us.  He gives us a new identity and a new safety, and keeps re-giving them as often as we mess up.  He loves us, just like I will always love my children, no matter how many times they cut their own hair or spread yogurt all over the table or leave plastic bricks on the floor to be stepped on.  They are mine.  I am His.

Application: Trust in His love.  Lord knows we can’t trust ourselves.

Prayer:  Yeshua, I praise you because you became my Savior when I wasn’t interested.  I praise you because your love is bigger than ever mistake and every wrong decision I make.  Thank you for defending me.  Help me to trust you.  Amen.

Leviticus 8:1-17

Scripture: verse 5

Moshe said to the community, “This is what Adonai has ordered to be done.”

Observation:  Moses had to jump through plenty of hoops to get worship started.  He had to get the materials assembled, get the people together, and then spend what was probably several hours anointing and dressing and sacrificing and whatever else had to happen.

And he told the community, “This is what God said should happen.”  No attempt to justify or defend the ritual.  No attempt to compromise and brainstorm and incorporate other ideas.

Too often we wonder what to say when people question our actions.  And we shouldn’t.  If God told us to do it, that’s all the explanation we need to give.  (Of course, knowing that God told us to do it is an entirely different issue – but not one that I’m addressing at the moment.)

Sometimes I have to make decisions for my daughters, and I usually try to give good explanations for my choices, out of respect for them and to model good decision-making skills, but sometimes all the explanation I can give is “because Mommy said so.”  And that has to be enough.  One of the ways I keep them safe is by making decisions for them, by taking the burden of analysis that they aren’t old enough to perform.

And here Moses is using the same answer, and probably for similar reasons.  God is far bigger and higher and wiser than we are.  He keeps us safe by making certain decisions for us.  I don’t know what the consequences would have been if Moses had incorporated other ideas into worship.  But God did.  So He decided.

Application:  Trust God in all your ways (Proverbs 3:5).  Allow Him to make decisions – and allow Him to defend those decisions.  God is the one who vindicates us.

Prayer:  Father, thank you for guiding me through situations too complex for me to understand.  Thank you for lighting my path.  Thank you for judging me righteous.  Amen.