I think that these words from Exodus 3:13-14 are the most important part of Moses' interaction with God to prepare him for his journey as prophet and leader of the Exodus. As I have spent time pondering Moses' 4 questions (Who am I? Who are you? What if they do not believe me? Please send someone else!), I realized that the first one and the last two are all tied into Moses' humility and proper view of himself, which I spent time discussing in the last post on Moses' dethroning. The second question, however, stands out in stark contrast to the others: Who are YOU? Though Moses had some traditional ideas passed down through the history of his people about the God of his forefathers, this was not enough. A proper and intimate knowledge of the God of the universe was absolutely required in order for him to walk out the path before him. Therefore, I do not think it is inappropriate to say that a proper knowledge of God is necessary for all of us to walk in the path He has set before each one of us. Everything about us and our decisions as Christians and non-Christians alike will come down, directly or indirectly, to our thoughts about God. To quote A.W. Tozer again,
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
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Let us beware lest we in our pride accept the erroneous notion that idolatry consists only in kneeling before visible objects of adoration, and that civilized peoples are therefore free from it. The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of him. It begins in the mind and may be present where no overt act of worship has taken place… Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true.
Before the Christian church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, “What is God like?” and goes on from there… The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is; and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind. (The Knowledge of the Holy)What a beautiful summary of everything wrong with the world. The very first sin, and all subsequent sins, came from a casting of doubt followed by a total misunderstanding of one of God's basic qualities. In the Garden of Eden it was His honesty and His goodness, but any other mistake we make about God's character can be equally catastrophic. Because of this, it becomes clear that there is a mandate upon all believers to be "theologians" in their own way - not in the sense that every one of them must attend seminary and understand the Hypostatic Union or be able to quote a Catechism by heart, but that they must seek to educate themselves through God's word and reputable authors to understand who God is in the best way possible. The more we understand God and Christ's sacrifice for us, though we will never fully understand it, the more our actions will line up with His heart. Again, this goes back to my first post here in Austria where I spoke about religion vs. relationship and law vs. love. When we choose to rely on only what has been handed down to us, whether we are average church-goers or members of the theological elite (what an ironic term!), we have nothing. We must encounter God! We must ask Him, "What is Your Name?"
Today is a short post, but if I were to write any more if would only be to elaborate on this simple truth. Thinking rightly about God, then, is the solution to all of our problems. The answer to sin, brokenness, and every complication in our life depends on it. Please join with me in trying to think more rightly about God in every day. And never just take someone's word for it. There are many wise people out there, but there is only one Christ. Anyone who is truly wise will agree with me there.
In keeping with the fact that the Word of God is our daily bread, today's German farewell is:
Mahlzeit! ("Bon appetit!")
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