00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:22 Weather Update and Power Outages

01:54 Tragic News and Reflections

02:50 Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 19-21

08:46 The Fear and Love of God

12:50 Laws and Regulations in Exodus

17:59 New Testament Insights: Matthew 20

21:33 Closing Prayer and Farewell

Find out more about Compass Bible Church.

Learn more about our Bible Reading Plan.

Questions or Comments? Email us podcast@compassntx.org

Hey everybody.

2

Welcome back to another edition

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

3

What's up?

4

We're back.

5

We are here again and I

think it's, what is this?

6

It's Thursday at this point.

7

We've gotta be back in office by now.

8

I'm almost positive we will

be back in office by Thursday.

9

I hope so.

10

Maybe even yesterday.

11

But yeah.

12

And Lord willing, we'll be

back in church this Sunday.

13

Man, there's another round of

this cold weather that's coming.

14

We're gonna get just a small

dose of it, but it's gonna

15

hit the east again massively.

16

Some of those areas like

Mississippi had huge power outages.

17

I was listening to one guy.

18

That was saying that they, there's

some in Mississippi that could

19

be without power for weeks after

the storm that came through.

20

Wow.

21

Yeah.

22

What a devastating reality that would be.

23

Yeah.

24

Yeah.

25

And they're gonna get hit again.

26

There's another band of this cold

arctic blast that's coming down there.

27

It's gonna miss us.

28

It's gonna barely hit us.

29

No inclement weather, I don't think.

30

Just cold weather.

31

But yeah, it's crazy.

32

Yeah, I've been preparing for our time

here at home and I wasn't expecting

33

it to go longer than just a couple

days, so I'm thankful that we're,

34

again, at the end, I hope we're

at the end by the time this airs.

35

But for those who had power go out,

I've been tracking that a lot of

36

people in East Texas had power go out.

37

And I saw that, I think we had

50,000 people at one point that

38

were without power during this cold.

39

I'm just thankful that we've

had our utilities pretty

40

steady the whole time through.

41

Now.

42

We were dripping water and we were

trying to save some water here and

43

there just to make sure, but boy, I

do not wanna live through something

44

like this and not have utilities.

45

That would be a nightmare.

46

Yeah, I have great would for sure.

47

Empathy for those who do.

48

Yeah.

49

Yeah.

50

And people were all doing crazy things.

51

There was a bunch of ATVs downtown

Dallas, driving through downtown

52

Dallas and their four wheelers and

stuff, and I heard they got ticketed.

53

Yeah.

54

Because they're not supposed to do that.

55

Right, right.

56

Some cop was like, no, we're gonna

put an end to that, but we're.

57

Yeah, there was, I don't know if you

heard about, in Frisco, there was a

58

tragedy of there was two teenagers being

towed behind a truck and on a sled, sled

59

hit a tree and one of them passed away.

60

I think the other one's in critical

condition, but, that's another one

61

of those moments to talk to my kids

and especially my older kids, and be

62

like, you're, what do you always say?

63

Pr You say you're one mistake away

from ruining your life or one dumb

64

thing away from ruining your life.

65

Close enough.

66

Yeah.

67

I said the same thing to my kids and I

said, pay attention, learn and be wise.

68

You're not thinking about it being a life

and death thing until you can't avoid it.

69

Right.

70

Tragic man.

71

So tragic.

72

I felt for that poor girl.

73

She's a sophomore in high

school in Frisco and I've been.

74

I know I'm a sucker for things like this.

75

I've been reading everybody's comments

about her and I'm trying to put myself

76

in the head space of her parents and

even the families that are involved.

77

I'm thinking that would be the worst.

78

Oh, mm-hmm.

79

Mm-hmm.

80

Lord forbid.

81

Yeah.

82

Yeah.

83

Absolutely.

84

Absolutely.

85

Well, let's jump in to our DBR for today.

86

We're in Exodus 19 through

21 Exodus 19 through 21.

87

Sin in chapter 19.

88

Israel comes to Mount Sinai, and this is

one of my favorite depictions in Exodus

89

is this scene because God shows up in.

90

Flexes, for lack of a better

term, for the nation of Israel.

91

So he's been doing this kind of

along the way as he's led them out

92

of Egypt, as he's led them through

the Red Sea, as he's provided

93

manna, as he's provided the water.

94

But now he's going to put the fear of

himself in them, at least temporarily.

95

As he shows up his presence

does on this mountain.

96

And what he does first is he

gives Moses instructions and says,

97

listen, you need to be ready.

98

I'm about to set up a covenant with

you that's gonna consecrate you as

99

a people and you are gonna be a holy

nation to be a kingdom of priests.

100

That shit sound familiar from

our time in First Peter chapter

101

two, because Peter picks that up

and applies that to the church.

102

But God is gonna say that about.

103

And so he is gonna tell Moses, Moses,

you need to consecrate the people.

104

That is something that means to

set them apart as holy, to set

105

them apart, as useful to the Lord.

106

And he says, you need to

get them ready to meet me.

107

And so that's what happens here.

108

Moses brings them on the third day.

109

It says in verse 16, there were thunders

and lightnings in a thick cloud on the

110

mountain in a very loud trumpet blast so

that all the people in the camp trembled.

111

So they're terrified at this point.

112

And then it says, then Moses brought

the people out of the camp to meet.

113

God, Mount Sinai, it says, was wrapped

in smoke because the Lord descended

114

on it and fire the smoke went up.

115

It's just this amazing, powerful scene.

116

This is why I love this.

117

Sometimes I think to myself,

man, I would love to.

118

See this and here's why.

119

Nobody's grumbling and

complaining at the foot of Mount

120

Sinai when God is doing this.

121

They're trembling in fear before God.

122

They have a right view of

themselves and a right view of God.

123

In a moment like this.

124

It's the other moments, this is the

scene and this is the picture of God

125

that I wish I could possess more of in

my life on a daily basis, so that when

126

I'm tempted to grumble and complain, I

remember that this is the same God today.

127

He's immutable, he's the same God

that we worship as they worshiped.

128

And so nobody's grumbling and

complaining in exits 19 because they

129

are, have been put in their place by

the God of the universe, and they're

130

realizing just how powerful and

terrifying in an appropriate way.

131

He truly is, and he does this in

order to convey to them that this is

132

a serious task, that he's a serious

God and that they're to be a serious

133

people about how they follow him.

134

And that's gonna set up where

he is gonna go in chapter 20.

135

That does bring up a great question that

I think people might have about this,

136

and it's that exactly what you said.

137

If God would just do this,

a lot of people would be.

138

Convinced of who God is and why

you should serve him, and why he's

139

superior to all the other idols and

so-called deities that people serve.

140

So why doesn't he, if he did it for

Moses and Israel back in the old

141

days, why doesn't he do that today?

142

Well, and I think it would be

more effective for those that are

143

genuine believers already than it

would be for those that aren't.

144

And the reason I say that is

because he does this for Israel.

145

But as we're gonna find out

in the rest of our reading,

146

this doesn't stay with Israel.

147

This isn't the silver bullet.

148

This doesn't mean that they're

all of a sudden they're going

149

to be faithful to the Lord.

150

In fact, an entire generation

is going to be unfaithful to him

151

and die off in the wilderness

and not enter the Promised Land.

152

So even though they witness

all of these amazing things.

153

What they see doesn't con compute

to what they believe and what

154

they really own in, in faith.

155

So the reason I say I think it would

be more beneficial for Christians today

156

than unbelievers is the same reason.

157

It's kind of the similar arguments in

the New Testament when we see Jesus doing

158

all these miracles, or even in the early

church, when we see some of the apostles

159

doing these miracles, we think, well.

160

If God would just enable the church to

do that today, then people would believe.

161

And yet there were so many people

that didn't believe, or even in

162

John chapter two, after Jesus did

the miracles, Jesus said he did not

163

believe in their belief because he

knew what was in the heart of man.

164

And so seeing something like this,

witnessing something like this doesn't.

165

Automatically equate to saving faith.

166

But for those that do have saving faith,

this should be a scene, even as we read

167

it in the black and white pages on our

Bible, that compel us to say, wow, God is

168

a powerful God and I need to be mindful

of that and how I live my life before him.

169

Yeah.

170

To your point, Jesus, were to

say something like this, even if

171

someone were to come back from the

dead and tell your family members.

172

Hey guys, it's real.

173

That that wouldn't be sufficient.

174

What Jesus does point to

layer hope upon is his word.

175

Let them read the law and

the prophets, Jesus says and

176

that's important for us to see.

177

It would be great to see some

genuine miracles or to have some

178

kind of experience with God where

there's a spec, a spectacle like

179

this where you would be awestruck.

180

But to, to what you just

said, PPJ it's fickle.

181

It's leading.

182

Those things are not the things

that we can stick our hope upon.

183

Instead, we have to stick our hope

upon what he says in his word.

184

His promises are, his promises

are always yes in Amen.

185

Those are the things that we have to say.

186

I respectively be cool, but the scriptures

are better, and we know that because

187

that's effectively what God says.

188

Yeah, well, Moses is sent from

the Lord back down the mountain

189

to the people, and he's sent to

give them the 10 Commandments.

190

And that's what we find in chapter 20 as

he rattles these off and gives them to us.

191

Again, these are familiar words to us.

192

These are familiar texts.

193

In fact, in the United, in, in Texas,

at least I believe the state laws

194

that these have to be displayed

in public school classrooms even.

195

And so these are things that.

196

Even the world recognizes and knows,

if you're familiar with Ray Comfort,

197

Ray Comfort will use these as an

evangelistic tool to say, okay, let's

198

talk about which of these you've broken.

199

Are you really a good person?

200

I think what struck me this time is

when the people respond afterwards, it

201

says in verse 18, the people saw the

thunder and the flashes of lightning

202

and the sound of the trumpet and the

mountain smoking, and they were afraid.

203

And they said to Moses, you speak

to us and we will listen, but do

204

not let God speak to us lest we die.

205

And Moses' response is unique.

206

He says to the people, do not fear.

207

For God has come to test you

that the fear of him may be

208

before you, that you may not sin.

209

So Moses on the one

hand says, do not fear.

210

But fear, don't be afraid, but be afraid.

211

And so these are the two different

types of fear that there, there

212

are when we talk about in the New

Testament, perfect love, cast out fear.

213

Don't be afraid that you're gonna

be immediately consumed but fear God

214

because he has the power to do that.

215

And you should fear him in such

a way that causes you to be, to

216

obey him, that you may not sin.

217

And so have the right kind

of fear is basically what

218

Moses is telling the people.

219

And that's really what the 10

Commandments really, what the law of God.

220

What the word of God should

do for us as believers.

221

Is remind us of what it

looks like to fear God.

222

To fear God is to keep his word,

to keep his commandments, to

223

walk in accordance with them.

224

So when we read these things,

it's really describing this is the

225

type of life that does fear God.

226

And that's how Moses en encourages

and exhorts the people after

227

they witness all of this.

228

That's right.

229

That fear is so important because it's

something that should carry us through

230

the totality of our Christian life.

231

But you brought it up, so let

me have you elaborate on it.

232

Talk to us then if we're called

to fear God and Jesus affirms

233

us in the New Testament, he

says that this is a right fear.

234

We should have fear.

235

And yet you just quoted

perfect love, cast out fear.

236

If God himself is love first

John four, and we're also called

237

to fear him appropriately.

238

How do fear and love work together

in the heart of a Christian?

239

What would that look like

practically and how are they not

240

in conflict with one another?

241

If we're called to have both for God?

242

Yeah.

243

Yeah.

244

I think God is so kind to reveal himself

to us as a father and to create the,

245

that relationship within the family home.

246

And I know that not everybody

has had a great relationship with

247

their earthly father, but still, I

think we can conceive of what that

248

should look like at least most can.

249

And I think that conveys a lot of

what it looks like to experience

250

fear and love from the same person.

251

There's the fear that you can have

that your dad is the authority.

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The authoritarian in the home.

253

He's the one that, that carries

the mantle of discipline.

254

And so when you get in trouble,

he's going to discipline you.

255

And so you fear him in that sense.

256

You fear doing something that would

draw his wrath, draw his anger,

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cause his displeasure to come upon

you in the form of discipline.

258

But at the same time, that fear is not

so much that you shy away from him.

259

That fear is not so much that you

don't also desire the closeness with

260

him, the intimacy to him, and that

the warmth of his embrace and the love

261

that he has for you as a dad has for

his child where you would climb up

262

in his lap and experience that warmth

in that love that he has for you.

263

It's similar in our

relationship with the Lord.

264

We want to have a fear.

265

Of his discipline and doing anything

that would draw as a discipline

266

because he's a God who will bring

discipline because he's a just God.

267

And so that should be the fear that

we have, but that at the same time,

268

it shouldn't cause us to shy away

from him because we would know that

269

if we're doing what he desires us to

do, if we're walking in accordance

270

with his rules of his household, so to

speak, then we have nothing to fear.

271

That's the fear that is cast out by love.

272

We can draw near to him.

273

We can experience that familial

connection, that love that the

274

father has for his children.

275

We can experience that.

276

With God.

277

So it's, I think if we consider

that father child relationship,

278

we can see how love and fear

can coexist at the same time.

279

It's a helpful framing of it because

it does speak to the way that we

280

interpret our relationship with God

if we see it merely as transactional.

281

Putting those two pieces

together is very hard.

282

Like two opposite Lego

pieces, it's not gonna work.

283

But when we see it as a relationship

of father son or father daughter, that

284

does really help inform the way that we.

285

View our rule keeping

and our love for God.

286

And in fact, that's what the 10

Commandments actually speak to

287

our relationship with God and

our relationship with others.

288

Jesus will later say in the News

Testament that the greatest commandments

289

is to love the Lord your God, with all

of your heart, soul minus strength,

290

and to love your neighbor as yourself.

291

He draws this from the old Covenant,

so this is not brand new, but the 10

292

Commandments and really everything

else in the scriptures that we see

293

that are the laws and the guidelines

are in some way, shape, or form.

294

An expression of love for

God and love for people.

295

And that even informs the way that

we fear God because we love him.

296

We fear displeasing him.

297

We fear offending him.

298

We fear dishonoring him.

299

So love and fear definitely work together.

300

But it's the holy love and a holy fear.

301

It's not the kind of sentimentality

or sappiness that you might

302

see in a Hallmark movie.

303

This is biblical love and biblical fear.

304

From this point forward, we're gonna

get into a lot of specific law that

305

he's gonna give and kind of case law,

civil law for us here as he continues

306

to prepare the nation of Israel to be

just that, to be a nation and to know

307

how to conduct themselves as a nation.

308

They're starting out going, do we

continue to do what we did in Egypt?

309

Do we operate differently?

310

What are our policies and procedures?

311

And that's really what

God's gonna give them.

312

From this time forward.

313

He starts out at the end of chapter 20

with some laws about the alters because

314

they were gonna need to worship God.

315

And so he wanted to make sure that

they were going to build alters in the

316

correct way here, at least before they

got into the Tabernacle instructions.

317

But then he gets into, in Chapter

21, laws about slaves life for life.

318

He's gonna talk about even.

319

Hitting a pregnant woman so that

her children are born and come out.

320

And if that child dies,

then it's life for life.

321

That tells us that the

life in the womb is life.

322

It's not life after

birth or anything else.

323

Life in the womb is life.

324

And we even see some of that there.

325

But something that's fascinating in

that I'm still wrestling with we've

326

talked a lot about polygamy from time

to time as we've done the Daily Bible

327

Podcast and it comes up and we're

always saying, God never condones it.

328

He never says this is a good thing.

329

There's something here in chapter 21,

and I still am gonna argue that he's not

330

condoning it as something that's good.

331

But part of me said, man,

why not just prohibit it?

332

Why not just say, don't do this?

333

And he says it here in, in verse 10.

334

Now he's talking about a situation

with marrying a slave, the daughter

335

of somebody that's been sold into you.

336

And so marrying a slave daughter,

and then he says this in verse 10.

337

If he takes another wife to himself,

other than the slave that has been

338

given to him, or that he's purchased

and married, if he takes another wife to

339

himself, he shall not diminish her food,

her clothing, or her marital rights.

340

So that leaves the door

open to multiple wives.

341

And there's, I've read

commentaries on this.

342

People are saying, this is most

likely a concubine, not necessarily

343

a wife in the first instance, but

still it goes back to this idea of

344

monogamy and says, why are we not.

345

Just saying don't do any of this.

346

This is wrong.

347

And I guess the best I can assume is just

God is either speaking into situations

348

that have already taken place within

Israel and so he's addressing what's

349

already there or anticipating what's

going to happen and providing laws

350

to give some sort of structure there.

351

But I don't know if you have any

thoughts on that perplexity in here.

352

Yeah, it's a, it's the same

question that we would ask when it

353

comes to something like slavery.

354

And you're right, this is

different because polygamy.

355

Here's my 10 cents in this.

356

There have been pastors recently that

are coming out to support a polygamy.

357

Maybe this is what prompted

your studying of this.

358

There've been a few guys in particular

that have made waves on social

359

media because they're now coming

out with full throated endorsement

360

for polygamy, saying it's a biblical

practice to what you just said, PPJ.

361

There's no explicit condemnation of it.

362

In fact, it seems like God regulates it

with the anticipation that he's going to.

363

Not just allow it, but permit it

in a real sense and at least a

364

neutral, if not a righteous sense.

365

So I would put this in the category of

questions that I have for God that I

366

don't think have really easy answers.

367

I think it becomes clear throughout

the New Testament, the Old Testament

368

we have progressive revelation.

369

We see how God operates

with and among his people.

370

And part of the thing that

he does, I think, is that he.

371

Engage them.

372

I would call baby talk.

373

He speaks to them at the level

that they are and not where the

374

level that they should be 20 years

from then, or 500 years from then.

375

And under the old Covenant,

God clearly permitted polygamy.

376

He never endorses it, but he does

regulate it and he permits it.

377

But under the new Covenant,

it seems to be much clear to

378

me that it's not God's ideal.

379

God permits it in the same way that

he permits a lot of sin and a lot of

380

nonsense in the life of his people

and even the life of his kings.

381

But that doesn't necessarily mean

that God is tacitly approving it.

382

I would say that between the Old Testament

and the New Testament, the whole canon.

383

We can look and say with a backward

glance, the new covenant makes

384

clear one woman man is the ideal.

385

That's what God desires.

386

But he also has in history

tolerated a plural marriage.

387

That's the best I got on that.

388

I don't think that it's permitted today.

389

I think it's clear in the New Testament,

but in the old things are different.

390

Yeah.

391

And we're looking, someone

once said history is a foreign

392

land because we don't know the

customs, we don't know the people.

393

Maybe for them this made perfect sense.

394

Yeah.

395

Yeah, I think that's the

best reading of it as well.

396

But yeah there's

difficult things for sure.

397

Notice verse 32 here.

398

If the ox gore's a slave, male

or female, the owner shall give

399

to their master 30 shekels of

silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

400

The reason why that should stand

out to us is because there's another

401

30 pieces of silver that's gonna

be given for the life of another.

402

And that is gonna be in the New Testament.

403

That is the price that is going to be paid

to Judas for his agreeing to betray Jesus.

404

It's some belief traced back to

here, to this is the valuation

405

of a person's life, 30 shekels of

silver, or at least a slave's life.

406

And so here you have Jesus valued the

same as a slave saying, okay, here,

407

we'll pay you 30 shekels for you.

408

Betraying him, turning him over to us.

409

So it's interesting.

410

Note and allusion over to the New

Testament that we pick up there

411

at the end of of this section.

412

Let's go over to the New Testament

then and pick up in Matthew chapter 20.

413

We're on verses one through 16.

414

And this is an interesting story for.

415

Us to read as those that have been

children and those that have been parents.

416

I think this is one of those

situations where the issue of what

417

is fair is gonna be discussed.

418

And so here the story is told where

a man goes out and hires laborers.

419

And at the beginning he hires

a labor referred denarius.

420

That's a fair wage for a day.

421

That's a full.

422

Payment for a full day's work

and the people agree to that.

423

Then he goes out a little bit

later, hires more and agrees to the

424

same amount for them and so forth.

425

Does this two or three times.

426

Then at the end of the day, when

he comes to settle up, those

427

that work the whole day are gonna

protest and say, this isn't fair.

428

We were with you longer than these.

429

And the master says, but

this is what we agreed upon.

430

So this is indeed what

is fair and so is not.

431

My prerogative to do what

I wish with what I have.

432

Am I not allowed to do what I

choose with what belongs to me?

433

Then he says, or do you

begrudge my generosity?

434

So the last will be

first and the first last.

435

Now, what is Jesus doing here?

436

I don't think this is really

about business practices.

437

I think this is more about the hostility

that he's experiencing from the Jewish

438

people over the inclusion of the gentil.

439

Over the fact that there are others that

the Lord is turning to who are going to

440

come to him, so to speak later in the

day, versus the nation of Israel who's

441

been with God from the very outset.

442

As we're reading about even back in

Exodus and those that are the Pharisees

443

and the sad Sadducees and the Jews are

saying, this isn't right, this isn't fair.

444

They don't belong to the covenants,

they don't belong to the promises.

445

I think this may be a way of Jesus

teeing up to the fact that saying,

446

Hey the gospel is gonna go beyond

this, and it's my prerogative to

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do that because I'm the one who is.

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The Lord of all, I'm the one

that's in charge of all of this.

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That's at least my take on it.

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And that's a great take.

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I would add onto that only that

this is, this clearly is meant to

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instruct us for how God interacts

with his people, both old and new.

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And one of the things that I read one

commentator made mention that, or the

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people that showed up later, they didn't

negotiate wages with the master where

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it seems like those who started earlier.

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Agreed with him.

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Well, after verse two, after agreeing

with the laborers for a denarius a

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day, they, on the front end said,

here's what we think is appropriate.

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And he says, okay, I agree with that.

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That's an appropriate day.

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Labor wages, where those who came

later didn't even say anything,

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they just trusted that they'll get

whatever the master thought was.

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Was appropriate.

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And so, one commentator suggested

maybe this is one way that we ought

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to interact with God and that we don't

tell God what we think we deserve,

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but let him establish the wages.

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I think that's fine.

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That's a helpful take.

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And perhaps it is primarily about

Gentiles coming in later and the

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Jewish people actually getting.

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At least pushed aside for the time being

because the Gentiles are now put front

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and center for a particular season.

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But I do think this speaks to God's

generosity and one of the things I

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think it speaks to is the inequality of

God's distribution, of gifts, of time,

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of talents, of resources, and to expect

that this is the way things are gonna be.

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And most often when he

does distribute things.

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In, in, in equally or unequally,

it's because he is generous and we

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ought not to begrudge his generosity,

but to celebrate those things that

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other people get that we don't get.

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That's a hard pill to swallow, but

man, I've seen this so many times

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in my life where I'm like, oh,

that guy deserves this much more.

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And that guy deserves less,

but he got more somehow.

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And I don't understand why God

blesses that person this way and this

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person another way when it seems to

me like this is the better option.

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God does what God does, and it's our

job not to challenge him and to say, why

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didn't you and why should you should have

done this instead to let him be God and us

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be the submissive servants and say, Hey,

praise God for this particular situation

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we can celebrate and rejoice in that.

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Rejoice at those rejoice

as scripture says.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Well, hey, let's let's pray and

then we'll be done with this

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episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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God, we pray for more of an awareness

of your ex's 19 reality in our lives as

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we are believers, as we are followers

of you, that we would walk that line of

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what it looks like to fear you and yet

to love you at the same time, and help

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us to do that well God, to not shy away

from you, to lean into our relationship

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with you, to desire closeness with you.

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And yet also to have a fear of

you that would guide what that

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approach to you looks like and how

we battle sin and how we pursue

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holiness, how we pursue godliness.

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And so we thank you so much for Christ.

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We thank you for the access that we have

to you and that we can draw near to you.

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And we should pray that we would

live faithfully to you over the

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next couple of days, including

the rest of today in front of us.

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In Jesus name.

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Amen.

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Well, hey guys, keep reading your

Bibles and tune in again with

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us tomorrow for another edition

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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Bye.

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Edward: Thank you for listening to another

episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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We’re grateful you chose to

spend time with us today.

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This podcast is a ministry of

Compass Bible Church in North Texas.

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You can learn more about our

church at compassntx.org.

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leaving a review, rating the show,

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