Psalm 114; Deuteronomy 7 and 28
excerpts -1 Peter 1:15-16
There is a dynamic and direct nexus between holiness and power. Weakness became the hallmark of mankind after The Fall. Before that event, Adam and Eve moved in concert with the Almighty. There was a symphony of creative activity—a song and dance bringing glory to him. Nothing hindered the power of God flowing into the earth to cause it to bring forth abundantly and profusely! (On earth, as it is in heaven!)
With sin came the frustration of the natural system into a state of discord and non-cooperation against which we found ourselves powerless. This is the ‘vanity’ about which Solomon wrote so eloquently. Decay and death ruled. The second law of thermodynamics became sovereign—the law of entropy; everything is running down, or for laymen like us, ‘you can’t win; you can’t break even, and, you can’t get out of the game’! It’s why billions are spent on herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers…and face cream! These are all provide but temporary answers to the struggle. The curse, ‘from dust you came and to dust you shall return’ could have become the victory cry of the spoiled system and its perpetrator, Satan, had not God had a profound and glorious plan.
He desired to demonstrate, in the midst of this fallen and forlorn condition, a means by which his power could flow back into the ‘broken’ system...making a difference and beginning a mighty restoration which will culminate with new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness (right order) dwells! (2 Peter 3:13). He chose and called a people through whom to begin to effect this...
1. They were called and brought Out. These people were, in Egypt, a picture of the entrapment of all men under the regime of the fallen state. Just as mankind had become trapped in powerlessness due to the fruit of sin and independence, here was a people under bondage and oppression to a power against which they were weak—in fact, powerless. What was required was an action by someone greater and more powerful than Egypt and Pharaoh to deliver them from what God called ‘the house of bondage’ (eg, Ex. 13:14).
It was by great acts of power that God showed that Pharoah and Egypt are in fact also weak and powerless (Ex. 6:6). According to Psalm 114 they went out of Egypt and ‘from a people of strange language.’ That which enslaves men does not speak the language of heaven. It speaks the language of the fallen creation and of the flesh. Egypt’s was the language of those who craved fertility, protection, good fortune, prosperity, immortality and an afterlife and sought all these through a panoply of invented gods and preparations.
2. They were brought out to become. To become what? Effectively God’s presence in the world. Psalm 114:2 states ‘Judah became His apart-ness’ (holiness or sacredness). Some translations say ‘sanctuary’ but here is Wycliffe in his quaint 14th century English: ‘Judee was maad the halewyng of hym; Israel the power of hym’ and here is the Jubilee Bible, ‘Judah was his holiness, and Israel his dominion.’ And, for good measure here is the Targum (a kind of Rabbinic translation/commentary), the congregation of the house of Judah was united to his holiness, and Israel to his power.'
Here we see the reason for God’s action; this was their purpose. To see them was to see the ‘apart-ness’ or holiness and power of Yahweh himself! What a responsibility! The spoiled natural world ‘saw’ it and reacted: the natural world caught a glimpse of its true rulership...and submitted. They represented something new in the earth—the possibility of creation restored as Yahweh made extraordinary promises to them that included being blessed above all peoples, multiplication of fruit, grain, wine and oil, no barrenness, no sickness or diseases, deliverance from oppressors and enemies—the promised bounty went on and on (see for example, Deuteronomy chapters 7 and 28). This was why He chose and called them. ‘Became’ implies process. There was a process involved; it involved the tests Paul has been speaking about! They were (as we are) to become a people of power. His power.
3. Their presence was THE Presence and it impacted and changed everything in the natural order. The presence of God and the power of God was carried into the spoiled earth and was seen and felt. It came in and by and through his people. The holiness and the power had left because of the sin and failure of man; it was to return through man—being redeemed! Through a people whose presence meant his Presence. David says, ‘the sea saw it (ie, the Presence—see v.7) and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams.... Tremble, O earth, at the Presence of the Lord, at the Presence of the God of Jacob.’ God desires that his Presence be visible in this earth. When it is, the natural world takes notice and is brought under Government! How will the Presence be seen today? Yes, through the redeemed people; through the Church—which means, THROUGH ME! When his presence is with me, things change—yes, even in the natural order as he causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him and are called. Don’t think you have a call? O yes, you do!
He is reminding us today of the high call of God upon us. He has provided a clear example. We have been called and brought out of oppression and darkness into his glorious light. His purpose is that we become in this dark (and darkening) place, his holiness and his power, visible as it was in Jesus! Can we pray, ‘yes, Lord, I desire to become: I desire that my presence be your Presence, in holiness and power.’
1 Peter 1:14-16
‘…as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Ian Heard
October 28, 2018
