Ex. 19-20
God revealed Himself to His people – He gave them a glimpse of His power and might and showed them a glimpse of His character in the 10 commandments (His Law). Moses said God did this “…to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.” Moses also said, “Do not fear…”…..so…..don’t be afraid, but be afraid??
Thinking on all of this, I believe Moses and God are saying that it is not God’s presence we need to fear, but, rather, turning away from Him. Thus, the proper fear in us should cause us to keep our eyes fixed on God so that we do not turn away but instead find our safety and security in His presence. If we are afraid of God, as the people were, we want to withdraw from Him and not listen to Him directly, and it seems it is in that place where we get ourselves into trouble.
Matt. 27:27-50
I think so often we feel the need to ‘defend’ God and/or the Bible, but in truth, God does not need to be defended. Our job is to witness and to minister – we need to let God defend Himself. Jesus shows us this in His life and death. During His life, He gave testimony of what He knew and He ministered the love, power, and knowledge of God to others. But at His crucifixion, He offered no defense at all – no argument, no explanation of the Truth. His job was not to defend God (or Himself), but to do that task that was put before Him to do (without which none of us would be saved!). In fact, taking up His own defense would have stood in the way of completing His bigger mission. Perhaps a few would have believed Him, but how would any of us have been saved?
And maybe we, too, interfere with God’s greater work when we take the defensive. I’m not saying that apologetics and such are wrong – it goes once again to the attitudes and motives that drive what we say. Are we simply telling what we know to be true, or are we getting argumentative because of people’s lies, misunderstandings, and insults?