Here Is a Place By Me, And You Shall Stand on the Rock: Exodus 33:1-23

Exodus 33:1-23: "1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, "To your descendants I will give it." 2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.' 4 And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, 'Say to the children of Israel, "You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you."' 6 So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. 7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. 12 Then Moses said to the LORD, 'See, You say to me, "Bring up this people." But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, "I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight." 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.' 14 And He said, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' 15 Then he said to Him, 'If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.' 17 So the LORD said to Moses, 'I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.' 18 And he said, 'Please, show me Your glory.' 19 Then He said, 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.' 20 But He said, 'You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.' 21 And the LORD said, 'Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.'"

In this pericope we again see Moses being a prefigurement of our Lord Jesus Christ. For our Lord God chooses to reveal His glory to Moses, but Moses must be hid in the cleft of the rock. This is very similar to an episode that the Prophet Elijah had where he too was allowed to see the Lord's glory pass by while he was in the cleft of a rock. In this we have a connection between Moses and Elijah, and this glory that they only got to see from the cleft of the rock, and not even the Lord's full glory, for His face was hidden from them, we see fully revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration. There Moses and Elijah talk with our Lord Jesus, and they are not afraid, however, the Apostles, St. Peter, St. James the Elder, and St. John, are shaking in their sandles, with their faces to the ground, for they had been revealed the full glory of our Lord Jesus.

But Moses and Elijah are not afraid, for they had seen this glory before. This cleft in the rock also holds significance, because it points to the cleft of rock that our Lord Jesus was placed into after His crucifixion. He was placed in a brand new tomb, that had been cut out of rock. Therefore, Moses, and Elijah, being placed into this cleft in the rock is a picture of the tomb of our Lord Jesus. In this tomb, our Lord reveals His true glory, for in the tomb, our Lord Jesus, buries, once and for all, sin, death, and the power of the devil, so that they can no longer harm us.

Having done this, we, unlike Moses, and Elijah, can see the full glory of the Lord face to face. And we behold that glory, whenever we receive His Body and Blood in bread and wine. The bread that we eat, is the Body of Christ, and the wine which we drink, is the Blood of Christ, this is His glory, the giving out of the forgiveness, life and salvation, that He won for us on the tree of the cross.

Therefore, as we enter into Lent, let us stand upon this Rock, and hide ourselves in the cleft of this Rock, and behold our Lord's glory, which we will reveal to us in His holy crucifixion. May our eyes ever be shown our sin, that we may cast them at the foot of the cross.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

I Am Not Worthy That You Should Enter Under My Roof: St. Luke 7:1-10

St. Luke 7:1-10: "1 Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. 3 So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, 5 'for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.' 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, 'Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, "Go," and he goes; and to another, "Come," and he comes; and to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.' 9 When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, 'I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!' 10 And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick."

The season of Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday, with the account of the centurion, whose servant is sick, and desires that our Lord Jesus would come and heal him. The theme to this whole text is humility, and that after all is a part of what Lent is about, humbling ourselves before God on account of our sin.

What is truly amazing about this centurion, however, is that he is a man of great authority, as he relates to our Lord Jesus, through his servants, that he is a man who says to his soldiers, "Go," and they go, and "Come," and they come, and he says to his servant, "Do this," and he does it. Now, at first glance this doesn't really seem like humility, it seems like the centurion is bragging about how much power and authority he has. But that is precisely the point, for even though the centurion has all this power and authority over people, he realizes that he is not worthy to have our Lord Jesus come under his roof.

Furthermore, the centurion believes that the Lord does not even have to show up for the servant to be healed; That our Lord Jesus could heal him just by speaking the word. This centurion was not a Jew, he was a Roman soldier, but he had already demonstrated his love for the people of Israel, by building them a synagogue. This centurion also reveals he understands who has the true authority and power, for he understands that the power and authority of our Lord, Who is the Creator and Preserver of all things, is far more greater than any power that he holds. In this we are shown the centurion's humility, and that he is placing himself under our Lord Jesus' authority.

For this faith, our Lord Jesus turns to the entire crowd, and proclaims to them that no faith like this has he seen in the people of God. This is truly a remarkable statement for He is basically saying that the people of God, who have His Word and teachings, lack the faith of someone, who doesn't have these things. One wonders what produced the faith in this centurion. We can tell, since he built a synagogue, the place where God's Word was preached and taught among the Jews, that somewhere along the line, he must have heard the Old Testament of the Jews. And it was a love for this Word that he had heard, that prompted him to build a synagogue for them. And we can further surmise that since our Lord Jesus was preaching and teaching, and healing the sick, and casting out demons in the region, that the centurion would have heard the reports about Him. Therefore, the centurion has placed his faith, not in healing powers, but in the Lord Jesus Himself. And this centurion willingly places aside his own authority, to be under our Lord's authority.

One final note about his pericope. The words that the centurion states, that proclaim his humility, are part of the prayers that ministers have been praying for centuries, as part of their prayers before receiving communion. The phrase used is, "Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my soul shall be healed." The priest would repeat this phrase three times, beating his chest with lower three fingers of his right hand when he said the words "not worthy." This signified that the Celebrant, although handing the people of God our Lord's Body and Blood, the true Authority and Minister was our Lord. He is just acting on our Lord's behalf. Therefore, he speaks of his unworthiness to hold this honor, and to receive the Lord's Body and Blood, for his forgiveness.

This too, should be our attitude when we receive the Lord's Supper. We should express our unworthiness to receive the forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation that are given to us in the Holy Eucharist. For, on account of our sinfulness, we do not deserve to receive this gift. But on account of our Lord's Word, that is, the Words of Institution, which proclaim that the Body and Blood, given in bread and wine, are for the remission of our sins. He gives this to us freely, without any merit or worthiness on our part.

Therefore, as we enter into the season of Lent this day, let us humble ourselves before our Almighty Lord, and with ashes upon our heads, receive the Lord's Body and Blood given in bread and wine.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Ash Wednesday Customs and Rites

Deacon Dulas was asked by Iggy Antiochus to write something regarding the customs of Ash Wednesday for his blog. Specifically to provide an ancient example of the Rite of Imposition of Ashes. For those interested in reading more on the customs of Ash Wednesday, and see the ancient rite, may do so by visiting Iggy's blog All For Hymn at http://allforhymn.blogspot.com/.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

He Gave Moses Two Tablets of the Testimony, Tablets of Stone, Written with the Finger of God: Exodus 31:18-32:35

Exodus 31:18-32:35: "31:18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

"32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, 'Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' 2 And Aaron said to them, 'Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.' 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' 5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.' 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 7 And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"' 9 And the LORD said to Moses, 'I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.' 11 Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: 'LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, "He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?" Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever."' 14 So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. 15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. 17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, 'There is a noise of war in the camp.' 18 But he said: 'It is not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear.' 19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, 'What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?' 22 So Aaron said, 'Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, "Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 24 And I said to them, "Whoever has any gold, let them break it off." So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.' 25 Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, 'Whoever is on the LORD's side--come to me.' And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 And he said to them, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor."' 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, 'Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.' 30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, 'You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.' 31 Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, 'Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin--but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.' 33 And the LORD said to Moses, 'Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.' 35 So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made."

As soon as God delivers His Law written by His own finger to Moses, we are shown that the people of God, have broken the Testimony. And it is the very first Commandment, that is, to not have other gods. The narrative of the golden calf is familiar to us. But here are a couple of things that should be drawn to our attention regarding this pericope.

The first is that God writes the Ten Commandments with His own finger. This reveals the love our Lord God has for His people, and how important this Law is to Him. He doesn't pass the task of writing it on to an angel, or to Moses, but He writes it Himself. This means that what He writes, He means to be kept flawlessly.

The second thing to point out is that when the Israelites approach Aaron to make them a false god, he doesn't put up any sort of an argument, at least none that is written about. He basically says, "Ok, give me your gold and silver, and I'll do it." Along these lines, and something that is interesting, is when Aaron is relaying the story to Moses, he states that when he threw the gold and the silver into the fire, the golden calf just appeared out of the flames. This is different the narrative that Moses relates earlier in the chapter, that is, that Aaron fashioned it with an engraving tool. What does that mean? It means that Aaron is lying to Moses, to make it seem like what he did wasn't that bad. Although, Aaron leaves out the part about making an altar to the golden calf, too. We also learn that Aaron was the guy left in charge by Moses, to keep the Israelites from doing just such a thing. What is truly remarkable about all this, is that Aaron is still chosen as the High Priest. This shows how forgiving our Lord can be.

Another thing to point out is that our Lord God, when He discovers what the Israelites are doing, He wants to immediately wipe out the entire nation, however, Moses intercedes for them. We see in this a prefigurement of our Lord Jesus, Who intercedes for us to the Father. But what is interesting is that as soon as Moses comes down the mountain, the same wrath that our Lord God had, now consumes him. And he smashes the stone tablets on the ground, has the calf ground into powder, and makes them drink it. Then he sends the Levites out among the Israelites, and they kill 3,000 of them. What this means, is that Moses is acting on God's behalf. He both intercedes and metes out punishment. Or to say it another way, he both forgives and retains sins, much like the ministers do today. Forgiving the sins of those who repent, but retaining the sin of those who do not repent.

The final thing to point out is that after Moses does all these things to the Israelite people, he is back to interceding to the Lord God for the people. He even makes the great statement, that he would be willing to die in the place of the Israelites for their sin (see verse 32). Moses is showing himself to be a prefigurement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who was willing to suffer and die on behalf of us and the whole world, who are manifest sinners, so that we might have life, and have it abundantly.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas