This Sunday we begin a five-week journey through the narratives found in Exodus 16 through 33 entitled Communities in Chaos. They tell of the relationship between Yahweh (“I Am”) and a liberated people. The people God liberated were called to trust in God and be distinct from the empires of the world. Yet they found themselves in the wilderness questioning the presence of Yahweh with each new challenge and longing, seemingly, to return to their lives of slavery. Ultimately, the lack of trust leads to an act of rebellion that threatens the covenant between Yahweh and the people. Moses pleads to Yahweh and, in Chapter 34, we read:
6 The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children’s children,
to the third and the fourth generation.”
These narratives were written in a way that enabled the people to apply them to any situation where they found themselves in the wilderness, following their liberation, and needing to trust in Yahweh. These were times their communities bordered on chaos as the people had to decide if they would have the faith to be who God called them to be or seek to be just another empire.
Join with us as we explore what these narratives mean for followers of Jesus today.
Grace and peace,
Rev. J.D. Allen
Senior Pastor
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