"I am the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the Lord their God"---Exodus 29:46
The Old Testament is difficult to understand because we are so far removed from it culturally and chronologically. Much of the OT is descriptive not prescriptive. It is a true account of the formation history of a particular nation, Israel, and God's work through them to bring the full impetus of redemption to planet earth, in spite of Israel's numerous failings. Much of its truth is couched in the extreme barbarism of primitive culture. God is not telling us to be that culture (prescriptive), He is describing His work in spite of it. God's plan has always been to restore and redeem us by moving in. He wants to bring us out of our personal Egypt and live among us.
I remember a picture in a Bible story book that was read to me when I was a child. It had Jesus (a rendition of Jesus that looked like He had just come from the beauty shop)...He was knocking on a door that had no handle on the outside. This concept is based on Revelation 3:20 where Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." That picture came to mind as I read Exodus 29 today.
Relationship is the mega-theme of the Bible. God made us to live with Him but we walked away. Instead of wiping us out, He calls, knocks, and invites. He beckons His children back into relationship with Him. You see, without Him, the human race is in a death spiral. With Him, we experience and express love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). Would anyone disagree that this is what the world needs? These are the relational attributes of God. We were made in His image: made to reflect these divine attributes. When we walked out on God, we forgot who we were. Instead of living out our divinely given identity, we adopted a corrupted identity that the Bible teaches is driven by three things: the lust of the eyes (I want to possess it), the lust of the flesh (I want to feel it), and pride of life (I want to be the center on attention). God calls us back. Mercy. He wants to move back in. Grace. He wants to rebuild our former identity through a daily relationship. Communion. Will we let God restore our identity? Jesus (God-incarnate) was the full demonstration of what we were intended to be. He knocks. He will come in and change anyone who invites Him in. He is a gentleman.
