Word & the Wild

This is Word and the Wild, a one year Bible adventure with friends. My name is Owen. I'm your host and your guide and together we are on a 12 month journey as a podcast plus community where we read the Bible for ourselves but not by ourselves. This is week eight, believe it or not, and we are picking our way through the desert.

Having some fun doing it. So if you haven't already now is a great time to subscribe to this podcast, wherever you like to listen and to go ahead and like. The word and the wild Facebook page this week, Moses and the Israelites, they're out there in the desert. They're getting all the particulars of what it takes to maintain a relationship with the God who rescued them from Egypt.

And we're out here looking for an oasis or two to help pull us through it all and I think we'll find something So hello and welcome in and a special welcome to our word and the wild plus Community members it's their support of this nonprofit endeavor That is making space for all of us here on this Bible reading adventure You know, the heart behind Word and the Wild is to see people come together for friendship.

I believe that friendship changes everything. Friendship with God, yourself, and the people around you, life changing. And so I get so much joy when I hear how this little podcast is bringing people together. For example, I recently heard from a friend in our tribe that they are reading the Bible together every day as a couple and then at night They call his mom and they read the Bible together to her.

I mean, how great is that? So many thanks to everyone who's fueling this whole deal with interaction stories and gifts I'm having a blast and I hope you are too now with all that being said It's time to jump in so let's look at where we ended up last week in the story and then look ahead at what's coming For us.

Let's get started.

So here we are out here picking our way through the desert with Moses and the Israelites Oh man, and what a desert it is, right? I mean so many Rules, regulations, details, I mean we're talking tabernacle, priests, sacrifices, I mean all this stuff that is like making sense of it all. I mean if we were watching this as a movie at home.

This is the time where we'd be very tempted to pick up the remote, double tap that fast forward button, and get back to a point in the story where we see some action picking up. Right? I mean, giving some backstory, always helpful, it makes a story feel more complete and more compelling, but, I mean, enough is enough, right?

Well, I mean, on one hand, you've got a point. I mean, if this were a movie, then where we are in the story right now, uh, this would all get shortened up into one of those upbeat, like, transformation montages. You know, Rocky Balboa style, you know? This is where the director would throw in a nice 80s rock song under some quick cuts of workout scenes.

We'd see the Israelites get all ripped and ready. To get to the promised land, right? Yeah, but this time in this story Uh, we actually get to watch this transformation Unfold a little more slowly And that's because this part of the story it is not It's actually filled with key plot points inside all of this extra stuff.

For example, last week we watched as the tabernacle, uh, the sacrificial system, the priest, all that got set up to serve the people, and all of it in painstaking detail. I mean, I read more about bells on clothes. And golden breastplates with gemstones in them and turbans. I mean, there's more about all that than I've ever wanted to know, right?

Uh, but there's a why behind it all. And you might have missed the big idea inside all of that minutia. So just in case you missed it, I want to pull that out. As your guide on this deal, I got to show you what it is. And it's simply this, here's the big idea, God's people were rescued for relationship. I'm going to say it again, God's people were rescued for relationship.

He swooped them up out of Egypt. And brought them to that sacred mountain, Mount Sinai for the express purpose of establishing a mutual relationship with him. So all this talk of tabernacle sacrifices, priestly robes, all of this in a, in a real way is relationship talk. I see the tabernacle and the system around it are all.

Just tools to maintain the Israelites relationship with God, both as individuals and collectively as a people. And at the center of all those rules and regulations. Is relationship and, and friendship there is the focus, friendship with God, with neighbors, with yourself. That's what it's all about. And so last week we saw the tabernacle, uh, and, and saw it get, get put together and put into use.

And inside of all that, you may have missed it, but we saw the tabernacle provide at least Three essentials to maintaining that relationship with God. And again, they are easy to miss. So let me circle them for you right here real quick. First one, we saw the tabernacle, uh, give the people a place to meet with God back in Exodus 25 verse eight, that's on page 158.

If you're following along in your chrono Bible, okay. God told Moses, Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. That's the purpose One purpose of the tabernacle is is to create a place to meet with God Okay, there's a second one. Okay, the tabernacle also gives the people a place to hear From God.

Numbers chapter seven. We read it last week. Uh, it's, uh, in verse 89 of that chapter, which is on page 186 in your chrono Bible, it says, whenever Moses went into the tabernacle to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the ark's cover, the place of atonement that rests on the ark of the covenant.

The Lord spoke to him from there. All right, you follow. Okay, so the tabernacle helped the people maintain a relationship with God by first allowing them to meet with God and second by giving them a place to hear from God. And then third, the tabernacle was how they received direction from. God as well.

One more thing to show you here. Numbers chapter nine, verses 15 through 17. It's page one 82 in your chrono Bible, and it says it like this is fascinating. On the day the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered it. But from evening until morning. The cloud over the tabernacle looked like a pillar of fire.

This was the regular pattern. At night, the cloud that covered the tabernacle had the appearance of fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp. They got into this pattern.

They follow in the cloud. They follow in the fire. So embedded inside this Tabernacle talk there is that core idea. Once again, God's people were rescued from Egypt for relationship with him and to maintain That relationship his people needed to do three things They needed to meet with God to hear from God and to follow God's lead What the voice says, the people did.

Where the voice leads, the people went. And while the tabernacle And the system of sacrifices it was designed to support are now obsolete. We looked at that last week in last week's podcast episode. It was in Hebrews chapter 8. We took a look there. Worth going back and looking at it again if you need to.

It tells us that the system of sacrifices in the tabernacle, yeah, it's now obsolete. But the heart behind them continues to beat. God continues to rescue his people for relationship and focus us on friendship. And that's something that carries forward from the desert into daily life for us right now.

And all of that leads us right into what's ahead for us on the trail this week. The story continues as God expresses his expectations for his people Get this to not only follow him but to become Like him

now this week as we watch the epic story of the Bible unfold We're looking at it like a movie. It's going step by step unfolding day by day. And as we walk through it at first glance this week can feel like more of the same. Same as last week. More rules, more regulations, more details. And but once again hidden inside all this backstory and detail is a huge revolutionary concept that pulls a forgotten plot point We haven't talked about in a while, pulls it right back into full view, and it is one of the key themes, not only of this part of the story, but of the story as a whole.

Three times in this week's reading. God repeats a phrase that's often missed, or if you see it, it's misunderstood. It's a phrase where God, like I say, He re ups on His purpose for why He created human beings in the first place. And He once again invites the people He loves and rescues to become who we are created to be as we become like Him.

It's six simple words that God says. And in these six simple words, he calls back to the beauty of Eden, and he also at the same time speaks hope into the future. For all those people who long to be known as belonging to God, being friends with Him and following His way. Okay, and these six simple words, here they are.

Be holy because I am holy. These words come up twice in Leviticus chapter 11, then they come up again in Leviticus 19 this week. And buried inside all this talk we're reading about guidelines for behavior, uh, there's, there's embedded in here in that statement, be holy because I am holy. It's it's, you can think of it as the source and the purpose for all that behavior.

And since this phrase is surrounded by all this details about, uh, moral ethical guidelines and it's very easy. To either just blank out entirely on the whole thing, I don't, there's no shame, we've all been there, or at least to, to, to come away feeling very intimidated. You know, I mean, if God is asking his people to be as good as he is, I mean, there's no way.

Why would you even try? Right? Well, here's the part you can miss. We got to talk about it for a second. See, these rules and regulations and rituals, they don't create. Holiness, they simply express. and maintain that holiness and it's easy to flip that backwards and to hear God say something like the path to be coming like me is to become morally pure like I'm morally pure you know make pure choices. Become a holy person be holy because I am holy but that's that's not really the idea see To see what's going on, you've got to understand what the word holy means.

It comes up 80 plus times in Leviticus in our chrono bibles. It's a key word and it's got some baggage attached to it that we gotta, we gotta unwrap and, and unbundle. Okay. Uh, and to do this, I got a little quote. This is a little bit of a nerdy quote, but hang with me. It comes from, uh, the United Bible Study Translator Handbook for Leviticus.

All right. So, uh, and here's what it says. It's actually pretty awesome. Here's the quote. "It must be emphasized that the idea of holiness in Hebrew has more to do with being set apart or designated as special than with moral purity. When God requires of his people that they be holy, he invites them not so much to strive toward moral perfection.

But to establish communion with Him, He demands that they put aside all obstacles to that relationship. Okay, you follow there? Holiness is less about perfection. It's more about being set apart. Separate, different, awe inspiring, uh, reverenced, respected. If I had to put a single word to it, I would say the word is sacred.

Holy is, is sacred. And when I, when I think sacred, I think of these sacred spaces. You, you know, you walk into certain environments and it just speaks to you and overwhelms you with It takes your breath away. That's happened to me in, I mean, beautiful nature surroundings. You walk out into a forest under a blue sky and the trees are just so tall you want and you feel so small under them and you in your eyes lift up through the trees up to the tops and beyond and you see maybe a cloud or two in the blue sky and you just think Wow, this is a sacred space.

I'm, I'm having a moment. You might even feel a little overwhelmed by it and, and you should. Some sacred spaces or places that are built, you know, you get to travel. Maybe if you ever been to, uh, places in Europe, uh, and you see cathedrals. These are, you know, massive monuments constructed, uh, and they're meant to be sacred spaces.

My favorite cathedral in in the world that I've ever had a chance to see and we got to watch it a few times It's still under construction. It's it's been under construction for like a century or more and it it's a it's called La Sagrada Familia It's in Barcelona, Spain. And it's this, I mean, you walk inside, it's, it's huge, it's tall with these colorful stained glass windows and the light slants in and, and just covers everything with this beautiful glow. And you get this moment, it's quiet and it is huge and again, you feel small and you feel Feel like this is some kind of a different space and it, it makes you feel quiet inside and you, you feel awe, you feel reverence, you feel respect.

You feel that feeling of a sacred space. You feel holiness. It's that's what it's meant to create in your mind, your heart, in your emotions, that feeling of a sacred space. This is the idea in, in, in the part of the story where we are right now. When, when, when it says. Be holy, because I am holy. It's saying, first of all, that God is sacred.

He's different. He's separate. He's awe inspiring. He's worthy of reverence and respect. And... this is wild, but get this, because that is God. That is us. That is you. You are also sacred. God's invitation, and honestly his expectation, is to simply say. Be like me. Value what I value. Love how I love. I am sacred.

And so are you, too. So act differently because you are different. As a human being, created in God's image, you are sacred. Remember that? All the way back the first page or two of this story. The first moments of our movie. We learned that God created male and female in his image to represent him inside this, this world.

And because of that, you and me, human beings, we are sacred. Your heart, your mind, is a sacred space. It's a beautiful space created as a place of worship. And God's invitation, His expectation, is that your sacred space will be filled with what brings attention to him and sparks affection for him. You're, you're a temple.

You're, uh, you're trees in the forest. You're la Sagrada Familia. I don't know, you're, you're a sacred space. And sacredness is not something that, that you lose or gain. You don't lose it or gain. It as human beings. Being sacred is just something that we are. We are set apart, we are different, we are holy because we carry God's image.

We represent him inside our world and the universe. Poorly or well, we represent him either way. And, and the more distant we are in relationship to him, the more disfigured our image of him becomes. And as we draw in close the image of him, we project becomes clearer, sharper, and easier to recognize. Uh, and our status as, as human beings and, and imagers of God.

All of that shows up in the way we carry out our lives. When God says, "be holy because I'm holy," he says, "you are sacred, live a sacred life, fill the sacred space of your mind and your heart only with what is worthy of being there." And from the point of view of our unfolding story, this is The Good Life.

From the very first moments of this epic movie, we saw that to be like him is how we as human beings are created to be. Anything less than that is not progress. It's not freedom. To choose our own path, to craft our own identity is not success. In fact, it's deforming, deconstructing, and dehumanizing. It's, it's disaster.

It's disaster. But on the other hand, to know God is to finally know ourselves, to live like Him, is to truly become alive. We have to look ahead in the story to Jesus to see how all this talk of being holy like God, it all plays out. Jesus is the one who ultimately completes this picture of a sacrifice, a tabernacle, a high priest to all work together to allow us to maintain a relationship with God. And later this year, we're gonna read about that in the book of Hebrews. And these are some of the words that are gonna be used to describe Jesus and correct this this idea of becoming holy and being made complete Listen to this.

Under the old covenant, it says, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our high priest, that's Jesus, offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand.

For by that one offering, he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so, for he says, this is a quote from the Old Testament from Jeremiah. This is the quote. This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their minds.

All that's a quote from Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 11 through 16. Did you see that in there? To be holy is to become whole, which is what that word perfect means. That Jesus made one offering forever, uh, and he made, made perfect those who are being made holy. Perfect. It means complete. It means whole. Jesus offering of himself once for all, for all time, makes all who choose to receive it on their behalf, makes them whole.

And thanks to Jesus, we are made whole so that we can be made holy. We don't make ourselves holy, we're being made holy. And that transformation happens, like I said, in the sacred space of our hearts and minds. And as we give our attention and affection to the God who created us for nothing less. We become holy like God is holy. And that my friend is what's ahead for us this week.

Word and the wild is a one year Bible adventure with friends. I'm loving it and I hope you are too. All you word and the wild plus community members. I'll be seeing you in the wild. Our private online community space this week. Everyone else. Hey, don't be a stranger. Once again, subscribe to this podcast and follow word and the wild on Facebook for some interaction.

There word and the wild is a LineHouse community. It's part of the LineHouse community network. A nonprofit organization with a mission to bring neighbors together to promote awareness, appreciation and understanding of the Bible because friendship and God's word changes lives and changes cities.

Word in the Wild is presented by the LumaVoz podcast network. Many thanks to my friends at LumaVoz for giving us a home. And with that, my friend, we're out. I'm Owen, your host and your guide. Delightful to spend this time with you. Until next time I'll see you out there on the trail in the word and the wild.

Have a good one.