No Brokers

May 7

Read: Exodus 20:1-20

No Brokers

“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (v.19)

Why would you give up… why would you forfeit… the opportunity to have God speak to you? The people of God say precisely this to Moses! I am afraid we all have more in common with the Israelites from this passage than we realize. The truth is that we have a tendency to want to listen to people talk about God more than we want to listen to God himself.

For many of us, we would rather someone else wrestle with God, do “the work”, and just tell us what to do as opposed to having to engage the Lord for ourselves. This is how things got twisted within the Church over time… how a class of “professional holy men” sprung up and people started letting them broker their relationship with God. This is our human tendency… out of fear we are willing to forfeit our relationship with the divine.

We must not ever settle of the proverbial “Moses” telling us what to do. THIS DOES NOT MEAN we reject leadership, instruction, or wise counsel. It DOES MEAN that we ought to seek the Lord expecting him to speak to US directly and to guide us and lead us. In Christ, there are no more human “brokers”… no one else “brokers” your relationship with God for you… you cannot coast on someone else’s spiritual life… God is calling you. God wants to speak to YOU!

Look at the way Moses reassures the people: “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” (v.20) It can seem daunting and scary to engage the Lord… to faithfully walk in what he asks you to do… to acknowledge his power and authority. This healthy fear spurs on obedience. Without a fear of God there will be no obedience to him. Moses knows as much. In the end, “the people stood far off and Moses drew near.”

In Christ, we have been called to a life like Moses, one of intimacy and relationship with the Lord. In Christ, we ARE NOT called to a life of “standing far off” and observing while someone else has relationship with God. Are we still acting like the Israelites here in Exodus? Are we keeping God at a “safe distance” and watching while others commune with him? Have we handed over our relationship with God to be “brokered” by someone else? Are we functionally saying, “Hey pastor / podcaster / author … you speak to us and I will do what you say, but do not let God speak to us… he is scary!” God is not looking to destroy you. The Lord does come with “love and thunder” as Andrew Peterson says. He is powerful, and his majesty can be a lot to take in, but NEVER HAND OVER THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR GOD SPEAK DIRECTLY TO YOU. Your person time in prayer, reading the scriptures, and solitude are some of the spaces that the Lord will speak in. Do not “stand back” and watch others… DRAW NEAR as Moses did! Loves you guys. -JDP

*We are going to stop here in Exodus. I felt the Lord leading to write about the rescue from Egypt and Moses’ story moreso than the last half of the book which is OT law. We will start a new topic / book on Monday. Have a great Lord’s Day tomorrow! - Josh