Friendship with God

God becomes our God through Christ, so we will live as his people. His people worship in response to grace, obey his words in gratitude, and rest on his welcome provided by Jesus. I. Worship (24:1-2, 9-11, 15-18)As God’s people, we worship him in response to his grace. Knowing: Before there is any reference to obedience to commands, God invites the leaders, representing the people, into his presence to worship. And worship is the last act mentioned at the end of the chapter. Worship, implicitly in response to the grace of redemption, frames the whole chapter, just as it frames the whole legal code. Being: One cannot truly receive and reflect on grace without being driven to worship, driven to corporate worship in particular because the redeemed person cannot be satisfied with his or her lone voice praising his or her Savior. Doing: Then one cannot view the generosity of God’s mercy, justice and faithfulness without being compelled to extend it to others. Do you tend to view corporate worship as a legalistic duty or a response to grace? What do you think contributes to your viewing it this way? II. Words (24:3-4, 7-8, 12-14)As God’s people, we obey his words in gratitude.Knowing: After worship, Moses repeats all of God’s “words” to the people. All of this legislation is not referred to as “laws” but as “words.” This is clearly an allusion to what is revealed in Exodus 20, which is not referred to in Hebrew as the Ten Commandments, but rather the Ten Words (dabar). This is a gentle reference. Even the Hebrew reference to the commands of Scripture torah is a gentle word. It’s more accurate to translate it as “instruction” than “law.” Being: One Old Testament scholar once wrote, “these are not ‘laws’ to ‘serve as rules of action, but the rights, by which the national life was formed into a civil commonwealth and the political order secured.’” Doing: Do you tend to view God’s instruction as something he has given to rob your joy or so that life might go well with you? What would it look like to truly believe God’s law is for your good? III. Welcome (24:4-6)As God’s people, we rest on his welcome provided by Jesus. Knowing: Jesus was the one to whom many thousands of sacrificial animals pointed, but his was the once for all sufficient sacrifice to take away our sins. We are very familiar with that legal provision for us, the need for the imputation of Christ’s righteousness in place of our sins to justify us before the bar of God’s justice. Being: Unlike the burnt offering, the sacrificial animal was slain not to be cremated but to be eaten as a meal with God. Just as a burnt offering revealed God’s self-sacrifice to satisfy justice, a peace offering represented God’s provision for a reconciled relationship. God himself was the host of the meal. Doing: Do you tend to view your relationship with God in only legal terms (i.e. guilty, not guilty) or in relational terms wherein he welcomes you as a guest to a feast? What contributes to this view and how does this passage shape your view of relationship with God?