In the OT, we open with the Lord telling Moses that He has filled a man with His Holy Spirit to empower him to do the work that He called them to do. He graced them with the ability, intelligence, knowledge, and craftsmanship to worship Him.

God does not leave us to ourselves to figure out how to worship Him. He has given us a specific way (in Christ) and endows us with His Holy Spirit to do so.

Moses has been up on that mountain for quite some time getting instructions from Lord, and the Israelites get very impatient—so impatient that they convince Aaron to build them an idol god so that they could “worship” Him. The ink on the Ten Commandments hasn’t even dried yet, and they are already SERIOUSLY violating the first one! God’s sees this and gets angry enough to want to destroy them. However, Moses intercedes for them and God spares them from His wrath.

We must ALWAYS wait patiently on God and refuse to settle for a cheap idol to fill our desire for worship. Ours may not be a golden calf. Maybe it’s our car, gadgets, children, or spouse…Also, let us never downgrade the power of prayer—especially intercession. Because of Moses’ faithfulness to God and willingness to intercede for His people, Moses was able to see the glory of God—so will we. Chances are He’s not going to side-slide by you on a mountain while you hide in a rock, but His glory will be revealed in others ways, namely His Son and the fruit of your regenerated heart’s work for Him.

In our NT reading, the Sadducees have approached Jesus in an attempt to disprove Him, and He throws a wrench in their plans with one of His classic moves: the double entendre (ambiguity of meaning arising from language that lends itself to more than one interpretation). He tells them that they do not know the Scriptures or the power of God and that God is not the God of the dead but of the living.

The Sadducees could recite Scriptures but they didn’t know the Scriptures. Jesus counts that as not knowing God at all because if they did they would have understood the things He was trying to teach them. Jesus also tells them, “And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” Jesus meant that literally to validate the resurrection, but He was also trying to convey that God is not the God of those who are spiritually dead and stuck in their religious traditions. He is the God of those who are alive IN CHRIST. Only those alive in Christ can rightfully say they belong to God and He to them. The spiritually dead are not in Christ; therefore, He is not their God.

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